Silent Court (30 page)

Marlowe had half turned to take the stairs, to begin his life all over again. He turned back. ‘To London,’ he said. ‘To see if, indeed, the streets are paved with gold.’

‘How will you live?’ Faunt asked.

Marlowe smiled and tapped his forehead. ‘By this,’ he said. ‘As always.’ And he clattered up the risers.

Faunt turned to the moonless Court. ‘Take care, then, Kit Marlowe,’ he said, half to himself. He walked out into the spring air and sniffed the breeze. There was always something new for Nicholas Faunt and his kind, and there was a hint of it now, blowing from the south. He looked up to where a candle was glowing in Marlowe’s rooms, clearly just a final stub in a chamber stick for him to see his way for one final time. He laughed quietly and turned on his heel. ‘Keep in touch, won’t you, Kit?’