For a moment Abbess Audofleda looked uncertain.
‘Contact between the sisterhood and the brethren is forbidden,’ she said woodenly.
‘Nevertheless, it happened,’ Fidelma assured her. ‘By the way, when did this Rule of segregation of the sexes and the ideas of celibacy come into force in this abbey?’
The abbatissa looked surprised at the sudden change of subject. She answered defensively.
‘One year ago, not long after Leodegar became bishop and brought his teachings here.’
‘And you were already abbess here?’
‘I was invited to take charge here by the bishop after the decision had been made. He could not find a suitable superior among the sisterhood, so he asked me to come from Divio to take over. It is the duty of the community to obey their bishop and the Rule was made clear. Our people should not question the Rule. But these questions are irrelevant to…’
‘To the matter of Sister Valretrade,’ Fidelma said brightly. ‘I am sorry. I have let natural curiosity overcome me. Now, I would like to speak with her.’
Abbess Audofleda’s thin lips twitched. ‘That is impossible.’
‘I have been assured by Bishop Leodegar that the entire community will co-operate with my enquiry,’ Fidelma cautioned.
‘It is neither a matter of co-operation nor lack of it. Sister Valretrade is no longer part of this community. She is not here.’
‘Not here?’
‘Not here,’ affirmed the abbess.
‘Then perhaps you can inform us where she is?’
‘I cannot be specific.’
‘Try,’ Fidelma pressed a little sarcastically.
‘Then she might well be anywhere. A week ago she left here, saying that she could no longer accept the Rule.’
Fidelma tried to hide her disappointment. ‘When did you say she left?’
‘A week ago.’
‘Was she sent away in punishment for contacting Brother Sigeric?’
‘Punishment? I do not know this Brother Sigeric.’
Fidelma raised an eyebrow slightly. ‘You did not know that she was in love with a young man in the abbey?’
‘I only knew that she was distracted from her duties here. Had I known, I would have reported the matter to the bishop so that he could discipline the young man for enticing Valretrade from her bond to the Faith.’
‘You say you do not know Brother Sigeric. Are you denying that he came to the Domus Femini a few days ago to find out where Sister Valretrade was?’
A crimson hue spread over Abbess Audofleda’s features.
‘Excuse me, abbatissa.’ It was Sister Radegund who spoke nervously from the door before she could say anything. ‘I did not wish to bring the matter to your attention, as you have been so busy, but a young man did come to our door-a young religieux. He demanded to know where Sister Valretrade was. When I told him to go away, he grew insistent, and I informed him that she had left the Domus Femini and was no longer in our charge. He was very insistent and I had to close the door on him. I was reluctant to bother you at the time, and until the matter was mentioned just now I had forgotten all about it.’
‘Did the young man mention his name to you?’ demanded the abbess of her steward.
‘I do not think so, abbatissa.’
The woman turned back to Fidelma with a triumphant expression. ‘So, you see, we have not heard of this Brother Sigeric.’
‘Why do you think Valretrade left the Domus Femini?’ Fidelma asked coldly. ‘And given that she was so “distracted”, in your words, by this young man, did she not tell him that she was leaving?’
‘I am not here to speculate about the workings of a young girl’s mind. Perhaps she is with this young man of whom you speak. Find him and you may find her.’
‘If he was with her, he would hardly have come to the abbey seeking her,’ Fidelma pointed out.
‘So maybe she had come to her senses and realised she should leave him,’ the other woman retorted.
‘So you offer no reason why she left?’
‘Reason? I am afraid that you do not understand the Rule by which I govern this community. She left because she could not abide that Rule.’
‘So she left, and did not even tell the person who seemed to matter most to her that she was leaving.’ Eadulf’s tone was reflective.
‘The person who mattered most?’ The pale face that turned to him was full of disdain. ‘I am the person who matters most in this community.’
Fidelma pointed to the crucifix that hung on the wall behind the Abbess Audofleda.
‘I thought that there was a more important Being in a religious house before Whom everyone was equal,’ she said.
Abbess Audofleda’s cheeks coloured again, this time with anger.
‘The girl disobeyed the Rule! Had she remained here, she would have been chastised for her transgressions. It was her self-interest that caused her flight!’
‘“Whatever you do to the least of My brethren, you do to Me”,’ Eadulf muttered audibly.
‘I have wasted enough time.’ Abbess Audofleda rose and looked across to Sister Radegund. ‘Show these…these visitors out. We have finished.’
Eadulf followed Fidelma who had said nothing further but turned to leave. He had reached the door when the abbess, unable to restrain herself, shouted after them: ‘And I will see that Bishop Leodegar knows of your insults. He has had men flogged for less.’
Fidelma hesitated, and then shook her head quickly in Eadulf’s direction, indicating that he should say nothing further.
Once outside the oak doors of the women’s community, the couple breathed deeply to release their sense of frustration. They then began to walk slowly across the courtyard towards the wagonway.
‘And this woman is the abbatissa of the community?’ Eadulf marvelled. ‘I pity the poor girls in her charge.’
‘I pity Sister Valretrade. With such a superior, I think I too would also leave,’ Fidelma replied. ‘By the way, we must tread carefully. I don’t think we should take her threats lightly.’
‘Threats? About my being flogged?’ Eadulf was unconvinced.
‘Remember that we are in a different country with different customs,’ urged Fidelma. ‘While we have dispensation to conduct this investigation, it is only because it is of a political use to Bishop Leodegar. We are without real authority and we are vulnerable.’
‘Leodegar would not dare,’ asserted Eadulf.
‘He might well. By throwing that threat at us, Audofleda has revealed that Bishop Leodegar has used this power before.’
‘But to take a religious and have them flogged for no reason…’
‘Oh, they would find a reason. I think we should make sure that Brother Sigeric is warned as well. I would not put it past Audofleda to report the matter to Leodegar.’
They halted by the blocked-up entrance halfway down the wagonway and Eadulf glanced up at the grey walls behind them.
‘I have never known a place that exudes such deep melancholy. I was thinking about what Brother Gillucán told you that he heard.’
‘What made you think of that?’
‘The fact that he was in the necessarium, one wall of which backs on to this Domus Femini. That was where he claimed he heard the sound of souls in torment. I can well believe that he heard sounds of lamentation from the poor women enclosed in that place.’
Fidelma realised that Eadulf was being darkly humourous, but her eyes suddenly widened.
‘Children!’ she exclaimed. ‘Of course!’
Eadulf looked at her in surprise.
‘Were we not told that the wives of the brethren here, and their children, were taken to live in the Domus Femini? Wives and children that the brethren were forced to put from them-that was the phrase.’
Eadulf nodded slowly.
‘Don’t you see?’ Fidelma went on. ‘If Audofleda governs so badly, perhaps Gillucán did hear those children wailing in anguish.’