Aleric Donnal’s notebook
Aleric Donnal’s notebook
Somebody mentioned today that my strange student’s sister took her own life earlier this year.
I am surprised he hasn’t asked the university to make some allowance for his family tragedy.
I know such a request would be dealt with sympathetically.
Today he dropped a leaflet in the corridor.
I ran after him and tried to give it back, but he told me he didn’t want it.
It was for a local zoo, which I found surprising, and when I was putting it in my briefcase, he seemed agitated and muttered something about sirens enchanting men with their beauty.
I am concerned about his state of mind. He is definitely in need of help.
But I am unaccustomed to dealing with such things.
I tried to put the awkwardness I felt aside and engage him in conversation.
I asked him where he was living and he said he had moved away from home and was now sharing a house with others.
He said the name of the house was St Julian’s, and this name interested me greatly because it was the dedication of the chapel and holy well built as penance by Thomas Fontescue, Brother Anselm’s ‘sinner’, whose story and confession I had found in the muniment room at Fontescue Hall. I wondered if there was a connection.
I asked him whether his landlord was Ethelred Bingley, and he said he thought he was.
I was surprised at the coincidence, because Ethelred had mentioned the house he owned near Neston only the other day and told me he’d come across some interesting carvings in the garden.
I found it more comfortable to change the subject to matters historical, so I asked Jon if he was aware of any statues in the grounds.
He said there might be something like that, but he wasn’t sure because the gardens are extensive and mostly woodland.
Later I called Ethelred and he confirmed that the carvings were definitely there and probably very ancient. He also mentioned some ruins, and I wondered whether they could be the remains of the chapel mentioned in the documents I found at Fontescue Hall.
Ethelred told me that the carvings resembled animals. He said he’d seen three. An ape, a griffin and something that looked like a bull. I said it might be a bonnacon.
What a stroke of luck. I can’t wait to see them.