Page 105 of The Evening and the Morning

“You shut your mouth, lad,” said Wynstan, although he was only a couple of years older. “I’m talking to the sorcerer, not the sorcerer’s cat. It’s your abbot, not you, who is trying to seize my minster and add it to his empire.”

Osmund said: “The minster belongs to God, not men.”

It was another brave riposte, and another blow to Wynstan. Aldred began to believe that Wynstan might have to go away with his tail between his legs.

But defeat in argument only made Wynstan more threatening. “God has entrusted the minster to me,” he roared. He stepped toward Osmund, and Osmund flinched back. “Now you listen to me, abbot. I will not permit you to take over the church at Dreng’s Ferry.”

Osmund’s reply was defiant, but his voice was shaky. “The decision has been made.”

“But I will fight it in the shire court.”

Osmund quailed. “That would be unseemly,” he said. “A public dispute between the two leading men of God in Shiring.”

“You should have thought of that before you wrote a sneaky, underhand letter to the archbishop of Canterbury.”

“You must submit to his authority.”

“But I won’t. If necessary I will go to Canterbury and report your sins there.”

“Archbishop Elfric already knows my sins, such as they are.”

“I bet I can think of a few he hasn’t heard about.”

Osmund did not have any serious sins, Aldred knew; but Wynstan would probably invent some, and even get people to swear to them, if it suited his purpose.

Osmund said: “It would be wrong of you to defy your archbishop’s will.”

“It was wrong of you to force me to this extreme.”

And that was the puzzling thing, Aldred thought. Wynstan had not been forced into anything. Dreng’s Ferry seemed unimportant. Aldred had felt sure it was not worth fighting about. But that had been a mistake: Wynstan was ready to go to war.

Why? The minster paid Wynstan some of its earnings, though that could not be much. It gave Degbert a job, but not a very prestigious one. Degbert was not even a close relative, and anyway Wynstan could easily find him another post.

So what was so important about Dreng’s Ferry?

Wynstan was still raving. “This struggle will go on for years—unless you do the sensible thing today, Osmund, and back down.”

“What do you mean?”

“Write a reply to Elfric.” Wynstan’s tone become almost a parodyof reasonableness. “Say that, in a Christian spirit, you do not wish to quarrel with your brother in Christ the bishop of Shiring, who has sincerely promised to put matters right at Dreng’s Ferry.”

Wynstan had made no such promise, Aldred noted.

Wynstan went on: “Explain that Elfric’s decision threatens to cause a scandal in the shire, and you do not think the little minster merits such upheaval.”

Osmund hesitated.

Aldred said indignantly: “God’s work always merits upheaval. Our Lord did not hesitate to cause a scandal when he threw the money changers out of the temple. The Gospel—”

This time it was Osmund who shut him up. “Leave this to your elders,” he snapped.

Wynstan said: “Yes, Aldred, keep your mouth shut. You’ve done enough damage.”

Aldred bowed his head, but inside he was boiling. Osmund had no need to back down—he had the archbishop on his side!

Osmund said to Wynstan: “I will consider your complaint prayerfully.”

That was not enough for Wynstan. “I’m going to write to Elfric today,” he said. “I shall tell him that his suggestion—hissuggestion—is not welcome; that you and I have discussed the matter; and that I believe you agree with me, on mature reflection, that the minster should not become a monastery at this moment in time.”