The troupe spends several hours in the company of the Prior and much business is attended to. The company fills-in the middle-aged monk about all of their trials and dangers faced, and he in turn attempts to heal the pustules which seem to be growing at an alarming rate on Vincent's arm. Before they leave Guillaume examines their wax sculpture more closely and brings down an ancient tome on one of his shelves. He hastily flips through scores of pages until exclaiming, "Aha!" He declares that the large "candle" is made from a substance he calls an Icense of Prayer; supposedly an invention of the oracles of ancient Greece and used by the old Romans to aid them in their communion with the gods. With no immediate use for it, the party agrees to trade it to the old monk in exchange for a half-dozen phials of restorative elixir he retrieves from his private quarters. Hopefully the elixirs won't be needed, but after their ordeal, any sort of help -- divine or mundane -- is appreciated. The troupe files off one-by-one to their chambers at the Cock & Strumpet and wakes up feeling refreshed. All, that is, save for Vincent whose fever and infection only worsens through the night.
In the morning, the Prior once again prays over Vincent and leaves him to the care of God. Meanwhile, Ganelon and Vandal ask Jacques the hunter to show them the hidden paths of the marsh, so that they may commit it to memory for the time when the services of their guide is no longer available. Madeline sets about finding a mule, and attempts to hire a new body servant. Ultimately she settles for hiring the strapping lad who sold her the mule, figuring if anybody will know how to best care for it, it's this Felix fellow. Daphne continues to study the objects pilfered from the tombs and, all of their booty is exchanged for hard currency of the realm that merchants will actually accept in barter. Supplies are restocked, contracts are struck, and another day passes.
On the third morning back from the strange underworld tomb, Prior Guillaume again tries to heal Vincent and sends him on his way. Vincent perhaps sensing subconsciously that the end is nigh decides to spend the rest of his day chasing after a buxom milkmaid, called Isabel. Despite his fevered, weakened state he somehow manages to woo the impressionable lass and spends the rest of the day in blissful congress. That night poor Vincent finally succumbs to his infection and is found stone dead in his chambers the next morning. They say death comes in threes: First Horatio, then Madeline's man-servant Sancho, now poor Vincent -- Three funerals in a week. The small hoard of coins and valuables liberated from the ground has been paid in blood and then some.
That evening while the Norbertines finish preparing Sancho's body, and now Vincent's, for burial a weird, uncanny thing happens. Screams of alarm erupt from the infirmary and people in the village rush to see what the commotion is about. Prior Guillaume and the two acolyte brothers under his tutelage are found among the wreckage of two coffins, seemingly burst from inside. At the monks' feet are two smoking corpses laying on the tile floor, smote by the power of God apparently; set aflame by the holy words uttered by Prior Guillaume. Quite shaken and a little uncertain of what should be done, the fat friar declares that he is to set off for Vyones at first light to seek the counsel of the Bishop. He is more than happy to have the troupe accompany him to provide their own eyewitness testimony.
Intrigued by the strange goings on, one of the actors that travelled with the troupe from Arles, a certain acrobat by the name of Grima Boneur asks to tag along . . .
