...
Then, with a noise as brutal as a blasphemy, there came a thunder of
footsteps on the stairs; and a man burst into the room, with glaring
eyes and rough gestures.
"There is a company of men coming up from the valley," he cried; "and
another over the moor.... And it is my lord Shrewsbury's livery."
III
In an instant all was in confusion; and the peace had fled. Mr. John was
gone; and his voice could be heard on the open stairs outside speaking
rapidly in sharp, low whispers to the men gathered beneath; and,
meanwhile, three or four servants, two men and a couple of maids,
previously drilled in their duties, were at the altar, on which Mr.
Ludlam had but that moment laid down his amice. The three priests stood
together waiting, fearing to hinder or to add to the bustle. A low
wailing rose from outside the door; and Robin looked from it to see if
there were anything he could do. But it was only a little country
servant crouching on the tiny landing that united the two sets of stairs
from the court, with her apron over her head: she must have been in the
partitioned west end of the chapel to hear the mass. He said a word to
her; and the next instant was pushed aside, as a man tore by bearing a
great bundle of stuffs--vestments and the altar cloths. When he turned
again, the chapel was become a common room once more: the chest stood
bare, with a great bowl of flowers on it; the candlesticks were gone;
and the maid was sweeping up the herbs.
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