Threads of Treason (14 page)

‘
She doesn’t mind us chatting as long as we get on with our work,’ she said. ‘I think she and Sister Aelfgyth like to talk too. Anyway we’re far enough away from anybody not to be heard.’

The garden was located behind the dorter, chapter house and infirmary. At the southern end there was a large barn with doors that stood open to air the building after the long winter. She could just see that the doors were open on the other side of the barn. Where the garden was not enclosed by buildings there was a high stone wall. Fat doves sat sunning themselves in the small arches of the dovecot in front of the barn.

The two older nuns were clearly talking as they went down the garden towards the barn with the tall Sister Winifred stooped over the much shorter Sister Aelfgyth.

‘
I’ve given up minding about not being allowed to work in the sewing room,’ said Leofgyth. ‘I’m proud of the work I’ve already done on the other panels.’

‘
We nuns aren’t allowed to be proud,’ said Therese. ‘It is a sin.’ She drew her hoe back and pushed it forward over the dry soil.

‘
They are all proud,’ said Leofgyth waving her hand as if showing Therese the whole world.

‘
Who?’ asked Therese.

‘
The Bishops and Priests, the Abbots, the Priors, the Prioresses et al. A humble churchman? I’ve not found one. And why should they be? In a country where every other year there is famine they always have enough to eat. They have power over the laity, which they use and say it is in the name of God. It has nothing to do with God.’

‘
But the monasteries look after the sick and the poor,’ Therese pointed out.

‘
And this place makes expensive embroideries for a conqueror.’

‘
You cannot be proud of your work, but angry that it is done.’ Therese stopped work and leaned on her hoe.

‘
Perhaps you are right,’ said Leofgyth, ‘but it’s the way I feel.’

‘
Do the others feel as you do?’

‘
I don’t know. Sister Hilda is always tight-lipped, but since Prioress Ursula died she has been given a lot of responsibilities that used to be Sister Winifred’s.’

‘
Is Sister Winifred suspected of being involved with what happened? Is that why she’s been put on gardening duties?’ Therese looked at her companion. She had hardly noticed the change in the conversation from the general to the specific information she was seeking. She started hoeing again, before she attracted attention to herself.

‘
I don’t think so,’ replied Leofgyth. ‘Sister Aelfgyth said it was for her health. She’d worked so hard on the sewing her eyes were sore.’

‘
So why has Sister Hilda been promoted, then?’

‘
That’s what we’d like to know. I suspect she comes from a good family with influence. They’ve probably endowed the priory with funds. That’s the usual reason.’ Leofgyth stopped and leaned on her hoe and stared at Therese. Therese kept hoeing and Leofgyth returned to it when they saw Sister Aelfgyth straighten up and look at them.

‘
What do you know of the others?’ asked Therese. It was normal enough to want to know about your new community. Surely, Leofgyth would not think the enquiry strange?

The young nun launched into the subject with vigour: ‘Mabel and Maude are sisters by birth, twins in fact, but not identical. They’re loyal to each other and inseparable. They barely communicate with the rest of us.’ Leofgyth was flushed with the pleasure of telling the new girl all.

They finished hoeing their rows and started on the next two.

‘
And Sister Sybil?’ asked Therese.

‘
She’s all right, I suppose. She’s another one from old Anglo-Saxon aristocracy. The families sent their daughters to the church so they wouldn’t have to marry Normans.’ Leofgyth looked up from her hoeing. ‘No disrespect intended.’

Therese nodded, but said nothing of her own Anglo-Saxon origins.

‘
Anyway,’ continued Leofgyth, ‘her family lost their lands to the Normans so they’ve lost their influence.’

‘
And Sister Beatrice?’

Leofgyth smiled. ‘She’s beautiful inside and out. She’s our guardian angel on Earth. She has patience and kindness beyond that which is human. We all love her. She is so easy to love.’

‘
So,’ said Therese, as casually as she could, ‘who was in the sewing room the day Prioress Ursula died?’

‘
You know of that?’

‘
Everyone knows of it.’

Leofgyth accepted this with a nod. ‘I was there. It was my turn to help by threading needles and the like. Prioress Ursula was keen to get the work finished so Sisters Winifred and Aelfgyth were working on one end with Sisters Sybil and Hilda on the other. Sister Ethelburga and Prioress Ursula worked the middle section. Sister Beatrice was in the infirmary with a cold and the twins were over-seeing the servants feeding and cleaning the animals over-wintering in the barn.’ Leofgyth paused for breath and her face changed. She clearly remembered Prioress Ethelburga’s warning against talking to Therese about the sewing room. ‘Anyway,’ she added, ‘that all happened before you came here, so why do you need to know all that?’

‘
Just curiosity,’ said Therese. Her hoe barely paused.

‘
I can get into trouble for telling you.’

‘
I won’t tell on you, if you don’t tell on me,’ said Therese. She fixed Leofgyth with an earnest gaze. Leofgyth was just like Sister Miriam at home. She would prefer to keep an indiscretion a secret than have to proceed with a burdensome penance.

‘
Hmm,’ said Leofgyth in reluctant agreement. ‘It’s time to take a short break. We normally sit by the barn.’

The sheep and cattle had left the barn for the pastures around the priory and only the odd wisp of winter hay and straw remained. Sister Aelfgyth was gathering eggs from the dove-cot. The other two sat on the ground and leaned against the barn wall. It was shady and sheltered. The women relaxed and Therese joined them.

Resting was easy, but she thought she might not be able to rise at the end of the break. This is where Sisters Mabel and Maude had been the day of the incident in the sewing room. Therese looked up towards the priory. They would have seen nothing of the events that day. Their view of the tower was blocked by the chapter house, infirmary and dorter. Her eyes closed. ‘Just a few moments,’ she muttered as she felt herself slip away into slumber.

‘
Wake up, Sister Therese. You must wake up!’ Leofgyth’s voice was a penetrating shriek. Therese stirred and stared at her waker.

Chapter 11

Eleanor stopped her pony at the gate of Dover castle. Her small retinue of a guard and a servant from St Augustine’s had stayed with her overnight just outside Dover in modest lodgings. She hadn’t wanted the scrutiny that would accompany an evening at Dover Castle.

And the castle guard was looking at her now. She announced with quiet authority who she was and that she was here to see the Earl of Kent, Bishop Odon de Bayeux. She was clearly expected as they readily let her in. As her pony carefully brought his rider to the yard in front of the castle keep she realised how difficult it would be to plead for Alfred. He was an old friend as was Ursula. Whatever she said she would be betraying a trust to her Bishop. Nevertheless, she decided that if the opportunity arose she would try. A house guard accompanied her up the steps of the keep and opened the Bishop’s door for her.

He was by the window looking down into the courtyard. ‘How is my little Therese?’ he asked.

‘
Well, Your Grace.’

‘
She isn’t with you? I thought she would come too.’

Eleanor felt sweat break out on her brow. ‘I have left her in a priory near Canterbury, Your Grace.’

‘
Not St Thomas the Apostle, I hope.’

‘
Would I do such a thing?’ Eleanor smiled. Was that a lie? She hoped not.

‘
What does she think of her homeland?’

‘
She is very excited about it.’

‘
Good, good. And do you think she will take her final vows and fully enter the service of the church?’

‘
I don’t know yet. If she does not, her future would be very uncertain. But she has such a wild side to her nature. Her zest for life may be too great for the confines of a monastic life.’

‘
There is no hurry. I will not rush her,’ said Bishop Odon. ‘Now let us take a seat. We must discuss your investigations. Who are your suspects?’

‘
I have come across various possibilities. The obvious one is an Anglo-Saxon group.’

‘
The same group Prioress Ursula was involved in?’

‘
She may not have been involved.’

‘
She was the one with the key to the room. The feeling among the nuns there was that she was involved.’

‘
You mean the new Prioress Ethelburga thinks she was involved.’

‘
I find her loyal to the Normans.’

‘
And I am Norman, or have you forgotten?’ Eleanor felt slightly disgusted at him accepting Ethelburga’s word so readily, almost in preference to her own views especially as she was the woman’s superior. Back in Normandy she had had an open mind, but now that she’d seen Ursula alive and well, how could she doubt her innocence?

‘
I am sure of the Anglo-Saxon plot,’ said Odon. ‘I know there has been complicity with the Welsh.’

‘
So you have arrested them. I have heard. It is difficult to condemn people who have been friends. And I have also heard that there are political pressures on our highest people, and these are muddying the waters.’

‘
Speak plainly, Abbess.’ He stood. He spread his feet and placed his fists on his hips.

‘
There is conflict between yourself and Archbishop Lanfranc.’

‘
If you mean I am not a monk, then that is clear for all to see. I make no apology for that. But there is no conflict; we are both men of the church. You can’t be accusing me, so you must be accusing the Archbishop of Canterbury!’

‘
I know that sounds beyond reason but…’

‘
No buts, Abbess.’ She could see that he considered this the end of that particular area of enquiry.

She cleared her mental list of that one and started on the next doubt that nagged at her. ‘You give support to your nephew, Robert de Curthose, while the Archbishop supports Prince Rufus for King of England when the Conqueror dies.’

‘
This has nothing to do with the embroidery,’ said Odon. ‘It is of no concern of yours.’

‘
You have made this my concern. This is another of my possibilities. I have come back here to England after many years and I find people fear you – a man of the church.’

‘
I have had to govern this country as king, while the King is away. I have had to quell rebellions on the Conqueror’s behalf. This is not going to make me popular, nor does it give me credit with the church, but as you see I am an Earl and the King’s half-brother. I have no choice in the matter. I have not called you here to listen to my confession.’

Surely he could express some useful opinions! She persisted, ‘But Robert de Curthose is in the same position in Normandy. He is the eldest son. He is angry at his father’s lack of trust in him. He might not want his father to be honoured by this embroidery.’

‘
He would not do such a thing.’ He was clearly adamant.

‘
Because of his friendship with you? If he is a true Norman warrior he will do whatever it takes to succeed.’

‘
Enough!’ roared Odon. His pale face flushed crimson. He appeared to check himself and the colour faded. He spoke through tightened lips; ‘Rest assured if Robert has been involved, there will be no more trouble from him.’

Eleanor felt herself dismissed and yet she had not told him of Prince Rufus and how little she trusted him, nor had she had the opportunity to plead for Alfred’s freedom. But this was clearly not the time to broach the subject. She would have to be satisfied with Odon’s promise regarding Robert de Curthose. Clearly only proof of the true culprits would be enough to satisfy him and for him to release Alfred. She bowed and left. She could not wait for the Bishop to be in a better mood, she would have to return to Canterbury.

During noon prayers Therese scrutinised each of the community that had been in the sewing room when the Impostor had struck. Her nap, she discovered, had been sanctioned by Sister Winifred. Her fellow sister’s urgency in waking her had been nothing more than to prevent lateness for prayers. The sleep had left her much brighter and made her see all the nuns as good women. Their heads were bowed and their faces smooth with contemplation. She had to tell herself quite firmly that one of these people was not as innocent as they looked, if Ursula was to be believed.

Sybil certainly had a motive to be involved in the wanton destruction of an honour to the Conqueror, with her disinherited family. Leofgyth herself had been unhappy about the unworthiness of the enterprise, but could this open, chatty, friendly, young woman be able to hide such a thing. She doubted it.

And what of Sister Winifred, Prioress Ursula’s chosen successor and her friend Aelfgyth. Was their closeness and constant whispering a sign of duplicity? She realised Sister Hilda was watching her, so she dropped her forehead down onto the steeple of her middle fingers and joined in with the prayers. She included little Eric in her thoughts and wished she could arrange to see him more.