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Authors: Sam Thomas
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into perdition.”
Such pious words from such a harridan were absurd, of course. When the King had held York, Rebecca had been as strong a royalist as you’d care to meet, but once Parliament had taken power she donned the garb of the Puritan and became a reformer. I had no doubt that if the King returned to the city, so too would her love of monarchy. As best I could judge, Rebecca was a bit older than me, nearing her fortieth year. And while men assured me of my comeliness, she far surpassed me in beauty. Her high cheeks and ice-blue eyes seemed perfectly suited to the winter’s cold. The Councilmen couldn’t look away.
“When Hester Jackson was arrested as a witch, Mr. Hodgson summoned me to search her body for unnatural teats.” Rebecca’s voice echoed through the chamber. “I found just such teats near her fundament. She confessed her guilt to me, to Mr. Hodgson, and to the court of Special Assizes. There can be no doubt of her guilt, or the justice of her hanging. This you know already.”
The Councilmen nodded in agreement.
As much as I hated Rebecca, I could not help admiring her strength and how far she had come in this life. While I had the privilege of an ancient name and estates, Rebecca had made her way from nothing. Some said that she was the bastard daughter of a maidservant, while others claimed that she had deliberately gotten with child so she could force the man of her choosing into marriage. None dared say such things anymore, for Rebecca had made it her business to exact terrible revenge on those who trafficked in such news. Her favored weapon was gossip, and she spread rumors so vicious they drove entire families from the city. After marrying Richard Hooke, she had become merciless in her pursuit of power and money, harrying the poor man into great wealth and a seat on the City Council. If he had not been every bit as weak as my own Phineas, Richard Hooke might have been able to resist his wife’s base nature, but in the end she bent him to her will.
“But there are things you do not know,” Rebecca continued, “things Mr. Hodgson and I have kept in the greatest confidence for fear of exciting tumult within the city.”
The Councilmen feared disorder more than anything else, and they leaned forward in their seats, unwilling to miss a single word.
“As Mr. Hodgson said, it is not in a witch’s nature to labor alone in the vineyards of Satan. And before she died, Hester swore to us that she was not the only witch in the city. There are others, many others.” The Councilmen looked at each other in alarm and began to whisper among themselves. I glanced at Martha and saw the surprise on her face, for Hester has denied knowing of other witches in the city. I was not surprised that Rebecca would lie, of course, but I could not help being struck by her audacity in doing so before the Council. At the same time I realized that it was a brilliant stroke: With Hester dead, who could gainsay Rebecca’s words?
“Mrs. Hooke,” the Lord Mayor said. “Did the witch Hester Jackson tell you who these other witches are?”
“No, my Lord Mayor,” Rebecca said. “I am afraid she would not go so far as that. It seems even Satan’s handmaidens have a sense of loyalty.”
“Well then, Mr. Hodgson, what can we do?” the Lord Mayor asked Joseph. “Surely you did not ask us here simply to tell us of the danger.”
“My Lord Mayor,” Joseph said as he rose once again to his feet. “This is why I called the Council into session. I have a solution.” The murmuring stopped and all eyes settled on Joseph. He and Rebecca could not have planned the meeting any better.
I stole a glance at Will to see his reaction to his brother’s words, but his face remained a mask.
“Many of you have heard of witch hangings in other parts of England,” Joseph continued. “Most have been to the south, but today word reached us of witches found in Lancashire.” He passed around copies of the book I’d bought
Such pious words from such a harridan were absurd, of course. When the King had held York, Rebecca had been as strong a royalist as you’d care to meet, but once Parliament had taken power she donned the garb of the Puritan and became a reformer. I had no doubt that if the King returned to the city, so too would her love of monarchy. As best I could judge, Rebecca was a bit older than me, nearing her fortieth year. And while men assured me of my comeliness, she far surpassed me in beauty. Her high cheeks and ice-blue eyes seemed perfectly suited to the winter’s cold. The Councilmen couldn’t look away.
“When Hester Jackson was arrested as a witch, Mr. Hodgson summoned me to search her body for unnatural teats.” Rebecca’s voice echoed through the chamber. “I found just such teats near her fundament. She confessed her guilt to me, to Mr. Hodgson, and to the court of Special Assizes. There can be no doubt of her guilt, or the justice of her hanging. This you know already.”
The Councilmen nodded in agreement.
As much as I hated Rebecca, I could not help admiring her strength and how far she had come in this life. While I had the privilege of an ancient name and estates, Rebecca had made her way from nothing. Some said that she was the bastard daughter of a maidservant, while others claimed that she had deliberately gotten with child so she could force the man of her choosing into marriage. None dared say such things anymore, for Rebecca had made it her business to exact terrible revenge on those who trafficked in such news. Her favored weapon was gossip, and she spread rumors so vicious they drove entire families from the city. After marrying Richard Hooke, she had become merciless in her pursuit of power and money, harrying the poor man into great wealth and a seat on the City Council. If he had not been every bit as weak as my own Phineas, Richard Hooke might have been able to resist his wife’s base nature, but in the end she bent him to her will.
“But there are things you do not know,” Rebecca continued, “things Mr. Hodgson and I have kept in the greatest confidence for fear of exciting tumult within the city.”
The Councilmen feared disorder more than anything else, and they leaned forward in their seats, unwilling to miss a single word.
“As Mr. Hodgson said, it is not in a witch’s nature to labor alone in the vineyards of Satan. And before she died, Hester swore to us that she was not the only witch in the city. There are others, many others.” The Councilmen looked at each other in alarm and began to whisper among themselves. I glanced at Martha and saw the surprise on her face, for Hester has denied knowing of other witches in the city. I was not surprised that Rebecca would lie, of course, but I could not help being struck by her audacity in doing so before the Council. At the same time I realized that it was a brilliant stroke: With Hester dead, who could gainsay Rebecca’s words?
“Mrs. Hooke,” the Lord Mayor said. “Did the witch Hester Jackson tell you who these other witches are?”
“No, my Lord Mayor,” Rebecca said. “I am afraid she would not go so far as that. It seems even Satan’s handmaidens have a sense of loyalty.”
“Well then, Mr. Hodgson, what can we do?” the Lord Mayor asked Joseph. “Surely you did not ask us here simply to tell us of the danger.”
“My Lord Mayor,” Joseph said as he rose once again to his feet. “This is why I called the Council into session. I have a solution.” The murmuring stopped and all eyes settled on Joseph. He and Rebecca could not have planned the meeting any better.
I stole a glance at Will to see his reaction to his brother’s words, but his face remained a mask.
“Many of you have heard of witch hangings in other parts of England,” Joseph continued. “Most have been to the south, but today word reached us of witches found in Lancashire.” He passed around copies of the book I’d bought
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