Now he was one of the great Cardinal Legate's commissioners, sent to enquire into the whole monastic system of the Church in England; and who can wonder if Miles shrunk a little from such an ordeal.
He went to "The Sign of the Golden Fleece" to bid his friends farewell; and even Master Monmouth and the priest, William Tyndale, shook their heads dubiously, when they heard what the Cardinal had decided to do.
"'Tis easier to pluck down than to build up, Master Miles; and if the monks are to be turned out upon the highways, the number of beggars will be sorely increased," said the merchant.
"But you have the sturdy fellows bellowing for alms a dozen times a day now for the different monasteries," said Miles, who was determined to defend his master's action, on account of the hope it gave him that he might be able to rescue Cicely.
The merchant laughed when he was reminded how often the monk's wallet was seen at his door, and how seldom any went away without a supply of food in some form or other. It was a sort of tax the London citizen was used to paying, and did not grudge it. Besides, sometimes the jolly monk would stop and crack a joke, or drink a stoup of ale with the merchant, or tell a good story by way of payment for the alms bestowed; and so the notion that this side of London's social life might be disturbed, if the Cardinal succeeded in carrying out his plans, was not eagerly welcomed.
Of course they were willing to admit that the monks were, for the most part, a set of lazy rascals; and they were proud of such a school as Dean Colet's, where a boy could learn Greek and Latin, as well as other subjects; but they had not yet made up their minds that they wanted to get rid of the gossiping old monks, even for good grammar schools; for these same monks were such an integral part of the social life of London. While in the country, the connection with the gentry of the neighbourhood on the one hand, and the poor on the other, was so close, that Miles feared his master had put his hand to a task that might prove too great, even for him to carry out; and he saw the wisdom of confining their enquiries to the smaller and more insignificant monasteries at first, and not attempting to do more than curtail the number of inmates, and prevent, if possible, that any should be sent there against their will, as Cicely had undoubtedly been.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
BAFFLED.
IF Miles could only have followed his own wishes he would have started on his journey to Oxford without a day's delay, but he was not master of the situation, and had to be guided by what the Cardinal deemed best under the circumstances; and so he had to wait until his master's messengers returned, bringing news of where Cicely had been lodged.
There was also other business to be transacted, that they might carry out their work of inspection as the duly accredited commissioners of His Eminence; so that it was nearly a week before they could start with a retinue befitting the office they had been invested with, and this involved a slower progress than was altogether pleasant to Miles, who was impatient to press on with all the speed possible.