Chapter VII: An Imposing Spectacle.
"To appear at the priory with all our household! Surely, myhusband, that command is something strange?"
Lady Chadgrove raised her eyes anxiously to her lord's face, to seethereon an answering look of perplexity not untinged by anxiety. Hewas perusing a paper held in his hands.
"Such is the missive," he remarked. "It was brought by a laybrother but now. Methinks the fellow is yet in the kitchen. Ourmead is not to be lightly disdained. I will send young Julian totalk with him, and learn if may be the cause of this strangesummons. I would not willingly give cause of offence to the lordprior; and the money has been paid that was promised, so methinkshe means no hurt to me or mine. But it is not safe to adventureoneself into the lion's mouth. I would gladly know what is behindall this. I am something ill at ease."
"All the household would mean Brother Emmanuel likewise," said thelady. "Perchance it is but a means of drawing him within thetoils."
"It is like enough. It will be the day on which the week of graceexpires. Would to God I could see my way more clearly! I am in agreat strait betwixt mine own conscience and the authority of theChurch. How can I deliver up a faithful and devoted son of theChurch to certain death, when my house is his only refuge andprotection? Yet how may I refuse obedience to my spiritual fathersand superiors, to whom I owe submission in all things, in right oftheir office, albeit as men I know them to be--faulty?".
He paused, as if reluctant to put his thoughts into words even tohis wife. He was going through that mental and spiritual strugglewhich was speedily to do so great a work in the world--thatstruggle which led to the final fall of the religious houses inthis land. Viewed as a God-appointed ordinance, or at least as abulwark and rampart of the Church, it seemed a fearful thing tohold them in aught but awe and reverence, and to look upon theirsons as saints and godly men, in whom the Spirit of the Lord wasworking. But when the corrupt practices within those walls wereknown, when men were convinced, sorely against their will, that theinmates were licentious, depraved, covetous, and tyrannical, thenindeed it became hard to recognize their God-appointed mission.
Sir Oliver was no heretic; he had not even the faint sympathy withand comprehension of the tenets of the heretics which were creepinginto some enlightened minds. He had imbibed some new andenlightened views from stanch sons of the Church, who werethemselves preaching the doctrine of internal reform, but he wentno further in these matters than his teachers. The very name ofheresy was odious to him, but none the less did it go sorelyagainst the grain to be a slave to the haughty Prior of Chadwater,and at his bidding to violate (as it seemed to him) the sacred lawsof hospitality.
Whilst Julian was gone upon his errand, he paced the floorrestlessly and moodily.
"I would we had got him off before this coil began. But who couldhave thought it would come--and Brother Emmanuel so true andfaithful a son of the Church? Knowest thou, wife, that he keepsvigil three nights in the week in the chantry, watchingsleeplessly, lest the Lord coming suddenly should find the wholehouse sleeping? Edred keeps watch one night, and good old Margaretanother. I did but lately know this thing. Brother Emmanuel holdsthat the Church should ever be watching and waiting for her Lord,lest He come as a thief in the night. He would have prayersceaselessly ascending before Him. It is his grief and pain thatwithin the cloister walls, whence he has come, no true vigil iskept, but that sloth and ease have taken the place of watching andvigil and prayer. And such a man as that they would have me deliverto his death!"
"Art sure they mean him ill, my husband? It seems scarce possible."
"I am very sure that it is so," answered the knight, with a sternglance bent upon the sunny landscape beyond the open window. "It isstrange, but it is true; and I sometimes think that some fearfuland unlooked-for judgment must some day fall upon men who--"
But Sir Oliver paused, for his wife had made a gesture, as if tocheck the impetuous words that sprang to his lips. He smiled alittle darkly.
"Thou art right, good dame. Such words are better left unspoke. Ifit be dangerous to think some things, it be more dangerous to speakone's thoughts. Let it be enough for us that the Lord reigneth, bethe earth never so unquiet. He sitteth a judge and a king. In Hishands are the final issues of all things."
The lady bent her head with due reverence, and then asked eagerly:
"And when does the fishing smack sail?"
Sir Oliver shook his head impatiently.
"Not for full fourteen days: it had but just come into port, andthere be much merchandise to unlade and lade again. The skipper wasan honest fellow, and a true-hearted man to boot. He would not takemy gold, but said his passenger should bring it with him when hecame; for he knew there was a chance he might not contrive to come,and he would not receive aught for services he might never havepower to render. But he knows his business, and once safe on boardthe sloop our fugitive will be safe enow. But not till it be almostready for sea--not till the skipper could weigh anchor at amoment's notice. He himself said he must not come aboard till thelast moment. Were any hue and cry to be made after him, any vesselin port would be certain to be searched. How to keep him safe forthese fourteen--nay, it is but twelve days now--is the thing thatis perplexing me. Until the close of the appointed week naught willbe done; but there will be one long week after that which will taxour resources to the utmost. And this summons from the prior makesthe whole question the more difficult."
"And the boys say that the house is being watched. Hast not heardas much? There be spies from the priory posted round and about. Allthe gates are watched. Edred thinks it is to strive to seizeBrother Emmanuel should he venture forth from the shelter of thewalls.
"I like not the thought of all those prying eyes. My husband, thesebe strange times in which we dwell."
Sir Oliver's face was dark and thoughtful.
"Ay, verily they be. How can men wonder that the ignorant andunlearned turn with loathing and scorn from such crooked andcowardly ways?--
"How now, Julian? Hast learned the cause of this ado? What says thelay brother? Hast thou sounded him with care and with all duecaution?"
Julian and Edred came in together. Julian looked flushed andexcited, Edred pale and thoughtful, and his eyes were glowing witha strange fire.
"Ay, verily, we have found it all out," cried the younger boy, witheager excitement of manner. "Methinks it will be a fine sight.Father, hast heard of the thing which men call the 'GreatAbjuration'--was not that the name, Edred?"
The elder boy made a sign of assent.
"It is for the heretics and Lollards," pursued Julian eagerly. "Ithath been done before in many places, and here it is to be done twodays from hence. All those persons who are suspected of heresy, orhave been found guilty, are to be called before the lord prior andthe Lord of Mortimer, and they will be bidden to abjure all theirfalse doctrines publicly. The whole village will be assembled tohear them recant; high and low, rich and poor, all are to meettogether in the great quadrangle of the priory to hear and see. Thelay brother says it will be a fine sight. If they will not recant,the prior will give them over to the Lord of Mortimer, who will seethat they suffer as heretics are wont to do. If they abjure theirerrors, the prior will set them their penances; and these be nolight thing, by what the brother says. Some will be branded in thecheek, that they carry the mark of their shame all their days; somewill have a green badge affixed to their arm, to wear until theyhave leave to cast it off, that all men may know they have beentouched by the pollution; whilst others will be set to menial toilin the monasteries, and will perchance spend the rest of theirlives there, sundered from their friends and their homes and allthose whom they love.
"In truth, I marvel how any man can meddle with heresy in thesedays. The bishops have resolved to stamp it out once and for all,and methinks they will do so right well if they take such steps asthese."
Sir Oliver's face looked a little relieved as he heard his son'swords.
"Then everybody within the district
is to be summoned to meet atthe priory upon this same day?"
"Ay, verily; all are to be there, from the highest to the lowest.The lay brothers are going round the country, bidding all to thespectacle. It is thought that after all have seen what will takeplace upon that day, there will be no longer any fear of heresyround Chad and Mortimer."
The boy ran off to try to learn more details. Edred stood lookingat his father with troubled eyes.
"Father," he said, in a low voice, "must Brother Emmanuel go withus that day?"
Sir Oliver looked down at the paper in his hands.
"It bids me to attend with my family and all my household, savesuch as must be left to take due care of the house in my absence,"said he. Then he paused awhile in silent thought, and looking up hesaid suddenly, "Go fetch Brother Emmanuel hither."
Edred vanished silently and swiftly, and soon afterwards returnedwith the monk at his side.
The past few days had left their mark on the thin, spiritual faceof the young ecclesiastic. The knowledge of the peril in which hestood had not daunted his courage, though it had drawn lines in hisface and deepened the fire which burned within those dark, resoluteeyes. His face looked as though he had slept but little, as thoughhis nights had been passed in watching and prayer, as was indeedthe case. He had an air of calm, resolute courage and hopefulness,though it was plain that he knew the danger of his position, andwas fully alive to the peril which menaced him.
Sir Oliver placed the paper in his hand, and watched him silentlywhilst he perused it. When he had finished he handed it back, andstood for a moment looking out of the window with an expression ofthoughtful concentration on his face. At the end of a few momentshe looked up quickly, and said:
"You and yours will attend, Sir Oliver?"
"Yes; we must needs do that. But you?"
Brother Emmanuel lifted his head and threw it back with a gestureof resolution and independence.
"Sir Oliver," he said, "upon the day when your household is biddento the priory, I cease, by the command of my superior, to be amember of this household. Upon that day your command over me (if Imay use the word)--your responsibility over me--ceases. Whatever Imay do or not do is no concern of yours. I am no longer theinstructor of your sons, nor the priest within your walls. What Ido I do of mine own self. None can rightly call you to task for it.Let that be your safeguard; let that be your answer to allquestions. The prior has ordained that from that day I cease toremain here. From the dawning of that day you have no part nor lotin my life. I take its control into mine own hands, and it werebetter you should not even know whither I go nor what I do."
Sir Oliver bent a searching look upon him.
"So be it," he answered, after a moment's thought. "But this oneword I say to thee: Thou hast been true and faithful to me andmine; wherefore my roof and my walls shall be thy shelter untilthou goest forth of thine own freewill. Be not afraid to remainhere with me. I will defend thee with every power I have until suchtime as thou mayest safely escape beyond the seas."
He held out his hand. The monk took it and pressed it between bothof his.
"The Lord deal with thee and thine as thou hast dealt with me," wasthe reply, spoken in deep, earnest accents.
The knight bent his head in response to the benediction; andBrother Emmanuel moved silently away, closely followed by Edred,who looked pale and troubled.
"Thou dost not think he will present himself at the priory with therest of the world?" asked Lady Chadgrove, with anxiety in face andvoice; and her husband thoughtfully shook his head as he madereply:
"I trow not. I have spoken to him of that before, and he was verywell resolved to fly the country and strive to finish the work hehas begun, to join the band who are toiling might and main to bringa purer and holier spirit within the pale of the Church and herservants. It is a work to which he has long felt called, and hebelieves that it will be faithfully carried out somewhere, if nothere. For a while he will be safer beyond the seas; but he mayreturn and join with those in Oxford and London who are toiling inthe same cause. He knows of the sloop--where it lies and when itsails; and I trow he is laying plans of his own. It were better notto ask of these. I would rather walk in ignorance. A man cannotbetray, however inadvertently, what he knows not, and the subtleskill in questioning possessed by our reverend prior might win thesecret from any unskilled person ere he knew he had revealed it. Iknow not what he means to do, nor shall I seek to know. But he hascourage, spirit, and a consciousness of integrity which may carryhim through much. Methinks he has judged wisely and well both forus and himself.
"When this day comes," touching the paper in his hand, "it is verytrue that I am no longer accountable for him as a member of myhouse hold. He has received his recall from his superior. It is forhim to answer to it or not as he thinks best."
A sense of excitement and uneasiness pervaded the whole of thehouse during the two following days. In all men's mouths was talkof this solemn abjuration which was about to be forced upon allthose suspected of heresy; and many persons who had tamperedslightly and privately with doubtful matters went about lookinguneasy and troubled, fearful lest they might find themselvesaccused of illicit practices, and be summoned forth to do penancein a more or less severe form before they could hope to receiveabsolution.
Sir Oliver Chadgrove's household was strictly orthodox in alloutward matters; but the leaven of Lollardism was wonderfullypenetrating, and he himself had suspected and feared that some ofhis servants might be tainted therewith. He awaited the day withalmost as much anxiety as any of his dependants, for he well knewthat the Lord of Mortimer would lose no opportunity of dealing hima heavy blow; and if he could be proved guilty of harbouringheretics or even suspected persons in his house, it would give hisenemy a handle against him that he would not be slow to use.
As for the boys, it was plain that something of unwonted excitementwas agitating their minds; but in the general anxiety pervading thewhole household little account was taken of this.
The day came at last, dawning fair and clear. Sir Oliver assembledhis household early in the courtyard, and every retainer was cladin his best and mounted upon his best charger. It was well to makea goodly display of strength and wealth on an occasion like thepresent. Doubtless the Lord of Mortimer would be there with all histrain, and Chad must not cut a much poorer figure in the eyes ofthe beholders.
None knew better than Sir Oliver how far a goodly seeming went incondoning offences and allaying suspicion, especially in the eyesof such a worldly-wise man as the Prior of Chadwater. A proudbearing, a goodly following, a gorgeous retinue, would be a farbetter proof of orthodoxy in his eyes than any saintliness of lifeand conduct. Mortimer would know that right well, though, as he hadbeen elected as the secular agent to assist the prior in his worktoday, plainly no stigma of any kind was thought to rest upon hishousehold. Sir Oliver knew that Mortimer was a larger property thanChad, and that the baron was a greater man than the knight. It wasreasonable enough that he had been selected for this office, andsuch choice need imply no distrust of himself on the prior's part;but still there was an uneasy, underlying consciousness that he wassuspected and watched, and the espionage which had been kept up allthis while on his house was a plain proof that he was not entirelytrusted.
The priory and its adjacent buildings formed a very fine specimenof medieval architecture. The abbey was in itself a masterpiece ofbeauty, and the great block formed by refectories and dormitoriesstood at right angles to it. The prior's house, with its ampleaccommodation and its guest chambers, formed an other side to thegreat quadrangle; whilst the granaries, storehouses, and such-likebuildings formed the fourth--the whole enclosing a very largespace, which formed the exercising ground of the monks when theywere kept by their rules within the precincts of their home.
The smoothest of green grass, carefully kept and tended, formed thecarpet of this enclosure; and today the whole quadrangle formed ananimated and picturesque spectacle on account of the shifting,many-coloured groups of peop
le gathered together there with looksof expectation and wonder.
A holiday appearance was presented by the crowd; for however ill atease any person might feel, it was his aim and object to look asjovial and well assured as possible. Every knee was bent wheneverany monk appeared. The professions of reverence and orthodoxy werealmost comic in their display.
The whole of the rural population had gathered in this open spacewhen the master of Chad and his retainers rode in, followed by thehumbler servants and many women and children on foot. But the Lordof Mortimer had not yet put in an appearance, though some of hisretainers and men-at-arms might be seen mingling with the crowd;and Sir Oliver and his wife and sons looked curiously about them asthey reined back their horses against the wall, wondering whetherthey should dismount altogether, and what the order of the day'sproceedings was to be.
There were two great raised platforms at one end of the openenclosure, and upon these platforms, both of which were draped withcloth, many seats had been arranged. One of these was canopied, andwas plainly for the prior; but beyond this Sir Oliver could be sureof nothing.
When, however, it became known that the party from Chad hadarrived, a lay brother came out and bid them dismount and send awaytheir steeds to the meadow beyond, where one or two of the servantscould see to them; and as soon as this had been done, Sir Oliverwas told that he and his lady would occupy certain seats upon oneof the platforms, but that there would not be room for more thanhis eldest son to have a place there beside him. The younger boysmust remain in the crowd.
Edred and Julian were well pleased at this, and gave each other aquick pressure of the hand. Edred was intensely excited; andgradually edged his way to a good position not far from theplatform, that he might hear and see everything; and Julian stoodbeside him, as intent upon the proceedings as anyone.
With a great show of ecclesiastical pomp, forth came the prior withhis monks in attendance, and closely following them the haughtyLord of Mortimer; with his son-in-law, Sir Edward Chadwell, by hisside, and his daughter following her husband. With these came manyknights and persons of standing in the county; and whilst the priorand the monks grouped themselves upon one platform, the barons,knights, and nobles took their appointed places on the other, theowners of Mortimer and Chad being for once in their lives elbow toelbow, and constrained to exchange words and looks of greeting.
A deep hush fell upon the crowd, and the people surged back againstthe walls, leaving the centre space vacant. At the same timecertain men wearing the garb and the air of jailers or executionerscame forth and stood in the midst of the open space--one of thembearing the glowing brazier and the branding iron, which he placedon a slab of stone in the very centre of the enclosure.
When all preparations were complete, the prior arose, and in a loudand solemn voice commanded that the prisoners should be broughtforth--those persons who had not been merely suspected of heresy,but had been found with heretical books in their possession, orwere known to be in the habit of meeting together to read suchbooks and hear the pestilent doctrines which vile and wickedpersons were propagating in the land.
At that command a number of monks appeared, leading bound, and inscant and miserable clothing, about a score of men and women,foremost amongst whom was the hunchback, whose face and voice werealike well known to Edred. Most of the prisoners were trembling andcowering; but he held his head erect, and looked calmly round uponthe assembled potentates. There was no fear or shrinking in hispinched face. He eyed the prior with a look as unbending as hisown.
Then began a long harangue from the great man, in which the wilesof the devil in the pestilent doctrines of the heretics, so-calledLollards, were forcibly and not illogically pointed out. When noman might give answer, when none might show where misrepresentationcame in, where there was nothing given but the one side of thequestion, it was not difficult to make an excellent case againstthe accused. The early heretics, mostly unlettered people, alwaysmarred the purity of the cause by falling into exaggeration andfoolishness, by denouncing what was good as well as what wascorrupt in a system against which they were revolting--thus layingthemselves open to attack and confutation, and alienating from themmany who would have striven to stand their friend and to havegently set them right had they been less headstrong and less proneto tear away and condemn every practice the meaning of which theywere, through ignorance and want of comprehension, unable to enterinto.
In the hands of the skilful prior their doctrines were indeed madeto look vile and blasphemous and foolish in the extreme. Manypersons shuddered at hearing what words had been used by them withregard to the holy sacraments; and most of the persons brought totheir trial were weeping and terrified at their own conduct beforethe prior's speech was half through. Only the hunchback retainedhis bold front, and looked back with scorn into the face of theprelate as he made point after point in his scathing denunciation.
When the harangue ended, the prior made a sign to his servants, andimmediately one of the most timorous and craven of the prisonerswas brought up before him. He was far too cunning a judge to tryfirst to bend the spirit of the hunchback. He knew that with thatman he could do nothing, and he knew too what marvels weresometimes accomplished by the example of self devotion. Socommencing with a weak and trembling woman, who was ready to sinkinto the ground with fear and shame merely at being thus had upbefore the eyes of the whole place, he easily obtained a solemnrecantation and abjuration of every form of heresy; and in a toneof wonderful mildness, though of solemn warning, too, told her thatsince she was a woman and young, and had doubtless been led away byothers, she should be pardoned after she had paid a visit barefootto a shrine forty miles off--a shrine much derided by the hereticteachers--and had returned in like fashion, having tasted nothingbut bread and water the whole time of the journey.
Then came, one after another, the weakest and most timorous of thecraven crowd. The infection of fear had seized upon them. Ignorant,superstitious, scarcely understanding the new teachings that hadattracted them, and fearfully terrified of falling under the ban ofthe Church under whose shelter they had always lived, was itwonderful that one after another should abjure their hereticalopinions, and swear to listen to the enticer no more? Some stroveto ask questions upon the points which troubled them; but scarceany sort of disputing was allowed. The prior was subtle in fence,and by a few scathing words could generally quell the questionerand make him wish his objection unspoken.
And those who showed a tendency towards disputation were far moreharshly dealt with than those who abjured at once. The red-hotiron, the badge of shame, the servitude which might be lifelongwere imposed upon them. So a sense of despair fell upon the littleband, and they yielded one by one; only three refusing to take thewords of the oath--the hunchback and two more, one being a lad ofabout sixteen summers; and after using every threat and argument toovercome their obstinacy, the prior called upon the Lord ofMortimer as the representative of the secular arm, and deliveredthe prisoners over to him to be dealt with after the manner of thelaw.
A shuddering groan went up, as if involuntarily, from many throatsas the prisoners were led away by the guards of Mortimer. The priorlooked sternly round to check the demonstration, reminding thepeople that the burning of the body was as nothing, it was theeternal burning of the soul in hell that men should fear; and thatif in the midst of the flames the guilty persons recanted theirsins, it was just possible that even then the merciful God wouldhear and receive their prayer, and that they might be saved fromthe eternal death of the soul.
Then somewhat changing his tone, though still speaking with gravityand even with sadness, he told the people of the pain with which hehad heard stories of the sympathy evinced by some even amongstthose standing about him for the wicked and pestilent disturbers ofthe public peace and the safety of the Church. One or two personshe called upon by name, and rebuked with some severity for wordsreported to have been dropped by them which savoured, if not ofheresy itself, yet of carelessness and irreverence for sacredth
ings which bordered dangerously on heresy. One after anotherthese persons came forward trembling, asked pardon, and weredismissed not unkindly, but with many an admonition for the future.It was made plain and patent to all that the bishops had absolutelyresolved to stamp out heresy once and for all; and for once theprior and abbots, the monks and the friars, were in accord andworking hand in hand. It was useless for any to hope to stem such atide as that--such was the tenor of the prior's speech--heresy wasto be exterminated. On that point there was no manner of doubt; andif, knowing this, persons chose deliberately to put themselvesunder the ban of the law, well, their blood must be upon their ownhead. Neither God nor man would have mercy upon them.
Several of the retainers and a few of the actual household of Chadhad received admonitions of this sort. Sir Oliver looked onuneasily, catching a subdued look of triumph in the eyes of hisrival and foe. He did not believe his household seriously taintedwith heresy. He knew that certain of them who had been with him inLondon had imbibed the teaching of Dean Colet and his pupils, andhe did not know, any more than the dean himself, that the Lollardssecretly encouraged each other to go and hear a man who spoke somuch of the truth they themselves held.
The line where orthodoxy ends and heresy begins has been at alltimes hard to define, and perhaps the upholders of the "Church"knew as little as anybody how hard this definition was becoming.
Several persons had stood forth (invited by the prior to do so) andconfessed to dangerous sentiments which they now saw to be utterlywrong, and vowed to abjure forever; or had accused other persons ofwords which required explanation, or of deeds which suggested aleaning towards secret meetings where heresy might be discussed.
But the day's proceedings seemed drawing to a close, and nothing ofany great peril to the Lord of Chad had occurred, when just at theclose of the afternoon Brother Fabian suddenly came forward andwhispered a few words in the prior's ear; and he, after a moment ofapparent hesitation, spoke aloud.
"It is with great grief that I learn that one of our own brethrenhas been heard to utter words which sound strangely like those ofheresy; but since it is our bounden duty that strict justice bedone to all, whether high or low, rich or poor, nay, whether it beour own son or brother, I here call upon Brother Emmanuel to standforth publicly, as others have done, and answer the charge broughtagainst him."
The prior looked round as he spoke these words in a loud voice; butthere was no movement either in the crowd or amongst the cowledmonks, and he spoke the name again without eliciting any response.
The Lord of Mortimer leaned forward and spoke to his neighbour.
"Methinks this brother was a member of your household, Sir Oliver,"he said, with a gleam of malice in his eye. "Surely you received amandate bidding you come with all your household. Where is thispreceptor of your sons?"
"His duties ceased last night," replied Sir Oliver calmly, in atone loud enough to reach the prior's ears. "He had command toreturn today to the priory, and last evening he said farewell to meand mine. I have not seen him today."
"Did he know of the summons to all to attend the gathering heretoday?"
Sir Oliver bent his head.
"He did. I showed him the paper myself."
"Then wherefore is he not here?"
"That know I not. I did not know he was not here. I do not know iteven now. I have never known Brother Emmanuel fail in obedienceyet."
The name was being whispered all round. The monks were professingto be searching for the missing brother. The prior looked at SirOliver with some sternness.
"Where is this monk?" he asked,
"I do not know," was the firm response. "I have not seen him sincehis farewell yesternight."
"You thought he was coming hither?"
"I knew naught. He told me naught of his purposes."
The prior's eyes flashed ominously.
"Have a care, Sir Oliver, have a care. Brother Emmanuel is yetwithin the walls of Chad. I have reason to know he has not leftthem the whole of this past week. He has been disobedient to hisvow of submission. He has not come at my bidding."
"I know naught of it," replied the knight calmly.
The Lord of Mortimer leaned forward once more with an evil smile inhis eyes.
"Let not mistaken generosity get the better of prudence, mybrother," he said, with derisiveness in his tone. "You know wellthat the penalty of hiding and harbouring a heretic is little shortof that of heresy itself. Have a care you do not lose all just forthe caprice of the moment, which in time to come you will haveleisure bitterly to repent."
The prior, too, was eying him sternly.
"Lord Mortimer gives good counsel, Sir Oliver," he said. "Thouknowest I am no enemy of thine. What has this day passed must haveshown thee that. Thou knowest that there be some here who mighthave been called before me today to answer for their deeds who havebeen spared for their youth and gentle birth. Thou hast had proofthat I am no enemy of thine. But the walls of Chad must not harboura heretic. Brother Emmanuel is there; he hath been there, and hathnot sallied forth this many days, showing that a guilty consciencekeeps him within. He cannot go forth without my knowledge; and ifthou wilt not give him up to me, I must obtain authority and havethe house searched and the man dragged forth. And I tell theefreely, if it be found that thou hast lent thine aid in harbouringa heretic and disobedient monk, thy lands will be forfeit, if notthy life, and the Lord of Mortimer will be likewise Lord of Chad."
At that moment, had any person had eyes to heed it, it might havebeen observed that Edred and Julian slipped like veritable shadowsthrough the packed crowd. The next moment they had reached thegateway, had passed under it without exciting any observation, andas soon as they reached the cover of the forest, they set off torun towards Chad as fast as their legs could carry them--far fasterthan their horses could have borne them through the narrow paths ofthe tangled wood.