“Evidently.”
“And ends where?”
“Under a marble slab which must be somewhere in the chancel of the church of St. Olave. I have passed along it measuring the distance.”
“But never issued at the other end?”
“No. The slab is closely set in its place, but it hath hinges on its lower side.”
“And on its upper side, I doubt not,” said Marlowe ironically, “are the words in fair letters ‘Touch not mine annointed’?”
“Possibly,” rejoined Tamworth.
“If the king ever rose from the grave,” said Marlowe, smiling, “I imagine that he took great pains to conceal it.”
“There is no tradition that this room was ever occupied by a king or a prince; but what I know of the life and character of the weak and unfortunate monarch, Henry the Sixth, taken in connection with the arrangement of this room and its adjoining secret chamber, convinces me that a crowned head once rested on the bed within the alcove.”
“Ah, the secret room is an oratory, is it?”