The Midwife's Tale(99)

“I saw the bruises,” I said softly. “Mr. Penrose was not a kind master, but—”

“The bruises?” Ellen interrupted. “You have no idea, do you? The bruises weren’t the half of it. Mr. Penrose was a cursed sodomite, and used Richard’s body most unnaturally.” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “He would come home from the alehouse drunk as a lord, and throw himself on Richard. He swore that if Richard ever complained, he would dismiss him, have him whipped, and ensure he never gained his freedom. That was Richard’s master.”

“And Stephen Cooper raped you,” Martha said. “He’s the father of your child, and you poisoned him.”

At the mention of Stephen’s name, Ellen’s face hardened and her tears stopped. “He pretended to be the godliest of men. Family prayer, Bible reading, gadding to sermons. But under it all, he was no less rotten than Penrose.”

“Did Mrs. Cooper know?” I asked.

“No. He was careful. He only summoned me when she was out. He told me that he would deny it if I told her, and then cast me out for lying. I knew he was right—Mrs. Cooper would never believe me. What could I do except submit?”

“And he got you with child,” Martha said.

“It’s funny. Once I was with child, I had proof of his sin, and he lost his power over me.”

“So you demanded money.”

“Richard thought it would be enough to open his own shop. He has relatives in Norfolk. We were going to go there.” She looked down at his body, and once again the tears began to flow. My heart softened, for I knew that her fate was sealed, and she would end her days at the stake.

“Why did you kill him?” I asked. “Why not just take the money?”

She turned to me with a puzzled look on her face. “He drove away Richard, he raped me, threatened me, got me with child … what would you have had me do? The last night he pulled me from my bed while I slept and raped me in the parlor. After he finished he sent me for a glass of milk. ‘I need to cool my blood,’ he said. We hadn’t planned to kill him until after the siege ended, but I had the poison at hand and could not stop myself. I chose to rise up against my master rather than serve him another day.”

“After you killed him, you stole the money and changed the lock,” I said.

She nodded. “We wanted to confuse things until the siege ended.” She looked down at Richard again. “And you ruined it. You ruined it.”

“Then you told Richard we were interested in Lorenzo Bacca.”

“When you said that you would never believe that Mrs. Cooper was guilty, we decided to help you find other suspects. I knew from your reaction when I told you about the Italian’s visit that you suspected him. Richard just led you where you wanted to go. If you’d chased him just a few more days, we would have escaped.”

“The constable will be here soon,” I said. “It is almost time to go.”

“Time to go?” Ellen whispered as if to herself. “Yes, I suppose it is.” Without warning, she seized a large brass pestle from the counter, and as a guttural cry roared from her throat, she swung it at my head. I took a step back, but the blow struck me on the cheek. A bright light flashed before me and I fell to the ground, dazed. “I’ll kill you, you bitch!” she screamed, and stepped toward me with murder in her eyes. “You ruined everything!” I watched the pestle begin its arc toward my head. As it reflected the afternoon sunlight, I could not help admiring its beauty. Just before the pestle would have ended my life, Martha hurled herself between us. I heard a sickening crack as the pestle struck her forearm. She cried out and fell against the counter. Ellen ignored Martha and took another step toward me, her face twisted in rage. She raised the pestle and swung. I rolled to the side and heard the dull thud of the pestle striking the floor next to my head.

As she prepared to strike again, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps and a man shout, “Stop!”

“Will!” I cried as he raced into the room, sword drawn.

For an instant, Will took his eyes off Ellen to look at me and nearly paid for his mistake with his life. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ellen swung the pestle at his head. Will stepped back, but not far enough, as the blow found its mark and sent him crashing to the ground. Ellen turned back to me, but I had already scrambled to my feet. I launched myself across the room, knocking her to the floor next to Richard’s corpse. I leapt up, found Will’s sword, and placed its tip on her throat. “Stay right there,” I said. “I don’t want any more blood on my hands today.” Ellen lay still for a few seconds and then turned to look into Richard’s face. Tears streamed from her eyes as she silently mourned her beloved.