My eye was drawn to a figure standing uncertainly by the door. I recognized the novice who had taken our horses earlier; he stood shifting uneasily from foot to foot, holding something behind his back. Prior Mortimus looked up from his table.

'Simon Whelplay!' he snapped. 'Your penance is not over, you will have no dinner tonight. Take your place in that corner.'

The boy bowed his head and crossed to a corner of the room, furthest from the fire. He brought his hands round and I saw he held a fool's pointed cap, with the letter 'M' stencilled on it. Reddening, he put it on. The other monks barely glanced at him.

'M?' I asked.

'For maleficium,' the abbot said. 'He has broken the rules, I am afraid. Please, sit.'

Mark and I took places beside Brother Guy, while the abbot went to the lectern. I saw a bible was placed there and was pleased to see it was the English Bible, not the Latin Vulgate with its mistranslations and invented gospels.

'Brethren,' Abbot Fabian announced sonorously, 'we have all been greatly shocked by recent events. I am pleased to welcome the vicar general's representative, Commissioner Shardlake, who has come to investigate the matter. He will be speaking to many of you, and you are to afford him all the help Lord Cromwell's representative deserves.' I eyed him sharply; those words carried a double meaning.

'Master Shardlake has given authority for Master Singleton to be buried, and the funeral service will take place after Matins, the day after tomorrow.' There was a relieved murmur along the tables. 'And now, our reading is from Revelation, Chapter 7: "And after those things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth…"'

I was surprised he chose Revelation, for it was a text favoured much by reformists of the hot gospeller sort, keen to tell the world they had fathomed its mysteries and violent symbols. The passage dealt with the Lord's roll-call of the saved at the Day of Judgement. It seemed like a challenge to me, identifying the community with the righteous.

'"And he said unto me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

'Amen,' he concluded sonorously, then closed the bible and walked solemnly out of the refectory; doubtless his roast beef was waiting in his dining room. It was the signal for a babble of chatter to break out as half a dozen servants entered and began serving soup. It was a thick vegetable broth, richly spiced and delicious. I had not eaten since breakfast and concentrated on my bowl for a minute before glancing over at Whelplay, still as a statue in the shadows. Through the window beside him I saw the snow still tumbling down. I turned to the prior, who was sitting opposite me.

'The novice is not to have any of this fine soup?'

'Not for another four days. He's to stand there through the meal as part of his penance. He must learn. D'ye think me too severe, sir?'

'How old is he? He does not look eighteen.'

'He's nearly twenty, though you wouldn't think it from his scrawny looks. His novitiate was extended, he had problems mastering the Latin, though he has musical skills. He assists Brother Gabriel. Simon Whelplay needs to learn obedience. He is being punished, among other things, for avoiding the services in English. When I set people a penance I give them a good lesson that'll stick in their minds and those of others.'

'Quite r-right, Brother Prior.' The bursar spoke up, nodding vigorously. He smiled at me; a cold smile, making a brief slash across his chubby face. 'I am Brother Edwig, Commissioner, the bursar.' He set his silver spoon down in his plate, which he had quickly emptied.

'So you have responsibility for distributing the monastery's funds?'

'And c-c-collecting them in, and ensuring expenditure does not outstrip revenue,' he added. His stammer could not occlude the self-satisfaction in his voice.

'I believe I passed you in the yard earlier, discussing some – building works, was it? – with one of your brethren.' I glanced at the tall, fair-haired monk who had cast that lascivious look at Mark earlier. He sat almost opposite him now, and had been giving him covert glances whilst avoiding his eye. He caught mine, though, and leaned over to introduce himself.

'Gabriel of Ashford, Commissioner. I am the sacrist, and also the precentor; I have charge of the church and library as well as the music. We have to combine the offices, our numbers are not what they were.'

'No. A hundred years ago you would have had, what, twice as many monks? And the church is in need of repair?'

'Indeed it is, sir.' Brother Gabriel leaned eagerly towards me, nearly causing Brother Guy to spill his soup. 'Have you seen our church?'

'Not yet. I plan to visit it tomorrow.'

'We have the finest Norman church on the south coast. Over four hundred years old. It compares to the best Benedictine houses in Normandy. But there is a bad crack running down from the roof. We need repairs, and they should be done with Caen stone again, to match the interior…'

'Brother Gabriel,' the prior interjected sharply, 'Master Shardlake has more serious things to do than admire the architecture. It may be too rich for his taste,' he added meaningfully.

'But surely the New Learning does not frown on architectural beauty?'

'Only when the congregation is encouraged to worship the building rather than God,' I said. 'For that would be idolatry.'

'I meant nothing of that sort,' the sacrist replied earnestly. 'Only that in any great building the eye should be led to rest on exact proportions, unity of line…'

Brother Edwig gave a sarcastic grimace. 'What my brother means is that to satisfy his aesthetic notions the monastery should b-bankrupt itself importing great blocks of limestone from France. I would be interested to know how he p-p-plans to ferry them across the marsh.'

'Does the monastery not have ample reserves?' I asked. 'I read the revenues from its lands run to £800 a year. And rents are rising all the time now, as the poor know to their cost.'

As I spoke the servants returned, setting out plates on which big carp lay steaming, and tureens of vegetables. I noticed a woman among them, a hook-nosed old crone, and reflected that Alice must be lonely if she had only such as this for female company. I turned back to the bursar. He gave a quick frown.

'Land has had to be sold recently, f-f-for various reasons. And the amount Brother Gabriel asks for is more than the whole repairs budget for five years. Take one of these fine carp, sir. Caught in our own stewpond this morning.'

'But surely money could be borrowed against the annual surpluses you must have?'

'Thank you, sir. Precisely my argument,' Brother Gabriel said. The bursar's frown deepened. He put down his spoon, waving his chubby little hands.

'P-prudent accounting does not allow for a great hole in the revenues for years to come, sir, interest p-payments eating away at them like m-mice. The abbot's policy is a b-balanced b-b-b-' His face reddened as, in his excitement, he lost control of his stutter.

'Budget,' the prior concluded for him with a sour grin. He passed me a carp and plunged his knife into his own fish, slicing into it with enthusiasm. Brother Gabriel gave him a glare and took a sip of the good white wine.

I shrugged. 'It is a matter between you, of course.'

Brother Edwig set down his cup. 'I ap-pologize if I became heated. It is an old argument between the sacrist and me.' He gave his slash of a smile again, showing even white teeth. I nodded gravely in acknowledgement, then turned my gaze to the window, where the snow still whirled down. It was settling thickly now. There was a draught from the window and, although my front was warm where it faced the fire, my back was cold. Next to the window the novice gave a cough. His bowed head under its cap was in shadow, but I noticed his legs trembling under his habit.