Blood Moon (26 page)

‘My name is Clementius,’ said the man.

I nodded. ‘A Latinized form. Unusual amongst us Benedictines. But then you’re not a Benedictine, are you? Your robes - you’re a Gilbertine.’

‘Clementius came to
the abbey to warn you,’ said my mother. ‘But he was too late. You had already left.’

‘Warn me? Warn me of what?’

There was a sudden thump on the floor above our heads.

My mother looked up at the ceiling and drew in her breath. ‘Raoul and Adelle!’

I swung round to her. ‘You mean they’re
here
?’

‘Of course they’re here,’ she snapped. ‘Where else did you think they were?’

The door burst open and Oswald appeared in the frame, his face as white as a sheet. ‘Oh Master Walter, sir, come quickly! The boy!’

No time for questions, we all raced from the room and up the stairs – me, Oswald, Onethumb, Rosabel and Clementius. But for once I was the first. When I got to the top of the stairs I stopped abruptly as though hitting an invisible wall of stone. There in the middle of the landing was Eusebius. He was standing in much the same attitude as he had been in the cloister before the statue of the Virgin:
Arms outstretched in the shape of a cross and dressed in the same robes as Clementius had downstairs but with his white cloak and hood still attached. His face was contorted with…what? Euphoria? Enlightenment?

‘Eusebius!’ I gasped. ‘What have you done?’

‘I did it, Master Walter. Look, I have done as you said. I have cut out the offending sin. He cannot despoil again. I am the kindred of the Angels, I am the destroyer of darkness, the refresher. I am the White Angel!’

He held up his hands. Both were dripping blood, the right one clutching a knife, the other clutching…I reeled backwards for there was no mistaking the thing he holding in his left hand. Without thinking, I clasped my own two hands together and brought them down smartly onto Eusebius’s forehead knocking him to the ground. Then I ran into the room where Raoul de Gray was crouching in the corner. I dropped to my knees before him and turned him over. But apart from a few smudges of blood on his face and hands he seemed fine.

‘I don’t understand. I thought -’

‘Not me,’ Raoul said trembling. ‘Him!’

Him?
Who was he pointing to? The only other person in the room was Adelle. But then I saw she was lying on top of the bed and drenched in blood. The Lady Adelle - but
not
Adelle.

There was no time for questions or explanations. The life blood was rapidly draining out of her. I ripped off the clothing to expose the wound, the most ghastly butchery I’d ever seen in all my years as a physician. Behind me Onethumb and Rosabel were staring motionless, paralysed and fascinated at the same time.

‘Sheets!’ I barked.  ‘Blankets - anything you can find.’

They both continued to stare without moving.

‘Onethumb!’ I yelled earnestly. ‘I need you to concentrate. This wound has to be stopped or he will die.’

Still he did not move.

‘
Onethumb!
’

Rosabel was the first to come to her senses. She punched Onethumb on the arm and continued punching him until he shook himself and then they both rushed out of the room together. But the blood continued to pump out of Adelle’s body so fast it was going to be impossible to staunch. I could see it was hopeless.

I knew then that I had but moments to act.

‘Quickly,’ I said to Adelle. ‘Do you confess of your sins and acknowledge Christ as your Saviour? – say “I do”.’

She moaned something incoherent and I made the sign of the Cross over her.

‘Then having come freely of your own will to Christ Jesus, by the power vested in me as priest ordained in the only
true living Church I grant you absolution in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’

I clutched Adelle’s body tightly in my arms and rocked backwards and forward and prayed as I had never prayed before:

‘Please, please, dear God, for the love of your only son our saviour Jesus Christ grant this child your salvation and accept him to your bosom. I beg you, I beg you - I
beg
you!’

Adelle was dead before Onethumb and Rosabel could return.

Chapter 27

…
AND EXPLANATIONS

Fo
r
the sake of their sanity I sent the others out of the room. No-one should have to witness such bestial carnage, least of all an innocent young girl like Rosabel. Eusebius had been bound and quickly bundled off to the stables to be guarded by some of our farm workers, Brother Clementius with them, while I remained with body until a local priest arrived. When I finally made it downstairs again I was still trembling.

‘Here,’ said my mother handing me a goblet.

‘What is it?’

‘
Brandywine. It will steady your nerves.’

It was not a drink I knew but I gulped it down just the same coughing at the fumes. When I looked round at the assembled company I got the distinct impression they knew something I didn’t.

‘I don’t understand,’ I kept saying. ‘I just don’t understand.’

‘You will,’ said my mother patting my shoulder. ‘But first, let me introduce you to Thomas.’

I looked at the young man she was indicating. ‘But you’re Raoul,’ I said pointing stupidly at him.

‘No,’ said my mother. ‘That was Raoul, upstairs. This young man is Thomas, Raoul’s manservant.’

I pointed up at the ceiling. ‘That was Adelle.’

But my mother shook her head
impatiently. ‘There was no Adelle. Adelle was a fiction. The person you thought of as Adelle de Gray was really
Raoul
de Gray.’

‘You mean Adelle isn’t… I mean
she wasn’t…’

‘A girl? No,
he
wasn’t.’

‘But why?’

‘Because Raoul had a secret.’

I gave a snort. ‘You can say that again.’

‘Not
that
sort of secret. Something far graver.’

I shook my head. ‘
No no no. She had a baby. I saw it - I
delivered
it.’

‘No you didn’t. You said so yourself - you arrived a few minutes later. Frankly I’m surprised you missed it
, great physician that you are.’

Missed it? Yes, I’d missed it all right. But how did I miss it? I’d met Adelle twice – no,
three
times. Ah yes, but always in a darkened room, always modestly veiled, and always from several feet away. And she never spoke, I realised now, not once except to say the baby’s name. I had vaguely wondered about that but never thought to question it before. Now I could see why. But I wasn’t the only one to be deceived: Prior Herbert, Guest-master Gregor, the gatekeeper and the gaoler – we were all duped. Weren’t we?

‘You
weren’t though, were you?’ I said to her. ‘You knew. Even when I was here last time, you knew and yet you said nothing.’

My mother lowered her eyes. ‘I couldn’t. You’d have alerted him.
I know you, Walter. You could never keep a secret, you haven’t the guile. And we had to convince him his disguise was working. If you believed it, the chances were he would too.’

‘But why was he
even in disguise?’ I asked somewhat peeved.

‘Because of who he
was, of course.’

‘Oh, don’t start all that again
.’

She pursed her lips. ‘All right. But you have to understand, he knew about the…the…’

‘Rebellion?’

She stiffened. ‘
Had he been able to warn his uncle, Bishop de Gray would have alerted the king and then everything we have worked for – everything we have been trying to achieve since John came to the throne - would have been for nothing. We couldn’t risk that.’

‘So you
had him arrested.’

‘We had no choice.’

‘I see. And what were you going to do with him? Kill him?’

‘There was never any question of that,’ she insisted tapping her stick impatiently on the floor. ‘We merely wanted to hold him, prevent him getting to his uncle.’

‘But he escaped, and you sent your rat-catcher de Saye to fetch him back.’

Here she gave a wry smile. ‘Actually it was Archbishop Langton who asked Geoffrey to find Raoul. The iron
ic thing is it really didn’t matter anymore. Bishop John was already dead. He died a month ago at the Abbey Saint-Jean-d’Angély in Poitou. We only just heard. It seems the journey to Rome proved too much for him.’

‘How convenient,’ I smirked. ‘I suppose it didn’t occur to you that the good bishop might be yet another of de Saye’s victims?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Oh mother, open your eyes. You know the sort of man de Saye is. Good God, if he can murder a harmless old woman whose only crime was to offer sanctuary to -’

I stopped. I hadn’t intended mentioning Mother Han’s murder, not until I knew for certain that she was dead. But now the cat was out of the bag. I looked at Onethumb who was gazing back at me with silent horror.

‘My friend I’m sorry, I should have told you before. I believe Mother Han is dead, most likely at the hand of Geoffrey de Saye.’

‘That is a very serious accusation,’ said my mother gravely. ‘I hope you can substantiate it.’

I turned on her angrily. ‘For once I think I can.’ I fumbled in my belt-pouch. ‘This,’ I said retrieving the little silver knife I’d secreted there, ‘I found at Mother Han’s hovel
– or what was left of it. Proof undeniable of Geoffrey de Saye’s murderous activities. It even has his insignia on it –
GdeS
- Geoffrey de Saye.’ I held the knife up triumphantly for all to see.

Brother
Clementius, who had quietly come back into the room, now stepped forward. ‘May I see the knife?’ he asked. I handed it to him. He studied it carefully. ‘This is a pen-knife. It is used for trimming the ends of writing quills.’

‘Well there you are, then,’ scoffed my mother. ‘What would a man like Geoffrey de Saye want with a pen-knife? I doubt he can write his own name.’

‘Then explain the monogram,’ I demanded.

‘
GdeS
,’ said Clementius thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. ‘Not
Geoffrey de Saye
.
Gilbert de Sempringham
, the founder of our order. This is Eusebius’s knife.’ He put it down, took out another from where it hung around his neck and placed it alongside the first. They were identical.

My jaw dropped open. ‘B-but the knight - the White Angel,’ I stammered. ‘How -?’

Clementius considered. ‘Didn’t I hear Eusebius use those words on the stairs just now?’

Of course he had. I’d been too shocked by
what had happened to notice, but now I remembered he did say those words: “I am the White Angel.” And then I saw again the image of Eusebius with his arms outstretched before the statue of the Virgin in the cloister. The shape of the cross on his robe – the white cross. That was what people kept seeing, not a knight’s sword but Eusebius’s robe – the White Angel. At last the truth was becoming clear: It was Eusebius who had killed Mother Han; Eusebius who struck off poor Hervey’s hand; and Eusebius who had murdered Effie.

‘But why
Effie?’ I asked.

‘Because
she was Eusebius’s sister,’ said Rosabel from the side of the room.

I turned to her in astonishment.

‘Thomas and Raoul told me, Master, that first night in the abbey.’ She gave a sick laugh. ‘I saw straight off that Adelle was not who they said she was. A man might be fooled, but not another woman. As soon as I knew I wanted to leave, but the baby…’ She shook her head. ‘Raoul and Thomas couldn’t look after her, that was plain. I had to stay - for little Alix’s sake.’

‘Alix!’ I said looking around alarmed.

‘Oh, she’s fine,’ said my mother. ‘There’s no need for you to fuss. She has a proper wet-nurse looking after her now.’

‘But then Brother Hugh returned,’ Rosabel went on, ‘and we all realised the palace lodging was no longer safe. We needed somewhere else to hide and the only person I could think of was Mother Han.’ She took Onethumb’s good hand in hers. ‘She had been kind to us in the past and she was so again. She was a good woman. I’m sorry she’s dead. But we were not as clever as we thought. We were seen leaving and the next day Lord de Saye’s men arrived and took us away.’

‘And then he killed Mother Han to keep the secret and destroyed herhome,’ I prompted her.

She shook her head. ‘No. We left her well
and came straight here to Ixworth Hall.’

‘
Just in the nick of time, too,’ said my mother. ‘Another day and that mad monk would have found them, too.’

‘But he did find them,’ I pointed out.

‘Yes,’ agreed my mother. ‘And it’s thanks to you that he did.’

‘
Thanks to
me?
’

‘
Yes you,’ she said tapping her stick again. ‘Didn’t you notice? He’s been following you for days.’

Following me? Yes of course he
had. Even outside the abbey church after the baron’s meeting. That’s how he found Hervey, and Mother Han. I must have led him here, too.

‘But why?’ I repeated. ‘I don’t understand.’

My mother sighed wearily. ‘You tell him,’ she said to Clementius. ‘The whole tale, from the beginning. You might as well.’

It began twenty years ago, said Clementius. Two babies born to a Norfolk woman. Brother and sister - twins.

‘An unusual event in itself I think you’ll agree,’ put in my mother wryly.

Clementius smiled before continuing: ‘In thanks for this special blessing their mother gave them both to the Gilbertines where in due course the boy became a canon and the girl a lay sister. We named them Eusebius and Euphemia after the fashion of our house. You understand we are a dual house, Brother Walter.’

‘Yes yes, I understand the arrangement,’ I said impatiently. ‘But
you said Euphemia - Effie - was a lay-sister?’

He nodded. ‘For the mother it seemed the ideal solution. It meant her two children could remain together
in the same house while still being dedicated to God. It was her wish that they not be separated.’ He shrugged. ‘We could see no harm in it. Twins form a special bond, more so than ordinary siblings. It seemed natural to allow them to remain together. Unfortunately we didn’t know just how attached Effie and Eusebius were to each other – unnaturally so.’

So th
at was what young Timothy meant when he spoke of Eusebius’s “unnatural thoughts”. Not his lust for Timothy as I had thought, but for his own sister. If only I had quizzed Timothy more deeply I might have learned the truth sooner.

I shook myself.
‘How does Raoul fit into this?’

Clementius frowned in thought. ‘As you know, our house at Shouldham lies within the diocese of
Norwich. As the bishop’s nephew Raoul de Gray took a keen interest in the priory and was a frequent visitor. Naturally we were delighted. The Grays are a wealthy family and we are a poor order. Endowments followed, gifts, benefactions. Raoul was very generous towards us and took a keen personal interest in the priory visiting us frequently.’

‘Which was when Raoul noticed Effie,’ I
said guessing.

Clementius nodded uncomfortabl
y. ‘As a lay-sister she wasn’t cloistered like the nuns. She was far more…available. It soon became apparent that Raoul’s interest in the girl was more than it should be.’

‘
When you did why did you not put a stop to it? Ban Raoul from the priory?’

He sighed. ‘
Easier said than done. The Grays are a powerful clan. What Raoul wanted he usually got. Besides, when Raoul announced he was going abroad we thought the matter would resolve itself.’

‘Wh
ich was when?’ I asked. ‘When did Raoul decided to leave for France?’

‘
I know what you are asking. You are right, it was about the time of the meeting of barons in Stamford.’

‘You knew about that?’

Clementius shook his head. ‘Not then. But Raoul knew. Already arrests were being made of anyone showing opposition. He was arrested but managed to escape. With both the king and Bishop John abroad he decided his best course was to join them. As you might appreciate, we were not unhappy to see him go. He wanted to take Euphemia with him. Naturally we resisted. But he took her anyway.’