慞erhaps,?says Ruth. She needs to think of an excuse, but she can hardly say that she抯 out that evening. She抯 not keen on quizzes at the best of times and doesn抰 fancy the idea of listening to the English department one-upping each other on Shakespeare quotations. Still, it reminds her of the purpose of her call.
慠ichard Lovelace,?says Shona. 慔e was one of those Cava璴ier poets.?
For a moment Ruth thinks Shona means 慶avalier?in the sense of being offhand, but then she realises that Lovelace must have been writing at the time of the English Civil War between the Parliamentarians （Roundheads） and Royalists （Cavaliers）。 Ruth is a bit vague on the detail but she knows that King抯 Lynn was besieged first by the Royalists and then by the Parliamentarians, led by the Earl of Manchester who always sounds made-up. Who was it that called the Parliamentarians 憆ight but repulsive? She questions Shona, who laughs.
慣hat抯 from 1066 and All That. The Royalists were 搘rong but romantic? That抯 pretty much how I see the two sides. Lovelace was a Royalist, imprisoned by the Parliamentarians. Why are you interested in him? He抯 a minor poet, really.?
Ruth knows that Shona has her own literary hierarchy, headed by Sylvia Plath and Shakespeare. Other dead white men are near the bottom.
慜ne of my students quoted something by him,?says Ruth, which is more or less true. 憮Stone walls do not a prison make. Nor iron bars a cage.敀
慣hat抯 probably Lovelace抯 most famous poem,?says Shona. 憮To Althea, from Prison? I抣l email you a copy if you like.?
慖t抯 not that obscure then??
慓od no. You can probably get it on a mug or embroidered on a cushion.?
慏id he die in prison??asks Ruth. 慦as he executed??
慜h no,?says Shona. 慔e lived to fight another day.?
Ruth feels oddly comforted by this. They chat for a few more minutes before Ruth rings off, promising to think about the quiz.
Kate has gone back to her Lego so Ruth goes into the kitchen to ring Janet Meadows. She opens the back door and looks out into the garden. Once again, the small patch of green is extremely soothing. She can hear Zoe talking to Derek in her garden. A blackbird sings loudly from the apple tree.
Janet, too, seems pleased to hear from her.
慖抦 already fed up with lockdown. There抯 only so much yoga and baking you can do.?
Ruth remembers that she included yeast and bread flour in her mammoth shop on Tuesday. Had she really been intending to bake bread? Things aren抰 that desperate yet. But then it抯 only been a week.
慖 wanted to talk to you about one of my students,?says Ruth. 慗oe McMahon. He was the one who came to see you about the Tombland skeleton.?
慖 remember. Chap with a beard.?
慣hat抯 right. I just wondered if you remembered anything specific about the conversation.?
Janet must wonder why she抯 asking but, unlike Shona, she doesn抰 press the matter.
慔e wanted to know why a skeleton would be buried on its own like that. He thought it might mean that she was an outcast. Or a suicide.?
Eileen had said something similar, Ruth remembers.
慖 don抰 think it was a deviant burial,?says Ruth. 慣he body was wrapped in a shroud and was probably just interred in the graveyard. I told the students that.?
慔e was quite intense,?says Janet. 慔e told me that his mother had died recently. I felt quite sorry for him. Actually, hope this doesn抰 make you feel old, but he said he thought of you as a mother figure.?
Old isn抰 what this makes Ruth feel.
慖 showed Joe the original plans to Augustine Steward抯 House,?says Janet. 慔e seemed very interested. He said he was thinking of writing his dissertation about Tombland.?
慔e抯 only a first year,?says Ruth. 慖t抯 a bit early to be thinking of dissertations.?