The Evening and the Morning

Ithamar asks Edgar if he will testify against Wynstan. He hopes that Edgar will refuse. He reminds Edgar that Degbert is his landlord, and he will certainly evict Edgar for any offense. Edgar goes to Ma’s grave to ask for guidance. He hears her voice in his head, telling him that the family must come first.

Wilf visits the Abbey to talk to Aldred as Hildred arrives. Wilf says there is no point in a trial since the counterfeiting is finished. He asks Aldred to consider refusing to be an oath helper, which might also persuade Den to relent. Aldred is defiant and plans to testify against Wynstan.

Ragna learns that she is pregnant. Excited but worried, she tells no one. She is also happy about Wynstan’s difficulties and eager for his trial. Edgar tells her about Ithamar’s veiled threat, should he testify against Wynstan. If Edgar’s testimony leads to his eviction, Ragna promises to find a farm to his family.

Hildred tells the monks that they should not get involved in politics, but Aldred reminds them that they supposedly believe in an afterlife. He cannot look the other way while men act wickedly without consequences. He accepts God’s will, even if it means his expulsion from the monastery. Most of the other monks support Aldred’s view.

On the day of the trial, Aldred cannot focus. Den gives him a basket with the coins, which they will use as evidence. The trial is in front of the cathedral, at Wilf’s command. The location will remind everyone that Wynstan is a bishop. Fittingly, Wynstan arrives in ecclesiastical garments and addresses the court before Den can speak.

Wynstan commands them to untie Degbert and Cuthbert. He claims that the contents of the basket belong to Cuthbert. Cuthbert protests that Wynstan ordered the forgeries, but no one listens. As an ostensible punishment, Wynstan strips Degbert of his title; from now on he is a mere priest under Wynstan’s supervision. He claims that since Cuthbert made the coins, he is the only one who can be tried for forgery. Wynstan further claims that Den’s arrival was an act of God, and his own presence was a mere coincidence.

Wilf sentences Cuthbert to blindness and castration. Wynstan then accuses himself of causing Godwine’s death. He will pay the man’s widow the murder price of five pounds of silver. Aldred says the minster at Dreng’s Ferry should be closed, given recent events. It will now become a branch of Shiring Abbey. Wynstan agrees. Hildred says that Osmund wishes for Aldred to be the prior of the new monastery, but Aldred hates the idea; he will be stuck in the middle of a rural area, with no access to the scriptorium. However, Wynstan approves the appointment and Aldred cannot challenge it. Wynstan gives Dreng’s Ferry to the new monastery.

Cuthbert is tied to a stake. Wigbert severs his testicles with large shears. He then puts his thumbs into Cuthbert’s eyes and blinds him as Wynstan smiles.

Aldred has not felt so bad since getting caught kissing Leofric, another novice. Again, he is thwarted in his goals of scholarship and exiled, but he resolves to make his new calling a success. Wigferth visits and reports that Degbert is now the archdeacon at Shiring Cathedral.

Aldred is desperate to return to his studies. Edgar is his only consolation. Aldred tells him that the charter does not mention fish for the landlord, as Edgar suspected.

At Shiring, Edgar sees Den smashing Elfwine’s moneying equipment. Ethelred orders Den to close the mint, which will hurt Wilf financially.

Edgar asks Ragna for free stone to repair the church. She agrees. In return, she asks him to replace Gab as quarrymaster. Edgar will spend half his time in each place. She also tells him that her baby is due in May.

Aldred visits Mother Agatha on Christmas Eve. Edgar is there, unpacking stones. Agatha admires Edgar for challenging Wynstan and says she wants to bring the nuns to the church for a Christmas service. Aldred sees Edgar talking to Cuthbert, who has joined the lepers. Cuthbert blames Edgar for his condition. Edgar asks Aldred to accept Cuthbert as a monk. Edgar also wishes to learn how to read and asks Aldred to teach him.