‘Well, this is the abbey of Autun and the end of our journey,’ the Gaul said, as he swung the wagon round towards a low gateway and halted the mule team before it. ‘That is where I deliver my goods. It is the entrance to the storehouses. But if you go across towards that building.’ he indicated with his hand, ‘you will find the office of the steward of the abbey. You may enquire there as to where you should go.’
Eadulf was already climbing thankfully down, removing the bags, before turning to help Fidelma alight.
‘We thank you for the journey, Brother,’ he said. ‘And the pleasantness of your company, as well as the knowledge and advice that you have imparted.’
Brother Budnouen responded with his almost perpetual smile.
‘I shall be in Autun for a week or so. Doubtless our paths will cross before I depart. Should you wish to journey back to Nebirnum with me, just ask the steward here and he will find me. I wish you luck in your stay, although you may not find the attitude of the religious here to your liking…’ He shrugged. ‘“What went you out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind…a man clothed in soft raiment?”’
‘We are well aware of scripture, my friend,’ Fidelma replied, without humour. ‘We have come to this country with no preconceptions. However, we are much indebted to you, Brother.’
Brother Budnouen raised a hand in parting and edged his cart closer through the large wagonway between the buildings. Eadulf, shouldering the bags, began to move off over the stone-paved square towards the door that the Gaul had indicated. Fidelma fell in step alongside.
‘I am not impressed,’ Eadulf remarked quietly to her, glancing round. ‘Preconception or no.’
She gave him an amused sideways look. ‘What-not impressed with one of the great cities of Christendom?’
He shook his head firmly. ‘Give me the mountains, rivers and forests any day in preference to the confines of a city. It is like a prison with walls all around. And these grey, grim heights…’ he indicated the abbey with a jerk of his head. ‘There is something forbidding about the place.’
‘The buildings are quite intimidating, I agree,’ Fidelma replied, glancing upwards. ‘I am not a city dweller. I also hate the idea of being confined. But we have to admit that such buildings have a curiously impressive quality of their own. So absorb the experience even if you cannot enjoy it. Now let us face the next ordeal…we must find out who has been killed here. Pray God it is not our old friend, Ségdae.’
They were some way off the steward’s office when the door opened and a religieux exited. Eadulf hailed him and asked if this was where the steward of the abbey was to be found.
The man examined him for a moment and then frowned at Fidelma.
‘Women go to the Domus Femini, the house of women,’ he said in accented and guttural Latin, pointing along the side of the building. ‘You are not welcome here.’
Eadulf stared at him in bewilderment. ‘This is the abbey of Autun, isn’t it?’ he asked. ‘We seek the steward here.’
A scowl settled on the man’s dark features.
‘Women are not welcome here,’ he repeated. ‘Go!’
Fidelma’s lips thinned and her eyes grew dangerously bright.
‘We demand to see the steward! she said, her words slow and clear. ‘Where do we find him?’
The man was about to respond further when a familiar figure suddenly appeared in the doorway behind him. It was Abbot Ségdae. He looked grey and ill but he came swiftly towards them, hands outstretched in welcome.
‘Fidelma! Eadulf! Thank God you have come at last!’
Chapter Three
‘It is good to see you well, Ségdae,’ Fidelma said warmly. The Abbot of Imleach had drawn them into the anticum, the antechamber of the abbey, but not before a sharp exchange with the religieux who had tried to prevent their entrance. The man finally shrugged and moved off. Now they were seated on wooden benches in a large hall with vaulted roof. There was no one else about.
‘It is a relief that you have arrived.’ The abbot was clearly in a state of agitation.
‘It is obvious something disturbs you, Ségdae,’ Fidelma observed.
‘We heard that an abbot of the five kingdoms had been killed,’ Eadulf went on. ‘We were at Nebirnum and hastened here. Who was it?’
‘Dabhóc, a kindly man who was attending here on behalf of the bishop of Ard Macha.’
‘I do not know him,’ Fidelma said.
‘He was abbot of Tulach Óc, in the northern kingdom.’
Fidelma shook her head, for the name and place meant nothing to her.
‘What happened, exactly?’ asked Eadulf. ‘Who killed him?’
Abbot Ségdae’s face remained drawn. ‘That is the precisely the problem which is being argued over. The body of Abbot Dabhóc was found in the chamber of Bishop Ordgar…’
‘Not Bishop Ordgar of Kent!’ Eadulf exclaimed.
‘You know him?’ Abbot Ségdae asked.
‘I have heard much of him. I know that Theodore, who was appointed archbishop at Canterbury, is kindly disposed towards him. He believes firmly in the rules of Rome and has little sympathy towards the people or the churches of the west.’
‘Ordgar is here as Theodore’s representative,’ Abbot Ségdae said gloomily, ‘and I can vouch for his attitudes towards the representatives of the churches of the Britons. Alas, his manner is all too arrogant.’
‘So it was Ordgar who slew Dabhóc?’ interposed Fidelma.
‘That is what has not been decided. There is unquiet in this abbey and the council has not been able to meet in formal session yet. There has been nothing but rumour and whisperings during the last week.’
‘Was that why I was not welcome here?’ asked Fidelma. ‘That religieux who greeted us muttered something to that effect, and also something about my going to a Domus Femini. I do not understand.’
‘No,’ replied Abbot Ségdae. ‘The bishop was disinclined to admit you here because this abbey, alas, is not a conhospitae, a mixed house. There is a separate house for the females under an abbatissa. The males remain here under the bishop and abbot of this place. He is a Frank called Leodegar-an intelligent man, but of that party which believes in the segregation of the sexes and the idea of celibacy among those serving the New Faith.’
‘Then that makes our position awkward,’ Eadulf pointed out.
Abbot Ségdae was contrite. ‘I did not know that this situation prevailed here, otherwise I would not have requested that your brother, Colgú, send you here as my adviser.’
‘Are there no female delegates to this council?’ asked Fidelma. ‘No male delegates who have brought wives or female advisers?’
‘A few, but Leodegar has instructed that they cannot participate in the proceedings. He claims his authority is from the Bishop of Rome, Vitalian. Bishop Leodegar seems a complex person. He is given to strange moods. The women have been sent either to the Domus Femini or found accommodation in the city.’
Fidelma showed her irritation. ‘Then it seems that our long journey here has been a waste of time. We shall also seek some accommodation within the city. I presume that there are some inns or hostels here-or do Bishop Leodegar’s edicts run throughout the city?’
‘Wait, I have not explained fully,’ the abbot said rapidly. ‘Your journey here was no waste of time, I assure you. I have had a long talk with Leodegar and he has been persuaded that his need of your special talent outweighs his rules and restrictions.’
‘How so?’ she asked, still put out.