Angel of Death

thought you were in Wales. The roads? How could you get through?'
    Maeve smiled. 'We did not come by road but by sea.'
    Corbett clasped her hand tightly until she winced. 'It is so good to see you.'
    Ranulf, the clerk's servant, had been standing there, his look of concern now replaced by one of deep grievance at being ignored.
    'Ranulf, what happened at St Paul's?'
    Ranulf shrugged. 'I heard you yell. I saw the priest leave and come from behind the screen, the dagger still in his hand. I had brought a crossbow, and even in that light he was still a good enough target.'
    'You killed him?'
    Ranulf shrugged again and smiled. 'Of course. The bolt went straight into the back of his neck. He died very quickly before the high altar, just near the anker house.' Ranulf went over and sat on a bench against the far wall. 'He cursed you before he died, while the anchorite behind his wall shouted out about how God's justice had visited his temple and that the evil man would go down into the deep pit of hell, and so on, and so on.'
    'And the king?'
    Ranulf gave a sigh. 'He sends his thanks. I told Hervey what had happened. He wrote some of it down and gave it to the king.'
    Corbett groaned. The one thing he did not want was someone reporting back, putting words in his mouth. 'Did the king seem pleased?'
    'Very. As I said, he thanked you.' Ranulf thought that now was not the time to tell about the heavy clinking purse the king had tossed to him.
    'Does he want to see me?'
    Ranulf shook his head. 'Oh, no. He said you were to rest. He's off to Flanders, taking an army there. But he said he would see you on his return.'
    Corbett nodded and again thought of his favourite verse from the psalms: 'Put not your trust in Princes.' The king was as fickle as the sun in winter. He thought back to St Paul's, again seeing de Luce's eyes glaring at him through the screen, and cursed his own stupidity and folly. He should have been more cautious. Yet Maeve had come. The only woman, indeed, the only person, he had ever really loved.
    'And how long will you be here?'
    'Oh, for months,' she said. 'Long enough for you to get better and for us to get married.'
    Corbett could have shouted with joy. He felt the winter outside had broken, the spring had come at last and there was something to live for.

Conclusion
    This novel is based on fact. Edward I brutally sacked Berwick and burned the Red House of the Flemings because they refused to surrender. Edward did hold a great assembly of the realm at St Paul's, at which Walter de Montfort had been appointed to argue vehemently against the king's right to tax the Church. His death took place as described, violently and suddenly, leaving men wondering whether God was punishing Edward of England or vindicating royal rights. The Church did eventually reach a compromise with Edward as did his barons. The king waged a successful war in Flanders, but in Scotland the sack of Berwick proved to be a point of no return and the Scots refused to submit.