“No,” he said.
“They’ve been away months.”
“They must be having trouble finding him. Builders often move around. They have to go where the work is.”
He looked worried and distracted, she now saw. She said: “How are you?”
“I understand that kings avoid conflict whenever they can,” he said angrily. “But sometimes a king should rule!”
Ragna had exactly the same complaint, but such things should besaid privately. She looked around uneasily. However, no one seemed to have heard. “What’s brought that on?”
“Wynstan has stirred up everyone at Canterbury so that there’s now an anti-Alphage faction, and Ethelred is hesitating because he doesn’t want trouble with the monks.”
“You want the king to put his foot down, announce that Wynstan is unfit to be archbishop, and impose Alphage regardless of the monks’ opinion.”
“It strikes me that a king should take a moral stand!”
“Those monks, living so far away from Shiring, simply don’t know what we all know about Wynstan.”
“True.”
Ragna suddenly recalled something that could damage Wynstan. She had almost forgotten it in her anguish about Alain. “What if...”
She hesitated. She had decided to keep this secret, for fear of reprisals. But Wigelm had already done his worst. He had carried out the threat he had hinted at for so long. He had taken away Ragna’s child. And his cruelty had a consequence that undoubtedly he had not foreseen: he no longer had a hold over her.
As she drank in this realization she felt liberated. From now on, she would do anything in her power to undermine Wigelm and Wynstan. It would still be dangerous, but she was prepared for risk. It was worth it to undermine the brothers.
She said: “What if you could prove to the monks that Wynstan is unfit?”
Aldred looked suddenly alert. “What do you mean?”
Ragna hesitated again. She was eager to weaken Wynstan but atthe same time afraid of him. She took her courage in both hands. “Wynstan has Whore’s Leprosy.”
Aldred’s mouth fell open. “God save us! Really?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Hildi has seen a growth on his neck that is characteristic of the disease. And Agnes, his mistress, had the same kind of growth, and died.”
“But this changes everything!” Aldred said eagerly. “Does the king know?”
“No one knows except Hildi and me—and now you.”
“Then you must tell him!”
Fear made Ragna pause. “I’d rather Wynstan did not know that I had spread the news.”
“Then I’ll tell the king, without mentioning your name.”
“Hold on.” Aldred was in a rush, but Ragna was figuring out the best approach. “You have to be careful with a king. Ethelred knows you favor Alphage, and he might view your intervention as opposition to his will.”
Aldred looked frustrated. “We have to use this information!”
“Of course,” Ragna said. “But there might be a better way.”
Bishop Wynstan and Archdeacon Degbert often attended meetings in the chapter house, where the monks discussed the daily business of the monastery and the cathedral. It was not usual for visitors to take part, but Brother Eappa had suggested it, and Treasurer Sigefryth had become an ally of Wynstan’s. They went along to the first meeting after Easter.
