NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY CARDINAL CAPUANO WAS SO rude to Lady Cécile and Tanwen.
I heard him preach a sermon on the strand this morning.
“These are Christ’s words,” he began. “My brothers, Christ speaks this sermon. I’m simply His mouthpiece.” The cardinal crossed himself. “You’ve taken the Cross, and when you exterminate the Saracens, when you wash the streets of Jerusalem with their blood, you’ll receive great rewards here and in heaven: the rich spoils of war; pardon without penance for all your foul sins; eternal life.”
The cardinal looked up at the sun, and then squinted at us. “But some of you are fools!” he called out. “Would you put this at risk? You pander to your desires by keeping with you your wives, your mistresses, your wenches. Women are depraved witches. They’re instruments of the devil!”
Instruments of the devil? How can they possibly be?
“Every woman,” the cardinal called out, “is to leave this island within five days.”
There was one long moment of silence, and then everyone started grumbling, jeering, whistling. Cardinal Capuano showed us the palms of his hands, but that was as useless as telling the saltwaves to stop breaking. He was still speaking, but no one could hear a word.
Witches! Winnie and Grace, my half-sister, aren’t witches, and Gatty isn’t. And what about all the women who are nuns? What about the Virgin Mary?
Lady Alice and Lady Judith and Lady Anne: They’re not depraved. They’re loving and generous.
I wish Oliver were here. I know the serpent persuaded Eve to tempt Adam, and it’s true that women are sometimes more fickle than men—I think Winnie quite likes to tease me about her feelings for Tom—but that doesn’t mean they’re evil.
Sir William is furious about Capuano’s ruling, and his face is the color of a cooked lobster. The hairs sticking out of his nose are just about as long as a lobster’s whiskers too!
“It’s God’s will,” said Lady Cécile.
“Nothing of the kind!” barked Sir William. “It’s the whim of a Roman busybody. A lily-white bastard!”
Lady Cécile says we must all bow to God’s will, but Tanwen is inconsolable. She wept and couldn’t stop, and now she and Serle have been out walking for hours. They left Kester with me, and it took him a very long time to fall asleep.
We could cut off Tanwen’s hair and dress her as a boy—some of the Picardian women are disguising themselves like that. But what about Kester? Poor Tanwen!
Only a few days ago, Saint Nicholas was discouraged and desperate. Then the marquis arrived, and everyone shouted and cheered. But now Cardinal Capuano has thrown us all down again.…