The Evening and the Morning

When Ragna sees the destroyed bridge, she knows Wynstan must have been involved. Wilf now spends his nights with Carwen. She and Wilf go to the monastery at Dreng’s Ferry, where she meets with Den and Bishop Modulf of Norwood. She tells them that Wilf will never be normal again, and she worries that someone will take advantage of him and kill him. He must make a will and make Osbert his heir. If no one can succeed Wilf, it might discourage an assassination attempt. If they sign the will, then she believes King Ethelred, who is traveling to Sherborne, will accept it.

Ragna visits Edgar at his house. She sees that he made a special, ornate box to hold a book she gave him. She says she is miserable and tells him about Wilf. They hold hands briefly, and she leaves.

Wynstan meets with Agnes, who tells him about Ragna’s meeting at Dreng’s Ferry. He figures out the plan about the will and the need for King Ethelred’s consent. He decides he must get rid of Ragna. He and Wigelm discuss their options; they decide that Wilf’s death will help them, and they make a plan.

During a feast that Wigelm and Wynstan hold for Wilf, they take him away when he is tired. Gytha has agreed to their plan. However, when they get to Wilf’s house, Bern blocks the door. He lets them in when Wynstan says it is an emergency. Wynstan chokes Carwen with a belt while Wigelm kills Bern with a dagger. Wynstan then stabs Wilf in the throat with his knife, as Wigelm stabs him in the chest. Carwen cries as she watches Wilf die. Wynstan says they are going to blame her but will give her a chance to escape.

Outside, the bodyguards are asleep. Ragna wakes to the commotion and sees what happened. She also sees Wigelm carrying a heavy chest full of her and Wilf’s valuables and tries to stop him. She slaps him when he refuses. Garulf and Stiggy hold her back as Wigelm leaves. Now she has lost everything in her treasury.

Ragna and Den discuss Wilf’s death. Ragna does not believe Carwen did it. Bern only would have allowed entry to someone he knew. They both suspect Wynstan. Wigbert will lead the hue and cry to capture Carwen. Den tells Wynstan to leave Ragna alone, adding that he will be blamed for any misfortune she suffers. Stiggy enters and says they have already caught Carwen. Suddenly, Garulf stabs Carwen in the chest, blaming her for his father’s death, as Wynstan instructed.

Edgar’s canal is a great success. He thinks about Ragna as he sits in a tree. A group arrives, and Edgar recognizes Garulf. He announces Wilf’s death, which chills and excites Edgar. Garulf says that Wigelm is the new ealdorman, and that Garulf has received Outhen. Dudda is the new village headman. Seric argues about the appointment, and Stiggy kills him with a sword as Edgar watches from a tree.

Edgar collects his money, goes to the canal, and gets on the raft. He sees villagers from the alehouse fighting. Edgar makes it to the water. Stiggy follows him and makes it to the deck. Edgar swims under the raft and resurfaces a few yards away. He chases Edgar into the shallows, where Edgar manages to kill him with his hammer.

At home, Ragna bathes her boys and prays that they will be like her father. Wigelm arrives, compliments her, and gives her Wilf’s arm ring. He says he wants to marry her. Ragna laughs, insults him, and refuses. Wynstan visits her afterwards and tells her that Outhen is now Garulf’s. Ethelred struck a truce with the Vikings and paid them. The king is marrying Emma of Normandy. Ragna despairs; she thinks Wynstan will kill her if she keeps refusing Wigelm.

Edgar visits Ragna and gives her the earnings from the quarry. He tells her about the deaths of Seric and Stiggy. She thinks they will kill her next, and Edgar suggests that they go to Leper Island for sanctuary.

Wigelm tells Wynstan that they should kill Ragna, but Wynstan thinks they need her alive for now. Agnes reports to him about Ragna’s trip to Dreng’s Ferry.

After they talk, Ragna and Edgar make love. Edgar meets Den in the morning, but Ragna is late, and she is not at her house. He believes she is a prisoner and goes to Gytha’s house, where he demands to see Wigelm. Wigelm says Ragna and her children are safe. Wigelm punches him when Edgar says she rejected him. He hits Edgar with a club and has his men throw him in the pond. A woman helps him out and takes him to Den.

Aldred is disturbed that Ragna has vanished and that Wigelm now collects Outhen’s rent. Aldred wrote to King Ethelred about the situation. The king ordered Wigelm to produce Ragna, but Wigelm said Ragna went home to Cherbourg, which Edgar cannot confirm. Odo asks Aldred to watch after Ragna’s money, adding she is not in Cherbourg.

Ragna has been kidnapped after learning of Agnes’s betrayal. Her captors take her to Wilf’s hunting lodge, where they stay for two months. Agnes feeds them and taunts Ragna about Edgar’s beating. Wynstan had told everyone the lodge burned down; no one is coming.

Wigelm visits before Halloween and insists again that she marry him. He leaves when she refuses, then returns with four men. They strip Ragna, and Wigelm rapes her.

Wynstan visits Mags’s. When he lies down with a sex worker named Merry, she screams that he has a chancre sore. Mags checks and agrees with Merry; Wynstan has what Mags calls the “great pox.”