Part 12 (1/2)
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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sent. 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. .h.i.therto, 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 d.a.m.nable 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 s.h.i.+fted 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 s.h.i.+elded 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. n.o.body 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.