1 Athelstan went along the nave to meet him.

2 Athelstan leaned over to perform his own examination.

3 Philippa smilingly obliged and Athelstan groaned.

4 Athelstan walked behind, chanting verses from the psalms.

5 Athelstan looked sideways at Benedicta and his heart lurched.

6 Athelstan became engrossed, fascinated by its beauty.

7 Athelstan now stood shoulder to shoulder with Cranston.

8 Athelstan waited near the baptismal font.

9 He knew Athelstan spoke the truth.

10 Athelstan heard Lady Maude squeal with pleasure.

11 Athelstan knew it would make no immediate difference but a seed had been planted in his soul.

12 Athelstan tossed her a coin and asked her to bring a fresh tankard and some wine whilst he roused Sir John.

13 Nothing was resolved and Athelstan felt he had failed to take a decisive role.

14 They crossed over quietly enough, Athelstan smiling as he passed through the gateway at the far end on to Fish Street Hill.

15 Athelstan could have sworn he was acting as if there was some one else there.

16 Athelstan stood there dreaming, wondering what was happening in St Erconwald's.

17 Athelstan closed the missal, all thoughts of Pike the ditcher and his family cleared from his head.

18 Athelstan, a skilled confessor, perceived Sir Brian was a good but deeply troubled man.

19 Athelstan immediately closed his eyes and sniffed the sweet odour of fresh scrubbed parchment and vellum.

20 Cranston and Athelstan pushed by him and hammered at the great gate.

21 Athelstan glimpsed the blackened, twisted face of Pike the ditcher hanging by the neck.

22 Athelstan felt he was looking at a man already under the shadow of Death's soft, black wing.

23 Athelstan called the girl back and small, fresh white loaves, wrapped in a linen cloth, were immediately served.

24 Deeper into the hell, Athelstan shivered, folding his arms into the voluminous sleeves of his robe.

25 Sir John's temper had improved but Athelstan dreaded spending a day watching him guzzle one goblet of wine after another.

26 Athelstan sketched the sign of the cross above the corpse and sprinkled it with the Asperges rod.

27 Athelstan put his hand gingerly into the small, dark space and brought out two rolls of parchment.

28 Athelstan carefully ripped the canvas open with the small knife he always carried.

29 The merchant was flushed with drink; he grinned at Cranston and Athelstan as if they were lifelong friends.

30 They walked on, wandering through a warren of tortuous passageways where the noise and stench grasped Athelstan by the throat.

31 Athelstan studied the jars, dismissing them as nothing but mild cures for ague, aches and pains.

32 Cranston led Athelstan into the Great Hall, pointing out the painted walls though some of the frescoes were beginning to flake.

33 As Athelstan turned off Cheapside into Poultry, he could still hear their loud guffaws of laughter.

34 Athelstan studied the notice posted above the prisoner's head and gathered that he was a butcher who had sold putrid meat.

35 Athelstan touched Rastani's hand which was as cold as ice.

36 Athelstan studied the extraordinarily handsome face and the beaming smile on Benedicta's.

37 At the far end, on the dais, Athelstan glimpsed John of Gaunt.

38 Athelstan patted him gently, took his cloak from the house and rejoined Benedicta and Vincentius.

39 Cranston's hand went towards his dagger and Athelstan rapidly approached the door.

40 As Cranston and Athelstan turned into Cheapside they saw the festive spirit had spread.

41 Athelstan and Cranston followed him, the friar fascinated by the man's swaying walk.

42 Athelstan just glared at her but still she could not control her mirth.

43 Athelstan pulled his hood over his head as he felt the heat of the sun on the back of his neck.

44 Athelstan pulled the curtain back and wrinkled his nose at the smell.

45 Athelstan, taking the keys from his belt, went up beneath the winking red sanctuary lamp and opened the tabernacle door.

45 try its best to collect and make good sentences.

46 Athelstan watched the scene around him and tried to keep his mind free of Benedicta and the petty jealousies which nagged him.

47 Athelstan caught a glimpse of the two lepers, shrouded in their hoods near the charnel house.

48 Athelstan stopped his horse outside St Erconwald's and thought about that further.

49 The area in front of Newgate, Athelstan thought, must be the nearest thing to hell on earth.

50 Athelstan led Cranston round the church, stopped, and told the coroner to wait until he fetched a sconce torch.

51 Yet drink clouded his mind, and in his heart Cranston knew that Athelstan was right to disapprove.

52 Athelstan gazed at the square, squat pillars decorated with greenery like his own in Southwark, though not as beautiful.

53 Athelstan linked his arm through that of the coroner and they carefully made their way down Cheapside.

54 Athelstan watched in astonishment: Sir John's permanent hunger always fascinated him.