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    The Heretic's Apprentice

    Page 25
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      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.

      9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8

      A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      ISBN (E) 9781784080662

     


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