coffee, were by no means addicted to the drinking of water.
Considering the sanitary conditions in which they lived in those
days, and the fearful contamination of water which frequently
prevailed, and which doubtless had much to do with the spread of
the Black Death and other like visitations, this was no doubt an
advantage. Still there were drawbacks to the habit of constant
quaffing of fermented drinks at all hours of the day, and it was
often a difficult matter to keep in check the sin of drunkenness
that prevailed amongst all classes of the people.

At Chad the gentle influence of the lady of the manor had done much
to make this household an improvement on many of its neighbours.
Although there was always abundance of good things and a liberal
hospitality to strangers of all sorts, it was not often that any
unseemly roistering disturbed the inmates of Chad. The servants and
retainers looked up to their master and mistress with loyalty and
devotion, curbed their animal passions and wilder moods out of love
and reverence for them, and grew more civilized and cultivated
almost without knowing it, until the wild orgies which often
disgraced the followings of the country nobility were almost
unknown here.

Possibly another humanizing and restraining influence that acted
silently upon the household was the presence of a young monk, who
had been brought not long since from a neighbouring monastery, to
act in the capacity of chaplain to the household and tutor to the
boys, now fast growing towards man's estate. There was a beautiful
little chapel connected with Chad. It had fallen something into
neglect and ruin during the days of the civil wars, and had been
battered about in some of the struggles that had raged round Chad.