Alys Clare - The Enchanter's Forest

Helewise raised an eyebrow. ‘Very well.’

Then, for the sooner they reached Hawkenlye the sooner this prickly, arrogant woman could be escorted back to where she belonged, Helewise stuck her heels into the cob’s sides and led the way at a smart canter off on the road to the Abbey.

There was scarcely any conversation on the homeward journey. They reached the Abbey and Helewise sent Sister Caliste and Brother Augustus off to find some food, for it was a long time since they had eaten and she realised they must be ravenous. Augustus offered to take the four horses off to Sister Martha in the stables and gratefully Helewise accepted. He’s a good lad, she thought; even now, when he’s tired, hungry, dusty and thirsty, he remembers to put the needs of other creatures before his own.

Then, addressing the silent and stone-faced Melusine, she said, ‘Come with me to the infirmary and I will show you the body found in the forest.’

Melusine walked beside her the short distance across to the infirmary. It was cool and fragrant inside; as Sister Euphemia had earlier pointed out, the nursing nuns were not very busy and there was an air of peaceful tranquillity about the place. Sister Euphemia, spotting her superior standing in the doorway, came over and gave her a bow.

‘My lady Abbess, welcome back,’ she murmured.

‘Thank you. Sister Euphemia, this woman is called Melusine and she is the mother of Florian of Southfrith’s wife. Our enquiries at the Tomb of Merlin and at Florian’s house have led us to the tragic conclusion that our dead man here in the infirmary may well be Florian. Melusine has come to identify the body.’

Sympathy flooded the infirmarer’s face and she put out an instinctive comforting hand to the woman in black. Melusine, however, drew herself apart, and Sister Euphemia’s hand fell back by her side. ‘He is in the recess at the far end,’ she said neutrally. ‘Follow me, please.’

Helewise and Melusine followed her steady steps the length of the long room. The mingled smell of rosemary and lavender intensified as they approached the recess but it could not disguise the terrible stench of the putrefying body. Sister Euphemia turned and gave them an apologetic smile: ‘We were about to move the poor soul to somewhere more private,’ she said quietly. ‘We may not have many patients in the infirmary but the few we do have should not be subjected to a constant reminder of their own mortality, especially when they are sick or wounded and correspondingly anxious.’

Nor indeed should you and your nuns, Helewise thought.

Sister Euphemia drew back the curtain, letting it fall again as soon as Helewise and Melusine were inside the recess. Then she stepped forward and folded the sheet down to reveal the dead man’s face.

It was a shocking sight; Melusine gave a sharp intake of breath. Then: ‘ Oui. Ce n’est que trop vrai, malheureusement . That is my son-in-law, Florian of Southfrith.’

Then she turned, strode out of the recess, along the infirmary and out through the door.

‘Oh, dear,’ murmured Sister Euphemia.

‘Time to remove the body, Sister,’ Helewise said. ‘Have him taken to the crypt — it’s cool there — and send someone to fetch Father Gilbert. We have an identity for our dead man and we shall pray for him. Now we must bury him as quickly as we can.’

Sister Euphemia was nodding. ‘Quite so, my lady. Leave it to me.’

Helewise briefly touched her arm. ‘Thank you, Euphemia.’ Knowing the infirmarer would not ask, she supplied the information anyway: ‘I shall offer the lady some refreshments, and then I shall escort her back to her home. The sooner she is away from here, the better.’

‘Take someone with you,’ the infirmarer urged. ‘We now know that it’s a local man that’s been murdered, my lady, and for all we know it could be over some matter that affects all of us in the area. His killer may still be lurking nearby and you must take care.’

‘I will,’ Helewise assured her. ‘I will ask two burly lay brothers to ride either side of us.’

With a nod of approval, Sister Euphemia returned to her task. As Helewise left the infirmary, already she could hear her voice summoning help for the removal of the dead body.

Melusine was all for setting out back to Hadfeld immediately but Helewise, whose stomach was growling with hunger, insisted that both of them ate and drank something before they left. Melusine did no more than pick at the fresh bread and the dish of stew with vegetables and chicken pieces but, Helewise observed, she did considerably more justice to the mug of fine red wine, accepting two refills.

Brothers Saul and Augustus were waiting for them when they emerged from the refectory; this time Augustus was riding the pony and Saul the mule. Augustus had a stout cudgel over his shoulder. He was obviously taking his bodyguard duties seriously.

‘Do you mind making the journey again, Gus?’ she asked him. ‘Are you not tired?’

‘You’re making it a second time too, my lady,’ he replied promptly. ‘If you’re not tired, neither am I.’

She gave him a grateful smile. She had a very soft spot for young Gussie.

Melusine kept up her silence for several miles. Then, when they were perhaps halfway home, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure that the two lay brothers were out of earshot and said abruptly to Helewise, ‘You will hear it from someone sooner or later so it may as well be from me. I was not entirely in favour of my daughter marrying him.’

It seemed an extraordinary remark to make out of the blue and under the circumstances; Helewise could not help wondering if perhaps the three large mugs of strong wine had made Melusine uncharacteristically rash. ‘Indeed?’ she replied warily. ‘You speak of your late son-in-law, I assume?’ She laid faint but unmistakeable emphasis on late ; it would do no harm to remind this extraordinary woman not to speak ill of the dead.

But Melusine did not notice. ‘ Oui . He wasn’t good enough for Primevere.’ She gave her characteristic lift of the chin. ‘My late husband was Theobald of Canterbury; I am from Angers and I am an heiress in my own right. Oh, the Southfriths are a good family, I do not say otherwise — four generations back, Florian’s ancestor was a close friend of Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare, and he was King William’s man. The Southfriths have thrown up some decent people down through the years and indeed Florian’s two elder sisters are good women. The eldest one, Edith, entered a convent in north Kent where I am told she does well. The younger one, Matilda, is wed to Hugh de Maubergeonne and she lives in Poitiers.’

Wondering what might be the purpose of this sudden torrent of information, Helewise said, ‘I see.’

But Melusine gave no sign that she had heard. ‘Florian was spoilt by his mother and both his sisters,’ she stated flatly. ‘He was ever a silly, pretty boy and they doted on him for his good looks and his courteous manners, bringing him up to believe that he could have anything he wanted and that even the best wasn’t good enough for the likes of him.’ She turned dark and angry eyes on Helewise. ‘He lied to me, my lady Abbess. He led me to believe that he was far richer than he really was, that he owned property of which he is in fact only a tenant, that he had connections at court and among the country’s prominent families.’ The scowl intensifying, she went on, ‘He faced strong competition for my daughter’s hand, for it is well known that I am a wealthy woman and Primevere is my only child. Not only that but my daughter is extremely beautiful — many a man fell in love with her and longed to claim her as his bride. But like many a woman before her, she was taken in by a handsome face and it was Florian that she would have.’