He isn't there, Reverend
Brother, and he isn't anywhere. He's nowhere, Reverend Brother, and
shall I go and ring the fire-alarm?"
Brother George sternly bade Brother Simon be quiet; but when the
Brethren sat in choir to sing Lauds and Prime, they saw that Brother
Anselm's stall was empty, and those who had heard Brother Simon's
clamour feared that something terrible had happened.
After Mass the Community was summoned to the Chapter room to learn from
the lips of the Father Superior that Brother Anselm had broken his vows
and left the Order. Brother Dunstan, who wore round his neck the nib
with which Brother Anselm signed his profession, burst into tears.
Brother Dominic looked down his big nose to avoid the glances of his
brethren. If Easter Sunday had been gloomy, Low Sunday was gloomier
still, and as for the Feast of St. George nobody had the courage to
think what that would be like with such a cloud hanging over the
Community.
Mark felt that he could not stay even until the patronal festival. If
Brother George or Brother Birinus had broken his vows, he could have
borne it more easily, for he had not witnessed their profession; fond he
might be of the Prior, but he had worked for human souls under the
orders of Brother Anselm.
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