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diff --git a/35670.txt b/35670.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..74432fc --- /dev/null +++ b/35670.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14180 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of No Quarter!, by Mayne Reid + +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: No Quarter! + +Author: Mayne Reid + +Release Date: March 24, 2011 [EBook #35670] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NO QUARTER! *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +No Quarter! +By Captain Mayne Reid +Published by Hurst and Company, New York. +This edition dated 1890. + +No Quarter! by Captain Mayne Reid. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +________________________________________________________________________ +NO QUARTER! BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID. + + + +PROLOGUE. + +There is no page in England's history so bright, nor of which Englishmen +have such reason to be proud, as that covering the period between 1640 +and 1650. This glorious decade was ushered in by the election of the +"Long Parliament," and I challenge the annals of all nations, ancient or +modern, to show an assembly in which sat a greater number of statesmen +and patriots. Brave as pure, fearless in the discharge of their +difficult and dangerous duties, they faltered not in the performance of +them--shrank not from impeaching a traitor to his country, and bringing +his head to the block, even when it carried a crown. True to their +consciences, as to their constituencies, they left England a heritage of +honour that for long haloed her escutcheon, and even to this hour throws +its covering screen over many a deed of shame. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"Be a King?" + +"Am I not one?" + +"In name--nothing more. Ah! were I a man and in your place?" + +"What would you do?" + +"Give your island churls a taste of kingship, as we know it in France. +My brother wouldn't let his subjects so beard him. Oh, it's +abominable!" + +"Ah, _chere_; for subjects your brother has a very different sort of +people to deal with. In France they're not yet come to clamouring for +what they call their rights and liberties. Here in England they've got +Magna Charta into their heads--to a craze." + +"I'd have it out of their heads, or have their heads off. _Ciel_! I'd +reign King as King should, or resign. No! not resign. Sooner than that +I'd waste the country with fire and sword--make it a wilderness." + +It was Henrietta, wife of Charles the First, who thus expressed herself +to her husband. They were alone in the gardens of Whitehall Palace, +sauntering side by side on a terrace overlooking the Thames, the +afternoon being an unusually fine one. As they made a turn which +brought Westminster Hall before their eyes, the angry fire in those of +the Queen flashed up again, and she added-- + +"Anything but be dictated to by that _canaille_ of a Parliament! +Anything but let them go on as now?" + +"How am I to hinder it, Henriette?" the King timidly interrogated. + +"Dismiss--send them packing back to their constituencies, and let them +prate away there as much as they please. Dissolve and do without them, +as you've done before." + +"That would be to do without the money we so much need. My subjects are +determined to resist every tax levied under Privy Seal or otherwise. I +can no longer raise loan or sell monopoly. Your own secretary, Sir John +Wintour, has just been telling me how the people of Dean Forest have +been harassing him about the grant we gave him of its timber and mines. +Impossible now to obtain the most insignificant supplies without their +being sanctioned by this _cabal_ called Parliament." + +"Then make the _cabal_ sanction them." + +"But how, _chere_?" + +"Have a score or two of them arrested--lodged in the Tower; and let +Monsieur Tom Lunsford take care of them. He'll soon cure them of their +seditious inclinings." + +"To do that were as much as my crown's worth." + +"If't be worth no more, you may as well cease wearing it. Fling it into +the Thames, or melt it down and sell it to the Ludgate Street goldsmiths +for old metal. Shame of you, Charles! You talk of kingly rights, yet +fail to exercise them--fear it?" + +"My subjects talk of rights, too." + +"Yes, and you encourage them--by your timidity. Ever on your knees +begging this and begging that, when a true king would command. +Subjects, indeed! more like our masters. But I'd teach them obedience. +What would they be without a king? What were they born for but to +administer to our wants and our pleasures?" + +Words worthy of a Medici; the sentiments of a queen two centuries and a +half ago. Yet not so very different from those entertained by most +Royal personages at the present day and hour. But few of them who would +not sit placidly upon their thrones, see subjects slain, and realms +reduced to desolation, rather than resign crown or yield up one iota of +what they are pleased to call their prerogative. How could it be +otherwise? Environed by sycophantic flatterers, heads bowing, knees +bending, tongues eternally bepraising; things in human shape giving them +adoration as to God Himself--ay, greater than to God--how could it be +otherwise? Not so strange that this proud, pampered woman, from her +cradle accustomed to such slavish obedience, should verily believe it +but her due. + +"_Their_ rights?" she continued, with a satirical laugh. "An absurd +notion they've got into their Saxon skulls. Ah! _mon mari_, were I you +for a month--for a week--I'd have it out--stamp it out--I would." + +And to give emphasis to her speech, she stamped her foot upon the +ground. + +A pretty foot it was, and still a handsome woman she, this daughter of +the Medicis, notwithstanding her being now somewhat _passe_. Ambitious +as Catherine herself--"that mother of a race of kings"--intriguing, +notoriously dissolute, not the less did Charles love her. Perhaps the +more, for the cuckoo's cry is a wonderful incentive to passion, as to +jealousy. He doted upon her with foolish fondness--would have done +anything she commanded, even murder. And to more than this was she now +instigating him; for it was to stifle, trample out the liberties of a +nation, no matter at what cost in life or blood. + +Wicked as were her counsels, he would have followed them and willingly, +could he have seen his way clear to success. Men still talk of his +kindly nature--in face of the fact, proved by irresistible evidence, +that he rejoiced at the massacre of the Protestants in Ireland, to say +naught of many other instances of inhumanity brought home to this +so-called "Martyr King." He may not have been--was not--either a Nero +or a Theebaw; and with his favourites and familiars no doubt behaved +amicably enough; at the same time readily sacrificing them when danger +threatened himself. To his wife his fidelity and devotion were such as +to have earned for him the epithet "uxorious," a title which can be more +readily conceded. But in his affection for her--whether upheld by +respect or not--there was a spice of fear. He knew all about the +scandals relating to her mother, Marie of France, with Richelieu, and +his own and father's favourite, the assassinated Buckingham, now +sleeping in his grave. Charles more than suspected, as did all the +world besides, that this same Queen-mother had sent her husband--king as +himself--to an untimely tomb by a "cup of cold poison." And oft as the +dark Italian eyes of her daughter flashed upon him in anger, he felt +secret fear she might some day serve him as had her mother the ill-fated +monarch of France. She was of a race and a land whence such danger +might be reasonably expected and dreaded. Lucrezia Borgia and Tophana +were not the only great female poisoners Italy has produced. + +"If you've no care for yourself, then," she went on with untiring +persistence, "think of our children. Think of him," and she nodded +towards a gaudily-dressed stripling of some ten or twelve, seen coming +towards them. It was he who, twenty years after, under the seemingly +innocent soubriquet of "Merry Monarch," made sadness in many a family +circle, smouching England's escutcheon all over with shame, scarce +equalled in the annals of France. + +"_Pauvre enfant_!" she exclaimed, as he came up, passing her jewelled +fingers through the curls of his hair; "your father would leave you +bereft of your birthright; some day to be a king with a worthless +crown." + +The "pauvre enfant," a sly young wretch, smiled in return for her +caresses, looking dark at his father. Young as he was, he knew what was +meant, and took sides with his mother. She had already well +indoctrinated him with the ideas of Divine Right, as understood by a +Medici. + +"_Peste_!" exclaimed the King, looking vexed, possibly at the allusion +to a successor; "were I to follow your counsels, Madam, it might result +in my leaving him no crown at all." + +"Then leave him none!" she said in quick return, and with an air of +jaunty indifference. "Perhaps better so. I, his mother, would rather +see him a peasant than prince, with such a future as you are laying out +for him." + +"Sire, the Earl of Strafford craves audience of your Majesty." + +This was said by a youth in the official costume of the Court, who had +approached from the Palace, and stood with head bent before the King. + +A remarkably handsome young fellow he was, and the Queen, as she turned +her eyes on him, seemed to recover sweetness of temper. + +"I suppose my company will be _de trop_ now," she said. Then facing +towards the youth, and bestowing upon him one of her syren smiles--slyly +though--she added, "Here, Eustace; bring this to my boudoir," and she +handed him a large book, a _portfeuille_ of pictures, she had been all +the while carrying. + +Whether the King caught sight of that smile, and read something wrong in +it, or not, he certainly seemed irritated, hastily interposing-- + +"No, Henriette, I'd rather have you stay." + +"_Con tout plaisir_." A slight cloud upon her brow told the contrary. +"Charles, too?" + +"No; he can go. Yes, Trevor. Conduct the Lord Strafford hither." + +Eustace Trevor, as the handsome youth was called, bowing, turned and +went off, the Prince with him. Then said the King-- + +"I wish you to hear what Strafford has to say on the subject we've been +talking of." + +"Just what I wish myself," she rejoined, resuming her air of _braverie_. +"If you won't listen to me, a weak woman, perhaps you will to him, a +man--_one of courage_." + +Charles writhed under her speech, the last words of it. Even without +the emphasis on them, they were more than an insinuation that he himself +lacked that quality men are so proud of, and women so much admire. +Almost a direct imputation, as if she had called him "coward!" But +there was no time for him to make retort, angry or otherwise, even had +he dared. The man seeking audience was already in the garden, and +within earshot. So, swallowing his chagrin as he best could, and +putting on the semblance of placidity, the King in silence awaited his +coming up. + +With an air of confident familiarity, and as much nonchalance as though +they had been but ordinary people, Strafford approached the royal pair. +The Queen had bestowed smiles on him too; he knew he had her +friendship--moreover that she was the King's master. He had poured +flattery into her ears, as another Minister courtier of later time into +those of another queen--perhaps the only point of resemblance between +the two men, otherwise unlike as Hyperion to the Satyr. With all his +sins, Wentworth had redeeming qualities; he was at least a brave man and +somewhat of a gentleman. + +"What do you say to this, my lord?" asked the Queen, as he came up. +"I've been giving the King some counsel; advising him to dissolve the +Parliament, or at least do something to stop them in their wicked +courses. Favour us with your opinion, my lord." + +"My opinion," answered the Minister, making his bow, "corresponds with +that of your Majesty. _Certes_, half-hand measures will no longer avail +in dealing with these seditious gabblers. There's a dozen of them +deserve having their heads chopped off." + +"Just what I've been saying!" triumphantly exclaimed the Queen. "You +hear that, _mon mari_?" + +Charles but nodded assent, waiting for his Minister to speak further. + +"At the pace they're going now, Sire," the latter continued, "they'll +soon strip you of all prerogative--leave you of Royalty but the rags." + +"_Ciel_, yes!" interposed the Queen. "And our poor children! What's to +become of them?" + +"I've just been over to the House," proceeded Strafford; "and to hear +them is enough to make one tear his hair. There's that Hampden, with +Heselrig, Vane, and Harry Martin--Sir Robert Harley too--talking as if +England had no longer a king, and they themselves were its rulers." + +"Do you tell me that, Strafford?" + +It was Charles himself who interrogated, now showing great excitement, +which the Queen's "I told you so" strengthened, as she intended it. + +"With your Majesty's permission, I do," responded the Minister. + +"By God's splendour!" exclaimed the indignant monarch, "I'll read them a +different lesson--show them that England _has_ a king--one who will +hereafter reign as king should--absolute--absolute!" + +"Thank you, _mon ami_," said the Queen, in a side whisper to Strafford, +as she favoured him with one of her most witching smiles, "He'll surely +do something now." + +The little bit of by-play was unobserved by Charles, the gentleman-usher +having again come up to announce another applicant for admission to the +presence: an historical character, too--historically infamous--for it +was Archbishop Laud. + +Soon after the oily ecclesiastic was seen coming along in a gliding, +stealthy gait, as though he feared giving offence by approaching royalty +too brusquely. His air of servile obsequiousness was in striking +contrast with the bold bearing of the visitor who had preceded him. As +he drew near, his features, that bore the stamp of his low birth and +base nature, were relaxed to their meekest and mildest; a placid smile +playing on his lips, as though they had never told a lie, or himself +done murder! + +_Au fait_ to all that concerned the other three--every secret of Court +and Crown--for he was as much the King's Minister as Strafford, he was +at once admitted to their council, and invited to take part in their +conspirings. Appealed to, as the other had been, he gave a similar +response. Strong measures should be taken. He knew the Queen wished it +so, for it was not his first conference with her on that same subject. + +Strafford was not permitted time to impart to his _trio_ of listeners +the full particulars of the cruel scheme, which some say, and with much +probability, had its origin in Rome. For the guests of the gay Queen, +expected every afternoon at Whitehall, began to arrive, interrupting the +conference. + +Soon the palace garden became lustrous with people in splendid apparel, +the _elite_ of the land still adhering to the King's cause--plumed +cavaliers, with dames old and young, though youth predominated, but not +all of high degree, either in the male or female element. As in modern +garden parties given by royalty, there was a mixture, both socially and +morally, strange even to grotesqueness. The Franco-Italian Queen, with +all her grand ideas of Divine Right and high Prerogative, was not loth +to lay them down and aside when they stood in the way of her pleasures. +She could be a very leveller where self-interest required it; and this +called for it now. The King's failing popularity needed support from +all sides, classes, and parties, bad or good, humble or gentle; and in +the assemblage she saw around her--there by her own invitation--such +high bloods as Harry Jermyn, Hertford, Digby, Coningsby, Scudamore, and +the like, touched sleeves with men of low birth and lower character-- +very reprobates, as Lunsford, afterwards designated "the bloody," and +the notorious desperado, David Hide! The feminine element was equally +paralleled by what may be seen in many "society" gatherings of the +present day--virtuous ladies brushing skirts with stage courtesans, and +others who figure under the name of "professional beauties," many of +them bearing high titles of nobility, but now debasing them. + +Henrietta, in her usual way, had a pleasant word and smile for all; more +for the men than the women, and sweeter for the younger ones than the +old ones. But even to the gilded youth they were not distributed +impartially. Handsome Harry Jermyn, hitherto reigning favourite, and +having the larger share of them, had reason to suspect that his star was +upon the wane, when he saw the Queen's eyes ever and anon turned towards +another courtier handsome as himself, with more of youth on his side-- +Eustace Trevor. The latter, relieved from his duty as gentleman-usher, +had joined the party in the garden. Socially, he had all right to be +there. Son of a Welsh knight, he could boast of ancestry old as +Caractacus, some of his forbears having served under Harry of Monmouth, +and borne victorious banners at Agincourt. But boasting was not in +Eustace Trevor's line, nor conceit of any sort--least of all vanity +about his personal appearance. However handsome others thought him, he +himself was quite unconscious of it. Equally so of the Queen's +admiration; callous to the approaches she had commenced making, to the +chagrin of older favourites. Not that he was of a cold or passionless +nature; simply because Henriette de Medici, though a Queen, a beautiful +woman as well, was not the one destined to inspire his first passion. +For as yet he knew not love. But recently having become attached to the +Court in an official capacity, he thought only of how he might best +perform the duties that had been assigned him. + +Though there might be many envies, jealousies, even bitter heartburnings +among the people who composed that glittering throng, they were on the +whole joyous and jubilant. A whisper had gone round of the King's +determination to return to his old ways, and once more boldly confront +what they called the aggressions of the Parliament. These concerned +them all, for they were all of the class and kind who preyed upon the +people. Groups gathered here and there were merry in mutual +congratulations on their fine prospects for the future; hoping that, +like the past, it would afford them free plunder of the nation's purse +and resources--ship tax, coal and conduit money once more, loans by +Privy Seal, and sale of monopolies--all jobberies and robberies +restored! + +But just at that moment of general rejoicing, as a bombshell bursting in +the midst of a military camp or regiment of soldiers in close column, +came a thing that, first setting them in a flutter, soon seriously +alarmed them. A thing of human shape withal; a man in official robes, +the uniform of a Parliamentary usher from the Lords. He was announced +as waiting outside, rather claiming than craving an interview, which the +King dared not deny him. + +Summoned into the Audience Chamber, where Charles had gone to receive +him, he presented the latter with a document, the reading of which +caused him to tremble and turn pale. For it was a Bill of Attainder +that had been agreed to by both Houses against Thomas Wentworth, Earl of +Strafford. The fluttering among the courtiers became fright, when the +King, returning to the garden, made known the usher's errand. To his +familiars at first, but it soon passed from lip to lip and ear to ear. +None seemed so little affected as Strafford himself. Sin-hardened, he +was also endowed with indomitable courage, and maintained a bold, high +bearing to the last of his life, even to the laying his head upon the +block--an episode which soon after succeeded,--the craven monarch +signing his death warrant as if it had been a receipt for one of his +loans by Privy Seal. + +Far more frightened by the Parliamentary message was Archbishop Laud. +For him no more pleasure that day in the gardens of Whitehall. His +smiles and simpering all gone, with pallid cheek and clouded brow, the +wretched ecclesiastic wandered around among the courtiers, seeming +distraught. And so was he. For in that Bill of Attainder he read his +own doom--read it aright. + +Grand, glorious Parliament, that knew not only how to impeach, but +punish the betrayers of the people! Knew also how to maintain its own +dignity and honour; as on a later occasion, when the King, once more +maddened by the stinging taunts of his wicked wife, entered the august +assembly with an escort of bullies and bravoes--Lunsford and Hide among +them--to arrest six of England's most illustrious patriots: an attempt +eminently unsuccessful--an intrusion handsomely resented. As the +disappointed monarch and his disreputable following turned to go out +again, it was with a wonderful come-down in their swagger. For along +the line of seats, on both sides of the House, they saw men with +scowling faces and hats on their heads; heard, too, in chorus clearly, +loudly repeated, the significant cry--"Privilege!" + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +A SWORD DUEL IN THE SADDLE. + +"He who is not a Republican must either have a bad head or a bad heart." + +The speaker was a man of military mien, cavalry arm, as could be told by +his seat in the saddle--for he was on horseback. Not in military +uniform, however, but dressed in a plain doublet of dark grey cloth, +with a broad Vandyke collar, high-crowned hat, buff boots reaching above +the knees, and turned over at the tips. Nor did his wearing a sword +certify to his being a soldier. In those days no one went without such +weapon, especially when on a journey, as he was. Thirty, or +thereabouts, he looked a little older through his complexion being +sun-browned, as from foreign service or travel; which had also left its +traces in his hair, a strand or two of silver beginning to show in a +_chevelure_ otherwise coal-black. His fine sweeping moustaches, +however, were still free from this betrayer of middle age; while his +well-balanced figure, lithe and tersely set, bespoke the activity of a +yet youthful manhood. His features, oval and regular, were of a type +denoting firmness; handsome, too, with their tint of bronze, which lent +interest to them, lit up as they were by the flashing of eagle eyes. +For flash these did excitedly, almost angrily, as he so declared +himself. By his speech he should be a Puritan, of extremest views; for +that he meant what he said was as evident from the emphasis given to his +words as from the expression on his face. Still, his hair showed not +the close crop of the "Roundhead;" instead, fell down in curling +luxuriance as affected by the "Cavalier;" while a plume of cock's +feathers set jauntily on the side of his hat gave him more the air of +the latter than the former, in contradiction to the sentiment expressed. + +There could be no mistaking to which belonged the personage to whom he +addressed his speech. Of the Cavalier class sure, as the effect it +produced upon him would have told of itself. But the style of his +dress, air, bearing, everything proclaimed him one. A youth not yet +turned twenty, in garb of silken sheen; coat and trunks of rich yellow +satin, Cordovan leather boots, with a wide fringe of lace around the +tops; spurs gilt or of gold, and a beaver over which waved a _panache_ +of ostrich feathers, upheld in a jewelled clasp. His sword belt of silk +velvet was elaborately embroidered, the needlework looking as though it +came from the fingers of a lady who had worked with a will and _con +amore_; the gauntlets of his white gloves ornamented in a similar +fashion by the same. Handsome he, too, but of manly beauty, quite +differing from that of the other, even to contrast. With a bright, +radiant complexion, and blonde hair falling in curls over his cheeks, +yet unbearded, his features were of the type termed aristocratic; such +as Endymion possessed, and Phidias would have been delighted to secure +for a model. Habitually and openly wearing a gentle expression, there +was, at the same time, one more latent, which bespoke intellectual +strength and courage of no common kind. Passionate anger, too, when +occasion called for it, seeming to say, "Don't put upon me too much, or +you'll find your mistake." + +Just such a cast came over them as he listened to what the other said; a +declaration like defiance, flung in his teeth. Although meant as the +clincher of a political argument which had been for some time going on +between them, the young Cavalier, taken aback by its boldness, and +doubtful of having heard aright, turned sharply upon the other, +asking,-- + +"What's that you said, sir?" + +"That the man who is not a Republican must either have a bad head or a +bad heart." + +This time more emphatically, as though nettled by the tone of the +other's interrogative. + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the youth reining up, for they were riding along a +road. + +"Indeed, yes," returned the older man, also drawing bridle. "Or if you +prefer it in another form, he who is not a Republican must be either a +knave or a fool." + +"You're a knave to say so!" cried the silken youth, whose rising wrath +had now gathered to a head, his hand as he spoke crossing to the hilt of +his sword. + +"Well, youngster," rejoined the other, seeming, on the contrary, to +become calmer, and speaking with a composure strange under the +circumstances, "that's speech plain enough, and rude enough. It almost +tempts me to retort by calling you a fool. But I won't; only, if you +value your life you must withdraw your words." + +"Not one of them! Never, so long as I wear a sword. You shall eat +yours first?" and he whipped out his rapier. + +Though journeying side by side, they were quite strangers to one +another, an accident having brought them together upon the road, both +going in the same direction. It was up the steep declivity leading from +the town of Mitcheldean into the Forest, near the point where now stands +a mansion called "The Wilderness." Nor were they altogether alone, two +other horsemen, their respective body servants, riding at a little +distance behind. It was after surmounting the slope, and having got +upon level ground, that their conflict of words reached the climax +described, likely to end in one of blows. For to this the fiery youth +seemed determined on pushing it. + +Not so the other. On the contrary, he still sat composedly in his +saddle, no sign of drawing sword, exhibiting a _sang froid_ curiously in +contrast with the warmth he had shown in the wordy disputation. It +surely could not be cowardice? If so, it must be of the most craven +kind, after that demand for withdrawal of the insulting words. + +And as such the Cavalier conceived, or misconceived, it, crying out,-- + +"Draw, caitiff! Defend yourself, if you don't want me to kill you in +cold blood!" + +"Ha-ha-ha!" laughed the other, lightly and satirically. "It's just +because I don't want to kill _you_ in cold blood that I hesitate baring +my blade." + +"A subterfuge--a lie!" shouted the youth, stung to madness by the +implied taunt of his inferiority. "Do your best and worst. Draw, +sirrah, or I'll run you through. Draw, I say!" + +"Oh, don't be in such a hurry. If I must I must, and, to oblige you, +will, though it dislikes me to do murder--all the more that you've a +spark of spirit. But--" + +"Do it if you can," interrupted the Cavalier, unheeding the compliment. +"I've no fear of your murdering _me_. Maybe the boot will be on the +other leg." + +Again that strange expression came over the face of the older man, +half-admiration, half-compassion, with a scarce discernible element of +anger in it. Even yet he appeared reluctant to draw his sword, and only +did so when the opprobrious epithet _Lache_--for the Cavaliers spoke a +smattering of French--was flung into his teeth by his now furious +antagonist. At this, unsheathing, he called out,-- + +"Your blood be on your own head. To guard!" + +"For God and the King!" cried the challenger, as he tightened grasp on +hilt and rein, setting himself firmly in the saddle. + +"For God and the People!" followed the response antagonistic. + +A prick of the spur by both, a bound forward, and their blades crossed +with a clash, their horses shoulder to shoulder. But on the instant of +engaging, that of the Cavalier, frayed by the clink of the steel and its +flash in the dazzling sunlight, reared up, pivoting round to the right. +This brought his rider left side to his antagonist, giving the latter an +advantage: and so decided, it seemed as though he could bring the affair +to an end at the moment of commencement. For his own better-trained +steed had stood ground, and wanted only another touch of the spur to +carry him close enough for commanding the bridle arm of his adversary, +and all under it, when with a lunge he might thrust him through. Surely +he could have done this! Yet neither spur nor sword were so exerted. +Instead, he sat quietly in his saddle, as if waiting for his adversary +to recover himself! Which the latter soon did, wheeling short round, +and again furiously engaging; by a second misconception, unaware of the +mercy shown him. This time as they came to the "engage" the Cavalier's +horse behaved better, standing ground till several thrusts and parades +were exchanged between them. Clearly the silk-clad youth was no novice +at fencing, but as clearly the other was a master of it, and equally +accomplished as a horseman; his horse, too, so disciplined as to give +him little bother with the bridle. A spectator, if a connoisseur in the +_art d'escrime_, could have told how the combat would end--must end-- +unless some accident favoured the younger combatant. As it was, even +the Fates seemed against him, his horse again rearing _en pirouette_, +and to the wrong side, placing him once more at the mercy of his +antagonist. And again the latter scorned, or declined, taking advantage +of it! + +When the angry youth for the third time confronted him, it was with less +fury in his look, and a lowered confidence in his skill. For now he not +only knew his own inferiority as a swordsman, but was troubled with an +indistinct perception of the other's generosity. Not clear enough, +however, to restrain him from another trial; and their swords came +together in a third crossing. + +This time the play was short, almost as at the first. Having engaged +the Cavalier's blade in _carte_, and bound it, the self-proclaimed +Republican with a quick _flanconnade_ plunged the point of his own +straight for his adversary's wrist. Like the protruded tongue of a +serpent, it went glistening into the white gauntlet, which instantly +showed a spot of red, with blood spurting out; while the rapier of the +Cavalier, struck from his grasp, flew off, and fell with a ring upon the +road. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +FOES BECOME FRIENDS. + +The young Cavalier was now altogether at the mercy of his older, and as +proved, abler antagonist; knew the latter could take his life, and had +the right, as well as good reason, from the great provocation given him +in that shower of insulting epithets--the latest of them "_Lache_!" For +all, he quailed not, neither made attempt to elude the next thrust of +the victorious sword. Instead, stood his ground, crying out,-- + +"You have conquered! You can kill me!" + +"Kill you?" rejoined the victor, with the same light laugh as before. +"That's just what I've been endeavouring _not_ to do. But it has cost +me an effort--all my skill. Had you been an ordinary swordsman I'd have +disarmed you at the first pass after engaging. I've done it with +others, half a dozen or more. With you, 'twas just as much as I was +able, without absolutely taking your life--a thing far from my thoughts, +and as far from my wishes. And now that all's over, and we've neither +of us _murdered_ the other, am I to say `Surrender'?" + +He still spoke laughingly, but without the slightest tone of satire, or +show of exultation. + +"You can command it," promptly responded the vanquished youth, now +doubly vanquished. "I cry `Quarter'--crave it, if you like." + +It was no fear of death made him thus humbly submit, but a sudden +revulsion, an outburst of gratitude, to a conqueror alike merciful and +generous. + +Ere this their attendants had got upon the ground, seeming undecided +whether to pitch in with their masters, or cross swords on their own +account. Both had drawn them, and waited but word or sign, scowling +savagely at each other. Had it come to blows between the men, the +result, in all probability, would have been as with their masters; the +Cavalier's lightweight varlet looking anything but a match for the +stout-bodied, veteranlike individual who was henchman to his antagonist. +As it was, they had not resolved themselves till the combat came to an +end. Then hearing the word "quarter," and seeing signs of amity +restored, they slipped their blades back into the scabbards, and sate +awaiting orders. + +Only one of them received any just then--he the heavy one. + +"Dismount, Hubert," commanded his master, "and return his weapon to this +young gentleman, who, as you can testify, well deserves to wear it. And +now, sir," he continued to the young gentleman himself, "along with your +sword let me offer you some apologies, which are owing. I admit my +words were rather rough, and call for qualification, or, to speak more +correctly, explanation. When I said, that the man who is not a +Republican must be deficient either in head or heart, I meant one who +has reached the years of discretion, and seen something of the world-- +as, for instance, myself. At your age I too was a believer in kings-- +even the doctrine of Divine Right--brought up to it. Possibly, when you +hear my name you'll admit that." + +"You will give me your name?" asked the other, eagerly. "I wish it, +that I may know to whom I am beholden for so much generosity." + +"Very generous on your part to say say I am Sir Richard Walwyn." + +"Ah! A relative of the Scudamores, are you not?" + +"A distant relative. But I've not seen any of them lately, having just +come back from the Low Countries, where I've been fighting a bit. In +better practice from that, with my hand still in, which may account for +my having got the better of you," and he again laughed lightly. + +The young Cavalier protested against the generous admission, and then +went on to say he knew the Scudamores well--especially Lord Scudamore, +of Holme Lacey. + +"I've often met his lordship at the Palace," was the concluding remark. + +"At what palace, pray?" inquired Sir Richard. + +"Oh! Whitehall. I did not think of specifying." + +"Which proves that you yourself come from it? One of the King's people, +I take it; or in the Queen's service, more like?" + +"I was, but not now. I've been at Court for the last few months in the +capacity of gentleman-usher." + +"And now? But I crave pardon. It is rude of me to cross-question you +thus." + +"Not at all, Sir Richard. You have every right. After being so frank +with me, I owe you equal frankness. I've given up the appointment I +held at Court, and am now on my way home--to my father's house in +Monmouthshire." + +"Your father is--?" + +"Sir William Trevor." + +"Ah! now I can understand why your blood boiled up at my strenuous +defence of the Parliament--the son of Sir William Trevor. But we won't +enter upon politics again. After blows, words are inadmissible, as +ungracious. Your father's house is near Abergavenny, if I remember +rightly?" + +"It is." + +"That's good twenty-seven miles from here. You don't purpose going on +there to-night?" + +"No; I intend putting up for the night at Monmouth." + +"Well, that's within the possibilities; but not with daylight, unless +you press your horse hard--and he looks rather jaded." + +"No wonder. I've ridden him all the way from Witney, in Oxfordshire, +since six this morning." + +"He must be good stuff to stand it, and show the spirit he did just now. +But for all he seems rather badly done up--another reason for my having +got the better of you." + +At this both smiled, the young Cavalier, as before, refusing to accept +the complimentary acknowledgment. + +"A pity," ran on Sir Richard, "to press the poor animal farther to +night--that is, so far as Monmouth. It's all of ten miles yet, and the +road difficult--pitches up and down. You should rest him nearer, by way +of reward for his noble performance of the day." + +"Indeed, I was thinking of it; had half made up my mind to sleep at +Coleford." + +"Ah! you mus'n't stop at Coleford, much less sleep there." + +"And why not?" + +"The Coleford people are mad angry with the King, as are most others in +the Forest. No wonder, from the way Sir John Wintour has been behaving +to them since he got the monopoly grant of what his Majesty had no right +to give--rights that are theirs. Their blood's up about it, and just +now to appear in the streets of Coleford dressed as you are, cavalier +and courtier fashion, might be attended with danger." + +"I'll risk--defy it!" + +"Bravely spoken, and I've no doubt you'd bravely do both. But there's +no need for your doing one or the other." + +"If you describe these Coleford fellows aright, how can I help it, Sir +Richard? My road passes through their town." + +"True, but there's a way you may avoid it." + +"Oh! I'm not going to skulk round, taking bypaths, like a thief or +deer-stealer. I'll give them a fight first." + +"And that fight might be your last--likely would, Master Trevor. But +no. You've fought your way _into_ the Forest so gallantly, it behoves +him you all but conquered to see you safe out of it. To do which, +however, I must ask you to give up all thoughts of sleeping either at +Monmouth or Coleford, and be my guest for the night." + +"But where, Sir Richard? I did not know that you had a house in the +Forest." + +"Nor have I. But one of my friends has; and I think I can promise you +fair hospitality in it--by proxy. Besides, that little hole I've made +in your hand--sorry at having made it--needs looking to without delay, +and my friend has some skill as a surgeon. I could offer some other +inducements that might help in deciding you--as, for instance, a pair of +pretty faces to see. But coming from the Court of Queen Henriette, with +her galaxy of grand dames, perhaps you've had a surfeit of that sort of +thing." + +The young courtier shifted uneasily in his saddle, a slight blush coming +over his cheeks, as though the words rather gave him pain. + +"If not," continued Sir Richard, without heeding these indices of +emotion, "I can promise to show you something rare in the way of +feminine beauty. For that I'll back Sabrina and Vaga against all your +maids of honour and court ladies--the Queen included--and win with +either." + +"_Sabrina! Vaga_! Singular names! May I ask who the ladies are?" + +"You may do more--make their acquaintance, if you consent to my +proposal. You will?" + +"Sir Richard, your kindness overpowers me. I am at your service every +way." + +"Thanks! Let us on, then, without delay. We've yet full five miles of +road before us, ere we can reach the cage that holds this pair of pretty +birds. _Allons_!" + +At which he gave his horse the spur, Trevor doing the same; and once +more the two rode side by side; but friendly now--even to affection. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +BEAUTIFUL FOREST BIRDS. + +In all England's territory there is no district more interesting than +the Forest of Dean. Historically it figures in our earliest annals, as +borderland and bulwark of the ancient Silures, who, with Caractacus at +their head, held the country around, defending it on many a hard-fought +field against the legionaries of Ostorius Scapula. Centuries after, it +again became the scene of sanguinary strife between the descendants of +these same Silures--then better known as Britons--and the Saxon +invaders; and still farther down the stream of time another invasion +wasted it--Norman and Saxon arrayed on the same side against Welsh-- +still the same warlike stock, the sons of Siluria. This conflict +against odds--commencing with the Norman William, and continued, or +renewed, down through the days made illustrious by the gallant +Llewellyn--only came to an end with those of the equally gallant +Glendower, when the fires of Welsh independence, now and then blazing up +intermittently, were finally and for ever trodden out. + +Many a grand historic name is associated with this same Forest of Dean-- +famed warriors and famous or infamous kings. The Conqueror himself was +hunting in it when the news reached him of the rising in Northumberland, +and he swore "By the splendour of God, he would lay that land waste by +fire and sword!"--a cruel oath, as cruelly kept. In its dark recesses +the wretched Edward the Second endeavoured to conceal himself, but in +vain--dragged thence to imprisonment in the dungeons of Berkeley Castle, +there to die. And within its boundaries was born that monarch of most +romantic fame, Harry of Monmouth, hero of Agincourt. + +And the day was approaching--had, in fact, come--when other names that +brighten the page of England's history were to fling their halo of +illumination over the Forest of Dean--those of the chivalrous Waller, +the brave but modest Massey, Essex, Fairfax, and greatest, most glorious +of all, that of Cromwell himself. It was to be darkened too, as by the +shadow of death--ay, death itself--through many a raid of marauding +Cavaliers, with the ruffian Rupert at their head. + +Dropping history, and returning to its interest otherwise, the Forest of +Dean claims attention from peculiarities of many kinds. Geologically +regarded, it is an outlier of the carboniferous system of South Wales, +from which it is separated by a breadth of the Devonian that has been +denuded between--so widely separated as to have similitude to an island +in the far-off ocean. An elevated island, too, rising above the "Old +Red," through successive strata of shales, mountain limestone, and +millstone grit, to nearly a thousand feet higher than the general level +of the surrounding _terrain_. Towards this, on every side, and all +round for miles and tens of miles, it presents a _facade_ not actually +precipitous, but so steep and difficult of ascent as to make horses +breathe hard climbing it; while in loaded cart or wagon, teams have to +be doubled. Just such a "pitch" was that on whose top the bitter war of +words between Eustace Trevor and Sir Richard Walwyn had come to blows. + +But, though thus high in air, the Forest of Dean does not possess the +usual characteristics of what are termed _plateaux_, or elevated +tablelands. As a rule these show a level surface, or with but gentle +undulations, while that of the Forest is everywhere intersected by deep +valleys and ravines. + +A very interesting geological fact is offered in the surface formation +of this singular tract of country, its interior area being in most +places much lower than the rim around it. The peculiarity is due to the +hard carboniferous limestone, which forms its periphery, having better +resisted denudation than the softer matrix of the coal measures embraced +by it. The disintegrating rains, and the streams, often torrents, their +resulting sequence, have here and there cut channels of escape outward-- +some running west into the Wye, some eastward to espouse the Severn. + +Very different is the Forest of Dean now from what it was in those days +of which this tale treats--territorially more restricted, both in its +boundaries and the area once bearing its name. Then it extended over +the whole triangular space between the two great rivers, from the towns +of Ross and Gloucester down to their union in the wide sea-like estuary +of the Severn. Changed, too, in the character of its scenery. Now, +here and there, a tall chimney may be seen soaring up out of its +greenery of trees, and vomiting forth volumes of murky smoke, in +striking disagreeable contrast with their verdure. Then there was +nothing of this kind;--at least nothing to jar upon the mind, or mar the +harmony of nature. Then, too, it was a real forest of grand old trees, +with a thick tangle of underwood, luxuriant and shady. For the Court +favourite, Sir John Wintour, had not yet wasted it with his five hundred +woodcutters, all chopping and hacking away at the same time. It was +only after the Restoration he did that; the robber's monopoly granted +him by the "Martyr King" having been re-bestowed by the "Merry Monarch." + +There were towns in the Forest then, notwithstanding--some of them busy +centres as now; but the majority peaceful villages or hamlets; country +houses, too, some of pretentious style--mansions, and castles. A few of +these yet exist, if in ruins; others known only by record; and still +others totally gone out of history--lost even to legend. + +The Forest roads were then but bridle paths, or trackways for the +pack-horse; no fencing on either side; the narrow list of trodden ground +running centrally between wide borderings of grass-grown sward; so that +the traveller, if a horseman, had the choice of soft turf for the hoofs +of his roadster. Only on the main routes between the larger towns, and +those going outward, was there much traffic. The bye-roads had all the +character of green lanes, narrow, but now and then debouching into +glades, and openings of larger area, where the small Forest sheep-- +progeny of the Welsh mountaineers--browsed upon pasture, spare and +close-cropped, in the companionship of donkeys, and perchance a deer, or +it might be a dozen, moving among them in amiable association. The +sheep and the donkeys are there still, but the deer, alas! are gone. +Many birds that built their nests in the Forest trees, or soared above, +are there no more. The eagle makes not now its eyrie in the Coldwell +Rocks or soars over Symonds' Yat; even the osprey is but rarely seen +pursuing its finny prey in the lower waters of either Wye or Severn. +Still, the _falconidae_ are to this day represented in the Forest +district by numerous species, by the kite and kestrel; the buzzard, +Common, Rough-legged, and Honey; by the goshawk and sparrow-hawk; the +hobby and harriers; and if last, not least, in estimation, the graceful +diminutive merlin. + +Birds of bright feathers, too, still flit through the Forest's trees; +the noisy jay, the gaudy, green woodpecker, and the two spotted species; +with the kingfisher of cerulean hue; while its glades are gladdened by +the sweet song of the thrush, the bolder lay of the blackbird; in +springtide, the matchless melody of the nightingale--the joyous +twittering of linnets and finches, mingling with the softer notes of the +cushat and turtle-dove. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +On that calm summer evening, when the clinking of swords on +Mitcheldean-hill frightened the Forest birds, for a time stilling their +voices, on another hill, some three miles distant from the scene of +strife, the sweet songsters were being disturbed by intrusion upon their +wild-wood domain. Not much disturbed, however, nor could the disturbers +be justly characterised as intruders. Even the birds themselves might +have been glad to see, and welcome among them, things of brightness and +beauty far beyond their own. Women they were, or rather girls, both +being under age--for there were but two of them. Sisters, moreover, +though there was scarce a trait of resemblance to betray the +relationship, either in features or complexion. She who seemed the +elder was dark as a gipsy, the other a clear _blonde_, with hair +showering over her shoulders, of hue as the beams of the sinking sun +that shimmered upon it. For all, both were alike beautiful; in a +different way, but unquestionably beautiful. And that they were sisters +could be learnt by listening to their conversation: their names, also, +as they addressed one another--that of the older, _Sabrina_; the +younger, _Vaga_. + +They could not be other than the pair of pretty birds spoken of by Sir +Richard Walwyn; and, verily, he had not overrated them. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +OUT FOR A WALK. + +Unlike in other respects, the sisters were unequal in height--the elder +being the taller. With some difference in their dress, too, though both +wore the ordinary outdoor costume of the day. It was rather graceful +than splendid, for the hideous farthingale of the Elizabethan era was +then going out of fashion, and their gowns, close-fitting in body and +sleeves, displayed the outlines of figures that were perfection. Theirs +were not charms that needed heightening by any adornment of dress. +However plainly attired, there was in their air and carriage that grace +which distinguishes the gentlewoman. Still, the younger was not without +affectation of ornament. Her French hood of bright-coloured silk, +looped under the chin, was so coifed as to show in a coquettish way her +wealth of radiant hair, and beneath the gorget ruff gleamed a necklet of +gold, with rings in her ears. There was embroidery, also, on the bodice +and sleeves of her gown--doubtless the work of her own fair fingers. In +those days ladies, even the grandest dames, were not above using the +needle. + +Sabrina's hood, of a more sombre hue, was quite as becoming, and more +suitable to her darker complexion. Her general attire, too, was +appropriate to her character, which was of the staid, sober kind. Both +wore strong, thick-soled shoes--being out for a walk--but neither these +nor home-knitted stockings, which their short skirts permitted view of, +could hinder the eye from beholding feet small and finely-shaped, with +high instep and elegant _tournure_ of ankles. + +Good walkers they were, as could be told by the way they stepped along +the Forest road; for they were on one. It was that which ran from +Ruardean to Drybrook, and their faces were set in the direction of the +latter. Between the two towns a high ridge is interposed, and this they +were ascending from the Ruardean side. Before they had reached its +summit, Vaga, coming abruptly to a stop, said:-- + +"Don't you think we've walked far enough?" + +"Why? Are you tired?" + +"No--not that. But it occurs to me we may be wandering too far from +home." + +That Sabrina was not wandering might have been told by her step, +straightforward, as also her earnest glances, interrogating the road +ahead at every turning. As these had been somewhat surreptitiously, +though not timidly, given, the other had hitherto failed to notice them. +Indeed, Vaga was not all the while by her side, nor keeping step with +her. A huge dog of the Old English mastiff breed more occupied her +attention; the animal every now and then making a rush at the browsing +sheep, and sending them helter-skelter among the trees, his young +mistress--for the dog was hers--clapping her hands with delight, and +crying him on regardless of the mischief. It was only when no more of +the little Welsh muttons were to be seen along the road that she joined +her sister, and put in that plea for turning back. + +"So far from home!" repeated Sabrina, with feigned surprise. "Why, we +haven't come quite two miles--not much over one." + +"True; but--" + +"But what? Are you afraid?" + +"A little--I confess." + +"And the cause of your fear? Not wolves? If so, I can release you from +it. It's now quite half a century since there was a wolf seen in this +Forest; and he--poor, lonely creature, the last of his race--was most +unmercifully slain. The Foresters, being mostly of Welsh ancestry, have +an hereditary hatred of the lupine species, I suppose from that +mischance which befel the infant Llewellyn." Vaga laughed, as she +rejoined:--"Instead of having a fear of wolves, I'd like to see one just +now. Hector, I'm sure, would show fight; ay, and conquer it, too, as +did the famed Beth-Gelert his. Wouldn't you, old Hec? Ay! that you +would." + +At which the mastiff, rearing up, set his paws against her breast to +receive the caressess extended; and, after these being given him, +scampered off again in search of more sheep. + +"Then what are you afraid of?" asked Sabrina, "Ghosts? There are none +of them in the Forest either. If there were, no danger of their showing +themselves by daylight, and we'll be back home long before the sun goes +down. Ha, ha, ha!" + +It was as unusual for the older of the sisters to talk in such a light +strain as it was for the younger to speak otherwise. Just then each had +a reason for this reversion of their _roles_. + +Further questioned as to the cause of her fear, Vaga made answer, +saying,-- + +"You're merry, sister Sab, and I'm right glad to see you so. But what I +meant isn't a matter for jest; instead, something to be really alarmed +about." + +"When you've told me what it is, I'll give my opinion upon it. If +neither wolves nor ghosts, what can it be? Bipeds or quadrupeds?" + +"Bipeds, and of the sort most to be dreaded--brutal men." + +"Oh! that's it. But what men are there about here deserving to be so +characterised?" + +"None about here, I hope and believe. But you know, sister, what's +going on all around the Forest: those mobs of lawless fellows down at +Monmouth and Lydney. Suppose some of them to be coming this way and +meet us?" + +"I don't suppose it, and needn't. The malignants of Monmouth and Lydney +are not likely to be upon this road. If they did, 'twould be at their +peril. The men of Ruardean and Drybrook are of a different sort--the +right sort. Should we meet any of them, though they may be a little +rough in appearance, they won't be rude. No true Forester ever is to a +woman, whether lady or not. That they leave to the foreign elements Sir +John Wintour has brought to Lydney, and the so-called Cavaliers on the +Monmouth side--those braggarts of their blood and gallant bearing, most +of them the veriest scum of the country, its gamesters and tapsters, the +sweepings of the alehouse and stable! Cavaliers, indeed! who know not +politeness to man nor respect for woman; care neither for national +honour nor social decency!" + +The enlightened young lady spoke with a warmth bordering upon +indignation. With truth, too, as might one of her sort now about Tories +and Jingoes. But, alas! now there are but few of her sort, youthful and +enthusiastic in the cause of liberty; instead, ancient maidens of wealth +and title, some of whose ancestors trod the stage playing at charity for +the sake of popularity; patronising play-actors and endowing homes for +strayed dogs! showing a shameless sympathy with the foul murdering Turk +and his red-handed atrocities; last and latest of all, having the +effrontery--impertinent as unfeminine--to counsel, ay, dictate, +political action to England's people, telling them how they should cast +their votes! + +What a contrast between their doings and the sayings and sentiments of +that young Forest girl--all that lies between the mean and the noble! + +"But," she went on, in reference to the _gentlemen_ of the gaming-house +and hostelry tap-room, "we needn't fear meeting them here, nor anywhere +through the Forest. The Foresters--brave fellows--are for the +Parliament almost to a man. Should we encounter any of them on our +walk, I'll answer for their good behaviour and kind-heartedness-- +something more, if knowing who we are. Father is a favourite with them +for having taken their side against the usurpations of Wintour; though +they liked him before that, and I'm proud of their doing so." + +"Oh! so am I, Sabrina. I'm as fond of our dear Foresters as you. It +isn't of them I had any fear. But, apart from all that, I think it's +time we turn our steps homeward. We're surely now two miles from +Hollymead; and see! the sun's hastening to go down behind the Welsh +hills." + +While so delivering herself, she faced round, the Welsh hills being +behind their backs as they walked towards Drybrook. + +"Hasten as it likes," rejoined Sabrina, "it can't get down for at least +another hour. That will give us ample time to go on to the top of the +hill and back to Hollymead before supper; which last, if I mistake not, +is the chief cause of your anxiety to be at home." + +"For shame, Sabrina! You know it isn't--the last thing in my thoughts." + +Sabrina did know that; knew, also, she was not speaking her own +thoughts, but using subterfuge to conceal them. It was herself had +proposed the stroll she seemed so desirous of continuing. To her its +termination would not be satisfactory without attaining the summit of +the ridge whose slope they were ascending. + +Thrown back by what her younger sister had said, but still determined to +proceed, without giving the true reason, she bethought herself of one, +false though plausible. + +"Well, Vag," she laughingly pursued, "I was only jesting, as you know. +But there's one thing I hate to do--never could do, that's to half climb +a hill without going on to its top. It seems like breaking down or +backing out, and crying `surrender,'--which our dear father has taught +us never to do. Up to the summit yonder is but a step now. It won't +take us ten minutes more to reach it; besides, I want to see something I +haven't set eyes on for a long while--that grand valley through which +meanders my namesake, Sabrina. And looking back from there, you can +also feast your eyes on that in which wanders yours, Vaga, capricious +like yourself. In addition," she added, not heeding her sister's shrug +of the shoulders, "we'll there get a better view of a glorious sunset +that's soon to be over the Hatteral Hills; and the twilight after will +give us ample time to get home before the supper table be set. So, why +should you hinder me--to say nothing of yourself--from indulging in a +little bit of aesthetics?" + +"Hinder you!" exclaimed Vaga, protestingly. "I hinder! You shan't say +that." + +And at the words she went bounding on upward, like a mountain antelope; +not stopping again till she stood on the summit of the hill. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +WAITING AND WATCHING. + +Following with alacrity, Sabrina was soon again by the side of her +sister. But just then no further speech passed between them. Not that +both were silent. On the crest of the ridge, treeless and overgrown +with gorse, Hector had run foul of a donkey, and after a short chase was +holding it at bay. With his barks were mingled cries of encouragement +from his mistress, laughter, and patting of her hands, as she hounded +him on. Possibly had the Forester, Neddy's owner, come up at that +moment, he might not have shown the politeness for which Sabrina had +given his fellows credit. But the young lady meant no harm; nor much +the mastiff. If he had, there was little danger of his doing it; the +creature whose ancestry came from Mesopotamia being able to take care of +itself. The demonstrations of the dog--an overfed, good-natured brute-- +looked as if being made either for his own amusement or that of his +young mistress; while the donkey, on the defence, with teeth, and heels, +seemed equally to enjoy the fun. + +The elder sister, standing apart, had neither eyes nor ears for this bit +of hoydenish play. If a thought, it was the fear of giving offence to +the ass's owner, should that individual unluckily come along. As no one +came, however, she left Vaga to her vagaries, and stood intently gazing +upon the landscape spread before her. + +A far and varied view she commanded from that elevated spot. First, a +deep, wide valley below, trending away to the right, with a tiny stream +trickling adown it, and a straggling village, the houses standing apart +along its banks--Drybrook. But not as the Drybrook of to-day, showing +tall brick chimneys--the monoliths of our own modern time--with their +plumes of grey black smoke; cinder-strewn roads running from one to the +other, and patches of bare pasture between. Then it was embowered, +almost buried, in trees; here and there only a spot of whitewashed walls +or a quaint lead window, seen through the thick foliage. Beyond village +and stream rose another ridge, with a gradual ascent up to the +"Wilderness"; and still farther off--so far as to be just visible-- +stretched a wide expanse of low-lying champaign country, the valley of +the Severn, once the sound of a sea. As the young girl gazed upon it, +the sinking sun behind her back, with the Forest highlands beginning to +fling the shadows of twilight across the Severn's plain, and the white +mist that overhung it, she might well have imagined the waters of ocean +once more o'erflowing their ancient bed. + +She neither imagined this nor thought of it; in fact saw not the fog, +nor gave so much as a second glance to that valley she had professed +herself so desirous of viewing. Instead, her eyes were fixedly bent +upon the face of the acclivity opposite--more particularly on a riband +of road that went winding up through woods from Drybrook to the +"Wilderness." And still with the same look of earnest interrogation. +What could it mean? + +Vaga coming up, after having finished her affair with the donkey, +observed the look, and it called forth a fresh display of that +persiflage she so delighted in. Hitherto Sabrina had the best of it. +Her turn now, and she took advantage of it, saying,-- + +"Why, sister Sab, you seem to have forgotten all about what you came +here for! You're not looking at the Severn at all! Your glances are +directed too low for it. And as to the glorious sunset you spoke of, +that's going on behind you! Something on the road over yonder seems to +be the attraction; though I can see nothing but the road itself." + +"Nor I," said Sabrina, a little confused, with just the slightest spot +of red again showing on her cheeks. Enough, though, to catch the eye of +her suspicious sister, who archly observed,-- + +"Rather strange, your gazing so earnestly at it, then?" + +"Well, yes; I suppose it is." + +"But not if you're expecting to see some one upon it." + +Sabrina started, the red on her cheeks becoming more pronounced; but she +said nothing, since now her secret was discovered, or on the eve of +discovery. Vaga's next words left her no longer in doubt. + +"Who is he, sister?" she asked with a sly look, and a laugh. + +"Who is who?" + +"He you expect to see come riding down yonder road. I take it he'll be +on horseback?" + +"Vaga! you're a very inquisitive creature." + +"Have I not some right, after being dragged all the way hither, when I +wanted to go home? If you called me a _hungry_ creature 'twould be +nearer the truth. Jesting apart, I am that--quite famished; so weak I +must seek support from a tree." + +And with a mock stagger, she brought up against the trunk of a hawthorn +that grew near. + +Sabrina could not resist laughing too, though still keeping her eyes on +the uphill road. It seemed as though she could not take her eyes off +it. But the other quickly recovering strength, and more naturally than +she had affected feebleness, once more returned to the attack, saying,-- + +"Sister mine; it's no use you're trying to hoodwink me. You forget that +by accident I saw a letter that lately came to Hollymead--at least its +superscription. Equally oblivious you appear to be, that the +handwriting of a certain gentleman is quite familiar to me, having seen +many other letters from the same to father. So, putting that and that +together, I've not the slightest doubt that the one of last week, +addressed to your sweet self, informed you that on a certain day, hour, +afternoon, Sir Richard Walwyn would enter the Forest of Dean by the +Drybrook Road on his way to--" + +"Vaga, you're a very demon!" + +"Which means I've read your secret aright. So you may as well make +confession of it." + +"I won't; and just to punish you for prying. Curiosity ungratified will +be to you very torture, as I know." + +"Oh, well! keep it close; it don't signify a bit. One has little care +to be told what one knows without telling. If Sir Richard should come +to Hollymead, why then six and six make a dozen, don't they?" + +Sabrina turned a half-reproachful look on her tormentor, but without +making reply. + +"You needn't answer," the other went on. "_My_ arithmetic's right, and +the problem's solved, or will be, by the gentleman spoken of making his +appearance any time this day, or--Why, bless me! Yonder he is now, I do +believe." + +The exclamatory phrase had reference to a horseman seen riding down the +road so narrowly watched; though the speaker was not the first to see +him. He had been already sighted by Sabrina, and it was the flash of +excitement in her eyes that guided those of her sister. + +The horseman had not all the road to himself; another coming on behind, +but at such short distance as to tell of companionship--that of master +and servant. He ahead was undoubtedly a gentleman, as evinced by the +bright colour of his dress, with its silken gloss under the sunlight, +and the glitter of arms and accoutrements; while the more +soberly-attired rider in the rear was evidently a groom or body servant. + +As the girls stood regarding, the look in the eyes of the elder, at +first satisfied and joyous, began gradually to change. The distance was +too great for the identification of either face or figure. All that +could be distinguished was that they were men on horseback, with the +general hue of their habiliments, and the sparkle of arms and ornaments. + +It was just these--their brightness and splendour--as affected the +foremost of the two, which had brought the change over Sabrina's +countenance. Sir Richard Walwyn was not wont to dress gaudily, but +rather the reverse. Still, time had elapsed since she last saw him. He +had been abroad, in the Low Countries, and with Gustavus of Sweden, +battling for the good cause. The foreign fashions may have changed his +ideas about dress and its adornments. But little cared she for that so +long as his heart was unchanged; and that it was so she knew by the +letter which had betrayed her own heart's secret to her sister. + +Almost simultaneously upon Vaga's features appeared a change too--almost +expressing doubt. It became certainty on the instant after, still +another replacing it, as she again exclaimed, contradicting herself-- + +"Bless me, no! That's Reginald Trevor." + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A CAVALIER IN LOVE. + +Reginald Trevor it was, for Vaga was not guessing. Something she saw +about the horseman, or his horse, had enabled her to identify him; as +she did so, that third and latest change coming over her countenance, +giving it also a serious cast. + +But nothing compared with that which now showed on the face of her +sister. The varied expressions of hopeful anticipation, surprise, +delight, then doubt, rapidly succeeding one another, were all past, and +in their place a dark shadow sat cloud-like on her brow. In her eyes, +too, still scanning the distant horseman, was a look that betokened +pain, or at least uneasiness, with something of fear and anger. In +truth, the expression on their face, though differing from each other, +would have been unreadable to any one who was a stranger to them and +Reginald Trevor. + +Some knowledge of this gentleman and his antecedents will throw light +upon the grave impression seemingly produced upon the two girls by the +sight of him. + +As the name might indicate, he was kin to the young courtier, late +gentleman-usher at Whitehall--his cousin. Different, however, had been +their lots in the lottery of life; those of Eustace so far having all +come out prizes, while Reginald had been drawing blanks. A dissolute, +dissipated father had left the latter nought but a bad name, and the son +had little bettered it. Still was he a gallant Cavalier, as the word +went, and at least possessed the redeeming quality of courage. He had +given proofs of it as an officer in that army sent northward against the +Scots, where he had served as a lieutenant under Lunsford. _Per +contra_, as the father who begot him, he was given to dissipation, a +drinker, dicer, wencher, everything socially disreputable and +distasteful to the Parliamentarians,--far more the Puritans,--though +neither disgracing or lowering himself in the eyes of his own party--the +Cavaliers. If latitudinarianism in morals could be accounted Christian +charity, none were endowed with this virtue in a higher degree than +they. + +Reginald Trevor had the full benefit of their tolerance in that respect: +passed among them as a rare good fellow; no harm in him, save what +affected himself. To use a common phrase, he was his own worst enemy. +Beginning life penniless, he was no better off at the commencement of +his military career; and his spendthrift habits had kept him the same +ever since. At that hour, when seen coming down the road--save his +sword, horse, clothing; and equipments--he could not call anything his +own. These, however, were all of the best; for he was a military dandy, +and, despite poverty, always contrived to rig himself out in grand +array. Just now he was well up in everything, though possibly nothing +had been paid for--horse, clothing, nor accoutrements. But he had got a +good post, which enabled him to get good credit, and that satisfied him +all the same. Thrown out of commission--as Lunsford and others after +their return from the North--he had lived for some months in London as +best he could; often at his wits' end. But swords were now once more in +demand, with men who could wield them; and Sir John Wintour, who had +commenced fortifying his mansion at Lydney to hold it for the King, +casting about for the right sort to defend it, chose Reginald Trevor as +one of them. + +For some weeks antecedent to the time of his introduction to the reader, +he had been in Sir John's service; acting in a mixed capacity, military +and political, with some duties appertaining to the civil branch of +administration. These had taken him all over the Forest of Dean, +introducing him into many a house where he had hitherto been a stranger. +But of all honoured by his visit, there was only one he cared ever +returning to. It he could revisit again and again; had done so; and +would have been glad to stay by it for the rest of his life. A lone +house, too, though a mansion, standing remote from anything that could +be called city, or even town; remote from other houses of its class. It +may seem strange such a solitary habitation should have attractions for +a man of his character; but not when its name is given--for it was +Hollymead. This known, it needs no telling why Reginald Trevor was +attracted thither; only to specify which of the two girls was the +loadstone that drew him. Even this may be guessed--not likely Sabrina, +but very likely Vaga. And Vaga it was. He had fallen in love with her, +passionately, madly; and, stranger still, purely; for, in all +likelihood, it was the first honest love of his life. Honest it was, +however; and honestly he had been acting so far; his courtship +respectful, and free from the bold rude advances which, as a rule, +marked the conduct of the Cavaliers. For, despite all said to the +contrary, their behaviour to women was more "gallantry" than gallant, +and anything but chivalrous. + +But, although behaving his best, Reginald Trevor had not prospered in +his suit; on the contrary received a check which brought it to an abrupt +ending for the time, and it might be for ever. This in the shape of a +hint that his visits to Hollymead House were neither welcome nor +desirable, rather the reverse. Not given him by the girl herself--she +did not even know of it,--but conveyed by her father privately and +quietly, yet firmly. Of course it was taken, and the visits +discontinued. + +That was but a fortnight ago, and yet Reginald Trevor was once more on +his way to Hollymead! But very different the cause carrying him thither +now to that which had oft taken him before; different his feelings, too, +though not as regarded the young lady. For her they were the same--his +passion hot as ever. And yet was it a flame burning blindly, without a +word of encouragement to fan or keep it alive. Never once had she +spoken to tell him his love was reciprocated; never given him smile or +look that could be interpreted in that sense. For all this, he so +interpreted some she had bestowed on him. Successes, conquests many, +had made him vain, and he deemed himself irresistible--fancied he would +conquer her, too. + +Nevertheless, he felt less confident now. That rupture of relations had +become a grievous obstacle. Nor was he on the way to Hollymead with any +hope of being able to bind up the broken threads; instead, his errand +thither had for object that which was sure further to sever them. It +was not of his own seeking, and he had entered upon it with reluctance. + +Dark and gloomy was the shadow on his face as he rode under that of the +trees. At intervals it became a scowl, with resentment blazing up in +his eyes, as he thought of that dismissal, so wounding to his +self-esteem, so insulting. But he was armed with that which would give +him a _revanche_; make the master of Hollymead humble if not +hospitable--a document such as has humbled the master of many another +house, angering them at the same time. For it was a letter of request +for a loan, signed and stamped with the King's seal. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A YOUNG LADY NOT IN LOVE. + +"I do believe it's Reginald Trevor." + +Sabrina said this in rejoinder, now certain it was not the man she had +climbed that hill in hopes of meeting. + +"I'm sure of it," affirmed Vaga, in confident tone as before. "If I +couldn't tell him, I can the horse--the light grey he always rides. And +that's his dress--the colour at least. I don't think he has many +changes, exquisite as he is, or we'd have seen some of them at +Hollymead." + +She made this remark with a smile of peculiar significance. + +"Oh! yes; 'tis he," assented the sister, her eyes still upon him. "I'm +sure now, myself. The horse--yes, the dress too. And, see! a red plume +in his hat--that's enough. I wonder where he's bound for--surely not +Hollymead!" + +It was then the grave look already alluded to showed itself in her eyes. +"Perhaps you can tell, sister?" she added, interrogatively. + +"Sabrina! why do you say that? How should I be acquainted with Mr +Trevor's movements or intentions--any more than yourself?" + +"Ha--ha! What an artful little minx you are, Vag! A very mistress of +deception!" + +"You'll make me angry, Sab--I'm half that already." + +"Without cause, then, or reason." + +"Every reason." + +"Name one." + +"That you should suspect me of having a secret and keeping it from you." + +"Goodness gracious! How just you are in your reproaches--you, who but +this very moment have been accusing me of that selfsame thing! I, all +candour, all frankness!" + +Vaga was now flung back, as a sailor would say, on her "beam ends." +For, in truth, she had made herself amenable to the charge. + +"Oh! you innocent!" cried Sabrina, pressing her triumph. "Though you +are three years younger than I, you're quite as old about some things, +and this is _one_ of them." + +"This what?" + +"This that; the thing, or man, if he may be so called, we see riding +down yonder road." + +"You wrong me, sister; I've no secret concerning him. I never cared for +Rej Trevor in the way you appear to be hinting at--not three straws." + +"Are you serious in what you say, Vag? Tell me the truth!" + +There was an earnestness in the way the question was put--tone, air, +everything--that bespoke more than a common interest about the answer. + +It came, causing disappointment, with some slight vexation. For Vaga, +thinking she had been badgered long enough, and, remembering, moreover, +how very reticent the other had just shown herself, determined on having +a _revanche_. It was altogether in consonance with her nature; though +she had no idea of advantage beyond that of mere fun. + +"Curiosity on the rack!" she triumphantly retorted. "What you've just +been dooming me to! How does it feel, sister Sab!" + +"Sister Sab" made no response; in turn being fairly conquered and +cornered. But her silence and submissive look were more eloquent than +any appeal she could have made. And, responding to them, her conqueror +relentingly asked: + +"Are you very, _very_ desirous of knowing how the case stands between +myself and Master Reginald Trevor?" + +"I am, indeed. And when you've told me, I'll give you the reason." + +"On that condition I'll tell you. He is nothing to me more than any +other man. And when I add that no other man is anything either, you'll +understand me." + +"But, sister dear, do you mean to say you _love_ no one?" + +"I mean to say that--flat." + +"And never have?" + +"That's a queer question to be asked; above all by you, you who so often +preach the virtue of constancy, crying it into my ears! If I ever had +loved man, I think I should love him still. But as it chances, I don't +quite comprehend what the sensation is; never having experienced it. +And more, I don't wish to; that is, if it were to affect me as it seems +to do you." + +"What do you mean, Vaga?" asked the more sage sister, bristling up at +the innuendo. "Love affect me! You're only fancying! Nothing of the +sort, I assure you." + +"Oh! yes; much of the sort; though you might not yourself perceive it. +Everybody else does, at least I do--have for a very long time--ever +since he went off to the wars." + +"What he?" + +"Again counterfeiting. And vainly. Well, I won't gratify you by giving +his name this time. Enough to say that ever since you last saw him you +haven't been like you used to be. Why, Sab, I can remember when you +were as full of frolic as myself, or Hector here. Yet, for the last two +years you've been as melancholy as a love-sick monkey. True, there's +been a little brightening up in you of late--no doubt due to that +letter. Ha--ha--ha!" + +Sabrina laughed too, despite the unmerciful way she was being bantered. +The allusion to "that letter" was not unpleasant. Its contents, very +gratifying, had restored her heart's gladness and confidence. Not that +she had ever doubted her lover's fealty, but only had fears for his +life. She said nothing, however, leaving the other to rattle on. + +"And now, Miss Prim-and-Prudery, I want your reason for prying into my +secrets, after being so chary of your own; I demand it." + +"Dear Vaga! you shall have it and welcome. After what you say, there +need be no shyness in my telling you now. I was anxious about you on +father's account, and my own, too, as your sister." + +"Anxious about me! For what?" + +"Your relations with yonder individual." + +She nodded towards the horseman with the red feather in his hat. + +"Very good of father and you to be so concerned about me; but don't you +think I can take care of myself? I'm getting old enough to do that." + +She was only a little over seventeen, but believed herself quite as much +a woman as Sabrina, who was three years her senior. She had the proud, +independent spirit of one, and brooked no control by her older sister; +on the contrary, rather exercised it herself. She was her father's +favourite; a circumstance that would appear strange to those acquainted +with his character. Hence, in part, her assumption of superiority. + +"Of course you can," returned Sabrina, assentingly. "And I'm glad of +it." + +"I suppose, then, it's owing to your and father's united solicitude on +my behalf that Master Rej Trevor hasn't shown his face at Hollymead for +the last couple of weeks." + +"I've had nothing to do with it, Vaga." + +"Which seems to say that somebody has, then. I suspected as much, by +your having said nothing about it. As you seem to know something, Sab, +you may as well tell it me." + +"I will--all I know. Which is, that father has forbidden his visits to +Hollymead. I only learnt it from our maid Gwenthian. It appears, that +the last time Mr Trevor was at the house, she overheard a conversation +between father and him; father telling him as much as that he would be +no more welcome there." + +"And what answer did the fine gentleman make? I suppose the +eavesdropping Gwenthian heard that, too." + +There was such evident absence of all emotion on the part of her who +interrogated, she could not well be making believe. The other, seeing +she was not, responded with confidence,-- + +"Nothing, or nothing much, except in mutterings, which the girl failed +to catch the meaning of. But the nature may be imagined from the way he +went off--all scowling and angry, she says." + +"Gwenthian has never mentioned the circumstance to me; which I take it +is a little strange on her part." + +She thought it so, for of the two she was more a favourite with the +waiting maid than her sister, and knew it. Between her and Gwenthian--a +Forest girl of quick wit and subtle intelligence--many confidences had +been exchanged. Therefore her wonder at this having been withheld. + +"Not at all," rejoined Sabrina, entering upon a defence of Gwenthian's +reticence. "There was nothing strange in her keeping it from you. She +supposed it might vex you--told me so." + +"Ha--ha--ha! How thoughtful of her! But it don't vex me--luckily, no-- +not the least bit; and Gwenthian should have known that, as you know +now, Sab. Don't you?" + +"I do," answered Sabrina, in full conviction. For Vaga's laugh was so +utterly devoid of all regret at what had been revealed to her, no one +could suppose or suspect there was within her breast a thought of +Reginald Trevor, beyond looking on him in the light of a mere +acquaintance. To prove this it needed neither her rejoinder, nor the +emphasis she gave it, saying,-- + +"_I don't care that for him_!" the _that_ being a snap of her fingers. + +"I wish father had but known you didn't." + +"Why?" + +"Well, it might have saved him the scene Gwenthian was witness to; and +which must have been rather painful to both. After all, it may have +been for the best. But, worst or best, I wonder where Master Trevor is +making for now? It can't be Hollymead." + +"Not likely, after what you've told me. But we shall soon see--at least +whether he be coming up this way." + +Both were familiar with the Forest roads--had ridden if not walked them +all--knew their every turning and crossing. Where that from Mitcheldean +descended into the Drybrook valley it forked right and left at the ford +of the little stream where now there is a bridge known as the "Nail." +Left lay the road to Coleford, right, another leading back out of the +Forest by the Lea Bailey. And between these two branchings a third +serpentined up the slope for Ruardean, over the ridge on which they +stood. + +While they were still regarding the horseman on the grey, and his groom +behind, two other horsemen came in sight, riding side by side on the +same slope, just commencing its descent. Again Sabrina's eyes flashed +up with delight--that must be her expected one--riding alongside his +servant. + +While indulging in this pleasant conjecture, she was surprised at seeing +still another pair of mounted men, filing out from under the trees, side +by side also, and following the first two at that distance and with the +air which seemed to proclaim them servitors. + +"It may not be he, after all!" she reflected within herself, her brow +again shadowing over. "He said he would be alone with only Hubert, +and--" + +Her reflections were brought to an abrupt termination by seeing the grey +horse, after plunging across the stream, turn head uphill in the +direction of Ruardean. + +There was no time to make further scrutiny of the _quartette_ descending +the opposite slope. In twenty minutes, or less if he meant speed, he on +the grey would be up to them; and if Reginald Trevor, that would be +awkward, whether on his way to Hollymead or not. + +It was Sabrina who now counselled hastening home; which they did with a +quick free step their country training and Forest practice had made +easy, as familiar, to them. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +A HOUSE IN TUDOR STYLE. + +It would be difficult to imagine a more enchanting spot for a +dwelling-place than that where stood Hollymead House. Near the +north-western angle of the Forest of Dean, it commanded a view of the +Wye where this beautiful stream, after meandering through the verdant +meads of Herefordshire, over old red sandstone, assaults the +carboniferous rocks of Monmouth, whose bold, high ridges, lying +transversely to its course, look as if no power of water could ever have +cut through them. But the Wye has, in its flow of countless ages, +carved out--in Spanish-American phrase _canoned_--a channel with banks +here and there rising nigh a thousand feet above the level of its bed. +Between these it glides with swift current; not direct, but in +snake-like contortions, fantastically doubling back upon itself, almost +to touching. Here and there cliffs rise sheer up from the water's edge, +grand mural escarpments of the mountain limestone, such as show the +"tors" and dales of Derbyshire. The Codwell rocks below Lydbrook, +forming the base of the famed "Symonds' Yat," are of this character, +their grim facades seamed and broken into separate battlements, giving +them resemblance to ruined castles, but such as could have been +inhabited only "in those days when there were giants on the earth." + +The view from Hollymead House--better still from a high hill or "tump" +above it--took in the valley of the river where it enters the +carboniferous _strata_ near Kerne bridge. There was no Kerne bridge +then; the stream being crossed by ford and ferry, a mile further up. +Looking is that direction, in the foreground was Coppetwood Hill, an +oblong eminence embraced by one of the great sinuosities of the river, +more than six miles in the round and less than one across the neck or +isthmus. At this neck, perched on a spur of the hill o'erhanging the +stream, stood a vast pile of building, the castle of Goodrich, on whose +donjon floated a flag long ere Norman baron set foot on the soil of +England. For there the Saxon Duke Godric lorded it over his churls and +swineherds; his iron rule at the Conquest replaced by that of the +Marshalls, and later the Talbots, alike stern and severe. + +Looking beyond, and north-westward, a wide stretch of country came under +the eye, thickly wooded and undulating, the ancient kingdom of Erchyn-- +now called Archenfield--backed in the far distance by a horizon of +hills, many with a mountain aspect, and some real mountains, as the +curious Saddlebow, with a depression or "col" between its twin summits; +Garway, the Cerriggalch, and the long dark range of the Hatterals. + +To the west was a very conglomeration of mountains, seemingly crowded +against one another, yet all apart, each distinguishable by an outline +and aspect of its own. Most conspicuous of these, the conical +Sugarloaf, the two Skyrrids--one of them named Holy Mountain--and the +Blorenge, all towering above the town of Abergavenny, which is +surrounded and embraced by them as the arena of an amphitheatre by its +outer and more elevated circle. + +Sweeping round the sky line, north and north-east the eye was met by +many a bold projection, as the Longmynds and Clee hills, with their blue +basalt, and the Haugh wood, summit of the famed Silurian upcast of +Woolhope. Farther on to the east the Malvern Beacons of true mountain +aspect, remarkable from their isolation, but still more in that there +the geologist can see rocks the earliest stratified on earth, some +metamorphosed, and all trace of stratification destroyed; while there, +too, are visible the rocks of igneous agency, upheaved both by plutonic +and volcanic forces--the gneisses, basalts, syenites, and granites. + +Eastward over the Forest edge could be seen, extending far as vision's +verge, the wide plains of Worcester and Gloucester--as said, an ancient +sea bed--through which now flows the yellow Severn; and on a clear day +bends and reaches of this grand river might be distinguished glistening, +gold-like, in the sun; the level expanse of its valley diversified by +several isolated and curious eminences--hills and ridges--as May and +Breddon due east, and, more to the south, the Mendips and Cotswolds. + +Alone looking southward from Hollymead no mountains met the eye; in that +direction only the undulations of the Forest itself, clad in its livery +of green--all trees. But immediately in front of the house, and sloping +gently away from it, was a wide and long stretch of park-like pasture +land, where the trees stood solitary or in clumps, a double row of grand +oaks bisecting it centrally, guarding and shading the avenue which led +to the public road outside. This passed from Ruardean out of the forest +by a steep descent down to Walford, thence on to Ross. + +Architecturally, Hollymead House was a singular structure. For it was +in the early Tudor style, built when bricks were a scarce and dear +commodity, and timber, in the inverse ratio, plentiful and cheap. The +walls were a framework of hewn oak--uprights, cross-beams, and diagonal +ties--due to the handiwork of the carpenter, only the spaces between +showing the skill of the mason. And, as if to keep ever in record the +fact of this double yet distinct workmanship, the painter and +whitewasher had been now and then called upon to perpetuate it by giving +separate and severely contrasting colours to what was timber and the +interspacing material of mortar and brick. The result a striped and +chequered aspect of the oddest and quaintest kind. Sir Richard might +have had it in his mind when he made the figurative allusion to a cage +and pair of pretty birds. Still it was not exactly cage-shaped, but +more like several set together, some smaller ones stuck against or +hanging from a large one that stood central; the congeries due to a +variety of wings, projecting windows, dormers, and other outworks. + +Equally odd and irregular the arrangement inside. An entrance-hall with +a wide stairway carried up around it, the oak balusters very beams, with +a profusion of carving on them; on each landing, corridors dimly lighted +leading off to rooms no two on the same level; some of them +bed-chambers, only to be got at by passing through other sleeping +apartments interposed between. And, turn which way one would, along +passages, or from room to room, short flights of stairs, or it might be +but a step or two, were encountered everywhere, to the imminent risk of +leg or neck-breaking. + +Though such a structure may appear strange to the modern eye, it did not +so then, for there was nothing uncommon in it Hollymead House was but +one of many like mansions of the day, though one of the largest and most +imposing. Nor are they all gone yet. Scores of such still stand +throughout the shires of the marches, and in perfect repair, to +commemorate the architectural skill, or rather the absence of it, which +distinguished our ancestry in the Tudor times. + +The owner of Hollymead, Ambrose Powell, was a man of peculiar tastes and +idiosyncrasies, some evidence of which appears in the baptismal names he +had bestowed upon his daughters. A fancy, having its origin in the fact +that from a hill above the house could be seen the two great western +rivers, Wye and Severn--poetically, _Vaga_ and _Sabrina_--themselves in +a sense sisters, nurslings from the same breast of far Plinlimmon. From +the summit of that "tump" his elder daughter had looked on her +name-mother at a later date than she made pretence of when urging the +younger up the ridge between Ruardean and Drybrook. It was a wild, +witching spot, the grey rocks of mountain limestone here and there +peeping out from a low growth of hazel, hawthorn, yew, and holly. But +the summit itself was bare, affording on all sides a varied and +matchless panorama of landscape. Being within the boundaries of their +own domain, Sabrina oft climbed up to it; not for the view's sake alone, +but because it was to her hallowed ground, sacred as the place where she +had made surrender of her young heart, when she told Sir Richard Walwyn +it was his. There was a pretty little summer house, with seats, and +many an hour Ambrose Powell himself spent there, in the study of books +and the contemplation of Nature--his delight. Not in a mere meditative +way, or as an idle dreamer; but an active observer of its workings and +searcher after its secrets. Nor did he confine himself to this, but +also took an interest in the affairs of man, so strong as to have +studied them in every aspect--probed the social and political problems +of human existence to their deepest depths. Which had conducted him to +a belief--a full, firm conviction--in the superiority of republican +institutions; as it must all whose minds are as God made or intended +them, and not perverted by prejudice or corrupted by false teachings. +He was, in point of fact, a Puritan, though not of the extreme stern +sort; in his ways of thinking rather as Hampden and Sir Harry Vane, or +with still closer similitude to a people then scorned and persecuted +beyond all others--the "Friends." It is difficult in these modern days, +under the light of superior knowledge, and a supposed better +discrimination between right and wrong, to comprehend the cruelties, ay +barbarous atrocities, to which were submitted the "Friends," or, as +commonly called, "Quakers." A people who, despite their paucity of +numbers, did then, and since then have done and been doing, more to +ennoble the national character of England than all the apostles of her +Episcopacy, with her political boasters and military braggarts to boot. +If neither the most notorious nor glorious, no names in England's +history can compare in goodness and gracefulness with the Penns of 1640 +and the Brights of 1880. + +Though not a professed "Friend," Ambrose Powell was a believer in their +faith and doctrines; and in his daily walk and life acted very much in +accordance with them. But not altogether. From one of their ideas he +dissented--that of non-resistance. Of a proud, independent spirit, +despite his gentle inclinings, he would brook no bullying; the last man +to have one cheek smitten and meekly turn the other to the smiter. +Instead, he would strike back. A scene we are now called upon to +record, and which occurred on that same evening, gives appropriate +illustration of this phase of his character. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +A RIGHT ROYAL EPISTLE. + +The girls had got home, hard breathing, panting, from the haste they had +made. But though supper was announced as set, they did not think of +sitting down to it, but instead, entered the withdrawing-room, a large +apartment, with windows facing front. In the bay of one of these, their +dresses unchanged and their hoods still on, they took stand, with eyes +bent down the avenue, all visible from the window. At intervals along +the road they had heard behind them the trampling of hoofs, and knew +from what horses it proceeded. The sounds, at first faint and distant, +had grown more distinct as they reached the park gate, and they had come +up the avenue with a run, to the surprise and somewhat alarm of their +father, who at the time was outside awaiting their return. + +Already in wonder at their being so late, he would have inquired into +the cause. But they anticipated him by at once telling him where they +had been, what seen, and who, as they supposed, was advancing along the +Ruardean road. + +This last bit of intelligence seemed greatly to excite him; and while +his daughters watched from the window, he himself was also keeping vigil +in the porch outside. After hearing what they had to say, he had +remained there, letting them pass in. + +For a time the gaze of all was fixed on the park entrance, at the lower +end of the long avenue, where a massive oak gate traversed between two +piers of mason-work, old and ivy-mantled. Only for a short while were +they kept in suspense. The flurried girls had barely got back their +breath when a grey horse was seen, with head jam up against the gate, +his rider bending down in the saddle to undo its fastenings. + +In an instant after it was pushed open, and they saw Reginald Trevor +come riding on towards the house, for they were now sure of its being +he. He was yet at too great a distance for them to read the expression +upon his face; but one near enough might have noted it as strange, +without being able to interpret it. All the more because of its seeming +to undergo constant and sudden changes; now as one advancing reluctantly +to the performance of some disagreeable duty, wavering and seeming +half-inclined to back out of it; anon, with resolution restored through +some opposing impulse, as anger, this shown by the fire flashing in his +eyes. + +Never had he ridden up that avenue swayed by such feelings, or under the +excitement of emotions so varied or vivid. Those he had hitherto felt +while approaching Hollymead House were of a different nature. Confident +always, or, if doubting, not enough to give him any great uneasiness. +Vaga Powell resist him! She, a green country girl; he, a skilled, +practised Lothario, conqueror in many a love combat! He could not think +of failure. Nor would he have thought of it yet, believing the sole +obstruction to his suit lay in the father. But now he had to face that +father in a way likely to make his hostility more determined--turn it +into very hate, if it was not so already. + +In truth, a _role_ of a very disagreeable kind was Reginald Trevor +called upon to play; and more than once since entering on it he had felt +like cursing Sir John Wintour in his heart--the King as well. + +As he drew near to the house, and saw the two fair faces in the window-- +a little surprised seeing hoods over their heads at that hour--he more +than ever realised the awkwardness of his errand. And, possibly, if at +that last moment Vaga Powell had come forth, as oft before, to give him +greeting, or even bestowed a smile from where she stood, he would have +risked all, forgiven the insult he had received, and left his duty +undone. + +But no smile showed upon the girl's face, no glance gave him welcome; +instead, he saw something like a frown, as never before. Only with a +glimpse of that face was he favoured; Vaga, as he drew up in front, +turning her back on him, and retiring into the shadowed obscurity of the +room, whither her sister had preceded her. + +It may have been only a seeming rudeness on their part, and +unintentional. Whether or no, it once more roused his resentment +against their father; who, still in the porch, received him with a +countenance stern, as his own was vexed and angry. + +There was a short interval of silence after the unexpected visitor had +drawn up, still keeping to his saddle. He could not well dismount +without receiving invitation; and that was not extended to him, much +less word of welcome. Moreover his presence there, after what had +passed, not only called for explanation, but by all the rules of +politeness required his giving it before aught else should be said. + +He did not, however; seeming embarrassed, and leaving the master of +Hollymead no choice but to take the initiative. Which the latter at +length did, saying sourly, and somewhat satirically-- + +"What may you be wanting with me, Mr Reginald Trevor? I take it your +business is with _me_." + +"With you it is," brusquely returned the other, still further nettled at +the way he was addressed. + +"Have the goodness then to tell me what it is. I suppose it's something +that can be settled by you in the saddle. If not, you may alight and +come indoors." + +Speech aggravating, terribly insulting, as Ambrose Powell intended it +should be. He had long ago taken the measure of the man, and wished to +drive him to a distance, even further off than he had already done. His +last words were enough, without the contemptuous look that accompanied +them. But, stung by both, the emissary of Sir John Wintour stood +proudly up in his stirrups, as he replied, with a touch of satire +too,--"No need, sir, to enter your very hospitable house, or even get +off my horse's back. My errand can be accomplished by delivering this +at your door. But, as you chance to be in it, permit me to hand it +direct to you." + +While speaking he had drawn from under the breast of his doublet a +folded sheet, a letter, on which was a large disc of red wax, stamped +with the King's seal. + +The master of Hollymead was not so impolite as to refuse taking the +letter from his hands; and, as soon as in his own, he tore it open and +read,-- + +"For Ambrose Powell, Gentn. + +"Trustie and well-beloved, Wee greete you well. Having obserued in the +Presidents and custome of former times that all the Kings and Queenes of +the Realme, vpon extraordinary occasions, haue vsed either to resort to +those Contributions, which arise from one generalitie of Subiects, or to +the priuate helpes of some well affected in particular, by way of loane: +In which latter course Wee being at this time inforced to proceed, for +supply of some portions of Treasure for diuers publique seruices, and +particularly for continuing and increasing our magazins in some large +proportion in our Realme of Ireland, in our Nauie, and in our ffortes: +in all which greater summes have been expended of late, both in building +and repairing, and in making sundry prousions, than haue bene in twentie +yeares before: We haue now in Our Eye an especiall care, that such +discretion may be obserued in the choise of the lenders, and such an +indifferent distribution, as the summes that Wee shall receiue may be +raised with an equall Consideration of men's abilities: And therefore, +seeing men haue had so good experience of Our repayment of all those +summes which we haue euer required in this kinde, Wee doubt not but Wee +shall now receiue the like Argument of good affection from you (amongst +other of Our Subiects), and that with such alacrity and readiness as may +make the same so much the more acceptable, especially seeing Wee require +but that of some which few men would deny a friend, and haue a minde +resolued to expose all our earthly fortune for the preseruation of the +generall. The summe that Wee require of you by vertue of these presents +is three thousand Pounds, Which we do promise in the name of Us, our +heires and successors, to repay to you or your Assignes within eighteene +monethes after the payment thereof vnto the Commissioner. The person +that we have appointed to receiue it is our worthy servant, Sir Jno. +Wintour, To whose hands Wee do require you to send it within twelue days +after you have receiued this Priuy Seale, which, together with the +Commissioner's acquittance, shall be sufficient Warrant unto the +Officers of our receipt for the repayment thereof at the time +limitted.--Giuen under our Priuy Seale at our Pallace of Westminster. + +"Carolus Rex." + +So ran the curious communication put into the hands of Ambrose Powell. + +A letter of "Loan by Privy Seal" even more execrable both as to grammar +and diction than the documents emanating from Royalty at the present +day--and that is admitting much. + +Spoke the master of Hollymead, after perusing it:-- + +"Request for a loan, the King calls this! Beggarly enough in the +beginning--a very whine; but at the end more like the demand of a +robber!" + +"Mr Powell!" cried he who had presented it, his back now up in anger, +"though but the messenger of Sir John Wintour, at the same time I'm in +the service of the King. And, holding his Majesty's commission, I +cannot allow such talk as yours. It's almost the same as calling the +King a robber!" + +"Take it as all the same, if you like, sirrah! And apply it also to Sir +John Wintour, your more immediate master. Go back, and say to both how +I've treated the begging petition--thus!" + +And at the word he tore the paper into scraps, flinging them at his +feet, as something to be trampled upon. + +At this Reginald Trevor became furious; all the more from again seeing +two feminine faces in the window above, by their looks both seeming to +speak approval of what their father had said and done. + +He might have given exhibition of his anger by some act of violence; but +just then he saw something else which prompted to prudence, effectually +restraining it. This something in the shape of three or four stalwart +fellows--stablemen and servants of other sorts belonging to Hollymead +House--who, having caught sound of the fracas in front, now appeared +coming round from the rear. + +No need for Reginald Trevor, noting the scowl upon their faces, to tell +him they were foes, and as little to convince him of the small chance he +and his varlet would have in an encounter with them. He neither thought +of it nor any longer felt inclined to take vengeful action, not even to +speaking some strong words of menace that had risen to his lips. +Instead, choking them down, and swallowing his chagrin as he best could, +he said, in a resigned, humble way,-- + +"Oh! well, Mr Powell; what you've done or intend doing is no affair of +mine--specially. As you know, I'm here but in the performance of my +duty, which I need not tell you is to me most disagreeable." + +"_Very_ disagreeable, no doubt!" rejoined the master of Hollymead, in a +tone of cutting sarcasm; "and being so, the sooner you get through with +it the better. I think you've made a finish of it now, unless you deem +it part of this disagreeable duty to gather up those torn scraps of the +King's letter, and carry them back to the Queen's obsequious servant, +and your master, Sir John." + +In the way of insult, taunt could scarce go farther. And he against +whom it was hurled keenly felt it; at the same time felt his own +impotence either to resent or reply to it. For the three or four +fellows, with black brows, advancing from the rear, had been further +reinforced, and now numbered nearly a dozen. + +"I bid you good-evening, Mr Powell," said the emissary, as he turned +his horse round, but too glad to get away from that unpleasant spot. + +"Oh! good-evening, sir," returned the master of Hollymead, in a tone of +mock politeness; after which he stood watching the ill-received visitor, +till he saw him go out through the gates of his park. + +Then over Ambrose Powell's face came a shadow--the shadow of a fear. +For he knew he had offended a Royal tyrant, who, though now weaker than +he had been through the restraint of a Parliament, might still have +strength enough to tear him. + +"My dear children," he said, as he joined them in the withdrawing-room, +"the trouble I've been long anticipating has come at last. We will have +to leave Hollymead, or I must fortify and defend it." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +THE COUSINS. + +The sun had set as Reginald Trevor rode out of Hollymead Park. But he +did not intend returning to Lydney that night; instead, purposed passing +it in Ross, to which town he had also an errand. By making free use of +the spur he might still reach his destination within the twilight. + +Outside the park gate he was about turning in the Ross direction when he +saw a party on horseback advancing from the opposite, as he had himself +come. Four there were--two gentlemen in front, with their respective +attendants a little behind. He could have shunned them by riding +rapidly on before; but from the stylish appearance of one of the +gentlemen he took it they were Cavaliers, possibly might be +acquaintances; and after his long, lonely ride he was in the humour for +company. It might help him some little to get over his chagrin. So he +drew rein, and sate in his saddle waiting for them to come up. + +There was a wide sweep of grass-grown turf between the park gate and the +public road, and he had halted at the end of it on the right. Soon the +party approaching reached the other, and he saw, with some surprise, and +a little vexation, their horses' heads being turned in towards the gate. +Whoever the gentlemen might be, they were evidently bent upon a visit +to the house that had refused hospitality to himself. + +With something more than curiosity he scanned them now. Were they known +to him? Yes! one was; his surprise becoming astonishment, as in the +more showily-attired of the two gentlemen he recognised his cousin +Eustace. + +"You, Eust!" he exclaimed, drawing his horse round, and trotting towards +his kinsman; his glance given to the other being as that to a stranger; +for he was not acquainted with Sir Richard Walwyn. + +"You, Rej!" was the all-but echo of a response, and the cousins came +together, Sir Richard passing on into the park. The gentleman +tax-gatherer, still smarting under the rebuff given him, the smart +shared by his servant, had ill-manneredly left the gate open behind +them. + +It was months since the cousins had met; though each knew where the +other was, or ought to be. Hence Reginald's surprise to see Eustace +there, supposing him to be engaged in his duties at Court. He spoke it +inquiringly, as they held out to shake hands; but, before the other +could make answer, he saw that which gave him a start--blood upon the +hand extended to him! The white buckskin glove was reddened with it all +over up to the gauntlets. + +"God bless me, Eust! what's this? A wound! Have you been quarrelling?" + +"Oh! nothing much. Only a little prick in the wrist." + +"Prick in the wrist! But from what?" + +"The point of a rapier." + +"The deuce! Then you _have_ been quarrelling. With whom, pray?" + +"Speak a little lower, Rej. I'd rather _he_ didn't hear us." + +And Eustace nodded towards Sir Richard, who was not yet quite beyond +earshot. + +"Surely you don't mean the affair was with him?" + +"I do--it was." + +"He got the better of you?" + +"Quick as you could count ten." + +"Zounds! that's strange--you such a swordsman! But still stranger what +I see now, your being in his company. Not his prisoner, are you?" + +"Well, in a way I am." + +"In that case, cousin, my sword's at your service. So let _me_ try +conclusions with him. Possibly, I may get you a _revanche_; at the same +time release you from any _parole_ you may be under." + +Though, but the moment before, some little cowed, and declining a combat +with serving men, Reginald Trevor was all courage now; and feared not to +meet a gentleman in fair fight. For he saw that Trevor blood had been +spilt, and, although he and his cousin Eustace had never been bosom +friends, they were yet of the same family. The hot Cymric blood that +ran in the veins of both boiled up in his to avenge whatever defeat his +kinsman might have sustained, and without awaiting answer he asked +impatiently,-- + +"Shall I follow, and flout him, Eust? I will if you but say the word." + +"No, Rej; nothing of the sort. Thank you all the same." + +"Well; if you're against it, I won't. But it edges a Trevor's teeth to +see one of his kin--full cousin, too--worsted, conquered, dead--down as +you seem to be. All, I suppose, from your antagonist being a bit bigger +and older than you are. He's that as regards myself; for all I've no +fear to face him." + +"I know you haven't, Rej. But don't be angry with me for saying, if you +did, it would end as it has with me--maybe worse." + +The _ci-devant_ gentleman-usher spoke with some pique. Notwithstanding +the generous offer of his cousin to espouse his quarrel, there was that +in the proposal itself which seemed to reflect on his own capability--a +suggestion, almost an assertion, of patronising superiority. + +"What do you mean, Eustace?" asked the other, looking a little roughed. + +"That yonder gentleman," he nodded towards Sir Richard, now well out of +hearing, "is a perfect master of both sword and horse. He proved +himself _my_ master in less than five minutes after engaging; could have +thrust me in as many seconds had he been so disposed. While fighting +with him I felt a very child in his hands; and he, as I now chance to +know, was but playing with me. In the end he disarmed me--could have +done it long before--by this touch in the wrist, which sent my rapier +spinning off into the air. That isn't all. He has disarmed me in +another sense; changed me from angry foe to, I might almost say, friend. +That's why I've told you that I'm in a way his prisoner." + +"It's a strange tale," rejoined Reginald, choking down his wrath. "All +that, by sun, moon, and stars! But I won't question you further about +it; only tell me why you are here. I thought you were so fixed in the +Palace of Westminster, such a favourite of the grand lady who there +rules the mart, you'd never more care to breathe a breath of country +air. Yet here I find you in the Forest of Dean--its very heart--far +away from court and city life as man could well get within England's +realm. How has it come about, cousin?" + +"I wouldn't mind telling you, Rej, if there was time. But there isn't. +As you see, Sir Richard is waiting for me." + +"Sir Richard who?" + +"Walwyn." + +"Oh, that's the name of your generous conqueror?" + +"It is." + +"I've heard of the individual, though never saw him till now. But how +fell you into his company, and what brought about your quarrel?" + +"Leave it, Rej, like other matters, till we meet again, and have more +time to talk over such things." + +"Agreed. Still there's time to say why you are going to Hollymead +House." + +"Hollymead House?" + +"Oh, you didn't know that was the name of Ambrose Powell's place!" + +"Ambrose Powell?" + +"What! Nor yet the name of the man you're about to pay visit to?" + +"I confess I do not." + +"Nor anything else of him?" + +"Nothing whatever." + +He was on the point of adding, "Only that I've been told something about +a pair of pretty girls," when it occurred to him he might be touching on +a subject in which his cousin had a tender concern. + +"'Pon my honour!" rejoined the latter, making an uphill attempt to +laugh, "the tale grows stranger and stranger! You, of the King's +Household, on your way to make acquaintance--friendly, of course--with +one of his Majesty's greatest and most pronounced enemies--a man who +hates King, Court, and Church; above all, bitter against your especial +patroness, the Queen. I've heard him call her a Jezebel, with other +opprobrious epithets." + +"Odd in you, Rej, such a devoted Royalist, to have listened calmly to +all that?" + +"I didn't listen calmly; would have quickly stopped his seditious +chattering, but for--" + +"For what?" asked the other, seeing he hesitated. + +"Oh, certain reasons I may some day make known to you. Like yourself, +Eust, I have some secrets." + +Eust thought he could give a good guess at one of them, but mercifully +forbore allusion to it. + +"But," he said, with an air of pretended surprise, "you've been just +visiting this terrible king-hater yourself, Rej? If I mistake not, you +came out of the park. You were up to the house, were you not?" + +"I was." + +"And has it shaken your loyalty, or in any way weakened it?" + +"On the contrary, strengthened it. My errand to Ambrose Powell, with +the reception he vouchsafed me--the ill-grained curmudgeon--has had all +that effect." + +"Then you've been quarrelling, too! Have you any objection to tell me +what about?" + +"Not the slightest. I was the bearer of a letter of Privy Seal to him-- +for a loan. Sir John Wintour, as you may be aware, has been appointed +one of the King's Commissioners of Array for West Gloucestershire and +the Forest. You know I'm in his service, which will make the matter +understandable to you." + +"And you haven't got the money? I needn't ask; there's the signs of +refusal in your face." + +"Got the money! Zounds! no. Instead, the recusant tore the letter into +shreds, and flung them at his feet; defying me, Sir John, King, and all! +Ah! well; that won't be the end of it. I shall be sure of having +occasion to visit Hollymead again, and ere long! Next time the tables +will be turned. But, cousin, after hearing what I've told you, are you +still in the mind to go on to that seditious den? If you take my +advice, you'll turn your back on Hollymead House, and come along with +me. I'm making for Ross." + +"To take your advice, Rej, would be to do as rude a thing as a man well +could--ruder than I ever did in my life. Disloyal, too--doubly so; I +should be traitor to gratitude, as to courtesy. Indeed, I've trenched +scandalously on good manners now, by keeping yonder gentleman so long +waiting for me." + +He nodded towards Sir Richard, who had halted at some distance up the +avenue. + +"Oh, very well," sneeringly rejoined Sir John Wintour's emissary. "Of +course, you can do as you like, Eust. I'm not your master, though +yonder gentleman, as you call him, seems to be. Good-evening!" + +And with this curt leave-taking, the sneer still on his face, he dug the +spurs deep into his horse's ribs, and went off at a gallop along the +road for Ross. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +THREE CURIOUS CHARACTERS. + +"Yee-up, Jinkum! Yee-up!" + +The exclamations were accompanied by the thwack of a stick over the hips +of a donkey half-hidden under a pair of panniers. + +"Don't press the poor creetur, Jack. It be a hardish climb up the +pitch. Gie't its time." + +"But you know, Winny, the panners be most nigh empty--more's the pity." + +"True o' that. But consider how fur's been the day. Seven mile to +Monnerth--a good full load goin'--an' same back, whens we be home. An't +han't had thing to eat, 'cept the pickin's 'long the roadside." + +"All the more reezun for gittin' 'im soon home. I'd lay wager, if the +anymal kud speak, 't 'ud say the same." + +"Might. But, for all that, him's rightdown tired. If him want, there +wud be no need yer slappin' he. Don't slap him any more, Jack." + +"Well, I won't. Yee-up, Jinkum! I 'ant a-goin' to gi' ye the stick +agen. 'Nother mile, and ye'll be back to yer own bit o' paster in the +ole orchart, whar the grass'll be up to yer ears. Yee-up!" + +At which Jinkum, as though comprehending the merciful disposition +towards him, and grateful for it, seemed to improve his pace. + +The speakers were a man and woman, both of uncommon appearance--the man +a diminutive specimen of humanity, who walked with a jerking gait, due +to his having a wooden leg. The woman was taller than he, by the head +and shoulders quite; while in every other way above the usual dimensions +of her sex. Of a somewhat masculine aspect, she was withal far from +ill-favoured--rather the contrary. Her gown of coarse homespun, +dust-stained and _delabre_, could not conceal a voluptuous outline of +figure; while to have her eyes and hair many a queen would have been +glad to give the costliest jewel in her crown. The complexion was dark, +the features of a gipsy type--though she was not one--the hair, a very +hatful, carelessly coiled around her head, black as the wing of a crow. +The first thought of one beholding her would be: "What a woman, if but +washed and becomingly clad?" For both skin and dress showed something +more than the dust that day caught up from the road--smouches of older +date. Despite all, she was a grand, imposing personage; of tireless +strength, too, as evinced by her easy, elastic step while breasting that +steep pitch on her twenty-second mile since morning. The journey seemed +to have had little effect on her, however it may have jaded Jinkum. + +Notwithstanding the disparity in size between the man and woman--a good +deal also in their age, he being much her senior--they bore a certain +resemblance to one another. It lay in their features and complexion; +Jack having a gipsyish look, too. Nor any wonder at their being some +little alike, since they were _not_ man and wife, but brother and +sister--both born Foresters. There was nothing in the character of +either at all disreputable, though their business was such as usually +brings suspicion on those who follow it. Known all over the forest, and +for miles around it, as cadgers, they trafficked in every conceivable +thing by which an honest penny might be made, though their speciality +was the transport of fowls, with other products of the farmyard, to the +markets of Ross and Monmouth--generally on freight account--taking back +such parcels as they could pick up. Ruardean was their port of +departure and return; their home, when they were at home, being a +cottage in the outskirts of that elevated village. + +Rarely, if ever, were "Jerky Jack"--the soubriquet his gait had gained +for him--and his big sister seen apart; Winny, or Winifred--for such was +her baptismal name--being a valuable helpmate to him. Some said she was +more--his master. + +That day they had been to Monmouth market, and now, at a late hour of +the evening--after sunset--they were climbing Cat's Hill on their return +homeward. As already said, there was then no Kerne bridge, and they had +crossed by the ferry at Goodrich; a roundabout way to where they now +were, but unavoidable--making good the woman's estimate of the distance. + +Up the remainder of the pitch, Jerky kept his word, and no more stick +was administered to Jinkum. But before reaching the summit the tired +animal was treated to a spell of rest, for which it might thank a man +there met, or rather one who dropped upon them as from the clouds. For +he had come slithering down a steep shelving bank that bordered the +road, suddenly presenting himself to their view outside the selvage of +bushes. + +Notwithstanding his _impromptu_ appearance, neither showed sign of alarm +nor surprise. Evidently they expected him; for but the minute before a +sound resembling the call of the green woodpecker--the "heekul," as +known to them--had reached their ears, causing them to turn their eyes +toward the direction whence it came. From the wood, where, of course, +they could see nothing; but there was a peculiarity in the intonation of +the sound, telling them it proceeded not from the throat of a bird, but +was in some way made by a man. That the woman knew how, and who the +man, she gave evidence by saying, "That be Rob!" as she spoke a pleased +expression coming over her countenance. + +Whether Rob or no, he who so mysteriously and fantastically presented +himself to their notice was a man of aspect remarkable as either of +them. In size a Colossus; dark-complexioned like themselves, with full +beard, and thick shock of brown-black hair standing out around his neck +in curls and tangles. His coat of bottle-green cloth--amply skirted-- +and red plush waistcoat, showed creased and frowsy, as if he had passed +the previous night, and many preceding it, in a shed or under a tree. +For all, there was something majestic in his mien, just as with the +woman--a savage grandeur independent of garb, which could assert itself +under a drapery of rags. + +As the three came together, he was the first to speak, more particularly +addressing himself to Jerky. For the sister had a little side business +to transact, plunging her hand into one of the panniers, and bringing +forth a basket, out of which the neck of a bottle protruded. + +"Well, Jack! What's the news down Monnerth way?" was the commencement +of the colloquy. + +"Lots, Rob; 'nough if they were wrote out on paper to fill them panners, +an' load the donkey down." + +Jinkum's owner was of a humorous turn, and dealt in figures of speech, +often odd and varied as his bills of lading. + +"Tell us some o' 'em," requested Rob, placing himself in an attitude to +listen. + +"Well," proceeded the cadger, "it be most all 'bout politicks there now, +wi' rumours o' war, they say be a brewin'. The market war full o' them +rough 'uns from Raglan side, Lord Worster's people, bullyin' everybody +an' threetenin' all as wudn't cry out for the King." + +"Ay;" here interposed the big sister, with a sneer, "an' you cried it, +Jack--shouted till I was afeerd you'd split yer windpipe. That ye did!" + +"And if I did," rejoined Jack, excusing himself, "how war I to help it? +If I hadn't they'd a throttled me; may-be pulled off my wooden leg, and +smashed my skull wi't. An' ye know that, Winny. A man who'd a said +word there favour o' the Parlyment wud a stud good chance o' gettin' +tore limb fro' limb. Tho' I han't two for 'em to tear sunderwise, I +wasn't the fool to go buttin my head 'gainst a wall when no good could +come o't. If I did cry `Long live the King!' I thinked the contrary, +as Rob knows I do." + +"That do I, Jack, right well. A true free-born Forester, as myself, I +know you ha' no leanin' like as them o' Monnerth and Lydney; Royalists +an' Papists, who want to make slaves o' us, both body and soul, an' keep +us toilin' for them an' their fine-dressed favourites--devil burn 'em!" + +Having thus delivered himself, the free-born Forester dropped +conversation with Jerky, confining it to the sister. For which Jack +gave them an opportunity, shrewdly guessing it was desired. Once more +saluting Jinkum with a "yee-up!" he started the animal off again up the +hill, himself stumping briskly after. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A COMBAT IN A QUARRY. + +The man and woman left behind, as they stood _vis-a-vis_, presented a +striking appearance. Such a pair in juxtaposition were a sight not +often given to the eye. He some inches the taller--though well matched +as regarded the distinction of the sexes; but both of towering stature, +with air so commanding that one, who could have seen them there and +then, would not have given a thought to the coarseness of their apparel, +or, if so, instantly forgetting it. Looking at their faces, in their +eyes as they met in mutual gaze, he would have noticed something of a +nature to interest more than any quality or fashion of dress--the light +of love. For they loved one another warmly, and, perhaps, as purely and +tenderly, as if their hearts had been beating under robes of silk. + +No words of love passed between them now. If they intended speaking +such, they held them in reserve till matters more pressing should be +disposed of. + +Upon these the man entered at once, asking,-- + +"Heerd you anythin' 'bout me, Win?" + +"Yes, Rob." + +"What?" + +"They have been wonderin' how ye managed to get out o't gaol, an' blame +Will Morgan for lendin' ye a hand. Day afore yesterday a party came +over from Lydney wi' that young officer as be wi' Sir John Winter-- +Trevor I think they call him." + +"Yes; that's the name. I know him well enough--too well. 'Twas he as +took me in the High Meadows." + +"Oh! it was. Well; he hev taked Will, too, an' carried him away to +Lydney, where Sir John ha' now got a gaol o' his own. There wor some +trouble 'bout it; the Lord Herbert, who's governor at Monnerth, claimin' +him as his prisoner. But the other sayed as yours wor a case o' +deer-stealin' in the Forest, an' Will had helped, ye ought both be taken +before Sir John an' tried by him, he bein' head man o' it. Then Lord +Herbert gave in, an' let them take him off. Will did help ye a bit, +didn't he?" + +"More'n a bit. But for him, liker than not, I'd now be in theer lock-up +at Lydney. Well, if he be goed there he mayn't ha' so long to stay as +they think for--won't, if what I've heerd be true." + +"What's ye heerd, Rob?" + +"Some news as ha' just come down from Lunnun. It's sayed the King's +been chased out o't, an' the Parlyment be now havin' it all theer own +way. Supposin' that's the case, Sir John Winter won't hae it all his +own way much longer. We Foresters'll deal wi' him diff'rent from what +we've been a doin'. An' 'bout that I ha' got word o' somethin' else." + +"What somethin'?" + +"A man, they say's comin' down here--from Lunnun too. One o' the right +sort--friend o' the people. Besides, a soldier as ha' seen foreign +service, an' is reckoned 'mong the best and kindest of men." + +"I think I know who ye mean, Rob. Ain't it Sir Richard Walwyn?" + +"That's the man." + +"He wor at Hollymead fore he went away to the wars. I've seed him +many's the time. He used to often ride past our place, an' always +stopped to ha' a word an' a joke wi' Jack. That makes me remember him; +an' if I beant mistook somebody else ha' remembrance o' him in a +different way, an' ain't like ever to forget him." + +"Who?" + +"One o' the young ladies o' Hollymead--the older 'un, Miss Sabrina. I +ha' heerd as much from the house sarvints theer." + +Just the shadow of a cloud had shown itself on Rob's brow as Win +commenced giving her reminiscences of the knight who had been visitor at +Hollymead and used to crack jokes with Jerky. It passed off, however, +ere her relation came to an end. + +"Well, dear Win," he said, speaking more tenderly from consciousness of +having harboured an unjust suspicion; "they say Sir Richard be comin' +down to raise soldiers for the Parlyment. If that be so, one o' the +first to join him'll be Rob Wilde; an' maybe the biggest, if not best, +in the fightin' line." + +"You'll be the best, Rob; I know you will. Who could equal you?" + +At which she threw open her arms, then closed them around his neck, +covering him with kisses. + +In all probability, many soft words and much tender concourse would have +succeeded this outburst of admiration. But the opportunity was not +allowed them. Just then they heard a clattering of hoofs, horsemen +coming down the road from Ruardean, at a gallop. + +Rob, setting his ears to listen, could tell there were two of them, but +nothing more--nothing to admonish him whether they were friends or +enemies. But with the consciousness of having stolen deer and broken +jail, twenty to one on their being the latter, reflected he. In any +case prudence counselled him hiding himself, and letting the horsemen +pass on. + +His first impulse was to spring back up the bank, leaving the woman in +the road. They could have nothing against her, whoever they were. But +they were near now, still riding rapidly, and before he could scramble +to the summit of the slope would be sure to see him. Just then, a +hiding-place handier, and more easily accessible, came under his eye; a +break in the bank just opposite, which he knew to be the entrance to an +old limestone quarry, long abandoned. He would be safe enough in there, +at least from observation by any one passing down the road. Whether or +no, it was now Hobson's choice with him; the trampling was louder and +clearer; and but for an abrupt bend of the road above he could have seen +the horsemen, as they him. No alternative, therefore, but to cut into +the quarry; which he did--the woman with him. + +Scarce were they well inside it, when the hoof-strokes ceased to be +heard. The horses had been suddenly pulled up; a colloquy ensuing. + +"Hullo, Jerky!" it begun. "On your way from Monmouth market, I +suppose?" + +"Yes, yer honour; jist that." + +"But where's your big sister? I've met you scores of times along the +roads, though never without her. I hope there's nothing amiss?" + +"Oh! nothin', sir. She be wi' me now, close by, coming up the pitch, +only ha' legged a bit behint." + +"Well, Jack, I won't detain you; as I must not be lagging myself. I +want to reach Ross before the night's on. Good-bye, old cadge!" + +At which the dialogue came to an end, and the hoof-strokes were again +heard, now coming close. + +Only for a minute or so, when a second colloquy was entered upon, this +time one of the voices being different. + +Rob Wilde knew them both; had long ago recognised the one that held +speech with the cadger, and had reason to feel keenly apprehensive as he +listened. Far more now, as the words of the later dialogue dropped upon +his ears. + +"Old Timber-toes said his sister was just behind. I don't see anything +of her; and certainly she's not one there should be any difficulty in +making out--even at a league's distance. Hey! what the deuce is that?" + +And Reginald Trevor again reined up. For it was he, with his servant. + +"A basket, it appears to be, Captain," answered the man, "with a bottle +in it. Yes," he added, after drawing closer, lifting it from the ledge, +and peering into it. "Something besides the bottle--bread, cheese, and +bacon." + +"Where there's so much smoke there should be some fire," reflected his +master, who had halted in the middle of the road. Then, thinking it odd +he saw nothing of the cadger's sister, and noticing the gap leading into +the quarry, it occurred to him she might be there. Partly out of +curiosity, and partly from an intuition, which the basket of provisions +had done something to inspire, he headed his horse at the opening and +rode in. + +Soon as inside, an exclamation rose to his lips, in tone which told of +more than surprise. There was triumph, exultation, in it. For there +saw he, not only the woman missing from the road, but a man, the same +who had been for some time missing from Monmouth Gaol. The bushes in +the old quarry were not thick enough, nor tall enough, to give either of +them concealment; and they were standing erect, without further attempt +at seeking it. + +"Ho--ho! my giant," cried the officer. "It's here you are; making love +to Jerky's sister. And a pretty pair of love-birds too! Ha! ha! That +explains the basket of eatables and drinkables. What a pity to +interrupt your billing and cooing! But I must. So master Rob, +deer-stealer and jail-breaker," he added drawing his sword. "Come along +with me! You needn't trouble about bringing the basket. In the Lydney +lock-up I'll see to your being fed free of expense." + +"When you get me there," rejoined Rob, in defiant tone, as he spoke +pulling from under the breast of his doublet a long-bladed knife, and +setting himself firm for defence. + +This was unexpected by the King's officer, who had not thought or dreamt +of resistance. It was there, however, in sure, stern shape, and he felt +himself committed to overcoming it. With a prick of his spur he sprang +his horse forward, and straight at Rob, as though he would ride over +him, his sword held ready for either cut or thrust. + +But neither gave he, nor could. As the horse's head came close to him, +the Colossus lunged out with long arm, and sent the point of his knife +into the animal's nostrils, which caused it to rear up and round, +squealing with pain. This brought its rider's back towards the man who +had pricked it; and before he could wheel again, Reginald Trevor was in +the embrace of him he had jokingly called giant--realising that he had +the strength of one, as he was himself dragged out of his saddle. + +But they were not the only combatants in the quarry. For, following his +master, the servant had made to assist him in his assault against the +big man, taking no note of the big woman, or fancying she would not +interfere. In which fancy he was sadly mistaken. For in scrimmage his +back becoming turned upon her, as if taking pattern by Rob, she sprang +up, caught hold of the lightweight groom, and jerked him to the ground, +easily as she would have pulled a bantam cock from out one of the +Jinkum's panniers. + +In less than threescore seconds after the affair began, Reginald Trevor +and his attendant were unhorsed, disarmed, and held as in the hug of a +couple of bears. + +"I'll let ye go," said Rob to his prisoner, after some rough handling, +"when ye say you won't take advantage o' my gen'rosity by renewin' the +attack. Bah!" he added, without waiting for response, "I'll put that +out o' yer power." + +Saying which, he caught up the officer's sword, and broke it across his +knee, at the same time releasing him. The blade of the attendant was +treated likewise, and both master and man were permitted to rise to +their feet, feeling vanquished as weaponless. + +"You can take yourselves off," sneeringly said the deer-stealer; "an' as +ye talked 'bout bein' in Ross 'fore nightfall, you'll do well to make +quick time." + +Not a word spoke Reginald Trevor in reply, nor thanks for the mercy +shown him. Too angry was he for that; his anger holding him speechless +because of its very impotence. In sullen silence he regained the bridle +of his horse--like himself having lost spirit by copious bleeding of the +nose--climbed back into the saddle, and continued on down Cat's Hill, +his varlet behind him, both swordless, and yet more crestfallen than +when they rode out through the gate of Hollymead Park. + +"We're in for it now, Win," said Rob, to the cadger's sister, after +seeing them depart. "An' we've got to look out for danger. I'm sorry +'bout you havin' to share it; but maybe 'twon't be so much, after all. +Once Sir Richard gets here, an' the fightin' begins, as it surely must +soon, trust me for takin' care o' ye." + +"I will--I do, Rob!" + +And again the great arms were thrown around his neck, while upon his +lips were showered a very avalanche of kisses. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +LOOKING FORWARD TO A FIGHT. + +Some truth was there in the report that had reached Rob Wilde, of the +King being chased out of London. Though not literally chased, after his +display in the House of Commons, ludicrous as unconstitutional, he found +the metropolis too hot for him. Moreover, there was a whisper about +impeaching the Queen; and this arch _intrigante_, notwithstanding her +high notions of Royal right, was now in a fit of Royal trembles. +Strafford had lost his head, Laud was in prison, likely to lose his; how +knew she but that those bloodthirsty islanders might bring her own under +the axe? They had done as much for a Queen more beautiful than she. +Mobs daily paraded the streets, passing the Palace; the cry, "No +bishops!" came in through its windows, and Charles trembled as he +thought of his father's significant epigram, "No bishop, no king." So +out of Whitehall they slipped--first to Windsor to pack up; the Queen, +in fine, clearing out of the country, by Dover, to Holland. + +It was a backstairs "skedaddle" with her; carrying off as much plunder +as she could in the scramble--chests of jewels of unknown but fabulous +value, as that represented as having been found in the isle of Monte +Cristo. Enough, at all events, to hold Court abroad; maintain regal +surroundings; even raise an army for the reconquest and re-enslavement +of the people she had plundered. + +It is unpleasant to reflect on such things, far more having to speak of +them. Sad to think that though England is two centuries and a half +older since Charles Stuart and Henrietta de Medici did all in their +power to outrage her people and rob them of their rights, this same +people is to-day not a wit the wiser. The late Liberal victory, as it +is called, may be urged as contradicting this allegation; but against +that is to be set the behaviour of England's people, as represented by +their Parliament for the last six years, sanctioning and endorsing deeds +that have brought a blight on the nation's name, and a cloud over its +character, it will take centuries to clear off. And against that, too, +the spirit which seems likely will pervade in this new Legislative +Assembly, and the action it will take. When the Long Parliament +commenced its sittings, the patriots composing it never dreamt of +letting crime go unpunished. Instead, their first thoughts and acts +were to bring the betrayers of their country to account. "Off with his +head--so much for Strafford!" + +"To the Tower with Laud and the twelve recalcitrant bishops!" + +"Clear out the Star Chamber and High Commission Court!" "Abolish +monopolies, Loans of Privy Seal, Ship-tax, Coal and Conduit money, with +the other iniquitous imposts!" And, _presto_! all this was done as by +the wand of a magician, though it was the good genius then guiding the +destinies of England. Off went Strafford's head; to the Tower was taken +Laud; and the infamous royal edicts of a decade preceding were swept +from the statute-book, as by a wet sponge passed over the score of a +tapster's slate. + +What do we see now? What hear? A new Parliament entering on power +under circumstances so like those that ushered in the "Long" as to seem +almost the same. And a Ministry gone out who have outraged the nation +as much as did the Straffords, Digbys, and Lauds. But how different the +action taken towards them! No Bill of Attainder talked of, no word of +impeachment, not even a whisper about voting want of confidence. +Instead of being sent to a prison, as the culprits of 1640, they of 1880 +walk out of office and away, with a free, jaunty step and air of bold +effrontery, blazoned with decorations and brand new titles bestowed on +them--a very shower, as the sparks from a Catherine wheel! + +Verily was the lot of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, laid in +unlucky times. Had he lived in these days, so far from losing his head, +it would have been surmounted by a ducal coronet. And Laud, already at +the top of the ecclesiastical tree, with no possibility of hoisting him +to higher earthly honours, would have had heavenly ones bestowed on him +by being enrolled among the saints. + +Though merely writing a romance, who will say that in this matter I am +romancing? The man that does must be what Sir Richard Walwyn pronounced +him who is not a Republican; and back to Sir Richard's _dictum_ I refer +him. + +Soon as Charles had got his Queen safe out of harm's way, he betook +himself to York, there to enter upon more energetic action. For there +he felt safer himself, surrounded by a host of hot partisans. In +political sentiment, what a curious reversion has taken place since then +between the capitals of the North and South--almost an exchange! Then +York was all Royalist, and as a consequence filled with the foes of +Liberty; London full of its friends. Now the former has mounted to the +very hill-top of Liberal aspiration; the latter sunk into the slough of +a shameful retrogression! + +But the thing is easily explained. Those who dwell in the kingdom's +capital are nearer to the source of contamination. There Bung and +Beadledom, with their vested rights, hold sway; there the scribblers who +wear plush find encouragement and promotion; while the corrupting +influence of modern finance has nursed into life and strength a swarm of +gamblers in stocks, promoters of bubble companies, tricksters in trade, +and music-hall cads--a sorry replacement of the honest mercers and +trusty apprentices of the Parliamentary times. + +Once separated from his Parliament, the King had an instinct that all +friendly intercourse between it and himself would soon be at an end; +this nursed into conviction by the Hertfords, Digbys, and other like +"chicks" who formed his _entourage_. Active became he now in adopting +precautions, and taking measures to sustain himself in the struggle that +was imminent. And now more industrious than ever in the way of money +raising; anew granting monopolies, and sending letters of Privy Seal all +over the land, wherever there seemed a chance of enforcing their +demands--for demands were they, as we have seen. To Sir John Wintour +had been entrusted some scores of these precious epistles, with +authority to deliver them, collect the proceeds, and send them on to +replenish the royal exchequer; and it was one such Reginald Trevor saw +torn into scraps on the porch of Hollymead House. + +This same Sir John was what Scotchmen would call a "canny chiel." +Courtier, and private secretary to the Queen, he had come in for a +goodly share of pilferings from the public purse; among other jobs +having been endowed with the stewardship of the Forest of Dean, with all +its privileges and perquisites. Appointed one of the Commissioners of +Array for West Gloucestershire, he had built him a large mansion in the +neighbourhood of Lydney--the White House as called--though it is not +there now, he with his own hand having afterwards set the torch to it. +But then, on the clearing out of the Court from London, Sir John had +cleared out too, going to his country residence by Severn's side, which +he at once set about placing in a state of defence. None more clearly +than he foresaw the coming storm. + +It seemed to him near now when Reginald Trevor returned to the White +House and reported his reception at Hollymead, with the defiant message +to himself and his King. But Sir John was not a man of hot passions or +hasty resolves. Long experience as a courtier had taught him to subdue +his temper, or, at all events, the exhibition of it. So, instead of +bursting forth into a furious display, he quietly observed,-- + +"Don't trouble yourself, Captain Trevor, about what Ambrose Powell has +said or done. It won't help his case any. But," he added reflectingly, +"there seems no particular call for haste in this business. Besides, +I'm expecting an addition to the strength of our little garrison. +To-morrow, or it may be the day after, we shall have with us a man, if I +mistake not, known to you." + +"Who, Sir John?" + +"Colonel Thomas Lunsford." + +"Oh! certainly; I know Lunsford well. He was my superior officer in the +northern expedition." + +"Ah! yes; now I remember. Well; I have word of his being _en route_ +hither with some stanch followers. When he has reported himself, +allowing a day or two for rest, we'll beat up the quarters of this +recusant, and make him repent his seditious speech. As for the money, +he shall pay that, every pound, or I'll squeeze it out of him, if +there's stock on the Hollymead estate, or chattels in his house worth so +much." + +There was something in the "recusant's" house Reginald Trevor thought +worth far more--one of the recusant's daughters. Of that, however, he +made no mention. To speak of it lay not in the line of his duties; and +even thinking of it was now not near so sweet as it had been hitherto. +Little as he liked Colonel Lunsford, he would that night have been glad +of him for a boon companion--in the bowl to help drown the bitter +remembrance of his adventures of the preceding day. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +A HAWKING PARTY. + +"Hooha-ha-ha-ha!" + +The cry of the falconer, followed by a whistle, as the hawks were +unleashed and cast-off. + +Away went they, jesses trailing, and bells tinkling, in buoyant upward +flight. For the heron that had risen out of the sedge, intending +retreat to its heronry, at sight of the enemy after it, suddenly changed +direction, and was now making for upper air with all its might of wing. + +The hawks were a _cast_ of "peregrines" of the best strain. In perfect +training, it needed no repetition of the _hooha-ha-ha-ha_ to encourage +them; for, as soon as their hoods were off, they had sighted the enemy, +and shot like arrows after it. + +At first their flight was direct--a _raking off_--but in drawing nearer +the doomed bird it changed to gyrations as they essayed to mount above +it. The heron, in a phrenzy of fright, uttered its harsh "craigh," +disgorged the contents of its crop, with a view of lightening itself, +and made a fresh effort to escape skyward. In vain! The falcons, with +quicker stroke of wing, notwithstanding their spiral course, were soon +seen soaring over it. Then the foremost--for one was ahead--having +gained the proper height, with spread "train," and quivering "sails," +poised herself for the "_stoop_." Only a second; then down swooped she +at the quarry, "arm" outstretched and "pounces" set for _raking_ it. + +The attempt was unsuccessful. Rarely is heron touched at the first +stoop. Unwieldy, and sluggish of flight as the creature may appear, it +has a wonderful capacity for quickly turning, and can long elude hawk or +falcon, if there be but one. When doubly assailed, however, by a +_cast_, of trained peregrines, it is at a disadvantage, not having time +to recover itself from the stoop of the one till the other is upon it. + +So was it with this. In an instant after, the second shot down upon it +with a squeal, the heron again giving out its "craigh," and then the +two, hawk and heron, were seen clinging together. For this time the +bird of prey had not attempted to _rake_ but _bind_; and bound were +they, the pounces of the falcon stuck fast in the flesh of its victim. +Then followed a convulsive flapping of wings, the two pairs beating +against one another, soon to be joined by a third; for, meanwhile, the +first falcon having soared up again, once more poised herself and +stooped, she also binding to the common quarry. + +The aerial chase was now at an end, but not the combat. Unequal as this +was, the heron still lived; and, when the three should come to earth, +might impale either or both its adversaries on that long lance-like beak +it but unskilfully wields in the air. To prevent this, the falconer +hurried off for the spot towards which they were descending. Slowly +they came down, upheld by the united fluttering of their wings, but +reached the ground at length, luckily not far off. And when the +falconer got up he gave out a loud "whoop," signal of the quarry killed. +For he saw that the heron was dead, and the peregrines had already +commenced depluming it. + +Other voices joined in the _paean_ of triumph; one of sweet, silver +tones, accompanied by the clapping of a pair of pretty hands. They were +the same voice and hands that on the top of Ruardean Hill had hounded on +the dog Hector in his half-playful demonstration against the donkey. + +"I knew my pair of `Pers' would do it in good style!" cried Vaga in +exultation, for she was the owner of the peregrines. "Did any of you +ever see a kill quicker than that?" + +The interrogatory was put to a trio of individuals beside her, on +horseback as herself--one of them her sister, the other two Sir Richard +Walwyn and Eustace Trevor. There was an _entourage_ of attendants, the +falconer with his helps, mounted grooms, and dogs quartering the sedge-- +in short, a complete hawking party from Hollymead House. For, +notwithstanding his gentle inclinings, Ambrose Powell was no foe to +field sports--rather favoured them when not unnecessarily cruel; and, +though rarely indulging in them himself, put no restraint on his +daughters' doing so. The younger was passionately fond of hawking, and +the elder also relished it in a more sober way--it being then regarded +as a proper pastime for ladies. + +The hawking party, whose incidents we are chronicling, came off some ten +days after the arrival of Sir Richard Walwyn and Eustace at Hollymead; +the scene being a strip of marsh with a stream filtering through it, +here and there a pool where the moor-hen coquettishly flirted her tail-- +a favourite haunt of the heron, as of teals, widgeons, and wild ducks. +That the knight was still sojourning at Hollymead House need be no +matter of surprise; but why the son of Sir William Trevor had not long +ere this reported himself under the parental roof, by Abergavenny, may +seem a very puzzle. Its explanation must await the record of after +events; though; an incident occurring there and then, with speech that +accompanied, may throw some light upon it. + +Vaga's question was rather in the way of an exclamation, to which she +did not expect reply. Neither waited for it; but giving the whip to her +palfrey trotted off to where the falconer was engaged in releasing the +dead heron from the pounces of the hawks. She went not alone, however; +Eustace Trevor having pricked his animal with the spur, and started +after, soon overtaking her. The other pair stayed behind as they were. + +A hundred yards or so round the edge of the marsh, and the two who had +ridden off came to a halt. For, by this, the falconer having rehooded +the hawks, and retrieved the quarry, met them, heron in hand, holding it +out to his mistress; as would one, first up at the death of a fox, +present Reynard's brush to some dashing Diana of the field. + +A splendid bird it was; the white heron or great egret, a rare species, +even then, though not so rate as now. + +"Give it to the pers, Van Dorn!" she directed, after a short survey of +it; despite its rarity, showing less interest in it than under other +circumstances she might have done. "Unhood again, and let them have it. +We forgot to bring the doves for them, and they deserve reward for the +way they both _bound_ it--so cleverly." + +Van Dorn, a Hollander from Falconswaerd--whence in those days all +falconers came--bowing, proceeded to execute the command, by removing +their hoods from the hawks. + +"Before he surrenders it to their tender mercies, may I ask a favour?" + +It was Eustace Trevor who interrogated, addressing himself to the young +lady. + +"Of course you may. What is it, sir?" + +"Leave to appropriate a few of the heron's feathers." + +"Why, certainly! The falconer will pluck them for you. Van Dorn, pull +out some of its feathers, and hand them to this gentleman. I suppose +you mean those over the train, Mr Trevor?" + +"Yes, they." + +"You hear, Van Dorn." + +Without that the man knew what was wanted; the loose tail coverts so +much prized for plumes; and, drawing them out one by one, he bound them +into a bunch with a piece of cord whipped round their shanks; then +handed them up to the cavalier. After which he went off to attend upon +his hawks. + +There was a short interregnum of silence as the falconer turned his back +on them, and till he was out of earshot. Then the young lady asked, +with apparent artlessness,-- + +"But, Mr Trevor, what do you intend doing with the heron's feathers?" + +"Pluming my hat with them." + +"Why, it's plumed already! and by far showier ones!" + +"Showier they may be; but not prettier, nor so becoming. And certainly +not to be esteemed as these; which I shall wear as souvenir of a +pleasant time--the pleasantest of my life." + +There was a pleased expression in her eyes as she listened to what he +said; still more when she saw what he did. This, to whip the hat from +his head, pluck the _panache_ of ostrich feathers from its _aigrette_ +and insert those of the heron in their place. Something he did further +seemed also to give her gratification, though she artfully concealed it. +Reproach on her lips, but delight in her heart, as she saw him tear the +displaced plume into shreds, and toss them to the ground at his horse's +feet. + +"How wasteful you are, Mr Trevor?" she exclaimed, reprovingly. "Those +foreign feathers must have cost a great deal of money. What's worse, +you've spoiled the look of your hat! Besides, you forget that those now +on it came from a conquered bird?" + +"All the more appropriate for a plume to be worn by me." + +"Why so, sir?" + +"Because of my being vanquished, too." + +"_You_ vanquished, Mr Trevor! When? where? By whom?" she asked, at +the same time mentally interrogating herself. Could he be alluding to +that combat in which he received the wound brought with him to +Hollymead, the story of which had leaked out, though not told by either +combatant. Or, was he hinting at conquest of another kind? + +There was an indescribable expression on her countenance as she sat +awaiting his answer--keen anxiety, ill-concealed under an air of +pretended artlessness. + +"Vaga!" + +It was not he who pronounced her name; though "Vaga," with "Powell" +adjoined, were the words nearest to his lips. She would have given the +world to hear him speak them. But it could not be then. Her sister had +called to her, at that moment approaching with Sir Richard. Most +ill-timed approach, for it interrupted a dialogue which, allowed to +continue, might, and likely would, have ended in declarations of love-- +confessions full and mutual. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +"DEAR LITTLE MER." + +"Turn and turn, sister," said Sabrina, as she rode up. "You've had +sport enough with your great eagles. Suppose we go up to the hill, and +give my dear little Mer a cast-off?" + +"Dear little Mer" was a merlin, that sate perched on her left wrist, in +size to the peregrines as a bantam cock to the biggest of chanticleers. +Withal a true falcon, and game as the gamest of them. + +Why its mistress proposed changing the scene of their sport was that no +larks nor buntings--the merlin's special quarry--were to be met with by +the marsh. Their habitat was higher up on the ridge, where there was a +tract bare of trees--part pasture, part fallow. + +To her sister's very reasonable request Vaga did not give the readiest +assent. The petted young lady looked, and likely felt, some little +vexed at her _tete-a-tete_ with Eustace Trevor having been so abruptly +brought to an end. It had promised to make that spot--amid reeds and +rushes though it was--hallowed to her, as another on the summit of a +certain hill, among hazels and hollies, had been made to her sister. +Whatever her thoughts, she showed reluctance to leave the low ground, +saying in rejoinder,-- + +"Oh! certainly, Sab. But won't you wait till the dogs have finished +beating the sedge?" + +"If you wish it, of course. But you don't expect them to find another +heron?" + +"No; but there may be a widgeon or wild duck. After such an easy +victory, I'm sure my pers would like to have another flight. See how +they chafe at their hoods and pull upon the jesses! Ah, my beauties! +you want to hear the _hooha-ha-ha-ha_ again--that do you." + +"Oh! let them, then," said the more compliant Sabrina, "if the dogs put +up anything worth flying them at; which I doubt their doing. We've made +too much noise for that." + +The conjecture of the sage sister proved correct. For the marsh, +quartered to its remotest corners, yielded neither widgeons nor wild +ducks; only moor-hens and water-rails--quarry too contemptible to fly +the great falcons at. + +"Now," said Sabrina, "I suppose you'll consent to the climbing?" + +Her motto might have been _Excelsior_; she seemed always urging an +uphill movement. + +But there was no longer any objection made to it; and the canines being +called out of the sedge, all entered the forest, riders and followers +afoot, and commenced winding by a wood-path up the steep acclivity of +Ruardean's ridge. + +When upon its crest, which they soon after reached, the grand panorama +already spoken of lay spread before their eyes. For they were on the +same spot from which the young ladies had viewed it that day when Hector +harassed the donkey. Neither of them bestowed a look upon it now; nor +did Sabrina even glance at that road winding down from the Wilderness, +off which on the former occasion she had been unable to take her eyes. +Its interest for her no longer had existence; he who had invested it +with such being by her side. Now she but thought of showing off the +capabilities of "dear little Mer," as in fondness she was accustomed to +call the diminutive specimen of the _falconidae_. + +Ere long Mer made exhibition of her high strain and training--for the +little falcon was also a female--sufficient to prove herself neither +_tercel_ nor _haggard_. First she raked down a lark, then a corn +bunting; and at the third cast-off overtook and bound on to a +turtle-dove, big as herself. For all she speedily brought it to the +earth, there instantly killing it. + +Just as she had brought this quarry to ground a cry was heard, which +caused interruption of the sport,-- + +"Soldiers!" + +It was the falconer who so exclaimed; for now that they were +merlin-flying his services were scarce required, and one of his aids did +the whistling and whooping. Left at leisure to look around, his eyes +had strayed up the road beyond Drybrook, there to see what had called +forth his cry. + +Instantly all other eyes went the same way, more than one voice +muttering in confirmation,-- + +"Yes; they're soldiers." + +This was evident from their uniformity of dress--all alike, or nearly-- +as also by the glancing of arms and accoutrements. Moreover, they were +in military formation, riding in file, "by twos"--for they were on +horseback. + +At sight of them all thoughts of sport were at an end, and the hawking +was instantly discontinued. Mer, lured back to her mistress's wrist, +was once more hooded, and the leash run through the _varvels_ of her +jesses; while the falconer and his helps, with the other attendants, +gathered into a group preparatory to leaving the field. + +Meanwhile, by no accident, but evidently from previous understanding, +Sir Richard Walwyn and Eustace Trevor had drawn their horses together, +at some distance from the spot occupied by the ladies, the knight +saying,-- + +"It's Wintour's troop from Lydney, I take it. What do _you_ think, +Master Trevor?" + +"The same as yourself. Nay, more, I'm sure of it, now. That's my +cousin Rej at their head, on the grey mare, with the red feathers in his +hat. You remember them?" + +"I do. You're right; 'tis he. Somebody beside him, though, who appears +to be in command. Don't you see him turn in his saddle, as though +calling back orders?" + +"Yes, yes;" was the repetitive rejoinder, Eustace Trevor, despite his +late sojourn at Court, still retaining some of the idiomatic forms of +Welsh colloquy. "But who are those in the rear?" he added, +interrogatively. + +His question had reference to a number of men afoot, neither in uniform +nor formation, who were seen coming behind the horse troop, pressing +close upon its heels. Women among them, too, as could be told by the +brighter hues and looser draping of their dresses. + +"People from Mitcheldean," answered Sir Richard, "following the troop +out of curiosity, no doubt." + +The knight knew better; knew that, but for himself, and some action he +had lately taken, the people spoken of, or at least the majority of +them, would not have been there. For, since his arrival at Hollymead, +he had made many excursions unaccompanied--save by his henchman, +Hubert--to Mitcheldean, Coleford, and other Forest centres, where he had +held converse with many people--spoken words of freedom, which had found +ready and assenting response. Therefore, as he now gazed at that crowd +of civilians coming on after the soldiers, though his glance was one of +inquiry, it was not as to who they were who composed it, but to make +estimate of their numbers, at the same time comparing it with the +strength of the troop. + +There was no time left him to arrive at any exactitude. The horsemen +were on the way to Hollymead, for sure; and he must needs be there +before--long before them. + +So the hawking party made no longer stay on Ruardean Hill, but a start +and return homeward--so rapid as to seem retreat; the understrappers and +other attendants wondering why it was so--all save Hubert. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +TROUBLE ANTICIPATED. + +On return for Hollymead, the hawking party did not pass through +Ruardean, as it would have been round about. Nevertheless, Sir Richard +went that way. At a forking of the forest paths the knight excused +himself to the ladies, leaving Eustace Trevor to escort them home; he, +with his own servant, turning off towards the village. + +Some matter of importance must have influenced him to deviate from the +direct route; and that it was pressing might be deduced from the speed +to which he put his horse. Soon as parted from the others, he and +Hubert made free use of their spurs, going in reckless gallop down the +steepest pitches, nor drawing bridle till they had reached Ruardean. A +small place then as now, of some two hundred houses, contiguous to a +fine old church, and ancient hostelry opposite, the streets all +declivities, with some scattered dwellings that radiated off into quaint +nooks and by-ways. + +The clattering of hoofs had brought faces to every window, and figures +into every door; for this had been heard long before the two horsemen +made their appearance. And now, as these came to a halt in front of the +inn, their horses breathing hard, all eyes were bent upon them with +inquiring curiosity. + +"Wind your horn, Hubert!" commanded the knight, in an undertone, without +waiting for any one to come up to them. + +A command which Hubert instantly obeyed by drawing a small cornet from +under his doublet, clapping it to his lips, and sounding the "Assembly." +He had been troop-trumpeter in "the army that swore so terribly in +Flanders," and so understood the cavalry calls. + +No cavalry, however, answered this one, nor soldiers of any arm; though +it was answered by what looked the right material for making soldiers. +Before the cornet's notes had ceased reverberating from the tower of the +church, and the walls of the old castle--then in ruins--men could be +seen issuing from the doors of the nearer houses, others hastening along +the lanes from those more remote, all making for the spot where the +horsemen were halted. + +In a few seconds nearly twenty had gathered, up and grouped around the +horses; the expression on their faces showing that they understood the +signal in a general way, but not the reason for its having been sounded +to summon them just then. All looked inquiry, one putting it in the +form of speech,-- + +"What belt, Sir Richard?" He who interrogated was a man of gigantic +size, inches taller than any of the others. But something more than his +superior stature privileged him to be first spokesman, as could be +deduced from Sir Richard's answer. + +"A troop coming from Lydney, Rob. They're through Drybrook by this, +making for Hollymead. You and your friends will, no doubt, be there, +too, curious to see how the soldiers behave themselves?" + +"We'll be there, sure, Sir Richard. Rob Wilde for one, an' belikes a +good many more." + +"So well," rejoined the knight, with a satisfied look. Then leaning +over on his saddle he whispered some words of a confidential character +into the ear of the deer-stealer. After which, setting himself straight +in the stirrups, he again set his horse into a gallop, and rode out of +the village as rapidly as he had entered it. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"I hear they're coming, Sir Richard?" + +"They are, Mr Powell. By all signs, it's the party you've been +expecting. Indeed, there can be no doubt about its being Wintour's +troop. One of the officers at its head we made out to be Master +Trevor's cousin, as you've heard, I suppose?" + +"Oh, yes. And of their purpose there can be as little doubt--to levy +for that 3,000 pounds the King facetiously terms _loan_. A downright +robbery, I call it." + +"I too." + +"What ought I to do, Sir Richard? I have the money in the house, and +suppose I must give it to them. But if you say the word, I'll refuse." + +"Let me leave the word unsaid till I see what sort of following is after +them. There appeared to be a good many from Mitcheldean, likely to be +joined by more at Drybrook, to say nothing of the contingent from nearer +home. Everything must depend on their numbers and the spirit we find +them in." + +"I understand," said the other, with an assenting nod, "and will trust +all to you." + +This brief dialogue was at the door of Hollymead House, its owner +standing in the porch, Sir Richard still on horseback, just arrived from +that passage at courier-speed through Ruardean. It ended by his +dismounting and giving his horse to Hubert, with directions to take both +their animals round to the stable-yard, and there keep them under saddle +and bridle. Some other instructions were delivered to the same _sotto +voce_. Then to the symphony of clanking spurs the knight ascended to +the porch; and after a few more words exchanged with the master of the +house, he passed on into the withdrawing-room. + +His entrance was a welcome intrusion, as the company inside consisted of +the awkward number three. + +And soon they paired, each pair passing into the embayment of a window, +and there taking stand. Not to talk of love, or even think of it; +though something equally serious occupied their thoughts--something less +agreeable. All were alike imbued with an instinct of danger drawing +nigh, and so close, their eyes were now on the alert, apprehensively +gazing down the oak-shadowed avenue. + +A few seconds more and they saw what they were expecting--horses, plumed +hats, and the glancing of armour--a troop outside the park gate halted +till its fastenings could be undone. In an instant it was dashed open, +and soldiers seen filing through--the same as they had descried on the +hill beyond Drybrook. + +On came they up the avenue, without making stop till within fifty yards +of the house, where they were again brought up at the entrance to the +ornamental grounds. These were enclosed by a _haw-haw_; the causeway +which crossed it having a gate also. And while this was being got open +all four looking from the windows had now no difficulty in identifying +Reginald Trevor in one of the officers at the head of the troop; while +two of them at the same time recognised the other. + +"Why, bless me!" exclaimed the ex-gentleman-usher, "that's Colonel +Lunsford." + +"As I live, Tom Lunsford!" was the almost simultaneous exclamation of +the knight. + +"Colonel Lunsford?" interrogated Vaga, addressing herself to him by her +side. + +"Tom Lunsford?" in like manner questioned Sabrina, but with more +earnestness as she saw Sir Richard's brow suddenly darken. "Who and +what is he?" + +"One of the most notorious--but never mind, now. By-and-by we'll talk, +of him. Like enough he'll favour us with a taste of his quality before +leaving Hollymead. But," he added, the cloud upon his brow becoming +darker, "if he do--." + +The knight did not finish what was evidently intended to be a threat, +partly because he saw fear coming over the face of his betrothed, and +partly that the man for whom his menace was meant had got through the +gate, and, with Reginald Trevor by his side, and the soldiers filing in +behind them, was now close up to the house. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +NEW FACES AND OLD FOES. + +While Colonel Lunsford and Captain Trevor were waiting for the haw-haw +gate to be opened, they had seen the figures of two ladies outlined in +the withdrawing-room windows--one in each. As yet the two gentlemen +were not visible to them; these being behind and half-hidden by the +arras curtains. As the officers came closer, with eyes still upon the +windows, those of Lunsford, after a hasty glance at Vaga, remained fixed +upon Sabrina in steadfast, earnest gaze, as on one for the first time +seen, but eliciting instant admiration. + +Trevor had eyes only for the younger of the sisters, his thoughts going +back to the last time he had been there. He remembered it with +bitterness, for he had fancied himself slighted; and, if so, the time +had come for retaliation. + +"What a beautiful woman! By the Cestus of Venus, a Venus herself!" + +It was the ex-Lieutenant of the Tower who thus exclaimed. + +"Which?" queried Reginald Trevor, with more than common interest. Well +knew he the flagitious character of the man who was once more his +commanding officer. + +"Which? What a superfluous question! The tall--the dark one--of +course. Yellow hair isn't to be compared with her for a moment." + +"Perhaps not," rejoined Trevor, pretending assent, glad to think his +military superior was not likely to be his rival in love. + +"_Certes_, both seem beauties in their different styles," ran on the +reprobate. "Who'd ever have expected such a pair in this out-of-the-way +corner of creation? I wish Sir John had given us orders to take up +quarters in Hollymead House for a week or two. That may come yet when +the devil!" + +His final ejaculation had nought to do with what preceded. The mention +of his Satanic majesty was due to his having caught sight of a face +behind that he was in the act of admiring, but the face of a man. A man +well-known to him--one he hated, yet feared, as could be told by the +scowl instantly overspreading his countenance, along with a whitening of +the lips. + +Nothing of this observed Reginald Trevor, whose features changed +expression at the same time, his thoughts all absorbed in what he saw +for himself--the face of another man at the other window in close +proximity to that of Vaga Powell. + +"Eustace still here! What the deuce can that mean?" + +Both exclamation and question were unspoken, though accompanied by a +sharp pang of jealousy. Some presentiment of this he had felt before, +on the evening when he met his handsome cousin at the gate of Hollymead +Park, going on to the house. And here was Eustace yet, when by all the +rules he should have been gone days ago, standing by the girl's side, +apparently on terms of the most friendly familiarity! + +He was not permitted to see them side by side much longer; nor Lunsford +the other pair. For Sabrina, becoming indignant at the bold glances the +latter was directing upon her, moved away from the window, Vaga doing +the same; the two finally retiring from the room. + +Another change of tableaux took place by Sir Richard appearing at the +window occupied by the ex-gentleman-usher--which was that nearest the +door--as he did, saying,-- + +"Master Trevor; I want you to be witness--see and hear for yourself how +your Cavaliers and King's officers comport themselves. If I mistake +not, you'll have an opportunity now." + +In the words, as well as tone, was conveyed an insinuation which, ten +days before, Eustace Trevor would have resented by drawing sword; all +the more that his own kinsman came in for a share of it. He had no +thoughts of doing so now. Since then his sentiments, social as +political, had undergone a remarkable change; and he but answered the +observation by pressing in to the window, till his face almost touched +the glass. + +By this Lunsford had halted, and formed his troop from flank to line, +fronting the house. The movement brought the cousins face to face at +close distance, Eustace bowing in a frank, familiar manner. The cold, +distant nod vouchsafed in return would have surprised and perplexed him +but for a suspicion of the cause. His own conscience had whispered it. + +All this while was Ambrose Powell standing in the porch, just as when he +gave reception to Reginald Trevor delivering that letter of Privy Seal +so contemptuously torn up. Nor looked he now repentant for having torn +it; instead, defiant as ever. For he had cast his eyes over and beyond +the men in uniform, taken stock of those out of it, compared numbers, +and made mental estimate of the chances for a successful resistance. A +word, too, had reached him from inside; spoken from the door of the +withdrawing-room by Sir Richard Walwyn. So that when Colonel Lunsford +approached, in the swaggering way he had been accustomed to in the Low +Country, he was met with a firm front and look of calm defiance. It all +the more irritated the King's officer, thinking of him he had observed +inside; and with the soldiers at his back, supposing himself master of +the situation, all the more determined him to show his teeth. + +"You are Ambrose Powell, I take it?" were his first words, spoken +without even the ceremony of a salute, as he brought his horse's head +between the supporting columns of the porch. + +"Ambrose Powell I am, sir," responded the Master of Hollymead. "If you +doubt my identity," he added, in his old satirical tone, "I refer you to +the gentleman by your side. He knows me, if I mistake not." + +This was a shaft shot at Reginald Trevor, further stinging him, too. +But it was not his place to reply; and he bore it in sullen silence. + +"Oh!" lightly ejaculated Lunsford, "it don't need the formality of +Captain Trevor's endorsement. I'll take it for granted you're the man I +want." + +He spoke as might a policeman of modern days about to "run in" some +unfortunate infringer of the laws. + +"The man you want! And pray what for?" + +"Only to pay your debts." + +"Debts, sirrah! I have no debts." + +"Oh, yes, you have. And right well you know it, Master Powell. Maybe +you'd prefer my calling it your dues. Be it so." + +"Nor dues, neither; I owe no one anything." + +"There I beg leave to contradict you. You owe the King three thousand +pounds; just dues for maintenance of the State; your share of Supply for +its necessary expenses. As I understand, you've been asked for payment +already, and refused. But now--" + +"Now I do the same. The King will get no three thousand pounds from +me?" + +"He will." + +"No--never!" + +"Yes, now! This day; this very hour. If you don't give it willingly, +why I must take it from you; must and shall. Possibly you haven't so +much money in the house. No matter for that. We can levy on your +plate, of which, I'm told, you've got good store--glad to know it. I'm +in earnest, Master Ambrose Powell, and mean what I say. When Tom +Lunsford has a duty to do, he does it. So make no mistake; I'm not the +man to go back empty-handed." + +"If you be Tom Lunsford," sneeringly retorted the Master of Hollymead, +"not likely. I've heard of you, sir. Robbers as you rarely leave any +place empty-handed." + +"Robbers!" cried the colonel, now furious. "How dare you apply such +epithet to me--an officer of the King?" + +"I dare to the King's self--if he stood there beside you." + +"A curse upon you, caitiff! You shall rue your rash words. Know, sir, +that I have the power to punish sedition as recusancy. But I won't +palter speech with you any longer. Do you still refuse to lend the +money--pay it, I should rather say?" + +"Oh! you needn't have taken the trouble to correct yourself. It's a +demand all the same. The `stand and deliver' of a highwayman. But you +shall have an answer. I still refuse it." + +"Then it shall be taken from you, sirrah?" + +"If so, _sirrah_, 'twill be under protest." + +"Under protest be it. As you like about that; devil care I. Ha-ha-ha!" +and Lunsford laughed again. Then turning to the troop, he called out to +his first sergeant,-- + +"Dismount, Robins, and follow me with a couple of files?" + +Saying which, he flung himself out of the saddle, and made to ascend the +steps of the porch. + +"You don't enter my house by an open door," cried the Master of +Hollymead, stepping backward. "You'll have to break it in first," he +added, gliding into the hallway, dashing the door to behind him, and +double-bolting it inside. + +Almost immediately after strong oaken shutters, moved by invisible +hands, were seen to close upon all the windows of the lower story, till +Hollymead House looked as though its inmates had suddenly and +mysteriously abandoned it. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +"RESIST!" + +In his defiant refusal the Master of Hollymead, as already said, had +received encouragement by a word spoken from the withdrawing-room. It +was after the ladies had passed out of it; Sir Richard, who had followed +them to the door, simply saying, "Resist!" It was said in a significant +tone though, and loud enough to be heard by him who stood in the porch. +For the knight had now made up his mind to some sort of action, as yet +known only to himself; and but returned to the window to get further +informed of the chances in favour of it. + +Judging by the sparkle of his eyes, they seemed satisfactory, each +moment becoming more so. He had already taken stock of the soldier +troop, counted its files--less than twenty--saw that half of them were +but "Johnny Raws" in uniform; while the crowd beyond them numbered nigh +two hundred. Not all men; but such women as were among them had the +look of being able to do man's work, even in the way of fighting. Nor +were they all unarmed, though no warlike weapons were conspicuously +displayed. Here and there could be seen hands holding hedge forks, or +grasping hatchets, bill-hooks, and hay-knives; others carrying +long-shafted hammers and mattocks--tools of the mining industry peculiar +to the Forest. All implements denoting peace; but readily convertible +into weapons with which could be dealt deadly blows. + +Sir Richard had taken all this in, as the soldiers came to a halt at the +haw-haw gate. And now that they were inside it, looking over their +heads from the high window, he saw something else, for which he had been +anxiously watching--another crowd on its way up the avenue, smaller than +that already arrived, but more compact, and apparently under discipline. +All men these, with one at their head, taller by inches than any of +those behind him, easily recognisable as Rob Wilde. + +The deer-stealer had been true to his promise, and done his work well; +for not only was the Ruardean contingent a large one, but carried real +war weapons--here and there a matchlock and _snap-hans_, with pikes and +halberds held high above their heads--a bristling array of them. + +It was just then, on catching sight of these, that Ambrose Powell +retreated from the porch, and in, dashing to his door. For Sir +Richard's doings in the days past were all known to him, and why he had +gone out of his way, and lingered behind the hawking party at Ruardean. + +At the same moment the knight made a hasty movement away from the +window, as he did so saying,-- + +"Now, Master Trevor! Time's come for action. I'm not going to let our +good host be plundered without an effort to prevent it. Of course you +can do as you like--remain neutral if it so please you." + +"But it don't so please me," promptly responded the ex-gentleman-usher. +"If there's to be fighting, I draw swords too." + +"On which side?" + +"Oh, Sir Richard! Why do you ask that? After what I've just seen and +heard, you might know. Never was I aware that the King sanctioned such +doings as these, nor will I be the one to abet them. Besides, you seem +to forget my debt to yourself--my life; and I've been longing for an +opportunity to pay it. My sword is at your service, as my heart, ever +since you conquered both." + +"Eustace Trevor!" exclaimed the knight, with more than ordinary warmth, +"I now know that you are not only my friend, but the friend of our +cause, which is that of country and humanity. Your generous offer of +alliance delights me, and I am grateful for it. But all the more +reluctant you should compromise yourself with your father--your people. +Reflect before drawing you sword! Among those we are to fight with--if +it come to that--is your own kinsman, your cousin, and you may have to +cross blades with _him_." + +"Be it so. I have reflected, and well, before espousing your cause. +'Tis now more to me than cousin--a matter of conscience. Reginald's on +the wrong side--I the right one; and if we must cross swords, let him +take the consequences as will I." + +Not often in man's face might be seen such expression as came over that +of Sir Richard Walwyn while listening to these determined words. The +handsome youth he had made chance acquaintance with on the road, liking +him at first sight; continuing to like him notwithstanding their adverse +political faith; reluctant to quarrel with him; refusing it till there +was no alternative with honour--this youth, now no more enemy either to +him or his cause, but friend of both, professed and sure of proving +true--at thought of all this the eyes of the soldier knight sparkled +with an ecstatic joy which they alone can feel who fight for country, +not king. + +"Enough!" he said, grasping the youth's hand and warmly pressing it. +"Glad am I to think you will be with us. Swords such as yours were an +accession to any cause; and ere long, even now, there may be fine +opportunity for you to prove it--baptise your new faith in the blood of +Freedom's foes. Come with me!" + +Their dialogue had occupied but a brief interval of time; and as the +knight brought it to an end, he strode hastily out into the hall, spurs +still on and clanking. There to encounter their host, also hurrying +about, and shouting to his domestics to shutter the windows. The door +he had already made secure. + +In the hallway the three came together, but only for a few moments to +remain so. The occasion called for quick, instant action, allowing +scant time for speech. Nor was there much said; Sir Richard hurriedly +saying to their host,-- + +"Tell the ladies not to be alarmed. Say that Mr Trevor and I have gone +out to reason with those rude visitors of yours, and see what terms we +can make with them. If they won't listen to--" + +Whatever the alternative meant he left it unspoken, for chancing to turn +his eyes up the stairway, he there saw that he was being listened to +already. On its lowest landing were the sisters, who had overheard all. + +They were coming down, and now came on; Sabrina gliding forward to the +knight, and laying her hand on his shoulder. He had stepped a little +apart to receive her, with anticipation of something she might have to +say confidential, and with her, he, too, wanted a word of that kind. + +"Oh, Richard!" she tremblingly exclaimed, "what are you going to do? +Nothing rash, I hope?" + +"Certainly not, dearest. Have you ever known me to act rashly?" + +"No; but now--" + +"Well, now. I'm not likely to change my ways. In what I intend there +may be no danger after all. A little risk true, but for a big stake. +No less than three thousand pounds these royal miscreants demand from +your father, and will have it if we don't do something. But we will, +and they won't get it--not this day, unless I'm mistaken about the men +who are gathering outside. Ah! we'll match them, never fear." + +He then spoke some words in a whisper, not to be overheard by the +servants still rushing to and fro, which seemed further to reassure her. + +"Now, love! let me go," he said, in conclusion. "There isn't a second +to spare. Mr Trevor and I must out." + +She neither questioned nor tried to detain him longer. Whatever he +meant doing, she could confide in him; if to fight, believed him capable +of conquering the whole world, and wisely ruling it after. For the +woman who loves there is no fancy too wild, no feat seeming impossible +to him who has her heart. + +More constrained was the speech passing neat at hand, for there were +three taking part in it. Yet not less anxious than her sister seemed +Vaga,--if anything in greater distress about the danger apprehended. +Possibly but for her father being beside her, she would have addressed +Eustace Trevor in a strain similar to that of Sabrina appealing to Sir +Richard. As it was her looks were eloquent of fear for him, mingled +with a confidence in his power to hold his own, whatever was to happen. + +The scene was short--of not more than a minute's duration--and ended by +the two gentlemen guests of Hollymead House making all haste out of it-- +not by the front door, but one at back, which opened into the +stable-yard. + +Soon as on its stoop, Sir Richard called out,--"Horses, Hubert! Quick!" +And quick they came. In an instant after, Hubert was seen leading two +out of their stalls, another pair being led behind by the servant of +Eustace Trevor. Saddled and bridled all; for word had been sent out +before, and everything was ready--even to the varlet having been warned +by the veteran and gained over to the good cause, now his master's. + +In twenty seconds' time all four were in the saddle, men as masters +setting themselves firm in the stirrups, taking tight hold of the reins, +with a look to their swords to see there was no entanglement against +unsheathing them. + +Then, at a word from Sir Richard, the yard gate, hitherto shut, was +thrown open, and out they all burst, spurring to a brisk canter as they +rode round for the front of the house. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +IN THE MIDST OF A MOB. + +The people who had followed the soldiers were still outside the haw-haw; +a file of troopers having been stationed by its gate to prevent their +passing through. They could easily have sprung over out of the _fosse_, +but for some reason seemed not to care for it. + +Lunsford, after dismounting, had rushed up into the porch, but too late +to hinder the shutting of the door; at which he was now thundering and +threatening to adopt the alternative he had been dared to. + +"We shall certainly break it in," he cried out in a loud voice, "if not +opened instantly." + +This elicitating no response from inside, he added,-- + +"Burst it in, men! Knock it to pieces!" + +At which the sergeant and a file of troopers, now also in the porch, +commenced hammering away with the butts of their dragon-muzzled muskets. +But they might as well have attempted to batter down the walls +themselves. Not the slightest impression could they make on the strong +oaken panels. They were about to desist, when something besides that +caused them suddenly to suspend their strokes, Lunsford himself +commanding it. He at the same time sprang down from the porch and back +to his saddle, calling on them to do likewise. + +Odd as might seem his abrupt abandonment of the door-breaking design, +there was no mystery in it. A cry sent up by the crowd of people had +given him notice of something new; and that something he now saw in the +shape of four horsemen sweeping round from the rear of the house. These +were also outside the haw-haw, having crossed it by another causeway at +back. A second shout greeted them as they got round to the front, and +drew bridle in the midst of the crowd--a cheer in which new voices +joined; those of the Ruardean men, just arrived upon the ground. + +"Foresters?" cried Sir Richard, as they gathered in a ring around him, +"will you allow Ambrose Powell to be plundered--your best friend? And +by Sir John Wintour--your worst enemy?" + +"No--never! That we won't?" answered a score of voices. + +"Well, the soldiers you see there are Sir John's, from Lydney, though +wearing the King's uniform?" + +"We know 'em--too well!" + +"Have seen their ugly faces afore." + +"Curse Sir John, an' the King too?" were some of the responses showered +back. Then one, delivering himself in less disjointed but equally +ungrammatical phrase, took up the part of spokesman, saying,-- + +"We've niver had a hour o' peace since Sir John Wintour ha' been head +man o' the Forest. He've robbed us o' our rights that be old as the +Forest itself, keeps on robbin' us; claims the mines, an' the timber, +an' the grazin' as all his own. An' the deer, too! Yes, the deer; the +wild anymals as should belong to everybody free-born o' the Manor o' +Saint Briavel's. I'm that myself, an' stan' up here afore ye all to +make protest agaynst his usurpins." + +That the speaker was Rob Wilde might be deduced from allusion to the +deer, pronounced with special emphasis. And he it was. + +"We join you in your protest, Rob; an'll stan' by you!" cried one. + +"Yes! All of us!" exclaimed another. + +"An' we'll help enforce it," came from a third. "If need be, now on the +spot. We only want some 'un as'll show us the way--tell us what to do." + +At this all eyes turned on Sir Richard. Though personally a stranger to +most of them, all knew him by name, and something more--knew how he had +declared for Parliament and people, against King and Court, and that it +was no mere private quarrel between him and Sir John Wintour which had +caused him to speak as he had done. + +"Theer be the gentleman who'll do all that," said Rob, pointing to the +knight. "The man to help us in gettin' back our rights an' redressin' +our wrong. If he can't, nobody else can. But he can and will. He ha' +told some o' us, as much." + +Another huzza hailed this declaration, for they knew Rob spoke with +authority. And their excitement rose to a still higher pitch, when the +knight, responding, said,-- + +"My brave Foresters! Thanks for the confidence you give me. I know all +your grievances, and am ready to do what I can to help you in righting +them. And it had best begin now, on the spot, as some one has just +said. Are _you_ ready to back me in teaching these usurpers a lesson?" + +"Ready! That we be, every man o' us." + +"Try us, an' see!" + +"Only let's ha' the word from you, sir, an' well fall on 'em at once!" + +"We're Foresters; we an't afeerd o' no soldiers--not sich raws as them, +anyhow." + +"Enough!" cried the knight, his eyes aglow as with triumph already +achieved; for he now felt assured of it. Over two hundred of the +Foresters against less than a sixth of that number of Lunsford's +hirelings, he had no fear for the result, if fight they must. So, when +he placed himself at their head, with Eustace Trevor by his side, their +two armed attendants behind, and rode up to the gate guarded by the two +troopers, he made no request for these to open it and let them pass in, +but a demand, with sword unsheathed, and at back a forest of pikes to +enforce it. + +The guards at once gave way. Had they not, in another instant they +would have been hoisted out of their saddles on the blades of weapons +with shafts ten feet long. Alive to this danger, they briskly abandoned +their post, giving the Foresters free passage through the gate. + +During all this time the ex-Lieutenant of the Tower had scarce moved an +inch from the spot where he remounted his horse. When he saw the four +horsemen coming around the house, heard the enthusiastic shout hailing +them, at the same time caught sight of the pikes and barbed halberds, +whose blades of steel gleamed above the heads of the huzzaing crowd, his +heart sank within him. For this brutal monster, "Bloody Lunsford" as he +afterwards came to be called, was craven as cruel. He had swaggered at +the front door as inside the Parliament House by the King's command; but +there was no King at his back now, and his swaggering forsook him on the +instant. He knew something of the character of the Foresters--his raw +recruits knew them better--at a glance saw his troop overmatched, and, +if it came to fighting, would be overpowered. But there was no fight, +either in himself or his following; and all sat in their saddles sullen +and scowling, but cowed-like as wolves just taken in a trap. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +"NO QUARTER!" + +Straight on to the soldiers rode Sir Richard Eustace Trevor by his side, +their mounted servants behind; the men afoot following close after in a +surging mass. These, soon as well through the gate, extended line to +right and left, turning the troop until they had it hemmed in on every +side. Nor was it altogether the movement of a mob, but evidently under +direction, Rob Wilde appearing to guide it more by signs and signals +than any spoken words. However managed, the troopers now saw themselves +environed by pikes and other pointed things--a very _chevaux de frise_-- +held in the hands of men whose faces showed no fear of them. For the +country had not yet been cursed by a standing army, and in the eyes of +the citizen the soldier was not that formidable thing as since, and now. +Rather was the fear on the side of Lunsford's party, most of whom, +Foresters themselves of the inferior sort, knew the men who stood +confronting them. + +Up to this moment no word had been spoken by their commanding officer, +save some muttered speech he exchanged with Reginald Trevor. Nor did he +now break the silence, leaving that to the intruders. + +"Captain, or, as I understand you are now called, Colonel Lunsford," +said Sir Richard, drawing up in front of him, "by the way you're +behaving you appear to think yourself in the Low Countries, with rights +of free forage and plunder. Let me tell you, sir, this is England, +where such courses are not yet in vogue; and to be hoped never will be, +even though a King authorise, ay, command them. But I command you, in +the name of the people, to desist from them, or take the consequence." + +Under such smart of words it might be supposed that a professional +soldier and King's officer would have dared death itself, or any odds +against him. It was of this the muttered speech had been passing +between him and Reginald Trevor, the latter urging him to risk it and +fall on. Whatever else, _he_ was no dastard, and, though he had once +given way on that same spot, it was not from cowardice, but ruled by a +sentiment very different. + +In vain his attempt to inspire his superior officer with courage +equalling his own; no more would he have been successful with their +followers, as he could see by looking along the line of faces, most of +them showing dread of that threatening array of miscellaneous weapons, +and a reluctance to engage them. + +In fine, the ex-Lieutenant of the Tower made lip his mind to live a +little longer, even at the risk of being stigmatised as a poltroon. +But, not instantly declaring himself--too confused and humiliated for +speech--Sir Richard went on,-- + +"No doubt, sir, your delicate sense of humanity will restrain you from a +conflict in which your soldiers must be defeated and their blood spilled +uselessly--innocent lambs as they appear to be." + +The irony elicited laughter from the Foresters; for a more forbidding +set of faces than those of the troopers could not well have been seen +anywhere. + +"But," continued the knight, "if you decline to withdraw without showing +how skilfully you can yourself handle a sword, I'm willing to give you +the opportunity. You've had it from me before, and refused. But you +may be a braver man, and think yourself a better swordsman now; so I +offer it again." + +The taunt was torture itself to the man in whose teeth it was flung. +All the more from the cheering and jibes of the Foresters, who seemed +thoroughly to enjoy seeing Sir John Wintour's bullies thus brought to +book. And still more that in the window above were two feminine faces, +one of them that he had been so late admiring, the ladies evidently +listening. + +Notwithstanding all, Lunsford could not screw up courage for a combat he +had once before declined, and now the second time shunned it, saying,-- + +"Sir Richard Walwyn, I am not here for the settlement of private +quarrels. When the time fits for it I shall answer the challenge you +say is repeated, but which I deny. My business at present is with Mr +Ambrose Powell, as Deputy-Commissioner of Array, to collect the King's +dues from him. Since he's refused to pay them, and I have no orders, +nor wish, to use violence, so far as shedding blood, it but remains for +me to take back his answer to my superiors." + +It was such a ludicrous breakdown of his late blustering, and withdrawal +of demand, that the Foresters hailed it with a loud huzza, mingled with +laughter and satirical speech. + +When their cheering had ceased, so that he could be heard, Sir Richard +rejoined,-- + +"Yes; that is the best thing you can do. And the sooner you set about +it the better for both yourself and your men, as you may be aware +without further warning." + +It was like giving the last kick to a cur, and as a cur Tom Lunsford +took it, literally turning tail--that of his horse--upon Hollymead +House. + +Out through the haw-haw gate rode he, his troop behind, every man-jack +of them looking cowed and crestfallen as himself. + +Alone Reginald Trevor held high front, retiring with angry reluctance, +as a lion driven from its quarry by hunters too numerous to be resisted. +But he passed not away without holding speech with his cousin, on both +sides bitterly recriminative. + +"So you've turned your back upon the King!" + +It was Reginald who said this, having spurred up alongside the other +before parting. + +"Rather say the King has turned his back upon the people," was Eustace's +rejoinder. "After such behaviour as I've just been witness to, by his +orders and authority, I think I am justified in turning my back upon +him." + +"Oh! that's your way of putting it. Well; it may justify you in the +eyes of your new friends here--very warm friends all at once?"--this +with a sneer--"but what will your father think? He won't like it, I'm +sure." + +"I daresay he won't. If not, I can't help it." + +"And don't seem to care either! How indifferent you've grown to family +feeling! and in such a short space of time. You used to pass for the +most affectionate of sons--a very paragon of filial duty; and now--" + +"And now," interrupted the ex-courtier, becoming impatient at being thus +lectured, "whatever I may be, I'm old enough, and think myself wise +enough, to manage my own affairs, without needing counsel from any one-- +even from my sage cousin, Reginald." + +"As you like, Eust. But you'll repent what you're doing, yet." + +"If I should, Rej, it won't be with any blame to you. You can go your +way, as I will mine." + +"Ah! Yours will bring you to ruin--like enough your neck upon the block +or into a halter!" + +"I'll risk that. If there's to be hanging and beheading--which I hope +there will not--it needn't be all on one side. So far, that you are on +hasn't had the advantage in the beheading line, and's not likely. They +who struck off Strafford's head might some day do the same with the +King's own. And he would deserve it, going on in this way." + +"By Heaven?" cried Reginald, now becoming infuriated, "the King will +wear his head, and crown too, long enough to punish every traitor--every +base renegade as yourself." + +The angry bitterness of his speech was not all inspired by loyalty to +King or throne. Those fair faces above had something to do with it; for +the ladies were still there, listening, and he knew it. + +Never was Eustace Trevor nearer to drawing sword, not to do it. But it +was his kinsman--cousin; how could he shed his blood? That, too, late +so freely, generously offered in his defence! Still, to be stigmatised +as a "base renegade," he could not leave such speech unanswered, nor the +anger he felt unexpressed. + +"If you were not my cousin, Rej, I would kill you!" + +He spoke in a low tone, trembling with passion. + +"_You_ kill _me_! Ha-ha! Then try, if you like--if you dare!" + +And the King's officer made a movement as if to unsheath his sword. + +"You know I dare. But I won't. Not here--not now." + +It was with the utmost effort Eustace Trevor controlled himself. He +only succeeded by thinking of what had been before. For it was no +feeling of fear that hindered him crossing his sword with his cousin, +but the sentiment hitherto restraining him. + +"Oh, well!" rejoined Reginald. "We'll meet again--may be on the field +of battle. And if so, by G--! I'll make you rue this--show you no +mercy!" + +"You will when you're asked for it." + +"You needn't ask. When you see my sword out, you'll hear the cry, `No +Quarter!'" + +"When I hear that, I'll cry it too." + +Not another word passed between them, Reginald wheeling round and +galloping off after the soldiers. And from that hour, in his heart, +full of jealous vengeance, the resolve, should he ever encounter his +cousin in the field of fight, to show him no quarter! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +WAR IN FULL FURY. + +An interval of some weeks after the scenes described, and the war, long +imminent, was on. All over England men had declared cause and taken +sides; the battle of Edgehill had been fought, and blood spilled in +various encounters elsewhere. For besides the two chief forces in the +field, every shire, almost every hundred, had its parties and partisans, +who waged _la petite guerre_ with as much vigour, and more virulence, +than the grand armies with generals commanding. Many of the country +gentry retired within the walled towns; they who did not, fortifying +their houses when there was a plausibility of being able to defend them, +and garrisoning them with their friends and retainers. The roads were +no longer safe for peaceful travellers, but the reverse. When parties +met upon them, strangers to one another, it was with the hail, "Who are +you for--King or Parliament?" If the answers were adverse, it was +swords out, and a conflict, often commencing with the cry, "No Quarter!" +to end in retreat, surrender, or death. + +Looking at the allegiance of the respective shires to the two parties +that divided the nation, one cannot help observing the wonderful +similitude of their sentiments then as now--almost a parallelism. In +those centres where the cavaliers or malignants held sway, their modern +representatives--Tories and Jingoes--are still in the ascendant. With +some changes and exceptions, true; places which have themselves changed +by increase in population, wealth, refinement, and enlightenment--in +short, all the adjuncts of civilisation. And in all these, or nearly +all, the altered political sentiment has been from the bad to the +better, from the low belief in Divine rights and royal prerogatives to a +higher faith in the rights of the people, if not its highest and purest +form--Republicanism. + +From this standard rather has there been retrogression since that +glorious decade when it was the Government of England. At the +Restoration its spirit, with many of its staunchest upholders, took +flight to a land beyond the Atlantic, there to breathe freely, live a +new life, call into existence and nourish a new nation, ere long +destined to dictate the policy and control the action of every other, in +the civilised world. This "sure as eggs are eggs;" unless the old +leaven of human wickedness--not inherent in man's heart, as shallow +thinkers say, but inherited from an ancestry debased by the rule of +prince and priest--unless the old weeds of this manhood's debasement +spring up again from the old seeds and roots, despite all tramplings +down and teachings to the contrary. + +It may be so. The devil is still alive on the earth, busy as ever +misleading and corrupting the sons of men; in many places and countries, +alas! too triumphantly successful, even in that land _outre mer_, over +the Atlantic. + +At the breaking out of our so-called, but miscalled, "Great Rebellion," +in the belt of shires bordering Wales, the Royalists were in the +majority; perhaps not so much in numbers as in strength and authority. +The same with Wales itself; not from any natural belief in, or devotion +to, the thing called "Crown," but because this spirited people were +under the domination of certain powerful and wealthy proprietors of the +Royalist party, who controlled their action, as their political +leanings. Of this Monmouthshire offers an apt illustration, where the +Earl of Worcester, Ragland's lord, held undisputed sway to the remotest +corners of the county. + +Still, Wales was not all for the King; and where such influence failed +to be exerted, as in Pembroke and Glamorgan in the south, and some +shires and districts of the north, the natural instincts of the Welsh +prompted them to declare for liberty, as they have lately done at the +polls. From any stigma that may have attached to them in the +seventeenth century they have nobly redeemed themselves in the +nineteenth. + +Of the bordering counties, Salop, as might be expected, stood strong for +the King. The subserviency of its people--for centuries bowing head and +bending knee to the despotic Lords of the Marches, who held court at +Ludlow--had become part of their nature; hence an easy transfer of their +obeisance to Royalty direct. + +The shire of Worcester, closely connected with Salop in trade and other +relationships, largely shared its political inclinings; the city of +Worcester itself being noted as a nest of "foul malignants," till purged +of them by the "crowning mercy." + +As for Hereford county, with its semi-pastoral, semi-agricultural +population, it espoused the side natural to such; which, I need hardly +say, was not that of liberty. Throughout all ages, and in all +countries, the bucolic mind has been the most easily misled, and given +strongest support to tyranny and obstruction. But for it the slimy +Imperialism of France would never have existed, and but for the same the +slimier imitation of it in England would not have been attempted. +Luckily, on this side of the English Channel there is not so much of the +base material as on the other. When the Jew of Hughenden travestied +country squire, patronising and bestowing prize smock-frocks on poor old +Dick Robinson, he mistook the voting influence of Dick's farmer-master. +It no longer controls the destinies of this land, and will never more do +so if the Parliament now in power but acts up to the spirit which has so +placed it. _Nous verrons_! + +Returning to the times of England's greatest glory, and the shire of +Hereford, this, though strongly Royalist, was not wholly so. Many of +the common people, especially on the Gloucester shire side, were +otherwise disposed, and among the gentry were several noble exceptions, +as the Kyrles, Powells, and Hoptons; and noblest of all. Sir Robert +Harley, of Brampton Bryan--relentless iconoclast. If the name of Sir +Richard Walwyn be not found in the illustrious list, it is because the +writer of romance has thought fit to bestow upon this valiant knight a +fictitious _nom de guerre_. + +But the western shire entitled to highest honours for its action in this +grand throe of the nation's troubles was undoubtedly Gloucester-- +glorious Gloucester. When the lamp of liberty was burning dim and low +elsewhere over the land, it still shone bright upon the Severn's banks; +a very blaze in its two chief cities, Gloucester and Bristol. In both +it was a beacon, holding out hope to the friends of freedom, near and +afar, struggling against its foes, in danger of being whelmed, as +mariners by the maddened ocean. + +To the latter city, as a seaport, the simile may be more appropriate, +though the former is equally entitled to a share in its credit. But +Bristol most claims our attention now, as it was in 1642, under the +mayoralty of Aldworth. A main _entrepot_ and emporium of commerce with +the outside world, it was naturally emancipated from the narrow-minded +views and prejudices of our insular nationality; not a few of its +citizens having so far become enlightened as to believe the world had +not been created solely for the delectation of royal sybarites, and the +suffering of their subjects and slaves. Indeed, something more than the +majority of the citizens of Bristol held this belief; and, as a +consequence, showed their preference for the Parliament at the earliest +hour that preferences came to be declared. So, when Colonel Essex, son +of the Earl of like name--Lord General of the Parliamentary army--was +sent thither commissioned as its military governor, no one offered to +dispute his authority; instead, he was received with open arms. + +But ere long the free-thinking Bristolians made a discovery, which not +only surprised but alarmed them. Neither more nor less than that the +man deputed by the Parliament to protect and guard their interests +showed rather the disposition to betray them. If living in these days, +Colonel Essex would have been a Whig, with a leaning towards Toryism. +As Governor of Bristol in 1642 he inclined so far to Cavalierism as to +make boast of not being a Crophead, while further favouring those who +wore their locks long and prated scornfully of Puritans and Quakers. At +the time there was a host of these long-haired gentry in Bristol, +prisoners whom Stamford had taken at Hereford, under _parole_, and the +indulgent colonel not only kept their company, but joined them over +their cups in sneers at the plebeian Roundheads, who lacked the +gentility of blackguardism. + +Luckily for the good cause, the tongue of this semi-renegade outran his +prudence; his talk proving too loud to escape being heard by the +Parliament, whose ears it soon reached, with the result that one fine +evening, while in carousal with some of his Cavalier friends, he was +summoned to the door, to see standing there a man of stern mien, who +said,-- + +"Colonel Essex! 'Tis my disagreeable duty to place you under arrest." + +"Place me under arrest!" echoed the military governor of Bristol, his +eyes in amazement swelling up in their sockets. "What madman are you, +sirrah?" + +"Not so much madman as you may be supposing. Of my name, as also reason +for intruding upon you so inopportunely, I take it this will be +sufficient explanation." + +At which the stern man handed him a piece of folded parchment, stamped +with a grand seal--not the King's, but one bearing the insignia of the +Parliament. + +With shaking fingers Essex broke it open and read:-- + +"_This to make known that our worthy and well-trusted servant, Colonel +Nathaniel Fiennes, has our commission to undertake the government of our +good and faithful city of Bristol, and we hereby direct and do command +that all persons submit and yield due obedience to the lawful authority +so holden by him_. + +"_Signed_, _Lenthal_." + +The astonished colonel made some vapouring protest in speech, but not by +action. For the son of Lord Saye and Sele had not come thither +unattended. At his back was a _posse_ of stalwart fellows--soldiers, +who, that same morning, were under the orders of him now being placed in +arrest, but, having learnt there was a change of commanding officers, +knew better than to refuse obedience to the new one. + +So the deposed governor, forced to part company with his _convives_, was +carried off to prison as a common malefactor. He, too, the son of the +Earl of Essex, Lord General of the Parliamentary army--the Parliament +itself having ordered it! Verily, these were days when men feared not +to arraign and punish--unlucky times for tyrants and traitors! To have +concealed a deficit of four thousand pounds in the national exchequer +_then_ would have been a more dangerous deception than to waste as many +millions _now_, without being able to render account of them. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +THE CADGERS ON DANGEROUS GROUND. + +"Yonner be the big city at last! Glad I am. Ain't you that, Jinkum?" + +It was Jerky Jack who spoke, the exclamation meant for his sister, who +was with him, the interrogation addressed to the donkey. + +They were not upon any of the Forest roads, but quite on the other side +of the Severn, trudging along towards Bristol, the big city whose spires +Jack had caught sight of. + +One could almost fancy that the dumb brute comprehended the question +facetiously put; at the words elevating its head, giving a wallop or two +with its long ears, and mending the pace. + +"It be good three mile to go yet," rejoined the woman. "Just that frae +the cross roads--a bit forrard." + +"Well, Winny; us ought to get theer by seven o' the clock?" + +"So us ought, if nothin' stop we," and she cast an anxious glance along +the road ahead. + +"Don't think theer be much danger o' gettin' stopt now. The Governor o' +Glo'ster sayed when's we got well on maybe we'd meet some o' the Bristol +sodgers patrollin' about. Weesh we did. 'Tain't noways comfortable +travellin', all o' the time in fear o' being pulled up and knocked about +by them Cavalieres. Ha! ha! If that party we passed at Berkeley cud a' +seed through my wooden leg, 'tain't likely I'd be stumpin' along here?" + +"True. But 'tain't wise to cry safe till one be sure o' it. Ye know +they told us in Glo'ster that the King's dragoneers ha' it all their own +way in the country places; him's they call Prince Roopert, goin' about +like a ragin' lion, runnin' people through, an' shootin' 'em down wi' +pistols as if they were no better than dogs. It's a big risk us be +runnin', Jack!" + +"Right you bees, theer. But then--the reward, Winny! If us only get +safe inside, it ought be worth mor'n the profits on a twelvemonth o' +cadgin'. Don't ye think 'twill?" + +"Coorse I do." + +She spoke in all sincerity. Whatever the money reward Jerky Jack was +looking forward to, the woman had another in view, also contingent on +their safe arrival inside the city,--one she thought worth far more than +money. For there she would, or should, meet a man she had not seen for +months, though ardently longing to see him. Scarce necessary to say, +Rob Wilde was the individual, when it was known that the erst +deer-stealer of Dean Forest was now a soldier--first sergeant of a troop +forming part of the force then garrisoning Bristol. + +"Yee-up, Jinkum?" cried Jack, encouraged by his sister's words, at the +same time conscious as she of the danger alluded to, and the probability +of their yet encountering obstruction. It was just after the capture of +Cirencester by Prince Rupert; a massacre, sparing neither man nor woman, +friend nor foe; they who survived it having been carried, or rather +dragged, off to Oxford in triumphal train, a feast for the eyes of the +King. To meet it, he, with his _entourage_ of courtiers and sycophants, +sallied forth from the city of colleges--but not of education or +manners--supreme capital of conceit and snobbery, almost as much then as +now. They were met miles out, coming from Witney, by hundreds of +half-naked people, shivering in the chill frost of a winter's day, weary +and footsore, covered with mud from the roads they had been driven over +as cattle to market! + +An impartial historian, or certainly not one who favours the Parliament, +thus records the cruel episode:--"Tying them in pairs, they were marched +to Oxford. The King, with many nobles and commanders and people of the +city, went forth to witness their arrival. They formed a long line upon +the road, escorted by two troops of cavalry. Among them were gentlemen +and ministers, and a mixed multitude of soldiers, husbandmen, and +townsmen. The ways were foul with the trampling of horses; the captives +had gone sometimes knee deep in mire, beaten and driven along like jaded +beasts, all of them weary, and many of them wounded. In this wretched +train appeared a ghastly figure, naked, and, because he was unable to +march with the rest, mounted upon the bare back of a horse. His form +was manly and handsome; though exhausted, he sat upright with an +undaunted air, and the remarkable fairness of his bodily complexion was +heightened, where it was not concealed, by gore from many a gaping +wound. As he drew near the King, a brawling woman cried aloud to +him--`Ah, you traitorous rogue! You are well enough served.' He turned +upon her a scornful look, retorted a term of base reproach, sunk from +his seat, and expired." + +Such was the spectacle to which the ruffian Rupert treated his uncle +after the taking of Cirencester at the expense of its unfortunate +citizens. And the "kind-hearted King" looked upon it without showing a +spark of pity, while his courtiers gloated over it in a very exuberance +of joy, even insulting the wretched captives by ribald speech, while +giving gleeful and fulsome congratulations to their inhuman captors. + +The fall of Cirencester was the prelude to that of Tewkesbury, +Malmesbury, and Devizes, all hitherto held by Parliamentary forces; +while the strong castles of Sudley and Berkeley had also to be evacuated +by them, changing garrisons and showing new flags above their _donjons_. +So close pressed at this time were the partisans of the Parliament in +the border shires that Massey was all but cooped up in Gloucester, while +the new governor of Bristol was almost equally engaged within the +Seaport of the Severn. + +Not strange, then, Jerky and his sister having fear to encounter the +"Cavalieres," as Jack called them. Though as humble cadgers, they would +not be exempt from outrage at the hands of the Royalists; one of whom, +Hastings, son of an aristocratic nobleman, had obtained such notoriety +in this line as to be called "Rob-carrier." The princely plunderer, +Rupert, had set the fashion, and wherever he and his troopers had +control, the routes were only passable for travellers at the risk of +being stripped, as by highwaymen, and butchered in cold blood on the +slightest show of resistance. + +It was no market commodity, however, about which Jerky and his sister +were apprehensive, nor aught else carried in Jinkum's panniers--these +being absolutely empty. What it was could not be learnt from anything +seen upon the donkey or the persons of its owners; though Jack's +allusion to his wooden leg, with certain eventualities contingent on its +being seen through, seemed to point to some mysterious matter. Whatever +it might be, no more speech was heard concerning it then, Jerky with +another "Yee-up!" adding,-- + +"Three mile more, Jinkum, and ye'll be in the snug corner o' an inn +stable-yard, wi' a measure of barley or beans at your nose. Think o' +that!" + +Despite the evident hurry the cadger was in, no thwack of stick +accompanied the words. Nor was any needed; the night was well-nigh on, +the air piercingly cold, the road frost-bound, with nothing on either +side that even an ass could eat, and Jinkum, hungry enough, seemed to +know something of that snug stable-yard which promised barley or beans. +So, setting ears as if determined to reach the city soon as possible, it +again briskened its pace. + +The firm frozen ground favoured speed, enabling Jinkum to go gingerly +along. It was equally favourable to Jack, with his timber leg, or he +would have had ado to keep up with the donkey. As it was, no time was +left him for aught else than quick tramping, the rough and now darkened +path calling for all the attention he could bestow on it to save him +from a tumble. But he had no need to trouble himself with any look-out +ahead. That was left to the big sister, who, stepping out some paces in +advance, scanned the road at every turn and corner. She saw nothing, +however, to be apprehended. If there were any "Cavalieres" in the +neighbourhood, either the hour--between day and night--or the pinching +cold, kept them confined to their quarters. At all events, neither +Cavaliers, nor wayfarers of any other speciality, were encountered by +them, and for their last three miles of trudge towards Bristol they had +the road all to themselves. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +A GRAND SERGEANT OF GUARD. + +Getting within sight of the city's gate, the cadgers could see it was +shut, drawbridge up, and portcullis down. Bristol was then a walled +town, with an _enceinte_ of ancient fortifications that had lately been +repaired and strengthened. Night had now come on, and it was pitch +dark. But a lamp set high on one of the gate towers threw its light +across the moat, revealing to the eyes of the sentry who held post +overhead the party seeking admittance. At sight of their humble mien, +he thought of the bitterly cold night, and hearing of their reasonable +request, called to the guard-sergeant below; then, to the inquiry of the +latter, gave description of them in brief soldierly phrase--"Woman, man, +and donkey." + +Whether his reversing the usual rule, by putting the woman before the +man, was due to her superior stature, or because of her being better +under the lamplight, his words seemed to produce a singular effect on +the sergeant. Starting suddenly up from his seat by the guard-house +fire, he rushed out and on to the wicket. There, placing his eye to the +peep-hole, he saw what influenced him to give instant orders for the +lowering of the bridge. + +By this he was taking a great responsibility on his shoulders, though +they seemed strong and broad enough to bear it; for the guard-sergeant +was no other than Rob Wilde. As it chanced, the captain of the guard +was just then out of the way; and Rob had reason to think he would be +pardoned for the little stretch of vicarial authority. + +"Ha' patience, Win!" he shouted across. "We won't be more than a +minnit." + +Then with a will he set on to assist the others in letting the bridge +down. + +Win was patient; could well be, after hearing that voice, at once +recognised by her. She thought nothing of the cold now; no more feared +the raiding "Cavalieres." + +Never was drawbridge more promptly made passable. The creaking of a +windlass; with a rattling of chains, and it was down in its place. The +wicket was at the same time drawn open, and the cadger party passed over +and in. + +"Lor, Win!" said Rob, drawing the great woman aside under the shadow of +the guard-house wall, and saluting her with a kiss, "where be yees +from?" + +"Glo'ster east," she responded, soon as her lips were released from the +osculation. + +"An' what ha' brought ye to Bristol?" + +"Business o' diff'rent kinds." + +"But ye don't appear to ha' any ladin' on the donkey?" + +"Us may goin' back--hope to." + +The cadgeress was prevaricating. No commercial speculation was the +cause of their being there; and if in passing through Gloucester they +had picked up a commission, it was quite a windfall, having nought to do +with the original object of their extended excursion. Neither on +leaving Ruardean, nor up to that moment, was Jerky himself aware of its +purpose, Winny having been its projector. But he could trust her, and +she, in her usual way, insisting upon the tramp, he had no alternative +but to undertake it. He knew now, why his sister had brought him to +Bristol, and that Rob Wilde was the lure which had attracted her +thither. + +Rob had some thought of this himself, or at least hoped it so; the +unburdened donkey helping him in his hope. + +"But ye bean't goin' back, surely?" he said. + +"Why not?" + +"The danger o' the roads now. If I'd a known you war on them, Win, +dear, I should ha' been feelin' a bit uneasy." + +Her game of false pretence was now nearly up. It had all been due to a +fear which had suddenly come over her on seeing him again. Months had +elapsed since they last met, and the rough Forester, erst in coarse +common attire, his locks shaggy and unkempt, was now a man of military +bearing, hair and whiskers neatly trimmed, in a well-fitting uniform +resplendent with the glitter of gold. He was only a sergeant; but in +her eyes no commanding officer of troop or regiment, not even the +generalissimo of the army, could have looked either so grand or so +handsome. But it was just that, with the thought of the long interval +since they had last stood side by side, that now held her reticent. How +knew she but that with such change outwardly, there might also have come +change within his heart, and towards herself? A soldier too, now; one +of a calling proverbial for gallantry as fickleness, living in a great +city where, as she supposed, the eyes of many a syren would be turned +luringly upon her grand Rob. + +Had he yielded to their lures or resisted them? So she mentally and +apprehensively interrogated. But only for a short while; the "Win, +dear," in his old voice, with its old affectionate tone, and his +solicitude for her safety, told he was still true. + +Doubting it no longer, she threw aside the reserve that was beginning to +perplex him, at the same time flinging her arms round his neck, and in +turn kissing _him_. + +That was her grateful rejoinder, sufficiently gratifying to him who +received it, and leading him to further expressions of endearment. Glad +was he they had arrived safe; and as to their errand at Bristol, which +she cared no longer to keep from him, he forbore further questioning. + +"Ye can tell me about it when we ha' more time to talk," he said. "But +where do you an' Jack 'tend passin' the night?" + +"The old place us always stop at,--Bird-in-the-Bush Inn." + +"That be over Avon's bridge?" + +"Yes; just a street or two the other side." Bristol was no strange +place to her. She, Jerky and Jinkum had made many a cadge thither +before. + +"I'd go 'long wi' ye to the Bird-in-the-Bush," said the guard-sergeant, +"but, as ye see, I'm on duty at this gate, and musn't leave it for a +minnit. If the captain was here--unlucky he isn't just now--he'd let me +off, I know--seein' who it be." + +"Why for seein' that, Rob?" + +"Because o' his knowin' ye. He ha' seen you and Jack at Hollymead +House." + +"It be Sir Richard?" + +"No, no," hastily responded the ex-deer-stealer, in turn, perhaps, +experiencing a twinge of jealousy as when by the quarry on Cat's Hill. +"Sir Richard be in Bristol, too; but he's a colonel, not captain." + +"Who be the captain, then?" + +"That young Cavalier gentleman as comed to Hollymead 'long wi' Sir +Richard, after fightin' him. He changed sides there, an's now on ours. +Ye heerd that, han't you?" + +"Deed, yes. An' more; heerd why. 'Twas all through a sweet face him +seed there--so be the word 'bout Ruardean." + +"Well; I hope her won't disappoint he, after his doin' that for her. +Better nor braver than he an't in this big town o' Bristol. But, Win, +dear," he added, changing tone, and slinging an arm round her neck, +"'tan't any consarn o' ours. Oh! I be so glad to see ye again." + +She knew he was now. + +"Hang it!" he went on, "I only weesh my turn o' guard was over, so's I +could go 'long wi' ye. Maybe when the captain come back he'll let me +off for a hour or so. Sit up late, if ye ain't too tired. Ye will, +won't ye?" + +"I will; for you all night, Rob. Ay, till the sun o' morning shines +clear in the sky." + +Her passionate and poetic words were succeeded, if not cut short, by a +thumping on the pavement. Jerky's wooden leg it was; its owner +approaching in the darkness, the rapid repetition of the thumps telling +him to be in great haste. + +"Winny!" he called to her in urgent tone, "us maunt linger here any +longer. Ye know somethin' as needs our bein' quick about it." + +"Yes, yes," she answered, excitedly, as if recalled to a duty she felt +guilty of having trifled with or neglected. "I be ready to go on, +Jack." + +The guard-sergeant looked a little puzzled. There was a secret, after +all, which had not been confided to him. What could it be? + +Rough Forester though he had been, bold soldier as he now was, he lacked +the courage, or rather the rudeness, to ask. It might be a question +unwelcome. + +Divining his thoughts, the woman said in a whisper,-- + +"Something Rob, us have sweared not to tell o' to anybody, 'till't be +all over an' done. When's I see you at the inn 'twill be over, an' ye +shall hear all about it." + +"That be enough, Win?" said in rejoinder the trusting Rob; and the two +great figures went apart in the shadowy night, the separation preceded +by their lips once more meeting in a resonant smack. + +On along the streets passed the cadger party; Jack urging Jinkum to +haste by a succession of vociferous "yee-ups," and now and then a sharp +touch of the stick. He seemed angry with himself, or perhaps more at +Winny, for having tarried so long by the gate. + +"Good gracious!" he exclaimed in a troubled tone, "what if us get theer +too late? Ye know, the Glo'ster governor told we not to waste one +second o' time. Maybe better keep on straight to the castle. What d'ye +say, Winny?" + +"It be but a step to Bird-in-the-Bush, now. Won't take we mor'n ten +minnits; that can't a make much difference. An' us can go faster when's +we've left Jinkum in the inn yard." + +Thus counselled and controlled, Jack, as was customary with him, gave +way; and the trio continued on for the Bird-in-the-Bush. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +ON THE BRIDGE. + +The river Avon bisecting the city of Bristol was spanned by a bridge; +one of those quaint structures of the olden time, with a narrow +causeway, high _tete-de-pont_, and houses along each side. There were +shops and dwellings, with a church of rare architectural style and rarer +proportions--being but twenty-one feet in width, while over seventy in +length! + +A conspicuous and important part did this bridge of Bristol play in the +political action of the time; for it was invested with a political +character. Creditable, too; the dwellers upon it--the "Bridgemen," as +called--being all warm partisans of the Parliament. As a consequence, +it was a favourite assembling-place for the citizens so disposed; +especially in evening hours, after the day's work had been done. + +Though dark and keenly cold that seventh of March night, it did not +deter a number of them from congregating, as was their wont, about the +bridge's head, to talk over the news and events of the day, with the +prospects and probabilities for the morrow. The fervour of their +patriotism rendered them regardless of personal discomfort or exposure; +just as one may see at a political meeting in the present time the +thronging thousands, packed thick as mackerels in a barrel, standing +thus for hours, up till midnight--ay, morning, if leave be allowed +them--eagerly listening to hear words of truth and promise, with the +hope of the promise being fulfilled. + +I know no more pleasing or grander spectacle than that to be witnessed +from a Liberal platform, a sea of faces--the faces of the people--by +their expression giving proof of man's natural inclinings to what is +good and right, and abhorrence of what is wicked and wrong. + +Nor can I conceive any shabbier spectacle than the crowd which usually +displays itself before a platform where Toryism is preached. For there +assemble all who are the foes of liberty, the enemies and oppressors of +mankind. + +Among the friends of liberty that night gathered upon the bridge of +Bristol were several men armed and wearing uniform; soldiers, though not +belonging to any regiment of the regular army. Volunteers, they were; a +force then for the first time heard of in England, taking the place of +the militia or "trained bands." They were on guard with a young officer +in command, one who afterwards made name and fame in the annals of his +Country, and his sword sharply felt by its enemies. For it was Captain +John Birch--the merchant-soldier. + +The writers of the Restoration have flung their defiling mud at this +brave man--which did not stick, however--by representing him as of +humble birth, and mean calling--a common carrier, the driver of a +pack-horse,--stigmas similar to that cast at Cromwell, the brewer of +Huntingdon. But it should be remembered that in those days trade was +not deemed degrading; and if here and there aristocratic noses were +turned up at it, here and there also aristocratic people took a hand in +it. What were the Coningsbys, those types of the Cavalier idea, but +soap-boilers and soap-chandlers, holding a monopoly from the King for +the making and selling of this useful commodity? As for John Birch, he +was neither base-born nor of humble occupation; instead, engaged in +honourable merchandise, and, for the times, on a somewhat extensive +scale. His correspondence, extant, so far from proving him coarse or +illiterate, shows both refinement and education beyond most of his +contemporaries--soldier or civilian--even superior to that of the King +himself. + +In intelligence and courage few were his equals, while, as a partisan +leader, he is entitled to first place; some of his feats in the +_guerilla_ line reading more like the fictions of troubadour romance. + +One of the earliest and most ardent espousers of the Parliamentary +cause, he had enrolled this company of Bristol volunteers--most of them +"Bridgemen"--with a detail of whom on the bridge itself he was now +keeping guard; not so much against an outside enemy, but one within the +city's walls. Bristol was full of Cavalier officers, prisoners in its +gaols, but many of them freely circulating through the streets _on +parole_--ready to break it if they but saw the chance, as some of them, +to their eternal disgrace, actually did; though it failed to disgrace +them in the eyes of their Royal master, who rather, the more favoured +them after--as with Vavasour--promoting them to higher command! + +The treason not only winked at, but fostered, by the deposed governor-- +now in the prison of Berkeley Castle--had not all been trodden out, but +was still rampant, and ready to raise its Hydra head; so that Colonel +Nathaniel Fiennes had his hands full in keeping it under. But he could +not have had a better man to help him than John Birch. The young +captain of Volunteers was especially prepared for this duty; since he +had himself suffered from the late governor's delinquency--the insult of +having been placed under arrest. So, tempered to vigilance, if not +revenge, he held guard upon the bridge-head, watchful and wary, +carefully scrutinising all who passed over it. + +While thus engaged he saw a party approaching of such singular +composition as to attract him more than common. Little man with a +wooden leg; tall woman nearly twice the man's height; between the two a +donkey, with pair of panniers--Jack, Winny, and Jinkum. + +If Birch was not himself a pack-horse carrier, in his capacity of +trading merchant he was well acquainted with all the country routes, and +the modes of traffic and transit thereon. At a glance he took in the +character of the cadgers; saw they were rustics fresh from the country; +and, by the direction from which they were approaching, concluded they +must have made entry at the gate towards Gloucester. On the bridge +there was light in plenty, both from lamps and shops; and, as they came +close, a scrutiny of their features gave the sharp-witted captain an +idea that they, too, were of quick wit, especially the woman. She +looked like one who did not tramp the roads without seeing what was to +be seen, and hearing all that could be heard; one, moreover, capable of +forming a correct estimate of how things stood, social, political, or +military. If from Gloucester, or even Berkeley, she or the man might +have picked up some scraps of news worth extracting from them. + +Stepping out into the middle of the causeway, he confronted the cadger +party, and brought it to a stop, with the interrogation: + +"Whence come you, my worthy people?" + +"Frae Gloster, yer honner," responded Jack, spokesman by right of sex +and seniority. + +"And what's your business in Bristol?" + +"Only our reg'lar business, sir. As ye see, us be cadgers." + +"But your panniers appear to be empty!" said the officer, peeping into +and giving them a shake. "How is that?" + +The question was awkward, nonplussing Jerky, and, the second time, +calling for explanation from his sister; who, however, promptly +vouchsafed it. + +"Ye see, master, us be come to Bristol to take back some things Gloster +way, an' far ayont. Us belong to the Forest o' Dean." + +"Ah! All that way off. And when left you the Forest country?" + +"A good week agone, yer honner," Jerky giving the response. + +"At least that, I should say," rejoined the officer, with a look at the +wooden leg. "Well, you must have seen and met many people upon the +road, especially between this and Gloucester. Can you tell me +whether--" + +He ceased speech abruptly, seeing it was overheard by the street +passengers, who, attracted by the oddness of the group, had begun to +gather round it. + +He was about to demand of the cadgers, _sotto voce_, where they intended +putting up, with a view to further conference, when a man of herculean +stature--soldier in cavalry uniform--made appearance inside the circle +of bystanders, going straight up to the woman, and speaking some words, +as one who had familiar acquaintance with her,-- + +"Ah! Sergeant Wilde," said the Volunteer officer, "you know these +people, do you?" + +"I ought to, Captain. All o' us war born an' brought up in the Forest +o' Dean, not very far apart." + +"Enough," said, or rather thought, Birch, who, after a whispered word +with the colossal trooper, gave permission for the cadger party to pass +on over the bridge. + +Rob went with them; soon as beyond earshot of the crowd, saying: + +"Dear Win! I ha' got leave o' guard duty for the whole o' an hour. +Captain Trevor coined back to the gate 'most the minnit ye left it. +When I tolt him who'd passed through, it war, `Rob, go and see to their +bein' stowed in comfortable quarters.' Kind o' him, warn't it?" + +"Deed war it," answered Win, but without thinking it strange; her +woman's instinct told her the why and wherefore of Captain Trevor's +kindness. + +Jerky seemed less satisfied than either of the other two; for a reason +he knew of, equally known to his sister. That detention on the bridge's +head had been torture to him; it might forfeit the reward promised and +expected. She cared less for it, hers already gained, in having her +beloved Rob once more by her side. + +The two, talking of old things and times, might have lagged upon the +way, had Jack given them time and opportunity, which he did not; on the +contrary, urging greater haste than ever, while persuading Jinkum to +make still better speed by a multiplication of "gee-ups," and a storm of +solid thwacks administered by the cudgel. + +But they had not reached the Bird in the Bush--were scarce beyond sight +of the people who saw them depart from the bridge--when he who had just +held speech with them was accosted by one whose speech and air told that +she, too--for it was a woman--had a secret to communicate; but, unlike +the cadgeress, wanted--was impatient--to reveal it. And altogether +unlike the latter otherwise was the new applicant for converse with +Captain Birch--so far as could be seen of her--for she was cloaked and +hooded. But when the hood was tossed back, so that she could herself +see and speak freely, a face was revealed, beautiful and of delicate +outlines, unmistakably that of a lady. + +That she was not unknown to the young Volunteer officer might be told +from the start of surprise at seeing her. Still better proof of their +being acquainted in the words she addressed to him, spoken in panting +haste and excitedly. He had said, interrogatively: + +"What's brought you hither, Marian?" to get for response, "You, John; +your life's in danger." + +"How? From what?" + +"Treason. Even now--at this minute--there are conspirators armed and +ready to start out into the streets, with a cry for the King." + +"But where?" + +"Some in the house of Yeomans, others at Boucher's. They have +expectation of help from the outside; that's why they're gathered now." + +"How do you know it, Marian?" + +"Don't ask me, John; God help me! To think my own father is one of +them--my brother, too! But your life is dearer to me than either. And +you will lose it if you don't listen to my warning." + +"Dearest Marian, I not only listen to, but believe in it. More, I'll +take instant action to stop this conspiracy you speak of, trust me for +that." + +She could trust him, and did; saw that to leave him unfettered, and free +for the action intended, she should no longer remain there; and pulling +the hood down over her face, though not till after two pairs of lips had +met under it, she lightened the cloak around her shoulders, and hurried +away from the bridge-head. + +Heart full of sweet thoughts, thrilled by them, the young +merchant-soldier stood looking after the graceful figure till it waned +and was lost in the dim light of distant lamps. No wonder he should so +long continue his gaze. She was one of Bristol's fairest daughters; +daughter, too, of one of its richest merchants, and proudest; her father +a man who would have seen her hurled from the parapet of that bridge, +and drowned in Avon's stream, rather than know of her having stood upon +its head, and said what she had said to John Birch. + +Whatever the reflections of John Birch himself about this +jealously-guarded daughter, they seemed to pass away soon as she was out +of sight; though not the warning she had given. This was with him +still; and so vividly realistic, he lost not a moment in acting up to +it. A word or two with his sergeant of guard--orders earnestly +enjoined--and away went he from the bridge, with face turned towards the +Castle, and step hurried as man could make, almost a run! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +IN COUNCIL OF WAR. + +The man who had succeeded Colonel Essex in the governorship of Bristol +was well, even enthusiastically, affected to the Parliamentary cause. +Beyond that, he was altogether unfitted for the trust reposed in him. A +lawyer before becoming soldier, he better understood the marshalling of +arguments than armies, and, though a man of grave, serious thought, his +passionate temper gave offence to friends as foes, oft thwarting his +best intentions. Fortunately he had around him men of greater military +capacity and experience, by whose counsels he was, to some extent, +controlled--officers who had seen service in the Low Countries, Sweden, +and Germany--among them Sir Richard Walwyn. + +How the knight came to be in Bristol--Eustace Trevor too--may need +making known. At the breaking out of hostilities, when blood began to +flow, the Dean Foresters were, in a way, taken by surprise, and for a +time overpowered. In addition to their old enemy, Sir John Wintour, +threatening them on the south, they had to contend with the strong and +well-disciplined force of Lord Herbert on the west; while Harry Lingen, +a man of more capability than either--as a partisan leader unsurpassed-- +had commenced harassing them from the Herefordshire side. + +Seeing he would be unable to hold ground against such odds, Sir Richard, +who had hastily got together a body of horse, withdrew it from the +Forest, and joined the main force of the Parliament, which confronted +that of the King. At the time the two armies were manoeuvring in +Worcestershire, Warwick, and Salop, every day expecting to come into +collision, which they did soon after at Edgehill--a drawn battle, with +feats of daring on both sides, and on both displays of abject cowardice. + +The men commanded by Sir Richard Walwyn were not chargeable with this +last; instead, on that day distinguishable by the first, having +performed prodigies of valour. Since then he and his Foresters had +shown themselves on other fields, and done other gallant deeds, till the +troop of horse, with the "big sergeant," had become a name of terror to +the Royalist soldiers. Even Rupert's pick Cavaliers would have shied +encounter with it, unless they knew themselves in the proportion of two +to one. + +By the drift of events, this small but efficient body became part of the +garrison of Bristol--disagreeable duty to the Foresters, but forced upon +them by the chances of war. + +So in Bristol we now find them, with their commanding officer Sir +Richard, their "big sergeant" Rob Wilde, and for one of their captains +the ex-gentleman-usher, Eustace Trevor. To explain his presence there +and position it needs but referring back to his words spoken in that +hour when Lunsford was hammering at the door of Hollymead House. + +Reverting to the new governor, we must give him the credit of endeavour +to do his best--that at least. Entering upon the office full of hope +and spirit, he was correspondingly vigorous in the execution of its +duties. And as there had been no time for his enthusiasm to get cool, +or his vigour to become relaxed, before that 7th of March--but a few +days after Essex had been clapped under arrest--Fiennes was in the very +blush of energetic activity. Not dining, wining, and dancing, as his +predecessor would have been, in the company of gay Cavaliers, and +light-hearted, as light-headed ladies; but within one of the reception +rooms of the castle, holding counsel with half-a-score of grave men-- +chiefly commanding officers of the troops that composed the garrison of +the city. + +All were impressed with the seriousness of the situation, feeling +themselves, if not actually besieged, likely soon to be. From without, +reports were pouring in, daily, hourly, of reverses sustained by the +Parliamentarians. The capture and massacre at Cirencester, the +surrendering of Malmesbury, Tewkesbury, and Devizes, with the +abandonment of Sudley and Berkeley Castles,--all adverse events, +following in quick succession as the blows of a hammer,--were enough to +alarm the new governor and the men in consultation with him. + +The more, from their belief that in all likelihood Bristol would be the +next point aimed at by the now victorious Royalists. For they knew it +was the quarry these would most like to stoop at and kill. Ever since +the commencement of hostilities, it and Gloucester had been very thorns +in the side of the Royalist party; both cities being storehouses of war +material, and other effects conducive to the supply of its sinews. But +chiefly the great seaport, at once door of entry and key to the rich +Severn Valley--with its towns and villages up to Shrewsbury--while also +commanding the commerce and intercourse with South Wales. + +Rupert, now at the head of a considerable body of troops, held all the +open country from the Severn up to Oxford, raiding over and ravaging it +at will. But the rumour had got ground that he meant soon to engage in +something more than mere skirmishing warfare, by making a dash at +Bristol, either to attempt taking that city by assault, or laying siege +to it. + +The assemblage of officers at the Castle was in consequence of this +rumour, which had just reached the Governor's ears, and he had hastily +called them together to have their views and advice upon what steps had +best be taken in the contingency--should it occur. + +But, as already made known, something more than the enemy without called +for their consideration. The egg of treason, which had been hatching +under Essex's too lenient rule, was not an addled one. The vile bird +was still vigorous within it, threatening to break the shell. A gleam +of warmth and hope, the touch of a helping hand, and it would burst +forth full fledged, ready to tear with beak and talons. + +On this night Nathaniel Fiennes was unusually excited; angry at the +difficult task left him by his predecessor, just as might the Earl of +Ripon be with Lord Lytton, that ass in lion's skin--now politically +defunct--for demising him the legacy of Afghanistan. + +But the lawyer-soldier, however worried and over-weighted, was not +either dismayed or discouraged. After listening to what his fellow +counsellors had to say, and giving his own views, he exclaimed in +conclusion, and determinedly: + +"Before our enemies enter Bristol they'll have to pass over my dead +body!" + +"And mine, too!" "And mine!" were echoes of like patriotic resolve. + +All emphatic, though not all sincere; for the loudest of them came from +the lips of a man who least meant what he said. Even then, Colonel +Langrish was contemplating the treason he afterwards perpetrated. + +No one present so quietly declared himself as Sir Richard Walwyn. A man +more of deeds than words, such pompous proclamation was averse to his +nature, and pompous, so far as regarded Fiennes, it afterwards proved. +For the enemy _did_ enter Bristol, not over his dead body, nor even +fiercely fighting with him, but by surrender, facile, and so much like +being criminal, that the lawyer-soldier was himself cast into prison, +not by foes, but those hitherto his friends; afterwards tried for his +life, and let off as the son of Lord Saye and Sele, though without leave +to play at soldiering any more. But we anticipate. + +Returning to the conference in the Castle, it had well-nigh reached +conclusion, when the usher in charge of the door entered to announce a +party seeking audience of the Governor, to whom alone the communication +was made. + +"Who are they?" demanded Fiennes. + +"I don't know, your Excellency. They're still outside the gate. The +guard-corporal brought the message--he's at the door." + +"Bring him in!" + +The abrupt order was with promptness executed; and in twenty seconds +after, the corporal of the castle guard stood before the Governor, +saluting in military style. + +"Who are these wishing to speak with me?" asked the latter. + +"I only know one of them, your Excellency," returned the corporal. +"That's Sergeant Wilde, of the Forest of Dean troop--Sir Richard +Walwyn's. The other two are a short man and a tall woman--very tall she +is. The man has a wooden leg." + +"If I'm not mistaken, Colonel Fiennes," interposed Sir Richard, who, +standing by, overheard what the corporal had said, "I know all the +party. And as my sergeant, Wilde, appears to be one of them, I'll +answer for the honesty of their purpose in seeking an interview with +you, whatever it be." + +"Let them be brought in?" commanded the Governor--"all three." + +At which the guard-corporal, once more saluting, made "about face," and +with the usher disappeared from the room. + +"Who are they, Sir Richard?" asked the Governor, as the door was again +closed. + +"By the description," answered the knight, "I identify the short man and +the very tall woman as cadgers, who follow their humble calling around +the Forest of Dean; despite the reversed proportions in stature, being +brother and sister." + +"But what, think you, can they be wanting with me?" + +"That I can't say, your Excellency. Though likely something of grave +concern, or Rob Wilde wouldn't be with them as their introducer. He +isn't the man to intrude, without serious purpose." + +Their dialogue was interrupted by sounds in the hallway outside; a +scraping and shuffling of heavily-shod feet, with something that +resembled the strokes of a wooden mallet upon the stone flags, +administered in regular repetition. It was no mystery, however, either +to the Governor or the knight, both already aware that they were to see +a man with a wooden leg. + +Which they did, as the door was again pushed open, and the usher entered +for the third time, conducting in Jerky Jack and his sister, the +sergeant bringing up the rear. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +A DESPATCH CUNNINGLY CONVEYED. + +The officers had separated into two groups, one on each side the +Governor, as the odd trinity of personages was presented to him; these, +as they came up, falling into line--Rob on the right, the woman left, +and Jack central, as a pollard between two tall trees. + +Not yet aware of his colonel being in the room, the sergeant, as +introducer of the other pair, was about to make known their business--of +which Winny after all had given him a hint--when Sir Richard stepped +forward to interrogate them. The knight had received instructions for +this, on account of his acquaintance with the party. + +"Well, sergeant," he said, after nodding recognition to Jack and his +sister, "what may your Forest friends be wanting? I hope they haven't +got into any trouble with our soldiers, or the Bristol folk?" + +"No, Sir Richard; nothin' o' that sort whatsoever. They ha' just +entered the city, comin' frae Gloster, an' wi' a message from Colonel +Massey to his honner here." The speaker, by a look, indicated the head +figure of the listening assemblage; then added, "They think it be +somethin' o' very great consarn, seein' how the Colonel ha' told them +not to lose a minnit in the deliverin' o't." + +At this all eyes turned eagerly upon the cadgers. A message from +Massey, who commanded at Gloucester, and at such a crisis! It should +mean something of importance. + +"Perhaps your Excellency would prefer hearing it in private?" suggested +Sir Richard, with a feint at withdrawing, imitated by the other +officers. + +"No, no!" rejoined the _ci-devant_ lawyer, who, unlike his +confraternity, was of aught but secretive habit. "Stay, gentlemen! +Whatever it be, we're all equally interested in it. Now, my worthy +friends," he continued, his glance alternating between the little man +and big woman, "what is this matter with which Colonel Massey has +entrusted you? You may speak out openly and without fear." + +The words of encouragement were superfluous. Neither Jerky Jack nor his +sister were of the stuff to be affrighted, though they stood in the +presence of Royalty itself. They had travelled too far, and seen too +much of the world for that. + +"It be wrote, yer honner." The woman it was who spoke. "The thing be's +all put down on paper; an' Jack--my brother, sir--ha' got it on him, hid +away, as there was a fear us might meet the Cavalieres." + +"Well, you needn't fear meeting them here. So let Jack produce it." + +Which Jack did, though not _presto_, on the instant. It took some time, +with an amount of manipulation, before the secreted despatch could be +laid open to the light. The cadger's artificial leg had to be +unstrapped and separated from what remained of the real one; then a +cavity in the former, being uncorked, disclosed to view a roll of paper, +bearing resemblance to a cartridge. + +This, drawn forth by Jerky himself, was handed to Sir Richard, and +passed on to the Governor; who, having directed the temporary withdrawal +of the messenger party, unrolling it, read-- + + "Gloucester, March 7.--Report here of Rupert, with 8,000 men, on march + for Bristol. Expected to arrive before your gates early in the night. + Be careful to keep them shut. Sorry I can do nothing for you in the + way of diversion. Myself pressed on Monmouthshire side. Brett and + Lord John Somerset, with their Popish crew, have crossed the Forest, + and are now threatening us from Highnam. But I'll hold Gloucester at + all hazards, as I know you will Bristol. + + "Massey." + +"That will I!" cried Fiennes, in a fresh burst of enthusiasm, inspired +by the last words of the despatch. "Hold and defend it to the death. +We will, gentlemen!" + +Needless to say, they all again echoed his resolve loudly and +determinedly as before. + +While their responses were still ringing through the room, the door was +once more pushed open by a man who entered in haste, without +announcement of usher, or introduction of any kind. The expression upon +his features was sufficient apology for intrusion, but better the words +that leaped from his lips, soon as he was inside: + +"Your Excellency--gentlemen all--we're standing upon a mine!" + +"`Standing upon a mine!'" echoed the Governor. "Explain yourself, +Captain Birch!" + +"Treason in our midst--a conspiracy--the conspirators met at this very +moment." + +"Where?" demanded several voices. "I heard first of a party in the +house of Robert Yeomans, and another at George Boucher's. But I've +since been told about more of them at Edward Dacre's." + +"And they're assembled now, you think?" + +"I'm sure of it, your Excellency. Armed, too; ready for rising." + +In view of the contents of Massey's despatch, now hastily communicated +to the Volunteer captain, this seemed probable as intelligible. Rupert +to assault from outside, aweing the loyal citizens by an attack, sudden +as unexpected; the disloyal ones, these conspirators, to take advantage +of it and act in concert--the programme beyond a doubt! + +Withal, Langrish and one or two others were disposed to discredit it. +For in that confidential council itself was a leaven of treason. +Luckily not enough to control it; and when Fiennes put the question, +"Shall we arrest these men?" a majority of voices declared promptly and +decisively in the affirmative. + +"Captain Birch!" said the Governor, once more turning to the young +officer of Volunteers, "you hear our determination. I commit this +matter to you, who best know the guilty parties, and the places. Take +your own men, and whatever other force you think necessary. This +gentleman will go with you as my authority for the requisition." + +He referred to an aide-de-camp by his side, who, after receiving some +directions in undertone, parted from him, and, with Birch, hastily left +the room. + +Scarce were they outside, when another officer presented himself in the +council-chamber; in haste also, and unannounced, on the plea of pressing +matter. A Volunteer captain, too; for Bristol had already raised more +than one company of these citizen soldiers. Captain Jeremiah Buck, it +was--the "busy mercer," as the Restoration writers contemptuously style +him. But whatever he may have been otherwise, he was a busy soldier, +too busy that night for Royalist likings, and brought further +intelligence of the conspiracy, obtained from other sources--confirming +that of Birch. + +And, as the latter, he also received instant commands to proceed on the +arrest of the conspirators. As there were several distinct "clatches" +of them, more than one force was needed to catch them simultaneously. + +So commissioned, off went Buck, to all appearance greatly elated, and +possibly indulging himself in the thought of satisfying some private +spite. + +Whether or no, the door that had closed behind him was still vibrating +to the clash, when one who needed no usher to announce him caught hold +of its handle and pushed it open, with an alacrity which proclaimed him +also the bearer of tidings that would not brook delay. + +"What is it, Trevor?" asked Sir Richard Walwyn, advancing to meet his +troop captain. "Why have you left your guard at the gate?" + +"Because, Colonel," panted out the young officer, "I've thought it +better to come myself and make sure of the news reaching you in good +time, as the Governor here." + +"What news?" + +"Prince Rupert and the Royalist army reported outside the city. A +countryman just come in says they are pitching tents on Durdham Down. +And his report's confirmed by what I've myself seen from the top of the +gate tower." + +"What saw you, Captain Trevor?" asked the Governor, who, with the other +officers, had been all the while anxiously listening. + +"A glare of light, your Excellency; such as would proceed from the blaze +of camp-fires." + +This was confirmation full, of Massey's warning despatch, the +conspiracy, everything. But, for better assurance of it, the Governor, +with the assembled officers, rushed out of the council-chamber and up to +the Castle donjon; there to see the horizon lit up with a yellowish +glare which, as soldiers, they knew to be the reflection from bivouac +fires. And a wide spread of them, the sky illumined all over Durdham +Down, away to King's Weston. + +"Rupert it must be--he, and his plundering host!" + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Captain Birch made quick work of the duty assigned to him. In less than +twenty minutes after receiving the Governor's commands, he stood before +the door of Robert Yeomans's house, demanding admission. He had the +strength at his back to enforce it--his own Volunteers afoot, with a +body of horse, lest the conspirators should escape by flight. And some +of both, distributed round the house, already enfiladed it. + +It was a large house, its owner being one of the wealthy citizens of +Bristol. Forty men were within it, all armed, as the Volunteer officer +had been told. At word of what was without they sprang to their arms, +some of the more courageous counselling fight. But when they looked +through the windows, saw that formidable array, and heard the stern +summons "Surrender!" their hearts failed them, and they surrendered. +Wisely, too. Had they resisted, instant death would have been their +fate. For, among the men with Birch, were some fresh from the affair of +Cirencester; themselves escaped, but leaving behind friends, relatives, +even brothers, butchered in cold blood. Exasperated, maddened, by the +memory of that slaughter--some of them with wounds still unhealed from +it--Birch, who was moderate as brave, had a difficulty to restrain them +from dealing out death to the malignants. The troopers who accompanied +him, smarting under late reverses, would have gladly hailed the order to +"fall on." But the cowed conspirators submitted like sheep, and were +marched off to the Castle, every man-jack of them; there to meet other +batches brought in by Buck and the different officers who had been +detailed for their arrest. + +In houses here and there throughout the city, parties of them were found +and picked up; all armed, waiting for a signal to sally forth and shed +the blood of their fellow-citizens. This has been denied, but a letter +from the barbarous Lord Byron to Prince Rupert puts the design beyond +doubt. But for the vigilance of the merchant-soldier Birch, and the +activity of the "busy mercer" Buck, that night the streets of Bristol +would have run blood, and every house in it belonging to a +Parliamentarian been sacked and plundered. For the head plunderer, +Rupert--he who introduced the word to the English language--stood at +that very hour on the top of King's Weston hill, awaiting a triple +signal--the bells of three churches to be rung--Saint John's, for +summoning the Royalist sailors; that of Saint Nicholas, to call out the +butchers for butchers' work congenial to them; while from the tower of +Saint Michael's he expected to hear a peal more especially meant for +himself and his freebooters, as it were saying, "You may come on! The +gates of Bristol are unbarred for you!" + +But he heard it not. They who had been entrusted with the ringing of +that fatal peal never rang it. Instead of bell ropes in their hands, +they now had manacles around their wrists, and grim sentries standing +guard over them. + +Rupert waited, watched, and listened, till the break of day showed him +the great seaport of the Severn still calm; its gates close shut; its +walls and towers bristling with armed men, in attitudes that told them +determined on its defence. + +Thinking he had been made a fool of, and fearing further betrayal, he +hastily beat retreat from Durdham Down to seek the pillage of some city +more easy of being entered. + +The rising sun saw his back turned upon Bristol; he and his Cavaliers +venting loud curses--reviling their partisans inside, whose misleading +correspondence had lured them to an expedition ludicrous as bootless. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +A CITY OF REFUGE. + +Of the Foresters who figure in our tale, Rob Wilde, Jerky Jack, and +Winny were not the only ones who had found their way into Bristol. Most +of Sir Richard Walwyn's troopers were Foresters. But the master of +Hollymead was himself there, with his daughters, their maid Gwenthian, +and others of the family servants. + +Why he had exchanged his Forest home for a residence in town--that, too, +in a city under military occupation, threatened with siege and all its +inconveniences--has been already in part explained. With the +commencement of hostilities country life became unsafe, more especially +for people of quality and those who had anything to lose. Parties of +armed men penetrated into the most remote districts, demanding +contributions and levying them--at first in the name of the King. +Naturally, this aroused the spirit of retaliation, and dictated +reprisals; so that in time both sides became more or less blamable for +_filibusterism_. The weight of evidence, however, shows that, as a +rule, the Parliamentarian officers did all in their power to restrain, +while those of the Royalist army not only encouraged but gloried in it-- +themselves taking a hand. A Prince had set them the lesson, making +robbery fashionable, and they were neither backward nor slow in +profiting by it. + +As a sample of the spirit in which the Cavaliers made war, thus wrote +Sir John, afterwards Lord Byron--the same truculent ruffian already +alluded to, commanding a body of the King's horse--"_I put them all to +the sword, which I find to be the best way to proceed with these kind of +people, for mercy to them is cruelty_." + +The gallant defenders of Barthomley Church were "these kind of people," +whom this monster, ungrammatical as inhuman, had massacred to a man! + +Fighting under such faith, no wonder the _lex talionis_ soon displayed +itself on both sides, and in bitterest, most relentless form. Not only +had the main routes of travel become unsafe, but sequestered country +roads; while the sanctity of private houses was invaded, and women +subjected to insult, oft even to the disregarding of their honour. This +was conspicuously the case in the districts where the Cavaliers had +control, no decent woman daring to show herself abroad. Even high-born +ladies feared encountering them, if having father or brother on the +Parliamentary side. Some dames, however, who favoured their side, were +bold and free enough with them; and a very incarnation of female +shamelessness was the strumpet following of Rupert. + +As known, Ambrose Powell had at first thought of fortifying Hollymead, +and holding it with his servants, retainers, and such of the Foresters +as he could rally around him; of whom he had reason to believe many +would respond to his call. The _haw-haw_ around the house was +suggestive of his doing so--itself an outer line of defence, which could +be easily strengthened. It but needed a parapet of _gabions_, or +_fascines_, to render it unassailable, save in the face of a scathing +fire. And he had the wherewith to deliver this, having long expected +the coming storm, and stored up materials to meet it. One of the +chambers of Hollymead House was a very armoury and ordnance room, full +of the best weapons of the time, which his great wealth had enabled him +to provide--muskets of the _snap-hans_ fire, pistols, pikes, and +halberds. They but wanted putting into hands capable of making +efficient use of them. + +And he himself had but waited for Sir Richard Walwyn's advice, as to +whether he should attempt holding Hollymead, or abandon it. He knew he +must do one or the other. His partisanship, long since proclaimed and +known beyond the borders of the Forest, with the echoes returning, so +admonished him. + +"Could it be held, think you?" he asked of the soldier knight, on the +evening of his arrival with Eustace Trevor--Sir Richard and his host +alone closeted in conversation. + +"Impossible!" was the answer, backed up by convincing reasons. "Were it +a structure of stone, I might say Yes, easily enough; with a force +numerous enough to garrison it. But those wooden beams, and roofs dry +as tinder--they'd be set ablaze by the first arrow sent at them." + +The reader may fancy Sir Richard's allusion to arrows was a figure of +speech, or anachronism. It was neither. For this primitive weapon, +almost universal among savage men, was not then obsolete, or out of the +hands of the civilised. In the army of Essex--the Lord General +himself--was a corps of bowmen; and others elsewhere. The belief in the +bent yew stick and feathered shaft, that had gained for England such +renown at Cressy and Agincourt, was still strong in the days of her more +glorious struggle--the Great Rebellion. + +But it was not to shafts of this kind the knight had reference; instead, +arrows projected from muskets and arquebusses for setting fire to +assailed forts and houses--a species of ordnance which then formed part +of the equipment of every well-appointed _corps d'armee_. + +With the master of Hollymead the argument was conclusive. He saw his +house could not be held, with any hope of successful defence, if +attacked by a force strong and determined. And that such would come +against it he had been as good as sure, ever since that hour when +Reginald Trevor placed in his hands the letter of Loan by Privy Seal-- +altogether sure, when Lunsford, later, came to make the levy itself. + +Only a day or two longer had he remained in it, to pack up his plate, +with other cherished penates, and have them transmitted to a place of +safety--to Gloucester--the nearest city promising asylum to the harried +partisans of the Parliament--going thither himself with his family. + +He had, however, made but short stay there. The seaport of Bristol +beyond was a "city of refuge" more to his mind, because of a house in it +that offered him hospitality--a sister's--and under its roof he and his +were sojourning on that night of dread danger, averted almost as soon as +apprehended. + +Nor in that crisis was the refugee from Dean Forest himself inactive. +When men stood gazing with eyes full of keen apprehension at the +fire-glare over Durdham Down, Ambrose Powell was moving briskly through +Bristol's streets, urging its citizens to arm and defend it. Along with +him a clergyman, who added his appeal with eloquent tongue and +passionate speech. He was Tombes, of Leominster, who had been mobbed in +that town of woolstaplers, and driven out of it by drunken roughs; no +doubt the progenitors of those who in the late Parliamentary election in +like manner dishonoured themselves. + +To Darwin's transmutation and improvement theory, the human animals of +Leominster seem to be an exception; especially as regards the +improvement, for its Jingo cur of to-day is rather a falling off from +the quality of his prototype--the Cavalier wolf of the Great war time. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +A HOME GAYER THAN CONGENIAL. + +Madame Lalande, _nee_ Powell, was the widow of a West Indian planter, +late deceased. Her husband, during life, had held commercial +intercourse with Bristol, then chief port of communication with all the +Transatlantic colonies. Though a Creole of French descent, the isle of +his nativity, in the Antilles, had come under British rule; and he +himself rather affected English tastes and habits, often visiting +England and making short sojourns in it. At a Bristol ball he had first +met Gwendoline Powell, Ambrose's sister; had married in Bristol, and +there designed spending the evening of his days in retirement from the +cares of business life. And when the time at length came for carrying +this design into execution, he sold off his West Indian plantation--an +extensive one, with its human chattels, some hundreds in number--and +invested the proceeds in Bristol property, part of it being a handsome +dwelling-house meant for his future home: + +Into this he had entered about a year before the commencement of the +civil strife, which he lived not to see. The cold, moist climate of our +island, so different to that of the tropical Antilles, was fatal to him, +and in less than twelve months after settling on the Avon's banks he was +buried there, having succumbed to an attack of pleurisy. Possibly fast +living may have had something to do with it. He was a man of social +inclinings and sumptuous habits, which his great wealth enabled him to +indulge without stint; and he had recklessly disregarded the care of his +health. + +Fortunately for those who inherited his property, his life of +extravagance had not been long enough to dissipate it, and Madame +Lalande was still one of the wealthiest women in Bristol, with no one to +share her wealth, save an only daughter, a girl of some eighteen +summers, or, to speak more correctly, one summer of eighteen years in +length. For the occasional visits to England with her father and mother +had been made in this season, the rest of her life spent in a land where +winter is unknown. All summer her life in every sense; from her cradle +not a wish denied, or taste ungratified, but everything lavished upon +her which money could purchase or parental fondness bestow. + +As a consequence, Clarisse Lalande had grown up a spoilt child; and now +that she was almost a woman, the fruits of such folly made themselves +manifest. Imperious and capricious, she had a temper which would not +brook restraint. For this it had never known, accustomed all her life +to the obeisance of black slaves, and the flattery of mulatto +hand-maidens. + +Flattery from others she had received too--a very incense of it--which +her beauty, without thought of her prospective wealth, commanded. For a +beauty she was, of the true Creole type, with all its characteristics; +the golden brown tint of skin, the crimson flush of cheeks, the +brilliancy of dark eyes, with a luxuriance of hair that defied +confinement by ordinary clasp or comb. There was the suspicion of a +"wave" in it; and report said that the blood in her father's veins had +not been pure Circassian, but with a slight admixture of Ethiopian. All +the more piquant were the charms it had transmitted to his daughter, as +the star-like fire in her brown-black eyes, and a figure of grandly +voluptuous outline. Some of her mental characteristics, too, may have +come from it--a certain sensuousness, with the impatience of control +already adverted to. + +Such being Clarisse Lalande, it scarce needs saying that between her and +her cousins Powell there was little congeniality either of tastes or +sentiments. Though in person more resembling Sabrina, the two were +mental antipodes; while sunbright Vaga, who looked altogether unlike her +dark-skinned Creole cousin, had yet certain similar traits of temper; +the which made mutual antipathy, at first sight, as when alkali and acid +come into contact. It afterwards became heart-hatred, inspired and +nursed by the most powerful of influences. + +Considering that Madame Lalande was Ambrose Powell's sister, and that +her late husband had been a Protestant of Huguenot ancestry--at least +four-fifths of him--one would naturally expect her to be on the +Parliamentary side--supposing her to take a side at all--with ardent +inclinings thereto. Ardent inclinings had she, and side she took; but, +strange perversity, _against_ the Parliament, not _for_ it! + +And it was like mother, like daughter, for Clarisse, with all her +frivolousness of character, had political leanings too, or more properly +caprices, the frivolity itself their cause. In the eyes of the +imperious young lady Roundheadism and Puritanism were things of +reproach, and the terms themselves often scornfully on her lips. Kingly +form of government was the only one fit for gentlepeople; and Cavaliers +alone worthy to associate with such as she--those curled darlings, "dear +delightful creatures," as, in her fond partiality, she was accustomed to +call them. + +Wonderfully hospitable was Madame Lalande; that is, in a fashionable +way. She gave grand entertainments, which was indeed but continuing +what had been done before the death of her husband. Nor was it so long +after that event they were recommenced, and carried on with greater +_eclat_ than ever. For Clarisse had become a toast and now an heiress-- +sole and safe from any possibility of late-born brother or sister to +share the demised wealth. There was keen competition for the favour of +her smiles. Knights and baronets were flitting about in plenty, with +here and there an earl; and as her ambitious mother aimed at having a +titled son-in-law, so spread she the banquet to allure them. + +During the brief rule of the gay Essex, as a matter of course Madame +Lalande's house was open to him; and so frequently was he its guest, +there had been talk of an attraction in it beyond the delights of the +dinner table or the joys of the dance. He was not a lord; but, as the +son of one, in all probability some day would be. + +Alas! for any matrimonial designs Madame Lalande might have upon the +rollicking Colonel for her daughter, her chances of showing him further +hospitality were brought to an abrupt end, by his heels getting kicked +up in a different way, and himself carried off a prisoner to Berkeley +Castle. + +Withal the festivities in the house of the planter's relict went on as +usual--nearly every night something of dinner party, and during the day +receptions. If there was suffering in other homes of Bristol through +the state of semi-siege in which the place was then held, nothing of +this affected the home of the rich West Indian widow. There all was +gaiety and splendour. + +Yet it had inmates who took little delight in its joys, and one who +detested them--that one Ambrose Powell. A new style of life, with a +companionship altogether uncongenial, was it to him; and, but for its +being forced upon him by the necessity of circumstances, he would not +have continued it a single day--not an hour. It was many long years +since he had last met his sister; and, remembering her as a guileless +country girl--almost portionless too--seeing her now a sharp woman of +the world, wealthy and devoted to ideas of frivolity and fashion,--above +all, finding her changed from the political faith of their common father +and family, he was alike surprised and shocked--angry, moreover, to the +point of reproaching, even scolding her; and would have done so, but for +the question "_Cui bono_?" which had negative, though silent, answer in +all he saw around. His dear sister Gwen, who in earlier days would have +humbly listened to his counsels, and been controlled by them, would now +resent the meekest suggestion as to her way of life or the conduct of +her affairs. + +Many a time, after becoming her guest, did he regret having passed on, +and beyond Gloucester, to seek an asylum in Bristol. But he was in +Bristol now, he and his; and how to get out of it was not a mere +question of inconvenience, but a matter of great difficulty, attended +with danger. Though not so close to the door, after that 7th of March +night, the wolves were still without, on the roads--ravening everywhere. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +THE NIGHT OWL. + +The conspiracy having been nipped in the bud, and the conspirators in +prison, Bristol again breathed freely. The approaches to it were once +more open, the thwarted Royalists having withdrawn to a distance; so +that Jerky Jack might have made the return trip to Gloucester with a +despatch stuck in the band of his hat safe as it inside his wooden leg. + +But swifter messengers traversed that road now, cleared of the enemy at +both ends, and on both sides of the river Severn. + +He who had effected this clearance was Sir William Waller, jocularly +styled "William the Conqueror," from the succession of victories he had +late achieved. Also was he known as the "Night Owl;" a sobriquet due to +his habit of making nocturnal expeditions that oft took the Royalists by +surprise. No Crophead he, but a Cavalier in the true sense; a very +Paladin--withal a Christian gentleman. He had separated from slow-going +Lord General, and made one of his bold dashes down to the shires +bordering Wales; first relieving Gloucester, which was in a manner +besieged by the Monmouthshire levies of Lord Herbert. The besiegers +were not only brushed off, but the main body of them either killed or +captured; only a scant residue escaping to their fastnesses beyond the +Wye; whither the "Conqueror" followed, chastising them still further. + +Returning across the Forest of Dean, he outwitted the Royalist troops +under Prince Maurice; and, once were setting face westward, raided +through Herefordshire on to its chief city--which he captured, with a +flock of foul birds that had been roosting there ever since its +abandonment by the Parliamentarians under the silly Stamford. + +But the "Night Owl" himself was not the bird to remain long on perch +anywhere; and, gathering up his captured game--a large bag, including +some of Herefordshire's best blood, as the Scudamores, Conningsbys, and +Pyes--he rounded back to Gloucester, and on to Bristol. + +Not to tarry here, either. Soon as he had disembarrassed himself of his +captive train--committed to the keeping of Fiennes--he was off again +into Somersetshire, there to measure swords with Maurice and the Marquis +of Hertford. As he rode out through the Bath gate at the head of a +troop of steel-clad cuirassiers--"Hesselrig's Lobsters"--the citizens of +Bristol felt more confident of safety than ever since the strife began. +For now they were assured against danger, outside as within. Internal +treason had been awed, the traitors cowed and crushed, by what had +befallen the conspirators of March the Seventh. The two chiefs of them, +Yeomans and Boucher, had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to +death--a sentence soon afterwards carried into execution. Grand efforts +were made to get them off; the King himself, by letter, threatening to +retaliate upon the poor captives taken at Cirencester--such of them as +remained unmurdered. Old Patrick, Earl of Forth, his Majesty's +Lieutenant-General, was put forward as the writer of the barbarous +epistle. But canny Scot and accomplished soldier as his lordship might +be, in a polemical contest he was no match for the lawyer, Fiennes, who +flung the threat back in his teeth, saying: + +"The men we have tried and condemned are not soldiers, but spies and +conspirators. The prisoners you took at Cirencester are prisoners of +war. I would have you observe the distinction. And know, too, that for +every hair of their heads that falls, I will hang ten of your curled +Cavaliers--make Bristol a shambles of them." + +Though not Nathaniel Fiennes's exact words, they convey his meaning very +near. And he could and would have acted up to them, as the King and his +counsellors knew. So, whether or not they deemed his argument rational, +it was unanswerable, or at all events unanswered, by a counter-threat; +and the Cirencester prisoners were spared execution, while the Bristol +conspirators went to the scaffold. + +Much has been made of the King's forbearance in this affair by those who +did not, or would not, comprehend the motive. It was pure fear, not +humanity--fear of a still more terrible retaliation. At that time the +Parliament held ten prisoners for one in the hands of the Royalists--men +of such rank and quality, his Majesty dared not put their lives in +peril, much less let them be sacrificed. He had his revenge in secret, +however, since under his very nose at Oxford many of the hapless +captives from Cirencester miserably perished, through the torturing +treatment of the Royal Provost-Marshal, Smith. + +Finally, the "two State martyrs"--as Yeomans and Boucher have been +styled by the Royalist writers--were strung up, protesting their +innocence to the last, for all they were little believed. The evidence +adduced at their trial clearly proved intent to shed the blood of their +fellow-citizens; else why were they and their co-conspirators armed? +Independent of this, their design of handing over Bristol to the rule of +Prince Rupert and his ruffians meant something more than the mere +spilling of blood in a street conflict--it involved the sack and pillage +of peaceful homes, the violation of women, rapine and ruin in every way. +It was only on getting the details of the trial that the Bristolians +became fully sensible of the danger they had so narrowly escaped; +convinced then, as Captain Birch worded it, that they had been standing +upon a mine. + +Notwithstanding all these occurrences and circumstances running counter +to the Royal cause, against which the tide seemed to have turned, within +Montserrat House--as the late Monsieur Lalande had named his dwelling-- +was no interruption of the festive scenes already alluded to. Its +guests were as numerous, its gaieties gay and frequent as ever. For, to +speak truth, the political _bias_ of the planter's widow, as that of her +daughter, was but skin deep. Hair had much to do with it; and, like +enough, had the Parliamentarian officers but worn theirs a little +longer, submitted it to the curling tongs, and given themselves to +swearing and swaggering, in a genteel Cavalier way, they would have been +more welcome to the hospitality of her house. + +Still not all of them were denied it; for not all were of the Roundhead +type. Among them were many gentlemen of high birth and best manners, +some affecting as fine feathers as the Cavaliers themselves. For the +"Self-denying Ordinance" had not yet been ordained, nor the +Parliamentary army moulded to the "new model." + +In view of certain people sojourning in Montserrat House, it need scarce +be said that Sir Richard Walwyn and Eustace Trevor were visitors there. +Even without reference to the predilections of Madame or Mademoiselle, +they could not well be excluded. But there was no thought of excluding +them; both were unmistakably eligible, and one of them most welcome, for +reasons that will presently appear. They had arrived in Bristol only a +short while antecedent to its state of semi-siege, the Powells having +long preceded them thither. And now that the approaches were again +open, most of their time was spent keeping them so; the troop with the +"big sergeant," and standard showing a crown impaled upon a sword, once +more displaying its prowess in encounters with the Cavaliers. After +Rupert had disappeared from that particular scene, Prince Maurice, with +his _corps d'armee_, began to manoeuvre upon it, swinging round +southward into Somersetshire to unite his force with that of Hertford. +To hang upon his skirts, and harass his outposts, was the work of Sir +Richard Walwyn; a duty which often carried him and his Foresters afar +from the city, and kept them away weeks at a time. + +He was just returning to it when Waller passed through. But, entering +by a different route and gate from that taken by the latter going out, +he missed him. Like enough but for this he would have been commanded +along. For the "Conqueror" had carried off with him the _elite_ of the +troops quartered in Bristol, almost stripping it of a garrison, to the +no small annoyance of Nathaniel Fiennes. Glad was the Governor that the +troop with the "big sergeant" had escaped such requisition--overjoyed +his eyes to see that banner, bearing the emblem of a crown with sword +stuck through it once more waving before the Castle gate. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +A MIXED ASSEMBLY. + +If Waller's passage through Bristol caused general rejoicing, there was +joy in a certain private circle at the re-entry of Sir Richard Walwyn +with his troop. Three of the inmates of Montserrat House hailed his +return with a flutter of delight; though not all on his account, nor any +of them its mistress, the Madame herself. She was pleased, however, to +see the gallant knight again, as also his young troop captain, so much, +that within a week after their return she sent out invitations to a +grand ball, to be given, if not professedly for them, at least so +understood. + +Many of the invited who were of the King's party wondered, not at her +giving a ball, but giving it at such a time, and in honour of their +enemies; one of these Eustace Trevor, formerly in the service of the +Court itself, whom they regarded as the basest of renegades. Madame +Lalande, hitherto such an enthusiastic Royalist, making merry, while the +State Martyrs were scarce cold in their graves, and things looking black +generally! Waller's unopposed marchings through the surrounding +districts had, in a manner, made good the belief in his being +invincible; and that he would be equally victorious in the shires of the +"West," whither he was now gone. If so, the Royal cause, hitherto +ascendant in that quarter, would come under a cloud, if not be +extinguished altogether. + +Among the Cavalier acquaintances of the planter's widow, therefore, were +heard sneering allusions to the "worship of the rising sun," as the +reason for her seeming defection. + +It was not the correct one, though. Nor, if called upon, could she +herself have stated the precise _motif_. Alone her daughter could do +that; since it was she had suggested the entertainment; or rather +commanded it. Though but turned eighteen, this young lady, child of a +precocious clime and race, was a full-grown woman, intellectually as +physically; wont to have her own way in Montserrat House, as in her +native isle of the Antilles; and was in reality more its mistress than +her mother. Her father's will had been read to her, and she quite +comprehended its provisions--all in her favour. Little cared she for +slanderous whispers, whether by the tongues of Cavaliers or Cropheads; +though it was no worship of rising sun inspired her in this particular +matter. Instead, a wish to shine herself in the eyes of society; but +chiefly those of one for whom she had begun to feel adoration, beyond +that to sun, moon, or stars. She could dance like a Bayadere, and knew +it. + +There need be no difficulty in getting together an assemblage of guests, +numerous, and of the right _ton_. Bristol was then an ancient city, +second only to London itself; the mushroom Liverpools, Manchesters, and +Birminghams having barely a mark upon the map. Besides, in those days, +the gentry were more resident in towns; the state of the roads--where +there were any--and the scarcity of wheeled vehicles, cumbersome at +that, making travel irksome and country life inconvenient. In times of +peace the city on Avon's banks had its quota of England's upper crust; +but now that war raged around it was crowded with such--fugitives from +the adjoining villages and shires, even from beyond the Welsh border, +who, as Ambrose Powell and his family, had repaired thither to escape +exaction and insult--it might be outrage--from the marauding Cavaliers. + +In addition, Bristol, just at this time, contained a goodly sprinkling +of the Cavaliers themselves, both military and civilian; not voluntarily +there, nor as political refugees, but prisoners. Waller had flung some +threescore into it, brought all the way from Monmouth and Hereford, most +of them men of high rank, and most as many _on parole_--allowed free +range about the city and circulation in its best society, if they had +the _entree_. + +So, in sending out her invitations, Madame Lalande had not only a large, +but varied list to select from; and to do her justice--or it may have +have been Clarisse--on this occasion the names were pricked with +impartiality; short hair and long being alike honoured by circulars of +complimentary request. In this there might have been an eye to the +changing times. + +Few were the refusals. No ball had ever come off at Montserrat House +unaccompanied by a sumptuous supper. This was lure enough for the elder +_invitees_, especially in a city still straitened if not besieged; while +to the younger the dancing itself offered attraction sufficient. Since +the deposition of the festive Essex there had been but little gaiety in +Bristol; under the stern administration of his successor the dance being +discouraged, if not altogether tabooed; so that youthful heels were +itching for it, of both sexes, and belonging to families on both sides +of the political question. + +As a result, over two hundred responded to Madame Lalande's invitations +by presenting themselves at Montserrat House. Twice the number would +not have inconveniently crowded it; since, in addition to several ample +reception rooms, there was plenty of space in the ornamental grounds +outside, which had been prepared for the occasion by a setting and +festoonery of lamps. A summer's night--for it was July, and sultry +too--this was an advantageous arrangement, the open air being more +enjoyable than that inside. + +But another advantage was derived from it; one that may be thought +strange enough. It gave Madame Lalande's guests an opportunity of +_shunning_ one another! With many of them a thing most desirable; for +men met there who had been enemies outside--were so still, even to +hating--the fugitives from persecution and their very persecutors; the +last, now their prisoners, humbled and abashed. Seemingly a fine chance +for the former to indulge spites; but good manners forbade that. + +Still something more interposed to prevent awkward encounter or +recognition. On the ball notes of invitation was marked "Fancy costume +at pleasure," which left the invited free to wear masks, or appear +without them. But then, even in ordinary street promenade, masks had +not been altogether abandoned, at least by ladies, many wearing them to +a still later period. + +As a consequence of this allowed latitude, numbers of both sexes who +attended the Lalandes' ball came in fancy costumes, and masked. But +ladies reliant on their charms were careless about the fastenings of the +masks, and, somehow or other, the detested screens soon disappeared, +giving the gentlemen an opportunity for the scrutiny and comparing of +faces. + +Many were remarkable for their beauty--some of Bristol's fairest +daughters. And as a great seaport, with much foreign element in it, the +types were varied. Three, however, attracted special attention--all +entitled to the epithet lovely. They had been observed from the +beginning, as they were in the withdrawing-room, unmasked, beside Madame +Lalande, assisting her in the reception of the guests. Which identifies +them as Madame's daughter, and her two nieces, Sabrina and Vaga Powell. +So were they. + +A connoisseur in female beauty would have found it difficult to decide +which of the three deserved the palm. Paris himself would have been +puzzled to award it. Clarisse, at home, and helping her mother in the +duties of introduction stood prominently forward, and so first met the +view of the incoming guests. Few who looked upon her would have thought +of looking farther, nor cared to take their eyes off. But beyond her +face with features of French type, tinted olive and carmine, was another +of English outline, all roses set in a framework of gold--Vaga's. In +front of this that of the Creole brunette, despite its piquant beauty, +was but the shadow of a partial eclipse vainly endeavouring to hide the +light of the sun. + +Beside this, still another face in retirement, which many admired as +much as either--Sabrina's. Notwithstanding the preference shown by the +frivolous Trojan, stately, queenly Juno had her charms too. + +Among the gentlemen received by Madame Lalande, and the fair triune +forming her staff, were three who had peculiar relations with them--at +least with the young ladies--Sir Richard Walwyn, Eustace and Reginald +Trevor. They came not in together; the last by some minutes preceding +the other two. But, without bettor knowledge of antecedents, it may +seem strange his being there at all. Nothing much of this, however, was +there about it; nor did Eustace show any surprise at seeing his cousin +in the room, which he did soon as entering. He knew Reginald was in the +city, and the reason--no voluntary sojourner, but one of the prisoners +enjoying "parole." As a captain in Sir John Wintour's troop of horse he +had been with Lord Herbert's Monmouthshire levies in their farcical +siege of Gloucester, so abruptly raised by Waller; where he escaped +death by being made captive, and sent for safe keeping to Bristol. +Though Colonel Lunsford was not there also, that worthy had been served +in the same way at an earlier period. Having cried "quarter" at +Edgehill, and there surrendered up his precious person, it was now being +taken care of by the gaoler of Warwick Castle. But for that adverse +incident he might have been in Bristol too, and figuring, as other fine +Cavaliers, at the Lalandes' ball. + +Though Reginald Trevor had been now some weeks in the city, and on +parole, before that night he and his cousin had not met. As known, +Eustace was for a time absent on scout with Sir Richard. But even after +his return Reginald had shunned him, and neither had seen aught of the +other since that angry parting at Hollymead. Now that chance had +brought them together again, it was to meet with no increased +cordiality; instead diminished, what had occurred since having but +widened the gap between them. Still the hostility was all on Reginald's +side, by him felt keenly and bitterly. He had suffered humiliation; a +soldier of fortune he was now, not only thrown out of employ but a +prisoner. And, if not one of his captors, there among them in amicable +association was his cousin, to whom he had sworn giving "No Quarter!" +should they ever cross swords in the field of fight. + +By good fortune they had not done so yet; and whether he desired it, the +other did not--had no such wish. Instead, would have been willing there +and then to shake hands with him, and be friends again. + +With a half-formed resolve to make offer of reconciliation Eustace +approached his cousin. To get a reception which flung him back upon +himself, and his sensibilities. + +Though few their words exchanged, they were sharp and cutting, as might +have been their swords. + +"So you've done what you said you would?" + +It was Reginald who spoke. + +"Done what?" + +"Turned traitor to your King. And to your father too?" + +"But not to my conscience, nor my God. They are more to me than loyalty +to any King, as you call it--even more than affection for my poor +deluded father, however much I feel for him." + +"Feel for him, indeed! Ha, ha! But you can go on as you've begun. +Your Cropheads have it all their own way here, and now; but the tide +will turn sooner than you may think for. As for yourself, Eust, you may +thank your stars you weren't among the rabble that overpowered me at +Highnam. I sent half-a-dozen to their long account, and like as not +you'd have been one of them." + +The implied superiority, even without the cruelty, was an impertinence. +But Eustace Trevor, instead of taking it in that sense, and making angry +retort, treated it rather as a joke, with a light laugh rejoining-- + +"Possibly had I been there, Rej, you wouldn't be here." + +At which he turned away, leaving his dark-browed cousin to count the +change in satire that had been given him in full. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +A LABYRINTH OF JEALOUSIES. + +No more on that night came the cousins together. If by chance they met, +it was to pass one another as strangers unacquainted, exchanging neither +speech nor look. Further attempt at reconciliation Eustace meant not to +make now; he rather regretted having gone so far already. + +As for Reginald, he would not have listened to it. A sentiment inspired +hostility to his cousin, far stronger than any vexation at his having +forsaken the King's cause--altogether different. For it was jealousy; +the same he had first felt during that exciting scene at Hollymead, and +since brooded over till it had become an all-pervading passion. Eustace +had replaced him in the affections of Vaga Powell--or he at least +suspected it--that was provocation enough for antipathy, even hatred. +And almost this he now entertained for him. + +Whatever the political disagreement among the others assembled at +Montserrat House, there was no open exhibition of it Royalists and +Roundheads stood in groups, or moved about, chatting in a familiar, many +of them friendly, way. Officers who had been face to face on the +battlefield, and done their best to take one another a lives, here met +in mutual good humour, with laughing allusion to the changed +circumstances. And when the dancing commenced, gentlemen might be seen, +noted adherents of the Parliament, some wearing its uniform, with ladies +as their partners strongly affected to the King's cause; while, in the +couples _vis-a-vis_ to them, the political sentiments would be reversed. + +But the majority of those who danced, being the gay _jeunesse_, had no +thought of politics, nor care for them one way or the other. They left, +that to their elders, and those more seriously disposed; to themselves +the delights of the dance being the controlling influence of the hour. + +Still there were some, even of the youthful, with whom this was but a +secondary consideration. Sabrina Powell preferred strolling about the +grounds with Sir Richard Walwyn, for they had much to say to one +another. Of late their opportunities of meeting had been few and far +between, and they were _fiancee_. + +Different with Vaga. She was an ardent worshipper of Terpsichore, and +few equalled her in the accomplishment of dancing--scarce any excelling. +She was up in every set; and, could she have multiplied herself to +count a score, would have found a partner for every unit. A very host +sought, with eagerness, to engage her. + +There was one who observed this with a secret vexation--Clarisse. Not +that she was without her share of aspiring partners; she had them in +numbers equalling those of her "country cousin." But even that did not +satisfy her; craving universal incense she wanted all. + +Possibly, she would have cared less had the rival belle been any other +than Vaga Powell. But already between the two had sprung up rivalry of +a nature different from any competition as to who should shine brightest +at a ball. In a word, they were both in love with Eustace Trevor, and +each knew, or suspected it, of the other. + +On this night Clarisse had the advantage. Though her mother ostensibly +gave the entertainment, she herself was the promoter of it--in a manner +mistress of the ceremonies. As such, commanding the music, the +arrangement of the dances, and, to a certain extent, who should dance +with whom. Not much cared she, however, to exercise this control over +other than Eustace Trevor, which she did so effectually, that the two +danced together oftener than seemed consistent with ballroom etiquette, +and far too frequently to escape observation. + +Remarks were made about it, and by the partisans of both sides. "That +explains Madame Lalande's defection from our cause," said the Cavaliers. +"We now know why this entertainment is being given," remarked the +Parliamentarians; "clearly for Captain Eustace Trevor." + +And Vaga Powell! What thought she? How did she feel about it? As one +at first perplexed, then sorely pained. She who, on the summit of +Ruardean Hill, had talked so lightly of love--almost boasted of never +having experienced the sentiment--was now within its toils and suffering +its torments. + +And but little of its delights had she yet known--nothing beyond hopes +and vague anticipations. For from the hour when Eustace Trevor plucked +the ostrich feathers from his hat, replacing them by those of the egret, +she and he had never another opportunity of taking up the thread of the +dialogue her sister had so inopportunely interrupted. Several +interviews between them since, but all under surveillance or constraint. +This, however, had failed to change or weaken the sentiment with which +he had inspired her; perhaps strengthened it. True to her profession of +constancy, when she said--"If I ever had loved a man, I think I should +love him still," she did love him still; on that night with a passion +burning as it was bitter. + +And the very thing that was filling her heart with gloom gave joy to +another. Glad was Reginald Trevor to see his cousin Eustace paying +attentions in the quarter where he seemed paying them--to Clarisse +Lalande. During all the intervening time since he himself had suffered +rebuff, or fancied it, despair had never quite mastered him. As most +young Cavaliers, he believed himself a lady--slaughterer irresistible; +and to the belief of his having made a conquest of Vaga Powell he would +still have confidently clung; but his cousin, of late having better +opportunity, had destroyed his chances. And now, seeing Eustace +apparently neglectful of her, while all attention to Clarisse Lalande, +the old confidence returned to him: he had been labouring under a +misconception, and Vaga Powell loved him after all! + +Indeed, but for a lingering belief in this, he would not have been +there. No thought of ball or supper had brought him to Montserrat +House, but the hope of holding speech with her. For, notwithstanding +all that had occurred, he entertained such hope. True, he had offended +her father; but that was in the exercise of his duties, and under some +provocation. Perhaps it was forgotten, or might be forgiven; perhaps +she had more than forgiven it already. This night he would know. + +An opportunity of speaking with her soon offered. There was little +difficulty in his obtaining that. Madame Lalande kept no guard over her +nieces, having enough to do in looking after her _chere Clarisse_. And +their father was not with them. If within the house he was not a +partaker in its gaieties. With no relish for such, he had declined +taking part in them. But liberal in this, as in everything else, he +placed no constraint on the inclinations of his girls. They were free +to dance, as to walk, ride, or go hawking. + +The two were standing together as Reginald Trevor approached them. He +had but bowed as he was received on entering, and felt gratified at +having his salutation returned. Still more now when permitted to enter +into conversation with them; finding, if not affability, anything but +the distant coldness he had half anticipated. The truth was they had +heard many things about him in the interval; that, though fighting for a +cause they detested, he had fought gallantly, and gained renown. It is +woman's nature to look leniently on the faults of a man who comports +himself with courage; and these girls were both of generous disposition. +Besides, he was now a defeated man; if not humiliated, a prisoner. +Enough that to claim their compassion, and he had it. + +Only a few words were exchanged between him and Sabrina--commonplace, +and relating to things of a past time. There was one she more desired +conversing with; and, turning away, left Reginald Trevor alone with her +sister. Long ere then she had learnt where Vaga's predilection lay, and +could trust this young lady to take care of herself. + +"I suppose you've quite forgotten me, Mistress Vaga?" he said, when +Sabrina was out of hearing. + +"You give me credit for a very short memory, Captain Trevor," she +promptly returned, but in no unkindly tone. "Why should you think I've +forgotten you?" + +"Oh! so many matters and events since I last had the pleasure of seeing +you. And you've met so many other people, more interesting than myself, +I could hardly hope for your bearing me in mind." + +He spoke in a subdued, humble way, unlike his old swagger; which had the +effect of still farther inclining her to kindness. As yet, however, it +was but sympathy for his misfortunes. + +"But, Captain Trevor, all that would not justify me in forgetting a +friend; as I think you were, and would have continued, but for these +troubles that have turned so many friends to foes." + +"No one regrets them more than I; and for the best of reasons." + +He had a reason for regretting them in the fact of his being a prisoner. +No light matter just then; for, though not kept confined in a prison, +he might at any moment be cast into one, only to be led forth from it to +execution. The King had not yet ceased fulminating his threats of +retaliation; and, should these be carried out, he, in all likelihood, +would be among the foremost of its victims. + +He was not speaking the truth, however, in saying he regretted the +troubles. As a soldier of fortune they were bread to him, promising +fame with promotion. He might look to regaining his liberty by +exchange, or otherwise, and once more get upon the ladder of ascent. + +Nor had the reasons he spoke of aught to do with his being a prisoner; +though she seemed, or affected, so to understand them. + +"Indeed, yes," she rejoined, "you have been very unfortunate, Captain +Trevor. I'm sorry you should have been taken; still more, fighting on +the side you were." + +"Oh, thank you!" he returned, encouraged by her kind words, and without +heeding the last clause. "But 'tis not for that I care. What makes me +regret the war is the loss of friendships. And," he added, speaking in +a lower tone, but more impressively, "the fear of having lost yours." + +"But you have not, sir--so much as it is worth. My father was angry in +those days; so were we all. But, then, you were not to blame--we could +not think that, did not--knowing you acted under orders." + +"Ah! never had I an order to execute so much against my wish, never one +with such disagreeable consequences, separating me so long from--" + +He hesitated to say whom or what. But, mistaking her look of simple +inquiry for one of a more interested nature, he completed the speech +with one other word--"yourself." + +She started, looking a little confused, but remained silent; which he, +again misinterpreting, took as a permission to go on, which he did, with +increased fervour. + +"Yes, Mistress Vaga! that was my chief regret, never out of my mind for +a moment since. Many the night on watch and guard have I thought of +you. Sleepless they would have been, even without duty to keep me +awake." + +"But why all this, sir? Why should I be a cause to keep you awake?" + +She spoke in a tone that suddenly checked and chilled him. For the +question recalled a fact he seemed to overlook, or had forgotten--that +Vaga Powell had never acknowledged him in the light of a lover; never +before given him permission to address words to her such as he was now +speaking. + +"Ah!" he answered, with a disappointed air, "if you do not know why, +'tis not much use my telling you." Then adding, with a sigh, "I had +hopes you would have understood me." + +She did understand him perfectly; knew his aspirations and their +hopelessness. And never was she less inclined to give heed to them than +at that moment. For close by she saw her cousin Clarisse by the side of +his cousin Eustace, the two standing up as partners for a dance about to +begin. + +If Reginald Trevor suffered the pangs of an unrequited love, Vaga Powell +was in a very torment of jealousy. For the air and attitude of the +other two seemed to speak of something more than the mere indifference +of dancing partners. The Creole had hold of his arm, was hanging upon +it, her eyes upturned to his face with a languishing, loving smile, +which he appeared to reciprocate. + +Rather a pleasing sight to Reginald, for reasons that just then +presented themselves. But a painful one to her with whom he was +conversing--torture itself. + +All at once a thought occurred to her, which promised something, if not +relief. Anyhow, it gave this and more to Reginald Trevor. For of the +many seeking her hand for the dance, he was the one preferred, and with +an alacrity that somewhat surprised, while delighting him. + +His delight would have been less could he have fathomed her motive and +design. Little dreamt he of either, or that he was about to be utilised +solely as a pawn for playing the game of _piques_. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +A CONTRADANZA. + +It was a _contredanse_; the "contradanza" of Spain transmitted through +France to England, where it had become naturalised, and by a +misapprehension of terms called "country dance" It was the _piece de +resistance_ of the time, before the introduction of the cotillon, +quadrille, and other "square" dances. + +The assemblage being a large one, several sets danced at the same time, +inside the house and without, the music in a central position availing +for all. + +The set in which figured Mademoiselle Lalande was, of course, the select +one, comprising the _elite_ of the family's friends and resident gentry, +with the strangers of greatest distinction, military and civilian. It +was formed on the lawn outside, in front of the withdrawing-room +windows, where a spread of smooth, firm turf afforded ample space, and a +floor for dancing good as that of any ballroom. Better, slips and +tumbles considered. Around and overhead were strings of lamps suspended +from the trees, while a profusion of flowers, now in full blow, filled +the air with incense. A warm summer's night, with such surroundings, +the Creole girl might have fancied herself back in her native isle of +the Antilles, under the palms and amidst the flashing _cocuyos_. + +As if she had such a fancy, her grand dark eyes were aglow with +delight--triumph in them too. But neither had to do with any thought of +scenes or things transatlantic. The cause was by her side, and she took +no pains to conceal it. Impassioned child of the tropics, never in her +life gainsaid, she had needed not the resorts of subterfuge; instead +openly demanding and having whatever she desired. And now desiring +Eustace Trevor, she believed she had secured him. + +Certainly it seemed so; and as if with her wiles and witchery--bold ways +the sober Bristolians called them--she had succeeded in weaving a spell +around him. Once already had he been her partner, and now for the +second time was he standing up with her, to all appearance absorbed in +what she said, making impressive responses, partaking of her joy and +triumph. + +This was what Vaga Powell supposed; and no wonder at her jealousy stung +to the highest, bitterest pitch. But the green-eyed monster sees with +eyes that distort and exaggerate, as hers were doing then. She was +putting a wrong interpretation on what she saw, reading it reversely to +the truth. A disinterested spectator, with skill in physiognomy, could +have told that Eustace Trevor, so far from being taken up with Clarisse +Lalande, would have been glad to get disembarrassed of her. He too was +at that moment suffering pangs of jealousy equal to those he inflicted. +This from seeing his cousin the partner of Vaga Powell, thinking of +Reginald's acquaintance with her older than his own, and recalling +something he had heard of between them antecedent to the time of his +introduction at Hollymead. Only a rumour it was--a vague whisper--but +it spoke of relations of a nature warmer and more confidential than +those of mere friendship. + +Could it have been so, and was there a renewal of them? These were the +questions self-asked by the _ci-devant_ gentleman-usher. Seemingly +answered in the affirmative by what he now saw. For, young as was the +younger daughter of Ambrose Powell, she was no child of simplicity, but +could play at coquetting with the oldest and cleverest coquette there. +If he in her eyes seemed too assiduously attentive to Clarisse, she in +his appeared the same with Reginald. + +An odd position of affairs it was with this _quartette_ of cousins as +regarded their feelings towards one another--a play of cross purposes, +triangularly twisted and sinister, but in a manner symmetrical. The two +men in love with the same woman, the two women loving the same man, yet +two of the four not loved at all--as it were, left out in the cold. And +these last the ones that were joyous and exultant, the others despondent +and sad. + +Could hearts see into hearts, and read the writing therein, all this +would have been reversed; the glad ones would have ceased to be gay, and +on the instant, while the sad ones would as suddenly have found joy. +But the people so perversely astray could not comprehend one another. +Not likely with everything done to hinder it--glances, attitudes, +gestures, all meant to deceive. + +And so the mutual misconception remained throughout the night. Dance +succeeded dance, but in none was Eustace Trevor the partner of Vaga +Powell. + +And yet the fault was not with him, though it may appear so. His +dancing the first set with Clarisse was quite accidental so far as he +was concerned. He had not sought to engage her; on the contrary she +seeking him--in a manner commanding him. Officially privileged, she +might do so without incurring censure or challenging remark. But when +the thing was repeated, and for the second time in succession they were +seen standing up together, a whisper went round that it meant something +more than mere inadvertency--in short, a decided preference. + +And so was it with her at least, he neither feeling it nor conscious of +her design. For, in truth, he had been on the way to seek Vaga Powell +and ask her for the second set, when once more encountering Clarisse, as +by chance, she exclaimed, in a half patronising, half-coaxing way,-- + +"How well you dance, Captain Trevor! So different from all the others." + +Rather surprised by such a plain-spoken compliment, flattery in fact--he +was about to give it this name--but, without waiting his rejoinder, she +rattled on,-- + +"And I hope you're enough satisfied with _my_ dancing to have me for +your partner again--you will, won't you?" + +Solicitation seeming bold, almost to shamelessness. It would have been +this in an English girl; but one knowing Clarisse Lalande, her impulsive +nature, and the way she had been brought up, could better pardon it. + +"It will give me the greatest pleasure," was his response. He would not +have been man--less gentleman--to answer otherwise. Both gallantry and +good manners enforced an affirmative. + +"Consider yourself engaged then!" + +"By all means, Mademoiselle. For which set?" + +"Oh! now--the next. I wish it." + +Another surprise to him, anything but agreeable. It interfered with his +intentions, spoiling his own programme. But there was no help for it, +no gain saying a wish so plainly expressed, and he stammered out assent +with the best grace possible. + +As the music for the second set was just commencing, she thrust her +jewelled fingers inside his arm, and conducted him, rather than he her, +back to the place of dancing. + +It was then Vaga Powell experienced that jealous pang which determined +her to the line of action she was pursuing. But it was a jealousy +neither new, nor born of that hour; only in that hour reaching the +climax and acme of its keenness. Eustace Trevor twice dancing with her +cousin, and never coming near herself! Never once, even to say a word, +since the one or two of ceremony exchanged between them at his first +entering and reception. No wonder at her being a prey to jealousy! + +But she was not alone in the experience of its misery. He, in his turn, +was tasting of it too. When at length released from his engagement with +the Creole, inopportune as irksome, and he again sought Vaga Powell, it +was to find her in a mood aught but amiable. And with Reginald still by +her side--she had no difficulty in retaining _him_--the two seemingly +engrossed with one another. Well and skilfully--too well and too +skilfully--was the damsel of Dean Forest playing her part. + +As Eustace approached them, Reginald drew back a pace, and stood in an +attitude of dignified stiffness, with a perceptible triumph in his eyes, +and something like a sneer on his lips. No word of salutation passed +between the cousins now--not even nod of recognition--and one seeing who +knew them not would have supposed them utter strangers. Eustace but +bowed to the lady; and, as the music was just sounding the prelude to +another dance, he asked, in rather a timid, doubting way,-- + +"May I have you for a partner, Mistress Vaga?" + +At another time, even earlier that night, he might have addressed her +differently and more familiarly--ay, would have been safe in +saying--"Let us dance, dear Vaga!" But he had neither thought nor +confidence to "dear" her now, nor she the desire to be deared. Curt, +and almost disdainful was her answer,-- + +"Sorry; but I'm engaged." + +He did not need being told to whom, the triumphant bearing of his cousin +declared that; and, with a bow of feigned resignation, and much +bitterness of heart, he withdrew, leaving them to themselves. + +And so the jealous fire, just kindled in his breast, burned on in hers, +not that night to be extinguished. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +A PAS-SEUL. + +Wide the breach now between Vaga Powell and Eustace Trevor, growing +wider as the moments passed. Though the evolutions of the dance often +brought them near one another, no more speech exchanged they that night; +nor glances either. If by chance their eyes met there was a retirement +on both sides, quick and subtle, as though each felt caught in some +criminal act. For all they were mutually observant, and when only one +looked, the other unconscious, it was with gaze continued, regard +telling the tale of love and jealousy plainer and truer than could +words. + +What had caused the rupture was still there to hinder its healing--on +one side Clarisse, practising all her arts and seductions; on the other +Reginald doing the same. And both, so far as they themselves believed, +and general appearance might be trusted, with sinister success. + +Between these two, aiming at like ends, there was much similitude +otherwise. Equally vain, Creole girl as Cavalier, they had grand +reliance in their respective powers, each over the opposite sex. Though +no Adonis, Reginald Trevor was a fairly handsome man--of the martial +type, whom many a woman would have fancied, as many had. So favoured, +and conscious of it, not so strange his restored confidence that he +still possessed the affections of Vaga Powell. He had entertained this +belief, and then partially lost it, but now it was back with him again, +her behaviour seeming to justify it. + +There was less in the past to cloud the hopes of Clarisse--less known to +her. For the antecedent circumstances between Eustace Trevor and her +cousin had as yet been revealed to her only in a scant desultory way. +She had heard of his having spent some days at Hollymead; had been told +also of his sudden conversion there, and half suspected the cause. But +she had herself observed nothing to confirm her suspicions. He had been +several times on visit to Montserrat House, but always in the company of +his colonel, Sir Richard; and while there his interviews with Vaga were +under her own eyes and others. They might have met outside without her +having knowledge of it. But it was in truth the brilliant beauty of her +country cousin, which more than aught else troubled and had given rise +to her jealousy. Still what was it to her own, with her powers of +fascination? Nothing that night, thought she; and thus confident in +herself, she noticed not the strange distraught air of her partner, as +now and then his eyes turned furtively to the partner of his cousin. + +Thus unobservant, the two who cared not for one another danced joyously +on little dreaming of that mad jealousy between the other two, but for +which there would have been a quick change in the arrangement of the +couples. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +"What next? What now?" + +The questions passing from lip to lip, late on in the night, and after +another _contredanse_ had come to a close. A whisper had got wing of +something to succeed, altogether different--a dance of a special +character, introduced to the Bristolians by the daughter of Madame +Lalande. + +In those days, the era of the morris and other picturesque dances, +excellence in the Coryphean art was esteemed a qualification; not +lightly held as now, and deemed rather degrading. The French Queen had +encouraged this, and noble dames oft vied with each other in saltatory +displays. + +To show her superiority, Clarisse Lalande had prepared a surprise for +the assembly at Montserrat House--a dance of the Antilles, in which she +could have no competitor, nor need fear any if she had. It was also of +Spanish origin, much practised in the West India islands; where, then as +now, dancing was a thing of every night, and often of the day--even the +negroes giving half their off-labour hours to it, jigging with a grace +unknown to the peasantry of European lands. Their white "massas" were, +many of them, perfect _maitres-de-danse_, and their young mistresses +very Odalisques. Monsieur Lalande had prided himself on this +accomplishment, and, as a matter of course, his daughter did the same-- +hence the resolve to make display of her proficiency. + +The music had been prearranged; the time too--after supper, when the +excitement which comes of the wine cup would make it more attractive in +the eyes of the spectators; though Clarisse Lalande was thinking of only +one of them, and how it would affect him. + +It was new to most of the people present, but not all. The familiars of +Montserrat House had witnessed it before, and were aware of its +peculiarities. A _pas-seul_ it was, danced only by a lady, though a +gentleman had something to do with it at the termination. The lady +commences in slow movement and gentle step, accompanied by pantomimic +gestures; as she passes on every now and then stooping down, or reaching +upward, to take hold of some object that has caught her eye. It is, in +fact, a representation, in dumb show, of an Indian girl straying along a +forest path in the act of gathering flowers. Nor does she pause while +plucking them, only poising an instant on one limb, and, with a whirl, +or _pirouette_, continuing onward. The step admits of many changes and +every variety of attitude; according to whether the blossoms tempting +her be on the right or left, down upon the earth, or overhead among the +branches of the trees. All which affords fine opportunity for +displaying the graces of figure and movement, with skill or cleverness +in the pantomimic representation. After this has gone on for a time, +the flower gatherer is seen to start, her features changing expression. +Some sound in the forest has caught her ear. She pauses, bends low, and +listens. At first interrogatively; then with apprehension, ending in +alarm. Flight follows, the lines of if hither and thither in irregular +zigzags, as if the affrighted girl, in her confusion, knows not which +way to go. The movement is now violent, the gesticulation excited. At +length the retreat takes a steadier course, around the outer edge of the +arena, not by forward steps, but the whirling gyrations of a waltz. +This being kept up for a turn or two, fatigue is counterfeited, with +continued fear of the pursuing enemy, and by looks and gestures appeal +is made to the spectators for help. These know, however, that only one +is privileged to offer it--he whom she will designate by tossing to him +a riband, kerchief, glove, or some such token. His _role_, then, is +simply to step forth and place himself in the attitude of a rescuer, +when the fugitive flings herself into his arms, looking all gratitude. + +When Clarisse Lalande took the floor, or, to speak more correctly, the +turf,--for it was outside in the place already described,--there were +few knowing the character of the novel dance but could give a guess as +to who would be summoned to the rescue. Too soon to be thinking of that +yet, however; all thoughts being engrossed by the Creole herself, all +eyes fixed upon her, as she appeared in the open space, around which the +spectators were now standing two deep. The whole company was there; the +other dancing places, inside and out, for the time deserted. + +It was seen that she had changed her dress--this done during the +interlude of supper--and was now in the costume of a Carib queen, short +skirt and low boddice. Robes rather gauzy and transparent; at which +some present were not slow to speak disapprovingly. But these were in +the minority; the wonderful beauty of the girl, with a knowledge that +her ways and bringing up had not been as theirs, made the majority large +and something more than lenient. And when she became engaged in the +innocent occupation of flower-gathering, like a brilliant butterfly +flitting from one to another, satire was silent; even the most +Puritanical seeming to forget all about the thinness and scantiness of +her attire. + +Then came the start, the listening attitude, the affectation of alarm, +followed by the confused flight; in grand _voltes_ in side-bounds, as an +antelope surprised by a panther. At length the circling retreat, round +and round the ring of spectators, at first in a rapid whirl, till +feigning exhaustion, her movements gradually became slower and feebler, +as though she would drop to the earth. + +Every eye was now on the alert; they knew the _finale_ was near, and the +recipient of the favour would soon be declared. It often means nothing +beyond mere compliment; and as oft for delicate reasons, the favoured +one is not the one wished for. But no such influences were likely to +affect the present case, and the _denouement_ was looked for with a rare +intensity of interest. + +The girl had drawn off one of her jewelled gloves--in those days they +were so adorned--and held it with arm astretch, ready to be flung. +Still, she went undulating on, at each turn of her face toward the +spectators seeming to search among them. Many a one had wishes, and +more than one a hope of seeing that glove tossed to him. For Clarisse +Lalande had a large following of lovers. All save one to suffer +disappointment, with more or less chagrin. And yet giving no +gratification to him at whose feet it eventually fell, as the wise ones +knew it would--Eustace Trevor. + +With less show of alacrity than resignation he took it up; this an +exigency of the performance. After which, with open arms, he received +the exhausted _danseuse_, her breasts heaving and panting as though they +would burst the silken corset that so slightly confined them. + +Cold-blooded man he, many might have thought him. But had other breasts +been thus near his own, another heart beating so close to his, he would +have shown warmth enough. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +GUARDIAN ANGELS. + + "The swift Rhone cleaves his way between + Heights which appear as lovers who have parted + In hate, whose mining depths so intervene + That they can meet no more, though broken-hearted; + Though in their souls, which thus each other thwarted, + Love was the very root of the fond rage + Which blighted their life's bloom, and then departed-- + Itself expired, leaving them an age + Of years, all winters--war within themselves to wage." + +Was it to be thus with Eustace Trevor and Vaga Powell? + +Verily, it seemed so on that night; and never more than at that moment, +when he, with her cousin--Indian queen in counterfeit--strolled off arm +in arm along the lamplit walks. A sight to tear her heart. And it tore +it; might have altogether rent and ruined it had the mutual +misunderstanding continued. Ay, "blighted the life's bloom" of both, +"leaving them an age of years, all winters." + +But kind fate decreed it otherwise; before another night shadowed Avon's +banks, whatever of confidence had hitherto been between them was +reestablished, and true love triumphed over jealousy. + +Partly by accident was the happy result brought about; though it might +have come without that. For on the side of each was a watchful monitor, +who understood the situation better than either of themselves. + +The guardian angels were Sir Richard Walwyn and Sabrina Powell; his +friendship, and her sisterly solicitude standing the younger lovers in +stead. + +"Why has your sister not danced with Captain Trevor--I mean my Captain +Trevor?" queried the soldier knight of his betrothed. "I haven't seen +him near her all the night. Has there come a coolness between them, +think you?" + +"Something of the sort, I fear." + +"But from what cause? Have you any idea?" + +"Oh! the cause is clear enough! though she hasn't made me her +_confidante_." + +"The Creole cousin?" + +"Just so." + +"But Vaga has nothing to fear from her; nor need being jealous, in the +least." + +"Why do you say so, Richard?" + +"Because Trevor don't care a straw for Mademoiselle Lalande." + +"Then what means the way he's been carrying on with her?" + +"Rather, say, the way she's carrying on with him. It don't--signify, +however. Let her practise all her arts; she'll have her pains for +nothing. I know he's madly in love with your sister; has been ever +since first setting eyes upon her at Hollymead. That much he has +confided to me." + +"He may have changed. Clarisse is very beautiful--very attractive?" + +"True, she is. But not the style to attract him. Nor is he of the +fickle sort. At Whitehall he bore the reputation of having a heart of +adamant; with no end of sighing damsels doing their endeavour to soften +it. Indeed, scandal spoke of its very obduracy being the cause of his +dismissal from Court; a certain Royal lady having assailed it +unsuccessfully, and for that reason turned against him. Such a man once +in love, as I know he is with your sister, is not likely to veer about +so suddenly." + +"But, you remember with what suddenness he changed sides, politically?" + +"Ah! that's different, and to his credit. It was not of his own +choosing that he was on the wrong one. And, soon as finding it so, he +espoused the right one. All the more likely his standing firm, and +proving true in an affair of the heart. But are you sure the fault is +not on Vaga's side? I've observed her a good deal in the company of the +other Trevor, and several times dancing with him. What does that mean?" + +"I cannot tell. He may be forcing his company upon her; and she, +offended at Eustace's behaviour, accepts it." + +"Likely then they are playing at spite--that is, my captain and your +sister. It's a dangerous game, and we must do something to stop it." + +They thus exchanging confidences were engaged lovers of long standing, +who, but for the war coming on, would now have been man and wife. Hence +their interest in the two who were in danger of going astray was of a +protecting character. Sabrina, especially anxious about the upshot on +the score of her sister's happiness, rejoined with alacrity,-- + +"We must. Are you sure Eustace loves Vaga?" + +"Sure as that I love you, dearest. I had evidence of it, not many hours +ago, and from his own lips. On the way hither--we came together you may +know--he spoke of a heaviness at his heart, and that he had never +started to go to a ball with less anticipation of pleasure. On my +asking for explanation, he said it was on account of your sister. It +was weeks since he had seen her; and something seemed to whisper she +would not be the same to him as she had been. Trying to laugh away his +fancies, and pressing him for a more tangible reason, he merely added +`Reginald.' I know he has always had a suspicion, if not jealousy, +about his cousin's relations with Vaga, before he himself came to know +her. When he returned the other day, and he learnt that Reginald was in +Bristol--had been for some time--he took it for granted he would also be +often here in this house. That, of course, considering the Cavalier +inclinings of your aunt and cousin. No doubt the thought, or fancy, of +Master Rej being restored to Vaga's favour is what affects him now." + +"It's but a fancy, then. Master Rej couldn't be restored to favour he +never had. As for Vag--" + +She broke off abruptly at the sound of voices and footsteps. Two +persons in conversation were coming along the gravelled walk. The place +was a pavilion, trellised all round, the trellis supporting a thick +growth of climbers that formed a curtain to it. There was a lamp +suspended inside, but its light had gone out, either through neglect or +because the day would soon be dawning. The dialogue given above took +place within the pavilion; that to follow occurring just outside by the +entrance. + +It was between two of the four, about whom they inside had been +conversing--Clarisse and Eustace. She was still upon his arm, as he had +conducted her off the dancing ground; she now rather conducting him +towards that quiet spot, whither she had no idea of any one having +preceded them. + +"It seems so strange, Captain Trevor, you fighting for the Parliament?" + +"Why strange, Mademoiselle?" + +"Because of your father, and all your family, being on the King's side; +your brave cousin too. Besides, you're so different from these plebeian +Puritans and Roundheads; unlike them in every way." + +"Not every way, I hope, and would be sorry to think I was. Rather would +I resemble them in their ways of truth and right--their aspirations for +liberty, and the self-sacrificing courage they have shown to achieve +it." + +"But the Cavaliers show courage too; as much, and more than they." + +"Neither more, nor as much. Pardon me, Mademoiselle, for contradicting +you. Hitherto they've been better horsed, by robbing the poor farmers, +emptying every stable they came across. That's given them the advantage +of us. But there'll be a turn to it soon, and we shall pay the score +back to Rupert and his plunderers." + +"Oh, Captain Trevor! To speak so of the gallant Prince--calling him a +plunderer. For shame!" + +"He's all that, and more--a ruthless murderer. Nor is the King himself +much less, after his doings of the other day with the wretched captives +of Cirencester." + +"You naughty, naughty rebel!" she rejoined, with a laugh telling how +little the misfortunes of the Cirencestrians affected her, adding--"And +I feel inclined to call you renegade as well." + +"Call me that, and welcome. 'Tis no disgrace for a man to turn coat +when he discovers he has been wearing it wrong side out; not put on so +by himself but by others. For what I've done, Mademoiselle Lalande, I +feel neither shame nor repentance; instead, glory in it." + +"What a grand, noble fellow!" thought Sir Richard, as also the other +listener inside the pavilion; the latter with added reflection how +worthy he was to mate with her sister. + +It was less his reasoning, than the defiance flung to her in tone so +independent, that caused the Creole to shrink back from what she had +said. Fearing it might have given offence, she hastened to heal the +wound by the salve of self-humiliation. + +"O sir! I but spoke jestingly; and please don't think I meant +reproaching you. As you know, we women have but little understanding of +things political; of English politics I less than any, from being a +stranger to the country--almost a foreigner. In truth, I know not +clearly which party may be in the right. Nor do I care either--that is, +enough to quarrel with my friends, and certainly not with yourself, +Captain Trevor. So please pardon what I've said--forget it. You will, +won't you?" + +Her _naive_ admission and submission inclined him to a better opinion of +her than he had hitherto entertained. "After all," thought he, "she has +a woman's heart true, but led astray by sinister surroundings." So +reflecting, he returned kindly,--"There's nothing either to be pardoned +or forgotten, _chere Mademoiselle_. And if there was, how could I +refuse a request made as you make it?" + +He spoke more warmly than had been his wont with her; addressed her as +"chere Mademoiselle"--that also unusual. It was all on the spur of the +moment, and without thought of its being taken in the way of endearment. +But it was so taken, and had the effect of misleading her. + +"I'm so glad we're to continue friends," she exclaimed, impressively; +then in changed tone adding--"About my glove? Is it to be returned? Or +do you wish to keep it?" + +Questions that took him by surprise, at the same time perplexing him. +For, though offering a choice of ways, it was a delicate matter which +should be taken. The glove was still in his hand, as he had picked it +up. To retain it would imply something more than he was in the mind +for; while returning it implied something else, equally against his +inclinations. It might give offence--be even regarded as a rudeness. + +A happy thought struck him--a compromise which promised to release him +from his dilemma. The glove was a costly thing, embroidered with thread +of gold, and beset with jewels. + +"It is too valuable," he said; "I could not think of keeping it. Oh, +no!" and he held it out towards her. + +But she refused to take it, saying with a laugh,-- + +"Very considerate of you, sir; and thanks! But I'm not so poor, that it +will be impossible for me to replace it by one of like value." + +Foiled, he drew back his hand; now with no alternative but to keep the +token he cared not for. + +"Since you are so generous, Mademoiselle, I accept your gift with +gratitude." + +Even the cold formality of this speech failed to dispel the illusion she +had been all the night labouring under. Unused to discomfiture of any +kind, she thought not of defeat in the game of passion she was playing. + +"Oh! it's nothing to be grateful for," she lightly rejoined. "Only your +due for rescuing me from the pursuing enemy. Ha-ha-ha!" + +He was about to stow the favour under the breast of his doublet, when he +saw her glance go up to the crown of his hat, over which still waved the +feathers of the egret, plucked by the base of Ruardean hill. + +"Perhaps you wouldn't care to carry it there?" she said, half jestingly. +"It might spoil the look of that pretty plume." + +He was doubly perplexed now. To place the glove in his hat meant +letting it remain there, meant more--a symbol to show that the giver of +it was esteemed beyond all others. And that in her case would not be +true. Besides, what would _she_ say--what think--whose favour, not +proffered but asked for, was already there? Despite all the +contrarieties of the night, Eustace Trevor was not prepared to break +with Vaga Powell by offering her such a slight--an insult. With much to +make him sad and angry, he was neither sad nor angry enough for +retaliation as that. Sure, moreover, to recoil upon himself--a +reflection which needed no other to determine him. + +But the challenge had been thrown out, and called for instant response-- +a yes or a no. Subterfuge was no longer possible, even had it been of +his nature, and he resolved upon making a clean breast of it. + +"Mademoiselle Lalande, however proud of the trophy you've been good +enough to bestow on me, there's a reason why I cannot wear it as you +suggest?" + +"A reason, indeed!" the voice in a tone half vexed, half surprise. "May +I know it?" Then, as if repenting the question, she quickly added, "Oh, +never mind! Give me back my glove, sir. Good-night!" + +They, listening inside the pavilion, heard no more words, only the sound +of footsteps passing away; first light ones in rapid repetition; then +others heavier and slower; after which silence profound. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +A COMPLETE ECLAIRCISSEMENT. + +"Mademoiselle's game is up. You see, Sabrina, I was right, and he's +loyal to his love--true to the _guage_ of the egret's plume." + +"Indeed, yes! What a tale for Vaga! And I shall tell it her soon." + +"'Twill gladden her, you think?" + +"I'm quite sure of it. Though I haven't evidence of her heart's +inclinings in speech plain as that we've just--Hish! Another couple +coming this way! Really, Richard, we ought not to stay here; 'tis bad +as being eaves-droppers." + +"Never mind about the eavesdropping. It will sit light on my +conscience, after leading to such good results. Who may be the pair +approaching now, I wonder?" + +They listened. To hear music, with the hum of many voices afar off; but +two near, and drawing nearer. + +"My sister!" said Sabrina, almost instantly recognising one of them; +then, after another brief interval of silence, adding, "and Reginald +Trevor!" + +Continuing to advance, the two were soon up to the pavilion; and made +stop, on the same spot where but five minutes before stood their +respective cousins. + +Now, however, it was the gentleman who spoke first--after their coming +to a stand--and as if changing the subject of the dialogue already in +progress. + +"My cousin Eust seems beside himself with Mademoiselle Lalande. I never +saw man so madly in love with a woman. I wonder if she reciprocates +it?" + +He was pouring gall into Vaga Powell's heart, and apparently without +being conscious of it. For, by this, he had reached full confidence +that his own love was reciprocated by her with whom he was conversing. + +"Like enough," was the response, in tones so despairingly sad, that, but +for his being a fool in his own conceit, he might have drawn deductions +from it to make him suspect his folly. More, could he have but seen the +expression upon her features at that moment--pain, almost agony. The +pantomimic dance--just over, all its acts, incidents, and gestures were +still fresh before her mind--the latest the most vivid--the dropping of +the glove; its being taken up, as she supposed, with eager alacrity; +then, the man she loved throwing wide open his arms to receive into them +the woman she hated! All this was in her thoughts, a very tumult of +trouble--in her heart as a flaming fire. + +The darkness favoured her, or Reginald Trevor could not have failed +perceiving it on her face. But, indeed, she would have little cared if +he had. Dissembling with him all the night, she meant doing so no more. +Though the play was not with him, the game had gone against her; she +had lost the stakes, as she supposed, irretrievably; and now would +retire into the shadow and bitterness of solitude. + +Little dreamt he of how she was suffering, or the cause. Knowing it, he +might have sprung away from her side, quickly and angrily as had +Clarisse from that of Eustace. + +Continuing the conversation, he said, insinuatingly,-- + +"On second thoughts, I'm wrong, Mistress Vaga. I _have_ known a man as +much in love with a woman as my cousin is with yours--know one now?" + +"Indeed?" + +The exclamatory rejoinder was purely mechanical, she who made it not +having enough interest in what had been said to inquire who was the +individual he alluded to. Yet this was the very question he courted. +He had to angle for it further, saying,-- + +"May I tell you who it is?" + +"_Oh_, certainly; if you desire to do so." + +Even this icy response failed to check him. He either did not perceive +its coldness, or mistook it for reticence due to the occasion. Several +times, since his first abortive attempt, he had been on the eve of +making fuller declaration to her--in short, a proposal of marriage. But +she had been dancing with others besides himself, and no good +opportunity had as yet offered. That seemed to have come now. So, +taking advantage of it, and her permission, he said, in an impressive +way,-- + +"The man is Reginald Trevor--myself." + +If he expected her to give a start of feigned surprise, and follow it up +by the inquiry, "Who is the woman?" he was disappointed. For he but +heard repeated the laconic exclamation she had already used, and in like +tones of careless indifference. + +"Indeed!" That, and nothing more. + +Still unrepulsed he returned to the attack; again, as it were, begging +the question,-- + +"Shall I name the woman?" + +"Not if you don't wish it, sir." Response that should have made him +withhold the information, if not driven him from her presence. A very +rebuff it was; and yet Reginald Trevor looked not on it in this light. +Instead, still strong in his false faith and foolish hope, he persisted, +saying,-- + +"But I do wish it, and will tell you; though you may little care to +know. I cannot help the confession. She I love is yourself--yourself, +Vaga Powell; and 'tis with all my heart, all my soul!" The avowal, full +and passionate, affected her no more than the hints he had already +thrown out. In the same calm tone, firm, and with the words measured, +she made response,-- + +"Captain Trevor, you've told me almost as much before. And if I never +gave you answer to say the feeling you profess for me was not +reciprocated, I say it now. It is not--never can be. Friends, if you +wish, let us remain; but for the other--" + +"You needn't go on!" he interrupted, impatiently, almost rudely. "I've +heard enough; and now know what's the obstacle between us. Not your +father, as I once supposed, but my cousin. Well, have him, if you can +get him. As for myself, I'm consoled by thinking there are as good fish +in the sea as ever were caught out of it, and I go to catch one of them. +Adieu, Mistress Vaga Powell!" Saying which, he strode off in true +Cavalier swagger, humming a gay _chanson_; having left her alone in the +darkness of night, and the gloom of despair. + +Only for an instant was she thus. Then she felt arms flung around her, +tenderly, lovingly, while listening to speech which promised to relieve +her of her misery. + +"I was so glad, Vag," said Sabrina, "hearing what you said. And I've +heard something said by another, at which you'll be glad, when I tell it +you." + +Almost at the same instant of time, though in a different part of the +grounds, Sir Richard Walwyn was in like manner promising to let light +into the heart of Eustace Trevor. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +AFTER ROUNDWAY DOWN. + +An hundred horsemen riding at their hardest--not in any military +formation, but strung out in a straggled ruck--horsemen steel-clad from +crown to hip, some with helmets battered; others bare-headed, the +head-piece gone; cuirasses showing dints, as from stroke of halberd or +thrust of pike; on back and breastplate blood splashes, dried and turned +purple-black; boots, mud-bespattered and _delabre_--this damaged cohort +all that remained of "William the Conqueror's" army! + +They were the remnant of Hesselrig's Horse, the "Lobsters" in retreat +from Roundway Down, where the chivalrous, but too reckless, too +confident Waller, had given battle to the outnumbering enemy under Byron +and Wilmot; been defeated, and put to utter rout. + +It was the wind up of a series of sanguinary engagements with the +Marquis of Hertford and Prince Maurice, commencing with an encounter on +the low-wooded bottom between Tog and Friznoll hills, so hotly contested +that veterans there engaged, who had gone through all the Low Country +and German campaigns, declared the most furious fights they ever had +abroad were but sport to it. + +Carried up to the adjacent height of Lansdown, from which, after another +fierce conflict, the Parliamentarians were forced to retire, the two +armies--what remained of them--again came face to face on the elevated +plateau of Roundway Down; the final scene of the struggle and Waller's +discomfiture. + +Hesselrig's Cuirassiers had especially suffered. With ranks broken, and +many of them unhorsed, they were all but helpless in their unwieldy +armour, and scores got tumbled over the cliffs of the Down. Of a +well-appointed regiment, over five hundred strong, which but a few days +before had filed out through the gates of Bristol, only this straggling +troop--less than a fifth of the force, still kept the saddle. + +Waller was himself along with it--for the "Lobsters" formed his +body-guard--so too Hesselrig, severely wounded. Crestfallen both--it +could not be otherwise--but with no cowed or craven look. The blood +upon their gauntlets and sword-hilts, on their blades still unwiped, +told both had been where cowards would not be--in the thick of the +fight. Only to superior numbers had they yielded, and were now retiring +sullenly as disabled lions. If they rode hard and fast it was through +the urgency of their followers, who feared pursuit behind with the +fiendish cry, "No Quarter!" + +Morn was just dawning as the retreating troop caught sight of Bristol's +towers--glad to their eyes, giving promise of refuge and rest. This +last they needed as much as the first. For days and nights they had +scarce ever been out of the saddle; looked wan for the want of sleep, +and were weak from fatigue and hunger. Their horses blown and +dead-beat, many of them staggering in their gait. No wonder the sight +of that city was welcome to them. + +But what a spectacle they themselves to those inside it, to the +hundreds, nay thousands, who gazed off and out from turret, wall, and +window! The first glimpse got of them was by the warder in the Castle's +keep, just as the brightening sky enabled him to descry objects at a +distance. Then other sentries saw them from the watch towers of the +gates on that side; and the signal of alarm ran along the line of +fortification, round and round. Soon bells rang, trumpets brayed, and +drums beat all over the city, startling the citizens out of their sleep +and beds. Before the sun had yet shown above the horizon, not one but +was awake, and most out of doors. Men rushed wildly through the +streets--women too--or stood aperch, clustering on every eminence, every +pinnacle and parapet thick as bees, with eager, anxious glances scanning +the country outside. At length to fix them on the long, glittering +line--for the sheen of the cuirasses were not all gone--that now +approached in slow, laboured pace, as the crawl of a scotched snake. + +When near enough for the bare heads and battered helmets to be +distinguished, the blood smouches on dress, arms, and accoutrements, the +gloom on brows and in eyes, with lips compressed and features hard set +as in sullen anger--when these sure insignia of disaster were fully +before them, a feeling of despondency came over the hearts of the +Bristolians. Intensified, doubled, when at the head of this figment of +a force, crushed and shattered, they saw Sir William Waller, and by his +side Sir Arthur Hesselrig--the two leaders so long victorious as to be +deemed invincible! They had seen them ride out with an army numbering +nigh 6,000 men, and now saw them returning, in retreat, with but a bare +hundred! These so down-looking and dispirited, that, as Waller +himself--candid as he was brave--confessed in his report to the Lord +General, "a corporal with an ordinary squadron could have routed them." + +To many who witnessed their re-entry within Bristol's gates it was as +much spectre as spectacle--the presentiment of misfortune for +themselves. + +But not all viewed it in this light. There were eyes into which it +brought a sparkle of gratification; some even the glow of anticipated +vengeance. During Fiennes's iron rule, the "malignants" had been much +humiliated, and the prospect of a change, themselves to have the upper +hand, made them jubilant. And there were the relatives and friends of +the so-called "State Martyrs," with the fate of these fresh in their +mind, burning for revenge. Citizens affected to the King's cause, +Cavaliers, whether prisoners on parole or otherwise, the tapsters, +gamesters, and tricksters of every speciality; in a word, all the +reprobacy and blackguardism of Bristol, high and low, male and female, +were gleeful at a sight giving them forecast of that for which they had +long been yearning--an opportunity of pillage and plunder. It was just +with them, as it would be with their modern representatives the Jingoes, +at any mischance to Liberalism, likely to give the Jew of Hughenden +another spell at despoiling and dishonouring England. For they, too, +were doughty champions of beer and Bible, with whom national honour was +but a name, the nation's glory an empty boast. They, as Tories now, +cared not for the wrongs and sufferings of an over-taxed people, any +more than recks Arab slave-trader the tears and lamentations of the poor +human beings with black skins he drives, brute-like, across the burning +sands of Africa. For is not the whole history of Toryism, from its +commencement up to the latest chapter and verse, a record of sympathy +with the wronger and unpitying regardlessness for the wronged--an +exhibition of all the ferocity known to the human heart, with all its +falsehood and meanness? + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +By a coincidence in no way singular, but simply from two events chancing +to occur at the same time, they were dancing at Montserrat House, while +Waller was riding in retreat from Roundway Down. Madame Lalande's ball +was on the night after the battle, July 13th. + +It was about to break up, for day was dawning, and cheeks growing pale. +Less than a month after mid-summer, the hour was not so much into +morning, and there were some tireless votaries of Terpsichore inclined +for still another _contredanse_, by way of wind up. This came, however, +in a manner more sudden and unexpected. First, the call notes of a +distant bugle, taken up and responded to by others, till a very chorus +of them sounded all over the city. Then a _tantara_ of drums, and the +jangling of church bells, with the boom of a great gun from the Castle! + +Too early for the _reveillee_--before the hour of _orisons_--what could +it all mean? So queried they in the grounds of Montserrat House, +gathering into groups. Certainly, something unusual; as the fracas not +only continued but seemed growing greater. To the instrumental sounds +were added human voices, shouting in the streets, calls and responses, +with a hurried trampling of feet--men rushing to and fro! + +Only for a short while were Madame Lalande's guests in suspense. Nor +had they to go outside for explanation. There was an eminence in the +grounds which commanded a view of most part of Bristol, with the country +beyond the fortified line, south-eastward. On its summit stood a +pavilion; the same which on that night had been the means of revealing +more than one secret. And now from this spot an anxious crowd--for +scores had rushed up to it--learnt the cause of the excitement. Close +in to the city's walls, about to enter one of the gates, was the +shattered remnant of Hesselrig's Horse--all that was left of Waller's +defeated army! + +If the dresses of those who clustered round the pavilion--most in fancy +costume--were diversified, varied also were the feelings with which they +regarded this new spectacle presented to them. A surprise to all; to +many an unpleasant one, but most viewing it with delighted eyes. For, +unlike as with the crowds clustering other eminences outside, within +that precinct, hitherto almost sacred to Cavalierism, this was, of +course, in the ascendant. And what they saw seemed sure evidence of a +crushing defeat having been sustained by their adversaries; so sure, +that many who had all the night behaved modestly, and worn masks, now +pulled them off and began to swagger in true Cavalier fashion. + +Sir Richard Walwyn, Eustace Trevor, and other Parliamentarian officers +present were compelled to listen to observations sufficiently offensive. +Had they been themselves unmannerly, or even without it, they could +have stopped all that, being still masters in Bristol. But there was no +need for their showing spite by taking the initiative; as this was +forced upon them, whether or no, by command and the simple performance +of duty. While Madame Lalande's guests were hastening to take their +departure, a man, newly arrived, made appearance in their midst; an +officer, wearing _sabretasche_ and other insignia of an aide-de-camp. +Entering unannounced at the outer gate, without ceremony he strode on up +to the house, inquiring for Sir Richard Walwyn. + +"Here!" responded the knight, himself about to leave the place; and he +stepped forth to meet the new comer. + +"From the Governor, Colonel Walwyn," said the aide-de-camp, saluting, +and drawing a slip of folded paper from his sabretasche, which he handed +to the Colonel of Horse, adding, "In all haste." + +Tearing it open, Sir Richard read:-- + + "_Re-arrest all prisoners on parole, whether soldiers or civilians. + Search the city through, and send them, under guard to the Castle_. + + "Fiennes. + + "_To the Colonel Walwyn_." + +"Here's a _revanche_ for us, Trevor," said the knight, communicating the +contents of the despatch to his young troop captain, "if we are +ill-natured enough to care for such. Anyhow, we'll stop the speech of +some of those fellows who've been making themselves so free of it. +Haste down to quarters, and bring Sergeant Wilde with half a dozen +files. We may as well begin our work here. Why, bless me! there's the +man himself, and the soldiers, too!" + +This, at the sight of the big sergeant, who was just entering the gate, +and behind him a score of dismounted troopers. Rob had already received +orders from the Castle to report himself with a detachment at Montserrat +House. + +A scene followed difficult of description. Kings, Sultans, Crusaders-- +in costume only--with many other disguised dignitaries, were +unceremoniously stopped in their masquerading; each taken charge of by a +common trooper, and pinned to the spot. Many repented the imprudence of +having thrown aside their masks. By keeping these on they might have +escaped recognition. It was too late to restore them; and in a few +minutes' time the paroled prisoners were picked out, and ranged in line +for transport to the Castle's keep. + +In all this there was much of the comic and grotesque; on both sides +even badinage and laughter. But there was anger too--Madame Lalande and +her daughter especially indignant--while among the faces late unmasked +were some showing serious enough, even rueful. To them it might be no +jesting matter in the end. + +On the countenance of Reginald Trevor--of course one of the +re-arrested--the expression was singularly varied. As well it might, +after so many changes quick succeeding one another--jealousy of his +cousin; confidence in his sweetheart restored soon to be lost again; and +now that cousin confronting him, as was his duty, with a demand terribly +humiliating. Yet Eustace had no desire to make it so; instead the +reverse. For, meanwhile, Sir Richard had whispered a word in his ear +which went far to remove the suspicions late tormenting _him_. He but +said,-- + +"I've orders to take you to the Castle, Reginald." + +Then to avoid speech, which might be unpleasant to both, he turned away, +leaving the prisoner to be looked after by Rob Wilde, who had commands +to conduct him to his prison. + +"Come, captain!" said the big sergeant patronisingly, "we han't a great +ways to go. Not nigh sich a distance as ye 'tended takin' me--frae +Cat's Hill to the lock-up at Lydney." + +The Royalist officer keenly felt the satirical jibe flung at him by the +Forester, but far more the play of a pair of eyes that were looking down +upon him from one of the upper windows. For there stood Vaga Powell, a +witness to all that was passing below. In a position almost identical +he had seen her twice before, with the expression upon her face very +similar. It puzzled him then, but did not vex him as now. For now he +better understood it; and, as he was marched off from Montserrat House, +he carried with him no sustaining faith or hope, as when riding away +from Hollymead. + +Eustace also saw her at the window, as he was passing off. But +different was the look she gave him, and his given back. In their +exchanged glances there was a mutual intelligence, which told that their +respective guardian angels had kept promise by whispering sweet words to +both. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +FIENNES SHOWS THE WHITE FEATHER. + +Waller's stay in Bristol was of the shortest, only long enough to rest +his wearied men and their jaded horses. The "Night Owl" was not the +bird to relish being engaged in a beleaguered city, which he anticipated +Bristol would soon be. The field, not the fortress, was his congenial +sphere of action; and though sadly dispirited, his army all gone, he had +not yet yielded to despair. He would recruit another, if it cost him +his whole fortune. So "To horse!" and off again without delay-- +Hesselrig along with him. + +London was his destination, and to reach it, with such feeble escort, a +dangerous enterprise. For it was but continuing his retreat through a +country swarming with the triumphant enemy. With a skill worthy of +Cyrus he made it good, however; going round by Gloucester, Warwick, and +Newport Pagnell, at length arriving safe in the metropolis. + +But what of the citizens of Bristol he left behind? If they had been +despondent on seeing the shattered Cuirassiers re-enter their city not +long after these left, they saw another sight which filled them with +dismay. Also a body of horsemen approaching the place; not a skeleton +of a regiment in retreat, but the vanguard of a victorious army--that +which had won the day at Roundway Down. For as the defeated one had +suffered utter annihilation, the western shires, now overrun by the +Royalists, were completely at their mercy. The only Parliamentarian +forces that remained there were the garrisons of Gloucester and Bristol, +and it was but a question as to which should be first assaulted. + +The former had already experienced something of a siege, and, thanks to +its gallant Governor, successfully resisted it; while its bigger sister, +farther down the Severn, only knew what it was to be threatened. But +the Bristolians also knew their city to be better game--a richer and +more tempting prize--and that they might expect the plunderers at any +moment. So when they beheld the Light Horse of Wilmot and Byron +scouring the country outside, and up to their very gates, they had +little doubt of their being the precursors of a larger and heavier +force--an army on the march to assail them. + +Soon it appeared in formidable array, and leaguer all round. For there +was more than one army left free to enfilade them. First came up the +conquering host of Hertford and Maurice, fresh from the field of +Lansdown. Then, on the Oxford side, appeared Rupert with his +freebooters, fire-handed from the burning of Birmingham, and red-wristed +from the slaughter at Chalgrove; where, by the treachery of the infamous +Urrey, they had let out the life-blood of England's purest patriot. + +In a very revel of Satanic delight they drew around the doomed city, as +eagles preparing to stoop at prey, or rather as vultures on quarry +already killed. For it had neither strength of fortification, nor +defending force sufficient to resist them. As already said, Waller +going west had almost stripped it of its defenders, numbers of whom were +now lying dead on the downs of Wiltshire, as the Royalist leaders well +knew. So there was no question as between siege and assault, Rupert, +soon as arrived on the ground, determining to storm. + +And storm it was, commenced the next morning at earliest hour. +Successful on the Gloucester side, where Rupert himself attacked, and +the traitor Langrish, with the timid Fiennes, defended. After all his +boasting, the lawyer-soldier let the enemy in, almost without striking a +blow. Nor did they pass over his dead body either. He survived the sad +day, but never more to be trusted with sword in the cause of a +struggling people. + +Very different was the defence on the southern side, and of different +stuff the defenders. There Sir Richard Walwyn with his Foresters, and +Birch with his Bridgemen, held the ramparts against Hertford and +Maurice, not only foiling the attack, but beating them off. In that +quarter had been blows enough, with blood flowing in rivers. The +Cornish men were cut down by scores, among them some of their best +leaders, as Slanning and Trevannion. Alas! all in vain. Alike to no +purpose proved the gallantry of the soldier knight and the stanch +courage of the merchant-soldier! Unavailable their deeds of valour; for +while they were fighting the foe in their front--in the act of putting +him to rout--behind they heard a trumpet sounding signals for parley! +And turning, beheld a white flag, waving from a staff, within the city's +walls! Saw and heard all this with amazement. On their side the +assailants were repulsed, and Bristol still safe. Why then this show of +surrender? Could it be treason? + +Birch believed it was, though not on the part of Fiennes. He was but +vacillating and frightened, Langrish playing the traitor, as the events +proved, ending in capitulation. But while Sir Richard and his troopers +were still in doubt about the purport of the signals, they saw an +aide-de-camp galloping towards them--the same who brought the despatch +to Montserrat House at the breaking up of the ball. A verbal message he +carried now--command for them to cease fighting. + +"And why?" demanded the astonished knight, other voices asking the same, +as much in anger as astonishment. "For what reason should we cease +fighting? We're on the eve of victory!" + +"I know not the reason, Colonel Walwyn," responded the aide-de-camp, +evidently ashamed of the part he was constrained to play; "only that +they've beaten us on the Gloucester side, and got into the works. The +Governor asked for an armistice, which Prince Rupert has granted." + +"Oh! you have Rupert round there, have you? I thought as much. This is +Langrish's doing. Gentlemen," he observed to the officers now gathering +around him, "we may guess how 'twill end--in a base, traitorous +surrender. Possibly to be delivered over to the tender mercies of this +princely freebooter. Are you ready to risk it with me, and cut our way +out?" + +"Ready--yes!" responded Eustace Trevor, and the men of the Forester +troop, loudest of all their sergeant. + +"We, too!" cried the Bridgemen, Birch giving them the cue; while others +here and there echoed the daring resolve. + +But the majority were silent, and shrank back. It was too hopeless, too +desperate, running the gauntlet against countless odds. With the whole +garrison agreeing to it, there might have been a chance. But they knew +this would be divided, in view of the treason hinted at. + +While they were still in debate as to what should be done, another +mounted messenger came galloping up with news which quickened their +deliberation, bringing it almost instantly to a close. The enemy had +offered honourable terms, and Fiennes had accepted them. It was no +longer a question of surrender, but a _fait accompli_. + +"What are the conditions?" every one eagerly asked. + +To get answer: "No prisoners to be taken, no plundering. Soldiers, and +all who have borne arms against the King, left free to march out and +away. Citizens the same, if they wish it. Three days to be allowed the +disaffected for clearing out of the city, and removal of household +effects." After that--ay, and before it, as the wise ones believed--it +would be "'ware the pillager!" + +On its face the bond was fair and reasonable enough, and many were +rather surprised at its leniency. Certainly, to one unacquainted with +the circumstances, such conditions of surrender might seem more than +generous. But knowing the motives, all idea of generosity is at once +eliminated. Around to Rupert had come the report of repulse on the +southern side--Slanning killed, Trevannion, too; with slaughter all +along the Cornish line, and a likelihood of utter rout there. Besides, +two or three scores of distinguished prisoners inside Bristol had to be +considered; these no longer on parole, but jailed, and still held as +hostages. With, these _guages_ against any attempt at cruel extortion, +none could be safely made; and the keys of Bristol were handed over to +Prince Rupert by Nathaniel Fiennes in a quiet, consenting, almost +amicable way, as might the seals of office from a going-out mayor to his +successor. + +How the son of the Elector Palatinate honoured the trust, and kept faith +with his word, is matter of history. He did neither one nor the other; +instead, disregarded both, basely, infamously. Soon as his followers +were well inside the gates, as had been predicted, there was pillage +unrestrained; insult and outrage to every one they encountered on the +streets, women not excepted. This was the way of the Cavaliers--the +self-proclaimed _gentlemen_ of England. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. + +INSULTING A FALLEN FOE. + +A very saturnalia of riot and rapine followed the capture of Bristol. +For the conditions of surrender were broken before the ink recording +them was dry, and the soldiers fell to sacking, unrestrained. There +were plenty of spiteful "malignants" to point out who should be the +victims, though little recked the royal hirelings what house they +entered, or whose goods appropriated. All was fish to their net; and so +the plundering went on, with scenes of outrage indescribable. + +Fiennes has left testimony that Rupert did his best to stay his ruffian +followers, cuffing and striking them with the flat of his sword. Light +blows they must have been, administered more in jest than earnest, with +aim to throw dust in the eyes of the now ex-Governor and his staff +standing by. The men on whose shoulders they fell paid little heed to +them; for had they not been promised the sacking of Bristol? An +intercepted letter from Byron, of massacre memory, to Rupert himself, +puts this scandalous fact beyond the possibility of contradiction or +denial. + +That promise was kept faithfully enough, and the licence allowed in +full. Every house of a Parliamentarian, noted or not, received a +domiciliary visit, and was stripped of its valuables--all that could not +be hidden away--while ladies of highest respectability were subjected to +insult. It was Bristol's first experience of victorious Cavalierism; +and even they who had conspired to introduce the sweet thing had their +surfeit of it ere long. + +By the terms of capitulation the soldiers of the vanquished garrison +were to march out unmolested. But they must go at once, so as to vacate +quarters for the in-coming conquerors. To civilians three days were +allowed for decision as to staying or going, with the implied right of +removing their effects. This last clause may seem a sorry jest, since +there was not much left them for removal. Of course, all who knew +themselves compromised, and had the means, decided on going. + +Among these, it need scarce be said, was the Master of Hollymead. Under +royal ban already, he knew Bristol would no longer be a safe place of +residence, either for himself or his daughters. Perhaps he feared more +for them under the aegis of such an aunt, and the companionship of such +a cousin. The Cavalier wolves would now be ravening about free from all +restraint--admitted to Montserrat House, and there made more welcome +than ever. Sad he had been at finding his sister so changed; irksome +the sojourn under her roof; and now that opportunity offered to take +departure he hastened to embrace it. So eager was he to get away from +the surrendered city, that he would not avail himself of the three days' +grace, but determined to set forth on the morning after the surrender. + +Luckily he had but few effects to embarrass him, having left his plate +and other Penates in Gloucester, whither he intended repairing. It +remained but to provide transport in the way of saddle-horses, just then +a scarce and costly commodity in Bristol. But cost what they might, +Ambrose Powell has the means of obtaining them; and that night, ere +retiring to rest, he had everything ready, His daughters had been warned +and were prepared for the journey; both of them eager as himself to set +out upon it--neither caring ever to set eyes on Aunt Lalande or Cousin +Clarisse again. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Still another sunrise, and the people of Bristol were treated to a +spectacle different from any that had preceded, or they had ever +witnessed. They saw the late defenders of their city, now disarmed and +half-disbanded, marching away from it, out through its gates, and +between files of their foes, these last lining the causeway for some +distance outside. + +In such cases, among the soldiers of civilised countries, it is a rule, +almost universal, that no demonstration be made by the conquerors to +insult or further humble the conquered. More often may be heard +expressions of sympathy even deeds of kindness done. But all was +different at this the first surrender of Bristol. As the defeated +soldiers marched out, many with yes downcast and mien dejected, no word +nor look of pity was bestowed on them. Instead, they were assayed with +taunts and derisive cries, some even getting kick or cuff as they ran +the gauntlet between the lines of their truculent enemies. And these +were "the gallants of England," ready to "strike home for their King," +as one of their songs puts it; but as ready to be spit upon by King, or +Prince, if it so pleased him. Gallants indeed! As much desecration of +the term applied to the Cavalier of Charles's time as to the music-hall +cad of our Victorian era. + +The chief exodus of the departing Parliamentarians was by the gate, and +along the road leading to Gloucester. There was nothing in the articles +of capitulation to hinder them again taking up arms. For reasons +already stated they were not prisoners, not bound by _parole d'honneur_, +but free to turn round and face the foe now exulting over them whenever +opportunity should offer. As a consequence, most took the route for +Gloucester, where the stanch Massey still held his ground, and would be +glad to avail himself of their services. + +But not all making away were soldiers. In the stream of moving humanity +were citizens, men and women, even whole families who had forsaken their +homes, dreading ill-treatment at the hands of the Royalist soldiery; +fleeing from Bristol as Lot from the doomed cities of the plain. Among +these fugitives many a spectacle of wretchedness was presented, at which +the unfeeling brutes who were witnesses but laughed. + +Outside, and not far from the gate through which the motley procession +was passing, Rupert sat in his saddle, the central figure of a group of +splendidly uniformed officers. They were his personal staff, with the +_elite_ of his army, gathered there to gloat over the humiliation of +adversaries who had oft humiliated them. _Gentlemen_ as they deemed +themselves, some could not resist gratifying their vengeful spleen, but +gave exhibition of it, in speech coarse and ribald as any coming from +the lips of their rank-and-file followers. In all of which they were +encouraged by the approving laughter of their Prince and his high-toned +_entourage_. + +Never merrier than on that morn were these jovial gentry; believing as +they did that the fall of Bristol was the prelude to their triumph over +all England, and henceforth they would have it their own way. + +While at the height of their exultation a troop came filing along the +causeway, the sight of which brought a sudden change over the +countenances of the jesters. It was composed of men in cavalry uniform, +but afoot and without arms; only some half-dozen--the officers--on +horseback. Its standard, too, taken from it, and, perhaps, well it had +been. Flouted before the eyes of that Cavalier crew, alike regardless +of oath and honour, the banner, showing Crown impaled by Sword, would +have been torn to shreds; they bearing it set upon and cut to pieces. + +But it needed no ensign, nor other insignia, to tell who the dismounted +and dismantled troopers were. Many around Rupert had met, fought with, +and fled from them; while all had heard of Sir Richard Walwyn's Horse, +and his big sergeant. + +These they were, but in woefully diminished numbers--worse than their +sorry plight. They had borne the brunt of battle on the southern side; +and although they had slain hundreds of the Cornish men, it was with a +terrible thinning of their own ranks. + +But their gallant leader was still at their head and by his side Eustace +Trevor, with his veteran trumpeter Hubert; while, though marching afoot, +almost as conspicuous as the mounted ones, there too was the colossal +sergeant erst deer-stealer, Rob Wilde. All proudly bearing themselves, +notwithstanding what had transpired. No thought of having been +conquered had they; instead, the consciousness of being conquerors. And +less angry at the men with whom they had been fighting than at him for +whom they had fought. Nathaniel Fiennes had either betrayed them and +their cause, or proved incapable of sustaining it. It was on that +account they looked scowling and sullen, as they filed past Rupert and +his surrounding. + +But if their black looks were given back by the Royalist officers, these +forbore the taunting speech they had hitherto poured upon others. +Something of shame, if not self-respect, restrained them. They knew it +would but recoil on themselves, as with curs barking at lions. + +As Sir Richard and his troop captain came opposite, two officers +alongside Rupert exchanged looks with them of peculiar significance. +Colonel Tom Lunsford and Captain Reginald Trevor these were. Both +released from their imprisonment--the latter but the day before--they +were now not only free, but in full feather and favour, appointed to the +Prince's staff. + +The interchange of glances between the _quartette_ was each to each; the +ex-lieutenant of the Tower alone regarding the soldier knight, and with +a sneer of malicious triumph. He would have added words, but dreaded +getting words back that might rake up old scores, as when they last met +at Hollymead, exposing his poltroonery. So he contented himself with a +sardonic grin, to get in return for it a look of contempt, too scornful +and lordly to care for expression in speech. + +The play of eyes between the cousins was alike full of meaning, and +equally unintelligible to lookers on who knew not the antecedents. But +they passed words as well; only a remark with rejoinder, the former even +unfinished. Reginald, still smarting from the incidents of that night +at Montserrat House, could not restrain his tongue; and, as the other +came close, he said, with his old affectation of superiority,-- + +"If I'd only had the chance to meet you on the ramparts yesterday +morning, I would--" + +"_You_ would be there now, without me," was the interrupting retort. +"Down among the Cornish dead men. That's what you intended telling me, +isn't it?" + +Thus again getting the better in the encounter of words, with a light +laugh Eustace rode on, leaving his cousin angrier than ever, more than +ever desirous of crossing swords with him to the cry of "No Quarter!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. + +A PRINCELY ADMIRER. + +"Mein Gott, what a sweet _fraulein_! A pair of them! _Wunderschon_!" + +It was Prince Rupert who so exclaimed, his eyes turned upon two young +girls in a gaze of more than ordinary interest. + +Ladies they were, as grace, garb, and other surroundings proclaimed +them. On horseback, an elderly gentleman along with them, riding in +front; and behind a small retinue of servants, male and female. They +had just issued out of the gate as part of the stream of people +hastening away from the city, and were coming on towards the spot +occupied by the Royalist commander and his staff. + +Still looking after the Forest troop, not yet out of sight, Reginald +Trevor faced round on hearing the Prince's exclamatory words. Chafed +already by the sharp retort of his cousin, what he saw now gave him a +fresh spasm of chagrin. Ambrose Powell and his daughters setting off on +a journey, evidently for Gloucester, whither Eustace was going too! + +Lunsford had also caught sight of them, showing almost as much +excitement, with more surprise. Just out of Berkeley Castle, where he +had been incarcerated ever since the affair of Edgehill, he had not +heard of the Powell family being in Bristol. And now beholding the +woman whose beauty had so impressed him while tax-collecting in the +Forest of Dean, it gave him a start, succeeded by a feeling of vexation +to see she was going away, again to be beyond his reach. + +By this the travelling party had got opposite, and were passing on. +Poorly mounted all, on horses very different from those they would have +been riding around Ruardean. But the sorriness of their nags made no +difference as regarded the looks of the ladies. Dignity as theirs was +not dependent on extraneous trifles, and for their beauty the very +contrast, with the excitement of the situation, but rendered it the more +piquant and conspicuous. + +The cheeks of both flushed burning red as they came opposite the group +of officers. No wonder, with so many eyes bent in bold gaze upon them. +They heard words, too, offensive to female ears. + +"It's a pity, Vag," said Sabrina, in an undertone, "we didn't think of +putting on our masks." + +"Oh! I don't care," rejoined the younger sister, with a jaunty toss of +the head. "They may look their owlish eyes out--it matters not to me." + +Just then her own eyes encountered another pair, which brought a change +over her countenance--Reginald Trevor's. He was gazing at her with an +intensity of expression that ill bore out the indifference he pretended +when parting with her at the Lalandes' ball. A frown it was now, +equally affected, as she knew. And just because of knowing this she did +not return it; instead, gave him a look half-kind, half-pitying. If a +little coquettish, she was not cruel; and she felt repentful, +remembering how on that night she had misled him. + +At the same time there was a crossing of eyes between her sister and +another officer close by Sabrina saw the man who had so impudently ogled +her at Hollymead, knowing him to be Colonel Lunsford. In a similar +manner was he acting now, only to get from her a glance of contemptuous +scorn, which would have rebuked any other than a brazen Cavalier. + +He did quail under it a little, feeling in his heart that if he ever +received favour from that lady it would have to be a forced one. + +"Who are they?" interrogated the Prince, after they had passed, still +following them with his eyes. "You appear to know them. Colonel?" + +It was Lunsford to whom he addressed himself, observing the look of +recognition with which the latter was regarding them. + +"Those ladies? Is it they your Royal Highness deigns to inquire about?" +And he pointed to the party which had so interested all. + +"_Ya_! Or only one of them, if you like--she with the golden locks. I +care not to know the other." + +Reginald Trevor had overheard this with a singular revulsion of feeling. +Bitter as it was to him to see Vaga Powell depart, it would now have +been worse, the thought of her remaining in Bristol. Angry he was with +her, but not so spiteful nor wicked, as to wish her a fate like that. +Well knew he what danger there was to any woman whose beauty tempted +Rupert. + +Diametrically opposite were the feelings of Lunsford as he listened to +the Prince's declared preference. He had feared it was for the elder +sister, which would spoil his own chances should such ever come. +Relieved, he made answer,-- + +"They are sisters, your Royal Highness; the daughters of the gentleman +you see along with them." + +"Egad! a rich father in the way of womankind. I wouldn't mind pilfering +a part of his wealth. That bit of saucy sweetness, with cheeks all +roses, ought to be pleasant company. I haven't seen anything to equal +her in all your England." + +"Then, your Royal Highness, why do you allow them to go?" said Lunsford, +speaking in an undertone. "As you see, they're setting off for +Gloucester, and it may be some time before an opportunity--" + +"Ah! true," interrupted the Prince, reflectively. + +"If your Highness deign to say the word, they'll be brought back. It's +not yet too late." + +The suggestion was selfish as it was base. For he who made it but +wished them detained on his own account. + +For a moment Rupert seemed inclined to fall in with it; and might have +done so, but for a reflection that got the better of him. + +"_Nein_, Colonel!" he said at length. "We dare not." + +"What dares not your Royal Highness?" + +"That you propose. You forget the terms of capitulation? To infringe +them would cause scandal, and of that we Cavaliers have had accusation +already--as much as we can well carry. Ha-ha-ha!" + +The laugh told how little he cared for it, and how lightly it sat upon +his conscience. + +"Your Highness, I'm aware of all that," persisted Lunsford. "But these +are excepted people--that is, the father." + +"How so?" + +"Because of his being one of the King's worst and bitterest enemies. +But that's not all. He's been a _recusant_--is still. I myself +attempted to levy on him for a loan by Privy Seal--three thousand +pounds--the King required. I not only failed to get the money, but came +near being set upon, and possibly torn to pieces, by a mob of Dean +Foresters--very wolves--his adherents and retainers. Surely all that +should be sufficient justification for the detaining of him and his." + +Prompted by his vile passions again, the Royal Sybarite seemed inclined +to act upon the diabolical counsel. But, although the war's history +already bristled with chronicles of crime, nothing quite so openly +scandalous, as that would be, had yet appeared upon its pages. Many +such there were afterwards, when this Prince and his gallants had more +corrupted England's people, and better accustomed them to look lightly +on the breaches of all law and all decency. + +At a later period Rupert would not have regarded them, as indeed he did +not twelve months after in this same city of Bristol. Of his behaviour +then thus wrote one of his attached servitors to the Marquis of +Ormonde,-- + +"Prince Rupert is so much given to his ease and pleasure that every one +is disheartened that sees it. The city of Bristol is but a great house +of bawdry." + +Things were not so on that day succeeding its surrender, and public +opinion had still some restraint upon him. Enough to deter him from the +outrage he would otherwise willingly have perpetrated. + +"Never mind, Colonel," he at length said resignedly. "We must let the +birds go, and live in hopes of seeing them again. You know their +roosting place, I suppose?" + +"I do, your Royal Highness." + +"So, well! When we've settled things with the sword, which we soon +shall now, I may want you to pilot me thither. Meanwhile, _laszt es +gehen_." + +At which the dialogue ended, unheard by all save Reginald Trevor. And +he only overheard snatches of it; still enough to make him apprehensive +about the fate of Vaga Powell. If he wanted her for himself it was not +in the way Prince Rupert wanted her. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY. + +THE CADGERS ON THE KYMIN. + +"Laws, Jack! fear us be takin' back bad news to Sir Richard. An worse +for the poor young lady at Glo'ster. Rob's tolt me her wor well-nigh +deestract when her heerd he wor took pris'ner. What'll it be as her get +to hear o' his bein' bad wounded too? Her knows nothin' o' that." + +"Maybe 'tant so much o' a wownd after all, nothin' for he to go dead on. +Folks allays zagerates sich things. An' if he live it through, like +'nough 'twon't be very long fores they git un free o' his 'prisonment. +I ha' an idea, Winny dear, the letter us ha' got be relatin' to that +same. Else-wise why shid the Colonel Kyrle, who wor onct on the +Parlamenteery side, an's now on t'other why shid him be writin' to Sir +Richard, or Sir Richard to he? Beside, all this queery business us be a +doin'. It seem to mean somethin' 'bout gittin' the young gen'lemen out +o' gaol; maybe by changin' he for another. Don't ee think so?" + +"Like it do." + +She knew it meant that, and more. For Rob Wilde had given her a hint of +why they had been sent to Monmouth market--ostensibly cadging on their +own account, but in reality as messengers in the pay and employ of Sir +Richard Walwyn. Though Jack was personally the bearer of the secret +despatches, Winny was the one entrusted with the diplomacy, and knew +more than she thought necessary to confide to him. + +They were on return from the market--for it was afternoon--and once more +climbing a steep hill; this time not the _Cat's_ but the _Kymin_--the +old Roman Road (Camen), which, crossing the Wye at Monmouth (Blestium), +led up to the Forest table-land by Staunton. The ascent commences at +the bridge, winding for miles through romantic woods and scenery +unsurpassed in England. The bridge as then was a quaint, massive +structure, having a towered gate on its _tete de pont_, with portcullis, +draw-arch, and guard-house. A guard of Royalist soldiers were stationed +on it; for ever since the breaking out of the war Monmouth had been kept +for the King. But the cadgers had found no difficulty in passing this +guard, either at going in, or coming out. It was market day, and Jinkum +was laden with marketable commodities--a motley collection of farmyard +fowls--hens, ducks, and geese--making a very pandemonium in the +panniers. Had the soldiers upon the bridge but known what the little +limping man carried inside his wooden leg, like enough they would have +pitched him over the parapet. It was after getting clear of them, and +well uphill, that the brother and sister were unburthening themselves to +one another, as above described. The dialogue had commenced by Jack +chuckling over the way they had outwitted the bridge guards, and +referring back to how they had done the same, some fifteen months +before, with the "Cavalieres," encountered on the Bristol road by +Berkeley. He was in high glee, jesting about and praising his +artificial leg--which had proved worth more to him than the real one-- +again in pleasant anticipation of a like remunerative result. The +sister, however, was not joyous as he; her thoughts just then dwelling +on that poor young lady described by Rob Wilde as having been "well-nigh +deestract." That was it which had turned their conversation into the +channel it had taken. + +There was a short interregnum of silence after Winny's assenting +rejoinder. Broken by Jack with an observation bearing on the same topic +of discourse, but about a different place and time. + +"'Twor a pity the Captain goed back to Hollymead wi' so few o' his +sodgers along. I cud a tolt he that wan't safe, seein' the Colonel +Lingen ha' his quarters so near by, in Goodrich Castle. Him be a +dangerous neighbour, an' master o' all round about theer now." + +"Ye be right, Jack; 'twor a pity," she answered, echoing his first +reflection. "But theer wor a good reason for 't, Rob's gied me. Seems +Master Powell had somethin' at Hollymead--him wanted gettin' to +Glo'ster, so's to be safer theer. 'Twor a thing o' great value him had +hid away, fores leavin' for Bristol that time, an' the Captain +volunteered like to go for it. How could him know o' the danger frae +Goodrich? That wor brought about by treezun; one o' his men, who +stepped away in the night an' warned the Colonel Lingen. So him got +tooked by surprise." + +"Well, they didn't take he, 'ithout gettin' a taste of his steel; a +sharp taste, too; beside more frae his sodgers, few as they wor. Jim +Davis, who wor up to the house, mornin' after, seed blood all 'bout the +place; more'n could a' comed o' them as lay killed. The Cavalieres had +carried away the wounded a' both sides, wi' theer own dead; as Jim think +a good dozen." + +"That be true enough; more nor a dozen, I ha' myself heerd. But what do +it signify how many o' Lingen's wolves be gone dead, if that handsome +young gentlemen ha' to die, too? Sure as we be on Kymin hill, 'twill +break Mistress Vaga's heart." + +"Stuff an' nonsense! Hearts beant so eezy broke." + +"Ah! that's all _you_ know about it." + +She could make the remark with confidence in its truth. There was no +record of Jerky ever having had sweetheart, or feeling the soft +sentiment of love. And for herself, some pangs of jealousy which Rob +Wilde had occasioned her, though unconsciously, made her a believer that +hearts _could_ be broken. For this great Forest woman loved like a +lioness, and could be jealous as a tigress. + +"Oh, well!" rejoined the amiable brother, without taking notice of the +slur on his lack of his amatory experience, "it mout be as ye say, +sister Winny; supposin' the young gen'leman's wounds to prove mortyal. +But that an't like, from all us ha' heerd the day. So let's we live in +hope. An' I wudn't wonner," he added, in a more cheerful tone; "wudn't +a bit wonner, if, inside this timmer leg o' mine, theer be somethin' to +tell Sir Richard the Captain an't in any great danger. Maybe to say him +will soon be out o' prison, an' bade in his saddle, to cut down another +Cavaliere or two." + +"Hope that's the news us be takin' to High Meadow. Whativer 'tis, let +we get theer quick's us can. Whack on the creetur." + +The final admonition referred to Jinkum; and his master, in obedience to +it, gave out the customary "yee-up!" accompanied by the less usual +application of cudgel. + +A good deal of this last the donkey now needed. The morning had been +hot, with the panniers full and heavy, toward the market. Now, on +return, it was still sultry, and the wicker weighted as ever, Sir +Richard Walwyn was not the strategist to let his scheme have a chance of +miscarrying; and Jinkum was bearing back into the Forest country a large +consignment of grocery goods; for which the consignee would care little, +save as to the time of delivery. But about this he would be particular +to an instant, as the cadgers knew; and so, on up the Kymin, Jinkum +caught stick, in showers thick as had ever rained upon his hips, even +when climbing the sharper and more familiar pitches of Cat's Hill. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY ONE. + +BY THE "BUCKSTONE." + +On the highest point of the Forest of Dean district--just one thousand +feet above ocean's level--is a singular mass of rock known as the +"Buckstone." An inverted pyramid, with base some fifteen feet in +diameter, poised upon its apex, which rests on another rock mass of +quadrangular shape as upon a plinth. Into this the down-turned apex +seems indented so far as to make the apparent surface of contact but a +few square feet. In reality the two masses are detached, the +superimposed one so loose as to have obtained the character of a +"rocking stone." Many the attempt to rock it; many the party of +tourists who had laid shoulders against it to stir it from its +equilibrium; not a few taking departure from the place fully convinced +they had felt, or seen it, move. + +And many the legend belonging thereto, Druidical and demoniac; some +assigning it an artificial, others a supernatural, origin. + +Alas for these romantic conjectures! the geologist gives them neither +credence nor mercy. Letting the light of science upon the Buckstone, he +shows how it comes to be there; by the most natural of causes--simply +through the disintegration of a soft band of the old red sandstone +interposed between strata of its harder conglomerate. + +From beside this curious eccentricity of the weather-wearing forces is +obtained one of the finest views of all England, or rather a series of +them, forming a circular panorama. Turn what way one will the eye +encounters landscape as lovely as it is varied. To the east, +south-east, and south can be seen the far-spreading champaign country of +Gloucester, Somerset, and Devon, here and there diversified by bold, +isolated prominences, as the Cotswolds and Mendips, with a noble stream, +the Severn, winding snake-like along, and gradually growing wider, till +in funnel-shape it espouses the sea, taking to itself the title of +Channel. + +From the shores of this, stretching away northward, but west from the +Buckstone, is a country altogether different. No plains in that +direction worth the name, but hills and undulating ridges, rolling up +higher and higher as they recede, at length ending in a mountain +background, blue black, with a horizontal line which shows many a +curious _col_ and summit. + +The greater portion of this view is occupied by the shire of Monmouth, +its foreground being the valley of the Wye, where this river, after +running the gauntlet between English Bicknor and the Dowards, comes out +surging and foam-crested as a victorious warrior with his plumes still +unshorn. And as he in peaceful times might lay them aside, so the +fretted and writhing river, clot after clot, casts off its snowlike +froth, and, seemingly appeased, flows in tranquil current through the +narrow strip of meadow land on which stands the miniature city of +Monmouth. + +Although below the Buckstone, at least nine hundred of the thousand feet +by which this surmounts the sea's level, the point blank distance +between them is inside the range of modern great guns. And so well +within that of a field-glass that from the overhanging Forest heights +men could be distinguished in the streets of the town, or moving along +the roads that lead out of it. + +As already said, one of these is the Kymin, then the main route of +travel to Gloucester, by Coleford and Mitcheldean. Near where it +attains the Forest elevation, at the picturesque village of Staunton, a +lane branches off leading to the higher point on which stands the +Buckstone; a path running through woods, only trodden by the tourist and +others curious to examine the great balanced boulder. + +On that same afternoon and hour when the cadgers were toiling up the +Kymin Hill, two personages of very different appearance and character-- +both men--might have been seen entering into the narrower trackway, and +continuing on up towards the rock-crowned summit. + +On reaching it one of them drew out a telescope, and commenced adjusting +the lens to his sight. If his object was but to view the scenery there +was no need for using glass. Enough could be taken in by the naked eye +to satisfy the most ardent lover of landscape, though in September the +woods still wore their summer livery; for on Wye side it is late ere the +foliage loses its greenery, and quite winter before it falls from the +trees. Here and there only a dash of yellow, or a mottling of maroon +red, foreshadowed the coming change; but no russet-grey as yet. The +afternoon was one of the loveliest; not a cloud in the azure sky save +some low-lying fleecy cumuli, snow-white but rose-tinted, towards which +the sun seemed hastening as to a couch of repose. A cool breeze had +succeeded the sultriness of the mid-day hours; and, aroused from its +torpor, all animated nature was once more active and joyous. Out of the +depths of the High Meadow woods came the whistling call of stag and the +bleat of roebuck; from the pastures around Staunton the lowing of kine, +mingled with the neighing of a mother mare, in response to the "whigher" +of unweaned foal, while in Forest glade might now and then be heard +shrill cries of distress, where fierce polecat or marten had sprung upon +the shoulders of some hapless hare, there to clutch and cling till the +victim dropped dying on the grass. + +All the birds were abroad, some upon the trees, singing their evensong, +or making their evening meal; others soaring above, with design to make +a meal of them. Of these a host; for nowhere are the predatory species +more numerously represented than along the lower Wye. More numerous +then than now; though still may be seen there the fish-eating osprey; +oftener the kite, with tail forked as that of salmon; not unfrequently +the peregrine falcon in flight swift as an arrow, and squeal loud as the +neigh of a colt; and at all times the graceful kestrel, sweeping the air +with active stroke of wing, or poised on quivering pinions, as upon a +perch. + +In those days, eagles were common enough on the Wye; and just as the two +men had taken stand by the Buckstone, a brace of these grand birds came +over; the owners of an eyrie in the Coldwell rocks, or the Windcliff. +After a few majestic gyrations around the head of Staunton-hill, with a +scream, they darted across the river to Great Doward, and thence on to +quarter Coppet Wood. + +But he using the telescope, as his companion, took no more notice of +them than if they had been but skylarks. Nor looked they on that lovely +landscape with any eye to its beauties. They were neither tourists nor +naturalists, but soldiers; and just then, man, with his ways alone, had +interest for them. + +Both were in uniform; the elder--though there was no great difference in +their ages--wearing that of a Colonel in the Parliamentary army; a rank +which, in these modern days, when military titles are so lavishly +bestowed, would seem as nothing. But in those times of a truer +Conservatism, even though the social fabric was being shaken to its +foundation, a colonel held as high command as a major-general now. So +with him who had the telescope to his eye; for it was Colonel Edward +Massey, the military Governor of Gloucester. + +And the other was a colonel, too, on the Parliamentary side; though in +uniform of a somewhat irregular kind. Dressed as a Cavalier, but with +certain insignia, telling of hostility to the Cavalier's creed; one +especially proclaiming it, with bold openness--this, a bit of gold +embroidery on the velvet band of his hat, representing a crown, thrust +through and through by a rapier. Fair fingers had done that deft +needlework, those of Sabrina Powell. For he who displayed the defiant +symbol was Sir Richard Walwyn. + +Why the two colonels were together, and there, needs explanation. Many +a stirring event had transpired, many a bloody battle been fought, since +the surrender of Bristol to Rupert; and among them that most disastrous +to him as to the King's cause--Marston Moor. It had changed everything; +as elsewhere, freeing the Forest of Dean from the Royalist marauders, +who had been so long its masters. Massey had himself dealt them a +deadly blow at Beachley; routing Sir John Wintour's force, caught there +in the act of fortifying the passage a crass the Severn. + +That occurred but three days before, and the active Governor of +Gloucester having hastened on to Staunton, was now contemplating a +descent upon Monmouth. + +There was one who had pressed him to this haste, having also counselled +him to attempt the capture of the town. This, the man by his side. But +a woman, too, had used influence to the same end. Before sallying forth +from Gloucester, for Beachley, a girl--a beautiful girl--had all but +knelt at his feet, entreating him to take Monmouth. Nor did she make +any secret of why she wished this. For it was Vaga Powell, believing +that in Monmouth Castle there was a man confined, whose freedom was dear +to her as her own. But she feared also for his life, for it had come to +that now. The _lex talionis_ was in full, fierce activity, and +prisoners of war might be butchered in cold blood, or sent abroad, and +sold into slavery--as many were! + +Luckily for the young lady, her intercession with Massey was made at the +right time, he himself eagerly wishing the very thing she wanted. Ever +since becoming Governor of Gloucester, Monmouth had been a sharp thorn +in his side, compared with which Lydney was but a thistle. And now, +having laid the latter low--as it were, plucked it up by the roots--he +meant dealing in like manner with the former. To capture the saucy +little city of the Wye would be a _coup_, worth a whole year's +campaigning. With it under his control, soon would cease to be heard +that cry hitherto resonant throughout South Wales, "For the King!" To +still the hated shibboleth--alike hated by both--he and Sir Richard +Walwyn were now by the Buckstone, with eyes bent upon Monmouth. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY TWO. + +A RECONNAISSANCE. + +Instead of viewing the rural scenery, the two colonels had come there to +make a reconnaissance. The town itself, its fortified _enceinte_, the +gates piercing it, and the roads around, were the objects to which their +glances were given. And, for a time, all their attention was engrossed +by them, neither speaking a word. + +At length Massey, having made survey of them through the telescope, +handed it to the knight, saying,-- + +"So you think there's a chance of our taking the place?" + +Sir Richard but ran the glass around hastily. He had been up there +before, and more carefully reconnoitred, their chief object being to +ascertain the strength of the garrison. + +"Yes, your Excellency," he rejoined, "a chance, and something more, if +Kyrle prove true; or rather should I say, traitor. And," he added, with +a significant smile, "I think we can trust him to do that." + +"As it wouldn't be the first time for him, no doubt we can. He has +twice turned coat already. And's no doubt itching to give it another +shift, if he can but see the way without getting it torn from his back. +Marston Moor has had its effect on him, too, I suppose." + +"It has, and our affair at Beachley will strengthen it. He'll want to +be back on what he believes the winning side now more than ever. His +communication to me, though carefully worded, means that, if anything. +But we'll be better able to judge when our despatch-bearers report +themselves at High Meadow House. I think we may look for a letter from +him." + +It was at High Meadow House their men were encamped; the main body under +Massey having just arrived, while Sir Richard, with his troopers in +advance, had been there overnight. And that same morning the cadgers, +hastily summoned from their home at Ruardean, had been despatched to +Monmouth market: Jack, or rather the sister, with secret instructions, +and Jinkum with full panniers. + +"They ought to be back soon now," added Sir Richard, again raising the +glass to his eye, and turning it on the town, his object to see if the +market people had all gone away. + +When he last looked, they were streaming out through the gates, the +commercial business of the market being over long ago. And now there +were only some stragglers on the outgoing roads, men who had lingered by +the ale-houses in gossip, or standing treat to the ever-thirsty +soldiery. + +Just then there came within his field of view a group composed of +elements altogether different from the home-returning rustics. + +"What do you see?" asked Massey, observing the telescope steadied, and +the knight looking through it with fixed, earnest gaze. + +"A party of horse, carrying the lance--most of them." + +"Where?" + +"Just coming out of the northern gate." + +"A patrol, perhaps?" + +"No; something more. There are too many of them for that. Over a +hundred have passed out already. And--yes; prisoners with them?" + +"Let me have a look," said the Governor, stretching out his hand for the +telescope, which, of course, the other surrendered to him. Reluctantly +though, as Sir Richard felt more than a common interest in the prisoners +so escorted. + +"You're right," said Massey, soon as sighting them. "Prisoners they +have. But whither can they be taking them? That's the road to Ross." + +"To Hereford also, your Excellency. The route; are the same as far as +Whitchurch." + +"Ah, true. Still it's odd their starting out at such an hour! And why +carrying prisoners away to Hereford? Surely Monmouth Castle affords +gaol room enough. I hope it's not so full. If so, all the more reason +for our doing what we can to empty it." + +"I don't think they're for Hereford, either. If I'm not mistaken, I saw +something which tells of a different destination. If your Excellency +will allow me another look through the telescope, perhaps--" + +"Oh, by all means, take it!" said the Governor, interrupting, and again +handing over the glass. + +"Yes! just as I supposed they were--Harry Lingen's Horse!" exclaimed Sir +Richard, after viewing them for a second or two. "And those poor +fellows, their prisoners, likely enough are my own men--one of them, +though I can't identify him, my unfortunate troop captain, young Trevor. +They're _en route_ neither for Ross nor Hereford, but Goodrich Castle, +where Lingen has his headquarters. It's but a short six miles, which +may account for their setting out so late." + +"But Trevor's party was taken at a place near Ruardean--Hollymead House, +if I recollect aright." + +"True; the house of Master Ambrose Powell. It was there Lingen +surprised them, through a scoundrel who turned traitor." + +"Then why were they brought to Monmouth at all? Ruardean's but a step +from Goodrich." + +"Just so, your Excellency, I was puzzled about that myself up till this +morning. Now I know why, having got the information from our cadger +friends. It appears that when Lingen made his swoop on Hollymead he was +on the way to join Wintour at Beachley, so kept straight on through +Monmouth, where he dropped his _impedimenta_ of prisoners. On return +he's now picked them up again, and's taking them on to his own +stronghold." + +"That's it, no doubt," assented Massey. "But," he added, with a smile +of triumphant satisfaction, "whoever those captives be, pretty sure none +of them have been brought up from Beachley. Nor is their escort as +large as it might have been had Lingen left Wintour to himself. We gave +their ranks a good weeding there--all round." + +"Yes, indeed," rejoined the knight, rather absently, and with the +telescope still at his eye. He was endeavouring to make good the +identity of the captive party, and assure himself whether it was really +what he had conjectured it to be. + +But he could have little doubt, as he had none about the soldiers +forming their escort--Lingen's Horse to a certainty--a partisan troop, +variously armed, but most carrying the lance. And while he still +continued gazing at them, they commenced the ascent of the Ley's +_pitch_, which passes over the col between Little Doward and the Table +Mount, the road running through woods all the way. Under these they +were soon lost to his sight, and as the last lance with its pennon +disappeared below the tops of the trees, he lowered his telescope with a +sigh, saying,-- + +"What a pity the river's between, with a flood on! But for that we +might have crossed at Huntsholme, and caught up with them ere they +could--" + +He broke off abruptly at sound of footsteps: the tread of heavy boots, +with the chink of spurs, and the louder clank of a steel scabbard +striking against them. + +He making all these formidable noises was Sergeant Rob Wilde, seen +ascending the steep pitch, and evidently on some errand that called for +haste. + +Sir Richard, advancing to meet him, saw that he had something in his +hand, with a good guess as to what it was. + +"Jerky Jack ha' brought this, colonel," said the sergeant, saluting, as +he held out a slip of paper, folded and sealed. "He ha' just got up fra +Monnerth; an', accordin' to your command, I took it out o' his leg." + +"You did quite right, sergeant. Was there nothing more in the leg?" + +"Only some silver, colonel; the difference o' the money he got for the +fowls an' what he gied for the grocer goods. He stowed it theer, afeerd +o' the King's sodgers strippin' him o't." + +"A wise precaution on Jerky's part," observed the knight, with a smile. +"And called for, no doubt." + +Then, returning to where Massey stood awaiting him, he said,-- + +"We shall know now, your Excellency, what Kyrle means doing. This is +from him--I recognise the script." + +The superscription on the letter was only the initials "R.W.," Sir +Richard's own, who otherwise knew it was for himself, and while speaking +had broken open the seal. + +Unfolding the sheet, he saw what surprised and at first fretted him-- +that device borne on his hat and the standard of his troop--the +sword-pierced crown. It appeared at the head of the page, in rough +pen-and-ink sketch, and might be meant ironically. But no; the writing +underneath gave the explanation:-- + + "By the symbol above R.W. will understand that K. abjures the hatred + thing called `Kingship' henceforth and for ever. After this night he + will never draw sword in such a cause, and this night only to give it + a back-handed blow. R.W.'s proposal accepted. Plan of action thus:-- + M. at once to retire troops from High Meadow, news of which a + messenger already warned will bring hither post haste. But good + reason must be given for retiring, else K. might have difficulty + getting leave to go in pursuit. Withdrawal appearing compulsory, + there will be none. H., who commands here, is a conceited ass, + ambitious to cut a figure, and will rush into the trap as a rat after + cheese. R.W. may show this to M., and himself feel assured that if + the sword of his old comrade-in-arms be again employed in the service + of the P., it will cut keen enough to make up for past deficiencies, + which K. hopes and trusts will be forgiven and forgotten." + +No name was appended to the singular epistle nor signature of any kind. +It needed none. Sir Richard Walwyn knew the writer to be Robert Kyrle, +a lieutenant-colonel in the Royalist army, who at the beginning of the +war had drawn sword for the Parliament. In days gone by they had fought +side by side in a foreign land,--more recently in their own,--and Kyrle +could well call Sir Richard an "old comrade-in-arms." Now they were in +opposite camps; but if that letter could be relied upon as a truthful +exponent of the writer's sentiments, they were likely soon to be in the +same again. Already there had been a passage of notes between them, and +the knight had now a full comprehension of what his anonymous +correspondent meant, knew to whom the various initials referred--in +short, understood everything purposed and proposed. + +"What's your opinion of it, Colonel Walwyn?" asked the Governor, after +hearing the letter read, and receiving some necessary explanations. "Do +you think we can trust him?" + +"I do, your Excellency; feel sure of it now. I know Kyrle better than +most men, and something of his motives for going over to the other side. +Nothing base or cowardly in them; instead, rather honourable thin +otherwise. For, in truth, it was out of affection for his old father, +whose property was threatened with wholesale confiscation. Walford, up +the river, this side Ross, is their home. It is within cannon range of +Goodrich Castle, right under, and Lingen would have been sure to make a +ruin of it had Kyrle not gone over to the King. Now that the chances of +war are with us again, and he thinks that danger past, his heart bounds +back to what it once warmly beat for. I know it did, as he has oft told +me, in tent and by camp fire." + +"To what?" asked Massey, himself a veteran of the Low Country campaigns, +and feeling interest in souvenirs of sentiment. + +"This?" answered the knight, pointing to the device inside the letter, +still in his hand. "I believe he will be true to it now, as he +promises; and if we get nothing more by it than his sword, it's one +worth gaining, your Excellency. Than Kyrle I don't know braver or +better soldier." + +"Well, Colonel, since you seem so disposed to this thing, and confident +of success, I'm willing we should make the attempt. At the worst we can +but fail, though, indeed, failure may cost us a good many of our best +men. Best they must be to form the forlorn hope." + +"If your Excellency permit, I and my Foresters will form that. With my +confidence in them, and faith in Kyrle, I have no fear of failure--if +the details of our scheme be carried out as designed." + +"They shall be, Sir Richard, so far as I can effect it. You may rely +upon me for that. Nay, I leave the ordering and arrangement of +everything to yourself." + +"Thanks, your Excellency. But the sooner we set about it the better. +Kyrle, as you see, counsels the withdrawal at once." + +"But what about the reasons for doing so? Without that, he tells us--" + +"I've thought of that, too," interrupted Sir Richard, now all haste. +"It's part of my plan already arranged. But it will take a little time +to procure this reason, so that it may appear plausible--the time it +will take a man, mounted on a good horse, to gallop to Coleford and +back." + +"I don't quite comprehend you, Colonel. For what purpose this galloping +to Coleford?" + +"To get news from Gloucester--telling us it is threatened by Rupert." + +The Governor gave a start, as if actually being told it was so. Then, +recovering himself, as he saw the smile on Sir Richard's face, at the +same time catching the purport of his dubious words, he smiled, too, +admiringly upon the soldier knight, as he rejoined,-- + +"An admirable idea! It will do! But, as you say, Colonel, there must +be no time lost. The messenger must be despatched at once. So let us +back to High Meadow House." + +Saying which, he started off down the hill. + +Sir Richard was about to follow when his big sergeant, who had been all +the while standing near, stepped up to him, and saluting, said,-- + +"There be a woman as wants a word wi' ye, Colonel." + +"A woman! Who, Rob?" + +"Cadger Jack's sister." + +"Where is she?" + +"A little ways down the lane. I didn't like bringin' she up, fears you +or the Governor mightn't wish bein' intruded on. Besides, her business +be more wi' yerself, Colonel." + +"Well, Wilde," half jocularly returned the knight, "your discretion +seems on a par with your valour. But let us down, and hear what the +cadgeress has to say. If it be a question of squaring the market +account, you can take that upon yourself. I give you _carte blanche_ to +settle scores; and if they've brought back groceries, you may distribute +them among the men." + +"It bean't nothin' o' that Win want to speak ye about?" + +"What is it, then? You seem, to know." + +"There be herself, Colonel. Her can tell you better'n me." + +He pointed to the Forest Amazon, who but a short distance below stood by +the trunk of a tree, from behind which she had just stepped, Massey +having passed without seeing her. + +"Well, Mistress Winifred," said the knight, when near enough to commence +conversation, "my sergeant tells me you've something to say." + +"Only a word, your honour; an' I be's most feered to speak it, since it +ant a pleasant one." + +"Out with it, anyhow." + +"Him be wounded." + +"Who?" + +"The young officer as wor took at Hollymead--Captain Trevor." + +"Ha! Wounded, too! Who told you that?" + +"'Twor all about Monnerth the day, wheres him be in prison. I tried get +a chance to speak wi' he, but couldn't, bein' watched by the sodgers +roun' the Castle." + +"Did you hear whether his wound be serious?" + +"No, Sir Richard; nothin' more than that it wor from a gunshot, an' had +laid he up. Hope it won't signify no great deal; but I thought it +better you be told o't fores it reach the young lady at Gloster--so's +yer honour might break it to her a bit easier." + +"Very thoughtful of you, Mistress Winifred, and thanks! I'll endeavour +to do that." + +He passed on with quickened step and shadowed countenance. Eustace +Trevor, whom he had grown to regard as a brother, wounded! This was +news to him. And a gunshot wound which had laid him up--that looked +grave. + +All the more reason for taking Monmouth, and soon. But however soon, he +had a presentiment, and something more, it would be too late--so far as +finding Eustace Trevor there. He felt almost sure that, whether +slightly or severely wounded, his troop captain had been taken on to +Goodrich. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY THREE. + +HIGH MEADOW HOUSE. + +High Meadow House, where Massey's troops were quartered, was but a step +from the Buckstone. A first-class mansion it was, belonging to a +gentleman, by name Benedict Hall, and inhabited by him till within a few +days before. A large landowner, with estates both in the shires of +Gloucester and Hereford, he commanded some influence throughout the +Forest country, and being a bigoted Papist, he, of course, went for the +King and the devil, as those of his sort have ever done since Vaticanism +became a power upon the earth. + +But in something more than a mere sentimental way had the master of High +Meadow shown his political inclinings. Second only to those of the +silly old Marquis of Worcester, and the wicked Sir John Wintour, were +his services to the Royal cause in that quarter, his great wealth +enabling him to pay for soldiers, if he could not himself handle them. +More than one well-appointed squad had he armed and equipped at his own +expense, now sending subsidies to Wintour at Lydney, and now helping +Lord Herbert on the Monmouth side. Moreover, at the breaking out of +hostilities he had fortified High Meadow House, and ever since held it +with his own servants and hired retainers. + +His wife, a priest-ridden woman, had been prime inspirer and chief +instigator to all this, herself moving about among the men employed on +the defensive works, encouraging them with speech, and promises of +reward for devotion to the King's cause. + +There came a time, however, when this ultraloyal couple began to get +tired of the bauble which was costing them so dearly. For over two +years it had been a constant drain upon their resources: all output and +nothing returned, save the scantiest of thanks--such gratitude as might +be expected from princes, above all, one like Rupert. Had Benedict Hall +better held by his Bible, it would have warned him against the hollow +trust. The battle of Marston Moor did that more effectively than the +sacred Book; showed him the fool's part he had been playing, and that +likely a day was on the dawn when England's people would no longer be +the consenting slaves of Royal caprice. So, bitter Papists and +malignants as were he and his wife, their worship for Pope and King did +not blind them to coming events; and they had now turned their thoughts +to the rising sun. When the news came from the North of the Royalist +rout, and was followed by other adverses to the King's cause, Benedict +Hall, like many others of higher rank, hastened to change sides, or, at +all events, save himself by "compounding." Which, in reality, he +afterwards did, the wife, clever woman, conducting the negotiations with +the Parliamentary Committee. + +Ere this, however, on hearing of Wintour's defeat by the Wye's mouth, +they had forsaken their fortified mansion at High Meadow, betaking +themselves to Bristol; just as the master of Hollymead with his family +had fled to it many months before--both seeking it as a city of refuge, +but from enemies the very opposite! + +Even more abruptly, and in greater haste, had the Halls abandoned their +home, leaving behind, not only their furniture, but some of their most +cherished household gods. Provisions, too, in plenty--eatables and +drinkables, with the still undischarged staff of domestics. Snug +quarters for the Parliamentarians, fatigued after their sharp conflict +at Beachley, and difficult march through the Forest, with its tortuous +routes and steep pitches. + +As already said, Colonel Walwyn and his troopers had come on in advance, +Massey's men having but just arrived, when, forsaking saddle, he and Sir +Richard started off to the Buckstone to reconnoitre. + +Now returned from it, they looked upon a spectacle which, though of a +striking character, was not new to either of them. Huge fires blazed up +everywhere, with great joints of meat spitted and sputtering over them; +soldiers, with doublets off and shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, +knife in hand, still engaged in cutting up the beeves they had +butchered; hundreds of horses, with saddles off, standing haltered along +the walls, munching corn, which the master of High Meadow House had been +hoarding up for visitors who would have been more welcome. For, up to a +late period, he had been expecting Rupert and his Cavaliers to come that +way. + +The soldiers were in high glee, congratulating one another on the +comfortable quarters into which they had dropped. For at High Meadow +House they found not only full granaries, but a well-stocked larder and +cellar containing various potables. A portion of the last had been +already dealt out to them, and they were quaffing and laughing, one +giving ironical thanks to the absent host for having so thoughtfully +provided the entertainment, another in like strain drinking his health. + +The arrival of the Governor on the ground caused but a momentary +suspension of their boisterous mirth. Though a strict disciplinarian in +a military sense, Massey was aught but puritanical, and rather liked +seeing his soldiers enjoy themselves in a harmless way. Besides, he and +Colonel Walwyn--who, hurrying after, had overtaken him--at once went +inside the house, where dinner, already prepared, was awaiting them and +the other officers. + +Before sitting down to it, the Governor called for pen, ink, and paper, +and writing to Sir Richard's dictation, hastily scratched off a note, +which he handed to the latter, as they exchanged some words in +undertone. + +The knight, on taking it, passed hurriedly out to see close to the door +a horse under saddle and bridled with a trooper standing by his head. +That he expected this was evident by his saying,-- + +"You can mount now. Take this to Coleford. Give it to Major +Rowcroft,--into his own hands, mind you,--and stay there till he sends +you back. Don't spare your horse: ride whip and spur all the way." + +The soldier, an orderly, simply saluted as he took the folded sheet, +then slipping it under his doublet, sprang to the saddle, and went off +at a gallop through the gate. + +The bivouackers, inside the courtyard and without, having commenced +their Homeric repast, paid little heed to an incident so slight and of +such common occurrence. They were more interested in the roast beef, +with which the pastures around High Meadow House had provided them, and +the beer drawn from its subterraneous depositories. Good store of sack +had been found there too, with claret, metheglin, and other dainty +drinks. But these were reserved for the officers, who, in a somewhat +similar fashion, were making merry inside. + +For the better part of an hour was the feasting kept up, amid jest and +laughter, then, interrupted by the hoof-stroke of a horse in gallop, +afar off in the Forest when first heard, but at each repetition louder +and nearer, till at length the sound abruptly ceased. + +All listening knew why. The fast-riding horseman, whoever he was, had +pulled up by the out-picket, whose challenging hail could be faintly +heard through the trees. + +Time enough elapsed for the necessary parley and permission to pass on, +when the trampling recommenced, and soon after horse and rider were in +sight, still at a gallop, making direct for the gate of the fortified +mansion. + +Some who were expecting to see the orderly that had late ridden off saw +a different man, though to many of them no stranger. A dragoon orderly +too, but acting with the detachment at Coleford. His horse was in a +lather of sweat, tossing clots of froth from the champed bit back upon +his counter, as dashing in through the outer gate, he was drawn up at +the house door. + +On the stoup were several officers, who had just stepped out after +finishing dinner, Massey himself in their midst. + +"What is it?" he demanded, as the dragoon, springing down from the +saddle, advanced towards him. He was feigning ignorance, for he well +knew what it was. + +"Despatch from Major Rowcroft, your Excellency," answered the orderly, +presenting it. "H. commanded it brought in all haste, saying 'twas of +great importance." + +"Yes!" exclaimed the Governor, after tearing the sheet open, and giving +but a glance to the writing. "Major Rowcroft is right: it _is_ of great +importance. Gentlemen," he added, turning to his officers, and speaking +loud enough to be heard all over the place, "this is a serious matter. +Rowcroft advises me of news just reached Coleford that the Princes +Rupert and Maurice have united their forces, taken Stroud, Cirencester +too, and are supposed to be _en route_ for Gloucester. Our own city +threatened, we mustn't think more of Monmouth. Glorious old Gloucester, +that has so long defied all the strength of Cavalierism, with all its +malevolent spite! But we shan't let it fall; no! Let us get back there +without a moment's delay. So each of you to your respective commands. +Have your men in marching order within twenty minutes. I give you that, +and no more." + +No more was needed. The troops under Massey were too well-disciplined, +too often summoned into action with like suddenness, to go bungling +about getting ready for the route. + +Quick after his words came the notes of a bugle sounding the "assembly," +with other calls taken up by the trumpeters of the respective corps, +followed by a hurrying to and fro--horses un-haltered, bitted and +saddled, men buckling on swords, grasping lances, or adjusting +accoutrements; then trumpets once more commanding the "march," and in +less than the prescribed time neither trooper nor soldier of any sort +could be seen within the precincts of High Meadow House, or anywhere +around. + +But the place was not altogether deserted. The domestics and outdoor +servants of its absent owner were still there. In greater numbers now, +as many--came stealing from holes and corners, where they had been all +day hiding in fear of rough treatment by the Roundheads. + +Hall's head man, the steward of the estate, was among them, he too +having come from a place of concealment as soon as warned that the +troops had taken departure. Different from the rest, he was on +horseback. Nor did he alight. Instead, after getting their report, +from such of the house-servants as had been there all the while and +heard everything, he reined about and rode off again. Not to follow the +retiring Parliamentarians, but in quite the contrary direction. + +So, while Massey and his troops were on the march from High Meadow, +apparently _en route_ for Gloucester, a man--this same steward--was +riding down the Kymin at a breakneck pace, the bearer of glad news to +the Governor of Monmouth. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FOUR. + +OUT IN THE STORM. + +Though clear and placid had been the sky when the two colonels stood by +the Buckstone, in a few hours after it was all clouded. Night had +descended, but in addition to its natural darkness, the white fleecy +cumuli along the western horizon had turned black at the setting of the +sun; then rolled upward, overspreading heaven's whole canopy as with a +pall. But the obscurity was not continuous. The extreme sultriness of +the day had disturbed the electrical equilibrium of the atmosphere, +resulting in a thunderstorm of unusual violence. At intervals vivid +sheets of lightning illumined the firmament, while red zig-zagging +bolts, like arrows on fire, pierced the opaque clouds, bringing down +rain as at the Deluge. + +Between the flashes all was darkness; so dense that a traveller on the +Forest roads must needs stop till the blaze came again, else run the +risk of straying from the track, possibly to bring up against the trunk +of a tree. But it was a night on which no traveller would think of +venturing forth, and one already on the road would make for the nearest +shelter. + +Yet were there traveller abroad, or at least men on horseback, who +neither sought this nor seemed to regard the raging elements. About a +mile from High Meadow House, on the Coleford Road, a party of four might +be seen seated in the saddle under a spreading tree. That they were not +sheltering from the rain could be told by its pouring down upon them +through the leaves quickly as elsewhere, and their being already wet to +the skin. Shadow, for concealment, was evidently their object, though +at intervals the lightning interfered with it. But they were in such +position as to command a view of the road, and any one coming along it, +before being themselves observed. As now and then the blue electric +light gleamed around them, it could be seen that they were in uniform-- +an officer and three common troopers, one with trumpet in hand--while +their attitude of listening proclaimed them on picket duty. A vidette +it was, stationed to watch the approaches and give warning to a larger +force. + +Another might have been found at no great distance off, in a sequestered +glade of the forest, some hundreds of horsemen, who, as the party under +the tree, were all in their saddles, and alike disregarding the rain. +Silent as spectres were they, here and there only a muttered word, with +the champing of bits, and occasionally the louder clink of scabbard +against stirrup as some horse shied at the blinding flash. + +They, too, seemed listening, as indeed were they--especially a group of +officers near the outgoing of the glade--listening for a signal +preconcerted, and expected to come from the trumpeter under the tree. + +Nor were these the only soldiers abroad and voluntarily exposing +themselves to that drenching storm. While it was at its worst, a party +of Horse issued out of Monmouth, and, crossing the Wye bridge, took the +route up Kymin Hill. A small body it was, about forty in all, with but +two officers--he who commanded and a cornet, their arms and +accoutrements, as the light caparison of their horses, proclaiming them +on scout. + +As the lightning flashed upon a banneret carried by the cornet, it could +be seen to bear the emblem of a crown, while other specialities of +uniform and equipment betokened the little troop as belonging to the +army of the King, and therefore hostile to those halted in the forest +glade, whose insignia told them to be of the opposite party. + +It wanted an hour or more of midnight when the party from Monmouth, +after surmounting the Kymin steep, entered Staunton--to find the +villagers still awake and stirring. They had received news of Massey's +departure from the neighbourhood, so hastily as to seem a retreat, and, +indeed, knew the reason, or supposed they did, from the contents of that +Coleford despatch. Most of them being of Royalist proclivities, they +were sitting up in jubilance over the event. + +The soldiers made but short halt among them; just long enough to get +answer to some inquiries; then on to High Meadow House. + +Why thither none of the rank and file knew, not even the cornet. Alone +their commanding officer, who kept the true reason to himself, giving a +spurious one--that his object was to make sure of the place being in +reality abandoned. A weak force as they were, it would not do to +advance farther along the Coleford road, should there chance to be an +enemy in their rear. + +This seemed reasonable enough, nor were the men loth to accept it. On +such a night shelter was above all things desirable, and they were sure +to find snug quarters at the mansion of High Meadow, hoping their +commander would let them stay there till the storm came to an end. + +Just as they turned off the high road, or scarce a minute after, a +solitary figure came gliding along from the Staunton side, and passed on +towards Coleford. Afoot it was, wrapped in a cloak, with hood, which, +covering the head, left visible only a portion of the face. Tall, and +of masculine proportions, otherwise it might have been taken as the +figure of a man, but for a certain boldness, yet softness of outline, +which betokened it that of a woman. And a woman it was--the cadgeress. + +She had followed the Royalist troopers from Staunton, silently, +stealthily, and at safe distance behind. But as they turned off the +main road, she, still keeping to it, broke into a run, not slowing again +till she stood under the tree where the four Parliamentarians were on +picket. By the fitful flashes these had seen her making approach, at +least three of the four knowing who it was--Sir Richard Walwyn; he who +had the trumpet, Hubert; and one of the troopers, wearing the _chevrons_ +of a sergeant, Rob Wilde. + +That she in turn recognised them, and had been expecting to find them +there, was evinced by her behaviour. For when she thought herself +within hearing, she called out,-- + +"Cavalieres turned off and goed for High Meadow House. 'Bout forty +theys be in all." + +"Sound the signal, Hubert!" said Sir Richard, in command to his +trumpeter, adding to the big sergeant, "Ride back, Rob, and tell Captain +Harley to bring on our men as rapidly as possible." + +The lightning still flashed and forked, with loud thunder, now in quick +claps, now in prolonged reverberation. But between came the notes of a +cavalry bugle, in calls, which, reaching the glade where Massey's men +sat waiting in their saddles, caused a pricking of spurs, and a quick +forward movement at the command, "March!"--word most welcome to all. + +Meanwhile, the soldiers from Monmouth had reached Hall's house to find +no enemy there, only some servants, who at first took them for a +returned party of Parliamentarians. But the steward, who had been +detained on the way, riding up the instant after, reassured the +frightened domestics. + +Besides what these had to tell, there were other evidences of the +hurried evacuation. On tables everywhere was a spread of viands only +partially consumed, with tankards of ale unemptied, and inside the house +bottles of wine, some yet uncorked. + +The Cavalier soldiers were not the sort to hasten away and leave such +tempting commodities untouched. And, as their commanding officer seemed +not objecting, they were out of their saddles in a trice, eating and +drinking as though they had that day gone without either breakfast or +dinner. + +The stable mangers, too, were full of beans and barley, left uneaten by +the horses of the Parliamentarians, to which their own animals fell with +a hungry voracity equalling that of their masters. + +Short time was allowed them for this greedy gormandising. Scarce had +they taken seat by the tables when a trampling of hoofs was heard all +around the house, louder on the stone pavement by the gate, from which +came the shout "Surrender!" the same voice adding, "'Twill be idle for +you to resist. We are Massey's men, and fifty to your one. If you wish +your lives spared, cry `Quarter,' or we cut you to pieces." + +The carousing Royalists were taken completely by surprise. In fancied +security, thinking the Parliamentarian force _en route_ for Gloucester, +and far on the way, they had neither placed picket nor set sentry; and +the house being fortified, there was no exit from it save by the one +gate, now blocked up, as they could see, by a solid body of horse. They +were literally in a trap, with no chance to get out of it, for, by the +multitudinous hoof-clattering outside, they knew the words "fifty to +one" were not far from the truth. + +Alone, the cornet got off afoot by a desperate leap into the ditch at +back; stealing away unseen in the darkness. The rest made no attempt, +either at escape or resistance. They but stood, terror-stricken, to +hear the threat-- + +"Speak, quick, or we open fire on you!" Then, at least, half of them +called out "Quarter!" without waiting word or sign from their leader. + +What followed, however, showed that he sanctioned it. As the +Parliamentarian troopers came riding in through the gate he advanced to +meet them, with drawn sword, hilt outward, which he handed to the +officer at their head. + +As the latter took it, a smile of peculiar significance was exchanged +between the two, with words equally strange, inaudible save to +themselves. + +"Glad to have you back with us, Kyrle." + +"Not more than I to get back, Walwyn. God knows! I've had enough of +Rupert, and his rascals." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FIVE. + +A TOWN CLEVERLY TAKEN. + +About an hour after the capture of Kyrle's party, a body of horse, +numbering over one hundred, might have been seen descending the Kymin +towards Monmouth. The fury of the storm had worn itself out, the +downpour of rain being succeeded by a drizzle, while the lightning only +flickered faintly, and at long intervals, the thunder muttering low and +distant. But the darkness was deep as ever, and the horsemen rode down +the steep incline at a slow, creeping pace, as if groping their way. In +silence too, neither word of command, nor note of bugle, directing their +march. + +Had there been light enough to give a good view of them, it might have +been guessed that something other than the darkness and difficulty of +the path was causing them to advance in this noiseless, deliberate +manner. For at their head would have been seen Kyrle himself; no +prisoner now, on parole or otherwise, but with sword restored, and in +every way acting as their commanding officer! And by his side one who +carried a troop flag, with a crown upon its field, the same which had +been left behind by the escaped cornet. The captured troopers were +there too--as at first glance any one would suppose--forming a +half-score files in front of the marching line, with a like number in +rear. Only in seeming, however--only their uniforms and equipments--for +they themselves were at that moment shut up in a cellar of High Meadow +House, where Benedict Hall had erst incarcerated many a rebel and +recusant. + +A different set of men were now wearing their doublets and carrying +their accoutrements in the descent of the Kymin Hill, and any one +familiar with the faces of Sir Richard Walwyn's Foresters would have +recognised some forty of them thus partially disguised, with nigh twice +as many more in their uniforms there, the last apparently disarmed and +conducted as prisoners, their place being central in the line! + +In rear of all was the knight himself, with his new troop captain, +Harley; Sergeant Wilde and Hubert the trumpeter constituting the file +immediately in front of them--all four, as the others, seemingly without +arms. + +That his oddly composed cohort had some strategic scheme in view was +evident from the cautious silence in which they advanced. And at +intervals, Kyrle, reining his horse to one side, would wait till the +rearmost file came up; then, after exchanging a word or two with Colonel +Walwyn, spur back to his place in the lead. + +Thus noiselessly they descended the long, winding slope; but when near +its bottom, and within some three or four hundred yards of the bridge, +all was changed. The troopers began to talk to one another, Kyrle +himself having given them the cue. Loudly and boisterously, with a tone +of boasting, their speech interspersed with peals of light, joyous +laughter. All this meant for the ears of those on guard at the bridge +gate. + +A sufficiently strong force was stationed there, and with fair vigilance +were they guarding it. For although Massey had been reported as on +hurried return to Gloucester, the fugitive cornet, having found his way +back, had brought with him a different tale. Afoot, and delayed by +losing his way, he had but just passed over the bridge and on to the +castle, after saying some words that left the guard in a state of alarm. + +It was more bewilderment, as the men seemingly so merry drew near, +invisible through the pitchlike darkness. At least a hundred there must +be, as told by the pattering of their horses' hoofs on the firm +causeway. Kyrle's scouting party had gone out not half this number, yet +there was Kyrle himself, talking and laughing the loudest. Many of the +guard--officers and soldiers--knew his voice well, and could not be +mistaken about it. What then meant the sooner return of the cornet, +without his standard, and with a tale of disaster? Had he retreated +from a conflict still undecided, afterwards ending in favour of the +Royalist forces? It might be so. + +By this the approaching party had got nearly up to the gate, in front of +which the causeway showed a wide gap, and through it, far below, the +flooded river surging angrily on. The officer in command of the guard +was about to call out, "Who comes?" when anticipated by a hail from the +opposite side, pronounced in tone of demand,--"Hoi over there! Let the +drawbridge down!" + +"For whom?" + +"Kyrle and party. We've taken prisoners threescore Roundheads, and sent +as many more to kingdom come. Be quick, and let us in. We're soaking +wet, and hungry as wolves!" + +"But, Colonel Kyrle," doubtingly objected the officer, "your cornet has +just passed in, with the report that you and your party were made +prisoners! How is it--" + +"Oh, he's got back, has he?" interrupted the ready Kyrle, though for an +instant non-plussed. "The coward! And double scoundrel, telling such a +tale to screen himself! Why, he dropped his standard at sight of the +enemy, and skulked off before we had come to blows! Ah! I'll make +short work of it with him." + +While he was speaking there came a flash of lightning more vivid than +any that had late preceded, bright enough and sufficiently prolonged for +the soldiers on guard to see those on the other side of the chasm +throughout the whole extended line. In front some half-score files of +Kyrle's Light Horse, whose uniform was well-known, with a like number in +the rear, and between, with heads drooped, and looking dejected, the +prisoners he had spoken of. + +The spectacle seemed to prove his words true. Under the circumstances +who could think them false? Who suspect him of treason? + +Not the officer in command of that guard, anyhow; who, without further +hesitation or parley, gave orders for the lowering of the bridge. + +Down it went, and over it rode a hundred and odd men, counting the +supposed Royalists and their unarmed prisoners. But soon as inside the +gate, all seemed to be armed, prisoners as well as escort, the former +suddenly bristling with weapons, which they had drawn from under their +doublets to the cry, "For God and Parliament!" The opposing shout, "For +God and the King?" was stifled almost soon as raised, the bridge guard +being instantly overpowered, many of them cut down, and killed outright. + +Then a larger and heavier force, that had been following down the Kymin +Hill, Massey's main body, came on at full gallop, over the drawbridge +and through the gate. There, taking up the cry, "God and Parliament!" +they went rattling on through the streets of the town, clearing them of +all hostile opposition, and capturing everybody who showed a rag of +Royalist uniform. + +When the morning's sun rose over Monmouth, from its castle turrets +floated a flag very different from that hitherto waving there. The +glorious standard of Liberty had displaced the soiled and blood-stained +banner of the Stuart Kings. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SIX. + +AWAITING WAR NEWS. + +"What a life we've been leading, Sab! Shut up in cities as birds in a +cage! Now nearly two years of it, with scarce ever a peep at the dear, +delightful country. Oh! it's a wretched existence." + +"It's not the pleasantest, I admit." + +"And in this prosaic city, Gloucester." + +"Ah, Vag, don't speak against Gloucester. Think what her citizens have +suffered in the good cause. And how well they have borne themselves! +But for their bravery and fidelity, where might we be now? Possibly in +Bristol. How would you like that?" + +"Not at all," returned Vag, with a shrug and grimace, the name of +Bristol recalling souvenirs aught but agreeable to her. + +"Well," resumed Sabrina, "life there is not prosaic, anyhow--if there be +poetry in scandal. Very much the reverse, I should say, supposing half +of what's reported be true. But I wonder how our foolish aunt, and +equally foolish cousin, are comporting themselves under the changed +circumstances?" + +"Oh! they're happy enough, no doubt; everything just as they wished it. +Plenty of titled personages flitting and figuring around--at least three +princes of the blood royal, with an occasional chance of their seeing +the King himself. Won't Madame open wide the doors of Montserrat House. +As for Clarisse, I shouldn't be surprised at her making a grand +marriage of it, becoming baroness duchess, or something of that sort. +Well, I won't envy her." + +Vaga Powell could afford to speak thus of her Creole cousin, with light +heart now, all envy and jealousy having long since gone out of it. + +"Let us hope nothing worse," rejoined the elder sister, with a doubting +look, as though some painful thought were in her mind. "Clarisse is +very, very imprudent, to say the least of it." + +"And very wicked, to say nothing more than the most of it. But what +need we care, Sab, since we neither of us ever intend going near the +Lalandes again? After the way they behaved to us, well--" + +"Well, let us cease speaking of them, and turn to some pleasanter +subject." + +"Ay, if that were possible. Alas! there's none very pleasant now--every +day new anxieties, new fears. I wish this horrid war were at an end, +one way or the other, so that we might get back to dear old Hollymead." + +"Don't say one way or the other, Vag. If it should end in the King +being conqueror, Hollymead will be no more a home for us. It would even +cease to belong to us." + +"I almost wish it never had." + +"Why that?" + +"You should know, Sab. But for my father sending him there after those +worthless things, he would not now be--" + +"Dear Vaga!" interrupted the elder sister entreatingly. "For your life +do not let father hear you speak in that strain. 'Twould vex him very +much, and, as you yourself know, he has grieved over it already." + +"Ah, true. I won't say a word about it again, in his hearing, anyhow-- +you may trust me. But it's hard to think of my dear Eustace being in a +prison--shut up in a dark dungeon, perhaps hungering, thirsting, and, +worse than all, suffering ill-treatment at the hands of some cruel +jailer." + +She was justified in calling him her "dear Eustace" now, and giving him +all her sympathies. Since that night of perverse misconceptions at +Montserrat House there had been many an interview between them; the +thread of their interrupted dialogue by Ruardean Hill had been taken up +again, and spun into a cord which now bound them together by vows of +betrothal. + +Of their engagement Sabrina was aware, and under the like herself, she +could well comprehend her sister's feelings. True, her betrothed was +not in a prison, but she knew not how soon he might be--or worse, dead +on the battlefield. Invincible as she believed him, war had its adverse +fates, was full of perils, every day, as the other had said, fraught +with new anxieties and fears. Concealing her own, she essayed to dispel +those of her sister, rejoining,-- + +"Nonsense, Vag. Nothing so bad. Why should they treat him with +cruelty?" + +"You forget that they call him renegade. And they on the King's side +are most spiteful against all who turn from them. Think how his own +cousin acted towards him; and 'tis said his father disowned him. +Besides, other prisoners have been scandalously treated by the +Cavaliers, some even tortured. And they may torture him." + +"No fear of their doing that. Even if disposed they're not likely to +have the opportunity." + +"But they have it now." + +"Not quite." + +"I don't comprehend you, Sab." + +"It's very simple. Heartless as many of the Royalists leaders are, and +vindictive, they will be restrained by the thought of retaliation. At +this time our people hold two prisoners to their one. A large number of +these Monmouth men, with their officers, have been taken at Beachley, +and that will insure humane treatment to your Eustace. So make you mind +easy about him." + +It became easier as she listened to the cheering words, almost reassured +by others spoken in continuation. + +"In any case," pursued Sabrina, "his captors are not likely to have the +time for _torturing_, as you put it. Richard's last letter says he and +his troops were at High Meadow House--the Halls', near Staunton, you +know?" + +"That Papist family; great friends of Sir John and Lady Wintour. I +remember their place. Well?" + +"He was there in advance, awaiting the Governor to come up, with every +hope of their being able to take Monmouth. If they succeed, and they +will--I feel sure they will, Vag--then Eustace will be a free man, and +all of us go back to Hollymead, with not much danger of being again +molested." + +"Oh?" exclaimed the younger sister, overjoyed by the prospect thus +shadowed forth, "wouldn't that be delightful! Back at the dear old +place. Once more our walks and rides through the Forest. Our hawking, +too. Bless me! my pretty Pers and your Mer, I suppose they won't know +us! I trust Van Dom hasn't neglected them, nor my Hector either." + +And so she ran on, in the exuberance of her new-sprung hopes seemingly +forgetting him around whom they all centred. Only for an instant +though. Without Eustace Trevor by her side the Forest walks and rides, +with Hollymead and its hawking,--would have less attraction for her now. +Wherever he might be, that were the place of her choice, thenceforth +and for ever. So soon the thought of his being in a prison, with fears +of something worse, came back in all its bitterness. + +And the shadow of returned anxiety was again visible on the brow of +Sabrina. A fortified town to be taken there would needs be fighting of +a desperate kind--her lover in the thick of it. A forlorn hope for +storming, who so like as her soldier knight to be the leader of it? He +had been so at Beachley, and proud was she on hearing of his +achievements there. But at the thought of his now again undergoing such +risk, with all the uncertainties of war--that he might fall before the +ramparts of Monmouth, even at that moment be lying lifeless in its +trenches--her heart sank within her. + +For a time both were silent. Then Sabrina, with another effort to +cast-off the gloomy reflections, which she saw were also affecting her +sister, said,-- + +"Richard promised to write again last night, or early this morning, if +there should be anything worth writing about. He hasn't written last +night, or the letter would have been here now. If this morning, I may +soon expect it. His messengers are never slow, and a man on a swift +horse should ride from High Meadow House to Gloucester in two hours, or +a little over." + +From her belt she drew a quaint, three-cornered watch to ascertain the +correct time. Correct or not, its hands pointed to 10 a.m. A messenger +from the High Meadow could have been there before if sent off at an +early hour, and on an errand calling for courier-speed. + +Perhaps no reason had arisen for such, and consoling herself with this +reflection, she resumed speech, saying,-- + +"Anyhow, we may make sure of getting news before noon, some kind or +other. The Governor will be sending a despatch to the Committee, and +one may have already reached them. We shall know when father returns." + +The last remark had reference to the fact of Ambrose Powell being one of +the Parliamentary Commissioners for the Gloucester district, and just +then in committee. + +But the anticipated news reached them without being brought by him. As +they stood conversing in an embraced window, which, terrace-like, +overhung the street, they heard a clattering of hoofs, almost at the +same instant to see a horseman coming on at quick pace. When opposite +the house in which they were, he halted, flung himself out of the +saddle, and disappeared from their sight under the projecting balcony. +Long ere this they had recognised Sir Richard's henchman Hubert. + +There was a loud rat-tat-tat at the street door, and soon after a gentle +tapping against that of their room, which both recognised as from the +knuckles of Gwenthian, simultaneously exclaiming, "Come in." + +In came she with a letter that seemed terribly soiled and crumpled. + +"Hubert has brought this, my lady," she said, holding it towards +Sabrina, for whom the sharp-witted Welsh maid knew it was meant. "Poor +man! he be wet to the skin, and all over mud, and looks as if just +dropped out of a duck pond." + +The "poor man" was but a mild, evasive form of expressing her sympathy. +Had she put it as she felt, it would have been "dear man," for long ago +had Gwenthian entered into tender relations with the trumpeter. + +Neither of the sisters gave ear to what she was saying, for the elder +had snatched the letter out of her hand, and torn it open on the +instant, while the younger stood by in eager, anxious attitude. + +There was contentment in Sabrina's eyes as she glanced at the +superscription. It became joy on reading the first words written +inside, and she cried out, in tone of enthusiastic triumph,-- + +"Glorious news, sister! They've taken Monmouth?" + +"They have! Heaven be praised!" Sabrina was about to read the letter +aloud, when some words caught her eye which admonished first running it +over to herself hastily, as the other was all impatience. It ran:-- + + "My love,--We are inside Monmouth, thanks to little strategy I was + able to effect, with the help of an old Low Country comrade, Kyrle, of + Walford, whom you may know. For all, we had some sharp fighting by + the bridge gate, where Kyrle proved himself worthy of his ancient + repute as soldier and swordsman. Had we failed there this letter + would not have been written, unless, perhaps, inside a prison. And + now on that subject I'm sorry to say E. Trevor is still in one, but, + unluckily, not at Monmouth. Taken by Harry Lingen from the Hereford + side, they have carried him off that way, likely to Goodrich Castle. + What's worse, he has been wounded; whether severely or not, I haven't + yet been able to ascertain. Soon as I can learn for certain where he + is, and what the nature of his hurt, you shall hear from me, as I know + your sister will be in a sad state of anxiety. We've made many + prisoners, and now, commanding Monmouth, may hope to gather in a good + many more. If we succeed in clearing the Wye's western bank of the + wolves so long infesting it you may all safely return to Hollymead." + +The letter did not conclude quite so abruptly. There were some +expressions tenderer and of more private nature, which she was scarce +permitted to read, much less dwell upon. For Vaga, all the while gazing +in her face with a look of searching interrogation, saw a shadow pass +over it, and unable longer to bear the suspense, cried out,-- + +"There's something wrong? Ah! it's Eustace; I know it is!" + +"Nothing wrong with him more than we knew of already. He is still a +prisoner; but, of course, not at Monmouth, or he'd have been released. +They have taken him away from there, as Richard thinks, to Goodrich +Castle." + +There was that in her manner, with the words and their tone of +utterance, which led to a suspicion of either subterfuge or reticence. +And Vaga so suspecting, with another searching look into her eyes, +exclaimed,-- + +"You've not told me all. There's something in that letter you fear to +communicate. You need not, Sab. I'll try to be brave. Better for me +to know the worst. Let _me_ read it." + +Thus appealed to the elder sister gave way. The thing she desired to +conceal must become known sooner or later. Perhaps as well, if not +better, at once. + +Tearing off that portion of the sheet on which were the words of +tenderness concerning only herself, she passed the other into the hands +of her sister, saying,-- + +"All's there that interests you, Vag; and don't let it alarm you. +Remember that wounds are always made more of than--" + +"Wounded!" came the interrupting cry from Vaga's lips, intoned with +agony. "He's wounded--it may be to death! I shall go to Goodrich. If +he die, I die with him!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. + +OLD COMRADES. + +"Well, Dick, for a man who's just captured a city, you look strangely +downhearted--more like as if you'd been captured yourself." + +It was Colonel Robert Kyrle who made the odd observation; he to whom it +was addressed being Colonel Sir Richard Walwyn. The time was between +midnight and morning, some two hours after Monmouth had succumbed to +their strategic _coup-de-main_; the place Kyrle's own quarters, whither +he had conducted his old comrade-in-arms to give him lodgment for the +rest of the night. + +Snug quarters they were, in every way well provided. Kyrle was a man of +money, and liked good living whether he fought for King or for +Parliament. A table was between them, on which were some remains of a +supper, with wines of the best, and they were quaffing freely, as might +be expected of soldiers after a fight or fatiguing march. + +"Yet to you," added Kyrle, "Massey owes the taking of Monmouth." + +"Rather say to yourself, Kyrle. Give the devil his due," returned the +knight, with a peculiar smile. + +Notwithstanding his serious mood at the moment, he could not resist a +jest so opportune. He knew it would not offend his old comrade, as it +did not. On the contrary, Kyrle seemed rather to relish it, with a +light laugh rejoining,-- + +"Little fear of him you allude to being cheated of his dues this time. +No doubt for all that's been done I'll get my full share of credit, +however little creditable to myself. They'll call me all sorts of +names, the vilest in the Cavalier vocabulary; and, God knows, it's got a +good stock of them. What care I? Not the shaking of straw. My +conscience is clear, and my conduct guided by motives I'm not ashamed +of--never shall be. You know them, Walwyn?" + +"I do, and respect them. I was just in the act of explaining things to +Massey up by the Buckstone when your letter came--that carried in the +cadger's wooden leg." + +"Most kind of you, Dick; though nothing more than I expected. Soon as I +heard of your being at the High Meadow, I made up my mind to join you +there, even if I went alone as a common deserter. Never was man more +disgusted with a cause than I with Cavalierism. It stinks of the +beerhouse and _bagnio_; here in Monmouth spiced with Papistry--no +improvement to its nasty savour. But the place will smell sweeter now. +I'll make it. Massey has told me I'm to have command." + +"You are the man for it," said the knight approvingly. "And I am glad +he has given it to you. Nothing more than you're entitled to, after +what you've done." + +"Ah! 'tis you who did everything--planned everything. What clever +strategy your thinking of such a ruse!" + +"Not half so clever as your carrying it out." + +"Well, Dick, between us we did the trick neatly, didn't we?" + +"Nothing could have been better. But how near it came to miscarrying! +When they flung that Cornet in your teeth I almost gave it up." + +"I confess to some misgiving myself then. It looked awkward for a +while." + +"That indeed. And how you got out of it! Your tale of his cowardice, +and threat to make short work with him, were so well affected I could +scarce keep from bursting into laughter. But what a simpleton that +fellow who had command of the bridge guard! Was he one of those we cut +down, think you?" + +"I fancy he was, and fear it. Among my late comrades there were many I +liked less than he." + +"And the Cornet, to whom you gave credit for making such good use of his +heels. Has he escaped?" + +"I've no doubt he's justified what I said of him by using them again. +He's one that has a way of it. I suspect a great many of them got off +on the other side--more than we've netted. But we shall know in the +morning when we muster the birds taken, and beat up the covers where +some will be in hiding. Hopelessly for them, as I'm acquainted with +every hole and corner in Monmouth." + +There was a short interval of silence, while Kyrle, as host, leant over +the table, took up a flagon of sack, and replenished their empty cups. +On again turning to his guest he could see that same expression, which +had led to him thinking him downhearted. Quite unlike what face of man +should be wearing who had so late gained glory--reaped a very harvest of +laurels--on more than one battlefield. The exciting topics just +discoursed upon had for a time chased it away, but there it was once +more. + +"Bless me, Walwyn! what is the matter with you?" asked Kyrle, as he +pushed the refilled goblet towards him. "You could not look more sadly +solemn if I were Prince Rupert, and you my prisoner. Well, old +comrade," he went on, without waiting for explanation, "if what's +troubling you be a secret, I shan't press you to answer. A love affair, +I suppose, so won't say another word." + +"It _is_ a love affair in a way." + +"Well, Walwyn! you're the last man I'd have looked for to get his heart +entangled--" + +"You mistake, Kyrle. It has nothing to do with my heart--in the sense +you're thinking of." + +"Whose heart then, or hearts? For there must be a pair of them." + +"You know young Trevor?" + +"I know all the Trevors--at least by repute." + +"He I refer to is Eustace--son of Sir William, by Abergavenny." + +"Ah! him I'm not personally acquainted with; though he's been here for +several days--in prison. Lingen's men took him at Hollymead House, near +Ruardean; brought him on to Monmouth on their way to Beachley; and going +back have carried him with them to Goodrich Castle. They left but +yesterday, late in the evening. He's got a wound, I believe." + +"Yes. It's about that I'm uneasy. Can you tell me anything as to the +nature of it? Dangerous, think you?" + +"That I can't say, not having seen him myself. Some one spoke of his +arm being in a sling. Likely it's but a sword cut, or the hack of a +halbert. But why are you so concerned about him, Dick? He's no +relative of yours." + +"He's dearer to me than any relative I have, Kyrle. I love him as I +would a brother. Besides, one, in whom I am interested, loves him in a +different way." + +"Ah, yes! the lady of course; prime source and root of all evil." + +"In the present case the source of something good, however. But for the +lady, in all likelihood Monmouth would still be under Royalist rule-- +nay, I may say surely would." + +"How so, Walwyn? What had she to do with the taking of Monmouth?" + +"A great deal--everything. She was the instigator; her motive you may +guess." + +"I see; to get young Trevor out of prison. Well!" + +"I had some difficulty in convincing Massey the thing was possible; and, +but for her intercession with him, I might have failed doing so. Our +success at Beachley, however, settled it; especially when I laid before +him the scheme we've been so fortunate in accomplishing." + +"Well, we should thank the lady for it. May I know who she is?" + +"Certainly. The daughter of Ambrose Powell, of Hollymead." + +"Ah! That explains why Trevor was there when taken?" + +"In a way, it does." + +"I've but slight acquaintance with Powell, myself; though, as +neighbours, we were always on friendly terms. He and his family are now +in Gloucester, are they not?" + +"They are. For a time they stayed at Bristol--up to the surrender." + +"Luckily they're not there now. A sweet place that for anything in the +shape of a young lady. Master Powell may thank his good star for +getting him and his out of it. Two daughters he has, if I remember +rightly, with names rather singular--Sabrina and Vaga?" + +"They are so named." + +"With whom is young Trevor in relations?" + +"The younger, Vaga. Poor girl! she'll be terribly disappointed when she +hears of his having been carried on out of our reach, and so near being +rescued!" + +"Out of our reach!" said Kyrle, an odd expression coming over his +features, as if some thought had struck him. "Is that so sure?" + +"Why not? He's in Goodrich Castle. You don't think it possible for us +to take it?" + +"Not at present; though, by-and-by, it may be within the possibilities. +No man wishes more than I to see the proud pile razed to the ground, and +Henry Lingen hanged over the ruins. Many the fright he has given my +poor father with his cowardly threats. But I hope getting quits with +him before the game's at an end." + +"What chance then of rescuing Trevor? Have you thought of any?" + +"I have. And not such a hopeless one either. You're willing to risk +something to get him free?" + +"Anything! My life, if need be." + +"That risk will be called for; mine too, if we make the attempt I'm +thinking of." + +"An attempt! Tell me what it is. For heaven's sake, Kyrle, don't keep +me in suspense!" + +"It's this, then. Lingen, it appears, don't intend lodging any +prisoners in Goodrich Castle. Since the affair at Beachley he has some +fear of his castle being besieged; and in a siege the more mouths the +worse for him. By the merest accident I heard all this yesterday; and +that the party he took away from here will be sent on to Hereford under +escort first thing to-morrow morning--that is this morning, since it's +now drawing up to it." + +"I think I comprehend you, Kyrle." + +"You'd be dull if you didn't, Walwyn." + +"You mean for us to strike out along the Hereford Road, and intercept +the escort?" + +"Just so. 'Twill be venturing into the enemy's ground dangerously far; +but with a bold dash we may do it." + +"We _will_ do it!" + +"What about leave from Massey? Do you think there will be any +difficulty in our getting that?" + +"I don't anticipate any. In my case he can't object. My command is +independent of him; the troop my own; and, though now numbering little +over a hundred, they are Foresters, and I've no fear to match them +against twice their count of Lingen's Lancers--the gentlemen of +Hereford, as they style themselves." + +"Then you agree to it? We go if Massey gives permission?" + +"I go, whether he gives it or not. In fact, I don't feel much caring to +ask him." + +"Egad! that may be the best way, and I'm willing to risk it too. +Suppose we slip out without saying a word? Time's everything. Our only +chance with the escort will be to take them by surprise--an ambuscade. +For that we'll have to be well along the Hereford road before daylight. +I know the very spot; but we must be into the saddle at once." + +"Then at once let us into it!" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT. + +BETWEEN TWO PRISONS. + +In Parliamentary war times English roads were very different from what +they are of to-day. Those of the shires bordering Wales were no better +than bridle paths, generally following the routes of ancient British +trackways, regardless of ups and downs. Travel over them was chiefly in +the saddle or afoot, traffic by pack-horse, wheels rarely making mark on +them save when some grand swell of the period transported his family +from town to country house. Then it was a ponderous coach of the +chariot order, swung on leathern springs--such as the gossipy Pepys and +Sir Charles Grandison used to ride in--calling for at least four horses, +with a retinue of attendants. These last armed with sword and pistol +for protection against robbers, but also, pioneer fashion, carrying +spade and axe to fill up ruts, patch broken bridges, and cut down +obstructing trees. + +Where the routes ran over hills, the causeway, sunk below the level of +the adjacent land, was more like the bed of a dry watercourse than a +highway of travel; this due to the wear of hoof and washing away by +rains. There was no Macadam then to keep the surface to its normal +height by a compensating stratum of stone; and in many places the +tallest horseman, on the back of a sixteen-hands horse would see a cliff +on either side of him, its crest barely touchable with the stock of his +whip. Often half a mile or more of this ravine-like road would be +encountered, so narrow that vehicles meeting upon it could not by any +possibility pass each other; one of them must needs back again, perhaps, +hundreds of yards! To avoid such _contretemps_, the husbandman who had +occasion to carry corn to the mill, or produce to the market town, in +his huge lumbering wain, was compelled by law to announce its approach +by a jangle of big bells, or the blowing of a horn! + +Yet over these ancient highways--many of them still in existence--the +Roman legionaries of Ostorius Scapula had borne their victorious eagles; +and along them many a Silurian warrior, standing erect in his +scythe-winged chariot, was carried to conquest or defeat. + +At a later period had they echoed the tramp of armed men, when Henry the +Fourth, father of Agincourt's hero, made war upon the Welsh. Later +still, twice again, in the days of the gallant Llewellyn and those of +the bold Glendower; and still farther down the stream of time were they +stained with blood as of brother shed by brother, when England's +people--those of Wales as well--King-mad and King-cursed, took a fancy, +or frenzy, to cut one another's throats about the colour of a rose. + +And now, on these same roads, two centuries later, they were again +engaged in a fratricidal strife, though not as before with both sides +infatuated through kingcraft. One was fighting for a better cause--the +best of all--a people's freedom. The first time they had struck blow +for this or themselves; their stand for Magna Charta, so much vaunted, +being a mere settling of disputes between barons and king; no quarrel of +theirs, nor its results much gain to them. Neither would it be far from +the truth to say, it was the _last_ time for them to draw sword on the +side of human liberty; indeed difficult to point out any war in which +Great Britain has been engaged since not undertaken for the propping up +of vile despotisms, or for selfish purposes equally vile, to the very +latest of them--Zululand and Afghanistan _videlicet_. + +But the rebellion against Charles Stuart had a far different aim, all +who upheld it being actuated by higher and nobler motives; and, though +the war was internecine, it need never be regretted. For on the part of +England's people it brought out many a display of courage, devotion to +virtue, and other good qualities, of which any people might be proud. + +Nor was it all fruitless, though seeming so. From it we inherit such +fragment of liberty as is left us, and to it all such aspirations turn. +Not all stifled by the corruption which came immediately after under the +rule of the Merry Monarch; nor yet by what followed further on, during +the foul reign of "Europe's first gentleman;" and let us hope still to +survive through one foreshadowing, nay, already showing, corruption +great as either. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Though in the Parliamentary wars no great battle occurred in the +counties of Monmouth or Hereford, in both there was much partisan +strife, at first chiefly along their eastern borders. Their interior +districts, save during the Earl of Stamford's brief occupation, and +Waller's sweeping raid, had been hitherto in the hands of the Royalists; +and no traveller thought of venturing on their roads who was not +prepared upon challenge to cry "For the King!" + +Two routes were especially frequented; but more by warlike men than +peaceful wayfarers. One of them ran due north and south between their +respective capitals. The other passed through the same, but with a +bow-like bend eastward, keeping to the valley of the Wye, and about +midway communicating with the town of Ross. Between them lay a +wild-wooded district of country, the ancient kingdom of Erchyn, to this +day known as the Hundred of Archenfield. Through this was a third road, +leading from Goodrich Castle north-west; which, on the shoulder of a +high hill, Acornbury, some six miles south of Hereford, met the more +direct route from Monmouth--the two thence continuing the same to the +former city. + +On the morning of the capture of Monmouth, at the earliest hour of dawn, +a cavalcade was seen issuing from the gates of Goodrich Castle, and +turning along this road in the direction of Hereford. It numbered nigh +an hundred files, riding "by twos," a formation which the narrow +trackway rendered compulsory. Most of the men comprising it carried the +lance, a favourite weapon with Colonel Sir Henry Lingen, its commanding +officer. But some twenty were without arms of any kind, though on +horseback: the prisoners of whom Kyrle had spoken as likely to be +transferred from Goodrich to the capital. The information accidentally +received by him was correct; they were now in transit between the two +places, escorted by nearly all the castle's garrison, Lingen himself at +the head. + +Had he known of Monmouth being in the hands of the enemy, he would not +have been thus moving away from his stronghold. But, by some mischance, +the messenger sent to apprise him of the disaster, did not reach +Goodrich till after his departure for Hereford. + +Nor was his errand to the latter place solely to see his prisoners +safely lodged. He had other business there, with its Governor, Sir +Barnabas Scudamore; hence his going along with them. For taking such a +large retinue there was the same reason. Sir Barnabas contemplated an +attack on Brampton Bryan Castle; so heroically defended by Lady +Brilliana Harley, who had long and repeatedly foiled his attempts to +take it. + +The High Sheriff of Hereford county--for such was Lingen--took delight +in a grand Cavalier accompaniment--many of his followers belonging to +the best families of the shire--and along the route they were all +jollity, talking loud, and laughing at each _jeu d'esprit_ which chanced +to be sprung. Just come from hard blows at Beachley, and crowded +quarters in Monmouth, they were on the way to a city of more pretension, +and promising sweeter delights. Hereford was at the time a centre of +distinction, full of gentry from the surrounding shires; above all, +abounding in the feminine element, with many faces reputed fair. +Lingen's gallants meant to have a carousal in the capital city, and knew +they would there find the ways and means, with willing hosts to +entertain them. + +Different the thoughts of those whom they were conducting thither as +captives. No such prospects to cheer or enliven them; but the reverse, +as their experience of prison life had already taught them. + +Most of all was Eustace Trevor dejected, for he was among them. It had +been a trying week for the ex-gentleman-usher. Captured, wounded--by +good fortune but slightly--transported from prison to prison, taunted as +a rebel, and treated as a felon, he was even more mortified than sad. +Enraged also to the end of his wits; he the proud son of Sir William +Trevor to be thus submitted to ignominy and insult; he to whom, at +Whitehall Palace, but two short years before, earls and dukes had shown +subservience, believing him the favourite of a Queen! + +Harrowing the reflections, and bitter the chagrin, he was now enduring, +though the Queen had nought to do with them. All centred on a simple +girl, in whose eyes he had hoped to appear a hero. Instead, he had +proved himself an imbecile; been caught as in a trap! What would she-- +Vaga Powell--think of him now? + +Oft since his capture had he anathematised his ill-fate--oft lamented +it. And never more chafed at it than on this morning while being +marched towards Hereford. While at Monmouth he had entertained a hope +of getting rescued. A rumour of the affair at Beachley had penetrated +his prison; and he knew Massey had been long contemplating an expedition +across the Forest and over the Wye. But Hereford was in the heart of +the enemy's country, a very centre of Royalist strength and rule. Not +much chance of his being delivered there; instead, every mile nearer to +it the likelier his captivity to be of long continuance. + +Hope had all but forsaken him; yet, in this his darkest hour of +despondence, a ray of it scintillated through his mind, once more +inspiring him with thoughts of escape. For something like a possibility +had presented itself, in the shape of a horse--his own. The same animal +he bestrode in his combat with Sir Richard Walwyn, and that had shown +such spirit after a journey of nigh fifty miles. Many a fifty miles had +it borne him since, carried him safe through many a hostile encounter. + +He was not riding it now, alas! but astride the sorriest of nags. +"Saladin," the name of the tried and trusty steed, had been taken from +him at Hollymead, and become the property of a common soldier, one of +those who had assisted in his capture, the same now having him in +especial charge. For each of the prisoners was guarded by one of the +escort riding alongside. + +It was by a mere accidental coincidence that the late and present owners +of Saladin were thus brought into juxtaposition; and at first the former +only thought of its singularity, with some vexation at having been +deprived of his favourite charger, which he was not likely to recover +again. By-and-by, however, the circumstance became suggestive. He knew +the mettle of the horse, no man better. Perhaps, had Sir Harry Lingen, +or any of his officers, known it as well, a common trooper would not +have been bestriding it. But as yet the animal's merits remained +undiscovered by them, none supposing that in heels it could distance all +in their cavalcade, and in bottom run them dead down. + +On this, and things collateral, had Eustace Trevor commenced reflecting; +hence his new-sprung hope. Wounded, with his arm in a sling, he was not +bound--such precaution seeming superfluous. Besides, badly mounted as +he was, any attempt at flight would have been absurd, and could but end +in his being almost instantly retaken. So no one thought of his making +it, save himself; but he did--had been cogitating upon it all along the +way. + +"If I could but get on Saladin's back!" was his mental soliloquy, "I'd +risk it. Three lengths of start--ay, one--and they might whistle after +me. Their firelocks and lances all slung, pistols in the holsters +buckled up; none dreaming of--Oh! were I but in that saddle!" + +It was his own saddle to which he referred, now between the legs of the +trooper, who had appropriated it also. + +Every now and then his eyes were turned towards the horse in keen, +covetous look; which the man at length observing, said,-- + +"Maybe ye'd like to get him back, Master Captain? He be precious good +stuff; an' I don't wonder if ye would. Do ye weesh it?" + +It was just the question Saladin's _ci-devant_ owner desired to be +asked, and he was on the eve of answering impressively, "Very much." A +reflection restraining him, he replied, in a careless indifferent way,-- + +"Well, I shouldn't mind--if you care to part with him." + +"That would depend on what ye be willin' to gie. How much?" + +This was a puzzler. What had he to give? Nothing! At his capture they +had stripped him clean, rifled his pockets, torn from his hat the +jewelled clasp and egret's plume--that trophy of sweet remembrance. +Even since, in Monmouth gaol, they had made free with certain articles +of his attire; so that he was not only unarmed and purseless, but rather +shabbily dressed; anything but able to make purchase of a horse, however +moderate the price. + +Would the man take a promise of payment at some future time--his word +for it? The proposal was made; a tempting sum offered, to be handed +over soon as the would-be purchaser could have the money sent him by his +friends; but rejected. + +"That's no dependence, an' a fig for your friends?" was the coarse +response of the sceptical trooper. "If ye can't show no better surety +for payin', I hold on to the horse, an' you maun go without him. +'Sides, Master Captain, what use the anymal to ye inside o' a prison, +where's yer like to be shut up, Lord knows how long?" + +"Ah, true!" returned the young officer, with a sigh, and look of +apparent resignation. "Still, corporal,"--the man had a _cheveron_ on +his sleeve--"it's killing work to ride such a brute as this. If only +for the rest of the way to Hereford, I'd give something to exchange +saddles with you." + +"If ye had it to gie, I dare say ye would," rejoined the corporal, with +a satirical grin, as he ran his eye over the bare habiliments of his +prisoner. "But as ye han't, what be the use palaverin' 'bout it? Till +ye can show better reezon for my accommodatin' you, we'll both stick to +the saddles we be in." + +This seemed to clinch the question; and for a time Eustace Trevor was +silent, feeling foiled. But before going much farther a remembrance +came to his aid, which promised him a better mount than the Rosinante he +was riding--in short, Saladin's self. The wound he had received was a +lance thrust in the left wrist--only a prick, but when done deluging the +hand in blood. This running down his fingers had almost glued them +together, and the kerchief hastily wrapped round had stayed there ever +since, concealing a ring which, seen by any of the Cavalier soldiers, +would have been quickly cribbed. None had seen it; he himself having +almost forgotten the thing, till now, with sharpened wits, he recalled +its being there; knew it to be worth the accommodation denied him, and +likely to obtain it. + +"Well, corporal," he said, returning to the subject, "I should have +liked a ride on the horse, if only for old times' sake, and the little +chance of my ever getting one again. But I'd be sorry to have you +exchange without some compensation. Still, I fancy, I can give you that +without drawing upon time." + +The trooper pricked up his ears, now listening with interest. He was +not inexorable; would have been willing enough to make the temporary +swop, only wanted a _quid pro quo_. + +"What do you say to this?" continued the young officer. + +He had slipped his right hand inside the sling; and drawn forth the +golden circlet, which he held out while speaking. It was a jewelled +ring, the gems in cluster bedimmed with the blood that had dried and +become encrusted upon them. But they sparkled enough to show it +valuable; worth far more than what it was being offered for. And there +was a responsive sparkle in the eyes of him who bestrode Saladin, as he +hastened to say,--"That'll do. Bargain be it?" + + + +CHAPTER FORTY NINE. + +AN UPHILL CHASE. + +At sight of the glistening gems a sudden change had come over the +features of the trooper, their expression of surliness being displaced +by that of intense cupidity. But for this he might have considered why +the offer of such valuable consideration for so trifling a service. As +it was, he had no suspicion of it; though on both sides the dialogue had +been carried on in guarded undertone. For this their reasons were +distinct, each having his own. That of the prisoner is already known; +while a simple instinct had guided the corporal--a fear that the +negotiation between them might not be altogether agreeable to his +superiors. + +More cautious than ever after declaring it a bargain, he glanced +furtively to the front, then rearward, to assure himself they had not +been overheard, nor their _tete-a-tete_ noticed by any of the officers. + +It seemed all right, none of these being near; and his next thought was +how to effect the exchange agreed upon. The files were wide apart, with +very little order in the line of march--a circumstance observed by +Eustace Trevor with satisfaction, as likely to help him in his design. +They were passing though a district unoccupied by any enemy and where +surprise was the last thing to be thought of. But even straggled out as +was the troop, any transfer of horses, however adroitly done, would not +only be remarked upon, but cause a block in the marching column, the +which might bring about inquiry as to the reason, and the guard, if not +the prisoner, into trouble. + +"Ye maun ha' patience for a bit," said the former, in view of the +difficulty. "'Tan't safe for me to be seen changin' horses on the road. +But ye won't ha' long to wait; only till we get to the bottom o' that +hill ye see ahead, Acornbury it be called. There we can do the thing." + +"Why there?" + +The question was put with a special object, apart from the questioner's +impatience. + +"Cause o' an inn that be theer. It stand this side o' where the pitch +begins. The Sheriff always stops at it goin' from Goodrich to Hereford, +an' he be sure o' makin' halt the day. When's we be halted--ye +comprehend, Captain?" + +The man had grown civil almost to friendliness. The prospect of +becoming possessed of a valuable ring for but an hour's loan of his new +horse had worked wonders. Could he but have known that he was +hypothecating the more valuable animal with but slight chance of +redeeming it, the bargain would have been off on the instant. His +avarice blinded him; and his prisoner now felt good as sure he would +soon have Saladin once more between his knees. + +"I do comprehend--quite," was the young officer's satisfied response; +and they rode on without further speech, both purposely refraining from +it. + +The corporal might have saved his breath in imparting the situation of +the inn under Acornbury Hill. Eustace Trevor knew the house well as he; +perhaps better, having more than once baited his horse there. Familiar +was he with the roads and country around, not so far from his native +place by Abergavenny. Besides, he had an uncle who lived nearer, and as +a boy, with his cousins, had ridden and sported all over the district. +This topographical knowledge was now likely to stand him in stead; and +as he thought of the Monmouth road joining that he was on near the head +of Acornbury pitch, he fairly trembled with excitement. Could he but +reach their point of junction on Saladin's back he would be free. + +How he longed to arrive at the roadside hostelry! Every second seemed a +minute, every minute an hour! + +It was reached at length, and his suspense brought to an end. True to +expectation, a halt was commanded; and the extended line, closing up, +came to a stand on the open ground before the inn. A scrambling house +of antique architecture, its swing sign suspended from the limb of an +oaken giant, whose spreading branches shadowed a large space in front. + +Under this Lingen and his officers made stop, still keeping to their +saddles, and calling to Boniface and his assistants to serve them there. +It was only for a draught they had drawn up, the journey too short to +need resting their horses. Nor was there any dismounting among the rank +and file rearward, save where some trooper whose girths had got loosened +took the opportunity to drop down and tighten them. + +Seeming to do the same was the corporal in charge of Eustace Trevor, his +prisoner too, both on the ground together. Only an instant till they +were in the saddle again, but with changed horses, and the blood-crusted +ring at the bottom of the corporal's pocket. Meanwhile the officers +under the tree had got served, and, cups in hand, were quaffing +joyously. In high glee all; for the sun, now well up, promised a day +gloriously fine, and they were about to make entry into Hereford with +flying colours. Nearly twenty prisoners, it would be as a triumphal +procession. + +A cry, strangely intoned, brought their merriment to an abrupt end; a +chorus of shouts, quick following with the clatter of hoofs. Turning, +they saw one on horseback just parting from the troop, as if his horse +had bolted and was running away with him! + +But no. "Prisoner escaping!" came the call, as every one could now see +it was. The man in rich garb, but soiled and torn; the horse a bit of +blood none of their prisoners had been riding. One of the officers they +had taken--which? + +The question was answered by the High Sheriff himself-- + +"Zounds! it's that young renegade, Trevor! He mustn't escape, +gentlemen. All after him!" + +Down went tankards and flagons, dashed to the ground, spilling the wine +they had not time to drink; and off all set, swords drawn, and spurs +buried rowel deep. + +The common men, save those cumbered with prisoners, joined in the +pursuit; some unslinging lances or firelocks, others plucking pistols +from their holsters. + +"Shoot!" shouted Lingen. "Bring him down, or the horse!" + +It was the critical moment for the fugitive, and in modern days would +have been fatal to him. But the old _snap-hans_ and clumsy horse pistol +of the Stuart times were little reliable for a shot upon the wing, and +as a winged bird Saladin was sweeping away. Both volley and straggling +fire failed to stay him; and ere the pursuers were well laid on, the +pursued was at least fifty lengths ahead of the foremost. + +Up the hill, towards Hereford, was he heading! This a surprise to all. +In that direction were only his enemies; and he could as easily have +gone off in the opposite, with hope of getting to Gloucester. At +starting he had even to pass the group of officers under the tree. And +why setting his face for Hereford--as it were rushing out of one trap to +run into another? + +He knew better. Fleeing to the capital of the county was the farthest +thing from his thoughts. His goal was Monmouth; but first the forking +of the roads on the shoulder of Acornbury Hill. That reached, with no +_contretemps_ between, he might bid defiance to the clattering ruck in +his rear. + +The distance he was so rapidly gaining upon them told him he had not +been mistaken about the superior qualities of his steed. If the latter +should show bottom as it already had heels, his chances of escape were +good. And the omens seemed all in his favour: his own horse so oddly +restored to him; the luck of that ring left un-pilfered during his +imprisonment; and, lastly, to have come unscathed out of the shower of +bullets sent after him! They had whistled past his ears, not one +touching him or the horse. + +He thought of these things when far enough ahead to reflect; and the +farther he rode the greater grew his confidence. Saladin would be sure +to justify his good opinion of him. + +And Saladin seemed to quite comprehend the situation. He at least knew +his real owner and master was once more on his back, which meant +something. And having received word and sign for best speed--the first +"On!" the last a peculiar pressure of the rider's knees--he needed no +urging of whip or spur. Without them he was doing his utmost. + +Up the pitch went he as hare against hill; up the channel-like trackway +between escarpments of the old red sandstone that looked like artificial +walls; on upward, breasting the steep with as much apparent ease as +though he galloped along level ground. No fear of anything equine +overtaking him; no danger now, for the pursuers were out of sight round +many turnings of the road; the hue and cry was growing fainter and +farther off, and the stone which marked the forking of the routes would +soon be in sight. + +Eustace Trevor's heart throbbed with emotions it had long been a +stranger to, for they were sweet. He now felt good as sure he would get +off, and to escape in such fashion would do something to restore his +soldierly repute, forfeited by the affair of Hollymead. Nothing had +more exasperated him than his facile capture there; above all, the light +in which a certain lady would regard it; but now he could claim credit +for a deed-- + +"Not done yet!" was his muttered exclamation, interrupting the pleasant +train of thought, as he reined his horse to a sudden halt. + +He was approaching the head of the pitch, had almost surmounted it, when +he saw what seemed to tell him his attempt at escape was a failure; all +his strategy, with the swiftness of his steed, to no purpose. A party +of mounted men, just breaking cover from among some trees, and aligning +themselves across the road. At the same instant came the customary +hail,--"Who are you for?" + +The dazzle of the sun right before his face, and behind their backs, +hindered his seeing aught to give a clue to their character--only the +glance of arms and accoutrements proclaiming them soldiers. And as no +soldiers were like to be there save on the Royalist side, to declare +himself truthfully, and respond "For the Parliament," would be to +pronounce his own doom. Yet he hated in his heart to cry "For the +King." Nor would the deception serve him. They coming on behind would +soon be up, and lay it bare. + +He glanced to right and left, only to see that he was still between high +banks of the sunken causeway. On neither side a possibility of scaling +them to escape across country. It was but a question, then, to which he +should surrender--the foe in front, or that he had late eluded? + +There was not much to choose between them; in either case he would be +returned to the Sheriff of Hereford; but to cut short suspense he +decided on giving himself up at once. The road was blocked by the party +of horse, and, weaponless, to attempt running the gauntlet of them would +be to get piked out of his saddle, or cut to pieces in it. + +These observations and reflections occupied but an instant, to end in +his responding,-- + +"For the Parliament?" + +He might as well make a clean breast of it, and tell the truth. + +"We see you are. Come on!" + +Surprised was he at the rejoinder as at the voice that gave utterance to +it, which seemed familiar to him. But his surprise became astonishment +when the speaker added, "Quick, Trevor! we're in ambuscade;" and drawing +nearer, the sun now out of his eyes, he saw that well-known banneret, +with sword-pierced crown in its field, waving above the head of Sir +Richard Walwyn! + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY. + +AN AMBUSCADE. + +Steaming at the nostrils Saladin was for the second time brought to a +stand, head to head with old stable comrades that snorted recognition. +For with Colonel Walwyn was Rob Wilde and others of his troop. + +A hurried explanation ensued, Sir Richard first asking,-- + +"Your guards? You were being escorted?" + +"Yes; I've given them the slip." + +"Where are they now?" + +"Coming up the hill--you hear them?" + +"Hush!" enjoined the knight, speaking to those around him; and all +became silent, listening. + +Voices, with a quick trample of hoofs, and at short intervals a call as +of command, from far below and but faintly heard. The road was almost +subterranean, and wound up through a dense wood. + +"What's their number?" again questioned the knight. + +"Nigh two hundred--nearly all Lingen's force--and about twenty +prisoners." + +"Is Lingen with them?" eagerly asked an officer by Sir Richard's side, +who seemed to share the command with him. + +"Colonel Kyrle--Captain Trevor," said the knight, introducing them. "I +suppose you're aware we've taken Monmouth?" + +"I was not; but am happy to hear it. Yes, Colonel," replying to Kyrle, +"Lingen is with them; coming on in the pursuit." + +Over the features of the ex-Royalist came an expression of almost savage +joy, as one who had been longing to confront an old and hated foe, and +knew the opportunity near. + +"I'm glad?" he exclaimed, as in soliloquy; then seemed to busy himself +about his arms. + +"His presence was near being a sorry thing for me--the inhuman +scoundrel!" rejoined the escaped prisoner. + +"How so?" + +"I heard him give the order to fire on me, as I was making off." + +"And they did?" + +"Yes. Every one who could get piece, or pistol, ready in time." + +"That explains the shots we heard, Walwyn. Well, young sir," to Trevor, +"you seem to bear a charmed life. But we must back into ambush. You +take the right, Dick; let me look to the left and give the cue to fall +on. I ask that from my better knowing the ground." + +"So be it!" assented Sir Richard, and the two commanders, parting right +and left, rode back a little way within the wood, where each had a body +of horse drawn up, and ready for the charge. + +The conversation, hurriedly carried on, had consumed but a few seconds' +time; and in an instant after the causeway was clear again, only a +vidette left under cover to signal the approach of the pursuers. +Captain Trevor, of course, went with his colonel, but now carrying a +sword and pistols; supernumerary weapons which had been found for him by +Sergeant Wilde. + +A profound silence succeeded; for the horses of the Parliamentarians, +after two years' campaigning, had become veterans as the men themselves, +and trained to keeping still. Not a neigh uttered; no noise save the +slight tinkle of curb or bit, and an occasional angry stamp at bite of +the _bree_ fly. But the one could not be distinguished, even at short +distance, amid the continuous screeching of jays, and oft-repeated +_glu-glu-gluck_ of the green woodpecker, whose domain was being intruded +on; while the other might be mistaken for colts at pasture. + +To the surprise of all in ambuscade, the pursuing party appeared to be +coming on very slowly; and in truth was it so. Two reasons retarded +them. Their horses were not Saladins, and the best of them had become +blown in their gallop against the steep acclivity more than a mile in +length. But the riders themselves had grown discouraged. In their last +glimpse got of the fugitive he was so far ahead, and his mount showing +such matchless speed, it seemed idle to continue the chase. They but +hoped that some chance party of Scudamore's men from Hereford might be +patrolling the road farther on, and intercept him. So, instead of +pressing the pursuit with ardour, they lagged on it; toiling up the +steep in straggled line, and at a crawl. + +Some twenty of the best horsed, however, had forged a long distance +ahead of the others, who were following in twos and threes, with wide +intervals between. And among the laggards was Lingen, instead of in the +lead, as might be expected in the commander of a partisan troop. Fond +of display, and that day designing exhibition of it, he rode a charger +of superb appearance; one of the sort for show, not work. As a +consequence, after the first spurt of the pursuit, he had fallen +hundreds of yards behind, and was half-inclined to turn round and ride +back to the inn, under pretence of looking after his other prisoners. + +But there was no going back for those who had pushed on, nor much +farther forward. Having surmounted the summit of the pitch, they heard +a heavy trampling of hoofs, with the dreaded slogan, "God and the +Parliament!" and saw two large bodies of horse, one on each flank, +simultaneously closing upon them. At a charging gallop these came on, +so quick the surprised party had no time either to turn back or make a +dash onward, ere seeing the road blocked before and behind. + +A surround complete as sudden, accompanied by the demand "Surrender!" +made in tone of determination that would not brook refusal. + +Of the score of Cavaliers so challenged, not one had the heart to say +nay. They had left their courage below with their spilled wine cups, +and now cried "Quarter!" in very chorus, delivering up their arms +without striking blow, or firing shot. + +"Where's Harry Lingen?" cried Kyrle, spurring into their midst with +drawn sword. "I don't see his face among you." Adding, with a sneer, +"Such a valiant leader should be at the head of his men!" + +Then fixing on one he knew to be a cornet of Lingen's Light Horse, he +vociferated,-- + +"Say where your colonel is, sirrah! or I'll run you through the ribs." + +"Down the hill--behind somewhere," stammered out the threatened +subaltern. "He was with us when we commenced the pursuit." + +Riding clear of the crowd Kyrle glanced interrogatively down the road. +To see the tails of horses disappearing round a corner; some of the +pursuers, who, catching sight of what was above, had made about face, +and were galloping back. + +"Let us after them, Walwyn! What say you?" hurriedly proposed Kyrle. + +"Just what I was thinking of. Trevor tells me most of their prisoners +are my own men, those taken at Hollymead. They shall be rescued, +whatever the risk." + +"Not much risk now, I fancy. Lingen's lot are so demoralised they won't +stand a charge. We needn't fear following them up to the gates of +Goodrich Castle. And we can get back to Monmouth that way, well as the +other." + +"That way we go," then said the knight determinedly; and down the pitch +started the two colonels with their respective followers, a detail +having been hastily told off to guard the prisoners just taken. + +Meanwhile the Sheriff had been balancing between advance and return. +Vexed with the cause which retarded him, he was vowing he would never +again bestride the showy brute, when he saw several of his men coming +back down the pitch at breakneck speed, as they approached calling out, +"Treason! A surprise!" + +"Treason! What mean you?" he demanded, drawing his sword, and stopping +them in their headlong flight. "Are you mad, fellows?" + +"No, Colonel; not mad. Some one has betrayed us into an ambuscade. The +Roundheads are up the hill; hundreds--thousands of them?" + +"Who says so?" + +"We saw them, Sir Henry." + +"You couldn't have seen Roundheads. There are none on these roads. It +must be some of Scudamore's men from Hereford. Fools! you've been +frightened at your own shadows." + +"But, Colonel, they've taken a party of ours prisoners; all that were +ahead of us. We heard the `Surrender!' and saw them surrounded." + +"I shall see it myself before I believe it. About, and on with me!" + +The men thus commanded, however reluctant to return towards the summit, +knew better than to disobey. But their obedience was not insisted upon. +In the narrow way, ere he could pass to place himself at their head, a +horseman came galloping from below, and pulled up by his side. A +courier with horse in a lather of sweat, showing he must have ridden far +and fast. But the slip of paper, hurriedly drawn from his doublet and +handed to the Sheriff, told all. + +Unfolding it, he read,-- + +"Kyrle has betrayed us. Massey in Monmouth. Large body of Horse-- +several hundred--Walwyn's Forest troop, and some of Kyrle's old hands +with the traitor himself, gone out along the Hereford road this morning +before daybreak. Destination not known. Be on your guard." + +The informal despatch, which showed signs of being written in great +haste, was without any signature. None was needed; the bearer, +personally known to Lingen, giving further details _viva voce_; while +its contents too truly confirmed the report just brought by the soldiers +from the other side. + +Among Cavaliers Sir Henry Lingen was of the bravest, and would not cry +back from any encounter with fair chances. But he was not foolhardy, +nor lacking prudence when the occasion called for it. And there seemed +such occasion now. He knew something of Sir Richard Walwyn and his +Foresters, as also of Kyrle and his following, and what he might expect +from both. They would not likely be out that way unless in strong +force. Several hundred, the despatch said--pity it was not more exact-- +while his own numbered less than two. Besides, if the returning +soldiers were not mistaken, twenty of them had been already snapped up; +and the rest would make but a poor fight, if they stood ground at all. +He rather thought they would not now; and so reflecting reined his +unwieldy charger round, and rode back down the pitch, at a much better +pace than he had ascended it. + +Picking up all stragglers on the way, he meant doing the same with his +prisoners left at the inn. But before he had even reached it, he heard +hoof-strokes thundering down the hill behind in a multitudinous clatter, +that bespoke a large body of horse coming close upon his heels. So +close, he no longer thought of cumbering himself with prisoners, but +swept on past those at the hostelry in a _sauve qui peut_ flight, their +guards going along, and leaving them there in a state of supreme +bewilderment. + +Not long, however, till they understood why they had been so abruptly +abandoned. In less than five minutes after, broke upon their view the +banner of the sword-stabbed crown, and beneath it coats of Lincoln +green, with hats plumed from the tail of Chanticleer, the uniform of the +Forest troop--their own. + +In a trice they were freed from their fastenings, and armed with the +weapons taken from the party of Cavaliers that had been caught by the +head of the pitch. Riding their horses, too, after a quick exchange--in +short, everything reversed--then away from their halting-place with +cheers and at charging gallop, no longer prisoners, but pursuers! + +Never did the chances and changes of war receive better or more singular +illustration than upon that autumn's morn along the road between +Acornbury and Goodrich. At early daybreak a Royalist host, in noisy +jubilance, conducting a score of dejected captives towards Hereford; +and, before the sun had attained meridian height, a like number of +prisoners going in the opposite direction, under guard of Parliamentary +soldiers! + +Some difference, however, in the mode of march and rate of speed: the +former leisurely slow, as a triumphal procession; the latter a hot, +eager pursuit that permitted no tarrying by the way. Nor was there on +the return passage either jesting or laughter; instead, now and then +shouts in stern, angry tone--the demand, "Surrender!" as some fleeing +Cavalier, cursed with a short-winded horse, had to pull up, and call out +"Quarter!" + +So on to the gates of Goodrich Castle, into which Lingen, _malgre_ his +indifferent mount, contrived to enter, quick closing them behind. + +The pursuit could go no farther, nor the pursuers make entrance after +him. In that strong fortress he might bid defiance to cavalry--even the +best artillery of the time. Famine only had he to fear. + +But to so shut him up--so humiliate him--was a triumph for Kyrle, his +ancient foe; and as the latter turned away from the defying walls, the +smile upon his face told how greatly it gratified him. A _revanche_ he +had gained for some wrongs Lingen had done his father; and, now that he +was himself to rule in Monmouth, he had hopes, ere long, to make a real +revenge of it, by razing Goodrich Castle to its foundation stones. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY ONE. + +IN CAROUSAL. + + "We'll drink--drink, + And our goblets clink, + Quaffing the blood-red wine; + The wenches we'll toast, + And the Roundheads we'll roast, + The Croppies, and all their kind." + +"A capital song! And right well you've sung it, Sir Thomas. +_Herrlich_!" + +"Your Highness compliments me." + +"_Nein--nein_. But who composed the ditty? It's new to me." + +"Sir John Dertham. He who wrote the verses about Waller, and their +defeat at Roundway Down-- + + "`Great William the Con- + So fast did he run, + That he left half his name behind him.' + +"Your Highness may remember them?" + +"Ha-ha-ha! That do I; and Sir John himself. A true Cavalier, and no +better company over the cup. But come, gentlemen! Let us act up to the +spirit of the song. Fill goblets, and toast the wenches!" + +"The wenches! The wenches!" came in responsive echo from all sides of +the table, as the wine went to their lips. + +No sentiment could have been more congenial to those who had been +listening to Colonel Lunford's song. For it was this man of infamous +memory who had been addressed as "Sir Thomas." He had late received +knighthood from his King; such being the sort Kings delight to honour, +now as then. And among the _convives_ was a King's son, the embryo +"Merry Monarch," taking lessons in that reprobacy he afterwards +practised to the bestrumpetting England from lordly palace to lowly cot. + +It was not he, however, who had complimented Lunsford on his vocal +abilities; the "Highness" being his cousin, Prince Rupert, in whose +quarters they were carousing; the place Bristol; the time some weeks +subsequent to the taking of Monmouth by Massey. But the occasion which +had called them together was to celebrate a success on the opposite +side; its re-capture by the Royalists, for Monmouth had been retaken. A +sad mischance for the Parliamentarians; through no fault of Kyrle, who, +on active duty, was away from it, but the _lache_ of one Major +Throgmorton, left in temporary charge. + +Riotous with delight were they assembled within Rupert's quarters. They +had that day received the welcome intelligence, and were in spirit for +unrestrained rejoicing. Ever since Marston Moor the King's cause had +been suffering reverses; once more the tide seemed turning in its +favour. + +But nothing of war occupied their thoughts now; the victory on the Wye +had been talked over, the victors toasted, and the subject dismissed for +one always uppermost at a Cavalier carousal. + +Several songs had been already sung, but that of Lunsford--so indecent, +that only the chorus can be here given--tickled the fancies of all, and +an _encore_ was demanded. A demand with which the festive Lunsford +readily complied, and the ribald refrain once more received uproarious +plaudits. + +"Now, gentlemen!" said the host, on silence being restored, "fill again! +We've but toasted the wenches in a general way. I'm going to propose +one in particular, whom you'll all be eager to honour. A fascinating +damsel, who, if I'm not mistaken, Cousin Charles, has put a spell upon +your young heart." + +"Ha-ha!" smirked the precocious reprobate, in a semi-protesting way. +"You _are_ mistaken, coz. None of womankind can do that." + +"Ah! if your Royal Highness has escaped her witcheries, you're one of +the rare exceptions. _Mein Gott_! she has turned the heads of more than +half my young officers, and commands them as much as I do myself. Well, +she's worthy of obedience, if beauty has the right to rule, and we +Cavaliers cannot deny it that. So let us drink to her!" + +By this all had replenished their cups, and were waiting to hear the +name of her whose charms were so extolled by their princely host. A +good many could guess; and more than one listened to what he had been +saying with a feeling of unpleasantness. For he but spoke the truth +about the fascinations of a certain lady, and more than one present had +felt their spell to the surrender of hearts. Not from this came their +pain, however, but from whisperings that Rupert himself had set covetous +eyes on the lady in question, and well knew they what that meant--a +thing fatal to their own aspirations. Where the sun deigns to shine the +satellite stars have to suffer eclipse. + +And just as these jealous subordinates anticipated, the damsel about to +be toasted was Mademoiselle Lalande. + +"Clarisse Lalande?" at length called out the Prince, adding--"To the +bottom of your cups, gentlemen!" + +And to the bottom of their cups drank they, honouring the toast with a +cheer, in which might be detected some tone of irony. + +The usual brief interval of silence, as lull in the midst of storm, was +succeeded by a buzz of conversation, not about any common or general +subject, but carried on by separate groups, and in dialogue between +individuals. + +Into this last had entered two gentlemen, who sate near the head of the +table; one in civilian garb, the other wearing the uniform of a cavalry +officer. Both were men of middle age, the officer somewhat the older; +while a certain gravity of aspect distinguished him from the gay +roysterers around. But for the insignia on his dress, he would have +looked more like Parliamentarian than Royalist. + +The demeanour of the civilian was also of the sober kind, and marked by +an air of distinction which proclaimed him a somebody of superior rank. + +"'Tis no more than the truth," he said, turning to the officer, after +the toast had been disposed of. "The Creole _is_ a fascinating +creature. Don't you think so, Major Grenville?" + +"I do, my Lord. Her fascination is admitted by all. But, perhaps, some +of it is due to her rather free manners. With a little more modesty she +might not appear so attractive--certainly would not to most of the +present company." + +"Ah! true. There's something in that." + +"A good deal, my Lord; despite the old adage. For modesty is a quality +that does _not_ adorn Mademoiselle Lalande. A pity, too! The want of +it may ruin her reputation, if it hasn't done that already." + +"What a moralist you are, Major! Your ideas have a strong taint of +Puritanism. I hope you're not going to turn your back on us gay +Cavaliers. Ha-ha-ha!" + +The laugh told his Lordship to be in jest. He knew Major Grenville to +be a devoted adherent of the King, else he would not have bantered him. + +"But," he continued, reverting to the topic with which they started, +"morals apart, I've never seen a thing to give one such an idea of +woman's power as she does--in that curious Indian dance. 'Tis a +wonderful picture, or rather embodiment, of feminine voluptuousness." + +"All that I admit," returned the Major. "But for true womanly grace-- +ay, _abandon_, but of a very different kind--you should see a cousin she +has, a real English girl, or, to speak more correctly, Welsh." + +"All the same. But who is the cousin so highly endowed?" + +"A Miss Powell, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, who, I'm sorry to +say, is not on our side; instead, one of our bitterest enemies." + +"Might you mean Master Ambrose Powell, of Hollymead House, up in the +Forest of Dean?" + +"The same. Your Lordship seems to know him?" + +"Certainly I do, or did; for it's several years since I've seen him. +But he had two daughters then, Sabrina and Vaga. One is not likely to +forget the names. Are not both still living?" + +"Oh yes." + +"The elder, Sabrina, was nearly grown up when I saw them last, the other +but a slip; but both promised to be great beauties." + +"If your Lordship saw them now, you'd say the promise has been kept. +They are that, beyond cavil or question." + +"But from what you've said, I take it you regard one of them as superior +to the other. Which, may I ask? At a guess I'd say Sabrina. As a girl +I liked her looks best; came near liking them too well. Ha-ha! Have I +guessed correctly?" + +"The reverse, my Lord; that is, according to my ideas of beauty." + +"Then you award the palm to Vaga?" + +"Decidedly." + +"Well, Major, I won't question your judgment, as I can't till I've seen +the sisters again. No doubt they will be much changed since I had the +pleasure of last meeting them. But they should now be of an age to get +married; Sabrina certainly. Is there no talk of that?" + +"There is, my Lord." + +"Regarding which?" + +"Regarding both." + +"Ah! And who the respective favourites?" + +"Say respective _finances_, your Lordship. They're engaged. So report +has it." + +"And who are to be the Benedicts? Who is Mistress Sabrina to make +happy?" + +"Sir Richard Walwyn, 'tis said." + +"Dick Walwyn, indeed! An old classmate of mine at Oxford. Well, she +might do worse. And the little yellow-haired sprout? She was a bright +blonde, I remember, with wonderful tresses, like a Danae's shower. +Who's to be the possessor of all that auriferous wealth?" + +"One of the Trevors." + +"There's one of them on the Prince's staff, I understand. Is it he?" + +"No; a cousin--son of Sir William of Abergavenny." + +"What! the young stripling who used to be at Court--one of the gentlemen +ushers?" + +"The same, my Lord." + +"Quite an Adonis he; so the Queen thought, 'twas said. Mistress Vaga +must have all the fascinations you credit her with to have made conquest +of him. But he's not with the King now?" + +"No; nor on the King's side neither. He turned coat, and took service +under the Parliament, in Walwyn's troop of Horse. 'Tis supposed the +Danae's shower your lordship speaks of had a good deal to do with his +conversion." + +"Very likely that. Cupid's a powerful proselytiser. Well, I should +like to see the Powell girls again; their father too, for old +friendship's sake. By the way, where are they?" + +"I am not well informed about their present whereabouts. Some twelve +months ago they were here in Bristol, staying at Montserrat House with +Madame, his sister. When we took the place, Master Ambrose thought it +wise to move away from it, for reasons easily understood. He went hence +to Gloucester, where, I believe, he has been residing ever since--up +till within the last few days. Likely they're at Hollymead just now; at +least I heard of Powell having returned thither, thinking he would be +safe with Monmouth in Massey's hands. Since it isn't any longer, he may +move back to Gloucester; and the sooner the better, I should say. He +has sadly compromised himself by acting on one of the Parliament's +Committees; and some of ours will show him but slight consideration." + +"Indeed, I should be sorry if any serious misfortune befell him, or his. +An odd sort of man with mistaken views politically; still a man of +sterling good qualities. I hope, Major, he may not be among the many +victims this unnatural war is claiming all over the land." + +"I echo that hope, my Lord." + +And with these humane sentiments their dialogue came to a close, so far +as that subject was concerned. + +Two men had been listening to it with eager ears--Prince Rupert and +Colonel Lunsford, who sate by his side. Amidst the clinking of goblets, +and the jarring din of many voices, they could not hear it all; still +enough to make out its general purport. + +They seemed especially interested when the Major spoke of the Powells +having returned to Hollymead. It was news to them; glad news for a +certain reason. Often since that morning after the surrender of Bristol +had the princely voluptuary given thought to the "bit of saucy +sweetness, with cheeks all roses," he had seen passing out of its gates +for Gloucester. Just as at first sight her sister had caught the fancy +of the brutal Lunsford, so had she caught his; and the impression still +remained, despite a succession of _amours_ and love escapades, with high +and low, since. + +In more than one of his marauds through the Forest of Dean, Lunsford +along with him, he had paid visit to Hollymead House; only to find it +untenanted, save by caretakers--the family still in the city of +Gloucester. Many the curse hurled he, and his infamous underling, at +that same city of Gloucester; where the Cavalier who had not cursed it? + +Overjoyed, then, were the two by what had just reached their ears, the +Prince interrogating in undertone,-- + +"You hear that, Lunsford?" + +"I do, your Highness." + +"_Gott sei dank_! Just what we've been wishing and waiting for. We may +now visit Hollymead, with fair hope of the sweet _frauleins_ being there +to receive us. Then, _mein_ Colonel, then--_nous verrons_!" + +After delivering himself in this polyglot fashion, he caught hold of his +goblet, and clinking it against that of Lunsford, said in a confidential +whisper,-- + +"We drink to our success, Sir Thomas?" + +There had been a third listener to the dialogue between Major Grenville +and the nobleman, who also overheard the words spoken by Rupert to the +new-made knight. But, instead of gladdening, the first gave him pain; +which the last intensified to very bitterness. His name made known, the +reason will be divined. For it was Reginald Trevor. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY TWO. + +AT HOME AGAIN. + +There was rejoicing at Ruardean. After two years of forced absence, the +master of Hollymead had returned to his ancestral home, and the faces of +his beautiful daughters once more gladdened the eyes of the villagers. + +Out of the world's way as was this quaint little place, it too had +suffered the severities of the war. More than one visit had been paid +to it by patrols and scouting parties of the Royalist soldiery; which +meant very much the same as if the visitors had been very bandits. They +made free with everything they could lay hands on worth the trouble of +taking--goods, apparel, furniture, even to the most cherished household +goods; invading the family sanctuary, and at each re-appearance +stripping it cleaner and cleaner. + +Ruardean had, indeed, become an impoverished place, as all the rural +district around. The "chimney tapestry" had disappeared from the +farmer's kitchen, neither flitch nor ham to be seen in it; empty his +pigsties, unstocked his pastures; and if a horse remained in his stable +it was one no Cavalier would care to bestride. The King's Commissioners +of Array had requisitioned all, calling it a purchase, and paying with +bits of stamped paper, which the reluctant vendor knew to be worth just +nothing. But, _nolens volens_, he must accept it, or take the +alternative, sure of being made severe for him. + +So afflicted ever since the surrender of Bristol to Rupert, no wonder +the Forest people had grown a-weary of the war, and were glad when they +heard of Wintour's defeat at Beachley, and soon after of Monmouth being +taken by the Parliamentarians. It seemed earnest of a coming peace; +while to the people of the Ruardean district Ambrose Powell once more +appearing among them was like the confirmation of it. + +Something besides gave them security, for the time at least. A squadron +of horse had taken up quarters in their village; not the freebooting +Cavaliers, bullying and fleecing them; but soldiers who treated them +kindly, paid full price for everything, in short, behaved to them as +friends and protectors. For many of them were their friends their own +relatives, the body of horse being that commanded by Colonel Walwyn, +with Rob Wilde as its head sergeant. + +Alike secure felt the ladies in Hollymead House, safe as within +Gloucester. How could it be otherwise, with Sir Richard having his +headquarters there and Eustace Trevor under the same roof? + +The happy times seemed to have returned; and the sisters, after their +long irksome residence in walled towns, more than ever enjoyed that +country life, to which from earliest years they had been accustomed. + +And once again went they out hawking, with the same cast of peregrines +and the same little merlin. For Van Dorn, living in a sequestered spot, +and unaffected by the events of the war, had kept the falcons up to +their training. + +Once more to the marsh at the base of Ruardean Hill, the party almost +identical with that which had repaired thither two years before. And as +before rang out the falconer's _hooha-ha-ha-ha_! and shrill whistle, as +a heron rose up from the sedge; again a _white_ heron, the great egret! +Singular coincidence, and strangely gratifying to the fair owner of the +peregrines, for she especially wanted an egret. How she watched as it +made for upper air, with the falcons doing their best to mount above it; +watched with eager, anxious eyes, fearing it might get away. Not that +she was cruel, only just then she so desired to have a _white_ heron; +would give anything for one. + +She did not need to have a fear. Van Dorn had done his duty by the +hawks, and, the chased bird had no chance of escaping. Soon its +pursuers were seen above it, with spread trains and quivering sails; +then one _stooped, raked_, and rose over again; while the other stooped +to _bind_; both ere long becoming bound; when all three birds came +fluttering back to earth. + +With triumphant "whoop?" the falconer pronounced it a kill; but this +time, seemingly without being told, he plucked out the tail coverts, and +handed them to his young mistress. Days before, however, Van Dorn had +received injunctions to procure such if possible. There was a hat that +wanted a plume. + +"To replace that you lost, dear Eustace," she said, passing them over to +him. + +"'Tis so good of you to think of it, darling?" + +How different their mode of addressing one another from the time when +they were last upon that spot! No painstaking coyness now; but heart +knowing heart, troth plighted, and loves mutually reliant. + +"I shall take better care of this one," he added, adjusting the feathers +into a _panache_. "Never man sadder than I when the other was taken +from me. For I feared it would be the loss of what I far more valued." + +"Your life. Ah! so feared I when I heard you were wounded--" + +"No, not my life," he said, interrupting. "Something besides." + +"What besides?" + +"Your love, Vaga; at least your esteem." + +"Eustace! How could you think that?" + +"From having lost my own, along with my character as a soldier. To be +taken as in a trap." + +"Never that, dearest! All knew there was treason. If you were taken so +might a lion, with such numbers against you. And how you delivered +yourself!" + +She had learnt all the particulars of his escape--a deed of daring to be +proud of. And proud was she of it. + +"Do you know, Eustace," she continued, without waiting his rejoinder, +"that you spared me a journey, and perhaps some humiliation?" + +"A journey! Whither?" + +"To Goodrich Castle first; and it might have been anywhere after." + +"But why?" + +"To throw myself at Sir Henry Lingen's feet, and crave mercy for you." + +"That would have been humiliation indeed, darling. And I'm glad that +chance hindered you from it." + +"Chance! No love: your courage did it, and--" + +"My horses's heels, rather say. But for them I should not be here." + +He was upon that horse's back then; she on a palfrey by his side. + +"Noble Saladin!" she exclaimed, drawing closer, and passing her gloved +hand caressingly over his arched neck. "Dear, good Saladin! If you but +knew how grateful I am!" + +Saladin did seem to know, as in soft, gentle neighing he turned his head +round to acknowledge the caress. + +A fair picture these betrothed lovers formed as they sate in their +saddles under the greenwood tree. Some change was there in them since +they had been there before. He handsome as ever, perhaps handsomer. +His cheeks embrowned with two years' campaigning, his figure braced to a +terser, firmer manhood; on Saladin's back he seemed the personification +of a young crusader just returned from the Holy Wars. + +She lovelier than of erst, if that were possible. A woman now, her +girlhood's beauty had done all Major Grenville said of it, and more. +Sager had she grown, made so by the vicissitudes and trials of the time; +and it became her. Not now clapped she her hands, and echoed the +falconer's "whoop!" when the hawks struck their quarry down. Instead, +took it all quietly; so different from former days! + +But there was another cause now sobering, almost saddening, her, one +which affected both. The war was not yet at an end. At any hour, any +moment, might come a summons which would again separate them, perchance +never more to meet! In that tranquil sylvan scene they felt as on the +deck of a storm-tossed, wreck-threatened ship, in the midst of angry +ocean! Cruel war, to beget such reflections--such fears! + +And, alas! they were realised almost on the instant. Following the old +course, the hawking party had ascended to the summit of the hill to give +the merlin its turn. The game of its pursuit, more plentiful, was +easily found and flushed, so that soon the courageous creature made a +kill--a landrail the quarry. + +But ere it could be cast-off for a second flight, just as once before, +the sport was interrupted by, their seeing a horseman on the opposite +hill coming down the road from the Wilderness to Drybrook. + +He might not have been noticed but for the pace, which was a rapid +gallop. This down the steep declivity told of some pressing purpose, +while the sun's glitter upon arms and accoutrements proclaimed him a +soldier. + +More definite was the knowledge got of him through a telescope, which +one of the attendants carried. Glancing through it, Sir Richard +recognised the uniform of a Parliamentarian dragoon--one of Massey's own +regiment. Coming that way, and at such a speed, the man must be a +messenger with despatches; and for whom but himself? + +Separating from his party, and taking Hilbert with him, the knight +trotted off to the nearest point where the Ruardean road passed over the +shoulder of the hill, there halting till the dragoon should come up. +Nor had he long to wait. As conjectured, the man was a messenger, +bearing a despatch that called for all haste in the delivery, and +therefore came galloping up the slope without lessening his pace. He +seemed some little disconcerted at seeing two horsemen drawn up on the +road before him, but a word from Sir Richard reassured him, as he +perceived it was the knight himself. + +As the despatch was for Sir Richard, this brought his gallop to an end; +and, drawing up, he handed over the document, simply saying-- + +"From Governor Massey, Colonel." + +Addressed "Colonel Walwyn," it read,-- + + "Gerrard has slipped through out of South Wales, by Worcester, and now + _en route_ to join the King at Oxford. I've got orders from the + Committee to march out and intercept him, if possible at Evesham, or + before he can cross the Cotswolds. I shall want every man of my + command. So draw off from the Ruardean, for Gloucester, and reinforce + its garrison. Start soon as you get this--lose not a moment. Time is + pressing. + + "E. Massey." + +When Sir Richard returned to the hawking party his hurried manner, with +the serious expression upon his features, admonished Vaga Powell that +her presentiment was on the eve of being fulfilled. Sure was she of it +on hearing his answer to Sabrina, who had anxiously questioned him on +his coming up. + +"Yes, dearest! A courier from Massey at Gloucester. I'm commanded to +proceed thither in all haste. We must home." + +And home went they to Hollymead, hurriedly as once before. But not to +stay there; only to leave the ladies within a few minutes in getting +ready for the "route." Then back down to Ruardean to order the +"Assembly" sounded; soon after "Boots and saddles"; in fine, the +"Forward, march!" and before the sun had sunk over the far Hatteral +Hills, the sequestered village had resumed its wonted tranquillity, not +a soldier to be seen in its streets, nor anywhere round it. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY THREE. + +AGAIN PRESENTIMENTS. + +"Don't you wish we were back in Gloucester, Sab?" + +"Why wish that, Vag?" + +"It's so lonely here." + +"How you've changed, and in so short a time! While in the city you were +all longings for the country and now--" + +"Now I long to get back to the city." + +"The prosaic city of Gloucester, too!" + +"Even so. And am sorry we ever came away from it." + +"You've got yourself to blame. Father was all against it, you know, and +only yielded to your solicitations. As you're his favourite he couldn't +refuse you." + +"But you approved of it yourself, for another reason." + +Sabrina had approved of it for another reason thus hinted at. After the +taking of Monmouth by the Parliamentarians, Sir Richard Walwyn had +orders to keep to the Hereford side of the Forest and guard the +approaches in that direction. Hence his having his Horse quartered at +Ruardean, and hence the desire of the sisters to be back at Hollymead +House. Now that he was gone to Gloucester--so unexpectedly summoned +thither--all was different, and to Vaga the country life she had so +enthusiastically praised seemed no longer delightful. + +"Well, Vag, we're here now, and must make the best of it. Though I +confess to feeling it a little lonely myself. I wish father had taken +Richard's advice." + +At his hurried departure Colonel Walwyn had counselled their leaving +Hollymead, and going back to reside at Gloucester, if not at once, soon +as the removal could be conveniently made. The knight, without wishing +unnecessarily to alarm them, had yet some apprehensions about their +safety in that remote place. But they were not shared in by his +intended father-in-law, who, although not absolutely rejecting the +advice, still delayed following it. So secure felt he that, even on the +very day when Sabrina was speaking of it, he had himself gone to +Gloucester, on Committee business, and left his daughters at Hollymead +alone. + +Vaga echoed her sister's wish, then added,--"It may be worse than +lonely. Don't you think there's some danger?" + +"Oh, no! What danger?" + +"Why, from the enemy--the King's people." + +"There are none nearer than Bristol and Hereford." + +"You forget Goodrich Castle?" + +"No, I don't. But with Monmouth in the hands of our soldiers the +Goodrich garrison will have enough to do taking care of itself, without +troubling us." + +Monmouth had not yet been retaken by the Royalists; at least no word of +that had reached Hollymead House. + +"Besides," she continued. "Sir Henry Lingen would not likely molest us. +You remember before the war he was very much father's friend, and--" + +"And before he was married very much yours," interpolated the younger +sister, with a glance of peculiar significance. "I remember that too. +For the which reason he might be the very man to molest us. There's +such a thing as spitefulness, and he could scarce be blamed for feeling +it a little." + +"T'sh, Vaga! Don't say such silly things. There never was aught +between Sir Henry and myself, nor any reason for his being spiteful now. +We have nothing to apprehend from that quarter." + +"Still we may from some other." + +"What other are you thinking of?" + +"Not any in particular. Only a vague sense of somebody--a foreboding-- +as when we were out hawking, just before that courier arrived. I had +the same feeling then, and it came true." + +"Admitting it did, what evil came of it? None; only an ordinary event, +Richard and Eustace being separated from us. So long as the war lasts +we must expect that, and be patiently resigned to it." + +Though sager grown, Vaga was still not equal to the strain of any +prolonged resignation. Of a subtle, nervous nature, she was easily +affected by signs and omens, felt presentiments and had belief in them. +One was upon her at this same moment, and in an instant after she saw +that which seemed likely to justify it. + +"Look!" she cried; "look yonder?" They were in the withdrawing-room, +having entered it after eating breakfast, she herself standing at one of +the windows, with eyes bent down the long avenue. What had elicited her +exclamation was a figure that, having passed inside the park gates, was +coming on for the house. A woman, but of man's stature, and by this +easily identifiable. For at the first glance Vaga recognised the sister +of Cadger Jack. + +It was not that which had caused her to exclaim so excitedly. Winny was +an almost everyday visitor at the big house, having much business there, +and nothing strange would be thought of her coming to it at any time. +The strangeness was the way in which she was making approach, hurriedly +and in long strides--almost at a run! + +"What can it mean?" mechanically interrogated Sabrina, who had joined +the other at the window. "So unlike Winifred's usual stately step! +Unlike her manner too--she seems greatly excited. Something amiss, I +fear." + +"Oh, sister! I'm sure of it. Just what I've been thinking and saying. +She has news for us, and sad news--you'll see." + +"I trust not. Stay! this is Monmouth market day, possibly she has been +to the market and heard something there. In that case it's not likely +to affect us much, all we care for being on the other side of the +Forest. And yet the cadgers could scarce have been to the market and +back again already? 'Tis too early. But we shall soon know." + +By this the cadgeress was pushing open the wicket-gate of the _haw-haw_, +and, now near, they could read the expression upon her features, which +showed full of concern. + +Though the month of October, the morning was warm, and the window in +which they, stood, a casement, had been thrown open. Stepping into a +little balcony outside, and leaning over the rail, Sabrina called out +interrogatively--"You have some news for us, Win?" + +"'Deed yes, my lady. That hae I, an' sorry be's I to say't." + +"Bad news, then?" exclaimed both sisters in a breath, their hearts +audibly beating. + +"Is it anything from Gloucester?" gasped out the elder one, the other +mentally echoing the question. + +"No, my ladies. It be all 'bout Monnerth." + +This some little relieved them, and more tranquilly they waited to hear +what the news was. + +"Them be's bad, as ye ha' guessed," continued the cadgeress. "Him have +been took by the Cavalieres." + +"Him! Who?" simultaneously exclaimed the sisters, again greatly +excited. + +"Monnerth, mistresses; I sayed Monnerth, didn't I?" + +"Oh! yes, yes." They were too glad to give assent, without noticing her +ungrammatic provincialism. "Monmouth taken by the Cavaliers, you say?" + +"Yes, my ladies. They's be back into it, an' ha' shut up the +Parliamentaries in prison--all as didn't get away." + +"Where have you heard this, Win? You haven't been to Monmouth yourself, +have you?" + +"No, Mistress Sabrina. Only partways. Jack an' me started for the +market; but fores crossin' the ferry at Goodrich us heerd as how the +Sheriff wor down at Monnerth, an' had helped them o' Ragland to capter +the town. Takin' the hint, us turned back an' hurried home, fast as +ever we could; an' I han't lost a minnit in comin' to tell ye." + +"'Twas thoughtful of you, Winifred," said Sabrina. "And we give you +thanks. Now go round to the cook and have something to eat. But stay! +I'm forgetting. You haven't told us what time it happened--I mean the +taking of Monmouth. You heard that, didn't you?" + +"Yes, mistress. Night afore last, or early yester morn. Whens day +broke the King's flag be seen over the Castle, an' there wor great +rejoicins in the town. So tolt we the ferryman o' Goodrich." + +"What should we do?" inquired Vaga, after the cadgeress had parted +company with them, retiring to the kitchen. + +"What can we do? Nothing, till father comes home. As they must have +had the intelligence at Gloucester, yesterday evening at latest, we may +look for him soon. I suppose we must give up all thought of hawking +to-day? Some one had better go to Van Dorn's lodge, and tell him not to +come." + +"Too late! There he is now." + +The falconer was seen approaching by a side path, with an attendant who +carried the hawks on a _cadge_, a couple of dogs following. At the same +instant saddled horses, in the charge of grooms, were being brought +round from the rear of the house. All this had been ordered beforehand, +the ladies having sate down to breakfast costumed and equipped for the +sport of falconry. + +"Shall we send them back?" queried Sabrina, irresolutely. + +"Why should we?" + +Vaga was passionately fond of hawking; and, now that she knew the worst +of that foreboding late felt, was something of herself again. The +taking of Monmouth was but one of the many incidents of the war; no +misfortune had happened to any in whom they had special concern. + +"I suppose we'll have to leave Hollymead now," she added, "once more to +take up our abode in cities. In which case it may be long before we +have another day with hawks. If we don't go, Van Dorn will be so +disappointed." + +"If we do, then," rejoined Sabrina, half assentingly, "it mustn't be +far--not outside the park." + +"Agreed to that. No need for our going out of it. Inside we'll find +plenty of things to fly your Mer at. As for my Pers, if better don't +turn up, we can whistle them off at a cushat." + +So it was settled, and in twenty minutes after they were in their +saddles, and away beyond sight of the house, listening to the +_hooha-ha-ha-ha_, the whistle and the whoop. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR. + +A GLITTERING COHORT. + +It was getting late in the afternoon when a party of horsemen, numbering +about two hundred, commenced the ascent of Cat's Hill, going in the +direction of Ruardean. + +Soldiers they were, in scarlet doublets, elaborately laced; their +standard flag, with the Royal arms in its field, and a crown upon the +peak of its staff, proclaiming them in the service of the king. + +That it was no common cavalry troop could be told by other distinctive +symbols. Beside the three or four subalterns in their places along the +line, half a score other officers were at its head; in gorgeous +uniforms, and with hats grandly plumed, as on the personal staff of a +general. And such were they; the rank and file rearward being his +escort. No ordinary general either, but the commander-in-chief of the +King's armies--Prince Rupert himself. + +His own garb in splendour outshone all; a blaze of jewels and gold, from +the _aigrette_ in his hat to the spurs upon his heels--costume more +befitting court than camp. + +But he was not now on any war expedition; instead, on the way to seek +conquest of other kind than by the sword. + +It was the day succeeding that night of revelry at his quarters in +Bristol; and the words there exchanged between him and Colonel Lunsford +will explain his presence on the Cat's Hill, with face turned towards +Ruardean. For in that direction also lay Hollymead House whither he was +proceeding. + +Quick work and a rapid ride had he made of it; evincing the strong +passion of fancy with which the "bit of saucy sweetness" had inspired +him. + +Lunsford was with him, by his side; the two some lengths in the lead, +and apart from the others, conversing as they rode on. + +"You think, _mein_ Colonel," said the Prince, interrogatively, "we shall +find the _frauleins_ at home this time!" + +"Pretty sure of it, your Highness. Since the Goodrich ferryman heard of +their being at Hollymead yesterday, it's scarcely probable they can have +taken departure since." + +"But the news from Monmouth will have reached them. How about that?" + +"It will affect them somewhat, I dare say. Still, Master Powell is not +a man to be easily frightened. As your Highness will be aware, Ruardean +is not under the Monmouth Commissioners. Sir John Wintour on the +Gloucester side, is the one Powell has most reason to apprehend a visit +from. And as he will know of Sir John's being held in check by Massey, +he won't be much alarmed, just yet. Still, no doubt, he'll be for +moving back again to Gloucester; though not in such hot haste, but that +your Highness will have an opportunity of holding speech with him." + +"_Gott_! Sir Thomas; that should be the reverse of pleasant, from what +you've told me about the old Roundhead's tongue. He may give it me as +he did yourself." + +"No fear of that, your Highness." + +"Why not, pray?" + +"The circumstances are quite different. He had backings about him +then--these ugly fores fellows, five to our one. Besides a Royal +Prince--Puritan though he be--he'll have respect for that. But what +matters it about his prating? Your Highness intends laying him by the +heels." + +"That will depend on circumstances. We must try the _suaviter_ before +the _fortiter_. If fair words fail, then--the extremities." + +"Our present visit to the Master of Hollymead is to be of a friendly +character then? Is that your Highness's intention!" + +"Ceremoniously so; all the politeness to be observed by every one of our +escort. You will see to that, Colonel?" + +"It shall be seen to. But does your Highness propose taking them all to +the house? It might be convenient to leave some at the village, to wait +your coming back." + +"_Nein, nein_!" impatiently exclaimed the Prince. "All go on with me." + +Astute schemer as was Lunsford himself, he was not aware of certain +motives actuating his master. Anything but an Adonis was the son of the +Elector Palatinate. Yet such he dreamed himself, with a confidence in +his power of fascinating the fair sex almost illimitable. The type and +boast of Cavalierism, he wielded sway uncontrolled wherever he went, or +the Royal cause was triumphant; women, as men, either willingly +submitting to his caprices, or not daring to oppose them. Many a +conquest had he made over weak creatures consenting. For the +achievement of such he well knew the advantage of stately show and regal +surroundings, nowhere more effective than in the country he was defiling +with his presence. Even at this day as then, where the proverbial +indemnity for the wrong-doing of kings is extended to princes and +princelets, their social backslidings gaining them credit, rather than +blame, under the facetious title, geniality. + +No man better than Rupert knew woman's weakness in this regard. Hence +the shining retinue he had summoned to attend him in this ride through +the Forest of Dean--one of the pleasure excursions he was accustomed to +make under the plea of a military reconnaissance. For, although the +future pirate of the West Indian seas was quite indifferent to English +public opinion, there were reasons then for him not too openly outraging +it. By his defeats and failures he had lost the countenance of the +court, and intrigue was there busy against him. + +"In that case, your Highness," rejoined Lunsford, "there's no necessity +for our going through the village. A path leads through the woods by +which it can be avoided." + +"Is it a roundabout?" + +"Not much, if any. It comes back into this again, near Hollymead Park +gates. If we pass through the village your Highness's escort will gain +a large accession of strength, which may not be agreeable to you." + +"Gott, yes! Something in that, Sir Thomas. Let us take the other way, +then. Where does it branch off?" + +"There, your Highness"; and he pointed to the embouchure of a wood road +some paces ahead on the right. + +Without further speech they turned into it, and rode on beneath the +shadow of trees, whose branches, arcading over, hindered sight of the +sun. For, though October, these were still in full foliage, the leaves +falling late in the Forest of Dean. But green no more; save those of +the yew, holly, and frost-defying bramble, with the mistletoe and its +pearl-like pellucid berries. All others showed hues and tints varied, +and almost as vivid as those of the tropical forests so much extolled by +travellers. + +A winding path it was, by reason of the steep incline; and as in silence +the glittering cohort, forced into single file by its narrowness, slowly +followed the sinuosities upward, it might have been likened to a +gigantic serpent in crawl towards unsuspecting prey. + +This similitude in more ways than one; for at the head of that glancing +line there were serpents, though in human shape, making approach to what +they intended as victims. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE. + +HAWKING AT HOME. + +The peregrines had killed cushat and partridge, the merlin its +half-score of buntings and turtle-doves, and the ladies having had a +surfeit of sport, were about setting faces homeward. Not that it was +late--still wanting two hours of sunset--but the news from Monmouth had +disquieted them, and they were feeling anxious about their father's +return. He might be back already, and if so, would wonder at their +being away from the house. + +Van Dorn had called off the dogs, rehooded the hawks, and made all ready +for the start home, when game, of a sort that day unseen by them, came +unexpectedly in view. A heron on its way across the Forest from the +Severn to the Wye, flying low as it passed over the park. + +Hapless heron! A temptation no falconer could resist; and at leave, or +rather command, from the younger of his mistresses, off went hoods +again, leashes were let loose, and once more away flew the noble +falcons, mounting spirally upward. + +Just at that moment the gates of the park were thrown open to admit +Prince Rupert and his retinue. With Lunsford still by his side, the two +had already looked through the rails and up the avenue. To see there +what gave them satisfaction; the house with windows no longer shuttered, +smoke ascending from several of the chimneys, in short every sign of +occupation. + +"The family here, as anticipated. Your Highness will not be +disappointed this time." + +"Ah, _wohl_. I was beginning to think the lady of the golden locks an +_ignis fatuus_--never to be caught." + +"There will be an opportunity of catching her now; and keeping her, if +your Highness so desire." + +"You would counsel making the _frauleins_ our prisoners then? Is that +what you mean, _mein_ Colonel?" + +"Their father at least should be made so. There's every reason and +right for it. He your prisoner, taken back with you to Bristol, 'tis +but natural his daughters should accompany him, and share his captivity. +If they have the true filial affection they'll be but too willing to do +that. Does your Highness comprehend?" + +"Quite!" was the laconic response. + +The suggestion, cruel and ruffianly, did not jar on Rupert's ears; +rather was it in harmony with his wishes, and half-formed designs. He +was proceeding to ponder upon it, having ridden through the gate, when a +cry, peculiarly intoned, came from a remote corner of the park, quick +followed by a shrill whistle. + +The air was still, and sounds could be heard from afar; these being +clearly distinguishable. + +"Ho-ho!" exclaimed the Prince, reining his horse to a stand. "Sport +going on here! Somebody out hawking." + +The _hooha-ha-ha_ was familiar to him. + +"Yes," said Lunsford. "That was a falconer's cry--the cast-off." + +"Who might it be, Sir Thomas?" + +"Impossible to say, Prince. The party must be behind that spinney of +Scotch firs. But see! yonder the hawks! Peregrines in chase of a +heron." + +"By'r Lady, yes! A splendid caste. Trained to perfection. How +handsomely they mount up! Over him now! That stoop and rake, superb. +A fig for your chances, master lance-beak. Hey! One of them bound! +Now the other. Now down, down. _Wunderschon_!" + +Absorbed in watching the actual conflict, all eyes directed upward, +Rupert and his following for a time neither saw nor thought of anything +else. No more did they of the hawking party, who, led by the chase, had +pushed on through the spinney of firs to be forward at the kill. Only +when the bound bird was writhing to free itself, in its last struggles +lowering down to earth, did the two parties catch sight of one another. +Not so near yet, a wide stretch of the park being between; but near +enough for a mutual making out of what they were. + +"Soldiers!" exclaimed they of the hawking party. + +"Wenches!" the word that came from the lips of the Cavaliers. + +"We're in luck, Prince," said Lunsford. "You see yonder?" + +"Two ladies; yes. Are they the birds we're in search of, think you?" + +"Sure of it, your Highness." + +"Playing with other birds. Ha-ha! Well; suppose we join them at their +play?" + +"As your Highness commands." + +"Do you know them, Sir Thomas--I mean personally?" + +"I've never been introduced, Prince; but Captain Trevor--" + +"Ah! I remember your saying something about his--Trevor!" he called +back to an officer of his suite, "come hither!" + +Reginald Trevor it was; who, parting from his place in the line, rode +up, respectfully saluting. + +"If I'm not mistaken, sir," said the Prince, "you have acquaintance with +the ladies we see yonder? Presumably the daughters of Master Ambrose +Powell." + +"If it be they, your Highness, I once had. But it's been dropped long +ago." + +"What! A quarrel?" + +"No, Prince," answered the young officer, somewhat hesitatingly. "Not +exactly that." + +"Only a little coolness, then. Well, perhaps I may be the means of +restoring, friendly relations. But first I want you to perform the +ceremonial of introduction. I hope you haven't so far offended the +damsels as to render you ineligible?" + +Trevor stammered out a negative, at the same time announcing his +readiness to comply with the Prince's wish. He could not help himself, +knowing it was more a command than request. + +"Come along, then! Let us on to them. You, Colonel, keep the escort at +halt here, till I ascertain whether we can have a night's lodging at +Hollymead House. That is," he added in a jocular way, "whether we'll be +made welcome to it." + +Saying which, he gave his Arab a touch of the spur, and started off at a +canter over the green sward, direct for the hawking party. + +Of course Reginald Trevor went along with him; though with a reluctance +which had only yielded to authority not to be gainsaid. Despite her +withering words spoken at their last interview, he still loved Vaga +Powell himself--hoping against hope--still had respect for her; and to +introduce Prince Rupert was like being a party to the accomplishment of +her ruin. + +"Humph!" grumbled the ex-Lieutenant of the Tower as he looked after +them, some little chagrined at being left behind; "High Mightiness +thinks he's going to have it his own way with yellow hair. He won't +though; unless he do as I've counselled him. But 'twill come to that-- +must, before we go back to Bristol--and I shall carry thither my share +of the sweet spoils." + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY SIX. + +AN INTRODUCTION IN THE SADDLE. + +"Who can they be? Not soldiers of the Parliament?" + +"No; too much gaud and glitter for that." + +"Sir Henry Lingen's!" + +"Scarcely either. I heard Richard say Sir Henry's men carry lances. +These have none. More probably they're from Monmouth, or rather Raglan. +The old Marquis of Worcester's greatly given to display; and his son, +Lord Herbert. The shining peacock at their head is likely Herbert +himself. They are Royalists, anyhow; that's certain." + +The dialogue was between the sisters, commenced as they caught sight of +the scarlet-coated horsemen, who had entered within their park. +Hurriedly they talked, and in tone telling of agitation. For it was a +spectacle to cause them alarm; King's soldiers coming to Hollymead could +mean no good, but all the opposite. Just the visitors foreshadowed by +Vaga's fears; her presentiment fulfilled after all! + +"What can they be wanting, I wonder?" she queried in a half mechanical +way. "Nothing with us, hope?" + +"Not likely with us; but father. We were wishing him at home. How +fortunate he isn't?" + +"But he may come at any time?" + +"Indeed, yes. What's to be done?" The elder sister seemed perplexed. +Only for a short while; then a thought came to her aid; and half turning +to the groom who attended them, she said,-- + +"Rees! Ride back through the firs; gently, and as if looking for +something left behind. When on the other side go as fast as ever you +can; out through the back gate. First round to Ruardean, to the +cadger's cottage. Tell Winny to come up to the house in all haste. +Then gallop along the Gloucester road, and, if you meet your master, +turn him back. You understand?" + +Rees was a quick-witted Welshman, and did understand. Said so; and at +once started to execute the order; riding slowly off towards the +spinney, in zigzags, with body bent and eyes searching over the ground. +Once under cover of the trees, however, he straightened himself in the +saddle, and was soon outside the inclosure. + +The despatching him had been but the work of a few seconds, and he was +gone before any movement had been made by the soldiers, who were still +halted at the gate. + +"What have they stopped for?" again wondered Vaga. "Surely they intend +going on to the house?" + +"'Tis we who have stopped them. Their faces are turned this way--they +see us?" + +"Ah, yes! And two have separated from the rest--are coming towards us! +What ought we to do?" + +"We may as well await them here; 'twould be impossible to shun them +now." + +"How should we receive them?" + +"Why, civilly of course. We've no alternative but be civil to them. If +it be the Lord Herbert we need not fear any special rudeness. Although +they are Papists, the Raglan people have never yet--" + +"It's not the Lord Herbert?" interrupted Vaga of keener sight; her eye +more occupied with the two making approach. + +"How know, you it's not?" demanded her sister, in some wonder. "You +never saw him did you?" + +"No; but I've seen the one we've been taking for him--the shining +peacock, as you call him. So have you." + +"Who is he, then?" + +"Prince Rupert!" + +"So it is, indeed! And the other--" + +"Reginald Trevor!" + +By this the two horsemen were so near, there was no opportunity for the +sisters to exchange further speech, save in undertone; Sabrina, as a +last word of caution, whispering,-- + +"We are helpless, and must play a part I've thought of it; will tell you +when we're alone. So be more than civil; very polite." + +"I will try." + +Rupert, a little in the advance, was now up; and suddenly checked his +charger to a halt, in such wise as to present the attitude of Mercury +just alighted on a "heaven-kissing hill." + +"Fair ladies?" he said. "I have not the pleasure of knowing you. But +this gentleman, who has, if you object not, will do me the honour of an +introduction." + +"His Royal Highness, Prince Rupert," announced Trevor, after saluting on +his own account, somewhat awkwardly. + +The "fair ladies" acknowledged the introduction with a bow; even +smilingly, which was more than might have been expected. They said +nothing, however, leaving the Prince to direct the course of +conversation. + +Well pleased with his reception he went on,-- + +"Apologies are owing for the interruption of your sport. I fear we've +done that?" + +"No, your Highness," said Sabrina. "We had finished for the day." + +"Egad! A good finish too. I myself witnessed the kill, and never saw +handsomer. Your peregrines are noble birds, and well trained to their +work. Ah! you have a merlin, too. Pretty creature?" + +By chance the merlin was perched upon the neck of Vaga's palfrey; and, +while speaking, the Prince had drawn close up, as if to get a nearer +view of it. But his eyes were on the girl's face instead, and the +"pretty creature" seemed an apostrophe to her rather than the bird. For +it was spoken with peculiar emphasis, and in a subdued tone, as if he +did not desire her sister to hear it. Nor did she, having become +engaged in conversation with Captain Trevor, some distance apart. + +"She's very clever," rejoined Vaga, referring to the merlin, and without +appearing to notice the gaze directed upon her,--"can kill everything +she's cast-off at." + +"Ah!" sighed the Prince. "Fatal to all the larks and buntings, just as +the eyes of her mistress must be to all men." + +She looked at him with a puzzled expression. What a strange remark to +make about her sister, whom he could never have seen, save that once as +they passed him going out of Bristol! But she understood it, on his +adding,-- + +"The little beauty is yours, I take it?" + +"No, your Highness," she answered, without making any allusion to the +implied compliment, though its _braverie_ jarred upon her ear. "The +merlin belongs to my sister. The peregrines are mine." + +"Happy peregrines!" he exclaimed, pretending to apostrophise the two +great falcons, that, now hooded, had been returned to their kedge. "How +I should like to be one of you! Ay; would consent to be held in leash +for life, could I but hope for caresses, such as you receive from the +hands of your beautiful mistress. Ah! that must be sweet?" + +There could be no mistaking the character of speech like this, rude even +to impertinence. It brought the red into the young girl's cheeks, and +she would have angrily resented it, but was restrained by the caution +late received from her sister. Still, to let it pass unnoticed was out +of the question, and would likely lead to her being yet further +insulted. Making an effort to curb her kindling indignation, she +rejoined, calmly as she could,-- + +"Such language may befit the fine Court ladies, with whom your Highness +is accustomed to hold conversation. We simple country girls are not +used to it." + +Regardless of modest manners, even of common decency, as was this German +Prince, he felt the rebuke, and quailed under it. For the glance of +quiet scorn that went with the words told him he was putting on airs, +and paying compliments to no purpose. In that quarter all would be +thrown away. + +With a light laugh he endeavoured to conceal his discomfiture, saying +apologetically,-- + +"Oh! mistress, you must pardon the free speech of a Cavalier. Our +tongues, as our swords, often fly out without reflection. Be assured I +meant not to offend--far from it." + +Apology was a bitter pill for Prince Rupert to swallow; but he gulped it +down with a better grace, confident of having the "bit of saucy +sweetness" in his power. If he failed to make conquest of her, there +was another way to fall back upon; that to which his low familiar, +Lunsford, had been all along counselling him. + +The little _desagrement_ brought their _tete-a-tete_ to an end, the +Prince not caring to continue it. It could be resumed at a more +favourable opportunity, which he meant to find before leaving Hollymead. +Seeming suddenly to recollect himself, he said, in voice loud enough to +be heard by the elder sister, as he intended it,-- + +"But, ladies! I've only half apologised for our intrusion, and trust +you will pardon it, when you hear my excuses. I was on the way to visit +your worthy father, with whom I have some business. When hearing the +_hooha-ha_!--ardent falconer as I am--I couldn't resist coming across to +learn the result. Permit me to take leave of you, with thanks for your +gracious reception. Unless, indeed, you do me the further honour of +letting me escort you to the house. If I dared make so free, I would +even ask the favour of being introduced by you to your father, with whom +I regret not having personal acquaintance." + +"Our father is not at home," said Sabrina, speaking for both. + +"Indeed?" he exclaimed, looking half-disappointed, half-pleased. +"That's unfortunate. But I suppose you expect him soon?" + +"We cannot tell what time he may return, your Highness." + +"Ah! he's gone upon a journey, then. May I ask whither? You'll pardon +the inquiry, in view of my business with him?" + +"To Gloucester," she answered, without hesitation, too glad to have the +questioner think that he inquired about was in that safe city. + +"His absence is disappointing," said the Prince--half in soliloquy, and +half addressing himself to Captain Trevor. "It will necessitate our +staying here for the night." This loud enough for the ladies to hear. +"I regret that," he pursued, again turning to them, "not on my own +account, but because the quartering of my escort at Hollymead cannot be +over agreeable to you. However, I can promise best behaviour on their +part; and should your servants have any rudeness to complain of it shall +be punished with all severity." + +This self-invitation to the hospitality of Hollymead House, however +vexatious to the daughters of its absent owner, did not at all surprise +them. They had been expecting it as the upshot; for, despite his fine +phrases of apology--all pretence--the Prince's bearing and manner told +them how much he felt himself their master. + +Withal, they were not dismayed, Sabrina making calm rejoinder, with some +formal words, that Hollymead would be too much honoured by his presence. +Then in a whisper to Vaga, as they drew side by side to ride home,-- + +"Keep up courage, Vag. Above all keep your temper. Everything may +depend on that. We're among wolves, that may tear us if angered." + +"Go back, Captain!" called the Prince to Trevor. "Give my commands to +Colonel Lunsford, and tell him to bring the escort on to the house." + +"Lunsford along with them!" ejaculated Sabrina, in undertone to her +sister. "That makes my words good. We _are_ among wolves." + +The evil repute of this man justified her speech. It had been spreading +day by day, till his name was now become a synonym of inhumanity--a +bogie to stop the crying of the babes in the cradle. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN. + +A CRIME IN CONTEMPLATION. + +Still self-invited, Rupert accompanied the ladies to the house, and +assisted them to dismount with great show of courtesy and respect. The +little ruffle with Vaga had determined him not to try on that tack +again. + +He did not go inside with them, having some directions to give to his +suite, seen approaching up the avenue. Besides, it was nearing dinner +hour, and they must needs repair to their dressing-rooms. + +Left by himself, the Prince seemed all impatience for his escort to come +up. He had even shown haste when helping the ladies out of their +saddles, as if wishing to be disembarrassed of them with the least +delay. Some new thought, or scheme, had evidently entered his mind; and +recently, or since despatching Trevor with the order to Lunsford, as +then he had said nothing about time. + +When they were near enough to hear him he called out, making a sign to +the officer at their head to hasten them on. This was Lunsford himself, +who, perceiving that something was wanted, separated from the cavalcade, +spurring his horse to a quick canter. As the haw-haw gate had already +been opened, he passed through it without. Stop or interruption, on to +the house. + +"Come up--nearer!" said the Prince, speaking low, and in a cautious +manner as if he feared being overheard. He was standing in the porch, a +little elevated above the ground, and as the other drew alongside, +seated in the saddle, their heads were close enough for conversing in +whispers. + +"What is it, your Highness?" asked Lunsford, wondering at the air of +mystery. + +"I suppose Trevor has told you the _pater_ isn't at home?" + +"He has, Prince; but I knew it before." + +"Indeed! How learnt you? When?" + +"Just after your Highness rode away from us. One of Powell's people, a +sort of shepherd, or cowboy, chanced to be coming into the park; and +with a little cross-questioning I got out of him, both the fact of his +master's absence, and the whereabouts." + +"He's at Gloucester." + +"Yes, Prince. But the affair of Monmouth will draw him home, soon as he +receives news of it. He should have had that long ago; so may be +expected here at any moment." + +"Just so. But if he get word of our being here before him, he may turn +back and give us the go-by. So I want half a dozen files detached, and +sent off along the Gloucester road, under a trusty officer, in all +haste. If they meet him, he's to be made prisoner at once." + +"It's already done, your Highness." + +"What! Has Powell been taken?" + +"No, Prince; pardon me. I meant the detachment has been sent to +intercept him. I took the liberty of doing that without your orders. +There was not time to communicate with your Highness, unless at the risk +of being too late." + +"True, Colonel, true." + +"And it would have been too late," he went on to explain in +justification of his act. "As your Highness started to join the hawking +party, perhaps you may not have noticed a man separating from it, and +riding back through the trees?" + +"_Nein_, Colonel. I did not." + +"But I did, Prince. He appeared to be one of their attendants--a +groom--though in the distance one couldn't be sure what. But from the +way he went off I suspected it had something to do with our being seen. +Soon as I learnt the other thing, I was sure of it. Besides, shortly +after he had passed out of sight behind the firs, I distinctly heard +hoof-strokes, as of a horse in full gallop. Putting that and that +together it occurred to me he might have gone off to give the very +warning your Highness apprehended." + +"If such were his intent, he may still?" + +"No, Prince; not likely. He won't be in time. Going out by a back gate +he'll have to ride the whole round of the park before he can get upon +the Drybrook road, which is that for Gloucester. The detachment started +only a few minutes--less than five--after; and on the direct route will +easily head him off. They have orders to lay him by the heels, and +bring him back here; it's to be hoped the other with him." + +"_Gott_, Colonel! you've been clever. A capital stroke of strategy. If +it fail, I shan't blame you." + +"Your Highness's approval gratifies me. I think we need not fear +failure. At all events the messenger, if such he is, will be stopped, +and something will be squeezed out of him as to his errand. I gave +instructions that a file be sent back with him, soon as taken. So we +may expect seeing him ere long. I suppose your Highness designs to +quarter here for the night?" + +"Any number of nights, Colonel, if one be not enough for accomplishing +my purpose." + +"Half a one will be enough for that, Prince, if you proceed to +accomplishing it in the way I would advise you. No timid measures will +avail here; only the bold course, which conquest gives a right to, all +over the world." + +Without a blush did the ruffian give utterance to his atrocious +counsels; for he knew they were congenial to him into whose ears he was +pouring them. + +"Belike, that will be the best way," rejoined the Prince, well knowing +what was hinted at. "I come to be of your mind, Colonel. But now, +return to the escort. Give directions for their going into quarters. +See that sentries are set round the house, with outlying pickets. We +cannot be too careful, though Monmouth is in our hands. When you have +everything settled, come to me inside. Then we can talk about further +action." + +Light of heart, Lunsford proceeded to the execution of the orders thus +given. By the Prince's manner--and speech, half admitting--he saw that +the latter had received a rebuff, and was in the mood for violence, even +to outrage. It would be nothing new to him; nor the first time for the +ex-Lieutenant of the Tower to be his aid and companion in such a +criminal escapade as that they were now contemplating. + +Verily were Ambrose Powell's daughters in danger! And a danger neither +had conception or suspicion of. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT. + +A MESSENGER DESPATCHED. + +The girls had gone upstairs, their maid, Gwenthian, attending upon them +to dress for dinner, of which something had been said to the Prince when +parting with him at the door. + +Once inside the dressing-room, however, Sabrina, instead of proceeding +to change her attire, made direct for an _escritoire_, the flap of which +she pulled open. Then seating herself before it, she drew a sheet of +paper from its drawer, and commenced writing with nervous haste. + +A letter it was of no very great length, and in a few seconds finished. +But before folding it up she turned to the maid saying,-- + +"Gwenth! Go down to the back door, and stay about there till you see +cadger Jack's sister. I expect her to come up to the house; and if +nothing has hindered, she should be here very soon now. When she +arrives bring her to me, without losing a moment. Do it all quietly." + +Gwenth signified her comprehension of the orders, and was about starting +to execute them, when her mistress said, "Stay!" Then, after reflecting +a moment, added,-- + +"Go into the kitchen, and tell the cook dinner is not to be served +before Winny goes away--that is, if she come. In any case, it's not to +be put on the table till she has further directions about it." + +"But must we really dine along with him?" asked Vaga, as the maid passed +out of the room. She had commenced making her toilette, and, +inattentive to what her sister had been doing, only overheard what she +said about the dinner. + +"Either that or give offence. I had to speak of dinner--could not help +it--and the Prince will expect us to sit at the table." + +"I'd rather sit down with Beelzebub. Oh, Sab! you can't conceive what a +vile, vulgar man--Prince though he be." + +"Yes I can; know it. Richard has told me all about him. But we must +bear, and dissemble; do our best to entertain both him and his officers. +I think we needn't fear any special rudeness just yet; and if we can +keep them to their good behaviour for twelve hours I ask no more." + +"Why do you say twelve hours?" + +"Read that." + +It was the note she had just written; and, soon as the other had run her +eyes over it, she added,-- + +"Now you understand?" + +"I do. But how is it to be taken there?" + +"By Winny. It's just for that I gave Rees orders to send her up." + +"Couldn't Rees have taken it himself? On horseback he would go much +faster." + +"True, he might, if permitted to start. But he wouldn't be--not the +least likelihood of it. If he return to the house--which I hope he +won't--they'll not let him leave it again. But Win will do better every +way. We can trust her, and for speed she'll get to her journey's end +quick as any courier on horseback. She knows all the short cuts and +by-ways through the Forest. That will be in her favour to save time-- +besides safety otherwise. The fear I have is her not being at home. +What a pity we didn't know of their coming, when she was with us in the +morning!" + +"Perhaps not so much," rejoined Vaga, whose subtle ear had caught the +sound of footsteps ascending the stairs; two sets of them, as told by +the lighter and heavier tread. "That's Win now coming up with Gwenth. +I'm almost sure of it." + +In a few seconds after both were sure of it, as the opened door +discovered their maid outside on the landing with the cadgeress close +behind. + +"Oh, Win! we're so glad!" exclaimed the sisters in a breath, as she was +ushered into the room. + +"Glad o' what, my ladies?" asked the woman, with a puzzled look. She +did not understand how they could be joyful under the circumstances. + +"At your being here," answered Sabrina. "We were afraid you might not +be at home, or unable to come to us." + +"Well, mistress, I wor at home, an' comed soon's I got your message. +But my comin' wor nigh all bein' for nothin'." + +"How so?" + +"The Cavaliere sodgers warn't for lettin' me in o' the house, nor yet +through the back gate. They ha' got sentries all roun'. Besides, the +yard be full o' them wi' their horses, an' their imperence too." + +"They were impudent to you?" + +"'Deed, yes, my ladies. Swored at me, an' said I mauna set foot inside +the gate." + +"You see what courteous guests we've got, sister?" said Vaga. "The +attendants of a Prince! I thought it would end so." + +"Me tried to get past they," continued the cadgeress, "by tellin' a bit +fib. I sayed us wor the washwoman come for the clothes." + +"How clever!" exclaimed Vaga, admiringly. + +"Not much o' that, mistress. Anyways it warn't no use. Them wouldn't +allow me in after all; if't hadn't been for a young officer, who chanced +be near, an' ordered they let me pass. He spoke me kindly too, which +wor the strangest thing o' all." + +"Why strange?" asked Sabrina. + +"On account o' who him wor, my lady." + +"Who?" + +"Captain Trevor, the one's used to come to Hollymead fores the war." + +She had no need to particularise which. The sisters knew, and exchanged +glances; that of the elder showing a peculiar intelligence. + +"Odd o' he bein' civil to me," pursued the woman. "Him must 'a knowed +we well enough, an' had remembrance o' what happened on the Cat's Hill +two years ago. I tolt you about it, my ladies." + +"You did," said Sabrina. "And it does seem a little strange of Captain +Trevor not being, spiteful if he recognised you, as he must have done. +But," she added, becoming impatient, "_no_ matter for that now. Time is +pressing, and we want you to do us a service, Win. You will?" + +"Why needs thee ask if us will?" + +"Because there's some danger in it." + +"That be no reason; and don't speak o' the danger. Please to say what's +weeshed done, Mistress Sabrina; an' 't shall be did if in the power o' +we to do't." + +"This then, dear Winny. We want it taken to Gloucester." + +She held out what appeared a spill for lighting pipe or candle. It was +the note she had just written, folded and doubled-folded till no longer +recognisable as a sheet of paper, much less a letter. For all the +cadgeress knew it to be such; and not the first of its kind she had +received from the same hands, for surreptitious conveyance. + +"It shall be tookt theer," she said, in a determined way, "if the +Cavalieres don't take't from me on the way. Them won't find it without +some searchin', though." + +Saying which, she made further reduction in the dimensions of the sheet +by double knotting it; then thrust it under the coils of her luxuriant +hair, and by a dexterous play of fingers so fixed it that, only undoing +the plaits, could it be discovered. + +The letter bore no address, nor was name signed to it. Neither inquired +the cadgeress to whom it was to be delivered. Enough that Mistress +Sabrina had given it to her, and it was for Gloucester. She knew there +was a man there it must be meant for; she herself, for a special reason, +being always well posted up as to the whereabouts of Sir Richard Walwyn +and his Foresters. + +"Thee weesh me to start immediate I suppose, my lady?" + +"At once--soon as you can get off. How long will it take you to get to +Gloucester?" + +"Well, for usual me an' Jack be's 'bout four hours fra Ruardean. But I +once't did the journey myself in a bit less'n three, an' can go t' same +again." + +"It's now a little after six--only ten minutes," said Sabrina, +consulting her three-cornered watch. "Do you think you could get there +by nine?" + +"Sure o' that; an afores, if us be alive, an' nothin' happen to stop we +on the way." + +"Oh! I hope there won't, dear Winny. Time is of such importance; so +much depending upon it. Ay, it may be lives." + +She leant forward, and whispered some words into the woman's ear; either +a last pressing injunction, or, it might be, promise of reward for the +service to be performed. Whatever it was, on the face of the Forest +Amazon there was an expression of ready assent; then a humorous smile, +as she made haste to be gone, saying,-- + +"Now, Gwenthy! gie us the clothes for the wash!" + +The maid, as her mistress, looked a little puzzled. But quickly +comprehending, all three set to collecting such _lingerie_ as they could +lay hands on, soon making up a bundle big enough to represent a week's +consignment for the laundry. + +Which the pretended washerwoman having hoisted on her head, started +downstairs with it; Gwenthian, by direction, going along to see her out +of doors, assist her in cajoling the sentries, and bring back report +whether these had been safely passed. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY NINE. + +BROUGHT HOME A PRISONER. + +After the cadgeress had gone out of the room the anxiety of the sisters +was, for a while, of the keenest. The first flush of excitement over, +they saw danger in what they had done. Should their messenger be +stopped outside, and the note found upon her, there was that in it which +could not fail to compromise them. Moreover its contents had reference +to an important matter, a design that would be all defeated. + +Luckily they had not long to endure suspense. A light tread on the +stairs told of Gwenthian returning; and as she appeared in the doorway, +kept open for her, the joyous expression on her face betokened a +successful issue to the affair she had been sent upon. + +"Win's got safe away?" was her triumphant announcement, as she tripped +lightly into the room. + +"Good!" exclaimed both, Sabrina going on to inquire particulars. + +"Did they let her pass without any questioning?" + +"No, indeed, mistress. The sentries at the back gate--there are two at +it--stopped her; and one pulled the bundle off her head. They were +going to open and examine it, when Captain Trevor came up, and ordered +them to put it back again. Then he passed her through the gate, saying +something--like in a friendly way." + +"Did you hear what he said?" + +"Only to the soldiers; telling them to let the washerwoman alone. But +Win gave them a bit of her tongue too, as if she was real angry?" + +"You saw her well away?" + +"Yes, mistress; beyond where there were any of the people. She took the +path to the falconer's lodge, where she's to leave the things." + +"Why leave them there?" + +"Because she don't intend returning to her own cottage. That, she said, +would delay her; besides, some of the soldiers might be straying along +the Ruardean road, and stop her again. She's gone the way through the +woods." + +The ladies felt relieved. Win would manage it if woman could; and +should she succeed in reaching Gloucester, they might ere long look for +other relief from the dangers that environed them. + +But there was something to be done meanwhile; their unwelcome visitors +to be entertained. And how to extend hospitality to such was a +perplexing problem. Not only their numbers, but their character made it +so. The common soldiers could take care of themselves outside; the +signs and sounds told they were already doing so; but the Prince +himself, and the officers in his suite, would have to be treated in a +different way. Dinner had been spoken of--supper as called then--and +this was the first thing to be thought about. + +"Go down again, Gwenth," commanded Sabrina, acting mistress of the +mansion, "tell the cook to set it upon the table as soon as it is +ready." + +"For how many, my lady?" + +"Oh! I can't tell. Let her count for, say a score; and send in all the +eatables she can command." + +As the maid went kitchenward to deliver the somewhat indefinite +directions, her young mistresses turned to making their toilette at +length and at last. And, perhaps, never was one made more reluctantly, +or less elaborately, for a Prince of the blood Royal. Little cared they +how they might look in his eyes, or any other eyes that were to be upon +them. For their hearts were full of heaviness; oppressed by keen +anxiety about their father--still apprehending his return home. They +knew how much he was compromised with the King's party; had been ever +since the rebellion began, and before. For, ere blow had been struck, +or sword drawn, had he not resisted the loan by Privy Seal? And here +again at Hollymead were the two men who had attempted to levy that loan +upon him--Colonel Lunsford and Captain Reginald Trevor! They would be +satisfied with no money contribution now; but meant making him their +prisoner, with some severe punishment for his "delinquency." + +So feared his daughters at that hour; and, as a consequence, had little +care or thought about anything besides; even of the peril impending over +themselves. + +"It's strange, Rej Trevor behaving in such a way to Win," remarked Vaga, +as she stood before the mirror adjusting her rebellious tresses. "He +couldn't help knowing her, as she herself says. Once seen she's not the +sort to be easily forgotten. And after that encounter they had on the +Cat's Hill! Very strange, isn't it?" + +"Yes, indeed," assented Sabrina; "I've been wondering at it myself, and +at something besides." + +"What besides?" + +"His behaviour in every way. He seems altogether changed." + +"I've had no opportunity of observing it. What makes you think so?" + +"While you were apart with the Prince we had some conversation. He +talks quite differently from his old frivolous way. And no more has he +the swaggering manner which used to be so offensive." + +"Then he's not the conceited Cavalier of twelve months ago?" + +"Anything but that. Had I not known him in the past I should set him +down for a modest young fellow, of rather melancholy temperament; or +more like one who had some sorrow preying upon him." + +"What can it be, I wonder?" She had her conjecture as to what, but +forbore declaring it. She had not forgotten--how could she?--his +confession, made in passionate appeal, at their last interview. She +knew his indifference at their parting was the purest affectation, and +that the fish he had gone to catch had not been caught. + +Recalling that scene, her sister could have answered the question with a +near approach to the truth. But she, too, retentive of her real +thoughts, but said in careless rejoinder,-- + +"Oh! I suppose the events of the war, which have had a saddening effect +on everybody." + +"Not everybody. These self-invited guests of ours are at least an +exception. Listen to them!" By this the officers of the Prince's +escort had entered the house; and from their loud talk and laughter were +evidently making themselves at home and free with everything. They +could be heard issuing commands, and calling out orders to the servants, +as though the place were a public inn. + +"Like as not," continued Vaga, still incredulous about Reginald Trevor's +conversion, "like as not your `modest young fellow of rather melancholy +temperament' is laughing among the loudest of them. I fancy I hear his +voice." + +"No, Vag, I don't think you do. I can't." + +"Well, may be not. And it's to be hoped he's sobered, as you say. He +needed it. Strange if he is though, in the retinue of Prince Rupert, +whose precept and example are more likely to have a reverse tendency. +Possibly Master Rej is only humble in the presence of the High +Mightiness, his master. When the big dog is by, the little one has to +be on its good behaviour." + +"I scarce think it's that; and you may be wronging him." + +"If I am I shall be glad to know it. But how odd all this?" she added, +yielding to a sudden recollection. "Time was when you, Sab, were all +the other way about Rej Trevor; used to caution me against him!" + +She had faced towards her sister, and stood with hands full of loose +hair that fell as a cataract of molten gold over her ivory shoulders. + +"True, I did. And with reasons then. Our father was against him more +than I; which may have influenced me." + +"And now?" + +"Now I admit never having believed him so very bad--I mean at heart." + +"Oh! nobody ever said he had a very bad heart. His head was more blamed +for getting him ill repute." + +"His habits rather." + +"Say habits, then. But why are you thus defending him?" + +"Because of his seeming so friendly to us. All he said to me just now, +with his manner, was as one who felt sorry at our being thus intruded +on. He knows it's not agreeable to us--cannot be. And his behaviour to +Win--that confirms my belief that he has no hostile feelings to us." + +"Don't be so confident till we're sure she's safe off. It may be only a +trap to catch us. How know we he hasn't followed to bring her back +again, and so win favour from his princely patron. I wouldn't wonder if +it's something of that kind. For in what other way is his conduct to be +accounted for?" + +"Heaven help us if it be that! But I won't--can't believe it." + +"Well, we shall soon know, now. If Win get away, I'll think better of +Rej Trevor than I've ever done." + +"If she do, to-morrow's sun may see soldiers here in green uniforms, +with red ones as their prisoners, and you and I, sister, will have done +something for the good cause--for Liberty!" + +In her most tranquil mien Sabrina Powell was an imposing personage; but +now, excited to enthusiasm by the word "Liberty" on her lips, and its +inspiration in her heart, with her grand eyes aglow, she looked its very +Goddess. + +She had finished her toilette, and stood at the window, a front one, +commanding view of the avenue and entrance gate of the park. But not +long was she there before seeing that which brought a black shadow upon +her brow, with chill fear into her heart. + +"Oh, Vaga?" she called to her sister, still at the mirror, "come hither! +See what's down yonder!" + +The summons, in tone almost of agony, drew the other instantly to her +side, with tresses trailing. To see three horsemen, who had just passed +through the gate, and were coming on for the house. They rode abreast; +he in the middle being in sombre civilian garb, the two who flanked him +wearing the scarlet uniform of the soldiers already around the house. + +"'Tis Rees!" exclaimed Sabrina, recognising the groom. "They've taken +him prisoner!" + +"Indeed, yes; 'tis he. Oh, sister, dear! if father should be coming +home now? I hope he's still in Gloucester!" + +Vain hope; almost on the instant to know disappointment. For before +those already entered were half-way up the long avenue, more red coats +were seen riding through the gate, in their midst a man in dark dress-- +he, too, evidently conducted as a prisoner. "'Tis father!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY. + +QUARTERED UPON THE ENEMY. + +Night had descended over Hollymead. A dark night, too, though there was +no lack of light inside the house or around it. Nearing November the +atmosphere had a frosty feel, and great wood fires were burning in the +wide chimney places of the reception rooms. Without, in the centre of +the courtyard, a very bonfire had been kindled, which sent its red glare +and glow to the most distant corner of the inclosure. Around this were +seated or standing, in every variety of attitude, such of the common +soldiers of the escort as were not upon duty. Carousing, of course. +For the rank and file of the Royalist army, especially that portion of +it which acted under Rupert, followed the fashion of their officers; and +one of the affectations of Cavalierism was to display a superior +capacity for indulgence in drink. + +About the house they had found the wherewithal to give them a good +supper, with more than drink enough to wash it down. For when Monmouth +fell into the hands of the Parliamentarians, the Master of Hollymead, +thinking it safe, had done something to restock his pastures, as also +replenish larder and cellars! And once more these were in the way of +getting speedily depleted; the thirsty troopers around the courtyard +fire quaffing at free tap from a cask of ale they had rolled out upon +the pavement; while they bandied coarse jests, told indecent stories, or +sang songs of like character, roaring in chorus. + +Inside there was revelry also. Of a less rude kind; still revelry, and +coarse enough, considering that they who indulged in it composed the +_entourage_ of a Prince. In the dining-hall was it being held, around a +table on which stood a varied assortment of bottles and decanters, +goblets and glasses. There had been a repast upon it, that same +dinner-supper; but the dishes and _debris_ of solids had been removed, +and only the drinking materials remained. Nearly a score of guests +encircled it, all gentlemen; and all in military uniform--being the +officers of the escort--not a man in citizen garb seen among them. For +the master of the house was not at the head of his own table, as might +have been expected. Instead, shut up in one of the rooms adjacent; its +door locked, and a sentry stationed outside! + +His daughters were upstairs, in their private apartment, from which they +had never come down. Through the window they had seen their father +brought back under guard, as a felon; saw it with indignation, but also +fear. Greater became the last, when told they could not hold speech +with him, or have access to the room in which he was confined. Denied +interview with their own father, in their own house! Inhumanity that +augured ill for what was to come after. + +What this might be they could neither tell nor guess. They even feared +to reflect upon it; trembling at every footstep on the stairs. Though +no key had been turned upon them, nor sentry set at their door, they +were as much imprisoned as their father. For the Prince's retinue of +servants filled the house, tramping and roaming about everywhere, and +bullying the family domestics. It was not safe to go out among them; +and the young ladies had locked themselves up, dreading insult, if not +absolute outrage. Even Gwenthian dared not trust herself downstairs, +and shared their confinement. + +What did it all mean? Why such change in the behaviour of the Prince, +so late pretending amiability? For his people must have sanction, or +they would not be so acting. + +The explanation was simple, withal. Shortly after Rupert's arrival at +Hollymead, a courier, who had followed him from Monmouth, brought +tidings of another Royalist reverse--Chepstow, with its castle, taken or +closely beleaguered. Exasperated by the intelligence, he no longer +resisted the wicked proposals of Lunsford, but gave willing assent to +them. And now, having thrown off the mask, he had determined on taking +the whole Powell family back with him to Bristol. As his prisoner there +he could do with the "bit of saucy sweetness" as it might please him; as +he had done with many other unfortunate women whom the chances of war +had brought within his wanton embrace. + +It had been all settled, save some details about the departure from +Hollymead, the time, and the return route. These were now being +discussed between him and the commanding officer of his escort, as they +sate at a side table to which they had temporarily withdrawn, to be out +of earshot, of the others. + +"Should we remain here for the night, _mein_ Colonel, or make back to +Monmouth? We can get there before midnight." + +"That we could, easily enough, your Highness. But why go by Monmouth at +all?" + +"Why not?" + +"There are two reasons against it, Prince. Both good ones." + +"Give them, Sir Thomas." + +"If it be true that Chepstow's lost to us, there may be a difficulty in +our crossing the Wye down there. Or getting over to the Aust passage of +the Severn, with such a weak force as attends your Highness." + +"_Gott_! yes; I perceive that. But what's your other reason against +Monmouth way?" + +"A more delicate one. To pass through that town with such a captive +train as your Highness will have might give tongue for scandal. The +venerable Marquis of Worcester is rather squeamish; besides not being +your best friend. You know that, Prince?" + +"I do know it, and will some day make him sorry for it, the old Papist +hypocrite. But what other route would you have us take?" + +"Down through the Forest direct, and across the Severn, either at +Newnham or Westbury. There's a ferry at both places, with horse-boats +enough to take us all over in a trip or two. We may reach Berkeley +Castle before daylight; where, if it be your Highness's pleasure to lie +up for the day, you could enter Bristol on the following night without +all the world being the wiser as to the sort of prisoners we carried +in." + +"Egad! your reasons are good. I'm inclined to follow your advice, and +return by the route you speak of. Are you well acquainted with it, +_mein_ Colonel?" + +"Reasonably well, your Highness. But Captain Trevor knows it better +than I. He was longer with Sir John Wintour, and is familiar with every +crook and turn of the Forest roads in that quarter. There can be no +danger of our going astray." + +"But the night's dark as pitch. So one has just told me." + +"True it is now, your Highness. But there'll be a moon this side +midnight, and that will be time enough to start. We can make Berkeley +before morning--prisoners, crossing the Severn, and all delays +notwithstanding. Next night your Highness may sleep in your own bed +within the walls of Bristol Castle, with a sweet creature to share it-- +whom I need not designate by name." + +"She _shall_ share it!" rejoined the Royal reprobate, in reckless, but +determined tone, his wicked passions fired by the wine he had been +drinking. "And we go that way, Colonel. So see that all be ready for +the route soon as the moon shows her sweet face. Meanwhile, let us back +to our comrades and be merry." + +Saying which he returned to the chair he had vacated at the head of the +table, the other along with him; then, grasping a filled goblet, he +called out the Cavalier's orthodox sentiment "The Wenches!" adding,-- + +"Colonel Lunsford will respond with a song, gentlemen!" + +Which the Colonel did; giving that they liked best, with a chorus they +could all join in,-- + + "We'll drink, drink; + And our goblets clink, + Quaffing the blood-red wine. + The wenches we'll toast, + And the Roundheads we'll roast, + The Croppies and all their kind." + +The coarse refrain, with the ribald jests that followed it, could be +heard all over the house, reaching the ears of its imprisoned owner. +Even those of his daughters, more distant, did not escape being offended +by them. No wonder at both having in their hearts, if not on their +lips, the prayer,--"God speed Win upon her errand!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY ONE. + +A COURAGEOUS WADER. + +The Severn was in flood, its wide valley a sheet of water, which +extended miles from either bank, and far up north towards Worcester. +Viewed from an eminence, it looked as if the primeval sea which once +washed the foots of the Malvern Hills had rolled back over its ancient +bed. + +The city of Gloucester seemed standing on an island, some of its houses, +that lay low, submerged, and only approachable by boats; while the +causeways of the roads leading from it were under water, in places to a +depth of several feet. + +This it was which had hindered Ambrose Powell arriving at Hollymead +House many hours earlier than that on which he was taken to it a +prisoner. For, soon as receiving news of the re-capture of Monmouth, +instinctively apprehending danger to the dear ones so unwisely left +alone, he had hurriedly started homeward; to be delayed by the +obstructing flood. Nearing home with heart a prey to anxiety, harassed +by the thought of his own imprudence; at length reaching it to find his +worst fears realised; himself no longer free. + +The waters still prevailing in the Severn Valley and around Gloucester, +it seemed impossible to enter that city, save by boat. Yet on that same +night a pedestrian could have been seen making towards it from the +direction of Mitcheldean; one who meant it as the objective point of her +journey--for it was a woman. + +The great cathedral clock was just tolling nine p.m. as she descended +into the lowlands near Highnam, and came to a stop by the edge of the +inundated district. It was dark, the moon still below the horizon; but +her precursory rays, reflected from fleecy clouds above it, threw a +faint light over the aqueous surface, sufficient to make objects +distinguishable at a good hundred yards' distance. Copses that seemed +islets, with the tufted heads of pollarded willows rising weirdlike out +of the water, were the conspicuous features of the flooded landscape. +Rows of the latter marked the boundaries of meadows; but two running +parallel, with a narrower list between, indicated the causeway of the +road. + +The woman had approached this point at a rapid pace; and, though brought +to a stand, it was but a momentary pause, without thought of turning +back. Her attitude, and the expression upon her features, told of a +determination to continue on, and get inside Gloucester if that were +possible. In all haste, too; for as the strokes of the great clock-bell +came booming over the water, she counted them with evident anxiety, in +fear of their tolling ten instead of nine. Even the lesser number +seemed scarcely to satisfy her; as if, withal, she might be too late for +the business she was bent upon. + +She but waited for the final reverberation; then, drawing her skirts +knee high, walked boldly into the flood, and onward. + +Ankle-deep at the first step, she was soon in water that washed around +her garters. Here and there, with a current too, which threatened to +sweep her off her feet. But it did not deter her from advancing; and on +went she, without stop or show of hesitation; no sign of quailing in her +eye. + +At knee's depth, as ere long she was, still enough of her showed above +the surface to represent the stature of an ordinary woman. For she was +not an ordinary woman, in height or otherwise--being Winny, the +cadgeress. + +On tramped the courageous wader, on plunged, till the water was up to +mid thigh. No more then did her face show fear; nor sign of intention +to turn back. She would have gone on, had it come to swimming. For +swim she could; many the time having bathed her body in both Severn and +Wye. That was not needed now, though very near it. Even over the +raised ridge of the causeway the flood was feet deep. But, familiar +with the route, having the landmarks in her memory--for it was not her +first time to travel that road when submerged--she knew all its turns +and bearings; how to take them; took them; and at length having passed +the deepest depths, saw before her the Severn's bridge, with its +elevated _tete-de-pont_; and, beyond, the massive tower of the +cathedral, amidst a surrounding of roofs and chimneys. + +Her perilous journey was near its end, the toilsome journey nigh over; +and she felt happy. For, as through frost some twelve months before, +she had approached Bristol with pleasant anticipations, so now was she +about to enter Gloucester with the same, and from a similar cause. + +Her expectancy was realised sooner than she had hoped for; the result +identical to a degree of oddness. For just as upon that night at +Bristol, so on this at Gloucester, Rob Wilde chanced to be +guard-sergeant of the gate by which she sought admission. + +And once again went their great arms around each other; their lips +closing in kisses loud and fervent as ever. + +"God Almighty, Win!" he exclaimed, still holding her in honest, amorous +embrace, "what bet now? Why hast thee comed hither through the flood? +Dear girl! ye be's wet up to the--" + +"No matter how high, Rob," she said, interrupting, "if 'twor up to the +neck, there be good reasons for't." + +"What reasons?" + +"News I ha' brought frae Ruardean; rayther us ought say Hollymead." + +"Bad news be they? I needn't axe; I see't in your face." + +"Bad enough; though nothin' more than might ha' been expected after the +Cavalieres bein' back at Monnerth, an' master's theer. Ye ha' heerd +that, I suppose?" + +"Oh, certainly! The news got here day afore yesterday, in the night. +But fra Hollymead?" + +"A troop o' 'em there, numberin' nigh two hundred; horse sodjers in +scarlet, wi' all sorts o' grand trappins; the Prince Rupert's they be. +Us ha' come wi' a message to Sir Richard. So I needn't tell ye who't be +from." + +"No, you needn't. I can guess. Then ye maun see him at once?" + +"Wi' not a minute's delay. Us ha' got a letter for him; an' she as sent +it sayed the deliverin' be a thing o' life an' death. I knows that +myself, Rob." + +"Come along, love! The colonel be in his quarters, I think. He wor by +the gate here only a short whiles ago, and gied me orders for reportin' +to him there. Another kiss, Win dear, fore's we get into company." + +The favour was conceded soon as asked; and, after another hug, with +more, than one osculation, the two great figures moved off side by side +through the darkness. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY TWO. + +THEIR DEAR ONES IN DANGER. + +As the sergeant conjectured, Colonel Walwyn was in his quarters; Eustace +Trevor, his almost constant companion, along with him. The ever-active +Governor of Gloucester was absent on another of his many expeditions, +and had left Colonel Broughton in chief command of the garrison, Sir +Richard commanding its cavalry force, with a separate jurisdiction. + +The duties of the day over, with all guards stationed for the night, he, +with his young troop captain, having just completed the "Grand Rounds," +had returned to quarters, and taken seat by a brisk wood fire; the +night, as already said, being chill. + +Hubert was bustling about in attendance upon them; for, though a gaudy +trumpeter, he took delight in serving his revered colonel in every +possible capacity. There was nothing menial in waiting upon such a +master--so thought the faithful henchman. + +He had uncorked a bottle of claret, and placed it on the table between +them, which they proceeded to discuss as they reviewed the events of the +day. The knight was no anchorite, neither the _ci-devant_ +gentleman-usher; both accustomed to take their wine in a moderate way. +And both habitually cheerful, save when some reverse of arms gave reason +for their being otherwise. + +Such there was now, or lately had been--that of Monmouth still in their +minds. Sir Richard regretted not having been himself charged to keep +the place he had been chiefly instrumental in capturing. Had it been +so, the enemy would not so easily have retaken it. That he might well +think or say, without any self-conceit. For in the most blundering +manner had Major Throgmorton, left in temporary command, managed its +defence; in truth, making no defence at all, but allowing the Royalists +to re-enter almost without striking blow. + +The affair was truly farcical, however serious for the Parliament. Its +County Committee was at the time in session; decreeing fines and +sequestrations against the Monmouthshire "malignants"; when all at once +confronted by the very men with whose estates and chattels they +were playing at confiscation; these armed, and angrily +vociferating--"Surrender! you are our prisoners!" + +Never were judicial deliberations brought to a more abrupt ending; never +transfer of authority more ludicrously sudden. Though it was aught but +a jesting matter to the dispossessed ones, who from a comfortable +council-chamber were instantly hurried off to the cells of a dismal +jail. + +Of course the Cavaliers made much fun over the affair; while reversely +their adversaries were chagrined and humiliated by it. + +Few grieved over the event in a greater degree than Colonel Walwyn and +Captain Eustace Trevor; for they had special reasons. + +"I only wish I'd known of that danger when we got Massey's order to +march hither," observed the former, as they sat sipping their wine. + +"What would you have done, Sir Richard?" + +"Disobeyed it; and marched our men in opposite direction--to Monmouth." + +"Ah, true! A pity you didn't. It might have been the saving of the +place." + +"No use lamenting the disaster now it's done. Would that the taking of +the town were all you and I, Trevor, have concern about! Unfortunately +it isn't. What madness leaving the girls at Hollymead--absolute +insanity?" + +"It was. I thought so at the time, as did Vaga." + +"Sabrina too; everybody but Powell himself. He couldn't be convinced +there was any danger; and I still hope there may not be. But who knows +what the upshot now? I tremble to think of it." + +"It's to be regretted, we didn't more press him to come away with us." + +"Oh! that would have been of no use. I did urge it on him--far as I +could becomingly. But he had one of his obstinate, pig-headed fits upon +him that day, and would listen to no reason. It's not pleasant having +to speak so of him, whom we both look forward to as our future +father-in-law; but when he's in that frame of mind Heaven and earth +wouldn't move him. Nor the devil frighten him either. You remember how +he braved Lunsford, and that precious cousin of yours, when they came to +collect the King's loan. True, he had us, and something besides, at his +back. But without that he'd have defied them all the same; ay, had the +whole Royalist army been there threatening him with instant death." + +"That I fully believe. Yet one cannot help admiring his independence of +spirit--so much of manhood in it, and so rare!" + +"Ay, true. But in that case too much recklessness. It has begot +danger, and may bring disaster upon all of us--if it hasn't already." + +The last words, spoken in a grave, almost despondent tone, fell +unpleasantly on the ear of Eustace Trevor, already sufficiently +apprehensive of the thing hinted at. + +"In what way, colonel?" he queried anxiously. "Are you thinking of any +special danger?" + +"I am, indeed; and to our dear ones." + +"But how? From what--whom?" + +"Rather ask `from where?' and I'll answer `Monmouth.' Now that the +Royalists are masters there, almost for certain they'll be raiding up +into the Forest; and likely, too likely, a party pay visit to Hollymead. +That, as you know, Trevor, were danger enough to those we have fears +for?" + +"But now that their father has gone to fetch them away? He should be +there long before this." + +"And long before this may be too late. Just what I'm most anxious +about--the time of his arrival at Hollymead; for I know he won't stay +there an instant. Poor man! he's sadly repentant of his imprudent act, +and will make all haste to bring them back with him. The fear is of the +flood having delayed him too long at starting--my fear." + +"Good Heavens?" exclaimed the young officer; "let us hope not." + +"If Massey were here," continued the other, a thought striking him, "I'd +ask leave to go after him. Indeed, I feel half-inclined to take it, +without asking." + +"And why not, Colonel? We could be at Ruardean and back before +morning--riding at a pace." + +Sir Richard was silent, seeming to ponder. Only for a few seconds; +when, as if resolved, he sprang to his feet, saying,-- + +"I'll risk it, whatever the result. And we shall start at once, taking +our own fellows along with us. Hubert!" + +Quick as the call came the trumpeter from aft ante-room, where he had +stayed in waiting. To receive the order,-- + +"To the men's quarters, and sound the `Assembly'! Lose not a moment!" + +And not a moment lost the trumpeter, knowing that when Colonel Walwyn +gave an order in such excited strain it meant promptest obedience. +Snatching up his trumpet, as he hurried out through the ante-room, he +was in the street in an instant hurrying towards the cavalry quarters. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY THREE. + +AN EXCITING EPISTLE. + +"Trevor!" cried the colonel to his troop captain, now also upon his +feet, and sharing his excitement; "send out an orderly to summon Harley +and our other officers. Perhaps you had best go yourself. You know +where to find them, I suppose?" + +"I think I do, colonel." + +"Use all despatch. As we've made up our minds to this thing, the sooner +we're in the saddle the better." + +The counsel to make haste was little called for. Eustace Trevor itched +to be in the saddle, as ever disciple of Saint Hubert on the first day +of foxhunting. But just as he was about to step over the threshold of +the outer door, he saw a party approaching evidently with the design to +enter. Two individuals they were, a man and woman, still within the dim +light of the overshadowing houses. For all, he had no difficulty in +recognising them. Colossal stature as theirs was far from common; the +pair being Rob Wilde and Winny. + +He saw them with some surprise--at least the woman. For he had not +expected seeing her there. There she was, though; and, as quick +intuition told him, her presence might have some bearing on that he was +about to issue forth, for he awaited their coming up. + +Soon they stood at the door, face to face with him; the sergeant +saluting soldier fashion, while the woman curtseyed. + +"You, Winifred!" exclaimed the young officer. "I was not aware of your +being in Gloucester." + +"Her han't been in it more'n ten minutes, captain," said the sergeant, +speaking for her. "I ha' just lets her in at the gate. Her be wantin' +a word wi' the colonel." + +"She'll be welcome to that, I'm sure. But first go in yourself and +see." + +This was in accordance with military etiquette, indeed regulations; no +stranger admitted to the presence of a commanding officer without being +announced, and permission given. Rob himself came not under the rule, +and was about to pass inside; when a thought occurring to Captain +Trevor, the latter turned upon his heel and preceded him. + +"Well, Wilde, what is it?" asked Sir Richard, as they entered the room. +Eagerly, too, seeing that the features of the big sergeant wore a +portentous expression. "Any trouble with your gate-guard?" + +"No, Colonel; nothin' o' that." + +"Some news come in?" + +"Just so, Sir Richard; an' not o' the best neyther." + +"Indeed! What news? Whence?" + +"Fra Ruardean, or, to speak more partickler, fra Hollymead House." + +Both colonel and captain were now all ears. No spot on the habitable +globe had such interest for them as Hollymead House, and from nowhere +was intelligence so eagerly desired. + +"Tell it, sergeant!" was the impatient command. + +"A party o' the King's soldiers be quartered there--cavalry." + +"O God?" exclaimed Eustace Trevor, almost in a groan; the knight also +showing grievously affected. "How did you get this news?" + +"Win ha' brought it." + +"Win?" + +"Yes, colonel. Her be outside the door--waitin' permission to speak wi' +you. She ha' been trusted wi' a letter from the young ladies." + +"Bring her in--instantly!" + +"Singular coincidence, Trevor!" said Sir Richard, as the sergeant passed +out. "Already at Hollymead! Just what we've been fearing!" + +"Indeed, so. And all the more reason for our being there too." + +"I wonder who they are. Lingen's, think you?" + +"Rob says they're quartered there. That would hardly be Lingen's--so +near his own garrison at Goodrich? More like some of Lord Herbert's +Horse from Monmouth. And I hope it may be they." + +"Ah! true; it might be worse. But we'll soon hear. The cadgeress can +tell, no doubt; or it'll be in the letter." + +The door, reopening, showed the Forest Amazon outside, Rob conducting +her in. They could see that she was wet to the waist, her saturated +skirt clinging around limbs of noble outline; while her heaving bosom +with the heightened colour of her cheeks, told of a journey but just +completed, and made in greatest haste. + +"You have a letter for me?" said Sir Richard interrogatively, as she +stepped inside the room. "Yes, your honner, fra Hollymead." She spoke +with hand raised to her head, as if adjusting one of the plaits of her +hair. Instead, she was searching among them for the concealed epistle. +Which, soon found, was handed over to him for whom it was intended. + +No surprise to Sir Richard at seeing a thing more like curl-paper than +letter. It was not the first time for him to receive such, in a similar +way; and, straightening it out under the lamplight, he was soon +acquainted with its contents. + +So far from having the effect of allaying his excitement they but +increased it, and he cried out to the sergeant, as he had to the +trumpeter,-- + +"Quick to the men's quarters, Wilde, and help getting all ready for the +route! Hubert's there by this time, and will have sounded the +`Assembly.' Read that, Trevor! There's something that concerns you," +and he handed the letter to his troop captain. + +The sergeant hurried away, leaving Win to be further questioned by the +colonel. And while this was going on the young officer perused the +epistle, to be affected by it in a similar fashion. It ran thus:-- + +"Ill tidings, Richard. Prince Rupert here, with his escort--about two +hundred. Has just arrived, and intends staying the night; indeed, till +father return home, he says. I hope father will not come home, unless +you come with him. I'm sure they mean him harm. That horrid man, +Lunsford, is in the Prince's suit; Reginald Trevor too. Winny will tell +you more; I fear to lose time in writing. _Dear Richard! come if you +can_." + +So the body of the epistle, with below a postscript, in a different +handwriting, well-known to Eustace Trevor:--"Dearest Eustace! we are in +danger, I _do_ believe." The words were significant; and no form of +appeal for rescue could have been more pressing. Nor was such needed; +neither any urging of haste upon the men thus admonished. + +Never was squadron of cavalry sooner in the saddle, after getting +orders, than was "Walwyn's Horse" on that night. In less than twenty +minutes later, they went at a gallop through the north-western gate of +Gloucester, opened to give them exit; then on along the flooded +causeway, riding rowells deep, plunging and flinging the spray-drops +high in air, till every man was dripping wet, from the plume in his hat +to the spurs upon his heels. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR. + +A HOUSE ON FIRE. + +The moon had risen, but only to be seen at intervals. Heavy cumuli +drifting sluggishly athwart the sky, now and then drew curtain-like over +her disk, making the earth dark as Erebus. Between these recurrent +cloud eclipses, however, her light was of the clearest; for the +atmosphere otherwise was without haze or mist. + +She was shining in full effulgence, as a body of horsemen commenced +breasting the pitch which winds up from Mitcheldean to the Wilderness. +Their distinctive standard was sheathed--not needing display in the +night; but the green uniforms, and the cocks'-tail feathers pluming +their hats, told them to be Walwyn's Horse--the Foresters. + +They were still wet with the flood-water through which they had waded +after clearing the gates of Gloucester. Their horses too; the coats of +these further darkened by sweat, save where the flakes of white froth, +tossed back on their necks and counters, gave them a piebald appearance. +All betokened a terrible pace, and such had they kept up, scarce +slowing for an instant from the flood's edge till they entered the town +of Mitcheldean. + +Then it was but a momentary halt in the street, and without leaving the +saddle; just long enough to inquire whether Master Ambrose Powell had +that day passed through the place. He had; late in the afternoon. On +horseback, without any attendant, and apparently in great haste. + +"Prisoner or not, they have him at Hollymead now," observed Sir Richard +to Eustace Trevor, as they trotted on through the town to the foot of +the hill where the road runs up to the Wilderness. + +To gallop horses already blown against that steep acclivity would have +been to kill them. But the leader of the party, familiar with it, did +not put them to the test; instead, commanded a walk. And while riding +side by side, he and his troop captain held something of a lengthened +conversation, up to that time only a few hurried words having been +exchanged between them. + +"I wish the letter had been a little more explicit as to their numbers," +said Sir Richard. "About two hundred may mean three, or only one. A +woman's estimate is not the most reliable in such matters." + +"What did the cadgeress say of it, Colonel? You questioned her, I +suppose?" + +"Minutely; but to no purpose. She only came to the house after they had +scattered all around it, and, of course, had no definite idea of their +number. So we shan't know how many we'll have to cross swords with, +till we get upon the ground." + +"If we have the chance to cross swords with any. I only wish we were +sure of that." + +"The deuce! They may be gone away, you think?" + +"Rather fear it, Sir Richard. Powell must have reached Hollymead before +nightfall; and if they intended making him a prisoner 'twould be done at +once; with no object for their staying afterwards." + +"Unless they have done a long day's march, and meant to quarter there +for the night. If they went thither direct from Bristol, which is like +enough, that's just what they'd do; stay the night, and start back for +Bristol in the morning." + +"I have fears, Colonel, we won't find it so. More likely the Prince was +at Monmouth on account of what's happened there; and will return to it-- +has returned already." + +"If so, Trevor, 'twill be a black night for you and me; a bitter +disappointment, and something worse. If he's gone from Hollymead, so +will they--father, daughters, all. Rupert's not the sort to leave such +behind, with an abettor like Tom Lunsford. As for your cousin, remember +how you crossed him. It's but natural he should feel spiteful, and show +it in that quarter." + +"If he do, I'll cross him worse when we come to crossing swords. And +I'll find the chance. We've made mutual promise to give no quarter-- +almost sworn it. If ill befall Vaga Powell through him, I'll keep that +promise faithfully as any oath." + +"But right you should. And for settling scores you may soon have the +opportunity; I trust within the hour." + +"Then, Colonel, _you_ think they'll still be at Hollymead." + +"I hope it rather; grounding my hope on another habit of this German +Prince. One he has late been indulging to excess, 'tis said." + +"Drink?" + +"Just so. In the which Lunsford, with head hard as his heart, will +stand by him cup for cup." + +"But can that affect their staying at Hollymead?" + +"Certainly it can; probably will." + +"How, Sir Richard?" + +"By their getting inebriated there; or, at all events, enough so to make +them careless about moving off before the morning. The more, as they +can't be expecting any surprise from this side. You remember there was +a fair stock of wine in the cellars when we were there, best sorts too. +Let loose at that, they're likely to stay by it as long as the tap +runs." + +"God grant it may run till morning then?" was the prayer of the young +officer, fervently spoken. In his ways of thought and speech two years' +campaigning had made much change, deepening the gravity of one naturally +of serious turn. + +"No matter about morning," rejoined Sir Richard. "If it but hold out +for another hour, and we find them there, something else will then be +running red as the wine. Ah, Master Lunsford! One more meeting with +you, that's what I want now. If I'm lucky enough to have it this night, +this night will be the last of your life." + +The apostrophe, which was but a mental reflection, had reference to +something Sabrina had been telling him, vividly recalled by the words in +her latest letter, "that horrid man." + +At the same instant, and in similar strain, was Eustace Trevor +reflecting about his Cousin Reginald; making mental vow that, if Vaga +suffered shame by him, neither would his life be of long endurance. + +By this they had surmounted the pitch, and arrived at a spot both had +good reason to remember. It was the piece of level turf where once +baring blades they had come so near sending one or other out of the +world. Their horses remembered it too--they were still riding the +same--and with a recollection which had a result quaintly comical. Soon +as on the ground, without check of rein or word said, they came to a +sudden halt, turned head to head, snorting and angry-like, as if +expecting a renewal of the combat! + +All the more strange this behaviour on the part of the animals, that, +since their hostile encounter, for now over two years they had been +together in amiable association! + +A circumstance so odd, so ludicrous, could not fail to excite the +risibility of their riders; and laugh both did, despite their serious +mood at the moment. To their following it but caused surprise; two +alone comprehending, so far as to see the fun of it. These Hubert, the +trumpeter, and the "light varlit" then so near coming to blows with him, +who through thick and thin, had ever since stuck to the +ex-gentleman-usher, his master. + +No doubt the little interlude would have led to some speech about it, +between the chief actors in the more serious encounter it recalled, but +for something at that moment seen by them, turning their thoughts into a +new channel. Away westward, beyond Drybrook, beyond Ruardean Ridge, the +sky showed a clearness that had nought to do with the moon's light; +instead was ruddier, and shone brighter, as this became obscured by a +thick cloud drifting over her disk. A glowing, gleaming light, unusual +in a way; but natural enough regarded as the glare of a conflagration-- +which in reality it was. + +"House on fire over yonder?" cried one of the soldiers. + +"May be only a haystack," suggested a second. + +"More like a town, judgin' by the big blaze," reasoned a third. + +"There's no town in that direction; only Ruardean, where's we be goin'." + +"Why maunt it be Ruardean, then?" queried the first speaker; "or the +church?" + +"An' a good thing if't be the church," put in one of strong Puritan +proclivities. "It want burnin' down, as every other, wi' their altars +an' images. They be a curse to the country; the parsons too. They've +taken sides wi' the stinkin' Cavaliers, agaynst Parliament and people, +all along." + +"That's true," endorsed another of like iconoclastic sentiments; "an' if +it a'nt the church as be givin' up that light, let's luminate it when we +get there. I go for that." + +A proposal which called forth a chorus of assenting responses. + +While this play of words was in progress along the line of rank and file +rearwards, the Colonel and Captain Trevor, at its head, were engaged in +a dialogue of conjectures about the same--a brief one. + +"What think you it is?" asked Sir Richard, as they sat halted in their +saddles regarding the garish light. "It looks to be over Ruardean, or +near it." + +"A fire of some kind, Colonel. No common one either." + +"A farmer's rick?" + +"I fear not; would we were sure of its being only that!" + +"Ha! A house you think?" + +"I do, Sir Richard." + +"And--?" + +"The one we're making for!" + +"By Heavens! I believe it is. It bears that way to a point. +Ruardean's more to the right. Yes, it must be Hollymead!" + +Both talked excitedly, but no more words passed between them there and +then. The next heard was the command--"March--double quick!" and down +the hill to Drybrook went they at a gallop over the tiny stream, and up +the long winding slope round the shoulder of Ruardean Hill--without halt +or draw on bridle. There only poising for an instant, as they came +within view of the village and saw the conflagration was not in, but +wide away from it; the glare and sparks ascending over the spot where +Hollymead House should be, but was no more. + +As, continuing their gallop, they rode in through the park gates, it was +to see a vast blazing pile, like a bonfire built by Titans--the fagots' +great beams heaped together confusedly--from which issued a hissing and +crackling, with at intervals loud explosions, as from an ordnance +magazine on fire. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE. + +VERY NEAR AN ENCOUNTER. + +Mitcheldean lies at the foot of the steep _facade_ already spoken of as +forming a periphery to the elevated Forest district. The slope ascends +direct from the western skirts of the little town; but outlying ridges +also inclose it on the north, east, and south, so that even the tall +spire of its church is invisible from any great distance. So situated, +railways give it a wide berth; and few places better deserve the title +"secluded." The only sort of traveller who ever thinks of paying it a +visit is the "commercial," or some pedestrian tourist, crossing the +Forest from the Severn side to view the more picturesque scenery of the +Wye, with intention to make stoppage at the ancient hostelry of the +Speech House, midway between. + +In the days of the saddle and pack-horse, however, things were different +with Mitcheldean. Being on one of the direct routes of travel from the +metropolis to South Wales, and a gate of entry, as it were, to the +Forest on its eastern side, it was then a place of considerable note; +its people accustomed to all sorts of wayfarers passing daily, hourly +through it. + +Since the breaking out of the Rebellion these had been mostly of the +military kind, though not confined to either party in the strife. One +would march through to-day, the other to-morrow; so that, hearing the +trample of hoofs, rarely could the townsmen tell whether Royalists or +Parliamentarians were coming among them, till they saw their standards +in the street. + +They would rather have received visit from neither; but, compelled to +choose, preferred seeing the soldiers of the Parliament. So when +Walwyn's Horse came rattling along, their green coats, with the +cocks'-tail feathers in their hats, distinguishable in the clear +moonlight, the closed window shutters were flung open; and night-capped +heads--for most had been abed--appeared in them without fear exchanging +speech with the soldiers halted in the street below. + +Altogether different their behaviour when, in a matter of ten minutes +after, a second party of horsemen came to a halt under their windows; +these in scarlet coats, gold laced, with white ostrich feathers in their +hats--the Prince of Wales's plume, with its appropriate motto of +servility, "_Ich dien_." + +Seeing it, the townsmen drew in their heads, closed the shutters, and +were silent. Not going back to their beds, however; but to sit up in +fear and trembling, till the renewed hoof-strokes told them of the halt +over, and the red-coated Cavaliers ridden off again. + +It need scarce be said that these were Rupert and his escort, _en route_ +for Westbury; and had Walwyn's Horse stopped ten minutes longer in +Mitcheldean, the two bodies would have there met face to face; since +they were proceeding in opposite directions. A mere accident hindered +their encountering; the circumstance, that from the town two roads led +up to the Forest, one on each side of the Wilderness, both again uniting +in the valley of Drybrook. The northern route had been taken by the +Parliamentarian party ascending; while the Royalists descended by the +southern one, called the "Plump Hill." Just at such time as to miss one +another, though but by a few minutes. For the rearmost files of the +former had barely cleared the skirts of the town going out, when the van +of the latter entered it at a different point. + +The interval, however, was long enough to prevent those who went +Forestwards from getting information of what they were leaving so close +behind. Could they have had that, quick would have been their return +down hill, and the streets of Mitcheldean the arena of a conflict to the +cry, "No Quarter!" + +As it was, the hostile cohorts passed peacefully through, out, and +onwards on their respective routes; though Prince Rupert knew how near +he had been to a collision, and could still have brought it on. But +that was the last thing in his thoughts; instead, soon as learning what +had gone up to the Forest, who they were, and who their leader, his stay +in Mitcheldean was of the shortest, and his way out of it not +Forestwards but straight on for the Severn. + +And in all the haste he could make, cumbered as he was with captives. +For he carried with him a captive train; a small one, consisting of but +three individuals--scarce necessary to say, Ambrose Powell and his +daughters. They were on horseback; the ladies wrapped in cloaks, and so +close hooded that their faces were invisible. Even their figures were +so draped as to be scarce distinguishable from those of men; all done +with a design, not their own; but that of those who had them in charge. +In passing through Mitcheldean precautions had been taken to hinder +their being recognised; double files of their guards riding in close +order on each side of them, so that curious eyes should not come too +near. But, when once more out on the country road, the formation "by +twos" was resumed; the trio of prisoners, each with a trooper right and +left, conducted behind the knot of officers on the Prince's personal +staff, he himself with Lunsford leading. + +Soon as outside the town the two last, as usual riding together, and +some paces in the advance, entered on dialogue of a confidential +character. The Prince commenced it, saying,-- + +"We've had a narrow escape, Sir Thomas." + +"Does your Highness refer to our having missed meeting the party of +Roundheads?" + +"Of course I do--just that." + +"Then, I should say, 'tis they who've had the narrow escape." + +"_Nein_, Colonel! Not so certain of that, knowing who they are. These +Foresters fight like devils; and, from all I could gather, they greatly +outnumber us. I shouldn't so much mind the odds, but for how we're +hampered. To have fought them, and got the worst of it, would have been +ruinous to our reputation--as to the other thing." + +"It isn't likely we'd have got the worst of it. Few get the better of +your Highness that way." + +Lunsford's brave talk was not in keeping with his thoughts. Quite as +pleased was he as the Prince at their having escaped an encounter with +the party of Parliamentarians. For never man dreaded meeting man more +than he Sir Richard Walwyn. Words had of late been conveyed to him-- +from camp to camp and across neutral lines--warning words, that his old +enemy was more than ever incensed against him, and in any future +conflict where the two should be engaged meant singling him out, and +seeking his life. After what he had done now, was still doing, he knew +another encounter with Walwyn would be one of life and death, and +dreaded it accordingly. + +"Still, Prince," he added, "as you observe, considering our +encumbrances, perhaps it's been for the best letting them off." + +"Ay, if they let us off. Which they may not yet. Suppose some of the +townsmen have followed, and told them of our passing through?" + +"No fear of that, Prince. If any one did follow it's not likely they +could be overtaken. They were riding as in a race, and won't draw +bridle till they see the blaze over Hollymead. Then they'll but gallop +the faster--in the wrong direction." + +"The right one for us, if they do. But even so they would reach +Hollymead in less than an hour; then turn short round to pursue, and in +another hour be upon our heels. You forget that we can't say safety, +till we're over the Severn." + +"I don't forget that, Prince. But they won't turn round to pursue us." + +"Why say you that, Sir Thomas? How know you they won't?" + +"Because they won't suspect our having come this way; never think of it. +Before putting the torch to the old delinquent's house, I took the +precaution to have all his domestics locked up in an out-building; that +they shouldn't see which way we went off. As they and the Ruardean +people knew we came up from Monmouth, they'll naturally conclude that we +returned thither. So, your Highness, any pursuit of us will take the +direction down Cat's Hill, instead of by Drybrook and down the Plump." + +"Egad! I hope so, Colonel. For, to speak truth I don't feel in the +spirit for a fight just now." + +It was not often Rupert gave way to cowardice, and more seldom confessed +it; even in confidence to his familiars, of whom Lunsford was one of the +most intimate. But at that hour he felt it to very fear. Perhaps from +the wine he had drunk at Hollymead, now cold in him; and it might be his +conscience weighted with the crime he was in the act of committing. +Whatever the cause, his nervousness became heightened rather than +diminished, as they marched on; and anxiously longed he to be on the +other side of the Severn. + +Not more so than his reprobate companion, whose bravado was all assumed; +his words of confidence forced from him to gloss over the mistake he had +made, in recommending the route taken. Sorry was he now, as his +superior, they had not gone by Monmouth. Within its Castle walls they +would at that moment have been safe; instead of hurrying along a road, +with the obstruction of a river in front, and the possibility of pursuit +behind. Ay, the probability of it, as Lunsford himself knew well, +feigning to ignore it. + +"In any case, your Highness," he continued, in the same strain of +encouragement, "we'll be out of their way in good time. From here it's +but a step down to Westbury." + +By this they had reached the head of the ravine-like valley in which +stands Flaxley Abbey, and were hastening forward fast as the +_impedimenta_ of captives would permit. The road runs down the valley, +which, after several sinuosities, debouches on the Severn's plain. But, +long before attaining this, at rounding one of the turns, their eyes +were greeted by a sight which sent tremor to their hearts. + +"_Mein Gott_!" cried the Prince, suddenly reining up, and speaking in a +tone of mingled surprise and alarm, "you see, Sir Thomas?" + +Sir Thomas did see--sharing the other's alarm, but without showing it--a +sheet of water that shone silvery white under the moonlight +overspreading all the plain below. The river aflood, and inundation +everywhere! + +"We'll not be able to cross at all?" pursued the Prince, in desponding +interrogative. "Shall we?" + +"Oh yes! your Highness, I think so," was the doubting response. "The +water can't be so high as to hinder us; at least not likely. There's a +pier-head at Westbury Passage on both sides, and the boats will be there +as ever. I don't anticipate any great difficulty in the crossing, only +we'll have to wade a bit." + +"_Gott_! that will be difficulty enough--danger too." + +"What danger, your Highness? Through the meadows there's a raised +causeway, and fortunately I'm familiar with every inch of it. While +with Sir John Wintour I had often occasion to travel it; more than once +under water. Even if we can't make the Westbury Passage, we can that of +Framilode, but a mile or two above. I've never heard of it being so +flooded as to prevent passing over." + +"It may be as you say, Sir Thomas. But the danger I'm thinking of has +more to do with time than floods. Wading's slow work; and there's still +the possibility of Walwyn and his green-coats coming on after us. +Suppose they should, and find us floundering through the water?" + +"No need supposing that, Prince. There isn't the slightest likelihood +of it. I'd stake high that at this minute they're at the bottom of +Cat's Hill, or, it may be, by Goodrich Ferry, seeking to cross over the +Wye as we the Severn. And, like as not, Lingen will give them a turn if +he gets word of their being about there. Sir Harry has now a strong +force in the castle; and owes Dick Walwyn a _revanche_--for that affair +on the Hereford Road the morning after Kyrle led them into Monmouth." + +"For all, I wish we had gone Monmouth way," rejoined Rupert, as his eyes +rested doubtingly on the white sheet of water wide spread over the plain +below. "I still fear their pursuing us." + +"Even if they should, your Highness, we need have no apprehension. The +pursuit can't be immediate; and, please God, in another hour or so, +we'll be over the Severn, as likely they on the other side of the Wye, +with both rivers between them and us." + +"Would that I were sure of that, Colonel," returned the Prince, still +desponding, "which I'm not. However, we've no alternative now but to +cross here--if we can. You seem to have a doubt of our being able to +make the Passage of Westbury?" + +"I'm only a little uncertain about it, your Highness." + +"But sure about that of Framilode?" + +"Quite; though the flood be of the biggest and deepest." + +"_Sehr wohl_! with that assurance I'm satisfied. But we must have +things secure behind, ere we commence making our wade. And we may as +well take the step now. So, Colonel, ride back along the line, detach a +rear-guard, and place it under some officer who can be trusted. Lose +not a moment! stay at halt here, till you return to me." + +The commanding officer of the escort, as much alive to the prudence of +this precaution as he who gave the orders for it, hastened to carrying +them out. Done by detailing off a few of the rearmost files, with +directions to remain as they were, while the main body moved forward. +Then instructions given to the officer who was to take charge of them; +all occupying less than ten minutes' time. + +After which, Lunsford again placed himself by the side of the Prince, +and the march was immediately resumed, down the valley of Flaxley, on +for the flooded plain. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY SIX. + +ON THE TRAIL. + +Words cannot depict the feelings of Sir Richard Walwyn and Eustace +Trevor as they reined up by the burning house. With both it was anguish +of the keenest; for they knew who were the incendiaries, and that +incendiarism was not the worst of it. They who ruthlessly kindled the +flames had, with like ruth, carried off their betrothed ones. And for +what purpose? A question neither colonel nor captain could help asking +himself, though its conjectural answer was agony. For now more vividly +than ever did Sir Richard recall what had been told him of Lunsford's +designs upon Sabrina; while Trevor had also heard of Prince Rupert's +partiality for Vaga. + +As they sate in their saddles contemplating the ruin, they felt as might +an American frontiersman, returned home to find his cabin ablaze, fired +by Indian torch, his wife or daughters borne off in the brutal embrace +of the savage. + +No better fate seemed to have befallen the daughters of Ambrose Powell. +White savages, very tigers, had seized upon and dragged them to their +lair; it were no worse if red ones had been the captors. Rather would +the bereaved lovers have had it so; sooner known their sweethearts +buried under that blazing pile than in the arms of the profligate Rupert +and Lunsford the "bloody." + +Only for an instant did they give way to their anguish, or the anger +which accompanied it--rage almost to madness. Both were controlled by +the necessity of action, and the first wild burst over, action was +taken--pursuit of the ravishers. + +Some time, however, before it could be fairly entered upon; inquiry made +as to the direction in which they had gone. There were hundreds on the +ground who could be interrogated. Half the people of Ruardean were +there. Roused from their beds by the cry "Fire?" they had rushed out, +and on to the scene of conflagration. But arrived too late to witness +the departure of those who had set the torch, and could not tell what +way they had gone. Neither could the house-servants, now released from +their lock-up; for to hinder them doing so was the chief reason for +their having been confined. + +As it was known to all that the Royalists had come up from Monmouth, +conjecture pointed to their having returned thither. But conjecture was +not enough to initiate such a pursuit; and Colonel Walwyn was too +practised a campaigner to rely upon it. Certainty of the route taken by +the enemy was essential, else he might go on a wild-goose chase. + +As that could not be obtained at the burning house, not a moment longer, +stayed he by it. Scarce ten minutes in all from the time of their +arrival till he gave the command "About?" and about went they, back down +the long avenue, and through the park gate. + +Soon as outside, he shouted "Halt!" bringing all again to a stand; he +himself, however, with Captain Trevor and Sergeant Wilde, advancing +along the road in the direction of Cat's Hill. Only a hundred yards or +so, when they reined up. Then, by command, the big sergeant threw +himself out of his saddle; and, bending down, commenced examination of +the ground. + +Had Wilde been born in the American backwoods he would have been a noted +hunter and tracker of the Leatherstocking type. As it was, his +experience as a deer-stealer in the Forest of Dean had been sufficient +to make the taking up a horse's trail an easy matter, and easier that of +a whole troop. He could do it even in darkness; for it was dark then-- +the moon under a cloud. + +And he did it; in an instant. Scarce was he astoop ere rising erect +again, and turning face to Sir Richard, as if all had been ascertained. + +"Well, Rob," interrogated the latter, rather surprised at such quick +work, "you see their tracks?" + +"I do, Colonel." + +"Going Cat's Hill way?" + +"No, Colonel. The contrary--comin' from. None o' 'em fresh neyther. +Must a been made some time i' the afternoon." + +"Have you assured yourself of that?" + +"I have. But I'll gie 'em another look, if ye weesh it, Colonel." + +"Do." + +The colossus again bent down and repeated his examination of the tracks, +this time making a traverse or two, and going farther along the road. +In a few seconds to return with a confirmation of his former report. A +troop of cavalry had passed over it, but only in one direction--upward, +and some hours before sunset. + +"Sure am I o' that, as if I'd been here an' seed 'em," was the tracker's +concluding words. + +"Enough?" said Sir Richard. "Into your saddle, and follow me." + +At which he gave his horse the spur, and trotted back towards the park +gate. Not to rejoin his men, still at halt, however. Instead, he +continued on along the road for Drybrook; the other two keeping with +him. + +At a like distance from the halted line he again drew up, and directed +the sergeant to make a similar reconnaissance. + +Here the reading of the sign occupied the tracker some little longer +time; as there was a confusion of hoof marks--some turned one way, some +the other. Those that had the toe towards Hollymead gate he knew to +have been made by their own horses; but underneath, and nearly +obliterated, were hundreds of others almost as fresh. + +"That's the trail of the scoundrels," said Sir Richard, soon as the +sergeant reported the result of his investigation. "They've gone over +to the Gloucester side; by Drybrook and Mitcheldean. How strange our +not meeting them!" + +"It is--very strange," rejoined Trevor; "but could they have passed +through Mitcheldean without our meeting them?" + +"Oh yes they could, Captain," put in Wilde, once more mounted; "theer be +several by-ways through the Forest as leads there, 'ithout touchin' o' +Drybrook. An' I think I know the one them have took. Whens us get to +where it branch off their tracks'll tell." + +"Right; they will," said Sir Richard, laying aside conjecture, and +calling to the officer in charge of the men to bring them on at quick +pace. + +At quick pace they came; the Colonel, Captain Trevor, and the big +sergeant starting off before they were up, and keeping several horse +lengths ahead. + +The route they were taking was the same they had come by--back for +Drybrook. But coming and going their attitude was different. Then +erect, with eyes turned upward regarding the glare over Hollymead; now +bent down, cheeks to the saddle bow, and glances all given to the +ground. For, as Wilde had said, there were several by-ways, any one of +which the pursued party might have taken; and to go astray on the +pursuit, even to the loss of ten minutes' time, might be fatal to their +purpose--the feather's weight turning the scale. + +But no danger now; the moon was giving a good light, and the road for +long stretches was open, the trees on each side wide apart. So they had +no difficulty in seeing what before they had not thought of looking for; +the hoof marks of many horses, that had gone towards Drybrook. The +tracks of their own, going the other way, had almost obliterated them; +still enough of the under ones were visible to show that two bodies of +horse had passed in opposite directions, with but a short interval of +time between. + +As this could be noted without the necessity of stopping or slowing +pace, Colonel Walwyn carried his men on in a brisk canter, designing +halt only at the branch road of which the sergeant had spoken. + +But long before reaching it they got information which made stoppage +there unnecessary, as also further call on the ex-deer-stealer's skill +as a tracker--for the time. Given by a man mounted on a hotel hack, +who, coming on at a clattering gallop, met them in the teeth. His cry +"For the Parliament?" without being challenged, proclaimed him a friend. +And he was; the innkeeper of Mitcheldean, recognised on the instant by +Sir Richard and Rob Wilde. + +His coming up caused a halt; for his business was with Colonel Walwyn-- +an errand quickly told. + +"Prince Rupert and two hundred horse, with prisoners, have passed +through Mitcheldean!" + +Half a dozen questions rapidly put, and promptly answered, elicited all +the circumstances--the time, the direction taken, everything the +patriotic Boniface could tell. They had come down the Plump Hill, and +gone off by Abenhall--for Newnham or Westbury; or they might be making +for Lydney. + +Down the Plump Hill! That accounted for their not being met. And the +time--so near meeting, yet missing them! All the way to Hollymead and +back for nothing! + +But lamenting the lost hours would not recover them. They must be made +good by greater speed; and, without wasting another word, the spur was +buried deeper, and faster rode the Foresters. Rode with a will; few of +them whose heart was not in the pursuit. They were on the slot of a +hated foe, against whom many had private cause of quarrel and vengeance. +Prince Rupert, for the past twelve months, had been harrying the Forest +district, making their homes desolate; his licentious soldiers abusing +their wives, sisters, and daughters--no wonder they wanted to come up +with him! + +At mad speed they went dashing around Ruardean Hill, down into the vale +of Drybrook; then up by the Wilderness, and down again to Mitcheldean; +once more startling the townspeople from their slumbers, and filling +them with fresh alarm; soon over on seeing it was the green-coats. + +Only a glimpse of them was got, as they galloped on through; staying not +a moment, never drawing bridle till they came to the forking of the +roads by Abenhall--the right for Littledean, Newham, and Lydney; the +left to Westbury. Then only for an instant, while Rob Wilde swung his +stalwart form out of the saddle, and made inspection of the tracks. For +the moon was once more clouded, and he could not make them out, without +dismounting. + +As before, brief time it took him; but a few seconds till he was back on +his horse, saying, as he slung himself up,-- + +"They're gone Westbury ways, Colonel." + +And Westbury ways went the pursuers, reins loose and spurs plied afresh, +with no thought of halting again, but a hope there would be no need for +it, till at arm's length with the detested enemy. + +Even when the turn in Flaxley Valley brought the Severn in sight, with +its wide sheet of flood-water, they stayed not to talk of it. To them +it was no surprise; but a few hours before they had waded it farther up. +No more was it matter of apprehension, as it had been to the party +pursued. Instead, something to gratify and cheer them on; for, +extending right and left, far as eye could reach, it seemed a very net, +set by God's own hand, to catch the criminals they were in chase of! + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN. + +A GUARD CARELESSLY KEPT. + +Notwithstanding Lunsford's assurances--at best rather dubious--the river +could not be crossed at Westbury, without much difficulty and delay. +The large horse-boat had received some damage, and it would take time to +repair it. So Rupert and his following were constrained to keep on to +Framilode Passage, three miles farther up stream. + +It would bring them into dangerous proximity with Gloucester; and should +any of Massey's men be raiding down the river, they might find an enemy +in front, even when over it. Still this was little likely, as Massey +was believed to be himself out of Gloucester, operating on the northern +side in the direction of Ledbury. Besides, Walwyn must have had +information of their being at Hollymead, to have drawn him into the +Forest at that time of the night. + +Still from behind was the Prince most apprehensive of danger; now +greater by the traverse of flooded tracts that must needs be made before +they could reach the Passage. His failure to get across at Westbury +seemed ominous of evil; and he had grown more nervous than ever. What +if he should fail also at Framilode? Then, indeed, would he have to +risk encounter with the redoubtable Foresters, outnumbering his escort, +as he knew. + +Already had they passed across several stretches of inundated ground; at +each the rear-guard being left on the dry land till the main body was +well-nigh through; and then following on to the next. But now one of +longer extent lay before them; more than a mile of road leading on to +the ferry being under water. Still the causeway, or rather where it +ran, could be told by certain landmarks; and these Lunsford, as others +of the escort, was acquainted with. But the flood was high over it, and +the fording must be done cautiously, entailing loss of time. Moreover, +if caught on the narrow way, with no chance of manoeuvring, scarce width +enough for an "about face," any party pursuing would have them at a +disadvantage--almost at mercy. + +Greater vigilance would be called for on the part of the rear-guard, its +strength needing to be doubled. And this was done; the Prince, before +taking to the water, himself inspecting it, and giving minute +instructions to the officer in command. It was to be kept in ambush +behind some trees that grew conveniently by; and, should pursuers +appear, they were to be fired at, soon as within range; the firing +continued, and the point held at all hazards, till the last moment of +retreat practicable. If no pursuit, then the guard to follow as before, +at signal of bugle sent back. + +Reginald Trevor it was to whom the dangerous duty was assigned; and, as +regarded courage and acquaintance with the ground, no officer of the +escort was better fitted for it than he. None half so well, had his +heart been in the work. Which it was not, but all the other way; for +every movement he was making, every act he had been called upon to +accomplish since leaving Bristol, was not only involuntary on his part, +but sorely against his will. Forced upon him had been the ceremony of +introducing Prince Rupert to the woman he himself loved; and now was he +further compelled to be one of those conducting her to a prison--as it +were to her grave! For, well knew he it would be the grave of her +purity, the altar on which her young life's innocence was sure of being +sacrificed. + +In the past, sinful himself, profligate as most of the Cavalier school, +he had of late become a much altered man. That one honest love of his +life had purified him, as such often does with natures like his. And +now a great sorrow was to seal his purification; the object of his love +about to suffer defilement, as it were before his face; and as it were, +with himself aiding and abetting it! + +His thoughts were black and bitter, his constrained duties repulsive. +And as he stood by the flood's edge, looking after the escort that had +commenced making way through it, he felt faint and sick at heart. + +Nor took he any steps to carry out the commands of the Prince, either by +placing the guard in ambush, or making other disposition of it. So the +men remained in their saddles, exposed on the high ridge of the road, +just as they had come up; receiving but one order from him: that, should +pursuers appear, they were not to fire till he gave the word. + +After which he separated from them, and walked his horse back along the +Westbury road; stopping at some fifty paces' distance, and there staying +alone. The soldiers thought it strange, for they had overheard the +instructions given him. But as they were acquainted with his courage, +and could not doubt his fidelity to the King's cause, they made no +remark about his apparent remissness, supposing it some strategic +design. + +Yet never was officer entrusted with guard less careful of his charge, +than he at that moment. Caring, but not for its safety; instead, +wishing it attacked, defeated, destroyed, though he himself might be the +first to fall. For still another change had of late come over his +sentiments--a political one. Brought about by the behaviour of Prince +Rupert and his associate crew; which, for some time past, had been a +very career of criminal proceeding. It had inspired Reginald Trevor +with a disgust for Cavalierism, as his cousin Eustace two years before. +Growing stronger day by day, the last day's and this night's work had +decided him. He was Royalist no more, though wearing the King's +uniform. But he meant casting it off at the first opportunity; was even +now blaming himself for not having sought an opportunity since they +passed through Mitcheldean; reflecting whether, and in what way, such +might yet be found. + +As he sate in his saddle, listening, glad would he have been to hear +hoof-strokes in the direction of Westbury; to see horsemen approaching, +with the hostile war-cry "For the Parliament?" That might still save +Vaga Powell, and nothing else could. In another hour she would be +across the Severn, and on for Berkeley Castle, whither he must follow. +But with no hope of being able to do anything for the doomed girl. On +the one side, as the other, all powerless to protect her, even with the +sacrifice of his own life. And at that moment he would have laid it +down for her; so much had generosity, love's offspring, mastered the +selfishness of his nature. + +An interval of profound silence followed; the only sounds heard being +the screams of wild fowl flying low over the flooded meadows, the +occasional stamp of a restive steed among those of the guard, and the +plunging of nigh two hundred others far off in the water, gradually +becoming less distinct as they waded farther. But, ere long, something +else broke upon the night's stillness, as it reached the ear of Reginald +Trevor, causing him to start in his saddle. There sate he, listening +and vigilant; the sparkle of his eyes proclaiming it no sound that +alarmed him, but one welcome and joy-giving. + +A dull pattering as of horses' hoofs--hundreds--making way over soft +ground, or along a muddy road. And so it was, the road from Westbury, +the horses ridden by men in military formation, as the practised ear of +the young soldier told him. But no other noise, save the trample; no +voice of man, nor note of bugle. + +Soldiers were they notwithstanding; and pursuing soldiers, led by one +who knew how to carry pursuit to a successful issue. For it was +Walwyn's Horse. + +Still at a gallop, their hoof-strokes were quickly nearer, sounding +clearer. For there was no taking up of trail to delay them now. Away +over the white water they saw a long dark line, serried, by a turn in +the route which brought Rupert's following quarter-flank towards them; +saw, and knew it to be that they were after. + +At the same time seen themselves by Reginald Trevor, who rode back upon +his guard. But not to inspire it to resistance, nor place it in a +position of defence. Instead, he seemed irresolute, uncertain whether +to make stand or retreat. His men, heavy Dragoons, had unslung their +dragon-muzzled muskets, and awaited the word "Fire!" But no such word +was spoken, no order given. Even when the approaching horsemen were +charging up to them, shouting "For God and Parliament!" even then, no +command from their officer to meet or withstand the charge. + +Nor did they then wish it; they saw the assailants were ten to their +one; it was too late, even for retreat. Should he call "Quarter!" they +were ready to chorus it. And just that called he, the instant after, to +a man among the foremost of the charging party--his cousin! Their +swords came together with a clash, Eustace the first to speak. + +"At last!" he exclaimed. "At last we've met to keep our promise made. +`No Quarter!' I cry it!" + +"And I cry `Quarter'--beg it." + +Never dropped blade quicker down from threatening thrust than that of +Eustace Trevor; never was combatant more surprised by the behaviour of +an adversary. + +"What do you mean?" he asked, in utter astonishment. + +"That I fight no more for Prince, or King. Henceforth, if they'll have +it, my sword's at the service of the Parliament." + +"God bless me, Rej; how glad I am to hear you say that! And so near +making mince-meat of one another!" + +"Not of one another, Eust. You might have done that with me--may still, +if you feel spiteful." + +"Good Heavens! cousin; what has come over you? But I won't question +now; there's no time." + +"There isn't. See yonder. Rupert and Lunsford, with the Powells as +their prisoners." + +"We know all that. But where are the ruffians taking them?" + +"Berkeley first; then Bristol. They're making to cross at Framilode +Passage. It's but a short way beyond." + +"They shall never cross it--can't before we come up with them. You'll +be with us now, Rej?" + +"I will." + +The strange episode, and dialogue, took up but a few seconds' time; +during which Rob Wilde, with a half-score files of Foresters, had +disarmed the unresisting rear-guard. It was now under guard itself, and +all ready for continuing the pursuit. + +And continued it was instantaneously; Sir Richard, at the head of his +green-coats, spurring straight into the flood, and on after the red +ones, without further precaution either of silence or concealment. For +he knew they would be seen now. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT. + +A FIGHT IN A FLOOD. + +Still but half-way across the inundated tract, and up to their +saddle-girths in water, Rupert and his escort were floundering on. As +already said, they marched "by twos"--this necessitated by the +narrowness of the causeway--and so were lengthened in line. Two hundred +horse in file formation take up a long stretch of road, however close +the order. + +They had not yet sighted the enemy behind, nor had any intimation that +one was there. For the snapping up of the guard had been done with +little noise, the few shouts uttered being inaudible to them amid the +continuous splashing and plunging of their own horses. + +It was only after the pursuing party was well out into the flood, clear +of the tree-shadowed shore, that some of the hindmost, chancing to look +back, saw what they took to be their rear-guard in the water and riding +after them. Saw it with surprise, as the signal for its advance had not +been given; no note of bugle sounded. Neither could it be in retreat, +driven in. There had been no firing, not a shot; and, by the Prince's +orders, there should have been a prolonged fusilade Guard of his, rear +or van, retiring from its post without execution of his commands, had +better have stayed and delivered itself up to the enemy. + +Well knowing this, they who first sighted the pursuers, thinking them of +their own, were enough astonished to give way to ejaculations. Which +ran along the line quick as lightning. + +"What is it?" demanded he at the head, on hearing them. + +"The rear-guard, your Highness," answered one away at the back. +"They're coming on after us." + +"Halt!" shouted the Prince, in a voice of thunder, half-wheeling his +horse, spurring out to the utmost edge of firm footing, and, with craned +neck, looking back land-ward. + +For a time to see nothing much beyond the tail end of his escort. Only +the grey glimmer of water, with here and there the top of a pollard +willow. For the capricious clouds had once more muffled the moon. + +But he heard something; the sound of the wading horses, that made by his +own now ceased from their being at a stand. + +And soon he saw the moving ones; the clouds, by like caprice, having +quickly drawn off their screen, letting full moonlight down upon the +water. Saw them with alarm; for a dark mass was that in motion, too +dark and too large for the score or so of files that had been detached +as a guard. + +"_Gott_, Colonel!" he exclaimed, "there are more men there than we left +with Trevor. And why should he be coming on contrary to orders? It +cannot be he?" + +"Very strange if it be, Prince," rejoined Lunsford, the colonel spoken +to; "and stranger still if not." + +"Could a party have slipped past without the guard seeing them?" + +"Hardly possible, your Highness; unless by some swimming, and a long +roundabout way. These seem to come direct from it." + +The two talked hurriedly, and with dismay upon their faces. For the +dark mysterious thing, still drawing nigher and nearer, seemed some +unearthly monster--a hydra approaching to destroy them. + +There was no time for further conjecturing. Friend or enemy, it must be +met face to face; and Rupert, commanding the "about," put spur to his +horse and started towards the rear of the line. + +Time elapsed ere he could reach it. The deep water, with the men +wheeling in file, impeded him; and, before he was half-way rearward, +there were shots, shouts, and the clashing of steel--all the sounds of a +conflict. The monster had closed up, and declared its character, as +could be told by the hostile war words "King?" and "Parliament?" +fiercely commingling. + +Never shone moon on a stranger affair in the way of fight. Two long +strings of horsemen confronting one another on a narrow causeway, where +less than half a score of each could come to blows; no engaging in line, +no turning, or flank attack, possible. And all up to the saddle flaps +in water; up to the horses' hips where the fighting was hand to hand. + +Nor for long did it last. Little more than a minute after coming to +close quarters the Royalists found themselves overmatched, and began to +give way. File after file went down before their impetuous assailants, +sabred, or shot out of their saddles, till at length they doubled back +on their line in retreat towards its former front. Some, in panic, +forsook the causeway altogether, plunging into the flood on either side, +in the hope to escape by swimming afar off. + +Sword in hand, with curses on his lips, Rupert met the rout, bursting +his way through the broken ranks, slashing right and left in an +endeavour to stem the retreat. More than one of his own men fell before +his desperate fury. But on reaching the rear, he had to cross blades +with a man who was his master at sword-play, and all the skill +appertaining. Which he knew, soon as coming to the "engage," and in his +antagonist recognising Sir Richard Walwyn. + +It was quick work between them; at the very first lunge from guard, the +Prince's sword getting whipped out of his hand, and sent whirling off +into the water! The old trick by which Sir Richard had disarmed the +ex-gentleman-usher. + +With a fierce oath Rupert drew a pistol from his holster, and was about +to fire at his adroit adversary, when another face presented itself +before him, that of a man he had better reason to shoot down. + +"Dog! Traitor! Turncoat!" he shouted, in tone of vengeful anger. +"'Tis to you we owe this! I give you death in payment!" And the shot +sped, tumbling Reginald Trevor out of the saddle. + +But there was still a Trevor on horseback to confront the Prince, with +sword already fleshed and blade dripping blood. A touch of his spur +brought him face to face with Rupert, and alone. For, just as the +latter, Sir Richard had caught sight of another man he more wished to +have dealings with--Lunsford--and dashed straight towards him. + +But not to attain close quarters. In the cowardly ex-lieutenant of the +Tower there was neither fight nor stand. The sight of Colonel Walwyn +was of itself enough to palsy his hands; alone the bridle one obeying +him. And with it, wrenching his horse round, he made ignominious +retreat. + +No more did the other pair get engaged. Rupert had but his second +pistol, which, being discharged at Eustace Trevor, fortunately without +effect, left him weaponless; and, seeing all his escort in retreat, he +turned tail too, soon disappearing amid the ruck. + +The route now complete, with the scarlet coats it was _sauve qui peut_; +with the green ones only a question of cutting down the panic-stricken +fugitives, or making prisoner those who cried "Quarter!" And most cried +that--shouted it to the utmost strength of their lungs. + +On went the victorious Foresters along the flooded way, alternately +sabreing and capturing--the big sergeant and Hubert doing their full +share of both--on till they came to a party of captives they had not +taken. Nor guarded these; their late guards having been too glad to get +away, leaving them to themselves. + +"Sabrina!" "Richard?"--"Vaga!" "Eustace?" + +Four names, pronounced in joyous exclamation amid the din, and by four +distinct voices; all with the epithet "dear" conjoined. + +Not another word then, not another moment there; for the pursuit must be +continued. The capture of Prince Rupert would be a thing of +consequence, independent of all private feelings; and Sir Richard longed +to settle scores with Lunsford. So on went he, and his, in chase of the +now scattered escort. + +But not again to come up with the pair of profligates. The stoppage, +short as it was, had given them time to make Framilode Ferry; where, +leaping from their horses, and into a light boat, they were out of +sword's reach, and range of bullet, before the pursuers could close upon +them. + +Still within earshot of angry speech, however, hurled after them by the +triumphant Foresters, with many a taunt, many the vile epithet bestowed. + +A degradation deserved; and other men than they would have felt its +sting and shame. But not this scion of Royalty, toast, type, and model +of Cavalierism. Happy at having escaped with a whole skin, he but +laughed back, rejoicing in the life still left him for future crimes to +be committed. + +And many the one was he afterwards guilty of; though short from that +time was his rule in the city of Bristol. Once again, and soon, was it +enfiladed by an armed force, not for siege or leaguer, but instant +assault. For the man who commanded was he who, later on, gave laws to +all England, gave her the only glimpse of real liberty she has ever +enjoyed--the only gleam of true glory. When Cromwell stood before +Bristol's gates, and said "Surrender!" it was in no tone of doubting +requisition, but stern demand. The son of Elector Palatinate, hearing +it hastened to comply, but too glad to get terms for his life. + +Which he got, with his liberty, and more--far too much being conceded by +his generous conqueror--permitted to march out, bag and baggage, with a +long retinue of bullies, sycophants, and strumpets, leaving behind a +longer list of victims, among them the ill-starred Clarisse Lalande. As +he passed away from the place he had made a "place of bawdry," it was +amid jeers and bitter curses. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +A scene pleasanter to describe--one more congenial to honest pen-- +occurred shortly after in the sister city of Gloucester, within its +ancient Cathedral, at whose altar simultaneously stood four couples in +the act of being made man and wife. + +Wedded they were, and their names entered in the big book of marriage +registry; from which the writer does not deem it necessary to copy them +_verbatim_. Enough to give them as already known to the reader; the +brides being Sabrina and Vaga Powell, Winifred, and Gwenthian; their +respective bridegrooms Colonel Sir Richard Walwyn, Captain Eustace +Trevor, Sergeant Wilde, and Trumpeter Hubert. + +While being made happy, amid the many joyous faces around, one alone +wore a cast of sadness, yet with resignation--that of Reginald Trevor, +still living. For the shot which struck him out of his saddle on the +flooded causeway of Framilode had but wounded him, and he was well +again. In body, not spirit; for within his heart was a wound that might +never be well. He had suffered bitterly, was still suffering; but with +soul now purified and subdued was better able to bear it, and bore it +manfully. Generously too; for just as, when meeting his cousin outside +Hollymead gate he had offered him his sword to avenge defeat, now +honoured he him by his presence at a ceremony which was as the sacrifice +of himself. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Still another incident calls for record: of date some six years later, +and some months preceding that event which again brought England's +liberty to its lowest ebb, her glory to greatest shame--the so-called +Restoration. Before this curse of curses came, Ambrose Powell, +predicting it--foreseeing evil to him and his--gathered up his household +gods, and took ship with them to the colonies across the Atlantic, +accompanied by all the personages who had appeared at that marriage +ceremony in the cathedral of Gloucester, and by many more--Cadger Jack +among them. + +Reginald Trevor, too, was of the colonising band; long become accustomed +to bearing the broken heart, which "brokenly lives on," with but little +pain, growing ever less. For he could now look upon Vaga Powell as his +cousin's wife; to himself as a kind sister--almost without thought of +the unhappy past. + +Well was it for all of them they went away, to become part of that +people, the freest, most powerful, and most prosperous on earth. Had +they stayed, it would have been to suffer persecution; the fate of all +who then fought for England's freedom, save the false ones and cravens, +who cried "Quarter!"--on their knees, basely begged it from that +loathsome monster of iniquity--the "Merry Monarch." + +And Rupert, Prince of Cavaliers, what became of him? He too returned +with the Restoration--another of its curses--fresh from a long career of +piracy in the West Indian seas, to be made Lord High Admiral of England, +with no end of other honours and emoluments heaped upon him! To live +for years after a life of luxurious ease, die "in the purple," and be +buried with all pomp and ceremony. For though a pirate, he was still a +Prince of the Blood Royal! + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of No Quarter!, by Mayne Reid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NO QUARTER! *** + +***** This file should be named 35670.txt or 35670.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/6/7/35670/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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