The Secret Chamber at Chad by Evelyn Everett Green

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There could be no study for the boys that day; they were too deeply
moved and excited. Moreover, Edred had his father's charge to keep,
and as sundown was nigh at hand, the two brothers visited every
gate and portal and saw the house made fast within and without.

An air of excitement and mystery seemed to permeate the place. The
servants had caught some of the infection, and whispers of loyalty
and affection were murmured many times in the boys' ears as they
pursued their round. At last, all being safely ordered, they went
by common consent to their own room, and stood looking at the
secret door which led to the hiding place none knew of but
themselves and Warbel.

"I trow we shall need it now," said Edred. "But all is in readiness
for the fugitive; all has been done save to bring in the victuals.
Brother, shall we do that this very night? I would there were a
supply there for a month, and a couple of gallon jars of good mead
and some bottles of wine. We must put water there, too, but not
till the last minute. They say men must have water, else they die;
but sure they could live for long on good mead and ale. Hath
Bertram any plan for getting water to the chamber save what we can
carry ourselves? He said he would not rest till we had done
somewhat; but--"

A light sparkled in Julian's eyes.

"Come, and thou shalt see, thou brother of books," he said. "Whilst
thou hast been doing thy penance for what sin we know not, and been
reading amain with Brother Emmanuel, we have not been idle. Come,
and I will show thee what we have contrived. I trow none need
perish of thirst in the secret chamber now who knows aught of our
contrivance."

With eager steps Julian led the way, and Edred no less eagerly
followed. It was very dark in the secret chamber; but the means of
kindling a light were now there, and soon a small dim lantern was
lighted.

"Come hither," said Julian, taking the light and leading the way
into a corner that lay beneath the leads of the house; and when
there Edred saw a metal trough or receiver, rudely made but
effectual for the purpose of holding any liquid, something similar
to what the animals in the yard were fed and watered from. Above
this trough was a piece of iron pipe with a bung at the end.

"That trough and pipe Bertram and I fashioned in the blacksmith's
forge with our own hands," said the boy proudly, "and I trow both
are good enow and strong. Dost know what does the other end of the
pipe? Why, we have inserted it into the great rainwater tank yonder
above our heads, which our grandsire contrived, and which is fed
from the roofs and battlements of all the towers. Thou hast heard
our father tell how he read of such things in days of old, when men
built wondrous palaces, and had hanging gardens, and I know not
what beside. He set the tank up there, and, as thou knowest, it is
not now greatly used, albeit there is always water there, and at
times men draw it forth. It may not be the best or purest, but it
will serve for washing, and for drinking too were a man in a great
strait. It is all pure and sweet now; for in the thunderstorm three
nights since Bertram got up and let off all the stagnant water by
the pipe which can be opened below, and the rain soon filled it
again, it poured down with such goodwill. We need not fear that any
captive will die of thirst. He has but to draw this bung and water
will pour forth into this trough till he stops it again. He can
pour away the surplus down the pipe with the dust and such like.

"I trow whoever lives up here awhile will have no such bad housing.
And if we but get the place victualled this night, it will be ready
for Brother Emmanuel whensoever he may need it."

Chapter VII: An Imposing Spectacle.

"To appear at the priory with all our household! Surely, my
husband, that command is something strange?"

Lady Chadgrove raised her eyes anxiously to her lord's face, to see
thereon an answering look of perplexity not untinged by anxiety. He
was perusing a paper held in his hands.

"Such is the missive," he remarked. "It was brought by a lay
brother but now. Methinks the fellow is yet in the kitchen. Our
mead is not to be lightly disdained. I will send young Julian to
talk with him, and learn if may be the cause of this strange
summons. I would not willingly give cause of offence to the lord
prior; and the money has been paid that was promised, so methinks
he means no hurt to me or mine. But it is not safe to adventure
oneself into the lion's mouth. I would gladly know what is behind
all this. I am something ill at ease."

"All the household would mean Brother Emmanuel likewise," said the
lady. "Perchance it is but a means of drawing him within the
toils."

"It is like enough. It will be the day on which the week of grace
expires. Would to God I could see my way more clearly! I am in a
great strait betwixt mine own conscience and the authority of the
Church. How can I deliver up a faithful and devoted son of the
Church to certain death, when my house is his only refuge and
protection? Yet how may I refuse obedience to my spiritual fathers
and superiors, to whom I owe submission in all things, in right of
their office, albeit as men I know them to be--faulty?".

He paused, as if reluctant to put his thoughts into words even to
his wife. He was going through that mental and spiritual struggle
which was speedily to do so great a work in the world--that
struggle which led to the final fall of the religious houses in
this land. Viewed as a God-appointed ordinance, or at least as a
bulwark and rampart of the Church, it seemed a fearful thing to
hold them in aught but awe and reverence, and to look upon their
sons as saints and godly men, in whom the Spirit of the Lord was
working. But when the corrupt practices within those walls were
known, when men were convinced, sorely against their will, that the
inmates were licentious, depraved, covetous, and tyrannical, then
indeed it became hard to recognize their God-appointed mission.

Sir Oliver was no heretic; he had not even the faint sympathy with
and comprehension of the tenets of the heretics which were creeping
into some enlightened minds. He had imbibed some new and
enlightened views from stanch sons of the Church, who were
themselves preaching the doctrine of internal reform, but he went
no further in these matters than his teachers. The very name of
heresy was odious to him, but none the less did it go sorely
against 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 laws
of hospitality.

Whilst Julian was gone upon his errand, he paced the floor
restlessly and moodily.

"I would we had got him off before this coil began. But who could
have thought it would come--and Brother Emmanuel so true and
faithful a son of the Church? Knowest thou, wife, that he keeps
vigil three nights in the week in the chantry, watching
sleeplessly, lest the Lord coming suddenly should find the whole
house sleeping? Edred keeps watch one night, and good old Margaret
another. I did but lately know this thing. Brother Emmanuel holds
that the Church should ever be watching and waiting for her Lord,
lest He come as a thief in the night. He would have prayers
ceaselessly ascending before Him. It is his grief and pain that
within the cloister walls, whence he has come, no true vigil is
kept, but that sloth and ease have taken the place of watching and
vigil and prayer. And such a man as that they would have me deliver
to 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 stern
glance bent upon the sunny landscape beyond the open window. "It is
strange, but it is true; and I sometimes think that some fearful
and unlooked-for judgment must some day fall upon men who--"

But Sir Oliver paused, for his wife had made a gesture, as if to
check the impetuous words that sprang to his lips. He smiled a
little darkly.

"Thou art right, good dame. Such words are better left unspoke. If
it be dangerous to think some things, it be more dangerous to speak
one's thoughts. Let it be enough for us that the Lord reigneth, be
the earth never so unquiet. He sitteth a judge and a king. In His
hands 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, and
there be much merchandise to unlade and lade again. The skipper was
an honest fellow, and a true-hearted man to boot. He would not take
my gold, but said his passenger should bring it with him when he
came; for he knew there was a chance he might not contrive to come,
and he would not receive aught for services he might never have
power to render. But he knows his business, and once safe on board
the sloop our fugitive will be safe enow. But not till it be almost
ready for sea--not till the skipper could weigh anchor at a
moment's notice. He himself said he must not come aboard till the
last moment. Were any hue and cry to be made after him, any vessel
in port would be certain to be searched. How to keep him safe for
these fourteen--nay, it is but twelve days now--is the thing that
is perplexing me. Until the close of the appointed week naught will
be done; but there will be one long week after that which will tax
our resources to the utmost. And this summons from the prior makes
the whole question the more difficult."

"And the boys say that the house is being watched. Hast not heard
as much? There be spies from the priory posted round and about. All
the gates are watched. Edred thinks it is to strive to seize
Brother Emmanuel should he venture forth from the shelter of the
walls.

"I like not the thought of all those prying eyes. My husband, these
be 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 and
unlearned turn with loathing and scorn from such crooked and
cowardly ways?--

"How now, Julian? Hast learned the cause of this ado? What says the
lay brother? Hast thou sounded him with care and with all due
caution?"

Julian and Edred came in together. Julian looked flushed and
excited, Edred pale and thoughtful, and his eyes were glowing with
a strange fire.

"Ay, verily, we have found it all out," cried the younger boy, with
eager excitement of manner. "Methinks it will be a fine sight.
Father, hast heard of the thing which men call the 'Great
Abjuration'--was not that the name, Edred?"

The elder boy made a sign of assent.

"It is for the heretics and Lollards," pursued Julian eagerly. "It
hath been done before in many places, and here it is to be done two
days from hence. All those persons who are suspected of heresy, or
have been found guilty, are to be called before the lord prior and
the Lord of Mortimer, and they will be bidden to abjure all their
false doctrines publicly. The whole village will be assembled to
hear them recant; high and low, rich and poor, all are to meet
together in the great quadrangle of the priory to hear and see. The
lay 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 see
that they suffer as heretics are wont to do. If they abjure their
errors, the prior will set them their penances; and these be no
light thing, by what the brother says. Some will be branded in the
cheek, that they carry the mark of their shame all their days; some
will have a green badge affixed to their arm, to wear until they
have leave to cast it off, that all men may know they have been
touched by the pollution; whilst others will be set to menial toil
in the monasteries, and will perchance spend the rest of their
lives there, sundered from their friends and their homes and all
those whom they love.

"In truth, I marvel how any man can meddle with heresy in these
days. 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 as
these."

Sir Oliver's face looked a little relieved as he heard his son's
words.

"Then everybody within the district is to be summoned to meet at
the 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 the
spectacle. It is thought that after all have seen what will take
place upon that day, there will be no longer any fear of heresy
round Chad and Mortimer."

The boy ran off to try to learn more details. Edred stood looking
at his father with troubled eyes.

"Father," he said, in a low voice, "must Brother Emmanuel go with
us that day?"

Sir Oliver looked down at the paper in his hands.

"It bids me to attend with my family and all my household, save
such 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 he
said suddenly, "Go fetch Brother Emmanuel hither."

Edred vanished silently and swiftly, and soon afterwards returned
with the monk at his side.

The past few days had left their mark on the thin, spiritual face
of the young ecclesiastic. The knowledge of the peril in which he
stood had not daunted his courage, though it had drawn lines in his
face and deepened the fire which burned within those dark, resolute
eyes. His face looked as though he had slept but little, as though
his nights had been passed in watching and prayer, as was indeed
the case. He had an air of calm, resolute courage and hopefulness,
though it was plain that he knew the danger of his position, and
was fully alive to the peril which menaced him.

Sir Oliver placed the paper in his hand, and watched him silently
whilst he perused it. When he had finished he handed it back, and
stood for a moment looking out of the window with an expression of
thoughtful concentration on his face. At the end of a few moments
he 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 gesture
of resolution and independence.

"Sir Oliver," he said, "upon the day when your household is bidden
to the priory, I cease, by the command of my superior, to be a
member of this household. Upon that day your command over me (if I
may use the word)--your responsibility over me--ceases. Whatever I
may do or not do is no concern of yours. I am no longer the
instructor of your sons, nor the priest within your walls. What I
do 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 all
questions. The prior has ordained that from that day I cease to
remain here. From the dawning of that day you have no part nor lot
in my life. I take its control into mine own hands, and it were
better 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 one
word I say to thee: Thou hast been true and faithful to me and
mine; wherefore my roof and my walls shall be thy shelter until
thou goest forth of thine own freewill. Be not afraid to remain
here with me. I will defend thee with every power I have until such
time as thou mayest safely escape beyond the seas."

He held out his hand. The monk took it and pressed it between both
of his.

"The Lord deal with thee and thine as thou hast dealt with me," was
the reply, spoken in deep, earnest accents.

The knight bent his head in response to the benediction; and
Brother 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 the
rest of the world?" asked Lady Chadgrove, with anxiety in face and
voice; and her husband thoughtfully shook his head as he made
reply:

"I trow not. I have spoken to him of that before, and he was very
well resolved to fly the country and strive to finish the work he
has begun, to join the band who are toiling might and main to bring
a purer and holier spirit within the pale of the Church and her
servants. It is a work to which he has long felt called, and he
believes that it will be faithfully carried out somewhere, if not
here. For a while he will be safer beyond the seas; but he may
return and join with those in Oxford and London who are toiling in
the same cause. He knows of the sloop--where it lies and when it
sails; and I trow he is laying plans of his own. It were better not
to ask of these. I would rather walk in ignorance. A man cannot
betray, however inadvertently, what he knows not, and the subtle
skill in questioning possessed by our reverend prior might win the
secret from any unskilled person ere he knew he had revealed it. I
know not what he means to do, nor shall I seek to know. But he has
courage, spirit, and a consciousness of integrity which may carry
him through much. Methinks he has judged wisely and well both for
us and himself.

"When this day comes," touching the paper in his hand, "it is very
true that I am no longer accountable for him as a member of my
house hold. He has received his recall from his superior. It is for
him to answer to it or not as he thinks best."

A sense of excitement and uneasiness pervaded the whole of the
house during the two following days. In all men's mouths was talk
of this solemn abjuration which was about to be forced upon all
those suspected of heresy; and many persons who had tampered
slightly and privately with doubtful matters went about looking
uneasy and troubled, fearful lest they might find themselves
accused of illicit practices, and be summoned forth to do penance
in a more or less severe form before they could hope to receive
absolution.

Sir Oliver Chadgrove's household was strictly orthodox in all
outward matters; but the leaven of Lollardism was wonderfully
penetrating, and he himself had suspected and feared that some of
his servants might be tainted therewith. He awaited the day with
almost as much anxiety as any of his dependants, for he well knew
that the Lord of Mortimer would lose no opportunity of dealing him
a heavy blow; and if he could be proved guilty of harbouring
heretics or even suspected persons in his house, it would give his
enemy a handle against him that he would not be slow to use.

As for the boys, it was plain that something of unwonted excitement
was agitating their minds; but in the general anxiety pervading the
whole household little account was taken of this.

The day came at last, dawning fair and clear. Sir Oliver assembled
his household early in the courtyard, and every retainer was clad
in his best and mounted upon his best charger. It was well to make
a goodly display of strength and wealth on an occasion like the
present. Doubtless the Lord of Mortimer would be there with all his
train, and Chad must not cut a much poorer figure in the eyes of
the beholders.

None knew better than Sir Oliver how far a goodly seeming went in
condoning offences and allaying suspicion, especially in the eyes
of such a worldly-wise man as the Prior of Chadwater. A proud
bearing, a goodly following, a gorgeous retinue, would be a far
better proof of orthodoxy in his eyes than any saintliness of life
and conduct. Mortimer would know that right well, though, as he had
been elected as the secular agent to assist the prior in his work
today, plainly no stigma of any kind was thought to rest upon his
household. Sir Oliver knew that Mortimer was a larger property than
Chad, and that the baron was a greater man than the knight. It was
reasonable enough that he had been selected for this office, and
such choice need imply no distrust of himself on the prior's part;
but still there was an uneasy, underlying consciousness that he was
suspected and watched, and the espionage which had been kept up all
this while on his house was a plain proof that he was not entirely
trusted.

The priory and its adjacent buildings formed a very fine specimen
of medieval architecture. The abbey was in itself a masterpiece of
beauty, and the great block formed by refectories and dormitories
stood at right angles to it. The prior's house, with its ample
accommodation and its guest chambers, formed an other side to the
great quadrangle; whilst the granaries, storehouses, and such-like
buildings formed the fourth--the whole enclosing a very large
space, which formed the exercising ground of the monks when they
were kept by their rules within the precincts of their home.

The smoothest of green grass, carefully kept and tended, formed the
carpet of this enclosure; and today the whole quadrangle formed an
animated and picturesque spectacle on account of the shifting,
many-coloured groups of people gathered together there with looks
of expectation and wonder.

A holiday appearance was presented by the crowd; for however ill at
ease any person might feel, it was his aim and object to look as
jovial and well assured as possible. Every knee was bent whenever
any monk appeared. The professions of reverence and orthodoxy were
almost comic in their display.

The whole of the rural population had gathered in this open space
when the master of Chad and his retainers rode in, followed by the
humbler servants and many women and children on foot. But the Lord
of Mortimer had not yet put in an appearance, though some of his
retainers and men-at-arms might be seen mingling with the crowd;
and Sir Oliver and his wife and sons looked curiously about them as
they reined back their horses against the wall, wondering whether
they should dismount altogether, and what the order of the day's
proceedings was to be.

There were two great raised platforms at one end of the open
enclosure, and upon these platforms, both of which were draped with
cloth, many seats had been arranged. One of these was canopied, and
was plainly for the prior; but beyond this Sir Oliver could be sure
of nothing.

When, however, it became known that the party from Chad had
arrived, a lay brother came out and bid them dismount and send away
their steeds to the meadow beyond, where one or two of the servants
could see to them; and as soon as this had been done, Sir Oliver
was told that he and his lady would occupy certain seats upon one
of the platforms, but that there would not be room for more than
his eldest son to have a place there beside him. The younger boys
must remain in the crowd.

Edred and Julian were well pleased at this, and gave each other a
quick pressure of the hand. Edred was intensely excited; and
gradually edged his way to a good position not far from the
platform, that he might hear and see everything; and Julian stood
beside him, as intent upon the proceedings as anyone.

With a great show of ecclesiastical pomp, forth came the prior with
his monks in attendance, and closely following them the haughty
Lord of Mortimer; with his son-in-law, Sir Edward Chadwell, by his
side, and his daughter following her husband. With these came many
knights and persons of standing in the county; and whilst the prior
and the monks grouped themselves upon one platform, the barons,
knights, and nobles took their appointed places on the other, the
owners of Mortimer and Chad being for once in their lives elbow to
elbow, and constrained to exchange words and looks of greeting.

A deep hush fell upon the crowd, and the people surged back against
the walls, leaving the centre space vacant. At the same time
certain men wearing the garb and the air of jailers or executioners
came forth and stood in the midst of the open space--one of them
bearing the glowing brazier and the branding iron, which he placed
on a slab of stone in the very centre of the enclosure.

When all preparations were complete, the prior arose, and in a loud
and solemn voice commanded that the prisoners should be brought
forth--those persons who had not been merely suspected of heresy,
but had been found with heretical books in their possession, or
were known to be in the habit of meeting together to read such
books and hear the pestilent doctrines which vile and wicked
persons were propagating in the land.

At that command a number of monks appeared, leading bound, and in
scant and miserable clothing, about a score of men and women,
foremost amongst whom was the hunchback, whose face and voice were
alike well known to Edred. Most of the prisoners were trembling and
cowering; but he held his head erect, and looked calmly round upon
the assembled potentates. There was no fear or shrinking in his
pinched face. He eyed the prior with a look as unbending as his
own.

Then began a long harangue from the great man, in which the wiles
of the devil in the pestilent doctrines of the heretics, so-called
Lollards, were forcibly and not illogically pointed out. When no
man might give answer, when none might show where misrepresentation
came in, where there was nothing given but the one side of the
question, it was not difficult to make an excellent case against
the accused. The early heretics, mostly unlettered people, always
marred the purity of the cause by falling into exaggeration and
foolishness, by denouncing what was good as well as what was
corrupt in a system against which they were revolting--thus laying
themselves open to attack and confutation, and alienating from them
many who would have striven to stand their friend and to have
gently set them right had they been less headstrong and less prone
to tear away and condemn every practice the meaning of which they
were, through ignorance and want of comprehension, unable to enter
into.

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