The Seal Read Online Free PDF

fingers as he rounded the
north walk and the west. He shook it and walked on, thinking no more on it,
listening instead to the ring of his boots, boots that marked him more soldier
than priest.
    From behind him the sound of footsteps. It was Brother Jourdain the youthful captain, his knight companion,
in charge of his squires and the running of the more mundane aspects of his
daily affairs. The young man came towards him from out of the gloom and when he
reached Etienne he stood at attention and bowed his head in deference.
‘Etienne,’ he said, ‘I do not wish to detain you but I have come on behalf of
Alphonse the Scribe. To plead for your mercy.’
    Etienne took a
breath in and let this thought sit in his head a moment, observing the captain.
    ‘He has asked me
to say again that the woman was his mother, his father
was a Frankish knight who fought valiantly on Crusade. She is a Cypriot and
treated unkindly by the people of her village because of it. She has lost her
farm and has no means to feed herself.’
    ‘I was at
chapter, Jourdain, I am aware of the particulars. She may be his mother, but
she is also a woman. He has broken the rule twice therefore: to look upon a
woman is a dangerous thing, be it widow, young girl, mother, sister, aunt or
any other; a knight is to remain eternally before the face of God with a pure
conscience and sure life.’ Etienne gave him a significant look. ‘In providing
food for the woman from the larder he has transgressed a second rule. Remind
him that one-tenth of all food is given each day to the almoner, whose duty it
is to see that it reaches the needy. Tell Brother Alphonse to pray and ask our
Lord for His forgiveness. The decision of the chapter, however, is accomplished
and what is accomplished cannot be revoked. Tomorrow he shall lose his mantle
and his privileges and for six months he shall eat his food from the floor.
That is the decision.’
    The captain made
a slight gesture, a glance with the eyes and turned to go.
    Etienne sighed.
‘Jourdain?’
    The young man
turned again and Etienne saw something in his face.
    ‘Tell him if he
endures the punishment with steadfastness he shall soon be wearing his white
mantle, for God is merciful. Then go to the almoner, see to it that he finds
the woman . . . tell him to give her part of my ration.’
    There it was
again, just like that! It seemed to Etienne that the moment he was close to
understanding the language of Jourdain’s face, the look was flown away.
    He narrowed his
eyes. ‘You are thinking something, Jourdain?’
    The captain
looked down. ‘It is only this, Etienne . . . if you will permit me to say . . .
Aristotle once said that a virtuous action should bring pleasure to the soul .
. . I only ever see it bring you pain.’
    Etienne was used
to this young man’s strange thoughts and even stranger ways, for his father had
been a man of great learning whose donations to the Temple for his immortal
soul had not only included all of his estates but also his only child. Etienne
sighed, the boy meant well. ‘There is no provision for pleasure in the rule,
Jourdain, as you know . . . Now I am in a hurry and you must see to your
duties,’ he said, but his voice was not without warmth.
    The young
captain gave a nod and Etienne continued on his way with disquiet in his heart.
Such was the Order of the Temple in Cyprus, he thought, underwarred and
unwound, loose in habit and in will, so that each day there was a new thing to
think of, a new transgression to punish. Soon those who were penitent would
outweigh those who were constant, and he wondered how the Order could battle
the numerous outward perils that pressed in upon it from all sides, when its
mind was turned inward to lick its own wounds.
    He found that he
was standing before two sergeant brothers whose task it was to guard the Grand
Master’s cell. He held his face together with frown and stern lip and put away
these concerns and prepared to enter the room with a