The Lord Bishop's Clerk Read Online Free PDF

of haste and eyes slightly lowered, but both wore the hint of a smile. Their undertaking was important to their community, and though failure would have been accepted with outward calm, success would be greeted with delight. Sister Ursula had scarcely taken final vows and was too junior a member of the sorority to gain advancement from that success. She was content to have enjoyed a foray into the daunting but exciting secular world she had left but a few years before. Sister Edeva had withdrawn from the world over twenty years previously, and had rarely left the abbey enclave, certainly not for as long as this. She held the responsible position of sacrist, in charge of the abbey church fabric and the items within it. Her securing of a relic of St Eadburga would be remembered in years to come, when the sisters had need to select a new mother superior, and Sister Edeva knew she would be able to fulfil that role, if called upon.
    She had not been concerned about leaving the confines of the abbey at Romsey, but she had not been prepared for how strange she would find the world without. The first day’s journey had left her ears ringing and her head aching from the volume of activity about her, and the succeeding days had not proved any easier. For all the poverty and dirt that did not exist within the enclave of Romsey, there was a colourful vibrancy to the outside world that she had forgotten. Children laughed and played in the dusty streets and roadways; even the sound of argument in the marketplaces breathed life. When people, even lay people, entered the confines of the conventual world, their tones and actions were muted and respectful. Had she entombed herself all those years ago, not just to show the strength of her love for one lost to her, but to avoid the need to continue real life? Had she been afraid, deep down, that the day would come when she would look upon another man as she had looked upon him? Were such questions themselves proof of her faithlessness? For her peace of mind it would be good to go home as soon as possible.
    As they crossed from the abbot’s lodging to the guest hall, a brother passed by, and would have been ignored had he not spoken. Sister Ursula frowned, disconcerted by his action, for the brethren did not engage in unnecessary speech with women, even with pious women who had withdrawn from the world as they had. Sister Edeva slowly raised her eyes from contemplation of his sandals, and the smile was wiped from her face in an instant. The younger sister heard her draw in her breath with a distinct hiss.
    ‘I give you good day, Sisters.’ He smiled broadly. ‘I hope your long journey has been crowned with success.’ No reply was forthcoming, so he continued. ‘It is strange that we, who hale from Hampshire, should find ourselves, at the same time, in this distant House of God.’ He paused and shook his head. His tone was one of surprised delight. ‘Who should have thought it, indeed.’
    Sister Ursula had the peculiar feeling that the remark was addressed solely to Sister Edeva, but the older nun remained stony-faced and silent, and walked on as though nothing had been said. The brother turned away, and Sister Ursula was sure that she heard him laugh.
    A birdlike lady, clearly aristocratic, who had halted to exchange a word with the almoner, half-turned at the laugh, revulsion and horror vying on her pale face. Her thin hands, which had been clasped modestly, were wrung in anguish, the knuckles showing white.
    Mistress Weaver was returning from making purchases in the town, and was walking towards the guest hall. She had studiously ignored the habited figure with as much froideur as the sacrist of Romsey, but she took heed of the pale lady’s distress, and hurried to her. The almoner stood by, somewhat at a loss, and beyond him a large, grizzled individual with the expression of a leashed mastiff, stiffened in readiness to lunge forward should his lady falter.
    ‘You know him, my