The Evening and the Morning

Wilf stays with Carwen at night for two months before going to Exeter. Gytha and Inge are delighted with Ragna’s unhappiness. In retaliation, Ragna strengthens her relationships with other men of influence. Soon, the Vikings attack Exeter, which will require Wilf’s attention. Once Wilf leaves, Ragna knows that she will be under siege. As he departs, he tells her to rule in his stead.

Ragna admits to herself that Wilf will not give her the love she wants. She visits Outhenham—where they call her Ragna the Just—to cheer herself, and then goes to the river with Edgar. He proposes that they dig their own river from the quarry and create a canal; it will save money and travel time if they can deliver their own stone by boat. But Edgar refuses to use slave labor.

When she sees that Edgar can now read and write, Ragna kisses him and he pulls away. She apologizes. To change the subject, Edgar says that Agnes is wearing a new ring. Its wires remind him of a pendant that the robber took from Adelaide. Agnes’s husband is a man named Offa, the reeve of Mudeford. Edgar thinks Den can get Offa to reveal something that will lead them to Ironface. As they talk, Edgar realizes that he is in love with Ragna, but he accepts that he can never be with her.

Den agrees to Ragna’s idea to question Offa. When confronted, Offa says he bought the ring from a French sailor in Combe: Richard of Paris. Den’s men search the house. While digging out the fireplace they hit wood and Offa runs from the home, but two men quickly retrieve him. The box in the fireplace contains thousands of pennies and several fine pieces of jewelry, including the belt originally intended for Wilf’s wedding gift. Wigbert hits Offa with a club when he says he doesn’t know how to find Ironface.

Agnes says Ironface is Ulf the horse catcher, but Edgar does not believe her. As they search Ulf’s home, Den and Edgar both think that Ulf is hiding something, even though they do not believe he is Ironface. Edgar destroys a doghouse with his ax and digs below it, finding Ironface’s helmet. Ulf says his wife, Wyn, is Ironface. Wigbert wounds her with a spear when she runs. While trying to restrain her, Edgar sees that her arm bears the scar from his ax, which he threw at her during his first encounter with Ironface.

Soon, Ragna presides over the trial of Offa, Ulf, and Wyn. When they are found guilty, Agnes begs for Offa’s life. Ragna says she is not her friend, but her mistress. Agnes screams and spits that she hopes Wilf dies. Wynstan watches their quarrel and thinks he can exploit the situation to his benefit. An executioner hangs the three criminals the following morning.

Wynstan visits Agnes to offer her revenge on Ragna. He wants her to become Ragna’s seamstress again and spy for him. She agrees and visits her former employer. Guilty over the death of Agnes’s husband, Ragna invites her back after a lengthy discussion.

Aldred is optimistic about Thane Deorman of Norwood giving a donation to the church. His wife died recently, and Aldred hopes he will be generous. He asks for Southwood and its mine. Deorman says there are rumors of slave orgies with monks, and that he isn’t sure he can support such a debauched church. Aldred insists that his monks are celibate, no matter what past men have done. Deorman gives Aldred three pounds of silver instead. Aldred is disappointed but accepts it graciously.

Outside, he sees Godleof, who tells him that Abbot Osmund is dead. Hildred is now abbot and has canceled the abbey’s payments to the priory. The money is a loss, but Aldred will now have more independence. He wonders if an abbey in Glastonbury—where he was disgraced—will give him relics to draw more visitors. However, he does not know how he’ll be received.

Upon arrival, he goes to the kitchen to see Leofric, the novice with whom he had the physical indiscretion. Aldred is relieved to find that he no longer feels any physical desire toward the novice. Leofric agrees to approach Theodric, the sacrist, about relics—specifically, some holy bones. They ask the Glastonbury abbot, Elfweard, who agrees to let Aldred take the bones of Saint Adolphus.

Wynstan watches Aldred arrive in Shiring with a cart drawn by oxen. The cart has a life-size representation of Saint Adolphus. Wynstan knows Aldred will tour the relics as part of his fundraiser and vows to prevent it.

The monks enter Trench, singing as they walk. A priest bars them from placing the effigy of Saint Adolphus in the church, on Wynstan’s orders. Aldred has a plan. Outside, he tells the story of Adolphus’s life and death. As he speaks, Edgar pulls on a cord, causing the effigy to rise from the cart. People begin to confess their sins and donate money. Encouraged, Aldred knows this process will work anywhere.

Edgar makes a plan to improve the village, hoping to streamline everything about the town. A ropemaker, a weaver, and a cobbler have already moved to Dreng’s Ferry, and there is now a one-room schoolhouse.

Aldred finds the ferry boat missing. He assumes that Wynstan did this, so that hundreds of visitors could not come today on Whitsunday. Edgar has a raft, but it is missing as well. As the hundred court takes place, Aldred announces that he is going to build a bridge; Edgar will oversee its construction.

Ragna hears the army return. In the five months of solitude, she has almost come to hate Wilf. He never sent messages to her but finds the time to send gifts to Carwen. When she goes outside, she sees Wilf in a cart with a badly swollen skull. Ragna commands them to put him in her house. While fighting a group of Vikings, Wilf fell off his horse. A horse stepped on his head, leaving a crack in his skull. Wilf is confused when questioned. Father Godmaer examines him and declares that he must drill into the skull to release black bile. Ragna reminds him that there is already a hole in his skull and forbids the procedure. Wilf tells her to choose a new army leader, and she picks Den.

Wynstan goes to mass on Sunday to speak with Agnes, who gives him monthly reports as she spies on Ragna. She tells him that Ragna intends to appoint Den as head of the army. At court, Wynstan nominates Garulf instead, and Ragna loses the decision.

Edgar struggles with the bridge’s construction. He cannot get the pillars to rest solidly into the boxes of stones in the riverbed. He wonders if the bridge could rest on boats, rather than pillars.

That autumn, Wynstan and Garulf join men at Devon, where they see six Viking ships. They sneak towards the Vikings, trying to count them, but come into full view. They kill all the Vikings but then see hundreds more coming over a hill. A Viking hits Garulf in the head with a hammer, but Wynstan reaches him and carries him away from the battle. At home, Ragna tells Wilf about the battle. His injury—along with his mental confusion and forgetfulness—have drawn them closer together. The Vikings are wintering at the Isle of Wight; Wilf says they will return.