There, seen full when
he sat down, and in part when he kneeled and stood, was the man who
hitherto had stood to them for the old order, the old faith, the old
tradition--the man whose horse's footsteps had been heard, times and
again, before dawn, in the village street, bearing him to the mystery of
the mass; through whose gate strangers had ridden, perhaps three or four
times in the year, to find harbourage--strangers dressed indeed as plain
gentlemen or yeomen, yet known, every one of them, to be under her
Grace's ban, and to ride in peril of liberty if not of life.
Yet here he sat--a man feared and even loved by some--the first of his
line to yield to circumstance, and to make peace with his times. Not a
man of all who looked on him believed him certainly to be that which his
actions professed him to be; some doubted, especially those who
themselves inclined to the old ways or secretly followed them; and the
hearts of these grew sick as they watched.
But the crown and climax was yet to come.
* * * * *
The minister finished at last the homily--it was one which inveighed
more than once against the popish superstitions; and he had chosen it
for that reason, to clench the bargain, so to say--all in due order; for
he was a careful man and observed his instructions, unlike some of his
brethren who did as they pleased; and came back again to the long north
side of the linen-covered table to finish the service.
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