"Katherine Kurtz - Kelson 3 - The Quest for Saint Camber" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

him. Other than one of Cardiel's darks, taking down a careful transcript at
the end of the table, only Dhugal, Morgan, the king, and Nigel had been
permitted to attend.
"Your Excellency knows that was not possible," Duncan said. "I never saw
her again. She died the following winter."
"Yes, so you have said. The salient point here, however, which must be
addressed, has nothing to do with omission of a later regularization of the
marriage, but whether a declaration before the Blessed Sacrament in fact
fulfills the elements of per verba de praesenti."
Arilan, serving as Duncan's counsel, cleared his throat.
"Ah, there is a parallel precedent in ancient Talmudic law. Wolfram," he
pointed out. "I doubt the comparison has often been invoked, but we have in
the sacred tabernacle, before which the Presence lamp bums, a direct lineal
descendant of the Jewish Ark of the Covenant. Interestingly enough, the Ark
was permitted, in necessity, to substitute for one of the quorum of ten adult
males required for many public rituals of Jewish worship."
"Implying that the Ark functioned as a witness of sorts?" Wolfram asked,
frowning.
Arilan nodded. "Beyond question. Surely at least equal in weight to the
mere mortals making up the other nine- and in symbol, at least, the physical
representative of the presence of the living God. If, as we believe. God is
physically present in the Blessed Sacrament as the Body and Blood of Christ,
then can the Holy Presence in the tabernacle before which Duncan and Maryse
made their vows be any tess valid a witness?"
Duncan scarcely dared to breathe as the import of the argument sank in;
he sensed that the others, seated behind him, recognized it, too. Arilan had
scored a point not easily refuted; for to deny the real Presence of God in the
Sacrament housed in the tabernacle was clearly blasphemy.
Wolfram pursed his lips and looked to Cardiel for guidance, but the
archbishop only raised an eyebrow, turning the initiative back to Wolfram.
Cardiel was already far from neutral in this case, being Duncan's immediate
superior. He did not know, in the way that many others in the room knew, that
Duncan was telling the truth-but he sincerely believed he was. Unfortunately,
neither believing nor knowing was sufficient in a court of ecclesiastical law,
especially when the latter came of Deryni proving.
For Duncan McLain, besides being a bishop and the father of a son, was
also Deryni-a member of that magical race whose powers had been feared and
condemned by the Church for nearly two centuries. Duncan's identity as Deryni
was not widely known outside the highest ecclesiastical circles, and even
there was not officially acknowledged-for though the Church had long
prohibited Deryni from entering the priesthood, Duncan McLain was an able,
pious, and loyal churchman, Deryni or not-but speculation was rife. Thus far,
Duncan had managed neither to confirm nor deny what he was.
There were other Deryni in the room as well, though only one besides the
king was openly known to be so. Folk had always known who and what Alaric
Morgan was. Protected by Kelson's Haldane grandfather and father through
childhood and youth, he eventually had come to grudging acceptance at court
because of his unswerving loyalty to the House of Haldane and because he had
the good sense not to flaunt his abilities. Even the human Bishop Wolfram
acknowledged guarded respect for the fair-haired man in black sitting at the