"Know you any retainer of yours who could have written this?"
"My steward, who approaches, can better answer the question, your highness," returned the baron.
The parchment being handed to Calverley, he instantly recognized the hand, and, in answer to De Boteler's question, replied—
"This is the handwriting of a retainer called Oakley."
"Do you know the man?"
"Yes, my lord."
Calverley then retired, and those whom the matter concerned, withdrew to an apartment, and gave their opinions according to the view in which the thing appeared to them.
That it was a stratagem to gain entrance to the Tower, was the opinion of several, but, after much discussion, it was decided that the man should be admitted, and that the monk should be exhibited merely to intimidate the rebels, until the result of this promised communication should be known.
About ten, a small boat was observed to approach the southern walls of the fortress. A man stepped from it and was permitted to ascend the terrace, and Calverley, who was standing there, challenged the stranger.
The steward clapped his hands, and immediately the bows of a hundred archers stationed around, were unbent, and he addressed Oakley as follows: