There were some in his position, he knew, who were happy to take the wealth of men and think nothing more of the poor dead soul, but he was not one of those. He enjoyed his task, knew he was good at it, and tried on all occasions after a success to compose himself and remember that he had a duty to exhibit meekness and humility. Still, sometimes delight would overwhelm him and he would think of punching the air for simple excitement of a job well done. By taking the money he was helping his Order, and saving a soul.
That canon was strange. There was something about his appearance, as though he knew he should be safe, but somehow doubted it. Guibert should have let John stand against him. There were enough men there to prevent the theft of Sir William’s body. In God’s name, the man’s own wishes were being ignored! It was scandalous!
The money would serve to feed the brethren, keep the chapel filled with candles, and help finance the alms which the friars sought to give to the needy. It was not for personal use, of course. None of them had need of money, because no Dominican held property. They had given up all their possessions so that they might concentrate on their responsibilities. They had the duty to preach and save souls. They weren’t like those leeches the pardoners, who were little better than official thieves who took money in return for pieces of paper that promised spurious security. Like most friars, John had no sympathy with secular fund-raisers of that sort. They spent their time wandering the country, fooling the gullible into giving them their wealth, when all people needed to do was speak to a friar, a man learned in helping the flock. He could listen to their confessions and grant absolution, and that without huge expense. Most people would prefer that, surely, to having to go to an illiterate fool of a parson, who might listen to certain sins with an ear more attuned to his own sexual gratification than to the effect they might be having upon the poor offender.
That was the trouble so often. People would enter the priesthood when they had no vocation. There were so many men in the Church now, and a large number were not there because they wanted to help the poor and needy, but because they were younger sons who had no inheritance, or because they were sick in spirit and sought an easy life in the Church. There were also the corrupt, who saw entry into the Church as a means of inveigling their way into the skirts of the female members of the parish.
And there was more … worse!
‘Look at this place, Robert! Filled with gluttony and greed. The house of God sits amidst this wealth like a solitary beacon, while about her are all these places dedicated to Mammon and self-gratification.’
‘I don’t under-’
‘This place,’ he said, standing still and waving a hand. ‘Here on our left are the great houses of the canons, each of them big enough for several families, all needing magnificent incomes to pay for them, but here they house only the canon and a few servants. Over there is the great house built for the choristers, and beyond it the deanery. All these buildings, all these servants, and yet we know that all a man needs is his bowl and a space to pray. There’s no necessity for these enormous estates and such stolen wealth. The Church is a wonderful institution, but how much more marvellous would she be if she were here in the open for all to share? The Dean and chapter should tear down these houses, remove these proofs of their greed and worldliness; they should give up their incomes for alms to support the poor, and leave this place to go and preach to those who need to hear the Word of God! Instead they rob us!’
He fell quiet again as he caught sight of Peter de la Fosse, the canon who had stolen Sir William’s body. The canon appeared braver now, but there was still something about him, some nervousness that sat oddly with his elevated position. As soon as he caught sight of John and Robert, he looked away as though pretending he hadn’t seen them, but then John saw him casting little glances their way. Probably just guilt, he decided.
At his side, Robert looked about him. John’s fervour was known within the friary, and Robert had honoured him for his godliness many times in the past, but today he was unsure of his companion’s meaning.
Where John saw greed and personal aggrandizement, Robert saw a mess. Before he had joined the Order, he had grown up the son of a rich knight, and been used to the trappings of wealth. To him, wealth meant hunting, resting and playing, with women who could sing and cheer a lonely soul. Here there was none of that. It was all work.
A thick, foul smoke rose from one area near the church’s walls, and stone chips crunched underfoot. The canons’ houses were magnificent, but the canons themselves walked about in austere black, several of them keeping an eye on the building works, while clerks moved among the workers ensuring that they did not slacken. Horses and donkeys wandered in their midst, seeking any forage they might, while the soil from a newly dug grave was being carefully sifted by the fossor, who sought to retrieve all the bones for reinterment in the Chapel of Bones out in front of the west door. It was no paradise, Robert thought, but he let no sign of his own impression fix itself upon his face. Better to humour old John. There was much for Robert to learn from him, after all.
‘And after the Bishop,’ John growled, ‘the most rapacious of the canons is the evil man who is behind this attack on our privileges. The Dean,’ he spat contemptuously. ‘A man so covetous he would steal a corpse from our chapel for his personal benefit!’
Chapter Nine
‘What is it now, husband?’
Reginald grunted to himself. ‘Sabina, my dearest, please. For today, don’t you think that-’
‘You sit there staring into the distance as though you were sitting at table alone! Is there nothing to tell me about your day? Perhaps you think that a foolish cow like me has no interest in your business?’
‘I always admired your intelligence, you know that.’
‘You admired my father’s money more! And now … you can’t even admire me in bed, can you?’
He turned away and stared down at his trencher. She was right, of course. And she knew very well why it was. She had never caught him with another woman, but God’s blood, what was he supposed to do? When they married, he had been devoted to her. All right, so he didn’t necessarily love her, but he respected her and had a lot of time for her intelligence, and that meant more, generally, than mere love. Love was an emotion that could come and go, but a couple who liked each other would remain moderately happy for life.
That was the problem, though. He … he esteemed her. And when they had married, she had been besotted with him. That was no basis for a marriage — or so he felt now. At the time he’d thought differently, of course, and all his friends said the same, that it was the best thing in the world for a man to marry a woman who wanted him above all else, because then he could guarantee he’d get his way in everything. What a load of bull’s turds! The fact was, she soon saw through his protestations of adoration. Of course she did. She knew what real love was, and expected to see the same shining adulation reflected in his eyes that she felt in her own.
Christ’s pain, but he wished he’d realized sooner. The first few months of marriage were fine, but after that he had to hide his true feelings for her, growing sadder and sadder with the passing years, for ever bound to a woman he admired, but didn’t love.
Now, since she had realized he didn’t love her, her passion for him had turned from worship to loathing. The only good thing in his life was his son, Michael, the lad whom they had conceived in that first flush of desire after their wedding. Their boy, his boy — and now his betrayer. He had told his mother when he heard Reg with his woman. Sabina had been away at the time, and Reg had thought that his own bedroom would be safer than anywhere else for his late-night assignation. But Sabina had heard something from Michael. He must have heard Reg with Mazeline last time she was here — perhaps when the alarm was raised? — and asked his mother who was there. The fool! Now her shrewish, jealous and unforgiving nature had been exposed. She had lost any remaining love for him, and as a result her only delight was his pain and misery.