World Without End Page 0,254

making room. At last Caris looked at her father.

He was alive and conscious, though he looked pale and tired. His eyes were open, and he looked straight at her and tried a weak smile. "I'm afraid I gave you a scare," he said. "I'm sorry, my dear."

"Oh, thank God," said Caris, and she began to cry.

On Wednesday morning Merthin came to Caris's stall in consternation. "Betty Baxter just asked me a strange question," he said. "She wanted to know who was going to stand against Elfric in the election for alderman."

"What election?" Caris said. "My father is alderman... oh." She realized what must be going on. Elfric was telling people that Edmund was too old and sick to fulfil the role, and the town needed someone new. And he was presenting himself as a candidate. "We must tell my father right away."

Caris and Merthin left the fairground and crossed the main street to the house. Edmund had left the priory hospital yesterday, saying - correctly - that there was nothing the monks could do for him but bleed him, which made him feel worse. He had been carried home, and a bed had been made up for him in the parlour on the ground floor.

This morning he was reclining on a stack of pillows in his improvised bed. He looked so weak that Caris hesitated to bother him with the news, but Merthin sat down beside him and laid out the facts starkly.

"Elfric is right," Edmund said when Merthin had finished. "Look at me. I can hardly sit upright. The parish guild needs strong leadership. It's no job for a sick man."

"But you'll be better soon!" Caris exclaimed.

"Perhaps. But I'm getting old. You must have noticed how absent-minded I've become. I forget things. And I was fatally slow to react to the downturn in the market for raw wool - I lost a lot of money last year. Thank God, we've rebuilt our fortune with the scarlet cloth - but you did that, Caris, not me."

She knew all that, of course, but still she felt indignant. "Are you just going to let Elfric take over?"

"Certainly not. He would be a disaster. He's too much in thrall to Godwyn. Even after we become a borough, we'll need an alderman who can stand up to the priory."

"Who else could do the job?"

"Talk to Dick Brewer. He's one of the richest men in town, and the alderman must be rich, to have the respect of the other merchants. Dick's not afraid of Godwyn or any of the monks. He'd be a good leader."

Caris found herself reluctant to do as he said. It seemed like accepting that he was going to die. She could not remember a time when her father had not been alderman. She did not want her world to change.

Merthin understood her reluctance, but urged her on. "We have to accept this," he said. "If we ignore what's happening, we could end up with Elfric in charge. He would be a disaster - he might even withdraw the application for the borough charter."

That decided her. "You're right," she said. "Let's find Dick."

Dick Brewer had several carts in different locations in the fairground. Each bore a huge barrel. His children, grandchildren and in-laws were selling ale from the barrels as fast as they could pour it. Caris and Merthin found him setting an example by drinking a large pot of his own brew while he watched his family making money for him. They took him aside and explained what was going on.

Dick said to Caris: "When your father dies, I suppose his fortune will be divided equally between you and your sister?"

"Yes." Edmund had already told Caris that this was in his will.

"When Alice's inheritance is added to Elfric's existing wealth, he will be very rich."

Caris realized that half the money she was making from her scarlet cloth might go to her sister. She had not thought of this before, because she had not thought about her father dying. It came as a shock. Money itself was not important to her, but she did not want to help Elfric become alderman. "It's not just a question of who is the richest man," she said. "We need someone who will stand up for the merchants."

"Then you must put up a rival candidate," Dick said.

"Will you stand?" she asked him directly.

He shook his head. "Don't bother trying to persuade me. At the end of