The Devils Novice Read Free Page A

among them; but
still there was a rigidity about him, and he stood with eyes cast down and
hands tightly clasped, perhaps over-awed by the step he was taking. He answered
questions in a low, level voice, quickly and submissively. A face naturally
ivory-pale, but tanned deep gold by the summer sun, the flush of blood beneath
his smooth skin quick to mantle on high cheekbones. A thin, straight nose, with
fastidious nostrils that quivered nervously, and that full, proud mouth that
had so rigorous a set to it in repose, and looked so vulnerable in speech. And
the eyes he hid in humility, large-lidded under clear, arched brows blacker
than his hair.
    “You
have considered well,” said the abbot, “and now have time to consider yet
again, without blame from any. Is it your wish to enter the cloistered life
here among us? A wish truly conceived and firmly maintained? You may speak out
whatever is in your heart.”
    The
low voice said, rather fiercely than firmly: “It is my wish, Father.” He seemed
almost to start at his own vehemence, and added more warily: “I beg that you
will let me in, and I promise obedience.”
    “That
vow comes later,” said Radulfus with a faint smile. “For this while, Brother
Paul will be your instructor, and you will submit yourself to him. For those
who come into the Order in mature years a full year’s probation is customary.
You have time both to promise and to fulfil.”
    The
submissively bowed head reared suddenly at hearing this, the large eyelids
rolled back from wide, clear eyes of a dark hazel flecked with green. So seldom
had he looked up full into the light that their brightness was startling and
disquieting. And his voice was higher and sharper, almost dismayed, as he
asked: “Father, is that needful? Cannot the time be cut short, if I study to
deserve? The waiting is hard to bear.”
    The
abbot regarded him steadily, and drew his level brows together in a frown,
rather of speculation and wonder than of displeasure. “The period can be
shortened, if such a move seems good to us. But impatience is not the best
counsellor, nor haste the best advocate. It will be made plain if you are ready
earlier. Do not strain after perfection.”
    It
was clear that the young man Meriet was sensitive to all the implications of
both words and tone. He lowered his lids again like shutters over the
brightness, and regarded his folded hands. “Father, I will be guided. But I do
desire with all my heart to have the fullness of my commitment, and be at
peace.” Cadfael thought that the guarded voice shook for an instant. In all
probability that did the boy no harm with Radulfus, who had experience both of
passionate enthusiasts and those gradually drawn like lambs to the slaughter of
dedication.
    “That
can be earned,” said the abbot gently.
    “Father,
it shall!” Yes, the level utterance did quiver, however briefly. He kept the
startling eyes veiled.
    Radulfus
dismissed him with somewhat careful kindness, and closed the chapter after his
departure. A model entry? Or was it a shade too close to the feverish fervour
an abbot as shrewd as Radulfus must suspect and deplore, and watch very warily
hereafter? Yet a high-mettled, earnest youth, coming to his desired haven,
might well be over-eager and in too much of a hurry. Cadfael, whose two broad
feet had always been solidly planted on earth, even when he took his convinced
decision to come into harbour for the rest of a long life, had considerable
sympathy with the ardent young, who overdo everything, and take wing at a line
of verse or a snatch of music. Some who thus take fire burn to the day of their
death, and set light to many others, leaving a trail of radiance to generations
to come. Other fires sink for want of fuel, but do no harm to any. Time would
discover what young Meriet’s small, desperate flame portended.
    Hugh
Beringar, deputy-sheriff of Shropshire, came down from his manor of