Falconer's Trial by Ian Morson Read Free Book Online Page B

feelings but the door of the prioress’s room cracked open. A young and nervous nun stuck her head round the door, silently enquiring with her eyes if she may enter. Gwladys waved her hand impatiently at the girl.
    ‘Come, come, girl. Bring our guest the sweetmeats.’
    Emerging from behind the safety of the door, the young nun scuttled into the room carrying a wooden bowl. This she set on a small table beside Ann Segrim, leaving with the same alacrity with which she had arrived. Gwladys smiled and pointed at the contents of the bowl.
    ‘Please don’t mind Sister Margaret, she is shy of other people. Take whatever you wish from the bowl. There are dates and figs, revived a little with rose-water from the East.’
    Ann was astonished at such sumptuousness in the austere surroundings of the nunnery. Gwladys had introduced strict control and modesty in the nuns when she had arrived some years ago and her standards had never lapsed. Ann took a dried fig while Gwladys explained.
    ‘I keep them only for guests, of course. The Papal Legate who honoured us with a visit last year was known to have a weakness for Eastern fruits. We still had some supplies after he had gone.’
    Having been told the dried fruits were months old, Ann hesitated. But she could see that Hildegard’s eyes were wide with envy, as the old nun’s tongue moistened her cracked lips. Ann bit into a fig, expecting it to be musty, but instead found it most pleasant. She smiled and thanked Gwladys for her gift. Then the prioress got to the heart of the matter.
    ‘What I am about to say must go no further than these four walls.’
    ‘Of course, Mother Prioress.’
    Ann had not been expecting what she was then told. In fact, Mother Gwladys’s revelations had been unnerving. Godstow nunnery was located in a peaceful spot, with the river on one side and the dark groves of Witham woods on the other. The place should have been a haven of tranquillity, perfect for contemplation and prayer. But it seemed that peace had recently been disturbed. At first Gwladys had been reluctant to reveal the uncomfortable secret to Ann. She had pressed upon her the need to keep silent about it.
    ‘The chaplain who visits from Oxford to advise and guide us is the only person outside these walls to know. But as you were so… useful… when last we had a similar problem, I would like to ask your opinion again.’
    Ann was shocked. Was there a murderer loose in the nunnery again? What had happened? Gwladys explained, while still studiously avoiding any reference to murder.
    ‘I do not think that it is the same as before. After all, lightning does not strike the same place twice. However…’
    Ann leaned forward and made to pat the arm of the older woman. Then she recalled the proscription on touching that Gwladys so strictly applied to her nuns and drew back.
    ‘Just tell me what has happened, Mother.’
    ‘It concerns one of our younger nuns, like Sister Margaret who you have just seen. She gave signs suggesting uncertainty about her vocation some while before she… some time ago. She appeared distressed and upset. I spoke to the chaplain and then to her about leaving the nunnery. That seemed to upset her even more than questioning her vows. I decided to leave the matter for a few days, hoping she would settle down. It seems I made the wrong decision.’
    ‘How was that so?’
    ‘Because the following morning, Marie was found dead in her cell.’
    ‘Dead? How so?’
    ‘That is what I want you to ascertain, Ann.’
    Having slept on what Gwladys had said to her, Ann had risen to a clear and bright morning, ready to talk to the nuns at Godstow. Unfortunately, her morning preparations were suddenly broken into by the sound of heavy boots approaching her solar. She knew it could only be Alexander, her husband’s half-brother, who had been appointed by Humphrey to run the estate in his absence in Outremer. He was boorish and often intruded on her privacy in this way. He also