Original subtitles

TOLLING BELL

# Veni Sancte Spiritus

# Mentes tuorum visita

# Amen #

(GROANS)

(SCREAMS) Edward!

God, make haste to call him, for pity's sake!

Brother Cadfael, what have you brought?

More Paynim poppy. With hemlock.

One thimbleful may dull the pain.

Nothing dulls the pain!

But take great care, Judith.

Two thimblesful and the pain will be dulled.

For ever.

(SCREAMS)

BELL TOLLING

O God, whose nature is ever to show mercy and forbearance,

we humbly entreat thee for the soul of thy servant, Edward Perle,

who at thy bidding has departed from this life.

A benefactor of the abbey, he died shriven of his sins.

Do not deliver him unto the enemy, or put him out of mind for ever.

But bid thy holy angels welcome him to paradise.

Ut quia in te speravit et creditit, non poenas inferni sustinent,

sed gaudia aeterna possident.

Per dominum nostrum

omni portentem.

Amen.

Fidelium deus omnium conditor et redemptor.

Animabus famulorum famularumque

tuarum remissionem cunctorum tribuae peccator.

Ut indulgentiam quam semper...

A pretty notion.

A pretty woman.

And available again.

Do you still feel the heat at your age?

I can offer her more than you.

She has wealth enough.

But I doubt you could satisfy her other needs.

Oh, I'll show her.

No. Because I'll be there before you.

Ssshhh!

Father.

Fratres.

Nolumus vos ignorare de dormientibus ut non contristemini.

Bertred. Are you also in the race?

I, sir? I am just a weaver.

But would like to weave with Mistress Perle?

Perhaps she will marry the master. It will be convenient.

Her cousin Miles? She will not marry a blood relative.

It leads to madness.

Ssshh!

As my dear father says, "Sssshh!"

Sadness becomes her.

But she'll soon be ripe for the plucking.

MARKET BUSTLE

Master Fuller?

I own a dye house and fulling works. Yes, I know.

Your workshop makes the finest cloth. I know that, too.

My business and yours put together, run together,

would become a power in the shire.

You would gain as much as I,

in terms of wealth at least.

Branwen, you may go. Yes, mistress.

Besides, would I make such a repulsive husband?

True, I value money.

But I also value appearance.

Even...refinement.

My wife would be as handsomely adorned as any in the county.

I have no desire to be adorned.

If we bring the whole trade together in our hands...

I do not propose to marry again.

You cannot cling to the past forever, Judith.

No matter how fragrant. Master Fuller.

Master Fuller, I would discuss the new cloth with you.

Are you master here?

No? Then, pray, wait your mistress's bidding.

I am more master, sir, than you will ever be.

Mistress Perle?

Oh, am I preceded by the fat old man today? No matter.

At least I court her on equal terms, Master Hynde.

I do not sniff after her wealth,

because my father won't pay my debts.

And I have never left a woman wanting where it matters most.

Stop! Stop!

Why should I not cling to the past, to Edward, if you are the future?

I shall have none of you. None of you!

Go on, then, back to work! Mind your business!

Miles! Why do you allow that Godfrey Fuller to be always here?

He dyes our cloth, Mother.

He pursues Judith! What if she marries him?

She will not marry.

Because her heart is still with Edward?

Can she mourn forever?

We have spoken little, Brother Cadfael, since Edward died.

Did I do wrong?

You sought to spare him torture!

But to foreshorten life, some would call that murder!

We can never know the potion took his life.

He was going to die, with or without it. The illness was too far gone.

But he did not ask to die.

If only he could have let me know he too could bear it no longer.

Judith, you loved Edward as few men are ever loved.

Now, if God is just... Love does not excuse everything.

No, but when we find it, and are as blest as you and Edward,

let us not deny its worth.

If Edward sees me now...

..he will understand, and love you still.

I must move from here. It has too many memories.

I shall live with Cousin Miles and Aunt Agatha.

And this house?

'Be it known to all, present and future,

that I, Judith, widow of Edward Perle,

being in full health of mind,

by this charter give to God and the abbey of the monks of Shrewsbury

my dwelling called the Rose House, and its garden.

In return, the monks undertake to pray for my late husband's soul,

until the Day of Judgement.

They also undertake to make annual payment during my lifetime

of one rose from the white rose bush

that grows in the garden of the Rose House.

That single rose to be delivered to me, Judith Perle,

upon the first day of each July, in remembrance of my husband.'

It is a nonsense, this rose rent.

But such are the whims of women.

Not unreasonable as far as the abbey is concerned.

Rose petals in exchange for a sturdy house?

Which can command a sturdy rent with a tenant in it.

We have also prayed a whole year now for the widow's dear husband.

And I, for one, have done so gladly. Such an untimely death.

No death is untimely, Brother Oswin, if it is God's will.

I suppose, Brother Cadfael, as our horticulture expert,

it will be your job to present the first rose to the lady?

No. Father Abbot has given that task to the one who has tended the rose.

Brother Eluric. Ow!

I trust he is more skilled with a pruning hook than with a razor!

Do I take it straight away, Brother?

Yes, Eluric, straight away!

What is this, Master Niall?

My house rent to the abbey.

Isn't that what you came for?

No, we came for Mistress Perle's rose.

Take it anyway. It is the due day.

It is so strange to see this house as a workshop.

For Judith Perle and her husband it was such a haven.

Have you met Mistress Perle? I have seen her.

But you are content here, Master Niall?

You have no complaint Father Abbot, as your landlord, should attend to?

No complaint, Brother.

If I am left to do my work.

Cousin Judith, how do you find this new wool?

It is good, Miles. Edward would have approved.

You don't need me to tell you that.

How much longer will you cut yourself off from us?

This is your future.

Come in, Brother.

Mind your work, Bertred, or I'll have your insolent eyes put out.

Brother Eluric, is it not?

Yes, mistress.

I brought you your first rent.

Oh! Thank you.

And...how fares my rose bush?

It is well, my lady. I tend it with great care.

I'm sure you do.

Can I offer you some refreshment?

No, thank you.

I must return to the abbey.

Well. Until next year, then.

Is the lady well, Brother?

As well as she might be.

In her widow's loneliness?

Comfort is at hand. Leave her, sir.

She's been left a full year! Longer is a waste.

It will do no good. Her heart is given.

To whom? To her husband still.

There's no warmth in loving the dead.

Mistress Perle is no more carved in marble than I.

Or you!

Is that the truth of it, Holy Brother?

You have stirrings for her also? No.

Speak truth. Does she not make your vows hard to bear? No!

Which part of her draws you most?

Her lovely neck? Her shapely breasts?

Well, I thought to fight the town for her!

But not some tormented soul in skirts!

Go home and pray, boy.

Oh, Brother Cadfael, I feel such guilt.

Worse than when I eased Edward to his rest.

Godfrey Fuller, Thomas Hynde, I despise and detest.

But they are not the whole truth.

Sometimes other men, even Brother Eluric,

as he stood before me with the first rose,

there was a warmth that shames me before my husband's memory.

Judith, your guilt is that Edward died and you did not.

That you are still as you were before.

A woman, with much to give, and to be given in return.

It doesn't alter what you shared with Edward. It betrays no trust.

If only I could know God's will for me in all this, Brother.

Almighty God, let the soul of thy servant Edward Perle have entry into the company of thy saints.

Almighty...

I am sorry to have been so long in bringing you custom, Master Niall.

This girdle. I have lost the buckle.

Can you make a new one to match?

Delicate work.

But I dare say within my scope.

Does your business thrive in our town?

Well enough, thank you.

I was told of your loss.

I'm sorry for it.

And I for yours. Your wife.

Three years now since she died.

Time to forget.

Do you wish to?

The past is past.

We cannot bring it back or change it.

We have this moment, that is all,

to do good or ill with.

Brother Cadfael. Thank the holy saints you're here!

I'm here, boy, because you summoned me.

The rose bush, it's sickly.

Just see how it browns and blackens.

Tainted by my unworthy thoughts about Mistress Perle, Brother.

Though I struggle I can think of nothing else.

The fault's all mine, not hers.

God reads my heart and displays my corruption,

so I defile what I touch.

Extravagant terms for feelings that are wholly human and natural!

Brother, release me from this duty!

She is there in the house! Release me.

That is for Father Abbot, not for me.

But I shall founder! You will not founder.

But I shall speak to Father Abbot.

Clearly your sufferings are great.

Even though your sins are not.

And for today at least, you shall be excused.

So? Go and make confession if you must.

Thank you, Brother Cadfael. Thank you.

Is Brother Eluric unwell, Brother Cadfael?

He will recover.

(WEEPS)

Sweet lady, remember me kindly.

BELL RINGS

Are you awake, Brother Cadfael?

No.

But I am out of bed.

Matins increasingly becomes my least favourite office.

Silence!

Are we all present?

No, Brother Prior. We are not.

When did you find him?

Not half an hour ago, Father.

I visited my sister at Pulley last night.

I was late home, went straight to bed.

I came into the garden at daybreak and...

But you've touched nothing? No. Why should I? He was clearly dead.

You told My Lord Beringar? I've sent word, yes.

It rained in the night.

Did anyone mark when it ceased?

I sleep too well, I never heard.

About midnight, as I left Pulley.

Then what happened was after that.

The front of his habit is dry, save for his blood.

Poor tormented child.

We failed him fatally.

His disease was worse than we knew. Disease, Father?

He begged to be relieved of delivering the rose rent.

He had confessed an involuntary love for Mistress Perle.

And from love to despair,

well, it is a short step further to the most unholy of temptations.

To destroy himself, Father Abbot? We are to condemn him as a suicide?

Brother Cadfael knows the measure of his desperation.

There lies the knife, beside Eluric's hand.

Beside his hand, Father Abbot, not in it.

And Eluric carried no knife.

Does that prove him innocent of taking his own life?

Of sending himself to hell and this abbey to shame and dishonour?

Look closely at his fingers.

There's soil on them, but no blood.

The knife is bloodied to the hilt.

He never held this knife.

Therefore, he didn't kill himself.

But he certainly came here of his own will.

Secretly, at night.

To look one more time upon the roses.

But there were two men here, not one.

And the other one killed Eluric.

I am sorry.

I have strong arms but a weak stomach.

Violent death is always shocking. And so it should be.

I've heard you are more than just a holy brother.

I serve God, or try to.

What more is there?

I travel sometimes with my trade. Your reputation is far-flung.

If this is murder... I will seek the truth.

As will Hugh Beringar.

A great wickedness, to kill a holy man.

Tragic, certainly, but wicked?

Until we know why Eluric died we cannot judge.

Sometimes alarm or terror can result in such a lunge.

An honest man may become a murderer.

You do not recognise this knife?

No, Brother.

There's a space here.

Now there is not.

Hugh! Look here!

Someone has climbed this vine since the rain.

A boot has scratched the bark.

Here, you see? And left soil in the scratch-marks.

And here, a fine deep boot-print.

A little warm wax and a steady hand and we have him by the heel.

You will not find that they match, Brother.

Would I climb over my own wall?

Or leave the knife lying in my own garden?

Whether he would or not, we need to melt some candle ends.

You are saying Brother Eluric loved me.

Against his vows of modesty, chastity, obedience.

My whim has caused his death.

A stab-wound to the heart caused his death.

That alone is clear.

But for the rose rent he would be alive.

But for me he would be alive now.

I am not safe to be at large in this world.

Even the rose itself tells me.

See the look of decay and death about it.

An end to the rose rent.

That is what God is saying. An end.

Mistress.

I have your girdle. It is mended.

Oh! My girdle is mended!

All is well, then!

Mistress... please.

I will visit you later.

# DIES IRAE

Libera nos a portae inferi.

Dominus vobiscum.

Dominus vitae dator et umanorum corporum reparator.

Paradisi amenitate confavere iubias.

Amen.

There it is, Cadfael.

Hugh!

See how the grass here has been disturbed.

Stop! Brother Cadfael!

Forgive me, I mean no disrespect. He may be washed presently.

Smell his fingers.

The earth on his hands, smell it.

It is the same. Yes.

These fingers were clawing at the earth round the rose bush.

Eluric was right and I took no notice.

The rose was dying, though it was no act of God.

White lead, Brother Prior. The rose was poisoned.

And I suspect poor Eluric disturbed the poisoner.

Was that the bronze smith with Mistress Perle?

Do you fear a common tradesman?

I fear no-one, Master Hynde. Least of all you.

Things are set fair.

Judith is a lady of great sensitivity.

Could she continue with the rose rent when it is stained with blood?

Surely not.

Indeed, she may well be prepared at last to look elsewhere for comfort.

Though not to a penniless young cockerel.

Mistress.

Sad news about the holy brother. It is indeed, Bertred.

But who would kill a rose bush, Brother Cadfael?

You thought it was a sign from God.

That, I judge, was the purpose.

To turn you from the rose rent and from the past.

But who?

You are desired by many.

Well, that will soon be at an end.

KNOCK AT DOOR Come in.

Beg pardon, mistress. Sister Magdalen is here.

Thank you, Branwen. Show her in.

Mistress Perle?

I am pleased to meet you.

And I you, Sister.

You know Brother Cadfael?

Indeed. You are well, Brother?

Yes, thank you, Sister.

Though I came via the abbey.

There is much distress there. Which I share, deeply.

Yes, I'm sure.

Forgive me, then, if this is the wrong moment.

There never was a better moment, Sister.

The cloister is more attractive to me now than ever.

The world seemed a waste, my living in it pointless.

But now that I have caused a death...

The cloister?

At least I would be safe at the convent at Godric's Ford.

If there has been a use of poison as well as murder...

You seek not just stability and purpose, but also refuge?

From myself, most of all, Sister.

To have a vocation would be most welcome.

You clearly have no vocation or you wouldn't say it would be welcome.

It is not enough to escape from the world or yourself.

You must be on fire for the world within.

Were you, then, Brother?

I came late to it, certainly.

And maybe my fire burned somewhat dully.

But it gave me light enough to see the road I wanted.

And was it a passion for you, Sister?

I have heard otherwise.

No. It was not. Why must it be so for me, then?

We...were both running towards.

Not away.

But in truth, I'm no example to any woman.

I sought a new occupation,

after many years as mistress to a nobleman.

And I was past my prime. But you are not.

No. No, I am not.

Though I wish I were.

However, if you need a place of peace and safety,

and time to think and recover lost courage,

then come to us, without vows.

And I will bar the door against the world until you venture out again.

On those terms, it could be wise.

Now? May I come with you now, Sister?

I do not fear danger here, Brother,

but I would be at peace.

I return to Godric's Ford tomorrow.

Speak with me then, and we shall see.

Thank you.

Bertred. What's to happen to me if the mistress goes off to be a nun?

I shouldn't mind that much.

Rather that than see her marry someone else.

I'd make do with second best.

But the business here! What would happen to that?

You're going out, cousin? To the abbey.

At this hour? Why?

To tear up my charter.

Which can as well be done by candlelight.

You're... taking back the Rose House?

Take back what I gave to God?

No, I merely make the gift unconditional of roses.

No more rose rent, and I hope no more deaths.

Shall I come with you? Thank you, Miles, I will go alone.

Almighty God, we thank thee for our daily bread.

Let our bodies be refreshed but our souls still hunger.

Grant, Lord, the blessedness of cool repose to thy servant, Eluric.

Let his soul be satisfied in the fellowship of eternal bliss.

Amen.

(Brother Cadfael, I have an idea.)

Silence!

This cast that you've made, Brother.

How if I took it to every boot maker and mender in the town?

And ask if any of them has memory of a boot that matches it?

The wear being so distinctive.

Might it not lead us to Brother Eluric's murderer?

Well...yes, Oswin, but...

Forgive me, they told me I might seek you out.

Judith has disappeared.

She never reached the abbey.

No-one here has seen her.

Well, might she not be with Sister Magdalen?

You know they had spoken?

I've been to her lodgings. Judith was never there.

Nor at the Rose House.

Brother Cadfael, shall I... No, leave it, Oswin!

Just leave it. Get on with your work.

I trust Mistress Perle is safe, sir. I pray that she is.

So do I.

If I'd sent her with Sister Magdalen she would be.

She's been so distraught with guilt.

I fear another evil.

Oh, no, Judith would never take her own life.

Oh, no, she's far too strong-minded.

The river lies between town and abbey.

If she's not here, I know of nowhere else to look.

Come on, you there, we need two more over here!

Slowly. You'll see nothing otherwise.

Here, you take that corner.

And there.

Start getting up that side.

It's Judith's. There's no doubt.

That does not prove she is drowned. Well, what, then?

Master Coliar, go into town

and raise friends and townsfolk for a thorough search.

Until we have searched from the English bridge to Bristol,

I will not say your cousin's drowned.

You'd think he wanted her dead.

Of course, if she were, he would inherit everything.

Shall we continue upstream?

A boat was here!

Fishermen? Lovers? If lovers, one was unwilling.

The footmarks are churned and gouged.

We'll get no wax cast out of them. Too soft.

What's this?

From a belt?

Yes, or a woman's girdle.

If it is Judith's, the bronze smith would know.

Do you think she's been abducted? Bundled into a boat?

Her cloak lost, her girdle torn in the struggle?

She would have struggled. There's no demand for ransom.

All the more reason to find her, quickly.

I'm sorry to have to silence you, Judith.

I find your voice as bewitching as your smile.

I shall not be long.

And it is quite possible to think without speaking.

So think, Judith. Think.

Aye. It's from the girdle I mended.

But you have not seen the lady since you returned it to her. No, Brother.

Though I will join the search.

I see she has warmed your heart a little.

She was gentle, honest.

I thought such virtues didn't mix with beauty.

As bronze smith, do you mix lead?

Lead, Brother, no.

Copper and tin. Why?

I'll speak plainly. The rose bush in the garden was poisoned.

With white lead.

A form of that metal deadly to all life. Even plants.

Who could have more easily administered it than you?

Who was more likely to be stumbled upon by poor Eluric?

And why should I kill? Rose bush or monk?

What could I gain?

I do not know.

But I know nothing about you.

You have the culprit's boot print, not mine, as you well know.

As for lead, like the knife you showed me, it is common enough.

You'll find it in its many forms in an abbey.

And now, Brother, I shall join the search.

Take three more men further up the river.

Anything there? Nothing we can see.

Bertred, you're not sneaking from your work now.

Catch up with the others.

Yes, master.

They search the river, Master Fuller.

Hugh Beringar searches the town.

And no doubt he'll search your sheds.

You think I have the lady?

I think you wish you had.

I have few virtues, Brother. But one of them is patience.

The rose was poisoned patiently.

Poisoned?

Could I... see your boots?

My boots? Mmm.

If you wish.

They're brand-new, Brother.

I doubt you could afford them.

Any more than young Master Hynde.

Brother Cadfael is inspecting footwear today.

Though he will not tell us why.

Perhaps he believes you have something to hide, Master Fuller.

Where have you been?

The others came back hours ago.

Shall I tell you where I've been? What I know?

Your supper's spoilt.

Would you like to be more than just a servant?

A gentlewoman? By listening to you?

You're as free with your promises as with your hands.

Listen. But don't tell.

I know where the mistress is kept.

And when I set her free she'll be... so grateful.

Well, tell me, then!

I was too harsh on you, Oswin.

It was a good idea to show this to all the menders.

But we cannot.

If we do, the murderer may hear of it.

He'll know we have this proof.

He will destroy every shoe he has. Yes, Brother. I understand.

I have heard information, though.

Of the bronze smith. Of Niall?

They say he has a daughter.

Do they?

It's her he visits out at Pulley.

Also they say his wife disappeared. What, in a puff of smoke?

Some say in the river. At Chester.

Since then he has moved from place to place.

Oswin, it is not in your vows to listen to gossip.

No, Brother.

But don't let that stop you.

You might at least be gracious.

You've had long enough now to ponder on my virtues.

Mistress Perle!

Why do you doubt that within this delightful handsome exterior

a serious husband is waiting to emerge?

You are a wastrel, disowned by your father.

Mistress Perle, you cut me to the quick.

You know why I've done this.

Because I love you.

You do not love me. You love yourself.

You covet security and comfort, an easy life.

No! No! Not just that. What, then? To prove yourself?

The prospect of sharing my bed may be pleasurable but that is not love.

I could satisfy you more than Godfrey Fuller.

He was sure you'd be his. He said as much when...

When what?

When the monk was killed.

He said your heart could no longer be fixed within a rose.

And thought I would give up the past for a future with him?

He has wealth and I have none.

Therefore I had to act.

To prepare... and watch

and follow.

I had hoped you'd be impressed... at being carried off.

To a sordid hole such as this, stinking of wool?

Your father's wool, your father's warehouse!

Still you must use him.

No, I am not impressed! I do not see you as bold or romantic.

CRASH!

I see you as selfish and stupid.

Do not scold too much, lady.

Rather be aware.

The door is locked and barred.

No means of escape.

We are alone here for as long as I wish.

If you will not be coaxed or persuaded into marriage,

there remains force. I am not afraid of you.

I am the stronger and you know it. Not in body you're not.

And in your body lies your virtue, your honour, your reputation.

Marriage by rape is no new thing, Judith, be it new to you or not.

CREAK

(SCREAMS)

(GROANS)

Somebody's out there!

DOGS BARKING Those are the watchman's dogs.

Who can know we're here? Does it matter who?

If we are found, how will you explain this folly?

You will be shown for what you are.

(SOBS)

Who's there?

DOG BARKING

Who's there, I say?

They'll not treat you gently.

You are not a child, or so you claim.

(FAINT) Over by the wool warehouse!

Judith...

I swear, I never meant such harm.

I thought you had a fondness for me.

When I showed only indifference?

You have a way of showing even that.

Ah, the fault is mine, then.

Well, if there is no longer to be marriage by rape,

it would seem you must either release or kill me.

Judith.

For pity's sake.

Please don't destroy me.

No, I will not destroy you.

Only...I have no will to face the world again just now.

So I will make a bargain.

Tomorrow fetch a horse. Take me to Sister Magdalen.

The place will be alive tomorrow.

Tomorrow night, then, if we are not discovered.

I shall take the veil

and give everything, all my property, to the abbey.

And after that, thank God, I will not be worth pursuing as a wife,

either for my body or my wealth. (SOBS)

Do this for me, boy, and I will not denounce you.

(SOBS)

DOGS BARKING

There he goes. Go on, that's it, let 'em go!

Go on, boy. Seek.

(SCREAMS)

(GASPS)

Brother, is there news of Mistress Perle?

No, there is not. You are leaving us? Aye.

Once the gossip turns to poison, it's always time to move.

I'll pay what rent I owe, never fear.

And your daughter? What of her?

Do you take her with you? She's better off where she is.

My sister takes good care of her at Pulley.

Niall, your past is your own affair. But if it's haunting you...

It is the world's affair, Brother. The world has made it so!

Then lance the poison! Don't let it fester.

Do you think it's easy to lay bare guilt and shame?

I had a wife and she did drown.

Entwined in her lover's arms.

For she was not content with me. Or our babe.

Not that she wanted for love or lust.

Both I had to offer, but not wealth, not finery.

That she sought and found, elsewhere.

With a widowed merchant twice my age.

It was no secret.

She flaunted it, before me, before the town.

The merchant liked to walk her by the river.

To hold her hand as if he was some golden youth

and she his starry maid.

I sought them out.

What I intended, God knows.

But in his panic to escape he slipped and fell into the river.

And took her with him.

And though I tried,

I could not save her.

He lived, of course!

An accident, then?

You were fortunate to find justice in such a case.

I was.

But the devil still pursues me, Brother.

In my head. So that...

Brother Cadfael, a body is found in the river.

Washed up on our land he may have been.

But we cannot lay out every young drunkard who ends up in the river.

Let his master or loved ones fetch him.

This is Judith Perle's weaver.

See how he's bruised, here.

If he drowned, he was held down less by drink

than by something heavy pressing on his neck.

This boot made the print underneath the vine.

I made the cast myself. I know I'm not mistaken.

The heel worn down on one side, the toe on the other

and a crack across the ball of the foot.

The river saved us a trial and Bertred a worse fate than drowning.

And if Bertred killed Eluric, he must have poisoned the rose.

Your evidence doesn't lie.

Bertred wasn't the first craftsman who sought to marry the mistress.

A rival, you mean?

To Godfrey Fuller and Master Hynde?

And now he's dead, another murderer is on the loose.

Miles Coliar is come to take away the weaver.

He has a blubbing servant girl with him.

She asked for you, my lord Beringar.

He said he knew and would rescue her

from where she was held, at the wool warehouse.

He told you nothing, Master Coliar?

No. But he was sly and ambitious.

Now he's paid the price.

And where were you when he was murdered?

At the loom, with my mother.

Finishing the work he should have completed.

(SOBS)

Weep for your mistress, Branwen, not that wretch.

Master Coliar! Still here?

Forgive me, Brother. I hoped you would return.

I must confess, I have not been frank.

I knew what Bertred was about last night.

I knew he was about something.

So when he went out after dark, I followed him.

And where did he lead you?

I lost him after he left town by the postern gate.

I suspect he went to the tenterground or wool warehouse.

He'd been loitering there.

Then I heard the watchman's dogs.

In truth, that is why I went no further.

I have seen their handiwork before.

Then I am told he is dead.

Which is why I must tell you, Brother.

Someone else was abroad by the river last night.

He hurried by me. I saw him, though he did not see me.

I'm loath to say his name,

for I know my cousin has spoken kindly of him,

though others have not.

Niall Bronzesmith.

Good night, little one. Sleep well.

I'll see you again soon, I promise.

Rosalba, when I leave you, don't think that's what I want.

I yearn to take you with me.

But you need a mother.

And there are things in my heart that may never lead to happiness.

Up there!

The old counting house, disused for more than a year.

My men searched the warehouse. It would be easily missed.

Not by me.

Young Master Hynde would have a key.

If there is any man who would need courage from a flask it'd be him.

And with that 'courage' he could have silenced Bertred.

Judith's? Yes, I believe so.

Has he finished her as well?

Should I not take you to the gate? No.

Judith...

I know my way. Get home before it is light.

Go. I will keep my promise. I will not renege on it.

Forgive me, mistress.

You should take care. There are cut-throats.

Where are you bound? I? Where are you?

Ssssh!

Ah, it's you, Mistress Perle!

The portress said she heard horses.

No. Tomorrow you'll return to Shrewsbury.

You cannot leave your people in such anxiety.

Even if you have promised to spare Thomas

from the consequences of his folly.

Though folly is too light a word. You are too hard on Mistress Perle.

We are not all as sure of ourselves as right-thinking nuns.

Pray let her rest.

Save your sound advice for morning.

Drink your wine.

Your girdle will need mending again, mistress.

May we speak, Master Hynde?

You have saved my conscience a journey.

BELL TOLLING

Daughter!

We rejoice at your safe return.

We have had great anxiety. Come!

Mistress Perle, I know who kept you prisoner. He has confessed.

Confessed?

I will not bear witness against him. I promised.

Nor will I name his name.

If that is your wish, nor shall I.

Provided I am certain Thomas Hynde's only crime involved you.

Your weaver Bertred was murdered that night.

Yes, I know. Niall told me.

My captor did not kill him. I can vouch for that.

He was with me.

I must question you, then, Master Bronzesmith.

Niall?

Mistress Perle, you doubtless wish to continue home.

If you please, Master Bronzesmith.

It is Master Coliar's word against mine.

I was not by the warehouse or the river.

But you were ready to leave the next day.

I did not kill Bertred!

I was at Pulley, as I am each night.

Ask my sister! Have no fear, I shall.

You have persecuted me all along. Persecuted? No!

Yes! Now another suspect is proved innocent, you persecute me further!

Mine is the only leg you have hold of.

And you are determined the boot be made to fit!

Cadfael?

Please forgive me. I must go.

Bring Niall to me as soon as you finish.

Mistress Perle, such a relief! I trust I may...

Judith, I thought I'd lost you. Come.

APPLAUSE

Still patient, Master Fuller? Still patient.

Sister!

Are you staying here awhile with Judith? Yes.

While you're here, could you filch something for me?

Filch? I am a nun.

Two things, in fact.

What things?

Two left boots.

Who could have wished the rose bush dead?

Except someone who hoped to win Judith?

Nobody. It was Bertred, as we have established.

Then why was Bertred killed? Clearly by a rival.

You said so yesterday.

Two murders, then.

And two murderers. Yes!

What if there were but one?

If Bertred did not kill Eluric?

If he was not even in the garden?

Bertred as poisoner of the rose has worried me.

He was bold and conceited enough to do it.

But he wouldn't have dropped the knife.

Sly cunning men like him don't panic.

What of this, then?

This, Hugh, has been my mistake.

I would have swallowed the bait whole.

But I saw that Bertred's drowning was no accident.

What do you mean, 'bait'?

Suppose Bertred being washed up on abbey land was intended?

So I would examine the body.

And make the boot fit.

These are only borrowed, not stolen.

Sorry the theft took all day.

Which is Bertred's?

This. He alone slept in the weaving shed, where I found it.

You see, it's almost worn through but it's as straight as a lance.

Whereas this one

is the same as the footprint. Same as the wax.

Same as the boot taken from Bertred's body.

Down to the crack in the sole.

What does that prove?

That a man who wears a pair of boots when he's fished out of the river

may not be their true owner.

The true owner killed Eluric,

then murdered Bertred and used him to put us off the scent.

Only one other person,

apart from you and Oswin,

knew that I had that cast.

He saw it!

Here in the workshop.

And it wasn't Niall Bronzesmith.

Mistress, where is Miles?

With her, of course.

Last visit to the rose. Ha!

His thought, not hers.

Before the past is padlocked and our future with it!

I feel we are trespassing.

Your bronze smith isn't here to complain.

He would not complain.

Mother wishes you dead.

She thinks you humiliate us by leaving me as foreman

in the business I've run for so long.

Since Edward first fell ill.

She thinks you owe me some future certainty of wealth.

She thinks I am more deserving than a church already fat with gold.

If you died today, unmarried and uncloistered, that would be fair.

Miles?

What neither she nor anyone has the imagination to see

is that your death would also be mine.

I am your cousin, Judith.

In all eyes, the brother you do not have.

Yet I'm not your brother, nor do I desire to be.

I look at you as any other man.

And have done since before you married Edward.

And when he died,

I hoped... I hoped...

Don't turn away! I did this!

No more rose rent! No more looking back!

But I hadn't reckoned on Brother Eluric flying out of the darkness.

He's in heaven, don't grieve for him.

Or Bertred. Poor Branwen's mourning is enough to bear.

You see how foul and devious I've become because of you?

Each bloody act solves one difficulty and raises ten more.

When all I wanted was your love!

Let us anoint these cursed twigs with oil as we anoint each other!

Miles, for pity's sake!

And let them burn as I will burn!

At last, our lover's tryst.

I've nothing to lose or to gain but what you can give me.

Marry me. Say you'll love and cherish me above all others.

Or you'll burn with me here and now. Tell me you love me.

How can that make you happy if you know it is not true?

Say it! Say it!

For your soul's sake, I will not!

My soul is already lost.

Give me what I need!

You are a kind man gone mad.

You would find no pleasure in me now.

Say you love me, then we can leave this place.

Now! Don't make me do this!

No!

The law shall have you first.

Judith!

I'm sorry, Miles, I'm so sorry!

Judith!

Judith!

Will he hang, Cadfael?

Miles Coliar? I have no doubt.

The law judges the crime, not the man. And he killed twice.

Strange that love can be more dangerous than hate.

We are lucky, you and I, that our loving days are over.

Are we?

Well, safe journey, Sister, and an early return.

If these cuttings of yours do not flourish,

I shall be back immediately.

Brother.

Was Niall not with you?

He is seeing Sister Magdalen to the gate.

I wish to speak with you alone. Well, come in.

You have helped me through doubt and turmoil, Brother.

And much guilt.

Now I need your reassurance again. That you still have much to give?

And be given? And should not feel disloyal?

Be reassured.

Edward was as wise as he was loving.

Unlike me, he would have seen the worth of our bronze smith.

He would approve of Niall

and wish you great happiness together.

Though, as to being together, I trust he's told you all his story?

We meet tomorrow.

Thank you! Her name is Rosalba.

Welcome home, Rosalba.

Would Father Abbot approve, Cadfael?

Monk and matchmaker?

Oh, hardly that!

But it's written in the rule.

Console the sorrowful... and love the young.

I think perhaps a pear tree here, don't you?

Hmm?

Trained low,

so the whole family can pick them.

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