Page 279 of The Evening and the Morning

Wigelm frowned, figuring out what she meant: he was not quick to grasp long sentences, she had noticed. Eventually he said: “So that’s your answer.”

“My answer is no.”

Gytha stood up. “We tried,” she said.

Then she and Wigelm left.

Ragna frowned. That was an unexpected exit line.

Alain was asleep at Ragna’s breast. She put him in his cradle and refastened the front of her dress. The material was milk-stained, but she did not worry: at this point it suited her not to be too alluring.

She puzzled over the wordsWe tried.Why had Gytha said that? It sounded like a veiled threat, as if she was sayingDon’t blame us for what will happen next.But what could happen next?

She did not know, and it troubled her.

Wynstan and Gytha went to see King Ethelred, who was living in the great hall. Wynstan did not feel his usual self-confidence. The king was not predictable. Wynstan could normally foresee his neighbors’ responses to problems: it was not difficult to figure out what they were going to do in order to get what they wanted. But the king’s challenges were much more complex.

He touched his pectoral cross in the hope of divine assistance.

When they entered the great hall, Ethelred was deep in conversation with one of his clerks. Queen Emma was not present. Ethelred held up a hand to tell Wynstan and Gytha to wait. They stood a few paces away while the king finished his conversation. Then the clerk left and Ethelred beckoned.

Wynstan began: “The child of my brother Wigelm and the lady Ragna is a healthy boy who seems likely to live, my lord king.”

“Good!” said Ethelred.

“It is indeed good news, though it threatens to destabilize the ealdormanry of Shiring.”

“How so?”

“First, you have given Ragna permission to go to the nunnery at Dreng’s Ferry. There, of course, she will be away from the influence of the ealdorman. Second, she has the ealdorman’s only child. Third, even if the baby should die, Ragna also has Wilwulf’s three young sons.”

“I see what you’re getting at,” said the king. “You think she could easily become the figurehead of a rebellion against Wigelm. People might say that her children were the true heirs.”

Wynstan was pleased that the king saw the point so quickly. “Yes, my lord king.”

“And do you propose a course of action?”

“There is only one. Ragna must marry Wigelm. Then Wigelm has no rivals.”

“Of course, that would resolve the issue,” said Ethelred. “But I’m not going to do it.”

Wynstan burst out: “Why on earth not?”

“First, because she has set her face against it. She might well refuse to take the vows.”

“You may leave it to me to deal with that,” Wynstan said. He knew how to make people do what they did not want to do.

Ethelred looked disapproving, but did not comment. Instead he said: “Second, because I have promised my wife that I will not force the marriage.”

Wynstan gave a man-to-man chuckle. “My lord king, a promise to a woman...”

“You don’t know much about marriage, do you, bishop?”

Wynstan bowed his head. “Of course not, my lord king.”

“I’m not willing to break my promise to my wife.”

“I understand.”