Part Three/Fourteen Summary

Hugh is suffering greatly from his problem with his bowels, but his leg seems to be healing, thanks to the duke's own leeches. He is not too ill to notice Nirac's presence or ridicule of him. Hugh is gruff at first, but as Katherine tends to him and tells him news of their children, he grows gentler. Hugh's only weapon against his impotence is drink and rage, and Katherine tries not to think of the violent nights before he left Kettlethorpe, but does inform him that she is not pregnant.

The friar who has saved Hugh's life comes for a visit. He applies a poultice of pounded watercress to the wound, and reminds Hugh to take his camphor poppy juice to heal the flux. The friar has served as confessor for Hugh and knows all about him and his...