The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett [226]
The monks were enraged by what Earl Percy had done. They had all rejoiced when King Stephen had given the priory unlimited free timber and stone, and now they were scandalized that Percy should defy the king’s order.
When the protests died down, however, Remigius had another point to make. “I remember saying this a year ago,” he began. “The pact according to which the quarry is owned by the earl but we have quarrying rights was always unsatisfactory. We should have held out for total ownership.”
The fact that there was some justice in this remark did not make it any easier for Philip to swallow. Total ownership was what he had agreed with Lady Regan, but she had cheated him out of it at the last minute. He was tempted to say that he had got the best deal he could, and he would like to see Remigius do any better in the treacherous maze of the royal court; but he bit his tongue, for he was, after all, the prior, and he had to take responsibility when things went wrong.
Milius came to his rescue. “It’s all very well to wish the king had given us outright ownership of the quarry, but he didn’t, and the main question is, what do we do now?”
“I should think that’s fairly obvious,” Remigius said immediately. “We can’t expel the earl’s men ourselves, so we’ll have to get the king to do it. We must send a deputation to him and ask him to enforce his charter.”
There was a murmur of agreement. Andrew, the sacrist, said: “We should send our wisest and most fluent speakers.”
Philip realized that Remigius and Andrew saw themselves as leading the delegation.
Remigius said: “After the king hears what has happened, I don’t think Percy Hamleigh will be earl of Shiring much longer.”
Philip was not so sure of that.
“Where is the king?” Andrew said as an afterthought. “Does anybody know?”
Philip had recently been to Winchester, and had heard there of the king’s movements. “He’s gone to Normandy,” he said.
Milius quickly said: “It will take a long time to catch up with him.”
“The pursuit of justice always requires patience,” Remigius intoned pompously.
“But every day we spend pursuing justice, we’re not building our new cathedral,” Milius replied. His tone of voice showed that he was exasperated by Remigius’s ready acceptance of a delay to the building program. Philip shared that feeling. Milius went on: “And that’s not our only problem. Once we’ve found the king, we have to persuade him to hear us. That can take weeks. Then he may give Percy the chance to defend himself—more delay....”
“How could Percy possibly defend himself?” Remigius said testily.
Milius replied: “I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll think of something.”
“But in the end the king is bound to stand by his word.”
A new voice was heard, saying: “Don’t be so sure.” Everyone turned to look. The speaker was Brother Timothy, the oldest monk in the priory. A small, modest man, he spoke rarely, but when he did he was worth listening to. Philip occasionally thought Timothy should have been prior. He normally sat through chapter looking half asleep, but now he was leaning forward, his eyes bright with conviction. “A king is a creature of the moment,” he went on. “He’s constantly under threat, from rebels within his own kingdom and from neighboring monarchs. He needs allies. Earl Percy is a powerful man with a lot of knights. If the king needs Percy at the moment when we present our petition, we will be refused, quite regardless of the justice of our case. The king is not perfect. There is only one true judge, and that is God.” He sat back, leaning against the wall and half closing his eyes, as if he were not in the least interested in how his speech was received. Philip concealed a smile: Timothy had precisely formulated Philip’s own misgivings about going