And that really appealed to him.
揟his is an opportunity for you to meet others,?he said to Andre as they both donned robes. 揧our first as a Perfectus. Some you know, but circulate around and introduce yourself to those you don抰。 These are your peers now.?
Andre nodded and walked off.
He headed beyond the fire to an older man sitting alone in the dark on one of the wooden benches beneath the trees. The land for nearly a kilometer in every direction was owned by a believer, so the gathering was assured privacy. He walked over and sat on the bench beside Raymond Barbe, the oldest living Perfectus. How old? Nobody really knew. Most guessed ninety to ninety-five.
揑 made contact today.?He spoke in Occitan, which they both understood.
揥hat was it like??Raymond asked, the voice rough and gravelly, as if it hurt to talk. 揌ow did it feel to face him again??
How had it felt? He抎 come to despise Gerard Vilamur, a man who for all his righteous correctness was nothing more than an arrogant hypocrite who preyed on vulnerable women.
揝trange, actually,?he said. 揂ll that anger, which I抳e been amassing for thirty-two years, was instantly replaced by an immense satisfaction. A feeling that I had him right where I wanted him.?
His mother never remarried, raising him alone, then dying of breast cancer before making it to age sixty. To her final breath she never said a foul word about Vilamur.
揌e抯 your father,?she told him, struggling to breathe. 揊ind him. Make him accept you.?
揌e said he never wanted to hear from us again. He denied everything. He was cruel to you.?
揑 loved him, Bernat. God help me, but I did. I still love him.?
揃ut what of your husband??
揑 loved him too. Only differently.?
Incredibly, in her mind, what happened between her and Vilamur had always seemed her fault. Unhappy in her marriage, she抎 tempted a priest and caused his fall from grace. Not the other way around. The burden of raising a child on her own became a sort of penance for that perceived sin, which she抎 accepted with the grace of a fool. He抎 loved her as a son should love his mother, but the older he became the more he realized where the fault lay.
揟he one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning,?he said.
Raymond smiled. 揟he Gospel of John is always instructive. Here抯 some more. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father抯 desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.?
揟hat he is. And now I have that cheat and liar precisely where I want him.?
揇on抰 get ahead of yourself.?
Good advice.
He owed this old man everything. Fifteen years ago, Raymond had been his socius when he抎 ascended to the Perfecti. True to the name, the old man had been a comrade who shared both his labors and his hardships. He抎 confided in Raymond and told him the truth about himself. Together, over the years, they抎 formulated the plan he was now implementing. Raymond had been the one to tell him about les Vautours.
揟he Holy Roman Church has always been interested in them. Trust me on this. That curiosity dates all the way back to our time. Before the crusade.?
揇o you know why??
揑 was never told. Only that the group had caused the church many problems and they wanted to eliminate them while they were eliminating us.?
So he抎 included a reference in his second communication with Vilamur simply as a misdirection since he could not then reveal the real reason for the extortion, not until they were face-to-face. He wanted to watch the reaction for himself. But it had not been much. Vilamur had stuck to his lie. Which he could, for a few days more.
揑抦 having the DNA test run,?he said. 揑抣l be taking the samples to a lab tomorrow.?
揟hat will be the incontrovertible proof,?Raymond said. 揟hen, and only then, will you have him where you want him.?
Fifty meters away the bonfire continued to burn and the Perfecti were mingling among themselves all around it.
揑t抯 good to see them all together,?Raymond said.
That it was.
揟he sinner priest is dead??Raymond asked.
He nodded. 揋one to hell, where he belongs.?
Killing had never been part of Cathar doctrine. But allowing a predator like Tallard to continue to live seemed even worse. So they抎 compromised and outsourced the task. Good thing he could afford to hire the right people.
揂ndre is proving to be an excellent recruit,?he said.
揟hat is good to hear. I feel for him. He endured a lot. We need more like him.?
揑抣l make sure we get them. There is another problem.?