join our order?'
'Aye, it is true,' asserted James.
'You are yung enuf that I doubt that you are married.'
'Nay, Prior, I am nay married.'
'Do you 'ave any debts? Nay, I suppose that you are too yung. You can nay join the order if you are encumbered with debts.'
'Nay, I 'ave no debts, Prior Mydylburgh,' promised James.
'And you brought no belongs with you? Is this true?' asked the Prior.
'Only the clothes you see me wearing,' stated James.
'Do you read or write, boy?' asked by the Subprior. James lifted his head and looked at him and then bowed his head again.
'Aye, me great aunt taught me me let'ers and me numbers,' offered James.
'I did nay ask about your numbers,' retorted the Subprior sternly. 'To offer more information than is requested about one's self is a sign of vanity. Are you vain, lad?'
James didn't know how to answer that question and felt as though he were in a trap. 'If I say that I am nay vain, 'ow wuld I account for offering the information when it was nay asked?' he thought to himself. 'If I do say that I am vain, per'aps I shall be punished for vanity.'
'I do nay know,' replied James quietly.
'You realize that you can nay join the order directly, boot must spend time as a novice to learn our ways and to determine whether our life is suitable for you and whether you are suitable for our order,' stated the Prior.
'Aye, I do understand,' replied James, but this interview was causing him to wonder about his choice.
Thomas had remained silent with his head bowed during the entire conversation and now the Prior addressed him.
'You may leave the lad 'ere and return to your 'ome,' the Prior said to Thomas as he handed the letter of reference back to him.
Thomas thanked the Prior and turned and hugged James. James saw a tear in Thomas' eye and hear a crack in his voice when he said, 'Send us word sone. Do nay forget your mum.'
'Aye, I will send word father. I luv you and mum,' replied James.
With that, Thomas turned and followed one of the brothers out of the room and down a long stone corridor. They walked in silence. Thomas wanted to ask the brother to care for James, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The corridor emptied into a stone-cobbled courtyard surrounded on three sides by a high stone wall. The only opening in the wall was a large gate that had a door fashioned in the middle. Thomas exited the Priory enclosure through the heavy door and listened as it creaked closed behind him. When it closed, he could hear someone secure the door on the inside with a large wooden beam.
Thomas took his horse and walked a few paces before turning to look at the Priory. He couldn't help but think that those inside had barricaded themselves off from the real world. He was sure that most of them did it to bring glory to God, but it wasn't the type of life that other people could live. It was a cloistered existence. The realization that he and Elizabeth would never have grandchildren swept over him and his heart sank. They would also now be deprived of the regular association of their only child.
Thomas mounted his horse and as he headed for Lambley, he felt a heaviness in his heart that he had not expected. 'Why do I feel this way?' he wondered out loud. 'I 'ave just given me sone to God. I shuld be full of joy. Boot, I do nay feel joyful.'
When Thomas reached Lambley it was well after dark. He entered through the back of the bakery and ascended the stairs. He found Elizabeth in the bed with a candle burning nearby. She turned to him when he entered the room and called to him.
'Thomas, is James going to be alright?' she asked.
Thomas sat on the bed beside her. Only then did he see her puffy, red eyes and see the wetness of the pillow where she had laid her head. He held her close.
'Aye, me luv. 'e will be fine,' he said as he struggled to control his own emotions. Elizabeth breathed in heavy, uneven breaths as she fought back the tears. He held her in silence for what seemed like a long time. Once he thought that she had fallen asleep, but realized that she had not. 'Whot 'ave we dune, me luv? I miss 'im so much already,'