‘You think we need a new steward?’ Robert shouted. ‘Who are you to decide such matters? You
wish to replace your brother, just like that. Did you care nothing for him? I am still grieving for my
son and you dare to talk to me of stewards!’
‘Hush, Robert,’ Catlin said. ‘The boy’s only repeating what the men are saying. No one can ever
replace Jan as your son, but you need a man to lift some of the burden from your shoulders or you’ll
wear yourself out.’ She sidled over to him again, running her soft fingers down his cheek. ‘I was
hoping that, once the nonsense in the south is brought under control, I would see more of you at home.
Remember how things used to be, our pleasant evenings . . .’
Robert flushed, darting an anxious glance at Adam, but the boy was staring like a mooncalf at
Leonia and didn’t appear to have heard.
‘I’ll consider the matter when I return.’ He had no intention of doing any such thing, but he knew
the easiest way to stop women nagging was to pretend to think about it.
‘I’ll miss you.
‘Only yourself, safe and well.’ She lifted her face to be kissed.
Robert chuckled. ‘You, child, are the sweetest little angel on earth.’
He was still smiling to himself as he strode across the hall towards the stableyard, entirely
oblivious of the steel-cold glitter in his wife’s eyes .
Chapter 42
The monk, Gregory the Great, tells how a nun, in her greed, ate a lettuce without first making the
sign of the cross to protect herself against the evil spirits that hide between its leaves, and so she
became possessed by a demon.
Greetwell
Have you noticed how often the living claim an evil spirit made them do it? A demon possessed
them, the devil tricked them. As if demons didn’t have something far more important to do than make
a child smash an old woman’s pots or force a man to fornicate against his will. If I were a demon, I’d
think myself ill-used to be sent on such a piddling assignment when I could have been stirring up wars
or tormenting popes.
But, then again, the actions of the most insignificant men or women can be as a single raindrop
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