William and Susanna

by L E Pembroke

  ‘Shall we go to Notre Dame tomorrow?’ she asked soon after they arrived at the rooms in which they planned to stay for the following week.

  ‘No, not tomorrow. You must be fatigued from our travels. I suggest you rest tomorrow. I have business to attend to and expect to be occupied for most of the day.’

  ‘Oh’, to be so near to this famous pilgrimage destination, how disappointing and tantalising to have to wait a further twenty-four hours.

  By midday the following day Susanna had had enough of resting in their rooms. She would take a short walk. She might have hesitated if she’d been aware of recent French history. For the previous thirty years in France the population had suffered a series of religious wars with thousands, both Protestants and Catholics killed. On one day alone more than ten thousand Protestant Huguenots were massacred and the French Huguenot community decimated. Susanna knew nothing of this and wouldn’t have believed it if she had been told. Only Protestants were murderers, she had been certain of that.

  For hours she wandered amongst the gardens and Gothic buildings of the university. Sighting a small chapel in the university precincts she hurried towards it. Her brief introduction to the grandeur of Catholic churches in Douai had left her thirsting for more. The interior was lit by dozens of candles standing tall in brass candle sticks. Walls were decorated with countless murals and there were statues throughout the church portraying Christ with the apostles and his Mother, and others of Mary with her infant child. The scent of incense permeated sacristy and nave. The ambience within the church took Susanna’s breath away. She sat alone in a forward pew and began her prayers and penance.

  Having been totally absorbed by her meditations, she reluctantly emerged from the church at dusk. Bewildered by how quickly the time had passed, she stood uncertainly wondering which direction she would take.

  She spoke almost no French and despite having had a tutor, her Latin was limited. Following a group of students towards a street of taverns, Susanna was confident she was travelling in the right direction. But in this district there seemed to be taverns in every street. She hesitated. Two fellows approached her. They began talking and smiling, she feared they were being over-friendly and had no idea of the meaning of their words.

  ‘Go away’ she said in piercing English, ‘please leave me alone.’

  A young man passing, looked back when he heard her words. He turned towards her. ‘May I be of assistance, Miss?’

  ‘Oh yes, please, I seem to have lost my way, and it’s not the first time, I was once lost in London and I am feeling terrified.’

  She thought she could trust him because he spoke English, so when he offered to escort her to her home, without any hesitation, she gave him her address and he took her arm leading her back in the direction she had just come.

  Within minutes they had turned into the street where she lodged with her father and within seconds she saw the man himself advancing towards them at a great rate.

  ‘Susanna, what is this? Where have you been?’ He turned towards her escort. ‘Pardon me sir, this is my daughter who is but sixteen years.’

  ‘John Hall, sir. I am glad to have been of service. Your daughter had lost her way.’

  ‘She makes a habit of that. I am grateful to you, sir. William Shakespeare at your service.’

  ‘Father, I was lost in time. I took a stroll through the buildings of the university and discovered the most beautiful small chapel, it was there I spent my afternoon.’

  William supposed John Hall to be a young man of, perhaps twenty-four years; a pleasant looking man and one to whom he took an instant liking. ‘Perhaps I can offer you a glass of wine or Madeira, Mr Hall?’

  ‘No sir, I do not partake of alcoholic drinks. I will be on my way if you please.’

  ‘I gather you are a student at this university. Would you consider guiding us through the colleges and main buildings perhaps tomorrow or some other day in the near future that is suitable to you? If so, it would be my pleasure to have you dine with us at the end of the day.’

  ‘You are most kind, thank you. That would be most agreeable.’

  ‘Father, you did say we might visit the Notre Dame Cathedral tomorrow.’

  How irritating she could be, did she not realise that a man needs the company of other men.

  ‘Any day will do for that. You have visited the Cathedral, have you Mr Hall?’

  ‘No sir, I am not of that faith, I have little interest in the pomp and ceremony of the papists.’

  Oh oh, what have we here? Thought William, this young man sounds like one of those who, even more than the Queen and her followers, have no time for the faith practised in England prior to the Reformation and the reign of King Henry VIII.

  Soon after John Hall left their rooms, William remarked to his daughter:

  ‘What a very nice young gentleman.’

  ‘Why do you say that, father, surely you must realise he is not one of us?’

  ‘One of us, precisely what are you saying, Susanna?’

  ‘He is not Catholic, father.’

  ‘What does a man’s method of practising his religion have to do with what he is quintessentially?’

  ‘I believe, everything; that was one of the first things my grandmother taught me, and you must have perceived, father, the man is a Puritan.’

  ‘That is not how our Saviour taught us, Susanna. Did He not instruct us to love our neighbour?’

  ‘It is a great pity the Queen, Head of the Protestant Church, does not follow that principle.’ She responded quickly.

  ‘And, Susanna, do not forget Mary, the Catholic Queen before Elizabeth. I am told she favoured burning at the stake for those she called heretics. I think neither of us could really imagine what it must be like to watch someone suffering the horrifying pain of being burnt alive.’

  William’s friends and acquaintances were not Puritans, being actors how could they be? It was said Puritans despised actors. And, actors thought Puritans were very dull fellows. William knew about Puritans and was aware they were reformists who not only had no time for the old Catholic faith, but also had little time for the Church of England. Puritans, he knew, supported a different type of Christian religion, one that shed all popish frippery (they believed the Church of England had retained too many Popish customs). They disapproved of the wearing of vestments, reading of the Prayer Book and the fact that there was very little in the way of preaching in the Church of England. Puritans believed in simplicity of worship, no hierarchy of priests and bishops and a religion administered by preaching elders.

  These anti-hedonist Christians seemed a very dull lot, thought William, they observed the Sabbath strictly allowing no form of leisure or fun and games on that day of the week. On the Sabbath, they attended church both morning and evening and conducted bible readings in between times in their homes. They did not permit organs in their place of worship or any form of music, an altar or kneeling. In essence Puritans believed the Reformation had not gone far enough in distancing itself from such Catholic practices as the wearing of vestments, observation of Lent as well as the celebration of innumerable Saints’ days.

  *

  The following day they journeyed to the island in the Seine River on which Notre Dame was built three hundred years before. William, just as well, made no other plans for the day. This, the most popular Paris pilgrimage, took them a full day of sightseeing. The cathedral was of a size and beauty beyond even William’s imagination. Susanna spent most of the time on her knees in several chapels within the edifice. William, a man who made a habit of only expressing his emotions with the written word, succumbed to the expressions of his faith manifested within the cathedral, although an hour or two was sufficient for him to do so.

  He bent over his daughter’s kneeling figure and spoke in a whisper. ‘Come, Susanna, it is time we returned home, I have sent a note to young Mr Hall telling him we are leaving Paris next week and that we hope to see him before we depart, even tonight if it is conv
enient to him.’

  She looked up and frowned. ‘If you insist, Father.’

  ‘I do insist, and I have to say Susanna, that I am sadly disappointed at your bigotry. Indeed your attitude “doth set my teeth on edge.”’

  ‘It is your own mother who has taught me thus.’

  ‘For goodness sake you are no longer a child. Judge as you would be judged and please, let us return to our rooms.’

  They met John Hall two days later. Despite his religious views, this young earnest man training to be a doctor, interested Susanna in a small way. What a shame he wasn’t one of them. Polite and even amusing, they had a pleasant enough day together and followed it with a splendid dinner at one of the better hostelries in the district. For William, the day spent in the company of John Hall was poignant in many respects. He was reminded of how it would have been if Hamnet had lived and been given the opportunity to grow into a man like this man, one he would have been so proud to call his own.

  Their time together was also a lesson for John. It seemed that like Susanna, John had grown up with fixed ideas about religion that were not altogether correct. Puritans believed implicitly that stage performers were a coarse and immoral lot. When he discovered something of William’s achievements, he was astounded that such a man in such a business was polite, was able to think, philosophise and be such an interesting and pleasant companion.

  Both men agreed to meet again upon their return to England.

  ACT 2 - 4

  A large group of pilgrims set out from Paris for the Pyrenees in late summer. They came from several countries and were a mixed bunch including artisans, religious, farming labourers, yeoman and just one playwright. They reached Toulouse in the Midi Pyrenees by various means - carriages, carts, barges and walking. William and Susanna used all of those forms of transport. The pilgrims were very devout. ‘They left their sense of humour behind in their homes,’ he whispered to his daughter.

  Time passed slowly for William, his wish was to get to the City States as soon as possible. By contrast, Susanna wanted only to savour her religious beliefs in these out of the way towns and villages that led the intrepid pilgrim across the mountains into Spain and finally to Santiago de Compostela - said to be the one time home of St James, one of the twelve apostles.

  The group comprised only very few English along with many French, Italians and Belgians. The only common language was Latin. The churches, cathedrals, basilicas were numerous and abbeys provided food and shelter for weary pilgrims. Hospitals and hospices, staffed by nuns to cater for those in need, were dotted along the routes

  Susanna, thrilled by the emotionality of being a pilgrim, began to believe God had a special plan for her. Did she have a vocation? Was she meant to spend the rest of her life high up in these mountains, close to heaven? She was enthralled by thoughts of the delights in store for her if that was so or if she became a nun doing God’s work in any capacity.

  Two weeks of this though and William had had enough. He had no intention of walking to The Bay of Biscay, visiting church after church and thus completing the trek which was known as St James Way. He decided they would join another group which was returning to France. It was time Susanna accepted that he was no pilgrim to out of the way places, that was definitely not the aim of this European tour. They would travel to Marseilles and then, even though he didn’t fancy sea travel, embark on a boat to Rome. He would not be dissuaded. Susanna realised, as she had never done before, that her father was not a mild-natured man and when his mind was firmly made up, discussion was out of the question.

  *

  They arrived in Rome on a glorious September day and instantly Susanna forgave her father for tearing her away from the Pyrenees pilgrim retreats. Nothing could compare with St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It would take days for her to absorb all the detail of this the greatest monument within her church.

  William thought it was time he broadened his daughter’s rather limited knowledge of history. ‘You may not know Susanna, that an Augustinian monk visited Rome some ninety years ago, his name was Martin Luther. He was shocked by the blatant sale of Indulgences by some of the religious in Rome. Do you know what indulgences are, Susanna?’

  ‘No father, but I am sure they couldn’t be bad.’

  ‘They were a very fruitful way of making money for our Church with the promise of remission from punishment for sin, either to someone living or someone already dead and believed to be in purgatory. Luther published a condemnation of the Roman Church and founded a new church, one of the first Protestant churches to be created.’

  ‘He had no right to do that, I am sure he must have been mistaken.’

  ‘No, Susanna, he was not mistaken, I am afraid that all men of the cloth are not like our Robert Southwell and other lowly priests. Like the rest of mankind, there are elements within the church who have been tempted and have given way to greed and lust.’

  ‘I cannot believe that, father.’

  ‘Susanna, Susanna, you are so naive. I assure you these are well-known facts. Also, Luther had come to believe that the bible was the only source of divinely-revealed knowledge. However, I am not so sure that was an accurate assumption. He translated his work into German making it much more accessible to the population at large and that was the beginning of The Reformation, a movement which spread like wildfire to many parts of Europe and to England.’

  Susanna knew almost nothing about this historical background and William was ashamed that he hadn’t discussed it with her before. She had always believed implicitly in church history as taught to her by her grandmother.

  ‘So now you know Susanna why one should not be critical of others. There are both strong and weak people, good and bad people in every church. There are those who are kind, honest and generous-hearted and people who are mean-spirited, envious and depraved in different ways. That is why I become so annoyed with you when you make judgements about others because they follow a different way of worshipping God from the way we do.

  ‘Well, I will think about what you are saying father, but I am having difficulty in believing some of it.’

  *

  William enjoyed himself immensely in Rome. Having made certain that Susanna planned to spend each day at the Basilica of St Peter, he took himself to the various theatres.

  He was most fascinated by the performances of the stock figures of The Commedia dell Art. He also enjoyed concerts and greatly appreciated the paintings and sculpture in and around Rome’s most recognisable buildings. He became friends with many Roman actors who like himself would soon be travelling on to Venice to enjoy the endless carnivals held on land and water in that cosmopolitan city of Islands.

  For the first time on their journey, William was constantly amongst companions to whom he related. He joined them day and night in the bars and taverns they frequented. He didn’t give a thought to Susanna’s whereabouts believing her to be spending her days in the Basilica of St Peter. Perhaps she had found some English tourists with whom she could communicate. He hoped so, because he had noticed that his daughter was not a highly gifted linguist.

  He didn’t expect ever to return to Rome so was determined to see the great church of St Peter some time before they went north. In particular, a visit to the Sistine Chapel was on his agenda, not only to marvel at the paintings of Michelangelo, but also to view the sculpture of The Pieta which, he understood tore into the hearts of all pilgrims who visited Rome. But not just yet, William was convinced he owed it to his profession to learn as much as possible about the theatre in Rome. Occasionally, he pondered, was he being thoughtless leaving Susanna for such long periods? He concluded, no, not at all, a man needs freedom and there had been little enough of that since his departure from London. Tomorrow he would go with her to the Basilica. It was just a short journey from their rooms and he would join his new friends in the evening.

  That evening he put his suggestion to her. ‘Susanna, no doubt you have seen St. Peter’s Basilica several times this las
t week. I would be most grateful if you would allow me to escort you there tomorrow. I cannot leave Rome without seeing the principal cathedral in the Catholic world and I fear we must soon leave this wondrous city. It is nearly time we travelled to Venice.’

  He observed she did not appear entirely pleased.

  Why ever not, had she completely fallen under the spell of Rome? Young women could be so emotional.

  ‘Venice, I believe, will be the highlight of our Grand Tour. Next week, I will make arrangements for our journey to that city.’

  They were eating their evening meal. Fried sardines was the usual plat du jour in this his favourite small tavern. He very nearly choked with shock at her quiet reply.

  ‘Father, I am afraid I am unable to accompany you to Venice.’

  ‘What is this Susanna, are you ill?’

  ‘No father, I wish to stay here and become a nun.’

  A nun, he could hardly believe his ears.

  ‘A child such as you? This is utter foolishness.’

  ‘On the contrary, I am the age of St. Therese of Avila when she left her home to stay with the Augustinians and I have been to the Augustinian Nunnery on three occasions this last week. I asked for directions from an English-speaking priest I encountered at the Basilica. They welcomed me father. I am exactly the age they require a postulant to be. I have been waiting for a suitable time to tell you, but you have been so busy with your new friends.’

  ‘Susanna, I cannot leave you here, your mother will never forgive me, even your grandmother...’

  ‘My grandmother will be delighted.’