Sabina was amused. ‘I do not think Hamo would accept you as a suitable substitute for Dame Eleanor, Brother. But why did you come? To pray? To admire the Hugh Chalice?’
Before the monk could reply, Christiana stood, took the cup from the altar, and came to hand it to him. Their fingers touched briefly, before she returned to the cushion on which she had been kneeling. She was clearly aware that she cut a fine figure from behind, because her hips swayed provocatively and she did not need to look around to know Michael’s eyes were fixed appreciatively on them.
‘What do you think?’ asked Bartholomew. The monk regarded him askance. ‘Of the chalice, Brother! What do you think of the chalice?’
Michael tore his attention away from Christiana’s trim shape, and looked at the goblet. ‘It is very small, and too tarnished to be handsome, although someone has tried to buff it up. Is it silver?’
Bartholomew shrugged. ‘I have no idea how to tell. However, I do know that some kinds of tin can be made to gleam like precious metals.’
Michael turned the cup over in his hands. ‘Even if it is silver, it is thin and light, and I doubt it is worth much for its weight alone. Is there a carving on it? My eyes are not good in dim light.’
‘It is worn, but I think there might be a child with a halo around its head.’
Michael squinted at it. ‘As Simon told us so condescendingly, a Baby Jesus etched on a chalice is often associated with St Hugh – it is one of his icons. I suppose that might mean it is authentic.’
A shadow suddenly materialised at the physician’s side. It was Cynric. Michael leapt so violently that the goblet flew from his fingers and clattered to the floor. Christiana turned to gape at him, and Sabina issued a shriek of alarm, so the monk hastened to cover his clumsiness by pretending he had done it on purpose.
‘It is silver,’ he pronounced authoritatively, bending to retrieve it. ‘See how easily it dents?’
‘Be careful, Brother!’ breathed Cynric, round-eyed with shock. ‘St Hugh may not like his relic tossed about like a turnip. Of course, it is probably a fake, but you would be wise to be wary, nonetheless.’
‘You should not creep up on people like that,’ hissed Michael irritably, once Christiana had turned back to her prayers. ‘And how is it that you are suddenly in a position to make declarations about the authenticity of sacred cups?’
‘I have a good sense for what is holy,’ objected Cynric, hurt by the reprimand. ‘And a good sense for what is unholy, too. Speaking of unholy, did you see Bishop Gynewell’s statue in the cathedral? It is in the Angel Choir, looking longingly at Queen Eleanor’s Visceral Tomb. It is probably trying to work out how to get inside and earn itself a meal.’
‘Gynewell does not like to be reminded of the similarity between him and the imp,’ said Michael. ‘So you had better keep your thoughts to yourself, unless you want to feel the end of his pitchfork.’
‘You think he might attack me?’ asked Cynric, appalled. ‘He is definitely one of Satan’s own. Master Quarrel of the Swan tavern told me that the fellow likes so much hot spice in his food, it is inedible to mere mortals. And he wears a Dominican habit to conceal his tail.’
‘Quarrel told you that?’ asked Bartholomew, startled.
‘Not the bit about the tail,’ admitted Cynric. ‘That is my own conclusion. You see, I have been in alehouses all afternoon, listening to gossip for you about Aylmer. Since I was there, I decided to ask a few questions about Gynewell, too. I went to the Swan first, then the Angel. The Swan is preferred by guildsmen, and the Angel is frequented by the Commonalty.’
‘What did you find out?’ asked Michael. ‘About Aylmer, I mean, not Gynewell.’
‘He arrived about twenty years ago – a few weeks after Miller – and immediately started work as Miller’s scribe. Then Langar came, and was better at clerking, so Aylmer elected to dabble in various other trades instead, but was never very successful. Apparently, he always said he was in holy orders, but no one believed him, so he was obliged to take his vows again a month ago. He was accused of theft, see, and needed to claim benefit of clergy. It is all wrong, if you ask me, and there will be a rebellion. People do not like priests tried by different rules to the rest of us.’
‘So you have been saying for years,’ said Michael, well aware of Cynric’s seditious sentiments. ‘What did he steal?’
‘A cup,’ said Cynric. ‘It may have been the Hugh Chalice, but the men at the Swan could not be sure. The fellow who lodged the complaint was Flaxfleete, but he withdrew his accusation when the property was returned. Word is that the bishop did it.’
‘Did what?’ asked Michael, confused. ‘Stole whatever it was that Aylmer was accused of taking?’
