Read Online Death by Disputation (A Francis Bacon Mystery Book 2) by Anna Castle - Free Book Online
Authors: Anna Castle
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threatened. We do not have time to bicker over the Book of Common Prayer.” Burghley paused for a moment, gazing sightlessly at his trays of letters. Then he shook himself and returned his attention to Francis with a tight smile. “Catch me that zealot, Nephew. Perhaps seeing their leader hang for the murder of Bartholomew Leeds will cool his followers’ fervor.”
Chapter Seven
On Thursday afternoon, Tom walked across the High Street to Hobson’s livery stables. Thomas Hobson had a near monopoly on deliveries between Cambridge and London, thanks to Lord Burghley’s patronage, and knew better than to jeopardize that profitable relationship by allowing anything to interfere with the chancellor’s mail bags. Tom was well known here by now since he dropped off a letter every morning at nine and picked one up every afternoon at three. He and Bacon each wrote daily, creating a sort of stuttering, extended conversation. Tom had grown accustomed to the odd rhythm over the past six weeks. A letter Tom sent on Monday would arrive at Gray’s on Tuesday afternoon. Bacon’s reply, posted Wednesday morning, would reach him Thursday afternoon.
And so today, at last Tom would receive the first letter sent post-homicidium . He expected Bacon to tell him to investigate Leeds’s murder along the lines of what they’d done last Christmas, but he wasn’t sure exactly where to start and would rather not put a foot wrong.
Tom paid the carrier and brought the letter back to his desk to read in private. His chambermates were still at their lectures in the Common Schools. He checked the seal to be sure the hair was in place, then slit it with his penknife. There were two sheets of foolscap: one covered in Bacon’s confident script, the other in Tom’s own hand. He’d copied out part of Marlowe’s English translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia to exhibit his Latin tutor’s poetic talents.
Bacon had marked corrections all down the page in red ink, with nary a comment on the meter or the imagery. Trust Francis Bacon to quibble about the minor notes and ignore the melody.
Tom turned to the first sheet.
“Clarady:
I agree with your conclusions and so does our mutual friend. Bartholomew Leeds was most certainly murdered. The evidence of the insensible boy is compelling, and I believe the page of Seneca adds substantial further support.
Leeds would not have chosen that passage to express his reasons for taking his own life. Epistle fifty-eight does not treat of suicide undertaken to evade consequences or avoid discovery. The Romans would have considered such an act as cowardly as we do. Seneca wrote from the perspective of an elderly man suffering ill health who chooses to dispatch himself rather than wait for disease to devour both life and dignity. Barbarous, but he lacked our spiritual advantages.
See what you can learn about the wine. Trace it from cask to cup if you can. As for the knot, I’m afraid I’m out of my depth. Can you find some sailor to consult on that topic?
It is probable that the murderer is the individual we seek on other grounds. However, we must not allow our preconceptions to color our observations. Other candidates with other motives must be considered.
First and most obvious is this Marlowe you found present at the time. Investigate him thoroughly. Examine his background, his standing in the college, and any details you can discover concerning his relationship with Bartholomew Leeds. Do not underestimate jealousy as a potent motive merely because both parties are men. On the contrary, where there is greater affinity, there we may also find deeper antagonism.
Furthermore, you described a scene so carefully designed it could be regarded as an exercise in stagecraft. That suggests a man with a taste for the dramatic.
I would beg a favor, Clarady. If you can, would you obtain a copy of Conrad Gesner’s Historiae animalium (Histories of the Animals) and send it to me? It was recently published in Zurich.
Chapter Seven
On Thursday afternoon, Tom walked across the High Street to Hobson’s livery stables. Thomas Hobson had a near monopoly on deliveries between Cambridge and London, thanks to Lord Burghley’s patronage, and knew better than to jeopardize that profitable relationship by allowing anything to interfere with the chancellor’s mail bags. Tom was well known here by now since he dropped off a letter every morning at nine and picked one up every afternoon at three. He and Bacon each wrote daily, creating a sort of stuttering, extended conversation. Tom had grown accustomed to the odd rhythm over the past six weeks. A letter Tom sent on Monday would arrive at Gray’s on Tuesday afternoon. Bacon’s reply, posted Wednesday morning, would reach him Thursday afternoon.
And so today, at last Tom would receive the first letter sent post-homicidium . He expected Bacon to tell him to investigate Leeds’s murder along the lines of what they’d done last Christmas, but he wasn’t sure exactly where to start and would rather not put a foot wrong.
Tom paid the carrier and brought the letter back to his desk to read in private. His chambermates were still at their lectures in the Common Schools. He checked the seal to be sure the hair was in place, then slit it with his penknife. There were two sheets of foolscap: one covered in Bacon’s confident script, the other in Tom’s own hand. He’d copied out part of Marlowe’s English translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia to exhibit his Latin tutor’s poetic talents.
Bacon had marked corrections all down the page in red ink, with nary a comment on the meter or the imagery. Trust Francis Bacon to quibble about the minor notes and ignore the melody.
Tom turned to the first sheet.
“Clarady:
I agree with your conclusions and so does our mutual friend. Bartholomew Leeds was most certainly murdered. The evidence of the insensible boy is compelling, and I believe the page of Seneca adds substantial further support.
Leeds would not have chosen that passage to express his reasons for taking his own life. Epistle fifty-eight does not treat of suicide undertaken to evade consequences or avoid discovery. The Romans would have considered such an act as cowardly as we do. Seneca wrote from the perspective of an elderly man suffering ill health who chooses to dispatch himself rather than wait for disease to devour both life and dignity. Barbarous, but he lacked our spiritual advantages.
See what you can learn about the wine. Trace it from cask to cup if you can. As for the knot, I’m afraid I’m out of my depth. Can you find some sailor to consult on that topic?
It is probable that the murderer is the individual we seek on other grounds. However, we must not allow our preconceptions to color our observations. Other candidates with other motives must be considered.
First and most obvious is this Marlowe you found present at the time. Investigate him thoroughly. Examine his background, his standing in the college, and any details you can discover concerning his relationship with Bartholomew Leeds. Do not underestimate jealousy as a potent motive merely because both parties are men. On the contrary, where there is greater affinity, there we may also find deeper antagonism.
Furthermore, you described a scene so carefully designed it could be regarded as an exercise in stagecraft. That suggests a man with a taste for the dramatic.
I would beg a favor, Clarady. If you can, would you obtain a copy of Conrad Gesner’s Historiae animalium (Histories of the Animals) and send it to me? It was recently published in Zurich.
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