A Tinn’s tale

ne first thing I need you to promise me,’ Jantine took a deep breath, ‘is that you won’t go around and tell it to everyone. I’m telling you this because you need to know, because it’s part of our family and your history.’

 

 

‘I can keep a secret, Ma,’ Luc said.

‘Good. Because it is, you know, it’s quite a sensitive matter.’

Luc nodded sincerely.

 

 

‘You know your father is gone. Do you know why?’

‘Because he told the pastor that he was a liar. We shouldn’t disagree with the pastor.’

‘It is easier not to, yes. But your father did, Luc, and your sisters and I shared that thought. He was of the opinion that the Church took advantage of the people, that they exploited them in the name of the Bible.’

‘And did they?’

‘Well, you may think of that what you will. But we noticed many ambiguities in the pastor’s services and speeches over the past years. And things we knew he had distorted to suit his purpose instead of the Lord’s.’

Luc’s expression was one of deep thinking and she knew he was searching for memories that confirmed this statement.

 

‘Do you remember when everyone was running out of food in the winter before last and he said we needn’t worry, because he and the Earl would take care of us?’

‘Yes.’

‘And then next spring, the tithes were twice as high for the Baker and the Thatcher family, because, according to the pastor, they had the largest families and he had had to do more work for them to be fed. So, he said, they still owe me something.’

‘And he used the extra tithes for himself!’ Luc remembered.

‘Exactly. Well, you may think of that what you will, but..’

 

 

‘I see,’ Luc said, nodding slowly.

‘There are other examples too, like when he wanted only the finest flowers from the Meadowsweet family for Easter - do you remember? - and at first they felt honoured, but then they realized they had nothing left. And of course that was just before everyone else came to buy Easter bouquets..’

‘But, Ma, where does Pa come into all this?’

‘That’s what I’m wanting to tell you. The pastor was being dishonest with the people, and your father knew. He saw right through him. And so he didn’t like to go to Church anymore, because he couldn’t stand hearing the man deceive all the villagers.’

‘And the villagers didn’t realize?’

‘Well, some of them had the faintest idea, I imagine, but they were well cared for and didn’t complain.
So your father didn’t always go to the Sunday Service, and when he did, he was not exactly the role model of devotion.’ Jantine chuckled. ‘He made little remarks, not only at Mass but also in conversation with villagers. He even told Geofryc Baker that he, to be honest, didn’t think the pastor to be so innocent himself.’

Luc frowned.

‘That made people believe that perhaps he wasn’t that religious at all. The whispers spread quickly.. They even called him a heretic.’

 

 

‘He could get really worked up about that, you know your father.. He found it really hard to hold his tongue. That one day in Church, he just spat it all out.
And when the rumours reached the Earl, and the Earl realized who it was he was dealing with, well..’

 

 

‘All hope was gone.’