There was an intensity about him as he worked. Later, he told Reg that he could hear something, a sort of high whistling sound that echoed in his ears. It was exciting and thrilling to hear, and it seemed almost to drive him on as he stabbed and cut.
For Reg, it was a scene from hell. A demon had taken the woman and subjected her to unendurable agony, and the demon’s weeping helper was the woman’s own lover. Perhaps Mick’s true crime had been to fall in love — as Reg should have with his own wife, but couldn’t. And now this crying fellow was aiding his lover’s torturer, purely because, although he looked a large, brawny, strong lad, in reality he was only good for bullying those who were weaker than him. So Jordan could cow him, force him to help destroy the woman he adored, and then still remain there to do Jordan’s bidding.
That was the way of things: a weak man would always obey a stronger, no matter what the hideous fear that the man provoked. In a land that had suffered so much death and horror, famine and war in the past ten years, any stability was to be desired, even if it came at the expense of a man’s soul.
When he was finished, Jordan was sweating lightly. The girl had fainted away some while before, and he stepped away from the bloodied mess that had been Anne and surveyed his work, smiling a moment before he beckoned Mick.
‘Come here and look upon her, boy. That’s right. What has happened to her is your fault. Your fault. You wanted to take her away from me and use her money yourself, didn’t you? You told her you wanted her for herself, that you’d marry her, but all you wanted was the income she’d bring. And when that was all gone, what then? I suppose you’d have discarded her in favour of another, wouldn’t you?’ He had his hand on Mick’s shoulder, gripping the lad firmly so that he could not avert his gaze from the quivering lump of ruined flesh on the ground. He pushed Mick towards a pail of water and Mick reluctantly fetched it. Jordan took it and threw it over Anne. She screamed, once, and then lay squirming in pain, as though unable to decide which wound hurt the most.
‘You see, Anne, I can’t afford to have my girls running away. If you escaped with this one, you’d become an example later, when you came back without a protector and told the other girls that he’d thrown you over, but in the meantime, how many other girls would have left my business? So this way is better. Look on your lover, girl!’
And he moved his grip from Mick’s shoulder up to his forehead, fingers finding the eye-sockets and dragging the man’s head back, making the tendons stretch, exposing the windpipe and veins beneath the leathery flesh. ‘Pretty throat, eh?’ he said, chuckling, and drew the blade across in a fast, vicious action.
Dean Alfred was furious. He had known what would happen as soon as he heard of the assault, and now, as his servant announced the visitors, he was hard put to it not to swear aloud. If he had been in any other room, he might well have done. Damn that fool!
Of course the problem was that they had lost so many staff recently. There had been the disastrous deaths in the cathedral’s works*, closely followed by the death of men involved in the chapter, and that had required others to be brought in to help with the essential businesses. A cathedral was not, after all, merely a large church with a patch of ground filled with bones. It was a separate community in its own right, with its own farms, brewery, bakery, slaughterhouses, wash-houses … everything. Hundreds of men lived and worked within it to make sure that all the various aspects functioned properly. When one part failed, everything could collapse. And it was essential that the whole edifice should continue, because so many people depended upon it. Their souls were to be saved only if the canons and vicars, secondaries and annuellars were able to conduct their business without hindrance.
And now one over-enthusiastic idiot had jeopardized their efforts again. He’d gone ahead without even thinking about the consequences.
‘Bring them in,’ he said and dropped into his chair. As soon as John and Robert appeared, gliding silently over the floor on their bare feet, he stood again and exchanged greetings. ‘Wine, Brothers? Some other refreshment?’
‘You know why-’
‘I know exactly why — um — you have been forced to come and see us here, and all I can — ah — say is that I am very unhappy that this terrible situation has come to pass. The man involved will be severely reprimanded for presuming to — um — demand the body.’
‘I hardly think that such behaviour merits merely a reprimand. We demand that the chapter apologize formally and return the body forthwith for the funeral to continue.’
A hint of steel entered the Dean’s voice. ‘But I do not quite, um, understand. I had heard that the period of vigil was complete and that the poor man concerned was ready for his funeral?’
‘And we shall conduct it.’
‘I had — um — believed that after the last dispute between the chapter and your priory, it was agreed that the cathedral had the monopoly of funerals for all secular folk in the city? Correct me if — ah — I am wrong, but you have the right to bury only those who are members of your Order. Is that not — ah — so?’
‘You have no monopoly. The Friars Preacher have the right to bury others in our cloister or wherever we wish. Our rights have been upheld by his holiness himself.’
‘As I recall, the decision was that we should try to live in — ah — harmony, and that when a wealthy benefactor requested the honour of a place in your chapel, you were to inform us first, and then grant us one fourth of all moneys and legacies involved. Yet you attempted to conduct a secret funeral and burial.’
‘That was no reason to break down our doors, injure a friar who stood passively and unthreateningly, destroy our lattice and steal our candles and cloths. It was an act of blatant violence — you have caused great harm and broken our peace. We demand that the body be returned to us for burial.’
Dean Alfred stood and stared out a moment through the little window. If he could have had his way, the friars would have gone ahead with their funeral and burial, and later the chapter could have demanded compensation for the money which had been withheld. Then right would have been on the chapter’s side, and the legal arguments would have been clear. But now one hot-head had exacerbated the tensions between the two groups.
‘I apologize again. When the funeral is completed I can return the body and all the goods with it, in exchange for the fourth part of his estate as agreed before. Otherwise, I think that the chapter should retain the body and goods in token of the agreement which you have tried to evade.’ He spun on his heel, eyes blazing. ‘Do not think to argue with me, Brother! I know you well, John. You have been preaching against us these last two months. Who is it who insists upon reminding the populace of this city that our own very reverend Bishop was unreasonably excommunicated by your Prior? That your priory attempted to have him cast out of the university at Oxford, falsely alleging that he was to be excluded because he was excommunicate? I do not forget these actions. And now you have tried to create another dispute between our two institutions.’
‘I have done nothing of the sort! It was the outrageous behaviour of your chapter, breaking down our doors and wounding our friars, merely to satisfy your wanton lust for gold and coin!’
‘Our lust?’ Dean Alfred echoed. ‘The only reason we had to enquire about the body was because you were attempting to withhold our share of Sir William’s estate. You were determined to retain the full amount without honouring your legal responsibilities.’
‘You dare to judge the actions of the Friars Preacher? We are not so tied to the greed and indulgence of lascivious delights as you canons are! While you sit back in comfortable seats, drinking warmed wine and letting your vicars perform your duties for you, or travel about the country visiting your estates and holdings all over the land, we friars are hard at work out there in the real world of poverty and misery, trying to save the souls of the most downtrodden by our example!’