by Ellis Peters
Roger de Clinton, himself a man of decision, recognised as strong a resolution confronting him and, moreover, respected and approved it. But in conscience he reminded her considerately: ‘The pilgrim who brought it half across the world, and sent it to you as a dowry, he also has a right to have his wishes honoured. And his wish was that this gift should be yours – no one’s else.’
She acknowledged it with an inclination of her head, very seriously. ‘But having given it, and made it mine, he would have held that it was mine, to give again if I pleased, and would never have grudged it. Especially,’ said Fortunata firmly, ‘to you and the Church.’
‘But also he wished his gift to be used to ensure you a good marriage and a happy life,’ said the bishop.
She looked back at him steadily and earnestly, with Elave’s hand in hers, and Elave’s face at her shoulder matching the look. ‘That it has already done,’ said Fortunata. ‘The best of what he sent me I am keeping.’
*
By mid-afternoon they were all gone. Bishop de Clinton and his deacon, Serlo, were on their way back to Coventry, where one of Roger’s predecessors in office had transferred the chief seat of his diocese, though it was still more often referred to as Lichfield than as Coventry, and both churches considered themselves as having cathedral status. Elave and Fortunata had returned together to the distracted household by Saint Alkmund’s church, where now the body of the slayer lay on the same trestle bier in the same outhouse where his victim had lain, and Girard, who had buried Aldwin, must now prepare to bury Jevan. The great holes torn in the fabric of a close-knit household would gradually close and heal, but it would take time. Doubtless the women would pray just as earnestly for both the slayer and the slain.
With the bishop, carefully and reverently packed in his saddle-roll, went Princess Theofanu’s psalter. How it had ever made its way back to the east, to some small monastery beyond Edessa, no one would ever know, and some day, perhaps two hundred years on, someone would marvel how it had travelled from Edessa to the library of Coventry, and that would also remain a mystery. Books are more durable than their authors, but at least the Irish monk Diarmaid had secured his own immortality.
Even the guest-hall was almost empty. The festival was over, and those who had lingered for a few days more were now finishing whatever business they had in Shrewsbury, and packing up to leave. The midsummer lull between Saint Winifred’s translation and Saint Peter’s fair provided convenient time for harvesting the abbey cornfields, beyond the vegetable gardens of the Gaye, where ears were already whitening towards ripeness. The seasons kept their even pace. Only men came and went, acted and refrained, untimely.
Brother Winfrid, content in his labours, was clipping the overgrown hedge of box, and whistling as he worked. Cadfael and Hugh sat silent and reflective on the bench against the north wall of the herb-garden, grown a little somnolent in the sun, and the lovely languor that comes after stress has spent itself. The colours of the roses in the distant beds became the colours of Diarmaid’s rippling borders, and the white butterfly on the dim blue flower of fennel was changed into a little ship on an ocean no bigger than a pearl.
‘I must go,’ said Hugh for the third time, but made no move to go.
‘I hope,’ said Cadfael at last, stirring with a sigh, ‘we have heard the last of the word heresy. If we must have episcopal visitations, may they all turn out as well. With another man it might have ended in anathema.’ And he asked thoughtfully: ‘Was she foolish to part with it? I have it in my eyes still. Almost I can imagine a man coveting it to death, his own or another’s. The very colours could burn into the heart.’
‘No,’ said Hugh, ‘she was not foolish, but very wise. How could she have ever have sold it? Who could pay for such a thing, short of kings? No, in enriching the diocese she enriches herself.’
‘For that matter,’ said Cadfael, after a long, contented silence, ‘he did pay her a fair price for it. He gave Elave back to her, free and approved. I wouldn’t say but she may have got the better of the bargain, after all.’
Glossary of Terms
Alltud
A foreigner living in Wales
Arbalest
A crossbow that enables the bow to be drawn with a winding handle
Baldric
A sword-belt crossing the chest from shoulder to hip.
Bannerole
A thin ribbon attached to a lance tip
Bodice
The supportive upper area of a woman’s dress, sometimes a separate item of clothing worn over a blouse
Brychan
A woollen blanket
Caltrop
A small iron weapon consisting four spikes. Set on the ground and used against horses and infantry
Capuchon
A cowl-like hood
Cariad
Welsh for ‘beloved’
Cassock
A long garment of the clergy
Castellan
The ruler of a castle
Chatelaine
The lady of a manor house
Chausses
Male hose
Coif
The cap worn under a nun’s veil
Conversus
A man who joins the monkhood after living in the outside world
Cottar
A Villein who is leased a cottage in exchange for their work
Cotte
A full- or knee-length coat. Length is determined by the class of the wearer
Croft
Land used as pasture that abuts a house
Currier
A horse comb used for grooming
Demesne
The land retained by a lord for his own use
Diocese
The district attached to a cathedral
Dortoir
Dormitory (monastic)
Electuary
Medicinal powder mixed with honey. Taken by mouth
Eremite
A religious hermit
Espringale
Armament akin to a large crossbow
Frater
Dining room (monastic)
Garderobe
A shaft cut into a building wall used as a lavatory
Garth
A grass quadrangle within the cloisters (monastic)
Geneth
Welsh for ‘girl’
Gentle
A person of honourable family
Glebe
An area of land attached to a clerical office
Grange
The lands and buildings of a monastery farm
Groat
A small coin
Gruel
Thin porridge
Guild
A trade association
Gyve
An iron shackle
Hauberk
A chainmail coat to defend the neck and shoulders
Helm
A helmet
Horarium
The monastic timetable, divided into canonical hours, or offices, of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline
Husbandman
A tenant farmer
Jess
A short strap attached to a hawk’s leg when practising falconry
Largesse
Money or gifts, bestowed by a patron to mark an occasion
Leat (Leet)
A man-made waterway
Litany
Call and response prayer recited by clergyman and congregation
Llys
The timber-built royal court of Welsh princes
Lodestar
A star that acts as a fixed navigational point, i.e. the Pole Star
Lodestone
Magnetised ore
Lye
A solution used for washing and cleaning
Mandora
A stringed instrument, precursor to the mandolin
Mangonel
Armament used for hurling missiles
Marl
Soil of clay and li
me, used as a fertiliser
Messuage
A house (rented) with land and out-buildings
Midden
Dung-heap
Missal
The prayer book detailing Mass services throughout the calendar
Moneyer
Coin minter
Mountebank
Trickster or entertainer
Mummer
An actor or player in a mime or masque
Murage
A tax levied to pay for civic repairs
Murrain
An infectious disease of livestock
Myrmidon
A faithful servant
Nacre
Mother-of-pearl
Oblatus
A monk placed in the monastery at a young age
Orts
Food scraps
Ostler
Horse handler
Palfrey
A horse saddled for a woman
Pallet
A narrow wooden bed or thin straw mattress
Palliative
A pain-killer
Pannikin
A metal cup or saucepan
Parfytours
Hounds used in hunting
Parole
The bond of a prisoner upon release from captivity
Patten
A wooden sandal
Pavage
A tax levied for street paving
Penteulu
A Welsh rank: captain of the royal guard
Pommel
The upward point on the front of a saddle
Poniard
A dagger
Prelate
A high-ranking member of the church (i.e. abbot or bishop)
Prie-Dieu
A kneeling desk used in prayer
Pyx
A small box or casket used to hold consecrated bread for Mass
Quintain
A target mounted on a post used for tilting practice
Rebec
A three string instrument, played using a bow
Rheum
Watery discharge of nose or eyes
Saeson
An Englishman
Scabbard
A sword or dagger sheath
Sconce
A bracket for candle or torch set on a wall
Sheepfold
A sheep pen
Shriven
Having received confession
Shut
An alley between streets
Skiff
A rowing boat for use in shallow waters
Sow
The structure protecting the men wielding a battering ram
Springe
A noose set as snare for small animals
Stoup
Drinking vessel
Sumpter
Pack-horse
Synod
A council or assembly of church officials presided over by the bishopry
Tallow
Fat used in candle or soap manufacture
Timbrel
A tambourine-like instrument
Tithe
A tax levied against labour and land and used to support the clergy
Torsin
Alarm bell
Toper
Drunkard
Touchstone
A heavy black stone used to test the quality of gold or silver
Trencher
A wooden platter
Troche
Medicinal lozenge
Uchelwr
A Welsh nobleman
Vassal
Tenant of a plot of land leased by and under the protection of a lord
Villein
Serf or tenant bound to a lord
Virelai
A French song form that usually has three stanzas and a refrain. It is one of the three formes fixes (the others being the ballade and the rondeau)
Vittles
Food and provisions
Votary
A person who vows to obey a certain code, usually religious
Wattle
Building material consisting of interwoven sticks, twigs and branches
Wicket
Small door or gate within or adjacent to a larger door
Wimple
Linen or silk cloth a woman would fold round her head and wrap under her chin
Yeoman
A freeman, usually a farmer, below the status of gentleman
A Guide to Welsh Pronunciation
ae
As in chwaer (sister), like the y in sky, never the ae in Caesar.
c
As in cael (have), like the c in cat, never the c in city.
ch
As in chwech (six), like the ch in Scottish loch.
dd
As in Caerdydd (Cardiff), like the th in then, never the th in throw.
f
As in fioled (violet), like the v in violin.
ff
As in coffi (coffee), like the f in friend.
g
As in glaw (rain), like the g in crag, never the g in gene.
ll
As in llaeth (milk), like saying an h and l simultaneously. Made by putting your tongue in the position of l and then blowing out air gently.
r
As in carreg (stone), should be trilled and always pronounced, never dropped.
rh
As in rhain (these), should be trilled with aspiration. Like saying an h and r simultaneously.
s
As in sant (saint), like the s in sound, never the s in laser.
th
As in fyth (never), like the th in think, never the th in those.
w
As in gwin (wine), like the oo in book.
y
As in wy (egg), like uh in above
About The Author
ELLIS PETERS (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, (1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television.
She was born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), where her father was a clerk at a local ironworks. She was educated at Dawley Church of England School and the old Coalbrookdale High School for Girls. She had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) are set in Wales and its borderlands, and/or have Welsh protagonists.
During World War II, Pargeter worked in an administrative role in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the “Wrens”)—and reached the rank of petty officer. On 1 January 1944 she was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM).
In 1947 Pargeter visited Czechoslovakia and became fascinated by the Czech language and culture. She became fluent in Czech and published award-winning translations of Czech poetry and prose into English.
She devoted the rest of her life to writing, both nonfiction and well-researched fiction. She never attended college but became a self-taught scholar in areas that interested her, especially Shropshire and Wales. She was, however, awarded an honorary masters degree by Birmingham University.
Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote crime stories. The Brother Cadfael Chronicles drew international attention to Shrewsbury and its history, and greatly increased tourism to the town.
Since the publication of the first of The Cadfael Chronicles (A Morbid Taste for Bones) in 1977, Brother Cadfael has become one of the most well-known and well-loved sleuths of crime fiction.
In 1994, she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. Pargeter died at her home in Madeley, Shropshire in 1995 at the age of 82. In Shrewsbury Abbey, a stained glass window depicting St Benedict is dedicated to her memory.
First published in Great Britain in 1989 by Headline Book Publishing plc
This eBook edition first published in the UK in 2014
Copyright © Ellis Peters, 1989
Author photo by Talbot Whiteman
The moral right of Ellis Peters to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781784080662