Original subtitles

(BELL CHIMING)

# Veni Sancte Spiritus

# O-oh, o-oh

# Mentes tuorum visita

# Amen #

(MOOING)

(CAWING)

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Who made heaven and earth.

Cry out with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness.

Come before Him singing with joy.

The Lord's is the earth and its fullness.

Come, let us adore Him.

Almighty and everlasting God,

to Whose bounty man owes his life on earth...

bless, we pray You, this plough.

May the virgin soil it turns prove fruitful to our needs.

May the seed we sow grow strong and firm,

that our bodies may be sustained by its plenty

and our souls always reminded of the miracle of Thy love.

Ruald?

Amen.

What is it?

Oh, I'm sorry, Brother.

I was thinking of my past, when I was the potter.

It's been a year now.

Come! Come on!

# Miserere mei, Deus

# Secundum magnam misericordiam tuam

# Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum

# Dele iniquitatem meam

# Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea

# Et a peccato meo munda me #

(BELL CHIMES)

Found in the Potter's Field?

Yes.

But if burial in such a place was unlawful,

it was, at least, reverent.

Who would bury a body with such respect?

Her... Her hair.

It's still so dark.

Did not Brother Ruald's wife have a mane of hair just as dark as this?

You are my husband, Ruald.

Does that mean nothing to you?

Everything.

But the test is to give up what I value most.

God has called me.

God has called you?!

We were married in the presence of God. Do you forget that? Does He?

Can God be so cruel?

You will be provided for.

Like a widow?

An old crone? A freak?

I won't be provided for!

She will not understand, Brother.

How can a man refuse God?

Oh, he cannot

if he is sure it is God's voice calling...and not his own.

I'm a plain man, Brother.

I'm a potter as you were once a soldier.

God speaks to plain men as well as visionaries and saints.

He spoke to you and He speaks to me.

Yes, but Generys -

If Generys truly loved me

then she would accept God's will.

Father, I am aware of the doubts of Brother Cadfael and Brother Prior.

But there is no question of Ruald's vocation and there are precedents.

The earl, our founder, left his lady and put on the habit before he died.

Only three days before he died.

And he had his wife's consent.

Ruald is free to choose his way.

But while he is alive,

the wife he leaves isn't free to choose another husband.

And it must be said, Brother Jerome, Ruald is no earl. He is a potter.

Do you not think that entry within these walls is a grace beyond?

Do you mean beyond a potter's worth?

Forgive me, Brother Prior.

You have not forgotten St Illtyd, asked by an angel to leave his wife.

Do not quote the saints at me, Brother.

But it is a holy precedent,

one which puts our duty to women in its proper light.

Ruald is a good and honest man.

And his chosen path is painful to him, a true sacrifice.

He will be an asset to our house.

See to it.

I will, my Lord. Brother Cadfael, welcome.

Brother Cadfael.

Fine horse, a real warrior.

Destined for the farm, not the battlefield.

My son would be a soldier.

Oh, as his father.

Was, but no more.

And a soldier, not a fool. Have you not heard the news?

No, I haven't.

While King Stephen wastes time in London, the rebels gain more land.

Which they will lose again.

And so on. Every death is pointless.

They're destroying everything monasteries too.

Nothing north of the Thames is safe.

I will not kill again, for any cause.

Someone must make a stand.

I won't. And you won't listen.

Until Stephen brings a whole army,

any stand against the rebels will mean certain death.

God save us from the young.

From killing and futile heroics, certainly.

Now I must see your wife.

I have a new medicine which may help her.

I am obliged, Brother Cadfael.

It's little enough.

Just a few moments without pain.

The respite is most welcome.

Uncomplaining, though, I like to believe myself.

She's a brave lady, your wife.

She is, indeed.

There's no-one more so.

I must speak with your father.

Sulien, please, I have no-one else to turn to.

Oh, my Lord Eudo, forgive me. Lady Astola.

I come to ask, to beg your help.

You must stop my husband from deserting me.

Ruald is still fixed on becoming a monk.

Look at the holy brother who advises him,

fills his head with piety and draws him from me.

Generys, you know that is not true.

Would he leave me if there were no abbey,

if you and your kind did not exist?

What would you have me do?

He is your tenant, my Lord.

But not my serf. I don't own him.

And nor does the Church.

God owns him as God owns us all.

But the Church does not! Will not!

You disturb the Lady Astola. Out. Out, now.

I beg your pardon, my Lord. I truly beg your pardon.

I am at my wits' end.

You could speak to Ruald, Father.

If he will not heed his wife, he will not be swayed by me.

What will become of Generys? How will she live?

The monks will not see you starve.

And the potter's cottage will be yours as long as you want it.

Bread and shelter.

You think only of providing bread and shelter?

What of my other needs?

Ruald is my husband,

my man.

Surely, Brother, the abbot will listen to you.

Generys mustn't be left.

It is not my place to deny Ruald his vocation.

He's not acting on a whim, you know.

He has searched his heart.

Now, there's an end to it.

Then that end is a sin...Brother.

Brother Cadfael, the herbalist?

Yes, that's me.

Badon, the answer to your prayers.

Oh, and a pedlar.

Purveyor of every pill, potion, and charm in the known world

the unknown world, as well.

Well, I don't use charms.

Roots, then, seeds, leaves, saps and juices, I have them all.

Yes, so have I.

See here, see here.

The most precious oil in the world - spikenard.

The contents of this bottle anointed Our Lord's feet.

It's better than a relic.

How can a holy man not wish to have this?

Quite easily.

You are down-to-earth, Brother. I like you for it.

Let us deal in the realities of medicine. Gunnild!

The realities of pain.

Here is an essence, nay, a quintessence...of the miraculous.

The merest tincture brings relief.

This is hemlock.

It is, indeed.

I don't need it. And you shouldn't be so free in selling it.

I only sell such wares to those who are careful.

Careful! Your wares can kill.

If you won't spare your coin, spare your sermon.

You want nothing?

I don't think so. Then, good day.

Pills! Potions from around the world.

Bring your children, your animals.

We'll cure all their ills.

I must go now.

Father Abbot gave a time.

All this is yours to sell.

Well, it's...all yours. The money too.

I'm sorry, Generys.

Forgive me.

Forgive me. You may not pass.

Stop. It is not permitted.

No!

Stop! Come back, please.

This cannot be God's will.

It is God's will.

It is not my doing.

I am drawn and can no longer resist. I can't help myself.

Do you think I would leave you...

leave our bed of my own free will?

How can you believe that?

Ruald?

For pity's sake, go.

It is ended!

Ruald! No!

Oh, no!

No! Let me go!

Out!

Profane woman!

You should rejoice that your life has been touched by the will of God.

You are unchristian.

Generys, let me help you.

Cowards, all of you.

Hiding behind your skirts.

I should never desert you, if I were your husband.

Not even for God.

Leave me alone, Sulien.

You're a boy.

What use is a boy to me?

(SOBS)

Please forgive my intrusion.

I brought you some food and a little money.

Thank you.

I don't mean to offend you by it.

I know it's not usual for the lord of the manor to come visiting.

But I wanted you to know

that I understand the... full...nature of your loss.

My wife has been ill for many years.

And that makes our life together...

When I found the cottage empty, I was afraid you'd left us.

I went to the abbey...

to humiliate myself.

(SOBS)

(SOBS)

Father.

Brother Ruald has settled well, Cadfael,

a model of humility,

obedient to the rule in every way.

To have turned him from us would have been wrong, quite wrong.

Father, might I visit the Potter's Field?

Why? Do you have news of Ruald's wife?

No. No, no, I don't.

But... we always need pots and bowls.

And I thought, if she's still selling them

The weeks pass. You worry about her.

Yes, I do.

As I do.

Visit her, Cadfael.

Take food and alms.

Generys.

Generys?

Who's there?!

What do you want? Oh, it's an unholy Brother.

And I know you.

Yes, I know you, too. It's Peter, isn't it?

I treated you last winter, when you were roosting in our barn.

Mmm. And much good you did me.

A woman lives here. Where is she?

The dark-haired one? She's gone.

Gone!?

Do you think I'd be here otherwise?

I only get what other people leave.

When did she go?

Three days ago... Four, five. Just disappeared.

The clodpoles who work the fields say she went off...with a lover.

God speed and protect you, my son, and the king also.

Thank you, Father.

(I tell you, it's thought to be common...)

What is this?

The king brings the battle to the rebels.

He hasn't had time to raise an army.

Why fight now? As you said, it would be certain death.

The king is the king.

And he has summoned you personally?

Holy Father, I ask your further prayers for the Lady Astola.

She will be alone in my absence.

Our son Sulien has already left us.

Also to fight?

To become a monk. He enters a Benedictine priory at Cambridge.

For your prayers, I give to the abbey the Potter's Field.

Use it as you will.

Cadfael, did you see Ruald's wife?

No.

My Lord? She's disappeared.

Did not Brother Ruald's wife have a mane of hair just as dark as this?

Brother Ruald?

I cannot say it is...Generys.

But nor can I say it is not.

You cannot say, or you cannot admit?

A woman.

Yes.

A woman, fully grown,

in her prime.

Mm-hmm?

Been dead a year, you say?

Yes, about a year.

Cadfael, you know who this must be.

No other woman disappeared from here about a year ago.

This is Generys, wife of Ruald, who is now a monk.

Hugh, many woman have dark hair.

There is no proof!

There's no ornament, no jewellery, not even a ring.

Generys wore a ring. There is nothing to name her,

nothing about these pitiful remains to show me who or how

or why.

There is this.

Every townsman and woman will tell you, Cadfael.

These are made by Ruald, or were.

That doesn't mean he killed her or anyone did!

There's no sign of injury. There's no damage from a blow.

There's no knife wound.

Is it suicide, then?

Did she bury herself as well, with honour?

Where is Ruald?

He is praying. Let him be.

Her dying on abbey land does not make her death beyond the law.

Nor the one who killed her.

Hugh, please, leave him awhile.

There are other possibilities to be considered.

Brother Cadfael, a pleasant surprise.

But I didn't ask to see you.

Nor should you need to ask. It's my fault.

I've been remiss for far too long.

But now that I am here...

You do not like what you see.

Well, you seem to be in such very great pain.

You haven't touched a drop of the poppy juice I left you. Why not?

Are you still grieving so much for your poor husband,

that you neglect to care for yourself?

He died bravely.

I've seen how you honour his passing,

but there's no need for this.

Do you suppose he would wish to see you suffering in this way?

Oh, Lady, your family is perverse.

Your husband propels himself to a...pointless death.

Your son, to a vocation for which no young man was ever less suited.

Now you compound your suffering, by enduring endless pain.

Do you have news of Sulien?

Sulien?

I hear nothing of him.

Or the war, isolated as I am.

As I understand it, he is settled with the Brothers in Cambridge.

As for the war, well, now the rebels are gaining ground.

It's said they control the Fen country.

Is Cambridge itself threatened?

Yes, it is.

(SCREAMS)

Father Prior! Father Prior!

Father Prior!

Father Prior! You have to escape.

(GROANS)

Come on, Father. Come on, come with me.

We have to hurry.

You pray long and hard, Brother Ruald.

Does your soul weigh heavy?

Brother, the truth is clear.

And God sees everything.

Ease your soul.

Confess.

Brother Jerome,

this is not the place.

Now that the potter has had time to reflect,

Father Abbot shall hear what he has to say.

I intended her no harm.

And yet you have caused her harm?

Yes.

Yes, I took the breath of life from her.

Even if she lives, I did that.

You hear, Father? He admits himself guilty of her murder.

'I took the breath of life from her', your very words.

Do you now deny them?

You do not understand.

I condemned her the day I came here.

She is dead and buried by your hand, Brother.

Do not compound your mortal sin with perjury. Prostrate yourself.

How is Ruald to have killed his wife

when he's been here with us in the abbey all the time?

He has not, not entirely, Brother.

I have remembered a journey that he made,

back to his cottage and his wife, authorised by Father Abbot.

That is so, shortly after the day of his admission here.

I accompanied him.

You suddenly remember that you were witness to a murder?

Scorn those who deserve it.

Ruald was accompanied to the field.

He was left with the woman to make his peace.

He was out of your sight?

For half an hour. Long enough to have killed and buried her.

Oh, come on!

Your accusation rests on the fact that you didn't see a crime.

The opportunity was not lacking.

Enough. Your point is well made, Brother Jerome.

Cadfael, you speak with Ruald.

Establish what you can of his guilt or innocence.

But, Father, the evidence!

Is not conclusive. But it becomes damning.

I shall be the judge of that.

And when it seems so to me,

Lord Beringar shall take Brother Ruald from us, not before.

(GASPS) I can't...

Here's a place, Father, come on. Come on.

(GROANS)

(SIGHS)

Thank you, my son.

(GROANS)

Rest easy, Father. I shall fetch help.

Trust no-one. Not here.

We...shall be betrayed.

Go...only to a house... of our Brothers.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Travelling alone, Brother, and in such dangerous times?

You're alone.

But a little better prepared for trouble.

Where are you headed?

To Shrewsbury.

Well, you've a way yet.

You'll not make it on those feet.

I never saw such blisters.

But fear not,

rejuvenation is at hand.

For I am able to offer you the very last jar of my traveller's balm.

A felicitous mixture of comfrey, sanicle, wintergreen, goose grease

mixed in secret proportions, famous throughout the known world.

Armies march on it, pilgrims praise God for it.

Well, I've no money, but...

The water is free, Brother. I wish you well of it.

And a safe journey.

Why have you brought me here?

To try to find out the truth.

How long were you married, Ruald?

Ten years. Well, more if she still lives.

Were they happy years?

They were.

She was the best wife a man could have.

She was faithful to you, then?

Oh, yes.

Till I broke faith with her.

After that, I don't know.

How did you meet?

I never knew.

At a fair in Wales, before I came here.

She was very poor and very pretty.

I fell in love with her.

Yes, but you didn't have any children.

No.

No. I believe that to be a sign.

A sign? In what way?

It was a good marriage, Brother. You understand.

When God withholds the gift of children,

He's got other plans for us.

It seemed so plain to me that God had another path for me to follow.

And once I'd entered the abbey, it was like I'd come home.

Despite everything that had gone before.

But now...

Ruald...

did you murder your wife?

No.

Did you bury her out there in the field?

No. But...

But?

What if I was lying to myself, Brother?

When I left Generys to her fate to follow my path,

what if the devil called me?

What's to become of me, Brother?

If Generys is dead, nothing connects you with it.

Where do you think you're going?

We'd better discuss this inside.

Not so fast, holy Brothers.

He's here! He's here!

What's to be done with a man

who abandons his wife out of piety, then murders her?

I did not kill my wife!

Hand him over to the law?

He's not hiding from the law!

Lord Beringar knows he's with me.

If you reach the abbey gates, the law will lose him.

What's to be done with the potter?

What shall we do with him?!

Hang him! Hang him! Hang him!

MOB: Hang him! Hang him! Hang him!

I did not kill Generys!

You put your cross in her grave.

Do you deny it is your cross?

It is my cross, yes.

That doesn't prove he put it there.

Would a cutthroat lay a cross on his victim's breast?

Would a tramp? Would a footpad?

MOB: No!

Would a pious man of God?

MOB: Yes!

What shall we do with him?!

MOB: Hang him! Hang him! Hang him!

No! Please!

No!

Help me, somebody!

What's happening?

Somebody help me!

No! No! Get back!

Stop!

Ruald's wife is not dead.

Generys is alive. I've seen her.

I met her on the road just two days ago.

She gave me this ring, to give to Ruald.

He is innocent.

Well, I see no cause to doubt him, Cadfael.

No.

You yourself recognise this ring as belonging to Generys.

Yes.

And Sulien is an honest young man of good family.

Oh, of good family, yes.

Of strange family, certainly.

Look, if Generys is alive then Ruald is proved innocent.

That at least must please you.

If Generys is alive then who is dead?

It galls me that I can find no clue

even to identity, let alone how she died or why.

Well, perhaps there is no how or why, only a natural death.

People die other than by murder, Cadfael.

They're more likely to be buried reverently, as was our corpse,

if their end is peaceful.

Excuse me, Brother Cadfael.

What?

Brother Sulien is in the infirmary, resting.

Not for long. We have to leave soon.

Should I apply more ointment to Brother Sulien's feet?

Yes, take what you need.

You are to go back with Sulien?

Oh, I must. Prior Mortimer has great need of my medicines.

What, no, no! Not mustard, boy.

You need betony.

Mustard is for boils.

Stop him, stop him! He's stolen my goose!

Stop him! Stop, thief!

You're a braver man than I, Cadfael, venturing into these rats' nests.

Oh, rats aren't all bad.

No, but they are all foul.

There's the one I'm looking for.

(CACKLES)

Peter?

Dirty monks.

Peter?

Well, how is it with you?

I've breathed another year, unholy Brother. No thanks to your charity.

Well, I have a new preparation here.

It might bring you relief.

More lasting relief than this, at any rate.

Is it as cheap?

It's free.

All I ask is that you cast your mind back a year.

Remember, I found you at that cottage?

At that place called the Potter's Field?

You told me that the woman who lived there had gone away.

No, no. I told you that was gossip.

I didn't see the going of her.

Well, did you see anyone else?

Anyone in the field or...at the cottage?

Why?

Because if you don't tell us,

I'll burst your boils one by one with my dagger.

They're spreading, these boils.

Another few days, they'll cover your face,

be all over your scalp.

Well, if that's what you want...

Is it Christian to drive such a bargain?

Was there someone at the cottage?

Oh, of course there was, that's my fate.

Never a roof to call my own.

You, you have a roof, no doubt,

snug and warm... just like the unholy Brothers.

Someone shared the cottage with you?

(CACKLES) Shared?

With me? A hedgepig? No.

What, then?

Kicked me out, of course.

Who kicked you out?

Pedlar and his girl.

(GASPS)

You call this relief?! You torture me!

Can you describe him, the pedlar?

Vicious.

Vicious and as sharp as a weasel.

His looks.

Brown-haired. Short. Slim.

But above all, vicious.

He's a pedlar of what?

Potions, no doubt balms such as yours, that burn like hellfire.

I've met this man. His name's Badon.

His girl got worse than I did, by the sound of it.

What do you mean?

What do you mean?

I slept close by that night

hoping they'd move on the next day.

In the night, such screams from that cottage.

They woke me.

A girl's voice...in fear of her life it sounded. I kept well away.

And the next day? What then?

The place was empty when I dared look.

You didn't see the pedlar leave?

Did you see the girl leave? Come on, think, man!

Do I get to keep the hellfire?

I've seen him since, on the road.

Though I make sure... he doesn't see me.

Yes, and what about the girl?

Didn't see her leave, haven't seen her since.

Clearly, she ran away.

What was she like?

I only caught a glimpse of her.

Did she have dark hair?

Dark hair, dark eyes.

I'll find the pedlar.

You get about your errand of mercy.

Out, all of you! Back to your duties.

This room is for respite, not idle comfort.

Brother Ruald.

You... you may stay a little longer.

The evenings are cold.

Thank you, Brother Prior.

Unfortunate business with the townsfolk.

Simple, ignorant people, easily led into error.

Some people who are less ignorant made the same accusation.

Assumption, not accusation.

But we...we are sorry nonetheless.

You must understand the heavy responsibility I bear,

Brother Ruald, for the spiritual well-being of this house.

It is my constant duty to test and question.

True vocations are rare.

I did doubt myself,

as much as you doubted me.

Now I know that Generys is alive, my path is clear.

It was God calling me.

My future is here.

I visited your mother,

shortly after your father's body was brought back from the war.

I wanted to tell her what was in the Potter's Field, but I couldn't.

She looked so frail.

I was afraid that another shock might prove too much for her.

Did you find her much altered when you came back for the funeral?

Grief and pain are a heavy burden.

Oh, indeed. She's had many shocks lately.

Not least, your sudden and unexpected calling to God.

I must admit, I was shocked and intrigued by that myself.

Won't you leave your vocation for a while, to look after her?

No.

You do know that she refuses all relief from pain?

She loved my father dearly.

Is it so strange to dull one pain with another?

Aaaah!

Wanted, am I, Brother?

For murder, is it?

And on your say-so?

Not on my say-so, but on Hugh Beringar's.

It's you who tells him who to take!

That's it! That's enough!

He would have killed you.

He hasn't. That's enough.

A woman's body has been found in the Potter's Field.

Where it's lain for a year. I've heard.

Yes, and were you there a year ago?

I was indeed, Brother. And with my dark-haired girl.

What of it?

It's plain enough.

Is it? If I've made a corpse of her, surely she must be dead?

Gunnild?

And, as you can see, she's very much alive.

Here...feel.

Speak, Gunnild.

What shall I say?

Why, that you are well and happy.

I am well and happy.

She disappears, but I always find her.

For the truth is, she needs me.

I feed her and I protect her.

Do I not, Gunnild?

Yes.

Find another name for your corpse, Brother.

My dark-haired girl will not fit.

You cannot live like this.

My mother will feed and protect you. Escape.

Gunnild!

Go to Blount Manor when you can.

Tell them I sent you. My name's Sulien.

Does this mean we're close?

Yes, we are close.

Don't you find it strange, Sulien?

We now know that the pedlar's girl is alive and well.

So, by your word, is Generys.

What of it?

It means the ploughed-up corpse is that of another dark-haired woman.

Isn't that extraordinary?

Three raven-haired heads being drawn to the same small field?

(CLICKS TONGUE) Come on.

Father Prior?

Father?

Help me raise him.

(GROANS)

Get the water.

Now, we'll need a fire.

But we may be seen. Well, we'll have to risk it.

I can't move him yet.

He's far too weak.

Brother Sulien is keeping watch?

Hmm? Yes. I trust him. He has a soldier's blood in his veins.

I'm glad of it.

He saved my life, you know.

He didn't say, not as such.

But I'm not surprised.

May I speak plainly?

Mm-hmm.

I was surprised when he chose monastic life.

Well, he's a young man with fierce emotions.

And therefore finds difficulty in moulding himself to our rule.

So you, too, had your doubts about him?

Oh, indeed. But that's what the novitiate is for, doubt.

If it then becomes plain

that a novice is more suited to be a soldier or...a husband, so be it.

But let him learn that for himself.

And return whence he came and no harm done.

Has it become plain, then, with Sulien?

Why such interest?

Have you ever seen...that?

I have, yes.

In Sulien's possession?

He hides it, thinks it a secret.

But there are no secrets from me.

Bring him over.

Brother Sulien, welcome back.

Brother Cadfael, thank God you're safe. And the Prior?

Indestructible. He survived even my ministerings.

But he needs his rest now.

As must you, Brother.

Father Abbot will want an account of your adventure.

Which he shall have, shortly.

(GASPS)

Well, sit yourself down. Rest awhile.

So this is your workshop,

where you concoct all your potions and balms.

Yes, indeed it is.

There.

Thank you.

It's also where I ponder and puzzle.

You know, something is puzzling me now, Sulien.

This ring that you gave Ruald, as proof that his wife is still alive.

Yes?

You said that Generys gave it to you on the road,

on your way here to the abbey.

Yes.

Hmm. That was a lie, wasn't it?

You've had this ring for six months.

You've been wearing it underneath your habit.

Prior Mortimer confirmed it to me.

Well, why did you lie?

Was it to help Ruald?

Were you protecting him in some way?

Ruald is innocent.

How do you know?

It is Generys who died, isn't it?

So, if Ruald is innocent, but Generys is dead, who killed her?

Your silence helps no-one, Sulien,

because I think no-one is going to hang for this crime.

Tell me the truth about the ring.

Generys gave me this ring.

She did not give it to you, Sulien!

You've had it for six months.

Generys died a year ago. Your father rode off to war a year ago.

You ran off to be a monk a year ago.

So how have you had this ring for six months?

Six months ago your father was brought home dead.

You recognised it among his effects. You removed it.

After the funeral you took it with you,

to spare your mother the pain of the truth.

What truth?

That her husband, your father, had taken Generys as his mistress

and then killed her.

Eudo murdered Generys?

Yes. Is it so strange that he should be drawn to her

and they should become lovers?

No. But then to kill her? Why?

Well, perhaps because she refused to remain quiet.

An accident, even.

But I'm sure Eudo caused her death.

Then he buried her and rode to war?

Exactly. Taking his secret with him, to his own grave.

And Sulien?

Sulien witnessed what happened, or he already knew the truth.

He says so?

No, he says nothing.

But his silence speaks loudly.

And that is your proof?

You've gone mad, Cadfael.

You accuse the dead, as others accused Ruald.

What would you prefer? That the grave had not been found?

Generys was deserted once. We can't desert her again.

You go and talk to the boy.

Sulien.

Brother Cadfael tells me that he has solved the mystery of the ring

and so, of the Potter's Field.

I have information of great import.

Is there a time when you haven't?

On the matter of the woman's body, it is highly pertinent.

A year ago, when the woman, Generys, entered the abbey and was removed -

By you, Brother Jerome?

By me.

He was waiting for her, with words of comfort.

Words which she rejected brutally.

And it was his look of hurt and anger as she left him

that I have been unable to forget, and which I see before me now.

His eyes burned.

Now, I know nothing of the ways of the world, but surely it is clear.

Sulien followed and struck the woman down in a rage of humiliation.

He took holy orders as a means of escape

or, perhaps, penance.

For, as the rescue of Ruald shows,

there is some good even in the worst of us.

Sulien?

Brother Jerome is right.

I loved Generys with a passion that she just laughed at.

She dismissed me as a child.

But I'm no child.

So I killed her

and buried her body in the Potter's Field.

So, Cadfael?

If it isn't Eudo, it cannot be Sulien.

Just because Jerome says it is?

Come on, boy.

(BELL CHIMES)

Brother?

I believed Sulien.

But if, as they say...

he only lied to save me...

then Generys is dead.

If she is dead, it is not your doing.

You were drawn from her by God.

I know some who have caused such pain for far less exalted reasons.

But Sulien has now confessed to the killing.

He killed her because he loved her.

Not as a son loves but as a man loves a woman that he can't have.

No!

Sulien would never hurt her.

When he was a boy and Lady Astola's pain became too much for him,

he would come to us for comfort.

Generys was like a mother to him.

In that case, if he's not to hang for a crime he did not commit,

you must help me.

I have searched that cottage and it has told me nothing.

But you see... There... That's strange in itself.

Surely there must be something there and I've missed it.

Something that would name a murderer?

Yes.

There is one thing.

It might show if Generys left of her own free will or was murdered.

Oh, God, that she left.

Something I have missed, then?

Our savings. If she left alone, or with a lover, she'd have taken them.

If she was murdered, they'll be there.

Where?

In our secret place.

No-one would ever find it... unless I told them.

Rub this on your throat twice a day. You won't regret it.

Thank you very much.

Badon.

Brother. No cowled lunatic with you today?

Do you recognise this?

A glass vial, Brother.

I'm surprised you cannot name it.

You sell vials like these.

Not as many as I'd like.

You tried to sell me hemlock a year ago.

How many of these have you sold since?

How many?!

One.

To whom?

I need to speak to him.

Well, you have your wish, then, hmm,

to be treated like a guilty man, locked up?

Those, I take it, were your clothes?

If I'm to be hanged I'd rather not disgrace the Benedictines.

What about your family?

I have confessed.

There is no need for a trial or public knowledge,

nor to cause my mother further pain.

If Lord Beringar will dispose of me now,

she and the world will think I'm back in the cloister.

Tell me the truth about the ring.

It's as you say.

I took it from my father's things.

Not to spare my mother, as a keepsake for myself.

Because you loved Generys?

Yes.

But you didn't kill her.

Yes, I killed her.

Did your father know about your crime? Hmm?

Was he a witness to it?

Did you confess it to him?

No.

No? But he must have done.

Otherwise why the double sacrifice, yours and his.

If shame didn't lead him to his death, what did?

And why give away the Potter's Field?

How did you kill her?

I... I stabbed her through the heart.

There was a knife at the cottage on the table.

No. She wasn't stabbed.

And I'm a fool, Sulien.

I thought of the pedlar only in terms of his dark-haired girl.

I forgot what he was selling.

I'll get your clothes.

Mother.

Sulien.

Sulien... Oh.

Are you well?

Yes, Mother.

Brother Cadfael.

Forgive us, we must speak with you.

Are you still taking nothing to ease your pain?

I have decided to accept what suffering God offers me.

And I, in my turn, offer it to God until my time comes.

My expiation for a sinful life.

Well, I admire your courage.

I have grave doubts on the doctrine of suffering.

Your doubts are not mine.

When I visited you recently, I had news,

which, in the end, I didn't tell you.

But...now I have to tell you.

A body has been found.

It's the body of a woman,

ploughed up, quite by chance, in a corner of the Potter's Field.

I believe the body to be that of Generys, the potter's wife.

Your son has confessed to her murder.

Mmm, he says he stabbed her.

But I don't believe she was stabbed.

I think she was poisoned.

And poison is not a weapon of rage, of impulse.

Poison is thoughtful.

Poison is premeditated.

And it requires no physical strength.

Do you...recognise this ring?

I have seen it.

Might I ask you where?

On the hand of Generys.

Do you think it possible

that she...might have given it away to...someone else?

If you mean my husband, speak plain.

You're here to confront a jealous wife...a murderess?

The pedlar sold you this, didn't he?

He did.

No.

Oh hush, boy. Hear the truth.

Though I wish to God I had used this differently.

You have taken my husband as your lover.

You are mistaken, lady.

He took me.

I didn't steal him from you.

What has happened between us, happened honestly.

I didn't seduce him.

I hope you've given him some comfort, though.

And he you, since Ruald turned his back on the world.

I haven't come here to fight or to apportion blame.

My body is no longer of use to me.

It is certainly of no use to my husband.

He still cares for you.

Care?

Care is for infants and old women.

Eudo has shared my bed these 20 years.

I cannot now share him.

I will not.

I think you understand.

Yes.

I would feel the same way.

But he and I have our needs, our loneliness.

It is beyond bearing.

It is not so simple.

Even if I were to remain silent, willingly blind,

things could not continue as they are.

Eudo is a man of conscience.

His passion would dilute in guilt.

He would be torn, unhappy.

Your love blighted as my body is.

I believe you to be a woman of strength,

as well as passion.

How strong is your resolve?

Your need?

Your courage?

What is this?

Hemlock.

Generys, you cannot have him while I live.

I cannot share him.

It must be resolved.

Let one of us be liberated by death.

Do you dare risk all?

I risk nothing.

Only my life,

or what God and the Church has left me of it.

Are you ready?

Oh!

(SHIVERS)

(ROOKS CAW)

(SHUDDERS)

(SOBS)

(SOBS)

Astola, what's wrong?

This.

This is wrong.

I don't blame you for what you've done, Eudo.

And you mustn't blame me.

You were unfaithful to me.

No, but it's over.

I have made a wager.

And I have lost!

Go to Generys.

Go.

Go!

(GROANS)

(ANIMAL SHRIEKS)

(OWL CRIES)

Your self-sacrifice does you credit, Sulien.

But your father didn't kill Generys.

He buried her, with compassion and with dignity,

which was my wish as well as his.

She was a woman wronged.

Doubly wronged if she were condemned as a suicide

and thus denied burial in consecrated ground

by the Church that had already taken her husband from her.

And so if she were buried unshriven,

at least she was not buried unloved.

And she would still rest in peace now,

if our ploughman hadn't turned too close to the trees.

Eudo should not have given away the field,

but he could no longer bear to own it.

He was never one to think ahead.

And now I, who should have been the one to die,

am the only one who lives.

And I honour Generys in the only way I can...

..with my pain.

Thank you for petitioning the Abbot.

I shall never know how...Generys...died.

It is a comfort to know that she will have a proper resting place.

Well, a corner of our cemetery seems little enough.

You have chosen your path.

You must not flinch from it now.

Believing is a beginning,

not just an end.

Listen, I know that you have seen yourself in me.

I, too, once left a woman who loved me.

Not a wife, a mistress.

Forty years ago now.

But I was not drawn by God.

I was drawn by adventure and I promised to return.

I did not keep that promise.

So feelings of regret, of guilt... are in all of us.

It's something... that we have to live with.

# In paradisum

# Deducant te angeli

# In tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres

# Et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem

# Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat

# Et cum Lazaro quondam paupere

# Aeternam habeas requiem #

itfc subtitles

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