World Without End Page 0,340

designed for it. The extra weight, acting over a hundred years, has crushed that layer of rubble and mortar to sand. The sand has no cohesion, and under pressure it has spread outwards into the surrounding soil, allowing the masonry above it to sink down. The effect is worse on the south side simply because the site naturally slopes that way." He felt a profound satisfaction at having figured this out.

The other two looked thoughtful. Thomas said: "I suppose we will have to reinforce the foundations."

Jeremiah shook his head. "Before we can put any reinforcement under the stonework, we'd have to remove the sandy stuff, and that would leave the foundations unsupported. The tower would fall down."

Thomas was perplexed. "So what can we do?"

They both looked at Merthin. He said: "Build a temporary roof over the crossing, erect scaffolding and take down the tower, stone by stone. Then reinforce the foundations."

"Then we'd have to build a new tower."

That was what Merthin wanted, but he did not say so. Thomas might suspect that his judgement had been coloured by his aspiration. "I'm afraid so," he said with feigned regret.

"Prior Godwyn won't like that."

"I know," Merthin said. "But I don't think he's got any choice."

Next day Merthin rode out of Kingsbridge with Lolla on the saddle in front of him. As they travelled through the forest, he obsessively ran over his fraught exchange with Caris. He knew he had been ungenerous. How foolish that was, when he was trying to win back her love. What had got into him? Caris's request was perfectly reasonable. Why would he not wish to perform a small service for the woman he wanted to marry?

But she had not agreed to marry him. She was still reserving the right to reject him. That was the source of his anger. She was exercising the privileges of a fiancee without making the commitment.

He could see, now, that it was petty of him to object on these grounds. He had been stupid, and turned what could have been a delightful moment of intimacy into a squabble.

On the other hand, the underlying cause of his distress was all too real. How long did Caris expect him to wait for an answer? How long was he prepared to wait? He did not like to think about that.

Anyway, it would do him nothing but good if he could persuade Ralph to stop persecuting poor Wulfric.

Tench was on the far side of the county, and on the way Merthin spent a night at windy Wigleigh. He found Gwenda and Wulfric thin after a rainy summer and the second poor harvest in a row. Wulfric's scar seemed to stand out more on a hollowed cheek. Their two small sons looked pale, and had runny noses and sores on their lips.

Merthin gave them a leg of mutton, a small barrel of wine and a gold florin that he pretended were gifts from Caris. Gwenda cooked the mutton over the fire. She was possessed by rage, and she hissed and spat like the turning meat as she talked of the injustice that had been done to them. "Perkin has almost half the land in the village!" she said. "The only reason he can manage it all is that he's got Wulfric, who does the work of three men. Yet he must demand more, and keep us in poverty."

"I'm sorry that Ralph still bears a grudge," Merthin said.

"Ralph himself provoked that fight!" Gwenda said. "Even Lady Philippa said so."

"Old quarrels," Wulfric said philosophically.

"I'll try to get him to see reason," Merthin said. "In the unlikely event that he listens to me, what do you really want from him?"

"Ah," said Wulfric, and he got a faraway look in his eyes, which was unusual for him. "What I pray for every Sunday is to get back the lands that my father farmed."

"That will never happen," Gwenda said quickly. "Perkin is too well entrenched. And, if he should die, he has a son and a married daughter waiting to inherit, and a couple of grandsons growing taller every day. But we'd like a piece of land of our own. For the last eleven years Wulfric has been working hard to feed other men's children. It's time he got some of the benefit of his strength."

"I'll tell my brother he has punished you long enough," Merthin said.

Next day he and Lolla rode from Wigleigh to Tench. Merthin was even more resolved to do something for Wulfric. It was not just that he