I
The year 1320
Bernat Estanyol's farmhouse Navarcles, in the principality of Catalonia

Bernat realized nobody was looking in his direction, and glanced up at the clear blue sky. The weak late September sun played on the faces of his guests. He had put so much time and effort into preparing the feast that only bad weather could have spoiled it. He smiled up at the autumn sky, and when he looked down again, his smile broadened as he listened to the hum of happy voices in the cobbled courtyard that ran alongside the animal pens at the foot of his farmhouse.

His thirty or so guests were in high spirits: the grape harvest that year had been magnificent. All of them-men, women, and children-had worked from dawn to dusk harvesting the grapes, then treading them, without allowing themselves a single day's rest.

It was only when the wine was ready to ferment in its barrels and the grape skins had been stored to distill their liquor during the slack days of winter that the peasant farmers could celebrate their September feast days. And it was then that Bernat Estanyol had chosen to be married.

Bernat surveyed his guests. Many of them had got up at dawn to walk the often great distances separating their properties from the Estanyol farmhouse. They were all enjoying themselves now, talking about the wedding, the harvest, or perhaps both things at once. Some of them, including a group where his Estanyol cousins and the Puig family were sitting, burst out laughing at a ribald comment directed toward him. Bernat felt himself blushing, and pretended to take no notice; he did not even want to think about what they might be laughing at. Scattered around the courtyard he could make out the Fontany family, the Vilas, the Joaniquets, of course the bride's relatives-the Esteve family.

Bernat looked out of the corner of his eye at his father-in-law. Pere Esteve was promenading his immense belly, smiling at some of those invited, saying a few words to others. Then he turned toward Bernat, who found himself forced to wave acknowledgement for the hundredth time that day. He looked for his in-laws and saw them at different tables among the throng. They had always been slightly wary of him, despite all his attempts to win them over.

He raised his eyes to the sky once more. The harvest and the weather seemed to be on his side. He glanced over at the farmhouse, and then again at the wedding party, and pursed his lips. All at once, in spite of the merry hubbub, he felt quite alone. It was barely a year since his father had died; his sister Guiamona, who had gone to live in Barcelona after her marriage, had not bothered to reply to the messages he had sent her, even though he longed to see her again. After his father's death, she was the only direct family he had left...

The death had made the Estanyol farmhouse the center of interest for the entire region: matchmakers and parents with unmarried daughters had paid endless visits. Prior to that, no one had paid them much attention, but the demise of the old man-whose rebellious nature had earned him the nickname of "Madcap Estanyol"-had rekindled the hopes of those who were anxious to see their daughters married off to the richest peasant farmer for miles around.

"You're old enough now to get married," they said, to encourage him. "Exactly how old are you?"

"Twenty-seven, I think," he replied.

"That's almost an age to have grandchildren," they scolded him. "What are you doing all alone in your farmhouse. You need a wife."

Bernat listened to them all patiently. He knew their advice would inevitably be followed by the mention of some candidate or other, a girl stronger than an ox and more beautiful than the most incandescent sunset.

None of this was new to him. Madcap Estanyol, whose wife had died giving birth to Guiamona, had tried to find him a wife, but all the suitable parents had fled the farmhouse cursing the demands he made in regarding the dowry of any future daughter-in-law was supposed to bring. Little by little, interest in Bernat had waned. The older he grew, the more extreme his father became: his rebelliousness bordered on real madness. Bernat concentrated on looking after his lads and his father; now all of a sudden at twenty-seven he found himself alone and besieged on all sides.

Yet the first visit Bernat received, when the old man had still to be properly laid to rest, was of a different nature: it was from the steward of his feudal lord, the lord of Navarcles. "How right you were, Father" Bernat said to himself when he saw the steward and several soldiers ride up this farm.

"As soon as I die," the old man had repeated time and time again to him in his brief moments of lucidity, "they'll be here. You must show them my will." With that, he pointed to the stone beneath which, carefully wrapped in leather, he had left the document containing the last will and testament of Madcap Estanyol.

"Why is that, Father?" Bernat has asked the first time he heard him.

"As you know," the old man replied, "we lease these lands from our lord, but I am a widower, and if I had not drawn up my will, he would have the right to claim half of all our goods and livestock. That is known as the intestate right; there are many others that benefit the lords of Catalonia, and you must make sure you are aware of them all. They will be here, Bernat; they will come to take what is rightfully ours. It's only by showing them my will that can get rid of them."

"What if they take it from me?" asked Bernat. "You know what they are like..."

"Even if they did, it is registered in the official account books."

The steward and his lord's anger soon became common knowledge in the region. It only served to make the only son's position look all the more attractive, as he had inherited all his father's possessions.

Bernat could clearly recall the visit the man who was now his father-in-law had paid him before the grape harvest. Five shillings, a pallet, and a white linen smock-that was the dowry he was offering for his daughter Francesca.

"Why would I want a white linen smock?" Bernat asked, not even pausing as he forked the hay on the ground floor of his farmhouse.

"Look" was Pere Esteve's only reply.

Leaning on his pitchfork, Bernat looked in the direction Pere Esteve was pointing: the doorway of the stable. He let the pitchfork fall from his hands. Francesca was silhouetted against the light, dressed in the white smock linen smock... Her whole body shone through, just waiting for him!

A shudder ran down Bernat's spine. Pere Esteve smiled.

Bernat accepted his offer. There and then, in the stable, without even going up to the young girl, but never once taking his eyes off her. He realized it was a hasty decision, but so far he had not regretted it: there Francesca was in front of him now, young, beautiful, strong. His breathing quickened. That very night... What might she be thinking? Did she feel as he did? Francesca was not sharing in the other women's animated chatter: she sat quietly beside her mother, answering their jokes and laughter with forced smiles. Their looks met for a moment. She flushed and looked down, but Bernat could tell from the way her breast heaved that she was nervous too. Her white linen smock thrust itself once more into Bernat's fantasies and desire.

"I congratulate you!" he heard a voice say behind him, and felt a hand clapping him on the shoulder. It was his father-in-law. "Look after her for me," he added, following Bernat's gaze and pointing to the girl, who did not know where to put herself. "If the life you have in store for her is as magnificent as this feast... This is the most marvelous banquet I have ever seen. Not even the lord of Navarcles could lay on such a treat."

In order to please his guests, Bernat had prepared forty-seven loaves of wheat bread: the peasants' usual fare of barley, rye, or spelt was not good enough for him. Only the whitest bread, as white as his bride's smock, was good enough for him! He had carried all the loaves to be baked at the Navarcles castle, calculating that, as usual, two loaves would be enough to pay for the privilege. When he saw this display of wheaten bread, the baker's eyes opened wide, then narrowed to inscrutable slits. He demanded seven loaves in payment, and Bernat left the castle cursing the laws that prevented peasants like him from having their own bread ovens at home, or forges, or bridle and harness workshops...

"You're right there," he told his father-in-law, banishing the unpleasant memory from his mind.

They both stared down the courtyard. Some of his bread might have been stolen, but there was still the wine his guests were drinking-the best, stored away by his father and left to age several years-and the salt-roasted pig, the vegetable stew seasoned with chickens, and above all the four lambs, split down the middle and roasting slowly on the embers on their spits, oozing fat and giving off an irresistible smell.

All of a sudden the women started bustling about. The stew was ready, and the bowls the guests had brought were soon filled. Pere and Bernat sat at the only table laid in the courtyard. The women rushed to serve them, ignoring the four empty seats. The rest stood or sat on wooden benches and began to eat, still casting glances at the lambs roasting under the watchful eye of some of the cooks. Everyone was drinking wine, conversing, shouting, and laughing.

"Yes, a real feast," Pere Esteve concluded, between mouthfuls.

Somebody proposed a toast to the bride and groom. Everybody joined in.

"Francesca!" shouted her father, raising his cup to her as she stood next to the roasting lambs.

Bernat stared hard at her, but again she hid her face.

"She's feeling nervous," Pere said in excuse, winking at him. "Francesca, daughter!" he shouted once more. "Come on, drink with us! Make the most of it now, because soon we'll be leaving-almost all of us, that is."

The guffaws following this remark only intimidated Francesca still further. She half-raised a cup she had been given, but did not drink from it. Then she turned away from the laughter and went on supervising the cooking.

Pere Esteve clinked his cup against Bernat's, spilling some of his wine. The other guests followed suit.

"I'm sure you'll see to it that she forgets her bashfulness," Pere Esteve said out loud, for all to hear.

This led to more guffawing, this time accompanied by sly comments that Bernat preferred to ignore.

In this merry way, they set to work on the large amounts of wine, pork, and chicken stew. Just as the women were withdrawing the lambs from the fire, a group of the guests suddenly fell silent and began to look over to the outskirts of the woods on the edge of Bernat's land, beyond the plowed fields and the dip in the land that the Estanyol's had used to plant the vines that provided them with such excellent wine.

Within a few seconds, the whole wedding party had fallen silent.

Three men on horseback had appeared among the trees. A larger number of men in uniform were walking behind them.

"What can he want here?" Pere Esteve muttered to himself.

Bernat followed the newcomers with his gaze as they drew closer across the fields. The guests began to whisper among themselves.

"I don't understand," Bernat said eventually, also in a low voice. "He never comes here: it is not on his way to the castle."

"I don't like the look of this at all," said Pere Esteve.

The procession drew slowly closer. As the figures approached, the laughter and the remarks the horsemen were making took over from the merriment that had been in evidence in the courtyard; everyone could hear them. Bernat surveyed his guests: some of them could not bear to look, and stood there staring at the ground. He searched for Francesca, who was in the midst of a group of women. The lord of Navarcles's powerful voice rang out. Bernat could feel anger rising inside him.

"Bernat! Bernat!" Pere Esteve hissed, clutching his arm, "What are you doing here? Run to greet him"

Bernat leapt up and ran to receive his lord.

"Welcome to this your house," he panted when he had reached the men on horseback.

Llorenc de Bellera, lord of Navarcles, pulled on his horse's reins and came to a halt in front of Bernat.

"Are you Estanyol, son of the madman?" he asked disdainfully.

"Yes, my lord."

"We were out hunting, and were surprised to hear your feast on the way back our castle. What are you celebrating?"

Behind the horses, Bernat caught a glimpse of the soldiers, loaded down with their prey: rabbits, hares, some wild cocks. "It's your visit that demands an explanation," he would have liked to reply. "Or did the castle baker tell you about the white loaves I had baked?"

Even the horses, with their big round eyes focused on him, seemed to be awaiting his response.

"My marriage, your lordship."

"And who are you marrying?"

"The daughter of Pere Esteve, my lord."

Llorenc de Bellera sat silently, looking down at Bernat over his horse's neck. The other mounts snorted impatiently.

"Well?" barked Llorenc de Bellera.

"My bride and I," said Bernat, trying to hide his discomfort, "would be very honored if your lordship and his companions would care to join us."

"We're thirsty, Estanyol," was all the lord of Navarcles deigned to reply. The horses moved on without any need of prodding. Head down, Bernat walked alongside his lord's horse back to the farmhouse. All the guests had gathered at the entrance to the courtyard to receive him: the women stared down at the ground, and all the men had removed their caps. A low murmur greeted Llorenc de Bellera when he halted before them.

"That's enough," he said as he dismounted. "Carry on with you banquet."

The guests complied, turning round without a word. Several of the soldiers came up and took care of the horses. Bernat went with his new guests to the table where Pere Esteve and he had been seated. Their bowls and cups had disappeared.

The lord of Navarcles and his two companions sat at the table. Bernat withdrew several steps as the newcomers began to talk among themselves. The serving woman brought pitchers of wine, loaves of bread, chicken stew, plates of salt pork, and freshly roasted lamb. Bernat looked for Francesca, but she was nowhere to be seen. His gaze met that of his father-in-law, who was standing in a group of guests. Pere Esteve lifted his chin toward the serving women, shook his head almost imperceptibly, and turned on his heel.

"Go on with your celebration!" Llorenc de Bellera bawled, waving the leg of lamb he was holding, "Come on, enjoy yourselves!"

Silently, the guests began to approach the roasted lambs for their share. Unnoticed by the lord and his friends, one group stood their ground: Pere Esteve and a few others. Bernat caught a glimpse of the white linen smock in the midst of them, and hurried over.

"Get away from here, you idiot," his father-in-law snapped.

Before Bernat could say a word, Francesca's mother thrust a platter of lamb in his hands and whispered:

"Wait on the lord, and don't go anywhere near my daughter."

The peasants began to devour the lamb, still without saying a word, but from time to time glancing anxiously up at the table where the lord of Navarcles and his two friends were laughing and shouting. The soldiers were resting some way away.

"Before we could hear loud laughter from here," the lord of Bellera complained. "So loud it drove away all our game. Come on, I want to hear you laugh!"

Nobody obeyed.

"Country bumpkins," he told his companions, who burst out laughing again.

The three of them sated themselves on lamb and chunks of white bread. The platters of salted pork and chicken stew were pushed to one side of the table. Bernat ate standing up nearby, occasionally glancing anxiously out of the corner of his eye at the gaggle of women surrounding Francesca.

"More wine!" the lord of Bellera demanded, raising his cup. "Estanyol," he shouted, seeking him out among the guests. "Next time you pay me the taxes on my land, I want you to bring this wine, not the vinegar your father has been fooling me with until now."

Bernat was facing the other way. Francesca's mother thrust a pitcher of wine into his hands.

"Estanyol, where are you?" Llorenc de Bellera pounded the table just as a serving woman was about to serve him more wine. A few drops sprinkled on his clothes. By now, Bernat was close to him, and his friends were laughing at the accident. Pere Esteve lifted his hands to his face.

"Stupid old crone! How dare you spill the wine?" The woman lowered her head in submission, and when the lord made to buffet her with his hand, she fell to the ground.

Llorenc de Bellera turned to his friends, cackling at the way the old woman was crawling away from them. Then he became serious once more, and addressed Bernat. "So there you are, Estanyol. Look what your clumsy old women have done! Are you trying to insult your lord and master? Are you so ignorant you don't realize that your guests should be served by the lady of the house? Where is the bride?" he repeated, when there was no response.

Pere Esteve took Francesca by the arm and led her to Bernat at the table. She was trembling from head to foot.

"Your lordship," said Bernat, "I present you my wife, Francesca."

"That's better," said Llorenc, openly staring up and down her. "Much better. From now on, you are to serve us the wine."

The lord of Navarcles sat down again, and raised his cup. Searching for a pitcher, Francesca ran to serve him. As she poured out the wine, her hand shook. Llorenc de Bellera grasped her wrist and steadied it. When his cup was full, he pushed her to serve his companions. As she did so, her breasts almost brushed his face.

"That is how wine should be served!" the lord of Navarcles bellowed. Standing next to him, Bernat clenched his fist and teeth.

Llorenc de Bellera and his friends went on drinking: they kept calling out for Francesca to come and refill their cups. The soldiers laughed with their lord and his friends whenever Francesca had to lean over the table to serve them. She tried to choke back her tears, and Bernat could see a trickle of blood on each of her hands where she had been digging in her nails. Each time she had to pour out the wine, the wedding guests fell silent and looked away.

"Estanyol,' Llorenc de Bellera finally shouted, clutching Francesca by the wrist, "In accordance with one of my rights as your lord, I have decided to lie with your wife on her first night of marriage."

His friends raucously applauded the decision. Bernat leapt toward the table, but before he could do anything, the lord's two companions, who had seemed hopelessly drunk, sprang up, hands on the pommels of their swords. Bernat stopped in his tracks. Llorenc stared at him, smiled, and then laughed out loud. The girl implored Bernat for help with her eyes.

Bernat stepped forward, but felt one of the swords pressed against his stomach. As the lord dragged her to the outside staircase of the farmhouse, Francesca still looked at him beseechingly. When the lord grabbed her round the waist and lifted her over his shoulder, she cried out.

The lord of Navarcles's friends sat down and took up their drinking again. The soldiers stood guard at the food of the staircase to prevent Bernat from making any move.

The sky was still a deep, dark blue.

After some minutes of that to Bernat seemed endless, Llorenc de Bellera appeared at the top of the staircase. He was sweaty and was trying to fasten his hunting doublet.

"Estanyol," he shouted in his stentorian tones as he walked past him toward the table, "now it's your turn. Dona Caterina," he said, referring to his new young bride for the sake of his companions, "is weary of bastard children of mine turning up all over the place. And I'm weary of her sniveling. So do your duty as a good Christian husband!' he said, turning and addressing Bernat.

Bernat lowered his head, and then walked slowly and reluctantly up the staircase. Everyone was staring at him. He went into the first-floor room, a large area that served as kitchen and dining room, with a big hearth one wall that was topped by a wrought-iron chimney piece. As he dragged himself over to the ladder that led to the bedroom and granary on the second floor, he could hear his footsteps echoing on the wooden boards. Unsure what to do, he stuck his head into the gap at the top of the ladder and peered around him.

His chin was level with the boards, and he could see Francesca's clothing scattered all over the floor. The white linen smock, her family's pride and joy, was torn to shreds. He climbed to the top of the ladder.

He found Francesca curled up in a ball. She lay completely naked on the new pallet, which was spattered with blood. She was stared blankly into space; covered with sweat, her body was scratched and bruised. She did not move.

"Estanyol!" Bernat heard Llorenc de Bellera shout from down below. "Your lord is waiting."

Bernat could not stop himself from retching, then vomiting on to the stored grain until he felt as if his whole insides had come up. Francesca still did not move. Bernat ran out of the room. When he reached the bottom of the staircase, his head was filled with the most revolting sensations. He ran blindly into the imposing shape of the lord of Navarcles.

"It would seem that the husband has not consummated his marriage," Llorenc de Bellera commented to his companions.

Bernat had to raise his head to face him.

"No... your lordship, I could not do it," he stammered.

Llorenc de Bellera fell silent.

"Well, if you are not up to the task, I'm sure that one of my friends-or my soldiers-will be more ready for it. I told you, I don't want any more bastards."

"You have no right...!"

The wedding guests looking on shuddered at what the consequences of this outburst might be. With one hand, the lord of Navarcles seized Bernat by the throat. He squeezed, and soon Bernat was gasping for breath.

"How dare you...? Are you thinking of using your lord's legitimate right to lie with the bride to late come and make claims for your bastard child?" Llorenc buffeted Bernat before letting him go. "Is that what you're after? Are you forgetting that I can punish you how and when I choose?"

He landed another blow on Bernat's cheek, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Where's my whip?" he shouted angrily.

The whip! Bernat has been only a child when, together with a crowd of others, he had been forced to accompany his parents to watch the public flogging that the lord of Navarcles had inflicted on a poor wretch, although nobody knew for certain what he had done wrong. The memory of the sound of the leather whip on that man's back resounded just as it had on the day and night after night throughout his childhood. No one who had been there that day dared as much as make a move; no one did so now. Bernat got to his knees and looked up and looked up at his feudal lord, standing there like a great boulder, his hand held out for someone to pass him his whip. Bernat recalled the raw flesh of the other man's back: a bleeding mass that not even all the lord's ferocity had succeeded in tearing any more strips from. Bernat crawled back toward the staircase blindly. He was trembling like a child caught up in a dreadful nightmare. Still no one moved or spoke. Still the sun shone in the clear blue sky.

"I'm so sorry, Francesca," Bernat whispered after he had struggled back up to the top of the ladder, pushed by one of the soldiers.

He undid his hose and knelt beside her. Glancing down at his limp member, he wondered how on earth he was going to fulfill his lord's command. With one finger he began to caress Francesca's bare ribs.

She did not react.

"I have... We have to do this," Bernat urged her, gripping her wrist to turn her toward him.

"Don't touch me!" Francesca cried, coming out of her stupor.

"He'll flay me alive!" Bernat protested, staring at her naked body.

"Leave me alone!"

They struggled, until finally Bernat had seized both her wrists and forced her upright. Francesca was still fighting him.

"Someone else will come!" he whispered. "Another man will be the one to force you!"

Her eyes opened wide in an accusing glare.

"He'll have me flayed!" Bernat repeated.

Francesca still struggled to beat him off, but he flung himself on top of her. Her tears were not enough to dampen the sudden rush of desire he felt as he rubbed against her naked body. As he penetrated her, she gave a shriek that reached the highest heaven.

Her cries satisfied the soldier who had followed Bernat and was witnessing the whole scene shamelessly, head and shoulders thrust into the room.

Before Bernat had finished, Francesca gradually stopped resisting, and her howls turned to sobs. Bernat reached his climax to the sound of his wife's tears.

Llorenc de Bellera also heard the screams from the second-floor window. Once his spy had confirmed that the marriage had been consummated, he called for the horses and he and his sinister troop left the farmhouse. Desolate and terrified, most of the wedding guests did the same.

Calm returned to the courtyard. Bernat was still sprawled across his wife. He had no idea what to do next. He realized he was still gripping her shoulders, and lifted his hands away. As he did so, he collapsed again on top of her. He pushed himself up and stared into Francesca's eyes. They seemed to be staring straight through him. Any movement he made would pressed his body against hers once more, and he could not bear the thought of doing her more harm. He wished he could levitate then and there so that he could separate his body from hers without even touching it.

Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, Bernat pushed himself away and kneeled down beside her. He still did not know what to do for the best: to stand up, lie down beside her, get out of the room, or to try to justify himself.... He could not bear to see Francesca's naked body, cruelly exposed on the pallet. He tried to get her to look at him, but her eyes were blank again. He looked down, and the sight of his own naked sex filled him with shame.

"I'm sorry-"

He was interrupted by a sudden movement from Francesca. Now she was staring straight at him. Bernat looked for some slight glimmer of understanding, but there was none.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. Francesca was still staring at him without the slightest sign of reacting. "I'm so sorry. He... he was going to flay me alive," he stammered.

In his mind's eye, Bernat saw the lord of Navarcles standing with his arm outstretched, calling for the whip. He searched Francesca's face: nothing. What he saw in her eyes frightened him still further: they were shouting in silence, as loudly as the screams she had uttered when he had flung himself on her.

Unwittingly, as though trying to make her understand he knew what she was going through, as if she were a little girl, he stretched out his hand toward her cheek.

"I...," he started to say.

His hand never reached her. As it approached, the muscles of her whole body stiffened. Bernat lifted his hand to his own face, and burst into tears.

Francesca lay there, staring into space.

After a long while, Bernat stopped crying. He got to his feet, put on his hose, and disappeared down the ladder to the floor beneath. As soon as she could no longer hear his footsteps, Francesca got up and went over to the chest that was the only furniture in the room, to find some clothes. When she was dressed, she gently picked up all the things that had been torn from her, including the precious white linen smock. Folding it carefully so that the rips did not show, she stowed it in the chest.