"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?"
Brother Emmanuel's eyes were fixed with a tender gaze upon the faces of the bold, generous boys. He took their hands in his, and they bent the knee to receive his blessing. His words were few and brief, but each lad as he rose resolved deep down in his heart that he would suffer the penalty of death itself sooner than betray the secret hiding place and give the brother up to his foes.
Then with a few more last words respecting the hiding place and the arrangements made for the comfort of its occupant, the pair stole away, and soon found themselves safely within the walls of their own room, the door of which was still safely locked. They looked each other in the face with a proud, glad smile.
"It is done!" cried Edred, drawing a long breath.
"Nay, not altogether," answered Julian, with eyes that flashed with excitement; and drawing a step nearer his brother, he said in changed tones, "Now must that rascally priest have fled, and it behoves us to search the precincts of the place with all diligence. We must not leave a nook or a cranny unvisited, and must make a mighty coil. Thou takest me, brother, dost thou not?"
Edred made a quick, eager sign of assent.
"Ay, Julian, I do; and when we have done all that, let us back to the priory again. We must whisper in our father's ear that Brother Emmanuel is safe. Then will he act with a freer hand. And it were better, perchance, that we were all there to ride back with him when he takes his leave."
Julian assented at once to this proposition; and forth went the boys, at first calling aloud the name of their tutor, and then halting, always within earshot of one of the spies, to debate where he could have concealed himself, darting hither and thither, as if suddenly remembering some new place, and ever returning disappointed and vexed.
"He is a veritable fox!" cried Julian, flinging his cap on the ground in a well-assumed tempest of chagrin. "He must have left Chad altogether, for not a trace of him is here; and I looked to have the pleasure of bringing him ourselves before the reverend prior, to atone for having helped that other pestilent fellow to avoid for a while the hand of the law. A plague upon him and his cunning ways! Unless he have found the secret chamber our father knows of, and which he once took us to see, there be no other place in all Chad where he can be lurking, unless he has been moving from spot to spot at our approach. A pest upon the crafty rogue!"
"We shall do no good loitering here, since he be really gone," remarked Edred, in a tone of vexation very like his brother's; "perchance he may have fallen into the hands of the prior through the watch of which he spoke. I trust it may be so. But for us, I trow we had better go back to see the end of the day's spectacle. We can do no more at Chad. If he is hiding he will not dare come forth now, with all the folks returning so soon; and if he has got clean away, nothing we can do will bring him back."
Julian grumbled in the finest phrases he could think of as the two pursued their way back towards the priory, increasing their speed as they left Chad behind, and very quickly gaining the meadow, where the servants were already beginning to collect the horses and get them ready for their masters.
The day's proceedings were over. Refreshments were being served in the refectory to all of the better sort. Sir Oliver's two younger sons had never been missed; but Edred contrived to slip into the hall, and in passing beside his father's chair to whisper in his ear the four simple words:
"Brother Emmanuel is safe!"
None heard the whisper, not even Bertram, who was sitting next his father, though he read it in his brother's eye the next moment. Edred had affected to catch the clasp of his belt against his father's chair as he passed by, and in pausing to free it had bent his head and spoken the brief message.
No change passed over Sir Oliver's face. Not a creature present observed the trifling by-play. Wine had circulated freely, and much laughing and talking were going on. The prior had unbent from his judicial severity, and even the Lord of Mortimer was smiling and bland, although there was something in his aspect that suggested the fierce feline play of a man-eating creature biding its time and toying with its victim.
Just before the close of the feast Sir Oliver rose to his feet.
"My lord prior, and you knights and gentlemen," he said suddenly, addressing all those who sat at the board in one comprehensive glance round the table. "I have been not a little disturbed and astonished today by hearing that there is ill known of one who has been long a member of my household-Brother Emmanuel-whom the reverend prior himself sent forth to be the instructor of my sons, and who has always comported himself right reverently and seemly in my house. But inasmuch as there is cause of offence in him, and that he has this day refused obedience to his lawful superior, and has not come at the bidding of the prior, I cannot but own him in fault, and decline to have further dealings with him. I do not know whether he is yet at Chad. I have not seen him since his farewell last evening. But if he be yet there, let the Lord of Mortimer, or you, holy father, send a company of servants to bring him thence.
"I have heard it whispered around that he is hiding within the walls of Chad, and that we of that household know where he lurks. My reply to that whisper is a denial (which I will take upon oath if need be) that I know aught whatever about him; and furthermore, I will throw open my house, upon any day and at any time, to whatever persons shall be sent to seek him, and will aid them in every possible way in the finding of the offender."
A murmur of approval went round the company. The prior looked pleased, and a smile crossed his face.
The only person who did not seem gratified by this openness was the Lord of Mortimer, whose face contracted sourly, and who gave a keen glance at his rival, as though he would have read his very soul. But the calm gaze with which Sir Oliver returned this look did not appear to restore his equanimity, and he flashed a glance at his son-in-law which plainly betokened surprise and chagrin.
"Well spoken, Sir Oliver," said the prior; "and since I have excellent reason to know that the brother has not left Chad, and cannot do it without my knowledge, it is plain to me that he is hiding in some place there, albeit all unknown to you and yours. Wherefore, on the morrow, I myself, together with my good friend the Lord of Mortimer, will present ourselves at Chad, and make full search, and we shall no doubt find the heretic monk cowering away in some undreamed-of hiding place, and will drag him thence to the fate he so well merits.
"Chad has its secrets, has it not? I have heard of them in days gone by."
"It has several cunning nooks and crannies, but all of these will I myself display to you upon the morrow," replied the knight calmly; and the Lord of Mortimer arose with a crafty smile upon his face, and addressed the prior in these words:
"Reverend father, I do not willingly speak ill of my neighbours, least of all of one who is now near akin to me through the marriage of my daughter with Sir Edward, who comes of the old stock of Chad. Yet I cannot but state here, in this place, that I hold Sir Oliver to have drawn down suspicion upon himself by failing to give up Brother Emmanuel a week ago when it was demanded of him. There be something to my mind strange and unworthy in such an act; and I here call upon all men to witness that I verily believe we shall find this traitor monk sheltering within the walls of Chad, and that if this be so I shall openly accuse Sir Oliver before all the world-before the king himself-of harbouring traitors and heretics, and shall make petition that Chad and all that pertains to it be forfeit, as the penalty for such evil courses, and be given to the rightful lord by inheritance-Sir Edward Chadwell."
The partisans of Mortimer raised a cheer; those of Chad received the challenge with groans and curses. Sir Oliver spoke not a word, but sat with his head proudly erect, and his eyes gleaming somewhat dangerously; whilst the prior commanded silence by a gesture of his hand, and spoke to quell the tumult.
"My Lord of Mortimer, I have far more trust than you in the integrity of good Sir Oliver. I trow he will be able to clear himself of whatever suspicions lie upon him; and if the monk be found within his house, he shall have every opportunity of explaining his presence there. At the same time, I will not deny that it will look ill for him if he be found there; and that the tongues of all suspicious persons may be silenced, so that none shall say there has been opportunity for him to get the monk secretly away from the place, I will double the watch that has already been set around Chad, and I will send thither with Sir Oliver and his family two of my trustiest sons, Brother Fabian and Brother Nathaniel, to keep strict watch within doors, that there be no cause for any enemy to say that any there have aided an unlawful escape, or have striven to hide a miscreant from those who justly demand him."
Sir Oliver bent his head.
"Any brother coming from Chadwater will be an honoured guest at Chad," he said. "I was about to ask if Brother Fabian was to be sent thither to instruct my sons."
"Ay, and to find out what germs of heresy yon false monk may not have implanted!" cried Lord Mortimer, losing control of himself as he saw the calmness of his enemy, and felt that the prey he had so confidently looked to be his might even now slip from his grasp. "It was those lads from Chad who strove to protect yon miserable hunchback who will be burned to ashes for his sins ere three more days have gone by. How explain you such conduct as that, Sir Oliver? Are you and your dame rearing up a heretic brood, to cumber the land in days to come?"
But the prior here interposed somewhat sternly. He had no intention of allowing his table to be made the scene of a disturbance that might lead to bloodshed. He turned somewhat sternly upon the haughty baron, and his words were few and plain.
"My Lord of Mortimer, Sir Oliver has answered to me for that offence. You take something too much upon yourself in thus striving to sit in judgment, and that in mine own presence.
"And now, gentlemen, the sun will be shortly setting, and some of you have many miles to ride. We have done the day's work in a thorough and righteous fashion; and I will now give you my blessing, and dismiss you to your homes. I trust this may be the last time that I have to assemble you together to drive from amongst us those who are tainted by the curse of heresy."
Half an hour later the party for Chad were riding quietly homeward through the forest with two cowled monks in their company. The last charge to these from the prior had been:
"Thou, Brother Fabian, keep a sharp eye by night and by day upon the boys; and thou, Brother Nathaniel, upon the knight and his lady. If any of those are in the secret, be it your mission to find out and bring it home to them."