"
"Should that be wanting?" said Morley.
"I should think not," said Hatton. "It would belie our nature
to believe so."
"And where are these documents?"
"In the muniment room of Mowbray castle."
"Hah!" exclaimed Morley in a prolonged tone.
"Kept closely by one who knows their value, for they are the
title deeds not of his right but of his confusion."
"And how can we obtain them?"
"By means more honest than those they were acquired by."
"They are not obvious."
"Two hundred thousand human beings yesterday acknowledged the
supremacy of Gerard," said Hatton. "Suppose they had known
that within the walls of Mowbray Castle were contained the
proofs that Walter Gerard was the lawful possessor of the
lands on which they live; I say suppose that had been the
case. Do you think they would have contented themselves with
singing psalms? What would have become of moral power then?
They would have taken Mowbray Castle by storm; they would have
sacked and gutted it; they would have appointed a chosen band
to rifle the round tower; they would have taken care that
every document in it, especially an iron chest painted blue
and blazoned with the shield of Valence, should have been
delivered to you, to me, to any one that Gerard appointed for
the office.
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