“Yes,” he said with a grin, “I am here with you.”
“I was thinking about the baby.”
“Baby! I take second place to a child?”
“You can look after yourself, Ralph. He cannot.”
“Is that your excuse?” he teased.
“Do I need one?”
“Of course not.”
Golde sighed. “He is a pure delight!”
“You used to say the same about me.”
“Whenever I hold him, I do not want to put him down.”
“We will have to take him with us when we leave.”
“No,” she said. “He belongs here. They adore him. Baby Osbern will help to bring his parents close together again.”
“Then we will have to seek another way.”
“Another way?”
“To find you a child.”
Golde caught her breath and looked up into the smiling face.
She flung her arms around him to hug him close. The embrace was short-lived. Footsteps could be heard clattering down the stairs and voices filtered through the door. Ralph’s ears pricked up immediately.
“Is that Helto?”
“Yes. He has been here for the best part of an hour.”
“I need two minutes of his time myself.”
“Then I will leave you alone.”
When Ralph came out, Helto was standing at the front door with Osbern, giving the reeve careful instructions. The doctor agreed to speak with Ralph and was led back into the empty solar.
“How is she?” asked Ralph solicitously.
“There is still cause for mild alarm.”
“You have been an attentive physician, Helto.”
“Not attentive enough, alas,” said the other. “I did not foresee that crisis in the night. Mother and baby might both have suffered some injury, blundering about in the darkness like that. I am partly to blame for the fright.”
“You?”
“If I had forced her to take that sleeping draught, none of this would have happened. Eadgyth would have passed a restful night in her bed and Osbern would not have been put through that ordeal.” He clicked his tongue. “What drove her to do such a thing?”
“The death of her friend has upset her profoundly,” said Ralph.
“Eadgyth will never rest while the murder remains unsolved. It is one of the reasons why we have taken an interest in this business.”
Helto was curt. “I wonder that you do not leave it in the hands of the sheriff and his officers, my lord. That is their function.
What can you possibly find out that they cannot?”
“A great deal. You can help me to find out more.”
“Me?”
“Tell me about Alwin.”
“What is there to tell?” asked the other. “The man is overcome by grief. He has turned in upon himself.”
“That is not my observation,” said Ralph. “But I am not talking about Bertha’s death. I am more interested in that of her mother.
Was she a patient of yours?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What was the cause of death?”
“Fever. It carried her speedily off.”
“Yet she was not old or frail.”
“She had no will to live.”
“Why was that?”
“I do not know, my lord.”
“I think you do,” pressed Ralph. “A doctor sees the inside of a marriage. Alwin and his wife were both your patients. You saw the effect that each had on the other.”
“What I saw is no business of yours, my lord.”
“It is if it touches on this murder.”
“I do not fully accept that the murder took place.”
“Something was seriously amiss with that family. What was it, Helto? Enlighten me.”
“I will not discuss my patients like this. It is unethical.
Improper.”
“It all comes back to Alwin the Sailor.”
“You will have to excuse me, my lord.”
“What happened between husband and wife?”
He moved away. “I have tarried long enough.”
“Tell me!” ordered Ralph, grabbing him. “Tell me the truth!”
Helto the Doctor looked at him with withering scorn.
“No, my lord. It is where it belongs. In the past.”
Hood back and veil removed, Alain forced his blistered feet on through the undergrowth. His muscles were aching and his skin was on fire but his eyes remained alert, scanning every tree, shrub and outcrop of bushes that bordered the twisting path.
When brambles leaned over to block his way, he did not duck beneath them. His bare hand brushed them aside and flakes of skin were left impaled on the tiny spikes that had no power to hurt him. Alain was cloaked in a deeper pain that nothing could reach or soothe.
As he stepped into a clearing, a pig looked up from its meal and grunted in annoyance. It trotted toward him with a token pugnacity before scampering off into the undergrowth. Alain moved on with a resigned smile. A leper was spurned even by animals. His search took him on through more woodland, then brought him out near an orchard. Through its trees, he caught a glimpse of a manor house, a long, low building with its thatch bleached by the bright sun.
Alain crept slowly through the orchard. Ripening apples hung all around him in wholesome abundance but he would not have exchanged the one in his sleeve for any of them. As he fondled it with his hand, cherished memories came flooding back. Long conversations with Bertha echoed in his brain. The joys of friendship and understanding were briefly rekindled. His reverie was disturbed by the approach of a horse. Alain immediately took cover, lurching forward to lower himself down behind some bushes, his face pressed close to the ground. The rider passed close by but the leper remained unseen.
Voices were heard outside the house. Alain took fright. It was time to steal away to the safety of the wood and the reluctant company of the pigs. As he hauled himself upright, however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was caught on a twig and danced in the breeze. He reached out to detach it with the utmost care then inspected it more closely. Alain was content.
It was hers.
Canon Hubert was anxious to return to the city as quickly as possible, not simply because of the funeral of Brother Martin and the chance, at last, of a distant glimpse of Archbishop Lanfranc, but because the experience in Harbledown had shaken him badly. He was deeply offended by what he had seen, and felt almost tainted. Christ Church Priory offered him the sanctuary he needed and the solace he craved. It would cleanse him.
Gervase rode back to the cathedral precinct before parting company with him. He reached the house as Ralph Delchard was leaving and their discussion took place in the narrow passage than ran to the stables. When Gervase recounted all that had taken place on his latest visit to Harbledown, his friend was cynical.
“I would not trust Canon Hubert’s instincts.”
“He felt the presence of evil, Ralph.”
“Who would not? Brother Martin was poisoned to death in that church. Murder is bound to leave its effect.”
“It was more than that,” said Gervase. “A malevolence hangs in the air. I sensed it, too. It is almost tangible. Canon Hubert was so shocked that he is going to seek a meeting with Prior Henry to report his findings. There was definitely something in the atmosphere, Ralph.”
“Is it surprising?”
“What do you mean?”
“The church is used only by lepers, Gervase. They are not the most fragrant of human beings. Even sweet herbs and strong prayers will not wholly disguise the corruption of their flesh.
Canon Hubert is used to the clean air of the cloister in Winchester. That is why he took offence.”
“It struck him at a profoundest level. He believes that the church should be exorcised.”
“That will happen when we have caught this killer,” said Ralph.
“We will drive the devil out of Harbledown.”
“We have to find him first.”
“We are getting closer.”
“All we know for certain is that he mocks the Christian Church.
Wearing the cowl was not just a convenient disguise. It was a deliberate act of contempt.”
“That narrows it down, Gervase. I still believe that our villain may be this mysterious lover of Bertha’s. Her father thinks the same or he would not be so eager to track down the man. Put together what we already know of him with what you and Canon Hubert have added today, and what do we have?”