“ ‘Then there can be no doubt you are a Priest. And this cassock, whose is this?’
“ ‘That is a dressing-gown, to be used for convenience now and then.’
“Convinced now that they had caught a Priest, they carefully locked up all the books and papers in a box, to be taken away with them. Then they locked the chapel door and put their seal upon it, and taking John by the arm they led him downstairs, and delivered him into the custody of their officers. Now when he entered with his captors into the room where the ladies were, he, who at other times was always wont to conduct himself with humility and stand uncovered in such company, now, on the contrary, after saluting them, covered his head and sat down. Nay, assuming a sort of authority, he said to the magistrates: ‘These are noble ladies; it is your duty to treat them with consideration. I do not, indeed, know them, but it is quite evident that they are entitled to the greatest respect.’
“I should have mentioned that there was a second Priest in the house with me, Father Pullen,[116] an old man, who had quite lately made his noviceship at Rome. He luckily had a hiding-place in his room, and had got into it at the first alarm.
“The ladies, therefore, now perceiving that I was safe, and that the other Priest had also escaped, and seeing also John's assumed dignity, could scarce refrain from showing their joy. They made no account now of the loss of property, or the annoyance they should have to undergo from the suspicion of having had a Priest in the house. They wondered indeed and rejoiced, and almost laughed to see John playing the Priest, for so well did he do it as to deceive those deceivers, and divert them from any further search.”
XXII.
“The magistrates who had searched the house took away John Lilly with them, and the master of the house also with his two men-servants, under the idea that all his property would be confiscated for harbouring a Priest.[117] The ladies, however, represented that they had merely come to pay an after-dinner visit to the mistress of the house, without knowing anything about a Priest being there; so they were let off on giving bail to appear when summoned. The same favour was ultimately shown to Master Roger Lee, though it was with greater difficulty the magistrates could be persuaded that he was only a visitor. At last, then, they departed well satisfied, and locked up their prisoners for the night to wait their morrow's examination.
“Immediately on their departure, the mistress of the house and those other ladies came with great joy to give me notice; and we all joined in giving thanks to God, Who had delivered us all from such imminent danger by the prudence and fidelity of one. Father Pullen and I removed that very night to another place, lest the searchers should find out their error and return.
“The next day I made a long journey to my hostess' house in the country, and caused much fear, and then much joy, as I related all that God had done for us. Then we all heartily commended John Lilly to God in prayer. And, indeed, there was reason enough to do so. For the magistrates, making full inquiries the next day, found that John had been an apothecary in London for seven years, and then had been imprisoned in the Clink for eight or nine more, and that he had been the person who had communicated with me in the Tower, for the gaoler's wife had been apprehended after her husband's flight, and had confessed so much. They saw, therefore, clearly that they had been tricked, and that John was not a Priest, but a Priest's servant; and they now began to have a shrewd suspicion, though [pg cxlii] rather too late, that I had been hidden at the time in the same house where they caught him, especially as they found so many books and writings which they did not doubt were mine. They sent, therefore, to search the house again, but they found only an empty nest, for the birds were flown.
“John was carried to the Tower and confined there in chains. Then they examined him about my escape, and about all the places he had been to with me since. He, seeing that his dealings with the gaoler were already known to them, and desirous (if God would grant him such a favour), to lay down his life for Christ, freely confessed that it was he who had compassed my deliverance, and that he took great pleasure in the thought of having done so; he added that he was in the mind to do the same again if occasion required and opportunity offered. The gaoler, however, he exonerated, and protested that he was not privy to the escape. With regard to the places where he had been with me, he answered (as he had been often taught to do) that he would bring no one into trouble, and that he would not name a single place, for to do so would be a sin against charity and justice. Upon this they said they would not press him any further in words, but would convince him by deeds that he must tell them all they wanted. John replied: ‘It is a thing that, with the help of God, I will never do. You have me in your power; do what God permits you.’