“O Magda, Magda, how can I bear it?” cried Freda, laying her head upon her sister’s shoulder; “I had thought to be so brave, so steadfast.  We have spoken of it, and I had thought that in a righteous cause it would not be hard to suffer.  And, in sooth, I verily believe I could suffer mine own self.  But I cannot bear for him to be alone—­for him to have so much laid upon him.  O my Anthony! my Anthony!”

“And it is so little they ask, so little they hold; and our beloved Master Clarke maintains that the true Catholic Church has forbidden naught that they would fain see restored—­only the liberty to read and study the living Word for themselves.  They are not rebels; they are not heretics.  They love the church, and they are her true sons.  Only they maintain that some errors have crept in of man’s devising, for which no Scripture warrant can be found; and they know that corruption hath entered even into the sanctuary, and they would fain see it cleansed.  Is that sin?  Is that heresy?  Then methinks our Lord must needs have been a heretic and sinner (if it be not blasphemy to say it), for He would not suffer His Father’s house to be polluted nor made a den of thieves.  And what else do these godly men ask now than that the Christian Church shall be purified and cleansed of merchandise and barter, and become again a holy house of prayer, undisturbed by any such things?”

Magdalen had been one of those who had most earnestly drunk in the teachings of such men as Clarke, who combined an intense and devoted love of Holy Church with an ardent desire after a purer spiritual administration.  His words to her soul were as words of life; and one of the things which had first attracted her to Arthur Cole, and become a bond of sympathy between them, was the deep admiration and enthusiasm that he always expressed with regard to Clarke and his doctrine and preaching.  Freda had gone somewhat farther along the road which Anthony was pursuing—­the road which led eventually to a greater upheaval and disruption than at that day any, save the most ardent foreign reformers, dreamed of.  Even Garret and Dalaber and their companions were as yet ignorant of the inevitable result of their teaching and convictions.  It seemed to them at this time that such a very little would satisfy them, that the church could not seriously excommunicate them or persecute them for what they believed.  And yet—­and yet—­there was a sense of coming tempest in the very air.  And when the sisters, having recovered their self-control, went indoors to tell their tale to their father, they saw that he was much disturbed, and that he considered Anthony’s position as very precarious.

Just as they were discussing the matter in all its bearings, and anxiously wondering when it would be possible to obtain further news, there was a short summons at the door, and Arthur Cole entered, with a pale and anxious face.  Evidently he saw from their faces that something had reached them, and his first question was: