The Merchant of Vengeance (Shakespeare & Smythe 4)

Antonia glanced at her and raised her eyebrows. "You are jealous!" she said. "And I do believe you disapprove of me."

"Not so much of you as of your behaviour," admitted Elizabeth, somewhat reluctantly.

"My behaviour," Antonia repeated. "Do you mean my behaviour as it regards my husband or my behaviour as it regards Tuck Smythe?"

"I do not know that there was anything in your behaviour as it regards Tuck Smythe that anyone could fault," Elizabeth replied. "Or was there?" She kicked herself mentally for that. It had sounded less like a question than an accusation. She felt exasperated. Why did she keep doing that? What on earth was the matter with her?

"I do not think that there was anything wrong in my behaviour toward him," Antonia replied. "But 'twould seem you are afraid there might have been. Or may yet be, more to the point. Is it because you suspect that I may have designs upon him?"

"Oh, Antonia, do not be ridiculous!" Elizabeth replied, sensing the telltale flush in her face even as she spoke. She wanted nothing more than to end this conversation. It was absolutely maddening.

"Ridiculous, am I?" Antonia replied. "Well, do you want to know what I think?" And she proceeded to tell her without waiting for a response. "I think that you like Tuck a great deal more than you truly care to admit. And though 'twould be the height of folly,

I dare say you may even love him. Nay, hear me out," she quickly added, raising her hand when she saw that Elizabeth was about to interrupt. 'There is much about Tuck to commend him to any woman, as you well know. He is strong and handsome, honest to a fault, amiable and agreeable and possessed of a good heart. But regrettably, he is also a player and poor as a church-mouse, which means that he would never be considered suitable, not by your father certainly and, if you have any sense at all, not by you, either.

So then where does that leave you? As far as I can see, it leaves you with but three choices. The first would be to realize that you could not have a future together, for your father would never agree to the match, which would mean that tile only sensible thing for you to do would be to forget all about Tuck and wait for the right sort of man to come along, one that could be acceptable to both you and your father. However, I have never known you to be particularly sensible, so I rather doubt that you would choose the sensible course."

"I see," Elizabeth replied dryly. "And what would be the second choice?"

'The second choice," Antonia continued, "would be the romantic one, in which you would throw all caution to the winds and defy your father, absconding with Tuck to some far-off place where the two of you could begin a new life together, with both of you as poor as church-mice and struggling to survive as best you could, hoping that you could somehow live on love. And while I do think that you have a romantic side, Elizabeth, I do not think it overshadows your practical nature, though it does tend to interfere with it somewhat. Aside from that, methinks that Tuck would never agree to such a plan, for 'twould place you at a decided disadvantage and take you away from the sort of life to which you have grown accustomed, not to mention that 'twould also take him away from the life of a player, which is what he has always wanted. You would both wind up unhappy, and you would only make one another miserable in the end."

"I suppose we would," Elizabeth agreed with a grimace. "And so what is the third choice?"

"The third choice is the practical alternative," Antonia replied. "And that is to take Tuck as a lover, indulge your passion, allow it to run its course, and then, when it is spent, get on with your own life and let him get on with his. And 'tis that choice which seems to me to be the best for you. If you think it over, and then discuss it plainly and honestly with Tuck, I suspect that in the end you will both see that I am right."

Elizabeth was not quite sure how to respond to that, but before she could gather her wits to respond in any way at all, the sound of running footsteps accompanied by an anguished, sobbing cry made them both look up to see Portia come running in through the stone, ivy-covered arbour entrance to the garden. They both jumped to their feet as Portia came running up to them, holding up her skirts so that she would not trip, her hair in disarray, her face wet with the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. She came rushing up to Elizabeth and threw her arms around her, sobbing into her shoulder.

" Portia !" Elizabeth exclaimed with concern, as she tried to comfort her. "Dear Heaven, Portia, "What has happened? What is wrong?"

"Oh, woe is me, for I am the most miserable girl who ever lived!" Portia wailed. "My life is over! My one chance for happiness has flown! Father has called the wedding off!"

"He called it off?" Antonia said. "But 'twas to take place within a fortnight! I thought that he approved of Thomas and gave all his blessings to the match! Whatever could have happened to make him change his mind and call it off?"

"A disaster has happened!" wailed Portia. "A most untimely, untoward, and unfair disaster! Father has discovered that Thomas's mother was a Jewess, and so that means that Thomas is himself a Jew! He has called off the wedding and has forbid

den me to see or ever speak with Thomas again! Oh, fie! Oh, unbid spite! I think that I shall die!" And with that she buried her head in Elizabeth's shoulder and started sobbing once again.

Antonia met Elizabeth's gaze and shook her head. "And you thought you had problems," she said wryly.

Chapter 3

The shop of Ben Dickens, the armourer, was one of the busiest in Cheapside. It was always full of hammering and clanging noises as the journeymen and apprentices worked at the forge and at the anvils on the heavy wooden trestle tables in the smoky room, bending and shaping metal into cuirasses and bucklers, leg harnesses and gauntlets, helms, visors and gorgets, elbow cops, and other pieces that made up heavy suits of armour, most of which, in all likelihood, would never see a real battle.

The advent of firearms had made the armoured, mounted knight all but obsolete, save for ceremonial tournaments largely staged for entertainment. And if a nobleman did not require a full suit of polished and elaborately engraved armour for competing in a tournament—although such tournaments were truly not so much competitions as exhibitions and parades—then he would most likely order one, or several perhaps, to stand in a conspicuous location in his home. There it would often become a part of an elaborate display of anus, including swords and shields, pikes and halberds, and maces and axes, all bejewelled or otherwise embellished and mounted on the walls, often over coats of arms, so that they might give ostentatious testimony to the noble aristocracy of their owner, who probably did not have the faintest idea how to employ any of them in combat.

Ben Dickens accepted all this philosophically. Unlike the vast majority of his customers, he had actually been to war and know from firsthand experience just what terrible damage such weapons could inflict. Consequently, he had no trouble will the fact that most of the weapons that he made were put primarily to passive, peaceful uses. Nevertheless, unlike some other armourers who did a brisk business in weapons that looked better than they functioned, Dickens prided himself on crafting weapons that could, if need be, serve their owners every bit as well upon the field of battle as they did upon the wall In some cases, they did, for while most of his clients were members of the aristocracy, more than a few were mercenaries or privateers. Though their weapons were generally plain and unembellished, they were no less well made for lacking ostentation.

As Tuck and Smythe came in, Dickens looked up, saw them, and waved. To one who did not know him, it would have been difficult to tell who the owner of the shop was, for Dickens looked as young as any of his journeymen. Tall, fit, and well formed, with chestnut hair and dark eyes, he was dressed simply in well-worn brown leather breeches and a matching doublet, over which he wore a leather apron. He spoke for a moment to several of his craftsmen, and then approached them with a smile, a very large and ornate war sword in his grasp.

"What do you think?" Dickens asked, holding up the two-handed great sword for Will and Tuck's examination.

"Well . 'tis very large," Shakespeare ventured uncertainly. Dickens sighed and shook his head. "What do you think, Tuck?"

"'Tis a very handsome sword, indeed," replied Smythe. "Too bad about the flaw."

"Hah? There, what did I tell you?" Dickens said triumphantly, turning back to several of his journeymen who were looking on. "Did I not say that he would see it straightaway?"

Shakespeare frowned. "What flaw?" he asked.