Then, as it drew towards evening, the soldiers went to wash in the cisterns and, noisier than in the morning, talking of their exploits or their defeats, they went back to the refectory to eat and drink once more. Anyone who was not drunk on the night of St Peter ad Vincula earned the contempt of his comrades. The prisoner could hear them getting down to the wine. Dusk fell over the courtyard, the blue dusk of a summer’s evening, and the stench of mud from the river-bank became perceptible once again.
Suddenly a long, fierce, hoarse croaking, the sort of animal cry that makes men uneasy, rent the air from beyond the window.
‘What’s that?’ the old Lord of Chirk asked from the far end of the dungeon.
‘I missed him,’ his nephew said; ‘I got him by the wing instead of the neck.’
In the uncertain evening light he gazed sadly at the few black feathers in his hand. The raven had disappeared and would not now come back again.
‘It’s mere childish folly to attach any importance to it,’ the younger Mortimer thought. ‘And it’s nearly time now.’ But he had an unhappy sense of foreboding.
But his mind was diverted from the omen by the extraordinary silence that had fallen over the Tower during the last few minutes. There was no more noise from the refectory; the voices of the drinkers had been stilled in their throats; the clatter of plates and pitchers had ceased. There was nothing but the sound of a dog barking somewhere in the garden, and the distant cry of a waterman on the Thames. Had Alspaye’s plot been discovered? Was the silence lying over the fortress due to a shock of amazement at the discovery of a great betrayal? His forehead to the window bars, the prisoner held his breath and stared out into the shadows, listening for the slightest sound. An archer reeled across the courtyard, vomited against a wall, collapsed on to the ground and lay still. Mortimer could see him lying motionless on the grass. The first stars were already appearing in the sky. It would be a clear night.
Two more soldiers came out of the refectory holding their stomachs, and collapsed at the foot of a tree. This could be no ordinary drunkenness that bowled men over like a blow from a club.
Roger Mortimer went to the other end of the dungeon; he knew exactly where his boots stood in a corner and put them on; they slipped on easily enough for his legs had grown thin.
‘What are you doing, Roger?’ the elder Mortimer asked.
‘I’m getting ready, Uncle; it’s almost time. Our friend Alspaye seems to have played his part well; the Tower might be dead.’
‘And they haven’t brought us our second meal,’ the old Lord complained anxiously.
Roger Mortimer tucked his shirt into his breeches and buckled his belt about his military tunic. His clothes were worn and ragged, for they had refused his requests for new ones for the past eighteen months. He was still wearing those in which he had fought and they had taken him, removing his dented armour. His lower lip had been wounded by a blow on the chin-piece.
‘If you succeed, I shall be left all alone, and they’ll revenge themselves on me,’ his uncle said.
There was a good deal of selfishness in the old man’s vain obstinacy in trying to dissuade his nephew from escaping.
‘Listen, Uncle, they’re coming,’ the younger Mortimer said, his voice curt and authoritative. ‘You must get up now.’
There were footsteps approaching the door, sounding on the flagstones. A voice called: ‘My lord!’
‘Is that you, Alspaye?’ Mortimer asked.
‘Yes, my lord, but I haven’t got the key. Your turnkey’s so drunk, he’s lost the bunch. In his present condition, it’s impossible to get any sense out of him. I’ve searched everywhere.’
There was a sniggering laugh from the uncle’s pallet.
The younger Mortimer swore in his disappointment. Was Alspaye lying? Had he taken fright at the last moment? But why had he come at all, in that case? Or was it merely one of those absurd mischances such as the prisoner had been trying to foresee all day, and which was now presenting itself in this guise?
‘I assure you everything’s ready, my lord,’ went on Alspaye. ‘The Bishop’s powder we put in the wine has worked wonders. They were very drunk already and noticed nothing. And now they’re sleeping the sleep of the dead. The ropes are ready, the boat’s waiting for you. But I can’t find the key.’
‘How long have we got?’
‘The sentries are unlikely to grow anxious for half an hour or so. They feasted too before going on guard.’
‘Who’s with you?’
‘Ogle.’
‘Send him for a sledgehammer, a chisel and a crowbar, and take the stone out.’
‘I’ll go with him, and come back at once.’
The two men went off. Roger Mortimer measured the time by the beating of his heart. Was he to fail because of a lost key? It needed only a sentry to abandon his post on some pretext or other and the chance would be gone. Even the old Lord was silent. Mortimer could hear his irregular breathing from the other side of the dungeon.
Soon a ray of light filtered under the door. Alspaye was back with the barber, who was carrying a candle and the tools. They set to work on the stone in the wall into which the bolt of the lock was sunk some two inches. They did their best to muffle their hammering; but, even so, it seemed to them that the noise echoed through the whole Tower. Slivers of stone fell to the ground. At last, the lock gave way and the door opened.
‘Be quick, my lord,’ Alspaye said.
His face glowed pink in the light of the candle and was dripping with sweat; his hands were trembling.
Roger Mortimer went to his uncle and bent over him.
‘No, go alone, my boy,’ said the old man. ‘You must escape. May God protect you. And don’t hold it against me that I’m old.’
The elder Mortimer drew his nephew to him by the sleeve, and traced the sign of the Cross on his forehead with his thumb.
‘Avenge us, Roger,’ he murmured.
Roger Mortimer bowed his head and left the dungeon.
‘Which way do we go?’ he asked.
‘By the kitchens,’ Alspaye replied.
The Lieutenant, the barber and the prisoner went up a few stairs, along a passage and through several dark rooms.
‘Are you armed, Alspaye?’ Roger Mortimer whispered suddenly.
‘I’ve got my dagger.’
‘There’s a man there!’
There was a shadow against the wall; Mortimer had seen it first. The barber concealed the weak flame of the candle behind the palm of his hand. The Lieutenant drew his dagger. They moved slowly forward.
The man was standing quite still in the shadows. His
