Then they talked in low voices, not to wake the children. Edgar told Ragna about Clothild, the daughter of the master mason. “I was unkind to her, though I never meant to be,” he said sadly. “I should have told her about you right at the start. I was never going to marry her, even if they offered me the job of king. But now and again I was foolish enough to pretend to myself that I might, and I looked at her fondly, and she took that to mean more than it did.” He studied Ragna’s face in the firelight. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“We have to tell each other everything,” she said. “What made you come home?”

“It was your father. He was so angry about Wigelm setting you aside. He raged at me as if I were responsible. I was just glad you were divorced.”

“Why did it take you so long to get here?”

“My ship was blown off course and I ended up in Dublin. I was afraid the Vikings would kill me for my cloak, but they took me for a wealthy man and tried to sell me slaves.”

She hugged him hard. “I’m so glad they let you live.”

Edgar noticed that it was getting light outside. “Aldred will disapprove of us. By his standards we’re fornicators.”

“People sleeping in the same room aren’t necessarily having sex.”

“No, but in our case neither Aldred nor anyone else in King’s Bridge will have the least doubt.”

She giggled. “Do you think we’re that obvious?”

“Yes.”

She became serious again. “My beloved Edgar, will you marry me?”

He laughed happily. “Yes! Of course. Let’s do it today.”

“I want Ethelred’s approval. I don’t want to offend the king. I’m really sorry.”

“Sending a message to him, and getting a reply, could take weeks. Are you saying we have to live apart? I can’t stand it.”

“No, I don’t think so. If we’re promised to each other, and everyone knows it, no one will expect us to sleep apart, except for Aldred. He will still disapprove, but I don’t think he’ll make a fuss.”

“Will the king say yes to your request?”

“I think so, though it would help if you were a minor nobleman.”

“But I’m a builder.”

“You’re a wealthy man and a leading citizen, and I could grant you some lands with a compound so that you would be a thane. Thurstan of Lordsborough died recently, you could take his place.”

“Edgar of Lordsborough.”

“Do you like that idea?”

“Not as much as I like you,” he said.

Then they did it for the fifth time.

CHAPTER 43

January 1007

he cathedral site was busy. Most of the men were digging foundations and stacking supplies. The craftsmen, hired by Edgar from England and Normandy and farther away, were building their lodges, makeshift huts in which they could shape timber and stones in all weather. They would start putting up walls on Lady Day, March 25, when there was little further danger of overnight frost freezing the mortar.