Threads of Treason (6 page)

‘
Bishop Odon would not have sent us if there was nothing to find out,’ said Therese a little hopefully.

‘
We are not here to clear Prioress Ursula, we are here to uncover the plotters.’

‘
That may be the same thing,’ said Therese keeping watch on the little man, who was getting closer all the time. ‘Abbess, I think we ought to go.’

The Abbess looked up. ‘What do you mean?’

‘
Look.’ Therese pointed him out with a nod. Now she could see he was little more than a beggar from his dirty, ragged clothes and his nosiness was a rude and possibly treacherous interruption to their conversation.

Standing up the Abbess raised her hand and called out, ‘Halt, man.’

The man halted. Therese saw that he wore a bandage about his head.

‘
Come here,’ said the Abbess.

Therese wanted to slide behind the older woman, but resisted the urge, so that her body swayed one way and then the other.

‘
Stand still, Sister Therese,’ snapped Abbess Eleanor.

The man came over. Folds of empty skin shook against his bones telling of the number of lean times he’d survived.

‘
Are you spying on us, little man?’ asked the Abbess.

‘
I am,’ he said without remorse.

‘
What do you want to know?’ asked Abbess Eleanor.

‘
If you are from Archbishop Lanfranc or Bishop Odo?’

‘
Who wants to know?’ asked the Abbess, her gaze rising and turning to a disturbance of rubble behind them.

Therese turned too recalling the second set of movements she’d observed moments earlier. Her failure to warn Mother Abbess of such a danger struck her like a blow from a whip.

‘
I want to know who is your Lord,’ said another man in clear English. He walked towards them from an outcrop of ruins. He was barely any younger than the Abbess yet he was as straight in the back as she and built with the strength of a knight.

If the shadows in the ruins, so impossible to follow, were those of two men, could there be more? These men spoke English in the manner of natives, so could they be another Anglo-Saxon gang? From their words they were not thieves, but they could easily be traitors to King William’s crown. Already she and the Abbess were flanked on either side. Therese looked around for others, and, suddenly, she felt very Norman.

Chapter 4

Abbess Eleanor’s face brightened at the sight of her tall straight questioner, but this reaction was quickly followed by a hardening of her expression. Therese wondered why she should hide her liking for this man.

‘
Alfred,’ said the Abbess.

‘
Abbess,’ said the man dropping his head in recognition of her status.

His cloak was of good quality cloth although his leggings and shirt were plain and of a serviceable nature. The brooch holding the cloak was ornate with a dragon formed into a silver roundel. There were no jewels or gold on it. She placed his occupation as that of reeve or merchant – he was certainly not Norman. His hands were broad but not rough enough for him to be presently involved in agriculture.

‘
You spy on us as if you do not trust us, Alfred,’ said Abbess Eleanor. ‘You even use this little man as your agent.’

‘
I do not trust your master,’ said Alfred.

‘
But you do not know who that is,’ countered the Abbess.

‘
I trust you, Abbess. So I see that you are alone with your novice before I approach you. But still I need to know who you answer to.’

Abbess Eleanor’s face softened. ‘We all only have one true master, Alfred. I answer to Him.’

‘
My sister, Ursula…’

‘
I know about your sister, Alfred. I pray for her constantly.’

‘
No you don’t. You only know what has been said about her. None of it is true.’ Alfred frowned and caught Abbess Eleanor’s hand up in his. He looked at her ring and kissed it.

‘
It is not my ring of office,’ said the Abbess. Therese was amazed that her superior did not tell him the ring belonged to Bishop Odon. The older woman just gently lifted his hands from hers and asked Alfred, ‘Can you explain what has been going on at Saint Thomas’s?’

‘
Agid,’ he addressed the bent old man with the bandage about his head, ‘guard us from the rear.’ Turning to the Abbess he said, ‘I can take you to someone who can explain everything.’ Before any consent or otherwise could be given to this he turned and set off across the rubble. Abbess Eleanor followed.

‘
Is this not dangerous?’ Therese asked her.

‘
Extremely,’ said the Abbess producing one of her little shrugs, as if such things could be shrugged off.

Behind her Agid followed in her footsteps.

The kitchener at St Augustine’s Abbey was arguing with the cellarer about the number of chickens needed for a feast, so he waved Therese, Abbess Eleanor and Alfred through to the great hall. Agid though was too filthy even for his distracted eye. He barred the door with his burly body and sent him out with, ‘I’ve seen cleaner things come out of a midden.’

The Abbess accused Alfred with, ‘The gate keeper let you through with a nod and now you gain access to this place without question?’

‘
The abbey here has no notion that I am connected in any way to the scandal at St Thomas’s, most of which has been hushed up to protect the embroidery. The secrecy surrounding it is as great as any wall a mason could build.’

‘
You seem to know about it,’ said Abbess Eleanor sharply. ‘And these people show you exceptional trust.’ She looked directly into his eyes. Therese knew this look. The senior woman was testing his soul. It was as if she had an invisible probe that could check its purity. This look always made Therese uncomfortable but Alfred did not flinch.

‘
Much has changed since you saw me last. I was just a boy then. I am a freeman, Abbess. You know I hail from East Anglia, but I have already given my lands to the monastery at St Edmundsbury, in turn they will look after me in my old age. In the mean time I make my living by the wool trade. I buy Abbot Scotland’s fleeces and sell them on for carding and spinning.’

Therese was bursting with questions but she glanced at the Abbess and knew she must hold her counsel.

They took seats at an oak table and broth was brought to them in wooden bowls. Therese barely glanced at the woman stooped over her burden of hot liquid, but she noticed that Abbess Eleanor could barely keep her line of sight averted in the manner required by her position.

The servant sat down and pulled back the curtain of shawl she’d used to cover most of her face to reveal a woman well into middle age with pink translucent skin and deep, laughing blue eyes.

‘
Prioress Ursula!’ exclaimed Abbess Eleanor with surprise and pleasure.

‘
You are meant to be dead,’ said Therese.

‘
Hush,’ said Ursula. ‘And do not call me Prioress, for I no longer hold that position.’ They all hunched down and pulled closer to each other. She kept her voice low as she said, ‘There is treachery in every thread of that embroidery. I have had to hide myself against my accusers, here among those that are never noticed.’

‘
They say you are a traitor,’ said Abbess Eleanor as she looked about the room for any corners that might conceal snoopers, but they were alone and the doors were shut. These words did not sound like an accusation to Therese; it was more a statement of fact mixed with a question of validity. But she thought she knew the answer.

‘
You tried to stop the Impostor, didn’t you?’ she asked more loudly than she expected.

‘
I am not one of the treacherous ones. I have hidden away with the protection of my dear brother because I can trust no one.’ Ursula looked carefully at Therese. ‘You are right, Sister, I did try and stop her.’ Then she turned to Abbess Eleanor and asked: ‘Is she?’

‘
Yes,’ the Abbess replied. She said it with pride, but her pride was tinged with sadness when she added, ‘She’s the baby from Romney.’

‘
You’ve told her? Were you not forbidden to tell her?’ asked Ursula frowning.

‘
I have made a decision based on the changes in our circumstances. It became necessary to tell her for her own safety.’

‘
You too have come across danger?’

Abbess Eleanor clearly decided she’d said too much to her old friend and looked down at the broth. Therese used the pause in conversation to down the broth before her, again forgetting to wait for the blessing.

‘
Only Sister Agnes knows I am alive,’ said Ursula. ‘You have to believe me, I did try to stop the girl with the ink. I don’t know how she got the key to the room. I chased her up the little tower at the end of the corridor and the silly girl threw herself off the top, but she pulled me after her.’ Ursula shook her head. ‘The poor girl broke my fall, but I was as conscious of this world as a stone. Agnes told them all I was quite dead and had me sent to the infirmary. It was a blessing that one of our other Sisters had recently gone to her Maker under totally natural circumstances and my body was swapped for hers, while Agnes called for my brother. She is the only one there who knows I am alive.’ Ursula turned to Therese and added, ‘Your ward has grown into a beauty.’

‘
You do her no favours by flattering her,’ said the Abbess with a flash of temper. ‘Her face is but a shell, it is her heart and soul that count.’

‘
I only say what I see,’ returned Ursula.

The two women held each other’s gaze for a moment trying each to sum up the other’s honesty and integrity. Their faces broke into smiles and they hugged each other.

‘
Now tell me,’ said Ursula. ‘You must be here because of what happened at St Thomas’s?’

‘
I am,’ said Abbess Eleanor. ‘I have come to find out the truth about who is behind this act.’

‘
I have come to trust no one,’ Ursula repeated her earlier statement. ‘Not even Bishop Odo of Bayeux, nor Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. I do not know which way to turn, or what to do. But I will help you any way I can.’

‘
Have you learnt anything from the kitchen gossip?’ asked the Abbess.

‘
I have been listening to all that and watching the travellers as they come and go, but I have seen no hint or heard anything that could benefit you. I do not know who has been trying to destroy the work. No one has even come by looking for the dead girl. And to show how much is seen and heard, it was gossip in the kitchen here that told me you were up at Christ Church. And what is more I know you had difficulties there.’

Abbess Eleanor’s mouth dropped noticeably. ‘What do you know?’ she asked.

‘
I know that the Archbishop Lanfranc would not see you.’

‘
We were sent away,’ said Therese.

The Abbess straightened her back and spoke with authority: ‘I have to tell you Bishop Odon de Bayeux sent me.’

Therese noticed both Alfred and Ursula shudder in panic.

‘
Please do not tell him I’m here,’ said Ursula. ‘I hoped you were here under your own volition. My brother insisted you would have your orders.’

‘
I have my orders, Ursula, but they are to investigate this matter. If you are innocent of wrong doing you have nothing to fear, for God sees us and will judge us. I will keep your secret.’

‘
You are alarmed at how much someone can learn by watching and listening, Abbess?’ queried Ursula. ‘But that is the way to find out what you want to know. Let me guess why you went to Archbishop Lanfranc instead of going straight to St Thomas’s.’

Abbess Eleanor challenged her with her gaze.

‘
You,’ said Ursula slowly, ‘wanted to place a spy inside the priory without them knowing you were behind the new person.’

‘
You know me too well,’ complained Abbess Eleanor.

‘
It is what I would have done.’

‘
But why,’ asked the Abbess, ‘do you not trust our two mightiest bishops?’

‘
Archbishop Lanfranc sees Bishop Odo as a challenge to his authority. Bishop Odo is Earl of Kent, while the Archbishop’s bishopric is also part of the same area. Two powerful men, both men of the church, but they are so different in their views.’

Therese could see Abbess Eleanor go on the defensive as she gathered herself in. She said, ‘Bishop Odon was appointed as a young man in Normandy by his Duke long before William became your King. He is not a monk like Archbishop Lanfranc. He is a man of the secular world, but he is no worse for that.'

‘
I agree, of course. But power struggles can have many innocent victims.’ Ursula looked down at the bowls.

‘
Do you consider,’ asked Abbess Eleanor, ‘that the events at St Thomas’s are connected to such a struggle.’