Baldwin sat opposite him, fixing the merchant with a serious, but compassionate stare. He waved briefly at William, who appeared to understand, and went to fetch wine for them. “God would not have been pleased with your behavior, Matthew,” Baldwin murmured.
“Eh? How dare you say that! Of course He would!” the other stated scornfully. “I destroyed a man who was breaking one of His commandments. ”Thou shalt not commit adultery,“ remember? God would have been pleased with my efforts. And all I did with the lepers was to fulfill His aim of punishing them.”
Baldwin accepted a warmed mug of wine from William, who walked to stand close to his master, although whether to support Coffyn or to hold him, the knight wasn’t sure.
“When did you first realize Godfrey had seduced your wife?” asked Baldwin.
Coffyn shot him a black look before studying his nails. “You think he seduced her? That’s charitable, Sir Baldwin. Personally I’d hesitate to jump to that conclusion. No matter! I never guessed he was interested in her until my last journey on business. Before that, we had never got on particularly well. Suddenly, about four months ago, he began to take an interest in my work. As soon as he heard that things were becoming tough, he offered me some help.
“Now it seems so obvious. It was at just the same time as Martha started preening herself. As she demanded new clothes and trinkets to show off her beauty, my neighbor offered me money. But the more I borrowed, the more he demanded in interest, and the more my wife wanted tunics and jewels. I never thought he would cuckold me, just as I never thought she would disgrace herself.”
“When did you know for certain?”
“I’d heard something in the street about John with my wife. People used to go quiet when they saw me, and some pointed and laughed, but I knew she’d not demean herself to that extent. She’s not the kind to want tender embraces from a miserable peasant like him. No, I realized who was sleeping with her when I came home early one day and heard him leaping from my roof. Some of my men were in the front garden, so whoever it was must have escaped through the back, and that meant whoever it was had got away over the fence into Godfrey’s land. It made me start to wonder about Godfrey. When I went away the next time, the night Godfrey died, I had a man stationed out here. He went to the hall and asked for Godfrey, on the pretext that I wanted to check on a loan from him. But Godfrey wasn’t there. That was when I knew for certain.”
“So you came home, you searched your house, and while you did so, you heard his cry.”
“I heard him shout, yes, but I didn’t realize it was him at the time. My man was here, and told me Godfrey wasn’t in his hall, so I searched my house. I was convinced he was here somewhere.”
“But when you went to his house?”
“I ran round there to confront him, not save the bastard! The place was in a mess. Cecily was apparently coming round, and her maid came downstairs as I walked in. William here was with me. I told him to carry Cecily to her chamber, and while they were gone Godfrey began to groan.
“I was angry. Furious! That’s my only excuse. As soon as he started making a noise, a red rage overcame me. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise; I couldn’t have.”
“You hit him with what-a stick?”
In answer Coffyn jerked his head at the fire. “It was a blackthorn cudgel. I used to carry it with me all the time, but when I saw what I’d done, I couldn’t keep it. The ball of the handle was smothered in gore, and I couldn’t bear to use it again, so I broke it over my knee and threw it into Godfrey’s fire.”
“While your man went off to fetch the constable?”
“Yes. Just as a good citizen should. And when he arrived, I told him I’d found Godfrey already dead while the other two were merely wounded. And I walked home.”
He broke off and glowered at the knight. “I don’t regret it, Sir Baldwin. Godfrey was an evil, money-grabbing bastard. He shafted me in business, and then shafted my wife as well. It wasn’t that he made me a fool, I could cope with that happily enough. No, it was that he took everything I had-money, marriage, everything! I killed him with as little compunction as I would have killed a beetle.”
“And what of John?”
“John of Irelaunde?” Coffyn glanced up uncomprehendingly. “That shady little bugger? What of him?”
“He was innocent of any involvement with your wife, yet you were happy to let others circulate the rumor that he had enjoyed an affair with her…”
“That was the reputation he had cultivated for himself, Sir Knight.”
“But you were happy to go to his house and beat him, merely to deflect attention from yourself, weren’t you? You knew perfectly well he had nothing to do with your wife’s infidelity when you gave him that savage clubbing.”
Simon let his hand fall on his friend’s shoulder. Baldwin’s voice had taken on a cold precision as the anger began to overtake him. Feeling Simon’s hand, the knight took a deep breath and forced himself to relax a little.
Coffyn sat shaking his head, nibbling hard at a tiny shred of thumbnail. “I had to make sure you thought I was convinced of his guilt. If I did nothing about the Irishman, you might have realized I knew about Godfrey.”
“Yes. That was why you were so careful to let him see you. It was important that he should be able to swear that you were his attacker.” Baldwin stood, and his voice dropped. “Well, Matthew Coffyn, you have made a full confession, but it only serves to highlight your guilt. You were prepared to almost kill John without justification; to steal your neighbor’s plate; and to commit murder. There is only one penalty for all that-the rope!”
Ralph had finished tidying his chapel when Mary entered. She walked quietly to the body at the hearse and stood there, shaking her head with grief.
“Mary, I am so very sorry.”
“He had such a little life.”
“But he has a great life now,” he reminded her.
“I am grateful for that.”
He could hear the doubt in her voice. “Mary, don’t believe what the uneducated say about lepers: Edmund wasn’t evil. He was certainly not a great sinner, for he followed Christ’s teaching. He turned the other cheek; he allowed another to kill him without using his own weapon in defense. He died refusing to protect himself from another’s attack. Christ would revere young Edmund as a friend.”
“I am glad for that,” she said quietly.
Her tears appeared to be a relief to her. Ralph thought her sadness looked overwhelming, but her eyes held gratitude too, as if in the midst of her misery she was glad to have known her man. “What will you do now?” he asked.
“With Jack gone, I don’t think anyone else will make my life too difficult, but I haven’t changed my mind.”
“You will go to the convent?”
“Yes. The Bishop has promised to find me a position with one of the convents in his diocese. I will spend my time praying for Edmund and helping others who are sick. After my treatment recently I feel I can understand the suffering of others. Maybe I can help them.”
“I will pray for you.”
“Thank you, Brother. That would mean much to me.”
She closed her eyes and knelt before the altar, and Ralph quietly left her. Outside the clear weather appeared to be breaking at last, and heavy gray clouds were hanging almost motionless in the air. He took in the view for a while, tugging his robes tighter around his body against the bitter wind.