THE DEVIL'S NOVICE

ACT THREE

CUT TO: INT. THE INFIRMIRAY AREA

STANDING AT THE FAR END IS SERGEANT WARDEN...CADFAEL STANDS AT FOREGROUND LOOKING AT SOMETHING.....

WARDEN Brother Meriet. (HE WALKS THE AISLE TO THE BED WHERE MERIET IS LAYING DOWN ON) To accept banishment to the Cloister may be deemed a great self-sacrifice...and there is virtue in it, too when it is done to save the family honor...(LEANS DOWN TO HIM) But you still got your life.

CLOSE ON MERIET, WHO GIVES THE SERGEANT A LOOK OF DISDAIN.

WARDEN (CONTINUES) And if you killed...that life is forfeit.

MERIET And I accept that penalty...no starving runaway must take my place.

CADFAEL After Peter Clemence was killed you moved the body out of sight?

WARDEN TURNS AND MOVES TOWARD CADFAEL

MERIET Among the trees above the track... deep in the evening shadows.

WARDEN RAISES HIS ARM...CADFAEL PUSHES IT ASIDE AND TAKES A CUP OF SOME MEDICINE TO MERIET......

CADFAEL And frightened off the horse?

MERIET KNODS A YES.

CADFAEL Then you took him to the Charcoal Stack and burned him?

ON MERIET

MERIET I know the method. The old charcoal burner taught me as a child.

ON CADFAEL AND WARDEN

WARDEN Brother...can he be moved?

CADFAEL Not yet.

WARDEN A snapped ankle is of little import... when his neck shall follow!

ON MERIET WHO TAKES A DEEP SIGH.

CUT TO: EXT. A WAGON NEAR A BARN OR HOUSE - DAY

ISOBEL IS IN THE WAGON, RUMMAGING THROUGH A TRUNK.

ROSEANNA (OFF CAMERA) Isobel!

ISOBEL QUICKLY SHUTS THE LID AND GETS OUT OF THE WAGON.

ROSEANNA Are you not dressing for the journey?

ISOBEL I have.

ROSEANNA Oh. You might see what is suitable for my wedding.

THEY BEGIN TO WALK AWAY FROM THE WAGON...OUTLINED BY THE OPENED BACK OF THE WAGON. ISOBEL LOOKS BACK AN INSTANT...THEN SHE AND ROSEANNA TURN RIGHT AND GO INTO THE BUILDING.

ISOBEL (off camera) I will see what is suitable...Roseanna.

CUT TO EXT. CHURCH OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL/SHREWSBURY - DAY

A FEW PEOPLE AND SOME LIVESTOCK MILL ABOUT IN THE STREET OUTSIDE THE FOREGATE WHICH IS OPENED TO THE OUTER COURTYARD OF THE MONASTARY. A WAGON...THEN ANOTHER THIS TIME DECORATED WITH HORSEMAN BESIDE AND AROUND IT GO THROUGH THE STREET...A MAN CROSSES WITH A BUNDLE LIMBS AND ANOTHER LEADS A HORSE... AS THE PARTY GOES TO THE CHURCH. THE GATE OPENS AND THE ASHBY PARTY ENTERS THE COURTYARD...THE BROTHERS STAND ON STEPS TO THE ENTRANCE...BROTHER ABBOT RADALFUS STEPS FOREWARD..

RADALFUS Welcome, sir!

LEORIC DISMOUNTS.

LEORIC You are gracious, Father.

THE CART STOPS...A MONK IS NEARBY AS IT STOPS.

RADALPHUS Salvere iubeo.

ROSEANNA DEPARTS THE WAGON...ISOBEL DISMOUNTS HER HORSE... TRISTAN EMBRACES ROSEANNA.

RADALPHUS (CONTINUED) Dominus Vobiscum Laudate Iesus.

LEORIC COMES AROUND THE HORSE ... FACES RADALPHUS

RADALPHUS (CONTINUES) A wedding is a joyful occassion.

LEORIC You have my kinsman's bones.

RADALPHUS POINTS THE WAY AND THEY DEPART FOR THE SANCTUARY.

CUT TO: INT. THE SANCTUARY...

IN FOREGROUND IS LEORIC PRAYING....CADFAEL ENTERS FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM. HE MOVES DOWN TO WHERE LEORIC IS ... CROSSES HIMSELF AND KNEELS NEXT TO HIM.

CADFAEL Forgive me for intruding. You have had word from Sergeant Warden? Meriet has confessed murder. But I do not believe him guilty.

LEORIC You do not believe? Were you there? I know what I heard and saw, Brother! (TURNS TO ALTER) I never can forget it.

CADFAEL LOOKS SURPRISED...

CADFAEL YOU came upon them, then?

LEORIC QUICKLY GETS UP AND STARTS TO MOVE TO THE DOOR

LEORIC Can we leave this place?

HE QUICKLY TURNS RIGHT AND LEAVES...CADFAEL QUICKLY FOLLOWS HIM.

CUT TO: EXTERIOR - PROBABLY IN BACK OF THE ABBEY -

MOMENTS LATER LEORIC AND CADFAEL COME OUT INTO THIS AREA...A MONK CARRYING A HOE PASSES BY....

LEORIC I went out with my hounds---a day's hunting...and what to do I run down?

THEY WALK AND TALK TOGETHER...

LEORIC (continues) A brave stag? No, my recently departed guest. My own kinsman...with an arrow in his chest...and Meriet, bow and quiver on his shoulder dragging him from the path, calling out to the horse as he went about his bloody business.

CADFAEL What time of day was this?

LEORIC How would I know what time it was, it was the end for me.

CADFAEL Was it morning...noon...evening?

LEORIC Uh...evening. We were bound for home and supper.

CADFAEL Did Meriet say anything?

LEORIC Not one word. What could he say?

CADFAEL Well, he says much now...every deed is his!

LEORIC He cannot bear the guilt...no more can I.

CADFAEL I don't understand...what guilt is yours? If you did not kill Clemence?

THEY WALK TO THE HERBAL COTTAGE OF CADFAEL'S

CLOSE ON LEORIC.

LEORIC You think that?

ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL I only know that Meriet certainly did not. So I ask again, what guilt is yours? (ON LEORIC) Did you...(ON CADFAEL) burn the corpse?

BACK TO LEORIC

LEORIC IS SILENT AS THEY BOTH GO INTO THE COTTAGE.

CUT TO: CLOSE SHOT ON ROSEANNA...LOOKING IN MIRROR...BRUSHING HER HAIR...ISOBEL IS IN BACKGROUND LOOKING AT GOWNS....

ROSEANNA I shall miss you...Isobel.

ISOBEL And I you. Who shall advise me on what to wear?

CAMERA MOVES IN ON ISOBEL

ROSEANNA But when I think of my good fortune...and Tristan will make such a handsome husband.

CLOSE ON ROSEANNA

ROSEANNA (CONTINUES) ...And there will be land...wealth.... adventure.

ISOBEL (OFF CAMERA) Adventure? A manor house in the chilly north?

IT IS CLEAR...ISOBEL IS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING.....

ROSEANNA (OFF CAMERA) Oh yes...my brother Janyn says there will be excitement and rich rewards. Newark is no ordinary place...when I ride away from here tomorrow...(CLOSE ON ISOBEL STILL SEARCHING)...I shall pity you.

SHE RUMMAGES IN ROSEANNA'S LUGGAGE....

ISOBEL And I shall pity the pack horse.

BACK ON ROSEANNA

ROSEANNA Will we be obliged, do you think, to attend Compline after supping with the Abbot? (ON ISOBEL WHO KEEPS LOOKING AND HOPING ROSEANNA DOES NOT CATCH HER) I suppose we shall...I could never be a monk, the day is disrupted with this constant need to pray. What can monks need to pray about...(ON ROSEANNA)... it is a mystery. What hopes can they give voice to...(BACK ON ISOBEL).... What sins do they need to confess?

ISOBEL SUDDENLY FINDS IT....THE ORNAMENT THAT CLEMENCE WAS WEARING AT THE MANOR...THE LARGE BROOCH. CLOSE ON BROOCH AS MUSIC COMES UP AND UNDER... SLOW FADE OUT:

FADE IN: INT. OF CADFAEL'S HERB COTTAGE - SAME DAY

MED. CLOSE OF LEORIC DRINKING FROM A GOBLET...CADFAEL IS SLIGHTLY OUT OF FOCUS WITH HIS BACK TO US...LEORIC DRINKS FROM THE GOBLET.

LEORIC I had the horse led to the far north...by the track Clemence should have ridden... devil's own job to try and catch...and the body I took secretly to the charcoal hearth

ON CADFAEL

LEORIC (CONTINUES;OFF CAMERA) I built a stack and fired it. (ON LEORIC) It was not well done and against my conscience...but I did it. Not for Meriet's sake...not for my own flesh and blood...(ON CADFAEL) That is the real shame. But to preserve that worthless thing... called "honor".

CADFAEL No, honor is not worthless. But you sought to protect a family name. And a name alone, has no worth at all.

ON LEORIC

LEORIC I know...I know.

CADFAEL LEANS IN TOWARD HIM.

CADFAEL Then you must think clearly now.(ECU ON CADFAEL) Did Clemence leave your house that morning? That is...NOT..after noon?

ECU ON LEORIC

LEORIC He broke his fast and left. What of it?

ECU ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL Yet both you and Meriet said that the man was killed in evening. Some six hours later....six hours? To ride three miles (A LITTLE IRRITATED)...

ECU ON LEORIC

CADFAEL (CONTINUED)...You do not find that strange?

LEORIC I do not see its import.

ECU ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL You did not see, Meriet kill. You merely saw him move a dead man---a man who might have died six hours before. You assumed his guilt.

ECU ON LEORIC

LEORIC Why would he yield and accept all if he had an answer for me?

ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL Because the answer he had for you would have been to hard for you to bear.(ON LEORIC, THEN BACK ON CADFAEL) Surely, for love! I doubt he had his proper fill of love all his life. But those who do hunger for it, do sometimes, most and best, deliver it.

ON LEORIC

LEORIC I have loved him. But he's always so troublesome a soul...always going to the contrary.

CADFAEL Going contrary is one way to get your notice! (ON CADFAEL) Obedience...virtue go unregarded. (TAKES DRINK)

LEORIC Oh, let that be!

ECU ON LEORIC

LEORIC (CONTINUES) He resented Clemence. As he resents everything...His simmering bile is a curse! (HE TAKES A DRINK)

ECU ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL He did not kill!

ECU ON LEORIC

LEORIC Then...who did?

LEORIC SLAMS GOBLET ON THE TABLE AND GETS UP GOES TO HIS RIGHT.

ON CADFAEL; STILL SITTING

CADFAEL Who does he love most in this world? Most admire and respect? Who has shown him most kindness through the years? (ON LEORIC) There are two sons at Ashby...not one you are apt to think.

LEORIC Do you suggest that....TRISTAN murdered...murdered Clemence? You are gone mad!

CADFAEL Oh, oh I see!(ON CADFAEL NOW STANDING) Impossible for your heir and darling! Yet instantly believable of his brother!...In this world all men are fallible. (HE MOVES TOWARD LEORIC)...and all things are possible, Merriets bile may simmer. but he does nothing by halves...his self-sacrifice is total! It consumes him like a fire---and it preserves you all...Tristan, the brother he loves from hanging, Roseanna the woman he loved, or thought he loved...from widowhood...and you!

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT OF LEORIC

CADFAEL (CONTINUES) The father who loved him not...from heartbreak.

LEORIC Oh...I...I must go to Sergeant Warden.

ON THEM BOTH

CADFAEL (STOPS HIM FROM LEAVING) You must go to Father Abbot's supper...and say nothing...and tomorrow...you must let Tristan wed in peace. Because as you were mistaken, so too, Meriet might have been. Even now...we do not know the truth.

THE DOOR OPENS OFF CAMERA

ISOBEL (OFF CAMERA) Brother Cadfael! (PAN TO DOOR) Oh! Uncle! I'm sorry.

LEORIC LEAVES WITHOUT A WORD, TAKING A SHAWL...ISOBEL COMES IN.

ISOBEL (near whispering) I found it!

CUT TO: EXT. GARDEN AREA - NIGHT

Meriet is sitting near the entrance to a doorway...Cadfael is standing by him..and Isobel comes from within. Cadfael waves her out into the garden area.

MERIET Isobel?

ISOBEL How goes it with you, brother?

MERIET Why are you here?

ISOBEL I will ask the questions..(SHE SITS NEXT TO HIM)Why did you confess to murdering Clemence?

MERIET Because he insulted and provoked----!

ISOBEL Liar!

ON CADFAEL

ISOBEL (CONTINUES) You are your father's son! (ON THEM BOTH) You could not murder..least of all a cousin! Open your eyes, Meriet! (SHE TOUCHES HIS FACE) See the truth of what you are saving... and what you are throwing away. (SHE KISSES HIM) Tell me...why is Newark no ordinary place?

ON CADFAEL

MERIET (OFF CAMERA) Newark!....Why? (BACK ON THEM BOTH)

ISOBEL Because Roseanna calls it so. She has strange high hopes there, raised by Janyn. Why Janyn?

MERIET Perhaps because, we, are family own a manor there...which is to be Tristan and Roseanna's future home. What else? Brother?

ON CADFAEL AGAIN

CADFAEL It has a castle on the river Trent...a fine stout place...sometimes called the "Key to the North" (ON MERIET AND ISOBEL) Forms part of a chain that runs east to west.(BACK ON CADFAEL)...with Lincoln, Nottingham and Chester.

SOMETHING DAWNS IN CADFAEL'S MEMORY: ON MERIET AND ISOBEL

ISOBEL It is plain! A great to and fro of weighty men and clerics.(ON CADFAEL) It will suit Roseanna most excellantly. ON ISOBEL AND MERIET ISOBEL (CONTINUES) But why Tristan? And why Janyn?

ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL A King...who holds that chain...can rule secure.

ON MERIET....WHO DOES NOT SMILE AT THIS

CUT TO: INT. OF THE ABBEY--

CLOSE ON FACES OF THE SINGING MONKS--- THEY ARE SINGING IN LATIN--CAMERA PANS DOWN EACH FACE WE SEE THEY ARE ALL IN A ROW...CADFAEL NEXT TO AN ELDERLLY MONK ...BROTHER JEROME...AND NEXT TO HIM PRIOR ROBERT. LONG SHOT REVEALS IT IS THE CLERIC PROCESSION...IN BACKGROUND WE SEE CANON ELUARD..BEHIND HIM IS ABBOT RUDULPHUS.A CONGREGATION IS SEEN IN FOREGROUND....BELLS BEGIN TO RING AS THE MONKS BREAKÛRANKS BEHIND THE ABBOTT AND ELUARD. THEY ALL COME TOWARD AND TURN LEFT INTO THE NEXT ROOM. THE ABBOT GIVES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS TO A FEW OF THE CONGREGATION AT ONE SIDE OF THE AISLE. BEHIND THEM WE SEE THE WEDDING PROCESSION....TRISTAN IS HAND TO HAND WITH ROSEANNA AS THEY TURN LEFT ALSO.. BEHIND THEM IS ISOBEL...AN UNSMILING LEORIC AND JANYAN.................... CAMERA PANS LEFT PASSED THE CROWD TO TWO MONKS STANDING AT HIDING BEHIND PILLARS...THEY ARE MERIET AND BROTHER OSWIN.

CUT TO INT. OF ROOM...AS ALL GO IN...ELUARD AND THE ABBOT STOP AND TURN AND WAIT FOR ROSEANNA AND TRISTAN.

ISOBEL Your cloak Roseanna...the cloisters are chilly..(SHE PUTS THE CLOAK ON HER)

ELUARD One moment! (HE LIFTS THE BROOCH) A rare and beautiful thing you have there. Where did you get it?

ON ROSEANNA...SHE LOOKS TRAPPED...SHE GRABS FOR IT.

ROSEANNA It--It was gift, sir, from a kinsman.

ON ELUARD

ELUARD Strange. For it is the exact same one my Bishop gave to his favorite clerk... Peter Clemence...who is now dead.

LONG SHOT OF ALL

TRISTAN Sir...It cannot be!

ROSEANNA No...it cannot. (ON THE ABBOT WHO LOOKS SURPRISED)You are mistaken.(BACK ON ELUARD)

ELUARD There is no other quite like it. They are made to be unique...(ON ROSEANNA) As your beauty is unique.

ON THEM ALL

ELUARD Will you step through....Close the door!

ALL GO THROUGH EXCEPT THE YOUNG JANYN, WHO HURRYS OUT THE WAY THEY CAME IN.

INT. THE NEXT ROOM..ELUARD QUICKLY SHUTS THE DOOR AND BRISKLY GOES OVER TO ROSEANNA AND LIFTS THE BROOCH OFF OF THE CLOAK.

ELUARD Who gave you this?(ON ISOBEL)

ROSEANNA Meriet---Meriet Ashby.

TRISTAN What!?

CLOSE ON ELUARD

ROSEANNA (off camera) He---He kept following me around with his dog eyes...I did not want his gifts. But I took it to be kind to him. (LEORIC MOVES AROUND BEHIND HER) I could I know where he got it?

ON LEORIC

LEORIC When did he make you this gift?

ON ROSEANNA

ROSEANNA The day after Clemence left Ashby...the day after he was killed. He came to me at home and pressed me to take it.

ON LEORIC

LEORIC Be careful what you say, girl I know this cannot be true! Meriet was a prisoner in my house that day. I had him under lock and key...Who gave you this? (HE GRABS IT FROM ELUARD AND THRUSTS UP TO HER FACE)...Was it Tristan? (SHE TURNS LIKE A FRIGHTEN CAT TO TRISTAN..WHO LOOKS BACK AT HER...SHE TURNS BACK CRYING LOOKING AT LEORIC)...No...It was...It was my brother Janyn. She begins to bawl.

CUT TO: THE STABLES....

JANYN IS SADDLING A HORSE...MERIET HOBBLES INTO THE STABLE AREA....

MERIET Janyn...why are you leaving in such haste? It is breach of etiquette.

JANYN You'll either have your etiquette breached Brother, or your guts! (MERIET PUTS HIS HANDS ON HIS SHOULDERS) One cleric is much like another!

MERIET COMES AT HIM AND THEY BEGIN TO WRESTLE TO THE GROUND...THE HORSE IS WHINNING IN PROTEST....THEY ROLL AROUND AS MERIET TRYS KEEP JANYN FROM GOING. JANYN THROWS MERIET OUT OF THE STABLE MAKING MERIET LAND ON HIS BAD LEG...HE YELPS IN PAIN...OSWIN THEN JUMPS IN.....

OSWIN Stop!

HE GRABS JANYN AND THE FIGHT ENSUES AGAIN. JANYN GETS THE BEST OF OSWIN...AS MERIET STRUGGLES TO GET TO HIS FEET...HE LUNGES AT JANYN WHO STICKS HIS FOOT UP AND PUSHES MERIET BACK AGAIN TO THE GROUND ON THE BAD LEG. OSWIN PICKS HIMSELF UP AND GRABS A RAKE AS JANYN FLAILS AT HIM WITH A BRIDLE. JANYN PUSHES THE MONK UP AGAINST THE STABLE WITH THE HANDLE OF THE RAKE AT THE MONK'S NECK....CADFAEL COMES FROM BEHIND AND PUTS A CHOKE HOLD ON JANYN, CAUSING THEM BOTH TO GO THE GROUND.

CADFAEL Enough!

ON MERIET: NOW GETTING UP AND GOING TOWARD THEM

JANYN (BREATHLESS) Do not monks, foreswear violence?

CADFAEL KEEPS HIS GRIP AND TURNS TO OSWIN

CADFAEL Well done, Oswin. (ON OSWIN) Go and get some help!

CADFAEL LOOKS UP AT MERIET

MERIET (OFF CAMERA) You killed Peter Clemence! (ON MERIET) But why?

ON CADFAEL AND JANYN

CADFAEL I think his friends...the northern barons were gathered at Chester...hmm? Plotting against King Stephen? Carving England in half? (LOOKING AT MERIET) How could he allow poor Clemence to blunder in on that?

ON MERIET

MERIET And you were all in on this...you...and Tristan? Roseanna?

ON CADFAEL AND JANYN ON THE GROUND

JANYN The Earl of Chester promised much to those prepared to risk. Better hang than stay Lords of Dunghills!

ON MERIET

MERIET But murder? Clemence was family!

JANYN Your family...Meriet...not mine!

MERIET LOOKS CONFUSED AND DISAPPOINTED AT HIS COUSIN SERGEANT WARDEN FINALLY ARRIVES AND TAKES JANYN INTO CUSTODY

WARDEN I'll take him, Brother.

CUT TO: INT. ABBEY OFFICES--

ELUARD IS FINGERING THE BROOCH.

TRISTAN (OFF CAMERA) He said he went to delay him.

CAMERA PULLS BACK TO REVEAL THE ABBOT AND CADFAEL BEHIND ELUARD

TRISTAN (CONTINUES) But then came home and told us what he had done.

ON TRISTAN AND ROSEANNA SITTING TOGETHER

TRISTAN (continues) And he was all for leaving him...lying in the track like a dead fox. But I lack Janyn's steel.

MEDIUM THREE SHOT OF ELUARD, FATHER ABBOT AND CADFAEL

TRISTAN (OFF CAMERA) ...and besides, Clemence was a kinsman. He deserved at least a burial. (CLOSE ON TRISTAN) So

out I went and found him...and then the nightmare. Meriet upon me. Blood was on my hands---he clearly thought from my deed. (ON ROSEANNA) And then father's hounds crashing through behind us. "Go!" cries Meriet (BACK ON TRISTAN)..."go get clear from here...I will do what must be done...(ON THE ABBOTT..WHO LOOKS TO CADFAEL) It is not just steel I lack...Brother (ON CADFAEL) ..but courage...(ON ELUARD)...honor...(ON TRISTAN) Strength of heart..I fled. (THREE SHOT OF ROOM) I fled....But God sees all is that not true?

ON ELUARD, CADFAEL AND THE ABBOT

CADFAEL As clearly as we may see inside ourselves.

LEORIC OPENS THE DOOR AND LEAVES.

ROSEANNA Master Canon? What is to become of my husband and me...whose only true sin is to be led astray?

ELUARD Well....(CLOSE ON ELUARD)..I am not moved by a lady's soft smile..Mistress Ashby. You have known of murder and kept silent...You have plotted treason. Those are your true sins. But if there is treason in the North...at least now the King may act upon it...and he is sometimes, a more forgiving man than I. (ON ROSEANNA) For that...and for your lives I suggest you pray.

ROSEANA LOOKS TO TRISTAN...CAMERA PANS DOWN AS THEY HOLD HANDS.

CUT TO: INT. CHAPEL SANCTUARY

MERIET IS AT LONG SHOT AT THE ALTER...LEORIC ENTERS PAST CAMERA AND WALKS DOWN THE AISLE TO HIM. LEORIC STANDS LOOKING DOWN AT HIS SON.

LEORIC I...I said to Brother Cadfael that this murder was the end of time for me. Well, now I hope it will be a new beginning. I have misprized you Meriet...from the very day that you were born. (HE KNEELS BESIDE HIM) Forgive me.

MERIET The fault is not all yours, Father. No man could have a more irksome son.

THEY TEARFULLY EMBRACE.

LEORIC Come home

MERIET (SOBBING) Yes! Yes! Yes!

CUT TO: EXT. CHURCHYARD - DAY

WE HEAR CHAINS RATTLING....JANYN COMES OUT BOUND BY CHAINS. WARDEN IS BEHIND HIM...ELUARD AND OTHERS BY THE GATE. WARDEN STOPS BY ELUARD AND CADFAEL...AS JANYN IS LED THROUGH THE GATE BY WARDEN'S DEPUTIES...

ELUARD Sergeant? I trust you thanked the Brothers for their part in this?

WARDEN My Lord?

ELUARD And will ensure King Harald is released.

WARDEN My Lord...

CADFAEL I thank you for that.

WARDEN LEAVES...ELLUARD WATCHES HIM GO

ELUARD We will have a hanging after all.., and Janyn's neck will stretch far better.

HE TURNS AND IS LED AWAY BY THE ABBOT

CUT TO: INT. CADFAEL'S COTTAGE - DAY

CADFAEL IS AT HIS BENCH, CRUSHING HERBS FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES...AT THE DOOR MERIET HOBBLES IN ON A CRUTCH...

MERIET I came to thank you, Brother...for all that you have done

MERIET OUTSTRETCHES HIS HANDS AND CADFAEL COMES AND HUGS HIM.

MERIET (CONTINUES) You have been more father to me, than brother.

CLOSE ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL Well---I thank you for the compliment.

ON MERIET

MERIET If you had a son, he would be truly blessed.

ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL So should I. You have spoken to your true father?

ON MERIET

MERIET I have. There is hope for both of us.

CADFAEL Well, then off you go! Your vocation is elsewhere.

ISOBEL CAN BE SEEN IN BACKGROUND WAITING

MERIET And yours is truly here?

ON CADFAEL CLOSE

CADFAEL Oh yes...it is. And not merely from atonement and weariness. In middle life, you too, may stop and look inside yourself and wonder "What now?".(ON MERIET) I was ripe for change...and I find that change refreshing.

ISOBEL COMES CLOSER

MERIET I shall be married then with twelve children.

ISOBEL We will see about the twelve. (THEY LAUGH) God keep you, Brother Cadfael.

CADFAEL I hope he will.

MERIET AND ISOBEL GO ARM IN ARM AND TURN AND LEAVE HIS DOORWAY.

CLOSE ON CADFAEL

CADFAEL (TO HIMSELF) I hope he will....

FADE TO BLACK

Stan Blumenthal December 1, 1999