Peter Tremayne - The Haunted Abbot

Fidelma sat back with lips pursed in disapproval.

Eadulf glanced at her nervously but she did not say anything for a moment or two.

‘You have explained your philosophy well, Aldhere,’ she said quietly. ‘Now, what can you tell me about your brother? I presume that he would share your principles?’

Aldhere looked uncertain. ‘What do you want to know about Cild?’

‘You have given Brother Eadulf here the impresson that Cild was always unbalanced.’

Aldhere shrugged. ‘He had strange moods and sometimes he would do things which were not driven by logic. He loved power, he loved wealth. Those were the only two things he ever loved.’

‘He did not love Gélgeis?’

‘She was a chieftain’s daughter. He probably loved the power and wealth he thought he would inherit.’

‘But these strange moods — you say he had them from a child? Do you know when they became manifest?’

‘He was not liked by my father,’ Aldhere said. ‘I told the holy gerefa here. Before Cild grew too strong, my father often beat him and used to lock him up as punishment.’

‘Was your father justified in this?’

Aldhere shook his head. ‘I think the rogue moods that Cild displays were inherited from my father, who was a difficult man.’

‘Your father never punished you in the same manner as Cild.’

‘Never.’ Aldhere smiled grimly. ‘Cild was always singled out by him.’

‘And your mother? What role did she play in this?’

Aldhere sniffed. ‘My mother died when we were young and my father’s mistresses did not enter our lives. We were left to ourselves and Cild had his own world to retreat into. But why do you ask these questions?’

‘I am a little confused as to when Cild came back from the kingdom of Connacht. Was that before or after you had been outlawed?’

‘Before.’

‘Did he come back to Bretta’s Ham when he arrived from Maigh Eo?’

‘No. He went straight to the abbey of Aldred. He had managed to be appointed abbot there.’

‘He took his wife with him?’

‘He did. She was not a religieuse but went to live with him.’

‘When did you first meet her?’ asked Fidelma.

‘I told the gerefa here.’

‘Tell me.’

‘It was when I first went to the abbey, after which it was clear that my brother and I would never agree. Then, after I was outlawed, I saw her again.’

‘And what was your opinion of his wife?’

Aldhere rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘As I told the gerefa, she was a sweet girl, innocent. How she had been persuaded to marry Cild, I do not know. She was the opposite to everything I saw in my brother. He was immoral, ambitious, thinking with his sword arm before his mind.’

‘It sounds as if you liked the girl,’ Fidelma observed.

Aldhere flushed slightly. ‘I did not dislike her. She was Cild’s wife. She came to see me here in this encampment simply because I was the brother of her husband. She wanted to help.’

‘Remind me, what happened after you were outlawed?’

‘Cild claimed my title and lands. Ealdwulf only compensated him with a small share and told him that he should remain as a religious. He affirmed Cild as abbot over the community at Aldred. I believe Ealdwulf was already anticipating the decision at Whitby, for the moment that decision was made he issued a decree that all those religious holding to the Columban order should be expelled from the kingdom.’

‘Yet at that time Cild and Gélgeis were living happily together at Aldred’s Abbey?’

‘Happily?’ There was a note of derision in Aldhere’s voice.

‘You question that?’

‘Such an innocent young girl could not have been happy with Cild,’ he replied sharply.

‘You may well be right. On the other hand, it is amazing in life how couples we believe are mismatched are completely compatible,’ reflected Fidelma. ‘I am more interested in whether you knew of any reason for discord between them? I mean, to your personal knowledge.’

Aldhere say back and gazed moodily at his mead as if an answer lay in the clay pot.

‘I had the impression that she was unhappy,’ he said.

‘Did she tell you as much?’ pressed Fidelma.

‘Yes, she did.’

‘When was that?’

‘When I met her.’

Fidelma frowned. ‘She said this on her first meeting with you at the abbey, before you were outlawed?’

He shook his head. ‘No, this was afterwards, when …’

‘How many times did you see her after you came here?’

‘I saw the girl a few times for she used to go walking near the abbey. The river stretches nearby and there are woods there.’

‘What did she tell you?’

‘That since Cild had not been able to get his own way about his claim to be thane of Bretta’s Ham, he had become morose and restless. He displayed a cruelty that she had not thought possible in one who claimed to follow the religious life.’

‘Did she say that Cild was cruel to her?’

Aldhere’s lips thinned. ‘She did.’

‘Why do you think that she felt able to confess this to you?’ asked Eadulf thoughtfully. ‘You were, after all, a stranger even though you were Cild’s brother. And the very fact that you were Cild’s brother would surely not be conducive to an exchange of confidences.’

‘I don’t see why not. She knew that Cild had treated me as cruelly as he treated her. She was alone. She wanted someone to talk to. Someone to share her desolation with. I think it is natural.’

‘What do you know of the circumstances of Gélgeis’s death?’

Aldhere glanced at her suspiciously. ‘What should I know of it?’

‘I ask what you know, not what you should know.’ Her reply was so tart that he blinked rapidly for a moment.

‘Only the story that she had wandered into Hob’s Mire near the abbey and been sucked under its treacherous bog,’ he said, regaining his easy manner.

‘And this was a year ago?’

‘About that. Yes.’

‘When was the last time you saw Gélgeis before that?’

‘Two days before she died,’ replied Aldhere.

‘Two days?’ queried Fidelma. ‘You are absolutely sure of that?’

Aldhere grinned. ‘Absolutely sure.’

‘Were you having an affair with your brother’s wife?’ Fidelma asked abruptly.

‘An affair? Not as such,’ came the reluctant response.

Fidelma smiled sceptically. ‘What would be your interpretation of your relationship with your brother’s wife? I am intrigued to know that there is a relationship which can be described as not an affair as such.’

Aldhere actually looked uncomfortable for a moment. He knew that Fidelma was making fun of him.

‘I was the friend she needed, the person she needed to confess her anguish and fears to. There was nothing else in it.’

‘Accepting that,’ agreed Fidelma, ‘you say that you did have an assignation with her two days before she died?’

‘We had arranged to meet — yes. We met in the woods along the river near the abbey. We went for a walk and she told me how bad the situation had become with Cild. She had been in touch with her family through the intermediacy of a religieux named Pol. Cild had found out and lost his temper and had Pol hanged out of hand. His excuse was that Pol was a heretic. Gélgeis said she was fearful and wanted me to put her in touch with some Columban religious who might help her to return to her father’s estates.’

‘What did you say?’

‘I said that I would do my best to help her.’

‘Then?’

‘Then she left me.’

‘Having heard what she had to say, you let her return to the abbey?’ queried Eadulf incredulously.

‘It was her decision,’ replied Aldhere defensively. ‘She could have come with me there and then and I would have protected her, but …’ He shrugged.