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diff --git a/12449.txt b/12449.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d896d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/12449.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15186 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Reputed Changeling, by Charlotte M. Yonge + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Reputed Changeling + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: May 26, 2004 [eBook #12449] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REPUTED CHANGELING*** + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +A REPUTED CHANGELING, or, THREE SEVENTH YEARS TWO CENTURIES AGO + + + + +PREFACE + + +I do not think I have here forced the hand of history except by +giving Portchester to two imaginary Rectors, and by a little +injustice to her whom Princess Anne termed 'the brick-bat woman.' + +The trial is not according to present rules, but precedents for its +irregularities are to be found in the doings of the seventeenth +century, notably in the trial of Spencer Cowper by the same Judge +Hatsel, and I have done my best to represent the habits of those +country gentry who were not infected by the evils of the later +Stewart reigns. + +There is some doubt as to the proper spelling of Portchester, but, +judging by analogy, the t ought not to be omitted. + +C. M. YONGE. 2d May 1889. + + + +CHAPTER I: THE EXPERIENCES OF GOODY MADGE + + +"Dear Madam, think me not to blame; +Invisible the fairy came. +Your precious babe is hence conveyed, +And in its place a changeling laid. +Where are the father's mouth and nose, +The mother's eyes as black as sloes? +See here, a shocking awkward creature, +That speaks a fool in every feature." + +GAY. + +"He is an ugly ill-favoured boy--just like Riquet a la Houppe." + +"That he is! Do you not know that he is a changeling?" + +Such were the words of two little girls walking home from a school +for young ladies kept, at the Cathedral city of Winchester, by two +Frenchwomen of quality, refugees from the persecutions preluding the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and who enlivened the studies of +their pupils with the Contes de Commere L'Oie. + +The first speaker was Anne Jacobina Woodford, who had recently come +with her mother, the widow of a brave naval officer, to live with +her uncle, the Prebendary then in residence. The other was Lucy +Archfield, daughter to a knight, whose home was a few miles from +Portchester, Dr. Woodford's parish on the southern coast of +Hampshire. + +In the seventeenth century, when roads were mere ditches often +impassable, and country-houses frequently became entirely isolated +in the winter, it was usual with the wealthier county families to +move into their local capital, where some owned mansions and others +hired prebendal houses, or went into lodgings in the roomy dwellings +of the superior tradesmen. For the elders this was the season of +social intercourse, for the young people, of education. + +The two girls, who were about eight years old, had struck up a rapid +friendship, and were walking hand in hand to the Close attended by +the nurse in charge of Mistress Lucy. This little lady wore a black +silk hood and cape, trimmed with light brown fur, and lined with +pink, while Anne Woodford, being still in mourning for her father, +was wrapped in a black cloak, unrelieved except by the white border +of her round cap, fringed by fair curls, contrasting with her brown +eyes. She was taller and had a more upright bearing of head and +neck, with more promise of beauty than her companion, who was much +more countrified and would not have been taken for the child of +higher station. + +They had traversed the graveyard of the Cathedral, and were passing +through a narrow archway known as the Slype, between the south- +western angle of the Cathedral and a heavy mass of old masonry +forming part of the garden wall of the present abode of the +Archfield family, when suddenly both children stumbled and fell, +while an elfish peal of laughter sounded behind them. + +Lucy came down uppermost, and was scarcely hurt, but Anne had fallen +prone, striking her chin on the ground, so as to make her bite her +lip, and bruising knees and elbows severely. Nurse detected the +cause of the fall so as to avoid it herself. It was a cord fastened +across the archway, close to the ground, and another shout of +derision greeted the discovery; while Lucy, regaining her feet, +beheld for a moment a weird exulting grimace on a visage peeping +over a neighbouring headstone. + +"It is he! it is he! The wicked imp! There's no peace for him! I +say," she screamed, "see if you don't get a sound flogging!" and she +clenched her little fist as the provoking "Ho! ho! ho!" rang farther +and farther off. "Don't cry, Anne dear; the Dean and Chapter shall +take order with him, and he shall be soundly beaten. Are you hurt? +O nurse, her mouth is all blood." + +"I hope she has not broken a tooth," said nurse, who had been +attending to the sobbing child. "Come in, my lamb, we will wash +your face, and make you well." + +Anne, blinded with tears, jarred, bruised, bleeding, and bewildered, +submitted to be led by kind nurse the more willingly because she +knew that her mother, together with all the quality, were at Sir +Thomas Charnock's. They had dined at the fashionable hour of two, +and were to stay till supper-time, the elders playing at Ombre, the +juniors dancing. As a rule the ordinary clergy did not associate +with the county families, but Dr. Woodford was of good birth and a +royal chaplain, and his deceased brother had been a favourite +officer of the Duke of York, and had been so severely wounded by his +side in the battle of Southwold as to be permanently disabled. +Indeed Anne Jacobina was godchild to the Duke and his first Duchess, +whose favoured attendant her mother had been. Thus Mrs. Woodford +was in great request, and though she had not hitherto gone into +company since her widowhood, she had yielded to Lady Charnock's +entreaty that she would come and show her how to deal with that +strange new Chinese infusion, a costly packet of which had been +brought to her from town by Sir Thomas, as the Queen's favourite +beverage, wherewith the ladies of the place were to be regaled and +astonished. + +It had been already arranged that the two little girls should spend +the evening together, and as they entered the garden before the +house a rude voice exclaimed, "Holloa! London Nan whimpering. Has +my fine lady met a spider or a cow?" and a big rough lad of twelve, +in a college gown, spread out his arms, and danced up and down in +the doorway to bar the entrance. + +"Don't, Sedley," said a sturdy but more gentlemanlike lad of the +same age, thrusting him aside. "Is she hurt? What is it?" + +"That spiteful imp, Peregrine Oakshott," said Lucy passionately. +"He had a cord across the Slype to trip us up. I heard him laughing +like a hobgoblin, and saw him too, grinning over a tombstone like +the malicious elf he is." + +The college boy uttered a horse laugh, which made Lucy cry, "Cousin +Sedley, you are as bad!" but the other boy was saying, "Don't cry, +Anne None-so-pretty. I'll give it him well! Though I'm younger, +I'm bigger, and I'll show him reason for not meddling with my little +sweetheart." + +"Have with you then!" shouted Sedley, ready for a fray on whatever +pretext, and off they rushed, as nurse led little Anne up the broad +shallow steps of the dark oak staircase, but Lucy stood laughing +with exultation in the intended vengeance, as her brother took down +her father's hunting-whip. + +"He must be wellnigh a fiend to play such wicked pranks under the +very Minster!" she said. + +"And a rascal of a Whig, and that's worse," added Charles; "but I'll +have it out of him!" + +"Take care, Charley; if you offend him, and he does really belong to +those--those creatures"--Lucy lowered her voice--"who knows what +they might do to you?" + +Charles laughed long and loud. "I'll take care of that," he said, +swinging out at the door. "Elf or no elf, he shall learn what it is +to play off his tricks on _my_ sister and my little sweetheart." + +Lucy betook herself to the nursery, where Anne was being comforted, +her bleeding lip washed with essence, and repaired with a pinch of +beaver from a hat, and her other bruises healed with lily leaves +steeped in strong waters. + +"Charley is gone to serve him out!" announced Lucy as the sovereign +remedy. + +"Oh, but perhaps he did not mean it," Anne tried to say. + +"Mean it? Small question of that, the cankered young slip! Nurse, +do you think those he belongs to can do Charley any harm if he +angers them?" + +"I cannot say, missie. Only 'tis well we be not at home, or there +might be elf knots in the horses' manes to-night. I doubt me +whether _that sort_ can do much hurt here, seeing as 'tis holy +ground." + +"But is he really a changeling? I thought there were no such things +as--" + +"Hist, hist, Missie Anne!" cried the dame; "'tis not good to name +them." + +"Oh, but we are on the Minster ground, nurse," said Lucy, trembling +a little however, looking over her shoulder, and coming closer to +the old servant. + +"Why do they think so?" asked Anne. "Is it because he is so ugly +and mischievous and rude? Not like boys in London." + +"Prithee, nurse, tell her the tale," entreated Lucy, who had made +large eyes over it many a time before. + +"Ay, and who should tell you all about it save me, who had it all +from Goody Madge Bulpett, as saw it all!" + +"Goody Madge! It was she that came when poor little Kitty was born +and died," suggested Lucy, as Anne, laying her aching head upon +nurse's knees, prepared to listen to the story. + +"Well, deary darlings, you see poor Madam Oakshott never had her +health since the Great Fire in London, when she was biding with her +kinsfolk to be near Major Oakshott, who had got into trouble about +some of his nonconforming doings. The poor lady had a mortal fright +before she could be got out of Gracechurch Street as was all of a +blaze, and she was so afeard of her husband being burnt as he lay in +Newgate that she could scarce be got away, and whether it was that, +or that she caught cold lying out in a tent on Highgate Hill, she +has never had a day's health since." + +"And the gentleman--her husband?" asked Anne. + +"They all broke prison, poor fellows, as they had need to do, and +the Major's time was nearly up. He made himself busy in saving and +helping the folk in the streets; and his brother, Sir Peregrine, who +was thick with the King, and is in foreign parts now, took the +chance to speak of the poor lady's plight and say it would be the +death of her if he could not get his discharge, and his Majesty, +bless his kind heart, gave the order at once. So they took madam +home to the Chace, but she has been but an ailing body ever since." + +"But the fairy, the fairy, how did she change the babe?" cried Anne. + +"Hush, hush, dearie! name them not. I am coming to it all in good +time. I was telling you how the poor lady failed and pined from +that hour, and was like to die. My gossip Madge told me how when, +next Midsummer, this unlucky babe was born they had to take him from +her chamber at once because any sound of crying made her start in +her sleep, and shriek that she heard a poor child wailing who had +been left in a burning house. Moll Owens, the hind's wife, a comely +lass, was to nurse him, and they had him at once to her in the +nursery, where was the elder child, two years old, Master Oliver, as +you know well, Mistress Lucy, a fine-grown, sturdy little Turk as +ever was." + +"Yes, I know him," answered Lucy; "and if his brother's a +changeling, he is a bear! The Whig bear is what Charley calls him." + +"Well, what does that child do but trot out of the nursery, and try +to scramble down the stairs.--Never tell me but that they you wot of +trained him out--not that they had power over a Christian child, but +that they might work their will on the little one. So they must +needs trip him up, so that he rolled down the stair hollering and +squalling all the way enough to bring the house down, and his poor +lady mother, she woke up in a fit. The womenfolk ran, Molly and +all, she being but a slip of a girl herself and giddy-pated, and +when they came back after quieting Master Oliver, the babe was +changed." + +"Then they didn't see the--" + +"Hush, hush, missie! no one never sees 'em or they couldn't do +nothing. They cannot, if a body is looking. But what had been as +likely a child before as you would wish to handle was gone! The +poor little mouth was all of a twist, and his eyelid drooped, and he +never ceased mourn, mourn, mourn, wail, wail, wail, day and night, +and whatever food he took he never was satisfied, but pined and +peaked and dwined from day to day, so as his little legs was like +knitting pins. The lady was nigh upon death as it seemed, so that +no one took note of the child at first, but when Madge had time to +look at him, she saw how it was, as plain as plain could be, and +told his father. But men are unbelieving, my dears, and always +think they know better than them as has the best right, and Major +Oakshott would hear of no such thing, only if the boy was like to +die, he must be christened. Well, Madge knew that sometimes they +flee at touch of holy water, but no; though the thing mourned and +moaned enough to curdle your blood and screeched out when the water +touched him, there he was the same puny little canker. So when +madam was better, and began to fret over the child that was nigh +upon three months old, and no bigger than a newborn babe, Madge up +and told her how it was, and the way to get her own again." + +"What was that, nurse?" + +"There be different ways, my dear. Madge always held to breaking +five and twenty eggs and have a pot boiling on a good sea-coal fire +with the poker in it red hot, and then drop the shells in one by +one, in sight of the creature in the cradle. Presently it will up +and ask whatever you are about. Then you gets the poker in your +hand as you says, "A-brewing of egg shells." Then it says, "I'm +forty hundred years old and odd, and yet I never heard of a-brewing +of egg shells." Then you ups with the poker and at him to thrust it +down his ugly throat, and there's a hissing and a whirling, and he +is snatched away, and the real darling, all plump and rosy, is put +back in the cradle." + +"And did they?" + +"No, my dears. Madam was that soft-hearted she could not bring her +mind to it, though they promised her not to touch him unless he +spoke. But nigh on two years later, Master Robert was born, as fine +and lusty and straight-limbed as a chrisom could be, while the other +could not walk a step, but sat himself about on the floor, a-moaning +and a-fretting with the legs of him for all the world like the +drumsticks of a fowl, and his hands like claws, and his face wizened +up like an old gaffer of a hundred, or the jackanapes that Martin +Boats'n brought from Barbary. So after a while madam saw the rights +of it, and gave consent that means should be taken as Madge and +other wise folk would have it; but he was too old by that time for +the egg shells, for he could talk, talk, and ask questions enough to +drive you wild. So they took him out under the privet hedge, Madge +and her gossip Deborah Clint, and had got his clothes off to flog +him with nettles till they changed him, when the ill-favoured elf +began to squall and shriek like a whole litter of pigs, and as ill +luck would have it, the master was within hearing, though they had +watched him safe off to one of his own 'venticles, but it seems +there had been warning that the justices were on the look-out, so +home he came. And behold, the thing that never knew the use of his +feet before, ups and flies at him, and lays hold of his leg, +hollering out, "Sir, father, don't let them," and what not. So then +it was all over with them, as though that were not proof enow what +manner of thing it was! Madge tried to put him off with washing +with yarbs being good for the limbs, but when he saw that Deb was +there, he saith, saith he, as grim as may be, "Thou shalt not suffer +a witch to live," which was hard, for she is but a white witch; and +he stormed and raved at them with Bible texts, and then he vowed +(men are so headstrong, my dears) that if ever he ketched them at it +again, he would see Deb burnt for a witch at the stake, and Madge +hung for the murder of the child, and he is well known to be a man +of his word. So they had to leave him to abide by his bargain, and +a sore handful he has of it." + +Anne drew a long sigh and asked whether the real boy in fairyland +would never come back. + +"There's no telling, missie dear. Some say they are bound there for +ever and a day, some that they as holds 'em are bound to bring them +back for a night once in seven years, and in the old times if they +was sprinkled with holy water, and crossed, they would stay, but +there's no such thing as holy water now, save among the Papists, and +if one knew the way to cross oneself, it would be as much as one's +life was worth." + +"If Peregrine was to die," suggested Lucy. + +"Bless your heart, dearie, he'll never die! When the true one's +time comes, you'll see, if so be you be alive to see it, as Heaven +grant, he will go off like the flame of a candle and nothing be left +in his place but a bit of a withered sting nettle. But come, my +sweetings, 'tis time I got your supper. I'll put some nice rosy- +cheeked apples down to roast, to be soft for Mistress Woodford's +sore mouth." + +Before the apples were roasted, Charles Archfield and his cousin, +the colleger Sedley Archfield, a big boy in a black cloth gown, came +in with news of having--together with the other boys, including +Oliver and Robert Oakshott--hunted Peregrine all round the Close, +but he ran like a lapwing, and when they had pinned him up in the +corner by Dr. Ken's house, he slipped through their fingers up the +ivy, and grinned at them over the wall like the imp he was. Noll +said it was always the way, he was no more to be caught than a bit +of thistledown, but Sedley meant to call out all the college boys +and hunt and bait him down like a badger on 'Hills.' + + + +CHAPTER II: HIGH TREASON + + +"Whate'er it be that is within his reach, +The filching trick he doth his fingers teach." + +Robin Badfellow. + +There was often a considerable distance between children and their +parents in the seventeenth century, but Anne Woodford, as the only +child of her widowed mother, was as solace, comfort, and companion; +and on her pillow in early morning the child poured forth in grave +earnest the entire story of the changeling, asking whether he could +not be "taken to good Dr. Ken, or the Dean, or the Bishop to be ex-- +ex--what is it, mother? Not whipped with nettles. Oh no! nor burnt +with red hot pokers, but have holy words said so that the right one +may come back." + +"My dear child, did you really believe that old nurse's tale?" + +"O madam, she _knew_ it. The other old woman saw it! I always +thought fairies and elves were only in tales, but Lucy's nurse knows +it is true. And _he_ is not a bit like other lads, mamma dear. He +is lean and small, and his eyes are of different colours, look two +ways at once, and his mouth goes awry when he speaks, and he laughs +just like--like a fiend. Lucy and I call him Riquet a la Houppe, +because he is just like the picture in Mademoiselle's book, with a +great stubbly bunch of hair sticking out on one side, and though he +walks a little lame, he can hop and skip like a grasshopper, faster +than any of the boys, and leap up a wall in a moment, and grin--oh +most frightfully. Have you ever seen him, mamma?" + +"I think so. I saw a poor boy, who seemed to me to have had a +stroke of some sort when he was an infant." + +"But, madam, that would not make him so spiteful and malicious!" + +"If every one is against him and treats him as a wicked mischievous +elf, it is only too likely to make him bitter and spiteful. Nay, +Anne, if you come back stuffed with old wives' tales, I shall not +allow you to go home with Lucy Archfield." + +The threat silenced Anne, who was a grave and rather silent little +person, and when she mentioned it to her friend, the answer was, +"Did you tell your mother? If I had told mine, I should have been +whipped for repeating lying tales." + +"Oh then you don't believe it!" + +"It must be true, for Madge knew it. But that's the way always if +one lets out that one knows more than they think." + +"It is not the way with my mother," stoutly said Anne, drawing up +her dignified little head. And she kept her resolution, for though +a little excited by her first taste of lively youthful +companionship, she was naturally a thoughtful reticent child, with a +character advanced by companionship with her mother as an only +child, through a great sorrow. Thus she was in every respect more +developed than her contemporary Lucy, who regarded her with wonder +as well as affection, and she was the object of the boyish devotion +of Charley, who often defended her from his cousin Sedley's +endeavours to put down what he considered upstart airs in a little +nobody from London. Sedley teased and baited every weak thing in +his way, and Lucy had been his chief butt till Anne Woodford's +unconscious dignity and more cultivated manners excited his utmost +spleen. + +Lucy might be incredulous, but she was eager to tell that when her +cousin Sedley Archfield was going back to 'chambers,' down from the +Close gate came the imp on his shoulders in the twilight and twisted +both legs round his neck, holding tight on in spite of plunges, +pinches, and endeavours to scrape him off against the wall, which +were frustrated or retaliated by hair pulling, choking, till just +ere entering the college gateway, where Sedley looked to get his +revenge among his fellows, he found his shoulders free, and heard +"Ho! ho! ho!" from the top of a wall close at hand. All the more +was the young people's faith in the changeling story confirmed, and +child-world was in those days even more impenetrable to their elders +than at present. + +Changeling or no, it was certain that Peregrine Oakshott was the +plague of the Close, where his father, an ex-officer of the +Parliamentary army, had unwillingly hired a house for the winter, +for the sake of medical treatment for his wife, a sufferer from a +complication of ailments. Oakwood, his home, was about five miles +from Dr. Woodford's living of Portchester, and as the families would +thus be country neighbours, Mrs. Woodford thought it well to begin +the acquaintance at Winchester. While knocking at the door of the +house on the opposite side of the Close, she was aware of an elfish +visage peering from an upper window. There was the queer mop of +dark hair, the squinting light eyes, the contorted grin crooking the +mouth, the odd sallow face, making her quite glad to get out of +sight of the strange grimaces which grew every moment more hideous. + +Mrs. Oakshott sat in an arm-chair beside a large fire in a +wainscotted room, with a folding-screen shutting off the window. +Her spinning-wheel was near, but it was only too plain that 'feeble +was the hand, and silly the thread.' She bent her head in its +wadded black velvet hood, but excused herself from rising, as she +was crippled by rheumatic pains. She had evidently once been a +pretty little person, innocent and inane, and her face had become +like that of a withered baby, piteous in its expression of pain and +weariness, but otherwise somewhat vacant. At first, indeed, there +was a look of alarm. Perhaps she expected every visitor to come +with a complaint of her unlucky Peregrine, but when Mrs. Woodford +spoke cheerfully of being her neighbour in the country, she was +evidently relieved and even gratified, prattling in a soft plaintive +tone about her sufferings and the various remedies, ranging from +woodlice rolled into natural pills, and grease off the church bells, +to diamond dust and Goa stones, since, as she said, there was no +cost to which Major Oakshott would not go for her benefit. He had +even procured for her a pound of the Queen's new Chinese herb, and +it certainly was as nauseous as could be wished, when boiled in +milk, but she was told that was not the way it was taken at my Lady +Charnock's. She was quite animated when Mrs. Woodford offered to +show her how to prepare it. + +Therewith the master of the house came in, and the aspect of affairs +changed. He was a tall, dark, grave man, plainly though handsomely +dressed, and in a gentlemanly way making it evident that visits to +his wife were not welcome. He said that her health never permitted +her to go abroad, and that his poor house contained nothing that +could please a Court lady. Mrs. Oakshott shrank into herself, and +became shy and silent, and Mrs. Woodford felt constrained to take +leave, courteously conducted to the door by her unwilling host. + +She had not taken many steps before she was startled by a sharp +shower from a squirt coming sidelong like a blow on her cheek and +surprising her into a low cry, which was heard by the Major, so that +he hastened out, exclaiming, "Madam, I trust that you are not hurt." + +"Oh no, sir! It is nothing--not a stone--only water!" she said, +wiping it with her handkerchief. + +"I am grieved and ashamed at the evil pranks of my unhappy son, but +he shall suffer for it." + +"Nay, sir, I pray you. It was only childish mischief." + +He had not waited to hear her pleadings, and before she was half +across the Close he had overtaken her, dragging the cowering +struggling boy in his powerful grasp. + +"Now, Peregrine," he commanded, "let me instantly hear you ask the +lady's pardon for your dastardly trick. Or--!" and his other hand +was raised for a blow. + +"I am sure he is sorry," said Mrs. Woodford, making a motion to ward +off the stroke, and as the queer eyes glanced up at her in wondering +inquiry, she laid her hand on the bony shoulder, saying, "I know you +did not mean to hurt me. You are sorry, are you not?" + +"Ay," the boy muttered, and she saw a look of surprise on his +father's face. + +"There," she said, "he has made his amends, and surely that may +suffice." + +"Nay, madam, it would be a weak and ungodly tenderness that would +spare to drive forth the evil spirit which possesses the child by +the use of the rod. I should fail in my duty alike to God and man," +he added, in reply to a fresh gesture of intercession, "did I not +teach him what it is to insult a lady at mine own door." + +Mrs. Woodford could only go away, heartily sorry for the boy. From +that time, however, both she and her little daughter were untouched +by his tricks, though every one else had some complaint. Peas were +shot from unknown recesses at venerable canons, mice darted out +before shrieking ladies, frogs' clammy forms descended on the nape +of their necks, hedgehogs were curled up on their chairs, and though +Peregrine Oakshott was not often caught in the act, no mischief ever +took place that was not attributed to him; and it was popularly +believed in the Close that his father flogged him every morning for +what he was about to do, and his tutor repeated the castigation +every evening for what he had done, besides interludes at each +detection. + +Perhaps frequent usage had toughened his skin, or he had become +expert in wriggling from the full force of the blow, or else, as +many believed, the elfish nature was impervious; for he was as ready +as ever for a trick the moment he was released, like, as his brother +said, the dog Keeper, who, with a slaughtered chick hung round his +neck in penance, rushed murderously upon the rest of the brood. + +Yet Mrs. Woodford, on her way through the Cathedral nave, was aware +of something leaning against one of the great columns, crouching +together so that the dark head, supported on the arms, rested +against the pillar which fluted the pier. The organ was pealing +softly and plaintively, and the little gray coat seemed to heave as +with a sob. She stood, impelled to offer to take him with her into +the choir, but a verger, spying him, began rating him in a tone fit +for expelling a dog, "Come, master, none of your pranks here! Be +not you ashamed of yourself to be lying in wait for godly folk on +their way to prayers? If I catch you here again the Dean shall hear +of it, and you shall smart for it." + +Mrs. Woodford began, "He was only hearkening to the music," but she +caught such a look of malignity cast upon the verger as perfectly +appalled her, and in another moment the boy had dashed, head over +heels, out at the nearest door. + +The next report that reached her related how a cloud of lime had +suddenly descended from a broken arch of the cloister on the solemn +verger, on his way to escort the Dean to the Minster, powdering his +wig, whitening his black gown from collar to hem, and not a little +endangering his eyesight. + +The culprit eluded all pursuit on this occasion; but Mrs. Woodford +soon after was told that the Major had caught Peregrine listening at +the little south door of the choir, had collared him, and flogged +him worse than ever, for being seduced by the sounds of the popish +and idolatrous worship, and had told all his sons that the like +chastisement awaited them if they presumed to cross the threshold of +the steeple house. + +Nevertheless the Senior Prefect of the college boys, when about to +come out of the Cathedral on Sunday morning, found his gown pinned +with a skewer so fast to the seat that he was only set free at the +expense of a rent. Public opinion decided that the deed had been +done by the imp of Oakshott, and accordingly the whole of the +Wykeham scholars set on him with hue and cry the first time they saw +him outside the Close, and hunted him as far as St. Cross, where he +suddenly and utterly vanished from their sight. + +Mrs. Woodford agreed with Anne that it was a very strange story. +For how could he have been in the Cathedral at service time when it +was well known that Major Oakshott had all his family together at +his own form of worship in his house? Anne, who had been in hopes +that her mother would be thus convinced of his supernatural powers, +looked disappointed, but she had afterwards to confess that Charles +Archfield had found out that it was his cousin Sedley Archfield who +had played the audacious trick, in revenge for a well-merited +tunding from the Prefect. + +"And then saddled it on young Oakshott?" asked her mother. + +"Charley says one such matter more or less makes no odds to the Whig +ape; but I cannot endure Sedley Archfield, mamma." + +"If he lets another lad bear the blame of his malice he cannot +indeed be a good lad." + +"So Charley and Lucy say," returned Anne. "We shall be glad to be +away from Winchester, for while Peregrine Oakshott torments slyly, +Sedley Archfield loves to frighten us openly, and to hurt us to see +how much we can bear, and if Charley tries to stand up for us, +Sedley calls him a puny wench, and a milksop, and knocks him down. +But, dear madam, pray do not tell what I have said to her ladyship, +for there is no knowing what Sedley would do to us." + +"My little maid has not known before what boys can be!" + +"No; but indeed Charles Archfield is quite different, almost as if +he had been bred in London. He is a very gentleman. He never is +rude to any girl, and he is courteous and gentle and kind. He +gathered walnuts for us yesterday, and cracked all mine, and I am to +make him a purse with two of the shells." + +Mrs. Woodford smiled, but there was a short thrill of anxiety in her +motherly heart as her glance brought up a deeper colour into Anne's +cheeks. There was a reserve to bring that glow, for the child knew +that if she durst say that Charles called her his little sweetheart +and wife, and that the walnut-shell purse would be kept as a token, +she should be laughed at as a silly child, perhaps forbidden to make +it, or else her uncle might hear and make a joke of it. It was not +exactly disingenuousness, but rather the first dawn of maidenly +reserve and modesty that reddened her cheek in a manner her mother +did not fail to observe. + +Yet it was with more amusement than misgiving, for children played +at courtship like other games in mimicry of being grown up, and a +baronet's only son was in point of fact almost as much out of the +reach of a sea captain's daughter and clergyman's niece as a prince +of the blood royal; and Master Archfield would probably be +contracted long before he could choose for himself, for his family +were not likely to take into account that if Captain Woodford had +not been too severely wounded to come forward after the battle of +Southwold Bay he would have been knighted. On the strength of which +Anne, as her companions sometimes said, gave herself in consequence +more airs than Mistress Lucy ever did. + +Sedley, a poor cousin, a destitute cavalier's orphan, who had been +placed on the foundation at Winchester College in hopes that he +might be provided for in the Church, would have been far more on her +level, and indeed Lady Archfield, a notable matchmaker, had already +hinted how suitable such a thing would be. However, the present +school character of Master Sedley, as well as her own observations, +by no means inclined Mrs. Woodford towards the boy, large limbed and +comely faced, but with a bullying, scowling air that did not augur +well for his wife or his parish. + +Whether it were this lad's threats, or more likely, the fact that +all the Close was on the alert, Peregrine's exploits were less +frequent there, and began to extend to the outskirts of the city. +There were some fine yew trees on the southern borders, towards the +chalk down, with massive dark foliage upon stout ruddy branches, +among which Peregrine, armed with a fishing-rod, line, and hook, sat +perched, angling for what might be caught from unconscious +passengers along a path which led beneath. + +From a market-woman's basket he abstracted thus a fowl! His "Ho! +ho! ho!" startled her into looking up, and seeing it apparently +resuscitated, and hovering aloft. Full of dismay, she hurried +shrieking away to tell the story of the bewitched chick at the +market-cross among her gossips. + +His next capture was a chop from a butcher boy's tray, but this +involved more peril, for with a fierce oath that he would be +revenged on the Whiggish imp, the lad darted at the tree, in vain, +however, for Peregrine had dropped down on the other side, and crept +unseen to another bush, where he lay perdu, under the thick green +branches, rod and all, while the youth, swearing and growling, was +shaking his former refuge. + +As soon as the coast was clear he went back to his post, and +presently was aware of three gentlemen advancing over the down, +pointing, measuring, and surveying. One was small and slight, as +simply dressed as a gentleman of the period could be; another was +clad in a gay coat with a good deal of fluttering ribbon and rich +lace; the third, a tall well-made man, had a plain walking suit, +surmounted by a flowing periwig and plumed beaver. Coming close +beneath Peregrine's tree, and standing with their backs to it, they +eagerly conversed. "Such a cascade will drown the honours of the +Versailles fountains, if only the water can be raised to such a +height. Are you sure of it, Wren?" + +"As certain as hydraulics can make me, sir," and the lesser man +began drawing lines with his stick in the dust of the path in +demonstration. + +The opportunity was irresistible, and the hook from above deftly +caught the band of the feathered hat of the taller man, slowly and +steadily drawing it up, entirely unperceived by the owner, on whose +wig it had rested, and who was bending over the dust-traced diagram +in absorbed attention. Peregrine deferred his hobgoblin laughter, +for success emboldened him farther. Detaching the hat from his +hook, and depositing it safely in a fork of the tree, he next +cautiously let down his line, and contrived to get a strong hold of +one of the black locks on the top of the wig, just as the wearer was +observing, "Oliver's Battery, eh? A cupola with a light to be seen +out at sea? Our sailors will make another St. Christopher of you! +Ha! what's this'" + +For feeling as if a branch were touching the structure on his head, +he had stepped forward, thus favouring Peregrine's manoeuvres so +that the wig dangled in the air, suddenly disclosing the bare skull +of a very dark man, with such marked features that it needed not the +gentlemen's outcry to show the boy who was the victim of his +mischief. + +"What imp is there?" cried the King, spying up into the tree, while +his attendant drew his sword, "How now?" as Peregrine half climbed, +half tumbled down, bringing hat and wig with him, and, whether by +design or accident, fell at his feet. "Will nothing content you but +royal game?" he continued laughing, as Sir Christopher Wren helped +him to resume his wig. "Why, what a shrimp it is! a mere goblin +sprite! What's thy name, master wag?" + +"Peregrine Oakshott, so please you," the boy answered, raising +himself with a face scared indeed, but retaining its queer +impishness. "Sir, I never guessed--" + +"Young rogue! have you our licence to waylay our loyal subjects?" +demanded the King, with an affected fierceness. "Know you not 'tis +rank treason to discrown our sacred Majesty, far more to dishevel or +destroy our locks? Why! I might behead you on the spot." To his +great amazement the boy, with an eager face and clasped hands, +exclaimed, "O sir! Oh, please your Majesty, do so." + +"Do so!" exclaimed the King astounded. "Didst hear what I said?" + +"Yes, sir! You said it was a beheading matter, and I'm willing, +sir." + +"Of all the petitions that ever were made to me, this is the +strangest!" exclaimed Charles. "An urchin like this weary of life! +What next? So," with a wink to his companions, "Peregrine Oakshott, +we condemn thee for high treason against our most sacred Majesty's +beaver and periwig, and sentence thee to die by having thine head +severed from thy body. Kneel down, open thy collar, bare thy neck. +Ay, so, lay thy neck across that bough. Killigrew, do thy duty." + +To the general surprise, the boy complied with all these directions, +never flinching nor showing sign of fear, except that his lips were +set and his cheek whitened. As he knelt, with closed eyes, the flat +cold blade descended on his neck, the tension relaxed, and he sank! + +"Hold!" cried the King. "It is gone too far! He has surely not +carried out the jest by dying on our hands." + +"No, no, sir," said Wren, after a moment's alarm, "he has only +swooned. Has any one here a flask of wine to revive him?" + +Several gentlemen had come up, and as Peregrine stirred, some wine +was held to his lips, and he presently asked in a faint voice, "Is +this fairyland?" + +"Not yet, my lad," said Charles, "whatever it may be when Wren's +work is done." + +The boy opened his eyes, and as he beheld the same face, and the too +familiar sky and trees, he sighed heavily, and said, "Then it is all +the same! O sir, would you but have cut off my head in good +earnest, I might be at home again!" + +"Home! what means the elf?" + +"An elf! That is what they say I am--changed in the cradle," said +Peregrine, incited to confidence by the good-natured eyes, "and I +thought if I were close on death mine own people might take me home, +and bring back the right one." + +"He really believes it!" exclaimed Charles much diverted. "Tell me, +good Master Elf, who is thy father, I mean not my brother Oberon, +but him of the right one, as thou sayst." + +"Mr. Robert Oakshott of Oakwood, sir," said Peregrine. + +"A sturdy squire of the country party," said the King. "I am much +minded to secure the lad for an elfin page," he added aside to +Killigrew. "There's a fund of excellent humour and drollery in +those queer eyes of his! So, Sir Hobgoblin, if you are proof +against cold steel, I know not what is to be done with you. Get you +back, and devise some other mode of finding your way home to +fairyland." + +Peregrine said not a word of his adventure, so that the surprise of +his family was the greater when overtures were made through Sir +Christopher Wren for his appointment as a royal page. + +"I would as soon send my son at once to be a page to Beelzebub," +returned Major Oakshott. + +And though Sir Christopher did not return the answer exactly in +those terms, he would not say that the Puritan Major did not judge +rightly. + + + +CHAPTER III: THE FAIRY KING + + +"She's turned her right and round about, + And thrice she blew on a grass-green horn, +And she sware by the moon and the stars above + That she'd gar me rue the day I was born." + +Old Ballad of Alison Cross. + +Dr. Woodford's parish was Portchester, where stood the fine old +royal castle at present ungarrisoned, and partly dismantled in the +recent troubles, on a chalk peninsula, a spur from Portsdown, +projecting above the alluvial flats, and even into the harbour, +whose waves at high tide laved the walls. The church and churchyard +were within the ample circuit of the fortifications, about two +furlongs distant from the main building, where rose the mighty +Norman keep, above the inner court, with a gate tower at this date, +only inhabited by an old soldier as porter with his family. A +massive square tower at each angle of the huge wall likewise defied +decay. + +It was on Midsummer eve, that nearly about sundown, Dr. Woodford was +summoned by the severe illness of the gatekeeper's old father, and +his sister-in-law went with him to attempt what her skill could +accomplish for the old man's relief. + +They were detained there till the sun had long set, though the air, +saturated with his redness, was full of soft twilight, while the +moon, scarcely past the full, was just high enough to silver the +quiet sea, and throw the shadow of the battlements and towers on the +sward whitened with dew. + +After the close atmosphere of the sickroom the freshness was +welcome, and Mrs. Woodford, once a friend of Katherine Phillips, +'the Matchless Orinda,' had an eye and a soul to appreciate the +beauty, and she even murmured the lines of Il Penseroso as she leant +on the arm of her brother-in-law, who, in his turn, thought of +Homer. + +Suddenly, as they stood in the shadow, they were aware of a small, +slight, fantastic figure in the midst of the grass-grown court, +where there was a large green mushroom circle or fairy ring. On the +borders of this ring it paused with an air of disappointment. Then +entering it stood still, took off the hat, whose lopsided appearance +had given so strange an outline, and bowed four times in opposite +directions, when, as the face was turned towards the spectators, +invisible in the dark shadow, the lady recognised Peregrine +Oakshott. She pressed the Doctor's arm, and they both stood still +watching the boy bathing his hand in the dew, and washing his face +with it, then kneeling on one knee, and clasping his hands, as he +cried aloud in a piteous chant-- + +"Fairy mother, fairy mother! Oh, come, come and take me home! My +very life is sore to me. They all hate me! My brothers and the +servants, every one of them. And my father and tutor say I am +possessed with an evil spirit, and I am beaten daily, and more than +daily. I can never, never get a good word from living soul! This +is the second seven years, and Midsummer night! Oh, bring the other +back again! I'm weary, I'm weary! Good elves, good elves, take me +home. Fairy mother! Come, come, come!" Shutting his eyes he +seemed to be in a state of intense expectation. Tears filled Mrs. +Woodford's eyes. The Doctor moved forward, but no sooner did the +boy become conscious of human presence than he started up, and fled +wildly towards a postern door, but no sooner had he disappeared in +the shadow than there was a cry and a fall. + +"Poor child!" exclaimed Dr. Woodford, "he has fallen down the steps +to the vault. It is a dangerous pitfall." + +They both hurried to the place, and found the boy lying on the steps +leading down to the vault, but motionless, and when they succeeded +in lifting him up, he was quite unconscious, having evidently struck +his head against the mouth of the vault. + +"We must carry him home between us," said Mrs. Woodford. "That will +be better than rousing Miles Gateward, and making a coil." + +Dr. Woodford, however, took the entire weight, which he declared to +be very slight. "No one would think the poor child fourteen years +old," he observed, "yet did he not speak of a second seven?" + +"True," said Mrs. Woodford, "he was born after the Great Fire of +London, which, as I have good cause to know, was in the year '66." + +There was still little sign of revival about the boy when he had +been carried into the Parsonage, undressed and laid in the Doctor's +own bed, only a few moans when he was handled, and on his thin, +sharp features there was a piteous look of sadness entirely unlike +his ordinary expression of malignant fun, and which went to the kind +hearts of the Doctor and Mrs. Woodford. After exhausting their own +remedies, as soon as the early daylight was available Dr. Woodford +called up a couple of servants, and sent one into Portsmouth for a +surgeon, and another to Oakwood to the parents. + +The doctor was the first to arrive, though not till the morning was +well advanced. He found that three ribs were broken against the +edge of the stone step, and the head severely injured, and having +had sufficient experience in the navy to be a reasonably safe +practitioner, he did nothing worse than bleed the patient, and +declared that absolute rest was the only hope of recovery. + +He was being regaled with cold roast pig and ale when Major Oakshott +rode up to the door. Four horses were dragging the great lumbering +coach over Portsdown hill, but he had gone on before, to thank Dr. +and Mrs. Woodford for their care of his unfortunate son, and to make +preparations for his transport home under the care of his wife's own +woman, who was coming in the coach in the stead of the invalid lady. + +"Nay, sir. Master Brent here has a word to say to that matter," +replied the Doctor. + +"Truly, sir, I have," said the surgeon; "in his present state it is +as much as your son's life is worth to move him." + +"Be that as it may seem to man, he is in the hand of Heaven, and he +ought to be at home, whether for life or death." + +"For death it will assuredly be, sir, if he be jolted and shaken +along the Portsdown roads--yea, I question whether you would get him +to Oakwood alive," said Brent, with naval roughness. + +"Indeed, sir," added Mrs. Woodford, "Mrs. Oakshott may be assured of +my giving him as tender care as though he were mine own son." + +"I am beholden to you, madam," said the Major; "I know your +kindliness of heart; but in good sooth, the unhappy and rebellious +lad merits chastisement rather than pity, since what should he be +doing at this distance from home, where he was shut up for his +misdemeanours, save fleeing like the Prodigal of the parable, or +else planning another of his malicious pranks, as I greatly fear, on +you or your daughter, madam. If so, he hath fallen into the pit +that he made for others." + +The impulse was to tell what had occurred, but the surgeon's +presence, and the dread of making all worse for the poor boy checked +both the hosts, and Mrs. Woodford only declared that since the day +of the apology he had never molested her or her little girl. + +"Still," said the Major, "it is not possible to leave him in a +stranger's house, where at any moment the evil spirit that is in him +may break forth." + +"Come and see him, and judge," said Dr. Woodford. + +When the father beheld the deathly face and motionless form, stern +as he was, he was greatly shocked. His heavy tread caused a moan, +and when he said "What, Perry, how now?" there was a painful +shrinking and twitching, which the surgeon greeted as evidence of +returning animation, but which made him almost drag the Major out of +the room for fear of immediate consequences. + +Major Oakshott, and still more the servant, who had arrived in the +coach and come upstairs, could not but be convinced that removal was +not to be thought of. The maid was, moreover, too necessary to her +mistress to be left to undertake the nursing, much to her master's +regret, but to the joy of Mrs. Woodford, who felt certain that by +far the best chance for the poor boy was in his entire separation +from all associations with the home where he had evidently suffered +so much. + +There was, perhaps, nothing except the pageship at Court that could +have gone more against Major Oakshott's principles than to leave his +son in the house of a prelatical minister, but alternative there was +none, and he could only express how much he was beholden to the Dr. +and Mrs. Woodford. + +All their desire was that he would remain at a distance, for during +the long and weary watch they had to keep over the half-conscious +lad, the sound of a voice or even a horse's tread from Oakwood +occasioned moans and restlessness. The Major rode over, or sent his +sons, or a servant daily to inquire during the first fortnight, +except on the Sundays, and on each of these the patient made a step +towards improvement. + +At first he lay in a dull, death-like stupor, only groaning if +disturbed, but by and by there was a babbling murmur of words, and +soon the sound of his brother's loud voice at the door, demanding +from the saddle how it went to-day with Peregrine, caused a shriek +of terror and such a fit of trembling that Mrs. Woodford had to go +out and make a personal request that Oliver would never again speak +under the window. To her great relief, when the balance between +life and death had decidedly turned, the inquiries became less +frequent, and could often be forestalled by sending messengers to +Oakwood. + +The boy usually lay still all day in the darkened room, only showing +pain at light or noise, but at night he often talked and rambled a +good deal. Sometimes it was Greek or Latin, sometimes whole +chapters of Scripture, either denunciating portions or genealogies +from the First Book of Chronicles, the polysyllabic names pouring +from his mouth whenever he was particularly oppressed or suffering, +so that when Mrs. Woodford had with some difficulty made out what +they were, she concluded that they had been set as tasks of penance. + +At other times Peregrine talked as if he absolutely believed himself +in fairyland, accepting a strawberry or cherry as elfin food, +promising a tester in Anne's shoe when she helped to change his +pillow, or conversing in the style of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, on +intended pranks. Often he fancied himself the lubber fiend resting +at the fire his hairy strength, and watching for cock-crow as the +signal for flinging out-of-doors. It was wonderful how in the grim +and strict Puritanical household he could have imbibed so much fairy +lore, but he must have eagerly assimilated and recollected whatever +he heard, holding them as tidings from his true kith and kin; and, +indeed, when he was running on thus, Mrs. Woodford sometimes felt a +certain awe and chill, as of the preternatural, and could hardly +believe that he belonged to ordinary human nature. Either she or +the Doctor always took the night-watch after the talking mood set +in, for they could not judge of the effect it might have on any of +the servants. Indeed they sometimes doubted whether this were not +the beginning of permanent insanity, as the delusion seemed to +strengthen with symptoms of recovery. + +"Then," said Dr. Woodford, "Heaven help the poor lad!" + +For sad indeed was the lot in those days of even the most harmless +lunatic. + +"Yet," said the lady, "I scarcely think anything can be worse than +what he undergoes at home. When I hear the terror and misery of his +voice, I doubt whether we did him any true kindness by hindering his +father from killing him outright by the shaking of his old coach." + +"Nay, sister, we strove to do our duty, though it may be we have +taken on ourselves a further charge." + + + +CHAPTER IV: IMP OR NO IMP + + +"But wist I of a woman bold + Who thrice my brow durst sign, +I might regain my mortal mould, + As fair a form as thine." + +SCOTT. + +At last came a wakening with intelligence in the eyes. In the +summer morning light that streamed through the chinks of the +shutters Mrs. Woodford perceived the glance of inquiry, and when she +brought some cool drink, a rational though feeble voice asked those +first questions, "Who? and where?" + +"I am Mrs. Woodford, my dear child. You remember me at Winchester. +You are at Portchester. You fell down and hurt yourself, but you +are getting better." + +She was grieved to see the look of utter disappointment and +weariness that overspread the features, and the boy hardly spoke +again all day. There was much drowsiness, but also depression, and +more than once Mrs. Woodford detected tears, but at other times he +received her attentions with smiles and looks of wondering +gratitude, as though ordinary kindness and solicitude were so new to +him that he did not know what to make of them, and perhaps was +afraid of breaking a happy dream by saying too much. + +The surgeon saw him, and declared him so much better that he might +soon be taken home, recommending his sitting up for a little while +as a first stage. Peregrine, however, seemed far from being +cheered, and showed himself so unwilling to undergo the fatigue of +being dressed, even when good Dr. Woodford had brought up his own +large chair--the only approach to an easy one in the house--that the +proposal was dropped, and he was left in peace for the rest of the +day. + +In the evening Mrs. Woodford was sitting by the window, letting her +needlework drop as the light faded, and just beginning to doze, when +her repose was broken by a voice saying "Madam." + +"Yes, Peregrine." + +"Come near, I pray. Will you tell no one?" + +"No; what is it?" + +In so low a tone that she had to bend over him: "Do you know how +the Papists cross themselves?" + +"Yes, I have seen the Queen's confessor and some of the ladies make +the sign." + +"Dear lady, you have been very good to me! If you would only cross +me thrice, and not be afraid! They could not hurt you!" + +"Who? What do you mean?" she asked, for fairy lore had not become a +popular study, but comprehension came when he said in an awe- +stricken voice, "You know what I am." + +"I know there have been old wives' tales about you, my poor boy, but +surely you do not believe them yourself." + +"Ah! if you will not believe them, there is no hope. I might have +known. You were so good to me;" and he hid his face. + +She took his unwilling hand and said, "Be you what you will, my poor +child, I am sorry for you, for I see you are very unhappy. Come, +tell me all." + +"Nay, then you would be like the rest," said Peregrine, "and I could +not bear that," and he wrung her hand. + +"Perhaps not," she said gently, "for I know that a story is afloat +that you were changed in your cradle, and that there are folk +ignorant enough to believe it." + +"They all _know_ it," he said impressively. "My mother and brothers +and all the servants. Every soul knows it except my father and Mr. +Horncastle, and they will never hear a word, but will have it that I +am possessed with a spirit of evil that is to be flogged out of me. +Goody Madge and Moll Owens, they knew how it was at the first, and +would fain have forced them--mine own people--to take me home, and +bring the other back, but my father found it out and hindered them." + +"To save your life." + +"Much good does my life do me! Every one hates or fears me. No one +has a word for me. Every mischance is laid on me. When the kitchen +wench broke a crock, it was because I looked at it. If the keeper +misses a deer, he swears at Master Perry! Oliver and Robert will +not let me touch a thing of theirs; they bait me for a moon-calf, +and grin when I am beaten for their doings. Even my mother quakes +and trembles when I come near, and thinks I give her the creeps. As +to my father and tutor, it is ever the rod with them, though I can +learn my tasks far better than those jolter-heads Noll and Robin. I +never heard so many kind words in all my life as you have given me +since I have been lying here!" + +He stopped in a sort of awe, for tears fell from her eyes, and she +kissed his forehead. + +"Will you not help me, good madam?" he entreated. "I went down to +Goody Madge, and she said there was a chance for me every seven +years. The first went by, but this is my fourteenth year. I had a +hope when the King spoke of beheading me, but he was only in jest, +as I might have known. Then methought I would try what Midsummer +night in the fairy ring would do, but that was in vain; and now you, +who could cross me if you would, will not believe. Oh, will you not +make the trial?" + +"Alas! Peregrine, supposing I could do it in good faith, would you +become a mere tricksy sprite, a thing of the elements, and yield up +your hopes as a Christian soul, a child of God and heir of Heaven?" + +"My father says I am an heir of hell." + +"No, no, never," she cried, shuddering at his quiet way of saying +it. "You are flesh and blood, christened, and with the hope set +before you." + +"The christening came too late," he said. "O lady, you who are so +good and pitiful, let my mother get back her true Peregrine--a +straight-limbed, comely dullard, such as would be welcome to her. +She would bless and thank you, and for me, to be a Will-of-the-wisp, +or what not, would be far better than the life I lead. Never did I +know what my mother calls peace till I lay here." + +"Ah, Peregrine, poor lad, your value for peace and for my poor +kindness proves that you have a human heart and are no elf." + +"Indeed, I meant to flit about and give you good dreams, and keep +off all that could hurt or frighten you," he said earnestly. + +"Only the human soul could feel so, dear boy," she answered +tenderly. + +"And you _really_ disbelieve--the other," he said wistfully. + +"This is what I verily believe, my child: that there were causes to +make you weakly, and that you may have had some palsy stroke or +convulsive fit perhaps at the moment you were left alone. Such +would explain much of your oddness of face, which made the ignorant +nurses deem you changed; and thus it was only your father who, by +God's mercy, saved you from a miserable death, to become, as I +trust, a good and true man, and servant of God." Then answering a +hopeless groan, she added, "Yes, it is harder for you than for many. +I see that these silly servants have so nurtured you in this belief +that you have never even thought it worth while to strive for +goodness, but supposed tricksomeness and waywardness a part of your +nature." + +"The only pleasure in life is paying folk off," said Peregrine, with +a glitter in his eye. "It serves them right." + +"And thus," she said sadly, "you have gone on hating and spiting, +deeming yourself a goblin without hope or aim; but now you feel that +you have a Christian soul you will strive with evil, you will so +love as to win love, you will pray and conquer." + +"My father and Mr. Horncastle pray," said Peregrine bitterly. "I +hate it! They go on for ever, past all bearing; I _must_ do +something--stand on my head, pluck some one's stool away, or tickle +Robin with a straw, if I am birched the next moment. That's the +goblin." + +"Yet you love the Minster music." + +"Ay! Father calls it rank Popery. I listened many a time he never +guessed, hid away in the Holy Hole, or within old Bishop Wykeham's +little house." + +"Ah, Peregrine, could an imp of evil brook to lie hidden in the Holy +Hole behind the very altar?" said Mrs. Woodford. "But I hear Nick +bringing in supper, and I must leave you for the present. God in +His mercy bless you, His poor child, and lead you in His ways." + +As she went Peregrine muttered, "Is that a prayer? It is not like +father's." + +She was anxious to consult her brother-in-law on the strange mood of +her patient. She found that he had heard more than he had told her +of what Major Oakshott deemed the hopeless wickedness of his son, +the antics at prayers, the hatred of everything good, the spiteful +tricks that were the family torment. No doubt much was due to the +boy's entire belief in his own elfship, and these two good people +seriously considered how to save him from himself. + +"If we could only keep him here," said Mrs. Woodford, "I think we +might bring him to have some faith and love in God and man." + +"You could, dear sister," said the Doctor, smiling affectionately; +"but Major Oakshott would never leave his son in our house. He +abhors our principles too much, and besides, it is too near home. +All the servants have heard rumours of this cruel fable, and would +ascribe the least misadventure to his goblin origin. I must ride +over to Oakwood and endeavour to induce his father to remove him to +safe and judicious keeping." + +Some days, however, elapsed before Dr. Woodford could do this, and +in the meantime the good lady did her best to infuse into her poor +young guest the sense that he had a human soul, responsible for his +actions, and with hope set before him, and that he was not a mere +frolicsome and malicious sprite, the creature of unreasoning +impulse. + +It was a matter only to be attempted by gentle hints, for though +reared in a strictly religious household, Peregrine's ears seemed to +have been absolutely closed, partly by nursery ideas of his own +exclusion from the pale of humanity, partly by the harsh treatment +that he was continually bringing on himself. Preachings and prayers +to him only meant a time of intolerable restraint, usually ending in +disgrace and punishment; Scripture and the Westminster Catechism +contained a collection of tasks more tedious and irksome than the +Latin and Greek Grammar; Sunday was his worst day of the week, and +these repugnances, as he had been taught to believe, were so many +proofs that he was a being beyond the power of grace. + +Mrs. Woodford scrupled to leave him to any one else on this first +Sunday of his recovered consciousness, and in hopes of keeping him +quiet through fatigue, she contrived that it should be the first day +of his being dressed, and seated in the arm-chair, resting against +cushions beside the open window, whence he could watch the church- +goers, Anne in her little white cap, with her book in one hand, and +a posy in the other, tripping demurely beside her uncle, stately in +gown, cassock, and scarlet hood. + +Peregrine could not refrain from boasting to his hostess how he had +once grimaced from outside the church window at Havant, and at the +women shrieking that the fiend was there. She would not smile, and +shook her head sadly, so that he said, "I would never do so here." + +"Nor anywhere, I hope." + +Whereupon, thinking better to please the churchwoman, he related +how, when imprisoned for popping a toad into the soup, he had +escaped over the leads, and had beaten a drum outside the barn, +during a discourse of the godly tinker, John Bunyan, tramping and +rattling so that all thought the troopers were come, and rushed out, +tumbling one over the other, while he yelled out his "Ho! ho! ho!" +from the haystack where he had hidden. + +"When you feel how kind and loving God is," said Mrs. Woodford +gravely, "you will not like to disturb those who are doing Him +honour." + +"Is He kind?" asked Peregrine. "I thought He was all wrath and +anger." + +She replied, "The Lord is loving unto every man, and His mercy is +over all His works." + +He made no answer. If he were sullen, this subsided into +sleepiness, and when he awoke he found the lady on her knees going +through the service with her Prayer-book. She encountered his +wistful eyes, but no remark was made, though on her return from +fetching him some broth, she found him peeping into her book, which +he laid down hastily, as though afraid of detection. + +She had to go down to the Sunday dinner, where, according to good +old custom, half a dozen of the poor and aged were regaled with the +parish priest and his household. There she heard inquiries and +remarks showing how widely spread and deeply rooted was the notion +of Peregrine's elfish extraction. If Daddy Hoskins did ask after +the poor young gentleman as if he were a human being, the three old +dames present shook their heads, and while the more bashful only +groaned, Granny Perkins demanded, "Well, now, my lady, do he eat and +sleep like other folk?" + +"Exactly, granny, now that he's mending in health." + +"And don't he turn and writhe when there's prayers?" + +Mrs. Woodford deposed to having observed no such demonstrations. + +"Think of that now! Lauk-a-daisy! I've heard tell by my nevvy +Davy, as is turnspit at Oak'ood, as how when there's prayers and +expounding by Master Horncastle, as is a godly man, saving his +Reverence's presence, he have seen him, have Davy--Master Perry, as +they calls him, a-twisted round with his heels on the chair, and his +head where his heels should be, and a grin on his face enough to +give one a turn." + +"Did Davy never see a mischievous boy fidgeting at prayers?" asked +the Doctor, who was nearer than she thought. "If so, he has been +luckier than I have been." + +There was a laugh, out of deference to the clergyman, but the old +woman held to her point. "Begging your Reverence's pardon, sir, +there be more in this than we knows. They says up at Oakwood, +there's no peace in the place for the spite of him, and when they +thinks he is safe locked into his chamber, there he be a-clogging of +the spit, or changing sugar into pepper, or making the stool break +down under one. Oh, he be a strange one, sir, or summat worse. I +have heerd him myself hollaing 'Ho! ho! ho!' on the downs enough to +make one's flesh creep." + +"I will tell you what he is, dame," said the Doctor gravely. "He is +a poor child who had a fit in his cradle, and whom all around have +joined in driving to folly, evil, and despair through your foolish +superstitions. He is my guest, and I will have no more said against +him at my table." + +The village gossips might be silenced by awe of the parson, but +their opinion was unshaken; and Silas Hewlett, a weather-beaten +sailor with a wooden leg, was bold enough to answer, "Ay, ay, sir, +you parsons and gentlefolk don't believe naught; but you've not seen +what I have with my own two bodily eyes--" and this of course was +the prelude to the history of an encounter with a mermaid, which +alternated with the Flying Dutchman and a combat with the Moors, as +regular entertainment at the Sunday meal. + +When Mrs. Woodford went upstairs she was met by the servant Nicolas, +declaring that she might get whom she would to wait on that there +moon-calf, he would not go neist the spiteful thing, and exhibiting +a swollen finger, stung by a dead wasp, which Peregrine had +cunningly disposed on the edge of his empty plate. + +She soothed the man's wrath, and healed his wound as best she might, +ere returning to her patient, who looked at her with an impish grin +on his lips, and yet human deprecation in his eyes. Feeling +unprepared for discussion, she merely asked whether the dinner had +been relished, and sat down to her book; but there was a grave, +sorrowful expression on her countenance, and, after an interval of +lying back uneasily in his chair, he exclaimed, "It is of no use; I +could not help it. It is my nature." + +"It is the nature of many lads to be mischievous," she answered; +"but grace can cure them." + +Therewith she began to read aloud. She had bought the Pilgrim's +Progress (the first part) from a hawker, and she was glad to have at +hand something that could hardly be condemned as frivolous or +prelatical. The spell of the marvellous book fell on Peregrine; he +listened intently, and craved ever to hear more, not being yet able +to read without pain and dizziness. He was struck by hearing that +the dream of Christian's adventures had visited that same tinker, +whose congregation his own wicked practices had broken up. + +"He would take me for one of the hobgoblins that beset Master +Christian." + +"Nay," said Mrs. Woodford, "he would say you were Christian +floundering in the Slough of Despond, and deeming yourself one of +its efts or tadpoles." + +He made no answer, but on the whole behaved so well that the next +day Mrs. Woodford ventured to bring her little daughter in after +having extracted a promise that there should be no tricks nor +teasing, a pledge honourably kept. + +Anne did not like the prospect of the interview. "Oh, ma'am, don't +leave me alone with him!" she said. "Do you know what he did to +Mistress Martha Browning, his own cousin, you know, who lives at +Emsworth with her aunt? He put a horsehair slily round her glass of +wine, and tipped it over her best gray taffeta, and her aunt whipped +her for the stain. She never would say it was his doing, and yet he +goes on teasing her the same as ever, though his brother Oliver +found it out, and thrashed him for it: you know Oliver is to marry +Mistress Martha." + +"My dear child, where did you hear all this?" asked Mrs. Woodford, +rather overwhelmed with this flood of gossip from her usually quiet +daughter. + +"Lucy told me, mamma. She heard it from Sedley, who says he does +not wonder at any one serving out Martha Browning, for she is as +ugly as sin." + +"Hush, hush, Anne! Such sayings do not become a young maid. This +poor lad has scarce known kindness. Every one's hand has been +against him, and so his hand has been against every one. I want my +little daughter to be brave enough not to pain and anger him by +shrinking from him as if he were not like other people. We must +teach him to be happy before we can teach him to be good." + +"Madam, I will try," said the child, with a great gulp; "only if you +would be pleased not to leave me alone with him the first time!" + +This Mrs. Woodford promised. At first the boy lay and looked at +Anne as if she were a rare curiosity brought for his examination, +and it took all her resolution, even to a heroic exertion of +childish fortitude, not to flinch under the gaze of those queer +eyes. However, Mrs. Woodford diverted the glances by producing a +box of spillekins, and in the interest of the game the children +became better acquainted. + +Over their next day's game Mrs. Woodford left them, and Anne became +at ease since Peregrine never attempted any tricks. She taught him +to play at draughts, the elders thinking it expedient not to doubt +whether such vanities were permissible at Oakwood. + +Soon there was such merriment between them that the kind Doctor said +it did his heart good to hear the boy's hearty natural laugh in lieu +of the "Ho! ho! ho!" of malice or derision. + +They were odd conversations that used to take place between that boy +and girl. The King's offer of a pageship had oozed out in the +Oakshott family, and Peregrine greatly resented the refusal, which +he naturally attributed to his father's Whiggery and spite at all +things agreeable, and he was fond of discussing his wrongs and +longings with Anne, who, from her childish point of view, thought +the walls of Portchester and the sluggish creek a very bad exchange +for her enjoyments at Greenwich, where she had lived during her +father's years of broken health, after he had been disabled at +Southwold by a wound which had prevented his being knighted by the +Duke of York for his daring in the excitement of the critical +moment, a fact which Mistress Anne never forgot, though she only +knew it by hearsay, as it happened a few weeks after she was born, +and her father always averred that he was thankful to have missed +the barren and expensive honour, and that the _worst_ which had come +of his exploit was the royal sponsorship to his little maid. + +Anne had, however, been the pet of her father's old friends, the sea +captains, had played with the little Evelyns under the yew hedges of +Says Court, had been taken to London to behold the Lord Mayor's show +and more than one Court pageant, had been sometimes at the palaces +as the plaything of the Ladies Mary and Anne of York, had been more +than once kissed by their father, the Duke, and called a pretty +little poppet, and had even shared with them a notable game at romps +with their good-natured uncle the King, when she had actually caught +him at Blind-man's-buff! + +Ignorant as she was of evil, her old surroundings appeared to her +delightful, and Peregrine, bred in a Puritan home, was at fourteen +not much more advanced than she was in the meaning of the vices and +corruptions that he heard inveighed against in general or scriptural +terms at home, and was only too ready to believe that all that his +father proscribed must be enchanting. Thus they built castles +together about brilliant lives at a Court of which they knew as +little as of that at Timbuctoo. + +There was another Court, however, of which Peregrine seemed to know +all the details, namely, that of King Oberon and Queen Mab. How +much was village lore picked up from Moll Owens and her kind, or how +much was the work of his own imagination, no one could tell, +probably not himself, certainly not Anne. When he appeared on +intimate terms with Hip, Nip, and Skip, and described catching Daddy +Long Legs to make a fence with his legs, or dwelt upon a terrible +fight between two armies of elves mounted on grasshoppers and +crickets, and armed with lances tipped with stings of bees and +wasps, she would exclaim, "Is it true, Perry?" and he would wink his +green eye and look at her with his yellow one till she hardly knew +where she was. + +He would tell of his putting a hornet in a sluttish maid's shoe, +which was credible, if scarcely meriting that elfish laughter which +made his auditor shrink, but when he told of dancing over the mud +banks with a lantern, like a Will-of-the-wisp, till he lured boats +to get stranded, or horsemen to get stuck, in the hopeless mud, Anne +never questioned the possibility, but listened with wide open eyes, +and a restrained shudder, feeling as if under a spell. That +mysterious childish feeling which dreads even what common sense +forbids the calmer mind to believe, made her credit Peregrine, for +the time at least, with strange affinities to the underground folk, +and kept her under a strange fascination, half attraction, half +repulsion, which made her feel as if she must obey and follow him if +he turned those eyes on her, whether she were willing or not. + +Nor did she ever tell her mother of these conversations. She had +been rebuked once for repeating nurse's story of the changeling, and +again for her shrinking from him; and this was quite enough in an +essentially reserved, as well as proud and sensitive, nature, to +prevent further confidences on a subject which she knew would be +treated as a foolish fancy, bringing both herself and her companion +into trouble. + + + +CHAPTER V: PEREGRINE'S HOME + + +"For, at a word, be it understood, +He was always for ill and never for good." + +SCOTT. + +A week had passed since any of the family from Oakwood had come to +make inquiries after the convalescent at Portchester, when Dr. +Woodford mounted his sleek, sober-paced pad, and accompanied by a +groom, rode over to make his report and tender his counsel to Major +Oakshott. He arrived just as the great bell was clanging to summon +the family to the mid-day meal, since he had reckoned on the Squire +being more amenable as a 'full man,' especially towards a guest, and +he was well aware that the Major was thoroughly a gentleman in +behaviour even to those with whom he differed in politics and +religion. + +Accordingly there was a ready welcome at the door of the old red +house, which was somewhat gloomy looking, being on the north side of +the hill, and a good deal stifled with trees. In a brief interval +the Doctor found himself seated beside the pale languid lady at the +head of the long table, placed in a large hall, wainscotted with the +blackest of oak, which seemed to absorb into itself all the light +from the windows, large enough indeed but heavily mullioned, and +with almost as much of leading as of octagons and lozenges--greenish +glass--in them, while the coats of arms, repeated in upper portions +and at the intersections of beams and rafters, were not more +cheerful, being sable chevrons on an argent field. The crest, a +horse shoe, was indeed azure, but the blue of this and of the coats +of the serving-men only deepened the thunderous effect of the black. +Strangely, however, among these sad-coloured men there moved a +figure entirely differently. A negro, white turbaned, and with his +blue livery of a lighter shade, of fantastic make and relieved by a +great deal of white and shining silver, so as to have an entirely +different effect. + +He placed himself behind the chair of Dr. Woodford's opposite +neighbour, a shrewd business-like looking gentleman, soberly but +handsomely dressed, with a certain foreign cut about his clothes, +and a cravat of rich Flemish lace. He was presented to the Doctor +as Major Oakshott's brother, Sir Peregrine. The rest of the party +consisted of Oliver and Robert, sturdy, ruddy lads of fifteen and +twelve, and their tutor, Mr. Horncastle, an elderly man, who twenty +years before had resigned his living because he could not bring +himself to accept all the Liturgy. + +While Sir Peregrine courteously relieved his sister-in-law of the +trouble of carving the gammon of bacon which accompanied the veal +which her husband was helping, Dr. Woodford informed her of her +son's progress towards recovery. + +"Ah," she said, "I knew you had come to tell us that he is ready to +be brought home;" and her tone was fretful. + +"We are greatly beholden to you, sir," said the Major from the +bottom of the table. "The boy shall be fetched home immediately." + +"Not so, sir, as yet, I beg of you. Neither his head nor his side +can brook the journey for at least another week, and indeed my good +sister Woodford will hardly know how to part with her patient." + +"She will not long be of that mind after Master Perry gets to his +feet again," muttered the chaplain. + +"Indeed no," chimed in the mother. "There will be no more peace in +the house when he is come back." + +"I assure you, madam," said Dr. Woodford, "that he has been a very +good child, grateful and obedient, nor have I heard any complaints." + +"Your kindness, or else that of Mrs. Woodford, carries you far, +sir," answered his host. + +"What? Is my nephew and namesake so peevish a scapegrace?" demanded +the visitor. + +On which anecdotes broke forth from all quarters. Peregrine had +greased the already slippery oak stairs, had exchanged Oliver's +careful exercise for a ribald broadsheet, had filled Mr. +Horncastle's pipe with gunpowder, and mixed snuff with the chocolate +specially prepared for the peculiar godly guest Dame Priscilla +Waller. Every one had something to adduce, even the serving-men +behind the chairs; and if Oliver and Robert did not add their quota, +it was because absolute silence at meals was the rule for nonage. +However, the subject was evidently distasteful to the father, who +changed the conversation by asking his brother questions about the +young Prince of Orange and the Grand Pensionary De Witt. For the +gentleman had been acting as English attache to the Embassy at the +Hague, whence he had come on affairs of State to London, and after +being knighted by Charles, had newly arrived at the old home, which +he had scarcely seen since his brother's marriage. Dr. Woodford +enjoyed his conversation, and his information on foreign politics, +and the Major, though now and then protesting, was evidently proud +of his brother. + +When grace had been pronounced by the chaplain the lady withdrew to +her parlour, the two boys, each with an obeisance and request for +permission, departed for an hour's recreation, and Dr. Woodford +intimated that he wished for some conversation with his host +respecting the boy Peregrine. + +"Let us discuss it here," said Major Oakshott, turning towards a +small table set in the deep bay window, and garnished with wine, +fruit, and long slender glasses. "Good Mr. Horncastle," he added, +as he motioned his guest to one of the four seats, "is with me in +all that concerns my children, and I desire my brother's counsel +respecting the untoward lad with whom it has pleased Heaven to +afflict me." + +When the glasses had been filled with claret Dr. Woodford uttered a +diplomatic compliment on the healthful and robust appearance of the +eldest and youngest sons, and asked whether any cause had been +assigned for the difference between them and the intermediate +brother. + +"None, sir," returned the father with a sigh, "save the will of the +Almighty to visit us for our sins with a son who has thus far shown +himself one of the marred vessels doomed to be broken by the potter. +It may be in order to humble me and prove me that this hath been +laid upon me." + +The chaplain groaned acquiescence, but there was vexation in the +brother's face. + +"Sir," said the Doctor, "it is my opinion and that of my sister-in- +law, an excellent, discreet, and devout woman, that the poor child +would give you more cause for hope if the belief had not become +fixed in his mind that he is really and truly a fairy elf--yes, in +very sooth--a changeling!" + +All the auditors broke out into exclamations that it was impossible +that a boy of fourteen could entertain so absurd an idea, and the +tutor evidently thought it a fresh proof of depravity that he should +thus have tried to deceive his kind hosts. + +In proof that Peregrine veritably believed it himself, Dr. Woodford +related what he had witnessed on Midsummer night, mentioning how in +delirium the boy had evidently believed himself in fairyland, and +how disappointed he had been, on regaining his senses, to find +himself on common earth; telling also of the adventure with the +King, which Sir Christopher Wren had described to him, but of which +Major Oakshott was unaware, though it explained the offer of the +pageship. He was a good deal struck by these revelations, proving +misery that he had never suspected, though, as he said, he had often +pleaded, "Why will ye revolt more and more? ye _will_ be stricken +more and more." + +"Have you ever sought his confidence?" asked the travelled brother, +a question evidently scarcely understood, for the reply was, "I have +always required of my sons to speak the truth, nor have they failed +of late years save this unfortunate Peregrine." + +"And," said Sir Peregrine, "if the unlucky lad actually supposes +himself to be no human being, admonitions and chastisements would +naturally be vain." + +"I cannot believe it," exclaimed the Major. "'Tis true, as I now +remember, I once came on a couple of beldames, my wife's nurse and +another, who has since been ducked for witchcraft, and found them +about to flog the babe with nettles, and lay him in the thorn hedge +because he was a sickly child, whom, forsooth, they took to be a +changeling; but I forbade the profane folly to be ever again +mentioned in my household, nor did I ever hear thereof again." + +"There are a good many more things mentioned in a household, +brother, than the master is wont to hear of," remarked Sir +Peregrine. + +Dr. Woodford then begged as a personal favour for an individual +examination of the family and servants on their opinion. The master +was reluctant thus, as he expressed it, to go a-fooling, but his +brother backed the Doctor up, and further prevented a general +assembly to put one another to shame, but insisted on the witnesses +being called in one by one. Oliver, the first summoned, was +beginning to be somewhat less overawed by his father than in his +earlier boyhood. To the inquiry what he thought of his brother +Peregrine, he made a tentative sort of reply, that he was a strange +fellow, who never could keep out of disgrace. + +"That is not the question," said his father. "I am almost ashamed +to speak it! Do you--nay, have you ever supposed him to be a--" he +really could not bring out the word. + +"A changeling, sir?" returned Oliver. "I do not believe so now, +knowing that it is impossible, but as a child I always did." + +"Who durst possess you with so foolish and profane a falsehood?" + +"Every one, sir. I cannot recollect the time when I did not as +entirely deem Peregrine a changeling elf as that Robin was my own +brother. He believes so himself." + +"You have never striven to disabuse him." + +"Indeed, sir, he would scarce have listened to me had I done go; +besides, to tell the truth, it has only been of late, since I have +been older, and have studied more, that I have come to perceive the +folly of it." + +Major Oakshott groaned, and bade him call Robert without saying +wherefore. The little fellow came in, somewhat frightened, and when +asked the question that had been put to his elder, his face lighted +up, and he exclaimed, "Oh, have they brought him back again?" + +"Whom?" + +"Our real brother, sir, who was carried off to fairyland!" + +"Who told you so, Robert?" + +He looked puzzled, and said, "Sir, they all know it. Molly Owens, +that was his foster-mother, saw the fairies bear him off on a +broomstick up the chimney." + +"Robert, no lying!" + +The boy was only restrained from tears by fear of his father, and +just managed to say, "'Tis what they all say, and Perry knows." + +"Knows!" muttered Major Oakshott in despair, but the uncle, drawing +Robin towards him, extracted that Perry had been seen flying out of +the loft window, when he had been locked up--Robin had never seen it +himself, but the maids had often done so. Moreover, there was proof +positive, in the mark on Oliver's head, where he had nearly killed +himself by tumbling downstairs, being lured by the fairies while +they stole away the babe. + +The Major could not listen with patience. "A boy of that age to +repeat such blasphemous nonsense!" he exclaimed; and Robert, +restraining with difficulty his sobs of terror, was dismissed to +fetch the butler. + +The old Ironside who now appeared would not avouch his own disbelief +in the identity of Master Peregrine, being, as he said, a man who +had studied his Bible, listened to godly preachers, and seen the +world; but he had no hesitation in declaring that almost every other +soul in the household believed in it as firmly as in the Gospel, +certainly all the women, and probably all the men, nor was there any +doubt that the young gentleman conducted himself more like a goblin +than the son of pious Christian parents. In effect both the +clergyman and the Diplomate could not help suspecting that in other +company the worthy butler's disavowal of all share in the +superstition might have been less absolute. + +"After this," said Major Oakshott with a sigh, "it seems useless to +carry the inquiry farther." + +"What says my sister Oakshott?" inquired Sir Peregrine. "She! Poor +soul, she is too feeble to be fretted," said her husband. "She has +never been the same woman since the Fire of London, and it would be +vain to vex her with questions. She would be of one mind while I +spoke to her, and another while her women were pouring their tales +into her ear. Methinks I now understand why she has always seemed +to shrink from this unfortunate child, and to fear rather than love +him." + +"Even so, sir," added the tutor. "Much is explained that I never +before understood. The question is how to deal with him under this +fresh light. I will, so please your honour, assemble the family +this very night, and expound to them that such superstitions are +contrary to the very word of Scripture." + +"Much good will that do," muttered the knight. + +"I should humbly suggest," put in Dr. Woodford, "that the best hope +for the poor lad would be to place him where these foolish tales +were unknown, and he could start afresh on the same terms with other +youths." + +"There is no school in accordance with my principles," said the +Squire gloomily. "Godly men who hold the faith as I do are +inhibited by the powers that be from teaching in schools." + +"And," said his brother, "you hold these principles as more +important than the causing your son to be bred up a human being +instead of being pointed at and rendered hopeless as a demon." + +"I am bound to do so," said the Major. + +"Surely," said Dr. Woodford, "some scholar might be found, either +here or in Holland, who might share your opinions, and could receive +the boy without incurring penalties for opening a school without +license." + +"It is a matter for prayer and consideration," said Major Oakshott. +"Meantime, reverend sir, I thank you most heartily for the goodness +with which you have treated my untoward son, and likewise for having +opened my eyes to the root of his freakishness." + +The Doctor understood this as dismissal, and asked for his horse, +intimating, however, that he would gladly keep the boy till some +arrangement had been decided upon. Then he rode home to tell his +sister-in-law that he had done his best, and that he thought it a +fortunate conjunction that the travelled brother had been present. + + + +CHAPTER VI: A RELAPSE + + +"A tell-tale in their company + They never could endure, +And whoso kept not secretly + Their pranks was punished sure. +It was a just and Christian deed + To pinch such black and blue; +Oh, how the commonwealth doth need + Such justices as you!" + +BISHOP CORBETT. + +Several days passed, during which there could be no doubt that +Peregrine Oakshott knew how to behave himself, not merely to grown- +up people, but to little Anne, who had entirely lost her dread of +him, and accepted him as a playfellow. He was able to join the +family meals, and sit in the pleasant garden, shaded by the walls of +the old castle, as well as by its own apple-trees, and looking out +on the little bay in front, at full tide as smooth and shining as a +lake. + +There, while Anne did her task of spinning or of white seam, Mrs. +Woodford would tell the children stories, or read to them from the +Pilgrim's Progress, a wonderful romance to both. Peregrine, still +tamed by weakness, would lie on the grass at her feet, in a tranquil +bliss such as he had never known before, and his fairy romances to +Anne were becoming mitigated, when one day a big coach came along +the road from Fareham, with two boys riding beside it, escorting +Lady Archfield and Mistress Lucy. + +The lady was come to study Mrs. Woodford's recipe for preserved +cherries, the young people, Charles, Lucy, and their cousin Sedley, +now at home for the summer holidays, to spend an afternoon with +Mistress Anne. + +Great was Lady Archfield's surprise at finding that Major Oakshott's +cross-grained slip of a boy was still at Portchester. + +"If you were forced to take him in for very charity when he was +hurt," she said, "I should have thought you would have been rid of +him as soon as he could leave his bed." + +"The road to Oakwood is too rough for broken ribs as yet," said Mrs. +Woodford, "nor is the poor boy ready for discipline." + +"Ay, I fancy that Major Oakshott is a bitter Puritan in his own +house; but no discipline could be too harsh for such a boy as that, +according to all that I hear," said her ladyship, "nor does he look +as if much were amiss with him so far as may be judged of features +so strange and writhen." + +"He is nearly well, but not yet strong, and we are keeping him here +till his father has decided on what is best for him." + +"You even trust him with your little maid! And alone! I wonder at +you, madam." + +"Indeed, my lady, I have seen no harm come of it. He is gentle and +kind with Anne, and I think she softens him." + +Still Mrs. Woodford would gladly not have been bound to her colander +and preserving-pan in her still-room, where her guest's housewifely +mind found great scope for inquiry and comment, lasting for nearly +two hours. + +When at length the operations were over, and numerous little pots of +jam tied up as specimens for the Archfield family to taste at home, +the children were not in sight. No doubt, said Mrs. Woodford, they +would be playing in the castle court, and the visitor accompanied +her thither in some anxiety about broken walls and steps, but they +were not in sight, nor did calls bring them. + +The children had gone out together, Anne feeling altogether at ease +and natural with congenial playmates. Even Sedley's tortures were +preferable to Peregrine's attentions, since the first were only the +tyranny of a graceless boy, the other gave her an indescribable +sense of strangeness from which these ordinary mundane comrades were +a relief and protection. + +However, Charles and Sedley rushed off to see a young colt in which +they were interested, and Lucy, in spite of her first shrinking, +found Peregrine better company than she could have expected, when he +assisted in swinging her and Anne by turns under the old ash tree. + +When the other two were seen approaching, the swinging girl hastily +sprang out, only too well aware what Sedley's method of swinging +would be. Then as the boys came up followed inquiries why Peregrine +had not joined them, and jests in schoolboy taste ensued as to elf- +locks in the horses' manes, and inquiries when he had last ridden to +a witch's sabbath. Little Anne, in duty bound, made her protest, +but this only incited Charles to add his word to the teasing, till +Lucy joined in the laugh. + +By and by, as they loitered along, they came to the Doctor's little +boat, and there was a proposal to get in and rock. Lucy refused, +out of respect for her company attire, and Anne could not leave her, +so the two young ladies turned away with arms round each other's +waists, Lucy demonstratively rejoicing to be quit of the troublesome +boys. + +Before they had gone far an eldritch shout of laughter was responded +to by a burst of furious dismay and imprecation. The boat with the +two boys was drifting out to sea, and Peregrine capering wildly on +the shore, but in another instant he had vanished into the castle. + +Anne had presence of mind enough to rush to the nearest fisherman's +cottage, and send him out to bring them back, and it was at this +juncture that the two mothers arrived on the scene. There was +little real danger. A rope was thrown and caught, and after about +half an hour of watching they were safely landed, but the tide had +ebbed so far that they had to take off their shoes and stockings and +wade through the mud. They were open-mouthed against the imp who +had enticed them to rock in the boat, then in one second had cut the +painter, bounded out, and sent them adrift with his mocking 'Ho! ho! +ho!' Sedley Archfield clenched his fists, and gazed round wildly in +search of the goblin to chastise him soundly, and Charles was ready +to rush all over the castle in search of him. + +"Two to one!" cried Anne, "and he so small; you would never be so +cowardly." + +"As if he were like an honest fellow," said Charley. "A goblin like +that has his odds against a dozen of us." + +"I'd teach him, if I could but catch him," cried Sedley. + +"I told you," said Anne, "that he would be good if you would let him +alone and not plague him." + +"Now, Anne," said Charles, as he sat putting on his stockings, "how +could I stand being cast off for that hobgoblin, that looks as if he +had been cut out of a root of yew with a blunt knife, and all +crooked! I that always was your sweetheart, to see you consorting +with a mis-shapen squinting Whig of a Nonconformist like that." + +"Nonconformist! I'll Nonconform him indeed," added Sedley. "I wish +I had the wringing of his neck." + +"Now is not that hard!" said Anne; "a poor lad who has been very +sick, and that every one baits and spurns." + +"Serve him right," said Sedley; "he shall have more of the same +sauce!" + +"I think he has cast his spell on Anne," added Charles, "or how can +she stand up for him?" + +"My mamma bade me be kind to him." + +"Kind! I would as lief be kind to a toad!" put in Lucy. + +"To see you kind to him makes me sick," exclaimed Charles. "You see +what comes of it." + +"It did not come of my kindness, but of your unkindness," reasoned +Anne. + +"I told you so," said Charles. "You would have been best pleased if +we had been carried out to sea and drowned!" + +Anne burst into tears and disavowed any such intention, and Charles +was protesting that he would only forgive her on condition of her +never showing any kindness to Peregrine again, when a sudden shower +of sand and pebbles descended, one of them hitting Sedley pretty +sharply on the ear. The boys sprang up with a howl of imprecation +and vengeance, but no one was to be seen, only 'Ho! ho! ho!' +resounded from the battlements. Off they rushed headlong, but the +nearest door was in a square tower a good way off, and when they +reached it the door defied their efforts of frantic rage, whilst +another shower descended on them from above, accompanied by the +usual shout. But while they were dashing off in quest of another +entrance they were met by a servant sent to summon them to return +home. Coach and horses were at the door, and Lady Archfield was in +haste to get them away, declaring that she should not think their +lives safe near that fiendish monster. Considering that Sedley was +nearly twice as big as Peregrine, and Charles a strong well-grown +lad, this was a tribute to his preternatural powers. + +Very unwillingly they went, and if Lady Archfield had not kept a +strict watch from her coach window, they would certainly have turned +back to revenge the pranks played on them. The last view of them +showed Sedley turning round shaking his whip and clenching his teeth +in defiance. Mrs. Woodford was greatly concerned, especially as +Peregrine could not be found and did not appear at supper. + +"Had he run away to sea?" the usual course of refractory lads at +Portchester, but for so slight a creature only half recovered it did +not seem probable. It was more likely that he had gone home, and +that Mrs. Woodford felt as somewhat a mortifying idea. However, on +looking into his chamber, as she sought her own, she beheld him in +bed, with his face turned into the pillow, whether asleep or +feigning slumber there was no knowing. + +Later, she heard sounds that induced her to go and look at him. He +was starting, moaning, and babbling in his sleep. But with morning +all his old nature seemed to have returned. + +There was a hedgehog in Anne's bowl of milk, Mrs. Woodford's poultry +were cackling hysterically at an unfortunate kitten suspended from +an apple tree and let down and drawn up among them. The three- +legged stool of the old waiting-woman 'toppled down headlong' as +though by the hands of Puck, and even on Anne's arms certain black +and blue marks of nails were discovered, and when her mother +examined her on them she only cried and begged not to be made to +answer. + +And while Dr. Woodford was dozing in his chair as usual after the +noonday dinner Mrs. Woodford actually detected a hook suspended from +a horsehair descending in the direction of his big horn spectacles, +and quietly moving across to frustrate the attempt, she unearthed +Peregrine on a chair angling from behind the window curtain. + +She did not speak, but fixed her calm eyes on him with a look of +sad, grave disappointment as she wound up the line. In a few +seconds the boy had thrown himself at her feet, rolling as if in +pain, and sobbing out, "'Tis all of no use! Let me alone." + +Nevertheless he obeyed the hushing gesture of her hand, and held his +breath, as she led him out to the garden-seat, where they had spent +so many happy quiet hours. Then he flung himself down and repeated +his exclamation, half piteous, half defiant. "Leave me alone! +Leave me alone! It has me! It is all of no use." + +"What has you, my poor child?" + +"The evil spirit. You will have it that I'm not one of--one of +them--so it must be as my father says, that I am possessed--the evil +spirit. I was at peace with you--so happy--happier than ever I was +before--and now--those boys. It has me again--I could not help it-- +I've even hurt her--Mistress Anne. Let me alone--send me home--to +be scorned, and shunned, and brow-beaten--and as bad as ever--then +at least she will be safe from me." + +All this came out between sobs such that Mrs. Woodford could not +attempt to speak, but she kept her hand on him, and at last she +said, when he could hear her: "Every one of us has to fight with an +evil spirit, and when we are not on our guard he is but too apt to +take advantage of us." + +The boy rather sullenly repeated that it was of no use to fight +against his. + +"Indeed! Nay. Were you ever so much grieved before at having let +him have the mastery?" + +"No--but no one ever was good to me before." + +"Yes; all about you lived under a cruel error, and you helped them +in it. But if you had not a better nature in you, my poor child, +you would not be happy here and thankful for what we can do for +you." + +"I was like some one else here," said Peregrine, picking a daisy to +pieces, "but they stirred it all up. And at home I shall be just +the same as ever I was." + +She longed to tell him that there was hope of a change in his life, +but she durst not till it was more certain, so she said-- + +"There was One who came to conquer the evil spirit and the evil +nature, and to give each one of us the power to get the victory. +The harder the victory, the more glorious!" and her eyes sparkled at +the thought. + +He caught a moment's glow, then fell back. "For those that are +chosen," he said. + +"You are chosen--you were chosen by your baptism. You have the +stirrings of good within you. You can win and beat back the evil +side of you in Christ's strength, if you will ask for it, and go on +in His might." + +The boy groaned. Mrs. Woodford knew that the great point with him +would be to teach him to hope and to pray, but the very name of +prayer had been rendered so distasteful to him that she scarce durst +press the subject by name, and her heart sank at the thought of +sending him home again, but she was glad to be interrupted, and said +no more. + +At night, however, she heard sounds of moaning and stifled babbling +that reminded her of his times of delirium, and going into his room +she found him tossing and groaning so that it was manifestly a +kindness to wake him; but her gentle touch occasioned a scream of +terror, and he started aside with open glassy eyes, crying, "Oh take +me not!" + +"My dear boy! It is I. Perry, do you not know me?" + +"Oh, madam!" in infinite relief, "it is you. I thought--I thought I +was in elfland and that they were paying me for the tithe to hell;" +and he still shuddered all over. + +"No elf--no elf, dear boy; a christened boy--God's child, and under +His care;" and she began the 121st Psalm. + +"Oh, but I am not under His shadow! The Evil One has had me again! +He will have me. Aren't those his claws? He will have me!" + +"Never, my child, if you will cry to God for help. Say this with +me, 'Lord, be Thou my keeper.'" + +He did so, and grew more quiet, and she began to repeat Dr. Ken's +evening hymn, which had become known in manuscript in Winchester. +It soothed him, and she thought he was dropping off to sleep, but no +sooner did she move than he started with "There it is again--the +black wings--the claws--" then while awake, "Say it again! Oh, say +it again. Fold me in your prayers--you can pray." She went back to +the verse, and he became quiet, but her next attempt to leave him +caused an entreaty that she would remain, nor could she quit him +till the dawn, happily very early, was dispelling the terrors of the +night, and then, when he had himself murmured once-- + +"Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, +No powers of darkness me molest," + +he fell asleep at last, with a softer look on his pinched face. +Poor boy, would that verse be his first step to prayer and +deliverance from his own too real enemy? + + + +CHAPTER VII: THE ENVOY + + +"I then did ask of her, her changeling child." + +Midsummer Night's Dream. + +Mrs. Woodford was too good a housewife to allow herself any extra +rest on account of her vigil, and she had just put her Juneating +apple-tart into the oven when Anne rushed into the kitchen with the +warning that there was a grand gentleman getting off his horse at +the gateway, and speaking to her uncle--she thought it must be +Peregrine's uncle. + +Mrs. Woodford was of the same opinion, and asked where Peregrine +was. + +"Fast asleep in the window-seat of the parlour, mother! I did not +waken him, for he looked so tired." + +"That was right, my little maiden," said Mrs. Woodford, hastily +washing her hands, taking off her cooking apron, letting down her +black gown from its pocket holes, and arranging her veil-like +widow's coif, after which, in full trim for company, she sallied out +to the front door, to avert, if possible, the wakening of the boy, +whom she wished to appear to the best advantage. + +She met in the garden her brother-in-law, and Sir Peregrine +Oakshott, on being presented to her, made such a bow as had seldom +been seen in those parts, as he politely said that he was the bearer +of his brother's thanks for her care of his nephew. + +Mrs. Woodford explained that the boy had had so bad a night that it +would be well not to break his present sleep, and invited the guest +to walk in the garden or sit in the Doctor's study or in the shade +of the castle wall. + +This last was what he preferred, and there they seated themselves, +with a green slope before them down to the pale gray creek, and the +hill beyond lying in the summer sunshine. + +"I have been long in coming hither," said the knight, "partly on +account of letters on affairs of State, and partly likewise because +I desired to come alone, thinking that I might better understand how +it is with the lad without the presence of his father or brothers." + +"I am very glad you have so done, sir." + +"Then, madam, I entreat of you to speak freely and tell me your +opinion of him without reserve. You need not fear offence by +speaking of the mode in which they have treated him at home. My +poor brother has meant to do his duty, but he has stood so far aloof +from his sons that he has dealt with them in ignorance, and their +mother, between sickliness and timidity, is a mere prey to the folly +of her gossips. So speak plainly, madam, I beg of you." + +Mrs. Woodford did speak plainly of the boy's rooted belief in his +own elfish origin, and how when arguing against it she had found the +alternative even sadder and more hopeless, how well he comported +himself as long as he was treated as a human and rational being, but +how the taunts and jests of the young Archfields had renewed all the +mischief, to the poor fellow's own remorse and despair. + +Sir Peregrine listened with only a word of comment, or question now +and then, like a man of the world well used to hearing all before he +committed himself, and the description was only just ended when the +clang of the warning dinner-bell sounded and they rose; but as they +were passing the window of the dining-parlour a shriek of Anne's +startled them all, and as they sprang forward, Mrs. Woodford first, +Peregrine's voice was heard, "No, no, Anne, don't be afraid. It is +for me he is come; I knew he would." + +Something in a strange language was heard. A black face with round +eyes and gleaming teeth might be seen bending forward. Anne gave +another shriek, but was heard crying, "No, no! Get away, sir. He +is our Lord Christ's! He is! You can't! you shan't have him." + +And Anne was seen standing over Peregrine, who had dropped +shuddering and nearly fainting on the floor, while she stood +valiantly up warding off the advance of him whom she took for the +Prince of Darkness, and in her excitement not at first aware of +those who were come to her aid at the window. In one second the +negro was saying something which his master answered, and sent him +off. Mrs. Woodford had called out, "Don't be afraid, dear children. +'Tis Sir Peregrine's black servant"; and the Doctor, "Foolish +children! What is this nonsense?" A moment or two more and they +were in the room, Anne, all trembling, flying up to her mother and +hiding her face against her between fright and shame at not having +thought of the black servant, and the while they lifted up +Peregrine, who, as he met his kind friend's eyes, said faintly, "Is +he gone? Was it the dream again?" + +"It was your uncle's blackamoor servant," said Mrs. Woodford. "You +woke up, and no wonder you were startled. Come with me, both of +you, and make you ready for dinner." + +Peregrine had rather collapsed than fainted, for he was able to walk +with her hand on his shoulder, and Sir Peregrine understood her sign +and did not attempt to accost either of the children, though as the +Doctor took him to his chamber he expressed his admiration of the +little maiden. + +"That's the right woman," he said, "losing herself when there is one +to guard. Nay, sir, she needs no excuse. Such a spirit may well +redeem a child's mistake." + +Mrs. Woodford had reassured the children, so that they were more +than half ashamed, though scarce willing to reappear when she had +made Peregrine wash his face and hands, smooth the hair ruffled in +his nap, freshly tying his little cravat and the ribbons on his +shoes and at his knees. To make his hair into anything but elf +locks, or to obliterate the bristly tuft that made him like Riquet, +was impossible, illness had made him additionally lean and sallow, +and his keen eyes, under their black contracted brows and dark +lashes, showed all the more the curious variation in their tints, +and with an obliquity that varied according to the state of the +nerves. There was a satirical mischievous cast in the mould of the +face, though individually the features were not amiss except for +their thinness, and in fact the unpleasantness of the expression had +insensibly been softened during this last month, and there was +nothing repellent, though much that was quaint, in the slight +figure, with the indescribably one-sided air, and stature more +befitting ten than fourteen years. What would the visitor think of +him? The Doctor called to him, "Come, Peregrine, your uncle, Sir +Peregrine Oakshott, has been good enough to come over to see you." + +Peregrine had been well trained enough in that bitter school of home +to make a correct bow, though his feelings were betrayed by his +yellow eye going almost out of sight. + +"My namesake--your father will not let me say my godson," said Sir +Peregrine smiling. "We ought to be good friends." + +The boy looked up. Perhaps he had never been greeted in so human a +manner before, and there was something confiding in the way those +bony fingers of his rested a moment in his uncle's clasp. + +"And this is your little daughter, madam, Peregrine's kind playmate? +You may well be proud of her valour," said the knight, while Anne +made her courtesy, which he, in the custom of the day, returned with +a kiss; and she, who had been mortally ashamed of her terror, +marvelled at his praise. + +The pair of fowls were by this time on the table, and good manners +required silence on the part of the children, but while Sir +Peregrine explained that he had been appointed by his Majesty as +Envoy to the Elector of Brandenburg, and gave various interesting +particulars of foreign life, Mrs. Woodford saw that he was keeping a +quiet watch over his nephew's habits at table, and she was thankful +that when unmoved by any wayward spirit of mischief they were quite +beyond reproach. Something of the refinement of his poor mother's +tastes must have been inherited by Peregrine, for a certain +daintiness of taste and habit had probably added to his discomforts +in the austere, not to say rude simplicity imposed upon the children +of the family. + +When the meal was over the children were dismissed to the garden, +but bidden to keep within call, in case Sir Peregrine should wish to +see his nephew again. The others repaired again to the garden seat, +with wine and fruit, but the knight begged Mrs. Woodford not to +leave them. + +"I am satisfied," he said. "The boy shows gentle blood and +breeding. There was cause enough for fright without cowardice, and +there is not, what I was led to fear, such uncouthness or +ungainliness as should hinder me from having him with me." + +"Oh, sir, is that your purpose?" cried the lady, almost as eagerly +as if it had been high preferment for her own child. + +"I had thought thereon," said the envoy. "There is reason that he +should be my charge, and my brother is like to give a ready consent, +since he is sorely perplexed what to do with this poor untoward +slip." + +"He would be less untoward were he happier," said Mrs. Woodford. +"Indeed, sir, I do not think you will repent it, if--" and she +paused. + +"What would you say, madam?" + +"If only all your honour's household are absolutely ignorant of all +these tales." + +"That can well be, madam. I have only one body-servant with me, +this unlucky blackamoor, who speaks nothing save Dutch. I had +already thought of leaving my grooms here, and returning to London +by sea, and this could well be done, and would cut off all channels +of gossiping. The boy is, the chaplain tells me, quick-witted, and +a fair scholar for his years, and I can find good schooling for +him." + +"When his head is able to bear it," said Mrs. Woodford. + +"Truly, sir," added the Doctor, "you are doing a good work, and I +trust that the boy will requite you worthily." + +"I tell your reverence," said Sir Peregrine, "crooked stick though +they term him, I had ten times rather have the dealing with him than +with those comely great lubbers his brothers! The question now is, +shall I tell him what is in store for him?" + +"I should say," returned Dr. Woodford, "that provided it is certain +that the intention can be carried out, nothing would be so good for +him as hope. Do you not say so, sister?" + +"Indeed I do," she replied. "I believe that he would be a very +different boy if he were relieved from the misery he suffers at home +and requites by mischievous pranks. I do not say he will or can be +a good lad at once, but if your honour can have patience with him, I +do believe there is that in him which can be turned to good. If he +only can believe in the better nature and higher guidings, and pray, +and not give himself up in despair." She had tears in her eyes. + +"My good madam, I can believe it all," said Sir Peregrine. "Short +of being supposed an elf, I have gone through the same, and it was +not my good father's fault that I did not loathe the very name of +preaching or prayer. But I had a mother who knew how to deal with +me, whereas this poor child's mother, I am sure, believes in her +secret heart that he is none of hers, though she has enough sense +not to dare to avow it. Alas! I cannot give the boy the woman's +tending by which you have already wrought so much," and Mrs. +Woodford remembered to have heard that his wife had died at +Rotterdam, "but I can treat him like a human being, I hope indeed as +a son; and, at any rate, there will be no one to remind him of these +old wives' tales." + +"I can only say that I am heartily rejoiced," said Mrs. Woodford. + +So Peregrine was summoned, and shambled up, his eyes showing that he +expected a trying interview, and, moreover, with a certain twinkle +of mischief or perverseness in their corners. + +"Soh! my lad, we ought to be better acquainted," said the uncle. +"D'ye know what our name means?" + +"Peregrinus, a vagabond," responded the boy. + +"Eh! The translation may be correct, but 'tis scarce the most +complimentary. I wonder now if you, like me, were born on a +Wednesday. 'Wednesday's child has far to go.'" + +"No. I was born on a Sunday, and if to see goblins and oafs--" + +"Nay, I read it, 'Sunday's child is full of grace.'" + +Peregrine's mouth twitched ironically, but his uncle continued, +"Look you, my boy, what say you to fulfilling the augury of your +name with me. His Majesty has ordered me off again to represent the +British name to the Elector of Brandenburg, and I have a mind to +carry you with me. What do you say?" + +If any one expected Peregrine to be overjoyed his demeanour was +disappointing. He shuffled with his feet, and after two or three +"Ehs?" from his uncle, he mumbled, "I don't care," and then shrank +together, as one prepared for the stripe with the riding-whip which +such a rude answer merited: but his uncle had, as a diplomate, +learnt a good deal of patience, and he said, "Ha! don't care to +leave home and brothers. Eh?" + +Peregrine's chin went down, and there was no answer; his hair +dropped over his heavy brow. + +"See, boy, this is no jest," said his uncle. "You are too big to be +told that 'I'll put you into my pocket and carry you off.' I am in +earnest." + +Peregrine looked up, and with one sudden flash surveyed his uncle. +His lips trembled, but he did not speak. + +"It is sudden," said the knight to the other two. "See, boy, I am +not about to take you away with me now. In a week or ten days' time +I start for London; and there we will fit you out for Konigsberg or +Berlin, and I trust we shall make a man of you, and a good man. +Your tutor tells me you have excellent parts, and I mean that you +shall do me credit." + +Dr. Woodford could not help telling the lad that he ought to thank +his uncle, whereat he scowled; but Sir Peregrine said, "He is not +ready for that yet. Wait till he feels he has something to thank me +for." + +So Peregrine was dismissed, and his friends exclaimed with some +wonder and annoyance that the boy who had been willing to be +decapitated to put an end to his wretchedness, should be so +reluctant to accept such an offer, but Sir Peregrine only laughed, +and said-- + +"The lad has pith in him! I like him better than if he came like a +spaniel to my foot. But I will say no more till I fully have my +brother's consent. No one knows what crooks there may be in folks' +minds." + +He took his leave, and presently Mrs. Woodford had a fresh surprise. +She found this strange boy lying flat on the grass, sobbing as if +his heart would break, and when she tried to soothe and comfort him +it was very hard to get a word from him; but at last, as she asked, +"And does it grieve you so much to leave home?" the answer was-- + +"No, no! not home!" + +"What is it, then? What are you sorry to leave?" + +"Oh, _you_ don't know! you and Anne--the only ones that ever were +good to me--and drove away--_it_." + +"Nay, my dear boy. Your uncle means to be good to you." + +"No, no. No one ever will be like you and Anne. Oh, let me stay +with you, or they will have me at last!" + +He was too much shaken, in his still half-recovered state, by the +events of these last days, to be reasoned with. Mrs. Woodford was +afraid he would work himself into delirium, and could only soothe +him into a calmer state. She found from Anne that the children had +some vague hopes of his being allowed to remain at Portchester, and +that this was the ground of his disappointment, since he seemed to +be attaching himself to them as the first who had ever touched his +heart or opened to him a gleam of better things. + +By the next day, however, he was in a quieter and more reasonable +state, and Mrs. Woodford was able to have a long talk with him. She +represented that the difference of opinions made it almost certain +that his father would never consent to his remaining under her roof, +and that even if this were possible, Portchester was far too much +infected with the folly from which he had suffered so much; and his +uncle would take care that no one he would meet should ever hear of +it. + +"There's little good in that," said the boy moodily. "I'm a thing +they'll jibe at and bait any way." + +"I do not see that, if you take pains with yourself. Your uncle +said you showed blood and breeding, and when you are better dressed, +and with him, no one will dare to mock his Excellency's nephew. +Depend upon it, Peregrine, this is the fresh start that you need." + +"If you were there--" + +"My boy, you must not ask for what is impossible. You must learn to +conquer in God's strength, not mine." + +All, however, that passed may not here be narrated, and it +apparently left that wayward spirit unconvinced. Nevertheless, when +on the second day Major Oakshott himself came over with his brother, +and informed Peregrine that his uncle was good enough to undertake +the charge of him, and to see that he was bred up in godly ways in a +Protestant land, free from prelacy and superstition, the boy seemed +reconciled to his fate. Major Oakshott spoke more kindly than usual +to him, being free from fresh irritation at his misdemeanours; but +even thus there was a contrast with the gentler, more persuasive +tones of the diplomatist, and no doubt this tended to increase +Peregrine's willingness to be thus handed over. + +The next question was whether he should go home first, but both the +uncle and the friends were averse to his remaining there, amid the +unavoidable gossip and chatter of the household, and it was +therefore decided that he should only ride over with Dr. Woodford +for an hour or two to take leave of his mother and brothers. + +This settled, Mrs. Woodford found him much easier to deal with. He +had really, through his midnight invocation of the fairies, obtained +an opening into a new world, and he was ready to believe that with +no one to twit him with being a changeling or worse, he could avoid +perpetual disgrace and punishment and live at peace. Nor was he +unwilling to promise Mrs. Woodford to say daily, and especially when +tempted, one or two brief collects and ejaculations which she +selected to teach him, as being as unlike as possible to the long +extempore exercises which had made him hate the very name of prayer. +The Doctor gave him a Greek Testament, as being least connected with +unpleasant recollections. + +"And," entreated Peregrine humbly, in a low voice to Mrs. Woodford +on his last Sunday evening, "may I not have something of yours, to +lay hold of, and remember you if--when--the evil spirit tries to lay +hold of me again?" + +She would fain have given him a prayer-book, but she knew that would +be treason to his father, and with tears in her eyes and something +of a pang, she gave him a tiny miniature of herself, which had been +her husband's companion at sea, and hung it round his neck with the +chain of her own hair that had always held it. + +"It will always keep my heart warm," said Peregrine, as he hid it +under his vest. There was a shade of disappointment on Anne's face +when he showed it to her, for she had almost deemed it her own. + +"Never mind, Anne," he said; "I am coming back a knight like my +uncle to marry you, and then it will be yours again." + +"I--I'm not going to wed you--I have another sweetheart," added Anne +in haste, lest he should think she scorned him. + +"Oh, that lubberly Charles Archfield! No fear of him. He is +promised long ago to some little babe of quality in London. You may +whistle for him. So you'd better wait for me." + +"It is not true. You only say it to plague me." + +"It's as true as Gospel! I heard Sir Philip telling one of the big +black gowns one day in the Close, when I was sitting up in a tree +overhead, how they had fixed a marriage between his son and his old +friend's daughter, who would have ever so many estates. So I'd give +that"--snapping his fingers--"for your chances of being my Lady +Archfield in the salt mud at Fareham." + +"I shall ask Lucy. It is not kind of you, Perry, when you are just +going away." + +"Come, come, don't cry, Anne." + +"But I knew Charley ever so long first, and--" + +"Oh, yes. Maids always like straight, comely, dull fellows, I know +that. But as you can't have Charles Archfield, I mean to have you, +Anne--for I shall look to you as the only one as can ever make a +good man of me! Ay--your mother--I'd wed her if I could, but as I +can't, I mean to have you, Anne Woodford." + +"I don't mean to have you! I shall go to Court, and marry some +noble earl or gentleman! Why do you laugh and make that face, +Peregrine? you know my father was almost a knight--" + +"Nobody is long with you without knowing that!" retorted Peregrine; +"but a miss is as good as a mile, and you will find the earls and +the lords will think so, and be fain to take the crooked stick at +last!" + +Mistress Anne tossed her head--and Peregrine returned a grimace. +Nevertheless they parted with a kiss, and for some time the thought +of Peregrine haunted the little girl with a strange, fateful +feeling, between aversion and attraction, which wore off, as a folly +of her childhood, with her growth in years. + + + +CHAPTER VIII: THE RETURN + + +"I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in +France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour everywhere." + +Merchant of Venice. + +It was autumn, but in the year 1687, when again Lucy Archfield and +Anne Jacobina Woodford were pacing the broad gravel walk along the +south side of the nave of Winchester Cathedral. Lucy, in spite of +her brocade skirt and handsome gown of blue velvet tucked up over +it, was still devoid of any look of distinction, but was a round- +faced, blooming, cheerful maiden, of that ladylike thoroughly +countrified type happily frequent in English girlhood throughout all +time. + +Anne, or Jacobina, as she tried to be called, towered above her +head, and had never lost that tincture of courtly grace that early +breeding had given her, and though her skirt was of gray wool, and +the upper gown of cherry tabinet, she wore both with an air that +made them seem more choice and stylish than those of her companion, +while the simple braids and curls of her brown hair set off an +unusually handsome face, pale and clear in complexion, with regular +features, fine arched eyebrows over clear brown eyes, a short chin, +and a mouth of perfect outline, but capable of looking very +resolute. + +Altogether she looked fit for a Court atmosphere, and perhaps she +was not without hopes of it, for Dr. Woodford had become a royal +chaplain under Charles II, and was now continued in the same office; +and though this was a sinecure as regarded the present King, yet +Tory and High Church views were as much in the ascendant as they +could be under a Romanist king, and there were hopes of a canonry at +Windsor or Westminster, or even higher preferment still, if he were +not reckoned too staunch an Anglican. That Mrs. Woodford's health +had been failing for many months past would, her sanguine daughter +thought, be remedied by being nearer the best physicians in London, +which had been quitted with regret. Meantime Lucy's first +experiences of wedding festivities were to be heard. For the +Archfield family had just returned from celebrating the marriage of +the heir. Long ago Anne Jacobina had learnt to reckon Master +Charles's pledges of affection among the sports and follies of +childhood, and the strange sense of disappointment and shame with +which she recollected them had perhaps added to her natural reserve, +and made her feel it due to maidenly dignity to listen with zest to +the account of the bride, who was to be brought to supper at Doctor +Woodford's that eve. + +"She is a pretty little thing," said Lucy, "but my mother was much +concerned to find her so mere a child, and would not, if she had +seen her, have consented to the marriage for two years to come, +except for the sake of having her in our own hands." + +"I thought she was sixteen." + +"Barely fifteen, my dear, and far younger than we were at that age. +She cried because her woman said she must leave her old doll behind +her; and when my brother declared that she should have anything she +liked, she danced about, and kissed him, and made him kiss its +wooden face with half the paint rubbed off." + +"He did?" + +"Oh, yes! She is like a pretty fresh plaything to him, and they go +about together just like big Towzer and little Frisk at home. He is +very much amused with her, and she thinks him the finest possession +that ever came in her way." + +"Well, so he is." + +"That is true; but somehow it is scarcely like husband and wife; and +my mother fears that she may be sickly, for she is so small and +slight that it seems as if you could blow her away, and so white +that you would think she had no blood, except when a little heat +brings the purest rose colour to her cheek, and that, my lady says, +betokens weakliness. You know, of course, that she is an orphan; +her father died of a wasting consumption, and her mother not long +after, when she was a yearling babe. It was her grandfather who was +my father's friend in the old cavalier days, and wrote to propose +the contract to my brother not long before his death, when she was +but five years old. The pity was that she was not sent to us at +once, for the old lord, her grand-uncle, never heeded or cared for +her, but left her to servants, who petted her, but understood +nothing of care of her health or her education, so that the only +wonder is that she is alive or so sweet and winning as she is. She +can hardly read without spelling, and I had to make copies for her +of Alice Fitzhubert, to show her how to sign the book. All she knew +she learnt from the old steward, and only when she liked. My father +laughs and is amused, but my lady sighs, and hopes her portion is +not dearly bought." + +"Is not she to be a great heiress?" + +"Not of the bulk of the lands--they go to heirs male; but there is +much besides, enough to make Charles a richer man than our father. +I wonder what you will think of her. My mother is longing to talk +her over with Mrs Woodford." + +"And my mother is longing to see my lady." + +"I fear she is still but poorly." + +"We think she will be much better when we get home," said Anne. "I +am sure she is stronger, for she walked round the Close yesterday, +and was scarcely tired." + +"But tell me, Anne, is it true that poor Master Oliver Oakshott is +dead of smallpox?" + +"Quite true. Poor young gentleman, he was to have married that +cousin of his mother's, Mistress Martha Browning, living at +Emsworth. She came on a visit, and they think she brought the +infection, for she sickened at once, and though she had it +favourably, is much disfigured. Master Oliver caught it and died in +three days, and all the house were down with it. They say poor Mrs. +Oakshott forgot her ailments and went to and fro among them all. My +mother would have gone to help in their need if she had been as well +as she used to be." + +"How is it with the other son? He was a personable youth enough. I +saw him at the ship launch in the spring, and thought both lads +would fain have staid for the dance on board but for their grim old +father." + +"You saw Robert, but he is not the elder." + +"What? Is that shocking impish urchin whom we used to call Riquet +with the tuft, older than he?" + +"Certainly he is. He writes from time to time to my mother, and +seems to be doing well with his uncle." + +"I cannot believe he would come to good. Do you remember his +sending my brother and cousin adrift in the boat?" + +"I think that was in great part the fault of your cousin for mocking +and tormenting him." + +"Sedley Archfield was a bad boy! There's no denying that. I am +afraid he had good reason for running away from college." + +"Have you heard of him since?" + +"Yes; he has been serving with the Life-guards in Scotland, and +mayhap he will come home and see us. My father wishes to see +whether he is worthy to have a troop procured by money or favour for +him, and if they are recalled to the camp at November it will be an +opportunity. But see--who is coming through the Slype?" + +"My uncle. And who is with him?" + +Dr. Woodford advanced, and with him a small slender figure in black. +As the broad hat with sable plume was doffed with a sweep on +approaching the ladies, a dark head and peculiar countenance +appeared, while the Doctor said, "Here is an old acquaintance, young +ladies, whom I met dismounting at the White Hart, and have brought +home with me." + +"Mr. Peregrine Oakshott!" exclaimed Anne, feeling bound to offer in +welcome a hand, which he kissed after the custom of the day, while +Lucy dropped a low and formal courtesy, and being already close to +the gate of the house occupied by her family, took her leave till +supper-time. + +Even in the few steps before reaching home Anne was able to perceive +that a being very unlike the imp of seven years ago had returned, +though still short in stature and very slight, with long dark hair +hanging straight enough to suggest elf-locks, but his figure was +well proportioned, and had a finished air of high breeding and +training. His riding suit was point device, from the ostrich +feather in his hat, to the toes of his well made boots, and his +sword knew its place, as well as did those of the gentlemen that +Anne remembered at the Duke of York's when she was a little child. +His thin, marked face was the reverse of handsome, but it was keen, +shrewd, perhaps satirical, and the remarkable eyes were very bright +under dark eyebrows and lashes, and the thin lips, devoid of hair, +showed fine white teeth when parted by a smile of gladness--at the +meeting--though he was concerned to hear that Mrs. Woodford had been +very ill all the last spring, and had by no means regained her +former health, and even in the few words that passed it might be +gathered that Anne was far more hopeful than her uncle. + +She did indeed look greatly changed, though her countenance was +sweeter than ever, as she rose from her seat by the fire and held +out her arms to receive the newcomer with a motherly embrace, while +the expression of joy and affection was such as could never once +have seemed likely to sit on Peregrine Oakshott's features. They +were left together, for Anne had the final touches to put to the +supper, and Dr. Woodford was sent for to speak to one of the +Cathedral staff. + +Peregrine explained that he was on his way home, his father having +recalled him on his brother's death, but he hoped soon to rejoin his +uncle, whose secretary he now was. They had been for the last few +months in London, and were thence to be sent on an embassy to the +young Czar of Muscovy, an expedition to which he looked forward with +eager curiosity. Mrs. Woodford hoped that all danger of infection +at Oakwood was at an end. + +"There is none for me, madam," he said, with a curious writhed +smile. "Did you not know that they thought they were rid of me when +I took the disease at seven years old, and lay in the loft over the +hen-house with Molly Owens to tend me? and I believe it was thought +to be fairy work that I came out of it no more unsightly than +before." + +"You are seeking for compliments, Peregrine; you are greatly +improved." + +"Crooked sticks can be pruned and trained," he responded, with a +courteous bow. + +"You are a travelled man. Let me see, how many countries have you +seen?" + +"A year at Berlin and Konigsberg--strange places enough, specially +the last, two among the scholars and high roofs of Leyden, half a +year at Versailles and Paris, another year at Turin, whence back for +another half year to wait on old King Louis, then to the Hague, and +the last three months at Court. Not much like buying and selling +cows, or growing wheat on the slopes, or lying out on a cold +winter's night to shoot a few wild fowl; and I have you to thank for +it, my first and best friend!" + +"Nay, your uncle is surely your best." + +"Never would he have picked up the poor crooked stick save for you, +madam. Moreover, you gave me my talisman," and he laid his hand on +his breast; "it is your face that speaks to me and calls me back +when the elf, or whatever it is, has got the mastery of me." + +Somewhat startled, Mrs. Woodford would have asked what he meant, but +that intelligence was brought that Mr. Oakshott's man had brought +his mail, so that he had to repair to his room. Mrs. Woodford had +kept up some correspondence with him, for which his uncle's position +as envoy afforded unusual facilities, and she knew that on the whole +he had been a very different being from what he was at home. Once, +indeed, his uncle had written to the Doctor to express his full +satisfaction in the lad, on whom he seemed to look like a son, but +from some subsequent letters she had an impression that he had got +into trouble of some sort while at the University of Leyden, and she +was afraid that she must accept the belief that the wild elfish +spirit, as he called it, was by no means extinct in him, any more, +she said to herself, than temptation is in any human creature. The +question is, What is there to contend therewith? + +The guests were, however, about to assemble. The Doctor, in black +velvet cap and stately silken cassock, sash, and gown, sailed down +to receive them, and again greeted Peregrine, who emerged in black +velvet and satin, delicate muslin cravat and cuffs, dainty silk +stockings and rosetted shoes, in a style such as made the far taller +and handsomer Charles Archfield, in spite of gay scarlet coat, +embroidered flowery vest, rich laced cravat, and thick shining brown +curls, look a mere big schoolboy, almost bumpkin-like in contrast. +However, no one did look at anything but the little creature who +could just reach to hang upon that resplendent bridegroom's arm. +She was in glistening white brocade, too stiff and cumbrous for so +tiny a figure, yet together with the diamonds glistening on her head +and breast giving her the likeness of a fairy queen. The whiteness +was almost startling, for the neck and arms were like pearl in tint, +the hair flowing in full curls on her shoulders was like shining +flax or pale silk just unwound from the cocoon, and the only relief +of colour was the deep blue of the eyes, the delicate tint of the +lips, and the tender rosy flush that was called up by her +presentation to her hosts by stout old Sir Philip, in plum-coloured +coat and full-bottomed wig, though she did not blush half as much as +the husband of nineteen in his new character. Indeed, had it not +been for her childish prettiness, her giggle would have been +unpleasing to more than Lady Archfield, who, broad and matronly, +gave a courtesy and critical glance at Peregrine before subsiding +into a seat beside Mrs. Woodford. + +Lucy stood among a few other young people from the Close, watching +for Anne, who came in, trim and bright, though still somewhat +reddened in face and arms from her last attentions to the supper--an +elaborate meal on such occasions, though lighter than the mid-day +repast. There were standing pies of game, lobster and oyster +patties, creams, jellies, and other confections, on which Sir Philip +and his lady highly complimented Anne, who had been engaged on them +for at least a couple of days, her mother being no longer able to +assist except by advice. + +"See, daughter Alice, you will learn one day to build up a jelly as +well as to eat it," said Sir Philip good-humouredly, whereat the +small lady pouted a little and said-- + +"Bet lets me make shapes of the dough, but I won't stir the pans and +get to look like a turkey-cock." + +"Ah, ha! and you have always done what you liked, my little madam?" + +"Of course, sir! and so I shall," she answered, drawing up her +pretty little head, while Lady Archfield gave hers a boding shake. + +"Time, and life, and wifehood teach lessons," murmured Mrs. Woodford +in consolation, and the Doctor changed the subject by asking +Peregrine whether the ladies abroad were given to housewifery. + +"The German dames make a great ado about their Wirthschaft, as they +call it," was the reply, "but as to the result! Pah! I know not +how we should have fared had not Hans, my uncle's black, been an +excellent cook; but it was in Paris that we were exquisitely +regaled, and our maitre d'hotel would discourse on ragouts and +entremets till one felt as if his were the first of the sciences." + +"So it is to a Frenchman," growled Sir Philip. "French and +Frenchifications are all the rage nowadays, but what will your +father say to your science, my young spark?" + +The gesture of head and shoulder that replied had certainly been +caught at Paris. Mrs. Woodford rushed into the breach, asking about +the Princess of Orange, whom she had often seen as a child. + +"A stately and sightly dame is she, madam," Peregrine answered, +"towering high above her little mynheer, who outwardly excels her in +naught save the length of nose, and has the manners of a boor." + +"The Prince of Orange is the hope of the country," said Sir Philip +severely. + +Peregrine's face wore a queer satirical look, which provoked Sir +Philip into saying, "Speak up, sir! what d'ye mean? We don't +understand French grins here." + +"Nor does he, nor French courtesies either," said Peregrine. + +"So much the better!" exclaimed the baronet. + +Here the little clear voice broke in, "O Mr. Oakshott, if I had but +known you were coming, you might have brought me a French doll in +the latest fashion." + +"I should have been most happy, madam," returned Peregrine; "but +unfortunately I am six months from Paris, and besides, his honour +might object lest a French doll should contaminate the Dutch +puppets." + +"But oh, sir, is it true that French dolls have real hair that will +curl?" + +"Don't be foolish," muttered Charles impatiently; and she drew up +her head and made an indescribably droll moue of disgust at him. + +Supper ended, the party broke up into old and young, the two elder +gentlemen sadly discussing politics over their tall glasses of wine, +the matrons talking over the wedding and Lady Archfield's stay in +London at the parlour fire, and the young folk in a window, waiting +for the fiddler and a few more of the young people who were to join +them in the dance. + +The Archfield ladies had kissed the hand of the Queen, and agreed +with Peregrine in admiration of her beauty and grace, though they +did not go so far as he did, especially when he declared that her +eyes were as soft as Mistress Anne's, and nearly of the same +exquisite brown, which made the damsel blush and experience a +revival of the old feeling of her childhood, as if he put her under +a spell. + +He went on to say that he had had the good fortune to pick up and +restore to Queen Mary Beatrice a gold and coral rosary which she had +dropped on her way to St. James's Palace from Whitehall. She +thanked him graciously, letting him kiss her hand, and asking him if +he were of the true Church. "Imagine my father's feelings," he +added, "when she said, 'Ah! but you will be ere long; I give it you +as a pledge.'" + +He produced the rosary, handing it first to Anne, who admired the +beautiful filigree work, but it was almost snatched from her by Mrs. +Archfield, who wound it twice on her tiny wrist, tried to get it +over her head, and did everything but ask for it, till her husband, +turning round, said roughly, "Give it back, madam. We want no +Popish toys here." + +Lucy put in a hasty question whether Master Oakshott had seen much +sport, and this led to a spirited description of the homely earnest +of wild boar hunting under the great Elector of Brandenburg, in +contrast with the splendours of la chasse aux sangliers at +Fontainebleau with the green and gold uniforms, the fanfares on the +curled horns, the ladies in their coaches, forced to attend whether +ill or well, the very boars themselves too well bred not to conform +to the sport of the great idol of France. And again, he showed the +diamond sleeve buttons, the trophies of a sort of bazaar held at +Marly, where the stalls were kept by the Dauphin, Monsieur, the Duke +of Maine, Madame de Maintenon, and the rest, where the purchases +were winnings at Ombre, made not with coin but with nominal sums, +and other games at cards, and all was given away that was not +purchased. And again the levees, when the King's wig was handed +through the curtains on a stick. Peregrine's profane mimicry of the +stately march of Louis Quatorze, and the cringing obeisances of his +courtiers, together with their strutting majesty towards their own +inferiors, convulsed all with merriment; and the bride shrieked out, +"Do it again! Oh, I shall die of laughing!" + +It was very girlish, with a silvery ring, but the elder ladies +looked round, and the bridegroom muttered 'Mountebank.' + +The fiddler arrived at that moment, and the young people paired off, +the young couple naturally together, and Peregrine, to the surprise +and perhaps discomfiture of more than one visitor, securing Anne's +hand. The young lady pupils of Madame knew their steps, and Lucy +danced correctly, Anne with an easy, stately grace, Charles +Archfield performed his devoir seriously, his little wife frisked +with childish glee, evidently quite untaught, but Peregrine's light +narrow feet sprang, pointed themselves, and bounded with trained +agility, set off by the tight blackness of his suit. He was like +one of the grotesque figures shaped in black paper, or as Sir +Philip, looking in from the dining-parlour, observed, "like a light- +heeled French fop." + +As a rule partners retained one another all the evening, but little +Mrs. Archfield knew no etiquette, and maybe her husband had pushed +and pulled her into place a little more authoritatively than she +quite approved, for she shook him off, and turning round to +Peregrine exclaimed-- + +"Now, I will dance with you! You do leap and hop so high and +trippingly! Never mind her; she is only a parson's niece!" + +"Madam!" exclaimed Charles, in a tone of surprised displeasure; but +she only nodded archly at him, and said, "I must dance with him; he +can jump so high." + +"Let her have her way," whispered Lucy, "she is but a child, and it +will be better not to make a pother." + +He yielded, though with visible annoyance, asking Anne if she would +put up with a poor deserted swain, and as he led her off muttering, +"That fellow's friskiness is like to be taken out of him at +Oakwood." + +Meanwhile the small creature had taken possession of her chosen +partner, who, so far as size went, was far better suited to her than +any of the other men present. They were dancing something original +and unpremeditated, with twirls and springs, sweeps and bends, +bounds and footings, just as the little lady's fancy prompted, +perhaps guided in some degree by her partner's experience of +national dances. White and black, they figured about, she with +floating sheeny hair and glistening robes, he trim and tight and +jetty, like fairy and imp! It was so droll and pretty that talkers +and dancers alike paused to watch them in a strange fascination, +till at last, quite breathless and pink as a moss rosebud, Alice +dropped upon a chair near her husband. He stood grim, stiff, and +vexed, all the more because Peregrine had taken her fan and was +using it so as to make it wave like butterfly's wings, while poor +Charles looked, as the Doctor whispered to his father, far more +inclined to lay it about her ears. + +Sir Philip laughed heartily, for both he and the Doctor had been so +much entranced and amused as to be far more diverted at the lad's +discomfiture than scandalised at the bride's escapade, which they +viewed as child's play. + +Perhaps, however, he was somewhat comforted by her later +observation, "He is as ugly as Old Nick, and looks like always +laughing at you; but I wish you could dance like him, Mr. Archfield, +only then you wouldn't be my dear old great big husband, or so +beautiful to look at. Oh, yes, to be sure, he is nothing but a +skipjack such as one makes out of a chicken bone!" + +And Anne meanwhile was exclaiming to her mother, "Oh, madam! how +could they do such a thing? How could they make poor Charley marry +that foolish ill-mannered little creature?" + +"Hush, daughter, you must drop that childish name," said Mrs. +Woodford gravely. + +Anne blushed. "I forgot, madam, but I am so sorry for him." + +"There is no reason for uneasiness, my dear. She is a mere child, +and under such hands as Lady Archfield she is sure to improve. It +is far better that she should be so young, as it will be the more +easy to mould her." + +"I hope there is any stuff in her to be moulded," sighed the maiden. + +"My dear child," returned her mother, "I cannot permit you to talk +in this manner. Yes, I know Mr. Archfield has been as a brother to +you, but even his sister ought not to allow herself to discuss or +dwell on what she deems the shortcomings of his wife." + +The mother in her prudence had silenced the girl; but none the less +did each fall asleep with a sad and foreboding heart. She knew her +child to be good and well principled, but those early days of notice +and petting from the young Princesses of the House of York had never +faded from the childish mind, and although Anne was dutiful, +cheerful, and outwardly contented, the mother often suspected that +over the spinning-wheel or embroidery frame she indulged in day +dreams of heroism, promotion, and grandeur, which might either fade +away in a happy life of domestic duty or become temptations. + +Before going away next morning Peregrine entreated that Mistress +Anne might have the Queen's rosary, but her mother decidedly +refused. "It ought to be an heirloom in your family," said she. + +He threw up his hands with one of his strange gestures. + + + +CHAPTER IX: ON HIS TRAVELS + + +"For Satan finds some mischief still +For idle hands to do." + +ISAAC WATTS. + +Peregrine went off in good spirits, promising a visit on his return +to London, of which he seemed to have no doubt; but no more was +heard of him for ten days. At the end of that time the Portsmouth +carrier conveyed the following note to Winchester:-- + +HONOURED AND REVEREND SIR--Seven years since your arguments and +intercession induced my father to consent to what I hoped had +been the rescue of me, body and soul. I know not whether to ask +of your goodness to make the same endeavour again. My father +declares that nothing shall induce him again to let me go abroad +with my uncle, and persists in declaring that the compact has +been broken by our visits to Papist lands, nor will aught that I +can say persuade him that the Muscovite abhors the Pope quite as +much as he can. He likewise deems that having unfortunately +become his heir, I must needs remain at home to thin the timber +and watch the ploughmen; and when I have besought him to let me +yield my place to Robert he replies that I am playing the part of +Esau. I have written to my uncle, who has been a true father to +me, and would be loth to part from me for his own sake as well as +mine but I know not whether he will be able to prevail; and I +entreat of you, reverend sir, to add your persuasions, for I well +know that it would be my perdition to remain bound where I am. + +Commend me to Mrs. Woodford and Mistress Anne. I trust that the +former is in better health.--I remain, reverend sir, Your humble +servant to command, PEREGRINE OAKSHOTT. + +Given at Oakwood House, +This 10th of October 1687. + +This was very bad news, but Dr. Woodford knew not how to interfere; +moreover, being in course at the Cathedral, he could not absent +himself long enough for an expedition to Oakwood, through wintry +roads in short days. He could only write an encouraging letter to +the poor lad, and likewise one to Mr. Horncastle, who under the +Indulgence had a chapel of his own. The Doctor had kept up the +acquaintance formed by Peregrine's accident, and had come to regard +him with much esteem, and as likely to exercise a wholesome +influence upon his patron. Nothing more was heard for a week, and +then came another visitor to the Doctor's door, Sir Peregrine +himself, on his way down, at considerable inconvenience, to +endeavour to prevail with his brother to allow him to retain his +nephew in his suite. + +"Surely," he said, "my brother had enough of camps in his youth to +understand that his son will be none the worse squire for having +gone a little beyond Hampshire bogs, and learnt what the world is +made of." + +"I cannot tell," said Dr. Woodford; "I have my fears that he thinks +the less known of the world the better." + +"That might answer with a heavy clod of a lad such as the poor youth +who is gone, and such as, for his own sake and my brother's, I trust +the younger one is, fruges consumere natus; but as for this boy, +dulness and vacancy are precisely what would be the ruin of him. +Let my brother keep Master Robert at home, and give him Oakwood; I +will provide for Perry as I always promised to do." + +"If he is wise he will accept the offer," said Dr. Woodford; "but +'tis hard to be wise for others." + +"Nothing harder, sir. I would that I had gone home with Perry, but +mine audience of his Majesty was fixed for the ensuing week, and my +brother's summons was peremptory." + +"I trust your honour will prevail," said Mrs. Woodford gently. "You +have effected a mighty change in the poor boy, and I can well +believe that he is as a son to you." + +"Well, madam, yes--as sons go," said the knight in a somewhat +disappointing tone. + +She looked at him anxiously, and ventured to murmur a hope so very +like an inquiry, and so full of solicitous hope, that it actually +unlocked the envoy's reserve, and he said, "Ah, madam, you have been +the best mother that the poor youth has ever had! I will speak +freely to you, for should I fail in overcoming my brother's +prejudices, you will be able to do more for him than any one else, +and I know you will be absolutely secret." + +Mrs. Woodford sighed, with forebodings of not long being able to aid +any one in this world, but still she listened with earnest interest +and sympathy. + +"Yes, madam, you implanted in him that which yet may conquer his +strange nature. Your name is as it were a charm to conjure up his +better spirit." + +"Of course," she said, "I never durst hope, that he could be tamed +and under control all at once, but--" and she paused. + +"He has improved--vastly improved," said the uncle. "Indeed, when +first I took him with me, while he was still weak, and moreover much +overcome by sea-sickness, while all was strange to him, and he was +relieved by not finding himself treated as an outcast, I verily +thought him meeker than other urchins, and that the outcry against +him was unmerited. But no sooner had we got to Berlin, and while I +was as yet too busy to provide either masters or occupations for my +young gentleman, than he did indeed make me feel that I had charge +of a young imp, and that if I did not watch the better, it might be +a case of war with his Spanish Majesty. For would you believe it, +his envoy's gardens joined ours, and what must my young master do, +but sit atop of our wall, making grimaces at the dons and donnas as +they paced the walks, and pelting them from time to time with +walnuts. Well, I was mindful of your counsel, and did not flog him, +nor let my chaplain do so, though I know the good man's fingers +itched to be at him; but I reasoned with him on the harm he was +doing me, and would you believe it, the poor lad burst into tears, +and implored me to give him something to do, to save him from his +own spirit. I set him to write out and translate a long roll of +Latin despatches sent up by that pedant Court in Hungary, and I +declare to you I had no more trouble with him till next he was left +idle. I gave him tutors, and he studied with fervour, and made +progress at which they were amazed. He learnt the High Dutch faster +than any other of my people, and could soon jabber away in it with +the best of the Elector's folk, and I began to think I had a nephew +who would do me no small credit. I sent him to perfect his studies +at Leyden, but shall I confess it to you? it was to find that no +master nor discipline could keep him out of the riotings and +quarrels of the worse sort of students. Nay, I found him laid by +with a rapier thrust in the side from a duel, for no better cause +than biting his thumb at a Scots law student in chapel, his apology +being that to sit through a Dutch sermon drove him crazy. 'Tis not +that he is not trustworthy. Find employment for the restless demon +that is in him, and all is well with him; moreover, he is full of +wit and humour, and beguiles a long journey or tedious evening at an +inn better than any comrade I ever knew, extracting mirth from all +around, even the very discomforts, and searching to the quick all +that is to be seen. But if left to himself, the restless demon that +preys on him is sure to set him to something incalculable. At Turin +it set him to scraping acquaintance with a Capuchin friar, a dirty +rogue whom I would have kept on the opposite side of the street. +That was his graver mood; but what more must he do, but borrow or +steal, I know not how, the ghastly robes of the Confraternity of +Death--the white garb and peaked cap with two holes for the eyes, +wherewith men of all degrees disguise themselves while doing the +pious work of bearing the dead to the grave. None suspected him, +for the disguise is complete, and a duke may walk unknown beside a +water-carrier, bearing the corpse of a cobbler. All would have been +well, but that at the very brink of the grave the boy's fiend--'tis +his own word--impelled him to break forth into his wild "Ho! ho! +ho!" with an eldritch shriek, and slipping out of his cerements, +dash off headlong over the wall of the cemetery. He was not +followed. I believe the poor body belonged to a fellow whose +salvation was more than doubtful in spite of all the priests could +do, and that the bearers really took him for the foul fiend. It was +not till a week or two after that the ring of his voice and laugh +caused him to be recognised by one of the Duke of Savoy's gentlemen, +happily a prudent man, loth to cause a tumult against one of my +suite, and he told me all privately in warning. Ay, and when I +spoke to Peregrine, I found him thoroughly penitent at having +insulted the dead; he had been unhappy ever since, and had actually +bestowed his last pocket-piece on the widow. He made handsome +apologies in good Italian, which he had picked up as fast as the +German, to the gentleman, who promised that it should go no farther, +and kept his word. It was the solemnity, Peregrine assured me, that +brought back all the intolerableness of the preachings at home, and +awoke the same demon." + +"How long ago was this, sir?" + +"About eighteen months." + +"And has all been well since?" + +"Fairly well. He has had fuller and more responsible work to do for +me, his turn for languages making him a most valuable secretary; and +in the French Court, really the most perilous of all to a young +man's virtue, he behaved himself well. It is not debauchery that he +has a taste for, but he must be doing something, and if wholesome +occupations do not stay his appetite, he will be doing mischief. He +brought on himself a very serious rebuke from the Prince of Orange, +churlishly and roughly given, I allow, but fully merited, for making +grimaces at his acquaintance among the young officers at a military +inspection. Heaven help the lad if he be left with his father, +whose most lively notion of innocent sport is scratching the heads +of his hogs!" + +Nothing could be said in answer save earnest wishes that the knight +might persuade his brother. Mrs. Woodford wished her brother-in-law +to go with him to add force to his remonstrance; but on the whole it +was thought better to leave the family to themselves, Dr. Woodford +only writing to Major Oakshott, as well as to the youth himself. + +The result was anxiously watched for, and in another week, earlier +in the day than Mrs. Woodford was able to leave her room, Sir +Peregrine's horses stopped at the door, and as Anne ascertained by a +peep from the window, he was only accompanied by his servants. + +"Yes," he said to the Doctor in his vexation, "one would really +think that by force of eating Southdown mutton my poor brother had +acquired the brains of one of his own rams! I declare 'tis a +piteous sight to see a man resolute on ruining his son and breaking +his own heart all for conscience sake!" + +"Say you so, sir! I had hoped that the sight of what you have made +of your nephew might have had some effect." + +"All the effect it has produced is to make him more determined to +take him from me. The Hampshire mind abhors foreign breeding, and +the old Cromwellian spirit thinks good manners sprung from the +world, and wit from the Evil One!" + +"I can quite believe that Peregrine's courtly airs are not welcomed +here; I could see what our good neighbour, Sir Philip Archfield, +thought of them; but whereas no power on earth could make the young +gentleman a steady-going clownish youth after his father's heart, +methought he might prefer his present polish to impishness." + +"So I told him, but I might as well have talked to the horse block. +It is his duty, quotha, to breed his heir up in godly simplicity!" + +"Simplicity is all very well to begin with, but once flown, it +cannot be restored." + +"And that is what my brother cannot see. Well, my poor boy must be +left to his fate. There is no help for it, and all I can hope is +that you, sir, and the ladies, will stand his friend, and do what +may lie in your power to make him patient and render his life less +intolerable." + +"Indeed, sir, we will do what we can; I wish that I could hope that +it would be of much service." + +"My brother has more respect for your advice than perhaps you +suppose; and to you, madam, the poor lad looks with earnest +gratitude. Nay, even his mother reaps the benefit of the respect +with which you have inspired him. Peregrine treats her with a +gentleness and attention such as she never knew before from her bear +cubs. Poor soul! I think she likes it, though it somewhat +perplexes her, and she thinks it all French manners. There is one +more favour, your reverence, which I scarce dare lay before you. +You have seen my black boy Hans?" + +"He was with you at Oakwood seven years ago." + +"Even so. I bought the poor fellow when a mere child from a Dutch +skipper who had used him scurvily, and he has grown up as faithful +as a very spaniel, and mightily useful too, not only as body +servant, but he can cook as well as any French maitre d'hotel, froth +chocolate, and make the best coffee I ever tasted; is as honest as +the day, and, I believe, would lay down his life for Peregrine or +me. I shall be cruelly at a loss without him, but a physician I met +in London tells me it would be no better than murder to take the +poor rogue to so cold a country as Muscovy. I would leave him to +wait on Perry, but they will not hear of it at Oakwood. My sister- +in-law wellnigh had a fit every time she looked at him when I was +there before, and I found, moreover, that even when I was at hand, +the servants jeered at the poor blackamoor, gave him his meals +apart, and only the refuse of their own, so that he would fare but +ill if I left him to their mercy. I had thought of offering him to +Mr. Evelyn of Says Court, who would no doubt use him well, but it +was Peregrine who suggested that if you of your goodness would +receive the poor fellow, they could sometimes meet, and that would +cheer his heart, and he really is far from a useless knave, but is +worth two of any serving-men I ever saw." + +To take an additional man-servant was by no means such a great +proposal as it would be in most houses at present. Men swarmed in +much larger proportion than maids in all families of condition, and +the Doctor was wealthy enough for one--more or less--to make little +difference, but the question was asked as to what wages Hans should +receive. + +The knight laughed. "Wages, poor lad, what should he do with them? +He is but a slave, I tell you. Meat, clothes, and fire, that is all +he needs, and I will so deal with him that he will serve you in all +faithfulness and obedience. He can speak English enough to know +what you bid him do, but not enough for chatter with the servants." + +So the agreement was made, and poor Hans was to be sent down by the +Portsmouth coach together with Peregrine's luggage. + + + +CHAPTER X: THE MENAGERIE + + +"The head remains unchanged within, + Nor altered much the face, +It still retains its native grin, + And all its old grimace. + +"Men with contempt the brute surveyed, + Nor would a name bestow, +But women liked the motley beast, + And called the thing a beau." + +The Monkies, MERRICK. + +The Woodford family did not long remain at Winchester. Anne +declared the cold to be harming her mother, and became very anxious +to bring her to the milder sea breezes of Portchester, and though +Mrs. Woodford had little expectation that any place would make much +difference to her, she was willing to return to the quiet and repose +of her home under the castle walls beside the tranquil sea. + +Thus they travelled back, as soon as the Doctor's Residence was +ended, plodding through the heavy chalk roads as well as the big +horses could drag the cumbrous coach up and down the hills, only +halting for much needed rest at Sir Philip Archfield's red house, +round three sides of a quadrangle, the fourth with a low wall backed +by a row of poplar trees, looking out on the alternate mud and +sluggish waters of Fareham creek, but with a beautiful garden behind +the house. + +The welcome was hearty. Lady Archfield at once conducted Mrs. +Woodford to her own bedroom, where she was to rest and be served +apart, and Anne disrobed her of her wraps, covered her upon the bed, +and at her hostess's desire was explaining what refreshment would +best suit her, when there was a shrill voice at the door: "I want +Mistress Anne! I want to show her my clothes and jewels." + +"Coming, child, she is coming when she has attended to her mother," +responded the lady. "White wine, or red, did you say, Anne, and a +little ginger?" + +"Is she never coming?" was again the call; and Lady Archfield +muttering, "Was there ever such an impatient poppet?" released Anne, +who was instantly pounced upon by young Mrs. Archfield. Linking her +arm into that of her visitor, and thrusting Lucy into the +background, the little heiress proceeded to her own wainscotted +bedroom, bare according to modern views, but very luxurious +according to those of the seventeenth century, and with the toilette +apparatus, scanty indeed, but of solid silver, and with a lavish +amount of perfumery. Her 'own woman' was in waiting to display and +refold the whole wedding wardrobe, brocade, satin, taffetas, +cambric, Valenciennes, and point d'Alencon. Anne had to admire each +in detail, and then to give full meed to the whole casket of jewels, +numerous and dazzling as befitted a constellation of heirlooms upon +one small head. They were beautiful, but it was wearisome to repeat +'Vastly pretty!' 'How exquisite!' 'That becomes you very well,' +almost mechanically, when Lucy was standing about all the time, +longing to exchange the girlish confidences that were burning to +come forth. 'Young Madam,' as every one called her in those times +when Christian names were at a discount, seemed to be jealous of +attention to any one else, and the instant she saw the guest attempt +to converse with her sister-in-law peremptorily interrupted, almost +as if affronted. + +Perhaps if Anne had enjoyed freedom of speech with Lucy she would +not have learnt as much as did her mother, for the young are often +more scrupulous as to confidences than their seniors, who view them +as still children, and freely discuss their affairs among +themselves. + +So Lady Archfield poured out her troubles: how her daughter-in-law +refused employment, and disdained instruction in needlework, +housewifery, or any domestic art, how she jangled the spinnet, but +would not learn music, and was unoccupied, fretful, and exacting, a +burthen to herself and every one else, and treating Lucy as the +slave of her whims and humours. As to such discipline as mothers- +in-law were wont to exercise upon young wives, the least restraint +or contradiction provoked such a tempest of passion as to shake the +tiny, delicate frame to a degree that alarmed the good old matron +for the consequences. Her health was a continual difficulty, for +her constitution was very frail, every imprudence cost her +suffering, and yet any check to her impulses as to food, exertion, +or encountering weather was met by a spoilt child's resentment. +Moreover, her young husband, and even his father, always thought the +ladies were hard upon her, and would not have her vexed; and as +their presence always brightened and restrained her, they never +understood the full amount of her petulance and waywardness, and +when they found her out of spirits, or out of temper, they charged +all on her ailments or on want of consideration from her mother and +sister-in-law. + +Poor Lady Archfield, it was trying for her that her husband should +be nearly as blind as his son. The young husband was wonderfully +tender, indulgent, and patient with the little creature, but it +would not be easy to say whether the affection were not a good deal +like that for his dog or his horse, as something absolutely his own, +with which no one else had a right to interfere. It was a relief to +the family that she always wanted to be out of doors with him +whenever the weather permitted, nay, often when it was far from +suitable to so fragile a being; but if she came home aching and +crying ever so much with chill or fatigue, even if she had to keep +her bed afterwards, she was equally determined to rush out as soon +as she was up again, and as angry as ever at remonstrance. + +Charles was gone to try a horse; and as the remains of the effects +of her last imprudence had prevented her accompanying him, the +arrival of the guests had been a welcome diversion to the monotony +of the morning. + +He was, however, at home again by the time the dinner-bell summoned +the younger ladies from the inspection of the trinkets and the +gentlemen from the live stock, all to sit round the heavy oaken +table draped with the whitest of napery, spun by Lady Archfield in +her maiden days, and loaded with substantial joints, succeeded by +delicacies manufactured by herself and Lucy. + +As to the horse, Charles was fairly satisfied, but 'that fellow, +young Oakshott, had been after him, and had the refusal.' + +"Don't you be outbid, Mr. Archfield," exclaimed the wife. "What is +the matter of a few guineas to us?" + +"Little fear," replied Charles. "The old Major is scarcely like to +pay down twenty gold caroluses, but if he should, the bay is his." + +"Oh, but why not offer thirty?" she cried. + +Charles laughed. "That would be a scurvy trick, sweetheart, and if +Peregrine be a crooked stick, we need not be crooked too." + +"I was about to ask," said the Doctor, "whether you had heard aught +of that same young gentleman." + +"I have seen him where I never desire to see him again," said Sir +Philip, "riding as though he would be the death of the poor hounds." + +"Nick Huntsman swears that he bewitches them," said Charles, "for +they always lose the scent when he is in the field, but I believe +'tis the wry looks of him that throw them all out." + +"And I say," cried the inconsistent bride, "that 'tis all jealousy +that puts the gentlemen beside themselves, because none of them can +dance, nor make a bow, nor hand a cup of chocolate, nor open a gate +on horseback like him." + +"What does a man on horseback want with opening gates?" exclaimed +Charles. + +"That's your manners, sir," said young Madam with a laugh. "What's +the poor lady to do while her cavalier flies over and leaves her in +the lurch?" + +Her husband did not like the general laugh, and muttered, "You know +what I mean well enough." + +"Yes, so do I! To fumble at the fastening till your poor beast can +bear it no longer and swerves aside, and I sit waiting a good half +hour before you bring down your pride enough to alight and open it." + +"All because you _would_ send Will home for your mask." + +"You would like to have had my poor little face one blister with the +glare of sun and sea." + +"Blisters don't come at this time of the year." + +"No, nor to those who have no complexion to lose," she cried, with a +triumphant look at the two maidens, who certainly had not the lilies +nor the roses that she believed herself to have, though, in truth, +her imprudences had left her paler and less pretty than at +Winchester. + +If this were the style of the matrimonial conversations, Anne again +grieved for her old playfellow, and she perceived that Lucy looked +uncomfortable; but there was no getting a moment's private +conversation with her before the coach was brought round again for +the completion of the journey. All that neighbourhood had a very +bad reputation as the haunt of lawless characters, prone to +violence; and though among mere smugglers there was little danger of +an attack on persons well known like the Woodford family, they were +often joined by far more desperate men from the seaport, so that it +was never desirable to be out of doors after dark. + +The journey proved to have been too much for Mrs. Woodford's +strength, and for some days she was so ill that Anne never left the +house; but she rallied again, and on coming downstairs became very +anxious that her daughter should not be more confined by attendance +than was wholesome, and insisted on every opportunity of change or +amusement being taken. + +One day as Anne was in the garden she was surprised by Peregrine +dashing up on horseback. + +"You would not take the Queen's rosary before," he said. "You must +now, to save it. My father has smelt it out. He says it is +teraphim! Micah--Rachel, what not, are quoted against it. He would +have smashed it into fragments, but that Martha Browning said it +would be a pretty bracelet. I'd sooner see it smashed than on her +red fist. To think of her giving in to such vanities! But he said +she might have it, only to be new strung. When he was gone she +said, 'I don't really want the thing, but it was hard you should +lose the Queen's keepsake. Can you bestow it safely?' I said I +could, and brought it hither. Keep it, Anne, I pray." + +Anne hesitated, and referred it to her mother upstairs. + +"Tell him," she said, "that we will keep it in trust for him as a +royal gift." + +Peregrine was disappointed, but had to be content. + +A Dutch vessel from the East Indies had brought home sundry strange +animals, which were exhibited at the Jolly Mariner at Portsmouth, +and thus announced on a bill printed on execrable paper, brought out +to Portchester by some of the market people:-- + +"An Ellefante twice the Bignesse of an Ocks, the Trunke or Probosces +whereof can pick up a Needle or roote up an Ellum Tree. Also the +Royale Tyger, the same as has slaine and devoured seven yonge Gentoo +babes, three men, and two women at the township at Chuttergong, nie +to Bombay, in the Eastern Indies. Also the sacred Ape, worshipped +by the heathen of the Indies, the Dancing Serpent which weareth +Spectacles, and whose Bite is instantly mortal, with other rare +Fish, Fowle, Idols and the like. All to be seene at the Charge of +one Groat per head." + +Mrs. Woodford declared herself to be extremely desirous that her +daughter should see and bring home an account of all these marvels, +and though Anne had no great inclination to face the tiger with the +formidable appetite, she could not refuse to accompany her uncle. + +The Jolly Mariner stood in one of the foulest and narrowest of the +streets of the unsavoury seaport, and Dr. Woodford sighed, and +fumed, and wished for a good pipe of tobacco more than once as he +hesitated to try to force a way for his niece through the throng +round the entrance to the stable-yard of the Jolly Mariner, +apparently too rough to pay respect to gown and cassock. Anne clung +to his arm, ready to give up the struggle, but a voice said, "Allow +me, sir. Mistress Anne, deign to take my arm." + +It was Peregrine Oakshott with his brother Robert, and she could +hardly tell how in a few seconds she had been squeezed through the +crowd, and stood in the inn-yard, in a comparatively free space, for +a groat was a prohibitory charge to the vulgar. + +"Peregrine! Master Oakshott!" They heard an exclamation of +pleasure, at which Peregrine shrugged his shoulders and looked +expressively at Anne, before turning to receive the salutations of +an elderly gentleman and a tall young woman, very plainly but +handsomely clad in mourning deeper than his own. She was of a tall, +gaunt, angular figure, and a face that never could have been +handsome, and now bore evident traces of smallpox in redness and +pits. + +Dr. Woodford knew the guardian Mr. Browning, and his ward Mistress +Martha and Mistress Anne Jacobina were presented to one another. +The former gave a good-humoured smile, as if perfectly unconscious +of her own want of beauty, and declared she had hoped to meet all +the rest here, especially Mistress Anne Woodford, of whom she had +heard so much. There was just a little patronage about the tone +which repelled the proud spirit that was in Anne, and in spite of +the ordinary dread and repulsion she felt for Peregrine, she was +naughty enough to have the feeling of a successful beauty when +Peregrine most manifestly turned away from the heiress in her silk +and velvet to do the honours of the exhibition to the parson's +niece. + +The elephant was fastened by the leg to a post, which perhaps he +could have pulled up, had he thought it worth his while, but he was +well contented to wave his trunk about and extend its clever finger +to receive contributions of cakes and apples, and he was too well +amused to resort to any strong measures. The tiger, to Anne's +relief, proved to be only a stuffed specimen. Peregrine, who had +seen a good many foreign animals in Holland, where the Dutch +captains were in the habit of bringing curiosities home for the +delectation of their families in their Lusthausen, was a very +amusing companion, having much to tell about bird and beast, while +Robert stood staring with open mouth. The long-legged secretary and +the beautiful doves were, however, only stuffed, but Anne was much +entertained at second hand with the relation of the numerous +objects, which on the word of a Leyden merchant had been known to +disappear in the former bird's capacious crop, and with stories of +the graceful dancing of the cobra, though she was not sorry that the +present specimen was only visible in a bottle of arrack, where his +spectacled hood was scarcely apparent. Presently a well known +shrill young voice was heard. "Yes, yes, I know I shall swoon at +that terrible tiger! Oh, don't! I can't come any farther." + +"Why, you would come, madam," said Charles. + +"Yes, yes! but--oh, there's a two-tailed monster! I know it is the +tiger! It is moving! I shall die if you take me any farther." + +"Plague upon your folly, madam! It is only the elephant," said a +gruffer, rude voice. + +"Oh, it is dreadful! 'Tis like a mountain! I can't! Oh no, I +can't!" + +"Come, madam, you have brought us thus far, you must come on, and +not make fools of us all," said Charles's voice. "There's nothing +to hurt you." + +Anne, understanding the distress and perplexity, here turned back to +the passage into the court, and began persuasively to explain to +little Mrs. Archfield that the tiger was dead, and only a skin, and +that the elephant was the mildest of beasts, till she coaxed forward +that small personage, who had of course never really intended to +turn back, supported and guarded as she was by her husband, and +likewise by a tall, glittering figure in big boots and a handsome +scarlet uniform and white feather who claimed her attention as he +strode into the court. "Ha! Mistress Anne and the Doctor on my +life. What, don't you know me?" + +"Master Sedley Archfield!" said the Doctor; "welcome home, sir! +'Tis a meeting of old acquaintance. You and this gentleman are both +so much altered that it is no wonder if you do not recognise one +another at once." + +"No fear of Mr. Perry Oakshott not being recognised," said Sedley +Archfield, holding out his hand, but with a certain sneer in his +rough voice that brought Peregrine's eyebrows together. "Kenspeckle +enough, as the fools of Whigs say in Scotland." + +"Are you long from Scotland, sir?" asked Dr. Woodford, by way of +preventing personalities. + +"Oh ay, sir; these six months and more. There's not much more sport +to be had since the fools of Cameronians have been pretty well got +under, and 'tis no loss to be at Hounslow." + +"And oh, what a fright!" exclaimed Mrs. Archfield, catching sight of +the heiress. "Keep her away! She makes me ill." + +They were glad to divert her attention to feeding the elephant, and +she was coquetting a little about making up her mind to approach +even the defunct tiger, while she insisted on having the number of +his victims counted over to her. Anne asked for Lucy, to whom she +wanted to show the pigeons, but was answered that, "my lady wanted +Lucy at home over some matter of jellies and blancmanges." + +Charles shrugged his shoulders a little and Sedley grumbled to Anne. +"The little vixen sets her heart on cates that she won't lay a +finger to make, and poor Lucy is like to be no better than a cook- +maid, while they won't cross her, for fear of her tantrums." + +At that instant piercing screams, shriek upon shriek, rang through +the court, and turning hastily round, Anne beheld a little monkey +perched on Mrs. Archfield's head, having apparently leapt thither +from the pole to which it was chained. + +The keeper was not in sight, being in fact employed over a sale of +some commodities within. There was a general springing to the +rescue. Charles tried to take the creature off, Sedley tugged at +the chain fastened to a belt round its body, but the monkey held +tight by the curls on the lady's forehead with its hands, and +crossed its legs round her neck, clasping the hands so that the +effect of the attempts of her husband and his cousin was only to +throttle her, so that she could no longer scream and was almost in a +fit, when on Peregrine holding out a nut and speaking coaxingly in +Dutch, the monkey unloosed its hold, and with another bound was on +his arm. He stood caressing and feeding it, talking to it in the +same tongue, while it made little squeaks and chatterings, evidently +delighted, though its mournful old man's visage still had the same +piteous expression. There was something most grotesque and almost +weird in the sight of Peregrine's queer figure toying with its odd +hands which seemed to be in black gloves, and the strange language +he talked to it added to the uncanny effect. Even the Doctor felt +it as he stood watching, and would have muttered 'Birds of a +feather,' but that the words were spoken more gruffly and plainly by +Sedley Archfield, who said something about the Devil and his dam, +which the good Doctor did not choose to hear, and only said to +Peregrine, "You know how to deal with the jackanapes." + +"I have seen some at Leyden, sir. This is a pretty little beast." + +Pretty! There was a recoil in horror, for the creature looked to +the crowd demoniacal. Something the same was the sensation of +Charles, who, assisted by Anne and Martha, had been rather carrying +than leading his wife into the inn parlour, where she immediately +had a fit of hysterics--vapours, as they called it--bringing all the +women of the inn about her, while Martha and Anne soothed her as +best they could, and he was reduced to helplessly leaning out at the +bay window. + +When the sobs and cries subsided, under cold water and essences +without and strong waters within, and the little lady in Martha's +strong arms, between the matronly coaxing of the fat hostess and the +kind soothings of the two young ladies, had been restored to +something of equanimity, Mistress Martha laid her down and said with +the utmost good humour and placidity to the young husband, "Now I'll +go, sir. She is better now, but the sight of my face might set her +off again." + +"Oh, do not say so, madam. We are infinitely obliged. Let her +thank you." + +But Martha shook her hand and laughed, turning to leave the room, so +that he was fain to give her his arm and escort her back to her +guardian. + +Then ensued a scream. "Where's he going? Mr. Archfield, don't +leave me." + +"He is only taking Mistress Browning back to her guardian," said +Anne. + +"Eh? oh, how can he? A hideous fright!" she cried. + +To say the truth, she was rather pleased to have had such a dreadful +adventure, and to have made such a commotion, though she protested +that she must go home directly, and could never bear the sight of +those dreadful monsters again, or she should die on the spot. + +"But," said she, when the coach was at the door, and Anne had +restored her dress to its dainty gaiety, "I must thank Master +Peregrine for taking off that horrible jackanapes." + +"Small thanks to him," said Charles crossly. "I wager it was all +his doing out of mere spite." + +"He is too good a beau ever to spite _me_," said Mrs. Alice, her +head a little on one side. + +"Then to show off what he could do with the beast--Satan's imp, like +himself." + +"No, no, Mr. Archfield," pleaded Anne, "that was impossible; I saw +him myself. He was with that sailor-looking man measuring the +height of the secretary bird." + +"I believe you are always looking after him," grumbled Charles. "I +can't guess what all the women see in him to be always gazing after +him." + +"Because he is so charmingly ugly," laughed the young wife, tripping +out in utter forgetfulness that she was to die if she went near the +beasts again. She met Peregrine half way across the yard with +outstretched hands, exclaiming-- + +"O Mr. Oakshott! it was so good in you to take away that nasty +beast." + +"I am glad, madam, to have been of use," said Peregrine, bowing and +smiling, a smile that might explain something of his fascination. +"The poor brute was only drawn, as all of our kind are. He wanted +to see so sweet a lady nearer. He is quite harmless. Will you +stroke him? See, there he sits, gazing after you. Will you give +him a cake and make friends?" + +"No, no, madam, it cannot be; it is too much," grumbled Charles; and +though Alice had backed at first, perhaps for the pleasure of +teasing him, or for that of being the centre of observation, +actually, with all manner of pretty airs and graces, she let herself +be led forward, lay a timid hand on the monkey's head, and put a +cake in its black fingers, while all the time Peregrine held it fast +and talked Dutch to it; and Charles Archfield hardly contained his +rage, though Anne endeavoured to argue the impossibility of +Peregrine's having incited the attack; and Sedley blustered that +they ought to interfere and make the fellow know the reason why. +However, Charles had sense enough to know that though he might +exhale his vexation in grumbling, he had no valid cause for +quarrelling with young Oakshott, so he contented himself with black +looks and grudging thanks, as he was obliged to let Peregrine hand +his wife into her carriage amid her nods and becks and wreathed +smiles. + +They would have taken Dr. Woodford and his niece home in the coach, +but Anne had an errand in the town, and preferred to return by boat. +She wanted some oranges and Turkey figs to allay her mother's +constant thirst, and Peregrine begged permission to accompany them, +saying that he knew where to find the best and cheapest. +Accordingly he took them to a tiny cellar, in an alley by the boat +camber, where the Portugal oranges certainly looked riper and were +cheaper than any that Anne had found before; but there seemed to be +an odd sort of understanding between Peregrine and the withered old +weather-beaten sailor who sold them, such as rather puzzled the +Doctor. + +"I hope these are not contraband," he said to Peregrine, when the +oranges had been packed in the basket of the servant who followed +them. + +Peregrine shrugged his shoulders. + +"Living is hard, sir. Ask no questions." + +The Doctor looked tempted to turn back with the fruit, but such +doubts were viewed as ultra scruples, and would hardly have been +entertained even by a magistrate such as Sir Philip Archfield. + +It was not a time for questions, and Peregrine remained with them +till they embarked at the point, asking to be commended to Mrs. +Woodford, and hoping soon to come and see both her and poor Hans, he +left them. + + + +CHAPTER XI: PROPOSALS + + +"Hear me, ye venerable core, + As counsel for poor mortals, +That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door + For glaikit Folly's portals; +I for their thoughtless, careless sakes + Would here propose defences, +Their doucie tricks, their black mistakes, + Their failings and mischances." + +BURNS. + +For seven years Anne Woodford had kept Lucy Archfield's birthday +with her, and there was no refusing now, though there was more and +more unwillingness to leave Mrs. Woodford, whose declining state +became so increasingly apparent that even the loving daughter could +no longer be blind to it. + +The coach was sent over to fetch Mistress Anne to Fareham, and the +invalid was left, comfortably installed in her easy-chair by the +parlour fire, with a little table by her side, holding a hand-bell, +a divided orange, a glass of toast and water, and the Bible and +Prayer-book, wherein lay her chief studies, together with a little +needlework, which still amused her feeble hands. The Doctor, +divided between his parish, his study, and his garden, had promised +to look in from time to time. + +Presently, however, the door was gently tapped, and on her call +"Come in," Hans, all one grin, admitted Peregrine Oakshott, bowing +low in his foreign, courteous manner, and entreating her to excuse +his intrusion, "For truly, madam, in your goodness is my only hope." + +Then he knelt on one knee and kissed the hand she held out to him, +while desiring him to speak freely to her. + +"Nay, madam, I fear I shall startle you, when I lay before you the +only chance that can aid me to overcome the demon that is in me." + +"My poor--" + +"Call me your boy, as when I was here seven years ago. Let me sit +at your feet as then and listen to me." + +"Indeed I will, my dear boy," and she laid her hand on his dark +head. "Tell me all that is in your heart." + +"Ah, dear lady, that is not soon done! You and Mistress Anne, as +you well know, first awoke me from my firm belief that I was none +other than an elf, and yet there have since been times when I have +doubted whether it were not indeed the truth." + +"Nay, Peregrine, at years of discretion you should have outgrown old +wives' tales." + +"Better be an elf at once--a soulless creature of the elements--than +the sport of an evil spirit doomed to perdition," he bitterly +exclaimed. + +"Hush, hush! You know not what you are saying!" + +"I know it too well, madam! There are times when I long and wish +after goodness--nay, when Heaven seems open to me--and I resolve and +strive after a perfect life; but again comes the wild, passionate +dragging, as it were, into all that at other moments I most loathe +and abhor, and I become no more my own master. Ah!" + +There was misery in his voice, and he clutched the long hair on each +side of his face with his hands. + +"St. Paul felt the same," said Mrs. Woodford gently. + +"'Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' Ay, ay! how +many times have I not groaned that forth! And so, if that Father at +Turin were right, I am but as Paul was when he was Saul. Madam, is +it not possible that I was never truly baptized?" he cried eagerly. + +"Impossible, Peregrine. Was not Mr. Horncastle chaplain when you +were born? Yes; and I have heard my brother say that both he and +your father held the same views as the Church upon baptism." + +"So I thought; but Father Geronimo says that at the best it was but +heretical baptism, and belike hastily and ineffectually performed." + +"Put that aside, Peregrine. It is only a temptation and +allurement." + +"It is an allurement you know not how strong," said the poor youth. +"Could I only bring myself to believe all that Father Geronimo does, +and fall down before his Madonnas and saints, then could I hope for +a new nature, and scourge away the old"--he set his teeth as he +spoke--"till naught remains of the elf or demon, be it what it +will." + +"Ah, Peregrine, scourging will not do it, but grace will, and that +grace is indeed yours, as is proved by these higher aspirations." + +"I tell you, madam, that if I live on as I am doing now, grace will +be utterly stifled, if it ever abode in me at all. Every hour that +I live, pent in by intolerable forms and immeasurable dulness, the +maddening temper gains on me! Nay, I have had to rush out at night +and swear a dozen round oaths before I could compose myself to sit +down to the endless supper. Ah, I shock you, madam! but that's not +the worst I am driven to do." + +"Nor the way to bring the better spirit, my poor youth. Oh, that +you would pray instead of swearing!" + +"I cannot pray at Oakwood. My father and Mr. Horncastle drive away +all the prayers that ever were in me, and I mean nothing, even +though I keep my word to you." + +"I am glad you do that. While I know you are doing so, I shall +still believe the better angel will triumph." + +"How can aught triumph but hatred and disgust where I am pinned +down? Listen, madam, and hear if good spirits have any chance. We +break our fast, ere the sun is up, on chunks of yesterday's half- +dressed beef and mutton. If I am seen seeking for a morsel not half +raw, I am rated for dainty French tastes; and the same with the sour +smallest of beer. I know now what always made me ill-tempered as a +child, and I avoid it, but at the expense of sneers on my French +breeding, even though my drink be fair water; for wine, look you, is +a sinful expense, save for after dinner, and frothed chocolate for a +man is an invention of Satan. The meal is sauced either with blame +of me, messages from the farm-folk, or Bob's exploits in the chase. +Then my father goes his rounds on the farm, and would fain have me +with him to stand knee-deep in mire watching the plough, or feeling +each greasy and odorous old sheep in turn to see if it be ready for +the knife, or gloating over the bullocks or swine, or exchanging +auguries with Thomas Vokes on this or that crop. Faugh! And I am +told I shall never be good for a country gentleman if I contemn such +matters! I say I have no mind to be a country gentleman, whereby I +am told of Esau till I am sick of his very name." + +"But surely you have not always to follow on this round?" + +"Oh no! I may go out birding with Bob, who is about as lively as an +old jackass, or meet the country boobies for a hunt, and be pointed +at as the Frenchman, and left to ride alone; or there's mine own +chamber, when the maids do not see fit to turn me out with their +pails and besoms, as they do at least twice a week--I sit there in +my cloak and furs (by the way, I am chidden for an effeminate fop if +ever I am seen in them). I would give myself to books, as my uncle +counselled, but what think you? By ill hap Bob, coming in to ask +some question, found me studying the Divina Commedia of Dante +Alighieri, and hit upon one of the engravings representing the +torments of purgatory. What must he do but report it, and +immediately a hue and cry arises that I am being corrupted with +Popish books. In vain do I tell them that their admirable John +Milton, the only poet save Sternhold and Hopkins that my father +deems not absolute pagan, knew, loved, and borrowed from Dante. All +my books are turned over as ruthlessly as ever Don Quixote's by the +curate and the barber, and whatever Mr. Horncastle's erudition +cannot vouch for is summarily handed over to the kitchen wench to +light the fires. The best of it is that they have left me my +classics, as though old Terence and Lucan were lesser heathens than +the great Florentine. However, I have bribed the young maid, and +rescued my Dante and Boiardo with small damage, but I dare not read +them save with door locked." + +Mrs. Woodford could scarcely shake her head at the disobedience, and +she asked if there were really no other varieties. + +"Such as fencing with that lubber Robert, and trying to bend his +stiff limbs to the noble art of l'escrime. But that is after dinner +work. There is the mountain of half-raw flesh to be consumed first, +and then my father, with Mr. Horncastle and Bob discuss on what they +call the news--happy if a poor rogue has been caught by Tom +Constable stealing faggots. 'Tis argument for a week--almost equal +to the price of a fat mutton at Portsmouth. My father and the +minister nod in due time over their ale-cup, and Bob and I go our +ways till dark, or till the house bell rings for prayers and +exposition. Well, dear good lady, I will not grieve you by telling +you how often they make me wish to be again the imp devoid of every +shred of self-respect, and too much inured to flogging to heed what +my antics might bring on me." + +"I am glad you have that shred of self respect; I hope indeed it is +some higher respect." + +"Well, I can never believe that Heaven meant to be served by mortal +dullness. Seven years have only made old Horncastle blow his horn +to the same note, only more drearily." + +"I can see indeed that it is a great trial to one used to the life +of foreign Courts and to interest in great affairs like you, my poor +Peregrine; but what can I say but to entreat you to be patient, try +to find interest, and endeavour to win your father's confidence so +that he may accord you more liberty? Did I not hear that your +attention made your mother's life happier?" + +Peregrine laughed. "My mother! She has never seen aught but +boorishness all her life, and any departure therefrom seems to her +unnatural. I believe she is as much afraid of my courtesy as ever +she was of my mischief, and that in her secret heart she still +believes me a changeling. No, Madam Woodford, there is but one way +to save me from the frenzy that comes over me." + +"Your father has already been entreated to let you join your uncle." + +"I know it--I know it; but if it were impossible before, that +discovery of Dante has made it impossibilissimo, as the Italian +would say, to deal with him now. There is a better way. Give me +the good angel who has always counteracted the evil one. Give me +Mistress Anne!" + +"Anne, my Anne!" exclaimed Mrs. Woodford in dismay. "O Peregrine, +it cannot be!" + +"I knew that would be your first word," said Peregrine, "but verily, +madam, I would not ask it but that I know that I should be another +man with her by my side, and that she would have nothing to fear +from the evil that dies at her approach." + +"Ah, Peregrine! you think so now; but no man can be sure of himself +with any mere human care. Besides, my child is not of degree to +match with you. Your father would justly be angered if we took +advantage of your attachment to us to encourage you in an +inclination he could never approve." + +"I tell you, madam--yes, I must tell you all--my madness and my ruin +will be completed if I am left to my father's will. I know what is +hanging over me. He is only waiting till I am of age--at Midsummer, +and the year of mourning is over for poor Oliver--I am sure no one +mourns for him more heartily than I--to bind me to Martha Browning. +If she would only bring the plague, or something worse than +smallpox, to put an end to it at once!" + +"But that would make any such scheme all the more impossible." + +"Listen, madam; do but hear me. Even as children the very sight of +Martha Browning's solemn face"--Peregrine drew his countenance down +into a portentous length--"her horror at the slightest word or +sport, her stiff broomstick carriage, all impelled me to the most +impish tricks. And now--letting alone that pock-marks have seamed +her grim face till she is as ugly as Alecto--she is a Precisian of +the Precisians. I declare our household is in her eyes sinfully +free! If she can hammer out a text of Scripture, and write her name +in characters as big and gawky as herself, 'tis as far as her +education has carried her, save in pickling, preserving, stitchery, +and clear starching, the only arts not sinful in her eyes. If I am +to have a broomstick, I had rather ride off on one at once to the +Witches' Sabbath on the Wartburg than be tied to one for life." + +"I should think she would scarce accept you." + +"There's no such hope. She has been bred up to regard one of us as +her lot, and she would accept me without a murmur if I were +Beelzebub himself, horns and tail and all! Why, she ogles me with +her gooseberry eyes already, and treats me as a chattel of her own." + +"Hush, hush, Peregrine! I cannot have you talk thus. If your +father had such designs, it would be unworthy of us to favour you in +crossing them." + +"Nay, madam, he hath never expressed them as yet. Only my mother +and brother both refer to his purpose, and if I could show myself +contracted to a young lady of good birth and education, he cannot +gainsay; it might yet save me from what I will not and cannot +endure. Not that such is by any means my chief and only motive. I +have loved Mistress Anne with all my heart ever since she shone upon +me like a being from a better world when I lay sick here. She has +the same power of hushing the wild goblin within me as you have, +madam. I am another man with her, as I am with you. It is my only +hope! Give me that hope, and I shall be able to endure patiently.-- +Ah! what have I done? Have I said too much?" + +He had talked longer and more eagerly than would have been good for +the invalid even if the topic had been less agitating, and the +emotion caused by this unexpected complication, consternation at the +difficulties she foresaw, and the present difficulty of framing a +reply, were altogether too much for Mrs. Woodford. She turned +deadly white, and gasped for breath, so that Peregrine, in terror, +dashed off in search of the maids, exclaiming that their mistress +was in a swoon. + +The Doctor came out of his study much distressed, and in Anne's +absence the household was almost helpless in giving the succours in +which she had always been the foremost. Peregrine lingered about in +remorse and despair, offering to fetch her or to go for the doctor, +and finally took the latter course, thereto impelled by the angry +words of the old cook, an enemy of his in former days. + +"No better? no, sir, nor 'tis not your fault if ever she be. You've +been and frought her nigh to death with your terrifying ways." + +Peregrine was Hampshire man enough to know that to terrify only +meant to tease, but he was in no mood to justify himself to old +Patience, so he galloped off to Portsmouth, and only returned with +the doctor to hear that Madam Woodford was in bed, and her daughter +with her. She was somewhat better, but still very ill, and it was +plain that this was no moment for pressing his suit even had it not +been time for him to return home. Going to fetch the doctor might +be accepted as a valid reason for missing the evening exhortation +and prayer, but there were mistrustful looks that galled him. + +Anne's return was more beneficial to Mrs. Woodford than the doctor's +visit, and the girl was still too ignorant of all that her mother's +attacks of spasms and subsequent weakness implied to be as much +alarmed as to depress her hopes. Yet Mrs. Woodford, lying awake in +the night, detected that her daughter was restless and unhappy, and +asked what ailed her, and how the visit had gone off. + +"You do not wish me to speak of such things, madam," was the answer. + +"Tell me all that is in your heart, my child." + +It all came out with the vehemence of a reserved nature when the +flood is loosed. 'Young Madam' had been more than usually peevish +and exacting, jealous perhaps at Lucy's being the heroine of the +day, and fretful over a cold which confined her to the house, how +she worried and harassed all around her with her whims, megrims and +complaints could only too well be imagined, and how the entire +pleasure of the day was destroyed. Lucy was never allowed a +minute's conversation with her friend without being interrupted by a +whine and complaints of unkindness and neglect. + +Lady Archfield's ill-usage, as the young wife was pleased to call +every kind of restriction, was the favourite theme next to the +daughter-in law's own finery, her ailments, and her notions of the +treatment befitting her. + +And young Mr. Archfield himself, while handing his old friend out to +the carriage that had fetched her, could not help confiding to her +that he was nearly beside himself. His mother meant to be kind, but +expected too much from one so brought up, and his wife--what could +be done for her? She made herself miserable here, and every one +else likewise. Yet even if his father would consent, she was +utterly unfit to be mistress of a house of her own; and poor Charles +could only utter imprecations on the guardians who could have had no +idea how a young woman ought to be brought up. It was worse than an +ill-trained hound." + +Mrs. Woodford heard what she extracted from her daughter with grief +and alarm, and not only for her friends. + +"Indeed, my dear child," she said, "you must prevent such +confidences. They are very dangerous things respecting married +people." + +"It was all in a few moments, mamma, and I could not stop him. He +is so unhappy;" and Anne's voice revealed tears. + +"The more reason why you should avoid hearing what he will soon be +very sorry you have heard. Were he not a mere lad himself, it would +be as inexcusable as it is imprudent thus to speak of the troubles +and annoyances that often beset the first year of wedded life. I am +sorry for the poor youth, who means no harm nor disloyalty, and is +only treating you as his old companion and playmate; but he has no +right thus to talk of his wife, above all to a young maiden too +inexperienced to counsel him, and if he should attempt to do so +again, promise me, my daughter, that you will silence him--if by no +other means, by telling him so." + +"I promise!" said Anne, choking back her tears and lifting her head. +"I am sure I never want to go to Fareham again while that Lieutenant +Sedley Archfield is there. If those be army manners, they are what +I cannot endure. He is altogether mean and hateful, above all when +he scoffs at Master Oakshott." + +"I am afraid a great many do so, child, and that he often gives some +occasion," put in Mrs. Woodford, a little uneasy that this should be +the offence. + +"He is better than Sedley Archfield, be he what he will, madam," +said the girl. "He never pays those compliments, those insolent +disgusting compliments, such as he--that Sedley, I mean--when he +found me alone in the hall, and I had to keep him at bay from trying +to kiss me, only Mr. Archfield--Charley--came down the stairs before +he was aware, and called out, 'I will thank you to behave yourself +to a lady in my father's house.' And then he, Sedley, sneered 'The +Parson's niece!' with such a laugh, mother, I shall never get it out +of my ears. As if I were not as well born as he!" + +"That is not quite the way to take it, my child. I had rather you +stood on your maidenly dignity and discretion than on your birth. I +trust he will soon be away." + +"I fear he will not, mamma, for I heard say the troop are coming +down to be under the Duke of Berwick at Portsmouth." + +"Then, dear daughter, it is the less mishap that you should be thus +closely confined by loving attendance on me. Now, goodnight. +Compose yourself to sleep, and think no more of these troubles." + +Nevertheless mother and daughter lay long awake, side by side, that +night; the daughter in all the flutter of nerves induced by offended +yet flattered feeling--hating the compliment, yet feeling that it +was a compliment to the features that she was beginning to value. +She was substantially a good, well-principled maiden, modest and +discreet, with much dignified reserve, yet it was impossible that +she should not have seen heads turned to look at her in Portsmouth, +and know that she was admired above her contemporaries, so that even +if it brought her inconvenience it was agreeable. Besides, her +heart was beating with pity for the Archfields. The elder ones +might have only themselves to blame, but it was very hard for poor +Charles to have been blindly coupled to a being who did not know how +to value him, still harder that there should be blame for a +confidence where neither meant any harm--blame that made her blush +on her pillow with indignant shame. + +Perhaps Mrs. Woodford divined these thoughts, for she too meditated +deeply on the perils of her fair young daughter, and in the morning +could not leave her room. In the course of the day she heard that +Master Peregrine Oakshott had been to inquire for her, and was not +surprised when her brother-in-law sought an interview with her. The +gulf between the hierarchy and squirearchy was sufficient for a +marriage to be thought a mesalliance, and it was with a smile at the +folly as well as with a certain displeased pity that Dr. Woodford +mentioned the proposal so vehemently pressed upon him by Peregrine +Oakshott for his niece's hand. + +"Poor boy!" said Mrs. Woodford, "it is a great misfortune. You +forbade him of course to speak of such a thing." + +"I told him that I could not imagine how he could think us capable +of entertaining any such proposal without his father's consent. He +seems to have hoped that to pledge himself to us might extort +sanction from his father, not seeing that it would be a highly +improper measure, and would only incense the Major." + +"All the more that the Major wishes to pass on Mistress Martha +Browning to him, poor fellow." + +"He did not tell me so." + +Mrs. Woodford related what he had said to her, and the Doctor could +not but observe: "The poor Major! his whole treatment of that +unfortunate youth is as if he were resolved to drive him to +distraction. But even if the Major were ever so willing, I doubt +whether Master Peregrine be the husband you would choose for our +little maid." + +"Assuredly not, poor fellow! though if she loved him as he loves +her--which happily she does not--I should scarce dare to stand in +the way, lest she should be the appointed instrument for his good." + +"He assured me that he had never directly addressed her." + +"No, and I trust he never will. Not that she is ever like to love +him, although she does not shrink from him quite as much as others +do. Yet there is a strain of ambition in my child's nature that +might make her seek the elevation. But, my good brother, for this +and other reasons we must find another home for my poor child when I +am gone. Nay, brother, do not look at me thus; you know as well as +I do that I can scarcely look to see the spring come in, and I would +fain take this opportunity of speaking to you concerning my dear +daughter. No one can be a kinder father to her than you, and I +would most gladly leave her to cheer and tend you, but as things +stand around us she can scarce remain here without a mother's +watchfulness. She is guarded now by her strict attendance on my +infirmity, but when I am gone how will it be?" + +"She is as good and discreet a maiden as parent could wish." + +"Good and discreet as far as her knowledge and experience go, but +that is not enough. On the one hand, there is a certain wild temper +about that young Master Oakshott such as makes me never know what he +might attempt if, as he says, his father should drive him to +desperation, and this is a lonely place, with the sea close at +hand." + +"Lady Archfield would gladly take charge of her." + +Mrs. Woodford here related what Anne had said of Sedley's insolence, +but this the Doctor thought little of, not quite believing in the +regiment coming into the neighbourhood, and Mrs. Woodford most +unwillingly was forced to mention her further unwillingness that her +daughter should be made a party to the troubles caused by the silly +young wife of her old playfellow. + +"What more?" said the Doctor, holding up his hands. "I never +thought a discreet young maid could be such a care, but I suppose +that is the price we pay for her good looks. Three of them, eh? +What is it that you propose?" + +"I should like to place her in the household of some godly and +kindly lady, who would watch over her and probably provide for her +marriage. That, as you know, was my own course, and I was very +happy in Lady Sandwich's family, till I made the acquaintance of +your dear and honoured brother, and my greater happiness began. The +first day that I am able I will write to some of my earlier friends, +such as Mrs. Evelyn and Mrs. Pepys, and again there is Mistress +Eleanor Wall, who, I hear, is married to Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, +and who might accept my daughter for my sake. She is a warm, +loving, open-hearted creature of Irish blood, and would certainly be +kind to her." + +There was no indignity in such a plan. Most ladies of rank or +quality entertained one or more young women of the clerical or +professional classes as companions, governesses, or ladies' maids, +as the case might be. They were not classed with the servants, but +had their share of the society and amusements of the house, and a +fair chance of marriage in their own degree, though the comfort of +their situation varied a good deal according to the amiability of +their mistress, from that of a confidential friend to a white slave +and souffre douleur. + +Dr. Woodford had no cause to object except his own loss of his +niece's society and return to bachelor life, after the eight years +of companionship which he had enjoyed; but such complications as +were induced by the presence of an attractive young girl were, as he +allowed, beyond him, and he acquiesced with a sigh in the judgment +of the mother, whom he had always esteemed so highly. + +The letters were written, and in due time received kind replies. +Mrs. Evelyn proposed that the young gentlewoman should come and stay +with her till some situation should offer itself, and Lady +Oglethorpe, a warm-hearted Irishwoman, deeply attached to the Queen, +declared her intention of speaking to the King or the Princess Anne +on the first opportunity of the daughter of the brave Captain +Woodford. There might very possibly be a nursery appointment to be +had either at the Cockpit or at Whitehall in the course of the year. + +This was much more than Mrs. Woodford had desired. She had far +rather have placed her daughter immediately under some kind matronly +lady in a private household; but she knew that her good friend was +always eager to promise to the utmost of her possible power. She +did not talk much of this to her daughter, only telling her that the +kind ladies had promised to befriend her, and find a situation for +her; and Anne was too much shocked to find her mother actually +making such arrangements to enter upon any inquiries. The +perception that her mother was looking forward to passing away so +soon entirely overset her; she would not think about it, would not +admit the bare idea of the loss. Only there lurked at the bottom of +her heart the feeling that when the crash had come, and desolation +had over taken her, it would be more dreary at Portchester than +anywhere else; and there might be infinite possibilities beyond for +the King's godchild, almost a knight's daughter. + +The next time that Mrs. Woodford heard that Major Oakshott was at +the door inquiring for her health, she begged as a favour that he +would come and see her. + +The good gentleman came upstairs treading gently in his heavy boots, +as one accustomed to an invalid chamber. + +"I am sorry to see you thus, madam," he said, as she held out her +wasted hand and thanked him. "Did you desire spiritual +consolations? There are times when our needs pass far beyond +prescribed forms and ordinances." + +"I am thankful for the prayers of good men," said Mrs. Woodford; +"but for truth's sake I must tell you that this was not foremost in +my mind when I begged for this favour." + +He was evidently disappointed, for he was producing from his pocket +the little stout black-bound Bible, which, by a dent in one of the +lids, bore witness of having been with him in his campaigns; and +perhaps half-diplomatically, as well as with a yearning for oneness +of spirit, she gratified him by requesting him to read and pray. + +With all his rigidity he was too truly pious a man for his +ministrations to contain anything in which, Churchwoman as she was, +she could not join with all her heart, and feel comforting; but ere +he was about to rise from his knees she said, "One prayer for your +son, sir." + +A few fervent words were spoken on behalf of the wandering sheep, +while tears glistened in the old man's eyes, and fell fast from +those of the lady, and then he said, "Ah, madam! have I not wrestled +in prayer for my poor boy?" + +"I am sure you have, sir. I know you have a deep fatherly love for +him, and therefore I sent to speak to you as a dying woman." + +"And I will gladly hear you, for you have always been good to him, +and, as I confess, have done him more good--if good can be called +the apparent improvement in one unregenerate--than any other." + +"Except his uncle," said Mrs. Woodford. "I fear it is vain to say +that I think the best hope of his becoming a good and valuable man, +a comfort and not a sorrow to yourself, would be to let him even now +rejoin Sir Peregrine." + +"That cannot be, madam. My brother has not kept to the +understanding on which I entrusted the lad to him, but has carried +him into worldly and debauched company, such as has made the sober +and godly habits of his home distasteful to him, and has further +taken him into Popish lands, where he has become infected with their +abominations to a greater extent than I can yet fathom." + +Mrs. Woodford sighed and felt hopeless. "I see your view of the +matter, sir. Yet may I suggest that it is hard for a young man to +find wholesome occupation such as may guard him from temptation on +an estate where the master is active and sufficient like yourself?" + +"Protection from temptation must come from within, madam," replied +the Major; "but I so far agree with you that in due time, when he +has attained his twenty-first year, I trust he will be wedded to his +cousin, a virtuous and pious young maiden, and will have the +management of her property, which is larger than my own." + +"But if--if--sir, the marriage were distasteful to him, could it be +for the happiness and welfare of either?" + +"The boy has been complaining to you? Nay, madam, I blame you not. +You have ever been the boy's best friend according to knowledge; but +he ought to know that his honour and mine are engaged. It is true +that Mistress Martha is not a Court beauty, such as his eyes have +unhappily learnt to admire, but I am acting verily for his true +good. 'Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain.'" + +"Most true, sir; but let me say one more word. I fear, I greatly +fear, that all young spirits brook not compulsion." + +"That means, they will not bow their stiff necks to the yoke." + +"Ah, sir! but on the other hand, 'Fathers, provoke not your children +to wrath.' Forgive me, sir; I spoke but out of true affection to +your son, and the fear that what may seem to him severity may not +drive him to some extremity that might grieve you." + +"No forgiveness is needed, madam. I thank you for your interest in +him, and for your plain speaking according to your lights. I can +but act according to those vouchsafed unto me." + +"And we both agree in praying for his true good," said Mrs. +Woodford. + +And with a mutual blessing they parted, Mrs. Woodford deeply sorry +for both father and son, for whom she had done what she could. + +It was her last interview with any one outside the house. Another +attack of spasms brought the end, during the east winds of March, so +suddenly as to leave no time for farewells or last words. When she +was laid to rest in the little churchyard within the castle walls, +no one showed such overwhelming tokens of grief as Peregrine +Oakshott, who lingered about the grave after the Doctor had taken +his niece home, and was found lying upon it late in the evening, +exhausted with weeping. + +Yet Sedley Archfield, whose regiment had, after all, been sent to +Portsmouth, reported that he had spent the very next afternoon at a +cock-fight, ending in a carouse with various naval and military +officers at a tavern, not drinking, but contributing to the mirth by +foreign songs, tricks, and jests. + + + +CHAPTER XII: THE ONE HOPE + + + "There's some fearful tie +Between me and that spirit world, which God +Brands with His terrors on my troubled mind." + +KINGSLEY. + +The final blow had fallen upon Anne Woodford so suddenly that for +the first few days she moved about as one in a dream. Lady +Archfield came to her on the first day, and showed her motherly +kindness, and Lucy was with her as much as was possible under the +exactions of young Madam, who was just sufficiently unwell to resent +attention being paid to any other living creature. She further +developed a jealousy of Lucy's affection for any other friend such +as led to a squabble between her and her husband, and made her +mother-in-law unwillingly acquiesce in the expediency of Anne's +being farther off. + +And indeed Anne herself felt so utterly forlorn and desolate that an +impatience of the place came over her. She was indeed fond of her +uncle, but he was much absorbed in his studies, his parish, and in +anxious correspondence on the state of the Church, and was scarcely +a companion to her, and without her mother to engross her love and +attention, and cut off from the Archfields as she now was, there was +little to counterbalance the restless feeling that London and the +precincts of the Court were her natural element. So she wrote her +letters according to her mother's desire, and waited anxiously for +the replies, feeling as if anything would be preferable to her +present unhappiness and solitude. + +The answers came in due time. Mrs. Evelyn promised to try to find a +virtuous and godly lady who would be willing to receive Mistress +Anne Woodford into her family, and Lady Oglethorpe wrote with vaguer +promises of high preferment, which excited Anne's imagination during +those lonely hours that she had to spend while her strict mourning, +after the custom of the time, secluded her from all visitors. + +Meantime, in that anxious spring of 1688, when the Church of England +was looking to her defences, the Doctor could not be much at home, +and when he had time to listen to private affairs, he heard reports +which did not please him of Peregrine Oakshott. That the young men +in the county all abhorred his fine foreign airs was no serious +evil, though it might be suspected that his sharp ironical tongue +had quite as much to do with their dislike as his greater refinement +of manner. + +His father was reported to be very seriously displeased with him, +for he openly expressed contempt of the precise ways of the +household, and absented himself in a manner that could scarcely be +attributed to aught but the licentious indulgences of the time; and +as he seldom mingled in the amusements of the young country +gentlemen, it was only too probable that he found a lower grade of +companions in Portsmouth. Moreover his talk, random though it might +be, offended all the Whig opinions of his father. He talked with +the dogmatism of the traveller of the glories of Louis XIV, and +broadly avowed his views that the grandeur of the nation was best +established under a king who asked no questions of people or +Parliament, 'that senseless set of chattering pies,' as he was +reported to have called the House of Commons. + +He sang the praises of the gracious and graceful Queen Mary +Beatrice, and derided 'the dried-up Orange stick,' as he called the +hope of the Protestants; nor did he scruple to pronounce Popery the +faith of chivalrous gentlemen, far preferable to the whining of +sullen Whiggery. No one could tell how far all this was genuine +opinion, or simply delight in contradiction, especially of his +father, who was in a constant state of irritation at the son whom he +could so little manage. + +And in the height of the wrath of the whole of the magistracy at the +expulsion of their lord-lieutenant, the Earl of Gainsborough, and +the substitution of the young Duke of Berwick, what must Peregrine +do but argue in high praise of that youth, whom he had several times +seen and admired. And when not a gentleman in the neighbourhood +chose to greet the intruder when he arrived as governor of +Portsmouth, Peregrine actually rode in to see him, and dined with +him. Words cannot express the Major's anger and shame at such +consorting with a person, whom alike, on account of parentage, +religion, and education, he regarded as a son of perdition. Yet +Peregrine would only coolly reply that he knew many a Protestant who +would hardly compare favourably with young Berwick. + +It was an anxious period that spring of 1688. The order to read the +King's Declaration of Indulgence from the pulpit had come as a +thunder-clap upon the clergy. The English Church had only known +rest for twenty-eight years, and now, by this unconstitutional +assumption of prerogative, she seemed about to be given up to be the +prey of Romanists on the one hand and Nonconformists on the other; +though for the present the latter were so persuaded that the +Indulgence was merely a disguised advance of Rome that they were not +at all grateful, expecting, as Mr. Horncastle observed, only to be +the last devoured, and he was as much determined as was Dr. Woodford +not to announce it from his pulpit, whatever might be the +consequence; the latter thus resigning all hopes of promotion. + +News letters, public and private, were eagerly scanned. Though the +diocesan, Bishop Mew, took no active part in the petition called a +libel, being an extremely aged man, the imprisonment of Ken, so +deeply endeared to Hampshire hearts when Canon of Winchester and +Rector of Brighstone, and with the Bloody Assize and the execution +of Alice Lisle fresh in men's memories, there could not but be +extreme anxiety. + +In the midst arrived the tidings that a son had been born to the +king--a son instantly baptized by a Roman Catholic priest, and no +doubt destined by James to rivet the fetters of Rome upon the +kingdom, destroying at once the hope of his elder sister's +accession. Loyal Churchmen like the Archfields still hoped, +recollecting how many infants had been born in the royal family only +to die; but at Oakwood the Major and his chaplain shook their heads, +and spoke of warming pans, to the vehement displeasure of Peregrine, +who was sure to respond that the Queen was an angel, and that the +Whigs credited every one with their own sly tricks. + +The Major groaned, and things seemed to have reached a pass very +like open enmity between father and son, though Peregrine still +lived at home, and reports were rife that the year of mourning for +his brother being expired, he was, as soon as he came of age, to be +married to Mistress Martha Browning, and have an establishment of +his own at Emsworth. + +Under these circumstances, it was with much satisfaction that Dr. +Woodford said to his niece: "Child, here is an excellent offer for +you. Lady Russell, who you know has returned to live at Stratton, +has heard you mentioned by Lady Mildmay. She has just married her +eldest daughter, and needs a companion to the other, and has been +told of you as able to speak French and Italian, and otherwise well +trained. What! do you not relish the proposal?" + +"Why, sir, would not my entering such a house do you harm at Court, +and lessen your chance of preferment?" + +"Think not of _that_, my child." + +"Besides," added Anne, "since Lady Oglethorpe has written, it would +not be fitting to engage myself elsewhere before hearing from her +again." + +"You think so, Anne. Lady Russell's would be a far safer, better +home for you than the Court." + +Anne knew it, but the thought of that widowed home depressed her. +It might, she thought, be as dull as Oakwood, and there would be +infinite chances of preferment at Court. What she said, however, +was: "It was by my mother's wish that I applied to Lady +Oglethorpe." + +"That is true, child. Yet I cannot but believe that if she had +known of Lady Russell's offer, she would gladly and thankfully have +accepted it." + +So said the secret voice within the girl herself, but she did not +yet yield to it. "Perhaps she would, sir," she answered, "if the +other proposal were not made. 'Tis a Whig household though." + +"A Whig household is a safer one than a Popish one," answered the +Doctor. "Lady Russell is, by all they tell me, a very saint upon +earth." + +Shall it be owned? Anne thought of Oakwood, and was not attracted +towards a saint upon earth. "How soon was the answer to be given?" +she asked. + +"I believe she would wish you to meet her at Winchester next week, +when, if you pleased her, you might return with her to Stratton." + +The Doctor hoped that Lady Oglethorpe's application might fail, but +before the week was over she forwarded the definite appointment of +Mistress Anne Jacobina Woodford as one of the rockers of his Royal +Highness the Prince of Wales, his Majesty having been graciously +pleased to remember her father's services and his own sponsorship. +"If your friends consider the office somewhat beneath you," wrote +Lady Oglethorpe, "it is still open to you to decline it." + +"Oh no; I would certainly not decline it!" cried Anne. "I could not +possibly do so; could I, sir?" + +"Lady Oglethorpe says you might," returned the Doctor; "and for my +part, niece, I should prefer the office of a gouvernante to that of +a rocker." + +"Ah, but it is to a Prince!" said Anne. "It is the way to something +further." + +"And what may that something further be? That is the question," +said her uncle. "I will not control you, my child, for the +application to this Court lady was by the wish of your good mother, +who knew her well, but I own that I should be far more at rest on +your account if you were in a place of less temptation." + +"The Court is very different from what it was in the last King's +time," pleaded Anne. + +"In some degree it may be; but on the other hand, the influence +which may have purified it is of the religion that I fear may be a +seduction." + +"Oh no, never, uncle; nothing could make me a Papist." + +"Do not be over confident, Anne. Those who run into temptation are +apt to be left to themselves." + +"Indeed, sir, I cannot think that the course my mother shaped for me +can be a running into temptation." + +"Well, Anne, as I say, I cannot withstand you, since it was your +mother who requested Lady Oglethorpe's patronage for you, though I +tell you sincerely that I believe that had the two courses been set +before her she would have chosen the safer and more private one. + +"Nay but, dear sir," still pleaded the maiden, "what would become of +your chances of preferment if it were known that you had placed me +with Lord Russell's widow in preference to the Queen?" + +"Let not that weigh with you one moment, child. I believe that no +staunch friend of our Protestant Church will be preferred by his +Majesty; nay, while the Archbishop and my saintly friend of Bath and +Wells are persecuted, I should be ashamed to think of promotion. +Spurn the thought from you, child." + +"Nay, 'twas only love for you, dear uncle." + +"I know it, child. I am not displeased, only think it over, and +pray over it, since the post will not go out until to-morrow." + +Anne did think, but not quite as her uncle intended. The +remembrance of the good-natured young Princesses, the large stately +rooms, the brilliant dresses, the radiance of wax lights, had +floated before her eyes ever since her removal from Chelsea to the +quieter regions of Winchester, and she had longed to get back to +them. She really loved her uncle, and whatever he might say, she +longed to push his advancement, and thought his unselfish abnegation +the greater reason for working for him; and in spite of knowing well +that it was only a dull back-stair appointment, she could look to +the notice of Princess Anne, when once within her reach, and +further, with the confidence of youth, believed that she had that +within her which would make her way upwards, and enable her to +confer promotion, honour, and dignity, on all her friends. Her +uncle should be a Bishop, Charles a Peer (fancy his wife being under +obligations to the parson's niece!), Lucy should have a perfect +husband, and an appointment should be found for poor Peregrine which +his father could not gainsay. It was her bounden duty not to throw +away such advantages; besides loyalty to her Royal godfather could +not permit his offer to be rejected, and her mother, when writing to +Lady Oglethorpe, must surely have had some such expectation. Nor +should she be entirely cut off from her uncle, who was a Royal +chaplain; and this was some consolation to the good Doctor when he +found her purpose fixed, and made arrangements for her to travel up +to town in company with Lady Worsley of Gatcombe, whom she was to +meet at Southampton on the 1st of July. + +Meantime the Doctor did his best to arm his niece against the +allurements to Romanism that he feared would be held out. Lady +Oglethorpe and other friends had assured him of the matronly care of +Lady Powys and Lady Strickland to guard their department from all +evil; but he did fear these religious influences and Anne, resolute +to resist all, perhaps not afraid of the conflict, was willing to +arm herself for defence, and listened readily. She was no less +anxious to provide for her uncle's comfort in his absence, and many +small matters of housewifery that had stood over for some time were +now to be purchased, as well as a few needments for her own outfit, +although much was left for the counsel of her patroness in the +matter of garments. + +Accordingly her uncle rode in with her to Portsmouth on a shopping +expedition, and as the streets of the seaport were scarcely safe for +a young woman without an escort, he carried a little book in his +pocket wherewith he beguiled the time that she spent in the +selection of his frying-pans, fire-irons, and the like, and her own +gloves and kerchiefs. They dined at the 'ordinary' at the inn, and +there Dr. Woodford met his great friends Mr. Stanbury of Botley, and +Mr. Worsley of Gatcombe, in the Isle of Wight, who both, like him, +were opposed to the reading of the Declaration of Indulgence, as +unconstitutional, and deeply anxious as to the fate of the greatly +beloved Bishop of Bath and Wells. It was inevitable that they +should fall into deep and earnest council together, and when dinner +was over they agreed to adjourn to the house of a friend learned in +ecclesiastical law to hunt up the rights of the case, leaving Anne +to await them in a private room at the Spotted Dog, shown to her by +the landlady. + +Anne well knew what such a meeting betided, and with a certain +prevision, had armed herself with some knotting, wherewith she sat +down in a bay window overlooking the street, whence she could see +market-women going home with empty baskets, pigs being reluctantly +driven down to provision ships in the harbour, barrels of biscuit, +salt meat, or beer, being rolled down for the same purpose, sailors +in loose knee-breeches, and soldiers in tall peaked caps and cross- +belts, and officers of each service moving in different directions. +She sat there day-dreaming, feeling secure in her loneliness, and +presently saw a slight figure, daintily clad in gray and black, who +catching her eye made an eager gesture, doffing his plumed hat and +bowing low to her. She returned his salute, and thought he passed +on, but in another minute she was startled to find him at her side, +exclaiming: "This is the occasion I have longed and sought for, +Mistress Anne; I bless and thank the fates." + +"I am glad to see you once more before I depart," said Anne, holding +out her hand as frankly as she could to the old playfellow whom she +always thought ill-treated, but whom she could never meet without a +certain shudder. + +"Then it is true?" he exclaimed. + +"Yes; I am to go up with Lady Worsley from Southampton next week." + +"Ah!" he cried, "but must that be?" and she felt his strange power, +so that she drew into herself and said haughtily-- + +"My dear mother wished me to be with her friends, nor can the King's +appointment be neglected, though of course I am extremely grieved to +go." + +"And you are dazzled with all these gewgaws of Court life, no +doubt?" + +"I shall not be much in the way of gewgaws just yet," said Anne +drily. "It will be dull enough in some back room of Whitehall or +St. James's." + +"Say you so. You will wish yourself back--you, the lady of my +heart--mine own good angel! Hear me. Say but the word, and your +home will be mine, to say nothing of your own most devoted servant." + +"Hush, hush, sir! I cannot hear this," said Anne, anxiously +glancing down the street in hopes of seeing her uncle approaching. + +"Nay, but listen! This is my only hope--my only chance--I must +speak--you doom me to you know not what if you will not hear me!" + +"Indeed, sir, I neither will nor ought!" + +"Ought! Ought! Ought you not to save a fellow-creature from +distraction and destruction? One who has loved and looked to you +ever since you and that saint your mother lifted me out of the +misery of my childhood." + +Then as she looked softened he went on: "You, you are my one hope. +No one else can lift me out of the reach of the demon that has beset +me even since I was born." + +"That is profane," she said, the more severe for the growing +attraction of repulsion. + +"What do I care? It is true! What was I till you and your mother +took pity on the wild imp? My old nurse said a change would come to +me every seven years. That blessed change came just seven years +ago. Give me what will make a more blessed--a more saving change-- +or there will be one as much for the worse." + +"But--I could not. No! you must see for yourself that I could not-- +even if I would," she faltered, really pitying now, and unwilling to +give more pain than she could help. + +"Could not? It should be possible. I know how to bring it about. +Give me but your promise, and I will make you mine--ay, and I will +make myself as worthy of you as man can be of saint-like maid." + +"No--no! This is very wrong--you are pledged already--" + +"No such thing--believe no such tale. My promise has never been +given to that grim hag of my father's choice--no, nor should be +forced from me by the rack. Look you here. Let me take this hand, +call in the woman of the house, give me your word, and my father +will own his power to bind me to Martha is at an end." + +"Oh, no! It would be a sin--never. Besides--" said Anne, holding +her hands tightly clasped behind her in alarm, lest against her will +she should let them be seized, and trying to find words to tell him +how little she felt disposed to trust her heart and herself to one +whom she might indeed pity, but with a sort of shrinking as from +something not quite human. Perhaps he dreaded her 'besides'--for he +cut her short. + +"It would save ten thousand greater sins. See, here are two ways +before us. Either give me your word, your precious word, go silent +to London, leave me to struggle it out with my father and your uncle +and follow you. Hope and trust will be enough to bear me through +the battle without, and within deafen the demon of my nature, and +render me patient of my intolerable life till I have conquered and +can bring you home." + +Her tongue faltered as she tried to say such a secret unsanctioned +engagement would be treachery, but he cut off the words. + +"You have not heard me out. There is another way. I know those who +will aid me. We can meet in early dawn, be wedded in one of these +churches in all secrecy and haste, and I would carry you at once to +my uncle, who, as you well know, would welcome you as a daughter. +Or, better still, we would to those fair lands I have scarce seen, +but where I could make my way with sword or pen with you to inspire +me. I have the means. My uncle left this with me. Speak! It is +death or life to me." + +This last proposal was thoroughly alarming, and Anne retreated, +drawing herself to her full height, and speaking with the dignity +that concealed considerable terror. + +"No, indeed, sir. You ought to know better than to utter such +proposals. One who can make such schemes can certainly obtain no +respect nor regard from the lady he addresses. Let me pass"--for +she was penned up in the bay window--"I shall seek the landlady till +my uncle returns." + +"Nay, Mistress Anne, do not fear me. Do not drive me to utter +despair. Oh, pardon me! Nothing but utter desperation could drive +me to have thus spoken; but how can I help using every effort to win +her whose very look and presence is bliss! Nothing else soothes and +calms me; nothing else so silences the demon and wakens the better +part of my nature. Have you no pity upon a miserable wretch, who +will be dragged down to his doom without your helping hand?" + +He flung himself on his knee before her, and tried to grasp her +hand. + +"Indeed, I am sorry for you, Master Oakshott," said Anne, +compassionate, but still retreating as far as the window would let +her; "but you are mistaken. If this power be in me, which I cannot +quite believe--yes, I see what you want to say, but if I did what I +know to be wrong, I should lose it at once; God's grace can save you +without me." + +"I will not ask you to do what you call wrong; no, nor to transgress +any of the ties you respect, you, whose home is so unlike mine; only +tell me that I may have hope, that if I deserve you, I may win you; +that you could grant me--wretched me--a share of your affection." + +This was hardest of all; mingled pity and repugnance, truth and +compassion strove within the maiden as well as the strange influence +of those extraordinary eyes. She was almost as much afraid of +herself as of her suitor. At last she managed to say, "I am very +sorry for you; I grieve from my heart for your troubles; I should be +very glad to hear of your welfare and anything good of you, but--" + +"But, but--I see--it is mere frenzy in me to think the blighted elf +can aspire to be aught but loathsome to any lady--only, at least, +tell me you love no one else." + +"No, certainly not," she said, as if his eyes drew it forcibly from +her. + +"Then you cannot hinder me from making you my guiding star--hoping +that if yet I can--" + +"There's my uncle!" exclaimed Anne, in a tone of infinite relief. +"Stand up, Mr. Oakshott, compose yourself. Of course I cannot +hinder your thinking about me, if it will do you any good, but there +are better things to think about which would conquer evil and make +you happy more effectually." + +He snatched her hand and kissed it, nor did she withhold it, since +she really pitied him, and knew that her uncle was near, and all +would soon be over. + +Peregrine dashed away by another door as Dr. Woodford's foot was on +the stairs. "I have ordered the horses," he began. "They told me +young Oakshott was here." + +"He was, but he is gone;" and she could not quite conceal her +agitation. + +"Crimson cheeks, my young mistress? Ah, the foolish fellow! You do +not care for him, I trust?" + +"No, indeed, poor fellow. What, did you know, sir?" + +"Know. Yes, truly--and your mother likewise, Anne. It was one +cause of her wishing to send you to safer keeping than mine seems to +be. My young spark made his proposals to us both, though we would +not disturb your mind therewith, not knowing how he would have dealt +with his father, nor viewing him, for all he is heir to Oakwood, as +a desirable match in himself. I am glad to see you have sense and +discretion to be of the same mind, my maid." + +"I cannot but grieve for his sad condition, sir," replied Anne, "but +as for anything more--it would make me shudder to think of it--he is +still too like Robin Goodfellow." + +"That's my good girl," said her uncle. "And do you know, child, +there are the best hopes for the Bishops. There's a gentleman come +down but now from London, who says 'twas like a triumph as the +Bishops sat in their barge on the way to the Tower; crowds swarming +along the banks, begging for their blessing, and they waving it with +tears in their eyes. The King will be a mere madman if he dares to +touch a hair of their heads. Well, when I was a lad, Bishops were +sent to the Tower by the people; I little thought to live to see +them sent thither by the King." + +All the way home Dr. Woodford talked of the trial, beginning perhaps +to regret that his niece must go to the very focus of Roman +influence in England, where there seemed to be little scruple as to +the mode of conversion. Would it be possible to alter her +destination? was his thought, when he rose the next day, but loyalty +stood in the way, and that very afternoon another event happened +which made it evident that the poor girl must leave Portchester as +soon as possible. + +She had gone out with him to take leave of some old cottagers in the +village, and he finding himself detained to minister to a case of +unexpected illness, allowed her to go home alone for about a quarter +of a mile along the white sunny road at the foot of Portsdown, with +the castle full in view at one end, and the cottage where he was at +the other. Many a time previously had she trodden it alone, but she +had not reckoned on two officers coming swaggering from a cross road +down the hill, one of them Sedley Archfield, who immediately called +out, "Ha, ha! my pretty maid, no wench goes by without paying toll;" +and they spread their arms across the road so as to arrest her. + +"Sir," said Anne, drawing herself up with dignity, "you mistake--" + +"Not a whit, my dear; no exemption here;" and there was a horse +laugh, and an endeavour to seize her, as she stepped back, feeling +that in quietness lay her best chance of repelling them, adding-- + +"My uncle is close by." + +"The more cause for haste;" and they began to close upon her. But +at that moment Peregrine Oakshott, leaping from his horse, was among +them, with the cry-- + +"Dastards! insulting a lady." + +"Lady, forsooth! the parson's niece." + +In a few seconds--very long seconds to her--her flying feet had +brought her back to the cottage, where she burst in with--"Pardon, +pardon, sir; come quick; there are swords drawn; there will be +bloodshed if you do not come." + +He obeyed the summons without further query, for when all men wore +swords the neighbourhood of a garrison were only too liable to such +encounters outside. There was no need for her to gasp out more; +from the very cottage door he could see the need of haste, for the +swords were actually flashing, and the two young men in position to +fight. Anne shook her head, unable to do more than sign her thanks +to the good woman of the cottage, who offered her a seat. She leant +against the door, and watched as her uncle, sending his voice before +him, called on them to desist. + +There was a start, then each drew back and held down his weapon, but +with a menacing gesture on one side, a shrug of the shoulders on the +other, which impelled the Doctor to use double speed in the fear +that the parting might be with a challenge reserved. + +He was in time to stand warning, and arguing that if he pardoned the +slighting words and condoned the insult to his niece, no one had a +right to exact vengeance; and in truth, whatever were his arguments, +he so dealt with the two young men as to force them into shaking +hands before they separated, though with a contemptuous look on +either side--a scowl from Sedley, a sneer from Peregrine, boding ill +for the future, and making him sigh. + +"Ah! sister, sister, you judged aright. Would that I could have +sent the maid sooner away rather than that all this ill blood should +have been bred. Yet I may only be sending her to greater temptation +and danger. But she is a good maiden; God bless her and keep her +here and there, now and for evermore, as I trust He keepeth our good +Dr. Ken in this sore strait. The trial may even now be over. Ah, +my child, here you are! Frightened were you by that rude fellow? +Nay, I believe you were almost equally terrified by him who came to +the rescue. You will soon be out of their reach, my dear." + +"Yes, that is one great comfort in going," sighed Anne. One +comfort--yes--though she would not have stayed had the choice been +given her now. And shall the thought be told that flashed over her +and coloured her cheeks with a sort of shame yet of pleasure, "I +surely must have power over men! I know mother would say it is a +terrible danger one way, and a great gift another. I will not +misuse it; but what will it bring me? Or am I only a rustic beauty +after all, who will be nobody elsewhere?" + +Still heartily she wished that her rescuer had been any one else in +the wide world. It was almost uncanny that he should have sprung +out of the earth at such a moment. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: THE BONFIRE + + +"From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, + From Lynn to Milford Bay, +That time of slumber was as + Bright and busy as the day; +For swift to east and swift to west + The fiery herald sped, +High on St. Michael's Mount it shone: + It shone on Beachy Head." + +MACAULAY. + +Doctor Woodford and his niece had not long reached their own door +when the clatter of a horse's hoofs was heard, and Charles Archfield +was seen, waving his hat and shouting 'Hurrah!' before he came near +enough to speak, + +"Good news, I see!" said the Doctor. + +"Good news indeed! Not guilty! Express rode from Westminster Hall +with the news at ten o'clock this morning. All acquitted. +Expresses could hardly get away for the hurrahing of the people. +Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" cried the young man, throwing up his hat, +while Doctor Woodford, taking off his own, gave graver, deeper +thanks that justice was yet in England, that these noble and +honoured confessors were safe, and that the King had been saved from +further injustice and violence to the Church. + +"We are to have a bonfire on Portsdown hill," added Charles. "They +will be all round the country, in the Island, and everywhere. My +father is rid one way to spread the tidings, and give orders. I'm +going on into Portsmouth, to see after tar barrels. You'll be +there, sir, and you, Anne?" There was a moment's hesitation after +the day's encounters, but he added, "My mother is going, and my +little Madam, and Lucy. They will call for you in the coach if you +will be at Ryder's cottage at nine o'clock. It will not be dark +enough to light up till ten, so there will be time to get a noble +pile ready. Come, Anne, 'tis Lucy's last chance of seeing you--so +strange as you have made yourself of late." + +This plea decided Anne, who had been on the point of declaring that +she should have an excellent view from the top of the keep. +However, not only did she long to see Lucy again, but the enthusiasm +was contagious, and there was an attraction in the centre of popular +rejoicing that drew both her and her uncle, nor could there be a +doubt of her being sufficiently protected when among the Archfield +ladies. So the arrangement was accepted, and then there was the +cry-- + +"Hark! the Havant bells! Ay! and the Cosham! Portsmouth is pealing +out. That's Alverstoke. They know it there. A salute! Another." + +"Scarce loyal from the King's ships," said the Doctor, smiling. + +"Nay, 'tis only loyalty to rejoice that the King can't make a fool +of himself. So my father says," rejoined Charles. + +And that seemed to be the mood of all England. When Anne and her +uncle set forth in the summer sunset light the great hill above them +was dark with the multitudes thronging around the huge pyre rising +in the midst. They rested for some minutes at the cottage indicated +before the arrival of Sir Philip, who rode up accompanying the coach +in which his three ladies were seated, and which was quite large +enough to receive Dr. Woodford and Mistress Anne. Charles was in +the throng, in the midst of most of the younger gentlemen of the +neighbourhood, and a good many of the naval and military officers, +directing the arrangement of the pile. + +What a scene it was, as seen even from the windows of the coach +where the ladies remained, for the multitude of sailors, soldiers, +town and village people, though all unanimous, were far too +tumultuous for them to venture beyond their open door, especially as +little Mrs. Archfield was very far from well, and nothing but her +eagerness for amusement could have brought her hither, and of course +she could not be left. Probably she knew as little of the real +bearings of the case or the cause of rejoicing as did the boys who +pervaded everything with their squibs, and were only restrained from +firing them in the faces of the horses by wholesome fear of the big +whips of the coachman and outriders who stood at the horses' heads. + +It was hardly yet dark when the match was put to the shavings, and +to the sound of the loud 'Hurrahs!' and cries of 'Long live the +Bishops!' 'Down with the Pope!' the flame kindled, crackled, and +leapt up, while a responsive fire was seen on St. Catherine's Down +in the Isle of Wight, and northward, eastward, westward, on every +available point, each new light greeted by fresh acclamations, as it +shone out against the summer night sky, while the ships in the +harbour showed their lights, reflected in the sea, as the sky grew +darker. Then came a procession of sailors and other rough folk, +bearing between poles a chair with a stuffed figure with a kind of +tiara, followed by others with scarlet hats and capes, and with +reiterated shouts of 'Down with the Pope!' these were hurled into +the fire with deafening hurrahs, their more gorgeous trappings being +cleverly twitched off at the last moment, as part of the properties +for the 5th of November. + +Little Mrs. Archfield clapped her hands and screamed with delight as +each fresh blaze shot up, and chattered with all her might, +sometimes about some lace and perfumes which she wanted Anne to +procure for her in London at the sign of the Flower Pot, sometimes +grumbling at her husband having gone off to the midst of the party +closest to the fire, "Just like Mr. Archfield, always leaving her to +herself," but generally very well amused, especially when a group of +gentlemen, officers, and county neighbours gathered round the open +door talking to the ladies within. + +Peregrine was there with his hands in his pockets, and a queer +ironical smile writhing his features. He was asked if his father +and brother were present. + +"Not my father," he replied. "He has a logical mind. Martha is up +here with her guardian, and I am keeping out of her way, and my +brother is full in the thick of the fray. A bonfire is a bonfire to +most folks, were it to roast their grandsire!" + +"Oh, fie, Mr. Oakshott, how you do talk!" laughed Mrs. Archfield. + +"Nay, but you rejoice in the escape of the good Bishops," put in +Lucy. + +"For what?" asked Peregrine. "For refusing to say live and let +live?" + +"Not against letting _live_, but against saying so +unconstitutionally, my young friend," said Dr. Woodford, "or +tyrannising over our consciences." + +Generally Peregrine was more respectful to Dr. Woodford than to any +one else; but there seemed to be a reckless bitterness about him on +that night, and he said, "I marvel with what face those same Eight +Reverend Seigniors will preach against the French King." + +"Sir," thrust in Sedley Archfield, "I am not to hear opprobrious +epithets applied to the Bishops." + +"What was the opprobrium?" lazily demanded Peregrine, and in spite +of his unpopularity, the laugh was with him. Sedley grew more +angry. + +"You likened them to the French King--" + +"The most splendid monarch in Europe," said Peregrine coolly. + +"A Frenchman!" quoth one of the young squires with withering +contempt. + +"He has that ill fortune, sir," said Peregrine. "Mayhap he would be +sensible of the disadvantage, if he evened himself with some of my +reasonable countrymen." + +"Do you mean that for an insult, sir?" exclaimed Sedley Archfield, +striding forward. + +"As you please," said Peregrine. "To me it had the sound of +compliment." + +"Oh la! they'll fight," cried Mrs. Archfield. "Don't let them! +Where's the Doctor? Where's Sir Philip?" + +"Hush, my dear," said Lady Archfield; "these gentlemen would not +fall out close to us." + +Dr. Woodford was out of sight, having been drawn into controversy +with a fellow-clergyman on the limits of toleration. Anne looked +anxiously for him, but with provoking coolness Peregrine presently +said, "There's no crowd near, and if you will step out, the fires on +the farther hills are to be seen well from the knoll hard by." + +He spoke chiefly to Anne, but even if she had not a kind of +shrinking from trusting herself with him in this strange wild scene, +she would have been prevented by Mrs. Archfield's eager cry-- + +"Oh, I'll come, let me come! I'm so weary of sitting here. Thank +you, Master Oakshott." + +Lady Archfield's remonstrance was lost as Peregrine helped the +little lady out, and there was nothing for it but to follow her, as +close as might be, as she hung on her cavalier's arm chattering, and +now and then giving little screams of delight or alarm. Lady +Archfield and her daughter each was instantly squired, but Mistress +Woodford, a nobody, was left to keep as near them as she could, and +gaze at the sparks of light of the beacons in the distance, thinking +how changed the morrow would be to her. + +Presently a figure approached, and Charles Archfield's voice said, +"Is that you, Anne? Did I hear my wife's voice?" + +"Yes, she is there." + +"And with that imp of evil! I would his own folk had him!" muttered +Charles, dashing forward with "How now, madam? you were not to leave +the coach!" + +She laughed exultingly. "Ha, sir! see what comes of leaving me to +better cavaliers, while you run after your fire! I should have seen +nothing but for Master Oakshott." + +"Come with me now," said Charles; "you ought not to be standing here +in the dew." + +"Ha, ha! what a jealous master," she said; but she put her arm into +his, saying with a courtesy, "Thank you, Master Oakshott, lords must +be obeyed. I should have been still buried in the old coach but for +you." + +Peregrine fell back to Anne. "That blaze is at St. Helen's," he +began. "That--what! will you not wait a moment?" + +"No, no! They will want to be going home." + +"And have you forgotten that it is only just over Midsummer? This +is the week of my third seventh--the moment for change. O Anne! +make it a change for the better. Say the word, and the die will be +cast. All is ready! Come!" + +He tried to take her hand, but the vehemence of his words, spoken +under his breath, terrified her, and with a hasty "No, no! you know +not what you talk of," she hastened after her friends, and was glad +to find herself in the safe haven of the interior of the coach. + +Ere long they drove down the hill, and at the place of parting were +set down, the last words in Anne's ears being Mrs. Archfield's +injunctions not to forget the orange flower-water at the sign of the +Flower Pot, drowning Lucy's tearful farewells. + +As they walked away in the moonlight a figure was seen in the +distance. + +"Is that Peregrine Oakshott?" asked the Doctor. "That young man is +in a desperate mood, ready to put a quarrel on any one. I hope no +harm will come of it." + + + +CHAPTER XIV: GATHERING MOUSE-EAR + + +"I heard the groans, I marked the tears, + I saw the wound his bosom bore." + +SCOTT. + +After such an evening it was not easy to fall asleep, and Anne +tossed about, heated, restless, and uneasy, feeling that to remain +at home was impossible, yet less satisfied about her future +prospects, and doubtful whether she had not done herself harm by +attending last night's rejoicings, and hoping that nothing would +happen to reveal her presence there. + +She was glad that the night was not longer, and resolved to take +advantage of the early morning to fulfil a commission of Lady +Oglethorpe, whose elder children, Lewis and Theophilus, had the +whooping-cough. Mouse-ear, namely, the little sulphur-coloured +hawk-weed, was, and still is, accounted a specific, and Anne had +been requested to bring a supply--a thing easily done, since it grew +plentifully in the court of the castle. + +She dressed herself in haste, made some of her preparations for the +journey, and let herself out of the house, going first for one last +look at her mother's green grave in the dewy churchyard, and +gathering from it a daisy, which she put into her bosom, then in the +fair morning freshness, and exhilaration of the rising sun, crossing +the wide tilt-yard, among haycocks waiting to be tossed, and +arriving at the court within, filling her basket between the +churchyard and the gateway tower and keep, when standing up for a +moment she was extremely startled to see Peregrine Oakshott's +unmistakable figure entering at the postern of the court. + +With vague fears of his intentions, and instinctive terror of +meeting him alone, heightened by that dread of his power, she flew +in at the great bailey tower door, hoping that he had not seen her, +but tolerably secure that even if he had, and should pursue her, she +was sufficiently superior in knowledge of the stairs and passages to +baffle him, and make her way along the battlements to the tower at +the corner of the court nearest the parsonage, where there was a +turret stair by which she could escape. + +Up the broken stairs she went, shutting behind her every available +door in the chambers and passages, but not as quickly as she wished, +since attention to her feet was needful in the ruinous state of +steps and walls. Through those massive walls she could hear nothing +distinctly, but she fancied voices and a cry, making her seek more +intricate windings, nor did she dare to look out till she had gained +a thick screen of bushy ivy at the corner of the turret, where a +little door opened on the broad summit of the battlemented wall. + +Then, what horror was it that she beheld? Or was it a dream? She +even passed her hands over her face and looked again. Peregrine and +Charles, yes, it was Charles Archfield, were fighting with swords in +the court beneath. She gave a shriek, in a wild hope of parting +them, but at that instant she saw Peregrine fall, and with the +impulse of rushing to aid she hurried down, impeded however by +stumbles, and by the doors, she herself had shut, and when she +emerged, she saw only Charles, standing like one dazed and white as +death. + +"O Mr Archfield! where is he? What have you done?" The young man +pointed to the opening of the vault. Then, speaking with an effort, +"He was quite dead; my sword went through him. He forced it on me-- +he was pursuing you. I withstood him--and--" + +He gasped heavily as the words came one by one. She trembled +exceedingly, and would have looked into the vault, with, "Are you +quite sure?" but he grasped her hand and withheld her. + +"Only too sure! Yes, I have done it! It could not be helped. I +would give myself up at once, but, Anne, there is my wife. They +tell me any shock would kill her as she is now. I should be double +murderer. Will you keep the secret, Anne, always my friend? And +'twas for you." + +"Indeed, indeed, I will not betray you. I go away in two hours," +said Anne; and he caught her hand. "But oh!" and she pointed to the +blood on the grass, then with sudden thought, "Heap the hay over +it," running to fill her arms with the lately-cut grass. + +He mechanically did the same, and then they stood for a moment, awe- +stricken. + +"God forgive me!" said the poor young man. "How to hide it I hardly +know, but for _her_ sake, ah--'twas that brought me here. She could +not rest last night till I had promised to be here early enough in +the morning to give you a piece of sarcenet to be matched in London. +Where is it? Ah! I forget. It seems to be ages ago that she was +insisting that I should ride over so as to be in time." + +"Lucy must write," said Anne, "O Charley! wipe that dreadful sword, +look like yourself. I am going in a couple of hours. There is no +fear of me! but oh! that you should have done such a thing! and +through me!" + +"Hush! hush! don't talk. I must be gone ere folks are about. My +horse is outside." He wrung her hand and kissed it, forgetting to +give her the pattern, and Anne, still stunned, walked back to the +parsonage, her one thought how to control herself so as to guard +Charles's secret. + +It must be remembered that in the generation succeeding that which +had fought a long civil war, and when duels were common assertions +of honour and self-respect among young gentlemen, homicide was not +so exceptional and heinous an offence in ordinary eyes as when a +higher value has come to be set on life, and acts of violence are +far less frequent. + +Charles had drawn his sword in fair fight, and in her own defence, +and thus it was natural that Anne Woodford should think of his deed, +certainly with a shudder, but with more of pity than of horror, and +with gratitude that made her feel bound to do her utmost to guard +him from the consequences; also there was a sense of relief, and +perhaps a feeling as if the victim were scarcely a human creature +like others. It never occurred to her till some time after to +recollect it would have had an unpleasant sound that she had been +the occasion of such an 'unseemly brawl' between two young men, one +of them a married man. When the thought occurred to her it made the +blood rash hotly to her cheeks. + +It was well for her that the pain of leaving home and the bustle of +preparation concealed that she had suffered a great shock, and +accounted for her not being able to taste any breakfast beyond a +draught of milk. Her ears were intent all the time to perceive any +token whether the haymakers had come into the court and had +discovered any trace of the ghastly thing in the vault, and she +hardly heard the kind words of her uncle or the coaxings of his old +housekeeper. She dreaded especially the sight of Hans, so fondly +attached to his master's nephew, and it was with a sense of infinite +relief--instead of the tender grief otherwise natural--that she was +seated in the boat for Portsmouth, and her uncle believing her to be +crying, left her undisturbed till she had composed herself to wear +the front that she knew was needful, however her heart might throb +beneath it, and as their boat threaded its way through the ships, +even then numerous, she looked wistfully up at the tall tower of the +castle, with earnest prayers for the living, and a longing she durst +not utter, to ask her uncle whether it were right to pray for the +poor strange, struggling soul, always so cruelly misunderstood, and +now so summarily dismissed from the world of trial. + +Yet presently there was a revulsion of feeling as she was roused +from her meditations by the coxswain's answer to her uncle, who had +asked what was a smart, swift little smack, which after receiving +something from a boat, began stretching her wings and making all +sail for the Isle of Wight. + +The men looked significant and hesitated. + +"Smugglers, eh? Traders in French brandy?" asked the Doctor. + +"Well, your reverence, so they says. They be a rough lot out there +by at the back of the Island." + +"There would be small harm in letting a poor man get a drink of +spirits cheap to warm his heart," said one of the other men; "but +they say as how 'tis a very nest of 'em out there, and that's how no +one can ever pitch on the highwaymen, such as robbed Farmer Vine +t'other day a coming home from market." + +"They do say," added the other, "that there's them as ought to know +better that is thick with them. There's that young master up at +Oakwood--that crooked slip as they used to say was a changeling-- +gets out o' window o' nights and sails with them." + +"He has nought to do with the robberies, they say," added the +coxswain; "but I could tell of many a young spark who has gone out +with the fair traders for the sport's sake, and because gentle folk +don't know what to do with their time." + +"And they do say the young chap is kept uncommon tight at home." + +Here the sight of a vessel of war coming in changed the topic, but +it had given Anne something more to think of. Peregrine had spoken +of means arranged for making her his own. Could that smuggling +yacht have anything to do with them? He could hardly have reckoned +on meeting her alone in the morning, but he might have attempted to +find her thus--or failing that, he might have run down the boat. If +so, she had a great deliverance to be thankful for, and Charles's +timely appearance had been a great blessing. But Peregrine! poor +Peregrine! it became doubly terrible that he should have perished on +the eve of such a deed. It was cruel to entertain such thoughts of +the dead, yet it was equally impossible not to feel comfort in being +rid for ever of one who had certainly justified the vague alarm +which he had always excited in her. She could not grieve for him +now that the first shock was over, but she must suppress all tokens +of her extreme anxiety on account of Charles Archfield. + +Thus she was landed at Portsmouth, and walked up the street to the +Spotted Dog, where Lady Worsley was taking an early noonchine before +starting for London, having crossed from the little fishing village +of Ryde. Here Anne parted with her uncle, who promised an early +letter, though she could hardly restrain a shudder at the thought of +the tidings that it might contain. + + + +CHAPTER XV: NEWS FROM FAREHAM + + +"My soul its secret hath, my life too hath its mystery. +Hopeless the evil is, I have not told its history." + +JEAN INGELOW. + +Lady Worsley was a handsome, commanding old dame, who soon made her +charge feel the social gulf between a county magnate and a +clergyman's niece. She decidedly thought that Mistress Anne +Jacobina held her head too high for her position, and was, moreover, +conceited of an unfortunate amount of good looks. + +Therefore the good lady did her best to repress these dangerous +tendencies by making the girl sit on the back seat with two maids, +and uttering long lectures on humility, modesty, and discretion +which made the blood of the sea-captain's daughter boil with +indignation. + +Yet she always carried with her the dread of being pursued and +called upon to accuse Charles Archfield of Peregrine's death. It +was a perpetual cloud, dispersed, indeed, for a time by the events +of the day, but returning at night, when not only was the combat +acted over again, but when she fell asleep it was only to be pursued +by Peregrine through endless vaulted dens of darkness, or, what was +far worse, to be trying to hide a stream of blood that could never +be stanched. + +It was no wonder that she looked pale in the morning, and felt so +tired and dejected as to make her sensible that she was cast loose +from home and friends when no one troubled her with remarks or +inquiries such as she could hardly have answered. However, when, on +the evening of the second day's journey, Anne was set down at Sir +Theophilus Oglethorpe's house at Westminster, she met with a very +different reception. + +Lady Oglethorpe, a handsome, warm-hearted Irish woman, met her at +once in the hall with outstretched hands, and a kiss on each cheek. + +"Come in, my dear, my poor orphan, the daughter of one who was very +dear to me! Ah, how you have grown! I could never have thought +this was the little Anne I recollect. You shall come up to your +chamber at once, and rest you, and make ready for supper, by the +time Sir Theophilus comes in from attending the King." + +Anne found herself installed in a fresh-smelling wainscotted room, +where a glass of wine and some cake was ready for her, and where she +made herself ready, feeling exhilarated in spirits as she performed +her toilette, putting on her black evening dress, and refreshing the +curls of her brown hair. It was a simple dress of deep mourning, +but it became her well, and the two or three gentlemen who had come +in to supper with Sir Theophilus evidently admired her greatly, and +complimented her on having a situation at Court, which was all that +Lady Oglethorpe mentioned. + +"Child," she said afterwards, when they were in private, "if I had +known what you looked like I would have sought a different position +for you. But, there, to get one's foot--were it but the toe of +one's shoe--in at Court is the great point after all, the rest must +come after. I warrant me you are well educated too. Can you speak +French?" + +"Oh yes, madam, and Italian, and dance and play on the spinnet. I +was with two French ladies at Winchester every winter who taught +such things." + +"Well, well, mayhap we may get you promoted to a sub-governess's +place--though your religion is against you. You are not a Catholic-- +eh?" + +"No, your ladyship." + +"That's the only road to favour nowadays, though for the name of the +thing they may have a Protestant or two. You are the King's +godchild too, so he will expect it the more from you. However, we +may find a better path. You have not left your heart in the +country, eh?" + +Anne blushed and denied it. + +"You will be mewed up close enough in the nursery," ran on Lady +Oglethorpe. "Lady Powys keeps close discipline there, and I expect +she will be disconcerted to see how fine a fish I have brought to +her net; but we will see--we will see how matters go. But, my dear, +have you no coloured clothes? There is no appearing in the Royal +household in private mourning. It might daunt the Prince's spirits +in his cradle!" and she laughed, though Anne felt much annoyed at +thus disregarding her mother, as well as at the heavy expense. +However, there was no help for it; the gowns and laces hidden in the +bottom of her mails were disinterred, and the former were for the +most part condemned, so that she had to submit to a fresh outfit, in +which Lady Oglethorpe heartily interested herself, but which drained +the purse that the Canon had amply supplied. + +These arrangements were not complete when the first letter from home +arrived, and was opened with a beating heart, and furtive glances as +of one who feared to see the contents, but they were by no means +what she expected. + +I hope you have arrived safely in London, and that you are not +displeased with your first taste of life in a Court. Neither +town nor country is exempt from sorrow and death. I was summoned +only on the second day after your departure to share in the +sorrows at Archfield, where the poor young wife died early on +Friday morning, leaving a living infant, a son, who, I hope, may +prove a blessing to them, if he is spared, which can scarcely be +expected. The poor young man, and indeed all the family, are in +the utmost distress, and truly there were circumstances that +render the event more than usually deplorable, and for which he +blames himself exceedingly, even to despair. It appears that the +poor young gentlewoman wished to add some trifle to the numerous +commissions with which she was entrusting you on the night of the +bonfire, and that she could not be pacified except by her husband +undertaking to ride over to give the patterns and the orders to +you before your setting forth. You said nothing of having seen +him--nor do I see how it was possible that you could have done +so, seeing that you only left your chamber just before the +breakfast that you never tasted, my poor child. He never +returned till long after noon, and what with fretting after him, +and disappointment, that happened which Lady Archfield had always +apprehended, and the poor fragile young creature worked herself +into a state which ended before midnight in the birth of a puny +babe, and her own death shortly after. She wanted two months of +completing her sixteenth year, and was of so frail a constitution +that Dr. Brown had never much hope of her surviving the birth of +her child. It was a cruel thing to marry her thus early, ungrown +in body or mind, but she had no one to care for her before she +was brought hither. The blame, as I tell Sir Philip, and would +fain persuade poor Charles, is really with those who bred her up +so uncontrolled as to be the victim of her humours; but the +unhappy youth will listen to no consolation. He calls himself a +murderer, shuts himself up, and for the most part will see and +speak to no one, but if forced by his father's command to unlock +his chamber door, returns at once to sit with his head hidden in +his arms crossed upon the table, and if father, mother, or sister +strive to rouse him and obtain answer from him, he will only +murmur forth, "I should only make it worse if I did." It is +piteous to see a youth so utterly overcome, and truly I think his +condition is a greater distress to our good friends than the loss +of the poor young wife. They asked him what name he would have +given to his child, but all the answer they could get was, "As +you will, only not mine;" and in the enforced absence of my +brother of Fareham I baptized him Philip. The funeral will take +place to-morrow, and Sir Philip proposes immediately after to +take his son to Oxford, and there endeavour to find a tutor of +mature age and of prudence, with whom he may either study at New +College or be sent on the grand tour. It is the only notion that +the poor lad has seemed willing to entertain, as if to get away +from his misery, and I cannot but think it well for him. He is +not yet twenty, and may, as it were, begin life again the wiser +and the better man for his present extreme sorrow. Lady +Archfield is greatly wrapped up in the care of the babe, who, I +fear, is in danger of being killed by overcare, if by nothing +else, though truly all is in the hands of God. I have scarce +quitted the afflicted family since I was summoned to them on +Friday, since Sir Philip has no one else on whom to depend for +comfort or counsel; and if I can obtain the services of Mr. Ellis +from Portsmouth for a few Sundays, I shall ride with him to +Oxford to assist in the choice of a tutor to go abroad with Mr. +Archfield. + +One interruption however I had, namely, from Major Oakshott, who +came in great perturbation to ask what was the last I had seen of +his son Peregrine. It appears that the unfortunate young man +never returned home after the bonfire on Portsdown Hill, where +his brother Robert lost sight of him, and after waiting as long +as he durst, returned home alone. It has become known that after +parting with us high words passed between him and Lieutenant +Sedley Archfield, insomuch that after the unhappy fashion of +these times, blood was demanded, and early in the morning Sedley +sent the friend who was to act as second to bear the challenge to +young Oakshott. You can conceive the reception that he was +likely to receive at Oakwood; but it was then discovered that +Peregrine had not been in his bed all night, nor had any one seen +or heard of him. Sedley boasts loudly that the youngster has +fled the country for fear of him, and truly things have that +appearance, although to my mind Peregrine was far from wanting in +spirit or courage. But, as he had not received the cartel, he +might not have deemed his honour engaged to await it, and I +incline to the belief that he is on his way to his uncle in +Muscovy, driven thereto by his dread of the marriage with the +gentlewoman whom he holds in so much aversion. I have striven to +console his father by the assurance that such tidings of him will +surely arrive in due time, but the Major is bitterly grieved, and +is galled by the accusation of cowardice. "He could not even be +true to his own maxims of worldly honour," says the poor +gentleman. "So true it is that only by grace we stand fast." +The which is true enough, but the poor gentleman unwittingly did +his best to make grace unacceptable in his son's eyes. I trust +soon to hear again of you, my dear child. I rejoice that Lady +Oglethorpe is so good to you, and I hope that in the palace you +will guard first your faith and then your discretion. And so +praying always for your welfare, alike spiritual and temporal.-- +Your loving uncle, JNO. WOODFORD. + +Truly it was well that Anne had secluded herself to read this +letter. + +So the actual cause for which poor Charles Archfield had entreated +silence was at an end. The very evil he had apprehended had come to +pass, and she could well understand how, on his return in a horror- +stricken, distracted state of mind, the childish petulance of his +wife had worried him into loss of temper, so that he hardly knew +what he said. And what must not his agony of remorse be? She could +scarcely imagine how he had avoided confessing all as a mere relief +to his mind, but then she reflected that when he called himself a +murderer the words were taken in another sense, and no questions +asked, nor would he be willing to add such grief and shame to his +parents' present burthen, especially as no suspicion existed. + +That Peregrine's fate had not been discovered greatly relieved her. +She believed the vault to go down to a considerable depth after a +first platform of stone near the opening, and it was generally +avoided as the haunt of hobgoblins, fairies, or evil beings, so that +no one was likely to be in its immediate neighbourhood after the hay +was carried, so that there might have been nothing to attract any +one to the near neighbourhood and thus lead to the discovery. If +not made by this time, Charles would be far away, and there was +nothing to connect him with the deed. No one save herself had even +known of his having been near the castle that morning. How strange +that the only persons aware of that terrible secret should be so far +separated from one another that they could exchange no confidences; +and each was compelled to absolute silence. For as long as no one +else was suspected, Anne felt her part must be not to betray +Charles, though the bare possibility of the accusation of another +was agony to her. + +She wrote her condolences in due form to Fareham, and in due time +was answered by Lucy Archfield. The letter was full of details +about the infant, who seemed to absorb her and her mother, and to be +as likely to live as any child of those days ever was--and it was in +his favour that his grandmother and her old nurse had better notions +of management than most of her contemporaries. In spite of all that +Lucy said of her brother's overwhelming grief, and the melancholy of +thus parting with him, there was a strain of cheerfulness throughout +the letter, betraying that the poor young wife of less than a year +was no very great loss to the peace and comfort of the family. The +letter ended with-- + +There is a report that Sir Peregrine Oakshott is dead in Muscovy. +Nothing has been heard of that unfortunate young man at Oakwood. +If he be gone in quest of his uncle, I wonder what will become of +him? However, nurse will have it that this being the third +seventh year of his life, the fairies have carried off their +changeling--you remember how she told us the story of his being +changed as an infant, when we were children at Winchester; she +believes it as much as ever, and never let little Philip out of +her sight before he was baptized. I ask her, if the changeling +be gone, where is the true Peregrine? but she only wags her head +in answer. + +A day or two later Anne heard from her uncle from Oxford. He was +extremely grieved at the condition of his beloved alma mater, with a +Roman Catholic Master reigning at University College, a doctor from +the Sorbonne and Fellows to match, inflicted by military force on +Magdalen, whose lawful children had been ejected with a violence +beyond anything that the colleges had suffered even in the time of +the Rebellion. If things went on as they were, he pronounced Oxford +would be no better than a Popish seminary: and he had the more +readily induced his old friend to consent to Charles's desire not to +remain there as a student, but to go abroad with Mr. Fellowes, one +of the expelled fellows of Magdalen, a clergyman of mature age, but +a man of the world, who had already acted as a travelling tutor. +Considering that the young widower was not yet twenty, and that all +his wife's wealth would be in his hands, also that his cousin Sedley +formed a dangerous link with the questionable diversions of the +garrison at Portsmouth, both father and friend felt that it was well +that he should be out of reach, and have other occupations for the +present. + +Change of scene had, Dr. Woodford said, brightened the poor youth, +and he was showing more interest in passing events, but probably he +would never again be the light-hearted boy they used to know. + +Anne could well believe it. + + + +CHAPTER XVI: A ROYAL NURSERY + + +"The duty that I owe unto your Majesty +I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe." + +King Richard III. + +It was not till the Queen had moved from St. James's, where her son +had been born, to take up her abode at Whitehall, that Lady +Oglethorpe was considered to be disinfected from her children's +whooping-cough, and could conduct Mistress Anne Jacobina Woodford to +her new situation. + +Anne remembered the place from times past, as she followed the lady +up the broad stairs to the state rooms, where the child was daily +carried for inspection by the nation to whom, it was assumed, he was +so welcome, but who, on the contrary, regarded him with the utmost +dislike and suspicion. + +Whitehall was, in those days, free to all the world, and though +sentries in the Life-guards' uniform with huge grenadier caps were +posted here and there, every one walked up and down. Members of +Parliament and fine gentlemen in embroidered coats and flowing wigs +came to exchange news; country cousins came to stare and wonder, +some to admire, some to whisper their disbelief in the Prince's +identity; clergy in gown, cassock, and bands came to win what they +could in a losing cause; and one or two other clergy, who were +looked at askance, whose dress had a foreign air, and whose tonsure +could be detected as they threaded their way with quick, gliding +steps to the King's closet. + +Lady Oglethorpe, as one to the manner born, made her way through the +midst of this throng in the magnificent gallery, and Anne followed +her closely, conscious of words of admiration and inquiries who she +was. Into the Prince's presence chamber, in fact his day-nursery, +they came, and a sweet and gentle-looking lady met them, and +embraced Lady Oglethorpe, who made known Mistress Woodford to Lady +Strickland, of Sizergh, the second governess, as the fourth rocker +who had been appointed. + +"You are welcome, Miss Woodford," said the lady, looking at Anne's +high, handsome head and well-bred action in courtesying, with a +shade of surprise. "You are young, but I trust you are discreet. +There is much need thereof." + +Following to a kind of alcove, raised by a step or two, Anne found +herself before a half-circle of ladies and gentlemen round a chair +of state, in front of which stood a nurse, with an infant in her +arms, holding him to be caressed and inspected by the lady on the +throne. Her beautiful soft dark eyes and hair, and an ivory +complexion, with her dignified and graceful bearing, her long, +slender throat and exquisite figure, were not so much concealed as +enhanced by the simple mob cap and 'night-gown,' as it was then the +fashion to call a morning wrapper, which she wore, and Anne's first +impression was that no wonder Peregrine raved about her. Poor +Peregrine! that very thought came like a stab, as, after courtesying +low, she stood at the end of the long room--silent, and observing. + +A few gentlemen waited by the opposite door, but not coming far into +the apartment, and Lady Oglethorpe was announced by one of them. +The space was so great that Anne could not hear the words, and she +only saw the gracious smile and greeting as Lady Oglethorpe knelt +and kissed the Queen's hand. After a long conversation between the +mothers, during which Lady Oglethorpe was accommodated with a +cushion, Anne was beckoned forward, and was named to the Queen, who +honoured her with an inclination of the head and a few low murmured +words. + +Then there was an announcement of 'His Majesty,' and Anne, following +the general example of standing back with low obeisances, beheld the +tall active figure and dark heavy countenance of her Royal +godfather, under his great black, heavily-curled wig. He returned +Lady Oglethorpe's greeting, and his face lighted up with a pleasant +smile that greatly changed the expression as he took his child into +his arms for a few moments; but the little one began to cry, +whereupon he was carried off, and the King began to consult Lady +Oglethorpe upon the water-gruel on which the poor little Prince was +being reared, and of which she emphatically disapproved. + +Before he left the room, however, Lady Oglethorpe took care to +present to him his god-daughter, Mistress Anne Jacobina Woodford, +and very low was the girl's obeisance before him, but with far more +fright and shyness than before the sweet-faced Queen. + +"Oh ay!" he said, "I remember honest Will Woodford. He did good +service at Southwold. I wish he had left a son like him. Have you +a brother, young mistress?" + +"No, please your Majesty, I am an only child." + +"More's the pity," he said kindly, and with a smile brightening his +heavy features. "'Tis too good a breed to die out. You are +Catholic?" + +"I am bred in the English Church, so please your Majesty." + +His Majesty was evidently less pleased than before, but he only +said, "Ha! and my godchild! We must amend that," and waved her +aside. + +The royal interview over, the newcomer was presented to the State +Governess, the Countess of Powys, a fair and gracious matron, who +was, however, almost as far removed from her as the Queen. Then she +was called on to take a solemn oath before the Master of the +Household, of dutiful loyalty to the Prince. + +Mrs. Labadie was head nurse as well as being wife to the King's +French valet. She was a kindly, portly Englishwoman, who seemed +wrapped up in her charge, and she greeted her new subordinate in a +friendly way, which, however, seemed strange in one who at home +would have been of an inferior degree, expressed hopes of her +steadiness and discretion, and called to Miss Dunord to show Miss +Woodford her chamber. The abbreviation Miss sounded familiar and +unsuitable, but it had just come into use for younger spinsters, +though officially they were still termed Mistress. + +Mistress or Miss Dunord was sallow and gray-eyed, somewhat older +than Anne, and looking thoroughly French, though her English was +perfect. She was entirely dressed in blue and white, and had a +rosary and cross at her girdle. "This way," she said, tripping up a +steep wooden stair. "We sleep above. 'Tis a huge, awkward place. +Her Majesty calls it the biggest and most uncomfortable palace she +ever was in." + +Opening a heavy door, she showed a room of considerable size, hung +with faded frayed tapestry, and containing two huge bedsteads, with +four heavy posts, and canopies of wood, as near boxes as could well +be. Privacy was a luxury not ordinarily coveted, and the +arrangement did not surprise Anne, though she could have wished that +on that summer day curtains and tapestry had been less fusty. Two +young women were busy over a dress spread on one of the beds, and +with French ease and grace the guide said, "Here is our new +colleague, Miss Jacobina Woodford. Let me present Miss Hester +Bridgeman and Miss Jane Humphreys." + +"Miss Woodford is welcome," said Miss Bridgeman, a keen, brown, +lively, somewhat anxious-looking person, courtesying and holding out +her hand, and her example was followed by Jane Humphreys, a stout, +rosy, commonplace girl. + +"Oh! I am glad," this last cried. "Now I shall have a bedfellow." + +This Anne was the less sorry for, as she saw that the bed of the +other two was furnished with a holy water stoup and a little shrine +with a waxen Madonna. There was only one looking-glass among the +four, and not much apparatus either for washing or the toilet, but +Miss Bridgeman believed that they would soon go to Richmond, where +things would be more comfortable. Then she turned to consult Miss +Dunord on her endeavour to improve the trimmings of a dress of Miss +Humphreys. + +"Yes, I know you are always in Our Lady's colours, Pauline, but you +have a pretty taste, and can convince Jane that rose colour and +scarlet cannot go together." + +"My father chose the ribbons," said Jane, as if that were +unanswerable. + +"City taste," said Miss Bridgeman. + +"They are pretty, very pretty with anything else," observed Pauline, +with more tact. "See, now, with your white embroidered petticoat +and the gray train they are ravishing--and the scarlet coat will +enliven the black." + +There was further a little murmur about what a Mr. Hopkins admired, +but it was lost in the arrival of Miss Woodford's mails. + +They clustered round, as eager as a set of schoolgirls, over Anne's +dresses. Happily even the extreme of fashion had not then become +ungraceful. + +"Her Majesty will not have the loose drapery that folks used to +wear," said Hester Bridgeman. + +"No," said Pauline; "it was all very well for those who could +dispose it with an artless negligence, but for some I could name, it +was as though they had tumbled it on with a hay-fork and had their +hair tousled by being tickled in the hay." + +"Now we have the tight bodice with plenty of muslin and lace, the +gown open below to show the petticoat," said Hester; "and to my mind +it is more decorous." + +"Decorum was not the vogue then," laughed Pauline, "perhaps it will +be now. Oh, what lovely lace! real Flanders, on my word! Where did +you get it, Miss Woodford?" + +"It was my mother's." + +"And this? Why, 'tis old French point, you should hang it to your +sleeves." + +"My Lady Archfield gave it to me in case I should need it." + +"Ah! I see you have good friends and are a person of some +condition," put in Hester Bridgeman. "I shall be happy to consort +with you. Let us--" + +Anne courtesied, and at the moment a bell was heard, Pauline at once +crossed herself and fell on her knees before the small shrine with a +figure of the Blessed Virgin, and Hester, breaking off her words, +followed her example; but Jane Humphreys stood twisting the corner +of her apron. + +In a very short time, almost before Anne had recovered from her +bewilderment, the other two were up and chattering again. + +"You are not a Catholic?" demanded Miss Bridgeman. + +"I was bred in the Church," said Anne. + +"And you the King's godchild!" exclaimed Pauline. "But we shall +soon amend that and make a convert of you like Miss Bridgeman +there." + +Anne shook her head, but was glad to ask, "And what means the bell +that is ringing now?" + +"That is the supper bell. It rings just after the Angelus," said +Hester. "No, it is not ours. The great folks, Lady Powys, Lady +Strickland, and the rest sup first. We have the dishes after them, +with Nurses Labadie and Royer and the rest--no bad ones either. +They are allowed five dishes and two bottles of wine apiece, and +they always leave plenty for us, and it is served hot too." + +The preparations for going down to the second table now absorbed the +party. + +As Hester said, the fare at this second table was not to be +despised. It was a formal meal shared with the two nurses and the +two pages of the backstairs. Not the lads usually associated with +the term, but men of mature age, and of gentle, though not noble, +birth and breeding; and there were likewise the attendants of the +King and Queen of the same grade, such as Mr. Labadie, the King's +valet, some English, but besides these, Dusian, the Queen's French +page, and Signer and Signora Turini, who had come with her from +Modena, Pere Giverlai, her confessor, and another priest. Pere +Giverlai said grace, and the conversation went on briskly between +the elders, the younger ones being supposed to hold their peace. + +Their dishes went in reversion to the inferior class of servants, +laundress, sempstress, chambermaids, and the like, who had much more +liberty than their betters, and not such a lack of occupation as +Anne soon perceived that she should suffer from. + +There was, however, a great muster of all the Prince's +establishment, who stood round, as many as could, with little +garments in their hands, while he was solemnly undressed and laid in +his richly inlaid and carved cradle--over which Pere Giverlai +pronounced a Latin benediction. + +The nursery establishment was then released, except one of the +nurses, who was to sleep or wake on a couch by his side, and one of +the rockers. These damsels had, two at a time, to divide the night +between them, one being always at hand to keep the food warm, touch +the rocker at need with her foot, or call up the nurse on duty if +the child awoke, but not presume herself to handle his little Royal +Highness. + +It was the night when Mistresses Dunord and Bridgeman were due, and +Anne followed Jane Humphreys to her room, asking a little about the +duties of the morrow. + +"We must be dressed before seven," said the girl. "One of us will +be left on duty while the others go to Mass. I am glad you are a +Protestant, Miss Woodford, for the Catholics put everything on me +that they can." + +"We must do our best to help and strengthen each other," said Anne. + +"It is very hard," said Jane; "and the priests are always at me! I +would change as Hester Bridgeman has done, but that I know it would +break my grand-dame's heart. My father might not care so much, if I +got advancement, but I believe it would kill my grandmother." + +"Advancement! oh, but faith comes first," exclaimed Anne, recalling +the warning. + +"Hester says one religion is as good as another to get to Heaven +by," murmured Jane. + +"Not if we deny our own for the world's sake," said Anne. "Is the +chapel here a Popish one?" + +"No; the Queen has an Oratory, but the Popish chapel is at St. +James's--across the Park. The Protestant one is here at Whitehall, +and there are daily prayers at nine o'clock, and on Sunday music +with three fiddlers, and my grandmother says it might almost as well +be Popish at once." + +"Did your grandmother bring you up?" + +"Yes. My mother died when I was seven years old, and my grandmother +bred us all up. You should hear her talk of the good old times +before the Kings came back and there were no Bishops and no book +prayers--but my father says we must swim with the stream, or he +would not have got any custom at his coffee-house." + +"Is that his calling?" + +"Ay! No one has a better set of guests than in the Golden Lamb. +The place is full. The great Dr. Hammond sees his patients there, +and it is all one buzz of the wits. It was because of that that my +Lord Sunderland made interest, and got me here. How did you come?" + +Anne briefly explained, and Jane broke out-- + +"Then you will be my friend, and we will tell each other all our +secrets. You are a Protestant too. You will be mine, and not +Bridgeman's or Dunord's--I hate them." + +In point of fact Anne did not feel much attracted by the proffer of +friendship, and she certainly did not intend to tell Jane Humphreys +all her secrets, nor to vow enmity to the other colleagues, but she +gravely answered that she trusted they would be friends and help to +maintain one another's faith. She was relieved that Miss Bridgeman +here came in to take her first turn of rest till she was to be +called up at one o'clock. + +As Jane Humphreys had predicted, Mrs. Royer and Anne alone were left +in charge of the nursling while every one went to morning Mass. +Then followed breakfast and the levee of his Royal Highness, lasting +as on the previous day till dinner-time; and the afternoon was as +before, except that the day was fine enough for the child to be +carried out with all his attendants behind him to take the air in +the private gardens. + +If this was to be the whole course of life at the palace, Anne began +to feel that she had made a great mistake. She was by no means +attracted by her companions, though Miss Bridgeman decided that she +must know persons of condition, and made overtures of friendship, to +be sealed by calling one another Oriana and Portia. She did not +approve of such common names as Princess Anne and Lady Churchill +used--Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman! They must have something better +than what was used by the Cockpit folks, and she was sure that her +dear Portia would soon be of the only true faith. + + + +CHAPTER XVII: MACHINATIONS + + +"Baby born to woe." + +F. T. PALGRAVE. + +When Anne Woodford began to wake from the constant thought of the +grief and horror she had left at Portchester, and to feel more alive +to her surroundings and less as if they were a kind of dream, in +which she only mechanically took her part, one thing impressed +itself on her gradually, and that was disappointment. If the +previous shock had not blunted all her hopes and aspirations, +perhaps she would have felt it sooner and more keenly; but she could +not help realising that she had put herself into an inferior +position whence there did not seem to be the promotion she had once +anticipated. Her companion rockers were of an inferior grade to +herself. Jane Humphreys was a harmless but silly girl, not much +wiser, though less spoilt, than poor little Madam, and full of +Cockney vulgarities. Education was unfashionable just then, and +though Hester Bridgeman was bettor born and bred, being the daughter +of an attorney in the city, she was not much better instructed, and +had no pursuits except that of her own advantage. Pauline Dunord +was by far the best of the three, but she seemed to live a life +apart, taking very little interest in her companions or anything +around her except her devotions and the bringing them over to her +Church. The nursery was quite a separate establishment; there was +no mingling with the guests of royalty, who were only seen in +excited peeps from the window, or when solemnly introduced to the +presence chamber to pay their respects to the Prince. As to books, +the only secular one that Anne saw while at Whitehall was an odd +volume of Parthenissa. The late King's summary of the Roman +controversy was to be had in plenty, and nothing was more evident +than that the only road to favour or promotion was in being thereby +convinced. + +"Don't throw it down as if it were a hot chestnut," said her Oriana. +"That's what they all do at first, but they come to it at last." + +Anne made no answer, but a pang smote her as she thought of her +uncle's warnings. Yet surely she might hope for other modes of +prospering, she who was certainly by far the best looking and best +educated of all the four, not that this served her much in her +present company, and those of higher rank did not notice her at all. +Princess Anne would surely recollect her, and then she might be safe +in a Protestant household, where her uncle would be happy about her. + +The Princess had been at Bath when first she arrived, but at the end +of a week preparations were made at the Cockpit, a sort of appendage +to Whitehall, where the Prince and Princess of Denmark lived, and in +due time there was a visit to the nursery. Standing in full +ceremony behind Lady Powys, Anne saw the plump face and form she +recollected in the florid bloom of a young matron, not without a +certain royal dignity in the pose of the head, though in grace and +beauty far surpassed by the tall, elegant figure and face of Lady +Churchill, whose bright blue eyes seemed to be taking in everything +everywhere. Anne's heart began to beat high at the sight of a once +familiar face, and with hopes of a really kind word from one who as +an elder girl had made much of the pretty little plaything. The +Princess Anne's countenance was, however, less good-natured than +usual; her mouth was made up to a sullen expression, and when her +brother was shown to her she did not hold out her arms to him nor +vouchsafe a kiss. + +The Queen looked at her wistfully, asking-- + +"Is he not like the King?" + +"Humph!" returned Princess Anne, "I see no likeness to any living +soul of our family." + +"Nay, but see his little nails," said the Queen, spreading the tiny +hand over her finger. "See how like your father's they are framed! +My treasure, you can clasp me!" + +"My brother, Edgar! He was the beauty," said the Princess. "_He_ +was exactly like my father; but there's no judging of anything so +puny as this!" + +"He was very suffering last week, the poor little angel," said the +mother sadly; "but they say this water-gruel is very nourishing, and +not so heavy as milk." + +"It does not look as if it agreed with him," said the Princess. +"Poor little mammet! Did I hear that you had the little Woodford +here? Is that you, girl?" + +Anne courtesied herself forward. + +"Ay, I remember you. I never forget a face, and you have grown up +fair enough. Where's your mother?" + +"I lost her last February, so please your Royal Highness." + +"Oh! She was a good woman. Why did she not send you to me? Well, +well! Come to my toilette to-morrow." + +So Princess Anne swept away in her rich blue brocade. Her behest +was obeyed, of course, though it was evidently displeasing to the +nursery authorities, and Lady Strickland gave a warning to be +discreet and to avoid gossip with the Cockpit folks. + +Anne could not but be excited. Perhaps the Princess would ask for +her, and take her into the number of her own attendants, where she +would no longer be in a Romish household, and would certainly be in +a higher position. Why, she remembered that very Lady Churchill as +Sarah Jennings in no better a position than she could justly aspire +to. Her coming to Court would thus be truly justified. + +The Princess sat in a silken wrapper, called a night-gown, in her +chamber, which had a richly-curtained bed in the alcove, and a +toilet-table with a splendid Venetian mirror, and a good deal of +silver sparkling on it, while a strange mixture of perfumes came +from the various boxes and bottles. Ladies and tirewomen stood in +attendance; a little black boy in a turban and gold-embroidered +dress held a salver with her chocolate cup; a cockatoo soliloquised +in low whispers in the window; a monkey was chained to a pole at a +safe distance from him; a French friseur was manipulating the +Princess's profuse brown hair with his tongs; and a needy-looking, +pale thin man, in a semi-clerical suit, was half-reading, half- +declaiming a poem, in which 'Fair Anna' seemed mixed up with Juno, +Ceres, and other classical folk, but to which she was evidently +paying very little attention. + +"Ah! there you are, little one. Thank you, Master--what's name; +that is enough. 'Tis a fine poem, but I never can remember which is +which of all your gods and goddesses. Oh yes, I accept the +dedication. Give him a couple of guineas, Ellis; it will serve him +for board and lodging for a fortnight, poor wretch!" Then, after +giving a smooth, well-shaped white hand to be kissed, and inviting +her visitor to a cushion at her feet, she began a long series of +questions, kindly ones at first, though of the minute gossiping +kind, and extending to the Archfields, for poor young Madam had been +of the rank about which royalty knew everything in those days. The +inquiries were extremely minute, and the comments what from any one +else, Anne would have thought vulgar, especially in the presence of +the hairdresser, but her namesake observed her blush and hesitation, +and said, "Oh, never mind a creature like that. He is French, +besides, and does not understand a word we say." + +Anne, looking over the Princess's head, feared that she saw a +twinkle in the man's eye, and could only look down and try to ignore +him through the catechism that ensued, on when she came to +Whitehall, on the Prince of Wales's health, the management of him, +and all the circumstances connected with his birth. + +Very glad was Anne that she knew nothing, and had not picked up any +information as to what had happened before she came to the palace. +As to the present, Lady Strickland's warning and her own sense of +honour kept her reticent to a degree that evidently vexed the +Princess, for she dropped her caressing manner, and sent her away +with a not very kind, "You may go now; you will be turning Papist +next, and what would your poor mother say?" + +And as Anne departed in backward fashion she heard Lady Churchill +say, "You will make nothing of her. She is sharper than she +affects, and a proud minx! I see it in her carriage." + +The visit had only dashed a few hopes and done her harm with her +immediate surroundings, who always disliked and distrusted +intercourse with the other establishment. + +However, in another day the nursery was moved to Richmond. This was +a welcome move to Anne, who had spent her early childhood near +enough to be sometimes taken thither, and to know the Park well, so +that there was a home feeling in the sight of the outline of the +trees and the scenery of the neighbourhood. The Queen intended +going to Bath, so that the establishment was only that of the +Prince, and the life was much quieter on the whole; but there was no +gratifying any yearning for country walks, for it was not safe nor +perhaps decorous for one young woman to be out alone in a park open +to the public and haunted by soldiers from Hounslow--nor could +either of her fellow-rockers understand her preference for a +secluded path through the woods. Miss Dunord never went out at all, +except on duty, when the Prince was carried along the walks in the +garden, and the other two infinitely preferred the open spaces, +where tables were set under the horse-chestnut trees for parties who +boated down from London to eat curds and whey, sometimes bringing a +fiddler so as to dance under the trees. + +Jane Humphreys especially was always looking out for acquaintances, +and once, with a cry of joy, a stout, homely-looking young woman +started up, exclaiming, "Sister Jane!" and flew into her arms. Upon +which Miss Woodford was introduced to 'My sister Coles' and her +husband, and had to sit down under a tree and share the festivities, +while there was an overflow of inquiries and intelligence, domestic +and otherwise. Certainly these were persons whom she would not have +treated as equals at home. + +Besides, it was all very well to hear of the good old grandmother's +rheumatics, and of little Tommy's teething, and even to see Jane +hang her head and be teased about remembering Mr. Hopkins; nor was +it wonderful to hear lamentations over the extreme dulness of the +life where one never saw a creature to speak to who was not as old +as the hills; but when it came to inquiries as minute as the +Princess's about the Prince of Wales, Anne thought the full details +lavishly poured out scarcely consistent with loyalty to their oaths +of service and Lady Strickland's warning, and she told Jane so. + +She was answered, "Oh la! what harm can it do? You are such a proud +peat! Grand-dame and sister like to know all about His Royal +Highness." + +This was true; but Anne was far more uncomfortable two or three days +later. The Prince was ailing, so much so that Lady Powys had sent +an express for the Queen, who had not yet started for Bath, when +Anne and Jane, being relieved from duty by the other pair, went out +for a stroll. + +"Oh la!" presently exclaimed Jane, "if that is not Colonel Sands, +the Princess's equerry. I do declare he is coming to speak to us, +though he is one of the Cockpit folks." + +He was a very fine gentleman indeed, all scarlet and gold, and no +wonder Jane was flattered and startled, so that she jerked her fan +violently up and down as he accosted her with a wave of his cocked +hat, saying that he was rejoiced to meet these two fair ladies, +having been sent by the Princess of Denmark to inquire for the +health of the Prince. She was very anxious to know more than could +be learnt by formal inquiry, he said, and he was happy to have met +the young gentlewomen who could gratify him. + +The term 'gentlewoman' highly flattered Miss Humphreys, who blushed +and bridled, and exclaimed, "Oh la, sir!" but Anne thought it +needful to say gravely-- + +"We are in trust, sir, and have no right to speak of what passes +within the royal household." + +"Madam, I admire your discretion, but to the--(a-hem)--sister of +the--(a-hem)--Prince of Wales it is surely uncalled for." + +"Miss Woodford is so precise," said Jane Humphreys, with a giggle; +"I do not know what harm can come of saying that His Royal Highness +peaks and pines just as he did before." + +"He is none the better for country air then?" + +"Oh no? except that he cries louder. Such a time as we had last +night! Mrs. Royer never slept a wink all the time I was there, but +walked about with him all night. You had the best of it, Miss +Woodford." + +"He slept while I was there," said Anne briefly, not thinking it +needful to state that the tired nurse had handed the child over to +her, and that he had fallen asleep in her arms. She tried to put an +end to the conversation by going indoors, but she was vexed to find +that, instead of following her closely, Miss Humphreys was still +lingering with the equerry. + +Anne found the household in commotion. Pauline met her, weeping +bitterly, and saying the Prince had had a fit, and all hope was +over, and in the rockers' room, she found Hester Bridgeman +exclaiming that her occupation was gone. Water-gruel, she had no +doubt, had been the death of the Prince. The Queen was come, and +wellnigh distracted. She had sent out in quest of a wet-nurse, but +it was too late; he was going the way of all Her Majesty's children. + +Going down again together the two girls presently had to stand aside +as the poor Queen, seeing and hearing nothing, came towards her own +room with her handkerchief over her face. They pressed each other's +hands awe-stricken, and went on to the nursery. There Mrs. Labadie +was kneeling over the cradle, her hood hanging over her face, crying +bitterly over the poor little child, who had a blue look about his +face, and seemed at the last gasp, his features contorted by a +convulsion. + +At that moment Jane Humphreys was seen gently opening the door and +letting in Colonel Sands, who moved as quietly as possible, to give +a furtive look at the dying child. His researches were cut short, +however. Lady Strickland, usually the gentlest of women, darted out +and demanded what he was doing in her nursery. + +He attempted to stammer some excuse about Princess Anne, but Lady +Strickland only answered by standing pointing to the door and he was +forced to retreat in a very undignified fashion. + +"Who brought him?" she demanded, when the door was shut. "Those +Cockpit folk are not to come prying here, hap what may!" + +Miss Humphreys had sped away for fear of questions being asked, and +attention was diverted by Mrs. Royer arriving with a stout, healthy- +looking young woman in a thick home-spun cloth petticoat, no +stockings, and old shoes, but with a clean white cap on her head--a +tilemaker's wife who had been captured in the village. + +No sooner was the suffering, half-starved child delivered over to +her than he became serene and contented. The water-gruel regime was +over, and he began to thrive from that time. Even when later in the +afternoon the King himself brought in Colonel Sands, whom in the joy +of his heart he had asked to dine with him, the babe lay tranquilly +on the cradle, waving his little hands and looking happy. + +The intrusion seemed to have been forgotten, but that afternoon +Anne, who had been sent on a message to one of the Queen's ladies, +more than suspected that she saw Jane in a deep recess of a window +in confabulation with the Colonel. And when they were alone at bed- +time the girl said-- + +"Is it not droll? The Colonel cannot believe that 'tis the same +child. He has been joking and teasing me to declare that we have a +dead Prince hidden somewhere, and that the King showed him the +brick-bat woman's child." + +"How can you prattle in that mischievous way--after what Lady +Strickland said, too? You do not know what harm you may do!" + +"Oh lack, it was all a jest!" + +"I am not so sure that it was." + +"But you will not tell of me, dear friend, you will not. I never +saw Lady Strickland like that; I did not know she could be in such a +rage." + +"No wonder, when a fellow like that came peeping and prying like a +raven to see whether the poor babe was still breathing," cried Anne +indignantly. "How could you bring him in?" + +"Fellow indeed! Why he is a colonel in the Life-guards, and the +Princess's equerry; and who has a right to know about the child if +not his own sister--or half-sister?" + +"She is not a very loving sister," replied Anne. "You know well, +Jane, how many would not be sorry to make out that it is as that man +would fain have you say." + +"Well, I told him it was no such thing, and laughed the very notion +to scorn." + +"It were better not to talk with him at all." + +"But you will not speak of it. If I were turned away my father +would beat me. Nay, I know not what he might not do to me. You +will not tell, dear darling Portia, and I will love you for ever." + +"I have no call to tell," said Anne coldly, but she was disgusted +and weary, and moreover not at all sure that she, as the other +Protestant rocker, and having been in the Park on that same day, was +not credited with some of the mischievous gossip that had passed. + +"There, Portia, that is what you get by walking with that stupid +Humphreys," said Oriana. "She knows no better than to blab to any +one who will be at the trouble to seem sweet upon her, though she +may get nothing by it." + +"Would it be better if she did?" asked Anne. + +"Oh well, we must all look out for ourselves, and I am sure there is +no knowing what may come next. But I hear we are to move to Windsor +as soon as the child is strong enough, so as to be farther out of +reach of the Cockpit tongues." + +This proved to be true, but the Prince and his suite were not lodged +in the Castle itself, a house in the cloisters being thought more +suitable, and here the Queen visited her child daily, for since that +last alarm she could not bear to be long absent from him. Such +emissaries as Colonel Sands did not again appear, but after that +precedent Lady Strickland had become much more unwilling to allow +any of those under her authority to go out into any public place, +and the rockers seldom got any exercise except as swelling the +Prince's train when he was carried out to take the air. + +Anne looked with longing eyes at the Park, but a ramble there was a +forbidden pleasure. She could not always even obtain leave to +attend St. George's Chapel; the wish was treated as a sort of +weakness, or folly, and she was always the person selected to stay +at home when any religious ceremony called away the rest of the +establishment. + +As the King's god-daughter it was impressed on her that she ought to +conform to his Church, and one of the many priests about the Court +was appointed to instruct her. In the dearth of all intellectual +intercourse, and the absolute deficiency of books, she could not but +become deeply interested in the arguments. Her uncle had forearmed +her with instruction, and she wrote to him on any difficulty which +arose, and this became the chief occupation of her mind, distracting +her thoughts from the one great cloud that hung over her memory. +Indeed one of the foremost bulwarks her feelings erected to fortify +her conscience against the temptations around, was the knowledge +that she would have, though of course under seal of confession, to +relate that terrible story to a priest. + +Hester Bridgeman could not imagine how her Portia could endure to +hear the old English Prayer-book droned out. For her part, she +liked one thing or the other, either a rousing Nonconformist sermon +in a meeting-house or a splendid Mass. + +"But, after all," as Anne overheard her observing to Miss Dunord, +"it may be all the better for us. What with her breeding and her +foreign tongues, she would be sure to be set over our heads as +under-governess, or the like, if she were not such an obstinate +heretic, and keeping that stupid Humphreys so. We could have +converted her long ago, if it were not for that Woodford and for her +City grand-dame! Portia is the King's godchild, too, so it is just +as well that she does not see what is for her own advantage." + +"I do not care for promotion. I only want to save my own soul and +hers," said Pauline. "I wish she would come over to the true +Church, for I could love her." + +And certainly Pauline Dunord's gentle devotional example, and her +perfect rest and peace in the practice of her religion, were strong +influences with Anne. She was waiting till circumstances should +make it possible to her to enter a convent, and in the meantime she +lived a strictly devout life, abstracted as far as duty and kindness +permitted from the little cabals and gossipry around. + +Anne could not help feeling that the girl was as nearly a saint as +any one she had ever seen--far beyond herself in goodness. +Moreover, the Queen inspired strong affection. Mary Beatrice was +not only a very beautiful person, full of the grace and dignity of +the House of Este, but she was deeply religious, good and gentle, +kindly and gracious to all who approached her, and devoted to her +husband and child. A word or look from her was always a delight, +and Anne, by her knowledge of Italian, was able sometimes to obtain +a smiling word or remark. + +The little Prince, after those first miserable weeks of his life, +had begun to thrive, and by and by manifested a decided preference +not only for his beautiful mother, but for the fresh face, bright +smile, and shining brown eyes of Miss Woodford. She could almost +always, with nods and becks, avert a passion of roaring, which +sometimes went beyond the powers of even his foster-mother, the +tiler's wife. The Queen watched with delight when he laughed and +flourished his arms in response, and the King was summoned to see +the performance, which he requited by taking out a fat gold watch +set with pearls, and presenting it to Anne, as his grave gloomy face +lighted up with a smile. + +"Are you yet one of us?" he asked, as she received his gift on her +knee. + +"No, sir, I cannot--" + +"That must be amended. You have read his late Majesty's paper?" + +"I have, sir." + +"And seen Father Giverlai?" + +"Yes, please your Majesty." + +"And still you are not convinced. That must not be. I would gladly +consider and promote you, but I can only have true Catholics around +my son. I shall desire Father Crump to see you." + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: HALLOWMAS EVE + + + "This more strange +Than such a murder is." + +Macbeth. + +"Bambino mio, bambino mio," wailed Mary Beatrice, as she pressed her +child to her bosom, and murmured to him in her native tongue. "And +did they say he was not his mother's son, his poor mother, whose +dearest treasure he is! Oime, crudeli, crudelissimi! Even his +sisters hate him and will not own him, the little jewel of his +mother's heart!" + +Anne, waiting in the window, was grieved to have overheard the words +which the poor Queen had poured out, evidently thinking no one near +could understand her. + +That evening there were orders to prepare for a journey to Whitehall +the next morning. + +"And," said Hester Bridgeman, "I can tell you why, in all +confidence, but I have it from a sure hand. The Prince of Orange is +collecting a fleet and army to come and inquire into certain +matters, especially into the birth of a certain young gentleman we +wot of." + +"How can he have the insolence?" cried Anne. + +"'Tis no great wonder, considering the vipers in the Cockpit," said +Hester. + +"But what will they do to us?" asked Jane Humphreys in terror. + +"Nothing to you, my dear, nor to Portia; you are good Protestants," +said Hester with a sneer. + +"Mrs. Royer told me it was for the christening," said Jane, "and +then we shall all have new suits. I am glad we are going back to +town. It cannot be so mortal dull as 'tis here, with all the leaves +falling--enough to give one the vapours." + +There were auguries on either hand in the palace that if the Prince +came it would be only another Monmouth affair, and this made Anne +shrink, for she had partaken of the grief and indignation of +Winchester at the cruel execution of Lady Lisle, and had heard +rumours enough of the progress of the Assize to make her start in +horror when called to watch the red-faced Lord Chancellor Jeffreys +getting out of his coach. + +It really seemed for the time as if the royal household were +confident in this impression, though as soon as they were again +settled in Whitehall there was a very close examination of the +witnesses of the Prince's birth, and a report printed of their +evidence, enough it might be thought to satisfy any one; but Jane +Humphreys, who went to spend a day at the Golden Lamb, her father's +warehouse, reported that people only laughed at it. + +Anne's spirit burned at the injustice, and warmed the more towards +the Queen and little Prince, whose pretty responses to her caresses +could not but win her love. Moreover, Pauline's example continued +to attract her, and Father Crump was a better controversialist, or +perhaps a better judge of character, than Pere Giverlai, and took +her on sides where she was more vulnerable, so as to make her begin +to feel unsettled, and wonder whether she were not making a vain +sacrifice, and holding out after all against the better way. + +The sense of the possible gain, and disgust at the shallow +conversions of some around her, helped to keep her back. She could +not help observing that while Pauline persuaded, Hester had ceased +to persuade, and seemed rather willing to hinder her. Just before +the State christening or rather admission into the Church, Lady +Powys, in the name of the King and Queen, offered her the post of +sub-governess, which really would mean for the present chief +playfellow to the little Prince, and would place her on an entirely +different platform of society from the comparatively menial one she +occupied, but of course on the condition of conformity to Rome. + +To be above the familiarity of Jane and Hester was no small +temptation, but still she hesitated. + +"Madam, I thank you, I thank their Majesties," she said, "but I +cannot do it thus." + +"I see what you mean, Miss Woodford," said Lady Powys, who was a +truly noble woman. "Your motives must be above suspicion even to +yourself. I respect you, and would not have made you the offer +except by express command, but I still trust that when your +disinterestedness is above suspicion you will still join us." + +It was sore mortification when Hester Bridgeman was preferred to the +office, for which she was far less fitted, being no favourite with +the babe, and being essentially vulgar in tastes and habits, and +knowing no language save her own, and that ungrammatically and with +an accent which no one could wish the Prince to acquire. Yet there +she was, promoted to the higher grade of the establishment and at +the christening, standing in the front ranks, while Miss Woodford +was left far in the rear among the servants. + +A report of the Dutch fleet having been destroyed by a storm had +restored the spirits of the Court; and in the nursery very little +was known of the feelings of the kingdom at large. Dr. Woodford did +not venture on writing freely to his niece, lest he should +compromise her, and she only vaguely detected that he was uneasy. + +So came All Saints' Day Eve, when there was to be a special service +late in the evening at the Romanised Chapel Royal at St. James's, +with a sermon by a distinguished Dominican, to which all the elder +and graver members of the household were eager to go. And there was +another very different attraction at the Cockpit, where good-natured +Princess Anne had given permission for a supper, to be followed by +burning of nuts and all the divinations proper to Hallowmas Eve, to +which were invited all the subordinates of the Whitehall +establishment who could be spared. + +Pauline Dunord was as eager for the sermon as Jane Humphreys was for +the supper, and Hester Bridgeman was in an odd mood of uncertainty, +evidently longing after the sports, but not daring to show that she +did so, and trying to show great desire to hear the holy man preach, +together with a polite profession of self-denial in giving up her +place in case there should not be room for all. However, as it +appeared that even the two chief nurses meant to combine sermon and +the latter end of the supper, she was at ease. The foster-mother +and one of the Protestant rockers were supposed to be enough to +watch over the Prince, but the former, who had been much petted and +spoilt since she had been at the palace, and was a young creature, +untrained and wilful, cried so much at the idea of missing the +merrymaking, that as it was reckoned important to keep her in good +humour and good spirits, Mrs. Labadie decided on winking at her +absence from the nursery, since Miss Woodford was quite competent to +the charge for the short time that both the church-goers and the +supper-goers would all be absent together. + +"But are you not afraid to stay alone?" asked Mrs. Labadie, with a +little compunction. + +"What is there to be afraid of?" asked Anne. "There are the +sentinels at the foot of the stairs, and what should reach us here?" + +"I would not be alone here," said more than one voice. "Nor I!"-- +"Nor I!" + +"And on this night of all others!" said Hester. + +"But why?" + +"They say he walks!" whispered Jane in a voice of awe. + +"Who walks?" + +"The old King?" asked Hester. + +"No; the last King," said Jane. + +"No, no: it was Oliver Cromwell--old Noll himself!" put in another +voice. + +"I tell you, no such thing," said Jane. "It was the last King. I +heard it from them that saw it, at least the lady's cousin. 'Twas +in the long gallery, in a suit of plain black velvet, with white +muslin ruffles and cravat quilled very neat. Why do you laugh, Miss +Woodford?" + +This was too much for Anne, who managed to say, "Who was his +laundress?" + +"I tell you I heard it from them that told no lies. The gentleman +could swear to it. He took a candle to him, and there was nought +but the wainscot behind. Think of that." + +"And that we should be living here!" said another voice. "I never +venture about the big draughty place alone at night," said the +laundress. + +"No! nor I would not for twenty princes," added the sempstress. + +"Nay, I have heard steps," said Mrs. Royer, "and wailing--wailing. +No wonder after all that has happened here. Oh yes, steps as of the +guard being turned out!" + +"That is like our Squire's manor-house, where--" + +Every one contributed a story, and only the announcement of Her +Majesty's approach put an end to these reminiscences. + +Anne held to her purpose. She had looked forward to this time of +solitude, for she wanted leisure to consider the situation, and +fairly to revolve the pleas by which Father Crump had shaken her, +more in feeling than in her reason, and made her question whether +her allegiance to her mother and uncle, and her disgust at +interested conversions, were not making her turn aside from what +might be the only true Church, the Mother of Saints, and therewith +perversely give up earthly advancement. But, oh! how to write to +her uncle. + +The very intention made her imagination and memory too powerful for +the consideration of controversy. She went back first to a merry +Hallowmas Eve long ago, among the Archfield party and other +Winchester friends, and how the nuts had bounced in a manner which +made the young ones shout in ecstasy of glee, but seemed to +displease some of the elders, and had afterwards been the occasion +of her being told that it was all folly, and therewith informed of +Charles Archfield's contract to poor little Alice Fitzhubert. Then +came other scenes. All the various ghostly tales she had heard, and +as she sat with her knitting in the shaded room with no sound but +the soft breathing of her little charge in his cradle, no light save +from a shaded lamp and the fire on the hearth, strange thoughts and +dreams floated over her; she started at mysterious cracks in the +wainscotting from time to time, and beheld in the dark corners of +the great room forms that seemed grotesque and phantom-like till she +went up to them and resolved them into familiar bits of furniture or +gowns and caps of Mrs. Labadie. She repeated half aloud numerous +Psalms and bits of poetry, but in the midst would come some +disturbing noise, a step or a shout from the street, though the +chamber being at the back of the house looking into the Park few of +such sounds penetrated thither. She began to think of King +Charles's last walk from St. James's to Whitehall, and of the fatal +window of the Banqueting-hall which had been pointed out to her, and +then her thoughts flew back again to that vault in the castle yard, +and she saw only too vividly in memory that open vault, veiled +partly by nettles and mulleins, which was the unblest, unknown grave +of the old playfellow who had so loved her mother and herself. +Perhaps she had hitherto more dwelt on and pitied the living than +the dead, as one whom fears and prayers still concerned, but now as +she thought of the lively sprite-like being who had professed such +affection for her, and for whom her mother had felt so much, and +recollected him so soon and suddenly cut down and consigned to that +dreary darkness, the strange yearning spirit dismissed to the +unknown world, instead of her old terror and repulsion, a great +tenderness and compunction came over her, and she longed to join +those who would in two days more be keeping All Souls' Day in +intercessions for their departed, so as to atone for her past +dislike; and there was that sort of feeling about her which can only +be described by the word 'eerie.' To relieve it Anne walked to the +window and undid a small wicket in the shutter, so as to look out +into the quiet moonlight park where the trees cast their long +shadows on the silvery grass, and there was a great calm that seemed +to reach her heart and spirits. + +Suddenly, across the sward towards the palace there came the slight, +impish, almost one-sided figure, with the peculiar walk, swift +though suggestive of a limp, the elfish set of the plume, the +foreign adjustment of short cloak. Anne gazed with wide-stretched +eyes and beating heart, trying to rally her senses and believe it +fancy, when the figure crossed into a broad streak of light cast by +the lamp over the door, the face was upturned for a moment. It was +deadly pale, and the features were beyond all doubt Peregrine +Oakshott's. + +She sprang back from the window, dropped on her knees, with her face +hidden in her hands, and was hardly conscious till sounds of the +others returning made her rally her powers so as to prevent all +inquiries or surmises. It was Mrs. Labadie and Pauline Dunord, the +former to see that all was well with the Prince before repairing to +the Cockpit. + +"How pale you are!" she exclaimed. "Have you seen anything?" + +"I--It may be nothing. He is dead!" stammered Anne. + +"Oh then, 'tis naught but a maid's fancies," said the nurse good- +humouredly. "Miss Dunord is in no mind for the sports, so she will +stay with His Highness, and you had best come with me and drive the +cobwebs out of your brain." + +"Indeed, I thank you, ma'am, but I could not," said Anne. + +"You had best, I tell you, shake these megrims out of your brain," +said Mrs. Labadie; but she was in too great haste not to lose her +share of the amusements to argue the point, and the two young women +were left together. Pauline was in a somewhat exalted state, full +of the sermon on the connection of the Church with the invisible +world. + +"You have seen one of your poor dead," she said. "Oh, may it not be +that he came to implore you to have pity, and join the Church, where +you could intercede and offer the Holy Sacrifice for him?" + +Anne started. This seemed to chime in with proclivities of poor +Peregrine's own, and when she thought of his corpse in that +unhallowed vault, it seemed to her as if he must be calling on her +to take measures for his rest, both of body and of spirit. Yet +something seemed to seal her tongue. She could not open her lips on +what she had seen, and while Pauline talked on, repeating the sermon +which had so deeply touched her feelings, Anne heard without +listening to aught besides her own perturbations, mentally debating +whether she could endure to reveal the story to Father Crump, if she +confessed to him, or whether she should write to her uncle; and she +even began to compose the letter in her own mind, with the terrible +revelation that must commence it, but every moment the idea became +more formidable. How transfer her own heavy burthen to her uncle, +who might feel bound to take steps that would cut young Archfield +off from parents, sister, child, and home. Or supposing Dr. +Woodford disbelieved the apparition of to-night, the whole would be +discredited in his eyes, and he might suppose the summer morning's +duel as much a delusion of her fancy as the autumn evening's +phantom, and what evidence had she to adduce save Charles's despair, +Peregrine's absence, and what there might be in the vault? + +Yet if all that Father Crump and Pauline said was true, that dear +uncle might be under a fatal delusion, and it might be the best hope +for herself--nay, even for that poor restless spirit--to separate +herself from them. Here was Pauline talking of the blessedness of +being able to offer prayers on 'All Souls' Day' for all those of +whose ultimate salvation there were fears, or who might be in a +state of suffering. It even startled her as she thought of her +mother, whom she always gave thanks for as one departed in faith and +fear. Would Father Crump speak of her as one in a state of +inevitable ignorance to be expiated in the invisible world? It +shocked the daughter as almost profane. Yet if it were true, and +prayers and masses could aid her? + +Altogether Anne was in a mood on which the voices broke strangely +returning from the supper full of news. Jane Humphreys was voluble +on her various experiments. The nuts had burnt quietly together, +and that was propitious to the Life-guardsman, Mr. Shaw, who had +shared hers; but on the other hand, the apple-paring thrown over her +shoulder had formed a P, and he whom she had seen in the vista of +looking-glasses had a gold chain but neither a uniform nor a P in +his name, and Mrs. Buss declared that it meant that she should be +three times married, and the last would be an Alderman, if not Lord +Mayor; and Mrs. Royer was joking Miss Bridgeman on the I of her +apple-paring, which could stand for nothing but a certain Incle +among 'the Cockpit folk,' who was her special detestation. + +Princess Anne and her husband had come down to see the nuts flying, +and had laughed enough to split their sides, till Lord Cornbury came +in and whispered something to Prince George, who said, "Est il +possible?" and spoke to the Princess, and they all went away +together. Yes, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who had been +laughing before looked very grave, and went with them. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Anne, "is the Bishop of Bath and Wells here?" + +"Yes, in spite of his disgrace. I hear he is to preach in your +Protestant chapel to-morrow." + +Anne had brought a letter of introduction from her uncle in case she +should have any opportunity of seeing his old fellow canon, who had +often been kind to her when she was a little girl at Winchester. +She was in many minds of hope and fear as to the meeting him or +speaking to him, under the consciousness of the possible defection +from his Church, and the doubt and dread whether to confide her +secret and consult him. However, the extreme improbability of her +being able to do so made the yearning for the sight of a Winchester +face predominate, and her vigil of the night past made the nursery +authorities concede that she had fairly earned her turn to go to +church in the forenoon, since she was obstinate enough to want to +run after an old heretic so-called Bishop who had so pragmatically +withstood His Majesty. Jane Humphreys went too, for though she was +not fond of week-day services, any escape from the nursery was +welcome, and there was a chance of seeing Lady Churchill's new +mantle. + +In this she was disappointed, for none of the grandees were present, +indeed it was whispered as the two girls made their way to the +chapel, that there was great excitement over the Declaration of the +Prince of Orange, which had arrived last night, that he had been +invited by the lords spiritual and temporal to take up the cause of +the liberties of England, and inquire into the evidence of the birth +of the Prince of Wales. + +People shrugged their shoulders, but looked volumes, though it was +no time nor place for saying more; and when in the chapel, that +countenance of Bishop Ken, so beautiful in outward form, so +expressive of strength, sweetness, and devotion, brought back such a +flood of old associations to Anne, that it was enough to change the +whole current of her thoughts and make her her own mother's child +again, even before he opened his mouth. She caught his sweet voice +in the Psalms, and closing her eyes seemed to be in the Cathedral +once more among those mighty columns and arches; and when he began +his sermon, on the text, 'Let the Saints be joyful with glory, let +them rejoice in their beds,' she found the Communion of Saints in +Paradise and on earth knit together in one fellowship as truly and +preciously brought home to her as ever it had been to Pauline, and +moreover when she thought of her mother, 'the lurid mist' was +dispelled which had so haunted her the night before. + +The longing to speak to him awoke; and as he was quitting the chapel +in full procession his kindly eye lit upon her with a look of +recognition; and before she had moved from her place, one of the +attendant clergy came back by his desire to conduct her to him. + +He held out his hand as she courtesied low. + +"Mistress Woodford," he said, "my old friend's niece! He wrote to +me of you, but I have had no opportunity of seeing you before." + +"Oh, my Lord! I was so much longing to see and speak with you." + +"I am lodging at Lambeth," said the Bishop, "and it is too far to +take you with me thither, but perhaps my good brother here," turning +to the chaplain, "can help us to a room where we can be private." + +This was done; the chaplain's parlour at the Cockpit was placed at +their disposal, and there a few kind words from Bishop Ken led to +the unburthening of her heavy heart. Of Ken's replies to the +controversial difficulties there is no need to tell. Indeed, +ambition was far more her temptation than any real difficulties as +to doctrine. Her dissatisfaction at being unable to answer the +questions raised by Father Crump was exaggerated as the excuse and +cover to herself of her craving for escape from her present +subordinate post; and this the Bishop soon saw, and tenderly but +firmly drew her to own both this and to confess the ambitious spirit +which had led her into this scene of temptation. "It was true +indeed," he said, "that trial by our own error is hardest to +encounter, but you have repented, and by God's grace, my child, I +trust you will be enabled to steer your course aright through the +trials of loyalty to our God and to our King that are coming upon us +all. Ever remember God and the plain duty first, His anointed next. +Is there more that you would like to tell me? for you still bear a +troubled look, and I have full time." + +Then Anne told him all the strange adventure of Portchester Castle, +and even of the apparition of the night before. That gentleness and +sympathy seemed to draw out all that was in her heart, and to her +surprise, he did not treat the story of that figure as necessarily a +delusion. He had known and heard too much of spiritual +manifestations to the outward senses to declare that such things +could not be. + +What she had seen might be explained by one of four hypotheses. It +was either a phantom of her brain, and her being fully awake, +although recently dwelling on the recollection, rendered that idea +less probable, or the young man had not been killed and she had seen +him in propria persona. + +She had Charles Archfield's word that the death was certain. He had +never been heard of again, and if alive, the walk before Whitehall +was the last place where he would be. As to mistaking any one else +for him, the Bishop remembered enough of the queer changeling elf to +agree with her that it was not a very probable contingency. And if +it were indeed a spirit, why should it visit her? There had been +one good effect certainly in the revival of home thoughts and +turning her mind from the allurements of favour, but that did not +seem to account for the spirit seeking her out. + +Was it, Anne faltered, a sign that she ought to confess all, for the +sake of procuring Christian burial for him. Yet how should she, +when she had promised silence to young Archfield? True, it was for +his wife's sake, and she was dead; but there were the rest of his +family and himself to be considered. What should she do? + +The Bishop thought a little while, then said that he did not believe +that she ought to speak without Mr. Archfield's consent, unless she +saw any one else brought into danger by her silence. If it ever +became possible, he thought, that she should ascertain whether the +body were in the vault, and if so, it might be possible to procure +burial for it, perhaps without identification, or at any rate +without making known what could only cause hostility and distress +between the two families, unless the young man himself on his return +should make the confession. This the Bishop evidently considered +the sounder, though the harder course, but he held that Anne had no +right to take the initiative. She could only wait, and bear her +load alone; but the extreme kindness and compassion with which he +talked to her soothed and comforted her so much that she felt +infinitely relieved and strengthened when he dismissed her with his +blessing, and far happier and more at peace than she had been since +that terrible summer morning, though greatly humbled, and taught to +repent of her aspirations after earthly greatness, and to accept her +present condition as a just retribution, and a trial of constancy. + + + +CHAPTER XIX: THE DAUGHTER'S SECRET + + +"Thy sister's naught: O Regan, she hath tied +Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, _here_: +I can scarce speak to thee." + +King Lear. + +"Am I--oh! am I going home?" thought Anne. "My uncle will be at +Winchester. I am glad of it. I could not yet bear to see +Portchester again. That Shape would be there. Yet how shall I deal +with what seems laid on me? But oh! the joy of escaping from this +weary, weary court! Oh, the folly that took me hither! Now that +the Prince is gone, Lady Strickland will surely speak to the Queen +for my dismissal." + +There had been seventeen days of alarms, reports, and counter- +reports, and now the King, with the Prince of Denmark, had gone to +join the army on Salisbury Plain, and at the same time the little +Prince of Wales had been sent off to his half-brother, the Duke of +Berwick, at Portsmouth, under charge of Lady Powys, there to be +embarked for France. Anne had been somewhat disappointed at not +going with them, hoping that when at Portsmouth or in passing +Winchester she might see her uncle and obtain her release, for she +had no desire to be taken abroad; but it was decreed otherwise. +Miss Dunord went, rejoicing and thankful to be returning to France, +and the other three rockers remained. + +There had already been more than one day of alarms and tumults. The +Body-guards within were always on duty; the Life-guards without were +constantly patrolling; and on the 5th of November, when the Prince +of Orange was known to be near at hand, and was in fact actually +landing at Torbay, the mob had with difficulty been restrained from +burning in effigy, not only Guy Fawkes, but Pope, cardinals, and +mitred bishops, in front of the palace, and actually paraded them +all, with a figure of poor Sir Edmondbury Godfrey bearing his head +in his hand, tied on horseback behind a Jesuit, full before the +windows, with yells of + +"The Pope, the Pope, +Up the ladder and down the rope," + +and clattering of warming-pans. + +Jane Humphreys was dreadfully frightened. Anne found her crouching +close to her bed, with the curtains wrapped round her. "Have they +got in?" she cried. "O Miss Woodford, how shall we make them +believe we are good Protestants?" + +And when this terror had subsided, and it was well known that the +Dutch were at Exeter, there was another panic, for one of the Life- +guardsmen had told her to beware, since if the Royal troops at +Hounslow were beaten, the Papists would surely take their revenge. + +"I am to scream from the windows to Mr. Shaw," she said; but what +good will that do if the priests and the Frenchmen have strangled +me? And perhaps he won't be on guard." + +"He was only trying to frighten you," suggested Anne. + +"Dear me, Miss Woodford, aren't you afraid? You have the stomach of +a lion." + +"Why, what would be the good of hurting us?" + +However, Anne was not at all surprised, when on the very evening of +the Prince's departure, old Mrs. Humphreys, a venerable-looking dame +in handsome but Puritanically-fashioned garments, came in a hackney +coach to request in her son's name that her granddaughter might +return with her, as her occupation was at an end. + +Jane was transported with joy. + +"Ay, ay," said the grandmother, "look at you now, and think how +crazy you were to go to the palace, though 'twas always against my +judgment." + +"Ah, I little knew how mortal dull it would be!" said Jane. + +"Ye've found it no better than the husks that the swine did eat, eh? +So much the better and safer for your soul, child." + +Nobody wanted to retain Jane, and while she was hastily putting her +things together, the grandmother turned to Anne: "And you, Mistress +Woodford, from what I hear, you have been very good in keeping my +silly child stanch to her religion and true to her duty. If ever on +a pinch you needed a friend in London, my son and I would be proud +to serve you--Master Joshua Humphreys, at the Golden Lamb, +Gracechurch Street, mind you. No one knows what may hap in these +strange and troublesome times, and you might be glad of a house to +go to till you can send to your own friends--that is, if we are not +all murdered by the Papists first." + +Though Anne did not expect such a catastrophe as this, she was +really grateful for the offer, and thought it possible that she +might avail herself of it, as she had not been able to communicate +with any of her mother's old friends, and Bishop Ken was not to her +knowledge still in London. + +She watched anxiously for the opportunity of asking Lady Strickland +whether she might apply for her dismissal, and write to her uncle to +fetch her home. + +"Child," said the lady, "I think you love the Queen." + +"Indeed I do, madam." + +"It is well that at this juncture all Protestants should not leave +her. You are a gentlewoman in manner, and can speak her native +tongue, friends are falling from her, scarcely ladies are left +enough to make a fit appearance around her; if you are faithful to +her, remain, I entreat of you." + +There was no resisting such an appeal, and Anne remained in the +rooms now left bare and empty, until a message was brought to her to +come to the Queen. Mary Beatrice sat in a chair by her fire, +looking sad and listless, her eyes red with weeping, but she gave +her sweet smile as the girl entered, and held out her hand, saying +in her sweet Italian, "You are faithful, Signorina Anna! you remain! +That is well; but now my son is gone, Anna, you must be mine. I +make you my reader instead of his rocker." + +As Anne knelt on one knee to kiss hands with tears in her eyes, the +Queen impulsively threw her arms round her neck and kissed her. +"Ah, you loved him, and he loved you, il mio tesorino?" + +Promotion _had_ come--how strangely. She had to enter on her duties +at once, and to read some chapters of an Italian version of the +Imitation. A reader was of a higher grade of importance than a +rocker, and for the ensuing days, when not in attendance on the +Queen, Anne was the companion of Lady Strickland and Lady +Oglethorpe. In the absence of the King and Prince, the Queen +received Princess Anne at her own table, and Lady Churchill and Lady +Fitzhardinge joined that of her ladies-in-waiting. + +Lady Churchill, with her long neck, splendid hair and complexion, +short chin, and sparkling blue eyes, was beautiful to look at, but +not at all disposed to be agreeable to the Queen's ladies, whom she +treated with a sort of blunt scorn, not at all disguised by the +forms of courtesy. However, she had, to their relief, a good deal +of leave of absence just then to visit her children, as indeed the +ladies agreed that she did pretty much as she chose, and that the +faithful Mrs. Morley was somewhat afraid of the dear Mrs. Freeman. + +One evening in coming up some steps Princess Anne entangled her foot +in her pink taffetas petticoat, nearly fell, and tore a large rent, +besides breaking the thread of the festoons of seed pearls which +bordered it, and scattering them on the floor. + +"Lack-a-day! Lack-a-day!" sighed she, as after a little screaming +she gathered herself up again. "That new coat! How shall I ever +face Danvers again such a figure? She's an excellent tirewoman, but +she will be neither to have nor to hold when she sees that gown-- +that she set such store by! Nay, I can hardly step for it." + +"I think I could repair it, with Her Majesty's and your Royal +Highness's permission," said Anne, who was creeping about on her +knees picking up the pearls." + +"Oh! do! do! There's a good child, and then Danvers and Dawson need +know nothing about it," cried the Princess in great glee. "You +remember Dawson, don't you, little Woodie, as we used to call you, +and how she used to rate us when we were children if we soiled our +frocks?" + +So, in the withdrawing-room, Anne sat on the floor with needle and +silk, by the light of the wax candles, deftly repairing the rent, +and then threading the scattered pearls, and arranging the festoon +so as to hide the darn. The Princess was delighted, and while the +poor wife lay back in her chair, thankful that behind her fan she +could give way to her terrible anxieties about her little son, who +might be crossing to France, and her husband, suffering from fearful +nose-bleeding, and wellnigh alone among traitors and deserters, the +step-daughter, on the other side of the great hearth, chattered away +complacently to 'little Woodford.' + +"Do you recollect old Dawson, and how she used to grumble when I +went to sup with the Duchess--my own mother--you know, because she +used to give me chocolate, and she said it made me scream at night, +and be over fat by day? Ah! that was before you used to come among +us. It was after I went to France to my poor aunt of Orleans. I +remember she never would let us kiss her for fear of spoiling her +complexion, and Mademoiselle and I did so hate living maigre on the +fast days. I was glad enough to get home at last, and then my +sister was jealous because I talked French better than she did." + +So the Princess prattled on without needing much reply, until her +namesake had finished her work, with which she was well pleased, and +promised to remember her. To Anne it was an absolute marvel how she +could thus talk when she knew that her husband had deserted her +father in his need, and that things were in a most critical +position. + +The Queen could not refrain from a sigh of relief when her step- +daughter had retired to the Cockpit; and after seeking her sleepless +bed, she begged Anne, "if it did not too much incommode her, to read +to her from the Gospel." + +The next day was Sunday, and Anne felt almost as if deserting her +cause, when going to the English service in Whitehall Chapel Royal, +now almost emptied except of the Princess's suite, and some of these +had the bad taste and profanity to cough and chatter all through the +special prayer drawn up by the Archbishop for the King's safety. + +People were not very reverent, and as all stood up at the end of the +Advent Sunday service to let the Princess sweep by in her glittering +green satin petticoat, peach-coloured velvet train, and feather- +crowned head, she laid a hand on Anne's arm, and whispered, "Follow +me to my closet, little Woodford." + +There was no choice but to obey, as the Queen would not require her +reader till after dinner, and Anne followed after the various +attendants, who did not seem very willing to forward a private +interview with a possible rival, though, as Anne supposed, the +object must be to convey some message to the Queen. By the time she +arrived and had been admitted to the inner chamber or dressing-room, +the Princess had thrown off her more cumbrous finery, and sat at +ease in an arm-chair. She nodded her be-curled head, and said, "You +can keep a secret, little Woodie?" + +"I can, madam, but I do not love one," said Anne, thinking of her +most burthensome one. + +"Well, no need to keep this long. You are a good young maiden, and +my own poor mother's godchild, and you are handy and notable. You +deserve better preferment than ever you will get in that Popish +household, where your religion is in danger. Now, I am not going to +be in jeopardy here any longer, nor let myself be kept hostage for +his Highness. Come to my rooms at bedtime. Slip in when I wish the +Queen good-night, and I'll find an excuse. Then you shall come with +me to--no, I'll not say where, and I'll make your fortune, only +mum's the word." + +"But--Your Royal Highness is very good, but I am sworn to the Prince +and Queen. I could not leave them without permission." + +"Prince! Prince! Pretty sort of a Prince. Prince of brickbats, as +Churchill says. Nay, girl, don't turn away in that fashion. +Consider. Your religion is in danger." + +"Nay, madam, my religion would not be served by breaking my oath." + +"Pooh! What's your oath to a mere pretender? Besides, consider +your fortune. Rocker to a puling babe--even if he was what they say +he is. And don't build on the Queen's favour--even if she remains +what she is now, she is too much beset with Papists and foreigners +to do anything for you." + +"I do not," Anne began to say, but the Princess gave her no time. + +"Besides, pride will have a fall, and if you are a good maid, and +hold your tongue, and serve me well in this strait, I'll make you my +maid of honour, and marry you so that you shall put Lady before your +name. Ay, and get good preferment for your uncle, who has had only +a poor stall from the King here." + +Anne repressed an inclination to say this was not the way in which +her uncle would wish to get promotion, and only replied, "Your Royal +Highness is very good, but--" + +Whereat the Princess, in a huff, exclaimed, "Oh, very well, if you +choose to be torn to pieces by the mob, and slaughtered by the +priests, like poor Godfrey, and burnt by the Papists at last, unless +you go to Mass, you may stay for aught I care, and joy go with you. +I thought I was doing you a kindness for my poor mother's sake, but +it seems you know best. If you like to cast in your lot with the +Pope, I wash my hands of you." + +Accordingly Anne courtesied herself off, not seriously alarmed as to +the various catastrophes foretold by the Princess, though a little +shaken in nerves. Here then was another chance of promotion, +certainly without treason to her profession of faith, but so offered +that honour could not but revolt against it, though in truth poor +Princess Anne was neither so foolish nor so heartless a woman as she +appeared in the excitement to which an uneasy conscience, the +expectation of a great enterprise, and a certain amount of terror +had worked her up; but she had high words again in the evening, as +was supposed, with the Queen. Certainly Anne found her own Royal +Mistress weeping and agitated, though she only owned to being very +anxious about the health of the King, who had had a second violent +attack of bleeding at the nose, and she did not seem consoled by the +assurances of her elder attendants that the relief had probably +saved him from a far more dangerous attack. Again Anne read to her +till a late hour, but next morning was strangely disturbed. + +The Royal household had not been long dressed, and breakfast had +just been served to the ladies, when loud screams were heard, most +startling in the unsettled and anxious state of affairs. The Queen, +pale and trembling, came out of her chamber with her hair on her +shoulders. "Tell me at once, for pity's sake. Is it my husband or +my son?" she asked with clasped hands, as two or three of the +Princess's servants rushed forward. + +"The Princess, the Princess!" was the cry, "the priests have +murdered her." + +"What have you done with her, madam?" rudely demanded Mrs. Buss, one +of the lost lady's nurses. + +Mary Beatrice drew herself up with grave dignity, saying, "I suppose +your mistress is where she likes to be. I know nothing of her, but +I have no doubt that you will soon hear of her." + +There was something in the Queen's manner that hushed the outcry in +her presence, but the women, with Lady Clarendon foremost of them, +continued to seek up and down the two palaces as if they thought the +substantial person of the Princess Anne could be hidden in a +cupboard. + +Anne, in the first impulse, exclaimed, "She is gone!" + +In a moment Mrs. Royer turned, "Gone, did you say? Do you know it?" + +"You knew it and kept it secret!" cried Lady Strickland. + +"A traitor too!" said Lady Oglethorpe, in her vehement Irish tone. +"I would not have thought it of Nanny Moore's daughter!" and she +turned her eyes in sad reproach on Anne. + +"If you know, tell me where she is gone," cried Mrs. Buss, and the +cry was re-echoed by the other women, while Anne's startled "I +cannot tell! I do not know!" was unheeded. + +Only the Queen raising her hand gravely said, "Silence! What is +this?" + +"Miss Woodford knew." + +"And never told!" cried the babble of voices. + +"Come hither, Mistress Woodford," said the Queen. "Tell me, do you +know where Her Highness is?" + +"No, please your Majesty," said Anne, trembling from head to foot. +"I do not know where she is." + +"Did you know of her purpose?" + +"Your Majesty pardon me. She called me to her closet yesterday and +pledged me to secrecy before I knew what she would say." + +"Only youthful inexperience will permit that pledge to be implied in +matters of State," said the Queen. "Continue, Mistress Woodford; +what did she tell you?" + +"She said she feared to be made a hostage for the Prince of Denmark, +and meant to escape, and she bade me come to her chamber at night to +go with her." + +"And wherefore did you not? You are of her religion," said the +Queen bitterly. + +"Madam, how could I break mine oath to your Majesty and His Royal +Highness?" + +"And you thought concealing the matter according to that oath? Nay, +nay, child, I blame you not. It was a hard strait between your +honour to her and your duty to the King and to me, and I cannot but +be thankful to any one who does regard her word. But this desertion +will be a sore grief to His Majesty." + +Mary Beatrice was fairer-minded than the women, who looked askance +at the girl, Princess Anne's people resenting that one of the other +household should have been chosen as confidante, and the Queen's +being displeased that the secret had been kept. But at that moment +frightful yells and shouts arose, and a hasty glance from the +windows showed a mass of men, women, and children howling for their +Princess. They would tear down Whitehall if she were not delivered +up to them. However, a line of helmeted Life-guards on their heavy +horses was drawn up between, with sabres held upright, and there +seemed no disposition to rush upon these. Lord Clarendon, uncle to +the Princess, had satisfied himself that she had really escaped, and +he now came out and assured the mob, in a stentorian voice, that he +was perfectly satisfied of his niece's safety, waving the letter she +had left on her toilet-table. + +The mob shouted, "Bless the Princess! Hurrah for the Protestant +faith! No warming-pans!" but in a good-tempered mood; and the poor +little garrison breathed more freely; but Anne did not feel herself +forgiven. She was in a manner sent to Coventry, and treated as if +she were on the enemy's side. Never had her proud nature suffered +so much, and she shed bitter tears as she said to herself, "It is +very unjust! What could I have done? How could I stop Her Highness +from speaking? Could they expect me to run in and accuse her? Oh, +that I were at home again! Mother, mother, you little know! Of +what use am I now?" + +It was the very question asked by Hester Bridgeman, whom she found +packing her clothes in her room. + +"Take care that this is sent after me," she said, "when a messenger +I shall send calls for it." + +"What, you have your dismissal?" + +"No, I should no more get it than you have done. They cannot afford +to let any one go, you see, or they will have to dress up the +chambermaids to stand behind the Queen's chair. I have settled it +with my cousin, Harry Bridgeman, I shall mix with the throng that +come to ask for news, and be off with him before the crowd breaks +in, as they will some of these days, for the guards are but half- +hearted. My Portia, why did not you take a good offer, and go with +the Princess?" + +"I thought it would be base." + +"And much you gained by it! You are only suspected and accused." + +"I can't be a rat leaving a sinking ship." + +"That is courteous, but I forgive it, Portia, as I know you will +repent of your folly. But you never did know which side to look for +the butter." + +Perhaps seeing how ugly desertion and defection looked in others +made constancy easier to Anne, much as she longed for the Close at +Winchester, and she even thought with a hope of the Golden Lamb, +Gracechurch, as an immediate haven sure to give her a welcome. + +Her occupation of reading to the Queen was ended by the King's +return, so physically exhausted by violent nose-bleeding, so +despondent at the universal desertion, and so broken-hearted at his +daughter's defection, that his wife was absorbed in attending upon +him. + +Anne began to watch for an opportunity to demand a dismissal, which +she thought would exempt her from all blame, but she was surprised +and a little dismayed by being summoned to the King in the Queen's +chamber. He was lying on a couch clad in a loose dressing-gown +instead of his laced coat, and a red night-cap replacing his heavy +peruke, and his face was as white and sallow as if he were +recovering from a long illness. + +"Little godchild," he said, holding out his hand as Anne made her +obeisance, "the Queen tells me you can read well. I have a fancy to +hear." + +Immensely relieved at the kindness of his tone, Anne courtesied, and +murmured out her willingness. + +"Read this," he said; "I would fain hear this; my father loved it. +Here." + +Anne felt her task a hard one when the King pointed to the third Act +of Shakespeare's Richard II. She steeled herself and strengthened +her voice as best she could, and struggled on till she came to-- + +"I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, +My gay apparel for an almsman's gown, +My figured goblets for a dish of wood, +My sceptre for a palmer's walking-staff, +My subjects for a pair of carved saints, +And my large kingdom for a little grave, +A little, little grave." + +There she fairly broke down, and sobbed. + +"Little one, little one," said James, you are sorry for poor +Richard, eh?" + +"Oh, sir!" was all she could say. + +"And you are in disgrace, they tell me, because my daughter chose to +try to entice you away," said James, "and you felt bound not to +betray her. Never mind; it was an awkward case of conscience, and +there's not too much faithfulness to spare in these days. We shall +know whom to trust to another time. Can you continue now? I would +take a lesson how, 'with mine own hands to give away my crown.'" + +It was well for Anne that fresh tidings were brought in at that +moment, and she had to retire, with the sore feeling turned into an +enthusiastic pity and loyalty, which needed the relief of sobs and +mental vows of fidelity. She felt herself no longer in disgrace +with her Royal master and mistress, but she was not in favour with +her few companions left--all who could not get over her secrecy, and +thought her at least a half traitor as well as a heretic. + +Whitehall was almost in a state of siege, the turbulent mob +continually coming to shout, 'No Popery!' and the like, though they +proceeded no farther. The ministers and other gentlemen came and +went, but the priests and the ladies durst not venture out for fear +of being recognised and insulted, if not injured. Bad news came in +from day to day, and no tidings of the Prince of Wales being in +safety in France. Once Anne received a letter from her uncle, which +cheered her much. + +DEAR CHILD--So far as I can gather, your employment is at an end, +if it be true as reported that the Prince of Wales is at +Portsmouth, with the intent that he should be carried to France; +but the gentlemen of the navy seem strongly disposed to prevent +such a transportation of the heir of the realm to a foreign +country. I fear me that you are in a state of doubt and anxiety, +but I need not exhort your good mother's child to be true and +loyal to her trust and to the Anointed of the Lord in all things +lawful at all costs. If you are left in any distress or +perplexity, go either to Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe's house, or to +that of my good old friend, the Dean of Westminster; and as soon +as I hear from you I will endeavour to ride to town and bring you +home to my house, which is greatly at a loss without its young +mistress. + +The letter greatly refreshed Anne's spirits, and gave her something +to look forward to, giving her energy to stitch at a set of lawn +cuffs and bands for her uncle, and think with the more pleasure of a +return that his time of residence at Winchester lay between her and +that vault in the castle. + +There were no more attempts made at her conversion. Every one was +too anxious and occupied, and one or more of the chiefly obnoxious +priests were sent privately away from day to day. While summer +friends departed, Anne often thought of Bishop Ken's counsel as to +loyalty to Heaven and man. + + + +CHAPTER XX: THE FLIGHT + + +"Storms may rush in, and crimes and woes + Deform that peaceful bower; +They may not mar the deep repose + Of that immortal flower. +Though only broken hearts be found + To watch his cradle by, +No blight is on his slumbers sound, + No touch of harmful eye." + +KEBLE. + +The news was even worse and worse in that palace of despondency and +terror. Notice had arrived that Lord Dartmouth was withheld from +despatching the young Prince to France by his own scruples and those +of the navy; and orders were sent for the child's return. Then came +a terrible alarm. The escort sent to meet him were reported to have +been attacked by the rabble on entering London and dispersed, so +that each man had to shift for himself. + +There was a quarter of an hour which seemed many hours of fearful +suspense, while King and Queen both knelt at their altar, praying in +agony for the child whom they pictured to themselves in the hands of +the infuriated mob, too much persuaded of his being an imposture to +pity his unconscious innocence. No one who saw the blanched cheeks +and agonised face of Mary Beatrice, or James's stern, mute misery, +could have believed for a moment in the cruel delusion that he was +no child of theirs. + +The Roman Catholic women were with them. To enter the oratory would +in those circumstances have been a surrender of principle, but none +the less did Anne pray with fervent passion in her chamber for pity +for the child, and comfort for his parents. At last there was a +stir, and hurrying out to the great stair, Anne saw a man in plain +clothes replying in an Irish accent to the King, who was supporting +the Queen with his arm. Happily the escort had missed the Prince of +Wales. They had been obliged to turn back to London without meeting +him, and from that danger he had been saved. + +A burst of tears and a cry of fervent thanksgiving relieved the +Queen's heart, and James gave eager thanks instead of the reprimand +the colonel had expected for his blundering. + +A little later, another messenger brought word that Lord and Lady +Powys had halted at Guildford with their charge. A French +gentleman, Monsieur de St. Victor, was understood to have undertaken +to bring him to London--understood--for everything was whispered +rather than told among the panic-stricken women. No one who knew +the expectation could go to bed that night except that the King and +Queen had--in order to disarm suspicion--to go through the +accustomed ceremonies of the coucher. The ladies sat or lay on +their beds intently listening, as hour after hour chimed from the +clocks. + +At last, at about three in the morning, the challenge of the +sentinels was heard from point to point. Every one started up, and +hurried almost pell-mell towards the postern door. The King and +Queen were both descending a stair leading from the King's dressing- +room, and as the door was cautiously opened, it admitted a figure in +a fur cloak, which he unfolded, and displayed the sleeping face of +the infant well wrapped from the December cold. + +With rapture the Queen gathered him into her arms, and the father +kissed him with a vehemence that made him awake and cry. St. Victor +had thought it safer that his other attendants should come in by +degrees in the morning, and thus Miss Woodford was the only actually +effective nursery attendant at hand. His food was waiting by the +fire in his own sleeping chamber, and thither he was carried. There +the Queen held him on her lap, while Anne fed him, and he smiled at +her and held out his arms. + +The King came, and making a sign to Anne not to move, stood +watching. + +Presently he said, "She has kept one secret, we may trust her with +another." + +"Oh, not yet, not yet," implored the Queen. "Now I have both my +treasures again, let me rest in peace upon them for a little while." + +The King turned away with eyes full of tears while Anne was lulling +the child to sleep. She wondered, but durst not ask the Queen, +where was the tiler's wife; but later she learnt from Miss Dunord, +that the woman had been so terrified by the cries of the multitude +against the 'pretender,' and still more at the sight of the sea, +that she had gone into transports of fright, implored to go home, +and perhaps half wilfully, become useless, so that the weaning +already commenced had to be expedited, and the fretfulness of the +poor child had been one of the troubles for some days. However, he +seemed on his return to have forgotten his troubles, and Anne had +him in her arms nearly all the next day. + +It was not till late in the evening that Anne knew what the King had +meant. Then, while she was walking up and down the room, amusing +the little Prince with showing by turns the window and his face in a +large mirror, the Queen came in, evidently fresh from weeping, and +holding out her arms for him, said, after looking to see that there +was no other audience-- + +"Child, the King would repose a trust in you. He wills that you +should accompany me to-night on a voyage to France to put this +little angel in safety." + +"As your Majesty will," returned Anne; "I will do my best." + +"So the King said. He knew his brave sailor's daughter was worthy +of his trust, and you can speak French. It is well, for we go under +the escort of Messieurs de Lauzun and St. Victor. Be ready at +midnight. Lady Strickland or the good Labadie will explain more to +you, but do not speak of this to anyone else. You have leave now," +she added, as she herself carried the child towards his father's +rooms. + +The maiden's heart swelled at the trust reposed in her, and the +King's kind words, and she kept back the sense of anxiety and doubt +as to so vague a future. She found Mrs. Labadie lying on her bed +awake, but trying to rest between two busy nights, and she was then +told that there was to be a flight from the palace of the Queen and +Prince at midnight, Mrs. Labadie and Anne alone going with them, +though Lord and Lady Powys and Lady Strickland, with the Queen's +Italian ladies, would meet them on board the yacht which was waiting +at Gravesend. The nurse advised Anne to put a few necessary +equipments into a knapsack bound under a cloak, and to leave other +garments with her own in charge of Mr. Labadie, who would despatch +them with those of the suite, and would follow in another day with +the King. Doubt or refusal there could of course be none in such +circumstances, and a high-spirited girl like Anne could not but feel +a thrill of heart at selection for such confidential and signal +service at her age, scarcely seventeen. Her one wish was to write +to her uncle what had become of her. Mrs. Labadie hardly thought it +safe, but said her husband would take charge of a note, and if +possible, post it when they were safe gone, but nothing of the +King's plans must be mentioned. + +The hours passed away anxiously, and yet only too fast. So many had +quitted the palace that there was nothing remarkable in packing, but +as Anne collected her properties, she could not help wondering +whether she should ever see them again. Sometimes her spirit rose +at the thought of serving her lovely Queen, saving the little +Prince, and fulfilling the King's trust; at others, she was full of +vague depression at the thought of being cut off from all she knew +and loved, with seas between, and with so little notice to her +uncle, who might never learn where she was; but she knew she had his +approval in venturing all, and making any sacrifice for the King +whom all deserted; and she really loved her Queen and little Prince. + +The night came, and she and Mrs. Labadie, fully equipped in cloaks +and hoods, waited together, Anne moving about restlessly, the elder +woman advising her to rest while she could. The little Prince, all +unconscious of the dangers of the night, or of his loss of a throne, +lay among his wraps in his cradle fast asleep. + +By and by the door opened, and treading softly in came the King in +his dressing-gown and night-cap, the Queen closely muffled, Lady +Strickland also dressed for a journey, and two gentlemen, the one +tall and striking-looking, the other slim and dark, in their cloaks, +namely, Lauzun and St. Victor. + +It was one of those supreme moments almost beyond speech or +manifestation of feeling. + +The King took his child in his arms, kissed him, and solemnly said +to Lauzun, "I confide my wife and son to you." + +Both Frenchmen threw themselves on their knees kissing his hand with +a vow of fidelity. Then giving the infant to Mrs. Labadie, James +folded his wife in his arms in a long mute embrace; Anne carried the +basket containing food for the child; and first with a lantern went +St. Victor, then Lauzun, handing the Queen; Mrs. Labadie with the +child, and Anne following, they sped down the stairs, along the +great gallery, with steps as noiseless as they could make them, down +another stair to a door which St. Victor opened. + +A sentry challenged, sending a thrill of dismay through the anxious +hearts, but St. Victor had the word, and on they went into the privy +gardens, where often Anne had paced behind Mrs. Labadie as the +Prince took his airing. Startling lights from the windows fell on +them, illuminating the drops of rain that plashed round them on that +grim December night, and their steps sounded on the gravel, while +still the babe, sheltered under the cloak, slept safely. Another +door was reached, more sentries challenged and passed; here was a +street whose stones and silent houses shone for a little space as +St. Victor raised his lantern and exchanged a word with a man on the +box of a carriage. + +One by one they were handed in, the Queen, the child, the nurse, +Anne, and Lauzun, St. Victor taking his place outside. As if in a +dream they rattled on through the dark street, no one speaking +except that Lauzun asked the Queen if she were wet. + +It was not far before they stopped at the top of the steps called +the Horseferry. A few lights twinkled here and there, and were +reflected trembling in the river, otherwise a black awful gulf, from +which, on St. Victor's cautious hail, a whistle ascended, and a +cloaked figure with a lantern came up the steps glistening in the +rain. + +One by one again, in deep silence, they were assisted down, and into +the little boat that rocked ominously as they entered it. There the +women crouched together over the child unable to see one another, +Anne returning the clasp of a hand on hers, believing it Mrs. +Labadie's, till on Lauzun's exclaiming, "Est ce que j'incommode sa +Majeste?" the reply showed her that it was the Queen's hand that she +held, and she began a startled "Pardon, your Majesty," but the sweet +reply in Italian was, "Ah, we are as sisters in this stress." + +The eager French voice of Lauzun went on, in undertones certainly, +but as if he had not the faculty of silence, and amid the plash of +the oars, the rush of the river, and the roar of the rain, it was +not easy to tell what he said, his voice was only another of the +noises, though the Queen made little courteous murmurs in reply. It +was a hard pull against wind and tide towards a little speck of +green light which was shown to guide the rowers; and when at last +they reached it, St. Victor's hail was answered by Dusions, one of +the servants, and they drew to the steps where he held a lantern. + +"To the coach at once, your Majesty." + +"It is at the inn--ready--but I feared to let it stand." + +Lauzun uttered a French imprecation under his breath, and danced on +the step with impatience, only restrained so far as to hand out the +Queen and her two attendants. He was hotly ordering off Dusions and +St. Victor to bring the coach, when the former suggested that they +must find a place for the Queen to wait in where they could find +her. + +"What is that dark building above?" + +"Lambeth Church," Dusions answered. + +"Ah, your Protestant churches are not open; there is no shelter for +us there," sighed the Queen. + +"There is shelter in the angle of the buttress; I have been there, +your Majesty," said Dusions. + +Thither then they turned. + +"What can that be?" exclaimed the Queen, starting and shuddering as +a fierce light flashed in the windows and played on the wall. + +"It is not within, madame," Lauzun encouraged; "it is reflected +light from a fire somewhere on the other side of the river." + +"A bonfire for our expulsion. Ah! why should they hate us so?" +sighed the poor Queen. + +"'Tis worse than that, only there's no need to tell Her Majesty so," +whispered Mrs. Labadie, who, in the difficulties of the ascent, had +been fain to hand the still-sleeping child to Anne. "'Tis the +Catholic chapel of St. Roque. The heretic miscreants!" + +"Pray Heaven no life be lost," sighed Anne. + +Sinister as the light was, it aided the poor fugitives at that dead +hour of night to find an angle between the church wall and a +buttress where the eaves afforded a little shelter from the rain, +which slackened a little, when they were a little concealed from the +road, so that the light need not betray them in case any passenger +was abroad at such an hour, as two chimed from the clock overhead. + +The women kept together close against the wall to avoid the drip of +the eaves. Lauzun walked up and down like a sentinel, his arms +folded, and talking all the while, though, as before, his utterances +were only an accompaniment to the falling rain and howling wind; +Mary Beatrice was murmuring prayers over the sleeping child, which +she now held in the innermost corner; Anne, with wide-stretched +eyes, was gazing into the light cast beyond the buttress by the fire +on the opposite side, when again there passed across it that form +she had seen on All Saints' Eve--the unmistakable phantom of +Peregrine. + +It was gone into the darkness in another second; but a violent start +on her part had given a note of alarm, and brought back the Count, +whose walk had been in the opposite direction. + +"What was it? Any spy?" + +"Oh no--no--nothing! It was the face of one who is dead," gasped +Anne. + +"The poor child's nerve is failing her," said the Queen gently, as +Lauzun drawing his sword burst out-- + +"If it be a spy it _shall_ be the face of one who is dead;" and he +darted into the road, but returned in a few moments, saying no one +had passed except one of the rowers returning after running up to +the inn to hasten the coach; how could he have been seen from the +church wall? The wheels were heard drawing up at that moment, so +that the only thought was to enter it as quickly as might be in the +same order as before, after which the start was made, along the road +that led through the marshes of Lambeth; and then came the inquiry-- +an anxious one--whom or what mademoiselle, as Lauzun called her, had +seen. + +"O monsieur!" exclaimed the poor girl in her confusion, her best +French failing, "it was nothing--no living man." + +"Can mademoiselle assure me of that? The dead I fear not, the +living I would defy." + +"He lives not," said she in an undertone, with a shudder. + +"But who is he that mademoiselle can be so certain?" asked the +Frenchman. + +"Oh! I know him well enough," said Anne, unable to control her +voice. + +"Mademoiselle must explain herself," said M. de Lauzun. "If he be +spirit--or phantom--there is no more to say, but if he be in the +flesh, and a spy--then--" There was a little rattle of his sword. + +"Speak, I command," interposed the Queen; "you must satisfy M. le +Comte." + +Thus adjured, Anne said in a low voice of horror: "It was a +gentleman of our neighbourhood; he was killed in a duel last +summer!" + +"Ah! You are certain?" + +"I had the misfortune to see the fight," sighed Anne. + +"That accounts for it," said the Queen kindly. "If mademoiselle's +nerves were shaken by such a remembrance, it is not wonderful that +it should recur to her at so strange a watch as we have been +keeping." + +"It might account for her seeing this revenant cavalier in any +passenger," said Lauzun, not satisfied yet. + +"No one ever was like him," said Anne. "I could not mistake him." + +"May I ask mademoiselle to describe him?" continued the count. + +Feeling all the time as if this first mention were a sort of +betrayal, Anne faltered the words: "Small, slight, almost +misshapen--with a strange one-sided look--odd, unusual features." + +Lauzun's laugh jarred on her. "Eh! it is not a flattering portrait. +Mademoiselle is not haunted by a hero of romance, it appears, so +much as by a demon." + +"And none of those monsieur has employed in our escape answer to +that description?" asked the Queen. + +"Assuredly not, your Majesty. Crooked person and crooked mind go +together, and St. Victor would only have trusted to your big honest +rowers of the Tamise. I think we may be satisfied that the +demoiselle's imagination was excited so as to evoke a phantom +impressed on her mind by a previous scene of terror. Such things +have happened in my native Gascony." + +Anne was fain to accept the theory in silence, though it seemed to +her strange that at a moment when she was for once not thinking of +Peregrine, her imagination should conjure him up, and there was a +strong feeling within her that it was something external that had +flitted across the shadow, not a mere figment of her brain, though +the notion was evidently accepted, and she could hear a muttering of +Mrs. Labadie that this was the consequence of employing young +wenches with their whims and megrims. + +The Count de Lauzun did his best to entertain the Queen with stories +of revenants in Gascony and elsewhere, and with reminiscences of his +eleven years' captivity at Pignerol, and his intercourse with +Fouquet; but whenever in aftertimes Anne Woodford tried to recall +her nocturnal drive with this strange personage, the chosen and very +unkind husband of the poor old Grande Mademoiselle, she never could +recollect anything but the fierce glare of his eyes in the light of +the lamps as he put her to that terrible interrogation. + +The talk was chiefly monologue. Mrs. Labadie certainly slept, +perhaps the Queen did so too, and Anne became conscious that she +must have slumbered likewise, for she found every one gazing at her +in the pale morning dawn and asking why she cried, "O Charles, +hold!" + +As she hastily entreated pardon, Lauzun was heard to murmur, "Je +parie que le revenant se nomme Charles," and she collected her +senses just in time to check her contradiction, recollecting that +happily such a name as Charles revealed nothing. The little Prince, +who had slumbered so opportunely all night, awoke and received +infinite praise, and what he better appreciated, the food that had +been provided for him. They were near their journey's end, and it +was well, for people were awakening and going to their work as they +passed one of the villages, and once the remark was heard, "There +goes a coach full of Papists." + +However, no attempt was made to stop the party, and as it would be +daylight when they reached Gravesend, the Queen arranged her +disguise to resemble, as she hoped, a washerwoman--taking off her +gloves, and hiding her hair, while the Prince, happily again asleep, +was laid in a basket of linen. Anne could not help thinking that +she thus looked more remarkable than if she had simply embarked as a +lady; but she meant to represent the attendant of her Italian friend +Countess Almonde, whom she was to meet on board. + +Leaving the coach outside a little block of houses, the party +reached a projecting point of land, where three Irish officers +received them, and conducted them to a boat. Then, wrapped closely +in cloaks from the chill morning air, they were rowed to the yacht, +on the deck of which stood Lord and Lady Powys, Lady Strickland, +Pauline Dunord, and a few more faithful followers, who had come more +rapidly. There was no open greeting nor recognition, for the +captain and crew were unaware whom they were carrying, and, on the +discovery, either for fear of danger or hope of reward, might have +captured such a prize. + +Therefore all the others, with whispered apologies, were hoisted up +before her, and Countess Almonde had to devise a special entreaty +that the chair might be lowered again for her poor laundress as well +as for the other two women. + +The yacht, which had been hired by St. Victor, at once spread her +sails; Mrs. Labadie conversed with the captain while the countess +took the Queen below into the stifling crowded little cabin. It was +altogether a wretched voyage; the wind was high, and the pitching +and tossing more or less disabled everybody in the suite. The Queen +was exceedingly ill, so were the countess and Mrs. Labadie. Nobody +could be the least effective but Signora Turini, who waited on her +Majesty, and Anne, who was so far seasoned by excursions at +Portsmouth that she was capable of taking sole care of the little +Prince, as the little vessel dashed along on her way with her cargo +of alarm and suffering through the Dutch fleet of fifty vessels, +none of which seemed to notice her--perhaps by express desire not to +be too curious as to English fugitives. + +Between the care of the little one, who needed in the tossing of the +ship to be constantly in arms though he never cried and when awake +was always merry, and the giving as much succour as possible to her +suffering companions, Anne could not either rest or think, but +seemed to live in one heavy dazed dream of weariness and endurance, +hardly knowing whether it were day or night, till the welcome sound +was heard that Calais was in sight. + +Then, as well as they could, the poor travellers crawled from the +corners, and put themselves in such array as they could contrive, +though the heaving of the waves, as the little yacht lay to, did not +conduce to their recovery. The Count de Lauzun went ashore as soon +as a boat could be lowered to apprise M. Charot, the Governor of +Calais, of the guest he was to receive, and after an interval of +considerable discomfort, in full view of the massive fortifications, +boats came off to bring the Queen and her attendants on shore, this +time as a Queen, though she refused to receive any honours. Lady +Strickland, recovering as soon as she was on dry land, resumed her +Prince, who was fondled with enthusiastic praises for his excellent +conduct on the voyage. + +Anne could not help feebly thinking some of the credit might be due +to her, since she had held him by land and water nearly ever since +leaving Whitehall, but she was too much worn out by her nights of +unrest, and too much battered and beaten by the tossings of her +voyage, to feel anything except in a languid half-conscious way, +under a racking headache; and when the curious old house where they +were to rest was reached, and all the rest were eating with ravenous +appetites, she could taste nothing, and being conducted by a +compassionate Frenchwoman in a snow-white towering cap to a straw +mattress spread on the ground, she slept the twenty-four hours round +without moving. + + + +CHAPTER XXI: EXILE + + +"'Oh, who are ye, young man?' she said. +'What country come ye frae?' +'I flew across the sea,' he said; +''Twas but this very day.'" + +Old Ballad. + +Five months had passed away since the midnight flight from England, +when Anne Woodford was sitting on a stone bench flanked with statues +in the stately gardens of the Palace of St. Germain, working away at +some delicate point lace, destined to cover some of the deficiencies +of her dress, for her difficulties were great, and these months had +been far from happy ones. + +The King was in Ireland, the Queen spent most of the time of his +absence in convents, either at Poissy or Chaillot, carrying her son +with her to be the darling of the nuns, who had for the most part +never even seen a baby, and to whom a bright lively child of a year +old was a perfect treasure of delight. Not wishing to encumber the +good Sisters with more attendants than were needful, the Queen only +took with her one lady governess, one nurse, and one rocker, and +this last naturally was Pauline Dunord, both a Frenchwoman and a +Roman Catholic. + +This was in itself no loss to Anne. Her experience of the nunnery +at Boulogne, where had been spent three days in expectation of the +King, had not been pleasant. The nuns had shrunk from her as a +heretic, and kept their novices and pensionnaires from the taint of +communication with her; and all the honour she might have deserved +for the Queen's escape seemed to have been forfeited by that moment +of fear, which in the telling had become greatly exaggerated. + +It was true that the Queen had never alluded to it; but probably +through Mrs. Labadie, it had become current that Miss Woodford had +been so much alarmed under the churchyard wall that her fancy had +conjured up a phantom and she had given a loud scream, which but for +the mercy of the Saints would have betrayed them all. + +Anne was persuaded that she had done nothing worse than give an +involuntary start, but it was not of the least use to say so, and +she began to think that perhaps others knew better than she did. +Miss Dunord, who had never been more than distantly polite to her in +England, was of course more thrown with her at St. Germain, and +examined her closely. Who was it? What was it? Had she seen it +before? It was of no use to deny. Pauline knew she had seen +something on that All Saints' Eve. Was it true that it was a lover +of hers, and that she had seen him killed in a duel on her account? +Who would have imagined it in cette demoiselle si sage! Would she +not say who it was! + +But though truth forced more than one affirmative to be pumped out +of Anne, she clung to that last shred of concealment, and kept her +own counsel as to the time, place, and persons of the duel, and thus +she so far offended Pauline as to prevent that damsel from having +any scruples in regarding her as an obnoxious and perilous rival, +with a dark secret in her life. Certainly Miss Dunord did earnestly +assure her that to adopt her Church, invoke the Saints, and have +Masses for the dead was the only way to lay such ghosts; but Anne +remained obdurate, and thus was isolated, for there were very few +Protestants in the fugitive Court, and those were of too high a +degree to consort with her. Perhaps that undefined doubt of her +discretion was against her; perhaps too her education and knowledge +of languages became less useful to the Queen when surrounded by +French, for she was no longer called upon to act as reader; and the +little Prince, during his residence in the convent, had time to +forget her and lose his preference for her. She was not discharged, +but except for taking her turn as a nursery-maid when the Prince was +at St. Germain, she was a mere supernumerary, nor was there any +salary forthcoming. The small amount of money she had with her had +dwindled away, and when she applied to Lady Strickland, who was +kinder to her than any one else, she was told that the Queen was far +too much distressed for money wherewith to aid the King to be able +to pay any one, and that they must all wait till the King had his +own again. Her clothes were wearing out, and scarcely in condition +for attendance on the Prince when he was shown in state to the King +of France. Worse than all, she seemed entirely cut off from home. +She had written several times to her uncle when opportunity seemed +to offer, but had never heard from him, and she did not know whether +her letters could reach him, or if he were even aware of what had +become of her. People came with passports from England to join the +exiled Court, but no one returned thither, or she would even have +offered herself as a waiting-maid to have a chance of going back. +Lady Strickland would have forwarded her, but no means or +opportunity offered, and there was nothing for it but to look to the +time that everybody declared to be approaching when the King was to +be reinstated, and they would all go home in triumph. + +Meanwhile Anne Woodford felt herself a supernumerary, treated with +civility, and no more, as she ate her meals with a very feminine +Court, for almost all the gentlemen were in Ireland with the King. +She had a room in the entresol to herself, in Pauline's absence, and +here she could in turn sit and dream, or mend and furbish up her +clothes--a serious matter now--or read the least scrap of printed +matter in her way, for books were scarcer than even at Whitehall; +and though her 'mail' had safely been forwarded by Mr. Labadie, some +jealous censor had abstracted her Bible and Prayer-book. Probably +there was no English service anywhere in France at that time, unless +among the merchants at Bordeaux--certainly neither English nor +Reformed was within her reach--and she had to spend her Sundays in +recalling all she could, and going over it, feeling thankful to the +mother who had made her store Psalms, Gospels, and Collects in her +memory week by week. + +She was so far forgotten that active attempts to convert her had +been dropped, except by Pauline. Perhaps it was thought that +isolation would be effectual, but in fact the sight of popular +Romanism not kept in check by Protestant surroundings shocked her, +and made her far more averse to change than when she saw it at its +best at Whitehall. In fine, the end of her ambition had been +neglect and poverty, and the real service that she had rendered was +unacknowledged, and marred by that momentary alarm. No wonder she +felt sore. + +She had never once been to Paris, and seldom beyond the gardens, +which happily were free in the absence of the Queen, and always had +secluded corners apart from the noble terraces, safe from the +intrusion of idle gallants. Anne had found a sort of bower of her +own, shaded by honeysuckles and wild roses, where she could sit +looking over the slopes and the windings of the Seine and indulge +her musings and longings. + +The lonely life brought before her all the anxieties that had been +stifled for the time by the agitations of the escape. Again and +again she lived over the scene in the ruins. Again and again she +recalled those two strange appearances, and shivering at the thought +of the anniversary that was approaching in another month, still felt +sometimes that, alive or dead, Peregrine's would be a home face, and +framed to herself imaginary scenes in which she addressed him, and +demanded whether he could not rest in his unhallowed grave. What +would Bishop Ken say? Sometimes even she recollected the strange +theory which had made him crave execution from the late King, seven +years, yes, a little more than seven years ago, and marvel whether +at that critical epoch he had indeed between life and death been +snatched away to his native land of faery. Imagination might well +run riot in the solitary, unoccupied condition to which she was +reduced; and she also brooded much over the fragments of doubtful +news which reached her. + +Something was said of all loyal clergy being expelled and +persecuted, and this of course suggested those sufferings of the +clergy during the Commonwealth, of which she had often heard, making +her very anxious about her uncle, and earnestly long for wings to +fly to him. The Archfields too! Had Charles returned, and did that +secret press upon him as it did upon her? Did Lucy think herself +utterly forgotten and cast aside, receiving no word or message from +her friend? "Perhaps," thought Anne, "they fancy me sailing about +at Court in silks and satins, jewels and curls, and forgetting them +all, as I remember Lucy said I should when she first heard that I +was going to Whitehall. Nay, and I even took pleasure in the +picture of myself so decked out, though I never, never meant to +forget her. Foolish, worse than foolish, that I was! And to think +that I might now be safe and happy with good Lady Russell, near my +uncle and all of them. I could almost laugh to think how my fine +notions of making my fortune have ended in sitting here, neglected, +forgotten, banished, almost in rags! I suppose it was all self- +seeking, and that I must take it meekly as no more than I deserve. +But oh, how different! how different is this captivity! 'Oh that I +had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away, and be at rest.' +Swallow, swallow! you are sweeping through the air. Would that my +spirit could fly like you! if only for one glimpse to tell me what +they are doing. Ah! there's some one coming down this unfrequented +walk, where I thought myself safe. A young gentleman! I must rise +and go as quietly as I can before he sees me. Nay," as the action +following the impulse, she was gathering up her work, "'tis an old +abbe with him! no fear! Abbe? Nay, 'tis liker to an English +clergyman! Can a banished one have strayed hither? The younger man +is in mourning. Could it be? No graver, older, more manly--Oh!" + +"Anne! Anne! We have found you!" + +"Mr. Archfield! You!" + +And as Charles Archfield, in true English fashion, kissed her cheek, +Anne fairly choked with tears of joy, and she ever after remembered +that moment as the most joyful of her life, though the joy was +almost agony. + +"This is Mistress Anne Woodford, sir," said Charles, the next +moment. "Allow me, madam, to present Mr. Fellowes, of Magdalen +College." + +Anne held out her hand, and courtesied in response to the bow and +wave of the shovel hat. + +"How did you know that I was here?" she said. + +"Doctor Woodford thought it likely, and begged us to come and see +whether we could do anything for you," said Charles; "and you may +believe that we were only too happy to do so. A lady to whom we had +letters, who is half English, the Vicomtesse de Bellaise, was so +good as to go to the convent at Poissy and discover for us from some +of the suite where you were." + +"My uncle--my dear uncle--is he well?" + +"Quite well, when last we heard," said Charles. "That was at +Florence, nearly a month ago." + +"And all at Fareham, are they well?" + +"All just as usual," said Charles, "at the last hearing, which was +at the same time. I hoped to have met letters at Paris, but no +doubt the war prevents the mails from running." + +"Ah! I have never had a single letter," said Anne. "Did my uncle +know anything of me? Has he never had one of mine?" + +"Up to the time when he wrote, last March, that is to say, he had +received nothing. He had gone to London to make inquiries--" + +"Ah! my dear good uncle!" + +"And had ascertained that you had been chosen to accompany the Queen +and Prince in their escape from Whitehall. You have played the +heroine, Miss Anne." + +"Oh! if you knew--" + +"And," said Mr. Fellowes, "both he and Sir Philip Archfield +requested us, if we could make our way home through Paris, to come +and offer our services to Mistress Woodford, in case she should wish +to send intelligence to England, or if she should wish to make use +of our escort to return home." + +"Oh sir! oh sir! how can I thank you enough! You cannot guess the +happiness you have brought me," cried Anne with clasped hands, tears +welling up again. + +"You _will_ come with us then," cried Charles. "I am sure you +ought. They have not used you well, Anne; how pale and thin you +have grown." + +"That is only pining! I am quite well, only home-sick," she said +with a smile. "I am sure the Queen will let me go. I am nothing +but a burthen now. She has plenty of her own people, and they do +not like a Protestant about the Prince." + +"There is Madame de Bellaise," said Mr. Fellowes, "advancing along +the walk with Lady Powys. Let me present you to her." + +"You have succeeded, I see," a kind voice said, as Anne found +herself making her courtesy to a tall and stately old lady, with a +mass of hair of the peculiar silvered tint of flaxen mixed with +white. + +"I am sincerely glad," said Lady Powys, "that Miss Woodford has met +her friends." + +"Also," said Madame de Bellaise, "Lady Powys is good enough to say +that if mademoiselle will honour me with a visit, she gives +permission for her to return with me to Paris." + +This was still greater joy, except for that one recollection, +formidable in the midst of her joy, of her dress. Did Madame de +Bellaise divine something? for she said, "These times remind me of +my youth, when we poor cavalier families well knew what sore straits +were. If mademoiselle will bring what is most needful, the rest can +be sent afterwards." + +Making her excuses for the moment, Anne with light and gladsome foot +sped along the stately alley, up the stairs to her chamber, round +which she looked much as if it had been a prison cell, fell on her +knees in a gush of intense thankfulness, and made her rapid +preparations, her hands trembling with joy, and a fear that she +might wake to find all again a dream. She felt as if this +deliverance were a token of forgiveness for her past wilfulness, and +as if hope were opened to her once more. Lady Powys met her as she +came down, and spoke very kindly, thanking her for her services, and +hoping that she would enjoy the visit she was about to make. + +"Does your ladyship think Her Majesty will require me any longer?" +asked Anne timidly. + +"If you wish to return to the country held by the Prince of Orange," +said the Countess coldly, "you must apply for dismissal to Her +Majesty herself." + +Anne perceived from the looks of her friends that it was no time for +discussing her loyalty, and all taking leave, she was soon seated +beside Madame de Bellaise, while the coach and four rolled down the +magnificent avenue, and scene after scene disappeared, beautiful and +stately indeed, but which she was as glad to leave behind her as if +they had been the fetters and bars of a dungeon, and she almost +wondered at the words of admiration of her companions. + +Madame de Bellaise sat back, and begged the others to speak English, +saying that it was her mother tongue, and she loved the sound of it, +but really trying to efface herself, while the eager conversation +between the two young people went on about their homes. + +Charles had not been there more recently than Anne, and his letters +were at least two months old, but the intelligence in them was as +water to her thirsty soul. All was well, she heard, including the +little heir of Archfield, though the young father coloured a little, +and shuffled over the answers to the inquiries with a rather sad +smile. Charles was, however, greatly improved. He had left behind +him the loutish, unformed boy, and had become a handsome, courteous, +well-mannered gentleman. The very sight of him handing Madame de +Bellaise in and out of her coach was a wonder in itself when Anne +recollected how he had been wont to hide himself in the shrubbery to +prevent being called upon for such services, and how uncouthly in +the last extremity he would perform them. + +Madame de Bellaise was inhabiting her son's great Hotel de +Nidemerle. He was absent in garrison, and she was presiding over +the family of grandchildren, their mother being in bad health. So +much Anne heard before she was conducted to a pleasant little +bedroom, far more home-like and comfortable than in any of the +palaces she had inhabited. It opened into another, whence merry +young voices were heard. + +"That is the apartment of my sister's youngest daughter," said +Madame de Bellaise, "Noemi Darpent. I borrowed her for a little +while to teach her French and dancing, but now that we are gone to +war, they want to have her back again, and it will be well that she +should avail herself of the same escort as yourself. All will then +be selon les convenances, which had been a difficulty to me," she +added with a laugh. + +Then opening the door of communication she said; "Here, Noemi, we +have found your countrywoman, and I put her under your care. Ah! +you two chattering little pies, I knew the voices were yours. This +is my granddaughter, Marguerite de Nidemerle, and my niece--a la +mode de Bretagne--Cecile d'Aubepine, all bestowing their chatter on +their cousin." + +Noemi Darpent was a tall, fair, grave-faced maiden, some years over +twenty, and so thoroughly English that it warmed Anne's heart to +look at her, and the other two were bright little Frenchwomen-- +Marguerite a pretty blonde, Cecile pale, dark, and sallow, but full +of life. Both were at the age at which girls were usually in +convents, but as Anne learnt, Madame de Bellaise was too English at +heart to give up the training of her grandchildren, and she had an +English governess for them, daughter to a Romanist cavalier ruined +by sequestration. + +She was evidently the absolute head of the family. Her daughter-in- +law was a delicate little creature, who scarcely seemed able to bear +the noise of the family at the long supper-table, when all talked +with shrill French voices, from the two youths and their abbe tutor +down to the little four-year-old Lolotte in her high chair. But to +Anne, after the tedious formality of the second table at the palace, +stiff without refinement, this free family life was perfectly +delightful and refreshing, though as yet she was too much cramped, +as it were, by long stiffness, silence, and treatment as an inferior +to join, except by the intelligent dancing of her brown eyes, and +replies when directly addressed. + +After Mrs. Labadie's homeliness, Pauline's exclusive narrowness, +Jane's petty frivolity, Hester's vulgar worldliness, and the general +want of cultivation in all who treated her on an equality, it was +like returning to rational society; and she could not but observe +that Mr. Archfield altogether held his own in conversation with the +rest, whether in French or English. Little more than a year ago he +would hardly have opened his mouth, and would have worn the true +bumpkin look of contemptuous sheepishness. Now he laughed and made +others laugh as readily and politely as--Ah! With whom was she +comparing him? Did the thought of poor Peregrine dwell on his mind +as it did upon hers? But perhaps things were not so terrible to a +man as to a woman, and he had not seen those apparitions! Indeed, +when not animated, she detected a certain thoughtful melancholy on +his brow which certainly had not belonged to former times. + +Mr. Fellowes early made known to Anne that her uncle had asked him +to be her banker, and the first care of her kind hostess was to +assist her in supplying the deficiencies of her wardrobe, so that +she was able to go abroad without shrinking at her own shabby +appearance. + +The next thing was to take her to Poissy to request her dismissal +from the Queen, without which it would be hardly decorous to depart, +though in point of fact, in the present state of affairs, as Noemi +said, there was nothing to prevent it. + +"No," said Mr. Fellowes; "but for that reason Miss Woodford would +feel bound to show double courtesy to the discrowned Queen." + +"And she has often been very kind to me--I love her much," said +Anne. + +"Noemi is a little Whig," said Madame de Bellaise. "I shall not +take her with us, because I know her father would not like it, but +to me it is only like the days of my youth to visit an exiled queen. +Will these gentlemen think fit to be of the party?" + +"Thank you, madam, not I," said the Magdalen man. "I am very sorry +for the poor lady, but my college has suffered too much at her +husband's hands for me to be very anxious to pay her my respects; +and if my young friend will take my advice, neither will he. It +might be bringing his father into trouble." + +To this Charles agreed, so M. L'Abbe undertook to show them the +pictures at the Louvre, and Anne and Madame de Bellaise were the +only occupants of the carriage that conveyed them to the great old +convent of Poissy, the girl enjoying by the way the comfort of the +kindness of a motherly woman, though even to her there could be no +confiding of the terrible secret that underlay all her thoughts. +Madame de Bellaise, however, said how glad she was to secure this +companionship for her niece. Noemi had been more attached than her +family realised to Claude Merrycourt, a neighbour who had had the +folly, contrary to her prudent father's advice, to rush into +Monmouth's rebellion, and it had only been by the poor girl's agony +when he suffered under the summary barbarities of Kirke that her +mother had known how much her heart was with him. The depression of +spirits and loss of health that ensued had been so alarming that +when Madame de Bellaise, after some months, paid a long visit to her +sister in England, Mrs. Darpent had consented to send the girl to +make acquaintance with her French relations, and try the effect of +change of scene. She had gone, indifferent, passive, and broken- +hearted, but her aunt had watched over her tenderly, and she had +gradually revived, not indeed into a joyous girl, but into a calm +and fairly cheerful woman. + +When she had left home, France and England were only too closely +connected, but now they were at daggers drawn, and probably would be +so for many years, and the Revolution had come so suddenly that +Madame de Bellaise had not been able to make arrangements for her +niece's return home, and Noemi was anxiously waiting for an +opportunity of rejoining her parents. + +The present plan was this. Madame de Bellaise's son, the Marquis de +Nidemerle, was Governor of Douai, where his son, the young Baron de +Ribaumont, with his cousin, the Chevalier d'Aubepine, were to join +him with their tutor, the Abbe Leblanc. The war on the Flemish +frontier was not just then in an active state, and there were often +friendly relations between the commandants of neighbouring +garrisons, so that it might be possible to pass a party on to the +Spanish territory with a flag of truce, and then the way would be +easy. This passing, however, would be impossible for Noemi alone, +since etiquette would not permit of her thus travelling with the two +young gentlemen, nor could she have proceeded after reaching Douai, +so that the arrival of the two Englishmen and the company of Miss +Woodford was a great boon. Madame de Bellaise had already +despatched a courier to ask her son whether he could undertake the +transit across the frontier, and hoped to apply for passports as +soon as his answer was received. She told Anne her niece's history +to prevent painful allusions on the journey. + +"Ah, madame!" said Anne, "we too have a sad day connected with that +unfortunate insurrection. We grieved over Lady Lisle, and burnt +with indignation." + +"M. Barillon tells me that her judge, the Lord Chancellor, was +actually forced to commit himself to the Tower to escape being torn +to pieces by the populace, and it is since reported that he has +there died of grief and shame. I should think his prison cell must +have been haunted by hundreds of ghosts." + +"I pray you, madame! do you believe that there are apparitions?" + +"I have heard of none that were not explained by some accident, or +else were the produce of an excited brain;" and Anne said no more on +that head, though it was a comfort to tell of her own foolish +preference for the chances of Court preferment above the security of +Lady Russell's household, and Madame de Bellaise smiled, and said +her experience of Courts had not been too agreeable. + +And thus they reached Poissy, where Queen Mary Beatrice had separate +rooms set apart for visitors, and thus did not see them from behind +the grating, but face to face. + +"You wish to leave me, signorina," she said, using the appellation +of their more intimate days, as Anne knelt to kiss her hand. "I +cannot wonder. A poor exile has nothing wherewith to reward the +faithful." + +"Ah! your Majesty, that is not the cause; if I were of any use to +you or to His Royal Highness." + +"True, signorina; you have been faithful and aided me to the best of +your power in my extremity, but while you will not embrace the true +faith I cannot keep you about the person of my son as he becomes +more intelligent. Therefore it may be well that you should leave +us, until such time as we shall be recalled to our kingdom, when I +hope to reward you more suitably. You loved my son, and he loved +you--perhaps you would like to bid him farewell." + +For this Anne was very grateful, and the Prince was sent for by the +mother, who was too proud of him to miss any opportunity of +exhibiting him to an experienced mother and grandmother like the +vicomtesse. He was a year old, and had become a very beautiful +child, with large dark eyes like his mother's, and when Mrs. Labadie +carried him in, he held out his arms to Anne with a cry of glad +recognition that made her feel that if she could have been allowed +the charge of him she could hardly have borne to part with him. And +when the final leave-taking came, the Queen made his little hand +present her with a little gold locket, containing his soft hair, +with a J in seed pearls outside, in memory, said Mary Beatrice, of +that night beneath the church wall. + +"Ah, yes, you had your moment of fear, but we were all in terror, +and you hushed him well." + +Thus with another kiss to the white hand, returned on her own +forehead, ended Anne Jacobina's Court life. Never would she be +Jacobina again--always Anne or sweet Nancy! It was refreshing to be +so called, when Charles Archfield let the name slip out, then +blushed and apologised, while she begged him to resume it, which he +was now far too correct to do in public. Noemi quite readily +adopted it. + +"I am tired of fine French names," she said: "an English voice is +quite refreshing; and do you call me Naomi, not Noemi. I did not +mind it so much at first, because my father sometimes called me so, +after his good old mother, who was bred a Huguenot, but it is like +the first step towards home to hear Naomi--Little Omy, as my +brothers used to shout over the stairs." + +That was a happy fortnight. Madame de Bellaise said it would be a +shame to let Anne have spent a half year in France and have seen +nothing, so she took the party to the theatre, where they saw the +Cid with extreme delight. She regretted that the season was so far +advanced that the winter representations of Esther, at St. Cyr by +the young ladies, were over, but she invited M. Racine for an +evening, when Mr. Fellowes took extreme pleasure in his +conversation, and he was prevailed on to read some of the scenes. +She also used her entree at Court to enable them to see the +fountains at Versailles, which Winchester was to have surpassed but +for King Charles's death. + +"Just as well otherwise," remarked Charles to Anne. "These fine +feathers and flowers of spray are beautiful enough in themselves, +but give me the clear old Itchen not tortured into playing tricks, +with all the trout killed; and the open down instead of all these +terraces and marble steps where one feels as cramped as if it were a +perpetual minuet. And look at the cost! Ah! you will know what I +mean when we travel through the country." + +Another sight was from a gallery, whence they beheld the King eat +his dinner alone at a silver-loaded table, and a lengthy ceremony it +was. Four plates of soup to begin with, a whole capon with ham, +followed by a melon, mutton, salad, garlic, pate de foie gras, +fruit, and confitures. Charles really grew so indignant, that, in +spite of his newly-acquired politeness, Anne, who knew his +countenance, was quite glad when she saw him safe out of hearing. + +"The old glutton!" he said; "I should like to put him on a diet of +buckwheat and sawdust like his poor peasants for a week, and then +see whether he would go on gormandising, with his wars and his +buildings, starving his poor. It is almost enough to make a Whig of +a man to see what we might have come to. How can you bear it, +madame?" + +"Alas! we are powerless," said the Vicomtesse. "A seigneur can do +little for his people, but in Anjou we have some privileges, and our +peasants are better off than those you have seen, though indeed I +grieved much for them when first I came among them from England." + +She was perhaps the less sorry that Paris was nearly emptied of +fashionable society since her guest had the less chance of uttering +dangerous sentiments before those who might have repeated them, and +much as she liked him, she was relieved when letters came from her +son undertaking to expedite them on their way provided they made +haste to forestall any outbreak of the war in that quarter. + +Meantime Naomi and Anne had been drawn much nearer together by a +common interest. The door between their rooms having some +imperfection in the latch swung open as they were preparing for bed, +and Anne was aware of a sound of sobbing, and saw one of the white- +capped, short-petticoated femmes de chambre kneeling at Naomi's +feet, ejaculating, "Oh, take me! take me, mademoiselle! Madame is +an angel of goodness, but I cannot go on living a lie. I shall do +something dreadful." + +"Poor Suzanne! poor Suzanne!" Naomi was answering: "I will do what +I can, I will see if it is possible--" + +They started at the sound of the step, Suzanne rising to her feet in +terror, but Naomi, signing to Anne and saying, "It is only +Mademoiselle Woodford, a good Protestant, Suzanne. Go now; I will +see what can be done; I know my aunt would like to send a maid with +us." + +Then as Suzanne went out with her apron to her eyes, and Anne would +have apologised, she said, "Never mind; I must have told you, and +asked your help. Poor Suzanne, she is one of the Rotrous, an old +race of Huguenot peasants whom my aunt always protected; she would +protect any one, but these people had a special claim because they +sheltered our great-grandmother, Lady Walwyn, when she fled after +the S. Barthelemi. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked, the two +brothers fled. I believe she helped them, and they got on board +ship, and brought a token to my father; but the old mother was +feeble and imbecile, and could not move, and the monks and the +dragoons frightened and harassed this poor wench into what they +called conforming. When the mother died, my aunt took Suzanne and +taught her, and thought she was converted; and indeed if all Papists +were like my aunt it would not be so hard to become one." + +"Oh yes! I know others like that." + +"But this poor Suzanne, knowing that she only was converted out of +terror, has always had an uneasy conscience, and the sight of me has +stirred up everything. She says, though I do not know if it be +true, that she was fast drifting into bad habits, when finding my +Bible, though it was English and she could not read it, seems to +have revived everything, and recalled the teaching of her good old +father and pastor, and now she is wild to go to England with us." + +"You will take her?" exclaimed Anne. + +"Of course I will. Perhaps that is what I was sent here for. I +will ask her of my aunt, and I think she will let me have her. You +will keep her secret, Anne." + +"Indeed I will." + +Madame de Bellaise granted Suzanne to her niece without difficulty, +evidently guessing the truth, but knowing the peril of the situation +too well to make any inquiry. Perhaps she was disappointed that her +endeavours to win the girl to her Church had been ineffectual, but +to have any connection with one 'relapsed' was so exceedingly +perilous that she preferred to ignore the whole subject, and merely +let it be known that Suzanne was to accompany Mademoiselle Darpent, +and this was only disclosed to the household on the very last +morning, after the passports had been procured and the mails packed, +and she hushed any remark of the two English girls in such a decided +manner as quite startled them by the manifest need of caution. + +"We should have come to that if King James were still allowed to +have his own way," said Naomi. + +"Oh no! we are too English," said Anne. + +"Our generation might not see it," said Naomi; "but who can be safe +when a Popish king can override law? Oh, I shall breathe more +freely when I am on the other side of the Channel. My aunt is much +too good for this place, and they don't approve of her, and keep her +down." + + + +CHAPTER XXII: REVENANTS + + +"But soft, behold! lo, where it comes again! +I'll cross it, though it blast me." + +Hamlet. + +Floods of tears were shed at the departure of the two young officers +of sixteen and seventeen. The sobs of the household made the +English party feel very glad when it was over and the cavalcade was +in motion. A cavalcade it was, for each gentleman rode and so did +his body-servant, and each horse had a mounted groom. The two young +officers had besides each two chargers, requiring a groom and horse +boy, and each conducted half a dozen fresh troopers to join the +army. A coach was the regulation mode of travelling for ladies, but +both the English girls had remonstrated so strongly that Madame de +Bellaise had consented to their riding, though she took them and +Suzanne the first day's journey well beyond the ken of the Parisians +in her own carriage, as far as Senlis, where there was a fresh +parting with the two lads, fewer tears, and more counsel and +encouragement, with many fond messages to her son, many to her +sister in England, and with affectionate words to her niece a +whisper to her to remember that she would not be in a Protestant +country till she reached Holland or England. + +The last sight they had of the tall dignified figure of the old lady +was under the arch of the cathedral, where she was going to pray for +their safety. Suzanne was to ride on a pillion behind the Swiss +valet of Mr. Fellowes, whom Naomi had taken into her confidence, and +the two young ladies each mounted a stout pony. Mr. Fellowes had +made friends with the Abbe Leblanc, who was of the old Gallican +type, by no means virulently set against Anglicanism, and also a +highly cultivated man, so that they had many subjects in common, +besides the question of English Catholicity. The two young cousins, +Ribaumont and D'Aubepine, were chiefly engaged in looking out for +sport, setting their horses to race with one another, and the like, +in which Charles Archfield sometimes took a share, but he usually +rode with the two young ladies, and talked to them very pleasantly +of his travels in Italy, the pictures and antiquities which had made +into an interesting reality the studies that he had hated when a +boy, also the condition of the country he had seen with a mind which +seemed to have opened and enlarged with a sudden start beyond the +interests of the next fox-hunt or game at bowls. All were, as he +had predicted, greatly shocked at the aspect of the country through +which they passed: the meagre crops ripening for harvest, the hay- +carts, sometimes drawn by an equally lean cow and woman, the haggard +women bearing heavy burthens, and the ragged, barefooted children +leading a wretched cow or goat to browse by the wayside, the gaunt +men toiling at road-mending with their poor starved horses, or at +their seigneur's work, alike unpaid, even when drawn off from their +own harvests. And in the villages the only sound buildings were the +church and presbytere by its side, the dwellings being miserable +hovels, almost sunk into the earth, an old crone or two, marvels of +skinniness, spinning at the door, or younger women making lace, and +nearly naked children rushing out to beg. Sometimes the pepper-box +turrets of a chateau could be seen among distant woods, or the walls +of a cloister, with a taper spire in the midst, among greener +fields; and the towns were approached through long handsome avenues, +and their narrow streets had a greater look of prosperity, while +their inns, being on the way to the place of warfare, were almost +luxurious, with a choice of dainty meats and good wines. Everywhere +else was misery, and Naomi said it was the vain endeavour to reform +the source of these grievances that had forced her father to become +an exile from his native country, and that he had much apprehended +that the same blight might gradually be brought over his adopted +land, on which Charles stood up for the constitution, and for the +resolute character of Englishmen, and Anne, as in duty bound, for +the good intentions of her godfather. Thus they argued, and Anne +not only felt herself restored to the company of rational beings, +but greatly admired Charles's sentiments and the ability with which +he put them forward, and now and then the thought struck her, and +with a little twinge of pain of which she was ashamed, would Naomi +Darpent be the healer of the wound nearly a year old, and find in +him consolation for the hero of her girlhood? Somehow there would +be a sense of disappointment in them both if so it were. + +At length the spires and towers of Douai came in sight, fenced in by +stern lines of fortification according to the science of Vauban-- +smooth slopes of glacis, with the terrible muzzles of cannon peeping +out on the summits of the ramparts, and the line of salient angle +and ravelin with the moat around, beautiful though formidable. The +Marquis de Nidemerle had sent a young officer and sergeant's party +to meet the travellers several miles off, and bring them +unquestioned through the outposts of the frontier town, so closely +watched in this time of war, and at about half a mile from the gates +he himself, with a few attendants, rode out all glittering and +clanking in their splendid uniforms and accoutrements. He doffed +his hat with the heavy white plume, and bowed his greeting to the +ladies and clergymen, but both the young Frenchmen, after a military +salute, hastily dismounted and knelt on one knee, while he sprang +from his horse, and then, making the sign of the Cross over his son, +raised him, and folding him in his arms pressed him to his breast +and kissed him on each cheek, not without tears, then repeated the +same greeting with young D'Aubepine. He then kissed the hand of his +belle cousine, whom, of course, he knew already, and bowed almost to +the ground on being presented to Mademoiselle Woodford, a little +less low to Monsieur Archfield, who was glad the embracing was not +to be repeated, politely received Mr. Fellowes, and honoured the +domestic abbe with a kindly word and nod. The gradation was +amusing, and he was a magnificent figure, with his noble horse and +grand military dress, while his fine straight features, sunburnt +though naturally fair, and his tall, powerful frame, well became his +surroundings--'a true white Ribaumont,' as Naomi said, as she looked +at the long fair hair drawn back and tied with ribbon. "He is just +like the portrait of our great-grandfather who was almost killed on +the S. Barthelemi!" However, Naomi had no more time to talk _of_ +him, for he rode by her side inquiring for his mother, wife, and +children, but carefully doing the honours to the stranger lady and +gentleman. + +Moat and drawbridge there were at Portsmouth, and a sentry at the +entrance, but here there seemed endless guards, moats, bridges, and +gates, and there was a continual presenting of arms and +acknowledging of salutes as the commandant rode in with the +travellers. It was altogether a very new experience in life. They +were lodged in the governor's quarters in the fortress, where the +accommodation for ladies was of the slenderest, and M. de Nidemerle +made many apologies, though he had evidently given up his own +sleeping chamber to the two ladies, who would have to squeeze into +his narrow camp-bed, with Suzanne on the floor, and the last was to +remain there entirely, there being no woman with whom she could have +her meals. The ladies were invited to sup with the staff, and +would, as M. de Nidemerle assured them, be welcomed with the +greatest delight. So Naomi declared that they must make their +toilette do as much justice as possible to their country; and though +full dress was not attainable, they did their best with ribbons and +laces, and the arrangement of her fair locks and Anne's brown ones, +when Suzanne proved herself an adept; the ladies meantime finding no +small amusement in the varieties of swords, pistols, spurs, and +other accoutrements, for which the marquis had apologised, though +Naomi told him that they were the fittest ornaments possible. + +"And my cousin Gaspard is a really good man," she said, indicating +to her friend the little shrine with holy-water stoup, ivory +crucifix, print of the Madonna, two or three devotional books, and +the miniatures of mother, wife, and children hung not far off; also +of two young cavaliers, one of whom Naomi explained to be the young +father whom Gaspard could not recollect, the other, that of the +uncle Eustace, last Baron Walwyn and Ribaumont, of whom her own +mother talked with such passionate affection, and whose example had +always been a guiding star to the young marquis. + +He came to their door to conduct them down to supper, giving his arm +to Miss Woodford as the greatest stranger, while Miss Darpent was +conducted by a resplendent ducal colonel. The supper-room was in +festal guise, hung round with flags, and the table adorned with +flowers; a band was playing, and never had either Anne or Naomi been +made so much of. All were eagerly talking, Charles especially so, +and Anne thought, with a thrill, "Did he recollect that this was the +very anniversary of that terrible 1st of July?" + +It was a beautiful summer evening, and the supper taking place at +five o'clock there was a considerable time to spare afterwards, so +that M. de Nidemerle proposed to show the strangers the place, and +the view from the ramparts. + +"In my company you can see all well," he said, "but otherwise there +might be doubts and jealousies." + +He took them through the narrow Flemish streets of tall houses with +projecting upper stories, and showed them that seminary which was +popularly supposed in England to be the hotbed of truculent plots, +but where they only saw a quiet academic cloister and an exquisite +garden, green turf, roses and white lilies in full perfection, and +students flitting about in cassocks and square caps, more like an +Oxford scene, as Mr. Fellowes said, than anything he had yet seen. +He was joined by an English priest from his own original +neighbourhood. The Abbe Leblanc found another acquaintance, and +these two accompanied their friends to the ramparts. The marquis +had a great deal to hear from his cousin about his home, and thus it +happened that Charles Archfield and Anne found themselves more +practically alone together than they had yet been. As they looked +at the view over the country, he told her of a conversation that he +had had with an officer now in the French army, but who had served +in the Imperial army against the Turks, and that he had obtained +much useful information. + +"Useful?" asked Anne. + +"Yes. I have been watching for the moment to tell you, Anne; I have +resolved what to do. I intend to make a few campaigns there against +the enemy of Christendom." + +"O Mr. Archfield!" was all she could say. + +"See here, I have perceived plainly that to sink down into my lady's +eldest son is no wholesome life for a man with all his powers about +him. I understand now what a set of oafs we were to despise the +poor fellow you wot of, because he was not such a lubber as +ourselves. I have no mind to go through the like." + +"You are so different; it could not be the same." + +"Not quite; but remember there is nothing for me to do. My father +is still an active man, and I am not old enough to take my part in +public affairs, even if I loved greatly either the Prince of Orange +or King James. I could not honestly draw my sword for either. I +have no estate to manage, my child's inheritance is all in money, +and it would drive me mad, or worse, to go home to be idle. No; I +will fight against the common enemy till I have made me a name, and +won reputation and standing; or if I should not come back, there's +the babe at home to carry on the line." + +"Oh, sir! your father and mother--Lucy--all that love you. What +will they say?" + +"It would only put them to needless pain to ask them. I shall not. +I shall write explaining all my motives--all except one, and that +you alone know, Anne." + +She shuddered a little, and felt him press her arm tightly. They +had fallen a good deal behind the marquis and his cousin, and were +descending as twilight fell into a narrow, dark, lonely street, with +all the houses shut up. "No one has guessed, have they?" she +faltered. + +"Not that I know of. But I cannot--no! I can_not_ go home, to have +that castle near me, and that household at Oakwood. I see enough in +my dreams without that." + +"See! Ah, yes!" + +"Then, Anne, you have suffered then too--guiltless as you are in +keeping my terrible secret! I have often thought and marvelled +whether it were so with you." + +She was about to tell him what she had seen, when he began, "There +is one thing in this world that would sweeten and renew my life--and +that?" + +Her heart was beating violently at what was so suddenly coming on +her, when at that instant Charles broke off short with "Good +Heavens! What's that?" + +On the opposite side of the street, where one of the many churches +stood some way back, making an opening, there was a figure, +essentially the same that Anne had seen at Lambeth, but bare-headed, +clad apparently in something long and white, and with a pale bluish +light on the ghastly but unmistakable features. + +She uttered a faint gasping cry scarcely audible, Charles's impulse +was to exclaim, "Man or spirit, stand!" and drawing his sword to +rush across the street; but in that second all had vanished, and he +only struck against closed doors, which he shook, but could not +open. + +"Mr. Archfield! Oh, come back! I have seen it before," entreated +Anne; and he strode back, with a gesture of offering her support, +and trembling, she clung to his arm. "It does not hurt," she said. +"It comes and goes--" + +"You have seen it before!" + +"Twice." + +No more could be said, for through the gloom the white plume and +gold-laced uniform of the marquis were seen. He had missed them, +and come back to look for them, beginning to apologise. + +"I am confounded at having left Mademoiselle behind.--Comment!"--as +the sound betrayed that Charles was sheathing his sword. "I trust +that Monsieur has met with no unpleasant adventure from my people." + +"Oh, no, Monsieur," was the answer, as he added-- + +"One can never be sure as to these fiery spirits towards an +Englishman in the present state of feeling, and I blame myself +extremely for having permitted myself to lose sight of Monsieur and +Mademoiselle." + +"Indeed, sir, we have met with no cause of complaint," said Charles, +adding as if casually, "What is that church?" + +"'Tis the Jesuits' Church," replied the governor. "There is the +best preaching in the town, they say, and Jansenists as we are, I +was struck with the Lenten course." + +Anne went at once to her room on returning to the house. Naomi, who +was there already, exclaimed at her paleness, and insisted on +administering a glass of wine from what the English called the rere +supper, the French an encas, the substantial materials for which had +been left in the chamber. Then Anne felt how well it had been for +her that her fellows at the palace had been so uncongenial, for she +could hardly help disclosing to Naomi the sight she had seen, and +the half-finished words she had heard. It was chiefly the feeling +that she could not bear Naomi to know of the blood on Charles's hand +which withheld her in her tumult of feeling, and made her only +entreat, "Do not ask me, I cannot tell you." And Naomi, who was +some years older, and had had her own sad experience, guessed +perhaps at one cause for her agitation, and spared her inquiries, +though as Anne, tired out by the long day, and forced by their close +quarters to keep herself still, dropped asleep, strange mutterings +fell from her lips about "The vault--the blood--come back. There he +is. The secret has risen to forbid. O, poor Peregrine!" + +Between the July heat, the narrow bed, and the two chamber fellows, +Anne had little time to collect her thoughts, except for the general +impression that if Charles finished what he had begun to say, the +living and the dead alike must force her to refuse, though something +within foreboded that this would cost her more than she yet durst +perceive, and her heart was ready to spring forth and enclose him as +it were in an embrace of infinite tenderness, above all when she +thought of his purpose of going to those fearful Hungarian wars. + +But after the hot night, it was a great relief to prepare for an +early start. M. de Nidemerle had decided on sending the travellers +to Tournay, the nearest Spanish town, on the Scheldt, since he had +some acquaintance with the governor, and when no campaign was +actually on foot the courtesies of generous enemies passed between +them. He had already sent an intimation of his intention of +forwarding an English kinswoman of his own with her companions, and +bespoken the good offices of his neighbour, and they were now to set +off in very early morning under the escort of a flag of truce, a +trumpeter, and a party of troopers, commanded by an experienced old +officer with white moustaches and the peaked beard of the last +generation, contrasting with a face the colour of walnut wood. + +The marquis himself and his son, however, rode with the travellers +for their first five miles, through a country where the rich green +of the natural growth showed good soil, all enamelled with flowers +and corn crops run wild; but the villages looked deserted, the +remains of burnt barns and houses were frequent, and all along that +frontier, it seemed as if no peaceful inhabitants ventured to +settle, and only brigands often rendered such by misery might prowl +about. The English party felt as if they had never understood what +war could be. + +However, in a melancholy orchard run wild, under the shade of an +apple-tree laden with young fruit, backed by a blackened gable half +concealed by a luxuriant untrimmed vine, the avant couriers of the +commandant had cleared a space in the rank grass, and spread a +morning meal, of cold pate, fowl and light wines, in which the +French officers drank to the good journey of their friends, and then +when the horses had likewise had their refreshment the parting took +place with much affection between the cousins. The young Ribaumont +augured that they should meet again when he had to protect Noemi in +a grand descent on Dorsetshire in behalf of James, and she merrily +shook her fist at him and defied him, and his father allowed that +they were a long way from that. + +M. de Nidemerle hinted to Mr. Archfield that nobody could tell him +more about the war with the Turks than M. le Capitaine Delaune, who +was, it appeared, a veteran Swiss who had served in almost every +army in Europe, and thus could give information by no means to be +neglected. So that, to Anne's surprise and somewhat to her +mortification, since she had no knowledge of the cause, she saw +Charles riding apart with this wooden old veteran, who sat as +upright as a ramrod on his wiry-looking black horse, leaving her to +the company of Naomi and Mr. Fellowes. Did he really wish not to +pursue the topic which had brought Peregrine from his grave? It +would of course be all the better, but it cost her some terrible +pangs to think so. + +There were far more formalities and delays before the travellers +could cross the Tournay bridge across the Scheldt. They were +brought to a standstill a furlong off, and had to wait while the +trumpeter rode forward with the white flag, and the message was +referred to the officer on guard, while a sentry seemed to be +watching over them. Then the officer came to the gateway of the +bridge, and Captain Delaune rode forward to him, but there was still +a long weary waiting in the sun before he came back, after having +shown their credentials to the governor, and then he was accompanied +by a Flemish officer, who, with much courtesy, took them under his +charge, and conducted them through all the defences, over the +bridge, and to the gate where their baggage had to be closely +examined. Naomi had her Bible in her bosom, or it would not have +escaped; Anne heartily wished she had used the same precaution on +her flight from England, but she had not, like her friend, been +warned beforehand. + +When within the city there was more freedom, and the Fleming +conducted the party to an inn, where, unlike English inns, they +could not have a parlour to themselves, but had to take their meals +in common with other guests at a sort of table d'hote, and the +ladies had no refuge but their bedroom, where the number of beds did +not promise privacy. An orderly soon arrived with an invitation to +Don Carlos Arcafila to sup with the Spanish governor, and of course +the invitation could not be neglected. The ladies walked about a +little in the town with Mr. Fellowes, looking without appreciation +at the splendid five-towered cathedral, but recollecting with due +English pride that the place had been conquered by Henry VIII. +Thence they were to make for Ostend, where they were certain of +finding a vessel bound for England. + +It was a much smaller party that set forth from Tournay than from +Paris, and soon they fell into pairs, Mr. Fellowes and Naomi riding +together, sufficiently out of earshot of the others for Charles to +begin-- + +"I have not been able to speak to you, Anne, since that strange +interruption--if indeed it were not a dream." + +"Oh, sir, it was no dream! How could it be?" + +"How could it, indeed, when we both saw it, and both of us awake and +afoot, and yet I cannot believe my senses." + +"Oh, I can believe it only too truly! I have seen him twice before. +I thought you said you had." + +"Merely in dreams, and that is bad enough." + +"Are you sure? for I was up and awake." + +"Are _you_ sure? I might ask again. I was asleep in bed, and glad +enough to shake myself awake. Where were you?" + +"Once on Hallowmas Eve, looking from the window at Whitehall; once +when waiting with the Queen under the wall of Lambeth Church, on the +night of our flight." + +"Did others see him then?" + +"I was alone the first time. The next time when he flitted across +the light, no one else saw him; but they cried out at my start. Why +should he appear except to us?" + +"That is true," muttered Charles. + +"And oh, sir, those two times he looked as he did in life--not +ghastly as now. There can be no doubt now that--" + +"What, sweet Anne?" + +"Sir, I must tell you! I could bear it no longer, and I _did_ +consult the Bishop of Bath and Wells." + +"Any more?" he asked in a somewhat displeased voice. + +"No one, not a soul, and he is as safe as any of the priests here; +he regards a confession in the same way. Mr. Archfield, forgive me. +He seemed divinely sent to me on that All Saints' day! Oh, forgive +me!" and tears were in her eyes. + +"He is Dr. Ken--eh? I remember him. I suppose he is as safe as any +man, and a woman must have some relief. You have borne enough +indeed," said Charles, greatly touched by her tears. "What did he +say?" + +"He asked, was I certain of the--death," said she, bringing out the +word with difficulty; "but then I had only seen _it_ at Whitehall; +and these other appearances, in such places too, take away all hope +that it is otherwise!" + +"Assuredly," said Charles; "I had not the least doubt at the moment. +I know I ran my sword through his body, and felt a jar that I +believe was his backbone," he said with a shudder, "and he fell +prone and breathless; but since I have seen more of fencing, and +heard more of wounds, the dread has crossed me that I acted as an +inexperienced lad, and that I ought to have tried whether the life +was in him, or if he could be recovered. If so, I slew him twice, +by launching him into that pit. God forgive me!" + +"Is it so deep?" asked Anne, shuddering. "I know there is a sort of +step at the top; but I always shunned the place, and never looked +in." + +"There are two or three steps at the top, but all is broken away +below. Sedley and I once threw a ball down, and I am sure it +dropped to a depth down which no man could fall and _live_. I +believe there once were underground passages leading to the harbour +on one hand, and out to Portsdown Hill on the other, but that the +communication was broken away and the openings destroyed when Lord +Goring was governor of Portsmouth, to secure the castle. Be that as +it may, he could not have been living after he reached that floor. +I heard the thud, and the jingle of his sword, and it will haunt me +to my dying day." + +"And yet you never intended it. You did it in defence of me. You +did not mean to strike thus hard. It was an accident." + +"Would that I could so feel it!" he sighed. "Nay, of course I had +no evil design when my poor little wife drove me out to give you her +rag of ribbon, or whatever it was; but I hated as well as despised +the fellow. He had angered me with his scorn--well deserved, as now +I see--of our lubberly ways. She had vexed me with her teasing +commendations--out of harmless mischief, poor child. I hated him +more every time you looked at him, and when I had occasion to strike +him I was glad of it. There was murder in my heart, and I felt as +if I were putting a rat or a weasel out of the way when I threw him +down that pit. God forgive me! Then, in my madness, I so acted +that in a manner I was the death of that poor young thing." + +"No, no, sir. Your mother had never thought she would live." + +"So they say; but her face comes before me in reproach. There are +times when I feel myself a double murderer. I have been on the +point of telling all to Mr. Fellowes, or going home to accuse +myself. Only the thought of my father and mother, and of leaving +such a blight on that poor baby, has withheld me; but I cannot go +home to face the sight of the castle." + +"No," said Anne, choked with tears. + +"Nor is there any suspicion of the poor fellow's fate," he added. + +"Not that I ever heard." + +"His family think him fled, as was like enough, considering the way +in which they treated him," said Charles. "Nor do I see what good +it would do them to know the truth." + +"It would only be a grief and bitterness to all." + +"I hope I have repented, and that God accepts my forgiveness," said +Charles sadly. "I am banishing myself from all I love, and there is +a weight on me for life; but, unless suspicion falls on others, I do +not feel bound to make it worse for all by giving myself up. Yet +those appearances--to you, to me, to us both! At such a moment, +too, last night!" + +"Can it be because of his unhallowed grave?" said Anne, in a low +voice of awe. + +"If it were!" said Charles, drawing up his horse for a moment in +thought. "Anne, if there be one more appearance, the place shall be +searched, whether it incriminate me or not. It would be adding to +all my wrongs towards the poor fellow, if that were the case." + +"Even if he were found," said Anne, "suspicion would not light on +you. And at home it will be known if he haunts the place. I will-- +" + +"Nay, but, Anne, he will not interrupt me now. I have much more to +say. I want you to remember that we were sweethearts ere ever I, as +a child of twelve, knew that I was contracted to that poor babe, and +bidden to think only of her. Poor child! I honestly did my best to +love her, so far as I knew how, and mayhap we could have rubbed on +through life passably well as things go. But--but--It skills not +talking of things gone by, except to show that it is a whole heart-- +not the reversion of one that is yours for ever, mine only love." + +"Oh, but--but--I am no match for you." + +"I've had enough of grand matches." + +"Your father would never endure it." + +"My father would soon rejoice. Besides, if we are wedded here--say +at Ostend--and you make me a home at Buda, or Vienna, or some place +at our winter quarters, as my brave wench will, my father will be +glad enough to see us both at home again." + +"No; it cannot be. It would be plain treachery to your parents; Mr. +Fellowes would say so. I am sure he would not marry us." + +"There are English chaplains. Is that all that holds you back?" + +"No, sir. If the Archbishop of Canterbury were here himself, it +could not make it other than a sin, and an act of mean ingratitude, +for me, the Prince's rocker, to take advantage of their goodness in +permitting you to come and bring me home--to do what would be pain, +grief, and shame to them." + +"Never shame." + +"What is wrong is shame! Cannot you see how unworthy it would be in +me, and how it would grieve my uncle that I should have done such a +thing?" + +"Love would override scruples." + +"Not _true_ love." + +"True! Then you own to some love for me, Anne." + +"I do--not--know. I have guarded--I mean--cast away--I mean--never +entertained any such thought ever since I was old enough to know how +wicked it would be." + +"Anne! Anne!" (in an undertone very like rapture), "you have +confessed all! It is no sin _now_. Even you cannot say so." + +She hung her head and did not answer, but silence was enough for +him. + +"It is enough!" he said; "you will wait. I shall know you are +waiting till I return in such sort that nothing can be denied me. +Let me at least have that promise." + +"You need not fear," murmured Anne. "How could I need? The secret +would withhold me, were there nothing else." + +"And there is something else? Eh, sweetheart? Is that all I am to +be satisfied with?" + +"Oh sir!--Mr. Archfield, I mean--O Charles!" she stammered. + +Mr. Fellowes turned round to consult his pupil as to whether the +halt should be made at the village whose peaked roofs were seen over +the fruit trees. + +But when Anne was lifted down from the steed it was with no grasp of +common courtesy, and her hand was not relinquished till it had been +fervently kissed. + +Charles did not again torment her with entreaties to share his +exile. Mayhap he recognised, though unwillingly, that her judgment +had been right, but there was no small devotion in his whole +demeanour, as they dined, rode, and rested on that summer's day amid +fields of giant haycocks, and hostels wreathed with vines, with long +vistas of sleek cows and plump dappled horses in the sheds behind. +The ravages of war had lessened as they rode farther from the +frontier, and the rich smiling landscape lay rejoicing in the summer +sunshine; the sturdy peasants looked as if they had never heard of +marauders, as they herded their handsome cattle and responded +civilly when a draught of milk was asked for the ladies. + +There was that strange sense of Eden felicity that sometimes comes +with the knowledge that the time is short for mutual enjoyment in +full peace. Charles and Anne would part, their future was +undefined; but for the present they reposed in the knowledge of each +other's hearts, and in being together. It was as in their +childhood, when by tacit consent he had been Anne's champion from +the time she came as a little Londoner to be alarmed at rough +country ways, and to be easily scared by Sedley. It had been then +that Charles had first awakened to the chivalry of the better part +of boyhood's nature, instead of following his cousin's lead, and +treating girls as creatures meant to be bullied. Many a happy +reminiscence was shared between the two as they rode together, and +it was not till the pale breadth of sea filled their horizon, broken +by the tall spires and peaked gables and many-windowed steep roofs +of Ostend, that the future was permitted to come forward and trouble +them. Then Anne's heart began to feel that persistence in her +absolute refusal was a much harder thing than at the first, when the +idea was new and strange to her. And there were strange yearnings +that Charles should renew the proposal, mixed with dread of herself +and of her own resolution in case of his doing so. As her +affections embraced him more and more she pictured him sick, +wounded, dying, out of reach of all, among Germans, Hungarians, +Turks,--no one at hand to comfort him or even to know his fate. + +There was even disappointment in his acquiescence, though her better +mind told her that it was in accordance with her prayer against +temptation. Moreover, he was of a reserved nature, not apt to +discuss what was once fixed, and perhaps it showed that he respected +her judgment not to try to shake her decision. Though for once love +had carried him away, he might perhaps be grateful to her for +sparing him the perplexities of dragging her about with him and of +giving additional offence to his parents. The affection born of +lifelong knowledge is not apt to be of the vehement character that +disregards all obstacles or possible miseries to the object thereof. +Yet enough feeling was betrayed to make Naomi whisper at night, +"Sweet Nan, are you not some one else's sweet?" + +And Anne, now with another secret on her heart, only replied with +embraces, and, "Do not talk of it! I cannot tell how it is to be. +I cannot tell you all." + +Naomi was discreet enough only to caress. + +With strict formalities at outworks, moat, drawbridge, and gates, +and the customary inquisitorial search of the luggage, the +travellers were allowed to repair to a lofty inn, with the Lion of +Flanders for its sign, and a wide courtyard, the successive outside +galleries covered with luxuriant vines. Here, as usual, though the +party of females obtained one bedroom together, the gentlemen had to +share one vast sleeping chamber with a variety of merchants, Dutch, +Flemish, Spanish, and a few English. Meals were at a great table +d'hote in the public room, opening into the court, and were shared +by sundry Spanish, Belgic, and Swiss officers of the garrison, who +made this their mess-room. Two young English gentlemen, like +Charles Archfield, making the grand tour, whom he had met in Italy, +were delighted to encounter him again, and still more so at the +company of English ladies. + +"No wonder the forlorn widower has recovered his spirits!" Anne +heard one say with a laugh that made her blush and turn away; and +there was an outcry that after a monopoly of the fair ones all the +way from Paris, the seats next to them must be yielded. + +Anne was disappointed, and could not bring herself to be agreeable +to the obtrusive cavalier with the rich lace cravat and perfumed +hair, both assumed in her honour. + +The discussion was respecting the vessels where a passage might be +obtained. The cavaliers were to sail in a couple of days for +London, but another ship would go out of harbour with the tide on +the following day for Southampton, and this was decided on by +acclamation by the Hampshire party, though no good accommodation was +promised them. + +There was little opportunity for a tete-a-tetes, for the young men +insisted on escorting the ladies to the picture galleries, palaces, +and gardens, and Charles did not wish to reawaken the observations +that, according to the habits of the time, might not be of the +choicest description. Anne watched him under her eyelashes, and +wondered with beating heart whether after all he intended to return +home, and there plead his cause, for he gave no token of intending +to separate from the rest. + +The Hampshire Hog was to sail at daybreak, so the passengers went on +board over night, after supper, when the summer twilight was sinking +down and the far-off west still had a soft golden tint. + +Anne felt Charles's arm round her in the boat and grasping her hand, +then pulling off her glove and putting a ring on her finger--all in +silence. She still felt that arm on the deck in the confusion of +men, ropes, and bales of goods, and the shouts and hails on all +sides that nearly deafened her. There was imminent danger of being +hurled down, if not overboard, among the far from sober sailors, and +Mr. Fellowes urged the ladies to go below at once, conducting Miss +Darpent himself as soon as he could ascertain where to go. Anne +felt herself almost lifted down. Then followed a strong embrace, a +kiss on brow, lips, and either cheek, and a low hoarse whisper--"So +best! Mine own! God bless you,"--and as Suzanne came tumbling aft +into the narrow cabin, Anne found herself left alone with her two +female companions, and knew that these blissful days were over. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: FRENCH LEAVE + + +"When ye gang awa, Jamie, + Far across the sea, laddie, +When ye gang to Germanie + What will ye send to me, laddie?" + +Huntingtower. + +Fides was the posy on the ring. That was all Anne could discover, +and indeed only this much with the morning light of the July sun +that penetrated the remotest corners. For the cabin was dark and +stifling, and there was no leaving it, for both Miss Darpent and her +attendant were so ill as to engross her entirely. + +She could hardly leave them when there was a summons to a meal in +the captain's cabin, and there she found herself the only passenger +able to appear, and the rest of the company, though intending +civility, were so rough that she was glad to retreat again, and +wretched as the cabin was, she thought it preferable to the deck. + +Mr. Fellowes, she heard, was specially prostrated, and jokes were +passing round that it was the less harm, since it might be the worse +for him if the crew found out that there was a parson on board. + +Thus Anne had to forego the first sight of her native land, and only +by the shouts above and the decreased motion of the vessel knew when +she was within lee of the Isle of Wight, and on entering the Solent +could encourage her companions that their miseries were nearly over, +and help them to arrange themselves for going upon deck. + +When at length they emerged, as the ship lay-to in sight of the red +roofs and white steeples of Southampton, and of the green mazes of +the New Forest, Mr. Fellowes was found looking everywhere for the +pupil whom he had been too miserable to miss during the voyage. +Neither Charles Archfield nor his servant was visible, but Mr. +Fellowes's own man coming forward, delivered to the bewildered tutor +a packet which he said that his comrade had put in his charge for +the purpose. In the boat, on the way to land, Mr. Fellowes read to +himself the letter, which of course filled him with extreme +distress. It contained much of what Charles had already explained +to Anne of his conviction that in the present state of affairs it +was better for so young a man as himself, without sufficient +occupation at home, to seek honourable service abroad, and that he +thought it would spare much pain and perplexity to depart without +revisiting home. He added full and well-expressed thanks for all +that Mr. Fellowes had done for him, and for kindness for which he +hoped to be the better all his life. He enclosed a long letter to +his father, which he said would, he hoped, entirely exonerate his +kind and much-respected tutor from any remissness or any +participation in the scheme which he had thought it better on all +accounts to conceal till the last. + +"And indeed," said poor Mr. Fellowes, "if I had had any inkling of +it, I should have applied to the English Consul to restrain him as a +ward under trust. But no one would have thought it of him. He had +always been reasonable and docile beyond his years, and I trusted +him entirely. I should as soon have thought of our President giving +me the slip in this way. Surely he came on board with us." + +"He handed me into the boat," said Miss Darpent. "Who saw him last? +Did you, Miss Woodford?" + +Anne was forced to own that she had seen him on board, and her +cheeks were in spite of herself such tell-tales that Mr. Fellowes +could not help saying, "It is not my part to rebuke you, madam, but +if you were aware of this evasion, you will have a heavy reckoning +to pay to the young man's parents." + +"Sir," said Anne, "I knew indeed that he meant to join the Imperial +army, but I knew not how nor when." + +"Ah, well! I ask no questions. You need not justify yourself to +me, young lady; but Sir Philip and Lady Archfield little knew what +they did when they asked us to come by way of Paris. Not that I +regret it on all accounts," he added, with a courteous bow to Naomi +which set her blushing in her turn. He avoided again addressing +Miss Woodford, and she thought with consternation of the prejudice +he might excite against her. It had been arranged between the two +maidens that Naomi should be a guest at Portchester Rectory till she +could communicate with Walwyn, and her father or brother could come +and fetch her. + +They landed at the little wharf, among the colliers, and made their +way up the street to an inn, where, after ordering a meal to satisfy +the ravenous sea-appetite, Mr. Fellowes, after a few words with +Naomi, left the ladies to their land toilet, while he went to hire +horses for the journey. + +Then Naomi could not help saying, "O Anne! I did not think you +would have done this. I am grieved!" + +"You do not know all," said Anne sadly, "or you would not think so +hardly." + +"I saw you had an understanding with him. I see you have a new ring +on your finger; but how could I suppose you would encourage an only +son thus to leave his parents?" + +"Hush, hush, Naomi!" cried Anne, as the uncontrollable tears broke +out. "Don't you believe that it is quite as hard for me as for them +that he should have gone off to fight those dreadful blood-thirsty +Turks? Indeed I would have hindered him, but that--but that--I know +it is best for him. No! I can't tell you why, but I _know_ it is; +and even to the very last, when he helped me down the companion- +ladder, I hoped he might be coming home first." + +"But you are troth-plight to him, and secretly?" + +"I am not troth-plight; I know I am not his equal, I told him so, +but he thrust this ring on me in the boat, in the dark, and how +could I give it back!" + +Naomi shook her head, but was more than half-disarmed by her +friend's bitter weeping. Whether she gave any hint to Mr. Fellowes +Anne did not know, but his manner remained drily courteous, and as +Anne had to ride on a pillion behind a servant she was left in a +state of isolation as to companionship, which made her feel herself +in disgrace, and almost spoilt the joy of dear familiar recognition +of hill, field, and tree, after her long year's absence, the longest +year in her life, and substituted the sinking of heart lest she +should be returning to hear of misfortune and disaster, sickness or +death. + +Her original plan had been to go on with Naomi to Portchester at +once, if by inquiry at Fareham she found that her uncle was at home, +but she perceived that Mr. Fellowes decidedly wished that Miss +Darpent should go first to the Archfields, and something within her +determined first to turn thither in spite of all there was to +encounter, so that she might still her misgivings by learning +whether her uncle was well. So she bade the man turn his horse's +head towards the well-known poplars in front of Archfield House. + +The sound of the trampling horses brought more than one well-known +old 'blue-coated serving-man' into the court, and among them a woman +with a child in her arms. There was the exclamation, "Mistress +Anne! Sure Master Charles be not far behind," and the old groom ran +to help her down. + +"Oh! Ralph, thanks. All well? My uncle?" + +"He is here, with his Honour," and in scarcely a moment more Lucy, +swift of foot, had flown out, and had Anne in her embrace, and +crying out-- + +"Ah, Charles! my brother! I don't see him." + +Anne was glad to have no time to answer before she was in her +uncle's arms. "My child, at last! God bless thee! Safe in soul +and body!" + +Sir Philip was there too, greeting Mr. Fellowes, and looking for his +son, and with the cursory assurance that Mr. Archfield was well, and +that they would explain, a hasty introduction of Miss Darpent was +made, and all moved in to where Lady Archfield, more feeble and slow +of movement, had come into the hall, and the nurse stood by with the +little heir to be shown to his father, and Sedley Archfield stood in +the background. It was a cruel moment for all, when the words came +from Mr. Fellowes, "Sir, I have to tell you, Mr. Archfield is not +here. This letter, he tells me, is to explain." + +There was an outburst of exclamation, during which Sir Philip +withdrew into a window with his spectacles to read the letter, while +all to which the tutor or Anne ventured to commit themselves was +that Mr. Archfield had only quitted them without notice on board the +Hampshire Hog. + +The first tones of the father had a certain sound of relief, "Gone +to the Imperialist army to fight the Turks in Hungary!" + +Poor Lady Archfield actually shrieked, and Lucy turned quite pale, +while Anne caught a sort of lurid flush of joy on Sedley Archfield's +features, and he was the first to exclaim, "Undutiful young dog!" + +"Tut! tut!" returned Sir Philip, "he might as well have come home +first, and yet I do not know but that it is the best thing he could +do. There might have been difficulties in the way of getting out +again, you see, my lady, as things stand now. Ay! ay! you are in +the right of it, my boy. It is just as well to let things settle +themselves down here before committing himself to one side or the +other. 'Tis easy enough for an old fellow like me who has to let +nothing go but his Commission of the Peace, but not the same for a +stirring young lad; and he is altogether right as to not coming back +to idle here as a rich man. It would be the ruin of him. I am glad +he has the sense to see it. I was casting about to obtain an estate +for him to give him occupation." + +"But the wars," moaned the mother; "if he had only come home we +could have persuaded him." + +"The wars, my lady! Why, they will be a feather in his cap; and may +be if he had come home, the Dutchman would have claimed him for his, +and let King James be as misguided as he may, I cannot stomach +fighting against his father's son for myself or mine. No, no; it +was the best thing there was for the lad to do. You shall hear his +letter, it does him honour, and you, too, Mr. Fellowes. He could +not have written such a letter when he left home barely a year ago." + +Sir Philip proceeded to read the letter aloud. There was a full +explanation of the motives, political and private, only leaving out +one, and that the most powerful of all of those which led Charles +Archfield to absent himself for the present. He entreated pardon +for having made the decision without obtaining permission from his +father on returning home; but he had done so in view of possible +obstacles to his leaving England again, and to the belief that a +brief sojourn at home would cause more grief and perplexity than his +absence. He further explained, as before, his reasons for secrecy +towards his travelling companion, and entreated his father not to +suppose for a moment that Mr. Fellowes had been in any way culpable +for what he could never have suspected; warmly affectionate messages +to mother and sister followed, and an assurance of feeling that 'the +little one' needed for no care or affection while with them. + +Lady Archfield was greatly disappointed, and cried a great deal, +making sure that the poor dear lad's heart was still too sore to +brook returning after the loss of his wife, who had now become the +sweetest creature in the world; but Sir Philip's decision that the +measure was wise, and the secrecy under the circumstances so +expedient as to be pardonable, prevented all public blame; Mr. +Fellowes, however, was drawn apart, and asked whether he suspected +any other motive than was here declared, and which might make his +pupil unwilling to face the parental brow, and he had declared that +nothing could have been more exemplary than the whole demeanour of +the youth, who had at first gone about as one crushed, and though +slowly reviving into cheerfulness, had always been subdued, until +quite recently, when the meeting with his old companion had +certainly much enlivened his spirits. Poor Mr. Fellowes had been +rejoicing in the excellent character he should have to give, when +this evasion had so utterly disconcerted him, and it was an infinite +relief to him to find that all was thought comprehensible and +pardonable. + +Anne might be thankful that none of the authorities thought of +asking her the question about hidden motives; and Naomi, looking +about with her bright eyes, thought she had perhaps judged too +hardly when she saw the father's approval, and that the mother and +sister only mourned at the disappointment at not seeing the beloved +one. + +The Archfields would not hear of letting any of the party go on to +Portchester that evening. Dr. Woodford, who had ridden over for +consultation with Sir Philip, must remain, he would have plenty of +time for his niece by and by, and she and Miss Darpent must tell +them all about the journey, and about Charles; and Anne must tell +them hundreds of things about herself that they scarcely knew, for +not one letter from St. Germain had ever reached her uncle. + +How natural it all looked! the parlour just as when she saw it last, +and the hall, with the long table being laid for supper, and the hot +sun streaming in through the heavy casements. She could have +fancied it yesterday that she had left it, save for the plump rosy +little yearling with flaxen curls peeping out under his round white +cap, who had let her hold him in her arms and fondle him all through +that reading of his father's letter. Charles's child! He was her +prince indeed now. + +He was taken from her and delivered over to Lady Archfield to be +caressed and pitied because his father would not come home 'to see +his grand-dame's own beauty,' while Lucy took the guests upstairs to +prepare for supper, Naomi and her maid being bestowed in the best +guest-chamber, and Lucy taking her friend to her own, the scene of +many a confabulation of old. + +"Oh, how I love it!" cried Anne, as the door opened on the well- +known little wainscotted abode. "The very same beau-pot. One would +think they were the same clove gillyflowers as when I went away." + +"O Anne, dear, and you are just the same after all your kings and +queens, and all you have gone through;" and the two friends were +locked in another embrace. + +"Kings and queens indeed! None of them all are worth my Lucy." + +"And now, tell me all; tell me all, Nancy, and first of all about my +brother. How does he look, and is he well?" + +"He looks! O Lucy, he is grown such a noble cavalier; most like the +picture of that uncle of yours who was killed, and that Sir Philip +always grieves for." + +"My father always hoped Charley would be like him," said Lucy. "You +must tell him that. But I fear he may be grave and sad." + +"Graver, but not sad now." + +"And you have seen him and talked to him, Anne? Did you know he was +going on this terrible enterprise?" + +"He spoke of it, but never told me when." + +"Ah! I was sure you knew more about it than the old tutor man. You +always were his little sweetheart before poor little Madam came in +the way, and he would tell you anything near his heart. Could you +not have stopped him?" + +"I think not, Lucy; he gave his reasons like a man of weight and +thought, and you see his Honour thinks them sound ones." + +"Oh yes; but somehow I cannot fancy our Charley doing anything for +grand, sound, musty reasons, such as look well marshalled out in a +letter." + +"You don't know how much older he is grown," said Anne, again, with +the tell-tale colour in her cheeks. "Besides, he cannot bear to +come home." + +"Don't tell me that, Nan. My mother does not see it; but though he +was fond of poor little Madam in a way, and tried to think himself +more so, as in duty bound, she really was fretting and wearing the +very life--no, perhaps not the life, but the temper--out of him. +What I believe it to be the cause is, that my father must have been +writing to him about that young gentlewoman in the island that he is +so set upon, because she would bring a landed estate which would +give Charles something to do. They say that Peregrine Oakshott ran +away to escape wedding his cousin; Charley will banish himself for +the like cause." + +"He said nothing of it," said Anne. + +"O Anne, I wish you had a landed estate! You would make him happier +than any other, and would love his poor little Phil! Anne! is it +so? I have guessed!" and Lucy kissed her on each cheek. + +"Indeed, indeed I have not promised. I know it can never, never be-- +and that I am not fit for him. Do not speak of it, Lucy? He spoke +of it once as we rode together--" + +"And you could not be so false as to tell him you did not love him? +No, you could not?" and Lucy kissed her again. + +"No," faltered Anne; "but I would not do as he wished. I have given +him no troth-plight. I told him it would never be permitted. And +he said no more, but he put this ring on my finger in the boat +without a word. I ought not to wear it; I shall not." + +"Oh yes, you shall. Indeed you shall. No one need understand it +but myself, and it makes us sisters. Yes, Anne, Charley was right. +My father will not consent now, but he will in due time, if he does +not hear of it till he wearies to see Charles again. Trust it to +me, my sweet sister that is to be." + +"It is a great comfort that you know," said Anne, almost moved to +tell her the greater and more perilous secret that lay in the +background, but withheld by receiving Lucy's own confidence that she +herself was at present tormented by her cousin Sedley's courtship. +He was still, more's the pity, she said, in garrison at Portsmouth, +but there were hopes of his regiment being ere long sent to the Low +Countries, since it was believed to be more than half inclined to +King James. In the meantime he certainly had designs on Lucy's +portion, and as her father never believed half the stories of his +debaucheries that were rife, and had a kindness for his only +brother's orphan, she did not feel secure against his yielding so as +to provide for Sedley without continuance in the Dutch service. + +"I could almost follow the example of running away!" said Lucy. + +"I suppose," Anne ventured to say, faltering, "that nothing has been +heard of poor Mr. Oakshott." + +"Nothing at all. His uncle's people, who have come home from +Muscovy, know nothing of him, and it is thought he may have gone off +to the plantations. The talk is that Mistress Martha is to be +handed on to the third brother, but that she is not willing." It +was clear that there could have been no spectres here, and Lucy went +on, "But you have told me nothing yet of yourself and your doings, +my Anne. How well you look, and more than ever the Court lady, even +in your old travelling habit. Is that the watch the King gave you?" + +In private and in public there was quite enough to tell on that +evening for intimate friends who had not met for a year, and one of +whom had gone through so many vicissitudes. Nor were the other two +guests by any means left out of the welcome, and the evening was a +very happy one. + +Mr. Fellowes intimated his intention of going himself to Walwyn with +the news of Miss Darpent's arrival, and Naomi accepted the +invitation to remain at Portchester till she could be sent for from +home. + +It was not till the next morning that Anne Woodford could be alone +with her uncle. As she came downstairs in the morning she saw him +waiting for her; he held out his hands, and drew her out with him +into the walled garden that lay behind the house. + +"Child! dear child!" said he, "you are welcome to my old eyes. May +God bless you, as He has aided you to be faithful alike to Him and +to your King through much trial." + +"Ah, sir! I have sorely repented the folly and ambition that would +not heed your counsel." + +"No doubt, my maid; but the spirit of humility and repentance hath +worked well in you. I fear me, however, that you are come back to +further trials, since probably Portchester may be no longer our +home." + +"Nor Winchester?" + +"Nor Winchester." + +"Then is this new King going to persecute as in the old times you +talk of? He who was brought over to save the Church!" + +"He accepts the English Church, my maid, so far as it accepts him. +All beneficed clergy are required to take the oath of allegiance to +him before the first of August, now approaching, under pain of +losing their preferments. Many of my brethren, even our own Bishop +and Dean, think this merely submission to the powers that be, and +that it may be lawfully done; but as I hear neither the Archbishop +himself, nor my good old friends Doctors Ken and Frampton can +reconcile it to their conscience, any more than my brother Stanbury, +of Botley, nor I, to take this fresh oath, while the King to whom we +have sworn is living. Some hold that he has virtually renounced our +allegiance by his flight. I cannot see it, while he is fighting for +his crown in Ireland. What say you, Anne, who have seen him; did he +treat his case as that of an abdicated prince?" + +"No, sir, certainly not. All the talk was of his enjoying his own +again." + +"How can I then, consistently with my duty and loyalty, swear to +this William and Mary as my lawful sovereigns? I say not 'tis +incumbent on me to refuse to live under them a peaceful life, but +make oath to them as my King and Queen I cannot, so long as King +James shall live. True, he has not been a friend to the Church, and +has wofully trampled on the rights of Englishmen, but I cannot hold +that this absolves me from my duty to him, any more than David was +freed from duty to Saul. So, Anne, back must we go to the poverty +in which I was reared with your own good father." + +Anne might grieve, but she felt the gratification of being talked to +by her uncle as a woman who could understand, as he had talked to +her mother. + +"The first of August!" she repeated, as if it were a note of doom. + +"Yes; I hear whispers of a further time of grace, but I know not +what difference that should make. A Christian man's oath may not be +broken sooner or later. Well, poverty is the state blessed by our +Lord, and it may be that I have lived too much at mine ease; but I +could wish, dear child, that you were safely bestowed in a house of +your own." + +"So do not I," said Anne, "for now I can work for you." + +He smiled faintly, and here Mr. Fellowes joined them; a good man +likewise, but intent on demonstrating the other side of the +question, and believing that the Popish, persecuting King had +forfeited his rights, so that there need be no scruple as to +renouncing what he had thrown up by his flight. It was an endless +argument, in which each man could only act according to his own +conscience, and endeavour that this conscience should be as little +biassed as possible by worldly motives or animosity. + +Mr. Fellowes started at once with his servant for Walwyn, and Naomi +accompanied the two Woodfords to Portchester. In spite of the +cavalier sentiments of her family, Naomi had too much of the spire +of her Frondeur father to understand any feeling for duty towards +the King, who had so decidedly broken his covenant with his people, +and moreover had so abominably treated the Fellows of Magdalen +College; and her pity for Anne as a sufferer for her uncle's whim +quite angered her friend into hot defence of him and his cause. + +The dear old parsonage garden under the gray walls, the honeysuckle +and monthly roses trailing over the porch, the lake-like creek +between it and green Portsdown Hill, the huge massive keep and +towers, and the masts in the harbour, the Island hills sleeping in +blue summer haze--Anne's heart clave to them more than ever for the +knowledge that the time was short and that the fair spot must be +given up for the right's sake. Certainly there was some trepidation +at the thought of the vault, and she had made many vague schemes for +ascertaining that which her very flesh trembled at the thought of +any one suspecting; but these were all frustrated, for since the war +with France had begun, the bailey had been put under repair and +garrisoned by a detachment of soldiers, the vault had been covered +in, there was a sentry at the gateway of the castle, and the postern +door towards the vicarage was fastened up, so that though the parish +still repaired to church through the wide court solitary wanderings +there were no longer possible, nor indeed safe for a young woman, +considering what the soldiery of that period were. + +The thought came over her with a shudder as she gazed from her +window at the creek where she remembered Peregrine sending Charles +and Sedley adrift in the boat. + +The tide was out, the mud glistened in the moonlight, but nothing +was to be seen more than Anne had beheld on many a summer night +before, no phantom was evoked before her eyes, no elfin-like form +revealed his presence, nor did any spirit take shape to upbraid her +with his unhallowed grave, so close at hand. + +No, but Naomi Darpent, yearning for sympathy, came to her side, +caressed her on that summer night, and told her that Mr. Fellowes +had gone to ask her of her father, and though she could never love +again as she had once loved, she thought if her parents wished it, +she could be happy with so good a man. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: IN THE MOONLIGHT + + +I have had a dream this evening, +While the white and gold were fleeting, +But I need not, need not tell it. +Where would be the good? + +Requiescat in Pace.--JEAN INGELOW. + +Anne Woodford sat, on a sultry summer night, by the open window in +Archfield House at Fareham, busily engaged over the tail of a kite, +while asleep in a cradle in the corner of the room lay a little boy, +his apple-blossom cheeks and long flaxen curls lying prone upon his +pillow as he had tossed when falling asleep in the heat. + +The six years since her return had been eventful. Dr. Woodford had +adhered to his view that his oath of allegiance could not be +forfeited by James's flight; and he therefore had submitted to be +ousted from his preferments, resigning his pleasant prebendal house, +and his sea-side home, and embracing poverty for his personal oath's +sake, although he was willing to acquiesce in the government of +William and Mary, and perhaps to rejoice that others had effected +what he would not have thought it right to do. + +Things had been softened to him as regarded his flock by the +appointment of Mr. Fellowes to Portchester, which was a Crown +living, though there had been great demur at thus slipping into a +friend's shoes, so that Dr. Woodford had been obliged to asseverate +that nothing so much comforted him as leaving the parish in such +hands, and that he blamed no man for seeing the question of Divine +right as he did in common with the Non-jurors. The appointment +opened the way to the marriage with Naomi Darpent, and the pair were +happily settled at Portchester. + +Dr. Woodford and his niece found a tiny house at Winchester, near +the wharf, with the clear Itchen flowing in front and the green +hills rising beyond, while in the rear were the ruins of Wolvesey, +and the buildings of the Cathedral and College. They retained no +servant except black Hans, poor Peregrine's legacy, who was an +excellent cook, and capable of all that Anne could not accomplish in +her hours of freedom. + +It was a fall indeed from her ancient aspirations, though there was +still that bud of hope within her heart. The united means of uncle +and niece were so scanty that she was fain to offer her services +daily at Mesdames Reynaud's still flourishing school, where the +freshness of her continental experiences made her very welcome. + +Dr. Woodford occasionally assisted some student preparing for the +university, but this was not regular occupation, and it was poorly +paid, so that it was well that fifty pounds a year went at least +three times as far as it would do in the present day. Though his +gown and cassock lost their richness and lustre, he was as much +respected as ever. Bishop Mews often asked him to Wolvesey, and +allowed him to assist the parochial clergy when it was not necessary +to utter the royal name, the vergers marshalled him to his own stall +at daily prayers, and he had free access to Bishop Morley's +Cathedral library. + +The Archfield family still took a house in the Close for the winter +months, and there a very sober-minded and conventional courtship of +Lucy took place by Sir Edmund Nutley, a worthy and well-to-do +gentleman settled on the borders of Parkhurst Forest, in the Isle of +Wight. + +Anne, with the thought of her Charles burning within her heart, was +a little scandalised at the course of affairs. Sir Edmund was a +highly worthy man, but not in his first youth, and ponderous--a +Whig, moreover, and an intimate friend of the masterful governor of +the island, Lord Cutts, called the "Salamander." He had seen Miss +Archfield before at the winter and spring Quarter Sessions, and +though her father was no longer in the Commission of the Peace, the +residence at Winchester gave him opportunities, and the chief +obstacle seemed to be the party question. He was more in love than +was the lady, but she was submissive, and believed that he would be +a kind husband. She saw, too, that her parents would be much +disappointed and displeased if she made any resistance to so +prosperous a settlement, and she was positively glad to be out of +reach of Sedley's addresses. Such an entirely unenthusiastic +acceptance was the proper thing, and it only remained to provide for +Lady Archfield's comfort in the loss of her daughter. + +For this the elders turned at once to Anne Woodford. Sir Philip +made it his urgent entreaty that the Doctor and his niece would take +up their abode with him, and that Anne would share with the +grandmother the care of the young Philip, a spirited little fellow +who would soon be running wild with the grooms, without the +attention that his aunt had bestowed on him. + +Dr. Woodford himself was much inclined to accept the office of +chaplain to his old friend, who he knew would be far happier for his +company; and Anne's heart bounded at the thought of bringing up +Charles's child, but that very start of joy made her blush and +hesitate, and finally surprise the two old gentlemen by saying, with +crimson cheeks-- + +"Sir, your Honour ought to know what might make you change your +mind. There have been passages between Mr. Archfield and me." + +Sir Philip laughed. "Ah, the rogue! You were always little +sweethearts as children. Why, Anne, you should know better than to +heed what a young soldier says." + +"No doubt you have other views for your son," said Dr. Woodford, +"and I trust that my niece has too much discretion and sense of +propriety to think that they can be interfered with on her account." + +"Passages!" repeated Sir Philip thoughtfully. "Mistress Anne, how +much do you mean by that? Surely there is no promise between you?" + +"No, sir," said Anne; "I would not give any; but when we parted in +Flanders he asked me to--to wait for him, and I feel that you ought +to know it." + +"Oh, I understand!" said the baronet. "It was only natural to an +old friend in a foreign land, and you have too much sense to dwell +on a young man's folly, though it was an honourable scruple that +made you tell me, my dear maid. But he is not come or coming yet, +more's the pity, so there is no need to think about it at present." + +Anne's cheeks did not look as if she had attained that wisdom; but +her conscience was clear, since she had told the fact, and the +father did not choose to take it seriously. To say how she herself +loved Charles would have been undignified and nothing to the +purpose, since her feelings were not what would be regarded, and +there was no need to mention her full and entire purpose to wed no +one else. Time enough for that if the proposal were made. + +So the uncle and niece entered on their new life, with some loss of +independence, and to the Doctor a greater loss in the neighbourhood +of the Cathedral and its library; for after the first year or two, +as Lady Archfield grew rheumatic, and Sir Philip had his old friend +to play backgammon and read the Weekly Gazette, they became +unwilling to make the move to Winchester, and generally stayed at +home all the winter. + +Before this, however, Princess Anne had been at the King's House at +Winchester for a short time; and Lady Archfield paid due respects to +her, with Anne in attendance. With the royal faculty of remembering +everybody, the Princess recognised her namesake, gave her hand to be +kissed, and was extremely gracious. She was at the moment in the +height of a quarrel with her sister, and far from delighted with the +present regime. She sent for Miss Woodford, and, to Anne's +surprise, laughed over her own escape from the Cockpit, adding, "You +would not come, child. You were in the right on't. There's no +gratitude among them! Had I known how I should be served I would +never have stirred a foot! So 'twas you that carried off the child! +Tell me what he is like." + +And she extracted by questions all that Anne could tell her of the +life at St. Germain, and the appearance of her little half-brother. +It was impossible to tell whether she asked from affectionate +remorse or gossiping interest, but she ended by inquiring whether +her father's god-daughter were content with her position, or desired +one--if there were a vacancy--in her own household, where she might +get a good husband. + +Anne declined courteously and respectfully, and was forced to hint +at an engagement which she could not divulge. She had heard +Charles's expressions of delight at the arrangement which gave his +boy to her tender care, warming her heart. + +Lady Archfield had fits of talking of finding a good husband for +Anne Woodford among the Cathedral clergy, but the maiden was so +necessary to her, and so entirely a mother to little Philip, that +she soon let the idea drop. Perhaps it was periodically revived, +when, about three times a year, there arrived a letter from Charles. +He wrote in good spirits, evidently enjoying his campaigns, and with +no lack of pleasant companions, English, Scotch, and Irish +Jacobites, with whom he lived in warm friendship and wholesome +emulation. He won promotion, and the county Member actually came +out of his way to tell Sir Philip what he had heard from the +Imperial ambassador of young Archfield's distinguished services at +the battle of Salankamen, only regretting that he was not fighting +under King William's colours. Little Philip pranced about cutting +off Turks' heads in the form of poppies, 'like papa,' for whose +safety Anne taught him to pray night and morning. + +Pride in his son's exploits was a compensation to the father, who +declared them to be better than vegetating over the sheepfolds, like +Robert Oakshott, or than idling at Portsmouth, like Sedley +Archfield. + +That young man's regiment had been ordered to Ireland during the +campaign that followed the battle of Boyne Water. He had suddenly +returned from thence, cashiered: by his own story, the victim of +the enmity of the Dutch General Ginkel; according to another +version, on account of brutal excesses towards the natives and +insolence to his commanding officer. Courts-martial had only just +been introduced, and Sir Philip could believe in a Whig invention +doing injustice to a member of a loyal family, so that his doors +were open to his nephew, and Sedley haunted them whenever he had no +other resource; but he spent most of his time between Newmarket and +other sporting centres, and contrived to get a sort of maintenance +by bets at races, cock-fights, and bull-baitings, and by extensive +gambling. Evil reports of him came from time to time, but Sir +Philip was loth to think ill of the son of his brother, or to +forbode that as his grandson grew older, such influence might be +dangerous. + +In his uncle's presence Sedley was on his good behaviour; but if he +caught Miss Woodford without that protection, he attempted rude +compliments, and when repelled by her dignified look and manner, +sneered at the airs of my lady's waiting-woman, and demanded how +long she meant to mope after Charley, who would never look so low. +"She need not be so ungracious to a poor soldier. She might have to +put up with worse." + +Moreover, he deliberately incited Philip to mischief, putting foul +words into the little mouth, and likewise giving forbidden food and +drink, lauding evil sports, and mocking at obedience to any +authority, especially Miss Woodford's. Philip was very fond of his +Nana, and in general good and obedient; but what high-spirited boy +is proof against the allurements of the only example before him of +young manhood, assuring him that it was manly not to mind what the +women said, nor to be tied to the apron-strings of his grand-dame's +abigail? + +The child had this summer thus been actually taken to the outskirts +of a bull-fight, whence he had been brought home in great disgrace +by Ralph, the old servant who had been charged to look after his +out-door amusements, and to ride with him. The grandfather was +indeed more shocked at the danger and the vulgarity of the sport +than its cruelty, but Philip had received his first flogging, and +his cousin had been so sharply rebuked that--to the great relief of +Anne and of Lady Archfield--he had not since appeared at Fareham +House. + +The morrow would be Philip's seventh birthday, a stage which would +take him farther out of Anne's power. He was no longer to sleep in +her chamber, but in one of his own with Ralph for his protector, and +he was to begin Latin with Dr. Woodford. So great was his delight +that he had gone to bed all the sooner in order to bring the great +day more quickly, and Anne was glad of the opportunity of finishing +the kite, which was to be her present, for Ralph to help him fly +upon Portsdown Hill. + +That great anniversary, so delightful to him, with pony and whip +prepared for him--what a day of confusion, distress, and +wretchedness did it not recall to his elders? Anne could not choose +but recall the time, as she sat alone in the window, looking out +over the garden, the moon beginning to rise, and the sunset light +still colouring the sky in the north-west, just as it had done when +she returned home after the bonfire. The events of that sad morning +had faded out of the foreground. The Oakshott family seemed to have +resigned themselves to the mystery of Peregrine's fate. Only his +mother had declined from the time of his disappearance. When it was +ascertained that his uncle had died in Russia, and that nothing had +been heard of him there, it seemed to bring on a fresh stage of her +illness, and she had expired at last in Martha Browning's arms, her +last words being a blessing not only to Robert, but to Peregrine, +and a broken entreaty to her husband to forgive the boy, for he +might have been better if they had used him well. + +Martha was then found to hold out against the idea of his being +dead. Little affection and scant civility as she had received from +him, her dutiful heart had attached itself to her destined lord, and +no doubt her imagination had been excited by his curious abilities, +and her compassion by the persecution he suffered at home. At any +rate, when, after a proper interval, the Major tried to transfer her +to his remaining son, she held out against it for a long interval, +until at last, after full three years, the desolation and +disorganisation of Oakwood without a mistress, a severe illness of +the Major, and the distress of his son, so worked upon her feelings +that she consented to the marriage with Robert, and had ever since +been the ruling spirit at Oakwood, and a very different one from +what had been expected--sensible, kindly, and beneficent, and +allowing the young husband more liberty and indulgence than he had +ever known before. + +The remembrance of Peregrine seemed to have entirely passed away, +and Anne had been troubled with no more apparitions, so that though +she thought over the strange scene of that terrible morning, the +rapid combat, the hasty concealment, the distracted face of the +unhappy youth, it was with the thought that time had been a healer, +and that Charles might surely now return home. And what then? + +She raised her eyes to the open window, and what did she behold in +the moonlight streaming full upon the great tree rose below? It was +the same face and figure that had three times startled her before, +the figure dark and the face very white in the moonlight, but like +nothing else, and with that odd, one-sided feather as of old. It +had flitted ere she could point its place--gone in a single flash-- +but she was greatly startled! Had it come to protest against the +scheme she had begun to indulge in on that very night of all nights, +or had it merely been her imagination? For nothing was visible, +though she leant from the window, no sound was to be heard, though +when she tried to complete her work, her hands trembled and the +paper rustled, so that Philip showed symptoms of wakening, and she +had to defer her task till early morning. + +She said nothing of her strange sight, and Phil had a happy +successful birthday, flying the kite with a propitious wind, and +riding into Portsmouth on his new pony with grandpapa. But there +was one strange event. The servants had a holiday, and some of them +went into Portsmouth, black Hans, who never returned, being one. +The others had lost sight of him, but had not been uneasy, knowing +him to be perfectly well able to find his way home; but as he never +appeared, the conclusion was that he must have been kidnapped by +some ship's crew to serve as a cook. He had not been very happy +among the servants at Fareham, who laughed at his black face and +Dutch English, and he would probably have gone willingly with +Dutchmen; but Anne and her uncle were grieved, and felt as if they +had failed in the trust that poor Sir Peregrine had left them. + + + +CHAPTER XXV: TIDINGS FROM THE IRON GATES + + +"He has more cause to be proud. Where is he wounded?" + +Coriolanus. + +It was a wet autumn day, when the yellow leaves of the poplars in +front of the house were floating down amid the misty rain; Dr. +Woodford had gone two days before to consult a book in the Cathedral +library, and was probably detained at Winchester by the weather; +Lady Archfield was confined to her bed by a sharp attack of +rheumatism. Sir Philip was taking his after-dinner doze in his arm- +chair; and little Philip was standing by Anne, who was doing her +best to keep him from awakening his grandfather, as she partly read, +partly romanced, over the high-crowned hatted fishermen in the +illustrations to Izaak Walton's Complete Angler. + +He had just, caught by the musical sound, made her read to him a +second time Marlowe's verses, + +'Come live with me and be my love,' + +and informed her that his Nana was his love, and that she was to +watch him fish in the summer rivers, when the servant who had been +sent to meet His Majesty's mail and extract the Weekly Gazette came +in, bringing not only that, but a thick, sealed packet, the aspect +of which made the boy dance and exclaim, "A packet from my papa! +Oh! will he have written an answer to my own letter to him?" + +But Sir Philip, who had started up at the opening of the door, had +no sooner glanced at the packet than he cried out, "'Tis not his +hand!" and when he tried to break the heavy seals and loosen the +string, his hands shook so much that he pushed it over to Anne, +saying, "You open it; tell me if my boy is dead." + +Anne's alarm took the course of speed. She tore off the wrapper, +and after one glance said, "No, no, it cannot be the worst; here is +something from himself at the end. Here, sir." + +"I cannot! I cannot," said the poor old man, as the tears dimmed +his spectacles, and he could not adjust them. "Read it, my dear +wench, and let me know what I am to tell his poor mother." + +And he sank into a chair, holding between his knees his little +grandson, who stood gazing with widely-opened blue eyes. + +"He sends love, duty, blessing. Oh, he talks of coming home, so do +not fear, sir!" cried Anne, a vivid colour on her cheeks. + +"But what is it?" asked the father. "Tell me first--the rest +after." + +"It is in the side--the left side," said Anne, gathering up in her +agitation the sense of the crabbed writing as best she could. "They +have not extracted the bullet, but when they have, he will do well." + +"God grant it! Who writes?" + +"Norman Graham of Glendhu--captain in his K. K. Regiment of +Volunteer Dragoons. That's his great friend! Oh, sir, he has +behaved so gallantly! He got his wound in saving the colours from +the Turks, and kept his hands clutched over them as his men carried +him out of the battle." + +Philip gave another little spring, and his grandfather bade Anne +read the letter to him in detail. + +It told how the Imperial forces had met a far superior number of +Turks at Lippa, and had sustained a terrible defeat, with the loss +of their General Veterani, how Captain Archfield had received a +scimitar wound in the cheek while trying to save his commander, but +had afterwards dashed forward among the enemy, recovered the colours +of the regiment, and by a desperate charge of his fellow-soldiers, +who were devotedly attached to him, had been borne off the field +with a severe wound on the left side. Retreat had been immediately +necessary, and he had been taken on an ammunition waggon along rough +roads to the fortress called the Iron Gates of Transylvania, whence +this letter was written, and sent by the messenger who was to summon +the Elector of Saxony to the aid of the remnant of the army. It had +not yet been possible to probe the wound, but Charles gave a +personal message, begging his parents not to despond but to believe +him recovering, so long as they did not see his servant return +without him, and he added sundry tender and dutiful messages to his +parents, and a blessing to his son, with thanks for the pretty +letter he had not been able to answer (but which, his friend said, +was lying spread on his pillow, not unstained with blood), and he +also told his boy always to love and look up to her who had ever +been as a mother to him. Anne could hardly read this, and the scrap +in feeble irregular lines she handed to Sir Philip. It was-- + +With all my heart I entreat pardon for all the errors that have +grieved you. I leave you my child to comfort you, and mine own +true love, whom yon will cherish. She will cherish you as a +daughter, as she will be, with your consent, if God spares me to +come home. The love of all my soul to her, my mother, sister, +and you." + +There was a scrawl for conclusion and signature, and Captain Graham +added-- + +Writing and dictating have greatly exhausted him. He would have +said more, but he says the lady can explain much, and he repeats +his urgent entreaties that you will take her to your heart as a +daughter, and that his son will love and honour her. + +There was a final postscript-- + +The surgeon thinks him better for having disburthened his mind. + +"My child," said Sir Philip, with a long sigh, looking up at Anne, +who had gathered the boy into her arms, and was hiding her face +against his little awe-struck head, "my child, have you read?" + +"No," faltered Anne. + +"Read then." And as she would have taken it, he suddenly drew her +into his embrace and kissed her as the eyes of both overflowed. "My +poor girl!" he said, "this is as hard to you as to us! Oh, my brave +boy!" and he let her lay her head on his shoulder and held her hand +as they wept together, while little Phil stared for a moment or two +at so strange a sight and then burst out with a great cry-- + +"You shall not cry! you shall not! my papa is not dead!" and he +stamped his little foot. "No, he isn't. He will get well; the +letter said so, and I will go and tell grandmamma." + +The need of stopping this roused them both; Sir Philip, heavily +groaning, went away to break the tidings to his wife, and Anne went +down on her knees on the hearth to caress the boy, and help him to +understand his father's state and realise the valorous deeds that +would always be a crown to him, and which already made the little +fellow's eye flash and his fair head go higher. + +By and by she was sent for to Lady Archfield's room, and there she +had again to share the grief and the fears and try to dwell on the +glory and the hopes. When in a calmer moment the parents +interrogated her on what had passed with Charles, it was not in the +spirit of doubt and censure, but rather as dwelling on all that was +to be told of one whom alike they loved, and finally Sir Philip +said, "I see, dear child, I would not believe how far it had gone +before, though you tried to tell me. Whatever betide, you have won +a daughter's place." + +It was true that naturally a far more distinguished match would have +been sought for the heir, and he could hardly have carried out his +purpose without more opposition than under their present feelings, +his parents supposed themselves likely to make, but they really +loved Anne enough to have yielded at last; and Lady Nutley, coming +home with a fuller knowledge of her brother's heart, prevented any +reaction, and Anne was allowed full sympathies as a betrothed +maiden, in the wearing anxiety that continued in the absence of all +intelligence. On the principle of doing everything to please him, +she was even encouraged to write to Charles in the packet in which +he was almost implored to recover, though all felt doubts whether he +were alive even while the letters were in hand, and this doubt +lasted long and long. It was all very well to say that as long as +the servant did not return his master must be safe--perhaps himself +on the way home; but the journey from Transylvania was so long, and +there were so many difficulties in the way of an Englishman, that +there was little security in this assurance. And so the winter set +in while the suspense lasted; and still Dr. Woodford spoke Charles's +name in the intercessions in the panelled household chapel, and his +mother and Anne prayed together and separately, and his little son +morning and evening entreated God to "Bless papa, and make him well, +and bring him home." + +Thus passed more than six weeks, during which Sir Philip's attention +was somewhat diverted from domestic anxieties by an uninvited visit +to Portchester from Mr. Charnock, who had once been a college mate +of Mr. Fellowes, and came professing anxiety, after all these years, +to renew the friendship which had been broken when they took +different sides on the election of Dr. Hough to the Presidency of +Magdalen College. From his quarters at the Rectory Mr. Charnock had +gone over to Fareham, and sounded Sir Philip on the practicability +of a Jacobite rising, and whether he and his people would join it. +The old gentleman was much distressed, his age would not permit him +to exert himself in either cause, and he had been too much disturbed +by James's proceedings to feel desirous of his restoration, though +his loyal heart would not permit of his opposing it, and he had +never overtly acknowledged William of Orange as his sovereign. + +He could only reply that in the present state of his family he +neither could nor would undertake anything, and he urgently pleaded +against any insurrection that could occasion a civil war. + +There was reason to think that Sedley had no hesitation in promising +to use all his influence over his uncle's tenants, and considerably +magnifying their extremely small regard to him--nay, probably, +dwelling on his own expectations. + +At any rate, even when Charnock was gone, Sedley continued to talk +big of the coming changes and his own distinguished part in them. +Indeed one very trying effect of the continued alarm about Charles +was that he took to haunting the place, and report declared that he +had talked loudly and coarsely of his cousin's death and his uncle's +dotage, and of his soon being called in to manage the property for +the little heir--insomuch that Sir Edmund Nutley thought it +expedient to let him know that Charles, on going on active service +soon after he had come of age, had sent home a will, making his son, +who was a young gentleman of very considerable property on his +mother's side, ward to his grandfather first, and then to Sir Edmund +Nutley himself and to Dr. Woodford. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: THE LEGEND OF PENNY GRIM + + +"O dearest Marjorie, stay at hame, + For dark's the gate ye have to go, +For there's a maike down yonder glen + Hath frightened me and many me." + +HOGG. + +"Nana," said little Philip in a meditative voice, as he looked into +the glowing embers of the hall fire, "when do fairies leave off +stealing little boys?" + +"I do not believe they ever steal them, Phil." + +"Oh, yes they do;" and he came and stood by her with his great +limpid blue eyes wide open. "Goody Dearlove says they stole a +little boy, and his name was Penny Grim." + +"Goody Dearlove is a silly old body to tell my boy such stories," +said Anne, disguising how much she was startled. + +"Oh, but Ralph Huntsman says 'tis true, and he knew him." + +"How could he know him when he was stolen?" + +"They put another instead," said the boy, a little puzzled, but too +young to make his story consistent. "And he was an elf--a cross +spiteful elf, that was always vexing folk. And they stole him again +every seven years. Yes--that was it--they stole him every seven +years." + +"Whom, Phil; I don't understand--the boy or the elf?" she said, +half-diverted, even while shocked at the old story coming up in such +a form. + +"The elf, I think," he said, bending his brows; "he comes back, and +then they steal him again. Yes; and at last they stole him quite-- +quite away--but it is seven years, and Goody Dearlove says he is to +be seen again!" + +"No!" exclaimed Anne, with an irrepressible start of dismay. "Has +any one seen him, or fancied so?" she added, though feeling that her +chance of maintaining her rational incredulity was gone. + +"Goody Dearlove's Jenny did," was the answer. "She saw him stand +out on the beach at night by moonlight, and when she screamed out, +he was gone like the snuff of a candle." + +"Saw him? What was he like?" said Anne, struggling for the +dispassionate tone of the governess, and recollecting that Jenny +Dearlove was a maid at Portchester Rectory. + +"A little bit of a man, all twisty on one side, and a feather +sticking out. Ralph said they always were like that;" and Phil's +imitation, with his lithe, graceful little figure, of Ralph's clumsy +mimicry was sufficient to show that there was some foundation for +this story, and she did not answer at once, so that he added, "I am +seven, Nana; do you think they will get me?" + +"Oh no, no, Phil, there's no fear at all of that. I don't believe +fairies steal anybody, but even old women like Goody Dearlove only +say they steal little tiny babies if they are left alone before they +are christened." + +The boy drew a long breath, but still asked, "Was Penny Grim a +little baby?" + +"So they said," returned Anne, by no means interfering with the +name, and with a quailing heart as she thought of the child's ever +knowing what concern his father had in that disappearance. She was +by no means sorry to have the conversation broken off by Sir +Philip's appearance, booted and buskined, prepared for an expedition +to visit a flock of sheep and their lambs under the shelter of +Portsdown Hill, and in a moment his little namesake was frisking +round eager to go with grandpapa. + +"Well, 'tis a brisk frost. Is it too far for him, think you, +Mistress Anne?" + +"Oh no, sir; he is a strong little man and a walk will only be good +for him, if he does not stand still too long and get chilled. Run, +Phil, and ask nurse for your thick coat and stout shoes and +leggings." + +"His grandmother only half trusts me with him," said Sir Philip, +laughing. "I tell her she was not nearly so careful of his father. +I remember him coming in crusted all over with ice, so that he could +hardly get his clothes off, but she fancies the boy may have some of +his poor mother's weakliness about him." + +"I see no tokens of it, sir." + +"Grand-dames will be anxious, specially over one chick. Heigho! +Winter travelling must be hard in Germany, and posts do not come. +How now, my man! Are you rolled up like a very Russian bear? The +poor ewes will think you are come to eat up their lambs." + +"I'll growl at them," said Master Philip, uttering a sound +sufficient to disturb the nerves of any sheep if he were permitted +to make it, and off went grandfather and grandson together, Sir +Philip only pausing at the door to say-- + +"My lady wants you, Anne; she is fretting over the delay. I fear, +though I tell her it bodes well." + +Anne watched for a moment the hale old gentleman briskly walking on, +the merry child frolicking hither and thither round him, and the +sturdy body-servant Ralph, without whom he never stirred, plodding +after, while Keeper, the only dog allowed to follow to the +sheepfolds, marched decorously along, proud of the distinction. +Then she went up to Lady Archfield, who could not be perfectly easy +as to the precious grandchild being left to his own devices in the +cold, while Sir Philip was sure to run into a discussion with the +shepherd over the turnips, which were too much of a novelty to be +approved by the Hampshire mind. It was quite true that she could +not watch that little adventurous spirit with the same absence of +anxiety as she had felt for her own son in her younger days, and +Anne had to devote herself to soothing and diverting her mind, till +Dr. Woodford knocked at the door to read and converse with her. + +The one o'clock dinner waited for the grandfather and grandson, and +when they came at last, little Philip looked somewhat blue with cold +and more subdued than usual, and his grandfather observed severely +that he had been a naughty boy, running into dangerous places, +sliding where he ought not, and then muttered under his breath that +Sedley ought to have known better than to have let him go there. + +Discipline did not permit even a darling like little Phil to speak +at dinner-time; but he fidgeted, and the tears came into his eyes, +and Anne hearing a little grunt behind Sir Philip's chair, looked +up, and was aware that old Ralph was mumbling what to her ears +sounded like: 'Knew too well.' But his master, being slightly +deaf, did not hear, and went on to talk of his lambs and of how +Sedley had joined them on the road, but had not come back to dinner. + +Phil was certainly quieter than usual that afternoon, and sat at +Anne's feet by the fire, filling little sacks with bran to be loaded +on his toy cart to go to the mill, but not chattering as usual. She +thought him tired, and hearing a sort of sigh took him on her knee, +when he rested his fair little head on her shoulder, and presently +said in a low voice-- + +"I've seen him." + +"Who? Not your father? Oh, my child!" cried Anne, in a sudden +horror. + +"Oh no--the Penny Grim thing." + +"What? Tell me, Phil dear, how or where?" + +"By the end of the great big pond; and he threw up his arms, and +made a horrid grin." The boy trembled and hid his face against her. + +"But go on, Phil. He can't hurt you, you know. Do tell me. Where +were you?" + +"I was sliding on the ice. Grandpapa was ever so long talking to +Bill Shepherd, and looking at the men cutting turnips, and I got +cold and tired, and ran about with Cousin Sedley till we got to the +big pond, and we began to slide, and the ice was so nice and hard-- +you can't think. He showed me how to take a good long slide, and +said I might go out to the other end of the pond by the copse, by +the great old tree. And I set off, but before I got there, out it +jumped, out of the copse, and waved its arms, and made _that_ face." + +He cowered into her bosom again and almost cried. Anne knew the +place, and was ready to start with dismay in her turn. It was such +a pool as is frequent in chalk districts--shallow at one end, but +deep and dangerous with springs at the other. + +"But, Phil dear," she said, "it was well you were stopped; the ice +most likely would have broken at that end, and then where would +Nana's little man have been?" + +"Cousin Sedley never told me not," said the boy in self-defence; "he +was whistling to me to go on. But when I tumbled down Ralph and +grandpapa and all _did_ scold me so--and Cousin Sedley was gone. +Why did they scold me, Nana? I thought it was brave not to mind +danger--like papa." + +"It is brave when one can do any good by it, but not to slide on bad +ice, when one must be drowned," said Anne. "Oh, my dear, dear +little fellow, it was a blessed thing you saw _that_, whatever it +was! But why do you call it Pere--Penny Grim?" + +"It was, Nana! It was a little man--rather. And one-sided looking, +with a bit of hair sticking out, just like the picture of Riquet- +with-a-tuft in your French fairy-book." + +This last was convincing to Anne that the child must have seen the +phantom of seven years ago, since he was not repeating the popular +description he had given her in the morning, but one quite as +individual. She asked if grandpapa had seen it. + +"Oh no; he was in the shed, and only came out when he heard Ralph +scolding me. Was it a wicked urchin come to steal me, Nana?" + +"No, I think not," she answered. "Whatever it was, I think it came +because God was taking care of His child, and warning him from +sliding into the deep pool. We will thank him, Phil. 'He shall +give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.'" +And to that verse she soothed the tired child till he fell asleep, +and she could lay him on the settle, and cover him with a cloak, +musing the while on the strange story, until presently she started +up and repaired to the buttery in search of the old servant. + +"Ralph, what is this Master Philip tells me?" she asked. "What has +he seen?" + +"Well, Mistress Anne, that is what I can't tell--no, not I; but I +knows this, that the child has had a narrow escape of his precious +life, and I'd never trust him again with that there Sedley--no, not +for hundreds of pounds." + +"You _really_ think, Ralph--?" + +"What can I think, ma'am? When I finds he's been a-setting that +there child to slide up to where he'd be drownded as sure as he's +alive, and you see, if we gets ill news of Master Archfield (which +God forbid), there's naught but the boy atween him and this here +place--and he over head and ears in debt. Be it what it might that +the child saw, it saved the life of him." + +"Did you see it?" + +"No, Mistress Anne; I can't say as I did. I only heard the little +master cry out as he fell. I was in the shed, you see, taking a +pipe to keep me warm. And when I took him up, he cried out like one +dazed. 'Twas Penny Grim, Ralph! Keep me. He is come to steal me." +But Sir Philip wouldn't hear nothing of it, only blamed Master Phil +for being foolhardy, and for crying for the fall, and me for letting +him out of sight." + +"And Mr. Sedley--did he see it?" + +"Well, mayhap he did, for I saw him as white as a sheet and his eyes +staring out of his head; but that might have been his evil +conscience." + +"What became of him?" + +"To say the truth, ma'am, I believe he be at the Brocas Arms, a- +drowning of his fright--if fright it were, with Master Harling's +strong waters." + +"But this apparition, this shape--or whatever it is? What put it +into Master Philip's head? What has been heard of it?" + +Ralph looked unwilling. "Bless you, Mistress Anne, there's been +some idle talk among the women folk, as how that there crooked slip +of Major Oakshott's, as they called Master Perry or Penny, and said +was a changeling, has been seen once and again. Some says as the +fairies have got him, and 'tis the seven year for him to come back +again. And some says that he met with foul play, and 'tis the ghost +of him, but I holds it all mere tales, and I be sure 'twere nothing +bad as stopped little master on that there pond. So I be." + +Anne could not but be of the same mind, but her confusion, alarm, +and perplexity were great. It seemed strange, granting that this +were either spirit or elf connected with Peregrine Oakshott, that it +should interfere on behalf of Charles Archfield's child, and on the +sweet hypothesis that a guardian angel had come to save the child, +it was in a most unaccountable form. + +And more pressing than any such mysterious idea was the tangible +horror of Ralph's suggestion, too well borne out by the boy's own +unconscious account of the adventure. It was too dreadful, too real +a peril to be kept to herself, and she carried the story to her +uncle on his return, but without speaking of the spectral warning. +Not only did she know that he would not attend to it, but the hint, +heard for the first time, that Peregrine was supposed to have met +with foul play, sealed her lips, just when she still was hoping +against hope that Charles might be on the way home. But that Ralph +believed, and little Philip's own account confirmed, that his cousin +had incited the little heir to the slide that would have been fatal +save for his fall, she told with detail, and entreated that the +grandfather might be warned, and some means be found of ensuring the +safety of her darling, the motherless child! + +To her disappointment Dr. Woodford was not willing to take alarm. +He did not think so ill of Sedley as to believe him capable of such +a secret act of murder, and he had no great faith in Ralph's +sagacity, besides that he thought his niece's nerves too much +strained by the long suspense to be able to judge fairly. He +thought it would be cruel to the grandparents, and unjust to Sedley, +to make such a frightful suggestion without further grounds during +their present state of anxiety, and as to the boy's safety, which +Anne pleaded with an uncontrollable passion of tears, he believed +that it was provided for by watchfulness on the part of his two +constant guardians, as well as himself, since, even supposing the +shocking accusation to be true, Sedley would not involve himself in +danger of suspicion, and it was already understood that he was not a +fit companion for his little cousin to be trusted with. Philip had +already brought home words and asked questions that distressed his +grandmother, and nobody was willing to leave him alone with the ex- +lieutenant. So again the poor maiden had to hold her peace under an +added burthen of anxiety and many a prayer. + +When the country was ringing with the tidings of Sir George +Barclay's conspiracy for the assassination of William III, it was +impossible not to hope that Sedley's boastful tongue might have +brought him sufficiently under suspicion to be kept for a while +under lock and key; but though he did not appear at Fareham, there +was reason to suppose that he was as usual haunting the taverns and +cockpits of Portsmouth. + +No one went much abroad that winter. Sir Philip, perhaps from +anxiety and fretting, had a fit of the gout, and Anne kept herself +and her charge within the garden or the street of the town. In fact +there was a good deal of danger on the roads. The neighbourhood of +the seaport was always lawless, and had become more so since Sir +Philip had ceased to act as Justice of the Peace, and there were +reports of highway robberies of an audacious kind, said to be +perpetrated by a band calling themselves the Black Gang, under a +leader known as Piers Pigwiggin, who were alleged to be half +smuggler, half Jacobite, and to have their headquarters somewhere in +the back of the Isle of Wight, in spite of the Governor, the +terrible Salamander, Lord Cutts, who was, indeed, generally absent +with the army. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: THE VAULT + + +"Heaven awards the vengeance due." + +COWPER. + +The weary days had begun to lengthen before the door of the hall was +flung open, and little Phil, forgetting his bow at the door, rushed +in, "Here's a big packet from foreign parts! Harry had to pay ever +so much for it." + +"I have wellnigh left off hoping," sighed the poor mother. "Tell me +the worst at once." + +"No fear, my lady," said her husband. "Thank God! 'Tis our son's +hand." + +There was the silence for a moment of intense relief, and then the +little boy was called to cut the silk and break the seals. + +Joy ineffable! There were three letters--for Master Philip +Archfield, for Mistress Anne Jacobina Woodford, and for Sir Philip +himself. The old gentleman glanced over it, caught the words +'better,' and 'coming home,' then failed to read through tears of +joy as before through tears of sorrow, and was fain to hand the +sheet to his old friend to be read aloud, while little Philip, +handling as a treasure the first letter he had ever received, though +as yet he was unable to decipher it, stood between his grandfather's +knees listening as Dr. Woodford read-- + +DEAR AND HONOURED SIR--I must ask your pardon for leaving you +without tidings so long, but while my recovery still hung in +doubt I thought it would only distress you to hear of the +fluctuations that I went through, and the pain to which the +surgeons put me for a long time in vain. Indeed frequently I had +no power either to think or speak, until at last with much +difficulty, and little knowledge or volition of my own, my +inestimable friend Graham brought me to Vienna, where I have at +length been relieved from my troublesome companion, and am +enjoying the utmost care and kindness from my friend's mother, a +near kinswoman, as indeed he is himself, of the brave and +lamented Viscount Dundee. My wound is healing finally, as I +hope, and though I have not yet left my bed, my friends assure me +that I am on the way to full and complete recovery, for which I +am more thankful to the Almighty than I could have been before I +knew what suffering and illness meant. As soon as I can ride +again, which they tell me will be in a fortnight or three weeks, +I mean to set forth on my way home. I cannot describe to you how +I am longing after the sight of you all, nor how home-sick I have +become. I never had time for it before, but I have lain for +hours bringing all your faces before me, my father's, and +mother's, my sister's, and that of her whom I hope to call my +own; and figuring to myself that of the little one. I have +thought much over my past life, and become sensible of much that +was amiss, and while earnestly entreating your forgiveness, +especially for having absented myself all these years, I hope to +return so as to be more of a comfort than I was in the days of my +rash and inconsiderate youth. I am of course at present +invalided, but I want to consult you, honoured sir, before +deciding whether it be expedient for me to resign my commission. +How I thank and bless you for the permission you have given me, +and the love you bear to my own heart's joy, no words can tell. +It shall be the study of my life to be worthy of her and of you.-- +And so no more from your loving and dutiful son, CHARLES +ARCHFIELD. + +Having drunk in these words with her ears, Anne left Phil to have +his note interpreted by his grandparents, and fled away to enjoy her +own in her chamber, yet it was as short as could be and as sweet. + +Mine own, mine own sweet Anne, sweetheart of good old days, your +letter gave me strength to go through with it. The doctors could +not guess why I was so much better and smiled through all their +torments. These are our first, I hope our last letters, for I +shall soon follow them home, and mine own darling will be mine.-- +Thine own, C. A. + +She had but short time to dwell on it and kiss it, for little Philip +was upon her, waving his letter, which he already knew by heart; and +galloping all over the house to proclaim the good news to the old +servants, who came crowding into the hall, trembling with joy, to +ask if there were indeed tidings of Mr. Archfield's return, +whereupon the glad father caused his grandson to carry each a full +glass of wine to drink to the health of the young master. + +Anne had at first felt only the surpassing rapture of the +restoration of Charles, but there ensued another delight in the +security his recovery gave to the life of his son. Sedley Archfield +would not be likely to renew his attempt, and if only on that +account the good news should be spread as widely as possible. She +was the first to suggest the relief it would be to Mr. Fellowes, who +had never divested himself of the feeling that he ought to have +divined his pupil's intention. + +Dr. Woodford offered to ride to Portchester with the news, and Sir +Philip, in the gladness of his heart, proposed that Anne should go +with him and see her friend. + +Shall it be told how on the way Anne's mind was assailed by feminine +misgivings whether three and twenty could be as fair in her +soldier's eyes as seventeen had been? Old maidenhood came earlier +then than in these days, and Anne knew that she was looked upon as +an old waiting-gentlewoman or governess by the belles of Winchester. +Her glass might tell her that her eyes were as softly brown, her +hair as abundant, her cheek as clear and delicately moulded as ever, +but there was no one to assure her that the early bloom had not +passed away, and that she had not rather gained than lost in dignity +of bearing and the stately poise of the head, which the jealous +damsels called Court airs. "And should he be disappointed, I shall +see it in his eyes," she said to herself, "and then his promise +shall not bind him, though it will break my heart, and oh! how hard +to resign my Phil to a strange stepmother." Still her heart was +lighter than for many a long year, as she cantered along in the +brisk March air, while the drops left by the departing frost +glistened in the sunshine, and the sea lay stretched in a delicate +gray haze. The old castle rose before her in its familiar home-like +massiveness as they turned towards the Rectory, where in that +sheltered spot the well-known clusters of crocuses were opening +their golden hearts to the sunshine, and recalling the days when +Anne was as sunny-hearted as they, and she felt as if she could be +as bright again. + +In Mrs. Fellowes's parlour they found an unexpected guest, no other +than Mrs. Oakshott. + +'Gadding about' not being the fashion of the Archfield household, +Anne had not seen the lady for several years, and was agreeably +surprised by her appearance. Perhaps the marks of smallpox had +faded, perhaps motherhood had given expression, and what had been +gaunt ungainliness in the maiden had rounded into a certain +importance in the matron, nor had her dress, though quiet, any of +the Puritan rigid ugliness that had been complained of, and though +certainly not beautiful, she was a person to inspire respect. + +It was explained that she was waiting for her husband, who was gone +with Mr. Fellowes to speak to the officer in command of the soldiers +at the castle. "For," said she, "I am quite convinced that there is +something that ought to be brought to light, and it may be in that +vault." + +Anne's heart gave such a throb as almost choked her. + +Dr. Woodford asked what the lady meant. + +"Well, sir, when spirits and things 'tis not well to talk of are +starting up and about here, there, and everywhere, 'tis plain there +must be cause for it." + +"I do not quite take your meaning, madam." + +"Ah, well! you gentlemen, reverend ones especially, are the last to +hear such things. There's the poor old Major, he won't believe a +word of it, but you know, Mistress Woodford. I see it in your face. +Have you seen anything?" + +"Not here, not now," faltered Anne. "You have, Mrs. Fellowes?" + +"I have heard of some foolish fright of the maids," said Naomi, +"partly their own fancy, or perhaps caught from the sentry. There +is no keeping those giddy girls from running after the soldiers." + +Perhaps Naomi hoped by throwing out this hint to conduct her +visitors off into the safer topic of domestic delinquencies, but +Mrs. Oakshott was far too earnest to be thus diverted, and she +exclaimed, "Ah, they saw him, I'll warrant!" + +"Him?" the Doctor asked innocently. + +"Him or his likeness," said Mrs. Oakshott, "my poor brother-in-law, +Peregrine Oakshott; you remember him, sir? He always said, poor +lad, that you and Mrs. Woodford were kinder to him than his own +flesh and blood, except his uncle, Sir Peregrine. For my part, I +never did give in to all the nonsense folk talked about his being a +changeling or at best a limb of Satan. He had more spirit and sense +than the rest of them, and they led him the life of a dog, though +they knew no better. If I had had him at Emsworth, I would have +shown them what he was;" and she sighed heavily. "Well, I did not +so much wonder when he disappeared, I made sure that he could bear +it no longer and had run away. I waited as long as there was any +reason, till there should be tidings of him, and only took his +brother at last because I found they could not do without me at +home." + +Remarkable frankness! but it struck both the Doctor and Anne that if +Peregrine could have submitted, his life might have been freer and +less unhappy than he had expected, though Mrs. Martha spoke the +broadest Hampshire. + +Naomi asked, "Then you no longer think that he ran away?" + +"No, madam; I am certain there was worse than that. You remember +the night of the bonfire for the Bishops' acquittal, Miss Woodford?" + +"Indeed I do." + +"Well, he was never seen again after that, as you know. The place +was full of wild folk. There was brawling right and left." + +"Were you there?" asked Anne surprised. + +"Yes; in my coach with my uncle and aunt that lived with me, though, +except Robin, none of the young sparks would come near me, except +some that I knew were after my pockets," said Martha, with a good- +humoured laugh. "Properly frightened we were too by the brawling +sailors ere we got home! Now, what could be more likely than that +some of them got hold of poor Perry? You know he always would go +about with the rapier he brought from Germany, with amber set in the +hilt, and the mosaic snuff-box he got in Italy, and what could be +looked for but that the poor dear lad should be put out of the way +for the sake of these gewgaws?" This supposition was gratifying to +Anne, but her uncle must needs ask why Mrs. Oakshott thought so more +than before. + +"Because," she said impressively, "there is no doubt but that he has +been seen, and not in the flesh, once and again, and always about +these ruins." + +"By whom, madam, may I ask?" + +"Mrs. Fellowes's maids, as she knows, saw him once on the beach at +night, just there. The sentry, who is Tom Hart, from our parish, +saw a shape at the opening of the old vault before the keep and +challenged him, when he vanished out of sight ere there was time to +present a musket. There was once more, when one moonlight night our +sexton, looking out of his cottage window, saw what he declares was +none other than Master Perry standing among the graves of our +family, as if, poor youth, he were asking why he was not among them. +When I heard that, I said to my husband, 'Depend upon it,' says I, +'he met with his death that night, and was thrown into some hole, +and that's the reason he cannot rest. If I pay a hundred pounds for +it, I'll not give up till his poor corpse is found to have Christian +burial, and I'll begin with the old vault at Portchester!' My good +father, the Major, would not hear of it at first, nor my husband +either, but 'tis my money, and I know how to tackle Robin." + +It was with strangely mingled feelings that Anne listened. That +search in the vault, inaugurated by faithful Martha, was what she +had always felt ought to be made, and she had even promised to +attempt it if the apparitions recurred. The notion of the deed +being attributed to lawless sailors and smugglers or highwaymen, who +were known to swarm in the neighbourhood, seemed to remove all +danger of suspicion. Yet she could not divest herself of a vague +sense of alarm at this stirring up of what had slept for seven +years. Neither she nor her uncle deemed it needful to mention the +appearance seen by little Philip, but to her surprise Naomi slowly +and hesitatingly said it was very remarkable, that her husband +having occasion to be at the church at dusk one evening just after +Midsummer, had certainly seen a figure close to Mrs. Woodford's +grave, and lost sight of it before he could speak of it. He thought +nothing more of it till these reports began to be spread, but he had +then recollected that it answered the descriptions given of the +phantom. + +Here the ladies were interrupted by the appearance of Mr. Fellowes +and Robert Oakshott, now grown into a somewhat heavy but by no means +foolish-looking young man. + +"Well, madam," said he, in Hampshire as broad as his wife's, "you +will have your will. Not that Captain Henslowe believes a word of +your ghosts--not he; but he took fire when he heard of queer sights +about the castle. He sent for the chap who stood sentry, and was +downright sharp on him for not reporting what he had seen, and he is +ordering out a sergeant's party to open the vault, so you may come +and see, if you have any stomach for it." + +"I could not but come!" said Madam Oakshott, who certainly did not +look squeamish, but who was far more in earnest than her husband, +and perhaps doubted whether without her presence the quest would be +thorough. Anne was full of dread, and almost sick at the thought of +what she might see, but she was far too anxious to stay away. Mrs. +Fellowes made some excuse about the children for not accompanying +them. + +It always thrilled Anne to enter that old castle court, the familiar +and beloved play-place of her childhood, full of memories of Charles +and of Lucy, and containing in its wide precincts the churchyard +where her mother lay. She moved along in a kind of dream, glad to +be let alone, since Mr. Fellowes naturally attended Mrs. Oakshott, +and Robert was fully occupied in explaining to the Doctor that he +only gave in to this affair for the sake of pacifying madam, since +women folk would have their little megrims. Assuredly that tall, +solid, resolute figure stalking on in front, looked as little +subject to megrims as any of her sex. Her determination had brought +her husband thither, and her determination further carried the day, +when the captain, after staring at the solid-looking turf, stamping +on the one stone that was visible, and trampling down the bunch of +nettles beside it, declared that the entrance had been so thoroughly +stopped that it was of no use to dig farther. It was Madam Martha +who demanded permission to offer the four soldiers a crown apiece if +they opened the vault, a guinea each if they found anything. The +captain could not choose but grant it, though with something of a +sneer, and the work was begun. He walked up and down with Robert, +joining in hopes that the lady would be satisfied before dinner- +time. The two clergymen likewise walked together, arguing, as was +their wont, on the credibility of apparitions. The two ladies stood +in almost breathless watch, as the bricks that had covered in the +opening were removed, and the dark hole brought to light. Contrary +to expectation, when the opening had been enlarged, it was found +that there were several steps of stone, and where they were broken +away, there was a rude ladder. + +A lantern was fetched from the guard-room in the bailey, and after +much shaking and trying of the ladder, one of the soldiers +descended, finding the place less deep than was commonly supposed, +and soon calling out that he was at the bottom. Another followed +him, and presently there was a shout. Something was found! "A +rusty old chain, no doubt," grumbled Robert; but his wife shrieked. +It was a sword in its sheath, the belt rotted, the clasp tarnished, +but of silver. Mrs. Oakshott seized it at once, rubbed away the +dust from the handle, and brought to light a glistening yellow piece +of amber, which she mutely held up, and another touch of her +handkerchief disclosed on a silver plate in the scabbard an oak- +tree, the family crest, and the twisted cypher P. O. Her eyes were +full of tears, and she did not speak. Anne, white and trembling, +was forced to sink down on the stone, unnoticed by all, while Robert +Oakshott, convinced indeed, hastily went down himself. The sword +had been hidden in a sort of hollow under the remains of the broken +stair. Thence likewise came to light the mouldy remnant of a broad +hat and the quill of its plume, and what had once been a coat, even +in its present state showing that it had been soaked through and +through with blood, the same stains visible on the watch and the +mosaic snuff-box. That was all; there was no purse, and no other +garments, though, considering the condition of the coat, they might +have been entirely destroyed by the rats and mice. There was indeed +a fragment of a handkerchief, with the cypher worked on it, which +Mrs. Oakshott showed to Anne with the tears in her eyes: "There! I +worked that, though he never knew it. No! I know he did not like +me! But I would have made him do so at last. I would have been so +good to him. Poor fellow, that he should have been lying there all +this time!" + +Lying there; but where, then, was he? No signs of any corpse were +to be found, though one after another all the gentlemen descended to +look, and Mrs. Oakshott was only withheld by her husband's urgent +representations, and promise to superintend a diligent digging in +the ground, so as to ascertain whether there had been a hasty burial +there. + +Altogether, Anne was so much astonished and appalled that she could +hardly restrain herself, and her mind reverted to Bishop Ken's +theory that Peregrine still lived; but this was contradicted by the +appearance at Douai, which did not rest on the evidence of her +single perceptions. + +Mrs. Fellowes sent out an entreaty that they would come to dinner, +and the gentlemen were actually base enough to wish to comply, so +that the two ladies had no choice save to come with them, especially +as the soldiers were unwilling to work on without their meal. +Neither Mrs. Oakshott nor Anne felt as if they could swallow, and +the polite pressure to eat was only preferable in Anne's eyes to the +conversation on the discoveries that had been made, especially the +conclusion arrived at by all, that though the purse and rings had +not been found, the presence of the watch and snuff-box precluded +the idea of robbery. + +"These would be found on the body," said Mr. Oakshott. "I could +swear to the purse. You remember, madam, your uncle bantering him +about French ladies and their finery, asking whose token it was, and +how black my father looked? Poor Perry, if my father could have had +a little patience with him, he would not have gone roaming about and +getting into brawls, and we need not be looking for him in yonder +black pit." + +"You'll never find him there, Master Robert," spoke out the old +Oakwood servant, behind Mrs. Oakshott's chair, free and easy after +the manner of the time. + +"And wherefore not, Jonadab?" demanded his mistress, by no means +surprised at the liberty. + +"Why, ma'am, 'twas the seven years, you sees, and in course when +them you wot of had power to carry him off, they could not take his +sword, nor his hat, not they couldn't." + +"How about his purse, then?" put in Dr. Woodford. + +"I'll be bound you will find it yet, sir," responded Jonadab, by no +means disconcerted, "leastways unless some two-legged fairies have +got it." + +At this some of the party found it impossible not to laugh, and this +so upset poor Martha's composure that she was obliged to leave the +table, and Anne was not sorry for the excuse of attending her, +although there were stings of pain in all her rambling lamentations +and conjectures. + +Very tardily, according to the feelings of the anxious women, was +the dinner finished, and their companions ready to take them out +again. Indeed, Madam Oakshott at last repaired to the dining- +parlour, and roused her husband from his glass of Spanish wine to +renew the search. She would not listen to Mrs. Fellowes's advice +not to go out again, and Anne could not abstain either from watching +for what could not be other than grievous and mournful to behold. + +The soldiers were called out again by their captain, and reinforced +by the Rectory servant and Jonadab. + +There was an interval of anxious prowling round the opening. Mr. +Oakshott and the captain had gone down again, and found, what the +military man was anxious about, that if there were passages to the +outer air, they had been well blocked up and not re-opened. + +Meantime the digging proceeded. + +It was just at twilight that a voice below uttered an exclamation. +Then came a pause. The old sergeant's voice ordered care and a +pause, somewhere below the opening with, "Sir, the spades have hit +upon a skull." + +There was a shuddering pause. All the gentlemen except Dr. +Woodford, who feared the chill, descended again. Mrs. Oakshott and +Anne held each other's hands and trembled. + +By and by Mr. Fellowes came up first. "We have found," he said, +looking pale and grave, "a skeleton. Yes, a perfect skeleton, but +no more--no remains except a fine dust." + +And Robert Oakshott following, awe-struck and sorrowful, added, +"Yes, there he is, poor Perry--all that is left of him--only his +bones. No, madam, we must leave him there for the present; we +cannot bring it up without preparation." + +"You need not fear meddling curiosity, madam," said the captain. "I +will post a sentry here to bar all entrance." + +"Thanks, sir," said Robert. "That will be well till I can bury the +poor fellow with all due respect by my mother and Oliver." + +"And then I trust his spirit will have rest," said Martha Oakshott +fervently. "And now home to your father. How will he bear it, +sir?" + +"I verily believe he will sleep the quieter for knowing for a +certainty what has become of poor Peregrine," said her husband. + +And Anne felt as if half her burthen of secrecy was gone when they +all parted, starting early because the Black Gang rendered all the +roads unsafe after dark. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII: THE DISCLOSURE + + +"He looked about as one betrayed, +What hath he done, what promise made? +Oh! weak, weak moment, to what end +Can such a vain oblation tend?" + +WORDSWORTH. + +For the most part Anne was able to hold her peace and keep out of +sight while Dr. Woodford related the strange revelations of the +vault with all the circumstantiality that was desired by two old +people living a secluded life and concerned about a neighbour of +many years, whom they had come to esteem by force of a certain +sympathy in honest opposition. The mystery occupied them entirely, +for though the murder was naturally ascribed to some of the lawless +coast population, the valuables remaining with the clothes made a +strange feature in the case. + +It was known that there was to be an inquest held on the remains +before their removal, and Dr. Woodford, both from his own interest +in the question, and as family intelligencer, rode to the castle. +Sir Philip longed to go, but it was a cold wet day, and he had +threatenings of gout, so that he was persuaded to remain by the +fireside. Inquests were then always held where the body lay, and +the court of Portchester Castle was no place for him on such a day. + +Dr. Woodford came home just before twilight, looking grave and +troubled, and, much to Anne's alarm, desired to speak to Sir Philip +privately in the gun-room. Lady Archfield took alarm, and much +distressed her by continually asking what could be the meaning of +the interview, and making all sorts of guesses. + +When at last they came together into the parlour the poor lady +looked so anxious and frightened that her husband went up to her and +said, "Do not be alarmed, sweetheart. We shall clear him; but those +foolish fellows have let suspicion fall on poor Sedley." + +Nobody looked at Anne, or her deadly paleness must have been +remarked, and the trembling which she could hardly control by +clasping her hands tightly together, keeping her feet hard on the +floor, and setting her teeth. + +Lady Archfield was perhaps less fond of the scapegrace nephew than +was her husband, and she felt the matter chiefly as it affected him, +so that she heard with more equanimity than he had done; and as they +sat round the fire in the half-light, for which Anne was thankful, +the Doctor gave his narration in order. + +"I found a large company assembled in the castle court, waiting for +the coroner from Portsmouth, though the sentry on guard would allow +no one to go down, in spite of some, even ladies, I am ashamed to +say, who offered him bribes for the permission. Everything, I +heard, had been replaced as we found it. The poor Major himself was +there, looking sadly broken, and much needing the help of his son's +arm. 'To think that I was blaming my poor son as a mere reprobate, +and praying for his conversion,' says he, 'when he was lying here, +cut off without a moment for repentance.' There was your nephew, +suspecting nothing, Squire Brocas, Mr. Eyre, of Botley Grange, Mr. +Biden, Mr. Larcom, and Mr. Bargus, and a good many more, besides Dr. +James Yonge, the naval doctor, and the Mayor of Portsmouth, and more +than I can tell you. When the coroner came, and the jury had been +sworn in, they went down and viewed the spot, and all that was +there. The soldiers had put candles round, and a huge place it is, +all built up with large stones. Then, as it was raining hard, they +adjourned to the great room in the keep and took the evidence. +Robert Oakshott identified the clothes and the watch clearly enough, +and said he had no doubt that the other remains were Peregrine's; +but as to swearing to a brother's bones, no one could do that; and +Dr. Yonge said in my ear that if the deceased were so small a man as +folks said, the skeleton could scarce be his, for he thought it had +belonged to a large-framed person. That struck no one else, for +naturally it is only a chirurgeon who is used to reckon the +proportion that the bones bear to the body, and I also asked him +whether in seven years the other parts would be so entirely +consumed, to which he answered that so much would depend on the +nature of the soil that there was no telling. However, jury and +coroner seemed to feel no doubt, and that old seafaring man, Tom +Block, declared that poor Master Peregrine had been hand and glove +with a lot of wild chaps, and that the vault had been well known to +them before the gentlemen had had it blocked up. Then it was asked +who had seen him last, and Robert Oakshott spoke of having parted +with him at the bonfire, and never seen him again. There, I fancy, +it would have ended in a verdict of wilful murder against some +person or persons unknown, but Robert Oakshott must needs say, "I +would give a hundred pounds to know who the villain was." And then +who should get up but George Rackstone, with "Please your Honour, I +could tell summat." The coroner bade swear him, and he deposed to +having seen Master Peregrine going down towards the castle somewhere +about four o'clock that morning after the bonfire when he was +getting up to go to his mowing. But that was not all. You +remember, Anne, that his father's cottage stands on the road towards +Portsmouth. Well, he brought up the story of your running in there, +frightened, the day before the bonfire, when I was praying with his +sick mother, calling on me to stop a fray between Peregrine and +young Sedley, and I had to get up and tell of Sedley's rudeness to +you, child." + +"What was that?" hastily asked Lady Archfield. + +"The old story, my lady. The young officer's swaggering attempt to +kiss the girl he meets on the road. I doubt even if he knew at the +moment that it was my niece. Peregrine was coming by at the moment, +and interfered to protect her, and swords were drawn. I could not +deny it, nor that there was ill blood between the lads; and then +young Brocas, who was later on Portsdown than we were, remembered +high words, and had thought to himself that there would be a +challenge. And next old Goody Spore recollects seeing Master Sedley +and another soldier officer out on the Portsmouth road early that +morning. The hay was making in the court then, and Jenny Light +remembered that when the haymakers came she raked up something that +looked like a bloody spot, and showed it to one of the others, but +they told her that most likely a rabbit or a hare had been killed +there, and she had best take no heed. Probably there was dread of +getting into trouble about a smugglers' fray. Well, every one was +looking askance at Master Sedley by this time, and the coroner asked +him if he had anything to say. He spoke out boldly enough. He +owned to the dispute with Peregrine Oakshott, and to having parted +with him that night on terms which would only admit of a challenge. +He wrote a cartel that night, and sent it by his friend Lieutenant +Ainslie, but doubting whether Major Oakshott might not prevent its +delivery, he charged him to try to find Peregrine outside the house, +and arrange with him a meeting on the hill, where you know the +duellists of the garrison are wont to transact such encounters. +Sedley himself walked out part of the way with his friend, but +neither of them saw Peregrine, nor heard anything of him. So he +avers, but when asked for his witness to corroborate the story, he +says that Ainslie, I fear the only person who could have proved an +alibi--if so it were--was killed at Landen; but, he added, certainly +with too much of his rough way, it was a mere absurdity to charge it +upon him. What should a gentleman have to do with private murders +and robberies? Nor did he believe the bones to be Perry Oakshott's +at all. It was all a bit of Whiggish spite! He worked himself into +a passion, which only added to the impression against him; and I own +I cannot wonder that the verdict has sent him to Winchester to take +his trial. Why, Anne, child, how now?" + +"'Tis a terrible story. Take my essences, child," said Lady +Archfield, tottering across, and Anne, just saving herself from +fainting by a long gasp at them, let herself be led from the room. +The maids buzzed about her, and for some time she was sensible of +nothing but a longing to get rid of them, and to be left alone to +face the grievous state of things which she did not yet understand. +At last, with kind good-nights from Lady Archfield, such as she +could hardly return, she was left by herself in the darkness to +recover from the stunned helpless feeling of the first moment. + +Sedley accused! Charles to be sacrificed to save his worthless +cousin, the would-be murderer of his innocent child, who morally +thus deserved to suffer! Never, never! She could not do so. It +would be treason to her benefactors, nay, absolute injustice, for +Charles had struck in generous defence of herself; but Sedley had +tried to allure the boy to his death merely for his own advantage. +Should she not be justified in simply keeping silence? Yet there +was like an arrow in her heart, the sense of guilt in so doing, +guilt towards God and truth, guilt towards man and justice. She +should die under the load, and it would be for Charles. Might it +only be before he came home, then he would know that she had +perished under his secret to save him. Nay, but would he be +thankful at being saved at the expense of his cousin's life? If he +came, how should she meet him? + +The sense of the certain indignation of a good and noble human +spirit often awakes the full perception of what an action would be +in the sight of Heaven, and Anne began to realise the sin more than +at first, and to feel the compulsion of truth. If only Charles were +not coming home she could write to him and warn him, but the thought +that he might be already on the way had turned from joy to agony. +"And to think," she said to herself, "that I was fretting as to +whether he would think me pretty!" + +She tossed about in misery, every now and then rising on her knees +to pray--at first for Charles's safety--for she shrank from asking +for Divine protection, knowing only too well what that would be. +Gradually, however, a shudder came over her at the thought that if +she would not commit her way unto the Lord, she might indeed be the +undoing of her lover, and then once more the higher sense of duty +rose on her. She prayed for forgiveness for the thought, and that +it might not be visited upon him; she prayed for strength to do what +must be her duty, for safety for him, and comfort to his parents, +and so, in passing gusts of misery and apprehension, of failing +heart and recovered resolution, of anguish and of prayer, the long +night at length passed, and with the first dawn she arose, shaken +and weak, but resolved to act on her terrible resolution before it +again failed her. + +Sir Philip was always an early riser, and she heard his foot on the +stairs before seven o'clock. She came out on the staircase, which +met the flight which he was descending, and tried to speak, but her +lips seemed too dry to part. + +"Child! child! you are ill," said the old gentleman, as he saw her +blanched cheek; "you should be in bed this chilly morning. Go back +to your chamber." + +"No, no, sir, I cannot. Pray, your Honour, come here, I have +something to say;" and she drew him to the open door of his justice- +room, called the gun-room. + +"Bless me," he muttered, "the wench does not mean that she has got +smitten with that poor rogue my nephew!" + +"Oh! no, no," said Anne, almost ready for a hysterical laugh, yet +letting the old man seat himself, and then dropping on her knees +before him, for she could hardly stand, "it is worse than that, sir; +I know who it was who did that thing." + +"Well, who?" he said hastily; "why have you kept it back so long and +let an innocent man get into trouble?" + +"O Sir Philip! I could not help it. Forgive me;" and with clasped +hands, she brought out the words, "It was your son, Mr. Archfield;" +and then she almost collapsed again. + +"Child! child! you are ill; you do not know what you are saying. We +must have you to bed again. I will call your uncle." + +"Ah! sir, it is only too true;" but she let him fetch her uncle, who +was sure to be at his devotions in a kind of oratory on the farther +side of the hall. She had not gone to him first, from the old +desire to keep him clear of the knowledge, but she longed for such +support as he might give her, or at least to know whether he were +very angry with her. + +The two old men quickly came back together, and Dr. Woodford began, +"How now, niece, are you telling us dreams?" but he broke off as he +saw the sad earnest of her face. + +"Sir, it is too true. He charged me to speak out if any one else +were brought into danger." + +"Come," said Sir Philip, testily; "don't crouch grovelling on the +floor there. Get up and let us know the meaning of this. Good +heavens! the lad may be here any day." + +Anne had much rather have knelt where she was, but her uncle raised +her, and placed her in a chair, saying, "Try to compose yourself, +and tell us what you mean, and why it has been kept back so long." + +"Indeed he did not intend it," pleaded Anne; "it was almost an +accident--to protect me--Peregrine was--pursuing me." + +"Upon my word, young mistress," burst out the father, "you seem to +have been setting all the young fellows together by the ears." + +"I doubt if she could help it," said the Doctor. "She tried to be +discreet, but it was the reason her mother--" + +"Well, go on," interrupted poor Sir Philip, too unhappy to remember +manners or listen to the defence; "what was it? when was it?" + +Anne was allowed then to proceed. "It was the morning I went to +London. I went out to gather some mouse-ear." + +"Mouse-ear! mouse-ear!" growled he. "Some one else's ear." + +"It was for Lady Oglethorpe." + +"It was," said her uncle, "a specific, it seems, for whooping-cough. +I saw the letter, and knew--" + +"Umph! let us hear," said Sir Philip, evidently with the idea of a +tryst in his mind. "No wonder mischief comes of maidens running +about at such hours. What next?" + +The poor girl struggled on: "I saw Peregrine coming, and hoping he +would not see me, I ran into the keep, meaning to get home by the +battlements out of his sight, but when I looked down he and Mr. +Archfield were fighting. I screamed, but I don't think they heard +me, and I ran down; but I had fastened all the doors, and I was a +long time getting out, and by that time Mr. Archfield had dragged +him to the vault and thrown him in. He was like one distracted, and +said it must be hidden, or it would be the death of his wife and his +mother, and what could I do?" + +"Is that all the truth?" said Sir Philip sternly. "What brought +them there--either of them?" + +"Mr. Archfield came to bring me a pattern of sarcenet to match for +poor young Madam in London." + +No doubt Sir Philip recollected the petulant anger that this had +been forgotten, but he was hardly appeased. "And the other fellow? +Why, he was brawling with my nephew Sedley about you the day +before!" + +"I do not think she was to blame there," said Dr. Woodford. "The +unhappy youth was set against marrying Mistress Browning, and had +talked wildly to my sister and me about wedding my niece." + +"But why should she run away as if he had the plague, and set the +foolish lads to fight?" + +"Sir, I must tell you," Anne owned, "he had beset me, and talked so +desperately that I was afraid of what he might do in that lonely +place and at such an hour in the morning. I hoped he had not seen +me." + +"Umph!" said Sir Philip, much as if he thought a silly girl's +imagination had caused all the mischief. + +"When did he thus speak to you, Anne?" asked her uncle, not +unkindly. + +"At the inn at Portsmouth, sir," said Anne. "He came while you were +with Mr. Stanbury and the rest, and wanted me to marry him and flee +to France, or I know not where, or at any rate marry him secretly so +as to save him from poor Mistress Browning. I could not choose but +fear and avoid him, but oh! I would have faced him ten times over +rather than have brought this on--us all. And now what shall I do? +He, Mr. Archfield, when I saw him in France, said as long as no one +was suspected, it would only give more pain to say what I knew, but +that if suspicion fell on any one--" and her voice died away. + +"He could not say otherwise," returned Sir Philip, with a groan. + +"And now what shall I do? what shall I do?" sighed the poor girl. +"I must speak truth." + +"I never bade you perjure yourself," said Sir Philip sharply, but +hiding his face in his hands, and groaning out, "Oh, my son! my +son!" + +Seeing that his distress so overcame poor Anne that she could +scarcely contain herself, Dr. Woodford thought it best to take her +from the room, promising to come again to her. She could do nothing +but lie on her bed and weep in a quiet heart-broken way. Sir +Philip's anger seemed to fill up the measure, by throwing the guilt +back upon her and rousing a bitter sense of injustice, and then she +wept again at her cruel selfishness in blaming the broken-hearted +old man. + +She could hardly have come down to breakfast, so heavy were her +limbs and so sick and faint did every movement render her, and she +further bethought herself that the poor old father might not brook +the sight of her under the circumstances. It was a pang to hear +little Philip prancing about the house, and when he had come to her +to say his prayers, she sent him down with a message that she was +not well enough to come downstairs, and that she wanted nothing, +only to be quiet. + +The little fellow was very pitiful, and made her cry again by +wanting to know whether she had gout like grandpapa or rheumatics +like grandmamma, and then stroking her face, calling her his dear +Nana, and telling her of the salad in his garden that his papa was +to eat the very first day he came home. + +By and by Dr. Woodford knocked at her door. He had had a long +conversation with poor old Sir Philip, who was calmer now than under +the first blow, and somewhat less inclined to anger with the girl, +who might indeed be the cause, but surely the innocent cause, of +all. The Doctor had done his best to show that her going out had no +connection with any of the youths, and he thought Sir Philip would +believe it on quieter reflection. He had remembered too, signs of +self-reproach mixed with his son's grief for his wife, and his +extreme relief at the plan for going abroad, recollecting likewise +that Charles had strongly disliked poor Peregrine, and had much +resented the liking which young Madam had shown for one whose +attentions might have been partly intended to tease the young +husband. + +"Of course," said Dr. Woodford, "the unhappy deed was no more than +an unfortunate accident, and if all had been known at first, +probably it would so have been treated. The concealment was an +error, but it is impossible to blame either of you for it." + +"Oh never mind that, dear uncle! Only tell me! Must he--must +Charles suffer to save that man? You know what he is, real murderer +in heart! Oh I know. The right must be done! But it is dreadful!" + +"The right must be done and the truth spoken at all costs. No one +knows that better than our good old patron," said the Doctor; "but, +my dear child, you are not called on to denounce this young man as +you seem to imagine, unless there should be no other means of saving +his cousin, or unless you are so questioned that you cannot help +replying for truth's sake. Knowing nothing of all this, it struck +others besides myself at the inquest that the evidence against +Sedley was utterly insufficient for a conviction, and if he should +be acquitted, matters will only be as they were before." + +"Then you think I am not bound to speak--The truth, the whole truth, +nothing but the truth," she murmured in exceeding grief, yet firmly. + +"You certainly may, nay, _must_ keep your former silence till the +trial, at the Lent Assizes. I trust you may not be called on as a +witness to the fray with Sedley, but that I may be sufficient +testimony to that. I could testify to nothing else. Remember, if +you are called, you have only to answer what you are asked, nor is +it likely, unless Sedley have any suspicion of the truth, that you +will be asked any question that will implicate Mr. Archfield. If +so, God give you strength my poor child, to be true to Him. But the +point of the trial is to prove Sedley guilty or not guilty; and if +the latter, there is no more to be said. God grant it." + +"But he--Mr. Archfield?" + +"His father is already taking measures to send to all the ports to +stop him on his way till the trial is over. Thus there will be no +actual danger, though it is a sore disappointment, and these wicked +attempts of Charnock and Barclay put us in bad odour, so that it may +be less easy to procure a pardon than it once would have been. So, +my dear child, I do not think you need be in terror for his life, +even if you are obliged to speak out plainly." + +And then the good old man knelt with Anne to pray for pardon, +direction, and firmness, and protection for Charles. She made an +entreaty after they rose that her uncle would take her away--her +presence must be so painful to their kind hosts. He agreed with +her, and made the proposition, but Sir Philip would not hear of it. +Perhaps he was afraid of any change bringing suspicion of the facts, +and he might have his fears of Anne being questioned into dangerous +admissions, besides which, he hoped to keep his poor old wife in +ignorance to the last. So Anne was to remain at Fareham, and after +that one day's seclusion she gathered strength to be with the family +as usual. Poor old Sir Philip treated her with a studied but icy +courtesy which cut her to the heart; but Lady Archfield's hopes of +seeing her son were almost worse, together with her regrets at her +husband's dejection at the situation of his nephew and the family +disgrace. As to little Philip, his curious inquiries about Cousin +Sedley being in jail for murdering Penny Grim had to be summarily +hushed by the assurance that such things were not to be spoken +about. But why did Nana cry when he talked of papa's coming home? + +All the neighbourhood was invited to the funeral in Havant +Churchyard, the burial-place of the Oakshotts. Major Oakshott +himself wrote to Dr. Woodford, as having been one of the kindest +friends of his poor son, adding that he could not ask Sir Philip +Archfield, although he knew him to be no partner in the guilt of his +unhappy nephew, who so fully exemplified that Divine justice may be +slow, but is sure. + +Dr. Woodford decided on accepting the invitation, not only for +Peregrine's sake, but to see how the land lay. Scarcely anything +remarkable, however, occurred, except that it was painful to +perceive the lightness of the coffin. A funeral sermon was +previously preached by a young Nonconformist minister in his own +chapel, on the text, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his +blood be shed;" and then the burial took place, watched by a huge +crowd of people. But just as the procession was starting from the +chapel for the churchyard, over the wall there came a strange peal +of wild laughter. + +"Oh, would not the unquiet spirit be at rest till it was avenged?" +thought Anne when she was told of it. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: THE ASSIZE COURT + + +"O terror! what hath she perceived? O joy, +What doth she look on? whom hath she perceived?" + +WORDSWORTH. + +Time wore away, and the Lent Assizes at Winchester had come. Sir +Philip had procured the best legal assistance for his nephew, but in +criminal cases, though the prisoner was allowed the advice of +counsel, the onus of defence rested upon himself. To poor Anne's +dismay, a subpoena was sent to her, as well as to her uncle, to +attend as a witness at the trial. Sir Philip was too anxious to +endure to remain at a distance from Winchester, and they travelled +in his coach, Sir Edmund Nutley escorting them on horseback, while +Lucy was left with her mother, both still in blissful ignorance. +They took rooms at the George Inn. That night was a strange and +grievous one to Anne, trying hard to sleep so as to be physically +capable of composure and presence of mind, yet continually wakened +by ghastly dreams, and then recollecting that the sense of something +terrible was by no means all a dream. + +Very white, very silent, but very composed, she came to the sitting- +room, and was constrained by her uncle and Sir Philip to eat, much +as it went against her. On this morning Sir Philip had dropped his +sternness towards her, and finding a moment when his son-in-law was +absent, he said, "Child, I know that this is wellnigh, nay, quite as +hard for you as for me. I can only say, Let no earthly regards hold +you back from whatever is your duty to God and man. Speak the truth +whatever betide, and leave the rest to the God of truth. God bless +you, however it may be;" and he kissed her brow. + +The intelligence that the trial was coming on was brought by +Sedley's counsel, Mr. Simon Harcourt. They set forth for the County +Hall up the sharply-rising street, thronged with people, who growled +and murmured at the murderer savagely, Sir Philip, under the care of +his son-in-law, and Anne with her uncle. Mr. Harcourt was very +hopeful; he said the case for the prosecution had not a leg to stand +on, and that the prisoner himself was so intelligent, and had so +readily understood the line of defence to take, that he ought to +have been a lawyer. There would be no fear except that it might be +made a party case, and no stone was likely to be left unturned +against a gentleman of good loyal family. Moreover Mr. William +Cowper, whom Robert Oakshott, or rather his wife, had engaged at +great expense for the prosecution, was one of the most rising of +barristers, noted for his persuasive eloquence, and unfortunately +Mr. Harcourt had not the right of reply. + +The melancholy party were conducted into court, Sir Philip and Sir +Edmund to the seats disposed of by the sheriff, beside the judge, +strangely enough only divided by him from Major Oakshott. The judge +was Mr. Baron Hatsel, a somewhat weak-looking man, in spite of his +red robes and flowing wig, as he sat under his canopy beneath King +Arthur's Round Table. Sedley, perhaps a little thinner since his +imprisonment, but with the purple red on his face, and his prominent +eyes so hard and bold that it was galling to know that this was +really the confidence of innocence. + +Mr. Cowper was with great ability putting the case. Here were two +families in immediate neighbourhood, divided from the first by +political opinions of the strongest complexion; and he put the +Oakshott views upon liberty, civil and religious, in the most +popular light. The unfortunate deceased he described as having been +a highly promising member of the suite of the distinguished Envoy, +Sir Peregrine Oakshott, whose name he bore. On the death of the +eldest brother he had been recalled, and his accomplishments and +foreign air had, it appeared, excited the spleen of the young +gentlemen of the county belonging to the Tory party, then in the +ascendant, above all of the prisoner. There was then little or no +etiquette as to irrelevant matter, so that Mr. Cowper could dwell at +length on Sedley's antecedents, as abusing the bounty of his uncle, +a known bully expelled for misconduct from Winchester College, then +acting as a suitable instrument in those violences in Scotland which +had driven the nation finally to extremity, noted for his +debaucheries when in garrison, and finally broken for +insubordination in Ireland. + +After this unflattering portrait, which Sedley's looks certainly did +not belie, the counsel went back to 1688, proceeded to mention +several disputes which had taken place when Peregrine had met +Lieutenant Archfield at Portsmouth; but, he added with a smile, that +no dart of malice was ever thoroughly winged till Cupid had added +his feather; and he went on to describe in strong colours the insult +to a young gentlewoman, and the interference of the other young man +in her behalf, so that swords were drawn before the appearance of +the reverend gentleman her uncle. Still, he said, there was further +venom to be added to the bolt, and he showed that the two had parted +after the rejoicings on Portsdown Hill with a challenge all but +uttered between them, the Whig upholding religious liberty, the Tory +hotly defending such honour as the King possessed, and both parting +in anger. + +Young Mr. Oakshott was never again seen alive, though his family +long hoped against hope. There was no need to dwell on the strange +appearances that had incited them to the search. Certain it was, +that after seven years' silence, the grave had yielded up its +secrets. Then came the description of the discovery of the bones, +and of the garments and sword, followed by the mention of the +evidence as to the blood on the grass, and the prisoner having been +seen in the neighbourhood of the castle at that strange hour. He +was observed to have an amount of money unusual with him soon after, +and, what was still more suspicious, after having gambled this away, +he had sold to a goldsmith at Southampton a ruby ring, which both +Mr. and Mrs. Oakshott could swear to have belonged to the deceased. +In fact, when Mr. Cowper marshalled the facts, and even described +the passionate encounter taking place hastily and without witnesses, +and the subsequent concealment of guilt in the vault, the purse +taken, and whatever could again be identified hidden, while +providentially the blocking up of the vault preserved the evidence +of the crime so long undetected and unavenged, it was hardly +possible to believe the prisoner innocent. + +When the examination of the witnesses began, however, Sedley showed +himself equal to his own defence. He made no sign when Robert +Oakshott identified the clothes, sword, and other things, and their +condition was described; but he demanded of him sharply how he knew +the human remains to be those of his brother. + +"Of course they were," said Robert. + +"Were there any remains of clothes with them?" + +"No." + +"Can you swear to them? Did you ever before see your brother's +bones?" + +At which, and at the witness's hesitating, "No, but--" the court +began to laugh. + +"What was the height of the deceased?" + +"He reached about up to my ear," said the witness with some +hesitation. + +"What was the length of the skeleton?" + +"Quite small. It looked like a child's." + +"My lord," said Sedley, "I have a witness here, a surgeon, whom I +request may be called to certify the proportion of a skeleton to the +size of a living man." + +Though this was done, the whole matter of size was so vague that +there was nothing proved, either as to the inches of Peregrine or +those of the skeleton, but still Sedley made his point that the +identity of the body was unproved at least in some minds. Still, +there remained the other articles, about which there was no doubt. + +Mr. Cowper proceeded with his examination as to the disputes at +Portsmouth, but again the prisoner scored a point by proving that +Peregrine had staked the ring against him at a cock-fight at +Southampton, and had lost it. + +Dr. Woodford was called, and his evidence could not choose but to be +most damaging as to the conflict on the road at Portsmouth; but as +he had not seen the beginning, 'Mistress Anne Jacobina Woodford' was +called for. + +There she stood, tall and stately, almost majestic in the stiffness +of intense self-restraint, in her simple gray dress, her black silk +hood somewhat back, her brown curls round her face, a red spot in +each cheek, her earnest brown eyes fixed on the clerk as he gabbled +out the words so awful to her, "The truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth;" and her soul re-echoed the words, "So help +you God." + +Mr. Cowper was courteous; he was a gentleman, and he saw she was no +light-minded girl. He asked her the few questions needful as to the +attack made on her, and the defence; but something moved him to go +on and ask whether she had been on Portsdown Hill, and to obtain +from her the account of the high words between the young men. She +answered each question in a clear low voice, which still was audible +to all. Was it over, or would Sedley begin to torture her, when so +much was in his favour? No! Mr. Cowper--oh! why would he? was +asking in an affirmative tone, as if to clench the former evidence, +"And did you ever see the deceased again?" + +"Yes." The answer was at first almost choked, then cleared into +sharpness, and every eye turned in surprise on the face that had +become as white as her collar. + +"Indeed! And when?" + +"The next morning," in a voice as if pronouncing her own doom, and +with hands clinging tight to the front of the witness-box as though +in anguish. + +"Where?" said the counsel, like inexorable fate. + +"I will save the gentlewoman from replying to that question, sir;" +and a gentleman with long brown hair, in a rich white and gold +uniform, rose from among the spectators. "Perhaps I may be allowed +to answer for her, when I say that it was at Portchester Castle, at +five in the morning, that she saw Peregrine Oakshott slain by my +hand, and thrown into the vault." + +There was a moment of breathless amazement in the court, and the +judge was the first to speak. "Very extraordinary, sir! What is +your name?" + +"Charles Archfield," said the clear resolute voice. + +Then came a general movement and sensation, and Anne, still holding +fast to the support, saw the newcomer start forward with a cry, "My +father!" and with two or three bounds reach the side of Sir Philip, +who had sunk back in his seat for a moment, but recovered himself as +he felt his son's arm round him. + +There was a general buzz, and a cry of order, and in the silence +thus produced the judge addressed the witness:-- + +"Is what this gentleman says the truth?" + +And on Anne's reply, "Yes, my Lord," spoken with the clear ring of +anguish, the judge added-- + +"Was the prisoner present?" + +"No, my Lord; he had nothing to do with it." + +"Then, brother Cowper, do you wish to proceed with the case?" + +Mr. Cowper replied in the negative, and the judge then made a brief +summing-up, and the jury, without retiring, returned a verdict of +'Not guilty.' + +In the meantime Anne had been led like one blinded from the witness- +box, and almost dropped into her uncle's arms. "Cheer up, cheer up, +my child," he said. "You have done your part bravely, and after so +upright a confession no one can deal hardly with the young man. God +will surely protect him." + +The acquittal had been followed by a few words from Baron Hatsel, +congratulating the late prisoner on his deliverance through this +gentleman's generous confession. Then there was a moment's +hesitation, ended by the sheriff asking Charles, who stood up by his +old father, one arm supporting the trembling form, and the other +hand clasped in the two aged ones, "Then, sir, do you surrender to +take your trial?" + +"Certainly, sir," said Charles. "I ought to have done so long ago, +but in the first shock--" + +Mr. Harcourt here cautioned him not to say anything that could be +used against him, adding in a low tone, much to Sir Philip's relief, +"It may be brought in manslaughter, sir." + +"He should be committed," another authority said. "Is there a +Hampshire magistrate here to sign a warrant?" + +Of these there were plenty; and as the clerk asked for his +description, all eyes turned on the tall and robust form in the +prime of manhood, with the noble resolute expression on his fine +features and steadfast eyes, except when, as he looked at his +father, they were full of infinite pity. The brown hair hung over +the rich gold-laced white coat, faced with black, and with a broad +gold-coloured sash fringed with black over his shoulder, and there +was a look of distinction about him that made his answer only +natural. "Charles Archfield, of Archfield House, Fareham, +Lieutenant-Colonel of his Imperial Majesty's Light Dragoons, Knight +of the Holy Roman Empire. Must I give up my sword like a prisoner +of war?" he asked, with a smile. + +Sir Philip rose to his feet with an earnest trembling entreaty that +bail might be taken for him, and many voices of gentlemen and men of +substance made offers of it. There was a little consultation, and +it was ruled that bail might be accepted under the circumstances, +and Charles bowed his thanks to the distant and gave his hand to the +nearer, while Mr. Eyre of Botley Grange, and Mr. Brocas of Roche +Court, were accepted as sureties. The gentle old face of Mr. +Cromwell of Hursley, was raised to poor old Sir Philip's with the +words, spoken with a remnant of the authority of the Protector: +"Your son has spoken like a brave man, sir; God bless you, and bring +you well through it." + +Charles was then asked whether he wished for time to collect +witnesses. "No, my lord," he said. "I thank you heartily, but I +have no one to call, and the sooner this is over the better for +all." + +After a little consultation it was found that the Grand Jury had not +been dismissed, and could find a true bill against him; and it was +decided that the trial should take place after the rest of the +criminal cases were disposed of. + +This settled, the sorrowful party with the strangely welcomed son +were free to return to their quarters at the George. Mr. Cromwell +pressed forward to beg that they would make use of his coach. It +was a kind thought, for Sir Philip hung feebly on his son's arm, and +to pass through the curious throng would have been distressing. +After helping him in, Charles turned and demanded-- + +"Where is she, the young gentlewoman, Miss Woodford?" + +She was just within, her uncle waiting to take her out till the +crowd's attention should be called off. Charles lifted her in, and +Sir Edmund and Dr. Woodford followed him, for there was plenty of +room in the capacious vehicle. + +Nobody spoke in the very short interval the four horses took in +getting themselves out of the space in front of the County Hall and +down the hill to the George. Only Charles had leant forward, taken +Anne's hand, drawn it to his lips, and then kept fast hold of it. + +They were all in the room at the inn at last, they hardly knew how; +indeed, as Charles was about to shut the door there was a smack on +his back, and there stood Sedley holding out his hand. + +"So, Charley, old fellow, you were the sad dog after all. You got +me out of it, and I owe you my thanks, but you need not have put +your neck into the noose. I should have come off with flying +colours, and made them all make fools of themselves, if you had only +waited." + +"Do you think I could sit still and see _her_ put to the torture?" +said Charles. + +"Torture? You are thinking of your barbarous countries. No fear of +the boot here, nor even in Scotland nowadays." + +"That's all the torture you understand," muttered Sir Edmund Nutley. + +"Not but what I am much beholden to you all the same," went on +Sedley. "And look here, sir," turning to his uncle, "if you wish to +get him let off cheap you had better send up another special +retainer to Harcourt, without loss of time, as he may be off." + +Sir Edmund Nutley concurred in the advice, and they hurried off +together in search of the family attorney, through whom the great +man had to be approached. + +The four left together could breathe more freely. Indeed Dr. +Woodford would have taken his niece away, but that Charles already +had her in his arms in a most fervent embrace, as he said, "My +brave, my true maid!" + +She could not speak, but she lifted up her eyes, with infinite +relief in all her sorrow, as for a moment she rested against him; +but they had to move apart, for a servant came up with some wine, +and Charles, putting her into a chair, began to wait on her and on +his father. + +"I have not quite forgotten my manners," he said lightly, as if to +relieve the tension of feeling, "though in Germany the ladies serve +the gentlemen." + +It was very hard not to burst into tears at these words, but Anne +knew that would be the way to distress her companions and to have to +leave the room and lose these precious moments. Sir Philip, after +swallowing the wine, succeeded in saying, "Have you been at home?" + +Charles explained that he had landed at Gravesend, and had ridden +thence, sleeping at Basingstoke, and taking the road through +Winchester in case his parents should be wintering there, and on +arriving a couple of hours previously and inquiring for them, he had +heard the tidings that Sir Philip Archfield was indeed there, for +his nephew was being tried for his life for the wilful murder of +Major Oakshott's son seven years ago. + +"And you had none of my warnings? I wrote to all the ports," said +his father, "to warn you to wait till all this was over." + +No; he had crossed from Sluys, and had met no letter. "I suppose," +he said, "that I must not ride home to-morrow. It might make my +sureties uneasy; but I would fain see them all." + +"It would kill your mother to be here," said Sir Philip. "She knows +nothing of what Anne told me on Sedley's arrest. She is grown very +feeble;" and he groaned. "But we might send for your sister, if she +can leave her, and the boy." + +"I should like my boy to be fetched," said Charles. "I should wish +him to remember his father--not as a felon convicted!" Then putting +a knee to the ground before Sir Philip, he said, "Sir, I ask your +blessing and forgiveness. I never before thoroughly understood my +errors towards you, especially in hiding this miserable matter, and +leaving all this to come on you, while my poor Anne there was left +to bear all the load. It was a cowardly and selfish act, and I ask +your pardon." + +The old man sobbed with his hand on his son's head. "My dear boy! +my poor boy! you were distraught." + +"I was then. I did it, as I thought, for my poor Alice's sake at +first, and as it proved, it was all in vain; but at the year's end, +when I was older, it was folly and wrong. I ought to have laid all +before you, and allowed you to judge, and I sincerely repent the not +having so done. And Anne, my sweetest Anne, has borne the burthen +all this time," he added, going back to her. "Let no one say a +woman cannot keep secrets, though I ought never to have laid this on +her." + +"Ah! it might have gone better for you then," sighed Sir Philip. +"No one would have visited a young lad's mischance hardly on a loyal +house in those days. What is to be done, my son?" + +"That we will discuss when the lawyer fellow comes. Is it old Lee? +Meantime let us enjoy our meeting. So that is Lucy's husband. +Sober and staid, eh? And my mother is feeble, you say. Has she +been ill?" + +Charles was comporting himself with the cheerfulness that had become +habitual to him as a soldier, always in possible danger, but it was +very hard to the others to chime in with his tone, and when a +message was brought to ask whether his Honour would be served in +private, the cheery greeting and shake of the hand broke down the +composure of the old servant who brought it, and he cried, "Oh, sir, +to see you thus, and such a fine young gentleman!" + +Charles, the only person who could speak, gave the orders, but they +did not eat alone, for Sir Edmund Nutley and Sedley arrived with the +legal advisers, and it was needful, perhaps even better, to have +their company. The chief of the conversation was upon Hungarian and +Transylvanian politics and the Turkish war. Mr. Harcourt seeming +greatly to appreciate the information that Colonel Archfield was +able to give him, and the anecdotes of the war, and descriptions of +scenes therein actually brightened Sir Philip into interest, and +into forgetting for a moment his son's situation in pride in his +conduct, and at the distinction he had gained. "We must save him," +said Mr. Harcourt to Sir Edmund. "He is far too fine a fellow to be +lost for a youthful mischance." + +The meal was a short one, and a consultation was to follow, while +Sedley departed. Anne was about to withdraw, when Mr. Lee the +attorney said, "We shall need Mistress Woodford's evidence, sir, for +the defence." + +"I do not see what defence there can be," returned Charles. "I can +only plead guilty, and throw myself on the King's mercy, if he +chooses to extend it to one of a Tory family." + +"Not so fast, sir," said Mr. Harcourt; "as far as I have gathered +the facts, there is every reason to hope you may obtain a verdict of +manslaughter, and a nominal penalty, although that rests with the +judge." + +On this the discussion began in earnest. Charles, who had never +heard the circumstances which led to the trial, was greatly +astonished to hear what remains had been discovered. He said that +he could only declare himself to have thrown in the body, full +dressed, just as it was, and how it could have been stripped and +buried he could not imagine. "What made folks think of looking into +the vault?" he asked. + +"It was Mrs. Oakshott," said Lee, "the young man's wife, she who was +to have married the deceased. She took up some strange notion about +stories of phantoms current among the vulgar, and insisted on having +the vault searched, though it had been walled up for many years +past." + +Charles and Anne looked at each other, and the former said, "Again?" + +"Oh yes!" said Anne; "indeed there have been enough to make me +remember what you bade me do, in case they recurred, only it was +impossible." + +"Phantoms!" said Mr. Harcourt; "what does this mean?" + +"Mere vulgar superstitions, sir," said the attorney. + +"But very visible," said Charles; "I have seen one myself, of which +I am quite sure, besides many that may be laid to the account of the +fever of my wound." + +"I must beg to hear," said the barrister. "Do I understand that +these were apparitions of the deceased?" + +"Yes," said Charles. "Miss Woodford saw the first, I think." + +"May I beg you to describe it?" said Mr. Harcourt, taking a fresh +piece of paper to make notes on. + +Anne narrated the two appearances in London, and Charles added the +story of the figure seen in the street at Douai, seen by both +together, asking what more she knew of. + +"Once at night last summer, at the very anniversary, I saw his face +in the trees in the garden," said Anne; "it was gone in a moment. +That has been all I have seen; but little Philip came to me full of +stories of people having seen Penny Grim, as he calls it, and very +strangely, once it rose before him at the great pond, and his fright +saved him from sliding to the dangerous part. What led Mrs. +Oakshott to the examination was that it was seen once on the beach, +once by the sentry at the vault itself, once by the sexton at Havant +Churchyard, and once by my mother's grave." + +"Seven?" said the counsel, reviewing the notes he jotted down. +"Colonel Archfield, I should recommend you pleading not guilty, and +basing your defence, like your cousin, on the strong probability +that this same youth is a living man." + +"Indeed!" said Charles, starting, "I could have hoped it from these +recent apparitions, but what I myself saw forbids the idea. If any +sight were ever that of a spirit, it was what we saw at Douai; +besides, how should he come thither, a born and bred Whig and +Puritan?" + +"There is no need to mention that; you can call witnesses to his +having been seen within these few months. It would rest with the +prosecution to disprove his existence in the body, especially as the +bones in the vault cannot be identified." + +"Sir," said Charles, "the defence that would have served my innocent +cousin cannot serve me, who know what I did to Oakshott. I am _now_ +aware that it is quite possible that the sword might not have killed +him, but when I threw him into that vault I sealed his fate." + +"How deep is the vault?" + +Mr. Lee and Dr. Woodford both averred that it was not above twenty +or twenty-four feet deep, greatly to Charles's surprise, for as a +lad he had thought it almost unfathomable; but then he owned his +ideas of Winchester High Street had been likewise far more +magnificent than he found it. The fall need not necessarily have +been fatal, especially to one insensible and opposing no resistance, +but even supposing that death had not resulted, in those Draconian +days, the intent to murder was equally subject with its full +accomplishment to capital punishment. Still, as Colonel Archfield +could plead with all his heart that he had left home with no evil +intentions towards young Oakshott, the lawyers agreed that to prove +that the death of the victim was uncertain would reduce the matter +to a mere youthful brawl, which could not be heavily visited. Mr. +Harcourt further asked whether it were possible to prove that the +prisoner had been otherwise employed than in meddling with the body; +but unfortunately it had been six hours before he came home. + +"I was distracted," said Charles; "I rode I knew not whither, till I +came to my senses on finding that my horse was ready to drop, when I +led him into a shed at a wayside public-house, bade them feed him, +took a drink, then I wandered out into the copse near, and lay on +the ground there till I thought him rested, for how long I know not. +I think it must have been near Bishops Waltham, but I cannot +recollect." + +Mr. Lee decided on setting forth at peep of dawn the next morning to +endeavour to collect witnesses of Peregrine's appearances. Sir +Edmund Nutley intended to accompany him as far as Fareham to fetch +little Philip and Lady Nutley, if the latter could leave her mother +after the tidings had been broken to them, and also to try to trace +whether Charles's arrival at any public-house were remembered. + +To her dismay, Anne received another summons from the other party to +act as witness. + +"I hoped to have spared you this, my sweet," said Charles, "but +never mind; you cannot say anything worse of me than I shall own of +myself." + +The two were left to each other for a little while in the bay +window. "Oh, sir! can you endure me thus after all?" murmured Anne, +as she felt his arm round her. + +"Can you endure me after all I left you to bear?" he returned. + +"It was not like what I brought on you," she said. + +But they could not talk much of the future; and Charles told how he +had rested through all his campaigns in the knowledge that his Anne +was watching and praying for him, and how his long illness had +brought before him deeper thoughts than he had ever had before, and +made him especially dwell on the wrong done to his parents by his +long absence, and the lightness with which he had treated home +duties and responsibilities, till he had resolved that if his life +were then spared, he would neglect them no longer. + +"And now," he said, and paused, "all I shall have done is to break +their hearts. What is that saying, 'Be sure your sin will find you +out.'" + +"Oh, sir! they are sure not to deal hardly with you." + +"Perhaps the Emperor's Ambassador may claim me. If so, would you go +into banishment with the felon, Anne, love? It would not be quite +so mad as when I asked you before." + +"I would go to the ends of the world with you; and we would take +little Phil. Do you know, he is growing a salad, and learning +Latin, all for papa?" + +And so she told him of little Phil till his father was seen looking +wistfully at him. + +With Sir Philip, Charles was all cheerfulness and hope, taking such +interest in all there was to hear about the family, estate, and +neighbourhood that the old gentleman was beguiled into feeling as if +there were only a short ceremony to be gone through before he had +his son at home, saving him ease and trouble. + +But after Sir Philip had been persuaded to retire, worn out with the +day's agitations, and Anne likewise had gone to her chamber to weep +and pray, Charles made his arrangements with Mr. Lee for the future +for all connected with him in case of the worst; and after the +lawyer's departure poured out his heart to Dr. Woodford in deep +contrition, as he said he had longed to do when lying in expectation +of death at the Iron Gates. "However it may end," he said, "and I +expect, as I deserve, the utmost, I am thankful for this +opportunity, though unhappily it gives more pain to those about me +than if I had died out there. Tell them, when they need comfort, +how much better it is for me." + +"My dear boy, I cannot believe you will have to suffer." + +"There is much against me, sir. My foolish flight, the state of +parties, and the recent conspiracy, which has made loyal families +suspected and odious. I saw something of that as I came down. The +crowd fancied my uniform French, and hooted and hissed me. +Unluckily I have no other clothes to wear. Nor can I from my heart +utterly disclaim all malice or ill will when I remember the thrill +of pleasure in driving my sword home. I have had to put an end to a +Janissary or two more than once in the way of duty, but their black +eyes never haunted me like those parti-coloured ones. Still I +trust, as you tell me I may, that God forgives me, for our Blessed +Lord's sake; but I should like, if I could, to take the Holy +Sacrament with my love while I am still thus far a free man. I have +not done so since the Easter before these troubles." + +"You shall, my dear boy, you shall." + +There were churches at which the custom freshly begun at the +Restoration was not dropped. The next was St. Matthias's Day, and +Anne and her uncle had already purposed to go to the quiet little +church of St. Lawrence, at no great distance, in the very early +morning. They were joined on their way down the stair into the +courtyard of the inn by a gentleman in a slouched hat and large dark +cloak, who drew Anne's arm within his own. + +Truly there was peace on that morning, and strength to the brave man +beyond the physical courage that had often before made him bright in +the face of danger, and Anne, though weeping, had a sense of respite +and repose, if not of hope. + +Late in the afternoon, little Philip was lifted down from riding +before old Ralph into the arms of the splendid officer, whose +appearance transcended all his visions. He fumbled in his small +pocket, and held out a handful of something green and limp. + +"Here's my salad, papa. I brought it all the way for you to eat." + +And Colonel Archfield ate every scrap of it for supper, though it +was much fitter for a rabbit, and all the evening he held on his +knee the tired child, and responded to his prattle about Nana and +dogs and rabbits; nay, ministered to his delight and admiration of +the sheriff's coach, javelin men, and even the judge, with a strange +mixture of wonder, delight, and with melancholy only in eyes and +undertones. + + + +CHAPTER XXX: SENTENCE + + +"I have hope to live, and am prepared to die." + +Measure for Measure. + +Ralph was bidden to be ready to take his young master home early the +next morning. At eight o'clock the boy, who had slept with his +father, came down the stair, clinging to his father's hand, and Miss +Woodford coming closely with him. + +"Yes," said Charles, as he held the little fair fellow in his arms, +ere seating him on the horse, "he knows all, Ralph. He knows that +his father did an evil thing, and that what we do in our youth finds +us out later, and must be paid for. He has promised me to be a +comfort to the old people, and to look on this lady as a mother. +Nay, no more, Ralph; 'tis not good-bye to any of you yet. There, +Phil, don't lug my head off, nor catch my hair in your buttons. +Give my dutiful love to your grandmamma and to Aunt Nutley, and be a +good boy to them." + +"And when I come to see you again I'll bring another salad," quoth +Philip, as he rode out of the court; and his father, by way of +excusing a contortion of features, smoothed the entangled lock of +hair, and muttered something about, "This comes of not wearing a +periwig." Then he said-- + +"And to think that I have wasted the company of such a boy as that, +all his life except for this mere glimpse!" + +"Oh! you will come back to him," was all that could be said. + +For it was time for Charles Archfield to surrender himself to take +his trial. + +He had been instructed over and over again as to the line of his +defence, and cautioned against candour for himself and delicacy +towards others, till he had more than once to declare that he had no +intention of throwing his life away; but the lawyers agreed in +heartily deploring the rules that thus deprived the accused of the +assistance of an advocate in examining witnesses and defending +himself. All depended, as they knew and told Sir Edmund Nutley, on +the judge and jury. Now Mr. Baron Hatsel had shown himself a well- +meaning but weak and vacillating judge, whose summing up was apt +rather to confuse than to elucidate the evidence; and as to the +jury, Mr. Lee scanned their stolid countenances somewhat ruefully +when they were marshalled before the prisoner, to be challenged if +desirable. A few words passed, into which the judge inquired. + +"I am reminded, my Lord," said Colonel Archfield, bowing, "that I +once incurred Mr. Holt's displeasure as a mischievous boy by +throwing a stone which injured one of his poultry; but I cannot +believe such a trifle would bias an honest man in a question of life +and death." + +Nevertheless the judge put aside Mr. Holt. + +"I like his spirit," whispered Mr. Harcourt. + +"But," returned Lee, "I doubt if he has done himself any good with +those fellows by calling it a trifle to kill an old hen. I should +like him to have challenged two or three more moody old Whiggish +rascals; but he has been too long away from home to know how the +land lies." + +"Too generous and high-spirited for this work," sighed Sir Edmund, +who sat with them. + +The indictment was read, the first count being "That of malice +aforethought, by the temptation of the Devil, Charles Archfield did +wilfully kill and slay Peregrine Oakshott," etc. The second +indictment was that "By misadventure he had killed and slain the +said Peregrine Oakshott." To the first he pleaded 'Not guilty;' to +the second 'Guilty.' + +Tall, well-made, manly, and soldierly he stood, with a quiet set +face, while Mr. Cowper proceeded to open the prosecution, with a +certain compliment to the prisoner and regret at having to push the +case against one who had so generously come forward on behalf of a +kinsman; but he must unwillingly state the circumstances that made +it doubtful, nay, more than doubtful, whether the prisoner's plea of +mere misadventure could stand. The dislike to the unfortunate +deceased existing among the young Tory country gentlemen of the +county was, he should prove, intensified in the prisoner on account +of not inexcusable jealousies, as well as of the youthful squabbles +which sometimes lead to fatal results. On the evening of the 30th +of June 1688 there had been angry words between the prisoner and the +deceased on Portsdown Hill, respecting the prisoner's late lady. At +four or five o'clock on the ensuing morning, the 1st of July, the +one fell by the sword of the other in the then unfrequented court of +Portchester Castle. It was alleged that the stroke was fatal only +through the violence of youthful impetuosity; but was it consistent +with that supposition that the young gentleman's time was +unaccounted for afterwards, and that the body should have been +disposed of in a manner that clearly proved the assistance of an +accomplice, and with so much skill that no suspicion had arisen for +seven years and a half, whilst the actual slayer was serving, not +his own country, but a foreign prince, and had only returned at a +most suspicious crisis? + +The counsel then proceeded to construct a plausible theory. He +reminded the jury that at that very time, the summer of 1688, +messages and invitations were being despatched to his present +Gracious Majesty to redress the wrongs of the Protestant Church, and +protect the liberties of the English people. The father of the +deceased was a member of a family of the country party, his uncle a +distinguished diplomatist, to whose suite he had belonged. What was +more obvious than that he should be employed in the correspondence, +and that his movements should be dogged by parties connected with +the Stewart family? Already there was too much experience of how +far even the most estimable and conscientious might be blinded by +the sentiment that they dignified by the title of loyalty. The +deceased had already been engaged in a struggle with one of the +Archfield family, who had been acquitted of his actual slaughter; +but considering the strangeness of the hour at which the two cousins +were avowedly at or near Portchester, the condition of the clothes, +stripped of papers, but not of valuables, and the connection of the +principal witness with the pretended Prince of Wales, he could not +help thinking that though personal animosity might have added an +edge to the weapon, yet that there were deeper reasons, to prompt +the assault and the concealment, than had yet been brought to light. + +"He will make nothing of that," whispered Mr. Lee. "Poor Master +Peregrine was no more a Whig than old Sir Philip there." + +"'Twill prejudice the jury," whispered back Mr. Harcourt, "and +discredit the lady's testimony." + +Mr. Cowper concluded by observing that half truths had come to light +in the former trial, but whole truths would give a different aspect +to the affair, and show the unfortunate deceased to have given +offence, not only as a man of gallantry, but as a patriot, and to +have fallen a victim to the younger bravoes of the so-called Tory +party. To his (the counsel's) mind, it was plain that the prisoner, +who had hoped that his crime was undiscovered and forgotten, had +returned to take his share in the rising against Government so +happily frustrated. He was certain that the traitor Charnock had +been received at his father's house, and that Mr. Sedley Archfield +had used seditious language on several occasions, so that the cause +of the prisoner's return at this juncture was manifest, and only to +the working of Providence could it be ascribed that the evidence of +the aggravated murder should have at that very period been brought +to light. + +There was an evident sensation, and glances were cast at the +upright, military figure, standing like a sentinel, as if the +audience expected him to murder them all. + +As before, the examination began with Robert Oakshott's +identification of the clothes and sword, but Mr. Cowper avoided the +subject of the skeleton, and went on to inquire about the terms on +which the two young men had lived. + +"Well," said Robert, "they quarrelled, but in a neighbourly sort of +way." + +"What do you call a neighbourly way?" + +"My poor brother used to be baited for being so queer. But then we +were as bad to him as the rest," said Robert candidly. + +"That is, when you were boys?" + +"Yes." + +"And after his return from his travels?" + +"It was the same then. He was too fine a gentleman for any one's +taste." + +"You speak generally. Was there any especial animosity?" + +"My brother bought a horse that Archfield was after." + +"Was there any dispute over it?" + +"Not that I know of." + +"Can you give an instance of displeasure manifested by the prisoner +at the deceased?" + +"I have seen him look black when my brother held a gate open for his +wife." + +"Then there were gallant attentions towards Mrs. Archfield?" + +Charles's face flushed, and he made a step forward, but Robert +gruffly answered: "No more than civility; but he had got +Frenchified manners, and liked to tease Archfield." + +"Did they ever come to high words before you?" + +"No. They knew better." + +"Thank you, Mr. Oakshott," said the prisoner, as it was intimated +that Mr. Cowper had finished. "You bear witness that only the most +innocent civility ever passed between your brother and my poor young +wife?" + +"Certainly," responded Robert. + +"Nothing that could cause serious resentment, if it excited passing +annoyance." + +"Nothing." + +"What were your brother's political opinions?" + +"Well"--with some slow consideration--"he admired the Queen as was, +and could not abide the Prince of Orange. My father was always _at +him_ for it." + +"Would you think him likely to be an emissary to Holland?" + +"No one less likely." + +But Mr. Cowper started up. "Sir, I believe you are the younger +brother?" + +"Yes." + +"How old were you at the time?" + +"Nigh upon nineteen." + +"Oh!" as if that accounted for his ignorance. + +The prisoner continued, and asked whether search was made when the +deceased was missed. + +"Hardly any." + +"Why not?" + +"He was never content at home, and we believed he had gone to my +uncle in Muscovy." + +"What led you to examine the vault?" + +"My wife was disquieted by stories of my brother's ghost being +seen." + +"Did you ever see this ghost?" + +"No, never." + +That was all that was made of Robert Oakshott, and then again came +Anne Woodford's turn, and Mr. Cowper was more satirical and less +considerate than the day before. Still it was a less dreadful +ordeal than previously, though she had to tell the worst, for she +knew her ground better, and then there was throughout wonderful +support in Charles's eyes, which told her, whenever she glanced +towards him, that she was doing right and as he wished. As she had +not heard the speech for the prosecution it was a shock, after +identifying herself a niece to a 'non-swearing' clergyman, to be +asked about the night of the bonfire, and to be forced to tell that +Mrs. Archfield had insisted on getting out of the carriage and +walking about with Mr. Oakshott. + +"Was the prisoner present?" + +"He came up after a time." + +"Did he show any displeasure?" + +"He thought it bad for her health." + +"Did any words pass between him and the deceased?" + +"Not that I remember." + +"And now, madam, will you be good enough to recur to the following +morning, and continue the testimony in which you were interrupted +the day before yesterday? What was the hour?" + +"The church clock struck five just after." + +"May I ask what took a young gentlewoman out at such an untimely +hour? Did you expect to meet any one?" + +"No indeed, sir," said Anne hotly. "I had been asked to gather some +herbs to carry to a friend." + +"Ah! And why at that time in the morning?" + +"Because I was to leave home at seven, when the tide served." + +"Where were you going?" + +"To London, sir." + +"And for what reason?" + +"I had been appointed to be a rocker in the Royal nursery." + +"I see. And your impending departure may explain certain strange +coincidences. May I ask what was this same herb?" in a mocking +tone. + +"Mouse-ear, sir," said Anne, who would fain have called it by some +less absurd title, but knew no other. "A specific for the whooping- +cough." + +"Oh! Not 'Love in a mist.' Are your sure?" + +"My lord," here Simon Harcourt ventured, "may I ask, is this +regular?" + +The judge intimated that his learned brother had better keep to the +point, and Mr. Cowper, thus called to order, desired the witness to +continue, and demanded whether she was interrupted in her quest. + +"I saw Mr. Peregrine Oakshott enter the castle court, and I hurried +into the tower, hoping he had not seen me." + +"You said before he had protected you. Why did you run from him?" + +She had foreseen this, and quietly answered, "He had made me an +offer of marriage which I had refused, and I did not wish to meet +him." + +"Did you see any one else?" + +"Not till I had reached the door opening on the battlements. Then I +heard a clash, and saw Mr. Archfield and Mr. Oakshott fighting." + +"Mr. Archfield! The prisoner? Did he come to gather mouse-ear +too?" + +"No. His wife had sent him over with a pattern of sarcenet for me +to match in London." + +"Early rising and prompt obedience." And there ensued the inquiries +that brought out the history of what she had seen of the encounter, +of the throwing the body into the vault, full dressed, and of her +promise of silence and its reason. Mr. Cowper did not molest her +further except to make her say that she had been five months at the +Court, and had accompanied the late Queen to France. + +Then came the power of cross-examination on the part of the +prisoner. He made no attempt to modify what had been said before, +but asked in a gentle apologetic voice: "Was that the last time you +ever saw, or thought you saw, Peregrine Oakshott?" + +"No." And here every one in court started and looked curious. + +"When?" + +"The 31st of October 1688, in the evening." + +"Where?" + +"Looking from the window in the palace at Whitehall, I saw him, or +his likeness, walking along in the light of the lantern over the +great door." + +The appearance at Lambeth was then described, and that in the garden +at Archfield House. This strange cross-examination was soon over, +for Charles could not endure to subject her to the ordeal, while she +equally longed to be able to say something that might not damage +him, and dreaded every word she spoke. Moreover, Mr. Cowper looked +exceedingly contemptuous, and made the mention of Whitehall and +Lambeth a handle for impressing on the jury that the witness had +been deep in the counsels of the late royal family, and that she was +escorted from St. Germain by the prisoner just before he entered on +foreign service. + +One of the servants at Fareham was called upon to testify to the +hour of his young master's return on the fatal day. It was long +past dinner-time, he said. It must have been about three o'clock. + +Charles put in an inquiry as to the condition of his horse. "Hard +ridden, sir, as I never knew your Honour bring home Black Bess in +such a pickle before." + +After a couple of young men had been called who could speak to some +outbreaks of dislike to poor Peregrine, in which all had shared, the +case for the prosecution was completed. Cowper, in a speech that +would be irregular now, but was permissible then, pointed out that +the jealousy, dislike, and Jacobite proclivities of the Archfield +family had been fully made out, that the coincidence of visits to +the castle at that untimely hour had been insufficiently explained, +that the condition of the remains in the vault was quite +inconsistent with the evidence of the witness, Mistress Woodford, +unless there were persons waiting below unknown to her, and that the +prisoner had been absent from Fareham from four or five o'clock in +the morning till nearly three in the afternoon. As to the strange +story she had further told, he (Mr. Cowper) was neither +superstitious nor philosophic, but the jury would decide whether +conscience and the sense of an awful secret were not sufficient to +conjure up such phantoms, if they were not indeed spiritual, +occurring as they did in the very places and at the very times when +the spirit of the unhappy young man, thus summarily dismissed from +the world, his corpse left in an unblessed den, would be most likely +to reappear, haunting those who felt themselves to be most +accountable for his lamentable and untimely end. + +The words evidently told, and it was at a disadvantage that the +prisoner rose to speak in his own defence and to call his witnesses. + +"My lord," he said, "and gentlemen of the jury, let me first say +that I am deeply grieved and hurt that the name of my poor young +wife has been brought into this matter. In justice to her who is +gone, I must begin by saying that though she was flattered and +gratified by the polite manners that I was too clownish and awkward +to emulate, and though I may have sometimes manifested ill-humour, +yet I never for a moment took serious offence nor felt bound to +defend her honour or my own. If I showed displeasure it was because +she was fatiguing herself against warning. I can say with perfect +truth, that when I left home on that unhappy morning, I bore no +serious ill-will to any living creature. I had no political +purpose, and never dreamt of taking the life of any one. I was a +heedless youth of nineteen. I shall be able to prove the commission +of my wife's on which this learned gentleman has thought fit to cast +a doubt. For the rest, Mistress Anne Woodford was my sister's +friend and playfellow from early childhood. When I entered the +castle court I saw her hurrying into the keep, pursued by Oakshott, +whom I knew her to dread and dislike. I naturally stepped between. +Angry words passed. He challenged my right to interfere, and in a +passion drew upon me. Though I was the taller and stronger, I knew +him to be proud of his skill in fencing, and perhaps I may therefore +have pressed him the harder, and the dislike I acknowledge made me +drive home my sword. But I was free from all murderous intention up +to that moment. In my inexperience I had no doubt but that he was +dead, and in a terror and confusion which I regret heartily, I threw +him into the vault, and for the sake of my wife and mother bound +Miss Woodford to secrecy. I mounted my horse, and scarcely knowing +what I did, rode till I found it ready to drop. I asked for rest +for it in the first wayside public-house I came to. I lay down +meanwhile among some bushes adjoining, and there waited till my +horse could take me home again. I believe it was at the White +Horse, near Bishops Waltham, but the place has changed hands since +that time, so that I can only prove my words, as you have heard, by +the state of my horse when I came home. For the condition of the +remains in the vault I cannot account; I never touched the poor +fellow after throwing him there. My wife died a few hours after my +return home, where I remained for a week, nor did I suggest flight, +though I gladly availed myself of my father's suggestion of sending +me abroad with a tutor. Let me add, to remove misconception, that I +visited Paris because my tutor, the Reverend George Fellowes, one of +the Fellows of Magdalen College expelled by the late King, and now +Rector of Portchester, had been asked to provide for Miss Woodford's +return to her home, and he is here to testify that I never had any +concern with politics. I did indeed accompany him to St. Germain, +but merely to find the young gentlewoman, and in the absence of the +late King and Queen, nor did I hold intercourse with any other +person connected with their Court. After escorting her to Ostend, I +went to Hungary to serve in the army of our ally, the Emperor, +against the Turks, the enemies of all Christians. After a severe +wound, I have come home, knowing nothing of conspiracies, and I was +taken by surprise on arriving here at Winchester at finding that my +cousin was on his trial for the unfortunate deed into which I was +betrayed by haste and passion, but entirely without premeditation or +intent to do more than to defend the young lady. So that I plead +that my crime does not amount to murder from malicious intent; and +likewise, that those who charge me with the actual death of +Peregrine Oakshott should prove him to be dead." + +Charles's first witness was Mrs. Lang, his late wife's 'own woman,' +who spared him many questions by garrulously declaring 'what a work' +poor little Madam had made about the rose-coloured sarcenet, causing +the pattern to be searched out as soon as she came home from the +bonfire, and how she had 'gone on at' her husband till he promised +to give it to Mistress Anne, and how he had been astir at four +o'clock in the morning, and had called to her (Mrs. Lang) to look to +her mistress, who might perhaps get some sleep now that she had her +will and hounded him out to go over to Portchester about that silk. + +Nothing was asked of this witness by the prosecution except the time +of Mr. Archfield's return. The question of jealousy was passed +over. + +Of the pond apparition nothing was said. Anne had told Charles of +it, but no one could have proved its identity but Sedley, and his +share in it was too painful to be brought forward. Three other +ghost seers were brought forward: Mrs. Fellowes's maid, the sentry, +and the sexton; but only the sexton had ever seen Master Perry +alive, and he would not swear to more than that it was something in +his likeness; the sentry was already bound to declare it something +unsubstantial; and the maid was easily persuaded into declaring that +she did not know what she had seen or whether she had seen anything. + +There only remained Mr. Fellowes to bear witness of his pupil's +entire innocence of political intrigues, together with a voluntary +testimony addressed to the court, that the youth had always appeared +to him a well-disposed but hitherto boyish lad, suddenly sobered and +rendered thoughtful by a shock that had changed the tenor of his +mind. + +Mr. Baron Hatsel summed up in his dreary vacillating way. He told +the gentlemen of the jury that young men would be young men, +especially where pretty wenches were concerned, and that all knew +that there was bitterness where Whig and Tory were living nigh +together. Then he went over the evidence, at first in a tone +favourable to the encounter having been almost accidental, and the +stroke an act of passion. But he then added, it was strange, and he +did not know what to think of these young sparks and the young +gentlewoman all meeting in a lonely place when honest folks were +abed, and the hiding in the vault, and the state of the clothes were +strange matters scarce agreeing with what either prisoner or witness +said. It looked only too like part of a plot of which some one +should make a clean breast. On the other hand, the prisoner was a +fine young gentleman, an only son, and had been fighting the Turks, +though it would have been better to have fought the French among his +own countrymen. He had come ingenuously forward to deliver his +cousin, and a deliberate murderer was not wont to be so generous, +though may be he expected to get off easily on this same plea of +misadventure. If it was misadventure, why did he not try to do +something for the deceased, or wait to see whether he breathed +before throwing him into this same pit? though, to be sure, a lad +might be inexperienced. For the rest, as to these same sights of +the deceased or his likeness, he (the judge) was no believer in +ghosts, though he would not say there were no such things, and the +gentlemen of the jury must decide whether it was more likely the +poor youth was playing pranks in the body, or whether he were +haunting in the spirit those who had most to do with his untimely +end. This was the purport, or rather the no-purport, of the charge. + +The jury were absent for a very short time, and as it leaked out +afterwards, their intelligence did not rise above the idea that the +young gentleman was thick with they Frenchies who wanted to bring in +murder and popery, warming-pans and wooden shoes. He called stoning +poultry a trifle, so of what was he not capable? Of course he +spited the poor young chap, and how could the fact be denied when +the poor ghost had come back to ask for his blood? + +So the awful suspense ended with 'Guilty, my Lord.' + +"Of murder or manslaughter?" + +"Of murder." + +The prisoner stood as no doubt he had faced Turkish batteries. + +The judge asked the customary question whether he had any reason to +plead why he should not be condemned to death. + +"No, my lord. I am guilty of shedding Peregrine Oakshott's blood, +and though I declare before God and man that I had no such purpose, +and it was done in the heat of an undesigned struggle, I hated him +enough to render the sentence no unjust one. I trust that God will +pardon me, if man does not." + +The gentlemen around drew the poor old father out of the court so as +not to hear the final sentence, and Anne, half stunned, was taken +away by her uncle, and put into the same carriage with him. The old +man held her hands closely and could not speak, but she found voice, +"Sir, sir, do not give up hope. God will save him. I know what I +can do. I will go to Princess Anne. She is friendly with the King +now. She will bring me to tell him all." + +Hurriedly she spoke, her object, as it seemed to be that of every +one, to keep up such hope and encouragement as to drown the terrible +sense of the actual upshot of the trial. The room at the George was +full in a moment of friends declaring that all would go well in the +end, and consulting what to do. Neither Sir Philip nor Dr. Woodford +could be available, as their refusal to take the oaths to King +William made them marked men. The former could only write to the +Imperial Ambassador, beseeching him to claim the prisoner as an +officer of the Empire, though it was doubtful whether this would be +allowed in the case of an Englishman born. Mr. Fellowes undertook +to be the bearer of the letter, and to do his best through +Archbishop Tenison to let the King know the true bearings of the +case. Almost in pity, to spare Anne the misery of helpless waiting, +Dr. Woodford consented to let her go under his escort, starting very +early the next morning, since the King might immediately set off for +the army in Holland, and the space was brief between condemnation +and execution. + +Sir Edmund proposed to hurry to Carisbrooke Castle, being happily on +good terms with that fiery personage, Lord Cutts, the governor of +the Isle of Wight as well as a favoured general of the King, whose +intercession might do more than Princess Anne's. Moreover, a +message came from old Mr. Cromwell, begging to see Sir Edmund. It +was on behalf of Major Oakshott, who entreated that Sir Philip might +be assured of his own great regret at the prosecution and the +result, and his entire belief that the provocation came from his +unhappy son. Both he and Richard Cromwell were having a petition +for pardon drawn up, which Sir Henry Mildmay and almost all the +leading gentlemen of Hampshire of both parties were sure to sign, +while the sheriff would defer the execution as long as possible. +Pardons, especially in cases of duelling, had been marketable +articles in the last reigns, and there could not but be a sigh for +such conveniences. Sir Philip wanted to go at once to the jail, +which was very near the inn, but consented on strong persuasion to +let his son-in-law precede him. + +Anne longed for a few moments to herself, but durst not leave the +poor old man, who sat holding her hand, and at each interval of +silence saying how this would kill the boy's mother, or something +equally desponding, so that she had to talk almost at random of the +various gleams of hope, and even to describe how the little Duke of +Gloucester might be told of Philip and sent to the King, who was +known to be very fond of him. It was a great comfort when Dr. +Woodford came and offered to pray with them. + +By and by Sir Edmund returned, having been making arrangements for +Charles's comfort. Ordinary prisoners were heaped together and +miserably treated, but money could do something, and by application +to the High Sheriff, permission had been secured for Charles to +occupy a private room, on a heavy fee to the jailor, and for his +friends to have access to him, besides other necessaries, purchased +at more than their weight in gold. Sir Edmund brought word that +Charles was in good heart; sent love and duty to his father, whom he +would welcome with all his soul, but that as Miss Woodford was--in +her love and bravery--going so soon to London, he prayed that she +might be his first visitor that evening. + +There was little more to do than to cross the street, and Sir Edmund +hurried her through the flagged and dirty yard, and the dim, foul +hall, filled with fumes of smoke and beer, where melancholy debtors +held out their hands, idle scapegraces laughed, heavy degraded faces +scowled, and evil sounds were heard, up the stairs to a nail-studded +door, where Anne shuddered to hear the heavy key turned by the +coarse, rude-looking warder, only withheld from insolence by the +presence of a magistrate. Her escort tarried outside, and she saw +Charles, his rush-light candle gleaming on his gold lace as he wrote +a letter to the ambassador to be forwarded by his father. + +He sprang up with outstretched arms and an eager smile. "My brave +sweetheart! how nobly you have done. Truth and trust. It did my +heart good to hear you." + +Her head was on his shoulder. She wanted to speak, but could not +without loosing the flood of tears. + +"Faith entire," he went on; "and you are still striving for me." + +"Princess Anne is--" she began, then the choking came. + +"True!" he said. "Come, do not expect the worst. I have not made +up my mind to that! If the ambassador will stir, the King will not +be disobliging, though it will probably not be a free pardon, but +Hungary for some years to come--and you are coming with me." + +"If you will have one who might be--may have been--your death. Oh, +every word I said seemed to me stabbing you;" and the tears would +come now. + +"No such thing! They only showed how true my love is to God and me, +and made my heart swell with pride to hear her so cheering me +through all." + +His strength seemed to allow her to break down. She had all along +had to bear up the spirits of Sir Philip and Lady Archfield, and +though she had struggled for composure, the finding that she had in +him a comforter and support set the pent-up tears flowing fast, as +he held her close. + +"Oh, I did not mean to vex you thus!" she said. + +"Vex! no indeed! 'Tis something to be wept for. But cheer up, Anne +mine. I have often been in far worse plights than this, when I have +ridden up in the face of eight big Turkish guns. The balls went +over my head then, by God's good mercy. Why not the same now? Ay! +and I was ready to give all I had to any one who would have put a +pistol to my head and got me out of my misery, jolting along on the +way to the Iron Gates. Yet here I am! Maybe the Almighty brought +me back to save poor Sedley, and clear my own conscience, knowing +well that though it does not look so, it is better for me to die +thus than the other way. No, no; 'tis ten to one that you and the +rest of you will get me off. I only meant to show you that +supposing it fails, I shall only feel it my due, and much better for +me than if I had died out there with it unconfessed. I shall try to +get them all to feel it so, and, after all, now the whole is out, my +heart feels lighter than it has done these seven years. And if I +could only believe that poor fellow alive, I could almost die +content, though that sounds strange. It will quiet his poor +restless spirit any way." + +"You are too brave. Oh! I hoped to come here to comfort you, and I +have only made you comfort me." + +"The best way, sweetest. Now, I will seal and address this letter, +and you shall take it to Mr. Fellowes to carry to the ambassador." + +This gave Anne a little time to compose herself, and when he had +finished, he took the candle, and saying, "Look here," he held it to +the wall, and they read, scratched on the rough bricks, "Alice +Lisle, 1685. This is thankworthy." + +"Lady Lisle's cell! Oh, this is no good omen!" + +"I call it a goodly legacy even to one who cannot claim to suffer +wrongfully," said Charles. "There, they knock--one kiss more--we +shall meet again soon. Don't linger in town, but give me all the +days you can. Yes, take her back, Sir Edmund, for she must rest +before her journey. Cheer up, love, and do not lie weeping all +night, but believe that your prayers to God and man must prevail one +way or another." + + + +CHAPTER XXXI: ELF-LAND + + +"Three ruffians seized me yestermorn, + Alas! a maiden most forlorn; +They choked my cries with wicked might, + And bound me on a palfrey white." + +S. T. COLERIDGE. + +Yet after the night it was with more hope than despondency, Anne, in +the February morning, mounted en croupe behind Mr. Fellowes's +servant, that being decided on as the quickest mode of travelling. +She saw the sunrise behind St. Catherine's Hill, and the gray mists +filling the valley of the Itchen, and the towers of the Cathedral +and College barely peeping beyond them. Would her life rise out of +the mist? + +Through hoar-frosted hedges, deeply crested with white, they rode, +emerging by and by on downs, becoming dully green above, as the sun +touched them, but white below. Suddenly, in passing a hollow, +overhung by two or three yew-trees, they found themselves surrounded +by masked horsemen. The servant on her horse was felled, she +herself snatched off and a kerchief covered her face, while she was +crying, "Oh sir, let me go! I am on business of life and death." + +The covering was stuffed into her mouth, and she was borne along +some little way; then there was a pause, and she freed herself +enough to say, "You shall have everything; only let me go;" and she +felt for the money with which Sir Philip had supplied her, and for +the watch given her by King James. + +"We want you; nothing of yours," said a voice. "Don't be afraid. +No one will hurt you; but we must have you along with us." + +Therewith she was pinioned by two large hands, and a bandage was +made fast over her eyes, and when she shrieked out, "Mr. Fellowes! +Oh! where are you?" she was answered-- + +"No harm has been done to the parson. He will be free as soon as +any one comes by. 'Tis you we want. Now, I give you fair notice, +for we don't want to choke you; there's no one to hear a squall. If +there were, we should gag you, so you had best be quiet, and you +shall suffer no hurt. Now then, by your leave, madam." + +She was lifted on horseback again, and a belt passed round her and +the rider in front of her. Again she strove, in her natural voice, +to plead that to stop her would imperil a man's life, and to implore +for release. "We know all that," she was told. It was not rudely +said. The voice was not that of a clown; it was a gentleman's +pronunciation, and this was in some ways more inexplicable and +alarming. The horses were put in rapid motion; she heard the +trampling of many hoofs, and felt that they were on soft turf, and +she knew that for many miles round Winchester it was possible to +keep on the downs so as to avoid any inhabited place. She tried to +guess, from the sense of sunshine that came through her bandage, in +what direction she was being carried, and fancied it must be +southerly. On--on--on--still the turf. It seemed absolutely +endless. Time was not measurable under such circumstances, but she +fancied noon must have more than passed, when the voice that had +before spoken said, "We halt in a moment, and shift you to another +horse, madam; but again I forewarn you that our comrades here have +no ears for you, and that cries and struggles will only make it the +worse for you." Then came the sound as of harder ground and a stop-- +undertones, gruff and manly, could be heard, the peculiar noise of +horses' drinking; and her captor came up this time on foot, saying, +"Plaguy little to be had in this accursed hole; 'tis but the choice +between stale beer and milk. Which will you prefer?" + +She could not help accepting the milk, and she was taken down to +drink it, and a hunch of coarse barley bread was given to her, with +it the words, "I would offer you bacon, but it tastes as if Old Nick +had smoked it in his private furnace." + +Such expressions were no proof that gentle blood was lacking, but +whose object could her abduction be--her, a penniless dependent? +Could she have been seized by mistake for some heiress? In that +moment's hope she asked, "Sir, do you know who I am--Anne Woodford, +a poor, portionless maid, not--" + +"I know perfectly well, madam," was the reply. "May I trouble you +to permit me to mount you again?" + +She was again placed behind one of the riders, and again fastened to +him, and off they went, on a rougher horse, on harder ground, and, +as she thought, occasionally through brushwood. Again a space, to +her illimitable, went by, and then came turf once more, and by and +by what seemed to her the sound of the sea. + +Another halt, another lifting down, but at once to be gathered up +again, and then a splashing through water. "Be careful," said the +voice. A hand, a gentleman's hand, took hers; her feet were on +boards--on a boat; she was drawn down to sit on a low thwart. +Putting her hand over, she felt the lapping of the water and tasted +that it was salt. + +"Oh, sir, where are you taking me?" she asked, as the boat was +pushed off. + +"That you will know in due time," he answered. + +Some more refreshment was offered her in a decided but not +discourteous manner, and she partook of it, remembering that +exhaustion might add to her perils. She perceived that after +pushing off from shore sounds of eating and low gruff voices mingled +with the plash of oars. Commands seemed to be given in French, and +there were mutterings of some strange language. Darkness was coming +on. What were they doing with her? And did Charles's fate hang +upon hers? + +Yet in spite of terrors and anxieties, she was so much worn out as +to doze long enough to lose count of time, till she was awakened by +the rocking and tossing of the boat and loud peremptory commands. +She became for the first time in her life miserable with sea- +sickness, for how long it was impossible to tell, and the pitching +of the boat became so violent that when she found herself bound to +one of the seats she was conscious of little but a longing to be +allowed to go to the bottom in peace, except that some great cause-- +she could hardly in her bewildered wretchedness recollect what-- +forbade her to die till her mission was over. + +There were loud peremptory orders, oaths, sea phrases, in French and +English, sometimes in that unknown tongue. Something expressed that +a light was directing to a landing-place, but reaching it was +doubtful. + +"Unbind her eyes," said a voice; "let her shift for herself." + +"Better not." + +There followed a fresh upheaval, as if the boat were perpendicular; +a sudden sinking, some one fell over and bruised her; another +frightful rising and falling, then smoothness; the rope that held +her fast undone; the keel grating; hands apparently dragging up the +boat. She was lifted out like a doll, carried apparently through +water over shingle. Light again made itself visible; she was in a +house, set down on a chair, in the warmth of fire, amid a buzz of +voices, which lulled as the bandage was untied and removed. Her +eyes were so dazzled, her head so giddy, her senses so faint, that +everything swam round her, and there that strange vision recurred. +Peregrine Oakshott was before her. She closed her eyes again, as +she lay back in the chair. + +"Take this; you will be better." A glass was at her lips, and she +swallowed some hot drink, which revived her so that she opened her +eyes again, and by the lights in an apparently richly curtained +room, she again beheld that figure standing by her, the glass in his +hand. + +"Oh!" she gasped. "Are you alive?" + +The answer was to raise her still gloved hand with substantial +fingers to a pair of lips. + +"Then--then--he is safe! Thank God!" she murmured, and shut her +eyes again, dizzy and overcome, unable even to analyse her +conviction that all would be well, and that in some manner he had +come to her rescue. + +"Where am I?" she murmured dreamily. "In Elf-land?" + +"Yes; come to be Queen of it." + +The words blended with her confused fancies. Indeed she was hardly +fully conscious of anything, except that a woman's hands were about +her, and that she was taken into another room, where her drenched +clothes were removed, and she was placed in a warm, narrow bed, +where some more warm nourishment was put into her mouth with a +spoon, after which she sank into a sleep of utter exhaustion. That +sleep lasted long. There was a sensation of the rocking of the +boat, and of aching limbs, through great part of the time; also +there seemed to be a continual roaring and thundering around her, +and such strange misty visions, that when she finally awoke, after a +long interval of deeper and sounder slumber, she was incapable of +separating the fact from the dream, more especially as head and +limbs were still heavy, weary, and battered. The strange roaring +still sounded, and sometimes seemed to shake the bed. Twilight was +coming in at a curtained window, and showed a tiny chamber, with +rafters overhead and thatch, a chest, a chair, and table. There was +a pallet on the floor, and Anne suspected that she had been wakened +by the rising of its occupant. Her watch was on the chair by her +side, but it had not been wound, and the dim light did not increase, +so that there was no guessing the time; and as the remembrance of +her dreadful adventures made themselves clear, she realised with +exceeding terror that she must be a prisoner, while the evening's +apparition relegated itself to the world of dreams. + +Being kidnapped to be sent to the plantations was the dread of those +days. But if such were the case, what would become of Charles? In +the alarm of that thought she sat up in bed and prepared to rise, +but could nowhere see her clothes, only the little cloth bag of +toilet necessaries that she had taken with her. + +At that moment, however, the woman came in with a steaming cup of +chocolate in her hand and some of the garments over her arm. She +was a stout, weather-beaten, kindly-looking woman with a high white +cap, gold earrings, black short petticoat, and many-coloured apron. +"Monsieur veut savoir si mademoiselle va bien?" said she in slow +careful French, and when questions in that language were eagerly +poured out, she shook her head, and said, "Ne comprends pas." She, +however, brought in the rest of the clothes, warm water, and a +light, so that Anne rose and dressed, exceedingly perplexed, and +wondering whether she could be in a ship, for the sounds seemed to +say so, and there was no corresponding motion. Could she be in +France? Certainly the voyage had seemed interminable, but she did +not think it _could_ have been long enough for that, nor that any +person in his senses would try to cross in an open boat in such +weather. She looked at the window, a tiny slip of glass, too thick +to show anything but what seemed to be a dark wall rising near at +hand. Alas! she was certainly a prisoner! In whose hands? With +what intent? How would it affect that other prisoner at Winchester? +Was that vision of last night substantial or the work of her +exhausted brain? What could she do? It was well for her that she +could believe in the might of prayer. + +She durst not go beyond her door, for she heard men's tones, +suppressed and gruff, but presently there was a knock, and wonder of +wonders, she beheld Hans, black Hans, showing all his white teeth in +a broad grin, and telling her that Missee Anne's breakfast was +ready. The curtain that overhung the door was drawn back, and she +passed into another small room, with a fire on the open hearth, and +a lamp hung from a beam, the walls all round covered with carpets or +stuffs of thick glowing colours, so that it was like the inside of a +tent. And in the midst, without doubt, stood Peregrine Oakshott, in +such a dress as was usually worn by gentlemen in the morning--a +loose wrapping coat, though with fine lace cuffs and cravat, all, +like the shoes and silk stockings, worn with his peculiar +daintiness, and, as was usual when full-bottomed wigs were the rule +in grande tenue, its place supplied by a silken cap. This was olive +green with a crimson tassel, which had assumed exactly the +characteristic one-sided Riquet-with-a-tuft aspect. For the rest, +these years seemed to have made the slight form slighter and more +wiry, and the face keener, more sallow, and more marked. + +He bowed low with the foreign courtesy which used to be so offensive +to his contemporaries, and offered a delicate, beringed hand to lead +the young lady to the little table, where grilled fowl and rolls, +both showing the cookery of Hans, were prepared for her. + +"I hope you rested well, and have an appetite this morning." + +"Sir, what does it all mean? Where am I?" asked Anne, drawing +herself up with the native dignity that she felt to be her defence. + +"In Elf-land," he said, with a smile, as he heaped her plate. + +"Speak in earnest," she entreated. "I cannot eat till I understand. +It is no time for trifling! Life and death hang on my reaching +London! If you saved me from those men, let me go free." + +"No one can move at present," he said. "See here." + +He drew back a curtain, opened first one door and then another, and +she saw sheets of driving rain, and rising, roaring waves, with surf +which came beating in on the force of such a fearful gust of wind +that Peregrine hastily shut the door, not without difficulty. +"Nobody can stir at present," he said, as they came into the warm +bright room again. "It is a frightful tempest, the worst known here +for years, they say. The dead-lights, as they call them, have been +put in, or the windows would be driven in. Come and taste Hans's +work; you know it of old. Will you drink tea? Do you remember how +your mother came to teach mine to brew it, and how she forgave me +for being graceless enough to squirt at her?" + +There was something so gentle and reassuring in the demeanour of +this strange being that Anne, convinced of the utter hopelessness of +confronting the storm, as well as of the need of gathering strength, +allowed herself to be placed in a chair, and to partake of the food +set before her, and the tea, which was served without milk, in an +exquisite dragon china cup, but with a saucer that did not match it. + +"We don't get our sets perfect," said Peregrine, with a smile, who +was waiting on her as if she were a princess. + +"I entreat you to tell me where we are!" said Anne. "Not in +France?" + +"No, not in France! I wish we were." + +"Then--can this be the Island?" + +"Yes, the Island it is," said Peregrine, both speaking as South +Hants folk; "this is the strange cave or chasm called Black Gang +Chine." + +"Black Gang! Oh! the highwaymen, the pirates! You have saved me +from them. Were they going to send me to the plantations?" + +"You need have no fears. No one shall touch you, or hurt you. You +shall see no one save by your own consent, my queen." + +"And when this storm is passed--Oh!" as a more fearful roar and dash +sounded as if the waves were about to sweep away their frail +shelter--"you will come with me and save Mr. Archfield's life? You +cannot know--" + +"I know," he interrupted; "but why should I be solicitous for his +life? That I am here now is no thanks to him, and why should I give +up mine for the sake of him who meant to make an end of me?" + +"You little know how he repented. And your own life? What do you +mean?" + +"People don't haunt the Black Gang Chine when their lives are secure +from Dutch Bill," he answered. "Don't be terrified, my queen; +though I cannot lay claim, like Prospero, to having raised this +storm by my art magic, yet it perforce gives me time to make you +understand who and what I am, and how I have recovered my better +angel to give her no mean nor desperate career. It will be better +thus than with the suddenness with which I might have had to act." + +A new alarm seized upon Anne as to his possible intentions, but she +would not forestall what she so much apprehended, and, sensible that +self-control alone could guard her, since escape at present was +clearly impossible, she resigned herself to sit opposite to him by +the ample hearth of what she perceived to be a fisherman's hut, thus +fitted up luxuriously with, it might be feared, the spoils of the +sea. + +The story was a long one, and not by any means told consecutively or +without interruption, and all the time those eyes were upon her, one +yellow the other green, with the effect she knew so well of old in +childish days, of repulsion yet compulsion, of terror yet +attraction, as if irresistibly binding a reluctant will. Several +times Peregrine was called off to speak to some one outside the +door, and at noon he begged permission for his friends to dine with +them, saying that there was no other place where the dinner could be +taken to them comfortably in this storm. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII: SEVEN YEARS + + +"It was between the night and day, + When the Fairy King has power, +That I sunk down in a sinful fray, +And 'twixt life and death was snatched away + To the joyless Elfin bower." + +SCOTT. + +This motto was almost the account that the twisted figure, with +queer contortions of face, yet delicate feet and hands, and dainty +utterance, might have been expected to give, when Anne asked him, +"Was it you, really?" + +"I--or my double?" he asked. "When?" + +She told him, and he seemed amazed. + +"So you were there? Well, you shall hear. You know how things +stood with me--your mother, my good spirit, dead, my uncle away, my +father bent on driving me to utter desperation, and Martha Browning +laying her great red hands on me--" + +"Oh, sir, she really loved you, and is far wiser and more tolerant +than you thought her." + +"I know," he smiled grimly. "She buried the huge Scot that was +killed in the great smuggling fray under the Protector, with all +honours, in our family vault, and had a long-winded sermon preached +on my untimely end. Ha! ha!" with his mocking laugh. + +"Don't, sir! If you had seen your father then! Why did no one come +forward and explain?" + +"Mayhap there were none at hand who knew, or wished to meddle with +the law," he said. "Well, things were beyond all bearing at home, +and you were going away, and would not so much as look at me. Now, +one of the few sports my father did not look askance at was fishing, +and he would endure my being out at night with, as he thought, poor +man, old Pete Perring, who was as stern a Puritan as himself; but I +had livelier friends, and more adventurous. They had connections +with French free-traders for brandy and silks, and when they found I +was one with them, my French tongue was a boon to them, till I came +to have a good many friends among the Norman fishermen, and to know +the snug hiding-places about the coast. So at last I made up my +mind to be off with them, and make my way to my uncle in Muscovy. I +had raised money enough at play and on the jewels one picks up in an +envoy's service, and there was one good angel whom I meant to take +with me if I could secure her and bind her wings. Now you know with +what hopes I saw you gathering flowers alone that morning." + +Anne clasped her hands; Charles had truly interfered with good +cause. + +"I had all arranged," he continued; "my uncle would have given you a +hearty welcome, and made our peace with my father, or if not, he +would have left us all his goods, and secured my career. What call +had that great lout, with a wife of his own too, to come thrusting +between us? I thought I should make short work of him, and give him +a lesson against meddling--great unlicked cub as he was, while I had +had the best training at Berlin and Paris in fencing; but somehow +those big strong fellows, from their very clumsiness, throw one out. +And he meant mischief--yes, that he did. I saw it in his eyes. I +suppose his sulky rustic jealousy was a-fire at a few little +civilities to that poor little wife of his. Any way, when he bore +me down like the swing of a windmill, he drove his sword home. Talk +of his being innocent! Why should he never look whether I were dead +or alive, but fling me headlong into that pit?" + +Anne could not but utter her eager defence, but it was met with a +sinister smile, half of scorn, half of pity, and as she would have +gone on, "Hush! your pleading only fills up the measure of my +loathing." + +Her heart sank, but she let him go on, listening perhaps less +attentively as she considered how to take him. + +"In fact," he continued, "little as the lubber knew it, 'twas the +best he could have done for me. For though I never looked for such +luck as your being out in the court at that hour, I did think the +chance not to be lost of visiting the garden or the churchyard, and +there were waiting in the vault a couple of stout Normans, who were +to come at my whistle. It seems that when I came tumbling down in +their midst, senseless and bleeding like a calf, they did not take +it quite so easily as your champion above, but began doing what they +could for me, and were trying to staunch the wound, when they heard +a trampling and a rumbling overhead, and being aware that our +undertaking might look ugly in the sight of the law, and thinking +this might be pursuers, they carried me off with all speed, not so +much as stopping to pick up the things that have made such a +commotion. Was there any pursuit?" + +"Oh no; it must have been the haymakers." + +"No doubt. The place was in no great favour with our own people; +they were in awe of the big Scot, who is in comfortable quarters in +my grave, and the Frenchmen could not have found their way thither, +so it was let alone till Mistress Martha's researches. So I came to +myself in the boat in which they took me on board the lugger that +was waiting for us; and instead of making for Alderney, as I had +intended, so as to get the knot safely tied to your satisfaction, +they sailed straight for Havre. They had on board a Jesuit father, +whom I had met once or twice among the Duke of Berwick's people, but +who had found Portsmouth too hot to hold him in the frenzy of +Protestant zeal on the Bishops' account. He had been beset, and +owed his life, he says, to the fists of the Breton and Norman +sailors, who had taken him on board. It was well for me, for I +doubt if ever I was tough enough to have withstood my good friends' +treatment. He had me carried to a convent in Havre, where the +fathers nursed me well; and before I was on my legs again, I had +made up my mind to cast in my lot with them, or rather with their +Church." + +"Oh!" + +"I had been baulked of winning the one being near whom my devil +never durst come. And blood-letting had pretty well disposed of +him. I was as meek and mild as milk under the good fathers. +Moreover, as my good friend at Turin had told me, and they repeated +it, such a doubly heretical baptism as mine was probably invalid, +and accounted for my being as much a vessel of wrath as even my +father was pleased to call me. There was the Queen's rosary drawing +me too. Everything else was over with me, and it seemed to open a +new life. So, bless me, what a soft and pious frame I was in when +they chastened me, water, oil, salt and all, on what my father raged +at folks calling Lammas Day, but which it seems really belongs to +St. Peter in the Fetters. So I was named Pierre or Piers after him, +thus keeping my own initial." + +"Piers! oh! not Piers Pigwiggin?" + +"Pierre de Pilpignon, if you please. I have a right to that too; +but we shall come to it by and by. I can laugh now, or perhaps +weep, over the fervid state I was in then, as if I had trodden down +my snake, and by giving up everything--you, estate, career, I could +keep him down. So it was settled that I would devote myself to the +priesthood--don't laugh!--and I was ordered off to their seminary in +London, partly, I believe, for the sake of piloting a couple of +fathers, who could not speak a word of English. It was, as they +rightly judged, the last place where my father would think of +looking for me, but they did not as rightly judge that we should +long keep possession there. Matters grew serious, and it was not +over safe in the streets. There was a letter of importance from a +friend in Holland, carrying the Prince of Orange's hypocritical +Declaration, which was to be got to Father Petre or the King on the +night--Hallowmas Eve it was--and I was told off to put on a secular +dress, which I could wear more naturally than most of them, and +convey it." + +"Ah, that explains!" + +"Apparition number one! I guessed you were somewhere in those +parts, and looked up at the windows, and though I did not see you, I +believe it was your eyes that first sent a thrill through me that +boded ill for Roman orders. After that we lived in a continual +state of rumours and alarms, secret messages and expeditions, until +I, being strong in the arm and the wind and a feather-weight, was +one of those honoured by rowing the Queen and Prince across the +river. M. de St. Victor accepted me. He told me there would be two +nurses, but never knew or cared who they were, nor did I guess, as +we sat in the dark, how near I was to you. And only for one second +did I see your face, as you were entering the carriage, and I +blessed you the more for what you were doing for Her Majesty." + +He proceeded to tell how he had accompanied the Jesuit fathers, on +their leaving London, to the great English seminary at Douai, and +being for the time convinced by them that his feelings towards Anne +were a delusion of the enemy, he had studied with all his might, and +as health and monotony of life began to have their accustomed effect +in rousing the restlessness and mischievousness of his nature, with +all the passions of manhood growing upon him, he strove to force +them down by fasting and scourging. He told, in a bitter, almost +savage way, of his endeavours to flog his demon out of himself, and +of his anger and disappointment at finding Piers Pilgrim in the +seminary of Douai, quite as subject to his attacks as ever was Perry +Oakshott under a sermon of Mr. Horncastle's. + +Then came the information among the students that the governor of +the city, the Marquis de Nidemerle, had brought some English +gentlemen and ladies to visit the gardens. As most of the students +were of British families there was curiosity as to who they were, +and thus Peregrine heard that one was young Archfield of the +Hampshire family, with his tutor, and the lady was Mistress Darpent, +daughter to a French lawyer, who had settled in England after the +Fronde. Anne's name had not transpired, for she was viewed merely +as an attendant. Peregrine had been out on some errand in the town, +and had a distant view of his enemy as he held him, flaunting about +with a fine lady on his arm, forgetting the poor little pretty wife +whom no doubt he had frightened to death." + +"Oh! you little know how tenderly he speaks of her." + +"Tenderly!--that's the way they speak of me at Oakwood, eh? Human, +not to say elf, nature, could not withstand giving the fellow a +start. I sped off, whipped into the Church, popped into a surplice +I found ready to hand, caught up a candle, and!--Little did I think +who it was that was hanging on his arm. So little did I know it +that my heart began to be drawn to St. Germain, where I still +imagined you. Altogether, after that prank, all broke out again. I +entertained the lads with a few more freaks, for which I did ample +penance, but it grew on me that in my case all was a weariness and a +sham, and that my demon might get a worse hold of me if I got into a +course of hypocrisy. They were very good to me, those fathers, but +Jesuits as they were, I doubt whether they ever fathomed me. Any +way, perhaps they thought I should be a scandal, but they agreed +with me that their order was not my vocation, and that we had better +part before my fiend drove me to do so with dishonour. They even +gave me recommendations to the French officers that were besieging +Tournay. I knew the Duke of Berwick a little at Portsmouth, and it +ended in my becoming under-secretary to the Duke of Chartres. A man +who knows languages has his value among Frenchmen, who despise all +but their own." + +Peregrine did not enter into full details of this stage of his +career, and Anne was not fully informed of the habits that the young +Duke of Chartres, the future Regent Duke of Orleans, was already +developing, but she gathered that, what the young man called his +demon, had nearly undisputed sway over him, and she had not spent +eight months at St. Germain without knowing by report of the +dissolute manners of the substratum of fashionable society at Paris, +even though outward decorum had been restored by Madame de +Maintenon. Yet he seemed to have been crossed by fits of vehement +penitence, and almost the saddest part of the story was the mocking +tone in which he alluded to these. + +He had sought service at the Court in the hope of meeting Miss +Woodford there, and had been grievously disappointed when he found +that she had long since returned to England. The sight of the +gracious and lovely countenance of the exiled Queen seemed always to +have moved and touched him, as in some inexplicable manner her eyes +and expression recalled to him those of Mrs. Woodford and Anne; but +the thought had apparently only stung him into the sense of being +forsaken and abandoned to his own devices or those of his evil +spirit. + +One incident, occurring some three years previously, he told more +fully, as it had a considerable effect on his life. "I was +attending the Duke in the gardens at Versailles," he said, "when we +were aware of a great commotion. All the gentlemen were standing +gazing up into the top of a great chestnut tree, the King and all, +and in the midst stood the Abbe de Fenelon with his little pupils, +the youngest, the Duke of Anjou, sobbing piteously, and the Duke of +Burgundy in a furious passion, stamping and raging, and only +withheld from rolling on the ground by the Abbe's hand grasping his +shoulder. 'I will not have him killed! He is mine,' he cried. And +up in the tree, the object of all their gaze, was a monkey with a +paper fluttering in his hand. Some one had made a present of the +creature to the King's grandsons; he was the reigning favourite, and +having broken his chain, had effected an entrance by the window into +the King's cabinet, where after giving himself the airs of a +minister of state, on being interrupted, he had made off through the +window with an important document, which he was affecting to peruse +at his leisure, only interrupting himself to hurl down leaves or +unripe chestnuts at those who attempted to pelt him with stones, and +this only made him mount higher and higher, entirely out of their +reach, for no one durst climb after him. I believe it was a letter +from the King of Spain; at any rate the whole Cabinet was in agony +lest the brute should proceed to tear it into fragments, and a +musqueteer had been sent for to shoot him down. I remembered my +success with the monkey on poor little Madam Archfield's back--nay, +perhaps 'twas the same, my familiar taking shape. I threw myself at +the King's feet, and desired permission to deal with the beast. By +good luck it had not been so easy as they supposed to find a musquet +fit for immediate use, so I had full time. To ascend the tree was +no more than I had done many times before, and I went high in the +branches, but cautiously, not to give Monsieur le Singe the idea of +being pursued, lest he should leap to a bough incapable of +supporting me. When I had reached a fork tolerably high, and where +he could see me, I settled myself, took out a letter, which +fortunately was in my pocket, read it with the greatest +deliberation, the monkey watching me all the time, and finally I +proceeded to fold it neatly in all its creases. The creature +imitated me with its black fingers, little aware, poor thing, that +the musqueteer had covered him with his weapon, and was waiting for +the first sign of tearing the letter to pull the trigger, but +withheld by a sign from the King, who did not wish to sacrifice his +grandson's pet before his eyes. Finally, after finishing the +folding, I doubled it a second time, and threw it at the animal. To +my great joy he returned the compliment by throwing the other at my +head. I was able to catch it, and moreover, as he was disposed to +go in pursuit of his plaything, he swung his chain so near me that I +got hold of it, twisted it round my arm, and made the best of my way +down the tree, amid the 'Bravos!' started by the royal lips +themselves, and repeated with ecstasy by all the crowd, who waved +their hats, and made such a hallooing that I had much ado to get the +monkey down safely; but finally, all dishevelled, with my best cuffs +and cravat torn to ribbons, and my wig happily detached, unlike +Absalom's, for it remained in the tree, I had the honour of +presenting on my knee the letter to the King, and the monkey to the +Princes. I kissed His Majesty's hand, the little Duke of Anjou +kissed the monkey, and the Duke of Burgundy kissed me with arms +round my neck, then threw himself on his knees before his +grandfather to ask pardon for his passion. Every one said my +fortune was made, and that my agility deserved at least the cordon +bleu. My own Duke of Chartres, who in many points is like his +cousin, our late King Charles, gravely assured me that a new office +was to be invented for me, and that I was to be Grand Singier du +Roi. I believe he pushed my cause, and so did the little Duke of +Burgundy, and finally I got the pension without the office, and a +good deal of occasional employment besides, in the way of +translation of documents. There were moments of success at play. +Oh yes, quite fairly, any one with wits about him can make his +profit in the long-run among the Court set. And thus I had enough +to purchase a pretty little estate and chateau on the coast of +Normandy, the confiscated property of a poor Huguenot refugee, so +that it went cheap. It gives the title of Pilpignon, which I +assumed in kindness to the tongues of my French friends. So you +see, I have a station and property to which to carry you, my fair +one, won by myself, though only by catching an ape." + +He went on to say that the spot had been chosen advisedly, with a +view to communication with the opposite coast, where his old +connection with the smugglers was likely to be useful in the +Jacobite plots. "As you well know," he said, "my father had done +his utmost to make Whiggery stink in my nostrils, to say nothing of +the kindness I have enjoyed from our good Queen; and I was ready to +do my utmost in the cause, especially after I had stolen a glimpse +of you, and when Charnock, poor fellow, returning from reconnoitring +among the loyal, told me that you were still unmarried, and living +as a dependent in the Archfields' house. Our headquarters were in +Romney Marsh, but it was as well to have, as it were, a back door +here, and as it has turned out it has been the saving of some of +us." + +"Oh, sir! you were not in that wicked plot?" + +"Nay; surely _you_ are not turned Whig." + +"But this was assassination." + +"Not at all, if they would have listened to me. The Dutchman is no +bigger than I am. I could have dropped on him from one of his trees +at Hampton Court, or through a window, via presto, and we would have +had him off by the river, given him an interview to beg his uncle's +pardon, and despatched him for the benefit of his asthma to the +company of the Iron Mask at St. Marguerite; then back again, the +King to enjoy his own again, Dr. Woodford, archbishop or bishop of +whatever you please, and a lady here present to be Marquise de +Pilpignon, or Countess of Havant, whichever she might prefer. Yes, +truly those were the hopes with which I renewed my communications +with the contraband trade on this coast, a good deal more numerous +since the Dutchman and his wars have raised the duties and driven +many good men to holes and corners. + +"Ever since last spring, when the Princess Royal died, and thus +extinguished the last spark of forbearance in the King's breast, I +have been here, there, and everywhere--Romney Marsh, Drury Lane, +Paris, besides this place and Pilpignon, where I have a snug harbour +for the yacht, Ma Belle Annik, as the Breton sailors call her. The +crew are chiefly Breton; it saves gossip; but I have a boat's crew +of our own English folk here, stout fellows, ready for anything by +land or sea." + +"The Black Gang," said Anne faintly. + +"Don't suppose I have meddled in their exploits on the road," he +said, "except where a King's messenger or a Royal mail was +concerned, and that is war, you know, for the cause. Unluckily my +personal charms are not easily disguised, so that I have had to lurk +in the background, and only make my private investigations in the +guise of my own ghost." + +"Then so it was you saved the dear little Philip?" said Anne. + +"The Archfield boy? I could not see a child sent to his destruction +by that villain Sedley, whoever were his father, for he meant +mischief if ever man did. 'Twas superhuman scruple not to hold your +peace and let him swing." + +"What was it, then, on his cousin's part?" + +Peregrine only answered with a shrug. It appeared further, that as +long as the conspirators had entertained any expectation of success, +he had merely kept a watch over Anne, intending to claim her in the +hour of the triumph of his party, when he looked to enjoy such a +position as would leave his brother free to enjoy his paternal +inheritance. In the failure of all their schemes through Mr. +Pendergrast's denunciation, Sir George Barclay, and one or two +inferior plotters, had succeeded in availing themselves of the +assistance of the Black Gang, and had been conducted by Peregrine to +the hut that he had fitted up for himself. Still trusting to the +security there, although his name of Piers Pilgrim or de Pilpignon +had been among those given up to the Privy Council, he had insisted +on lingering, being resolved that an attempt should be made to carry +away the woman he had loved for so many years. Captain Burford had +so disguised himself as to be able to attend the trial, loiter about +the inn, and collect intelligence, while the others waited on the +downs. Peregrine had watched over the capture, but being unwilling +to disclose himself, had ridden on faster and crossed direct, +traversing the Island on horseback, while the captive was rounding +it in the boat. "As should never have been done," he said, "could I +have foretold to what stress of weather you would be exposed while I +was preparing for your reception. But for this storm--it rages +louder than ever--we would have been married by a little parson whom +Burford would have fetched from Portsmouth, and we should have been +over the Channel, and my people hailing my bride with ecstasy." + +"Never!" exclaimed Anne. "Can you suppose I could accept one who +would leave an innocent man to suffer?" + +"People sometimes are obliged to accept," said Peregrine. Then at +her horrified start, "No, no, fear no violence; but is not something +due to one who has loved you through exile all these years, and +would lay down his life for you? you, the only being who overcomes +his evil angel!" + +"This is what you call overcoming it," she said. + +"Nay; indeed, Mistress Anne, I would let the authorities know that +they are hanging a man for murdering one who is still alive if I +could; but no one would believe without seeing, and I and all who +could bear witness to my existence would be rushing to an end even +worse than a simple noose. You were ready enough to denounce him to +save that worthless fellow." + +"Not ready. It tore my heart. But truth is truth. I could not do +that wickedness. Oh! how can you? This _is_ the prompting of the +evil spirit indeed, to expect me to join in leaving that innocent, +generous spirit to die in cruel injustice. Let me go. I will not +betray where you are. You will be safe in France; but there will +yet be time for me to bear witness to your life. Write a letter. +Your father would thankfully swear to your handwriting, and I think +they would believe me. Only let me go." + +"And what then becomes of the hopes of a lifetime?" demanded +Peregrine. "I, who have waited as long as Jacob, to be defrauded +now I have you; and for the sake of the fellow who killed me in will +if not in deed, and then ran away like a poltroon leaving you to +bear the brunt!" + +"He did not act like a poltroon when he saved the life of his +general, or when he rescued the colours of his regiment, still less +when he stood up to save me from the pain of bearing witness against +him, and to save a guiltless man," cried Anne, with flashing eyes. + +Before she had finished her indignant words, Hans was coming in from +some unknown region to lay the cloth for supper, and Peregrine, with +an imprecation under his breath, had gone to the door to admit his +two comrades, who came into the narrow entry on a gust of wind as it +were, struggling out of their cloaks, stamping and swearing. + +In the middle of the day, they had been much more restrained in +their behaviour. There had at that time been a slight clearance in +the sky, though the wind was as furious as ever, and they were in +haste to despatch the meal and go out again to endeavour to stand on +the heights and to watch some vessels that were being tossed by the +storm. Almost all the conversation had then been on the chances of +their weathering the tempest, and the probability of its lasting on, +and they had hurried away as soon as possible. Anne had not then +known who they were, and only saw that they were fairly civil to +her, and kept under a certain constraint by Pilpignon, as they +called their host. Now she fully knew the one who was addressed as +Sir George to be Barclay, the prime mover in the wicked scheme of +assassination of which all honest Tories had been so much ashamed, +and she could see Captain Burford to be one of those bravoes who +were only too plentiful in those days, attending on dissolute and +violent nobles. + +She was the less inclined to admit their attentions, and shielded +herself with a grave coldness of stately manners; but their talk was +far more free than at noon, suggesting the thought that they had +anticipated the meal with some of the Nantz or other liquors that +seemed to be in plenty. + +They began by low bows of affected reverence, coarser and worse in +the ruffian of inferior grade, and the knight complimented Pilpignon +on being a lucky dog, and hoped he had made the best use of his time +in spite of the airs of his duchess. It was his own fault if he +were not enjoying such fair society, while they, poor devils, were +buffeting with the winds, which had come on more violently than +ever. Peregrine broke in with a question about the vessels in +sight. + +There was an East Indiaman, Dutch it was supposed, laying-to, that +was the cause of much excitement. "If she drives ashore our fellows +will neither be to have nor to hold," said Sir George. + +"They will obey me," said Peregrine quietly. + +"More than the sea will just yet," laughed the captain. "However, +as soon as this villainous weather is a bit abated, I'll be off +across the Island to do your little errand, and only ask a kiss of +the bride for my pains; but if the parson be at Portsmouth there +will be no getting him to budge till the water is smooth. Never +mind, madam, we'll have a merry wedding feast, whichever side of the +water it is. I should recommend the voyage first for my part." + +All Anne could do was to sit as upright and still as she could, +apparently ignoring the man's meaning. She did not know how +dignified she looked, and how she was daunting his insolence. When +presently Sir George Barclay proposed as a toast a health to the +bride of to-morrow, she took her part by raising the glass to her +lips as well as the gentlemen, and adding, "May the brides be happy, +wherever they may be." + +"Coy, upon my soul," laughed Sir George. "You have not made the +best of your opportunities, Pil." But with an oath, "It becomes her +well." + +"A truce with fooling, Barclay," muttered Peregrine. + +"Come, come, remember faint heart--no lowering your crest, more than +enough to bring that devilish sparkle in the eyes, and turn of the +neck!" + +"Sir," said Anne rising, "Monsieur de Pilpignon is an old neighbour, +and understands how to respect his most unwilling guest. I wish you +a good-night, gentlemen. Guennik, venez ici, je vous prie." + +Guennik, the Breton boatswain's wife, understood French thus far, +and comprehended the situation enough to follow willingly, leaving +the remainder of the attendance to Hans, who was fully equal to it. +The door was secured by a long knife in the post, but Anne could +hear plainly the rude laugh at her entrenchment within her fortress +and much of the banter of Peregrine for having proceeded no further. +It was impossible to shut out all the voices, and very alarming they +were, as well as sometimes so coarse that they made her cheeks glow, +while she felt thankful that the Bretonne could not understand. + +These three men were all proscribed traitors in haste to be off, but +Peregrine, to whom the yacht and her crew belonged, had lingered to +obtain possession of the lady, and they were declaring that now they +had caught his game and given him his toy, they would brook no +longer delay than was absolutely necessitated by the storm, and +married or not married, he and she should both be carried off +together, let the damsel-errant give herself what haughty airs she +would. It was a weak concession on their part to the old Puritan +scruples that he might have got rid of by this time, to attempt to +bring about the marriage. They jested at him for being afraid of +her, and then there were jokes about gray mares. + +The one voice she could not hear was Peregrine's, perhaps because he +realised more than they did that she was within ear-shot, and +besides, he was absolutely sober; but she thought he silenced them; +and then she heard sounds of card-playing, which made an +accompaniment to her agonised prayers. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII: BLACK GANG CHINE + + +"Come, Lady; while Heaven lends us grace, +Let us fly this cursed place, +Lest the sorcerer us entice +With some other new device. +Not a word or needless sound +Till we come to holier ground. +I shall be your faithful guide +Through this gloomy covert wide." + +MILTON. + +Never was maiden in a worse position than that in which Anne +Woodford felt herself when she revolved the matter. The back of the +Isle of Wight, all along the Undercliff, had always had a wild +reputation, and she was in the midst of the most lawless of men. +Peregrine alone seemed to have any remains of honour or conscience, +and apparently he was in some degree in the hands of his associates. +Even if the clergyman came, there was little hope in an appeal to +him. Naval chaplains bore no good reputation, and Portsmouth and +Cowes were haunted by the scum of the profession. All that seemed +possible was to commit herself and Charles to Divine protection, and +in that strength to resist to the uttermost. The tempest had +returned again, and seemed to be raging as much as ever, and the +delay was in her favour, for in such weather there could be no +putting to sea. + +She was unwilling to leave the stronghold of her chamber, but Hans +came to announce breakfast to her, telling her that the Mynheeren +were gone, all but Massa Perry; and that gentleman came forward to +meet her just as before, hoping 'those fellows had not disturbed her +last night.' + +"I could not help hearing much," she said gravely. + +"Brutes!" he said. "I am sick of them, and of this life. Save for +the King's sake, I would never have meddled with it." + +The roar of winds and waves and the beat of spray was still to be +heard, and in the manifest impossibility of quitting the place and +the desire of softening him, Anne listened while he talked in a +different mood from the previous day. The cynical tone was gone, as +he spoke of those better influences. He talked of Mrs. Woodford and +his deep affection for her, of the kindness of the good priests at +Havre and Douai, and especially of one Father Seyton, who had tried +to reason with him in his bitter disappointment, and savage +penitence on finding that 'behind the Cross lurks the Devil,' as +much at Douai as at Havant. He told how a sermon of the Abbe +Fenelon's had moved him, and how he had spent half a Lent in the +severest penance, but only to have all swept away again in the wild +and wicked revelry with which Easter came in. Again he described +how his heart was ready to burst as he stood by Mrs. Woodford's +grave at night and vowed to disentangle himself and lead a new life. + +"And with you I shall," he said. + +"No," she answered; "what you win by a crime will never do you +good." + +"A crime! 'Tis no crime. You _know_ I mean honourable marriage. +You owe no duty to any one." + +"It is a crime to leave the innocent to undeserved death," she said. + +"Do you love the fellow?" he cried, with a voice rising to a shout +of rage. + +"Yes," she said firmly. + +"Why did not you say so before?" + +"Because I hoped to see you act for right and justice sake," was +Anne's answer, fixing her eyes on him. "For God's sake, not mine." + +"Yours indeed! Think, what can be his love to mine? He who let +them marry him to that child, while I struggled and gave up +everything. Then he runs away--_runs away_--leaving you all the +distress; never came near you all these years. Oh yes! he looks +down on you as his child's governess! What's the use of loving him? +There's another heiress bespoken for him no doubt." + +"No. His parents consent, and we have known one another's love for +six years." + +"Oh, that's the way he bound you to keep his secret! He would sing +another song as soon as he was out of this scrape." + +"You little know!" was all she said. + +"Ay!" continued Peregrine, pacing up and down the room, "you know +that all that was wanting to fill up the measure of my hatred was +that he should have stolen your heart." + +"You cannot say that, sir. He was my kind protector and helper from +our very childhood. I have loved him with all my heart ever since I +durst." + +"Ay, the great straight comely lubbers have it all their own way +with the women," said he bitterly. "I remember how he rushed +headlong at me with the horse-whip when I tripped you up at the +Slype, and you have never forgiven that." + +"Oh! indeed I forgot that childish nonsense long ago. You never +served me so again." + +"No indeed, never since you and your mother were the first to treat +me like a human being. You will be able to do anything with me, +sweetest lady; the very sense that you are under the same roof makes +another man of me. I loathe what I used to enjoy. Why, the very +sight of you, sitting at supper like the lady in Comus, in your +sweet grave dignity, made me feel what I am, and what those men are. +I heard their jests with your innocent ears. With you by my side +the Devil's power is quelled. You shall have a peaceful beneficent +life among the poor folk, who will bless you; our good and gracious +Queen will welcome you with joy and gratitude; and when the good +time comes, as it must in a few years, you will have honours and +dignities lavished on you. Can you not see what you will do for +me?" + +"Do you think a broken-hearted victim would be able to do you any +good?" said she, looking up with tears in her eyes. "I _do_ +believe, sir, that you mean well by me, in your own way, and I +could, yes, I can, be sorry for you, for my mother did feel for you, +and yours has been a sad life; but how could I be of any use or +comfort to you if you dragged me away as these cruel men propose, +knowing that he who has all my heart is dying guiltless, and +thinking I have failed him!" and here she broke down in an agony of +weeping, as she felt the old power in his eyes that enforced +submission. + +He marched up and down in a sort of passion. "Don't let me see you +weep for him! It makes me ready to strangle him with my own hands!" + +A shout of 'Pilpignon!' at the door here carried him off, leaving +Anne to give free course to the tears that she had hitherto been +able to restrain, feeling the need of self-possession. She had very +little hope, since her affection for Charles Archfield seemed only +to give the additional sting of jealousy, 'cruel as the grave,' to +the vindictive temper Peregrine already nourished, and which +certainly came from his evil spirit. She shed many tears, and +sobbed unrestrainingly till the Bretonne came and patted her +shoulder, and said, "Pauvre, pauvre!" And even Hans looked in, +saying, "Missee Nana no cry, Massa Perry great herr--very goot." + +She tried to compose herself, and think over alternatives to lay +before Peregrine. He might let her go, and carry to Sir Edmund +Nutley letters to which his father would willingly swear, while he +was out of danger in Normandy. Or if this was far beyond what could +be hoped for, surely he could despatch a letter to his father, and +for such a price she _must_ sacrifice herself, though it cost her +anguish unspeakable to call up the thought of Charles, of little +Philip, of her uncle, and the old people, who loved her so well, all +forsaken, and with what a life in store for her! For she had not +the slightest confidence in the power of her influence, whatever +Peregrine might say and sincerely believe at present. If there +were, more palpably than with all other human beings, angels of good +and evil contending for him, swaying him now this way and now that; +it was plain from his whole history that nothing had yet availed to +keep him under the better influence for long together; and she +believed that if he gained herself by these unjust and cruel means +the worse spirit would thereby gain the most absolute advantage. If +her heart had been free, and she could have loved him, she might +have hoped, though it would have been a wild and forlorn hope; but +as it was, she had never entirely surmounted a repulsion from him, +as something strange and unnatural, a feeling involving fear, though +here he was her only hope and protector, and an utter uncertainty as +to what he might do. She could only hope that she might pine away +and die quickly, and _perhaps_ Charles Archfield might know at last +that it had been for his sake. And would it be in her power to make +even such terms as these? + +How long she wept and prayed and tried to 'commit her way unto the +Lord' she did not know, but light seemed to be making its way far +more than previously through the shutters closed against the storm +when Peregrine returned. + +"You will not be greatly troubled with those fellows to-day," he +said; "there's a vessel come on the rocks at Chale, and every man +and mother's son is gone after it." So saying he unfastened the +shutters and let in a flood of sunshine. "You would like a little +air," he said; "'tis all quiet now, and the tide is going down." + +After two days' dark captivity, Anne could not but be relieved by +coming out, and she was anxious to understand where she was. It +was, though only in March, glowing with warmth, as the sun beat +against the cliffs behind, of a dark red brown, in many places +absolutely black, in especial where a cascade, swelled by the rains +into imposing size, came roaring, leaping, and sparkling down a +sheer precipice. On either side the cove or chine was closely shut +in by treeless, iron-coloured masses of rock, behind one of which +the few inhabited hovels were clustered, and the boat which had +brought her was drawn up. In front was the sea, still lashed by a +fierce wind, which was driving the fantastically shaped remains of +the great storm cloud rapidly across an intensely blue sky. The +waves, although it was the ebb, were still tremendous, and their +roar re-echoed as they reared to fearful heights and broke with the +reverberations that she had heard all along. Peregrine kept quite +high up, not venturing below the washed line of shingle, saying that +the back draught of the waves was most perilous, and in a high wind +could not be reckoned upon. + +"No escape!" he said, as he perceived Anne's gaze on the +inaccessible cliff and the whole scene, the wild beauty of which was +lost to her in its terrors. + +"Where's your ship?" she asked. + +"Safe in Whale Chine. No putting to sea yet, though it may be fair +to-morrow." + +Then she put before him the first scheme she had thought out, of +letting her escape to Sir Edmund Nutley's house, whence she could +make her way back, taking with her a letter that would prove his +existence without involving him or his friends in danger. And +eagerly she argued, "You do not know me really! It is only an +imagination that you can be the better for my presence." Then, +unheeding his fervid exclamation, "It was my dear mother who did you +good. What would she think of the way in which you are trying to +gain me?" + +"That I cannot do without you." + +"And what would you have in me? I could be only wretched, and feel +all my life--such a life as it would be--that you had wrecked my +happiness. Oh yes! I do believe that you would try to make me +happy, but don't you see that it would be quite impossible with such +a grief as that in my heart, and knowing that you had caused it? I +know you hate him, and he did you the wrong; but he has grieved for +it, and banished himself. But above all, of this I am quite sure, +that to persist in this horrible evil of leaving him to die, because +of your revenge, and stealing me away, is truly giving Satan such a +frightful advantage over you that it is mere folly to think that +winning me in such a way could do you any good. It is just a mere +delusion of his, to ruin us both, body and soul. Peregrine, will +you not recollect my mother, and what she would think? Have pity on +me, and help me away, and I would pledge myself never to utter a +word of this place nor that could bring you and yours into danger. +We would bless and pray for you always." + +"No use," he gloomily said. "I believe you, but the others will +never believe a woman. No doubt we are watched even now by +desperate men, who would rather shoot you than let you escape from +our hands." + +It seemed almost in connection with these words that at that moment, +from some unknown quarter, where probably there was an entrance to +the Chine, Sir George Barclay appeared with a leathern case under +his arm. It had been captured on the wreck, and contained papers +which he wanted assistance in deciphering, since they were in Dutch, +and he believed them to be either despatches or bonds, either of +which might be turned to profit. These were carried indoors, and +spread on the table, and as Anne sat by the window, dejected and +almost hopeless as she was, she could not help perceiving that, +though Peregrine was so much smaller and less robust than his +companions, he exercised over them the dominion of intellect, +energy, and will, as if they too felt the force of his strange eyes; +and it seemed to her as if, supposing he truly desired it, whatever +he might say, he must be able to deliver her and Charles; but that a +being such as she had always known him should sacrifice both his +love and his hate seemed beyond all hope, and "Change his heart! +Turn our captivity, O Lord," could only be her cry. + +Only very late did Burford come back, full of the account of the +wreck and of the spoils, and the struggles between the wreckers for +the flotsam and jetsam. There was much of savage brutality mated +with a cool indifference truly horrible to Anne, and making her +realise into what a den of robbers she had fallen, especially as +these narratives were diversified by consultations over the Dutch +letters and bills of exchange in the wrecked East Indiaman, and how +to turn them to the best advantage. Barclay and Burford were so +full of these subjects that they took comparatively little notice of +the young lady, only when she rose to retire, Burford made a sort of +apology that this little business had hindered his going after the +parson. He heard that the Salamander was at the castle, and +redcoats all about, he said, and if the Annick could be got out to- +morrow they must sail any way; and if Pil was still so squeamish, a +Popish priest could couple them in a leash as tight as a Fleet +parson could. And then Peregrine demanded whether Burford thought a +Fleet parson the English for a naval chaplain, and there was some +boisterous laughter, during which Anne shut herself up in her room +in something very like despair, with that one ray of hope that He +who had brought her back from exile before would again save her from +that terrible fate. + +She heard card-playing and the jingle of glasses far into the night, +as she believed, but it seemed to her as if she had scarcely fallen +asleep before, to her extreme terror, she heard a knock and a low +call at her door of 'Guennik.' Then as the Bretonne went to the +door, through which a light was seen, a lantern was handed in, and a +scrap of paper on which the words were written: "On second +thoughts, my kindred elves at Portchester shall not be scared by a +worricow. Dress quickly, and I will bring you out of this." + +For a moment Anne did not perceive the meaning of the missive, the +ghastly idea never having occurred to her that if Charles had +suffered, the gibbet would have been at Portchester. Then, with an +electric flash of joy, she saw that it meant relenting on +Peregrine's part, deliverance for them both. She put on her clothes +with hasty, trembling hands, thankful to Guennik for helping her, +pressed a coin into the strong toil-worn hand, and with an earnest +thrill of thankful prayer opened the door. The driftwood fire was +bright, and she saw Peregrine, looking deadly white, and equipped +with slouched hat, short wrapping cloak, pistols and sword at his +belt, dark lantern lighted on the table, and Hans also cloaked by +his side. He bent his head in salutation, and put his finger to his +lips, giving one hand to Anne, and showing by example instead of +words that she must tread as softly as possible, as she perceived +that he was in his slippers, Hans carrying his boots as well as the +lantern she had used. Yet to her ears the roar of the advancing +tide seemed to stifle all other sounds. Past the other huts they +went in silence, then came a precipitous path up the cliff, steps +cut in the hard sandy grit, but very crumbling, and in places +supplemented by a rude ladder of sticks and rope. Peregrine went +before Anne, Hans behind. Each had hung the lantern from his neck, +so as to have hands free to draw her, support her, or lift her, as +might be needful. How it was done she never could tell in after +years. She might jestingly say that her lightened heart bore her +up, but in her soul and in her deeper moments she thought that truly +angels must have had charge over her. Up, up, up! At last they had +reached standing ground, a tolerably level space, with another high +cliff seeming to rise behind it. Here it was lighter--a pale streak +of dawn was spreading over the horizon, both on sky and sea, and the +waves still leaping glanced in the light of a golden waning moon, +while Venus shone in the brightening sky, a daystar of hope. + +Peregrine drew a long breath, and gave an order in a very low voice +in Dutch to Hans, who placed his boots before him, and went off +towards a shed. "He will bring you a pony," said his master. + +"Excuse me;" and he was withdrawing his hand, when Anne clasped it +with both hers, and said in a voice of intense feeling-- + +"Oh, how can I thank you and bless you! This _is_ putting the Evil +Angel to flight." + +"'Tis you that have done it! You see, I cannot do the wicked act +where you are," he answered gloomily, as he turned aside to draw on +his boots. + +"Ah! but you have won the victory over him!" + +"Do not be too sure. We are not out of reach of those rascals yet." + +He was evidently anxious for silence, and Anne said no more. Hans +presently brought from some unknown quarter, a little stout pony +bridled and saddled; of course not with a side saddle, but cloaks +were arranged so as to make a fairly comfortable seat for Anne, and +Peregrine led the animal on the ascent to St. Catherine's Down. It +was light enough to dispense with the lanterns, and as they mounted +higher the glorious sight of daybreak over the sea showed itself-- +almost due east, the sharp points of the Needles showing up in a +flood of pale golden light above and below, with gulls flashing +white as they floated into sunlight, all seeming to Anne's thankful +heart to be a new radiance of joy and hope after the dark roaring +terrors of the Chine. + +As they came out into the open freedom of the down, with crisp +silvery grass under their feet, the breadth of sea on one side, +before them fertile fields and hills, and farther away, dimly seen +in gray mist, the familiar Portsdown outlines, not a sound to be +heard but the exulting ecstasies of larks, far, far above in the +depths of blue, Peregrine dared to speak above his breath, with a +question whether Anne were at ease in her extemporary side saddle, +producing at the same time a slice of bread and meat, and a flask of +wine. + +"Oh, how kind! What care you take of me!" she said. "But where are +we going?" + +"Wherever you command," he said. "I had thought of Carisbrooke. +Cutts is there, and it would be the speediest way." + +"Would it not be the most dangerous for you?" + +"I care very little for my life after this." + +"Oh no, no, you must not say so. After what you are doing for me +you will be able to make it better than ever it has been. This is +what I thought. If you would bring me in some place whence I could +reach Sir Edmund Nutley's house at Parkhurst, his servants would +help me to do the rest, even if he be not there himself. I would +never betray you! You know I would not! And you would have full +time to get away to your place in Normandy with your friends." + +"You care?" asked he. + +"Of course I do!" exclaimed she. "Do I not feel grateful to you, +and like and honour you better than ever I could have thought?" + +"You do?" in a strange choked tone. + +"Of course I do. You are doing a noble, thankworthy thing. It is +not only that I thank you for _his_ sake, but it is a grand and +beautiful deed in itself; and if my dear mother know, she is +blessing you for it." + +"I shall remember those words," he said, "if--" and he passed his +hand over his eyes. "See here," he presently said; "I have written +out a confession of my identity, and explanation that it was I who +drew first on Archfield. It is enough to save him, and in case my +handwriting has altered, as I think it has, and there should be +further doubt, I shall be found at Pilpignon, if I get away. You +had better keep it in case of accidents, or if you carry out your +generous plan. Say whatever you please about me, but there is no +need to mention Barclay or Burford; and it would not be fair to the +honest free-traders here to explain where their Chine lies. I +should have brought you up blindfold, if I could have done so with +safety, not that _I_ do not trust you, but I should be better able +to satisfy those fellows if I ever see them again, by telling them I +have sworn you to secrecy." + +Then he laughed. "The gowks! I won all those Indian bonds of them +last night, but left them in a parcel addressed to them as a +legacy." + +Anne took the required pledge, and ventured to ask, "Shall I say +anything for you to your father?" + +"My poor old father! Let him know that I neither would nor could +disturb Robert in his inheritance, attainted traitor as the laws +esteem me. For the rest, mayhap I shall write to him if the good +angel you talk of will help me." + +"Oh do! I am sure he would rejoice to forgive. He is much +softened." + +"Now, we must hush, and go warily. I see sheep, and if there is a +shepherd, I want him not to see us, or point our way. It is well +these Isle of Wight folk are not early risers." + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV: LIFE FOR LIFE + + +"Follow Light, and do the Right--for man can half-control his doom-- +Till you find the deathless Angel seated in the vacant tomb. + +Forward, let the stormy moment fly and mingle with the Past. +I that loathed, have come to love him. Love will conquer at the last." + +TENNYSON. + +On they had gone in silence for the most part, avoiding villages, +but as the morning advanced and they came into more inhabited +places, they were not able entirely to avoid meeting labourers going +out to work, who stared at Hans's black face with curiosity. The +sun was already high when they reached a cross-road whence the +massive towers of Carisbrooke were seen above the hedges, and +another turn led to Parkhurst. They paused a moment, and Anne was +beginning to entreat her escort to leave her to proceed alone, when +the sound of horses' feet galloping was heard behind them. +Peregrine looked back. + +"Ah!" he said. "Ride on as fast as you can towards the castle. You +will be all right. I will keep them back. Go, I say." + +And as some figures were seen at the end of the road, he pricked the +pony with the point of his sword so effectually that it bolted +forward, quite beyond Anne's power of checking it, and in a second +or two its speed was quickened by shouts and shots behind. Anne +felt, but scarcely understood at the moment, a sharp pang and thrill +in her left arm, as the steed whirled her round the corner of the +lane and full into the midst of a party of gentlemen on horseback +coming down from the castle. + +"Help! help!" she cried. "Down there." + +Attacks by highwaymen were not uncommon experiences, though scarcely +at eight o'clock in the morning, or so near a garrison, but the +horsemen, having already heard the shots, galloped forward. Perhaps +Anne could hardly have turned her pony, but it chose to follow the +lead of its fellows, and in a few seconds they were in the midst of +a scene of utter confusion. Peregrine was grappling with Burford +trying to drag him from his horse. Both fell together, and as the +auxiliaries came in sight there was another shot and two more men +rode off headlong. + +"Follow them!" said a commanding voice. "What have we here?" + +The two struggling figures both lay still for a moment or two, but +as some of the riders drew them apart Peregrine sat up, though blood +was streaming down his breast and arm. "Sir," he said, "I am +Peregrine Oakshott, on whose account young Archfield lies under +sentence of death. If a magistrate will take my affidavit while I +can make it, he will be safe." + +Then Anne heard a voice exclaiming: "Oakshott! Nay--why, this is +Mistress Woodford! How came she here?" and she knew Sir Edmund +Nutley. Still it was Peregrine who answered-- + +"I captured her, in the hope of marrying her, but that cannot be--I +have brought her back in all safety and honour." + +"Sir! Sir, indeed he has been very good to me. Pray let him be +looked to." + +"Let him be carried to the castle," said the commander of the party, +a tall man sunburnt to a fiery red. "Is the other alive?" + +"Only stunned, my lord, I think and not much hurt," was the answer +of an attendant officer; "but here is a poor blackamoor dead." + +"Poor Hans! Best so perhaps," murmured Peregrine, as he was lifted. +Then in a voice of alarm, "Look to the lady, she is hurt." + +"It is nothing," cried she. "O Mr. Oakshott! that this should have +happened!" + +"My lord, this is the young gentlewoman I told you of, betrothed to +poor young Archfield," said Sir Edmund Nutley. + +Lord Cutts, for it was indeed William's favoured 'Salamander,' took +off his plumed hat in salutation, and both gentlemen perceiving that +she too was bleeding, she was solicitously invited to the castle, to +be placed under the charge of the lieutenant-governor's wife. She +found by this time that she was in a good deal of pain, and +thankfully accepted the support Sir Edmund offered her, when he +dismounted and walked beside her pony, while explanations passed +between them. The weather had prevented any communication with the +mainland, so that he was totally ignorant of her capture, and did +not know what had become of Mr. Fellowes. He himself had been just +starting with Lord Cutts, who was going to join the King for his +next campaign, and they were to represent the case to the King. +Anne told him in return what she dared to say, but she was becoming +so faint and dazed that she was in great fear of not saying what she +ought; and indeed she could hardly speak, when after passing under +the great gateway, she was lifted off her horse, at the door of the +dwelling-house, and helped upstairs to a bedroom, where the wife of +the lieutenant-governor, Mrs. Dudley, was very tender over her with +essences and strong waters, and a surgeon of the suite almost +immediately came to her. + +"Oh," she exclaimed, "you should be with Mr. Oakshott." + +The surgeon explained that Mr. Oakshott would have nothing done for +him till he had fully made and signed his deposition, in case the +power should afterwards be wanting. + +So Anne submitted to the dressing of her hurt, which was only a +flesh wound, the bone being happily untouched. Both the surgeon and +Mrs. Dudley urged her going to bed immediately, but she was +unwilling to put herself out of reach; and indeed the dressing was +scarcely finished before Sir Edmund Nutley knocked at the door to +ask whether she could admit him. + +"Lord Cutts is very desirous of speaking with you, if you are able," +he said. "Here has this other fellow come round, declaring that +Oakshott is the Pilpignon who was in the Barclay Plot, and besides, +the prime leader of the Black Gang, of whom we have heard so much." + +"The traitor!" cried Anne. "Poor Mr. Oakshott was resolved not to +betray him! How is he--Mr. Oakshott, I mean?" + +"The surgeon has him in his hands. We will send another from +Portsmouth, but it looks like a bad case. He made his confession +bravely, though evidently in terrible suffering, seeming to keep up +by force of will till he had totally exonerated Archfield and signed +the deposition, and then he fainted, so that I thought him dead, but +I fear he has more to go through. Can you come to the hall, or +shall I bring Lord Cutts to you? We must hasten in starting that we +may bring the news to Winchester to-night." + +Anne much preferred going to the hall, though she felt weak enough +to be very glad to lean on Sir Edmund's arm. + +Lord Cutts, William's high-spirited and daring officer, received her +with the utmost courtesy and kindness, inquired after her hurt, and +lamented having to trouble her, but said that though he would not +detain her long, her testimony was important, and he begged to hear +what had happened to her. + +She gave the account of her capture and journey as shortly as she +could. + +"Whither was she taken?" + +She paused. "I promised Mr. Oakshott for the sake of others--" she +said. + +"You need have no scruples on that score," said Lord Cutts. +"Burford hopes to get off for the murder by turning King's evidence, +and has told all." + +"Yes," added Sir Edmund; "and poor Oakshott managed to say, 'Tell +her she need keep nothing back. It is all up.'" + +So Anne answered all the questions put to her, and they were the +fewer both out of consideration for her condition, and because the +governor wanted to take advantage of the tide to embark on the +Medina. + +In a very few hours the Archfields would have no more fears. Anne +longed to go with Sir Edmund, but she was in no state for a ride, +and could not be a drag. Sir Edmund said that either his wife would +come to her at once and take her to Parkhurst, or else her uncle +would be sure to come for her. She would be the guest of Major and +Mrs. Dudley, who lived in the castle, the actual Lord Warden only +visiting it from time to time; and though Major Dudley was a stern +man, both were very kind to her. + +As a Whig, Major Dudley knew the Oakshott family, and was willing to +extend his hospitality even to the long-lost Peregrine. The Lord +Warden, who was evidently very favourably impressed, saying that +there was no need at present to treat him as a prisoner, but that +every attention should be paid to him, as indeed he was evidently a +dying man. Burford and another of his associates were to be carried +off, handcuffed, with the escort to Winchester jail, but before the +departure, the soldiers who had been sent to the Chine returned +baffled; the place was entirely deserted, and Barclay had escaped. + +Anne allowed herself to be put to bed, being indeed completely +exhausted, and scarcely able to think of anything but the one +blessed certainty that Charles was safe, and freed from all stigma. +When, after the pain in her arm lulled enough to allow her to sleep, +she had had a few hours' rest, she inquired for Peregrine, she heard +that for many hours the surgeon had been trying to extract the +balls, and that they considered that the second shot had made his +case hopeless, as it was in the body. He was so much exhausted as +to be almost unconscious; but the next morning, when Anne, against +the persuasions of her hostess, had risen and been dressed, though +still feeling weak and shaken, she received a message, begging her +to do him the great kindness of visiting him. + +Deadly pale, almost gray, as he looked, lying so propped with +pillows as to relieve his shattered shoulder, his face had a strange +look of peace, almost of relief, and he smiled at her as she +entered. He held out the hand he could use, and his first word was +of inquiry after her hurt. + +"That is nothing--it will soon be well; I wish it were the same with +you." + +"Nay, I had rather cheat the hangman. I told those doctors +yesterday that they were giving themselves and me a great deal of +useless trouble. The villains, as I told you, could not believe we +should not betray them, and meant to make an end of us all. It's +best as it is. My poor faithful Hans would never have had another +happy moment." + +"But you must be better, Peregrine," for his voice, though low, was +steady. + +"There's no living with what I have here," he said, laying his hand +on his side; "and--I dreamt of your mother last night." With the +words there was a look of gladness exceeding. + +"Ah! the Evil Angel is gone!" + +"I want your prayers that he may not come back at the last." Then, +as she clasped her hands, and her lips moved, he added, "There were +some things I could only say to you. If they don't treat my body as +that of an attainted traitor, let me lie at your mother's feet. +Don't disturb the big Scot for me, but let me rest at last near her. +Then tell Robin 'tis not out of want of regard for him that I have +not bequeathed Pilpignon to him, but he could do no good with a +French estate full of Papists; and there's a poor loyal fellow, +living ruined at Paris--a Catholic too--with a wife and children +half starved, to whom it will do more good." + +"I meant to ask--Shall a priest be sent for? Surely Major Dudley +would consent." + +"I don't know. I have not loved such priests lately. I had rather +die as near your mother as may be." + +"Miss Woodford," said a voice at the door, and going to it, Anne +found herself clasped in her uncle's arms. With very few words she +led him to the bedside, and the first thing he said was "God bless +you, Peregrine, for what you have done." + +Again Peregrine's face lighted up, but fell again when he was told +of the Portsmouth surgeon's arrival at the same time, saying with +one of his strange looks that it was odd sort of mercy to try to +cure a man for Jack Ketch, but that he should baffle them yet. + +"Do not set your mind on that," said Dr. Woodford, "for Lord Cutts +was so much pleased with you that he would do his utmost on your +behalf." + +"Much good that would do me," said poor Peregrine, setting his teeth +as his tormentor came in. + +Meantime, in Mrs. Dudley's parlour, while that good lady was +assisting the surgeon at the dressing, Anne and her uncle exchanged +information. Mr. Fellowes had arrived on foot at about noon, with +his servant, having only been released after two hours by a +traveller, and having been deprived both of money and horses, so +that he could not proceed on his journey; besides that he had given +the alarm about the abduction, and raised the hue and cry at the +villages on his way. There had been great distress, riding and +searching, and the knowledge had been kept from poor Charles +Archfield in his prison. Mr. Fellowes had gone on to London as soon +as possible, and Dr. Woodford had just returned from a fruitless +attempt to trace his niece, when Sir Edmund Nutley and Lord Cutts +appeared, with the joyful tidings, which, however, could be hardly +understood. + +Nothing, Dr. Woodford said, could be more thorough than the +vindication of Charles Archfield. Peregrine had fully stated that +the young man had merely interposed to prevent the pursuit of Anne +Woodford, that it was he himself who had made the first attack, and +that his opponent had been forced to fight in self-defence. Lord +Cutts had not only shown his affidavit to Sir Philip, but had paid a +visit to the Colonel himself in his prison, had complimented him +highly on his services in the Imperial army, only regretting that +they had not been on behalf of his own country, and had assured him +of equal, if not superior rank, in the British army if he would join +it on the liberation that he might reckon upon in the course of a +very few days. + +"How did you work on the unhappy young man to bring about this +blessed change?" asked the Doctor. + +"Oh, sir, I do not think it was myself. It was first the mercy of +the Almighty, and then my blessed mother's holy memory working on +him, revived by the sight of myself. I cannot describe to you how +gentle, and courteous, and respectful he was to me all along, though +I am sure those dreadful men mocked at him for it. Do you know +whether his father has heard?" + +"Robert Oakshott is gone in search of him. He had set off to beat +up the country, good old man, to obtain signatures to the petition +in favour of our prisoner, and Robert expected to find him with Mr. +Chute at the Vine. It is much to that young man's credit, niece, he +was so eager to see his brother that he longed to come with me +himself; but he thought that the shock to his father would be so +great that he ought to bear the tidings himself. And what do you +think his good wife is about? Perhaps you did not know that Sedley +Archfield brought away jail fever with him, and Mrs. Oakshott, +feeling that she was the cause by her hasty action, has taken +lodgings for him in Winchester, and is nursing him like a sister. +No. You need not fear for your colonel, my dear maid. Sedley +caught the infection because he neither was, nor wished to be, +secluded from the rest of the prisoners, some of whom were, I fear, +only too congenial society to him. But now tell me the story of +your own deliverance, which seems to me nothing short of +miraculous." + +The visit of the Portsmouth surgeon only confirmed Peregrine's own +impression that it was impossible that he should live, and he was +only surviving by the strong vitality in his little, spare, wiry +frame. Dr. Woodford, after hearing Anne's story, thought it well to +ask him whether he would prefer the ministrations of a Roman +Catholic priest; but whether justly or unjustly, Peregrine seemed to +impute to that Church the failure to exorcise the malignant spirit +which had led him to far worse aberrations than he had confessed to +Anne. Though by no means deficient in knowledge or controversian +theology, as Dr. Woodford soon found in conversation with him, his +real convictions were all as to what personally affected him, and +his strong Protestant ingrain education, however he might have +disavowed it, no doubt had affected his point of view. He had +admired and been strongly influenced by the sight of real devotion +and holiness, though as his temptations and hatred of monotony +recurred, he had more than once swung back again. Then, however, he +had been revolted by the perception of the concessions to popular +superstition and the morality of a wicked state of society. His +real sense of any religion had been infused by Mrs. Woodford, and to +her belongings, and the faith they involved, he was clinging in +these last days. + +Dr. Woodford could not but be glad that thus it was, not only on the +penitent's own account, but on that of the father, who might have +lost the comfort of finding him truly repentant in the shock of +finding a Popish priest at his bedside. And indeed the contrition +seemed to have gathered force in many a past fit of remorse, and now +was deep but not unhopeful. + +In the evening the father and brother arrived. The Major was now an +old man, hale indeed, and with the beauty that a pure, self- +restrained life often sheds on an aged man. He was much shaken, and +when he came in, with his own white hair on his shoulders, and +actually tears in his eyes, the look that passed between them was +like nothing but the spirit of the parable so often, but never too +often, repeated. + +Peregrine, who never perhaps had spent a happy or fearless hour with +him, and had dreaded his coming, felt probably for the first time +the mysterious sense of home and peace given by the presence of +those between whom there is the tie of blood. Not many words +passed; he was hardly in a state for them, but from that time, he +was never so happy as when his father and brother were beside him; +and they seldom left him, the Major sitting day and night by his +pillow attending to his wants, or saying words of prayer. + +The old man had become much softened, by nothing more perhaps than +watching the way in which his daughter-in-law dealt with the +manifestations of the Oakshott imp nature in her eldest child. + +"If I had understood," he said to Dr. Woodford. "If I had so +treated that poor boy, never would he have been as he is now." + +"You acted according to your conscience." + +"Ah, sir! a man does not grow old without learning that the +conscience may be blinded, above all by the spirit of opposition and +party." + +"I will not say there were no mistakes," said the Doctor; "and yet, +sir, the high standard, sound principle, and strong faith he learnt +from you and your example have prevailed to bear him through." + +The Major answered with a groan, but added, "And yet, even now, +stained as he tells me he is, and cut off in the flower of his age, +I thank my God and his Saviour, and after Him, you and yours, that I +am happier about him than I have been these eight and twenty years." + +With no scruple, Major Oakshott threw his heart into the +ministrations of Dr. Woodford, which Peregrine declared kept at bay +the Evil Angel who more than once seemed to his consciousness to be +striving to make him despair, while friend and father brought him +back to the one hope. + +From time to time Anne visited him for a short interval, always to +his joy and gratitude. There was one visit at last which all knew +would be the final one, when she shared in his first and last +English Communion. As she was about to leave him, he held her hand, +and signed to her to bend down to hear him better. "If you can, let +good Father Seyton at Douai know that peace is come--the Evil One +beaten, thanks to Him who giveth us the victory--and I thank them +all there--and ask their prayers." + +"I will, I will." + +Some one at the door said, "May I come in?" + +There was a sunburnt face, a head with long brown hair, a white +coat. + +"Archfield?" asked Peregrine. "Come, send me away with pardon." + +"'Tis yours I need;" and as Charles knelt by the bed the two faces, +one all health, the other gray and deathly, were close together. +"You have given your life for mine, and given _her_. How shall I +thank you?" + +"Make her happy. She deserves it." + +Charles clasped her hand with a look that was enough. Then with a +strange smile, half sweetness, half the contortion of a mortal pang, +the dying man said, "May she kiss me once?" + +And when her lips had touched the cold damp brow-- + +"There--My fourth seven. At last! The change is come. Old-- +impish--evil--self left behind. At last! Thanks to Him who treads +down Satan under our feet. Thanks! Take her away now." + +Charles took her away, scarce knowing where they went,--out into the +spring sunshine, on the slopes above the turf bowling-green, where +the captive King had beguiled his weary hours. Only then would awe +and emotion let them speak, though his arm was round her, her hand +in his, and his first words were, as he looked at the scarf that +still bore up her arm, "And this is what you have borne for me?" + +"It is all but healed. Don't think of it." + +"I shall all my life! Poor fellow, he might well bid me deserve +you. I never can. 'Tis to you I owe all. I believe, indeed, the +ambassador might have claimed me, but he is so tardy that probably I +should have been hanged long before the proper form was ready; and +it would have been to exile, and with a tainted name. You have won +for me the clearing of name and honour--home, parents and child and +all, besides your sweet self." + +"And it was not me, but he whom we so despised and dreaded. Had I +not been seized, I could only have implored for you." + +"I know this, that if you had not been what you are, my boy would +have borne a dishonoured name, and we should never have been +together as now." + +It was in truth their first meeting in freedom and security as +lovers; but it could only be in a grave, quiet fashion, under the +knowledge that he, to whom their re-union was chiefly owing, was +breathing out the life he had sacrificed for them. Thus they only +gently and in a low voice went over their past doings and feelings +as they walked up and down together, till Dr. Woodford came in the +sunset to tell them that the change so longed for had come in peace, +and with a smile that told of release from the Evil Angel. + +* * * * * + +Peregrine's wish was fulfilled, and he was buried in Portchester +Churchyard at Mrs. Woodford's feet. This time it was Mr. +Horncastle, old as he was, who preached the funeral sermon, the In +Memoriam of our forefathers; and by special desire of Major Oakshott +took for his text, 'At evening time there shall be light.' He +spoke, sometimes in a voice broken, as much by feeling as by age, of +the childhood blighted by a cruel superstition, and perverted, as he +freely made confession, by discipline without comprehension, because +no confidence had been sought. Then ensued a tribute of earnest, +generous justice to her who had done her best to undo the warp in +the boy's nature, and whose blessed influence the young man had +owned to the last, through all the temptations, errors, and frenzies +of his life. Nor did the good man fail to make this a means of +testifying to the entire neighbourhood, who had flocked to hear him, +all that might be desirable to be known respecting the conflict at +Portchester, actually reading Peregrine's affidavit, as indeed was +due to Colonel Archfield, so as to prove that this was no mere +pardon, though technically it had so to stand, but actual acquittal. +Nor was the struggle with evil at the end forgotten, nor the +surrender alike of love and of hatred, as well as of his own life, +which had been the final conquest, the decisive passing from +darkness to light. + +It was a strange sermon according to present ideas, but not to those +who had grown up to the semi-political preaching of the century then +in its last decade; and it filled many eyes with tears, many hearts +with a deeper spirit of that charity which hopeth all things. + +* * * * * + +A month later Charles Archfield and Anne Jacobina Woodford were +married at the little parish church of Fareham. Sir Philip insisted +on making it a gay and brilliant wedding, in order to demonstrate to +the neighbourhood that though the maiden had been his grandson's +governess, she was a welcomed and honoured acquisition to the +family. Perhaps too he perceived the error of his middle age, when +he contrasted that former wedding, the work of worldly +conventionality, with the present. In the first, an unformed, +undeveloped lad, unable to understand his own true feelings and +affections had been passively linked to a shallow, frivolous, ill- +trained creature, utterly incapable of growing into a helpmeet for +him; whereas the love and trust of the stately-looking pair, in the +fresh bloom of manhood and womanhood, had been proved in the furnace +of trial, so that the troth they plighted had deep foundation for +the past, and bright hope for the future. + +Nor was anybody more joyous than little Philip, winning his Nana for +a better mother to him than his own could ever have been + +It was in a blue velvet coat that Colonel Archfield was married. He +had resigned his Austrian commission; and though the 'Salamander,' +was empowered to offer him an excellent staff appointment in the +English army, he decided to refuse. Sir Philip showed signs of +having been aged and shaken by the troubles of the winter, and +required his son's assistance in the care of his property, and +little Philip was growing up to need a father's hand, so that +Charles came to the conclusion that there was no need to cross the +old Cavalier's dislike to the new regime, nor to make his mother and +wife again suffer the anxieties of knowing him on active service, +while his duties lay at home. + +Sedley Archfield, after a long illness, owed recovery both in body +and mind to Mrs. Oakshott, and by her arrangement finally obtained a +fresh commission in a regiment raised for the defence of the +possessions of the East India Company. And that the poor changeling +was still tenderly remembered might be proved by the fact that when +the bells rung for Queen Anne's coronation there was one baby +Peregrine at Fareham and another at Oakwood. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A REPUTED CHANGELING*** + + +******* This file should be named 12449.txt or 12449.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/4/12449 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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