‘When Saunière came here around 1885 this church was falling to bits, and he decided to renovate it. That’s how it has become what it is. Shall we start at the entrance? I suppose you’ve noticed our devil, Asmodeus?’
‘Yes. What interests me,’ Rahn said, ‘is the inscription. It reads, “Par ce signe tu le vaincras,” that is, “With this sign you will vanquish him”, instead of “Par ce signe, tu vaincras” – “With this sign, you will vanquish”.’
‘Why, I believe you are right!’ the priest said, enlightened. ‘Fancy that! Perhaps it was a mistake? Yes.’ The priest seemed at a loss for words and turned his attention to the church again. ‘You see there, above the confessional, there is a relief of the Sermon on the Mount and the inscription “Come to me all those who suffer and I will ease your pain” . . . And as we walk down the central nave, we see along the walls the Stations of the Cross. Now, behind us, as you can see, opposite the entrance, is the baptismal and a statue of Jesus with John the Baptist.’
‘John looks rather large?’ the girl said.
‘Yes, but after the baptism it is well known that Jesus increases while John the Baptist decreases. Quite a clever man was our Abbé Saunière. Now, if we move along, on your right we see a statue of Saint Germaine, the shepherdess who was disfigured and gave away all her possessions, and to your left Saint Roche, and then Saint Anthony the Hermit, who was tempted by devils.’
‘The same saints that are found in the Bugarach church,’ Rahn remarked.
‘Bugarach?’ the priest said, suddenly attentive.
‘The abbé of Bugarach was my uncle,’ the girl said.
He looked at her with a questioning expression, as if he were trying to fit a piece to a puzzle. ‘I didn’t think he had a niece?’
‘Did you know him?’ Rahn asked.
‘What do you mean, “did”? Has something happened to him?’ There was a sudden intensity in his voice.
‘My uncle had an accident,’ Eva said.
‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. May I ask, what sort of accident?’ He leant in.
‘He drowned,’ she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
‘Drowned? I thought he’d had a stroke. Strangely enough, I had a choice of coming here or going to Bugarach—’
‘Really?’ Rahn said. ‘What made you choose Rennes-le-Château?’
Abbé Lucien looked at Rahn. His blond eyelashes shivered like wings and he smiled a nervous smile, wrinkling that young face. ‘I don’t like volcanoes.’ He nodded his head and touched the tip of his black cap again. ‘My condolences, mademoiselle.’
Eva had charmed him!
The young priest continued with an awkward, self-conscious tone that made Rahn feel like a third wheel: ‘Well . . . here on the right we have Mary Magdalene, for whom this church is dedicated. Further along on the left we have the pulpit and opposite that, Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost items. Behind the altar, one sees the Holy Virgin holding her child on the right, and on the left, Joseph is also holding Jesus.’
Eva turned to the priest with a frown. ‘Two Jesus babies in one church, how remarkable!’
‘I did say he was an interesting man!’ He laughed a little, embarrassed and delighted.
The altar drew Rahn’s attention. He pointed to it. ‘Can we get closer?’
‘Well . . .’ The abbé seemed uncertain. ‘I suppose that would be permissible . . .’ He took a step and opened the gate leading to the enclosure.
Rahn paused on the threshold to quell the anxiety he was feeling, before following the other two. He wiped his brow and tried to look calm but he glimpsed something that immediately took his eye. It was a slab of engraved stone sitting against the wall. ‘What is that, Abbé?’ he said, going down on one knee to look at it.
‘Oh, that is the knight’s flagstone. I don’t know where to put it.’
‘It reminds me of a Templar Seal,’ Rahn said as he looked closely, ‘two knights on one horse . . .’
‘It was placed here by the Blancheforts, I believe.’
‘I see.’ But Rahn’s mind was now on the altar. ‘This looks quite modern.’
‘Yes, the entire renovation began when Saunière replaced the old altar, which was really just one great slab of stone sitting on two ancient pillars of the Visigoth period.’
They drew closer to look at the painted relief of Mary Magdalene praying in a grotto some distance from a township; she was depicted with a book by her side and a skull nearby.