Chapter II: The Household At Chad.
The office of mistress of a large household in the sixteenthcentury was no sinecure. It was not the fashion then to depute tothe hands of underlings the supervision of the details of domesticmanagement; and though the lady of the Hall might later in the dayentertain royalty itself, the early hours of the morning were spentin careful and busy scrutiny of kitchen, pantry, and store or stillroom, and her own fair hands knew much of the actual skill whichwas required in the preparation of the many compounds which gracedthe board at dinner or supper.
Lady Chadgrove was no exception to the general rule of carefulhousehold managers; and whilst her lord and master went hunting orhawking in the fresh morning air, or shut himself up in his libraryto examine into the accounts his steward laid before him or concernhimself with some state business that might have been placed in hishands, she was almost always to be found in the offices of thehouse, looking well after the domestic details of householdmanagement, and seeing that each servant and scullion was doing thework appointed with steadiness and industry.
There was need for some such careful supervision of the dailyroutine, for the large houses in the kingdom were mainly dependentupon their own efforts for the necessaries of life throughout theyear. In towns there were shops where provisions could be readilybought, but no such institution as that of country shops had beendreamed of as yet. The lord of the manor killed his own meat, bakedhis own bread, grew his own wheat, and ground his own flour. He hadhis own brewery within the precinct of the great courtyard, wherevast quantities of mead and ale were brewed, cider and otherlighter drinks made, and even some sorts of simple home-grownwines. Chad boasted its own "vineyard," where grapes flourished inabundance, and ripened in the autumn as they will not do now.
Nothing, perhaps, shows more clearly the change that has passedupon our climate by slow degrees than a study of the parish recordsof ancient days. Vineyards were common enough in England somehundreds of years ago, and wine was made from the produce asregularly as the season came round. Then there were the simplerfruit wines from gooseberries, currants, and elderberries, to saynothing of cowslip wine and other light beverages which it was thepride of the mistress to contrive and to excel in the making. Ourforefathers, though they knew nothing of the luxuries of tea andcoffee, were by no means addicted to the drinking of water.Considering the sanitary conditions in which they lived in thosedays, and the fearful contamination of water which frequentlyprevailed, and which doubtless had much to do with the spread ofthe Black Death and other like visitations, this was no doubt anadvantage. Still there were drawbacks to the habit of constantquaffing of fermented drinks at all hours of the day, and it wasoften a difficult matter to keep in check the sin of drunkennessthat prevailed amongst all classes of the people.
At Chad the gentle influence of the lady of the manor had done muchto make this household an improvement on many of its neighbours.Although there was always abundance of good things and a liberalhospitality to strangers of all sorts, it was not often that anyunseemly roistering disturbed the inmates of Chad. The servants andretainers looked up to their master and mistress with loyalty anddevotion, curbed their animal passions and wilder moods out of loveand reverence for them, and grew more civilized and cultivatedalmost without knowing it, until the wild orgies which oftendisgraced the followings of the country nobility were almostunknown here.
Possibly another humanizing and restraining influence that actedsilently upon the household was the presence of a young monk, whohad been brought not long since from a neighbouring monastery, toact in the capacity of chaplain to the household and tutor to theboys, now fast growing towards man's estate. There was a beautifullittle chapel connected with Chad. It had fallen something intoneglect and ruin during the days of the civil wars, and had beenbattered about in some of the struggles that had raged round Chad.But Sir Oliver had spent both money and loving care in restoringand beautifying the little place, and now the daily mass was saidthere by Brother Emmanuel, and the members of the household wereencouraged to attend as often as their duties would permit. Thebrother, too, would go about amongst the people and talk with themas they pursued their tasks, and not one even of the rudest androughest but would feel the better for the kindly and beneficentinfluence of the youthful ecclesiastic.
Brother Emmanuel had one of those keenly intelligent and versatileminds that are always craving a wider knowledge, and think noknowledge, even of the humblest, beneath notice. He would ask thepoorest wood cutter to instruct him in the handling of his tool orin the simple mysteries of his craft as humbly as though he wereasking instruction from one of the learned of the land. Noinformation, no occupation came amiss to him. He saw in all toil adignity and a power, and he strove to impress upon every worker, ofwhatever craft he might be, that to do his day's work with all hismight and with the best powers at his command was in truth oneexcellent way of serving God, and more effectual than any number ofPaters and Aves said whilst idling away the time that should begiven to his master's service.
Such teaching might not be strictly orthodox from a monkishstandpoint, but it commended itself to the understanding and theapproval of simple folks; and the brother was none the less belovedand respected that his talk and his teaching did not follow thecut-and-dried rules of his order. Sir Oliver and his wife thoughtexcellently of the young man, and to the boys he was friend as wellas tutor.
On this hot midsummer day the mistress of Chad was making her usualmorning round of the kitchens and adjoining offices--her simplethough graceful morning robe, and the plain coif covering her hair,showing that she was not yet dressed for the duties which wouldengross her later in the day. She had a great bunch of keysdangling at her girdle, and her tablets were in her hands, wherefrom time to time she jotted down some brief note to be enteredlater in those household books which she kept herself withscrupulous care, so that every season she knew exactly how manygallons or hogsheads of mead or wine had been brewed, what had beenthe yield of every crop in the garden or meadow, what stores ofconserves had been made from each fruit as its season came in, andwhether that quantity had proved sufficient for the year'sconsumption.
The cherry crop was being gathered in today. Huge baskets of thedelicious fruit were ranged along one wall of the still room, andbusy hands were already preparing the bright berries for thepreserving pan or the rows of jars that were likewise placed inreadiness to receive them. The cherry trees of Chad were famous fortheir splendid crop, and the mistress had many wonderful recipesand preparations by which the fruit was preserved and made into allmanner of dainty conserves that delighted all who partook of them.
"I will come anon, and help you with your task," said the lady tothe busy wenches in the still room, who were hard at work preparingthe fruit. "I will return as soon as I have made my round, and seethat all is going well."
The girls smiled, and dropped their rustic courtesies. Some amongstthem were not the regular serving maids of the place, but were thedaughters of the humbler retainers living round and about, who wereglad to come to assist at the great house when there was any pressof work--a thing that frequently happened from April to November.
None who assisted at Chad at such times ever went away emptyhanded. Besides the small wage given for the work done, there wasalways a basket of fruit, or a piece of meat, or a flagon of wine,according to the nature of the task, set aside for each assistantwho did not dwell beneath the roof of Chad. And if there wassickness in any cottage from which a worker came, there was certainto be some little delicacy put into a basket by the hands of themistress, and sent with a kindly word of goodwill and sympathy tothe sufferer.
It was small wonder, then, that the household and community of Chadwas a happy and peaceable one, or that the knight and his lady werebeloved of all around.
The morning's round was no sinecure, even though the mistress wastoday as quick as possible in her visit of inspection. Three fatbucks had been brought in from the forest yester-eve, when theknight and h
is sons had returned from hunting. The venison had tobe prepared, and a part of it dried and salted down for winter use;whilst of course a great batch of pies and pasties must be put inhand, so that the most should be made of the meat whilst it wasstill fresh.
When that matter had been settled, there were the live creatures tovisit--the calves in their stalls, the rows of milch kine, and thegreat piggery, where porkers of every kind and colour were tumblingabout in great excitement awaiting their morning meal. The mistressof the house generally saw the pigs fed each day, to insure theirhaving food proper to them, and not the offal and foul remnantsthat idle servants loved to give and they to eat were not somesupervision exercised. The care of dogs and horses the lady left toher husband and sons, but the cows, the pigs, and the poultry shealways looked after herself.
Her daily task accomplished, she returned to the still room,prepared for a long morning over her conserves. It was buthalf-past nine now; for the breakfast hour in baronial houses wasseven all the year round, and today had been half-an-hour earlieron account of the press of work incident to the harvesting of thecherry crop. Several of the servants who were generally occupiedabout the house had risen today with the lark, to be able to helptheir lady, and soon a busy, silent party was working in pantry andstill room under the careful eye of the mistress.
One old woman who had been accommodated with a chair, though herfingers were as brisk as any of the younger girls', from time totime addressed a question or a remark to her lady, which was alwayskindly answered. She was the old nurse of Chad, having been nurseto Sir Oliver in his infancy, and having since had charge of histhree boys during their earliest years. She was growing infirm now,and seldom left her own little room in a sunny corner of the bighouse, where her meals were taken her by one of the younger maids.But in the warm weather, when her stiff limbs gained a little morepower, she loved on occasion to come forth and take a share in thelife of the house, and work with the busy wenches under themistress's eye at the piles of fruit from the successive summer andautumn crops as they came in rotation.
"And where be the dear children?" she asked once; "I have not seteyes on them the livelong day. Methought the very smell of thecherries would have brought them hither, as bees and wasps to ahoney pot."
The lady smiled slightly.
"I doubt not they will be here anon; but doubtless they have paidmany visits to the trees ere the store was garnered. I think theyare in the tilt yard with Warbel. It is there they are generally tobe found in the early hours of the day."
"They be fine, gamesome lads," said the old woman fondly--"chips ofthe old block, true Chads every one of them;" for the custom withthe common people was to call the lord of the manor by the name ofhis house rather than by his own patronymic, and Sir Oliver wascommonly spoken of as "Chad" by his retainers; a custom whichlingered long in the south and west of the country.
"They are well-grown, hearty boys," answered the mother quietly,though there was a light of tender pride in her eyes. "Bertram isalmost a man in looks, though he is scarce seventeen yet.Seventeen! How time flies! It seems but yesterday since he was alittle boy standing at my knee to say his light tasks, and walkingto and fro holding his father's hand. Well, Heaven be praised, theyears have been peaceful and prosperous, else would not they havefled by so swiftly."
"Heaven be praised indeed!" echoed the old woman. "For now themaster is so safely seated at Chad that he would be a bold man whotried to oust him. But in days gone by I have sorely feared yonproud Lord of Mortimer. Methought he would try to do him amischief. His spleen and spite, as all men say, are very great."
The lady's face clouded slightly, but her reply was quiet and calm.
"I fear me they are that still; but he lacks all cause of offence.My good lord is careful in all things to avoid making ill bloodwith a jealous neighbour. That he has always cast covetous eyesupon Chad is known throughout the countryside; but I trow he wouldfind it something difficult to make good any claim."
"Why, verily!" cried the nurse, with energy. "He could but come asa foul usurper, against whom would every honest hand be raised.But, good my mistress, what is the truth of the whisper I haveheard that the Lord of Mortimer has wed his daughter to one whocalls himself of the house of Chad? I cannot believe that any ofthe old race would mate with a Mortimer. Is it but the idle gossipof the ignorant? or what truth is there in it?"
"I scarce know myself the rights of the matter," answered LadyChadgrove, still with a slight cloud upon her brow. "It iscertainly true that Lord Mortimer has lately wed his only child, adaughter, to a knight who calls himself Sir Edward Chadwell, andmakes claim to be descended from my lord's house. Men say that hemakes great boasting that the Chadwells are an older branch thanthe Chadgroves, and that by right of inheritance Chad is his.
"Methinks he would find it very hard to make good any such claim.Belike it is but idle boasting. Yet it may be that there will besome trouble in store. He has taken up his abode at Mortimer'sKeep, and maybe we shall hear ill news before long."
All eyes were fixed for a moment on the lady's face, and then thehands moved faster than before, whilst a subdued murmur went roundthe group. Not one heart was there that did not beat withindignation at the thought that any should dare to try to disturbthe peace of the rightful lord of Chad. If the loyalty andaffection of all around would prove a safeguard, the knight needhave no fear from the claims advanced by any adversary.
"There has been a muttering of coming tempest anent those vexedforest rights," continued the lady, in reply to some indignantwords from the nurse. "I would that difficult question could besettled and laid at rest; but my good lord has yielded somethingtoo much already for the sake of peace and quietness, and at eachconcession Mortimer's word was passed that he would claim nofurther rights over the portion that remained to us. But his wordis broken without scruple, and we cannot ever be giving way. Wereno stand to be made, the whole forest track would soon be claimedby Mortimer, and we should have nothing but the bare park that isfenced about and cannot be filched bit by bit away. But all theworld knows that Chad has forest rights equal to those of Mortimer.It is but to seek a quarrel that the baron continues to push hisclaims ever nearer and nearer our walls."
Another murmur of indignation went round; but there was no time forfurther talk, as at that moment the three boys entered from thetilt yard; hot, thirsty, and breathless, and the fair-haired ladwith the dreamy blue eyes held a kerchief to his head that wasstained with blood.
"Art hurt, Edred?" asked the mother, looking up.
"'Tis but a scratch," answered the boy. "I am not quite a match forBertram yet; but I will be anon. I must learn to be quicker in mydefence. Thanks, gentle mother; belike it will be better for it tobe bound up. It bleeds rather too fast for comfort, but thy handswill soon stop that."
The other boys fell upon the fruit with right good will, whilst themother led her second son to the small pump nigh at hand, andbathed and dressed the rather ugly wound in his head.
Neither mother nor son thought anything of the hurt. It was easyenough to give and receive hard blows in the tilt yard, and bruisesand cuts were looked upon as part of the discipline of life.
As soon as the dressing was over, Edred joined his brothers, anddid his share in diminishing the pile of luscious fruit. And asthey ate they chattered away to the old woman of their prowess intilt yard and forest, relating how Bertram had slain a fat buckwith his own hands the previous day, and how they had between themgiven the coup-de-grace to another, which had been brought to bayat the water, father and huntsmen standing aloof to let the boysshow their strength and skill.
Nine years had passed since that strange night when Bertram hadbeen awakened by the advent of the mysterious stranger at hisbedside. He had developed since then from a sturdy little boy intoa fine-grown youth of seventeen, who had in his own eyes, and inthe eyes of many others, well-nigh reached man's estate; and whowould, if need should arise, go forth equipped for war to fight theking's battles. He was a handsome,
dark-haired, dark-eyed youth,with plenty of determination and force of character, and with alove of Chad so deeply rooted in his nature, that to be the heir ofthat property seemed to him the finest position in all the world,and he would not have exchanged it for that of Prince of Wales.
The second son, Edred (Ethelred was his true name; he was calledafter his mother, Etheldred), was some half-head shorter than hisbrother, but a fine boy for all that. He was fifteen, and whilstsharing to a great extent in the love of sport and of warlike gamesso common in that day, he was also a greater lover of books thanhis brothers, and would sometimes absent himself from theirpastimes to study with Brother Emmanuel and learn from him manythings that were not written in books. The other lads gave moretime to study than was usual at that period; for both Sir Oliverand his lady believed in the value of book lore and the use of thepen, deploring the lack of learning that had prevailed during theconfusion of the late wars, and greatly desiring its revival. Butit was Edred who really inherited the scholarly tastes of hisparents, and already the question of making a monk of him was underserious discussion. The boy thought that if he might have a fewmore years of liberty and enjoyment he should like the life of thecloister well.
Julian bore a strong resemblance to Bertram both in person anddisposition. He was a very fine boy, nearly fourteen years old, andhad been the companion of his brothers from infancy, so that heoften appeared older than his age. All three brothers were boundtogether in bonds of more than wonted affection. They not onlyshared their sports and studies, but held almost all theirbelongings in common. Each lad had his own horse and his ownweapons, whilst Edred had one or two books over which he claimedabsolute possession; but for the rest, they enjoyed all propertiesin common, and it had hardly entered into their calculations thatthey could ever be separated, save when the idea of making Edredinto a monk came under discussion; and as that would not be donefor some years, it scarcely seemed worth troubling over now.Perhaps things would turn out differently in the end, and theywould remain together at Chad for the whole of their natural lives.
Nurse never wearied of the tales told by her young masters, andlistened with fond pride to the recital. So eagerly were Bertramand Julian talking, that they did not heed the sound of the horn atthe gate way which bespoke the arrival of some messenger; but Edredslipped out to see who could be coming, and presently he returnedwith a frown upon his brow.
"There is a messenger at the gate who wears the livery ofMortimer," he said. "An insolent knave to boot, who flung hismissive in the face of old Ralph, and spurred off with a mockinglaugh. I would I had had my good steed between my knees, and Iwould have given the rascal a lesson in manners. I like not thesemessengers from Mortimer; they always betide ill will to myfather."
Lady Chadgrove looked anxious for a moment, but her brow sooncleared as she made answer: "I shall be sorry if aught comes togrieve or vex your father; but so long as we are careful to give nojust cause for offence, we need not trouble our heads overmuch asto the jealous anger of the Lord of Mortimer. I misdoubt me if hecan really hurt us, be he never so vindictive. The king is just,and he values the services of your father. He will not permit himto be molested without cause. And methinks my Lord of Mortimerknows as much, else he would have wrought us more ill all thesepast years."
"He is a tyrant and an evil liver!" cried Bertram hotly; "and hisservants be drunken, brawling knaves, every one--as insolent astheir master. If I had been old Ralph, I would have hurled back hismissive in his face, and bidden him deliver it rightly."
"Nay, nay, my son; that would but be to stir up strife. If otherscomport themselves ill, that is no reason why our servants shoulddo the like. I would never give a foe a handle against me by theill behaviour of even a serving man. Let them act never so surlily,I would that they were treated with all due courtesy."
Bertram and Julian hardly entered into their mother's feelings onthis point; but Edred looked up eagerly, and it was plain that heunderstood the feelings which prompted the words, for he said in alow voice:
"Methinks thou art right, gentle mother; albeit I did sorely longto give the varlet a lesson to teach him better. But perchance itwas well I was not nigh enough. Surely it must be nigh upon thehour for dinner. Our sport has whet the edge of appetite, and Iwould fain hear what the missive was which yon knave brought withhim. Our father will doubtless tell us at the table."
It was indeed nearly noon, and mistress and maids alikerelinquished their tasks to prepare for the meal which was thechiefest of the day, though the supper was nothing to be despised.
The long table in the great banqueting hall was a goodly sight tosee when the dinner was spread, and the retainers of the bettersort and some amongst the upper servants sat down with the masterand his family to partake of the good cheer. At one end of the longboard sat the knight and his lady side by side; to their right werethe three boys, the young monk, and Warbel the armourer, who nowheld a post of some importance in the house. Opposite to these wereother gentlemen-at-arms and their sons, who were resident at Chad;and at the lower end of the table, below the great silver saltcellars, sat the seneschal, the lowlier retainers, and certaintrusted servants who held responsible positions at Chad. The cooksand scullions and underlings dined in the great kitchen immediatelyafter their masters' meal had been served.
The table at Chad always groaned with good things, except at suchseasons as the Church decreed a fast, and then the diet wasscrupulously kept within the prescribed bounds. Sir Oliver and hiswife were both devout and earnest people, and had every reverencefor their spiritual superiors. The Benedictine Priory of Chadwaterstood only a mile and a half distant, and the prior was onexcellent terms with the owner of Chad. Brother Emmanuel had beenan inmate of the priory before he was selected by Sir Oliver forthe education of his sons. He was considered a youth of no smallpromise, and the knight was well pleased at the progress made byhis boys since they had been studying with him.
Today there was a look of annoyance upon the handsome face of SirOliver Chadgrove. It was a striking countenance at all times, inwhich sternness of purpose and kindness of heart were blended in afashion that was both attractive and unusual. He had the sameregular features, rather square in the outline, which he hadtransmitted to his children; and his hair, which was now silveredwith many streaks, had been raven black in its day. His carriagewas upright and fearless, and he was very tall and powerfullyproportioned. It was Bertram's keenest ambition to grow up in allpoints like his father, and he copied him, consciously andunconsciously, in a fashion that often raised a smile on hismother's face.
"I have been favoured with another insolent letter from my Lord ofMortimer," he said. "He had better take heed that he try not mypatience too far, and that I go not to the king and lay a complaintbefore him. I will do so if I be much more troubled."
"What says he now, father?" asked Bertram eagerly, forgetting inhis eagerness the generally observed maxim that the sons spoke notat table till they were directly addressed. But the knight did nothimself heed this breach of decorum.
"It is the same old story; but every year he grows more graspingand more insolent. Today he complains, forsooth, that the last buckwe killed was killed on his ground, and by rights belonged to him.He threatens that his foresters and huntsmen will wage war with usin future if we 'trespass' upon his rights, and wrest our spoilfrom us! Beshrew me if I submit to much more! Patience andforbearance are useless with such a man. I would I had not concededall I have done in the interests of peace."
Bertram's face was crimson with anger, Edred's eyes had widened inastonishment, whilst Julian burst out in indignant remonstrance andargument.
"His ground! his rights! How can he dare say that? Why, the buckwas killed at Juno's Pool; and all the world knows that that iswithin the confines of Chad, and that all forest rights therebelong to the Lord of Chad! I would I could force his false wordsdown his false throat! I would I could--" but the boy suddenlyceased, because he caught his mother's warning eye upon him, andsaw that his fa
ther had opened his lips to speak.
"Ay, and he knows it himself as well as we do; but he is growingbolder and bolder through that monstrous claim he is everthreatening to push--the claim of his son-in-law to be rightfulLord of Chad! Phew! he will find it hard to prove that claim, or tooust the present lord. But Mortimer has money and to spare, andChad has long been to him what Naboth's vineyard was to King Ahab--
"Brother Emmanuel, that simile is thine, and a right good one, too.
"He will seize on any pretext to pick a quarrel; and if he dares,he will push that quarrel at the point of the sword. I do not fearhim; I have the right on my side. But we may not blind ourselves tothis: that he is a right bitter and treacherous foe, and thatshould we give any, even the smallest cause of suspicion oroffence, he would seize upon that to ruin us."
Sir Oliver looked keenly round the table at all assembled there,and many knew better than his sons what was in his mind at the timeand what had caused him to speak thus.
For a long while now the leaven of Lollardism had been workingsilently in the country, and there were very many even amongstorthodox sons of the Church who were more or less "bitten" by someof the new notions. It need hardly be said that wherever light is,it will penetrate in a mysterious and often inexplicable fashion;and although there was much extravagance and perversion in theteachings of the advanced Lollards, there was undoubtedly amongstthem a far clearer and purer light than existed in the hearts ofthose of the common people who had been brought up beneath the swayof the priests, themselves so often ignorant and ill-living men.
And so the light gradually spread; and many who would haverepudiated the name of Lollard with scorn and loathing werebeginning to hold some of their tenets, and to wish for a simplerand purer form of faith, and for liberty to study the Scripturesfor themselves; and no one knew better the leavening spirit of theage than did Sir Oliver Chadgrove, himself a man of liberal viewsand devout habit of mind, and his wife, who shared his everythought and opinion.
They had both heard the stirring and enlightened preaching of DeanColet, and were great admirers of his; but they took the view thatthat divine himself held--namely, that the Church would graduallyreform herself from within; that she was awakening to the need ofsome reformation and advance; and that her sons were safe withinher fold, and must patiently await her own work there.
This was exactly the feeling of the knight and his lady. Theyrejoiced in the words they had heard, and in the wider knowledge ofthe Scriptures which had been thus unfolded; but that any suchdoctrine, when preached and taught by the Lollard heretics, couldbe right or true they would have utterly denied and repudiated. TheLollards had won for themselves a bad name, and were thought ofwith scorn and contempt. Nevertheless, in country places the leavenof their teaching permeated far and wide, and Sir Oliver had morethan once occasion to fear that amongst his own retainers some wereslightly tainted by heresy.
Of course if it could be proved against him that his followers wereLollards, his enemy might take terrible advantage and deal him aheavy blow. It was the one charge which if proved would strike himto the earth; even the king's favour would scarce serve him then.The king would not stand up in opposition to the Church; and if theChurch condemned his house as being a harbouring place forheretics, then indeed he would be undone.
It was this thing which was in his mind as he glanced with keeneyes round his table on this bright midsummer day; and his wife,and the monk, and the bulk of those sitting there read the truemeaning of his words and of his look, and recognized the truth ofthe grave word of warning.