World Without End Page 0,339

had not spoken to him for weeks, but she had broken her silence for the sake of Gwenda. He resented Gwenda's place in her heart, he realized. That was an unworthy emotion, he told himself; but he could not shake it.

Caris flushed with annoyance. "That was twelve years ago! Isn't it time Ralph stopped punishing him?"

Merthin had forgotten the abrasive disagreements he and Caris used to have, but now he recognized this friction as familiar. He spoke dismissively. "Of course he should stop - in my opinion. But Ralph's opinion is the one that counts."

"Then see if you can change his mind," she said.

He resented her imperious attitude. "I'm yours to command," he said facetiously.

"Why the irony?"

"Because I'm not yours to command, of course, but you seem to think I am. And I feel a bit foolish for going along with you."

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she said. "You're offended that I've asked you?"

For some reason, he felt sure she had made up her mind to reject him and stay in the nunnery. He tried to control his emotions. "If we were a couple, you could ask me anything. But while you're keeping open the option of rejecting me, it seems a bit presumptuous of you." He knew he was sounding pompous, but he could not stop. If he revealed his true feelings he would burst into tears.

She was too wrapped up in her indignation to notice his distress. "But it's not even for myself!" she protested.

"I realize it's your generosity of spirit that makes you do it, but I still feel you're using me."

"All right, then, don't do it."

"Of course I'll do it." Suddenly he could no longer contain himself. He turned and walked away from her. He was shaking with some passion he could not identify. As he strode up the aisle of the great church, he struggled to get himself under control. He reached the excavation. This was stupid, he thought. He turned and looked back, but Caris had vanished.

He stood at the lip of the hole, looking down, waiting for the storm inside him to subside.

After a while he realized that the excavation had reached a crucial stage. Thirty feet below him, the men had dug down past the masonry foundations and were beginning to reveal what was beneath. There was nothing more he could do about Caris right now. It would be best to concentrate on his work. He took a deep breath, swallowed and went down the ladder.

This was the moment of truth. His distress over Caris began to ease as he watched the men dig farther down. Shovelful after shovelful of heavy mud was dug up and taken away. Merthin studied the stratum of earth that was revealed below the foundations. It looked like a mixture of sand and small stones. As the men removed the mud, the sandy stuff dribbled into the hole they were making.

Merthin ordered them to stop.

He knelt down and picked up a handful of the sandy material. It was nothing like the soil all around. It was not natural to the site, therefore it must be something that had been put there by builders. The excitement of discovery rose inside him, overmastering his grief about Caris. "Jeremiah!" he called. "See if you can find Brother Thomas - quick as you like."

He told the men to carry on digging, but to make a narrower hole: at this point the excavation itself could be dangerous to the structure. After a while Jeremiah returned with Thomas, and the three of them watched as the men took the hole farther down. Eventually the sandy layer came to an end, and the next stratum was revealed to be the natural muddy earth.

"I wonder what that sandy stuff is," Thomas said.

"I think I know," Merthin said. He tried not to look triumphant. He had predicted, years ago, that Elfric's repairs would not work unless the root of the problem was discovered, and he had been right - but it was never wise to say: I told you so.

Thomas and Jeremiah looked at him in anticipation.

He explained. "When you've dug a foundation hole, you cover the bottom with a mixture of rubble and monar. Then you lay the masonry on top of that. It's a perfectly good system, as long as the foundations are proportional to the building above."

Thomas said impatiently: "We both know this."

"What happened here was that a much higher tower was erected on foundations that were not