The Miracle at St. Bruno's

"They vie with each other to please the boy. Brother Arnold is jealous of Brother Clement because the boy is more often in the bakehouse than in the brewhouse; he accuses him of bribing the Child with cake. The rule of silence is scarcely ever observed. I hear them whispering together and believe it is about the boy. They play games with him. It seems strange behavior for men dedicated to the monastic life.”

"It is a strange situation - monks with a child to bring up!"

 "Perhaps we should have put him out with some woman to care for him. Mayhap your good wife could have taken him and brought him up here.”

I stopped myself protesting in time. I did not want the boy here. This was my home-I was the center of attraction. If he came people would take more notice of him than of me.

"But of a surety he was meant to remain at the Abbey," said my father. "That was where he was sent.”

"You speak truth. But we can talk to you of our misgivings. There is in the Abbey a restiveness which was not there before. We have gained in worldly goods but we have lost our peace. Clement and Arnold, as I have said, share this rivalry. Brother Ambrose is restive. He speaks of this to James. It seems as though he cannot resist this indulgence. He says that the Devil is constantly at his elbow and his flesh overpowers his spirit... He mortifies the flesh but it is of no avail. He breaks the rule of silence constantly. Sometimes I think he should go out into the world.

He finds solace in the Child, who loves Brother Ambrose as he loves no other.”

"He has come to be a blessing to you all. That much is clear. The Abbey was founded three hundred years ago by a Bruno who became a saint; now there is another Bruno at the Abbey and it prospers as it did in the beginning. This young Bruno has removed your anxieties and you say he comforts Brother Ambrose.”

"Yet he is a child with a child's ways. Yesterday Brother Valerian found him eating hot cakes which he had stolen from the kitchen. Brother Valerian was shocked. The Holy Child to steal! Then Clement pretended that he had given the Child the cakes and was caught by Valerian winking in some sort of collusion. You see...”

"Innocent mischief," said my father.

"Innocent to steal... to lie?”

"Yet the lie showed a kindness in Clement.”

"He would never have lied before. He is becoming fat. He eats too much. I believe he and the boy eat together in the bakehouse. And in the cellars Arnold and Eugene are constantly testing their brew. I have seen them emerge flushed and merry. I have seen them slap each other on the back-forgetting that one of our rules is never to come into physical contact with another human being. We are changing, changing, William. We have become rich and self-indulgent. It is not what we were intended for.”

"It is well to be rich in these days. Is it true that certain monasteries have been suppressed in order to found the King's colleges at Eton and Cambridge?”

"It is indeed true and it is true that there is talk of linking the smaller monasteries with larger ones," said Brother James.

"Then it is well for you that St. Bruno's has become one of the more powerful abbeys.”

"Perhaps so. But we live in changing times and the King has some unscrupulous ministers about him.”

"Hush," said my father. "It is unwise to talk so.”

"There spoke the lawyer," said Brother John. "But I am uneasy-more so than I was on that day when I asked for a miracle. The King is deeply worried by a conscience which appears to have come into being now that he wishes to put away an aging wife and take to his bed one, who is called a witch and a siren.”

"A divorce will not be granted him," said my father. "He will keep the Queen and the lady will remain what she is now for evermore-the Concubine.”

"I pray it may be so," said Brother James.

"And have you heard," went on my father, "that the lady is at this time sick of the sweat and that her life is in danger and the King is well nigh mad with anxiety lest she be taken from him?”

"If she were it would save a good many people a great deal of trouble.”

"You will not pray for that miracle, Brothers?”

"I shall never ask for miracles again," said Brother John.

They went on to talk of matters which I did not understand and I dozed.

I was awakened next time by my mother's voice.

She had come into the garden and was clearly agitated.

"There is bad news, William," she said. "My Cousin Mary and her husband are both dead of the sweat. Oh, it is so tragic.”

"My dear Dulce," said my father, "this is indeed terrible news. When did it happen?”

"Three weeks ago or thereabouts. My cousin died first; her husband followed in a few days.”

"And the children?”

"Fortunately my sister sent them away to an old servant who had married and was some miles off. It is this servant who sends the messenger to me now. She wants to know what is to become of little Rupert and Katherine.”

"By my soul," said my father, "there is no question. Their home must be with us now.”

And so Kate and Rupert came to live with us.