the marriage, then the rapist will not face punishment.” Joan’s hand was still in front of his face. “Is that true, Brother Joan?” she insisted, when he made no reply.
“Yes, bur ...”
“Is it true or not?”
“It is true,” Joan concurred. “Rape is punishable by lifelong exile if no violence is involved, and with death if there is. But if the two agree to marry, or the rapist proposes a husband of similar social rank whom the girl accepts, then there is no punishment.”
A smile stole across Eleonor’s face, which she quickly tried to stifle when Joan again tried to get her to change her mind. She adopted the position of the wronged wife.
“I don’t know, but I can tell you there is nothing I would not try in order to win my husband back. Let’s find someone who will abduct her,” she insisted, “then rape her, and then we will consent to his marrying the girl.” Joan shook his head. “What’s the difference?” Eleonor stressed. “We could force Mar to marry, even against her will, if Arnau were not so blind ... so bewitched by that girl. You yourself have said you wanted to see her marry, but Arnau will not hear of it. All we would be doing is to remove that woman’s pernicious influence on my husband. We would be the ones who chose Mar’s future husband, just as if she were being married in an ordinary way. The only difference is we do not need Arnau’s agreement. We cannot count on that, because he has lost his reason over that girl. Do you know any other father who would allow his daughter to grow old without marrying? However much money they may have, or however noble they are. Do you know anyone? Even the king gave me away against ... without asking my opinion.”
Joan gradually yielded to Eleonor’s arguments. She used the friar’s weakness to insist over and over again on her precarious situation, the sin that was being committed in her own home ... Joan promised to think it over ... and did so. Eventually, he agreed they should approach Felip de Ponts: with conditions, but he did agree.
“Not always,” Eleonor said again.
Knights were expected to know what was in the
“Are you sure the girl would agree to the marriage? Why hasn’t she married already then?”
“Her guardians will give their permission.”
“Why don’t they simply arrange a marriage for her?”
“That is none of our business,” Eleonor cut in. “That,” she thought, “will be for me to sort out... me and the friar.”
“You are asking me to abduct and rape a girl, and yet you tell me the reason behind it is none of my business. You have chosen the wrong man, my lady. I may be a debtor, but I am a knight ...”
“She is my ward.” Felip de Ponts looked surprised. “Yes. I’m talking about my ward, Mar Estanyol.”
Felip de Ponts well remembered the girl Arnau had adopted. He had seen her several times in the countinghouse and had even shared a pleasant conversation with her one day when he had gone to visit Eleonor.
“You want me to abduct and rape your own ward?”
“I think I have been sufficiently clear, Don Felip. I can assure you that there will be no punishment.”
“What reason... ?”
“The reasons are my affair! Well, what do you say?”
“What will I gain by it?”
“Her dowry will be generous enough to cancel all your debts. Believe me, my husband will be exceedingly generous toward his daughter. Besides, you would win my favor, and you know how close I am to the king.”
“What about the baron?”
“I will deal with him.”
“I don’t understand ...”
“There’s nothing more to understand: ruin, disrepute, dishonor ... or my support.” At this, Felip de Ponts sat down. “Ruin or riches, Don Felip. If you reject my offer, tomorrow will see the baron calling in your debt and disposing of your lands, your weapons, and your animals. You can rest assured of that.”
44
TEN DAYS OF anguished uncertainty went by until Arnau received the first news of Mar. Ten days during which he suspended all activity beyond that of trying to find out what had become of the girl, who had disappeared without a trace. He met the city magistrate and councillors to press them to do all they could to discover what had happened. He offered huge rewards for any information about Mar’s fate or whereabouts. He prayed more than he had ever prayed before, until finally Eleonor, who said she had heard something from a passing merchant who had been looking for him, confirmed his worst suspicions. The girl had been kidnapped by a knight by the name of Felip de Ponts who was one of his debtors. The knight was keeping her by force in a fortified farmhouse close to Mataro, which was less than a day on foot north of Barcelona.
Arnau sent the Consulate’s
Nobody dared interrupt him; out of respect, the workmen took greater care with whatever they were doing. On his knees beneath the small stone figure that had always meant so much to him, Arnau tried to ward off the scenes of horror and panic that had assaulted him over the past ten days and now came flashing into his mind once again, interspersed with images of Felip de Ponts’s face.
Felip de Ponts had seized Mar inside her own house. He had bound and gagged her, and beat her until she was so exhausted she could no longer resist. He bundled her into a sack and sat with it up on the back of a cart loaded with harnesses driven by one of his servants. Then, making as though he had come to buy or repair bridles and saddles, he was able to pass through the city gates without arousing the slightest suspicion. Back in his own farmhouse, he took her into the fortified tower lying alongside it, and there raped her time and again, his violence and passion only increasing as he realized how beautiful his captive was and how obstinately she tried to defend her body even after she had lost her virginity. Felip de Ponts had promised Joan he would rob her of her virtue without even undressing her, without showing her his own body, and using only the minimum force. He kept his
