"They call your name." Mayhew nodded to the crowd. "Your reputation has spread from those ridiculous pamphlets they sell outside Saint Paul's."

"It serves a purpose," Will replied.

"Would they be so full of admiration if those same pamphlets had called you assassin, murderer, corruptor, torturer, liar, and deceiver?" Mayhew's mockery was edged with bitterness.

"Words mean nothing and everything, Matthew. It is actions that count. And results."

"Ah, yes," Mayhew said. "The end results justify the means. The proverb that saves us all from damnation."

Will was troubled by Mayhew's dark mood, but he put it down to the shock of the spy's encounter with the Enemy. His attention was distracted by Walsingham, who, after listening intently to Leicester, summoned Will over. "We may have something," he said with an uncharacteristic urgency. "Accompany Leicester, and may God go with you."

At speed, Leicester, Will, and a small search party left the lights of the green. Rats fled their lantern by the score as they made their way into the dark, reeking streets to the north, some barely wide enough for two men abreast.

"On Lord Walsingham's orders, I attempted to seek the path the Enemy took from the Tower," Leicester said, as they followed the lead of the soldier Will had seen animatedly talking to Leicester. "They did not pass through the Traitors' Gate and back along the river, the route by which they gained access to the fortress. None of the City gates were disturbed, according to the watch. And so I dispatched the search parties to the north and west." He puffed out his chest, pleased with himself.

"You found their trail?"

"Perhaps. We shall see," he replied, but sounded confident.

In the dark, Will lost all sense of direction, but soon they came to a broader street guarded by four other soldiers, from what Will guessed was the original search party. They continually scanned the shadowed areas of the street with deep unease. Will understood why when he saw the three dead men on the frozen ruts, their bodies torn and broken.