فصل 54

CHAPTER 54

A MINOR MISHAP

REVILE’S MEN WAITED until after the three swords had been polished, so that the counterfeit would not be subject to close scrutiny. Acting as the King’s official representatives, they solemnly observed as the Crown Jeweler and his staff worked on the swords in a subterranean room in the tower of London’s Jewel House. When the work was done, they joined the procession of Yeoman Warders, or “Beefeaters,” transporting the swords back upstairs to their secure cases. Two of Revile’s men—a small man, and a tall man who walked a bit stiffly—went in front of the Beefeater who was carrying Curtana. The third man fell in behind.

The procession entered a long, narrow hallway. The Beefeaters’ mood was serious, but not tense. The last place they expected trouble was here, in the bowels of the best-guarded building in the Tower complex.

Halfway down the tunnel, the short man in front of the Beefeater holding Curtana stumbled, or so it appeared. What happened next took place so quickly that it would have taken the eyes of a career pickpocket—which is precisely what Revile’s men were—to follow it. The short man fell to the floor, sprawling in such a way that he took out the feet from under the Beefeater. The Beefeater fell forward hard, his body obeying the defensive instinct to break his fall by thrusting out his hands—and losing his grip on the sword. Both the Beefeater and Curtana were deftly caught by the tall man in front, who righted the Beefeater and, with a flourish, handed him the counterfeit sword he had been concealing in a special sheath inside his coat—a sheath that now held Curtana.

The men ahead in line didn’t see any of this; they were facing forward. The view of the men behind was blocked by the third man in Revile’s team. Everyone quickly concluded that it had been a minor mishap; the important thing was that the sword had not been dropped. The procession continued on its way, and in ten minutes, the swords were back in their cases.

A few minutes later, the king’s three observers were leaving the Tower. The tall one was still walking a bit stiffly.