He stood still, silent, breathing so heavily that Anthony heard him.
"Tell me, Rob; tell me quickly."
Robin drew a long breath.
"You saw that my father was silent?" he said.
"Yes."
"Stay…. Will you swear to me by the mass that you will tell no one what you will hear from me till you hear it from others?"
"I will swear it," whispered Anthony in the darkness.
Again Robin sighed in a long, shuddering breath. Anthony could hear him tremble with cold and pain.
"Well," he said, "my father will leave the Church next Easter. He is tired of paying fines, he says. And he has bidden me to come with him to Matstead Church."
There was dead silence.