Read Online Brother Cadfael 02: One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ellis Peters
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said furiously to Beringar, 'that you should bring her here, to face a scene so harrowing.'
'He did not bring me,' said Aline quickly. 'It was I insisted on coming. Since he could not prevent me, he has been kind enough to come with me.'
'Then, dear lady, you were foolish to impose such a penance on yourself,' said Courcelle fiercely. 'Why, how can you have business here? Surely there's none here belonging to you.'
'I pray you may be right,' she said. Her eyes, huge in the white face, ranged in fearful fascination over the shrouded ranks at her feet, and visibly the first horror and revulsion changed gradually into appalled human pity. 'But I must know! Like all these others! I have only one way of being certain, and it's no worse for me than for them. You know I have a brother - you were there when I told the king.'
'But he cannot be here. You said he was fled to Normandy.'
'I said it was rumoured so - but how can I be sure? He may have won to France, he may have joined some company of the empress's men nearer home, how can I tell? I must see for myself whether he chose Shrewsbury or not.'
'But surely the garrison here were known. Your name is very unlikely to have been among them.'
'The sheriff's proclamation,' said Beringar mildly, speaking up for the first time in this encounter, 'mentioned that there was one here, at least, who was not known. One more, apparently, than the expected tally.'
'You must let me see for myself,' said Aline, gently and firmly, 'or how can I have any peace?'
Courcelle had no right to prevent, however it grieved and enraged him. And at least this particular corpse was close at hand, and could bring her nothing but reassurance. 'He lies here,' he said, and turned her towards the corner where Brother Cadfael stood. She gazed, and was surprised into the faint brightness of a smile, a genuine smile though it faded soon.
'I think I should know you. I've seen you about the abbey, you are Brother Cadfael, the herbalist.'
'That is my name,' said Cadfael. 'Though why you should have learned it I hardly know.'
'I was asking the porter about you,' she owned, flushing. 'I saw you at Vespers and Compline, and - forgive me, brother, if I have trespassed, but you had such an air - as though you had lived adventures before you came to the cloister. He told me you were in the Crusade - with Godfrey of Bouillon at the siege of Jerusalem! I have only dreamed of such service ... Oh!' She had lowered her eyes from his face, half abashed by her own ardour, and seen the young, dead face exposed at his feet. She gazed and gazed, in controlled silence. The face was not offensive, rather its congestion had subsided; the unknown lay youthful and almost comely.
'This a most Christian service you are doing now,' said Aline, low-voiced, 'for all these here. This is the unexpected one? The one more than was counted?'
'This is he.' Cadfael stooped and drew down the linen to show the good but simple clothing, the absence of anything warlike about the young man. 'But for the dagger, which every man wears when he travels, he was unarmed.'
She looked up sharply. Over her shoulder Beringar was gazing down with frowning concentration at the rounded face that must have been cheerful and merry in life. 'Are you saying,' asked Aline, 'that he was not in the fight here? Not captured with the garrison?'
'So it seems to me. You don't know him?'
'No.' She looked down with pure, impersonal compassion. 'So young! It's great pity! I wish I could tell you his name, but I never saw him before.'
'Master Beringar?'
'No. A stranger to me.' Beringar was still staring down very sombrely at the dead. They were almost of an age, surely no more than a year between them. Every man burying his twin sees his own burial.
Courcelle, hovering solicitously, laid a hand on the girl's arm, and said persuasively: 'Come now, you've done your errand, you should quit this sad place at once, it is not for you. You see your fears were groundless,
'He did not bring me,' said Aline quickly. 'It was I insisted on coming. Since he could not prevent me, he has been kind enough to come with me.'
'Then, dear lady, you were foolish to impose such a penance on yourself,' said Courcelle fiercely. 'Why, how can you have business here? Surely there's none here belonging to you.'
'I pray you may be right,' she said. Her eyes, huge in the white face, ranged in fearful fascination over the shrouded ranks at her feet, and visibly the first horror and revulsion changed gradually into appalled human pity. 'But I must know! Like all these others! I have only one way of being certain, and it's no worse for me than for them. You know I have a brother - you were there when I told the king.'
'But he cannot be here. You said he was fled to Normandy.'
'I said it was rumoured so - but how can I be sure? He may have won to France, he may have joined some company of the empress's men nearer home, how can I tell? I must see for myself whether he chose Shrewsbury or not.'
'But surely the garrison here were known. Your name is very unlikely to have been among them.'
'The sheriff's proclamation,' said Beringar mildly, speaking up for the first time in this encounter, 'mentioned that there was one here, at least, who was not known. One more, apparently, than the expected tally.'
'You must let me see for myself,' said Aline, gently and firmly, 'or how can I have any peace?'
Courcelle had no right to prevent, however it grieved and enraged him. And at least this particular corpse was close at hand, and could bring her nothing but reassurance. 'He lies here,' he said, and turned her towards the corner where Brother Cadfael stood. She gazed, and was surprised into the faint brightness of a smile, a genuine smile though it faded soon.
'I think I should know you. I've seen you about the abbey, you are Brother Cadfael, the herbalist.'
'That is my name,' said Cadfael. 'Though why you should have learned it I hardly know.'
'I was asking the porter about you,' she owned, flushing. 'I saw you at Vespers and Compline, and - forgive me, brother, if I have trespassed, but you had such an air - as though you had lived adventures before you came to the cloister. He told me you were in the Crusade - with Godfrey of Bouillon at the siege of Jerusalem! I have only dreamed of such service ... Oh!' She had lowered her eyes from his face, half abashed by her own ardour, and seen the young, dead face exposed at his feet. She gazed and gazed, in controlled silence. The face was not offensive, rather its congestion had subsided; the unknown lay youthful and almost comely.
'This a most Christian service you are doing now,' said Aline, low-voiced, 'for all these here. This is the unexpected one? The one more than was counted?'
'This is he.' Cadfael stooped and drew down the linen to show the good but simple clothing, the absence of anything warlike about the young man. 'But for the dagger, which every man wears when he travels, he was unarmed.'
She looked up sharply. Over her shoulder Beringar was gazing down with frowning concentration at the rounded face that must have been cheerful and merry in life. 'Are you saying,' asked Aline, 'that he was not in the fight here? Not captured with the garrison?'
'So it seems to me. You don't know him?'
'No.' She looked down with pure, impersonal compassion. 'So young! It's great pity! I wish I could tell you his name, but I never saw him before.'
'Master Beringar?'
'No. A stranger to me.' Beringar was still staring down very sombrely at the dead. They were almost of an age, surely no more than a year between them. Every man burying his twin sees his own burial.
Courcelle, hovering solicitously, laid a hand on the girl's arm, and said persuasively: 'Come now, you've done your errand, you should quit this sad place at once, it is not for you. You see your fears were groundless,
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