only to be left in peace. It was so little and so wild and quiet agraveyard there, with the small church long out of use, meadowflowers growing over all, and the mounds so modest and green. AndWelsh soil! The girl was Welsh, like me, her church was of the oldpersuasion, what did she know of this alien English shire? And Ihad those young things to keep. Who would have taken their word ormine against all the force of the church? They would have closedtheir ranks to bury the scandal, and bury the boy with it, and heguilty of nothing but defending his dear. So I tookmeasures.”

Hugh’s mobile lips twitched. “Now indeed you amazeme! And what measures were those? With a dead brother to accountfor, and Prior Robert to keep sweet…”

“Ah, well, Robert is a simpler soul than he supposes, andthen I had a good deal of help from the dead brother himself.He’d been busy building himself such a reputation forsanctity, delivering messages from the saint herself—it washe told us she was offering the grave she’d left to themurdered man—and going into trance-sleeps, and praying toleave this world and be taken into bliss living… So we didhim that small favour. He’d been keeping a solitarynight-watch in the old church, and in the morning when it ended,there were his habit and sandals fallen together at hisprayer-stool, and the body of him lifted clean out of them, insweet odours and a shower of may-blossom. That was how he claimedthe saint had already visited him, why should not Robert recall itand believe? Certainly he was gone. Why look for him? Would amodest brother of our house be running through the Welsh woodsmother-naked?”

“Are you telling me,” asked Hugh cautiously,“That what you have there in the reliquary isnot… Then the casket had not yet beensealed?” His eyebrows were tangling with his black forelock,but his voice was soft and unsurprised.

“Well…” Cadfael twitched his blunt brown nosebashfully between finger and thumb. “Sealed it was, but thereare ways of dealing with seals that leave them unblemished.It’s one of the more dubious of my remembered skills, but forall that I was glad of it then.”