The Secret Chamber at Chad by Evelyn Everett Green

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In the hands of the skilful prior their doctrines were indeed made
to look vile and blasphemous and foolish in the extreme. Many
persons shuddered at hearing what words had been used by them with
regard to the holy sacraments; and most of the persons brought to
their trial were weeping and terrified at their own conduct before
the prior's speech was half through. Only the hunchback retained
his bold front, and looked back with scorn into the face of the
prelate as he made point after point in his scathing denunciation.

When the harangue ended, the prior made a sign to his servants, and
immediately one of the most timorous and craven of the prisoners
was brought up before him. He was far too cunning a judge to try
first to bend the spirit of the hunchback. He knew that with that
man he could do nothing, and he knew too what marvels were
sometimes accomplished by the example of self devotion. So
commencing with a weak and trembling woman, who was ready to sink
into the ground with fear and shame merely at being thus had up
before the eyes of the whole place, he easily obtained a solemn
recantation and abjuration of every form of heresy; and in a tone
of wonderful mildness, though of solemn warning, too, told her that
since she was a woman and young, and had doubtless been led away by
others, she should be pardoned after she had paid a visit barefoot
to a shrine forty miles off--a shrine much derided by the heretic
teachers--and had returned in like fashion, having tasted nothing
but bread and water the whole time of the journey.

Then came, one after another, the weakest and most timorous of the
craven crowd. The infection of fear had seized upon them. Ignorant,
superstitious, scarcely understanding the new teachings that had
attracted them, and fearfully terrified of falling under the ban of
the Church under whose shelter they had always lived, was it
wonderful that one after another should abjure their heretical
opinions, and swear to listen to the enticer no more? Some strove
to ask questions upon the points which troubled them; but scarce
any sort of disputing was allowed. The prior was subtle in fence,
and by a few scathing words could generally quell the questioner
and make him wish his objection unspoken.

And those who showed a tendency towards disputation were far more
harshly dealt with than those who abjured at once. The red-hot
iron, the badge of shame, the servitude which might be lifelong
were imposed upon them. So a sense of despair fell upon the little
band, and they yielded one by one; only three refusing to take the
words of the oath--the hunchback and two more, one being a lad of
about sixteen summers; and after using every threat and argument to
overcome their obstinacy, the prior called upon the Lord of
Mortimer as the representative of the secular arm, and delivered
the prisoners over to him to be dealt with after the manner of the
law.

A shuddering groan went up, as if involuntarily, from many throats
as the prisoners were led away by the guards of Mortimer. The prior
looked sternly round to check the demonstration, reminding the
people that the burning of the body was as nothing, it was the
eternal burning of the soul in hell that men should fear; and that
if in the midst of the flames the guilty persons recanted their
sins, it was just possible that even then the merciful God would
hear and receive their prayer, and that they might be saved from
the eternal death of the soul.

Then somewhat changing his tone, though still speaking with gravity
and even with sadness, he told the people of the pain with which he
had heard stories of the sympathy evinced by some even amongst
those standing about him for the wicked and pestilent disturbers of
the public peace and the safety of the Church. One or two persons
he called upon by name, and rebuked with some severity for words
reported to have been dropped by them which savoured, if not of
heresy itself, yet of carelessness and irreverence for sacred
things which bordered dangerously on heresy. One after another
these persons came forward trembling, asked pardon, and were
dismissed not unkindly, but with many an admonition for the future.
It was made plain and patent to all that the bishops had absolutely
resolved to stamp out heresy once and for all; and for once the
prior and abbots, the monks and the friars, were in accord and
working hand in hand. It was useless for any to hope to stem such a
tide as that--such was the tenor of the prior's speech--heresy was
to be exterminated. On that point there was no manner of doubt; and
if, knowing this, persons chose deliberately to put themselves
under the ban of the law, well, their blood must be upon their own
head. Neither God nor man would have mercy upon them.

Several of the retainers and a few of the actual household of Chad
had received admonitions of this sort. Sir Oliver looked on
uneasily, catching a subdued look of triumph in the eyes of his
rival and foe. He did not believe his household seriously tainted
with heresy. He knew that certain of them who had been with him in
London had imbibed the teaching of Dean Colet and his pupils, and
he did not know, any more than the dean himself, that the Lollards
secretly encouraged each other to go and hear a man who spoke so
much of the truth they themselves held.

The line where orthodoxy ends and heresy begins has been at all
times 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) and
confessed to dangerous sentiments which they now saw to be utterly
wrong, and vowed to abjure forever; or had accused other persons of
words which required explanation, or of deeds which suggested a
leaning towards secret meetings where heresy might be discussed.

But the day's proceedings seemed drawing to a close, and nothing of
any great peril to the Lord of Chad had occurred, when just at the
close of the afternoon Brother Fabian suddenly came forward and
whispered a few words in the prior's ear; and he, after a moment of
apparent hesitation, spoke aloud.

"It is with great grief that I learn that one of our own brethren
has been heard to utter words which sound strangely like those of
heresy; but since it is our bounden duty that strict justice be
done to all, whether high or low, rich or poor, nay, whether it be
our own son or brother, I here call upon Brother Emmanuel to stand
forth publicly, as others have done, and answer the charge brought
against him."

The prior looked round as he spoke these words in a loud voice; but
there was no movement either in the crowd or amongst the cowled
monks, 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 a
mandate bidding you come with all your household. Where is this
preceptor of your sons?"

"His duties ceased last night," replied Sir Oliver calmly, in a
tone loud enough to reach the prior's ears. "He had command to
return today to the priory, and last evening he said farewell to me
and mine. I have not seen him today."

"Did he know of the summons to all to attend the gathering here
today?"

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 it
even now. I have never known Brother Emmanuel fail in obedience
yet."

The name was being whispered all round. The monks were professing
to be searching for the missing brother. The prior looked at Sir
Oliver with some sternness.

"Where is this monk?" he asked,

"I do not know," was the firm response. "I have not seen him since
his 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 yet
within the walls of Chad. I have reason to know he has not left
them the whole of this past week. He has been disobedient to his
vow 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 in
his eyes.

"Let not mistaken generosity get the better of prudence, my
brother," he said, with derisiveness in his tone. "You know well
that the penalty of hiding and harbouring a heretic is little short
of that of heresy itself. Have a care you do not lose all just for
the caprice of the moment, which in time to come you will have
leisure bitterly to repent."

The prior, too, was eying him sternly.

"Lord Mortimer gives good counsel, Sir Oliver," he said. "Thou
knowest I am no enemy of thine. What has this day passed must have
shown thee that. Thou knowest that there be some here who might
have been called before me today to answer for their deeds who have
been spared for their youth and gentle birth. Thou hast had proof
that I am no enemy of thine. But the walls of Chad must not harbour
a heretic. Brother Emmanuel is there; he hath been there, and hath
not sallied forth this many days, showing that a guilty conscience
keeps him within. He cannot go forth without my knowledge; and if
thou wilt not give him up to me, I must obtain authority and have
the house searched and the man dragged forth. And I tell thee
freely, if it be found that thou hast lent thine aid in harbouring
a heretic and disobedient monk, thy lands will be forfeit, if not
thy 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 have
been observed that Edred and Julian slipped like veritable shadows
through the packed crowd. The next moment they had reached the
gateway, had passed under it without exciting any observation, and
as soon as they reached the cover of the forest, they set off to
run towards Chad as fast as their legs could carry them--far faster
than their horses could have borne them through the narrow paths of
the tangled wood.

Chapter VIII: Hidden Away.

Fleetly, silently, untiringly ran the two brothers, without
exchanging a single word of their purpose even to each other. The
distance from the priory to the house was a matter of some two
miles, but to the trained and hardy limbs of the country-bred lads
a two miles' run was a trifle, and they were only slightly flushed
and winded when they paused, by mutual consent, a short distance
from Chad, at a point where the tall turrets and battlements became
visible over the treetops.

Julian, who was a few paces in advance, pulled up short, and caught
his brother by the arm.

"Hist!" he whispered cautiously. "I trow the prior's spies be still
on the watch. We must not be seen coming in this guise. Let us wait
a few moments till our breath be returned; then we will go forward
boldly and openly.

"Edred, have a care how thou answerest me when I shall speak to
thee anon. We have a part to play, and Brother Emmanuel's life may
hang upon how we play it."

Edred nodded assent. He was more weary, because more deeply
excited, than his brother, and no sleep had visited his eyes the
previous night. It had been spent with Brother Emmanuel in vigil in
the chantry. The strain of watching and deeply-seated anxiety was
telling upon the boy. He was glad that Julian had all his wits
about him, for his own head seemed swimming and his mind unhinged.

They stood silent awhile, until both had regained their breath;
then putting on their caps, which for convenience they had carried
in their hands hitherto, they started forth again at a leisurely
pace, and with an air of openness and fearlessness, in the
direction of the main entrance, talking to each other as they went
in no softened tones.

"It was a fine sight!" cried Julian. "I would not have missed it
for worlds. That villainous hunchback! So he was a damnable heretic
after all! I grieve we ever stood his friend. May he perish like
the vile creature he is! I will ask Brother Emmanuel to set me a
penance for having touched him that day when we thought him an
innocent trader.

"Edred, thinkest thou that it can be true that Brother Emmanuel is
himself a heretic? If it be, we must drive him forth with blows and
curses. To sit down at board with a heretic, to hear teaching from
his lips! Beshrew me, but one might as well have a friend from the
pit for an instructor! It cannot be; surely it cannot be."

The boy spoke hotly and angrily. He had stopped short as if in the
heat of argument, and Edred saw by the flash in his eye that he had
caught sight of some lurking spy close at hand.

"Belike no," answered Edred cautiously, but taking his cue
instantly from the other. "I did not well hear what Brother Fabian
said; surely it could be naught so bad as that?"

"I scarcely heard myself. I was something aweary by that time of
the spectacle, and methought all the heretics had been dealt with.
I saw that thou, like myself, wouldst fain stretch thy limbs once
again, and I had shifted too far away to be certain what was said.
But I did hear the name of Brother Emmanuel spoken, and there was a
call for him, and he came not.

"Edred, can it be that he feared to come? Hath he a guilty
conscience? If that be so, shall we strive to find him and keep
watch upon him ourselves, that if the good prior comes to search
for him at Chad we may be able to give him up, though he have
hidden himself never so cunningly?"

"Marry, a good thought. It is certainly something strange that he
did not come at the prior's summons-and he a brother of the order
too. Sure, it looks somewhat as though he were afraid. But if that
be so, we shall scarce find him at Chad. He will have benefited by
the absence of the household to make good his escape.

"Beshrew me, but he is a crafty knave. Who would have thought it of
him?"

"When men turn heretic they seem to be indued with all the cunning
of the devil!" cried Julian hotly. "But let us not dally here; let
us run within and strive to seek and to find him. It may be he will
think he may hide himself the better in some nook or corner of the
house, since he be well known all around; and the good prior said
somewhat of having kept a watch upon him. But I trow he cannot hide
so well but what we shall find him. I would fain earn my
forgiveness for having shielded one heretic by helping to give up
another.

"Come, Edred, let us be going. Those priests are as crafty as foxes
when the heretic leaven gets into them."

The brothers dashed away again towards the house; and when once
within the shelter of the walls, Julian nipped his brother's hand,
saying in a whisper:

"There was a spy overhead who drank in every word. He had no notion
mine eyes had seen him, for he was marvellous well concealed, and I
never should have found his hiding place had I not chanced one day
to see him climbing into it. Nobody will suspect now that we have
had a hand in the hiding of the good brother. But let us make all
haste, for no man knows when the bloodhounds may be upon us to
strive to take him away."

Edred's face was very pale, but steady and resolved. He understood,
better perhaps than his younger brother, the peril of the
enterprise upon which they had embarked. But he did not shrink from
that one whit, only he did hope and trust that his father would
never be implicated by their conduct; for if, after all, the priest
were to be found hidden within the precincts of Chad, it was easy
to prophesy a great reverse of fortune to all who dwelt therein.

However, even that consideration did not move him at this moment.
Brother Emmanuel, their preceptor and friend and comrade (for he
had been all three to his pupils during his residence beneath their
roof), stood in deadly peril of his life, and to save him from the
malice of his foes must be the first consideration now. The
existence of the secret chamber was not known even to their father.
Not a soul in the house or in the world knew of it save the three
brothers and Warbel. Warbel was absolutely to be trusted. He owed
too much himself to that retreat to wish to betray its existence to
others, and he loathed and hated the whole household of Mortimer;
and it was very plain to all concerned that Mortimer was working
hand in hand with the prior in this matter--the one to obtain
possession of the person of the offending monk, the other to find
cause of accusation against the owner of Chad for harbouring and
concealing a suspected person, in defiance of the laws of the land
and of the Church.

That there was conspiracy afoot against Chad and its master Edred
did not for a moment doubt; but the first consideration must now be
the safe hiding of Brother Emmanuel, and the boys dashed eagerly
through the empty house, to find him in the little chantry, where
so many of his hours were spent.

He was reading the office of vespers without any congregation to
assist. Instinctive reverence caused the boys to kneel in silence
till the brief service concluded, and then, after prostrating
themselves before the altar, they beckoned vehemently to the monk
to follow them, and conducted him up a narrow winding stair, but
little used, to the large sleeping chamber which the three brothers
had shared ever since their early childhood.

Once there Julian carefully locked the door, whilst Edred in brief
and graphic words told the story of that day's spectacle. Brother
Emmanuel listened calmly, with his features set into an expression
which the boys were beginning to know well, although they did not
read its meaning aright. Sternness and resolve were strangely
blended with an infinite compassion and a look of almost divine
tenderness; his words were few, and carried little of their meaning
home to the hearts of the boys.

"And thus they strive, thus they think to check the growth of the
evil weed by fire and by the sword! Yet even nature may teach them
that the burned field only yields the richer crop, and that the
plough tearing its way along is a fertilizer of the earth. Would to
heaven they would send forth evangelists from the Church, not with
fire and sword, but with the sword of the Spirit--the Word of
God--with the lamp of life in their hands; not to deny the people
that life-giving fount, but to give them to drink through the
channels God Himself has appointed! Then, indeed, methinks heresy
would soon cease to exist. But theirs is not the way; God who
dwelleth in the heavens will soon show them that. Theirs is not the
way!"

But time there was none now for one of those conversations in which
Edred's heart delighted. Julian burst in then with the story of the
latest scene in that solemn spectacle--of the whispered words of
Brother Fabian; of the call for Brother Emmanuel; of the appeal
made to Sir Oliver, and his reply; and finally of the certainty
that the house would speedily be searched, and the necessity of
getting into safe hiding before that happened.

"Safe hiding!" said Brother Emmanuel with a slight smile; "my kind
pupils, there can be no safe hiding from the messengers sent forth
from the Church. Wherever I am they will find and drag me forth. I
am grateful for all the goodness shown to me at Chad by all within
its walls; but none shall suffer on my account. It hath not pleased
God to open to me a way of escape, wherefore I must now yield
myself to the will of my enemies; and it were better to go forth
and be taken by the spies without than to remain here a source of
peril to those within these walls."

"But there is yet another way!" cried Edred with flashing eyes.
"Thou shalt not go forth, and yet thou shalt not be a source of
peril to any living soul. Brother Emmanuel, methinks it was God's
doing, or that of the holy saints, that this hap befell us which
revealed to us a safe hiding place of which none knows but
ourselves, not even our father and mother, and the secret of which
we have preserved unto this day, resisting the temptation to
divulge it to any living soul. Time presses. When we are there I
will tell thee all the tale--how this secret place came to our
knowledge. But now let us tarry no longer, but come quickly and see
for thyself. Once within that friendly shelter thou wilt have
naught to fear save the loneliness to which thou art well used.

"See, there is Julian already opening the door. Come, my father,
come!"

Julian had kindled the little lamp the boys had constructed for
themselves, and which was much upon the principle of a modern
bull's-eye, and could be safely carried through draughty passages
without flickering or going out; and now the wondering monk allowed
Edred to take him by the hand and lead him step by step along the
narrow, tortuous passage. Julian closed the door behind them,
showing how the cleverly-contrived spring acted; then they
proceeded step by step in cautious silence--for this passage
skirted a great portion of the house, and was very long--towards
their destination, till at last they stood within the secret
chamber itself; and Julian extinguished the light, to let the
evening sunshine filter in and show how much of illumination it
could give.

"Now, Brother Emmanuel, let us show you all," said Edred eagerly;
"for methinks it must be very few visits we must pay thee, and
those at dead of night. For I much mistake me if we be not closely
watched by some spy of the prior's these next days, and it will not
do for any to think we have hidden haunts of our own."

"Nay, nay, my children; ye must not run into peril for me. Far
rather would I--"

"I know--I know!" cried Edred. "But in truth thou needst not fear
to rest here. This is the lost chamber, the secret of which had
perished for well nigh a generation, till kindly fortune made it
known to us. All men think that the chamber lay in the portion of
Chad that was destroyed in the late wars. None dream it still
exists. But here it is, and Bertram has made out little by little
exactly where it lies, and I will tell it thee.

"This portion at the lower and darker end is jammed in betwixt the
ceiled roof of the great gun room and that attic chamber where the
dry roots are stored away in the winter months before the frost
binds them into the ground. None enter that attic in the summertide
save rats and mice, and though there may be many passing to and fro
in the gun room, no sound from here can penetrate there; for we
have tried times and again, when there has been none by to hear, if
we can make each other hear sounds from either place. From the gun
room noise will, if very great, penetrate hither; but nothing thou
canst do will make them below hear thee.

"Then this wider and lighter and loftier portion, where the light
comes in, is but a space filched away from the roofs and leads, and
jammed in in such a fashion that it would defy a magician to find
it from without. We tried days and days and could not do it, and
never did, albeit we can climb like cats and had an inkling where
it was--until we put Julian within to shout aloud and guide us by
his voice. It is so placed that none can get really nigh to those
places where the cracks are made to let in the light and air. Thou
needst not fear, though all the monks in the priory come to search,
that this hiding place will ever be found."

The monk looked around the narrow chamber and drew an involuntary
breath of relief. If indeed this thing were so, if indeed he might
lie hidden from discovery and defy the most stringent search, might
it not be a God-appointed means of salvation for him? Might he not
be doing wrong in insisting upon falling into the hands of men?
Would it indeed be possible for him to secrete himself without
bringing down upon others the wrath he himself would escape?

Whilst he stood thus debating with himself, the boys pulled him by
the sleeve and spoke eagerly, though involuntarily in low tones.

"And see further. Here is food laid up against this day. It will
all keep for many weeks. It is but poor fare, but not poorer than
thou art well used to--salted meat, and dried fish, and oaten cake;
which keeps moist far longer than any other. Here are a few
confections, and here is wine, and a jar of good mead. As for
water, it may be had at this trough here, and a goodly supply; only
it comes with somewhat of a rush, and the bung is not easily rammed
back in its place. It is best to raise the tube--so--in the hand;
but we could not make shift to do better. There is the lantern, and
oil in this vessel, and none can see the light at night from any
place when it is burned. I have placed three books in you corner--I
dared not take more from the library; but I knew thou wouldst have
thy breviary with thee, and thou art never dull. If it may be done
safely, one of us will visit thee from time to time; and if there
is any way of escape open to thee, thou shalt surely hear thereof.

"But be not dismayed if days go by and thou hearest naught. It may
be safer that thou shouldst be left quite alone. Thou wilt not
think thyself forgotten?"

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