‘Are you going to try to find Valretrade?’ asked the girl softly.
‘Yes, I shall try,’ Fidelma replied grimly. ‘I promised Sigeric that I would do what I could.’
‘I hope you may be successful. Remember, Abbess Audofleda is powerful. I would be careful of her.’
‘I intend to be,’ Fidelma replied as she moved towards the door. ‘If you need to contact me urgently, the only way I can think of is by the same method that Valretrade used-the candle in the window.’
‘I shall remember. But only if it is urgent.’
‘Thank you, Sister Inginde. You have been very helpful.’
Fidelma turned out of the chamber and moved back to the stairwell. The Domus Femini was silent. Nothing stirred. She returned to the door to the vaults without incident. As soon as she came down the stairs and entered the vaults, Eadulf and Brother Sigeric came forward anxiously.
‘Did you see her? Did you see Sister Inginde?’ demanded Brother Sigeric immediately.
‘She confirms that Valretrade vanished last week,’ Fidelma said. ‘She says that she did not return that night, having set off to meet you.’
‘Did not return?’ Brother Sigeric was aghast. ‘But the signal was made that she had been at our meeting place and was returning to her chamber.’
‘I think we should return to the scriptorium where we may discuss things more comfortably,’ Fidelma advised. ‘It is better than discussing it here.’
Brother Sigeric reluctantly picked up the lantern and led the way back out of the abbey’s catacombs.
Once in the scriptorium they seated themselves in a corner while Fidelma recounted the conversation she had had with Sister Inginde.
‘So, according to what Sister Inginde was told by Sister Radegund, Valretrade was supposed to have left a note with Abbess Audofleda explaining that she was leaving Autun,’ she concluded.
Brother Sigeric’s reaction was immediate.
‘Lies!’ he snapped. ‘I swear she must be a prisoner in the Domus Femini. It is some fiendish punishment of that woman Audofleda.’
‘We can ask to see this note,’ Eadulf suggested. ‘I suppose Valretrade had the capability of writing it?’
Brother Sigeric frowned. ‘Of course she could write.’
‘Ah yes.’ Eadulf suddenly remembered. ‘I am sorry. You told us that she had worked in the scriptorium with you. So, would we recognise her handwriting?’
‘All scribes write with their own peculiarities,’ Sigeric said. ‘She wrote with a distinctive hand, and with the letters “b” and “d” she had a tendency to put a short diagonal line across their stem.’
‘Very well,’ said Fidelma, ‘we must remember that and see if we can have sight of this letter.’
‘Letter or not, she would not leave without communicating with me. I insist that she did not leave of her own accord.’
‘Are you saying that she was abducted?’ Eadulf asked.
‘That is precisely what I am saying. There are rumours…about other women and their children…’
‘Rumours?’ demanded Fidelma. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They say that wives and children have disappeared from the Domus Femini.’
‘You mean the wives and children of some of the brethren here?’
Brother Sigeric nodded and Fidelma exhaled in irritation.
‘Why was I not told before? Never mind! When did you hear such rumours?’ she asked.
Brother Sigeric ran the fingers of one hand through his hair as if the motion would spark off memory.
‘I am not sure. They began during the last two or three weeks. Some of the brethren were speaking of it. Valretrade once mentioned that some of the married women had decided to leave.’
‘Can you remember her precise words?’
Brother Sigeric thought for a moment. ‘Not really-I’m sorry.’
‘Did she know of any reasons for their leaving? What did these women say?’
‘They were gone before any of the community knew they were leaving so she never spoke to any of them.’
Fidelma’s eyes narrowed. ‘Do you mean that they disappeared from the Domus Femini in the same manner as Valretrade?’
The young scribe stared at her, trying to read a meaning in the question.
‘Disappeared?’ he echoed.
‘How many married women and children are, or were, in the community?’
‘Brother Chilperic would know the correct number,’ began the scribe.
‘An estimate,’ snapped Fidelma. ‘You can surely give us that.’
‘I suppose about thirty or more of the brethren had liaisons or were married, and there were about a dozen children.’
‘And these brethren-have they left here?’
He shook his head. ‘No, the brethren are still here in the abbey. They were mainly the ones who decided to obey Bishop Leodegar and divorce their wives-like Brother Chilperic.’
‘So, how many of their wives and children were still left in the Domus Femini? Fidelma’s jaw had tightened and she banged her fist on the nearby table, startling them both. ‘Information! Sine scientia ars nihil est!’ Without knowledge, skill is nothing.
‘I don’t understand,’ ventured Brother Sigeric.
‘I cannot conduct an investigation without information. Had I known about these stories of wives and children being missing, then I could have asked relevant questions.’
‘But it was just rumours,’ protested Brother Sigeric. ‘Except…’
‘Except what?’ demanded Fidelma.
‘One of the brethren was speaking to a merchant from the city. The man was buying some of our surplus farm produce. He said that he saw three of the female religious with a foreign man. He was surprised because he knew them to be from the Domus Femini and formerly married to some of the brethren before…’ He ended with a gesture.
‘And when were they seen?’
‘Just over a week ago.’
‘Where? In the city?’
‘They were seen entering Lady Beretrude’s villa.’
Fidelma did not comment for a while and then she said: ‘I should have known this so that I could verify it. If stories of the disappearances are true…’ she blinked tiredly, ‘then there are many questions to be asked.’
Chapter Twelve
The next morning, after prayers and the breaking of the fast, Fidelma and Eadulf found Brother Chilperic waiting for them outside the refectory. He seemed anxious.
‘Bishop Leodegar requests that you attend him in his chambers as soon as possible.’ The steward’s tone matched the tense expression on his features.
‘Abbess Audofleda has protested,’ muttered Eadulf.
They found the bishop in an angry mood.
‘I have received a complaint from Abbess Audofleda.’
Fidelma was unperturbed by his belligerent manner and, in fact, assumed a sad expression, shaking her head as if in sorrow.
‘Indeed, I wanted a word with you about that woman before we send our report to Rome.’
‘She tells me,’ Bishop Leodegar fumed, ‘that you have been insulting and forget your-’ He halted and frowned. ‘Send to Rome? Explain yourself.’
‘I wanted to discuss the matter with you immediately, but it so happened that I encountered an old friend of mine, the Bishop of Rome’s emissary to the council.’
‘The Nuntius Peregrinus?’ Bishop Leodegar’s demeanour changed slightly. ‘Do you know him? He did not tell me.’
‘Of course. I was going to discuss the abbatissa with you, but after speaking with him, I felt it was a matter that I should bring to his attention and forward my complaint to Rome.’
Bishop Leodegar was bewildered. ‘Complaint? Complaint? But it is Abbess Audofleda who complains of you.’
Fidelma shrugged with a tired expression. ‘Well, she would, I suppose. It seems a good defence to do so. But I feel that I cannot overlook this matter.’
‘You cannot overlook…? What are you saying?’