All denied any knowledge
of strangers having entered, and the search revealed nothing but four
monks' gowns and hoods found wrapped up in a bundle in a small room
downstairs. Further questions had been then put. Some of the domestics
remembered that four monks had entered the palace late in the evening, and
one of the under chamberlains said that he had seen them, and they had told
him that they had just arrived from Flanders, and craved permission to
sleep in the palace for the night, as they were going on to Peterborough in
the morning. He had told them that this was impossible, as he could give no
permission without the leave of the bishop, who was at present with the
king and could not be disturbed, and that, moreover, every room in the
palace was occupied. He had given them the address of a citizen, who would
he was sure take them in. They had thanked him, and said that they would go
there, but doubtless instead of doing so they had slipped aside, and had
hidden themselves in the room where their gowns were found. It was one used
only for the storage of garments for poor travellers who came along, and no
one was likely to enter it on such an evening.
This discovery was a great relief to the bishop and all within the palace,
as it showed that they were not there with the connivance of any of the
prelate's people. Before the matter was fully unravelled Beorn returned.
They had in a quiet spot a short distance from the palace come upon two men
with six horses.
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