serpents glinted in the trembling candlelight, so that their gaze seemed to be fastened upon the victim in the opposite chair, giving Raffe the uneasy impression that at any time they might dart forward and strike.
Ma Margot pushed a flagon of wine towards him and Raffe poured the dark ruby liquid into his goblet.
'You've come to see your little pigeon?'
Raffe started violently, spilling a few drops of the wine, and Ma Margot's lips twitched in a smile.
'Is she ... in good health?' Raffe said, avoiding the question.
Ma shrugged. 'Had a touch of milk fever the first week, but she's over that now. Strong girl, but then these field girls usually are. She works hard enough, I'll give her that. No! Don't fret yourself,' Ma raised a stubby hand to forestall the question he was about to ask, 'she's only been put to cleaning and the like, no customers, not till we knew what you had planned for her.'
Ma glanced slyly at him and, removing a long jewelled pin from her coiled black hair, began scraping at the dirt encrusted under her pointed nails.
'Thing is, I can't keep the girl here indefinitely if all she's to do is cleaning. I've women aplenty who are past their prime and don't get so many customers now, so they'll gladly do a bit of cleaning rather than be thrown out on the streets. They've served me loyally over the years and I'll not see them put out for a newcomer. This girl of yours, she'll have to start bringing some money in, and more than pennies at that. I'm taking a huge risk, hiding a fugitive here when Osborn's got a fat bounty on her head.'
Ma Margot pulled a wooden trencher towards her and stabbed her hairpin into the tiny carcass of a roasted songbird. She lifted it daintily to her lips. Her sharp teeth crunched through the bones as she devoured it whole.
'If any of my customers should recognize her . . .'
'Why should they?' Raffe demanded. 'She's never been out of her village before and the villagers who come here to market can't afford your prices.'
Ma smiled serenely at him and gestured at the food spread out between them. 'We give our customers what they want and they pay for it. There are plenty of cheap stews in Norwich where you can have a whore for the price of a beaker of ale, but you may end up with a few surprises you didn't pay for.'
Raffe knew it was true; whatever else you could say about Ma Margot's, no man ever got his purse stolen as he lay sleeping, or woke up to find himself being sold as a slave to the pirates.
Ma leaned back in her nest of serpents and regarded him shrewdly. 'So what will we do with her, Master Raffe? There's a number of customers have asked for her already, for she is quite striking with that red hair of hers. You know what some men say, flames on top mean there's a blazing fire below, and a few customers would pay good money to quench it for her.'
Raffe was on his feet in an instant. 'Shut your filthy mouth!' His hand shot out to grab Ma's throat, but he'd forgotten about the long gold pin in her hand. He yelped as the point was rammed with unerring accuracy into his palm.
'Manners, Master Raffe,' Ma said, watching with evident satisfaction as he sucked at the blood flowering in his hand. 'Here, sit down. Take more wine and some meats for your belly. All men act with too much haste when they're hungry.'
Still smarting with rage and pain, Raffe reluctantly resumed his seat, and Ma waited as he ripped the meat savagely from a roasted duck and stuffed it into his mouth. He continued to eat in stony silence until, finally replete, he pushed the trencher away.
'Now,' Ma said, 'let's talk business.'
Her tone was so calm and matter of fact, Raffe might have believed he'd imagined the violent exchange, if his hand hadn't still been throbbing from the pin stab.
You sent the girl here knowing what my business was, so you must have had your reasons, Master Raffe. For if her safety was all that concerned you, she'd be in Flanders by now, but that would have put her right out of your reach, wouldn't it?'
'That's not true. I thought of nothing else but her safety. That was precisely why I didn't attempt to send her abroad. We might have