Cathedral of the Sea

Arnau half closed his eyes to get a better glimpse of her.

“They’ve forbidden all visits to you,” he heard the unknown woman say.

“Who are you?” he asked. “How do you know?”

“We don’t have time, Arn ... Arnau.” She had called him Arnau! What if the jailer came ...

“Who are you?”

Why not tell him? Why not embrace him, offer him some comfort? She wouldn’t be able to bear it. Francesca’s words echoed through her mind. Aledis looked back at her, and then again at Arnau. The sea breeze, the beach, her youth, the long journey to Figueres ...

“Who are you?” she heard once more.

“That doesn’t matter. All I want to tell you is that Mar is in Barcelona, waiting for you. She loves you. She still loves you.”

Aledis could see Arnau slump back against the wall. She waited a few moments. There were noises in the passage. The jailer had given her only a few minutes. More noise. The key in the lock. Arnau heard it too and turned toward the door.

“Would you like me to give her a message?”

The door creaked open. The light from the torches in the passageway cast a stronger light on Aledis.

“Tell her that I too...” The jailer came into the dungeon. “I love her. Even though I cannot...”

Aledis turned on her heel and walked toward the door.

“What were you doing talking to the moneylender?” the fat jailer wanted to know as he locked the door behind her.

“He called me over as I was leaving.”

“It’s forbidden to talk to him.”

“I didn’t know that. I didn’t know he was the moneylender either. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even go over to him.”

“The inquisitor has forbidden ...”

Aledis took out her purse and jingled the coins.

“I don’t want to see you here again,” said the jailer, taking the money. “If you come, you won’t leave.”

All this time, inside the dungeon, Arnau was desperately trying to understand what the strange woman had said to him: “She loves you. She still loves you.” But the memory of Mar was obscured by the light that the torches had cast on a pair of huge brown eyes. He recognized them. Where had he seen them before?

ALEDIS HAD TOLD her she would give him the message.

“Don’t worry,” she had insisted. “Arnau will know you are here, waiting for him.”

“Tell him I love him,” Mar shouted after Aledis as she began to cross Plaza de la Llana.

From the doorway, Mar saw the widow turn back and smile at her. Once Aledis was out of sight, Mar left the inn. She had thought about it on the journey from Mataró; again, when they had not been allowed to see Arnau; and that night over and over again. She left Plaza de la Llana and went part of the way down Calle Boria. She passed in front of the Capilla d’en Marcus and turned right. She came to a halt at the start of Calle de Montcada and stood for a few minutes looking at the noble palaces lining the street.

“My lady!” exclaimed Pere, Eleonor’s aged servant, as he opened one of the big gates to Arnau’s palace. “What a joy to see you again. It’s been such a long time ...” Pere fell silent, and nervously motioned her to step into the cobbled yard. “What brings you here?”

“I’ve come to see Dona Eleonor.”

Pere nodded and disappeared.

Mar was overwhelmed by her memories. Everything looked the same: the cool, clean yard with its gleaming cobblestones; the stables opposite; and to the right the impressive staircase leading up to the principal rooms. This was where Pere had headed.

He came back down the stairs looking disturbed.

“My lady will not see you.”

Mar looked up at the first floor of the palace. A shadow flitted behind one of the windows. When had she been in this situation before? When ... ? She looked up again at the windows.

“Once before,” she muttered up toward the windows, while Pere looked on, unable to offer any words of comfort, “I have lived through this scene. Arnau won that battle, Eleonor. I’m warning you: he has paid his debt to you in full.”

53

As THE SOLDIERS escorted him along the endless high corridors of the bishop’s palace, the noise of their swords and leather straps echoed all around them. The group marched along, the captain at its head, two soldiers in front of Arnau, and another two behind. When they had reached the top of the passage up from the dungeons, Arnau had halted to get used to the light streaming into the palace, until a sharp blow in the middle of his back forced him to keep pace with the soldiers.