by Ellis Peters
But the best gift of all came from Brother Anselm.
“Well, since you won’t stay and be celibate here among us,” said the precentor cheerfully, “here is your own rebec ready for playing, and a good leather bag to carry it in. I’m pleased with my work, it came out better than I dared hope, and you’ll find it still has a very sweet voice, after all its misadventures.” And he added sternly, while Liliwin embraced his recovered treasure with a joy far more profound than if it had been gold and silver: “Now bear in mind what you’ve learned here concerning the reading and writing of music. Never lose your skills. Let me not be ashamed of my pupil when you come this way and visit us again.”
And Liliwin poured out fervent thanks, and promises he might never be able to keep, though he meant them with all his heart.
*
They were married at the parish altar, where Liliwin had first taken refuge, by Father Adam, priest of the Foregate parish, in the presence of Hugh and Aline Beringar, Brother Cadfael, Brother Oswin, Brother Anselm, and several more of the brothers who felt a sympathetic interest in their departing guest. Abbot Radulfus himself gave them his blessing.
Afterwards, when they had packed up their wedding clothes and put on the everyday homespun in which they meant to set out together, they sought out Hugh Beringar, who was sitting with Brother Cadfael in the ante-chamber of the guest-hall.
“We should be off soon,” said Liliwin, speaking for both, “to get the best of the day on the road to Lichfield. But we wanted to ask, before we go… His trial must be weeks away, we might never hear. He won’t hang, will he?”
So little they had, those two, even if it was more than ever they had possessed before, and yet they had so much that they could afford pity. “You don’t want him to hang?” said Hugh. “He would have killed you, Rannilt. Or do you not believe that, now it’s all past?”
“Yes,” she said simply, “I do believe it. I think he would have done it. I know she would. But I don’t want his death. I never wanted hers. He won’t hang, will he?”
“Not if my voice is heard. Whatever he may have done, he did not kill, and all that he stole has been restored. Whatever he did was done at her wish. I think you may set out with quiet minds,” said Hugh gently. “He’ll live. He’s younger than she. He may yet take another, even if it must be a second-best.”
For whatever else might be called in question about those two unhappy sinners, Rannilt had been a witness to the devoted and desperate love between them.
“He may end as a decent craftsman, settled with wife and children,” said Hugh. Children who would be born in peace, not buried still in the womb, like Susanna’s child. Three months gone, was the physician’s estimate. Even if she had not seized the opportunity of her brother’s wedding feast, she would have had to make her bid for freedom very soon.
“He would have given himself up for her sake,” said Liliwin seriously, “and so would she for him. And she did die for him. I saw. We both saw. She knew what she did. Surely that must count?”
So it might, and so, surely, must the pity and prayers of two young creatures so misused and so magnanimous. Who should more certainly prevail?
“Come,” said Brother Cadfael, “we’ll bring you through the gate and see you on your way. And God go with you!”
And forth they went, hopefully and happily, the new leather bag slung proudly on Liliwin’s shoulder. To a life that could never be less than hard and insecure, he the wandering entertainer at fairs and markets and small manors, she, no doubt, soon just as adept with that pure, small voice of hers, and a dance or two to her husband’s playing. In all weathers, at all seasons, but with luck finding a decent patron for the winter, and a good fire. And at the very worst, together.
“Do you truly believe,” asked Cadfael, when the two little figures had vanished along the Foregate, “that Iestyn also may have a life before him?”
“If he can make the effort. No one is going to press for his death. He is coming back to life, not willingly, but because he must. There is a vigour in him he can’t shift all on to the past. It will be a minor love, but he’ll marry and breed yet.”
“And forget her?”
“Have I said so?” said Hugh, and smiled.
“Whatever she did of worst,” said Cadfael soberly, “came of that in her that might have been best, if it had not been maimed. She was much wronged.”
“Old friend,” said Hugh, shaking his head with rueful affection, “I doubt if even you can get Susanna into the fold among the lambs. She chose her way, and it’s taken her far out of reach of man’s mercy, if ever she’d lived to face trial. And now, I suppose,” he said, seeing his friend’s face still thoughtful and undismayed, “you will tell me roundly that God’s reach is longer than man’s.”
“It had better be,” said Brother Cadfael very solemnly, “otherwise we are all lost.”
Glossary of Terms
Alltud
A foreigner living in Wales
Arbalest
A crossbow that enables the bow to be drawn with a winding handle
Baldric
A sword-belt crossing the chest from shoulder to hip.
Bannerole
A thin ribbon attached to a lance tip
Bodice
The supportive upper area of a woman’s dress, sometimes a separate item of clothing worn over a blouse
Brychan
A woollen blanket
Caltrop
A small iron weapon consisting four spikes. Set on the ground and used against horses and infantry
Capuchon
A cowl-like hood
Cariad
Welsh for ‘beloved’
Cassock
A long garment of the clergy
Castellan
The ruler of a castle
Chatelaine
The lady of a manor house
Chausses
Male hose
Coif
The cap worn under a nun’s veil
Conversus
A man who joins the monkhood after living in the outside world
Cottar
A Villein who is leased a cottage in exchange for their work
Cotte
A full- or knee-length coat. Length is determined by the class of the wearer
Croft
Land used as pasture that abuts a house
Currier
A horse comb used for grooming
Demesne
The land retained by a lord for his own use
Diocese
The district attached to a cathedral
Dortoir
Dormitory (monastic)
Electuary
Medicinal powder mixed with honey. Taken by mouth
Eremite
A religious hermit
Espringale
Armament akin to a large crossbow
Frater
Dining room (monastic)
Garderobe
A shaft cut into a building wall used as a lavatory
Garth
A grass quadrangle within the cloisters (monastic)
Geneth
Welsh for ‘girl’
Gentle
A person of honourable family
Glebe
An area of land attached to a clerical office
Grange
The lands and buildings of a monastery farm
Groat
A small coin
Gruel
Thin porridge
Guild
A trade association
Gyve
An iron shackle
Hauberk
A chainmail coat to defend the neck and shoulders
Helm
A helmet
Horarium
The monastic timetable, divided into canonical hours, or offices, of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline
Husbandman
A tenant farmer
Jess
A short strap att
ached to a hawk’s leg when practising falconry
Largesse
Money or gifts, bestowed by a patron to mark an occasion
Leat (Leet)
A man-made waterway
Litany
Call and response prayer recited by clergyman and congregation
Llys
The timber-built royal court of Welsh princes
Lodestar
A star that acts as a fixed navigational point, i.e. the Pole Star
Lodestone
Magnetised ore
Lye
A solution used for washing and cleaning
Mandora
A stringed instrument, precursor to the mandolin
Mangonel
Armament used for hurling missiles
Marl
Soil of clay and lime, used as a fertiliser
Messuage
A house (rented) with land and out-buildings
Midden
Dung-heap
Missal
The prayer book detailing Mass services throughout the calendar
Moneyer
Coin minter
Mountebank
Trickster or entertainer
Mummer
An actor or player in a mime or masque
Murage
A tax levied to pay for civic repairs
Murrain
An infectious disease of livestock
Myrmidon
A faithful servant
Nacre
Mother-of-pearl
Oblatus
A monk placed in the monastery at a young age
Orts
Food scraps
Ostler
Horse handler
Palfrey
A horse saddled for a woman
Pallet
A narrow wooden bed or thin straw mattress
Palliative
A pain-killer
Pannikin
A metal cup or saucepan
Parfytours
Hounds used in hunting
Parole
The bond of a prisoner upon release from captivity
Patten
A wooden sandal
Pavage
A tax levied for street paving
Penteulu
A Welsh rank: captain of the royal guard
Pommel
The upward point on the front of a saddle
Poniard
A dagger
Prelate
A high-ranking member of the church (i.e. abbot or bishop)
Prie-Dieu
A kneeling desk used in prayer
Pyx
A small box or casket used to hold consecrated bread for Mass
Quintain
A target mounted on a post used for tilting practice
Rebec
A three string instrument, played using a bow
Rheum
Watery discharge of nose or eyes
Saeson
An Englishman
Scabbard
A sword or dagger sheath
Sconce
A bracket for candle or torch set on a wall
Sheepfold
A sheep pen
Shriven
Having received confession
Shut
An alley between streets
Skiff
A rowing boat for use in shallow waters
Sow
The structure protecting the men wielding a battering ram
Springe
A noose set as snare for small animals
Stoup
Drinking vessel
Sumpter
Pack-horse
Synod
A council or assembly of church officials presided over by the bishopry
Tallow
Fat used in candle or soap manufacture
Timbrel
A tambourine-like instrument
Tithe
A tax levied against labour and land and used to support the clergy
Torsin
Alarm bell
Toper
Drunkard
Touchstone
A heavy black stone used to test the quality of gold or silver
Trencher
A wooden platter
Troche
Medicinal lozenge
Uchelwr
A Welsh nobleman
Vassal
Tenant of a plot of land leased by and under the protection of a lord
Villein
Serf or tenant bound to a lord
Virelai
A French song form that usually has three stanzas and a refrain. It is one of the three formes fixes (the others being the ballade and the rondeau)
Vittles
Food and provisions
Votary
A person who vows to obey a certain code, usually religious
Wattle
Building material consisting of interwoven sticks, twigs and branches
Wicket
Small door or gate within or adjacent to a larger door
Wimple
Linen or silk cloth a woman would fold round her head and wrap under her chin
Yeoman
A freeman, usually a farmer, below the status of gentleman
A Guide to Welsh Pronunciation
ae
As in chwaer (sister), like the y in sky, never the ae in Caesar.
c
As in cael (have), like the c in cat, never the c in city.
ch
As in chwech (six), like the ch in Scottish loch.
dd
As in Caerdydd (Cardiff), like the th in then, never the th in throw.
f
As in fioled (violet), like the v in violin.
ff
As in coffi (coffee), like the f in friend.
g
As in glaw (rain), like the g in crag, never the g in gene.
ll
As in llaeth (milk), like saying an h and l simultaneously. Made by putting your tongue in the position of l and then blowing out air gently.
r
As in carreg (stone), should be trilled and always pronounced, never dropped.
rh
As in rhain (these), should be trilled with aspiration. Like saying an h and r simultaneously.
s
As in sant (saint), like the s in sound, never the s in laser.
th
As in fyth (never), like the th in think, never the th in those.
w
As in gwin (wine), like the oo in book.
y
As in wy (egg), like uh in above
About The Author
ELLIS PETERS (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, (1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television.
She was born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), where her father was a clerk at a local ironworks. She was educated at Dawley Church of England School and the old Coalbrookdale High School for Girls. She had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) are set in Wales and its borderlands, and/or have Welsh protagonists.
During World War II, Pargeter worked in an administrative role in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (the “Wrens”)—and reached the rank of petty officer. On 1 January 1944 she was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM).
In 1947 Pargeter visited Czechoslovakia and became fascinated by the Czech language and culture. She became fluent in Czech and published award-winning translations of Czech poetry and prose into English.
She devoted the rest of her life to writing, both nonfiction and well-researched fiction. She never attended college but became a self-taught scholar in areas that interested her, especially Shropshire and Wales. She was, however, awarded an honorary masters degree by Birmingham University.
Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote crime stories. The Brother Cadfael Chronicles drew in
ternational attention to Shrewsbury and its history, and greatly increased tourism to the town.
Since the publication of the first of The Cadfael Chronicles (A Morbid Taste for Bones) in 1977, Brother Cadfael has become one of the most well-known and well-loved sleuths of crime fiction.
In 1994, she was awarded an OBE for her services to literature. Pargeter died at her home in Madeley, Shropshire in 1995 at the age of 82. In Shrewsbury Abbey, a stained glass window depicting St Benedict is dedicated to her memory.
First published in Great Britain in 1983 by Macmillan London Ltd
This eBook edition first published in the UK in 2014
Copyright © Ellis Peters, 1983
Author photo by Talbot Whiteman
The moral right of Ellis Peters to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
