The Sanctity of Hate Read Online Free PDF Page B

who criticizes me in this, I reply that my actions were nothing
    more than good business.”
    “Or else it was charity,” Ralf whispered.
    Signy gripped her hands until the knuckles turned bone-white. Although her quiet kindness to the unfortunate had made her beloved in the village, he was sure she must have been con- demned, her faith even questioned, for sheltering a despised people. This was not the first time he had cause to admire her
    courage.
    Leaning forward, the inn-keeper replied, her voice so soft he could barely hear the words: “I will tell you this, my Lord Crowner. Never once did a Jew feel up a serving woman, vomit on my floor from too much drink, or fail to pay what was owed and with courtesy. There are many Christian men for whom I could not say the same.”
    “I must still ask why you hired Kenelm to be a guard, a man known to cheat and, aye, steal from honest men.”
    “I never paid him until he performed the task, and I paid him more than he could get elsewhere. Had I found any other man willing to do the work, I would never have hired him.”
    “And you again asked him to do the same for these latest arrivals, a group that must have hurried on by now for they have long delayed obedience to the king’s orders.” He frowned. Need he chase after these people and investigate that matter too?
     
    “The family of Jacob ben Asser is still here, and I shall be hard-pressed to promise them safety now that Kenelm is dead.” The innkeeper sighed. “They cannot travel yet.”
    “And the cause for this?”
    “The wife is close to term in her pregnancy. Giving birth on the road to Norwich, without any skilled woman to aid in the labor, would be dangerous for both babe and mother.”
    Ralf shuddered as if the ghost of his own wife, who died after childbirth, had just laid an icy hand on the back of his neck. “Sister Anne…”
    “I mentioned her skills, but the husband will not allow his child and wife to be tended by a nun. I may have to help the woman myself, inexperienced as I am, even though I must swear not to christen the newborn in secret.” Her mouth tightened.
    “I shall tell Cuthbert to protect the family,” he said.
    “I am grateful. He will be reliable. Kenelm was not, although I now know he may have been dead when he did not arrive for the work two nights ago.”
    Ralf noted that fact. “Did he fail to appear on other occa- sions?” Perhaps that answer would reveal some pathway to solving this crime. With luck, he might discover that Kenelm did have a woman…
    Signy’s lips formed a thin smile. “In the winter, he would sometimes fail to arrive, later claiming it was too cold for him or the pay was not enough to suffer villager abuse. If thefts occurred, or other damage done, I refunded money paid for protection. With this family, however, he was quite reliable but took especial pleasure in mocking them for their faith. I often heard the husband shouting at him.”
    Ralf lifted his jack of ale and quickly downed the contents to ease his growing discontent. The list of suspects had just increased.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
    Prioress Eleanor crouched on the bank by the mill pond and brushed her fingers through the grass.
    “It was there.” The monk pointed to a spot just to the left of her hand.
    Sister Anne watched, hoping that Brother Thomas would be wrong for once.
    The prioress dug into the ground and brought up a handful of russet-colored earth.
    “Might the blood have come from a wild animal?” The sub- infirmarian’s expression suggested she already knew the answer to her own question.
    “The high walls keep them out,” the prioress said, “although some might still slip in.” She bent over to look more closely at the place where Thomas believed grass had been pulled up. “If I am not mistaken, that is a footprint.” She gestured for the two monastics to view the mark in the ground.
    Sister Anne nodded. “Some force was required to make that