Read Online Tamburlaine Must Die by Louise Welsh - Free Book Online Page A

defence circumspect and wondered
if he kept you at liberty because you know so much of his world.' He
was very close now and whispering. His breath tickled my cheek. `The
dwarf Cecil keeps you safe, but only so long as you are of use, and
that time is running out.' `Time is always running out.'

    `True,
but yours need not end so soon.' He leaned back in his chair. Another
voice was raised in your defence. That of my master. His words carry
great sway.' `I would like the opportunity to thank him.' `The
opportunity may come.' The smile was

    back.
`Meanwhile be satisfied he has your welfare at heart.'

    I
chose my words carefully.

    `It
is always good to.have an ally, but difficult to accept aid when
ignorant of the source.' `Surely a man in your position will welcome
aid from any quarter??

    'Not
without knowing the price.'

    The
man opened his hands, laying his soft pink palms before me, beginning
negotiations with all the craft of a market trader.

    `The
price is one you can pay while gaining credit and releasing yourself
from the difficulties that presently menace you.'

    I
feigned disinterest.

    `I
may escape them anyway.'

    `My
master is a good friend, but he would take it most hard should you
refuse to assist him.' `The difficulty remains. If I do not know

    your
master, I cannot trust his promises or his threats.'

    He
smiled.

    `His
threats are promises.'

    `Then
let him proceed.' I got to my feet. `I might work for Mephistopheles
if I thought the bargain well struck. But I will not attach myself to
a man too cowardly to reveal his identity.'

    He
looked up at me.

    `Though
the prize be your life?

    I
stepped towards the door but something held me within the room.
Perhaps it was the hope that he might save me.

    `I
live yet.'

    He
spoke with dreadful seriousness.

    `None
of us know the hour, but few rush towards it.'

    `Alliances
with absent men won't increase my span. I'm not friendless. I'll take
my chances.' Aye, and perish.'

    `If
it be so, it will be so.'

    I
turned to leave at the same time as a second door at the back of the
room opened. The noise made me turn, just as a man I recognised
entered.

    The
absence of the Privy Council did not diminish his authority. My old
interrogator was wearing the same austere robes of the previous
morning. On his head was a soft hat of black velvet. It gave him the
look of a necromancer, though I feel sure that was not his intention.
The old man nodded to his deputy, who returned the greeting. Then he
turned to me. His voice was mild and stern.

    `So
you would work for the Devil, Master Marlowe?

    For
a second I thought he was about to declare himself Lucifer come to
tempt me. I shook my head, half to refute his charge, half at my own
folly.

`It
was an expression forced from me in an ill-considered moment.'

    'Aye,
but you are a man for sale.' `I am a poet.'

    `And
a spy.' I kept silent, wanting to know what he had to say. `There has
been enough jousting of words in this room. Sit.'

    He
pointed to the chair I had just vacated and I obeyed, trying not to
look too much like a trained dog. He sighed as he eased his old bones
into a seat, sandwiching me between the two men. When he turned
towards me, the pain of rheumatics distorted his features and I
wondered if old age was a goal worth fighting for. He wiped a hand
across his face.

    `Do
poets have many friends?? 'Some.'

    And
spies, how many friends can they afford?? 'You ask the wrong man.'

    `I
would have thought it a question you are ideally suited to
answering.' He smiled. `A spy can't afford any friends. Not one. Even
his wife may be in the pay of the enemy.'

    `I
have no wife.'

    `No,'
he smiled again, `you don't. Well then, your closest companion, your
patron, even.' I tried to keep my face blank, but perhaps it betrayed
my fear, for the old man's eyes widened. `Yes, no brotherly love in
your profession.' He smoothed his beard thoughtfully. `Not even
amongst brothers.'

    `What
do you want??

    'I
want to ease your