the palimpsest

· concerning the rule of the seven hours · prime · tierce · sext · none ·
the brethren are to keep the great bell · the names of those who keep it ·
olav · gunnar · arne · the bell to be rung at every hour of prime, tierce, sext, &c
the wax candles are reserved for the small chapel · seven only · let the keeper take an inventory each easter ·
of the keeping of the small relics · these are pinned to the inner wall of the smaller vault.

An account of the small expenses of the household for the quarter ending Michaelmas, 1812. Item: candles, ten dozen at threepence ha'penny. Item: tea, one pound, of the finer sort, for the parlour, of which Madam keeps the key. Item: paid to John Eldred, the chimney-sweep, for the great chimney and the small chimney both. Item: a small expense for the keeping of the bell. The bell is no longer rung at the hours; it is rung at noon only, by the parish.

Dear sister, — I begin this letter on the only sheet I could find in the library, an old vellum scrap that has, beneath my hand, two faint older texts: someone has scraped it twice. I am writing now over both of them. It seems unkind, perhaps, but the vellum is rare and I needed the page.

I have been here a week. The great bell is rung once a day, at noon, by an arrangement of weights and a rope, and the eleventh stroke is sometimes (it depends on the dampness) omitted. The keeper says nothing about this. They walk the corridors. They write in the log at six o'clock.

I am writing to ask whether you have my old diary. I cannot remember where I left it; the labyrinth is large and it might be in any of perhaps two thousand rooms. Should it surface, you know where to send it.

— with all my affection,
m.