The revelations on the identities of the bad guys were interesting, but the main motivation for all the bad doings was very unconvincing and weak. Heart thumping, he ducked into a patch of tall nettles and weeds at the side of the road, in the hope that his stillness and dark cloak would keep him hidden. In some parts of Europe the World War was followed by famine, disease, and hopelessness not incomparable to the conditions which prevailed in the Middle Ages. The Nurse finds Romeo, and he gives her a message for Juliet: meet me at Friar Lawrence’s cell this afternoon, and we will there be married.

Tybalt, still looking to punish Romeo for his appearance at the Capulets’ party, runs into Mercutio and Benvolio. All in all Bartholomew doesn’t really appear to do anything apart from being a pretty adept physician and manages to get himself in a few situations where the opposition could bump him off; unfortunately they don’t. The scene closes with an exchange of wordplay between Capulet’s servant Peter and Paris’s musicians.Camus’s death in a car crash on January 4, 1960, aged 44, adds poignancy to all he wrote, especially of the finitude, futility and powerlessness people feel when faced by life’s fragility and ‘absurdity’. The officials have lied to cover up the causes of these deaths which means Matthew must bury his dear friend John Babington in a field due to his "suicide". This may not make for comfortable reading for people of faith, but honesty accepts Camus’s critique. He peered carefully both ways, and, satisfied that there was no one to see him, he made his way stealthily down the street towards his home.

Some elements of Gregory's writing were reminiscent of Sansom's, even if I didn't feel quite the affection for Matthew Bartholomew as I did for Matthew Shardlake. The audience is informed that two young members of the families fall in love and the result is tragic, but that their death brings about reconciliation between the two families.John Wilkes famously responded to an insult in Parliament to the effect that he would die either "of the pox or on the gallows" by saying "That depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress. Friar Lawrence then says that Romeo may spend the night with Juliet and leave for exile in Mantua next morning. There are way too many names and lists and notes about fighting between students and townsfolk but I never really understood the reasons why in any sort of detail. After the body of Sir John Babington, Master of Michaelhouse, is found spinning on Cambridge’s millwheel, he is thought to have committed suicide.