“Your strange visitors are acceptable,” observedHugh, seeing how the conference was proceeding, “if only onprobation. I suppose he could hardly turn away a deadman.”

“The fellow with the cart I do know,” said Cadfael.“He comes from close under the Wrekin. I’ve seen himbringing goods in to market. Cart and man must be hired for thisdelivery. But the other has come from far beyond that, for sure.Now I wonder how far he’s brought his charge, hiring helpalong the way. And whether he’s reached the end of hisjourney here.”

It was by no means certain that Prior Robert welcomed the suddenappearance of a coffin in the center of a court thronged withpilgrims hoping for good omens and pleasurable excitement. In fact,Prior Robert never showed an approving face to anything that in anyway disrupted the smooth and orthodox course of events within theenclave. But clearly he could find no reason to refuse whatever wasbeing requested here with due deference. If only on probation, asHugh had said, they were to be permitted to remain. Jerome ranofficiously to round up four sturdy brothers and novices, to hoistthe coffin from the cart and bear it away towards the cloister,bound, no doubt, for the mortuary chapel within the church. Theyoung man lifted the modest roll of his possessions, and trudgedsomewhat wearily along behind the cortege, to vanish into the southarchway of the cloister. He walked as if he were stiff andfootsore, but bore himself erect and steadily, with no studied showof grief, though his face remained thoughtfully solemn, preoccupiedrather with what went on in his own mind than what those around himhere might be thinking.

Brother Denis came down the steps from the guest hall and walkedbriskly down the court after this funereal procession, presumablyto retrieve and house with decent friendliness the living guest.The onlookers stared after for a moment, and then returned to theirinterrupted occasions, and the hum and motion of activity resumed,at first softly and hesitantly, but very soon more vociferouslythan before, since they had now something pleasurably strange totalk about, once the moment of awe was over.