CHAPTER NINE
I HAD BEEN standing against the old kitchen dresser, but there was no dresser behind me now, only the stone wall, and the kitchen itself had become the living quarters of the original house, with the hearth at one end and the ladder leading to the sleeping-room beside it. The girl I had seen kneeling by the hearth that first day came running down the ladder at the sound of the men's footsteps, and at sight of her Roger shouted, "Go back out of it! What we have to say and do does not concern you."
She hesitated, and the boy, the brother, was there too, looking over her shoulder. "Out of it", shouted Roger, "the pair of you," and they backed away again, up the ladder, but from where I stood I could see them crouching there, out of sight of the group of men, who entered the kitchen behind the steward.
Roger set his flare upon a bench, lighting the room, and I recognised the boy he was holding — it was the young novice I had seen on my first visit to the Priory, the lad who had been forced to run round the stable yard to make sport for his fellow-monks, and later had wept at his prayers in the Priory chapel.
"I'll make him talk", said Roger, "if the rest of you cannot. It will loosen his tongue to have a taste of Purgatory to come." Slowly he rolled up his sleeves, taking his time, his eyes upon the novice all the while, and the boy backed away from the bench, seeking shelter amongst the other men, who thrust him forward, laughing. He had grown taller since I had seen him last, but it was the same lad, there was no mistaking him, and the look of terror in his eyes suggested that the rough handling he dreaded this time was not sport.
Roger seized him by his habit and pushed him on to his knees beside the bench. "Tell us all you know", he said, "or I'll singe the hair off your head."
"I know nothing," cried the novice. "I swear by the Mother of God—"
"No blasphemy", said Roger, "or I'll set fire to your habit too. You've played spy long enough, and we want the truth."
He took hold of the flare and brought it within an inch or so of the boy's head. The boy crouched lower and began to scream. Roger hit him across the mouth. "Come on, out with it," he said. The girl and her brother were staring from the ladder, fascinated, and the five men drew nearer to the bench, one of them touching the boy's ear with his knife. "Shall I prick him and draw blood," he suggested, "then singe his pate afterwards where the flesh is tender?" The novice held up his hands for mercy. "I'll tell all I know," he cried, "but it's nothing, nothing… only what I overheard Master Bloyou, the Bishop's emissary, say to the Prior."
Roger withdrew the flare, and set it back upon the bench. "And what did he say?"
The terrified novice glanced first at Roger and then at his companions. "That the Bishop was displeased with the conduct of some of the brethren, Brother Jean in particular. That he, with others, acts against the Prior's will, and squanders the property of the monastery in dissolute living. That they are a scandal to the whole Order, and a pernicious example to many outside it. And that the Bishop cannot close his eyes to the situation any longer, and has given Master Bloyou all power to enforce the canon law, with the aid of Sir John Carminowe." He paused for breath, seeking reassurance in their faces, and one of the men, not the fellow with the knife, moved away from the group.
"By the faith, it's true," he muttered, "and who are we to deny it? We know well enough that the Priory, and all within it, are a scandal. If the French monks went back where they belong, we'd be well rid of them."
A murmur of agreement rose from the others, and the man with the knife, a great hulking chap, losing interest in the novice, turned to Roger.
"Trefrengy has a point," he said sullenly. "It stands to reason we valley men this side of Tywardreath would stand to gain if the Priory closed its doors. We'd have a claim to the surrounding land, on which they grow fat, instead of being pushed to graze our cattle amongst reeds."
Roger folded his arms, spurning the still frightened novice with his foot. "Who speaks of closing the Priory doors?" he asked. "Not the Bishop up in Exeter, he speaks for the Diocese only, and can recommend the Prior to discipline the monks, but nothing further. The King is overlord, as you are perfectly aware, and every one of us who are tenants under Champernoune has had fair treatment, and received benefits from the Priory into the bargain. More than that. None of you have held back from trading with the French ships when they cast anchor in the bay. Is there anyone amongst you who has not had his cellars filled because of them?"
Nobody answered. The novice, believing himself safe, began to crawl away, but Roger caught at him once again and held him.
"Not so fast," he said, "I haven't finished with you. What else did Master Henry Bloyou tell the Prior?"
"No more than I have said," stammered the boy.
"Nothing concerning the safety of the realm itself?" Roger made as though to seize the flare from the bench, and the novice, trembling, put up his hands in self-defence.
"He spoke of rumours from the north," he faltered, "that trouble is still brewing between the King and his mother Queen Isabella, and might break out into open strife before long. If so, he wondered who in the west would be loyal to the young King, and who would declare for the Queen and her lover Mortimer."
"I thought as much," said Roger. "Now crawl into a corner and stay mute. If you blab a word of this outside these walls I'll slit your tongue for you."
He turned and faced the five men, who stared back at him uncertainly, this latest information having shocked them into silence.
"Well?" asked Roger. "What do you make of it? Are you all dumb?" The fellow called Trefrengy shook his head. "It's none of our business," he said. "The King can quarrel with his mother if he wants. It does not concern us."
"You think not?" queried Roger. "Not even if the Queen and Mortimer should keep the power within their own hands still? I know of some in these parts who would prefer it so, and would be recompensed for declaring for the Queen when the battle was done. Yes, and pay liberally if others would do the same."
"Not young Champernoune, said the man with the knife. He's under-age and tied to his mother's apron-strings. As for you, Roger, you'd never risk rebellion against a crowned king — not holding your position." He laughed derisively and the others joined in, but the steward, looking at each in turn, remained unmoved.
"Victory is assured if action is swift and power seized overnight," he said. "If that is what the Queen and Mortimer intend, we shall all of us be on the winning side if we keep sweet with their friends. There could be some division of manor lands, who knows? And instead of grazing your cattle amongst reeds, Geoffrey Lampetho, you might have the advantage of the hills above." The man with the knife shrugged his shoulders. "Easy said," he observed, "but who are these friends, so ready with their promises? I know of none."
"Sir Otto Bodrugan," for one, said Roger quietly. A murmur rose amongst the men, the name Bodrugan was repeated, and Henry Trefrengy, who had spoken against the French monks, shook his head once more.
"He's a fine man, none better," he said, "but the last time he rebelled against the Crown, in 1322, he lost, and was fined a thousand marks for his pains."
"He was recompensed four years later when the Queen made him Governor of Lundy island," replied Roger. "The lea of Lundy makes good anchorage for vessels carrying arms, and men as well, who can lie in safety there until they're needed on the mainland. Bodrugan is no fool. What is easier for him, holding lands in Cornwall and in Devon, and Governor of Lundy into the bargain, than to raise the men and ships that the Queen needs?" His argument, smooth, persuasive, seemed to make impact, especially upon Lampetho. "If there's profit in it for us I'd wish him well," he said, "and rally to his side when the deed is done. But I won't cross the Tamar for any man, Bodrugan or another, and you can tell him so."