A Vein of Deceit (50 page)

As soon as Cynric was occupied, Idoma eased forward again. She regarded the monk with a glittering hatred. The Stanton Cups
were all that was left of the riches her brother had acquired in Cambridge, because the rest had been seized and returned
to its rightful owners. She had intended to grab them and go to London, which the foolish Wynewyk had said was a good place
for anyone wanting to disappear – huge, sprawling and transient. But she had left it too late. She felt like killing someone,
so hot was her rage, and it was all she could do to stop herself from racing out and tearing the scholars apart with her bare
hands.

‘You have no reason to go to Clare now,’ Agnys was saying to the monk. ‘You can stay with me again tonight, and return to
Cambridge tomorrow. There is nothing for anyone in Clare.’

‘You are wrong,’ said Michael evenly, aware that Bartholomew was listening now. ‘I found a great deal to interest me there,
and I believe Matt will, too.’

They were going to Clare? Idoma’s heart quickened. She knew the road well, and there were plenty of places for an ambush.
Two well-placed arrows would take care of the
book-bearer and the physician, and the beadles would mill around in panic. And then she would kill the monk with her knife,
and the cups would be hers – along with vengeance for her losses.

But Agnys was arguing with the Benedictine. ‘I disagree. Strongly. But Matthew is your friend, so I suppose you must decide
what is best.’

Bartholomew looked from one to the other, bemused. ‘I thought Clare was just a pretty village with a castle and a priory.
Is there something—’

‘Nothing that will benefit from unannounced visits,’ interrupted Agnys. She looked at Michael. ‘Well? Will you listen to the
advice of a wise old woman?’

Go, thought Idoma fiercely, fingers tight on the hilt of her dagger. Ignore the meddling old woman and go to Clare.

Michael rubbed his chin. ‘I am thinking about it.’

Twenty-first century Haverhill is a thriving market town with a population that expanded radically after the Second World
War, and fires – particularly one in the seventeenth century – have robbed it of much of its medieval heritage. Although considerably
smaller than today, it was still a bustling village in the Middle Ages. It was located on a major road, and tolls probably
added to its wealth. It had a huge triangular marketplace, with shops that sold meat, cloth, fish and fancy goods. Archaeological
investigations have also found animal bones in the kind of number that might suggest some serious slaughterhouse activity.

Two churches were extant in Haverhill in the 1350s. One was St Mary the Virgin, which still stands in the marketplace today.
Adam de Neubold and John de Hilton were both priests appointed shortly after the plague. The second church was earlier, and
was also dedicated to St Mary, although reference to ‘Bovetownchurch’ (meaning ‘upper church’, probably because it was on
a hill) has led some sources to speculate that the dedication might have been to St Botolph. The Alneston Chantry was mentioned
in later wills, and its location is uncertain.

Haverhill boasted several manors, too. The main one was called the Castle, and was owned by the de Clare family until the
early fourteenth century, when it passed to the Earl of Gloucester (Hugh d’Audley). A sub-manor of Haverhill was Helions (also
spelled Elyan or Helyan). It was in the hands of Henry de Elyan and his wife Agnys in 1332.
Then it passed to their son John, and to John’s son Henry. Folyat is another name that crops up in contemporary records of
the area.

Pretty Withersfield, just a couple of miles north-north-west of Haverhill, had one manor, which was owned by the Luneday (or
Loveday) family. A William of Withersfield lived in the village just before the plague.

Meanwhile, back in Cambridge, historical records show that King’s Hall purchased timber and coal (or possibly charcoal) from
Haverhill in the fourteenth century. Its Warden in 1357 was Thomas Powys, who had earned his Master’s degree by 1333. He died
in 1361. Thomas Paxtone was a Fellow of King’s Hall by 1342, and went on to take posts in Lincoln, Chichester and Hackney.
Their colleague John de Shropham was Powys’s successor as Warden.

The Master of Michaelhouse was Ralph de Langelee, who remained in post until 1366. Michael de Causton was a contemporary,
as were John Clippesby, Thomas Suttone, William de Thelnetham, and Simon Hemmysby. John Valence and William Risleye were members
of Michaelhouse in the 1400s. John Tesdale, who was a Fellow in the 1380s, bequeathed the University library a large number
of books. John Wynewyk was an early benefactor of Michaelhouse, whose name was included in the list of people for whom prayers
were to be said.

The College’s founder, Hervey de Stanton, left Michaelhouse two silver-gilt chalices when he died, which were said to be among
its most valued possessions.