Spy in Chancery

followed, tugging at his cloak and screeching for a sou. Fauvel turned cursing but the beggar persisted, following him like a tormented demon, loudly protesting and shouting abuse. At last, just outside his lodgings, Fauvel exasperated, stopped, turned and dug into his purse.
    'Take these and be off!' The beggar grasped Fauvel's wrist, its warmth and strength surprised the cautious English agent, he should have known better but it was too late for as he began to slip backwards, the beggar suddenly lunged forward and drove the dagger, concealed in his other hand, straight into Fauvel's throat.
    Corbett shouldered his way through the busy, gaudy-smelling throng. He had been in Paris seven days and was trying to forget his own problems by visiting the self-proclaimed capital of Europe. Paris stretched from the Grands Boulevards on the right bank of the Seine to the Luxembourg Gardens on the left, the city had grown round the castles and manor houses of the King and was spreading out to include the great homes of the merchant princes as well as the wood and daub houses of the artisans.
    The city of Paris was centred on the оle de la Citй in the Seine on which stood the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Hфtel Dieu and the Royal Palace of the Louvre. Paris was ruled by its kings but dominated by its guilds: each trade had its own quarter; the apothecaries in the city: the literary trades, parchment sellers, scribes, illuminators, booksellers in the Latin quarter on the left bank of the Seine: money-changers, Jews, Lombards and goldsmiths on the Grand Port. As he neared the Grand Chвtelet, Corbett noted that the trades, forbidden to tout their wares, displayed huge signs, a giant glove, pestle or hat.
    Paris was a prosperous city with busy markets: bread in the Place Maribet: meat in the Grand Chвtelet: St. Germain for sausages: flowers and geegaws on the Petit Port. Corbett wandered down the great boulevard which would allow two or three carts abreast to the Great Orberie or herb market on the quayside opposite the оle de la Citй. Corbett loved the sweet crushed smell of herbs which reminded him of his native west Sussex and, though a shy man, he also loved crowds and the sharp, devious manner of the merchants when doing business. Corbett wandered amongst the stalls trying to detect which butchers bled out the meat or used the blood to freshen the gills of old, stale fish. He was fascinated by deception, the way things could be made to appear in sharp contrast with the way they really were.
    Politics were no different, Corbett had been surprised by what had happened since his arrival in Paris and he needed time to think, reflect and analyse. The English envoys had been given a large manor house near the main Paris bridge across the Seine, a large rambling affair with crenellated walls, spiked towers and a huge courtyard. The English soon made themselves at home, men like Blaskett had their virtues for their love of power meant order was soon imposed, supplies, bought, kitchens cleaned and ready for use. On the third day of their arrival in Paris, the principal English envoys were invited to meet King Philip and his council in the Louvre Palace on the оle de la Citй. They had assembled in its large hall, decked with blazing blood-red banners, exquisite drapes and the blue and gold colours of the royal household.
    Fresh rushes sprinkled with spring flowers had been strewn on the floor and a host of great iron candelabra burning beeswax candles were placed around the heavy, oaken table on the dais at the far end of the hall. Lancaster, Corbett and the other English envoys sat at one side of this and rose suddenly when trumpets brayed and King Philip with his entourage swept into the room. Corbett was immediately struck by the majesty of the French king dressed from head to toe in a blue velvet gown trimmed with snow-white costly ermine, the gown being decorated with silver fleur-de-lis and gathered close by a thick gold belt. The King's blond hair, bound by a silver coronet, fell down to his shoulders to frame a white face, narrow eyes, a beak of a nose and thin bloodless lips.
    Philip IV, exuding majesty in his every gesture, had nodded at Lancaster before sitting down in a great oaken chair at the head of the table and, with a weary wave of a purple-gloved hand, gestured to the English envoys and members of his own entourage to take their seats. Corbett did, almost standing up again in surprise when he noticed the