Threads of Treason by Mary Bale

St Thomas’s?’
    ‘ I am,’ said Abbess Eleanor. ‘I have come to find out the truth about who is behind this act.’
    ‘ I have come to trust no one,’ Ursula repeated her earlier statement. ‘Not even Bishop Odo of Bayeux, nor Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. I do not know which way to turn, or what to do. But I will help you any way I can.’
    ‘ Have you learnt anything from the kitchen gossip?’ asked the Abbess.
    ‘ I have been listening to all that and watching the travellers as they come and go, but I have seen no hint or heard anything that could benefit you. I do not know who has been trying to destroy the work. No one has even come by looking for the dead girl. And to show how much is seen and heard, it was gossip in the kitchen here that told me you were up at Christ Church. And what is more I know you had difficulties there.’
    Abbess Eleanor’s mouth dropped noticeably. ‘What do you know?’ she asked.
    ‘ I know that the Archbishop Lanfranc would not see you.’
    ‘ We were sent away,’ said Therese.
    The Abbess straightened her back and spoke with authority: ‘I have to tell you Bishop Odon de Bayeux sent me.’
    Therese noticed both Alfred and Ursula shudder in panic.
    ‘ Please do not tell him I’m here,’ said Ursula. ‘I hoped you were here under your own volition. My brother insisted you would have your orders.’
    ‘ I have my orders, Ursula, but they are to investigate this matter. If you are innocent of wrong doing you have nothing to fear, for God sees us and will judge us. I will keep your secret.’
    ‘ You are alarmed at how much someone can learn by watching and listening, Abbess?’ queried Ursula. ‘But that is the way to find out what you want to know. Let me guess why you went to Archbishop Lanfranc instead of going straight to St Thomas’s.’
    Abbess Eleanor challenged her with her gaze.
    ‘ You,’ said Ursula slowly, ‘wanted to place a spy inside the priory without them knowing you were behind the new person.’
    ‘ You know me too well,’ complained Abbess Eleanor.
    ‘ It is what I would have done.’
    ‘ But why,’ asked the Abbess, ‘do you not trust our two mightiest bishops?’
    ‘ Archbishop Lanfranc sees Bishop Odo as a challenge to his authority. Bishop Odo is Earl of Kent, while the Archbishop’s bishopric is also part of the same area. Two powerful men, both men of the church, but they are so different in their views.’
    Therese could see Abbess Eleanor go on the defensive as she gathered herself in. She said, ‘Bishop Odon was appointed as a young man in Normandy by his Duke long before William became your King. He is not a monk like Archbishop Lanfranc. He is a man of the secular world, but he is no worse for that.'
    ‘ I agree, of course. But power struggles can have many innocent victims.’ Ursula looked down at the bowls.
    ‘ Do you consider,’ asked Abbess Eleanor, ‘that the events at St Thomas’s are connected to such a struggle.’
    Ursula shook her head. ‘The embroidery is nearly finished. We were working on the last panel when the girl struck. I saved it, but look at the slant that has been put on what I did. I am being called a traitor.’
    ‘ You know it is just gossip.’
    ‘ But Bishop Odo believes the gossip, doesn’t he?’
    The Abbess looked at her full bowl of broth in confirmation.
    ‘ Of course he should condemn me,’ said Ursula. ‘I should have stopped her from taking her own life. Her soul will always be in purgatory.’
    ‘ I am sure God does not blame you,’ said Abbess Eleanor.
    While Therese felt the gloom covering their group a worm of an idea wriggled into her head. ‘I can be your spy,’ she said without any further thought. ‘They don’t know me at St Thomas’s. They obviously know you, Ursula, and the Abbess.’
    The two older women shook their heads in unison.
    ‘ No, that is quite out of the question,’ said Abbess Eleanor. ‘I had in mind Sister Agnes. She is already there; she is