The Secret Chamber at Chad by Evelyn Everett-Green


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Page 1

A just and kindly man, he was beloved of those about him, and would
have been staunchly supported by his retainers had any adversary
arisen against him. His only enemy was the Lord of Mortimer, who
owned Mortimer's Keep, the adjoining property, and had cast
covetous eyes on Chad during the stormy days of the late wars, more
than once trying unsuccessfully to step in between the disputing
parties and claim it as his own, not by the power of right, but by
that of might alone. However, he had not been successful in this
attempt; and for the past few years there had been a semblance of
friendliness between Sir Oliver and his proud and powerful
neighbour.

The knight was well aware that the friendliness was more a seeming
than a reality. He was perfectly well acquainted with the rapacious
character of the owner of Mortimer's Keep, and with his covetous
designs upon Chad. He knew he was a secret foe, always on the watch
for any cause of complaint against him; and he could often feel
that it would take very little to stir up the old jealous strife
and hostility. Still, for the present an armed truce was the order
of the day, and Sir Oliver, knowing his own loyalty, the cleanness
of his hands, and the uprightness of his dealings, was not much
afraid that his enemy would ever succeed in ousting him from his
lands, or in gaining possession of the fair park and house of Chad
for himself.

Sir Oliver was personally liked by the king, which was another
point in his favour. Without being a brilliant ruler like his
successors, the seventh Henry had the faculty of choosing men of
parts to place about him, and he had recognized in Sir Oliver
Chadgrove certain qualities which he approved, and of which he
wished to avail himself from time to time. So the knight was
frequently summoned to attend the king, and occasionally his wife
went with him and appeared at court. On this particular bright June
night, both the master and the mistress were absent, being at
Windsor with the king's court; and the three boys--the children
with whom Providence had blessed them--were the only members of the
family sleeping beneath the roof of the great house.

The bedchamber of the three boys was a large, bare room looking out
across the wooded park and ridge of hills, through which the little
river of Chad meandered leisurely. The boys would have preferred
the courtyard for their lookout; but a lover of nature could not
but be struck by the exceeding beauty of the view from this row of
latticed casements. And indeed the green expanse of home-like
country had its charm even for high-spirited boys; and Edred, the
second child of the house, often sat for hours together on the wide
window ledge, gazing his fill at the shifting lights and shadows,
and dreaming dreams of his own about what he saw.

The long room contained three small narrow beds, and very little
furniture besides, In each of these beds a boy lay sleeping. The
moonlight streaming in through the uncurtained windows illuminated
the whole room, and showed the curly heads, two dark and one fair,
lying on the hard pillows, and shone so straight into the face of
the eldest boy, that he stirred a little in his sleep, and half
turned round.

He was a handsome lad of some eight or nine summers, with regular,
strongly-marked features, and dark hair and eyes. The brown hand
and arm which lay exposed to view showed a muscular development
that betokened great strength to come when the boy should be grown
to manhood, and the face exhibited a like promise of strength of
will and character.

Bertram Chadgrove, half aroused by the strong light of the moon in
his face, opened his dark eyes sleepily for a few minutes, and then
turned over towards the wall, and prepared to slumber again. But
before he had sunk to sleep he became further aroused by a very
peculiar sound in the wall (as it seemed), close to which his bed
was stationed; and instead of drowsing off again, he woke up with
all his faculties on the alert, much as a watchdog does, and
sitting up in bed he listened with all his ears.

Yes; there could be no mistaking it! There was certainly a sound--a
muffled, curious sound--within the very wall itself. He pressed his
ear against the panel, and his eyes shone brightly in the
moonlight.

"It is some living thing," he whispered to himself. "Methinks it is
surely some human thing. Rats can make strange sounds, I know, but
not such sounds as these. A human being, and within the thickness
of the wall! How can such a thing be? I never heard the like
before. It comes nearer--I hear the groping of hands close beside
mine ear. Heaven send it be not a spirit from the other world! I
fear no mortal arm, of flesh and blood, but I desire not to see a
visitor from the land of shadows."

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Books | Photos | Paul Mutton | Fri 29th Mar 2024, 7:33