The Prior refused to hold his gaze.
‘Brother Dunstan had his paramour Blanche from the Lantern-in-the-Woods,’ Ranulf jibed. ‘Could it have been her?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Why didn’t you wait and see?’ Corbett asked.
‘I intended to but Father Abbot and this mysterious figure disappeared behind the tumulus. I didn’t dare walk across the meadow, as they would have heard me coming and the other person would have fled. I didn’t want to be accused of spying. I decided to wait for them to emerge again but Gildas came looking for me. I didn’t want him to see what I had so I went back through the Judas gate. I closed the gate more abruptly than I should, and it must have startled Father Abbot. I didn’t mention it to anyone else.’ The Prior beat his fists against his side. ‘I couldn’t get that image out of my mind. I was growing more and more frustrated with Abbot Stephen, so one morning I visited him in his chamber, and once again raised the question of the guesthouse, and the possibility of the abbey acquiring Sigbert’s holy remains. Abbot Stephen lost his temper and banged his fist on the desk. I was roused to fury and I told him what I had seen.’ Prior Cuthbert paused. ‘God forgive me, Sir Hugh, I wish I hadn’t. I really do. I expected him to deny it. He just sat, stricken, staring at me as I accused him of a hideous sin. I said that unless he agreed to my demands, I would accuse him of such before the full Chapter.’
‘And Abbot Stephen didn’t deny it?’
‘No, he sat like a man pole-axed.’
‘Did you repeat the blackmail?’
Prior Cuthbert nodded. ‘I was overwhelmed by my anger. I forgot my vows and charity. All I could see was this stubborn old man refusing a reasonable request whilst hiding his own secret sin.’
‘And you shared this information with no one?’
‘No.’
‘What made you think the sin was unnatural?’
‘I assumed it since the figure was dressed as a monk. Father Abbot didn’t deny it.’
‘And on the second occasion?’ Corbett asked.
‘He was more composed, serene. He quoted from the scriptures, “Your sin will find you out”. He said he would consider my request.’
‘But the other person could have been a woman? It might have been Blanche. After all, in his youth Abbot Stephen was known as a virile, young knight.’
‘True, true.’
‘Could it have been Perditus?’
‘No, why do you say that?’
‘Well, he was the Abbot’s manservant. He shared the same quarters.’
‘No, I am sure it wasn’t he. I went back to talk to Gildas but I was in a hurry to get away, as I thought I might find out who it was by watching the door to the Abbot’s lodgings. When I went across, I saw the lights shining from Perditus’s chamber. I went up, making some excuse. He was in his chamber reading a psalter by candlelight. I asked where the Abbot was and he replied that he had gone for a walk so I went back and hid again in the shadows. I must have been there some time before Abbot Stephen returned alone.’ Prior Cuthbert put his face in his hands. ‘I don’t know who it was but someone was there whom Abbot Stephen embraced and kissed. It must have been unnatural.’
‘It might have been the osculum pacis?’ Corbett queried. ‘The kiss of peace?’
‘In the dead of night, out in a lonely meadow?’ Prior Cuthbert gestured with his hands. ‘If you had seen Abbot Stephen’s face the day I accused him, you’d know I spoke the truth.’
The Prior put his face in his hands and began to sob uncontrollably.
PARVA SAEPE SCINTILLA CONTEMPTA
MAGNUM EXCITAVIT INCENDIUM
OFTEN THE TINIEST OF NEGLECTED
SPARKS HAS WHIPPED UP AN INFERNAL BLAZE
Chapter 12
Corbett sat in the Abbot’s chamber. Ranulf had returned to the guesthouse. Outside the day was drawing on and darkness was falling. They had left Prior Cuthbert to his grief. The man had become so distraught it would have been cruel to question him further. Corbett could make little sense of the Prior’s confession. Who had been with the Abbot on that moonlit night out in Bloody Meadow? The clerk sat and meditated, his eyes growing heavy as he turned over and over in his mind the different possibilities. Brother Luke’s enigmatic account of Sir Reginald; Prior Cuthbert grieving over his own malice; Abbot Stephen, a priest with a reputation for holiness yet so secretive. Corbett closed his eyes and slept. He started awake as the bells of the abbey marked the time for Divine Office.
Corbett got up and opened the shutters. Would the assassin strike again, he wondered? Or would he be more cautious since his attack on Brother Richard had been repelled?
‘If only,’ Corbett murmured to himself, ‘if only I could resolve Abbot Stephen’s death: that’s the loose thread.’
He was about to return to his chair when he heard a pounding on the stairs and muffled groans and cries. Corbett hastened to the door and flung it open. Perditus stood gasping. If Corbett hadn’t caught him, he would have collapsed into his arms. The lay brother’s face was bruised, and cuts bloodied his hands and face.
‘In God’s name!’ Corbett exclaimed.
He half dragged the man over to a chair and sat him down. Perditus was trembling. Corbett quickly felt his head and patted his arms, looking for serious wounds.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
Perditus just sat, mouth open, now and again wincing, hands going up to the bruises on his face.
‘Are you wounded?’ Corbett asked.
The lay brother refused to answer. He was ashen-faced, and a trickle of blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth. Corbett hastily filled a goblet of wine, walked across and held it to Perditus’s lips. He heard footsteps outside and Ranulf entered. Corbett held up a hand to fend off his henchman’s questions.
‘What’s the matter, Perditus?’
Corbett crouched by the lay brother, studying him carefully. The bruise just under the eye was now coming out, and there was a similar one on his left jaw. He had cuts on his cheeks, hands and wrists. Corbett felt his chest and back.
‘I’m all right.’ Perditus gulped at the wine. ‘I had been out to Bloody Meadow, and I was just nearing the Judas gate on my way back when I heard a sound as I went past some bushes. I whirled round to find myself under attack. I couldn’t see who it was: he was masked, cowled and hooded. He was about to strike me on the back of the head with a club. I moved to the left and he caught me on the chin then smacked me again here, on the cheek. I grappled with him, but he had a dagger in his right hand, and one side of the blade was very sharp. I tried to get a good grip but it was difficult as the blade turned.’ He stretched out his hand. ‘At one time he caught me here on the cheek with it. It cut like a razor. I pushed him away. I thought he’d attack again but he turned and fled.’
‘Shall I go after him?’ Ranulf moved to the door.
‘No,’ Corbett declared. ‘The attacker will be gone.’ He urged Perditus to drink more wine. ‘And you had no sight of him?’
‘His cowl was securely tied and never fell back in the struggle. A leather mask covered his face. I only glimpsed his eyes and heard his grunts.’
‘Was he strong?’ Ranulf asked.
Perditus drained his cup. ‘Well, he was fairly muscular and wiry but I would say he was an older man. He wasn’t like you.’ Perditus pointed at Ranulf. ‘I could hold my own against him. I was aware of his strength slipping. His belly was soft, with a slight paunch. He must have realised that if the struggle continued, he would have the worst of it, so he fled.’
‘Do you think he was waiting for you?’