Ralf poured ale into the man’s cup. “It matters not whether I dislike you for your beliefs. It is my duty to render justice whether or not I like a man. I have hanged Christians, found guilty of great crimes, with whom I might otherwise have shared a jug of ale. As Crowner, I take no joy in watching a man strangle on a rope for a wrong he did not commit.”
Jacob nodded.
“So tell me all that you know about the deaths of your guard and the baker’s son. If you are guilty, confess it. I shall then take you to the gallows, but on my oath as a man born of an honorable father, I promise that your family will be safely returned to Norwich. If you are innocent, you shall go with them.”
“Then ask what you need to know, and that may freshen my memory. I swear I am innocent of disobeying the commandment we all honor, but I shall reply honestly.” Jacob drained his mazer.
Ralf poured more for both of them. “Let us begin with Kenelm. He mocked you. You did strike him in anger. Perhaps he died by accident and you wished to hide the deed, not trusting the rule of law here.”
“I could not have killed him. As I told you, my wife was weak and suffering before she gave birth. I did not leave her side. Sadly, the only witnesses for the entire time are my wife, her mother, and perhaps our servant who is barely more than a child.” He thought for a moment. “The innkeeper did visit several times. She feared she might have to be midwife.” He glanced down at his mazer and grew pensive.
Ralf watched him, waited, and then lost patience. “You have something to say. If you want to hang before your babe leaves his mother’s breast, then remain silent.” He leaned forward. “But while you decide how much you dare trust me with any confidence, remember this. A nun saved your wife and child. A prioress has sent her lay brothers to guard your family from riots. A king’s man has given his word to return your kin, alive and well, to the safety of Norwich even if you do hang. Is that not the kind of justice you seek?”
“And what if the truth were to cast a shadow on your priory? Would a Christian take the word of a Jew or is it more likely that I would be condemned simply because I dared speak of it?”
“Prioress Eleanor does not turn her face from unhappy truths. I will judge the meaning of what you claim.” Ralf knew he had spoken firmly, but he clutched his hands together lest they tremble.
“The night of Kenelm’s death, the man you know as Brother Gwydo came to visit me.”
Ralf’s mouth dropped open. “Why?”
“He and I were boyhood friends in Cambridge. Then a bishop came and preached the call to save Jerusalem from those he condemned as infidels. The burning brand of his words lit a fire in Gwydo’s heart and he turned from me, for I was not of his faith. He demanded I accept his beliefs. I refused, saying that we had suffered too much from the cruelty of Christians to believe they were the new chosen people of The Merciful One. We fought. He would have slit my throat, had another not saved me, and then he left. His last words were that I must accept baptism or he would kill me on his return with a sword red with the blood of other unbelievers.”
The crowner’s jaw tightened. “I am no priest and have no wish to debate God’s favor. Keep your tale simple.”
“He went on his pilgrimage but did not return even when King Edward came back. I heard a rumor that his father and wife were mourning him so assumed he must be dead.” Jacob sighed. “The night of the guard’s death, however, someone tapped on the entrance to our stall. Thinking it might be the innkeeper, I pulled aside the curtain, but it was a man. He was tonsured. Suddenly, he fell to his knees and wept. Confused, I drew back, but I heard a tone of voice, saw a familiar gesture, and recognized my former friend. We embraced, my tears joining his, and he begged forgiveness for his cruelty to me. I did not ask how he learned I had come to this village. That detail meant so little.”
“To leave the priory without permission is not allowed,” was all Ralf managed to say.
“We sat outside the stall and talked. He told me why he had changed. Even when men kill for a cause deemed holy, he said, they sin grievously. He learned to abhor violence of all kinds and came to believe that one must never kill another man. The lesson of Cain and Abel is that we are all brothers. He had retreated to a priory as penance and begged me to keep his secret, for he had truly forsaken the world.”
“How long was he with you?”
“I do not know exactly when your Brother Gwydo left to return to the priory, but it had grown dark. Still, he is witness to my presence here for some time.” Jacob ran a finger under his eyes. “But if speaking on my behalf would bring him punishment for an act of gentle kindness, I would rather he not be questioned.”
Sitting back, Ralf thought for a moment. “He might have killed Kenelm on his way back to the priory. Did he have any reason to do so? Or perhaps the guard saw him and threatened to tell Prioress Eleanor?”
Jacob gasped. “The man with whom I reconciled that night was no longer one who could do such a thing! Perhaps his disobedience in leaving the priory is deemed a sin, but his intent was to seek forgiveness. Nor has he repeated this act. Surely your prioress, one who has offered protection to a helpless family, would not treat him harshly, and surely she knows him well enough to agree that he is a gentle man.”
“Brother Gwydo will never suffer,” the crowner said. “He is dead.”
Jacob rose to his feet in horror. “How? What plague has struck him down? Or did he die at the same hands as the one who killed the guard?”
The crowner grabbed the man’s robe and pulled him back down on the bench. “For the sake of your friend, if not yourself, you must not hold back anything more. The one who killed him surely murdered Kenelm and Adelard.”
“There is nothing else I can tell you,” Jacob said, his voice rough with tears. “After we had spoken of his life in Outremer and mine in Cambridge, he left. I went back into the stall. My wife, our young maid, and my mother-in-law had fallen asleep, but I could not. I sat until dawn and watched over them.”
“Might Gwydo have known Kenelm in Cambridge?”
“The guard came from the north, or so he claimed. And he was never in Jerusalem. He once said he had not taken the cross. Perhaps that was why he mocked us so cruelly.”
“Tell me about finding Adelard.” Ralf considered drinking what was left in the jug but pushed his cup aside.
“My wife and I had been talking about our son and our future after we return to Norwich. When she grew weary, I left her to sleep, but I was too restless and went into the courtyard for a short walk.”
“Did you see Brother Beorn?”
Jacob nodded. “The man glared at me.” Glancing at the crowner, he smiled briefly. “For that, I should be grateful. At least he can confirm when I left.”
“Then?”
“I walked behind the stables, away from the guard’s view. Suddenly, I stopped, thinking I had seen someone running away. Perhaps the one shadow had been a pair, lovers seeking a quiet moment together and whom I had frightened. But the moon was shrouded, and I could confirm nothing in fact. I decided I had imagined it all, but when I turned to walk on, I stumbled.”
“Aye?”
“I fell on something and feared it was a body. Terrified at what that might mean, I rolled away and got to my knees. When I felt around, I knew the shape was that of a man, one who lay quite still.”
“Why did you not shout for help? Brother Beorn was near.”
“Because I heard voices. I recognized yours and called for aid.”
Ralf reconsidered the contents of the jug and poured himself a last mazer of ale. “So you thought you saw someone fleeing before you tripped. There may have been a witness after all, or else a killer,” he muttered. “I need only find a shadow.”
“And the lad? How did he die? I pray he did not suffer.”
“You should have been able to tell something from the position of the stab wound.”
“I did not feel for any wound,” Jacob snapped, “and it was too dark to see.”
<
br /> “What weapons do you own?”
“My kind jailor asked the same. I gave him my small table knife which he has hidden away. Ask him for it. You may check for blood and, if you think I cleaned it before you arrested me, I wear the same clothes now.” He stood. “Do you wish to look for stains?”
Ralf shook his head.
“As for any other weapon, I carry nothing else.”
“Then breath more easily,” Ralf said. “The lad who troubled your wife’s rest with his loud preaching will live.”
Jacob ben Asser covered his face with his hands and murmured a prayer of thanks.
Ralf, on the other hand, stared upward with less gratitude. He no longer had any good suspects but too many dead bodies.
26
Thomas did not like Adelard, but his heart softened when he saw the fear in the lad’s eyes. Many would say that the baker’s son was ready to take on the burdens of manhood along with a man’s beard, but there was a quivering child reflected in the gaze of this youth of eighteen summers. “I offer solace and guidance,” the monk said. The gentleness in his voice was sincere.
“My heart is heavy, Brother. Crimes oppress my soul. I must have your counsel.” Adelard’s words tumbled out in a rush.
“That I shall give, but you must speak the truth. Whatever sins have been committed, your soul is of greater worth than your body. Do you swear you shall be honest, whatever the consequences?”
“I do.” The youth looked away. “But I could not speak to the crowner until I was clear on what must be spoken and what might be left in silence.” His words were muffled. “Ask what you will, then guide me.”
Thomas decided it was kinder to begin with an event that had not led to a death. “Why were you by the stables?”
“I did not lie when I said I wished to pray for the Jews’ conversion, but there was another reason. I hoped God would take pity on me in the solitude of darkness if I continued to beg for enlightenment after your revelations.”
Thomas was pleased. Adelard’s troubled reaction to the news that Pope Gregory himself rejected the mythical condemnations against those of Jewish faith spoke well of the youth. “What do you recall of the attack?”
“Nothing!”
The response was too swift and the young man’s nervous pitch suggested he was hiding something despite his oath. The monk waited, but Adelard offered nothing more. Very well, Thomas said to himself, if he refuses to answer an easy question, I shall ask harder ones. “What happened to the silver cross you always wear?”
Adelard paled and began to tremble.
This time Thomas showed no pity. “Lest your soul burn in Hell, keep your word and tell the truth.”
“I lost it the day of the riot. My father saw it was missing and berated me, but I have neither found it nor heard that anyone else did.”
Thomas saw nothing in the youth’s demeanor to suggest he was lying. Although inclined to believe him, the monk knew that made the problem of why the cross was found near Gwydo’s body all the more confusing. “When did you first notice it was gone?”
“After the riot, I left the village for the seclusion of the forest. Your words to the men of Tyndal village distressed my soul. When I returned later, my father saw that I no longer wore it. I have since searched for it diligently but to no avail.” Tears collected in the corners of his eyes.
“Where did you go in the forest?” This news did not bode well for the youth’s innocence.
“Please, Brother! I would answer your questions, but my spirit is tortured. Out of compassion for this great sinner, will you first ease my pain?” The tears now flowed like a deluge.
The answer to the question of location was crucial to determining if the youth had been near where the body of Gwydo had been found, but Thomas’ role as priest demanded precedence. “Is it confession you wish?”
“I need understanding first,” Adelard whispered. “Then I may better cleanse my soul of all its foulness. And I swear to undertake whatever penance you require.”
“Ask your questions freely for I never condemn any seeker of truth.” As much as he longed to continue the pursuit of information, he knew he must honor a soul’s hunger before all else. If he gave the comfort he swore he would offer, he was also more likely to get the youth’s cooperation. That thought brought him the patience required to continue.
“We are commanded to obey and honor our parents, yet we are expected to leave them to follow our Lord. I do not understand the contradiction.”
Since he was a bastard and his own mother had died too early in his life, Thomas had never considered this question in any depth. Clearing his throat to give himself time to think, he still failed to come up with a satisfactory reply. “What has caused you to be troubled by this?”
“In the matter of the Jews, my father taught me to hate them. Yet you say both popes and saints require mercy and tolerance.”
“I have already quoted the substance of those commands. Although we may grieve that their conversion is slow, we may not give in to intolerance. According to the teachings of Saint Paul, who was himself an Israelite, Israel shall be saved only when all Gentiles are converted.” Must he repeat his entire sermon to the rioters? Thomas tried not to show his annoyance.
Adelard’s forehead wrinkled in thought.
“Perhaps your father was not aware of these words,” Thomas said.
“The priest who taught him believed otherwise.”
Raising an eyebrow, Thomas was struck again with a suspicion he had had earlier. “Did your father once hope to take vows himself?”
“He had learned some Latin, but his father was a poor man and did not have the means to buy him a position in a monastery.” Adelard rubbed moisture from his cheeks. “Nor could he banish lust,” he said, “and thus married my mother, but she was a woman of deep faith who turned to prayer and celibacy after bearing my youngest brother.”
“Does your own longing to take vows come from your father’s heart or from your own?” Thomas was not sure where this was leading, but at least he might be able answer whether Adelard should become a novice. This young man had the choice of staying in the world and practicing an honorable trade. If the passion for God was borrowed, he ought to remain a baker. Maybe he could be encouraged to contribute to the keep of those who, like his father, were unable to pay for a place in God’s house…
Adelard tilted his head, and then winced for the gesture caused him pain. “It was always my father’s greatest wish, one that I would not deny him, but I have come to long for it myself.”
Thomas was not so sure, but he was finally ready to answer the youth’s uncertainty about obedience. “Then you are learning the answer to your initial question, my son,” he said. “We must honor our parents, a true commandment, but the seeking for truth must come from our own hearts. Sometimes that means finding wisdom they lack.”
“Please explain, Brother.”
“As an example, I shall speak of the matter regarding the Jews. Remember that God forbade the worship of other gods? To take hate into your heart, when He has ordered it to be the house of love, is to worship Satan. The Prince of Darkness is the deity of hate.” Thomas took a deep breath and hoped he had made sense.
The baker’s son looked at him with amazement.
“But I do not mean to disparage all your father has taught you, for he must have sought the truth himself as a youth.” Thomas remembered the large, ruddy-faced man with tiny eyes and had difficulty imagining this man at all inclined to introspection. As he looked at the eager-faced Adelard, he wondered if the lad took after his mother. “How did he prepare you for the calling he longed for you to have?”
“He wanted me to hate the world and to see it as the cesspool of wickedness.”
“And he taught you this by…”
“By encouraging me to watch others sinning when they did not know I was observing them.”
Thomas bit his lip. He, too, had spied on others as a child to gain his father’s
favor. Was he so different from this lad? As he looked at this callow youth, lying in pain, he knew there was a dissimilarity between them. There was unhappiness but little torment in Adelard’s eyes. Thomas had suffered the latter. Nonetheless, the young man required kindness.
“And how did you do this?” Perhaps the question might lead back to the issue of murder, while also allowing the young man to unburden himself of what weighed on him.
“At night, I followed men who lay with women not their wives.” Adelard looked sheepish. “And put my ear to the wall as they committed adultery. Later, my father would ask for details of the sins I had discovered.”
“Did he confront them with their sins?”
“Nay, Brother. He only wished to teach me the vile nature of men.”
“Was lust the only sin he hated?”
“He condemns all seven of the deadly vices and blames our inability to reclaim Jerusalem from the infidels as proof of our laxity and wickedness. When the Jews came here, and Mistress Signy gave them shelter, my father railed at the impiety of doing so.” Adelard frowned. “Then he grew even angrier when few would support him in condemning her.”
“Many have been the recipients of her charity,” the monk replied. Although she never shone a light on her virtue, few doubted the origin of the gifts placed at their doors when illness or death struck. “Continue.”
“My father then asked me to spy on the Jews, certain that I would discover heinous things,” the young man said. “If he could convey their wickedness to the village, he believed he could convince others that Mistress Signy was wrong in giving them shelter and that the Jews should be chased away from Tyndal.”
Thomas felt his face flush with anger and forced himself into silence lest he utter curses against Adelard’s father. However satisfying that might be, he knew that would only make the son defend Oseberne. Then an odd thought struck him, one that cooled his temper and pricked at him to question further.
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