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  THE KING'S ACHIEVEMENT

  By Robert Hugh Benson

  Author of "By What Authority?" "The Light Invisible,""A Book of the Love of Jesus," etc.

  _Non minus principi turpia sunt multa supplicia, quam medico multafunera._

  (Sen. de clem. 1, 24, 1.)

  _I must express my gratitude once more to the Rev. Dom Bede Camm,O.S.B., as well as to the Very Rev. Mgr. Barnes, who have done me greatservice in revising proofs and making suggestions; to the Rev. E.Conybeare, who very kindly provided the coins for the cover-design ofthe book; to my mother and sister, to Eustace Virgo, Esq., to Dr.Ross-Todd, and to others, who have been extremely kind in various waysduring the writing of this book in the summer and autumn of 1904._

  _I must also express my great indebtedness to the Right Rev. AbbotGasquet, O.S.B., both on account of his invaluable books, which I haveused freely, and for his personal kindness in answering my questions._

  ROBERT HUGH BENSON

  _The Catholic Rectory,Cambridge,July 14, 1905._

  CONTENTS

  BOOK I.THE KING'S WILL.

  CHAPTER

  I. A DECISION II. A FORETASTE OF PEACE III. THE ARRIVAL AT LEWES IV. A COMMISSION V. MASTER MORE VI. RALPH'S INTERCESSION VII. A MERRY PRISONERVIII. A HIGHER STEP IX. LIFE AT LEWES X. THE ARENA XI. A CLOSING-IN XII. A RECOVERYXIII. PRISONER AND PRINCE XIV. THE SACRED PURPLE XV. THE KING'S FRIEND

  BOOK II.THE KING'S TRIUMPH.

  PART I.--THE SMALLER HOUSES.

  I. AN ACT OF FAITH II. THE BEGINNING OF THE VISITATION III. A HOUSE OF LADIES IV. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING V. FATHER AND SON VI. A NUN'S DEFIANCE VII. ST. PANCRAS PRIORYVIII. RALPH'S RETURN IX. RALPH'S WELCOME

  PART II--THE FALL OF LEWES.

  I. INTERNAL DISSENSION II. SACERDOS IN AETERNUM III. THE NORTHERN RISING IV. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SEAL V. THE SINKING SHIP VI. THE LAST STAND VII. AXES AND HAMMERS

  BOOK III.

  THE KING'S GRATITUDE.

  I. A SCHEME II. A DUEL III. A PEACE-MAKER IV. THE ELDER SON V. THE MUMMERS VI. A CATASTROPHE VII. A QUESTION OF LOYALTYVIII. TO CHARING IX. A RELIEF-PARTY X. PLACENTIA XI. THE KING'S HIGHNESS XII. THE TIDINGS AT THE TOWERXIII. THE RELEASE

  BENEFICO--IGNOTOHVNC--LIBRVMD.

  THE KING'S ACHIEVEMENT

  CHAPTER I

  A DECISION

  Overfield Court lay basking in warm June sunshine. The western side ofthe great house with its new timber and plaster faced the evening sunacross the square lawns and high terrace; and the woods a couple ofhundred yards away cast long shadows over the gardens that lay beyondthe moat. The lawns, in their broad plateaux on the eastern sidedescended by steps, in cool shadow to the lake that formed aquarter-circle below the south-eastern angle of the house; and themirrored trees and reeds on the other side were broken, circle aftercircle, by the great trout that were rising for their evening meal. Thetall front of the house on the north, formed by the hall in the centrewith the kitchen at its eastern end and the master's chamber on thewestern, was faced by a square-towered gatehouse through which thestraight drive leading into the main road approached the house under alime-avenue; and on the south side the ground fell away again rapidlybelow the chapel and the morning-room, in copse and garden and wildmeadow bright with buttercups and ox-eye daisies, down to the lake againand the moat that ran out of it round the entire domain.

  The cobbled courtyard in the centre of the house, where the tall leadedpump stood, was full of movement. Half a dozen trunks lay there thathad just been carried in from the luggage-horses that were now being ledaway with patient hanging heads towards the stables that stood outsidethe gatehouse on the right, and three or four dusty men in livery weretalking to the house-servants who had come out of their quarters on theleft. From the kitchen corner came a clamour of tongues and dishes, andsmoke was rising steadily from the huge outside chimney that rose beyondthe roofs.

  Presently there came clear and distinct from the direction of thevillage the throb of hoofs on the hard road; and the men shouldered thetrunks, and disappeared, staggering, under the low archway on the right,beside which the lamp extinguisher hung, grimy with smoke and grease.The yard dog came out at the sound of the hoofs, dragging his chainafter him, from his kennel beneath the little cloister outside thechapel, barked solemnly once or twice, and having done his duty lay downon the cool stones, head on paws, watching with bright eyes the doorthat led from the hall into the Court. A moment later the little doorfrom the masters chamber opened; and Sir James Torridon came out and,giving a glance at the disappearing servants, said a word or two to theothers, and turned again through the hall to meet his sons.

  The coach was coming up the drive round toward the gatehouse, as he cameout on the wide paved terrace; and he stood watching the glitter ofbrasswork through the dust, the four plumed cantering horses in front,and the bobbing heads of the men that rode behind; and there was a gravepleased expectancy on his bearded face and in his bright grey eyes as helooked. His two sons had met at Begham, and were coming home, Ralph fromtown sites a six months' absence, and Christopher from Canterbury,where he had been spending a week or two in company with Mr. Carleton,the chaplain of the Court. He was the more pleased as the house had beenrather lonely in their absence, since the two daughters were both fromhome, Mary with her husband, Sir Nicholas Maxwell, over at Great Keynes,and Margaret at her convent education at Rusper: and he himself had hadfor company his wife alone.

  She came out presently as the carriage rolled through the archway, atall dignified figure of a woman, finely dressed in purple and black,and stood by him, silently, a yard or two away, watching the carriageout of steady black eyes. A moment later the carriage drew up at thesteps, and a couple of servants ran down to open the door.

  Ralph stepped out first, a tall man like both his parents, with a faceand slow gait extraordinarily like his mother's, and dressed in the samekind of rich splendour, with a short silver-clasped travelling cloak,crimson hose, and plumed felt cap; and his face with its pointed blackbeard had something of the same steady impassivity in it; he wasflicking the dust from his shoulder as he came up the steps on to theterrace.

  Christopher followed him, not quite so tall as the other, and a good tenyears younger, with the grey eyes of his father, and a little brownbeard beginning to sprout on his cheeks and chin.

  Ralph turned at the top of the steps

  "The bag," he said shortly; and then turned again to kiss his parents'hands; as Christopher went back to the carriage, from which the priestwas just stepping out. Sir James asked his son about the journey.

  "Oh, yes," he said; and then added, "Christopher was late at Begham."

  "And you are well, my son?" asked his mother, as they turned to walk upto the house.

  "Oh, yes!" he said again.

  Sir James waited for Christopher and Mr. Carleton, and the threefollowed the others a few yards behind.

  "You saw her?" said his father.

  Christopher nodded.

  "Yes," he said, "I must speak to you, sir, before I tell the others."

  "Come to me when you are dressed, then. Supper will be in an hour fromnow;" and he looked at his son with a kind of sharp expectancy.

  The courtyard was empty as they passed through, but half a dozenservants stood crowded in the little flagged passage that led from itinto the kitchen, and watched Ralph and his mother with an awed interestas they came out from the hall. Mr. Ralph had come down from the heartof life, as they knew; had been present at the crowning of Anne Boleyn aweek before, had mixed with great folks; and what secrets of State mightthere not be in that little strapped bag
that his brother carried behindhim?

  When the two first had disappeared, the servants broke into talk, andwent back to the kitchen.

  * * * * *

  Lady Torridon, with her elder son and the chaplain, had to wait a fewminutes on the dais in the hall an hour later, before the door under themusicians' gallery opened, and the other two came in from the master'schamber. Sir James looked a little anxious as he came across the cleanstrewed rushes, past the table at the lower end where the household sat,but Christopher's face was bright with excitement. After a word or twoof apology they moved to their places. Mr. Carleton said grace, and asthey sat down the door behind from the kitchen opened, and the servantscame through with the pewter dishes.

  Ralph was very silent at first; his mother sat by him almost as silentas himself; the servants sprang about noiseless and eager to wait onhim; and Sir James and the chaplain did most of the conversation,pleasant harmless talk about the estate and the tenants; but as supperwent on, and the weariness of the hot journey faded, and the talk fromthe lower tables grew louder, Ralph began to talk a little more freely.

  "Yes," he said, "the crowning went well enough. The people were quietenough. She looked very pretty in her robes; she was in purple velvet,and her gentlemen in scarlet. We shall have news of her soon."

  Sir James looked up sharply at his son. They were all listeningintently; and even a servant behind Ralph's chair paused with a silverjug.

  "Yes," said Ralph again with a tranquil air, setting down his Venetianglass; "God has blessed the union already."

  "And the King?" asked his father, from his black velvet chair in thecentre.

  There fell a deeper silence yet as that name was mentioned. Henrydominated the imagination of his subjects to an extraordinary degree, noless in his heavy middle-age than in the magnificent strength andcapacity of his youth.

  But Ralph answered carelessly enough. He had seen the King too often.

  "The King looked pleased enough; he was in his throne. He is stouterthan when I saw him last. My Lord of Canterbury did the crowning; TeDeum was sung after, and then solemn mass. There was a dozen abbots, Ishould think, and my Lords of York and London and Winchester with two orthree more. My Lord of Suffolk bore the crown."

  "And the procession?" asked his father again.

  "That, too, was well enough. There came four chariots after the Queen,full of ancient old ladies, at which some of the folks laughed. And thenthe rest of them."

  They talked a few minutes about the coronation, Sir James asking most ofthe questions and Ralph answering shortly; and presently Christopherbroke in--

  "And the Lady Katharine--" he began.

  "Hush, my son," said his father, glancing at Ralph, who sat perfectlystill a moment before answering.

  "Chris is always eager about the wrong thing," he said evenly; "he islate at Begham, and then asks me about the Princess Dowager. She isstill alive, if you mean that."

  Lady Torridon looked from one to the other.

  "And Master Cromwell?" she asked.

  "Master Cromwell is well enough. He asked me to give you both hisrespects. I left him at Hackney."

  * * * * *

  The tall southern windows of the hall, above the pargetted plaster, hadfaded through glowing ruby and blue to dusk before they rose from thetable and went down and through the passage into the little parlour nextthe master's chamber, where they usually took their dessert. This partof the house had been lately re-built, but the old woodwork had beenre-used, and the pale oak panels, each crowned by an elaborate foliatedhead, gave back the pleasant flicker of the fire that burned between thepolished sheets of Flemish tiles on either side of the hearth. A greatglobe stood in the corner furthest from the door, with a map of Englandhanging above it. A piece of tapestry hung over the mantelpiece,representing Diana bending over Endymion, and two tall candles in brassstands burned beneath. The floor was covered with rushes.

  Mr. Carleton, who had come with them as far as the door, according tocustom, was on the point of saying-good-night, when Sir James called himback.

  "Come in, father," he said, "we want you to-night. Chris has somethingto tell us."

  The priest came in and sat down with the others, his face in shadow, atthe corner of the hearth.

  Sir James looked across at his younger son and nodded; and Chris, hischin on his hand, and sitting very upright on the long-backed settlebeside the chaplain, began rather nervously and abruptly.

  "I--I have told Ralph," he said, "on the way here and you, sir; but Iwill tell you again. You know I was questioning whether I had a vocationto the religious life; and I went, with that in my mind, to see the HolyMaid. We saw her, Mr. Carleton and I; and--and I have made up my mind Imust go."

  He stopped, hesitating a little, Ralph and his mother sat perfectlystill, without a word or sign of either sympathy or disapproval. Hisfather leaned forward a little, and smiled encouragingly.

  "Go on, my son."

  Chris drew a breath and leaned back more easily.

  "Well, we went to St. Sepulchre's; and she could not see us for a day ortwo. There were several others staying with us at the monastery; therewas a Carthusian from Sheen--I forget his name."

  "Henry Man," put in the chaplain.

  "--And some others," went on Chris, "all waiting to see her. Dr. Bockingpromised to tell us when we could see her; and he came to us one morningafter mass, and told us that she was in ecstasy, and that we were tocome at once. So we all went to the nuns' chapel, and there she was onher knees, with her arms across her breast."

  He stopped again. Ralph cleared his throat, crossed his legs, and dranka little wine.

  "Yes?" said the knight questioningly.

  "Well--she said a great deal," went on Chris hurriedly.

  "About the King?" put in his mother who was looking at the fire.

  "A little about the King," said Chris, "and about holy things as well.She spoke about heaven; it was wonderful to hear her; with her eyesburning, and such a voice; and then she spoke low and deep and told usabout hell, and the devil and his torments; and I could hardly bear tolisten; and she told us about shrift, and what it did for the soul; andthe blessed sacrament. The Carthusian put a question or two to her, andshe answered them: and all the while she was speaking her voice seemedto come from her body, and not from her mouth; and it was terrible tosee her when she spoke of hell; her tongue lay out on her cheek, and hereyes grew little and afraid."

  "Her tongue in her cheek, did you say?" asked Ralph politely, withoutmoving.

  Chris flushed, and sat back silent. His father glanced quickly from oneto the other.

  "Tell us more, Chris," he said. "What did she say to you?"

  The young man leaned forward again.

  "I wish, Ralph--" he began.

  "I was asking--" began the other.

  "There, there," said Sir James. "Go on, Chris."

  "Well, after a while Dr. Bocking brought me forward; and told her tolook at me; and her eyes seemed to see something beyond me; and I wasafraid. But he told me to ask her, and I did. She said nothing for awhile; and then she began to speak of a great church, as if she saw it;and she saw there was a tower in the middle, and chapels on either side,and tombs beside the high altar; and an image, and then she stopped, andcried out aloud 'Saint Pancras pray for us'--and then I knew."

  Chris was trembling violently with excitement as he turned to the priestfor corroboration. Mr. Carleton nodded once or twice without speaking.

  "Then I knew," went on Chris. "You know it was what I had in my mind;and I had not spoken a word of Lewes, or of my thought of going there."

  "Had you told any?" asked his father.

  "Only Dr. Bocking. Then I asked her, was I to go there; but she saidnothing for a while; and her eyes wandered about; and she began to speakof black monks going this way and that; and she spoke of a prior, and ofhis ring; it was of gold, she said, with figures engraved on it. Youknow the ring the
Prior wears?" he added, looking eagerly at his father.

  Sir James nodded.

  "I know it," he said. "Well?"

  "Well, I asked her again, was I to go there; and then she looked at meup and down; I was in my travelling suit; but she said she saw my cowland its hanging sleeves, and an antiphoner in my hands; and then herface grew dreadful and afraid again, and she cried out and fell forward;and Dr. Bocking led us out from the chapel."

  There was a long silence as Chris ended and leaned back again, takingup a bunch of raisins. Ralph sighed once as if wearied out, and hismother put her hand on his sleeve. Then at last Sir James spoke.

  "You have heard the story," he said, and then paused; but there was noanswer. At last the chaplain spoke from his place.

  "It is all as Chris said," he began, "I was there and heard it. If thewoman is not from God, she is one of Satan's own; and it is hard tothink that Satan would tell us of the sacraments and bid us use themgreedily, and if she is from God--" he stopped again.

  The knight nodded at him.

  "And you, sweetheart?" he said to his wife.

  She turned to him slowly.

  "You know what I think," she said. "If Chris believes it, he must go, Isuppose."

  "And you, Ralph?"

  Ralph raised himself in his chair.

  "Do you wish me to say what I think?" he asked deliberately, "or whatChris wishes me to say? I will do either."

  Chris made a quick movement of his head; but his father answered forhim.

  "We wish you to say what you think," he said quietly.

  "Well, then," said Ralph, "it is this. I cannot agree with the father. Ithink the woman is neither of God nor Satan; but that she speaks of herown heart, and of Dr. Bocking's. I believe they are a couple ofknaves--clever knaves, I will grant, though perhaps the woman issomething of a fool too; for she deceives persons as wise even as Mr.Carleton here by speaking of shrift and the like; and so she does thepriests' will, and hopes to get gain for them and herself. I am notalone in thinking this--there are many in town who think with me, andholy persons too."

  "Is Master Cromwell one of them?" put in Chris bitterly.

  Ralph raised his eyebrows a little.

  "There is no use in sneering," he said, "but Master Cromwell is one ofthem. I suppose I ought not to speak of this; but I know you will notspeak of it again; and I can tell you of my own knowledge that the HolyMaid will not be at St. Sepulchre's much longer."

  His father leaned forward.

  "Do you mean--" he began.

  "I mean that His Grace is weary of her prophesyings. It was all verywell till she began to meddle with matters of State; but His Grace willhave none of that. I can tell you no more. On the other hand if Christhinks he must be a monk, well and good; I do not think so myself; butthat is not my affair; but I hope he will not be a monk only because aknavish woman has put out her tongue at him, and repeated what a knavishpriest has put into her mouth. But I suppose he had made up his mindbefore he asked me."

  "He has made up his mind," said his father, "and will hold to it unlessreason is shown to the contrary; and for myself I think he is right."

  "Very well, then," said Ralph; and leaned back once more.

  The minutes passed away in silence for a while; and then Ralph asked aquestion or two about his sisters.

  "Mary is coming over to hunt to-morrow with her husband," said SirJames. "I have told Forrest to be here by nine o'clock. Shall you comewith us?"

  Ralph yawned, and sipped his Bordeaux.

  "I do not know," he said, "I suppose so."

  "And Margaret is at Rusper still," went on the other. "She will not behere until August."

  "She, too, is thinking of Religion," put in Lady Torridon impassively.

  Ralph looked up lazily.

  "Indeed," he said, "then Mary and I will be the only worldlings."

  "She is very happy with the nuns," said his father, smiling, "and aworldling can be no more than that; and perhaps not always as much."

  Ralph smiled with one corner of his mouth.

  "You are quite right, sir," he said.

  The bell for evening prayers sounded out presently from the turret inthe chapel-corner, and the chaplain rose and went out.

  "Will you forgive me, sir," said Ralph, "if I do not come this evening?I am worn out with travelling. The stay at Begham was very troublesome."

  "Good-night, then, my son. I will send Morris to you immediately."

  "Oh, after prayers," said Ralph. "I need not deprive God of his prayerstoo."

  * * * * *

  Lady Torridon had gone out silently after the chaplain, and Sir Jamesand Chris walked across the Court together. Overhead the summer nightsky was clear and luminous with stars, and the air still and fragrant.There were a few lights here and there round the Court, and the tallchapel windows shone dimly above the little cloister. A link flaredsteadily on its iron bracket by the door into the hall, and threw wavesof flickering ruddy light across the cobble-stones, and the shadow ofthe tall pump wavered on the further side.

  Sir James put his hand tenderly on Chris' shoulder.

  "You must not be angry at Ralph, my son," he said. "Remember he does notunderstand."

  "He should not speak like that," said Chris fiercely. "How dare he doso?"

  "Of course he should not; but he does not know that. He thinks he isadvising you well. You must let him alone, Chris. You must remember heis almost mad with business. Master Cromwell works him hard."

  * * * * *

  The chapel was but dimly lighted as Chris made his way up to the highgallery at the west where he usually knelt. The altar glimmered in thedusk at the further end, and only a couple of candles burned on thepriest's kneeling stool on the south side. The rest was dark, for thehouse hold knew compline by heart; and even before Chris reached hisseat he heard the blessing asked for a quiet night and a perfect end. Itwas very soothing to him as he leaned over the oak rail and looked downon the dim figures of his parents in their seat at the front, and theheads of the servants below, and listened to the quiet pulsation ofthose waves of prayer going to and fro in the dusk, beating, as a summertide at the foot of a cliff against those white steps that rose up tothe altar where a single spark winked against the leaded window beneaththe silk-shrouded pyx. He had come home full of excitement and joy athis first sight of an ecstatic, and at the message that she had seemedto have for him, and across these heightened perceptions had jarred theimpatience of his brother in the inn at Begham and in the carriage ontheir way home, and above all his sharp criticism and aloofness in theparlour just now. But he became quieter as he knelt now; the bitternessseemed to sink beneath him and to leave him alone in a world ofpeaceful glory--the world of mystic life to which his face was now set,illuminated by the words of the nun. He had seen one who could seefurther than he himself; he had looked upon eyes that were fixed onmysteries and realms in which he indeed passionately believed, but whichwere apt to be faint and formless sometimes to the weary eyes of faithalone; and as a proof that these were more than fancies she had told himtoo of what he could verify--of the priory at Lewes which she had nevervisited, and even the details of the ring on the Prior's finger which healone of the two had seen. And then lastly she had encouraged him in hisdesires, had seen him with those same wide eyes in the habit that helonged to wear, going about the psalmody--the great _Opus Dei_--to whichhe longed to consecrate his life. If such were not a message from God tohim for what further revelation could he hope?

  And as for Ralph's news and interests, of what value were they? Of whatimportance was it to ask who sat on the Consort's throne, or whether shewore purple velvet or red? These were little matters compared with thosehigh affairs of the soul and the Eternal God, of which he was alreadybeginning to catch glimpses, and even the whispers that ran about thecountry places and of which Ralph no doubt could tell him much if hechose, of the danger that threatened the religious houses, and ofHenry's
intentions towards them--even these were but impotent cries ofthe people raging round the throne of the Anointed.

  So he knelt here now, pacified and content again, and thought withsomething of pity of his brother dozing now no doubt before the parlourfire, cramped by his poor ideals and dismally happy in his limitations.

  His father, too, was content down below in the chapel. He himself hadat one time before his marriage looked towards the religious life; andnow that it had turned out otherwise had desired nothing more than thathe should be represented in that inner world of God's favourites by atleast one of his children. His daughter Margaret had written a weekearlier to say that her mind was turning that way, and now Christopher'sdecision had filled up the cup of his desires. To have a priest for ason, and above all one who was a monk as well was more than he had daredto hope, though not to pray for; if he could not be one himself, atleast he had begotten one--one who would represent him before God, bringa blessing on the house, and pray and offer sacrifice for his soul untilhis time should be run out and he see God face to face. And Ralph wouldrepresent him before men and carry on the line, and hand on the house toa third generation--Ralph, at whom he had felt so sorely puzzled oflate, for he seemed full of objects and ambitions for which the fatherhad very little sympathy, and to have lost almost entirely that delicaterelation with home that was at once so indefinable and so real. But hecomforted himself by the thought that his elder son was not whollywasting time as so many of the country squires were doing round about,absorbed in work that a brainless yeoman could do with better success.Ralph at least was occupied with grave matters, in Cromwell's serviceand the King's, and entrusted with high secrets the issue of which bothtemporal and eternal it was hard to predict. And, no doubt, the knightthought, in time he would come back and pick up the strands he haddropped; for when a man had wife and children of his own to care for,other businesses must seem secondary; and questions that could beignored before must be faced then.

  But he thought with a little anxiety of his wife, and wondered whetherhis elder son had not after all inherited that kind of dry rot of thesoul, in which the sap and vigour disappear little by little, leavingthe shape indeed intact but not the powers. When he had married her,thirty-five years before, she had seemed to him an incarnate mystery ofwhose key he was taking possession--her silence had seemed pregnant withknowledge, and her words precious pieces from an immeasurable treasury;and then little by little he had found that the wide treasury was empty,clean indeed and capacious, but no more, and above all with no promiseof any riches as yet unperceived. Those great black eyes, that highforehead, those stately movements, meant nothing; it was a splendidfigure with no soul within. She did her duty admirably, she said herprayers, she entertained her guests with the proper conversation, shecould be trusted to behave well in any circumstances that called fortact or strength; and that was all. But Ralph would not be like that; hewas intensely devoted to his work, and from all accounts able in itsperformance; and more than that, with all his impassivity he was capableof passion; for his employer Sir Thomas Cromwell was to Ralph's eyes,his father had begun to see, something almost more than human. A wordagainst that master of his would set his eyes blazing and his voicetrembling; and this showed that at least the soul was not more thansleeping, or its powers more than misdirected.

  And meanwhile there was Chris; and at the thought the father lifted hiseyes to the gallery, and saw the faint outline of his son's brown headagainst the whitewash.