Edward Marston - The Owls of Gloucester

‘Being a sheriff carries huge responsibilities.’

‘We have learned that,’ said the other with a rueful smile. ‘The honour was thrust unexpectedly on Durand when his brother, Roger, died before his time. My husband feels that he has a sacred duty to carry on where his brother left off.’

‘That is to his credit.’

Golde found the visit to Gloucester interesting and enlightening.

When her companion had shaken off her irritation, she was friendly and talkative and had clearly taken the trouble to learn something of the city’s history. Some of the glances which they collected along the way were tinged either with bitterness or envy but they ignored them for the most part. It was only when Golde heard some harsh words muttered in her own language that she flushed with discomfort. On the leisurely ride back to the castle, they were conversing more easily with each other.

‘What did you say your sister’s name was?’

‘Aelgar, my lady.’

‘And this young man?’

‘Forne.’

‘When are they to be married?’

‘I do not know,’ said Golde. ‘I am hoping that my sister will tell me. All she has said in her letters is that she loves him dearly and wishes to spend the rest of her life with him. And since Forne, apparently, feels the same way about her, it sounds like a promising start for any marriage.’

‘Promising starts sometimes end in disappointment.’

‘Not in their case, I hope.’

‘So do I,’ said Maud, her cynicism tempered with goodwill. ‘But where will they stay? Room could be found for them at the castle.’

‘That is very kind of you, my lady, but they have already reserved accommodation. Forne, it seems, has a kinsman in Gloucester and they will stay under his roof. The truth is,’ she said quietly, ‘that Aelgar would feel out of place in a Norman castle. Even though she has been supplying the one in Hereford with its beer.’

Maud gave a sudden laugh. ‘Is your sister really a brewer?’

‘It runs in the family, my lady,’ explained Golde. ‘I took over the business after the death of my first husband then handed it on to Aelgar when I left. Not that she has to work in the way that I did. Thanks to the judgement of the commissioners, Aelgar inherited property on her own account. She can afford to employ others to brew the beer for her now.’

‘What of her betrothed?’

‘His interest is only in drinking it.’

Maud laughed again as they clattered across the drawbridge and went in through the gate. She gave their escort a wave of gratitude, allowing the four men to trot off in the direction of the stables. Maud looked up at the keep with a determination tinged with anger.

‘Please excuse me, Golde.’

‘Of course, my lady. Thank you again.’

‘It was a pleasure to get out of the castle for once.’

‘I did appreciate it.’

‘So did I. But we are back where we started now.’

With the help of an ostler, she dismounted and went off in the direction of the keep to confront her husband. Golde wondered why Durand kept his domestic and official duties so rigidly separate. It led to obvious friction with his wife. Not for the first time, she was grateful to be married to a man who took her into his confidence instead of using his work as a means of shutting her out. Hers was one story, Maud’s quite another. As she was helped down from the saddle, she found herself wondering what kind of story Aelgar and Forne were about to write.

Ralph Delchard waited until they left the abbey before he started to hurl a stream of questions at Gervase Bret.

‘What did you learn?’ he said.

‘A great deal.’

‘Did they tell you anything new? What sort of boys were they?

How freely were you able to talk to them? Why did they climb up that ladder in the first place? Had they ever been up in the bell tower before? Well, Gervase? Aren’t you going to tell me?’

‘I will, when I’m allowed to speak.’

‘Who is preventing you from speaking?’

‘You, Ralph.’

‘Me?’ Righteous indignation showed. ‘Me?’

‘Who else?’

Ralph unleashed another flurry of questions at him and only stopped when Gervase burst into laughter. Seeing himself through his friend’s eyes at last, Ralph joined in the mirth. They mounted their horses and let them walk slowly off along the street.

‘Let us start again,’ suggested Gervase. ‘What did you find out?’

‘That I could never be a monk.’

‘Was that ever in doubt?’

‘It’s this rule of complete obedience. Abbot Serlo seems like an intelligent and caring man, but I could never treat him as my father and bow to his every wish. He was not easy to woo but I managed it in the end. He told me all I wished to know and even allowed me to view the body in the mortuary.’

‘Did that reveal anything?’

‘I think so.’

Ralph described his assessment of Brother Nicholas then explained how much the abbot had helped him. He considered the promise to provide a list of abbey tenants to be the greatest concession he had wrung out of Serlo. Gervase talked of his own findings.

‘It was a valuable meeting.’

‘Good.’

‘Give or take a few problems.’

‘What sort of problems?’

‘Canon Hubert was the main one,’ said Gervase. ‘It was he who asked me to act as his interpreter so he controlled the interview at the start. I had to wait some time before I could work in questions of my own, questions which Hubert would not have asked on his own.’

‘At least he got you close to those novices.’

‘I could not get too close, Ralph. There was another problem.’

‘What?’

‘The Precentor. Brother Frewine.’

‘What was he doing there?’

‘Protecting the novices. They obviously trusted him and looked for his support whenever the questions had them in retreat.

Brother Frewine is a good man, honest and fair-minded, but he did defend them well.’

‘Would you have got more out of them had he not been there?’

‘I don’t know. Kenelm and Elaf may have shut up completely.

They were both very shocked by what happened. I don’t think there will be any more midnight antics from them.’

‘So what did you glean from the wretches?’

Gervase told him in as much detail as he could remember.

Ralph was a restive listener, constantly throwing in additional questions or asking for fuller explanations. When his friend came to the end of his litany, Ralph thought about the pale, hairless body stretched out on the mortuary slab. Brother Nicholas was an enigma.

‘They didn’t like the way he looked at them?’

‘That’s what they said, Ralph.’

‘Why not?’

‘They were too embarrassed to explain.’

‘Could the Precentor throw no light on the subject?’

‘No,’ said Gervase. ‘He spoke fondly of the deceased.’

‘So did Abbot Serlo, yet we know for a fact that everyone else seems to have disliked Brother Nicholas. Why? Did he look at them in a strange way as well? What was so unsettling about him?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘It seems he was an excellent rent collector,’ said Ralph. ‘It was not just a case of someone not wishing to speak ill of the dead. Abbot Serlo could not praise him enough for his efficiency in bringing money into the abbey coffers. A fair amount of money at that,’ he recalled, ‘when you think how many sub-tenants inhabit abbey land.’

‘Brother Nicholas must have been trusted. His satchel would have been bulging with money when he returned to the abbey.

A robber would have made off with an appreciable haul.’

‘Yet nothing was stolen from him, apparently.’

‘Was the abbot certain of that?’