Sorrow Without End Read Online Free PDF Page A

forgiveness.”
    Ralf flushed. His smile lacked humor.
    Andrew clapped his hand on the crowner’s shoulder. “But you might have the right of it, Crowner. If a man were as clever as those stories would have it, he might well bow down to our God and thus hide within the shadow of the unexpected to avoid detection. That aside, we have had none of foreign visage come to our gate and your question was, after all, about strangers in general.”
    “I agree that the latter is the more likely suspect, despite the evidence of the knife. Strangers, then, of any ilk, especially those coming from the west?”
    “Strangers.” Andrew looked toward the hospital with sadness. “When do we not have a stream of unknown men nowadays? There have been an ever-increasing number of returning soldiers and a grim and silent lot they are. I do wonder how the war goes in the Holy Land.”
    “Their arrival here does not surprise me if they are sick or wounded. Many may well thank God that your prioress had the wisdom to recognize Sister Anne’s healing talents and allow her to teach others her skills.”
    “Aye, some do come, having heard of her reputation for cures. Others stop only to rest on their way to Norwich. There they hope the bones of the sainted William will bring sight back to their empty eyes and restore arms or legs left behind in Outremer.”
    Ralf snorted. “And those who are too weak or poor to make the journey to the English shrines are waylaid by sellers of relics. Forgive me if I sound impious, Brother, but my men have found enough splinters of the True Cross being sold on the nearby roads to build our king a holy fleet. In fact, we were hunting one such fraud today when we came upon this corpse.” He gave the thigh of the dead man a brisk slap.
    “Selling false relics is a sin, Crowner, and I applaud your efforts to protect the innocent. I grieve over this abuse of the faithful.” He raised his eyes with a quick glance heavenward. “And I pray we continue to hold fast to the Fontevrauldine tradition of rejecting the housing of any relics in our priory. If Brother Matthew has his way and does bring a relic here, that would certainly add to your problems by drawing the sellers of fraudulent items as well as forcing us to examine carefully each alleged miracle for validity.” He took a deep breath. “But I should not trouble you with priory squabbles, and I fear I have, once again, gotten away from your question about strangers at our gates today.” Andrew closed his eyes in thought. “Most who have come are known to us. A few not.”
    “Can you list them?”
    “A few mothers brought their children with running noses and sore throats. It is the season for that according to Sister Anne. An old woman brought her husband. His lungs were full from the damp. He came to die, I do believe.” Andrew was counting on his fingers. “Some courtiers from Westminster, but we were given advance notice to expect them with their attendant. One suffers from the gout and another from swollen veins.” He chuckled. “Sister Anne will put those two right enough while our stables give their horses much needed rest from the weight of their masters! Oh, and one villager came with tertian fever. Only one. A minor miracle, that.”
    “Perhaps we can ignore those you have named. Methinks they are more concerned with their suffering children, bilious humors, and God’s judgement than committing murder with an infidel’s knife. But no one else has come?”
    “Some soldiers came early this morning. One may have leprosy and has been separated from his fellows. Another is so ill I am surprised he survived the trip. Others suffered less dire ailments and were not ill enough to warrant immediate attention. These men are, of course, unknown to us, but if you follow me to the hospital courtyard, I could point them out to you. Perhaps amongst them are travelers who have come along the road from the inn.” He nodded at the dead man. “And bring