"I am unable to fix the period satisfactorily to my own mind," said Walden, quietly ignoring both Sir Morton and his observations on the Beyond; "though I have gone through considerable research with respect to the matter. So I do not volunteer any opinion. There is, however, no doubt that at one time the body contained in that coffer must have been of the nature termed by the old Church 'miraculous.' That is to say, it must have been supposed to be efficacious in times of plague or famine, for there are several portions of the alabaster which have evidently been worn away by the frequent pressure or touch of hands on the surface. Probably in days when this neighbourhood was visited by infection, drought, floods or other troubles, the priests raised the coffin by the system of leverage which we discovered when excavating (and which is still in working order) and allowed the people to pass by and lay their hands upon it with a special prayer to be relieved of their immediate sickness or sorrow. There were many such 'miraculous' shrines in the early part of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries."
"Exactly," said Mr. Longford; "I imagine you may be right, Mr. Walden; it is evidently a relic of the very earliest phases of the Christian myth."
As he spoke the last words Walden looked straightly at him. A fine smile hovered on his lips.
"It is as you say," he rejoined calmly--"It is a visible token of the time when men believed in an Unseen Force more potent than themselves."
The Duke of Lumpton coughed noisily again, and his friend, Lord Mawdenham, who up to the present had occupied the time in staring vaguely about him and anxiously feeling his pimples, said hurriedly: "Oh, look here, Sir Morton--er--I say,--er--hadn't we better be going? There's Lady Elizabeth Messing coming to lunch and you know she can't bear to be kept waiting-never do, you know, not to be there to see her when she arrives--he-he-he! We should never get over it in London or out of London--'pon my life!--I do assure you!"
Sir Morton's chest swelled;--his starched collar crackled round his expanding throat, and his voice became richly resonant as under the influential suggestion of another 'titled' personage, he replied: "Indeed, you are right, my dear Lord Mawdenham! To keep Lady Elizabeth waiting would be an unpardonable offence against all the proprieties! Hum--ha--er--yes!--against all the proprieties! Mr. Walden, we must go! Lady Elizabeth Messing is coming to lunch with us at Badsworth. You have no doubt heard of her--eldest daughter of the Earl of Charrington!--yes, we must really be going! I think I may say, may I not, your Grace?"--here he bent towards the ducal Lumpton--"that we are all highly pleased with the way in which Mr. Waldon has effected the restoration of the church?"