10- Our Lady of Darkness by Peter Tremayne

Author:Peter Tremayne [Tremayne, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: _NB_fixed, _rt_yes, blt, Clerical Sleuth, Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Suspense, Medieval Ireland
ISBN: 9780312272951
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2000-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

It was some moments before Fidelma recovered from the unexpected reply.

‘Abbess Fainder, the Abbess of Fearna, is your young sister?’

Deog gave a swift affirmative gesture.

‘Does it surprise you that a powerful, rich abbess should have such a poor relation?’ she demanded, a note of belligerence in her voice.

‘Not at all,’ Fidelma assured her. ‘Talent and ability deserve important rewards, although it does occur to me to ask you – is Abbot Noé related to your family?’

Deog looked bewildered. ‘Why should he be?’

‘Are you sure that he is not related to you? Or is any other member of his family so related?’ she pressed.

‘He is not related. I do not see why you should ask such questions.’

‘Just idle curiosity, that’s all,’ Fidelma assured her. ‘Now, you were telling me that the abbess has wealth?’

Deog seemed mollified. ‘My sister has made a good life for herself.’

‘To be a servant of the Faith is not a usual way of gaining riches.’

‘Perhaps not. But as abbess in the King’s capital, she has to mix with rich and powerful people and it would not be seemly that she should go abroad in threadbare attire. I presume the abbey ensures that she has sufficient for her needs.’

Fidelma decided not to pursue the matter.

‘Why did Abbess Fainder pretend not to know your husband? Why was that? Did she not like her brother-in-law?’

‘We agreed that things were best kept from people until Fainder was settled firmly in her office. You see, she had only returned from Rome three or four months ago to become abbess. That was why she rode covertly each day to meet with me. This was where we both grew up. Luckily, she had been away for so long that many people had forgotten her. We thought it better that way until she had established her position.’

‘Are you saying that Fainder was fearful that she would lose her authority as abbess if it were known that you were her sister?’

Deog hesitated, embarrassed at the truth, then raised her head defiantly.

‘It is not so unusual, is it? If you sit on the council of the kingdom with the King, then the fact that your sister’s husband is merely a watchman could undermine your authority.’ Then: ‘Fainder was too long in Rome, perhaps. She had adopted their ways and not our ways,’ confessed Deog. ‘I am told that the great lords do not mix with peasants there, nor do the great church-leaders come from the peasant people. Apparently it is the position of the family which dictates what a child will be in those lands. Alas, Fainder has become imbued with that snobbery.’

‘But not so much that she turned her back on you.’

Deog smiled cynically. ‘There is an old saying. The thing which grows in the bones is hard to drive out of the flesh.’

‘Tell me about your sister.’

‘You should ask her such a question.’

‘You are her older sister. You will know her best.’

For a moment Deog’s expression softened.

‘It’s true. I am five years older than Fainder.

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