drive her point further, she said, 'Remember, me boy, your father and I did nay always live in a 'ouse like this.'
John looked around at the room. His father had often reminded him of the same. 'You are right, mum. I will be more patient.'
Thinking it best to change the subject, his mother said, 'Agnes is in towne. Per'aps you shuld pay 'er a visit.'
John walked back to the fireplace and sat in a chair near his mother. 'Agnes is a luvly girl, mum, boot I do nay believe that she wuld care to see me.'
'You shuld pay 'er a visit regardless. I do nay believe that you are so wise on the subject as you fancy yourself to be, me luv.'
'Where 'as she been this time?'
'She 'as been with 'er kinfolk in Suffolk. She was gone for two munths and returned Wednesdee last,' replied his mother.
Agnes was the only child of one of the other wealthy wool merchants in Stamford. John's father and mother had often spoken of her and the opportunity that a marriage between she and John would present. Joining the enterprises of the two families was a desire shared by John's father and Agnes's father alike. John had nothing against Agnes, but between his schooling and business affairs and her travels, they had seen little of each other in recent years.
'I will nay promise to see 'er soon,' said John. 'Boot, I will try before I leave again.'
'I 'ave accepted an invitation for both of us to a part'y at their 'ouse on Sat'urdee,' said his mother. 'So, I do dare say that you will be seeing 'er soon.'
John had stood and was walking out of the room and said as he was leaving, 'A part'y? You know 'ow much I just luv part'ies, mum.' He turned and smiled at her before he left the room and added, 'Aye, per'aps Agnes will make the part'y bearable.'
The next day, John was in Stamford before noon and sought out the sheriff as promised. Being alderman took more time than he desired, but he was glad to have authority that came with the office. Better him, he reasoned, than to trust it to others. There were two other alderman in Stamford, but the others had been away at the same time that John was away.
When he arrived at the courthouse, he had the sheriff fetch the prisoner. An alderman could decide on small cases alone; more serious cases required that all alderman be present.
'Whot is your name,' John asked the prisoner.
'Me name is Liam, me Lord,' replied the prisoner.
John could smell the prisoner even though there was ten feet between them. The prisoner also had few teeth and his clothes were not much more than rags. John covered his mouth and nose with a cloth.
'Where are you from?'
'I am from Easton-on-the-'ill, me Lord.'
'Aye, Easton-on-the-'ill. I 'ave been there.' John tried to remember the last time that he had been at Easton-on-the-hill and realized that it had been a very long time. Despite the fact that he passed near it every time that he headed south, he had never stopped. He really had no reason to stop.
'Do the Easton's still live there?' John asked.
'No longer, me Lord. Lind and Gleda are deed.'
''ow so,' asked John.
'Lind of an accident and Gleda of fever. Both deed several years ago, me Lord.'
'Terrible thing, that business with their older sone,' John said and for a moment he forgot the business at hand and instead thought about the tragic death of Bromley. 'Whot was 'is name again?'
'Bromley, me Lord,' replied the prisoner.
'Aye, Bromley. Terrible thing that. And whot was the other sone's name? Oh aye, it was nay Richard?' asked John.
'Aye, me Lord.'
'And is Richard nay living in Easton-on-the-'ill then?' asked John.
'Nay, 'e 'as nay been seen 'ere for many years, me Lord.'
''e married Bromley's widow, did 'e nay?' asked John.
'Aye, 'e did, me Lord.'
'And is there no Easton's living at Easton-on-the-'ill then?' asked John in surprise.
'Only the yungest. A daught'er and 'er 'usband.'
Those days seemed so long ago to John and a world away, almost as if they didn't occur. John had been away at the time of Bromley's death and he hadn't seen Richard since they were boys. 'I do nay believe that I wuld know Richard if I saw 'im,' he thought to himself.
The prisoner coughed and it brought John's thoughts back to the matters at hand.