The Secret Chamber at Chad

The Secret Chamber at Chad

Project Gutenberg's The Secret Chamber at Chad, by Evelyn
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Title: The Secret Chamber at Chad
Author: Evelyn Everett-Green
Release Date: April 20, 2005 [EBook #15670]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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SECRET CHAMBER AT CHAD ***

Produced by Martin Robb

THE SECRET CHAMBER AT CHAD by Everett Evelyn-Green.
Table of Contents


CHAPTER I
: A MYSTERIOUS VISITOR.

CHAPTER II

: THE HOUSEHOLD AT CHAD.

CHAPTER III
: BROTHER EMMANUEL.

CHAPTER IV
: THE TRAVELLING PREACHER.

CHAPTER V
: A WARNING.

CHAPTER VI
: WATCHED!

CHAPTER VII
: AN IMPOSING SPECTACLE.

CHAPTER VIII
: HIDDEN AWAY.

CHAPTER IX
: THE SEARCH.

CHAPTER X
: FROM PERIL TO SAFETY.

Chapter I
: A Mysterious Visitor.
The great house at Chad was wrapped in sleep. The brilliant beams of a
June moon illuminated the fine pile of gray masonry with a strong
white light. Every castellated turret and twisted chimney stood out in
bold relief from the heavy background of the pine wood behind, and the
great courtyard lay white and still, lined by a dark rim of ebon shadow.
Chad, without being exactly a baronial hall of the first magnitude, was
nevertheless a very fine old house. It had been somewhat shorn of its
pristine glories during the Wars of the Roses. One out of its original
two quadrangles had then been laid in ruins, and had never been rebuilt.
But the old inner quadrangle still remained standing, and made an
ample and commodious dwelling house for the family of the
Chadgroves who inhabited it; whilst the ground which had once been
occupied by the larger outer quadrangle, with its fortifications and
battlements, was now laid out in terraces and garden walks, which
made a pleasant addition to the family residence.
The seventh Henry was on the throne. The battle of Bosworth Field had
put an end to the long-drawn strife betwixt the houses of York and
Lancaster. The exhausted country was beginning to look forward to a
long period of prosperity and peace; and the household at Chad was
one of the many that were rejoicing in the change which had come
upon the public outlook, and was making the most of the peaceful years
which all trusted lay before the nation.
Several changes of some importance had passed over Chad during the
previous century. The wars had made gaps in the ranks of the family to
whom it had always belonged. There had been sundry edicts of
confiscation--as speedily repealed by the next change in the fate of the
day; and more than once the head had been struck down by death, and
the house and lands had passed either to a minor or to some other
branch of the family. There had been the confusion and strife betwixt
the various branches of the family which was a characteristic of that
age of upheaval and strife; but the present owner of the estate, Sir
Oliver Chadgrove, seemed firmly settled in his place. He had fought on
Henry's side at Bosworth, and had been confirmed by that monarch in
the possession of the estate of Chad; and since that day none had tried

to dispute his claim; nor, indeed, would it have been very easy to do so,
as he was undoubtedly the rightful representative of the older branch of
the family.
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