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Walter Paskuly and John Tucker caet started?'

'Yeah' Richard pulled his cloak about him and watched the two men climb into the belfry Then he went into the vestry and collected a pile of surplices

'Put these on'

He hurled the white robes at the ho to celebrate matins'

In the tower above his head, the bells of All Hallows began to toll They rang loudly and went on ringing for a long time

Harald Gascoigne and Sister Alice entered the h the cloister to the scriptoriureet theat easels positioned to take advantage of the afternoon light

Mathew gestured towards them 'These are my assistants Brothers Peter and Paul, named after two of our most holy saints'

Alice felt certain she knew theiven biblical names when they entered the er, Richard, Ralph

'This is Sister Alice,' Mathew interrupted her thoughts 'She is here to inspect the sketchesThere was so rakish about their appearance The tops of their heads were shaved in the regulationdown in loose curls that didn't look natural She suspected they were the sort ofsketches of Eve

Matheent to a shelf and removed a box He set it down and took off the lid A fanised lavender, put there to protect the contents from insects

'This is one of his favourite studies'

Mathew held up a sheet of parchment One side bore a text from the psalms The other had been scraped clean and reused Alice expected a sketch in lead or charcoal What she saas a bird in full colour

'A bullfinch' Mathew placed the parchment on the table 'Sifrewas attached the local name mwope to it The one describes the bird The other imitates its call'

Alice was acquainted with both names

'Did you know him?' she asked

'I worked for him We went to Honeycombe Woods and observed God's creatures in their natural estate I made notes while he sketched We recorded ashabits and displays when searching for a mate'

A muted chuckle interrupted the discourse