bind Friar Mathieu never to speak of this
to anyone.

But when Simon tried to speak, his chest and throat were constricted by
fear, and his voice came out in a croak. He felt as if he were under a
spell to prevent him from uttering his family secrets.

"Father, may I confide in you under the seal of confession?"

The old Franciscan tugged on the reins of his donkey, so that they fell
farther behind the rest of the party. Simon slowed his palfrey to fall
back beside Mathieu.

"Is it truly a matter for confession, or just a secret?"

Simon's hands were so cold he pressed them against his palfrey's neck to
warm them. How could he tell everything to this priest he had known only
a few months? Perhaps he should just apologize and say no more.

But he thought a little longer and said, "It is a question of right and
wrong. And if I am doing wrong, I am committing a terribly grave sin."

Friar Mathieu looked around him. "Very well, then, what you tell me is
under the seal of the sacrament of confession, and I may repeat it to no
man, under penalty of eternal damnation. Make the sign of the cross and
begin."

Simon touched his fingertips to forehead, chest, and shoulders. For a
moment he hesitated, his mouth dry and his heart hammering. He had
promised his mother and Roland never to tell anyone about this.

_But I must! I cannot have it festering inside me for the rest of my
life._

What, though, if Friar Mathieu disappointed him? What if he had nothing
useful, or even comforting to say on learning Simon's secret? Well,
there was a way to test him.

The secret was really twofold. One part of it was terrible enough, but
already known to the king and queen and many knights who had been on the
last crusade. Simon could tell Friar Mathieu the lesser secret safely
enough, then weigh his response and decide whether to tell him what was
known to only three people in the world.

"I said I must make this mission succeed because of who I am. What have
you heard about the last Count de Gobignon?"

By now the moon had risen high, and Simon could see the old Franciscan's
face quite clearly. Friar Mathieu frowned and stroked his long white
beard.

"Very little, I am afraid. He was a very great landowner, one of the
five Peers of the Realm, as you are now, and he was zealous in putting
down the Cathar heretics in Languedoc." He cast a pained look at Simon.
"I spent the years when your father was prominent wandering the roads a