The White Company (PDF, MOBI, EPUB, FB2, TEXT)
to remembrance of the laws under which ye
live."
At this sudden outflame of wrath the two witnesses sank their
faces on to their chests, and sat as men crushed. The Abbot
turned his angry eyes away from them and bent them upon the
accused, who met his searching gaze with a firm and composed
face.
"What hast thou to say, brother John, upon these weighty things
which are urged against you?"
"Little enough, good father, little enough," said the novice,
speaking English with a broad West Saxon drawl. The brothers,
who were English to a man, pricked up their ears at the sound of
the homely and yet unfamiliar speech; but the Abbot flushed red
with anger, and struck his hand upon the oaken arm of his chair.
"What talk is this?" he cried. "Is this a tongue to be used
within the walls of an old and well-famed monastery? But grace
and learning have ever gone hand in hand, and when one is lost it
is needless to look for the other."
"I know not about that," said brother John. "I know only that
the wo