Spy in Chancery

events to throw the blame on him.' He looked sharply at Corbett. 'Were you always convinced that Waterton was innocent?'
    'Yes, yes, I think I was,' the clerk replied slowly. 'Something in my heart which became clearer when П met Richmond's daughter in Paris but, really, de Craon told me. I watched his face that day in the great council chamber when your brother announced that we had discovered and arrested the traitor. I saw the flicker of delight in de Craon's face and eyes. He must have known we had arrested the wrong man and so he betrayed himself. During Lancaster's embassy to France,' Corbett continued, 'de Craon deliberately misled me. He favoured Waterton so as to arouse our suspicions.'
    'But de Craon tried to kill you in Paris.'
    'Just to throw suspicion on Waterton, the same applies to the French seal left in our diplomatic pouches..It was put there by de Craon, who also fed similar lies to his Scottish allies in the hope they would be passed on to you.'
    The King nodded and stared at a rose in full bloom. He could scarcely believe what he had heard and seen. Tuberville a traitor! And such a devious one. God knows, the King thought, what a proper study of his letters would reveal. No wonder the Scottish and Welsh rebels had been so arrogant in their defiance. Edward glared at the rose as he plotted his revenge.
    Corbett broke the ensuing silence by going down on one knee in front of the King.
    'Your Grace,' he said. 'You did promise me that if I found the traitor, I could ask for anything in your kingdom.'
    Edward looked down slyly.
    'I was angry then, Master Corbett. And it is wrong to quote a prince's words back to him, words which were said in the heat of the moment.'
    Corbett smiled wanly. 'And the psalmist says "Put not your trust in princes", your Grace. Is this an example of it?'
    Edward laughed softly. 'No, no, Hugh. I keep my word.'
    'Good,' Corbett said. 'There are two things I wish, your Grace. First, for Tuberville's punishment to be commuted, let him be executed, let him be hanged, not the drawing and the quartering, the dismembering of a man's body. Justice does not demand that.'
    The King looked up at the blue sky. 'Your request is granted,' he replied sharply, 'There is something else?'
    'Yes,' Corbett continued, 'The Lord Morgan in Wales.'
    'The Lord Morgan in Wales,' Edward interrupted harshly 'has already felt my displeasure! I have moved troops down from Caernarvon and Caerphilly Castles. They are all over the Lord Morgan's estates as well as the surrounding countryside. I doubt if that Welshman will ever give me further trouble!'
    'It's not the Lord Morgan,' Corbett interrupted rather abruptly, 'But his niece, the Lady Maeve.'
    Edward looked sharply at Corbett before throwing his head back and guffawing with laughter.
    It is funny, Hugh,' he said, 'that you ask me about her, because we received a message from Lord Morgan along with one from his niece. Lord Morgan humbly submitted to our peace and begs for pardon for any mistakes or crimes he may have made. Of course, I will grant it after a while, but the Lady Maeve'smessage was much more simple. We were asked to give you this.'
    The King dug into his purse and drew out the ring that Corbett had last seen in Maeve's hand, on the beach outside Neath Castle.
    'She sent you this,' the King dropped the ring into Corbett's hand and smiled at the clerk's evident disappointment.
    'Oh, there was a message, Master Clerk. The Lady Maeve wrote in support of her uncle's pleas for clemency, adding the postscript that she enclosed the ring for you in the hope that you would return it to her personally so that she could keep it for ever.'
    Corbett just smiled, though his heart danced with joy. Still kneeling, he took the King's hand and kissed the ring.
    'Do I have your permission, your Grace?'
    'Of course,' the King said. 'Provided you are back in London for Tuberville's trial.'
    It was a cold October morning, the palace yard at Westminster was packed to overflowing, the crowd pressing in around the great scaffold, as if they were all trying to draw warmth from the huge, black, iron brazier which burned there. Corbett was present, Ranulf beside him. All of London, the great lords and ladies in their silks and costly raiment. Corbett had come at the King's command. He did not like executions but felt he would have to see this matter through to the bitter end.
    Tuberville had been tried before a special commission of gaol delivery. He had confessed