When Father Bernard had caught him reading the Bible left on the pulpit, she had explained she was helping him to become a steward. Expecting reproach, she had been surprised when Father Bernard had allowed William access to the precious words. Now he was Boy Bishop, and Father Bernard had helped with that as well.
‘And why have I helped you?’ she said.
‘Because I was in trouble for turning the pages of your books that day?’
‘Is that what this feels like? Being in trouble?’
‘Well, doing sums is trouble.’
She pressed her lips to avoid laughing. ‘Butyou’renot trouble, William, you could never be that to me.’
William’s face screwed up, as if he were holding in emotion, before he turned his head away so she wouldn’t see. But she did. And she was glad she did. He was always holding things in. Not unlike—
It wouldn’t do to think of Hugh now.
‘You have a gift, William, for understanding words and numbers. I enjoy our time together and I am very proud of you.’
He turned his head then, surprised. Probably because no adult would usually dare talk to a child this way. But William wasn’t a normal child—he was too intuitive for that.
‘I love discovering how your mind works. With that, and your diligence, you’ll soon be far beyondmycapabilities.’
A darkness flitted across his eyes and she kicked herself for her choice of words. He was an intuitive child, but still a child. He needed care, not her clumsy attempts at comfort.
‘There’s more?’ William played with the fringe on his belt.
‘There’s so much more for you to learn, and your being Boy Bishop is merely another step. Perhaps some day Father Bernard could show you more books.’
Wonder erasing his worries, he asked, ‘Haveyouseen more?’
‘Not as many as I wanted to, but once the monks in London hadn’t yet closed a door and I glanced into a room full of scrolls.’
‘Full? How big was the room?’
‘As big as this church.’ She exaggerated, but only a little, and it was worth it to see the lingering darkness in his eyes disappear completely.
Oh, to see his eyes shine. She wanted to see more of it.
But even at that thought, she didn’t know how to give him more. To have access to such a wealth of knowledge, he would need a suitable donation and noble blood. As generous as Father Bernard was, there was no circumventing the Church’s requirements—and, as wealthy as her family was, how was she, one of several daughters, to get such a sum from her father?
Maybe her family was right and shewassetting William up to have more heartache than he’d already suffered.
‘But we’ll keep on taking steps for now, and the more steps you take, the more treasures and knowledge you will discover.’
‘So this...’ he looked around, as if seeing everything for the first time ‘...is another step?’
‘Simply one step. You’ve done that before.’
He was nodding eagerly when Father Bernard appeared in the doorway. Smiling, she gave William a fierce hug and wished him all the best.
As she walked along the corridor, she sent a private prayer to God, who surely would be listening, that if anything should happen to her, either Elizabeth or Mary would provide for William—that what hopes she’d given him wouldn’t be lost.
The church was full to bursting when she entered the aisle alongside the nave from the north transept. From this vantage point she saw John and Elizabeth, who was covering her mouth to hide her laugh. John’s humour was legendary in Swaffham.
Her father, to John’s left, was craning his neck to see if anyone of importance was around. He spotted her first and gave a welcoming smile. Even now she was grateful for her family. If her prayer was heard or not, she knew they’d help her. Elizabeth might point out the weaknesses of her projects, and her father might continually be baffled by them, but in the end they stood together.
She walked further along the aisle and saw Eldric standing in the shadows of the narthex. His face was grim, his eyes focused on someone already sitting. She followed his line of sight to Hugh, who was sitting to the far left. Unlike the rest of the parishioners he wasn’t talking or looking around. Instead, his head was bowed.
Was he praying? She’d never seen him like this.
