"Is this one of the hiding-places?" asked Charles.
"No, my liege," replied William Penderel, who had followed him. "This is an oratory. We are Roman Catholics, as your majesty is aware."
"I see no altar," observed Charles.
William Penderel opened a recess in the wall, so contrived that it had quite escaped the king's attention, and disclosed a small altar, with a cross above it.
"Here we pay our devotions in private," he said.
"And here I will pay mine," rejoined Charles. "I must return thanks to the Great Power that has hitherto preserved me. Leave me."
Careless and William Penderel at once retired, and closed the door of the oratory.
Left alone, Charles knelt down before the altar, and was for some time occupied in fervent prayer.
