“Yes, my love. In Helto’s house.”
“I have been in King Street all this time?”
“Not five minutes from us.”
Still dazed by her ordeal, she looked slowly around.
“Then where is the doctor himself?”
She gave herself completely. Lying between her thighs, Helto plunged and writhed until his breath was laboured and the perspiration was running down his naked back. He strove on until his passion was spent, then he sagged across her with a long sigh of contentment and fatigue. The girl held him tight until he was ready to roll off her. Without a word, she put on her apparel, then knelt beside the bed. Helto reached out to touch her cheek with an off-hand affection. When she left the room, he lay there to recover and to savour.
Wearing his white robe, he came silently into the chamber. He looked down at his disciple with a dark smile.
“Was she ready for you?”
“Yes,” said Helto, still short of breath.
“And you were ready for her,” said Berbizier. “As I promised.
That is the essence of our sect, Helto. Choosing the right person, preparing her mind, opening her body to the joys of spiritual love. You have now shared in those joys.”
“I have,” agreed the other, sitting up to reach for his clothing.
“Thank you, Philippe.”
“You have earned the reward.”
“I have tried to serve you loyally.”
“Loyally and devotedly,” said Berbizier, watching him dress.
“Without you, none of this would have been possible. You have been my faithful intelligencer, working inside the city to provide everything that I need.”
“Nothing is more important to me, Philippe.”
“You found this place of safety for our temple. You helped to choose our neophytes. And-I will be eternally grateful to you for this, Helto-you carried my messages to that sweet, dear girl, Bertha.” He gave a sigh of regret. “Such a pity that she could never be initiated into our circle. Bertha was too corrupted by Christianity. So many falsehoods locked inside that beautiful head of hers. If only she had let me open her eyes to the true light.”
“Yes.” The doctor grinned to himself. “I would have enjoyed teaching Bertha the precepts of our sect.”
“No!” snapped the other. “Bertha was mine. All mine.”
“Of course,” said Helto quickly.
“Nobody else would have touched her. And now nobody else can.” He became brisk. “Was everything in order when you left the house?”
“Yes, Philippe.”
“Our little bird safely caged in the cellar?”
“They will never find her there.”
“Then we can forget her until the morning. You may spend the night here, Helto.” The doctor’s face lit up. “It is another reward for your dedication.”
“The new girl?”
“I have prepared her very carefully.”
“She is mine all night, Philippe?” he asked eagerly.
“Yes,” said Berbizier. “She is yours but both of you belong to me. Do not forget that. Come, my friend. They are waiting to begin the service. I will preach and there will be laying-on of hands. Beyond that, a long night beckons. With nobody to interrupt our spiritual pleasures.”
“Are you quite sure that he will come?” said Ralph Delchard.
“No,” admitted Gervase.
“Then what are we doing out here?”
“Obeying instinct, Ralph.”
“My instinct is to be in bed with my wife at this hour of the night. Not hiding in the bushes on Harbledown Hill. There are all kinds of animals sniffing about in the dark. Not to mention the danger of snakes!”
“It is the snakes that we are after. Those that walk on two legs. Reinbald the Priest will lead us to them.”
“If he deigns to leave the city.”
“He will,” said Gervase confidently. “He sneaked past the guards last night. Only the most urgent appointment could make him do that. I think he was going to a secret meeting of Philippe Berbizier’s sect.”
“A parish priest!”
“That is how heresy spreads, Ralph. From clergy to laity. Do not forget that Berbizier himself was once a priest. They subvert the Christian beliefs that they once embraced and taught.”
The two men had been there since nightfall. It had taken Gervase a long time to persuade Ralph to join him on the expedition. Two of Ralph’s men-at-arms had been left at the house in Burgate Street to protect Golde against any further attack and four others had been installed in Helto’s house to arrest the doctor on his return. They were standing near the spot where Alain had been when Reinbald went past on the previous night.
Evidently it was the priest’s route. Gervase believed that he took it regularly.
“Have you forgotten your trip to Faversham?” he said.
“No man could forget the termagant Juliana.”
“Was not Helto eager to be your guide?”
“Very eager. Even though he is a poor horseman.”
“And did he not disappear in Faversham?”
“Only for an hour,” said Ralph. “We found him at the church.
He said that he had been to visit the priest.”
“What if his name was Philippe Berbizier?”
Ralph pondered. “It is conceivable,” he said at length.
“That might account for his readiness to visit Faversham.
But it will not bring him out here tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Berbizier is still in the city.”
“No, Ralph.”
“He is. Golde swears that she met him. Guards are waiting in numbers at every gate. How could Berbizier possibly get out of Canterbury?”
“How could Reinbald the Priest?”
A long whistle terminated their conversation and sent them crouching in the bushes. Six of Ralph’s men-at-arms had been stationed at intervals on Harbledown Hill to keep watch for a lone figure leaving the city. The signal confirmed the approach of someone. Ralph and Gervase had to wait five minutes before the man came past. There was no doubting his identity. Reinbald the Priest was following a route he knew by heart. Descending the hill on the far side, he was so intent on reaching his destination that he never thought to look over his shoulder.
Ralph and Gervase tracked him on foot. The soldiers were not far behind, riding their own horses and leading two more by the reins. Reinbald was running now and the two friends had to break into a trot to keep him in sight. The priest suddenly veered off to the left down a narrow path between the trees. Ralph and Gervase paused. A lantern glimmered up ahead of them. Creeping nearer, they could make out the shape of a small cottage. Light showed through the cracks in the shutters. Gervase was excited by the discovery. The priest had indeed led them to Berbizier.
Revenge was uppermost in Ralph’s mind. Heresy was no concern of his. Berbizier had ordered Golde’s kidnap. That rankled even more than his other crimes. Ralph took charge with cold-eyed efficiency. Beckoning his men with a wave, he made them tether the horses, then fan out to approach the cottage in order to surround it. He and Gervase moved furtively toward the front of the building. When everyone was in position, Ralph went into action.
Tucking in his shoulder, Ralph heaved himself at the door with such force that it burst open on its hinges. He was through it at once, pulling out his sword and yelling at the top of his voice. Gervase and the others followed but they found no members of a heretical sect. Reinbald the Priest had his arms around a young woman, who was screaming in fear. The intruders gaped.
Reinbald made a nervous and shamefaced confession.
“Do not harm us, my lord. This is my wife.”
Alain sat in the porch with his back against the church door.
Unable to sleep in the cloying warmth of his hut, he had come out in search of a cooler spot to sit and to reflect. The commotion earlier in the day had been succeeded by a deep and restorative calm. Prior Henry and his congregation of monks had exorcised the church and driven out the spirit of evil. The leper hospital was at peace again.
He could never share in that peace. The loss of Bertha could not be repaired by a service conducted by the prior. Nothing could drive out the devil who was eating Alain’s flesh from the inside and gnawing at his mind. Life was pain. Memory was his only balm. Bertha would continue to gather herbs to sweeten his moments alone.