Avalon by Anya Seton

Author:Anya Seton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Vikings, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780547523934
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2013-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

It was his idea. Took tons of wiiitewash too. But wait'll you see the inside of the church. We've pictures on the walls — angels, saints, the Holy Family as big as life. I sent clear to Rome for a painter fellow who could do 'em."

Ordulf continued to talk about his Abbey, while Rumon struggled with indecision. Was Merewyn really behind them? Should they lose further time by waiting, in case she weren't? Why should he have a sudden foreboding of disaster when he had been so confident two hours ago? "Have you sent your man to Lydford, my lord?" he suddenly interrupted the ponderous catalogue of Tavistock's attractions and the precious relics enshrined beneath the altar.

"To Lydford? "said Ordulf gaping. "Whatman? What for?"

"To see if the Lady Merewyn has come there." Rumon tightened his jaw. "Never mind, I'll go myself. Pray give me a guide."

Ordulf slowly adjusted his mind to this request, and found it erratic. "But 'twill be deep night when you get there," he objected. "Eight miles or more. You can go in the morning."

Finian chuckled, his sharp gaze on Rumon's flushed, anxious face. "Let him go, m'lord. I've oft observed ye can't argue wi' a man in love. They've no more sense than puppies. I'll keep a look-out at the hostel here," he added smiling to Rumon, "but remember, there's no cause for this mad haste. A day or tM^o won't matter either way."

These sage words echoed in Rumon's head as he galloped along the trackway north, accompanied by a carl of Ordulf's who grumbled and cursed as loud as he dared. It was indeed dark when they got to Lydford, and Rumon made himself thoroughly unpopular by immediately starting inquiries from householders who had long since retired. Had anyone seen a young woman and tu'o servants? Nobody had. Nor had they at the castle when the sleepy porter finally succumbed to a bribe and disturbed the slumbers of Lady Albina.

"You mean the girl descended from that old British King who

was here some years ago?" she asked, yawning and clutching a purple gown around her ample figure. "Whatever made you think she'd be here?"

Whatever indeed? thought Rumon suddenly aware of the folly of this trip. He apologized to Lady Albina, accepted a bench in the Hall for two hours' sleep, then prodded up his outraged guide for the journey back to Tavistock. He arrived there at six, while the thrushes sang and the dew lay glistening on the lavish Abbey gardens. He heard the monks chanting Prime inside the church, and entered. After he did so he had two separate and vivid impressions.

The first was that Merewyn was there. He thought he saw her kneeling at one corner of the south transept, her face upturned to the High Altar. She looked older, thinner than when he had seen her last on the Tor, she was garbed in something dark green and he felt that she had suffered. He stared for a moment, his heart melting with relief, love, pity.

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