Summary

Chapter 4 opens in Early July 997 in the Norman town of Cherbourg. Lady Ragnhild, known as Ragna, is the daughter of the ruler, Count Hubert. Her mother is Genevieve. Ragna, who is 20, is supposed to be nice to their visitors, an English monk named Brother Aldred and a priest named Father Louis. Father Louis is evaluating Ragna as a possible wife for a young nobleman named Guillaume, the nephew if King Robert II of France. Ragna knows she is going to have to give in to marry someone, but she wants to have some say in the matter. She often chastises herself for being too outspoken or sounding overly confident. Ragna invites Louis and Aldred to go with her to a nearby village while she attends business for Hubert that afternoon. They discuss the situation in the country, including that most men do not...