No Sweeter Heaven: The Pascal Trilogy - Book 2 Read Online Free Page A

position of abbot. But there was something about Dom Benetard that defied age. His face held a wisdom and a serenity that made one want to gaze upon it, to find stillness and safety there.
    Her belligerence fled as it had in the monastery when she had been prepared to lie through her teeth about her father’s identity. Lily would never have believed it of herself, having fought her entire life against authority, but she found she longed to tell the abbot everything. And yet she knew she could not. She’d sworn to protect Jean-Jacques.
    “Tell me, my child,” the abbot began in his deep, lyrical voice. “How did you come to be inside the monastery walls? It was as Monsieur LaMartine said? You fell?”
    Lily nodded and prepared to tell the tale she’d constructed, feeling terribly guilty. “I did. I know I should not have been there, but I could not help myself. My father has spoken so often of his devotion to the Abbey of St. Christophe and I was curious.”
    “Curious?” the abbot asked calmly.
    “Well, yes. I wanted to see its beauty with my own eyes and being a woman, I knew I would never have the opportunity.” She smiled sweetly, hoping she looked positively angelic.
    “Go on, my child,” the abbot said.
    “Well, um … my companion and I were traveling through Montebon and I did not think there would be any harm in looking, if no one saw me. So I climbed the elm tree just outside the wall.”
    “I see.” Dom Benetard folded his hands into a steeple.
    “Once I was on the wall, I overbalanced and fell,” Lily said, unnerved by his complete lack of expression, “and when I did, your gardener took advantage of me. But if you are prepared to forget the incident, then I am also. I am sure you would wish to avoid scandal. You need not put him in your jail,” she added generously, “although I do not think he is suited to life inside a monastery, not if he is inclined to temptations of the flesh.”
    Dom Benetard actually smiled, and in his eyes she was astonished to see a natural joy that radiated from within his being and lit up his entire face.
    “I can say with all honesty that I had not considered incarcerating our good brother. I cannot help but doubt that he was succumbing to temptation.” His smile faded, and Lily felt as if the sun had just disappeared. “Still, the facts themselves do create a problem.”
    “But they don’t have to,” Lily persisted. “I really am prepared to forget all about it. And I am deeply regretful that I climbed onto your wall,” she added for good measure.
    “It is beyond dispute that you ought not to have been observing the abbey from its own walls. I believe you have some forgiveness to ask of God for that. However, that is another matter. What weighs on my mind is the responsibility I have to your father.”
    “Oh—but you have no responsibility to my father at all! I won’t say a word, and it is not as if you knew I was on your wall in the first place.”
    “Yes, child, but your claim that Pascal LaMartine assaulted you cannot be ignored.”
    Lily deeply regretted having ever opened her mouth—not an uncommon regret, as her mouth was her usual downfall. “I don’t see why not,” she said in a small voice.
    “Elizabeth. You have brought a serious charge against Monsieur LaMartine. Your father must be informed, and Monsieur LaMartine must be given a chance to clear his name. It is up to your father to judge the truth of the matter. I can think of no other way.”
    “But—but surely it is your job to discipline the man,” Lily said, faltering. “My father really has nothing to do with the running of the abbey, has he?”
    “No, he has no authority, only our gratitude. But you must also understand that although Monsieur LaMartine has been with us for two years, I have no ecclesiastical authority over him, as he has not taken any vows. Do you understand?”
    Lily swallowed. “Yes. I-I do.”
    “That is good. So you understand that this must be left