'The Town House' (3) - Anne Blanchefleur's Tale Quiz

Answer: Minsham Old Hall

Minsham Old Hall was originally built for defence, and was cold and damp. It was indirectly through this that Anne was to lose her mother as the story goes on, but for the beginning of the story, we see her mother hopping onto a stool to look out of the highly-set narrow gaps which served for windows (unglazed) in the building, to see Martin Reed arrive.

Answer: he needed a fire to heat some tar for his sheep and their house was closest

"Mother, of course, had been obliging, and while the tar warmed and he stirred it, she had stood by him talking about sheep. She'd learned quite a lot about sheep when she was staying with her Uncle Bowdegrave at Abhurst in Kent, where the sheep were quite different from those in Suffolk, she said. Stirring away at his tar, Master Reed shot her a look and said, 'That's right, ma'am; shorter legs and blunter heads.'"

I wonder how Martin felt when Anne's mother claimed kinship to the man who had been his feudal lord when he was younger, and from whom he 'stole' himself and Kate after they had been refused permission to marry.

Answer: she had no dower

A girl having a baby outside marriage would have totally destroyed her life (unless it was kept VERY quiet by her family), but being ugly or stupid would have been no impediment to marriage if she had a large dower. Later in the book Anne's daughter tells how her uncle married a 'true half-wit' with 'protruding eyes which did not see very well' because she was a considerable heiress. Beauty, accomplishment and connections meant nothing when the dower a girl brought to the marriage was small or non-existent.

Answer: St Petronella

St Egbert was the saint whose shrine was at the Abbey in Baildon; Martin had prayed there when his leg was broken and ended up shorter than the other; the miracle was that one of the monks thought to put an additional sole on his right shoe. Martin was uncertain as to what would happen when Anne went to see St Petronella, and had a quiet word with his daughter-in-law.

"'Anne, I know the purpose of your journey, and I wish you well. But...' He hesitated and then said, jerkily, the words coming out of him in a rush, 'Don't count too much upon it. Miracles...' he paused again and looked down at his lame leg and the thick-soled shoe, 'They work in a queer twisted way,' he said. 'And I can't for the life of me see how what you're wanting could be other than straightforward. And I don't believe they can be that way. Miracles I mean.' He touched my shoulder and said, 'Perhaps your faith is greater.'"

Answer: nine months

Not a word had been exchanged between the two in the whole time, but when they looked at each other, both knew what the other was thinking. It wasn't until both Richard and Martin were absent from the Old Vine at the same time that Anne was able to meet up with Denys.

Answer: that the child would have only one eye as it was likely to be Denys' baby

Although Anne had thoughts of dying with unconfessed sin, this was during the very long and painful labour she endured. A priest had been called to her bedside, but the presence of the ladies in the room, including her mother, stopped Anne from seeking absolution. Her main worry during pregnancy was that the one-eyed routier, Denys, would father a one-eyed child. When her twins were born, however, both were whole and well.

Throughout Anne's story, and later in the interval between this and the next tale, it is strongly implied that Maude was Denys' daughter, while Walter was Richard's son. It is possible that twins may be fathered by two different men, but in this case I believe that Maude was also Richard's child. The family line which continue to live in the Old Vine include a 'flaw in the weave' which creates musical geniuses who can cast spells with their talent, and this comes from Martin's second wife, Magda, Richard's mother.

Answer: they were caught in a thunderstorm

Richard's 'lung-rot' (which could have been consumption - TB) was exasperated by getting drenched in the hailstorm. The doctor prescribed a remedy which was a greenish-grey powder, with strict instructions not to over-use it as it could be a poison as easily as it was a cure for ills.

Although not actually stated as fact, it is implied that it was this substance which Anne used to kill Denys.

Answer: it was her mother's birthday

Although Clement was supposed to accompany her on the journey, Anne found that Denys was to go with her instead. Although it was well over a year since their single tryst, Denys was convinced that Anne wished to continue their assignations. Determined not to be in his sole company, she asked her mother if she could stay the night, and this was to bring about her mother's accident; because the building was so damp and cold the thin mattress was very damp and needed airing by the fire.

As she was bringing down the bed tick, she slipped and fell off the un-banistered staircase.

The resulting inner bruising was to cause a blood clot and kill her within days.

Answer: her mother died

It was never said that Denys died by Anne's hand, but the clues were all there for a reader to see that she poisoned the wine with Richard's medicine, and after Richard died she was to say that she was responsible for three deaths in her lifetime. She blamed herself for her mother's death, saying that she died because her daughter was a coward - she had not wanted to ride back to the Old Vine with Denys.

Answer: Brandewijn

Martin was scandalised that Anne, the daughter of a Knight, was a drinker, but was persuaded by his son that if it was all right with her husband, then her father-in-law should accept the situation as well. The alcohol did not dull Anne's thoughts entirely though, and she often had bad dreams.

It was waking Richard after one of these, when her daughter turned into Denys before her eyes, which led to the final, fatal coughing fit which left her a widow. She was to lay the blame for this third death to her own door as well as those of Denys and her mother.