In Vain: A Prequel to the Averillan Chronicles
Geisler, Barbara R.
In 11th-century England, Abbess Cecily hosts a dinner at Shaftesbury Abbey. Among the guests are Cecily's half brother, Tirel, a knight and world-weary veteran of the Crusades, Sir Baudri de Beaumont and his lovely wife, Beatrice, and Beatrice's look-alike sister Sophina. As minstrels, jugglers, and acrobats amuse the diners, Beatrice suddenly collapses in agony and breathes her last. It now falls to Dame Averilla, a headstrong young nun, Sir ...