The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett [367]
“It’s been a mild winter,” Alfred said one morning soon after Christmas. “We can begin earlier than usual.”
That started Philip thinking. The vault would be built that summer. When it was finished, the chancel would be usable, and Kingsbridge would no longer be a cathedral town without a cathedral. The chancel was the most important part of a church: the high altar and the holy relics were kept at the far east end, called the presbytery, and most-of the services took place in the quire, where the monks sat. Only on Sundays and holy days was the rest of a church used. Once the chancel had been dedicated, what had been a building site would become a church, albeit an incomplete one.
It was a pity they would have to wait almost a year before that happened. Alfred had promised to finish the vault by the end of this year’s building season, and the season generally finished in November, depending on the weather. But when Alfred said he would be able to start early, Philip began to wonder whether he might finish early too. Every-summer. It was the kind of gesture he had been searching for: something that would surprise the whole county, and give out the message that Kingsbridge could not be put down for long.
“Can you finish by Whitsun?” Philip said impulsively.
Alfred sucked his breath in through his teeth and looked doubtful. “Vaulting is the most skilled work of all,” he said. “It mustn’t be hurried, and you can’t let apprentices do it.”
His father would have answered yes or no, Philip thought irritably. He said: “Suppose I could give you extra laborers—monks. How much would that help?”
“A little. It’s more masons we need, really.”
“I might be able to give you one or two more,” Philip said rashly. A mild winter meant early shearing, so he could hope to begin selling wool sooner than usual.
“I don’t know.” Alfred was still looking pessimistic.
“Suppose I offered the masons a bonus?” Philip said. “An extra week’s wages if the vault is ready for Whitsunday.”
“I’ve never heard of that before,” Alfred said. He looked as if an improper suggestion had been made.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Philip said testily. Alfred’s caution was getting on his nerves. “What do you say?”
“I can’t say yes or no to that,” Alfred said stolidly. “I’ll put it to the men.”
“Today?” Philip said impatiently.
“Today.”
Philip had to be satisfied with that.
William Hamleigh and his knights arrived at Bishop Waleran’s palace just behind an ox cart loaded high with sacks of wool. The new season’s shearing had begun. Like William, Waleran was buying wool from farmers at last year’s prices and expecting to sell it again for considerably more. Neither of them had had much trouble forcing their tenants to sell to them: a few peasants who defied the rule were evicted and their farmhouses were burned, and after that there were no more rebels.
As William went through the gate he glanced up the hill. The stunted ramparts of the castle the bishop had never built had stood on that hill for seven years, a permanent reminder of how Waleran had been outwitted by Prior Philip. As soon as Waleran began to reap the rewards of the wool business, he would probably recommence building. In the days of old King Henry, a bishop had not needed any more defenses than the flimsy fence of wooden stakes behind a little ditch that surrounded this palace. Now, after five years of civil war, men who were not even earls or bishops were building formidable castles.
Things were going well for Waleran, William thought sourly as he dismounted at the stable. Waleran had remained loyal to Bishop Henry of Winchester through all Henry’s switches of allegiance, and as a result had become one of Henry’s closest allies. Over the years Waleran had been enriched by a steady stream of properties and privileges, and had visited Rome twice.
William had not been so lucky—hence his sourness. Despite having gone along with each of Waleran’s changes of allegiance, and despite having supplied large armies to both sides in the civil war, he still had not been confirmed as