“The lady Ragna isn’t here.”
“That’s a shame, because I came to thank her.”
Cat looked slightly less fearful. “Thank her?” she said skeptically. “What did she do for you?”
“She visited my dear Agnes on her deathbed.”
Wynstan waited for Cat’s reaction. She might sayBut my lady never visited her, in which case Wynstan would have to wonder whether she was telling the truth or not. But Cat said nothing.
Wynstan said: “It was kind of her.”
Another silence followed, then Cat said: “More kind than Agnes deserved.”
There it was. Wynstan worked hard not to smile. His guess had been accurate. Ragna had gone to see Agnes. She must have observed the symptoms, which would then have been explained to her by Hildi. It was the French bitch who was behind the rumors.
But he continued the pretence. “I am most grateful to her, especially as I myself was far away and unable to give dear Agnes comfort. Will you please tell your mistress what I said?”
“I certainly will,” said Cat in a bemused tone.
“Thank you,” said Wynstan. Nothing wrong with me, he thought; I’m as sharp as ever.
Then he left.
Wigelm returned a week later and Wynstan went to see him the following morning.
In the compound he saw Alain running around with Ragna’s other three sons, all of them clearly overjoyed to be together again.A moment later, Meganthryth came out of Wigelm’s house and called Alain to come for his dinner. The boy said: “I don’t want to.”
She repeated the summons, and he ran away.
She was obliged to run after him. He was not yet three, and could not outrun a healthy adult, so she soon caught him and picked him up. He threw a tantrum, yelling and wriggling and trying to hit her with his little fists. “I want mudder!” he screamed. Embarrassed and annoyed, Meganthryth carried him into Wigelm’s house.
Wynstan followed.
Wigelm was sharpening a long-bladed dagger on a whetstone. He looked up with irritation at the screaming child. “What is the matter with that boy?” he said angrily.
Meganthryth replied with equally ill temper: “I don’t know, he’s not my son.”
“This is Ragna’s fault. By God, I wish I’d never married her. Hello, Wynstan. You priests are wise to remain single.”
Wynstan sat down. “I’ve been thinking that it may be time to get rid of Ragna,” he said.
Wigelm looked eager. “Can we?”
“Three years ago we needed her to join our family. It was a way of neutralizing any opposition to your becoming ealdorman. But you’re established now. Everyone has accepted you, even the king.”
“And Ethelred still needs me,” Wigelm said. “The Vikings are back in force, raiding all along the south coast of England. There will be more battles this summer.”
Meganthryth sat Alain at the table and put buttered bread in front of him, and he quieted down and started to eat.
“So we no longer need Ragna,” said Wynstan. “In addition, she has become a nuisance. Alain won’t forget her while she’s still livingin this compound. And she is a spy in our camp. I believe she’s the one spreading rumors that I’ve got Whore’s Leprosy.”
Wigelm lowered his voice. “Can we kill her?”
He had never learned subtlety.
“It would cause trouble,” Wynstan said. “Why don’t you just set her aside?”
“Divorce?”
