Father reminded her that he was directly descended from the Thomas who became earl of Shiring in the year that Archbishop Becket was murdered by King Henry II. Mother said they would take away his lands: he was lord of three villages near Kingsbridge. He owed money to the priory, and he could not pay. Father had not wanted to come to Kingsbridge at all. Ralph was a bit slow on the uptake, but he could not help it, and being nagged about it only made him angry, so that he got into fights with other boys.īoth parents were tetchy on the morning of All Hallows Day. When Father showed his pride in Ralph's strength, Mother tried to compensate by criticising Ralph's stupidity. Their mother, Lady Maud, made matters worse, embarrassing Merthin by being over-protective, when what he needed her to do was pretend not to notice. Their father, Sir Gerald, was a soldier, and could not conceal his disappointment when Merthin proved unable to lift the heavy lance, or became exhausted before the tree was chopped down, or came home crying after losing a fight. Merthin was eleven, a year older than his brother Ralph but, to his intense annoyance, Ralph was taller and stronger.
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