his master's
ear; the remainder escaped in a sort of grumble, the dregs of his ill
humour at the interruption.

The sportsman, if such he was, gained a ready admittance into the abbey
enclosure. Passing round the north transept of the church, he made the
best of his way to the abbot's house, where Paslew dwelt in great state,
keeping a separate establishment and a numerous train of domestics and
officials.

Paslew was in some respects a man of parsimonious habits; and though his
bounty might now be the better excused, yet in the more prosperous days
of his dominion he had the character of a selfish and greedy priest,
whose charity was less than that of his predecessor, and his personal
expenses double.

Encouraged by the "Pilgrimage of Grace," as it was then called, headed
by one Aske, a gentleman of but mean pretensions, who yet possessed the
art of making himself popular with the vulgar, Paslew, though apparently
taking no open part in the rebellion, had with his monks repossessed
their ancient seat, from which they had been driven by the decrees of
Henry VIII.

The rebel army had their camp at Doncaster, where the Archbishop of York
and the Lord D'Arcy openly espoused their cause, receiving in great
state a herald from the king's army, who came to negotiate with these
dangerous malcontents. They had formed high notions of their own power
and importance, and entertained sanguine hopes of success, especially
since the Duke of Norfolk, a supporter of the ancient religion, was
appointed to the command of the royal forces along with the Earl of
Shrewsbury. The monks made themselves certain that the result would be a
complete purification of heresy from the land, or at least that measures
would be adopted for the purpose of forcing Henry to a restitution of
their rights. So fully established were they in this opinion, that, as
we have just seen, some of them took possession of their ancient
inheritances without the tedious formality of awaiting a fresh grant
from the king.

The rebel army, being allured by Norfolk with vain promises of
satisfaction, were now dispersed, though with the understanding that
another assemblage should take place at a given notice, for which
purpose beacons were erected at convenient distances throughout the
north. By these means their forces could again be mustered with the
greatest security and despatch.

Within this interval our narrative begins. Paslew had received some
communicatio