Hugh Beringar came down from the town hotfoot to share it withAbbot Radulfus. In a country debilitated by five years of desultorycivil war it behooved state and church to work closely together,and where sheriff and abbot were of like mind they could secure fortheir people a comparatively calm and orderly existence, and fendoff the worst excesses of the times. Hugh was King Stephen’sman, and held the shire for him loyally enough, but with evengreater goodwill he held it for the folk who lived in it. He wouldwelcome, and this autumn and winter had certainly been expecting,the king’s triumph at last, but his chief preoccupation wasto hand over to his lord a county relatively prosperous, contented,and intact when the last battle was over.

He came looking for Brother Cadfael as soon as he had left theabbot’s lodging, and found his friend busy stirring abubbling pot over his brazier, in his workshop in the herb garden.The inevitable coughs and colds of winter, the chilblained handsand heels, kept him busy replenishing the medicine cupboard in theinfirmary, and thanks to the necessary brazier his timber workshopwas somewhat warmer to work in than the carrels of thescriptorium.

Hugh came bursting in upon him in a gust of cold air and a waveof what was for him perceptible excitement, though its outwardsigns would have escaped anyone who knew him less well than Cadfaeldid. Only the crisp exasperation of his movements and theabruptness of his greeting caused Cadfael to cease his stirring andfix attentively on the young sheriff’s face, the pointedbrilliance of his black eyes and the little pulse in his cheek.

“It’s all overturned!” said Hugh. “Allto do again from the beginning!” And whatever that meant, andCadfael did not trouble to ask, since he was certainly about to betold, there was no saying whether exasperation and frustration werenot outmatched in Hugh’s voice and face by amused relief. Heflung himself down on the bench against the timber wall, anddangled his hands between his knees in a gesture of helplessresignation.