His wife was seen to follow him a few minutes later.
By eight o'clock the inhabitants of the village were assembled at points
of vantage; some openly at their doors; others at the windows; and
groups from the more distant farms, decked suitably, stood at all
corners; to be greeted presently by their minister hurrying back once
more from the church to bring the communion vessels and the bread and
wine. The four or five soldiers of the village--a couple of billmen and
pikemen and a real gunner--stood apart in an official group, but did not
salute him. He did not speak of that which was in the minds of all, but
he waved a hand to this man, bid a happy Easter to another, and
disappeared within his lodgings leaving a wake of excitement behind him.
By a quarter before nine the three bells had begun to jangle from the
tower; and the crowd had increased largely, when Mr. Barton once more
passed to the church in the spring sunshine, followed by the more devout
who wished to pray, and the more timid who feared a disturbance. For
sentiments were not wholly on the squire's side. There was first a
number of Catholics, openly confessed or at least secretly Catholic,
though these were not in full force since most were gone to Padley
before dawn; and there was next a certain sentiment abroad, even amongst
those who conformed, in favour of tradition. That the squire of Matstead
should be a Catholic was at least as fundamental an article of faith as
that the minister should be a Protestant.
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