Her heart fluttered at the certainty in his voice.If all went to plan, thiswasgoing to happen.She and Hew would be married.
Still, it seemed somehow far-off and unattainable, like a rainbow glimpsed and never found.
An iron-gray cloud passed just then between the sun and the window, darkening the solar, and casting a pall over Carenza’s good mood.She bit her lip.It felt like an omen.A warning that not everything was going to fall into place so easily.That what she’d found with Hew might slip through her grasp like sand through her fingers.
If that was so, then time was of the essence.
She pushed back from Hew’s embrace and straightened with purpose.
“I have to go.”
He looked disappointed.“Where are you going?”
“To the monastery.”
His brows lowered in disapproval.
But before he could protest, she reminded him, “I told ye I was goin’.”
“Alone?”
“I’ll take Symon with me.”
He let out a weighted sigh.
She soothed his discontent with a coaxing smile.“The sooner we solve this crime, the sooner we can be married.”
He grumbled something that sounded like “There can’t be a marriage without a bride.”
She knew he was worried about her.But this was the easy part of the investigation.She was going to a monastery to give a sizable tithing to the monks.What could go wrong?
Chapter 19
Once Carenza handed the abbot at Kildunan a purse heavy with coin, he was more than happy to allow her entrance to the cloister.She requested to see the three monks Peris had named.The prior fetched Brother Michael first.
The elderly monk had bad eyesight, an arthritic limp, and a white fringe of hair.
In case he was hard of hearing as well, she said loudly, “I wish ye to know I’m makin’ a sizable donation to Kildunan in your name, Brother Michael.Peris the physician was with my mother when she left this world.He told me ye too are often found by the side o’ the dyin’, givin’ them comfort and easin’ their souls.’Tis for your great gift o’ the heart I give ye thanks.”
“Bless ye, m’lady.”Brother Michael seemed pleased, though she wondered if he wasn’t far from death himself.He had to squint to look at her, and one of his hands had a bad tremor.Still, his voice was strong enough.He might have been the one she’d heard in the passageway.It was hard to tell.
“If ’tisn’t too much trouble,” she said, giving him her biggest smile, one he’d be able to see, “can ye tell me about one o’ your most memorable vigils?”
She wasn’t sure whether the story would be of use, but it might help to hear more of his voice.
“O’ course, m’lady.”He screwed up his face, thinking.“There was an elderly nobleman I remember.He claimed he had a son in the village, though he’d ne’er met him.I asked for his name and, by the grace o’ God, I was able to find the lad.”He seemed to drift off for a moment, lost in the memory.Then he blinked and finished the story.“I brought him to the man’s deathbed, and they were able to make their peace before the Lord came down to collect his soul.”
“How marvelous,” Carenza exclaimed, placing a palm on her bosom.“But why had he ne’er met the lad before?”
Brother Michael lowered his voice and beckoned her close.“A man on his deathbed will confess all manner o’ sins to a monk.To be honest, the lad was a by-blow.But the nobleman loved him as a true son all the same.I daresay the lad and his mother were pleased to be given a hefty portion o’ the man’s estate upon his demise.”
“Indeed.”
But was it the truth?Had Brother Michael had actually found the man’s son?Or had he presented an impostor and split the inheritance with the lad’s mother?
“What a lovely outcome,” she said.“Thank ye for your time.And your generosity.”
She decided Brother Michael might indeed have the wiles to cheat a man on his deathbed.It was less likely he had the stamina to smuggle valuables out of the monastery or to walk all the way to Dunlop to conspire with the physician.
