A/N – This story is a direct sequel to 'The Salvation of Silas' which can be found on this web-site.

Please read this first before attempting to read the sequel, as you will not recognize many of the OCs or follow the story without having done so.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

Matt 6:13

Chapter One

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her

Ephesians 5:25

Sennett agreed to marry Silas that Sunday much to the Abbott's joy. Sennett and Silas went in to Zurich together to buy rings and make arrangements for a honeymoon to Guarda in the Engadine valley region. Guarda was a very quiet village set well off the tourist track. The village had strong Romansh culture and beautiful mountain scenery or so Abbott Philemon had assured them. He had also recommended spending part of their time in Pontresina, a low-key resort village in the St Moritz lakes region. There he promised them unforgettable lakes, lush valleys and rugged glaciers. As long as these places weren't tourist traps, Sennett was happy. The less people from outside Switzerland who saw Silas and his distinctive looks the better, as far as she was concerned.

Silas was very proud to be able to buy Sennett her wedding ring with his wages from working on the Abbey farm. His new employer was taking over responsibility for his studies, so the Abbey had paid out Silas his back wages. It was a long time since Silas had had money of his own, since well before he had been in jail or joined Opus Dei. It was a novelty to him again.

The Abbott had taken Silas aside and explained to him his financial position and also the best way to use the funds that would now come to him.

"You must use these funds to buy a wedding ring for Sennett and also a wedding gift. Other than that, let Sennett take care of any practical expenses until you're living together and both earning an income. She is a wealthy woman and used to being financially independent. She won't expect you to contribute financially until such a time as you've begun the apprenticeship on the farm. It will only be for a few weeks," the Abbott counseled wisely.

Silas nodded, his pale eyes withdrawn as he thought about what the Abbott had said. Sennett had already spent a lot of her wealth on him but she never made him feel like he owed her anything. She seemed to take her own wealth for granted and it passed easily through her hands to others, she was not grudging with it. Spending ?20,000 on a private plane was like spending ?2 to her. She did it with the same thoughtlessness.

What the Abbott understood and Silas did not was that Silas' own unworldliness aided their rather unequal relationship. A different sort of man would feel very keenly the inequality between them and come to resent the favours Sennett had done. It would have become a wedge driven between them. Silas' humility had enabled him to reach out and take the love that was there for him where a more proud man would have walked away from it.

Sennett and Silas split up in Zurich so Sennett could buy a dress. This suited Silas because he wanted to buy Sennett a wedding present. He had pleaded with the Abbott to come with him because he knew he would buy something dreadful without guidance so the Abbott had made up a reason to hitch a lift with them into Zurich and then he met up with Silas later once Sennett had gone off to the dress shops.

Finally, all was ready for the simple wedding and the monks were gathered in the Kloster, abnormally agitated with excitement, for little broke their strict routine and there was to be a small party afterwards.

Sennett had been a bit intimidated when she'd seen the Kloster as it was rather large and very ornate and she would have preferred a much smaller church particularly with so few people attending. Especially as everyone would be staring at her!

Unusually for her, she had puzzled over what to wear. One part of her just wanted to wear a simple, well-cut, white suit. Another part of her wondered if Silas would be disappointed if she was that practical and modern, and whether she should wear a proper wedding dress. Then another part of her wondered if Silas would even notice what she was wearing at all!

In the end, she had opted for an Edwardian style wedding dress with a high neck, long sleeves and a long skirt with touches of lace.

The ceremony itself was very clear and stark in her memory. She would remember very small details very sharply for the rest of her life. They had the full Catholic Mass sung by the monks and Sennett could remember how crisp the air felt, the shiny dark marble of the Kloster altar stairs, the trio of life sized angels far above their heads under the arch over the altar, the expression in Silas' pale eyes as he turned to look at her approach him (an expression she still couldn't name), the deep tones of the monks' singing, the texture of her own wedding dress and the smell of incense. She could feel Silas' long, warm fingers close over hers after the ceremony and hear the excited congratulations of the monks.

Silas was the opposite. He noticed nothing around him as he waited for the ceremony to begin. His long, pale fingers fiddled nervously with the lapels of the morning suit that the Abbott had helped him to rent in Zurich. Perhaps something would go wrong and Sennett wouldn't appear, he thought with deep agitation. Silas was used to things going horribly wrong in his life. His white head was downbent and his eyes unseeing as he contemplated the numerous things that could possibly happen. Maybe Sennett could suddenly get really sick and have to be taken to hospital. Maybe Opus Dei had found out where he was and would stop her appearing so the wedding couldn't go ahead and then they'd take him away. Or maybe Sennett would just change her mind… He tried to shake the feeling of dread but he couldn't. He was too used to disasters and heartbreak. He tried to just focus on the minutes ticking by until the ceremony started and keep his mind clear but thoughts of disaster crowded in thick and fast regardless.

Finally Sennett did appear and he watched her approach with a surreal feeling, trying not to betray his anxiety by fiddling with his uncomfortable suit again. She looked like herself but she didn't. In her wedding dress, she looked almost unapproachable, like a woman in a magazine or from a movie. But then she smiled at him and she was his Sennett again. He was still fearful, however. Something could still go wrong. Until the ring was on her finger, anything could happen. Finally the Abbott pronounced them man and wife, and Silas felt the tension drain from his muscles. He felt odd kissing her in front of the monks, men he had lived with for so long, so he didn't kiss her as long as he wanted to (which wouldn't have been respectable anyway).

The reception was, by necessity, brief as the monks had another service to attend as part of their Daily Office. Some of the locals who knew Silas through his work on the Abbey farm had been invited as well and they met Sennett with curious but kind looks and talked approvingly amongst themselves about how beautiful and elegant she was. They were surprised at the match as it was obvious Silas was not from the same background but they could see from the way Sennett and Silas looked at each other and spoke together during the reception that there was genuine love there.

Sennett was bemused by the fact that they both had to kiss and hug every single monk goodbye at the end of the reception as they filed off back to the Kloster for afternoon None. She quickly changed into her traveling suit in a small room the monks had let her use for the day and then she and Silas were ready to leave for Guarda.

They would arrive by nightfall. Sennett was happy for Silas to drive, he knew his way around Switzerland quite well already having lived there for awhile. She would still have to get used to it. It was very, very pretty and she knew she would be happy there not least because she would be with Silas. She had liked London well enough but cities were claustrophobic and she knew she would be far happier living out in a farming district.

She examined his profile in the failing light, the twilight making his eyes look eerily colourless. He was watching the road and silent as per usual. They hadn't really had any opportunity to talk privately that day and now they were both tired from the demands of the ceremony and being on public display, not an easy thing for either of them. She didn't break the silence because it was comfortable for both of them.

They arrived on nightfall and checked in to their private chalet. Silas brought the luggage in and Sennett shrugged off her traveling jacket. It was not a particularly luxurious chalet as the village was too small to have that level of accommodation but neither of them was likely to mind.

"I never thanked you for my wedding present," Sennett said, putting her hand over the ornate gold and garnet cross that was hanging around her neck and had been there all day. The Abbott had delivered it to her that morning so she could wear it with her wedding dress.

"Something new," he'd said with a smile.

Sennett's gift had been delivered to Silas at the Abbey the night before. She had given him a set of top of the range animal husbandry tools including blades, cutters, combs, clippers, shears, hoof care tools and other items she frankly didn't want to know the use for. They came in a tough leather case and she had Silas' initials stamped in one corner. The firm she ordered them from assured her that they would last a lifetime and most of them would be able to be passed on to another generation. She had also wanted to give him something personal and she had located a silver and bronze icon of St Francis.

Silas had spent half the night looking over the tools in pleasure, knowing how valuable they were and how much easier they would make his work, but he really loved the icon the best. He had no idea how she knew but he often recited the Canticles of St Francis as he worked and the Prayer of St Francis was his favourite. Then again, Sennett was a prophet so perhaps that's how she knew. She knew all sorts of strange, hidden things.

Silas flushed slightly as Sennett's thanks, his cheekbones staining a faint pink. "The Abbott helped me choose it," he admitted, looking at the floor. He stood uneasily near the centre of the room, not sure what to do next. He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted very badly to kiss her, but he felt it might be rather rude to jump on Sennett the minute they were alone.

Sennett gazed at the tall, rather gangling figure before her and could tell what he was feeling. His awkwardness radiated from him. "It's very beautiful. I'll wear it all the time," she promised and went over to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Silas didn't need any help after that.