Part 10 (1/2)

'Not a word, just upped and went,' the man said.

Steven looked desperately up and down the busy streets but he knew it was hopeless. Also he half-knew Anne believed he had found the Doctor and had gone back to the Cardinal's palace to try and secure the release of her brother and her aunt.

'A pretty little wench, she was,' the man added with a sly wink and Steven turned away.

Both Lerans and Muss hung onto every word the Doctor recounted about his audience with the Queen Mother and when he had finished they looked at one another.

'But who is Bondot and how will he bring about the Admiral's downfall?' Muss asked.

Lerans shrugged: 'Nicholas, I have no idea. On neither side does such a name exist, at least not to my knowledge.'

'Then do we a.s.sume that it's a codename for someone highly-placed who could topple de Coligny?' Muss replied.

'Highly-placed? We know their proper names, so why the masquerade?' Lerans put the fingertips of one hand to his forehead. 'Unless Bondot is one of two people whose names could never be a.s.sociated with the Admiral's defeat.'

'The King or the Queen Mother,' Muss volunteered.

'Precisely,' Lerans turned to the Doctor. 'We need to know.'

'Gentlemen, I have run all the risks that I'm prepared to in this venture,' the Doctor spoke sternly. 'Twice now I have almost come face to face with the real Abbot of Amboise. The third time could be an actual confrontation.

No, I agreed to see the Queen Mother and then be on my way and I am holding you to those terms so, please, deliver Steven to me.'

There was a long pause during which Lerans and Muss exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

'I'm afraid we can't because we don't know where he is,'

Lerans said finally.

'He escaped from the Admiral's house and took the serving girl with him,' Muss added, 'but they are being actively sought' he hesitated fractionally 'by Catholic and Huguenot alike.'

'Try looking on a rubbish dump,' the Doctor snapped back. Both Lerans and Muss's eyes widened in astonishment.

'Why there in particular?' Muss asked.

'Why not?' the Doctor replied.

'A mysterious object was discovered on one and it has been transported to the Bastille,' Lerans explained.

'And just before we came here, we heard that the Abbot of Amboise was on his way to see the King for it to be burnt at the stake,' Lerans added.

'What children you all are!' the Doctor exclaimed and then exploded into uncontrollable laughter.

12.

Burnt at the Stake Intimidated by the Abbot's fire and brimstone eloquence and, despite his curiosity about the 'satanic abode' (as the Abbot described it) which sat in the courtyard of the Bastille, the King gave his consent to burn it at the stake, although he insisted that he should be present when it was destroyed. The Abbot agreed but added that it could not be burnt immediately.

'Why not?' The King was peeved.

'I must gird the armour of the Lord around His feeble va.s.sal before I confront Lucifer and his demons in their infernal lair,' the Abbot rhetorised.

'Quite so, Lord Abbot,' the King replied, unable to think of anything else.

'I shall attend upon your Majesty one hour before the tocsin sounds,' the Abbot proclaimed, then bowed and swept out of the room with Duval trotting at his heels.

Anne gave herself up to one of the sentries at the entrance to the Cardinal's palace and was taken to Colbert who had her thrown into the cell with her brother and her aunt.

Then he hurried to Duval's office to report that the wench was back. But to his surprise Duval showed little interest saying that for the time being she was unimportant as matters of far greater moment were afoot.

For his part Steven stood on the riverbank, throwing pebbles into the Seine whilst trying to resolve the dilemma of contacting the Doctor. It was obvious that he was masquerading as the Abbot of Amboise and the excuses put forward by Lerans and Muss to explain away his disappearance were patently lies. So Steven decided to go back to de Coligny's house and have it out with them. But re-entering was almost as difficult as escaping had been.

He was refused admittance by the guards because he had no appointment, no written authorisation and his appearance wearing Preslin's ill-fitting clothes was unprepossessing. But after a heated discussion which almost came to blows he persuaded one of them to fetch the officer in charge.

'Take me at once to Viscount Lerans or Nicholas Muss,'

he demanded vociferously of the officer who looked him up and down with cold eyes.

'State your business,' the officer snapped.

'That's between myself and them,' Steven retorted.

'Then on your way with you, knave,' the officer replied and turned to leave.

'All right, tell them Steven Taylor wants to discuss the other Abbot of Amboise.'

The officer looked back at him. 'What do you mean by ”the other”?'

Steven prodded a forefinger towards the officer's gilded doublet. 'Just tell them what I've said.' His voice was low and dangerous.

The officer hesitated for a moment then told him to wait and went leisurely into the building. His return a few minutes later was more hurried and his manner respectful.

'Come with me, please,' he requested, 'and I'll take you directly to them.'

Lerans was leaning against the wall beside the window overlooking the courtyard and Muss was seated at his desk as Steven was ushered into the office. Muss waved the officer away; he shut the door behind him. Steven looked from one to the other.

'Well, where is he?' he demanded. 'And don't bother to say with Preslin.'

'But, Steven, I give you my word, he is,' Lerans protested mildly.

'Not when he's pretending to be the Abbot!' Steven threw back. There was an awkward pause during which Muss and Lerans exchanged a glance. 'So where is he?' he repeated.

'Safely underground in Paris,' Muss said.

'Take me to him.'