"Have you seen my boy?" "Not much further!" "Hurry up!" "Let me help you!" "Let's go!" "The dead bodies in the south transept, the injured in the north!" "Dead in the south transept." "The worse the injury, the closer to the high alter!" "I'm coming, I'm coming." "What's your name?" "Clear the way for Lord Roland." "Thank you for saving him." "You're a brave man." "It was an honour, My Lady." "May I examine him?" "Certainly not." "It's either me or Brother Joseph." "His skull is open to the brain." "Help me turn him over onto his side." "I don't see him anywhere." "What colours was he wearing?" "Do you remember?" "It's my da." "It's my da." "Da?" "Dad!" "You should have put dung into the Earl's wound before closing it, cousin." "It draws out the disease." "Even Oxford doesn't sanction that any more." "You'd know that if you had studied medicine." "Well, I studied theology, a higher calling than your diabolic medicine." "What's needed, cousin, is less theology and more of the healing arts." "Do you need more evidence of God's wrath?" "The bridge collapsed because he is displeased." "The bridge collapsed because it's old and inadequate." "Yes, by God's will." "The punishment is upon Kingsbridge for becoming a haven for witches, whores, and filth." "Well, you would know, cousin." "There, Father." "Yesterday the French all but sank an English trader by ramming her." "Our sailors escaped death only by grace of the captain's skills." "Sire, this is an act of war." "Is war declared?" "No." "No, no, it is not." "Grandmother says that we must invade Calais and march on Paris." "I think I rather agree." "Do you even know where Calais is?" "Of course I do." "There's Calais." "And there's Paris." "Sire, that is an omen!" "I have been given a sign!" "As son of Isabella of France, grandson of Phillip IV of France, heir of the House of Capet," "I am the lawful, God-given King of France!" "The blockade of England shall be ended." "And let no man stand between me and my rightful throne!" "Once again, the English flag will fly on both sides of the British Sea!" "God save the King!" "God save the King!" "God save the King!" "God save the King!" "God save the King!" "God save the King!" "Still no change?" "Neither for the worse, nor better." "I have no way of telling how it bodes." "It means God has not made up his mind yet." "I'm so sorry about what they did to Mattie." "Thank you." "I so admired you at her trial." "You had the courage to speak out and I did not." "We need strong women like you in the Church." "Me in the Church?" "Women today are either nun, wife, or whore." "The nun is by far the freest." "How are you?" "Tired." "I just wish Mattie was here." "I can't believe in a church that would kill Mattie." "There was nothing holy about that, it was evil." "I agree." "The one person that could have helped us." "I've only learned a fraction of everything she knew." "No, no, no." "Caris, that's not true." "You're working miracles here." "Am I?" "It's chaos." "We can't just leave people strewn across the cathedral floor." "We need a place to put the sick and the injured." "Well, when this is over we'll build one." "I wouldn't even know where to start." "I said "we."" "And is that because of your faith in my work, or how you feel about me?" "Both." "Thank you." "You've given me something to think about." "You mean the building, or me?" "Both." "I thought you were an angel." "Scarcely that." "You look so lovely." "I was just dreaming about the time I first set eyes on you." "The most beautiful woman in Kingsbridge." "And you were the handsomest man." "Were?" "Are!" "And ever shall be." "How long before we wed?" "You're awake." "You're awake!" "Praise God!" "I've been praying for you daily." "Margery," "I've just had the strangest dream." "A stone bridge?" "Yes." "No, no, no, no, no, no." "We have debated this before." "Yes, but Brother, with no bridge there would be no tolls, no pilgrims, no merchants, and consequently no money." "You'll be bankrupt within the year." "Edmund, Edmund, where is your faith?" "God will provide." "He took down the bridge, so obviously we don't need one." "I trust in him and so should you." "Come, Brother Theodoric." "What a fool." "Blind in more ways than one." "God help us if he's elected Prior." "Well, who else is running against him?" "Well, no one, and that's the problem." "We really need to find an alternative." "But I can't really take those, so if you..." "Brother Thomas..." "You must know that you're the best man..." "The only man suitable for the position of Prior." "Thank you, Brother Matthias." "You flatter me." "Well, don't you want to be Prior?" "I came here to find peace." "I fear that if I stand, and perhaps worse, if I won, that that peace might elude me." "Well, never forget for some it is a calling." "You said I'd be Prior." "Brother Carlus is running and all the older monks will vote for him." "You can't worry about Carlus." "He's easily taken care of." "Who's running against him?" "Brother Thomas announced his candidacy last night." "Brother Thomas?" "He's popular with the younger monks, which leaves me without support." "He arrived here as a knight with an arrow through his arm." "The man has a history." "Unearth it." "No less than Queen Isabella sponsored Sir Thomas Langley." "So?" "He was stationed at Berkeley Castle where the King was murdered, and arrived here shortly afterward injured and seeking refuge." "You think he was involved in the King's death." "Inquire of him." "Measure his answers." "Be careful what you say." "My dear Brother Thomas, I'm merely asking..." "No, you're not." "You're insinuating that I am somehow involved." "No, no, not at all!" "Not at all, I'm just pointing out that since you were stationed at Berkeley Castle, where the King was murdered, it might appear by innuendo that you were somehow embroiled." "Of course I wasn't." "Of course you weren't." "But you understand, naturally, a knight who mysteriously arrives here injured, seeking refuge, and sponsored by the Queen no less?" "Some of our fellow monks will want to ask you questions." "Why?" "Why now?" "Well, because you are standing for Prior now." "And once they know of your past, there's sure to be a simple inquiry." "What?" "I think it's time for your instruction." "We'll find some more privacy." "This way." "No one will disturb us in here." "Do you think your father suspects?" "What, that I'm fucking his fiancée?" "I won't tell if you don't." "And until the lords successor can be appointed, your inheritance cannot be approved." "My da's dead and I'm his only child." "What's to approve?" "How will you pay workers?" "Thirty acres is more than one man can manage." "It's not 30 acres!" "It's only 20 he has to work." "One third of the land is always kept fallow." "It is not your business, woman." "An inheritance from father to son?" "That's everyone's business!" "She's right, Nate." "What do you say to that?" "The new lord will have the final decision once he's appointed." "But that could take months." "I'll miss ploughing and sowing by then." "If you can prove that you can farm the land before the new lord takes office, that should work in your favour." "Next!" "Who the hell is she?" "I met her at the Fair." "Gwenda?" "Thanks." "That's all right." "You deserve it." "Get someone to help you plough and you'll finish it in no time." "Everything I had was lost in the bridge collapse." "I'll farm it myself." "I'll help." "No, you've done more than enough." "I'm grateful." "Wulfric!" "Morning." "You're wasting your time, Gwenda." "You're wasting yours." "Where's your oxen?" "I don't have any." "Then you'll have to do." "I can't pay you, Gwenda." "I've got no money." "You'll find another way to pay me." "Come on, you pull, I'll push." "Come on!" "Where's your home?" "Don't have one." "Why not?" "My father was a mercenary in the Queen's army so we moved around." "I would like to have a home someday." "And all that goes with it." "Who was that girl I saw you with?" "Annet." "We're to marry come autumn." "Well, why isn't she here to help?" "Annet in the fields?" "Doesn't she love you?" "Yeah, of course she does." "Do you love her?" "Well, I've known her since forever, now." "Her father and mine, they were partners." "So now it's my duty to husband her." "Well, anyway, that's not what I asked." "Of course I love her." "Good." "I'm glad for you, Wulfric." "Kingsbridge needs an inn dedicated exclusively to nursing the sick." "A hospice." "I've never heard of such a thing." "With the bridge collapse, it made me realise how much we need one here." "God willing we never have a catastrophe like that again." "No, but pilgrims will always come here to be cured." "Imagine if they could find care as well as miracles." "And you'd build it here?" "The convent owns this land, doesn't it?" "Who would run it?" "I would." "With your blessing of course, Mother." "As one of us." "Well, no, as a laywoman." "I've decided to take over Mattie's work." "I understand." "Not everyone is called to God." "A hospice for the sick, on our land, run by someone outside of our order." "It raises a complex set of questions." "I will have to think about it." "I said, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."" "He said, "It is neither a goose nor a gander." ""It is a common duck."" "And I said, "Even though I've got a hole in the head," ""I can still see clearer than you."" "I hope you are enjoying the meal, Sir Roland." "Yes, thank you." "It's quite adequate." "I'm so glad." "After the wedding tomorrow, the monks are to elect a new Prior." "Yes." "Well, the candidates are Carlus, he's blind and set in his ways, and myself." "I would be so grateful for your support." "I thought there was a third candidate also?" "No, no, Brother Thomas has withdrawn." "It seems he had a change of heart." "And why should I support you?" "Well, because, if I may be so bold," "I wish to return Kingsbridge to its days of glory when Prior Philip ruled." "And how would you do that?" "By suppressing temptation." "I'll build a wall separating monks from nuns." "Whores will be hanged." "And virgins will have their heads covered." "Not all temptation is female." "No, but the source of it is, Mother Eve." "All power must reside with men, and in Kingsbridge with holy men." "Like you?" "Well..." "You're even more of a cunt as an adult than you were as a child." "Carlus may be blind, but he's not a prude." "My son, the Bishop, will ratify no one but him." "You hear me, Richard?" "Yes, father." "Whatever you say." "Now if you will excuse me, it's been a long day and I must still recite my evening prayers." "Goodnight, brother." "Goodnight, William, Philippa." "Sleep well, Lady Margery." "You have much joy to look forward to." "On our wedding night." "The loving cup." "To us." "So remember, 55 paces down the aisle and three steps up at the altar." "Are you certain you don't want me to guide you tomorrow?" "My blindness cannot be seen as a hindrance, Brother Saul." "Not if I'm to be Prior." "So 55 paces to the altar and then three steps up?" "Three." "Three steps up." "That's right." "We're nearly there." "Good." "And stop." "The first one is the wooden one." "Up." "One." "Two." "Three." "Service." "And..." "One." "Two." "Three." "Good." "Shall we count them on the way back?" "Right." "One." "Two." "Three." "Four." "Five." "Twenty-nine. 30. 31. 32. 33." "Yes?" "Your Eminence, I have something urgent to tell you." "Well, can't this wait till morning?" "I'm in the middle of prayer." "I'm afraid it can't." "I'm here to say that I will be the next Prior." "Weren't you listening?" "My father doesn't approve." "Goodnight, Brother." "Your father doesn't make the decision." "The monks elect." "And you ratify." "You will support me, won't you, Bishop?" "After your father's wedding tomorrow." "Thank you." "What did that blind idiot think he was playing at?" "He's turned our wedding into a sacrilegious carnival." "Calm yourself, dear." "How can I calm myself?" "I feel like my head was cracked, not the statue's." "Yes, what is it?" "Brother Carlus took his fall as a sign from God, Father." "He's withdrawn his candidacy for Prior." "Which leaves us with who?" "Godwyn?" "I've come to believe, Father, that Godwyn may be our best choice." "Godwyn?" "Christ on the cross." "Those in favour of Brother Godwyn." "I duly declare that Brother Godwyn has been elected Prior." "So you've all had a chance to see Elfric's designs." "This is Merthin's." "Elfric's will cost 295 pounds." "Merthin's comes in at 307." "But Merthin's is twice as wide, which is what is needed." "I thought only Guild members were allowed to speak." "Yeah, who should listen to their wives." "Or their ex-wives." "Yes, I have a question." "Both designs have piers whose foundations are set in the river." "How will you build underwater?" "Simple." "Drop rubble into the river until the pile is visible above water." "Build your pier on that." "And eventually the river will wash it away." "I'd build a cofferdam." "Cofferdam?" "It's an Italian invention." "Two rings of wooden stakes, one inside the other, driven into the riverbed." "And you pour mortar into the gap between the rings, making it water tight." "Then remove the water to expose the riverbed and build your mortared stone foundation." "Foreigners telling us how to build?" "Whoever he listens to, I'll build it cheaper." "It'll be a matter of cost, surely!" "Well, I'll charge for my workers, but not for myself." "Instead, I'll accept a deed to the Leper Island." "Unless Elfric works for free, he can't beat that." "Elfric?" "Merthin has my vote." "And mine, too!" "Seems clear to me." "I vote for Merthin!" "Congratulations." "You deserve it." "Thank you, Edmund." "It's about time Elfric had some competition in this town." "We'll have to work out a schedule and a distribution of funds, but..." "We can talk about that tomorrow." "Evening, daughter." "Father." "Thank you for supporting me." "I'm happy for you." "And are you happy?" "What will it take to win you, Caris?" "I know that you care for me as I care for you." "So what more is there?" "Tell me." "Please." "How do I win you?" "Feel my heart." "And know you already have me." "Merthin!" "Merthin, there you are." "Come on!" "We're gonna go to the inn to celebrate." "Come on!" "Well done, boy!" "My friends, a jewel toast firstly to Margery, who through her beauty can evoke a virility in a man with half a century behind him." "And of course to our unborn child." "Unborn child." "Unborn child." "Not too embarrassing?" "No." "There's a messenger, My Lord, from Her Majesty the Queen." "What does she want?" "She wants you, My Lord." "Therefore, until further notice, all rates of taxation will be doubled." "Sir Roland?" "This troubles you?" "No, Your Highness." "But I sense you are dismayed by this." "Please, enlighten your Queen." "We have embarked upon an expensive rebuilding of our bridge." "And I fear that these new taxes will be trying." "Trying?" "You think I should care about a bridge when we have a war with France?" "I do not defend a bridge built for vanity." "But in this case the very existence of Kingsbridge depends upon it." "And the country's very existence depends on this war!" "Kingsbridge can wither and die for all I care." "I will have my taxes!" "Absolument, mon Queen." "Father, why does Grandmother hate Kingsbridge so much?" "We can only guess." "Take as many men as you see fit." "Ride to Kingsbridge, stop the bridge building immediately." "But it's not crown land, My Lord." "It belongs to the Priory." "What's my authority?" "Authority?" "The Queen just ordered me and now I'm ordering you." "Are you questioning my authority or hers?" "Are you clear?" "Yes." "Well, get on with it." "We need to build two cofferdams between the shore and this side of the island." "One here." "And one here." "Will do, Merthin." "Greetings, brother." "What brings you back to Kingsbridge?" "Who's in charge here?" "Well, I am." "I've got orders from the Queen." "This work must stop." "That's enough!" "Go home!" "There's no bridge to be built!" "Go home." "By what right?" "Ralph, you know this is Priory land." "This has no validity." "Don't make me repeat myself, brother." "These are the orders of our Queen." "Well, then I'll appeal." "The only court of appeal is Westminster, under her son's jurisdiction." "Ralph, you know that this town can't survive without a bridge." "That's enough!" "I said stop!" "By order of the Queen!" "Fuck the Queen." "What did you say?" "Ralph." "I said, "Fuck the Queen." She's French." "Ralph, no." "Ralph, no." "Why should I obey her?" "I've got a family to feed!" "She's a war to win." "Your father would be ashamed." "That's enough!" "Fucking traitor." "Ralph!" "What's wrong with you?" "You'd have your own brother be called a traitor?" "Whose side are you on?" "Mine." "All of you, go home." "Quite right." "You shouldn't..." "The bridge has stopped." "Now there's a man who knows how to take an order." "Wulfric!" "Wulfric!" "Sir Roland has appointed the new Lord of Wigleigh." "He'll hear your case tomorrow!" "Thank you." "I'm your new Lord of Wigleigh." "You come before me, I'm told, to appeal your inheritance." "Which is denied." "Next!" "This is my land!" "This is my family's land!" "This is my land." "You can appeal." "To who?" "Who's going to listen to me?" "She left me." "Annet." "No land, no wedding." "She didn't love you." "Yeah, well, I loved her!" "Just go home, Gwenda." "It's all been a bloody waste." "My home is here now." "What's going on?" "You took Wulfric's land away from him." "Give it back!" "Fuck off." "Are you his woman?" "Yes." "And you want me to give him his land?" "Yes." "That is what I want." "Then fuck me for it." "No." "It's a sin." "Thirty acres for a quick fuck." "That's a good deal." "Take off your dress." "No." "Suit yourself." "Do you have a Bible?" "Why?" "Because I want you to swear." "If I do what you say, you will give him his land." "I swear by this holy book." "I'll give Wulfric what he wants." "If you do the same for me." "Now strip." "How Richard is a bishop I do not know." "He disgusts me." "Stooping to such desires." "A bishop giving in to earthly desires?" "How you shock me." "Fucking his own father's wife?" "It's an abomination." "Did I mishear?" "Of whom are we talking?" "Bishop Richard." "And who is he fucking?" "Lady Margery." "Roland's wife!" "I doubt the child she's expecting is even his." "And Roland has no idea?" "Oh, my God, Mother, he'd kill her if he learned of it." "I imagine he would." "My dear Earl Roland, I have learnt some very distressing news." "Wait!" "Where's the deed to the land?" "Where is it?" "The land has been forfeited." "I've given it to George Perkin." "You swore on the Bible you'd give it back!" "No, I didn't." "You swore!" "You swore!" "You swore." "Good evening, My Lord." "Margery." "Come." "Let me look at you." "So beautiful." "And so ripe." "He will be a handsome child, My Lord." "You think he will look like me?" "I'm sure of it." "And which of my sons do you think he'll favour?" "My Lord?" "Richard, I would guess." "Don't you think?" "Since he's the one you've been fucking." "My Lord, I would never..." "Do you take me for a fool?" "An old fool?" "My Lord, who told you this?" "I've scarcely looked at him." "I love you." "And I loved you, Margery." "With all my heart." "You fucking whore!" "Come on." "Come on!" "I wouldn't!" "I love you!" "Get out of my house." "Get out!" "Come on!" "Get out!"