Free World Without End by Ken Follett Page A

have the treatment prescribed by Brother Joseph. He knows best.'
    Thomas appeared unconscious.
    Anthony turned to Joseph. 'He is no longer objecting.'
    Matthew Barber said: 'He could lose his arm!'
    'You'd better leave,' Anthony told him.
    Looking angry, Matthew went out.
    Anthony said to Richard: 'Perhaps you would come to the prior's house for a cup of cider.'
    'Thank you.'
    As they left, Anthony said to Godwyn: 'Stay here and help the Mother Prioress. Come to me before Vespers and tell me how the knight is recovering.'
    Prior Anthony did not normally worry about the progress of individual patients. Clearly he had a special interest in this one.
    Godwyn watched as Brother Joseph applied ointment to the arm of the now-unconscious knight. He thought he had probably ensured Cecilia's financial support by giving the correct answer to the question, but he was keen to get her explicit agreement. When Brother Joseph had done, and Cecilia was bathing Thomas's forehead with rose water, he said: 'I hope you will consider my request favorably.'
    She gave him a sharp look. 'I might as well tell you now that I have decided to give the money to Saul.'
    Godwyn was shocked. 'But I gave the right answer!'
    'Did you?'
    'Surely you didn't agree with the barber?'
    She raised her eyebrows. 'I won't be interrogated by you, Brother Godwyn.'
    'I'm sorry,' he said immediately. 'I just don't understand it.'
    'I know.'
    If she was going to be enigmatic, there was no point in talking to her. Godwyn turned away, shaking with frustration and disappointment. She was giving the money to Saul! Was it because he was related to the earl? Godwyn thought not: she was too independent-minded. It was Saul's showy piety that had tipped the balance, he decided. But Saul would never be leader of anything. What a waste. Godwyn wondered how he was going to break this news to his mother. She would be furious - but who would she blame? Anthony? Godwyn himself? A familiar feeling of dread came over him as he pictured his mother's wrath.
    As he thought of her, he saw her enter the hospital by the door at the far end, a tall woman with a prominent bust. She caught his eye and stood by the door, waiting for him to come to her. He walked slowly, trying to figure out what to say.
    'Your aunt Rose is dying,' Petranilla said as soon as he was close.
    'May God bless her soul. Mother Cecilia told me.'
    'You look shocked - but you know how ill she is.'
    'It's not Aunt Rose. I've had other bad news.' He swallowed. 'I can't go to Oxford. Uncle Anthony won't pay for it, and Mother Cecilia turned me down, too.'
    She did not explode immediately, to his great relief. However, her mouth tightened into a grim line. 'But why?' she said.
    'He hasn't got the money, and she is sending Saul.'
    'Saul Whitehead? He'll never amount to anything.'
    'Well, at least he's going to be a physician.'
    She looked him in the eye, and he shriveled. 'I think you handled this badly,' she said. 'You should have discussed it with me beforehand.'
    He had feared she would take this line. 'How can you say I mishandled it?' he protested.
    'You should have let me speak to Anthony first. I would have softened him.'
    'He still might have said no.'
    'And before you approached Cecilia, you should have found out whether anyone else had asked her. Then you could have undermined Saul before speaking to her.'
    'How?'
    'He must have a weakness. You could have found out what it is, and made sure it was brought to her attention. Then, when she was feeling disillusioned, you could have approached her yourself.'
    He saw the sense of what she was saying. 'I never thought of that,' he said. He bowed his head.
    With controlled anger she said: 'You have to plan these things, the way earls plan battles.'
    'I see that now,' he said, not meeting her eye. 'I'll never make the same mistake again.'
    'I hope not.'
    He looked at her again. 'What am I going to do?'
    'I'm not giving up.' A familiar expression of determination came over her