diff options
Diffstat (limited to '40151-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 40151-0.txt | 17748 |
1 files changed, 17748 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/40151-0.txt b/40151-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b074b21 --- /dev/null +++ b/40151-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17748 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40151 *** + +[Transcriber's notes] + This text is derived from THE CATHOLIC WORLD, + http://www.archive.org/details/catholicworld01pauluoft + http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39367 + and + http://www.archive.org/details/catholicworld02pauluoft + http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40068 + + It is the collection of serialized chapters for the convenience + of the reader who wishes to read the whole work. +[End Transcriber's notes] + + +From The Month. + +CONSTANCE SHERWOOD. + +AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. + +BY LADY GEORGIANA FULLERTON. + + +CHAPTER I. + + +I had not thought to write the story of my life; but the wishes of +those who have at all times more right to command than occasion to +entreat aught at my hands, have in a manner compelled me thereunto. +The divers trials and the unlooked-for comforts which have come to my +lot during the years that I have been tossed to and fro on this uneasy +sea--the world--have wrought in my soul an exceeding sense of the +goodness of God, and an insight into the meaning of the sentence in +Holy Writ which saith, "His ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts +like unto our thoughts." And this puts me in mind that there are +sayings which are in every one's mouth, and therefore not to be +lightly gainsayed, which nevertheless do not approve themselves to my +conscience as wholly just and true. Of these is the common adage, +"That misfortunes come not alone." For my own part, I have found that +when a cross has been laid on me, it has mostly been a single one, and +that other sorrows were oftentimes removed, as if to make room for it. +And it has been my wont, when one trial has been passing away, to look +out for the next, even as on a stormy day, when the clouds have rolled +away in one direction and sunshine is breaking overhead, we see others +rising in the distance. There has been no portion of my life free from +some measure of grief or fear sufficient to recall the words that "Man +is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward;" and none so reft of +consolation that, in the midst of suffering, I did not yet cry out, +"The Lord is my shepherd; his rod and his staff comfort me." + +I was born in the year 1557, in a very fair part of England, at +Sherwood Hall, in the county of Stafford. For its comely aspect, +commodious chambers, sunny gardens, and the sweet walks in its +vicinity, it was as commendable a residence for persons of moderate +fortune and contented minds as can well be thought of. Within and +without this my paternal home nothing was wanting which might please +the eye, or minister to tranquillity of mind and healthful +recreation. I reckon it amongst the many favors I have received from a +gracious Providence, that the earlier years of my life were spent +amidst such fair scenes, and in the society of parents who ever took +occasion from earthly things to lead my thoughts to such as are +imperishable, and so to stir up in me a love of the Creator, who has +stamped his image on this visible world in characters of so great +beauty; whilst in the tenderness of those dear parents unto myself I +saw, as it were, a type and representation of his paternal love and +goodness. + +My father was of an ancient family, and allied to such as were of +greater note and more wealthy than his own. He had not, as is the +manner with many squires of our days, left off residing on his own +estate in order to seek after the shows and diversions of London; but +had united to a great humility of mind and a singular affection for +learning a contentedness of spirit which inclined him to dwell in the +place assigned to him by Providence. He had married at an early age, +and had ever conformed to the habits of his neighbors in all lawful +and kindly ways, and sought no other labors but such as were +incidental to the care of his estates, and no recreations but those of +study, joined to a moderate pursuit of field-sports and such social +diversions as the neighborhood afforded. His outward appearance was +rather simple than showy, and his manners grave and composed. When I +call to mind the singular modesty of his disposition, and the +retiredness of his manners, I often marvel how the force of +circumstances and the urging of conscience should have forced one so +little by nature inclined to an unsettled mode of life into one which, +albeit peaceful in its aims, proved so full of danger and disquiet. + +My mother's love I enjoyed but for a brief season. Not that it waxed +cold toward me, as happens with some parents, who look with fondness +on the child and less tenderly on the maiden; but it pleased Almighty +God to take her unto himself when I was but ten years of age. Her face +is as present to me now as any time of my life. No limner's hand ever +drew a more faithful picture than the one I have of her even now +engraved on the tablet of my heart. She had so fair and delicate a +complexion that I can only liken it to the leaf of a white rose with +the lightest tinge of pink in it. Her hair was streaked with gray too +early for her years; but this matched well with the sweet melancholy +of her eyes, which were of a deep violet color. Her eyelids were a +trifle thick, and so were her lips; but there was a pleasantness in +her smile and the dimples about her mouth such as I have not noticed +in any one else. She had a sweet womanly and loving heart, and the +noblest spirit imaginable; a great zeal in the service of God, +tempered with so much sweetness and cordiality that she gave not +easily offence to any one, of howsoever different a way of thinking +from herself; and either won them over to her faith through the +suavity of her temper and the wisdom of her discourse, or else worked +in them a personal liking which made them patient with her, albeit +fierce with others. When I was about seven years of age I noticed that +she waxed thin and pale, and that we seldom went abroad, and walked +only in our own garden and orchard. She seemed glad to sit on a bench +on the sunny side of the house even in summer, and on days when by +reason of the heat I liked to lie down in the shade. My parents +forbade me from going into the village; and, through the perverseness +common to too many young people, on account of that very prohibition I +longed for liberty to do so, and wearied oftentimes of the solitude we +lived in. At a later period I learnt how kind had been their intent in +keeping me during the early years of childhood from a knowledge of the +woeful divisions which the late changes in religion had wrought in our +country; which I might easily have heard from young companions, +and maybe in such sort as to awaken angry feelings, and shed a drop of +bitter in the crystal cup of childhood's pure faith. If we did walk +abroad, it was to visit some sick persons, and carry them food or +clothing or medicines, which my mother prepared with her own hands. +But as she grew weaker, we went less often outside the gates, and the +poor came themselves to fetch away what in her bounty she stored up +for them. I did not notice that our neighbors looked unkindly on us +when we were seen in the village. Children would cry out sometimes, +but half in play, "Down with the Papists!" but I witnessed that their +elders checked them, especially those of the poorer sort; and "God +bless you, Mrs. Sherwood!" and "God save you, madam!" was often in +their mouths, as she whom I loved with so great and reverent an +affection passed alongside of them, or stopped to take breath, leaning +against their cottage-palings. + +Many childish heartaches I can even now remember when I was not +suffered to join in the merry sports of the 1st of May; for then, as +the poet Chaucer sings, the youths and maidens go + + "To fetch the flowers fresh and branch and bloom, + And these, rejoicing in their great delight, + Eke each at other throw the blossoms bright." + +I watched the merry wights as they passed our door on their way to the +groves and meadows, singing mirthful carols, and bent on pleasant +pastimes; and tears stood in my eyes as the sound of their voices died +away in the distance. My father found me thus weeping one May-day, and +carried me with him to a sweet spot in a wood, where wild-flowers grew +like living jewels out of the green carpet of moss on which we sat; +and there, as the birds sang from every bough, and the insects hovered +and hummed over every blossom, he entertained me with such quaint and +pleasant tales, and moved me to merry laughter by his witty devices; +so that I set down that day in my book of memory as one of the +joyfullest in all my childhood. At Easter, when the village children +rolled pasch eggs down the smooth sides of the green hills, my mother +would paint me some herself, and adorned them with such bright colors +and rare sentences that I feared to break them with rude handling, and +kept them by me throughout the year, rather as pictures to be gazed on +than toys to be played with in a wanton fashion. + +On the morning of the Resurrection, when others went to the top of +Cannock Chase to hail the rising sun, as is the custom of those parts, +she would sing so sweetly the psalm which speaketh of the heavens +rejoicing and of the earth being glad, that it grieved me not to stay +at home; albeit I sometimes marvelled that we saw so little company, +and mixed not more freely with our neighbors. + +When I had reached my ninth birthday, whether it was that I took +better heed of words spoken in my hearing, or else that my parents +thought it was time that I should learn somewhat of the conditions of +the times, and so talked more freely in my presence, it so happened +that I heard of the jeopardy in which many who held the Catholic faith +were, and of the laws which were being made to prohibit in our country +the practice of the ancient religion. When Protestants came to our +house--and it was sometimes hard in those days to tell who were such at +heart, or only in outward semblance out of conformity to the queen's +pleasure--I was strictly charged not to speak in their hearing of aught +that had to do with Catholic faith and worship; and I could see at +such times on my mother's face an uneasy expression, as if she was +ever fearing the next words that any one might utter. + +In the autumn of that year we had visitors whose company was so great +an honor to my parents, and the occasion of so much delight to myself, +that I can call to mind every little circumstance of their brief +sojourn under our roof, even as if it had taken place but +yesterday. This visit proved the first step toward an intimacy which +greatly affected the tenor of my life, and prepared the way for the +direction it was hereafter to take. + +These truly honorable and well-beloved guests were my Lady Mounteagle +and her son Mr. James Labourn, who were journeying at that time from +London, where she had been residing at her son-in-law the Duke of +Norfolk's house, to her seat in the country; whither she was carrying +the three children of her daughter, the Duchess of Norfolk, and of +that lady's first husband, the Lord Dacre of the North. The eldest of +these young ladies was of about my own age, and the others younger. + +The day on which her ladyship was expected, I could not sit with +patience at my tambour-frame, or con my lessons, or play on the +virginals; but watched the hours and the minutes in my great desire to +see these noble wenches. I had not hitherto consorted with young +companions, save with Edmund and John Genings, of whom I shall have +occasion to speak hereafter, who were then my playmates, as at a riper +age friends. I thought, in the quaint way in which children couple one +idea with another in their fantastic imaginations, that my Lady +Mounteagle's three daughters would be like the three angels, in my +mother's missal, who visited Abraham in his tent. + +I had craved from my mother a holiday, which she granted on the score +that I should help her that forenoon in the making of the pasties and +jellies, which, as far as her strength allowed, she failed not to lend +a hand to; and also she charged me to set the bed-chambers in fair +order, and to gather fresh flowers wherewith to adorn the parlor. +These tasks had in them a pleasantness which whiled away the time, and +I alternated from the parlor to the store-room, and the kitchen to the +orchard, and the poultry-yard to the pleasure-ground, running as +swiftly from one to the other, and as merrily, as if my feet were +keeping time with the glad beatings of my heart. As I passed along the +avenue, which was bordered on each side by tall trees, ever and anon, +as the wind shook their branches, there fell on my head showers of red +and gold-colored leaves, which made me laugh; so easy is it for the +young to find occasion of mirth in the least trifle when their spirits +are lightsome, as mine were that day. I sat down on a stone bench on +which the western sun was shining, to bind together the posies I had +made; the robins twittered around me; and the air felt soft and fresh. +It was the eve of Martinmas-day--Hallowtide Summer, as our country +folk call it. As the sun was sinking behind the hills, the tread of +horses' feet was heard in the distance, and I sprang up on the bench, +shading my eyes with my hand to see the approach of that goodly +travelling-party, which was soon to reach our gates. My parents came +out of the front door, and beckoned me to their side. I held my posies +in my apron, and forgot to set them down; for the first sight of my +Lady Mounteagle, as she rode up the avenue with her son at her side, +and her three grand-daughters with their attendants, and many +richly-attired serving-men beside, filled me with awe. I wondered if +her majesty had looked more grand on the day that she rode into London +to be proclaimed queen. The good lady sat on her palfry in so erect +and stately a manner, as if age had no dominion over her limbs and her +spirits; and there was something so piercing and commanding in her +eye, that it at once compelled reverence and submission. Her son had +somewhat of the same nobility of mien, and was tall and graceful in +his movements; but behind her, on her pillion, sat a small counterpart +of herself, inasmuch as childhood can resemble old age, and youthful +loveliness matronly dignity. This was the eldest of her ladyship's +grand-daughters, my sweet Mistress Ann Dacre. This was my first sight +of her who was hereafter to hold so great a place in my heart and +in my life. As she was lifted from the saddle, and stood in her +riding-habit and plumed hat at our door, making a graceful and modest +obeisance to my parents, one step retired behind her grandam, with a +lovely color tinging her cheeks, and her long lashes veiling her sweet +eyes, I thought I had never seen so fair a creature as this high-born +maiden of my own age; and even now that time, as it has gone by, has +shown me all that a court can display to charm the eyes and enrapture +the fancy, I do not gainsay that same childish thought of mine. Her +sisters, pretty prattlers then, four and six years of age, were led +into the house by their governess. But ere our guests were seated, my +mother bade me kiss my Lady Mounteagle's hand and commend myself to +her goodness, praying her to be a good lady to me, and overlook, out +of her great indulgence, my many defects. At which she patted me on +the cheek, and said, she doubted not but that I was as good a child as +such good parents deserved to have; and indeed, if I was as like my +mother in temper as in face, I must needs be such as her hopes and +wishes would have me. And then she commanded Mistress Ann to salute +me; and I felt my cheeks flush and my heart beat with joy as the sweet +little lady put her arms round my neck, and pressed her lips on my +cheek. + +Presently we all withdrew to our chambers until such time as supper +was served, at which meal the young ladies were present; and I +marvelled to see how becomingly even the youngest of them, who was but +a chit, knew how to behave herself, never asking for anything, or +forgetting to give thanks in a pretty manner when she was helped. For +the which my mother greatly commended their good manners; and her +ladyship said, "In truth, good Mistress Sherwood, I carry a strict +hand over them, never suffering their faults to go unchastised, nor +permitting such liberties as many do to the ruin of their children." I +was straightway seized with a great confusion and fear that this was +meant as a rebuke to me, who, not being much used to company, and +something overindulged by my father, by whose side I was seated, had +spoken to him more than once that day at table, and had also left on +my plate some victuals not to my liking; which, as I learnt at another +time from Mistress Ann, was an offence for which her grandmother would +have sharply reprehended her. I ventured not again to speak in her +presence, and scarcely to raise my eyes toward her. + +The young ladies withdrew early to bed that night, and I had but +little speech with them. Before they left the parlor, Mistress Ann +took her sisters by the hand, and all of them, kneeling at their +grandmother's feet, craved her blessing. I could see a tear in her eye +as she blessed them; and when she laid her hand on the head of the +eldest of her grand-daughters, it lingered there as if to call down +upon her a special benison. The next day my Lady Mounteagle gave +permission for Mistress Ann to go with me into the garden, where I +showed her my flowers and the young rabbits that Edmund Genings and +his brother, my only two playmates, were so fond of; and she told me +how well pleased she was to remove from London unto her grandmother's +seat, where she would have a garden and such pleasant pastimes as are +enjoyed in the country. + +"Prithee, Mistress Ann," I said, with the unmannerly boldness with +which children are wont to question one another, "have you not a +mother, that you live with your grandam?" + +"I thank God that I have," she answered; "and a good mother she is to +me; but by reason of her having lately married the Duke of Norfolk, my +grandmother has at the present time the charge of us." + +"And do you greatly love my Lady Mounteagle?" I asked, misdoubting in +my folly that a lady of so grave aspect and stately carriage should be +loved by children. + +"As greatly as heart can love," was her pretty answer. + +"And do you likewise love the Duke of Norfolk, Mistress Ann?" I asked +again. + +"He is my very good lord and father," she answered; "but my knowledge +of his grace has been so short, I have scarce had time to love him +yet." + +"But I have loved you in no time," I cried, and threw my arms round +her neck. "Directly I saw you, I loved you, Mistress Ann." + +"Mayhap, Mistress Constance," she said, "it is easier to love a little +girl than a great duke." + +"And who do you affection beside her grace your mother, and my lady +your grandam, Mistress Ann?" I said, again returning to the charge; to +which she quickly replied: + +"My brother Francis, my sweet Lord Dacre." + +"Is he a child?" I asked. + +"In truth, Mistress Constance," she answered, "he would not be well +pleased to be called so; and yet methinks he is but a child, being not +older, but rather one year younger than myself, and my dear playmate +and gossip." + +"I wish I had a brother or a sister to play with me," I said; at which +Mistress Ann kissed me and said she was sorry I should lack so great a +comfort, but that I must consider I had a good father of my own, +whereas her own was dead; and that a father was more than a brother. + +In this manner we held discourse all the morning, and, like a rude +imp, I questioned the gracious young lady as to her pastimes and her +studies and the tasks she was set to; and from her innocent +conversation I discovered, as children do, without at the time taking +much heed, but yet so as to remember it afterward, what especial care +had been taken by her grandmother--that religious and discreet +lady--to instill into her virtue and piety, and in using her, beside +saying her prayers, to bestow alms with her own hands on prisoners and +poor people; and in particular to apply herself to the cure of +diseases and wounds, wherein she herself had ever excelled. Mistress +Ann, in her childish but withal thoughtful way, chide me that in my +own garden were only seen flowers which pleased the senses by their +bright colors and perfume, and none of the herbs which tend to the +assuagement of pain and healing of wounds; and she made me promise to +grow some against the time of her next visit. As we went through the +kitchen-garden, she plucked some rosemary and lavender and rue, and +many other odoriferous herbs; and sitting down on a bench, she invited +me to her side, and discoursed on their several virtues and properties +with a pretty sort of learning which was marvellous in one of her +years. She showed me which were good for promoting sleep, and which +for cuts and bruises, and of a third she said it eased the heart. + +"Nay, Mistress Ann," I cried, "but that must be a heartsease;" at +which she smiled, and answered: + +"My grandam says the best medicines for uneasy hearts are the bitter +herb confession and the sweet flower absolution." + +"Have you yet made your first communion, Mistress Ann?" I asked in a +low voice, at which question a bright color came into her cheek, and +she replied: + +"Not yet; but soon I may. I was confirmed not long ago by the good +Bishop of Durham; and at my grandmother's seat I am to be instructed +by a Catholic priest who lives there." + +"Then you do not go to Protestant service?" I said. + +"We did," she answered, "for a short time, whilst we stayed at the +Charterhouse; but my grandam has understood that it is not lawful for +Catholics, and she will not be present at it herself, or suffer us any +more to attend it, neither in her own house nor at his grace's." + +While we were thus talking, the two little ladies, her sisters, came +from the house, having craved leave from the governess to run out into +the garden. Mistress Mary was a pale delicate child, with soft +loving blue eyes; and Mistress Bess, the youngest, a merry imp, whose +rosy cheeks and dimpling smiles were full of glee and merriment. + +"What ugly sober flowers are these, Nan, that thou art playing with?" +she cried, and snatched at the herbs in her sister's lap. "When I +marry my Lord William Howard, I'll wear a posy of roses and +carnations." + +"When I am married," said little Mistress Mary, "I will wear nothing +but lilies." + +"And what shall be thy posy, Nan?" said the little saucy one again, +"when thou dost wed my Lord Surrey?" + +"Hush, hush, madcaps!" cried Mistress Ann. "If your grandam was to +hear you, I doubt not but the rod would be called for." + +Mistress Mary looked round affrighted, but little Mistress Bess said +in a funny manner, "Prithee, Nan, do rods then travel?" + +"Ay; by that same token, Bess, that I heard my lady bid thy nurse take +care to carry one with her." + +"It was nurse told me I was to marry my Lord William, and Madge my +Lord Thomas, and thee, Nan, my Lord Surrey, and brother pretty Meg +Howard," said the little lady, pouting; "but I won't tell grandam of +it an it would be like to make her angry." + +"I would be a nun!" Mistress Mary cried. + +"Hush!" her elder sister said; "that is foolish talking, Madge; my +grandmother told me so when I said the same thing to her a year ago. +Children do not know what Almighty God intends them to do. And now +methinks I see Uncle Labourn making as if he would call us to the +house, and there are the horses coming to the door. We must needs obey +the summons. Prithee, Mistress Constance, do not forget me." + +Forget her! No. From that day to this years have passed over our heads +and left deep scars on our hearts. Divers periods of our lives have +been signalized by many a strange passage; we have rejoiced, and, +oftener still, wept together; we have met in trembling, and parted in +anguish; but through sorrow and through joy, through evil report and +good report, in riches and in poverty, in youth and in age, I have +blessed the day when first I met thee, sweet Ann Dacre, the fairest, +purest flower which ever grew on a noble stem. + +CHAPTER II. + +A year elapsed betwixt the period of the so brief, but to me so +memorable, visit of the welcomest guests our house ever received--to +wit, my Lady Mounteagle and her grand-daughters--and that in which I +met with an accident, which compelled my parents to carry me to +Lichfield for chirurgical advice. Four times in the course of that +year I was honored with letters writ by the hand of Mistress Ann +Dacre; partly, as the gracious young lady said, by reason of her +grandmother's desire that the bud acquaintanceship which had sprouted +in the short-lived season of the aforesaid visit should, by such +intercourse as may be carried on by means of letters, blossom into a +flower of true friendship; and also that that worthy lady and my good +mother willed such a correspondence betwixt us as would serve to the +sharpening of our wits, and the using our pens to be good servants to +our thoughts. In the course of this history I will set down at +intervals some of the letters I received at divers times from this +noble lady; so that those who read these innocent pictures of herself, +portrayed by her own hand, may trace the beginnings of those virtuous +inclinations which at an early age were already working in her soul, +and ever after appeared in her. + +On the 15th day of January of the next year to that in which my eyes +had feasted on this creature so embellished with rare endowments and + accomplished gracefulness, the first letter I had from her came +to my hand; the first link of a chain which knit together her heart +and mine through long seasons of absence and sore troubles, to the +great comforting, as she was often pleased to say, of herself, who was +so far above me in rank, whom she chose to call her friend, and of the +poor friend and servant whom she thus honored beyond her deserts. In +as pretty a handwriting as can well be thought of, she thus wrote: + + "MY SWEET MISTRESS CONSTANCE, + --Though I enjoyed your company but for the too brief time + during which we rested under your honored parents' roof, I + retain so great a sense of the contentment I received + therefrom, and so lively a remembrance of the converse we + held in the grounds adjacent to Sherwood Hall, that I am + better pleased than I can well express that my grandmother + bids me sit down and write to one whom to see and to + converse with once more would be to me one of the chiefest + pleasures in life. And the more welcome is this command by + reason of the hope it raises in me to receive in return a + letter from my well-beloved Mistress Constance, which will + do my heart more good than anything else that can happen + to me. 'Tis said that marriages are made in heaven. When I + asked my grandam if it were so, she said, 'I am of + opinion, Nan, they are made in many more places than one; + and I would to God none were made but such as are agreed + upon in so good a place.' But methinks some friendships + are likewise made in heaven; and if it be so, I doubt not + but that when we met, and out of that brief meeting there + arose so great and sudden a liking in my heart for you, + Mistress Constance,--which, I thank God, you were not slow + to reciprocate,--that our angels had met where we hope one + day to be, and agreed together touching that matter. + + "It suits ill a bad pen like mine to describe the fair seat we + reside in at this present time--the house of Mr. James Labourn, + which he has lent unto my grandmother. 'Tis most commodious and + pleasant, and after long sojourn in London, even in winter, a + terrestrial paradise. But, like the garden of Eden, not without + dangers; for the too much delight I took in out-of-doors pastimes-- + and most of all on the lake when it was frozen, and we had merry + sports upon it, to the neglect of my lessons, not heeding the lapse + of time in the pursuit of pleasure--brought me into trouble and sore + disgrace. My grandmother ordered me into confinement for three days + in my own chamber, and I saw her not nor received her blessing all + that time; at the end of which she sharply reproved me for my fault, + and bade me hold in mind that 'twas when loitering in a garden Eve + met the tempter, and threatened further and severe punishment if I + applied not diligently to my studies. When I had knelt down and + begged pardon, promising amendment, she drew me to her and kissed + me, which it was not her wont often to do. 'Nan,' she said, 'I would + have thee use thy natural parts, and improve thyself in virtue and + learning; for such is the extremity of the times, that ere long it + may be that many first shall be last and many last shall be first in + this realm of England. But virtue and learning are properties which + no man can steal from another; and I would fain see thee endowed + with a goodly store of both. That great man and true confessor, Sir + Thomas More, had nothing so much at heart as his daughter's + instruction; and Mistress Margaret Roper, once my sweet friend, + though some years older than my poor self, who still laments her + loss, had such fine things said of her by the greatest men of this + age, as would astonish thee to hear; but they were what she had a + right to and very well deserved. And the strengthening of her mind + through study and religious discipline served her well at the + time of her great trouble; for where other women would have lacked + sense and courage how to act, she kept her wits about her, and + ministered such comfort to her father, remaining near him at the + last, and taking note of his wishes, and finding means to bury him + in a Christian manner, which none other durst attempt, that she had + occasion to thank God who gave her a head as well as a heart. And + who knows, Nan, what may befal thee, and what need thou mayst have + of the like advantages?' + + "My grandmother looked so kindly on me then, that, albeit abashed at + the remembrance of my fault, I sought to move her to further + discourse; and knowing what great pleasure she had in speaking of + Sir Thomas More, at whose house in Chelsea she had oftentimes been a + visitor in her youth, I enticed her to it by cunning questions + touching the customs he observed in his family. + + "'Ah, Nan!' she said, that house was a school and exercise + of the Christian religion. There was neither man nor woman + in it who was not employed in liberal discipline and + fruitful reading, although the principal study was + religion. There was no quarrelling, not so much as a + peevish word to be heard; nor was any one seen idle; all + were in their several employs: nor was there wanting sober + mirth. And so well-managed a government Sir Thomas did not + maintain by severity and chiding, but by gentleness and + kindness.' + + "Methought as she said this, that my dear grandam in that matter of + chiding had not taken a leaf out of Sir Thomas's book; and there was + no doubt a transparency in my face which revealed to her this + thought of mine; for she straightly looked at me and said, 'Nan, a + penny for thy thoughts!' at the which I felt myself blushing, but + knew nothing would serve her but the truth; so I said, in as humble + a manner as I could think of, 'An if you will excuse me, grandam, I + thought if Sir Thomas managed so well without chiding, that you + manage well with it.' At the which she gave me a light nip on the + forehead, and said, 'Go to, child; dost think that any but saints + can rule a household without chiding, or train children without + whipping? Go thy ways, and mend them too, if thou wouldst escape + chastisement; and take with thee, Nan, the words of one whom we + shall never again see the like of in this poor country, which he + used to his wife or any of his children if they were diseased or + troubled, "We must not look at our pleasures to go to heaven in + feather-beds, or to be carried up thither even by the chins."' And + so she dismissed me; and I have here set down my fault, and the + singular goodness showed me by my grandmother when it was pardoned, + not thinking I can write anything better worth notice than the + virtuous talk with which she then favored me. + + "There is in this house a chapel very neat and rich, and an ancient + Catholic priest is here, who says mass most days; at the which we, + with my grandmother, assist, and such of her servants as have not + conformed to the times; and this good father instructs us in the + principles of Catholic religion. On the eve of the feast of the + Nativity of Christ, my lady stayed in the chapel from eight at night + till two in the morning; but sent us to bed at nine, after the + litanies were said, until eleven, when there was a sermon, and at + twelve o'clock three masses said, which being ended we broke our + fast with a mince-pie, and went again to bed. And all the + Christmas-time we were allowed two hours after each meal for + recreation, instead of one. At other times, we play not at any game + for money; but then we had a shilling a-piece to make us merry; + which my grandmother says is fitting in this time of mirth and joy + for his birth who is the sole origin and spring of true comfort. And + now, sweet Mistress Constance, I must bid you farewell; for the + greatest of joys has befallen me, and a whole holiday to enjoy + it. My sweet Lord Dacre is come to pay his duty to my lady and tarry + some days here, on his way to Thetford, the Duke of Norfolk's seat, + where his grace and the duchess my good mother have removed. He is a + beauty, Mistress Constance; and nature has so profusely conferred on + him privileges, that when her majesty the queen saw him a short time + back on horseback, in the park at Richmond, she called him to her + carriage-door and honored him with a kiss, and the motto of the + finest boy she ever beheld. But I may not run on in this fashion, + letting my pen outstrip modesty, like a foolish creature, making my + brother a looking-glass and continual object for my eyes; but learn + to love him, as my grandam says, in God, of whom he is only + borrowed, and not so as to set my heart wholly on him. So beseeching + God bless you and yours, good Mistress Constance, I ever remain, + your loving friend and humble servant, + + "ANN DACRE." + +Oh, how soon were my Lady Mounteagle's words exalted in the event! and +what a sad brief note was penned by that affectionate sister not one +month after she writ those lines, so full of hope and pleasure in the +prospect of her brother's sweet company! For the fair boy that was the +continual object of her eyes and the dear comfort of her heart was +accidentally slain by the fall of a vaulting horse upon him at the +duke's house at Thetford. + + "MY GOOD MISTRESS CONSTANCE" + (she wrote, a few days after his lamentable death),--"The lovingest + brother a sister ever had, and the most gracious creature ever born, + is dead; and if it pleased God I wish I were dead too, for my heart + is well-nigh broken. But I hope in God his soul is now in heaven, + for that he was so young and innocent; and when here, a short time + ago, my grandmother procured that he should for the first, and as it + has pleased God also for the only and the last, time, confess and be + absolved by a Catholic priest, in the which the hand of Providence + is visible to our great comfort, and reasonable hope of his + salvation. Commending him and your poor friend, who has great need + of them, to your good prayers, I remain your affectionate and humble + servant, + + "ANN DACRE." + +In that year died also, in childbirth, her grace the Duchess of +Norfolk, Mistress Ann's mother; and she then wrote in a less +passionate, but withal less comfortable, grief than at her brother's +loss, and, as I have heard since, my Lady Mounteagle had her +death-blow at that time, and never lifted up her head again as +heretofore. It was noticed that ever after she spent more time in +prayer and gave greater alms. Her daughter, the duchess, who at the +instance of her husband had conformed to the times, desired to have +been reconciled on her deathbed by a priest, who for that end was +conducted into the garden, yet could not have access unto her by +reason of the duke's vigilance to hinder it, or at least of his +continual presence in her chamber at the time. And soon after, his +grace, whose wards they were, sent for his three step-daughters to the +Charterhouse; the parting with which, and the fears she entertained +that he would have them carried to services and sermons in the public +churches, and hinder them in the exercise of Catholic faith and +worship, drove the sword yet deeper through my Lady Mounteagle's +heart, and brought down her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave, +notwithstanding that the duke greatly esteemed and respected her, and +was a very moral nobleman, of exceeding good temper and moderate +disposition. But of this more anon, as 'tis my own history I am +writing, and it is meet I should relate in the order of time what +events came under my notice whilst in Lichfield, whither my +mother carried me, as has been aforesaid, to be treated by a famous +physician for a severe hurt I had received. It was deemed convenient +that I should tarry some time under his care; and Mr. Genings, a +kinsman of her own, who with his wife and children resided in that +town, one of the chiefest in the county, offered to keep me in their +house as long as was convenient thereunto a kindness which my parents +the more readily accepted at his hands from their having often shown +the like unto his children when the air of the country was desired for +them. + +Mr. and Mrs. Genings were of the religion by law established. He was +thought to be Catholic at heart; albeit he was often heard to speak +very bitterly against all who obeyed not the queen in conforming to +the new mode of worship, with the exception, indeed, of my mother, for +whom he had always a truly great affection. This gentleman's house was +in the close of the cathedral, and had a garden to it well stored with +fair shrubs and flowers of various sorts. As I lay on a low settle +near the window, being forbid to walk for the space of three weeks, my +eyes were ever straying from my sampler to the shade and sunshine out +of doors. Instead of plying at my needle, I watched the bees at their +sweet labor midst the honeysuckles of the porch, or the swallows +darting in and out of the eaves of the cathedral, or the butterflies +at their idle sports over the beds of mignonette and heliotrope under +the low wall, covered with ivy, betwixt the garden and the close. Mr. +Genings had two sons, the eldest of which was some years older and the +other younger than myself. The first, whose name was Edmund, had been +weakly when a child, and by reason of this a frequent sojourner at +Sherwood Hall, where he was carried for change of air after the many +illnesses incident to early age. My mother, who was some years married +before she had a child of her own, conceived a truly maternal +affection for this young kinsman, and took much pains with him both as +to the care of his body and the training of his mind. He was an apt +pupil, and she had so happy a manner of imparting knowledge, that he +learnt more, as he has since said, in those brief sojourns in her +house than at school from more austere masters. After I came into the +world, he took delight to rock me in my cradle, or play with me as I +sat on my mother's knee; and when I first began to walk, he would lead +me by the hand into the garden, and laugh to see me clutch marigolds +or cry for a sunflower. + +"I warrant thou hast an eye to gold, Con," he would say; "for 'tis the +yellow flowers that please thee best." + +There is an old hollow tree on the lawn at Sherwood Hall where I often +hid from him in sport, and he would make pretence to seek me +elsewhere, till a laugh revealed me to him, and a chase ensued down +the approach or round the maze. He never tired of my petulance, or +spoke rude words, as boys are wont to do; and had a more serious and +contemplative spirit than is often seen in young people, and likewise +a singular fancy for gazing at the sky when glowing with sunset hues +or darkened by storms, and most of all when studded at night with +stars. On a calm clear night I have noticed him for a length of time, +forgetting all things else, fix his eyes on the heavens, as if reading +the glory of the Lord therein revealed. + +My parents did not speak to him of Catholic faith and worship, because +Mr. Genings, before he suffered his sons to stay in their house, had +made them promise that no talk of religion should be ministered to +them in their childhood. It was a sore trial to my mother to refrain, +as the Psalmist saith, from good words, which were ever rising from +her heart to her lips, as pure water from a deep spring. But she +instructed him in many things which belong to gentle learning, and in +French, which she knew well; and taught him music, in which he +made great progress. And this wrought with his father to the +furtherance of these his visits to us. I doubt not but that, when she +told him the names of the heavenly luminaries, she inwardly prayed he +might one day shine as a star in the kingdom of God; or when she +discoursed of flowers and their properties, that he should blossom as +a rose in the wilderness of this faithless world; or whilst guiding +his hands to play on the clavichord, that he might one day join in the +glorious harmony of the celestial choirs. Her face itself was a +preachment, and the tones of her voice, and the tremulous sighs she +breathed when she kissed him or gave him her blessing, had, I ween, a +privilege to reach his heart, the goodness of which was readable in +his countenance. Dear Edmund Genings, thou wert indeed a brother to me +in kind care and companionship whilst I stayed in Lichfield that +never-to-be-forgotten year! How gently didst thou minister to the sick +child, for the first time tasting the cup of suffering; now easing her +head with a soft pillow, now strewing her couch with fresh-gathered +flowers, or feeding her with fruit which had the bloom on it, or +taking her hand and holding it in thine own to cheer her to endurance! +Thou wert so patient and so loving, both with her who was a great +trouble to thee and oftentimes fretful with pain, and likewise with +thine own little brother, an angel in beauty and wit, but withal of so +petulant and froward a disposition that none in the house durst +contradict him, child as he was; for his parents were indeed weak in +their fondness for him. In no place and at no time have I seen a boy +so indulged and so caressed as this John Genings. He had a pretty +wilfulness and such playful ways that his very faults found favor with +those who should have corrected them, and he got praise where others +would have met with chastisement. Edmund's love for this fair urchin +was such as is seldom seen in any save in a parent for a child. It was +laughable to see the lovely imp governing one who should have been his +master, but through much love was his slave, and in a thousand cunning +ways, and by fanciful tricks, constraining him to do his bidding. +Never was a more wayward spirit enclosed in a more winsome form than +in John Genings. Never did childish gracefulness rule more absolutely +over superior age, or love reverse the conditions of ordinary +supremacy, than in the persons of these two brothers. + +A strange thing occurred at that time, which I witnessed not myself, +and on which I can give no opinion, but as a fact will here set it +down, and let such as read this story deem of it as they please. One +night that, by reason of the unwonted chilliness of the evening, such +as sometimes occurs in our climate even in summer, a fire had been lit +in the parlor, and the family were gathered round it, Edmund came of a +sudden into the room, and every one took notice that his face was very +pale. He seemed in a great fear, and whispered to his mother, who said +aloud--"Thou must have been asleep, and art still dreaming, child." +Upon which he was very urgent for her to go into the garden, and used +many entreaties thereunto. Upon which, at last, she rose and followed +him. In another moment she called for her husband, who went out, and +with him three or four other persons that were in the room, and I +remained alone for the space of ten or fifteen minutes. When they +returned, I heard them speaking with great fear and amazement of what +they had seen; and Edmund Genings has often since described to me what +he first, and afterward all the others, had beheld in the sky. He was +gazing at the heavens, as was his wont, when a strange spectacle +appeared to him in the air. As it were, a number of armed men with +weapons, killing and murdering others that were disarmed, and great +store of blood running everywhere about them. His parents and those +with them witnessed the same thing, and a great fear fell upon +them all. I noticed that all that evening they seemed scared, and +could not speak of this appearance in the sky without shuddering. But +one that was more bold than the rest took heart, and cried, "God send +it does not forbode that the Papists will murder us all in our beds!" +And Mistress Genings, whose mother was a French Huguenot, said, +"Amen!" I marked that her husband and one or two more of the company +groaned, and one made, as if unwittingly, the sign of the cross. There +were some I know in that town, nay and in that house, that were at +heart of the old religion, albeit, by reason of the times, they did +not give over attending Protestants' worship. + +A few days later I was sitting alone, and had a long fit of musing +over the many new thoughts that were crowding into my mind, as yet too +childish to master them, when Edmund came in, and I saw he had been +weeping. He said nothing at first, and made believe he was reading; +but I could see tears trickling down through his fingers as he covered +his face with his hands. Presently he looked up and cried out, + +"Cousin Constance, Jack is going away from us." + +"And if it please God, not for a long time," I answered; for it +grieved me to see him sad. + +"Nay, but he is going for many years, I fear," Edmund said. "My uncle, +Jean de Luc, has asked for him to be brought up in his house at La +Rochelle. He is his godfather, and has a great store of money, which +he says he will leave to Jack. Alack! cousin Constance, I would that +there was no such thing in the world as money, and no such country as +France. I wish we were all dead." And then he fell to weeping again +very bitterly. + +I told him in a childish manner what my mother was wont to say to me +when any little trouble fell to my lot--that we should be patient, and +offer up our sufferings to God. + +"But I can do nothing now for Jack," he cried. "It was my first +thought at waking and my last at night, how to please the dear urchin; +but now 'tis all over." + +"Oh, but Edmund," I cried, "an if you were to be as good as the +blessed saints in heaven, you could do a great deal for Jack." + +"How so, cousin Constance?" he asked, not comprehending my meaning; +and thereupon I answered: + +"When once I said to my sweet mother, 'It grieves me, dear heart, that +I can give thee nothing, who gives me so much,' she bade me take heed +that every prayer we say, every good work we do, howsoever imperfect, +and every pain we suffer, may be offered up for those we love; and so +out of poverty, and weakness, and sorrow, we have wherewith to make +precious and costly and cheerful gifts." + +I spoke as a child, repeating what I had heard; but he listened not as +a child. A sudden light came into his eyes, and methinks his good +angel showed him in that hour more than my poor lips could utter. + +"If it be as your sweet mother says," he joyfully cried, "we are rich +indeed; and, even though we be sinners and not saints, we have +somewhat to give, I ween, if it be only our heartaches, cousin +Constance, so they be seasoned with prayers." + +The thought which in my simplicity I had set before him took root, as +it were, in his mind. His love for a little child had prepared the way +for it; and the great brotherly affection which had so long dwelt in +his heart proved a harbinger of the more perfect gift of charity; so +that a heavenly message was perchance conveyed to him that day by one +who likewise was a child, even as the word of the Lord came to the +prophet through the lips of the infant Samuel. From that time forward +he bore up bravely against his grief; which was the sharper inasmuch +that he who was the cause of it showed none in return, but rather joy +in the expectancy of the change which was to part them. He would +still be a-prattling on it, and telling all who came in his way that +he was going to France to a good uncle; nor ever intended to return, +for his mother was to carry him to La Rochelle, and she should stay +there with him, he said, and not come back to ugly Lichfield. + +"And art thou not sorry, Jack," I asked him one day, "to leave poor +Edmund, who loves thee so well?" + +The little madcap was coursing round the room, and cried, as he ran +past me, for he had more wit and spirit than sense or manners: + +"Edmund must seek after me, and take pains to find me, if so be he +would have me." + +These words, which the boy said in his play, have often come back to +my mind since the two brothers have attained unto a happy though +dissimilar end. + +When the time had arrived for Mistress Genings and her youngest son to +go beyond seas, as I was now improved in health and able to walk, my +father fetched me home, and prevailed on Mr. Genings to let Edmund go +back with us, with the intent to divert his mind from his grief at his +brother's departure. + +I found my parents greatly disturbed at the news they had had touching +the imprisonment of thirteen priests on account of religion, and of +Mr. Orton being likewise arrested, who was a gentleman very dear to +them for his great virtues and the steadfast friendship he had ever +shown to them. + +My mother questioned Edmund as to the sign he had seen in the heavens +a short time back, of which the report had reached them; and he +confirming the truth thereof, she clasped her hands and cried: + +"Then I fear me much this forebodes the death of these blessed +confessors, Father Weston and the rest." + +Upon which Edmund said, in a humble manner: + +"Good Mistress Sherwood, my dear mother thought it signified that +those of your religion would murder in their beds such as are of the +queen's religion; so maybe in both cases there is naught to +apprehend." + +"My good child," my mother answered, "in regard of those now in +durance for their faith, the danger is so manifest, that if it please +not the Almighty to work a miracle for their deliverance, I see not +how they may escape." + +After that we sat awhile in silence; my father reading, my mother and +I working, and Edmund at the window intent as usual upon the stars, +which were shining one by one in the deep azure of the darkening sky. +As one of greater brightness than the rest shone through the branches +of the old tree, where I used to hide some years before, he pointed to +it, and said to me, who was sitting nearest to him at the window: + +"Cousin Constance, think you the Star of Bethlehem showed fairer in +the skies than yon bright star that has just risen behind your +favorite oak? What and if that star had a message for us!" + +My father heard him, and smiled. "I was even then," he said, "reading +the words of one who was led to the true religion by the contemplation +of the starry skies. In a Southern clime, where those fair luminaries +shine with more splendor than in our Northern heavens, St. Augustine +wrote thus;" and then he read a few sentences in Latin from the book +in his hand,--"Raising ourselves up, we passed by degrees through all +things bodily, even the very heavens, whence sun and moon and stars +shine upon the earth. Yea, we soared yet higher by inward musing and +discourse and admiring of God's works, and we came to our own minds +and went beyond them, so as to arrive at that region of never-failing +plenty where thou feedest Israel for ever with the food of truth." +These words had a sweet and solemn force in them which struck on the +ear like a strain of unearthly music, such as the wind-harp wakes in +the silence of the night. In a low voice, so low that it was like +the breathing of a sigh, I heard Edmund say, "What is truth?" But when +he had uttered those words, straightway turning toward me as if to +divert his thoughts from that too pithy question, he cried: "Prithee, +cousin Constance, hast thou ended reading, I warrant for the hundredth +time, that letter in thine hand? and hast thou not a mind to impart to +thy poor kinsman the sweet conceits I doubt not are therein +contained?" I could not choose but smile at his speech; for I had +indeed feasted my eyes on the handwriting of my dear friend, now no +longer Mistress Dacre, and learnt off, as it were by heart, its +contents. And albeit I refused at first to comply with his request, +which I had secretly a mind to; no sooner did he give over the urging +of it than I stole to his side, and, though I would by no means let it +out of my hand, and folded down one side of the sheet to hide what was +private in it, I offered to read such parts aloud as treated of +matters which might be spoken of without hindrance. + +With a smiling countenance, then, he set himself to listen, and I to +be the mouthpiece of the dear writer, whose wit was so far in advance +of her years, as I have since had reason to observe, never having met +at any time with one in whom wisdom put forth such early shoots. + + "DEAR MISTRESS CONSTANCE" + (thus the sweet lady wrote),--"Wherefore this long silence and + neglect of your poor friend? An if it be true, which pains me much + to hear, that the good limb which, together with its fellow, like + two trusty footmen, carried you so well and nimbly along the alleys + of your garden this time last year, has, like an arrant knave, + played fast and loose, and failed in its good service,--wherein, I am + told, you have suffered much inconvenience,--is it just that that + other servant, your hand, should prove rebellious too, refuse to + perform its office, and write no more letters at your bidding? For + I'll warrant 'tis the hand is the culprit, not the will; which + nevertheless should be master, and compel it to obedience. So, an + you love me, chide roundly that contumacious hand, which fails in + its duty, which should not be troublesome, if you but had for me + one-half of the affection I have for you. And indeed, Mistress + Constance, a letter from you would be to me, at this time, the + welcomest thing I can think of; for since we left my grandmother's + seat, and came to the Charterhouse, I have new friends, and many + more and greater than I deserve or ever thought to have; but, by + reason of difference of age or of religion, they are not such as I + can well open my mind to, as I might to you, if it pleased God we + should meet again. The Duke of Norfolk is a very good lord and + father to me; but when there are more ways of thinking than one in a + house, 'tis no easy matter to please all which have a right to be + considered; and, in the matter of religion, 'tis very hard to avoid + giving offence. But no more of this at present; only I would to God + Mr. Fox were beyond seas, and my lady of Westmoreland at her home in + the North; and that we had no worse company in this house than Mr. + Martin, my Lord Surrey's tutor, who is a gentleman of great learning + and knowledge, as every one says, and of extraordinary modesty in + his behavior. My Lord Surrey has a truly great regard for him, and + profits much in his learning by his means. I notice he is Catholic + in his judgment and affections; and my lord says he will not stay + with him, if his grace his father procures ministers to preach to + his household and family, and obliges all therein to frequent + Protestant service. I wish my grandmother was in London; for I am + sometimes sore troubled in my mind touching Catholic religion and + conforming to the times, of which an abundance of talk is ministered + unto us, to my exceeding great discomfort, by my Lady Westmoreland, + his grace's sister, and others also. An if I say aught thereon + to Mistress Fawcett (a grave and ancient gentlewoman, who had the + care of my Lord Surrey during his infancy, and is now set over us + his grace's wards), and of misliking the duke's ministers and that + pestilent Mr. Fox--(I fear me, Mistress Constance, I should not have + writ that unbeseeming word, and I will e'en draw a line across it, + but still as you may read it for indeed 'tis what he is; but 'tis + from himself I learnt it, who in his sermons calls Catholic religion + a pestilent idolatry, and Catholic priests pestilent teachers and + servants of Antichrist, and the holy Pope at Rome the man of sin) + she grows uneasy, and bids me be a good child to her, and not to + bring her into trouble with his grace, who is indeed a very good + lord to us in all matters but that one of compelling us to hear + sermons and the like. My Lord Surrey mislikes all kinds of sermons, + and loves Mr. Martin so well, that he stops his ears when Mr. Fox + preaches on the dark midnight of papacy and the dawn of the gospel's + restored light. And it angers him, as well it should, to hear him + call his majesty King Philip of Spain, who is his own godfather, + from whom he received his name, a wicked popish tyrant and a son of + Antichrist. My Lady Margaret, his sister, who is a year younger than + himself, and has a most admirable beauty and excellent good nature, + is vastly taken with what she hears from me of Catholic religion; + but methinks this is partly by reason of her misliking Mr. Fulk and + Mr. Clarke's long preachments, which we are compelled to hearken to; + and their fashion of spending Sunday, which they do call the + Sabbath-day, wherein we must needs keep silence, and when not in + church sit still at home, which to one of her lively disposition is + heavy penance. Methinks when Sunday comes we be all in disgrace; + 'tis so like a day of correction. My Lord Surrey has more liberty; + for Mr. Martin carries him and his brothers after service into the + pleasant fields about Westminster Abbey and the village of Charing + Cross, and suffers them to play at ball under the trees, so they do + not quarrel amongst themselves. My Lord Henry Howard, his grace's + brother, always maintains and defends the Catholic religion against + his sister of Westmoreland; and he spoke to my uncles Leonard, + Edward, and Francis, and likewise to my aunt Lady Montague, that + they should write unto my grandmother touching his grace bringing us + up as Protestants. But the Duke of Norfolk, Mrs. Fawcett says, is + our guardian, and she apprehends he is resolved that we shall + conform to the times, and that no liberty be allowed us for the + exercise of Catholic religion." + +At this part of the letter I stopped reading; and Edmund, turning to +my father, who, though he before had perused it, was also listening, +said: "And if this be liberty of conscience, which Protestants speak +of, I see no great liberty and no great conscience in the matter." + +His cheek flushed as he spoke, and there was a hoarseness in his voice +which betokened the working of strong feelings within him. My father +smiled with a sort of pitiful sadness, and answered: + +"My good boy, when thou art somewhat further advanced in years, thou +wilt learn that the two words thou art speaking of are such as men +have abused the meaning of more than any others that can be thought +of; and I pray to God they do not continue to do so as long as the +world lasts. It seems to me that they mostly mean by 'liberty' a +freedom to compel others to think and to act as they have themselves a +mind to; and by 'conscience' the promptings of their own judgments +moved by their own passions." + +"But 'tis hard," Edmund said, "'tis at times very hard, Mr. Sherwood, +to know whereunto conscience points, in the midst of so many inward +clamors as are raised in the soul by conflicting passions of dutiful +affection and filial reverence struggling for the mastery. Ay, +and no visible token of God's will to make that darkness light. Tis +that," he cried, more moved as he went on, "that makes me so often +gaze upward. Would to God I might see a sign in the skies! for there +are no sign-posts on life's path to guide us on our way to the +heavenly Jerusalem, which our ministers speak of." + +"If thou diligently seekest for sign-posts, my good boy," my father +answered, "fear not but that he who said, 'Seek, and you shall find,' +will furnish thee with them. He has not left himself without +witnesses, or his religion to be groped after in hopeless darkness, so +that men may not discern, even in these troublous times, where the +truth lies, so they be in earnest in their search after it. But I will +not urge thee by the cogency of arguments, or be drawn out of the +reserve I have hitherto observed in these matters, which be +nevertheless the mightiest that can be thought of as regards the +soul's health." + +And so, breaking off this discourse, he walked out upon the terrace; +and I withdrew to the table, where my mother was sitting, and once +more conned over the last pages of _my lady's_ letter, which, when the +reader hath read, he will perceive the writer's rank and her right to +be thus titled. + + "And now, Mistress Constance, I must needs inform you of a + matter I would not leave you ignorant of, so that you + should learn from strangers what so nearly concerns one + whom you have a friendship to--and that is my betrothal + with my Lord Surrey. The ceremony was public, inasmuch as + was needful for the solemnising of a contract which is + binding for life--'until death us do part,' as the + marriage service hath it. How great a change this has + wrought in my thoughts, none knows but myself; for though + I be but twelve years of age (for his grace would have the + ceremony to take place on my birthday), one year older + than yourself, and so lately a child that not a very long + time ago my grandmother would chastise me with her own + hands for my faults, I now am wedded to my young lord, and + by his grace and all the household titled Countess of + Surrey! And I thank God to be no worse mated; for my lord, + who is a few months younger than me, and a very child for + frolicksome spirits and wild mirth, has, notwithstanding, + so great a pleasantness of manners and so forward a wit, + that one must needs have pleasure in his company; and I + only wish I had more of it. Whilst we were only friends + and playmates, I used to chide and withstand him, as one + older and one more staid and discreet than himself; but, + ah me! since we have been wedded, 'tis grand to hear him + discourse on the duty of wives, and quote the Bible to + show they must obey their husbands. He carries it in a + very lordly fashion; and if I comply not at once with his + commands, he cries out what he has heard at the + play-house: + + 'Such duty as the subject owes the prince + Even such a woman oweth to her husband; + And when she's froward, peevish sullen, sour, + And not obedient to his honest will, + What is she but a foul contending rebel + And graceless traitor to her loving lord? + I am ashamed that women are so simple + To offer war where they should kneel for peace; + Or seek for rule, supremacy, or sway, + Where they are bound to serve, love, and obey.' + + He has a most excellent memory. If he has but once heard out of any + English or Latin book so much read as is contained in a leaf, he + will forthwith perfectly repeat it. My Lord Henry, his uncle, for a + trial, invented twenty long and difficult words a few days back, + which he had never seen or heard before; yet did he recite them + readily, every one in the same order as they were written, having + only once read them over. But, touching that matter of obedience, + which I care not to gainsay, 'tis not easy at present to obey my + lord my husband, and his grace his father, and Mistress Fawcett, + too, who holds as strict a hand over the Countess of Surrey as over + Mistress Ann Dacre; for the commands of these my rulers do not at + all times accord: but I pray to God I may do my duty, and be a good + wife to my lord; and I wish, as I said before, my grandmother + had been here, and that I had been favored with her good counsel, + and had had the benefit of shrift and spiritual advice ere I entered + on this stage of my life, which is so new to me, who was but a child + a few weeks ago, and am yet treated as such in more respects than + one. + + "My lord has told me a secret which Higford, his father's servant, + let out to him; and 'tis something so weighty and of so great + import, that since he left me my thoughts have been truants from my + books, and Monsieur Sebastian, who comes to practice us on the lute, + stopped his ears, and cried out that the Signora Contessa had no + mercy on him, so to murther his compositions. Tis not the part of a + true wife to reveal her husband's secrets, or else I would tell you, + Mistress Constance, this great news, which I can with trouble keep + to myself; and I shall not be easy till I have seen my lord again, + which should be when we walk in the garden this evening; but I pray + to God he may not be off instead to the Mall, to play at kittlepins; + for then I have small chance to get speech with him to-day. Mr. + Martin is my very good friend, and reminds the earl of his duty to + his lady; but if my lord comes at his bidding, when he would be + elsewhere than in my company, 'tis little contentment I have in his + visits. + + "'Tis yesterday I writ thus much, and now 'tis the day to send this + letter; and I saw not my lord last night by reason of his + grandfather my Lord Arundel sending to fetch me unto his house in + the Strand. His goodness to me is so great, that nothing more can be + desired; and his daughter my Lady Lumley is the greatest comfort I + have in the world. She showed me a fair picture of my lord's mother, + who died the day he was born, not then full seventeen years of age. + She was of so amiable a disposition, so prudent, virtuous, and + religious, that all who knew her could not but love and esteem her. + And I read a letter which this sweet lady had written in Latin to + her father on his birthday, to his great contentment, who had + procured her to be well instructed in that language, as well as in + her own and in all commendable learning. Then I played at primero + with my Lord Arundel and my Lady Lumley and my uncle Francis. The + knave of hearts was fixed upon for the quinola, and I won the flush. + My uncle Francis cried the winning card should be titled Dudley. + 'Not so,' quoth the earl; 'the knave that would match with the queen + in the suit of hearts should never win the game.' And further talk + ensued; from which I learnt that my Lord Arundel and the Duke of + Norfolk mislike my Lord Leicester, and would not he should marry the + queen; and my uncle laughed, and said, 'My lord, no good Englishman + is there but must be of your lordship's mind, though none have so + good reason as yourself to hinder so base a contract; for if my Lord + of Leicester should climb unto her majesty's throne, beshrew me if + he will not remember the box on the ear your lordship ministered to + him some time since;' at which the earl laughed, too; but my Lady + Lumley cried, 'I would to God my brother of Norfolk were rid of my + Lord Leicester's friendship, which has, I much fear me, more danger + in it than his enmity. God send he does not lead his grace into + troubles greater than can well be thought of!' Alack, Mistress + Constance, what uneasy times are these which we have fallen on! for + methinks 'troubles' is the word in every one's mouth. As I was about + to step into the chair at the hall-door at Arundel House, I heard + one of my lord's guard say to another, 'I trust the white horse will + be in quiet, and so we shall be out of trouble.' I have asked Mr. + Martin what these words should mean; whereupon he told me the white + horse, which indeed I might have known, was the Earl of Arundel's + cognisance; and that the times were very troublesome, and plots were + spoken of in the North anent the Queen of Scots, her majesty the + queen's cousin, who is at Chatesworth; and when he said that, + all of a sudden I grew red, and my cheeks burned like two hot coals; + but he took no heed, and said, 'A true servant might well wish his + master out of trouble, when troubles were so rife.' And now shame + take me for taking up so much of your time, which should be spent in + more profitable ways than the reading of my poor letters; and I must + needs beg you to write soon, and hold me as long as I have held you, + and love me, sweet one, as I love you. My Lady Margaret, who is in a + sense twice my sister, says she is jealous of Mistress Constance + Sherwood, and would steal away my heart from her; but, though she is + a winsome and cunning thief in such matters, I warrant you she shall + fail therein. And so, commending myself to your good prayers, I + remain + + "Your true friend and loving servant, + "ANN SURREY." + +As I finished and was folding up my letter the clock struck nine. It +was waning darker without by reason of a cloud which had obscured the +moon. I heard my father still pacing up and down the gravel-walk, and +ever and anon staying his footsteps awhile, as if watching. After a +short space the moon shone out again, and I saw the shadows of two +persons against the wall of the kitchen garden. Presently the +hall-door was fastened and bolted, as I knew by the rattling of the +chain which hung across it. Then my father looked in at the door and +said, "'Tis time, goodwife, for young folks to be abed." Upon which my +mother rose and made as if she was about to withdraw to her +bed-chamber. Edmund followed us up stairs, and, wishing us both +good-night, went into the closet where he slept. Then my mother, +taking me by the hand, led me into my father's study. + + +CHAPTER III. + +As I entered the library, which my father used for purposes of +business as well as of study, I saw a gentleman who had often been at +our house before, and whom I knew to be a priest, though he was +dressed as a working-man of the better sort and had on a riding coat +of coarse materials. He beckoned me to him, and I, kneeling, received +his blessing. + +"What, up yet, little one?" he said; "and yet thou must bestir thyself +betimes to-morrow for prayers. These are not days in which priests may +play the sluggard and be found abed when the sun rises." + +"At what hour must you be on foot, reverend father?" my mother asked, +as sitting down at a table by his side she filled his plate with +whatever might tempt him to eat, the which he seemed little inclined +to. + +"Before dawn, good Mrs. Sherwood," he answered; "and across the fields +into the forest before ever the laboring men are astir; and you know +best when that is." + +"An if it be so, which I fear it must," my father said, "we must e'en +have the chapel ready by two o'clock. And, goodwife, you should +presently get that wench to bed." + +"Nay, good mother," I cried, and threw my arms round her waist, +"prithee let me sit up to-night; I can lie abed all to-morrow." So +wistfully and urgently did I plead, that she, who had grown of late +somewhat loth to deny any request of mine, yielded to my entreaties, +and only willed that I should lie down on a settle betwixt her chair +and the chimney, in which a fagot was blazing, though it was +summer-time, but the weather was chilly. I gazed by turns on my +mother's pale face and my father's, which was thoughtful, and on the +good priest's, who was in an easy-chair, wherein they had compelled +him to sit, opposite to me on the other side of the chimney. He +looked, as I remember him then, as if in body and in mind he had +suffered more than he could almost bear. + +After some discourse had been ministered betwixt him and my father of +the journey he had been taking, and the friends he had seen since last +he had visited our house, my mother said, in a tremulous voice, "And +now, good Mr. Mush, an if it would not pain you too sorely, tell us if +it be true that your dear daughter in Christ, Mrs. Clitherow, as +indeed won the martyr's crown, as some letters from York reported to +us a short time back?" + +Upon this Mr. Mush raised his head, which had sunk on his breast, and +said, "She that was my spiritual daughter in times past, and now, as I +humbly hope, my glorious mother in heaven, the gracious martyr Mrs. +Clitherow, has overcome all her enemies, and passed from this mortal +life with rare and marvellous triumph into the peaceable city of God, +there to receive a worthy crown of endless immortality and joy." His +eye, that had been before heavy and dim, now shone with sudden light, +and it seemed as if the cord about his heart was loosed, and his +spirit found vent at last in words after a long and painful silence. +More eloquent still was his countenance than his words as he +exclaimed, "Torments overcame her not, nor the sweetness of life, nor +her vehement affection for husband and children, nor the +flattering allurements and deceitful promises of the persecutors. +Finally, the world, the flesh, and the devil overcame her not. She, a +woman, with invincible courage entered combat against them all, to +defend the ancient faith, wherein both she and her enemies were +baptized and gave their promise to God to keep the same until death. O +sacred martyr!" and, with clasped hands and streaming eyes, the good +father went on, "remember me, I beseech thee humbly, in thy perfect +charity, whom thou hast left miserable behind thee, in time past thy +unworthy father and now most unworthy servant, made ever joyful by thy +virtuous life, and now lamenting thy death and thy absence, and yet +rejoicing in thy glory." + +A sob burst from my mother's breast, and she hid her face against my +father's shoulder. There was a brief silence, during which many +quickly-rising thoughts passed through my mind. Of Daniel in the +lions' den, and the Machabees and the early Christians; and of the +great store of blood which had been shed of late in this our country, +and of which amongst the slain were truly martyrs, and which were not; +of the vision in the sky which had been seen at Lichfield; and chiefly +of that blessed woman Mrs. Clitherow, whose virtue and good works I +had often before heard of, such as serving the poor and harboring +priests, and loving God's Church with a wonderful affection greater +than can be thought of. Then I heard my father say, "How was it at the +last, good Mr. Mush?" I oped my eyes, and hung on the lips of the good +priest even as if to devour his words as he gave utterance to them. + +"She refused to be tried by the country," he answered, in a tremulous +voice; "and so they murthered her." + +"How so?" my mother asked, shading her eyes with her hand, as if to +exclude the mental sight of that which she yet sought to know. + +"They pressed her to death," he slowly uttered; "and the last words +she was heard to say were 'Jesu, Jesu, Jesu! have mercy on me!' She +was in dying about a quarter of an hour, and then her blessed spirit +was released and took its flight to heaven. May we die the death of +the righteous, and may our last end be like hers!" + +Again my mother hid her face in my father's bosom, and methought she +said not "Amen" to that prayer; but turning to Mr. Mush with a flushed +cheek and troubled eye, she asked, "And why did the blessed Mrs. +Clitherow refuse to be tried by the country, reverend father, and +thereby subject herself to that lingering death?" + +"These were her words when questioned and urged on that point," he +answered, "which sufficiently clear her from all accusation of +obstinacy or desperation, and combine the rare discretion and charity +which were in her at all times: 'Alas!' quoth she, 'if I should have +put myself on the country, evidence must needs have come against me +touching my harboring of priests and the holy sacrifice of the mass in +my house, which I know none could give but only my children and +servants; and it would have been to me more grievous than a thousand +deaths if I should have seen any of them brought forth before me, to +give evidence against me in so good a cause and be guilty of my blood; +and, secondly,' quoth she, 'I know well the country must needs have +found me guilty to please the council, who so earnestly seek my blood, +and then all they had been accessory to my death and damnably offended +God. I therefore think, in the way of charity, for my part to hinder +the country from such a sin; and seeing it must needs be done, to +cause as few to do it as might be; and that was the judge himself.' So +she thought, and thereupon she acted, with that single view to God's +glory and the good of men's souls that was ever the passion of her +fervent spirit." + +"Her children?" my mother murmured in a faint voice, still hiding her +face from him. "That little Agnes you used to tell us of, that +was so dear to her poor mother, how has it fared with her?" + +Mr. Mush answered, "Her _happy_ mother sent her hose and shoes to her +daughter at the last, signifying that she should serve God and follow +her steps of virtue. She was committed to ward because she would not +betray her mother, and there whipped and extremely used for that she +would not go to the church and hear a sermon. When her mother was +murthered, the heretics came to her and said that unless she would go +to the church, her mother should be put to death. The child, thinking +to save the life of her who had given her birth, went to a sermon, and +thus they deceived her." + +"God forgive them!" my father ejaculated; and I, creeping to my +mother's side, threw my arms about her neck, upon which she, caressing +me, said: + +"Now thou wilt be up to their deceits, Conny, if they should practice +the same arts on thee." + +"Mother," I cried, clinging to her, "I will go with thee to prison and +to death; but to their church I will not go who love not our Blessed +Lady." + +"So help thee God!" my father cried, and laid his hand on my head. + +"Take heart, good Mrs. Sherwood," Mr. Mush said to my mother, who was +weeping; "God may spare you such trials as those which that sweet +saint rejoiced in, or he can give you a like strength to hers. We have +need in these times to bear in mind that comfortable saying of holy +writ, 'As your day shall your strength be.'" + +"'Tis strange," my father observed, "how these present troubles seem +to awake the readiness, nay the wish, to suffer for truth's sake. It +is like a new sense in a soul heretofore but too prone to eschew +suffering of any sort: 'tis even as the keen breezes of our own +Cannock Chase stimulate the frame to exertions which it would shrink +from in the duller air of the Trent Valley." + +"Ah! and is it even so with you, my friend?" exclaimed Mr. Mush. "From +my heart I rejoice at it: such thoughts are oftentimes forerunners of +God's call to a soul marked out for his special service." + +My mother, against whom I was leaning since mention had been made of +Mrs. Clitherow's daughter, began to tremble; and rising said she would +go to the chapel to prepare for confession. Taking me by the hand, she +mounted the stairs to the room which was used as such since the +ancient faith had been proscribed. One by one that night we knelt at +the feet of the good shepherd, who, like his Lord, was ready to lay +down his life for his sheep, and were shriven. Then, at two of the +clock, mass was said, and my parents and most of our servants +received, and likewise some neighbors to whom notice had been sent in +secret of Mr. Mush's coming. When my mother returned from the altar to +her seat, I marvelled at the change in her countenance. She who had +been so troubled before the coming of the Heavenly Guest into her +breast, wore now so serene and joyful an aspect, that the looking upon +her at that time wrought in me a new and comfortable sense of the +greatness of that divine sacrament. I found not the thought of death +frighten me then; for albeit on that night I for the first time fully +arrived at the knowledge of the peril and jeopardy in which the +Catholics of this land do live; nevertheless this knowledge awoke in +me more exultation than fear. I had seen precautions used, and +reserves maintained, of which I now perceived the cause. For some time +past my parents had prepared the way for this no-longer-to-be-deferred +enlightenment. The small account they had taught me to make of the +wealth and comforts of this perishable world, and the histories they +had recounted to me of the sufferings of Christians in the early times +of the Church, had been directed unto this end. They had, as it were, +laid the wood on the altar of my heart, which they prayed might one +day burn into a flame. And now when, by reason of the discourse +I had heard touching Mrs. Clitherow's blessed but painful end for +harboring of priests in her house, and the presence of one under our +roof, I took heed that the danger had come nigh unto our own doors, my +heart seemed to beat with a singular joy. Childhood sets no great +store on life: the passage from this world to the next is not terrible +to such as have had no shadows cast on their paths by their own or +others' sins. Heaven is not a far-off region to the pure in heart; but +rather a home, where God, as St. Thomas sings, + + "Vitam sine termino + Nobis donet in patria." + +But, ah me! how transient are the lights and shades which flit across +the childish mind! and how mutable the temper of youth, never long +impressed by any event, however grave! Not many days after Mr. Mush's +visit to our house, another letter from the Countess of Surrey came +into my hand, and drove from my thoughts for the time all but the +matters therein disclosed. + + "SWEET MISTRESS CONSTANCE" + (my lady wrote),--"In my last letter I made mention, in an obscure + fashion, of a secret which my lord had told me touching a matter of + great weight which Higford, his grace's steward, had let out to him; + and now that the whole world is speaking of what was then in hand, + and that troubles have come of it, I must needs relieve my mind by + writing thereof to her who is the best friend I have in the world, + if I may judge by the virtuous counsel and loving words her letters + do contain. 'Tis like you have heard somewhat of that same matter, + Mistress Constance; for much talk has been ministered anent it since + I wrote, amongst people of all sorts, and with various intents to + the hindering or the promoting thereof. I mean touching the marriage + of his grace the Duke of Norfolk with the Queen of Scots, which is + much desired by some, and very little wished for by others. My lord, + as is reasonable in one of his years and of so noble a spirit, and + his sister, who is in all things the counterpart of her brother, + have set their hearts thereon since the first inkling they had of + it; for this queen had so noted a fame for her excellent beauty and + sweet disposition that it has wrought in them an extraordinary + passionate desire to title her mother, and to see their father so + nobly mated, though not more than he deserves; for, as my lord says, + his grace's estate in England is worth little less than the whole + realm of Scotland, in the ill state to which the wars have reduced + it; and when he is in his own tennis-court at Norwich, he thinks + himself as great as a king. + + "As a good wife, I should wish as my lord does; and indeed this + marriage, Mistress Constance, would please me well; for the Queen of + Scots is Catholic, and methinks if his grace were to wed her, there + might arise some good out of it to such as are dependent on his + grace touching matters of religion; and since Mr. Martin has gone + beyond seas, 'tis very little I hear in this house but what is + contrary to the teaching I had at my grandmother's. My lord saith + this queen's troubles will be ended if she doth marry his grace, for + so Higford has told him; but when I spoke thereof to my Lady Lumley, + she prayed God his grace's might not then begin, but charged me to + be silent thereon before my Lord Arundel, who has greatly set his + heart on this match. She said words were in every one's mouth + concerning this marriage which should never have been spoken of but + amongst a few. 'Nan,' quoth she, 'if Phil and thou do let your + children's tongues wag anent a matter which may well be one of life + and death, more harm may come of it than can well be thought of.' So + prithee, Mistress Constance, do you be silent as the grave on what I + have herein written, if so be you have not heard of it but + from me. My lord had a quarrel with my Lord Essex, who is about his + own age, anent the Queen of Scots, a few days since, when he came to + spend his birthday with him; for my lord was twelve years old last + week, and I gave him a fair jewel to set in his cap, for a + love-token and for remembrance. My lord said that the Queen of Scots + was a lady of so great virtue and beauty that none else could be + compared with her; upon which my lord of Essex cried it was high + treason to the queen's majesty to say so, and that if her grace held + so long a time in prison one who was her near kinswoman, it was by + reason of her having murthered her husband and fomented rebellion in + this kingdom of England, for the which she did deserve to be + extremely used. My lord was very wroth at this, and swore he was no + traitor, and that the Queen of Scots was no murtheress, and he would + lay down his head on the block rather than suffer any should style + her such; upon which my lord of Essex asked, 'Prithee, my Lord + Surrey, were you at Thornham last week when the queen's majesty was + on a visit to your grandfather, my Lord Arundel?' 'No,' cried my + lord, 'your lordship being there yourself in my Lord Leicester's + suite, must needs have noticed I was absent; for if I had been + present, methinks 'tis I and not your lordship would have waited + behind her majesty's chair at table and held a napkin to her.' 'And + if you had, my lord,' quoth my Lord Essex, waxing hot in his speech, + 'you would have noticed how her grace's majesty gave a nip to his + grace your father, who was sitting by her side, and said she would + have him take heed on what pillow he rested his head.' 'And I would + have you take heed,' cries my lord, 'how you suffer your tongue to + wag in an unseemly manner anent her grace's majesty and his grace my + father and the Queen of Scots, who is kinswoman to both, and even + now a prisoner, which should make men careful how they speak of her + who cannot speak in her own cause; for it is a very inhuman part, my + lord, to tread on such as misfortune has cast down.' There was a + nobleness in these words such as I have often taken note of in my + lord, though so young, and which his playmate yielded to; so that + nothing more was said at that time anent those matters, which indeed + do seem too weighty to be discoursed upon by young folks. But I have + thought since on the lines which 'tis said the queen's majesty wrote + when she was herself a prisoner, which begin, + + 'O Fortune! how thy restless, wavering state + Hath fraught with cares my troubled wit; + Witness this present prison, whither fate + Could bear me, and the joys I quit'-- + + and wondered she should have no greater pity on those in the same + plight, as so many be at this time. Ah me! I would not keep a bird + in a cage an I could help it, and 'tis sad men are not more tender + of such as are of a like nature with themselves! + + "My lord was away some days after this at Oxford, whither he had + been carried to be present at the queen's visit, and at the play of + _Palamon and Arcite_, which her majesty heard in the common hall of + Christ's Church. One evening, as my lady Margaret and I (like two + twin cherries on one stalk, my lord would say, for he is mightily + taken with the stage-plays he doth hear, and hath a trick of framing + his speech from them) were sitting at the window near unto the + garden practising our lutes and singing madrigals, he surprised us + with his sweet company, in which I find an ever increasing content, + and cried out as he approached, 'Ladies, I hold this sentence of the + poet as a canon of my creed, that whom God loveth not, they love not + music.' And then he said that albeit Italian was a very harmonious + and sweet language which pleasantly tickleth the ear, he for his + part loved English best, even in singing. Upon which, finding him in + the humor for discreet and sensible conversation, which, + albeit he hath good parts and a ready wit, is not always the case, + by reason of his being, as boys mostly are, prone to wagging, I took + occasion to relate what I had heard my Lord of Arundel say touching + his visit to the court of Brussels, when the Duchess of Parma + invited him to a banquet to meet the Prince of Orange and most of + the chief courtiers. The discourse was carried on in French; but my + lord, albeit he could speak well in that language, nevertheless made + use of an interpreter. At the which the Prince of Orange expressed + his surprise to Sir John Wilson, who was present, that an English + nobleman of so great birth and breeding should be ignorant of the + French tongue, which the earl presently hearing, said, 'Tell the + prince that I like to speak in that language in which I can best + utter my mind and not mistake.' And I perceive, my lord,' I said, + 'that you are of a like mind with his lordship, and no lover of + new-fangled and curious terms.' + + "Upon which my dear earl laughed, and related unto us how the queen + had been pleased to take notice of him at Oxford, and spoke merrily + to him of his marriage. 'And prithee, Phil, what were her highness's + words?' quoth his prying sister, like a true daughter of Eve. At + which my lord stroked his chin, as if to smooth his beard which is + still to come, and said her majesty had cried, 'God's pity, child, + thou wilt tire of thy wife afore you have both left the nursery.' + 'Alack,' cried Meg, 'if any but her highness had said it, thy hand + would have been on thy sword, brother, and I'll warrant thou didst + turn as red as a turkey-cock, when her majesty thus titled thee a + baby. Nay, do not frown, but be a good lord to us, and tell Nan and + me if the queen said aught else.' Then my lord cleared his brow, and + related how in the hunting scene in the play, when the cry of the + hounds was heard outside the stage, which was excellently well + imitated, some scholars who were seated near him, and he must + confess himself also, did shout, 'There, there--he's caught, he's + caught!' upon which her grace's majesty laughed, and merrily cried + out from her box, 'Those boys in very troth are ready to leap out of + the windows!' 'And had you such pleasant sports each day, brother?' + quoth our Meg. 'No, by my troth,' my lord answered; 'the more's the + pity; for the next day there was a disputation held in physic and + divinity from two to seven; and Dr. Westphaling held forth at so + great length that her majesty sent word to him to end his discourse + without delay, to the great relief and comfort of all present. But + he would not give over, lest, having committed all to memory, he + should forget the rest if he omitted any part of it, and be brought + to shame before the university and the court.' 'What said her + highness when she saw he heeded not her commands?' Meg asked. 'She + was angered at first,' quoth my lord, 'that he durst go on with his + discourse when she had sent him word presently to stop, whereby she + had herself been prevented from speaking, which the Spanish + Ambassador had asked her to do; but when she heard the reason it + moved her to laughter, and she titled him a parrot.' + + "'And spoke not her majesty at all?' I asked; and my lord said, 'She + would not have been a woman, Nan, an she had held her tongue after + being once resolved to use it. She made the next day an oration in + Latin, and stopped in the midst to bid my Lord Burleigh be seated, + and not to stand painfully on his gouty feet. Beshrew me, but I + think she did it to show the poor dean how much better her memory + served her than his had done, for she looked round to where he was + standing ere she resumed her discourse. And now, Meg, clear thy + throat and tune thy pipe, for not another word will I speak till + thou hast sung that ditty good Mr. Martin set to music for thee.' I + have set it down here, Mistress Constance, with the notes as + she sung it, that you may sing it also; and not like it the less that + my quaint fancy pictures the maiden the poet sings of, in her 'frock + of frolic green,' like unto my sweet friend who dwells not far from + one of the fair rivers therein named. + + A knight, as antique stories tell, + A daughter had named Dawsabel, + A maiden fair and free; + She wore a frock of frolic green, + Might well become a maiden queen, + Which seemly was to see. + + The silk well could she twist and twine, + And make the fine March pine, + And with the needle work; + And she could help the priest to say + His matins on a holy day, + And sing a psalm in kirk. + + Her features all as fresh above + As is the grass that grows by Dove, + And lythe as lass of Kent; + Her skin as soft as Leinster wool, + And white as snow on Penhisk Hull, + Or swan that swims on Trent. + + This maiden on a morn betime + Goes forth when May is in its prime, + To get sweet setywall, + The honeysuckle, the hurlock, + The lily and the lady-smock, + To deck her father's hall. + + "'Ah,' cried my lord, when Meg had ended her song, beshrew me, if + Monsieur Sebastian's madrigals are one-half so dainty as this + English piece of harmony.' And then,--for his lordship's head is at + present running on pageants such as he witnessed at Nonsuch and at + Oxford,--he would have me call into the garden Madge and Bess, + whilst he fetched his brothers to take part in a May game, not + indeed in season now, but which, he says, is too good sport not to + be followed all the year round. So he must needs dress himself as + Robin Hood, with a wreath on his head and a sheaf of arrows in his + girdle, and me as Maid Marian; and Meg, for that she is taller by an + inch than any of us, though younger than him and me, he said should + play Little John, and Bess Friar Tuck, for that she looks so + gleesome and has a face so red and round. 'And Tom,' he cried, 'thou + needst not be at pains to change thy name, for we will dub thee Tom + the piper.' 'And what is Will to be?' asked my Lady Bess, who, since + I be titled Countess of Surrey, must needs be styled My Lady William + Howard.' 'Why, there's only the fool left,' quoth my lord, 'for thy + sweetheart to play, Bess.' At the which her ladyship and his + lordship too began to stamp and cry, and would have sobbed outright, + but sweet Madge, whose face waxes so white and her eyes so large and + blue that methinks she is more like to an angel than a child, put + out her little thin hands with a pretty gesture, and said, 'I'll be + the fool, brother Surrey, and Will shall be the dragon, and Bess + ride the hobby-horse, an it will please her.' 'Nay, but she is Friar + Tuck,' quoth my lord, 'and should not ride.' 'And prithee wherefore + no?' cried the forward imp, who, now she no more fears her grandam's + rod, has grown very saucy and bold; 'why should not the good friar + ride, an it doth pleasure him?' + + "At the which we laughed and fell to acting our parts with no little + merriment and noise, and sundry reprehensions from my lord when we + mistook our postures or the lines he would have us to recite. And at + the end he set up a pole on the grass-plat for the Maying, and we + danced and sung around it to a merry tune, which set our feet flying + in time with the music: + + Now in the month of maying, + When the merry lads are playing, + Fa, la, la. + + Each with his bonny lasse, + Upon the greeny grasse, + Fa, la, la. + + Madge was not strong enough to dance, but she stole away to gather + white and blue violets, and made a fair garland to set on my head, + to my lord's great content, and would have me unloose my hair on my + shoulders, which fell nearly to my feet, and waved in the wind in a + wild fashion; which he said was beseeming for a bold outlaw's bride, + and what he had seen in the Maid Marian, who had played in the + pageant at Nonsuch. Mrs. Fawcett misdoubted that this sport of ours + should be approved by Mr. Charke, who calls all stage-playing + Satan's recreations, and a sure road unto hell; and that we shall + hear on it in his next preachment; for he has held forth to her at + length on that same point, and upbraided her for that she did suffer + such foolish and profane pastimes to be carried on in his grace's + house. Ah me! I see no harm in it; and if, when my lord visits me, I + play not with him as he chooses, 'tis not a thing to be expected + that he will come only to sing psalms or play chess, which Mr. + Charke holds to be the only game it befits Christians to entertain + themselves with. 'Tis hard to know what is right and wrong when + persons be of such different minds, and no ghostly adviser to be + had, such as I was used to at my grandmother's house. + + "All, Mistress Constance! when I last wrote unto you I said troubles + was the word in every one's mouth, and ere I had finished this + letter--which I was then writing, and have kept by me ever + since--what, think you, has befallen us? 'Tis anent the marriage of + his grace with the Queen of Scots; which I now do wish it had + pleased God none had ever thought of. Some weeks since my lord had + told me, with great glee, that the Spanish ambassador was about to + petition her majesty the queen for the release of her highness's + cousin; and Higford and Bannister, and the rest of his grace's + household--whom, since Mr. Martin went beyond seas, my lord spends + much of his time with, and more of it methinks than is beseeming or + to the profit of his manners and advancement of his behavior--have + told him that this would prepare the way for the + greatly-to-be-desired end of his grace's marriage with that queen; + and my lord was reckoning up all the fine sports and pageants and + noble entertainments would be enacted at Kenninghall and Thetford + when that right princely wedding should take place; and how he + should himself carry the train of the queen-duchess when she went + into church; who was the fairest woman, he said, in the whole world, + and none ever seen to be compared with her since the days of Grecian + Helen. But when, some days ago, I questioned my lord touching the + success of the ambassador's suits, and the queen's answer thereto, + he said: 'By my troth, Nan, I understand that her highness sent away + the gooseman, for so she entitled Senor Guzman, with a flea in his + ear; for she said he had come on a fool's errand, and gave him for + her answer that she would advise the Queen of Scots to bear her + condition with less impatience, or she might chance to find some of + those on whom she relied shorter by a head.' Oh, my lord,' I cried; + 'my dear Phil! God send she was not speaking of his grace your + father!' 'Nan,' quoth he, 'she looked at his grace the next day with + looks of so great anger and disdain, that my lord of Leicester--that + false and villainous knave--gave signs of so great triumph as if his + grace was even on his way to the Tower. Beshrew me, if I would not + run my rapier through his body if I could!' 'And where is his grace + at present?' I asked. 'He came to town night,' quoth my lord, 'with + my Arundel, and this morning went Kenninghall.' After this for some + days I heard no more, for a new tutor came to my lord, who suffers + him not to stay in the waiting-room with his grace's gentlemen, and + keeps so strict a hand over him touching his studies, that in his + brief hours of recreation he would rather play at quoits, and other + active pastimes, than converse with his lady. Alack! I wish he were + a few years older, and I should have more comfort of him than now, + when I must needs put up with his humors, which be as changeful, by + reason of his great youth, as the lights and shades on the grass + 'neath an aspen-tree. I must be throwing a ball for hours, or + learning a stage-part, when I would fain speak of the weighty + matters which be on hand, such as I have told you of. Howsoever, as + good luck would have it, my Lady Lumley sent for me to spend + the day with her; and from her ladyship I learnt that his grace had + written to the queen that he had withdrawn from the court because of + the pain he felt at her displeasure, and his mortification at the + treatment he had been subjected to by the insolence of his foes, by + whom he has been made a common table talk; and that her majesty had + laid upon him her commands straightway to return to court. That was + all was known that day; but at the very time that I was writing the + first of these woeful tidings to you, Mistress Constance, his grace-- + whom I now know that I do love dearly, and with a true daughter's + heart, by the dreadful fear and pain I am in--was arrested at + Burnham, where he had stopped on his road to Windsor, and committed + to the Tower. Alack! alack! what will follow? I will leave this my + letter open until I have further news to send. + + "His grace was examined this day before my Lord-keeper Bacon, and my + Lords Northampton, Sadler, Bedford, and Cecil; and they have + reported to her majesty that the duke had not put himself under + penalty of the law by any overt act of treason, and that it would be + difficult to convict him without this. My Lord of Arundel, at whose + house I was when these tidings came, said her majesty was so angered + at this judgment, that she cried out in a passion, 'Away! what the + law fails to do my authority shall effect;' and straightway fell + into a fit, her passion was so great; and they were forced to apply + vinegar to restore her. I had a wicked thought come into my mind, + Mistress Constance, that I should not have been concerned if the + queen's majesty had died in that fit, which I befear me was high + treason, and a mortal sin, to wish for one to die in a state of sin. + But, alack! since I have left going to shrift I find it hard to + fight against bad thoughts and naughty tempers; and when I say my + prayers, and the old words come to my lips, which the preachments I + hear do contradict, I am sometimes well-nigh tempted to give over + praying at all. But I pray to God I may never be so wicked; and + though I may not have my beads (which were taken from me), that the + good Bishop of Durham gave me when I was confirmed, I use my fingers + in their stead; and whilst his grace was at the Tower I did say as + many 'Hail Maries' in one day as I ever did in my life before; and + promised him, who is God's own dear Son and hers, if his grace came + out of prison, never to be a day of my life without saying a prayer, + or giving an alms, or doing a good turn to those which be in the + same case, near at hand or throughout the world; and I ween there + are many such of all sorts at this time. + + "Your loving servant to command, whose heart is at present heavier + than her pen, + "ANN SURREY." + + "P. S. My Lord of Westmoreland has left London, and his lady is in a + sad plight. I hear such things said on all sides touching Papists as + I can scarce credit, and I pray to God they be not true. But an if + they be so bad as some do say, why does his grace run his head into + danger for the sake of the Popish queen, as men do style her? They + have arrested Higford and Bannister last night, and they are to + taste of the rack to-day, to satisfy the queen, who is so urgent on + it. My lord is greatly concerned thereat, and cried when he spoke of + it, albeit he tried to hide his tears. I asked him to show me what + sort of pain it was; whereupon he twisted my arm till I cried out + and bade him desist. God help me! I could not have endured the pain + an instant longer; and if they have naught to tell anent these plots + and against his grace, they needs must speak what is false when + under the rack. Oh, 'tis terrible to think what men do suffer and + cause others to suffer!" + +This letter came into my hand on a day when my father had gone into +Lichfield touching some business; and he brought with it the +news of a rising in the north, and that his Grace of Northumberland +and my Lord of Westmoreland had taken arms on hearing of the Duke of +Norfolk's arrest; and the Catholics, under Mr. Richard Norton and Lord +Latimer, had joined their standard, and were bearing the cross before +the insurgents. My father was sore cast down at these tidings; for he +looked for no good from what was rebellion against a lawful sovereign, +and a consorting with troublesome spirits, swayed by no love of our +holy religion but rather contrary to it, as my Lord of Westmoreland +and some others of those leading lords. And he hence foreboded fresh +trials to all such as were of the ancient faith all over England; +which was not long in accruing even in our own case; for a short time +after, we were for the first time visited by pursuivants, on a day and +in such a manner as I will now briefly relate. + +CHAPTER IV. + +On the Sunday morning which followed the day on which the news had +reached us of the rising in Northumberland, I went, as was my wont, +into my mother's dressing-room, to crave her blessing, and I asked of +her if the priest who came to say mass for us most Sundays had +arrived. She said he had been, and had gone away again, and that she +greatly feared we should have no prayers that day, saving such as we +might offer up for ourselves; "together," she added after a pause, +"with a bitter sacrifice of tears and of such sufferings as we have +heard of, but as yet not known the taste of ourselves." + +Again I felt in my heart a throbbing feeling, which had in it an +admixture of pain and joy--made up, I ween, of conflicting +passions--such as curiosity feeding on the presentment of an +approaching change; of the motions of grace in a soul which faintly +discerns the happiness of suffering for conscience sake; and the fear +of suffering natural to the human heart. + +"Why are we to have no mass, sweet mother?" I asked, encircling her +waist in my arms; "and wherefore has good Mr. Bryan gone away?" + +"We received advice late last evening," she answered, "that the +queen's pursuivants have orders to search this day the houses of the +most noted recusants in this neighborhood; and 'tis likely they may +begin with us, who have never made a secret of our faith, and never +will." + +"And will they kill us if they come?" I asked, with that same +trembling eagerness I have so often known since when danger was at +hand. + +"Not now, not to-day, Conny," she answered; "but I pray to God they do +not carry us away to prison; for since this rising in the north, to be +a Catholic and a traitor is one and the same in their eyes who have to +judge us. We must needs hide our books and church furniture; so give +me thy beads, sweet one, and the cross from thy neck." + +I waxed red when my mother bade me unloose the string, and tightly +clasped the cross in both my hands "Let them kill me, mother," I +cried; "but take not off my cross." + +"Maybe," she said, "the queen's officers would trample on it, and +injure their own souls in dishonoring a holy symbol." And as she spoke +she took it from me, and hid it in a recess behind the chimney; which +no sooner was done, than we heard a sound of horses' feet in the +approach; and going to the window, I cried out, "Here is a store of +armed men on horseback!" Ere I had uttered the words, one of them had +dismounted and loudly knocked at the door with his truncheon; upon +which my mother, taking me by the hand, went down stairs into the +parlor where my father was. It seemed as if those knocks had struck on +her heart, so great a trembling came over her. My father bade the +servants throw open the door; and the sheriff came in, with two +pursuivants and some more men with him, and produced a warrant to +search the house; which my father having read, he bowed his head, and +gave orders not to hinder them in their duty. He stood himself the +while in the hall, his face as white as a smock, and his teeth almost +running through his lips. + +One of the men came into the library, and pulling down the books, +scattered them on the floor, and cried: + +"Look ye here, sirs, what Popish stuff is this, fit for the hangman's +burning!" At the which another answered: + +"By my troth, Sam, I misdoubt that thou canst read. Methinks thou dost +hunt Popery as dogs do game, by the scent. Prithee spell me the title +of this volume." + +"I will have none of thy gibing, Master Sevenoaks," returned the +other. "Whether I be a scholar or not, I'll warrant no honest +gospeller wrote on those yellow musty leaves, which be two hundred +years old, if they be a day." + +"And I'll warrant thee in that credence, Master Samuel, by the same +token that the volume in thy hand is a treatise on field-sports, writ +in the days of Master Caxton; a code of the laws to be observed in the +hunting and killing of deer, which I take to be no Popish sport, for +our most gracious queen--God save her majesty!--slew a fat buck not +long ago in Windsor Forest with her own hand, and remembered his grace +of Canterbury with half her prey;" and so saying, he drew his comrade +from the room; I ween with the intent to save the books from his rough +handling, for he seemed of a more gentle nature than the rest and of a +more moderate disposition. + +When they had ransacked all the rooms below, they went upstairs, and +my father followed. Breaking from my mother's side, who sat pale and +still as a statute, unable to move from her seat, I ran after him, and +on the landing-place I heard the sheriff say somewhat touching the +harboring of priests; to the which he made answer that he was ready to +swear there was no priest in the house. "Nor has been?" quoth the +sheriff; upon which my father said: + +"Good sir, this house was built in the days of Her majesty's +grandfather, King Henry VII.; and on one occasion his majesty was +pleased to rest under my grandfather's roof, and to hear mass in that +room," he said, pointing to what was now the chapel, "the church being +too distant for his majesty's convenience: so priests have been within +these walls many times ere I was born." + +The sheriff said no more at that time, but went into the room, where +there were only a few chairs, for that in the night the altar and all +that appertained to it had been removed. He and his men were going out +again, when a loud knocking was heard against the wall on one side of +the chamber; at the sound of which my father's face, which was white +before, became of an ashy paleness. + +"Ah!" cried one of the pursuivants, "the lying Papist! The egregious +Roman! an oath is in his mouth that he has no priest in his house, and +here is one hidden in his cupboard." + +"Mr. Sherwood!" the sheriff shouted, greatly moved, "lead the way to +the hiding-place wherein a traitor is concealed, or I order the house +to be pulled down about your ears." + +My father was standing like one stunned by a sudden blow, and I heard +him murmur, "'Tis the devil's own doing, or else I am stark, staring +mad." + +The men ran to the wall, and knocked against it with their sticks, +crying out in an outrageous manner to the priest to come out of his +hole. "We'll unearth the Jesuit fox," cried one; "we'll give him a +better lodging in Lichfield gaol," shouted another; and the sheriff +kept threatening to set fire to the house. Still the knocking from +within went on, as if answering that outside, and then a voice +cried out, "I cannot open: I am shut in." + +"'Tis Edmund!" I exclaimed; "'tis Edmund is in the hiding-place." And +then the words were distinctly heard, "'Tis I; 'tis Edmund Genings. +For God's sake, open; I am shut in." Upon which my father drew a deep +breath, and hastening forward, pressed his finger on a place in the +wall, the panel slipped, and Edmund came out of the recess, looking +scared and confused. The pursuivants seized him; but the sheriff cried +out, surprised, "God's death, sirs! but 'tis the son of the worshipful +Mr. Genings, whose lady is a mother in Israel, and M. Jean de Luc's +first cousin! And how came ye, Mr. Edmund, to be concealed in this +Popish den? Have these recusants imprisoned you with some foul intent, +or perverted you by their vile cunning?" Edmund was addressing my +father in an agitated voice. + +"I fear me, sir," he cried, clasping his hands, "I befear me much I +have affrighted you, and I have been myself sorely affrighted. I was +passing through this room, which I have never before seen, and the +door of which was open this morn. By chance I drew my hand along the +wall, where there was no apparent mark, when the panel slipped and +disclosed this recess, into which I stepped, and straightway the +opening closed and I remained in darkness. I was afraid no one might +hear me, and I should die of hunger." + +My father tried to smile, but could not. "Thank God," he said, "'tis +no worse;" and sinking down on a chair he remained silent, whilst the +sheriff and the pursuivants examined the recess, which was deep and +narrow, and in which they brandished their swords in all directions. +Then they went round the room, feeling the walls; but though there was +another recess with a similar mode of aperture, they hit not on it, +doubtless through God's mercy; for in it were concealed the altar +furniture and our books, with many other things besides, which they +would have seized on. + +Before going away, the sheriff questioned Edmund concerning his faith, +and for what reason he abode in a Popish house and consorted with +recusants. Edmund answered he was no Papist, but a kinsman of Mrs. +Sherwood, unto whose house his father had oftentimes sent him. Upon +which he was counselled to take heed unto himself and to eschew evil +company, which leads to horrible defections, and into the straight +road to perdition. Whereupon they departed; and the officer who had +enticed his companion from the library smiled as he passed me, and +said: + +"And wherefore not at prayers, little mistress, on the Lord's day, as +all Christian folks should be?" + +I ween he was curious to see how I should answer, albeit not moved +thereunto by any malicious intent. But at the time I did not bethink +myself that he spoke of Protestant service; and being angered at what +passed, I said: + +"Because we be kept from prayers by the least welcome visit ever made +to Christian folks on a Lord's morning." He laughed and cried: + +"Thou hast a ready tongue, young mistress; and when tried for +recusancy I warrant thou'lt give the judge a piece of thy mind." + +"And if I ever be in such a presence, and for such a cause," I +answered, "I pray to God I may say to my lord on the bench what the +blessed apostle St. Peter spoke to his judges: 'If it be just in the +sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye.'" At which he +cried: + +"Why, here is a marvel indeed--a Papist to quote Scripture!" And +laughing again, he went his way; and the house was for that time rid +of these troublesome guests. + +Then Edmund again sued for pardon to my father, that through his rash +conduct he had been the occasion of so great fear and trouble to him. + + +"I warrant thee, my good boy," quoth my father, "thou didst cause me +the most keen anguish, and the most sudden relief from it, which can +well be thought of; and so no more need be said thereon. And as thou +must needs be going to the public church, 'tis time that thou bestir +thyself; for 'tis a long walk there and back, and the sun waxing hot." + +When Edmund was gone, and I alone with him, my father clasped me in +his arms, and cried: + +"God send, my wench, thou mayest justify thy sponsors who gave thee +thy name in baptism; for 'tis a rare constancy these times do call +for, and such as is not often seen, saving in such as be of a noble +and religious spirit; which I pray to God may be the case with thee." + +My mother did not speak, but went away with her hand pressed against +her heart; which was what of late I had often seen her to do, as if +the pain was more than she could bear. + +One hour later, as I was crossing the court, a man met me suited as a +farmer; who, when I passed him, laid his hand on my shoulder; at the +which I started, and turning round saw it was Father Bryan; who, +smiling as I caught his hand, cried out: + +"Dost know the shepherd in his wolf's clothing, little mistress?" and +hastening on to the chapel he said mass, at the which only a few +assisted, as my parents durst not send to the Catholics so late in the +day. As soon as mass was over, Mr. Bryan said he must leave, for there +was a warrant issued for his apprehension; and our house famed for +recusancy, so as he might not stay in it but with great peril to +himself and to its owners. We stood at the door as he was mounting his +horse, and my father said, patting its neck: + +"Tis a faithful servant this, reverend father; many a mile he has +carried thee to the homes of the sick and dying since our troubles +began." + +"Ah! good Mr. Sherwood," Mr. Bryan replied, as he gathered up the +bridle, "thou hast indeed warrant to style the poor beast faithful. If +I were to shut my eyes and let him go, no doubt but he would find his +way to the doors of such as cleave to the ancient faith, in city or in +hamlet, across moor or through thick wood. If a pursuivant bestrode +him, he might discover through his means who be recusants a hundred +miles around. But I bethink me he would not budge with such a burthen +on his back; and that he who made the prophet's ass to speak, would, +give the good beast more sense than to turn informer, and to carry the +wolf to the folds of the lambs. And prithee, Mistress Constance," said +the good priest, turning to me, "canst keep a secret and be silent, +when men's lives are in jeopardy?" + +"Aye," cried my father quickly, "'tis as much as worthy Mr. Bryan's +life is worth that none should know he was here to-day." + +"More than my poor life is worth," he rejoined; "that were little to +think of, my good friends. For five years I have made it my prayer +that the day may soon come--and I care not how soon--when I may lay it +down for his sake who gave it. But we must e'en have a care for those +who are so rash as to harbor priests in these evil times. So Mistress +Constance must e'en study the virtue of silence, and con the meaning +of the proverb which teacheth discretion to be the best part of +valor." + +"If Edmund Genings asketh me, reverend father, if I have heard mass +to-day, what must I answer?" + +"Say the queen's majesty has forbidden mass to be said in this her +kingdom; and if he presseth thee more closely thereon, why then tell +him the last news from the poultry-yard, and that the hares have eat +thy mignonette; which they be doing even now, if my eyes deceive me +not," said the good father, pointing with his whip to the +flower-garden. + +So, smiling, he gave us a last blessing, and rode on toward the Chase, +and I went to drive the hares away from the flower-beds, and +then to set the chapel in fair order. And ever and anon, that day and +the next, I took out of my pocket my sweet Lady Surrey's last letter, +and pictured to myself all the scenes therein related; so that I +seemed to live one-half of my life with her in thought, so greatly was +my fancy set upon her, and my heart concerned in her troubles. + +CHAPTER V. + +Not many days after the sheriff and the pursuivants had been at our +house, and Mr. Bryan, by reason of the bloody laws which had been +enacted against Papists and such as harbor priests, had left us,-- +though intending to return at such times as might serve our commodity, +and yet not affect our safety,--I was one morning assisting my mother +in the store-room, wherein she was setting aside such provisions as +were to be distributed to the poor that week, together with salves, +medicines, and the like, which she also gave out of charity, when a +spasm came over her, so vehement and painful, that for the moment she +lost the use of speech, and made signs to me to call for help. I ran +affrighted into the library for my father, and brought him to her, +upon which, in a little time, she did somewhat recover, but desired he +would assist her to her own chamber, whither she went leaning on his +arm. When laid on her bed she seemed easier; and smiling, bade me +leave them for awhile, for that she desired to have speech with my +father alone. + +For the space of an hour I walked in the garden, with so oppressive a +grief at my heart as I had never before experienced. Methinks the +great stillness in the air added thereunto some sort of physical +disorder; for the weather was very close and heavy; and if a leaf did +but stir, I started as if danger was at hand; and the noise of the +chattering pies over my head worked in me an apprehensive melancholy, +foreboding, I doubt not, what was to follow. At about eleven o'clock, +hearing the sound of a horse's feet in the avenue, I turned round, and +saw Edmund riding from the house; upon which I ran across the grass to +a turning of the road where he would pass, and called to him to stop, +which he did; and told me he was going to Lichfield for his father, +whom my mother desired presently to see. "Then thou shouldst not +tarry," I said; and he pushed on and left me standing where I was; but +the bell then ringing for dinner, I went back to the house, and, in so +doing, took notice of a bay-tree on the lawn which was withered and +dried-up, though the gardener had been at pains to preserve it by +sundry appliances and frequent watering of it. Then it came to my +remembrance what my nurse used to say, that the dying of that sort of +tree is a sure omen of a death in a family; which thought sorely +disturbed me at that time. I sat down with my father to a brief and +silent meal; and soon after the physician he had sent for came, whom +he conducted to my mother's chamber, whereunto I did follow, and +slipped in unperceived. Sitting on one side of the bed, behind the +curtains, I heard her say, in a voice which sounded hollow and weak, +"Good Master Lawrenson, my dear husband was fain to send for you, and +I cared not to withstand him, albeit persuaded that I am hastening to +my journey's end, and that naught that you or any other man may +prescribe may stay what is God's will. And if this be visible to you +as it is to me, I pray you keep it not from me, for it will be to my +much comfort to be assured of it." + +When she had done speaking, he did feel her pulse; and the while my +heart beat so quick and, as it seemed to me, so loud as if it must +needs impede my hearing; but in a moment I heard him say: "God defend, +good madam, I should deceive you. While there is life, there is hope. +Greater comfort I dare not urge. If there be any temporal matter +on your mind, 'twere better settled now, and likewise of your soul's +health, by such pious exercises as are used by those of your way of +thinking." + +At the hearing of these his words, my father fetched a deep sigh; but +she, as one greatly relieved, clasped her hands together, and cried, +"My God, I thank thee!" + +Then, stealing from behind the curtain, I laid my head on the pillow +nigh unto hers, and whispered, "Sweet mother, prithee do not die, or +else take me with thee." + +But she, as one not heeding, exclaimed, with her hands uplifted, "O +faithless heart! O selfish heart! to be so glad of death!" + +The physician was directing the maids what they should do for her +relief when the pain came on, and he himself stood compounding some +medicine for her to take. My father asked of him when he next would +come; and he answered, "On the morrow;" but methinks 'twas even then +his belief that there would be no morrow for her who was dying before +her time, like the bay-tree in our garden. She bade him farewell in a +kindly fashion; and when we were alone, I lying on the bed by her +side, and my father sitting at its head, she said, in a low voice, +"How wonderful be God's dealings with us, and how fatherly his care; +in that he takes the weak unto himself, and leaves behind the strong +to fight the battle now at hand! My dear master, I had a dream +yesternight which had somewhat of horror in it, but more methinks of +comfort." My father breaking out then in sighs and tears as if his +heart would break, she said, "Oh, but thou must hear and acknowledge, +my loved master, how gracious is God's providence to thy poor wife. +When thou knowest what I have suffered--not in body, though that has +been sharp too, but in my soul--it will reconcile thine own to a +parting which has in it so much of mercy. Thou dost remember the night +when Mr. Mush was here, and what his discourse did run on?" + +"Surely do I, sweet wife," he answered; "for it was such as the mind +doth not easily lose the memory of; the sufferings and glorious end of +the blessed martyr Mrs. Clitherow. I perceived what sorrowful heed +thou didst lend to his recital; but has it painfully dwelt in thy mind +since?" + +"By day and by night it hath not left me; ever recurring to my +thoughts, ever haunting my dreams, and working in me a fearful +apprehension lest in a like trial I should be found wanting, and prove +a traitor to God and his Church, and a disgrace and heartbreak to thee +who hast so truly loved me far beyond my deserts. I have bragged of +the dangers of the times, even as cowards are wont to speak loud in +the dark to still by the sound of their own voices the terrors they do +feel. I have had before my eyes the picture of that cruel death, and +of the children extremely used for answering as their mother had +taught them, till cold drops of sweat have stood on my brow, and I +have knelt in my chamber wringing my hands and praying to be spared a +like trial. And then, maybe an hour later, sitting at the table, I +spake merrily of the gallows, mocking my own fears, as when Mr. Bryan +was last here; and I said that priests should be more welcome to me +than ever they were, now that virtue and the Catholic cause were made +felony; and the same would be in God's sight more meritorious than +ever before: upon which, 'Then you must prepare your neck for the +rope,' quoth he, in a pleasant but withal serious manner; at the which +a cold chill overcame me, and I very well-nigh faulted, though +constraining my tongue to say, 'God's will be done; but I am far +unworthy of so great an honor.' The cowardly heart belied the +confident tongue, and fear of my own weakness affrighted me, by the +which I must needs have offended God, who helps such as trust in +him. But I hope to be forgiven, inasmuch as it has ever been the wont +of my poor thoughts to picture evils beforehand in such a form as to +scare the soul, which, when it came to meet with them, was not shaken +from its constancy. When Conny was an infant I have stood nigh unto a +window with her in my arms, and of a sudden a terror would seize me +lest I should let her fall out of my hands, which yet clasped her; and +methinks 'twas somewhat of alike feeling which worked in me touching +the denying of my faith, which, God is my witness, is dearer to me +than aught upon earth." + +"'Tis even so, sweet wife," quoth my father; "the edge of a too keen +conscience and a sensitive apprehension of defects visible to thine +own eyes and God's--never to mine, who was ever made happy by thy love +and virtue--have worn out the frame which enclosed them, and will rob +me of the dearest comfort of my life, if I must lose thee." + +She looked upon him with so much sweetness, as if the approach of +death had brought her greater peace and joy than life had ever done, +and she replied: "Death comes to me as a compassionate angel, and I +fain would have thee welcome with me the kindly messenger who brings +so great relief to the poor heart thou hast so long cherished. Now, +thou art called to another task; and when the bruised, broken reed is +removed from thy side, thou wilt follow the summons which even now +sounds in thine ears." + +"Ah," cried my father, clasping her hand, "art thou then already a +saint, sweet wife, that thou hast read the vow slowly registered as +yet in the depths of a riven heart?" Then his eyes turned on me; and +she, who seemed to know his thoughts, that sweet soul who had been so +silent in life, but was now spending her last breath in +never-to-be-forgotten words, answered the question contained in that +glance as if it had been framed in a set speech. + +"Fear not for her," she said, laying her cheek close unto mine. "As +her days, so shall her strength be. Methinks Almighty God has given +her a spirit meet for the age in which her lot is cast. The early +training thou hast had, my wench; the lack of such memories as make +the present twofold bitter; the familiar mention round thy cradle of +such trials as do beset Catholics in these days, have nurtured thee a +stoutness of heart which will stand thee in good stead amidst the +rough waves of this troublesome world. The iron will not enter into +thy soul as it hath done into mine." Upon which she fell back +exhausted and for a while no sound was heard in or about the house +save the barking of our great dog. + +My father had sent a messenger to a house where we had had notice days +before Father Ford was staying but with no certain knowledge he still +there, or any other priest in neighborhood, which occasioned him no +small disquietude, for my mother's strength seemed to be visibly +sinking which was what the doctor's words had led him to expect. The +man he sent returned not till the evening; in the afternoon Mr. +Genings and son came from Lichfield, which, when my mother heard, she +said God was gracious to permit her once more to see John, which was +Mr. Genings' name. They had been reared in the same house; and a +kindness had always continued betwixt them. For some time past he had +conformed to the times; and since his marriage with the daughter of a +French Huguenot who lived in London, and who was a lady of very +commendable character and manners, and strenuous in her own way of +thinking, he had left off practising his own religion in secret, which +for a while he used to do. When he came in, and saw death plainly writ +in his cousin's face, he was greatly moved, and knelt down by her side +with a very sorrowful countenance; upon which she straightly looked at +him, and said: "Cousin John, my breath is very short, as my time +is also like to be. But one word I would fain say to thee before I +die. I was always well pleased with my religion, which was once thine +and that of all Christian people one hundred years ago; but I have +never been so well pleased with it as now, when I be about to meet my +Judge." + +Mr. Genings' features worked with a strange passion, in which was more +of grief than displeasure, and grasping his son's shoulder, who was +likewise kneeling and weeping, he said: "You have wrought with this +boy, cousin, to make him a Catholic." + +"As heaven is my witness," she answered, "not otherwise but by my +prayers." + +"Hast thou seen a priest, cousin Constance?" he then asked: upon which +my mother not answering, the poor man burst into tears, and cried: +"Oh, cousin--cousin Constance, dost count me a spy, and at thy +death-bed?" + +He seemed cut to the heart; whereupon she gave him her hand, and said +she hoped God would send her such ghostly assistance as she stood in +need of; and praying God to bless him and his wife and children, and +make them his faithful servants, so she might meet them all in +perpetual happiness, she spoke with such good cheer, and then bade him +and Edmund farewell with so pleasant a smile, as deceived them into +thinking her end not so near. And so, after a while, they took their +leave; upon which she composed herself for a while in silence, +occupying her thoughts in prayer; and toward evening, through God's +mercy, albeit the messenger had returned with the heavy news that +Father Ford had left the county some days back, it happened that Mr. +Watson, a secular priest who had lately arrived in England, and was on +his way to Chester, stopped at our house, whereunto Mr. Orton, whom he +had seen in prison at London, had directed him for his own convenience +on the road, and likewise our commodity, albeit little thinking how +great our need would be at that time of so opportune a guest, through +whose means that dear departing soul had the benefit of the last +sacraments with none to trouble or molest her, and such ghostly aid as +served to smooth her passage to what has proved, I doubt not, the +beginning of a happy eternity, if we may judge by such tokens as the +fervent acts of contrition she made both before and after shrift, such +as might have served to wash away ten thousand sins through his blood +who cleansed her, and her great and peaceable joy at receiving him +into her heart whom she soon trusted to behold. Her last words were +expressions of wonder and gratitude at God's singular mercy shown unto +her in the quiet manner of her death in the midst of such troublesome +times. And methinks, when the silver cord was loosed, and naught was +left of her on earth save the fair corpse which retained in death the +semblance it had had in life, that together with the natural grief +which found vent in tears, there remained in the hearts of such as +loved her a comfortable sense of the Divine goodness manifested in +this her peaceable removal. + +How great the change which that day wrought in me may be judged of by +such who, at the age I had then reached to, have met with a like +affliction, coupled with a sense of duties to be fulfilled, such as +then fell to my lot, both as touching household cares, and in respect +to the cheering of my father in his solitary hours during the time we +did yet continue at Sherwood Hall, which was about a year. It waxed +very hard then for priests to make their way to the houses of +Catholics, as many now found it to their interest to inform against +them and such as harbored them; and mostly in our neighborhood, +wherein there were at that time no recusants of so great rank and note +that the sheriff would not be lief to meddle with them. We had +oftentimes had secret advices to beware of such and such of our +servants who might betray our hidden conveyances of safety; and my +father scarcely durst be sharp with them when they offended by +slacking their duties, lest they might bring us into danger if they +revealed, upon any displeasure, priests having abided with us. Edmund +we saw no more since my mother's death; and after a while the news did +reach us that Mr. Genings had died of the small-pox, and left his wife +in so distressed a condition, against all expectation, owing to debts +he had incurred, that she had been constrained to sell her house and +furniture, and was living in a small lodging near unto the school +where Edmund continued his studies. + +I noticed, as time went by, how heavily it weighed on my father's +heart to see so many Catholics die without the sacraments, or fall +away from their faith, for lack of priests to instruct them, like so +many sheep without a shepherd; and I guessed by words he let fall on +divers occasions, that the intent obscurely shadowed forth in his +discourse to my mother on her deathbed was ripening to a settled +purpose, and tending to a change in his state of life, which only his +love and care for me caused him to defer. What I did apprehend must +one day needs occur, was hastened about this time by a warning he did +receive that on an approaching day he would be apprehended and carried +by the sheriff before the council at Lichfield, to be examined +touching recusancy and harboring of priests; which was what he had +long expected. This message was, as it were, the signal he had been +waiting for, and an indication of God's will in his regard. He made +instant provision for the placing of his estate in the hands of a +friend of such singular honesty and so faithful a friendship toward +himself, though a Protestant, that he could wholly trust him. And next +he set himself to dispose of her whom he did term his most dear +earthly treasure, and his sole tie to this perishable world, which he +resolved to do by straightway sending her to London, unto his sister +Mistress Congleton, who had oftentimes offered, since his wife's +death, to take charge of this daughter, and to whom he now despatched +a messenger with a letter, wherein he wrote that the times were now so +troublesome, he must needs leave his home, and take advantage of the +sisterly favor she had willed to show him in the care of his sole +child, whom he now would forthwith send to London, commending her to +her good keeping, touching her safety and religious and virtuous +training, and that he should be more beholden to her than ever brother +was to sister, and, as long as he lived, as he was bound to do, pray +for her and her good husband. When this letter was gone, and order had +been taken for my journey, which was to be on horseback, and in the +charge of a maiden gentlewoman who had been staying some months in our +neighborhood, and was now about in two days to travel to London, it +seemed to me as if that which I had long expected and pictured unto +myself had now come upon me of a sudden, and in such wise as for the +first time to taste its bitterness. For I saw, without a doubt, that +this parting was but the forerunner of a change in my father's +condition as great and weighty as could well be thought of. But of +this howbeit our thoughts were full of it, no talk was ministered +between us. He said I should hear from him in London; and that he +should now travel into Lancashire and Cheshire, changing his name, and +often shifting his quarters whilst the present danger lasted. The day +which was to be the last to see us in the house wherein himself and +his fathers for many centuries back, and I his unworthy child, had +been born, was spent in such fashion as becometh those who suffer for +conscience sake, and that is with so much sorrow as must needs be felt +by a loving father and a dutiful child in a first and doubtful +parting, with so much regret as is natural in the abandonment of a +peaceful earthly home, wherein God had been served in a Catholic +manner for many generations and up to that time without +discontinuance, only of late years as it were by night and +stealth, which was linked in their memories with sundry innocent joys +and pleasures, and such griefs as do hallow and endear the visible +scenes wherewith they be connected, but withal with a stoutness of +heart in him, and a youthful steadiness in her whom he had infected +with a like courage unto his own, which wrought in them so as to be of +good cheer and shed no more tears on so moving an occasion than the +debility of her nature and the tenderness of his paternal care +extorted from their eyes when he placed her on her horse, and the +bridle in the hand of the servant who was to accompany her to London. +Their last parting was a brief one, and such as I care not to be +minute in describing; for thinking upon it even now 'tis like to make +me weep; which I would not do whilst writing this history, in the +recital of which there should be more of constancy and thankful +rejoicing in God's great mercies, than of womanish softness in looking +back to past trials. So I will even break off at this point; and in +the next chapter relate the course of the journey which was begun on +that day. + +CHAPTER VI. + +I was to travel, as had been ordered for our mutual convenience and +protection, with Mistress Ward, a gentlewoman who resided some months +in our vicinity, and had heard mass in our chapel on such rare +occasions as of late had occurred, when a priest was at our house, and +we had commodity to give notice thereof to such as were Catholic in +the adjacent villages. We had with us on the journey two serving-men +and a waiting-woman, who had been my mother's chambermaid; and so +accompanied, we set out on our way, singing as we went, for greater +safety, the litanies of our Lady; to whom we did commend ourselves, as +my father had willed us to do, with many fervent prayers. The +gentlewoman to whose charge I was committed was a lady of singular +zeal and discretion, as well as great virtue; albeit, where religion +was not concerned, of an exceeding timid disposition; which, to my no +small diversion then, and great shame since, I took particular notice +of on this journey. Much talk had been ministered in the county +touching the number of rogues and vagabonds which infested the public +roads, of which sundry had been taken up and whipped during the last +months, in Lichfield, Stafford, and other places. I did perceive that +good Mistress Ward glanced uneasily as we rode along at every +foot-passenger or horseman that came in sight. Albeit my heart was +heavy, and may be also that when the affections are inclined to tears +they be likewise prone to laughter, I scarce could restrain from +smiling at these her fears and the manner of her showing them. + +"Mistress Constance," she said at last, as we came to the foot of a +steep ascent, "methinks you have a great heart concerning the +dangers which may befall us on the road, and that the sight of a +robber would move you not one whit more than that of an honest pedler +or hawker, such as I take those men to be who are mounting the hill in +advance of us. Doth it not seem to you that the box which they do +carry betokens them to be such worthy persons as I wish them to +prove?" + +"Now surely," I answered, "good Mistress Ward, 'tis my opinion that +they be not such honest knaves as you do suppose. I perceive somewhat +I mislike in the shape of that box. What an if it be framed to entice +travellers to their ruin by such displays and shows of rare ribbons +and gewgaws as may prove the means of detaining them on the road, and +a-robbing of them in the end?" + +Mistress Ward laughed, and commended my jesting, but was yet ill at +ease; and, as a mischievous and thoughtless creature, I did somewhat +excite and maintain her fears, in order to set her on asking questions +of our attendants touching the perils of the road, which led them to +relate such fearful stories of what they had seen of this sort as +served to increase her apprehensions, and greatly to divert me, who +had not the like fears; but rather entertained myself with hers, in a +manner such as I have been since ashamed to think of, who should have +kissed the ground on which she had trodden. + +The fairness of the sky, the beauty of the fields and hedges, the +motion of the horse, stirred up my spirits; albeit my heart was at +moments so brimful of sorrow that I hated my tongue for its +wantonness, my eyes for their curious gazing, and my fancy for its +eager thoughts anent London and the new scenes I should behold there. +What mostly dwelt in them was the hope to see my Lady Surrey, of whom +I had had of late but brief and scanty tidings. The last letter I had +from her was writ at the time when the Duke of Norfolk was for the +second time thrown in the Tower, which she said was the greatest +sorrow that had befallen her since the death of my Lady Mounteagle, +which had happened at his grace's house a few months back, with all +the assistance she desired touching her religion. She had been urged, +my Lady Surrey said, by the duke some time before to do something +contrary to her faith; but though she much esteemed and respected him, +her answer was so round and resolute that he never mentioned the like +to her any more. Since then I had no more tidings of her, who was +dearer to me than our brief acquaintance and the slender tie of such +correspondence as had taken place between us might in most cases +warrant; but whether owing to some congeniality of mind, or to a +presentiment of future friendship, 'tis most certain my heart was +bound to her in an extraordinary manner; so that she was the continual +theme of my thoughts and mirror of my fancy. + +The first night of our journey we lay at a small inn, which was held +by persons Mistress Ward was acquainted with, and by whom we were +entertained in a decent chamber, looking on unto a little garden, and +with as much comfort as the fashion of the place might afford, and +greater cleanliness than is often to be found in larger hostelries. +After supper, being somewhat weary with travel, but not yet inclined +for bed, and the evening fine, we sat out of doors in a bower of +eglantine near to some bee-hives, of which our hostess had a great +store; and methinks she took example from them, for we could see her +through the window as busy in the kitchen amongst her maids as the +queen-bee amidst her subjects. Mistress Ward took occasion to observe, +as we watched one of these little commonwealths of nature, that she +admired how they do live, laboring and swarming, and gathering honey +together so neat and finely, that they abhor nothing so much as +uncleanliness, drinking pure and clear water, even the dew-drops on +the leaves and flowers, and delighting in sweet music, which if +they hear but once out of tune they fly out of sight. + +"They live," she said, "under a law, and use great reverence to their +elders. Every one hath his office; some trimming the honey, another +framing hives, another the combs. When they go forth to work, they +mark the wind and the clouds, and whatsoever doth threaten their ruin; +and having gathered, out of every flower, honey, they return loaded in +their mouths and on their wings, whom they that tarried at home +receive readily, easing their backs of their great burthens with as +great care as can be thought of." + +"Methinks," I answered, "that if it be as you say, Mistress Ward, the +bees be wiser than men." + +At the which she smiled; but withal, sighing, made reply: + +"One might have wished of late years rather to be a bee than such as +we see men sometimes to be. But, Mistress Constance, if they are +indeed so wise and so happy, 'tis that they are fixed in a condition +in which they must needs do the will of him who created them; and the +like wisdom and happiness in a far higher state we may ourselves +enjoy, if we do but choose of our free will to live by the same rule." + +Then, after some further discourse on the habits of these little +citizens, I inquired of Mistress Ward if she were acquainted with mine +aunt, Mistress Congleton; at the which question she seemed surprised, +and said, + +"Methought, my dear, you had known my condition in your aunt's family, +having been governess for many years to her three daughters, and only +by reason of my sister's sickness having stayed away from them for +some time." + +At the which intelligence I greatly rejoiced; for the few hours we had +rode together, and our discourse that evening, had wrought in me a +liking for this lady as great as could arise in so short a period. But +I minded me then of my jests at her fears anent robbers, and also of +having been less dutiful in my manners than I should have been toward +one who was like to be set over me; and I likewise bethought me this +might be the cause that she had spoken of the bees having a reverence +for their elders, and doubted if I should crave her pardon for my want +of it. But, like many good thoughts which we give not entertainment to +by reason that they be irksome, I changed that intent for one which +had in it more of pleasantness, though less of virtue. Kissing her, I +said it was the best news I had heard for a long time that I should +live in the same house with her, and, as I hoped, under her care and +good government. And she answered, that she was well pleased with it +too, and would be a good friend to me as long as she lived. Then I +asked her touching my cousins, and of their sundry looks and +qualities. She answered, that the eldest, Kate, was very fair, and +said nothing further concerning her. Polly, she told me, was +marvellous witty and very pleasant, and could give a quick answer, +full of entertaining conceits. + +"And is she, then, not fair?" I asked. + +"Neither fair nor foul," was her reply; "but well favored enough, and +has an excellent head." + +"Then," I cried, letting my words exceed good behavior, "I shall like +her better than the pretty fool her sister." For the which speech I +received the first, but not the last, chiding I ever had from Mistress +Ward for foolish talking and pert behavior, which was what I very well +deserved. When she had done speaking, I put my arm round her neck--for +it put me in mind of my mother to be so gravely yet so sweetly +corrected--and said, "Forgive me, dear Mistress Ward, for my saucy +words, and tell me somewhat I beseech you touching my youngest cousin, +who must be nearest to mine own age." + +"She is no pearl to hang at one's ear," quoth she, "yet so gifted with +a well-disposed mind that in her grace seems almost to supersede +nature. Muriel is deformed in body, and slow in speech; but in +behavior so honest, in prayer so devout, so noble in all her dealings, +that I never heard her speak anything that either concerned not good +instruction or godly mirth." + +"And doth she not care to be ugly?" I asked. + +"So little doth she value beauty," quoth Mistress Ward, "save in the +admiring of it in others, that I have known her to look into a glass +and smiling cry out, 'This face were fair if it were turned and every +feature the opposite to what it is;' and so jest pleasantly at her own +deformities, and would have others do so too. Oh, she is a rare +treasure of goodness and piety, and a true comfort to her friends!" + +With suchlike pleasant discourse we whiled away the time until going +to rest; and next day were on horseback betimes on our way to +Coventry, where we were to lie that night at the house of Mr. Page, a +Catholic, albeit not openly, by reason of the times. This gentleman is +for his hospitality so much haunted, that no news stirs but comes to +his ears, and no gentlefolks pass his door but have a cheerful welcome +to his house; and 'tis said no music is so sweet to his ears as +deserved thanks. He vouchsafed much favor to us, and by his merry +speeches procured us much entertainment, provoking me to laughter +thereby more than I desired. He took us to see St. Mary's Hall, which +is a building which has not its equal for magnificence in any town I +have seen, no, not even in London. As we walked through the streets he +showed us a window in which was an inscription, set up in the reign of +King Richard the Second, which did run thus: + + "I, Luriche, for the love of thee + Do make Coventry toll free." + +And further on, the figure of Peeping Tom of Coventry, that false +knave I was so angry with when my father (ah, me! how sharp and sudden +was the pain which went through my heart as I called to mind the hours +I was wont to sit on his knee hearkening to the like tales) told me +the story of the Lady Godiva, who won mercy for her townsfolk by a +ride which none had dared to take but one so holy as herself. And, as +I said before, being then in a humor as prone to tears at one moment +as laughter at another, I fell to weeping for the noble lady who had +been in so sore a strait that she must needs have chosen between +complying with her savage lord's conditions or the misery of her poor +clients. When Mr. Page noticed my tears, which flowed partly for +myself and partly for one who had been long dead, but yet lived in the +hearts of these citizens, he sought to cheer me by the recital of the +fair and rare pageant which doth take place every year in Coventry, +and is of the most admirable beauty, and such as is not witnessed in +any other city in the world. He said I should not weep if I were to +see it, which he very much desired I should; and he hoped he might be +then alive, and ride by my side in the procession as my esquire; at +the which I smiled, for the good gentleman had a face and figure such +as would not grace a pageant, and methought I might be ashamed some +years hence to have him for my knight; and I said, "Good Mr. Page, be +the shutters closed on those days as when the Lady Godiva rode?" at +the which he laughed, and answered, + +"No; and that for one Tom who then peeped, there were a thousand eyes +to gaze on the show as it passed." + +"Then if it please you, sir, when the time comes," I said, "I would +like to look on and not to ride;" and he replied, it should be as I +pleased; and with such merry discourse we spent the time till supper +was ready. And afterward that good gentleman slackened not his efforts +in entertaining us; but related so many laughable stories, and took so +great notice of me, that I was moved to answer him sometimes in a +manner too forward for my years. He told us of the queen's visit to +that city, and that the mayor, who had heard her grace's majesty +considered poets, and herself wrote verses, thought to commend himself +to her favor by such rare rhymes as these, wherewith he did greet her +at her entrance into the town: + + "We, the men of Coventry, + Be pleased to see your majesty, + Good Lord! how fair you be!" + +at the which her highness made but an instant's pause, and then +straightway replied, + + "It pleaseth well her majesty + To see the men of Coventry. + Good Lord! what fools you be!" + +"But," quoth Mr. Page, "the good man was so well pleased that the +Queen had answered his compliment, that 'tis said he has had her +majesty's speech framed, and hung up in his parlor." + +"Pity 'tis not in the town-hall," I cried; and he laughing commended +me for sharpness; but Mistress Ward said: + +"A sharp tongue in a woman's head was always a stinging weapon; but in +a queen's she prayed God it might never prove a murtherous one." Which +words somewhat checked our merriment, for that they savored of rebuke +to me for forward speech, and I ween awoke in Mr. Page thoughts of a +graver sort. + +When we rode through the town next day, he went with us for the space +of some miles, and then bade us farewell with singular courtesy, and +professions of good will and proffered service if we should do him the +good at any time to remember his poor house; which we told him he had +given us sufficient reason not to forget. Toward evening, when the sun +was setting, we did see the towers of Warwick Castle; and I would fain +have discerned the one which doth bear the name of the great earl who +in a poor pilgrim's garb slew the giant Colbrand, and the cave 'neath +Guy's Cliff where he spent his last years in prayer. But the light was +declining as we rode into Leamington, where we lay that night, and +darkness hid from us that fair country, which methought was a meet +abode for such as would lead a hermit's life. + +The next day we had the longest ride and the hottest sun we had yet +met with; and at noon we halted to rest in a thicket on the roadside, +which we made our pavilion, and from which our eyes did feast +themselves on a delightful prospect. There were heights on one side +garnished with stately oaks, and a meadow betwixt the road and the +hill enamelled with all sorts of pleasing flowers, and stored with +sheep, which were feeding in sober security. Mistress Ward, who was +greatly tired with the journey, fell asleep with her head on her hand, +and I pulled from my pocket a volume with which Mr. Page had gifted me +at parting, and which contained sundry tales anent Amadis de Gaul, +Huon de Bordeaux, Palmerin of England, and suchlike famous knights, +which he said, as I knew how to read, for which he greatly commended +my parents' care, I should entertain myself with on the road. So, +one-half sitting, one-half lying on the grass, I reclined in an easy +posture, with my head resting against the trunk of a tree, pleasing my +fancy with the writers' conceits; but ever and anon lifting my eyes to +the blue sky above my head, seen through the green branches, or fixed +them on the quaint patterns the quivering light drew on the grass, or +else on the valley refreshed with a silver river, and the fair hills +beyond it. And as I read of knights and ladies, and the many perils +which befel them, and passages of love betwixt them, which was new to +me, and what I had not met with in any of the books I had yet read, I +fell into a fit of musing, wondering if in London the folks I should +see would discourse in the same fashion, and the gentlemen have so +much bravery and the ladies so great beauty as those my book treated +of. And as I noticed it was chiefly on the high-roads they did come +into such dangerous adventures, I gazed as far as I could +discern on the one I had in view before me with a foolish kind of +desire for some robbers to come and assail us, and then a great +nobleman or gallant esquire to ride up and fall on them, and to +deliver us from a great peril, and may be to be wounded in the +encounter, and I to bind up those wounds as from my mother's teaching +I knew how to do, and then give thanks to the noble gentleman in such +courteous and well-picked words as I could think of. But for all my +gazing I could naught perceive save a wain slowly ascending the hill +loaden with corn, midst clouds of dust, and some poorer sort of +people, who had been gleaning, and were carrying sheaves on their +heads. After an hour Mistress Ward awoke from her nap; and methinks I +had been dozing also, for when she called to me, and said it was time +to eat somewhat, and then get to horse, I cried out, "Good sir, I wait +your pleasure;" and rubbed my eyes to see her standing before me in +her riding-habit, and not the gentleman whose wounds I had been +tending. + +That night we slept at Northampton, at Mistress Engerfield's house. +She was a cousin of Mr. Congleton's, and a lady whose sweet affability +and gravity would have extorted reverence from those that least loved +her. She was then very aged, and had been a nun in King Henry's reign; +and, since her convent had been despoiled, and the religious driven +out of it, having a large fortune of her own, which she inherited +about that time, she made her house a secret monastery, wherein God +was served in a religious manner by such persons as the circumstances +of the time, and not their own desires, had forced back into the +world, and who as yet had found no commodity for passing beyond seas +into countries where that manner of life is allowed. They dressed in +sober black, and kept stated hours of prayer, and went not abroad +unless necessity compelled them thereunto. When we went into the +dining-room, which I noticed Mistress Engerfield called the refectory, +grace was said in Latin; and whilst we did eat one lady read out loud +out of a book, which methinks was the life of a saint; but the fatigue +of the journey, and the darkness of the room, which was wainscotted +with oak-wood, so overpowered my senses with drowsiness, that before +the meal was ended I had fallen asleep, which was discovered, to my +great confusion, when the company rose from table. But that good lady, +in whose face was so great a kindliness that I never saw one to be +compared with it in that respect before or since, took me by the hand +and said, "Young eyes wax heavy for lack of rest, and travellers +should have repose. Come to thy chamber, sweet one, and, after +commending thyself by a brief prayer to him who sleepeth not nor +slumbereth, and to her who is the Mother of the motherless, get thee +to bed and take thy fill of the sleep thou hast so great need of, and +good angels will watch near thee." + +Oh, how I did weep then, partly from fatigue, and partly from the dear +comfort her words did yield me, and, kneeling, asked her blessing, as +I had been wont to do of my dear parents. And she, whose countenance +was full of majesty, and withal of most attractive gentleness, which +made me deem her to be more than an ordinary woman, and a great +servant of God, as indeed she was, raised me from the ground, and +herself assisted to get me to bed, having first said my prayers by her +side, whose inflamed devotion, visible in her face, awakened in me a +greater fervor than I had hitherto experienced when performing this +duty. After I had slept heavily for the space of two or three hours I +awoke, as is the wont of those who be over-fatigued, and could not get +to sleep again, so that I heard the clock of a church strike twelve; +and as the last stroke fell on my ear, it was followed by a sound of +chanting, as if close unto my chamber, which resembled what on rare +occasions I had heard performed by two or three persons in our +chapel; but here, with so full a concord of voices, and so great +melody and sweetness, that methought, being at that time of night and +every one abed, it must be the angels that were singing. But the next +day, questioning Mrs. Ward thereupon as of a strange thing which had +happened to me, she said, the ladies in that house rose always at +midnight, as they had been used to do in their several convents, to +sing God's praises and give him thanks, which was what they did vow to +do when they became religious. Before we departed, Mistress Engerfield +took me into her own room, which was small and plainly furnished, with +no other furniture in it but a bed, table, and kneeling-stool, and +against the wall a large crucifix, and she bestowed upon me a small +book in French, titled "The Spiritual Combat," which she said was a +treasury of pious riches, which she counselled me by frequent study to +make my own; and with many prayers and blessings she then bade us +God-speed, and took leave of us. Our last day's lodging on the road +was at Bedford; and there being no Catholics of note in that town wont +to entertain travellers, we halted at a quiet hostelry, which was kept +by very decent people, who showed us much civility; and the landlady, +after we had supped, the evening being rainy (for else she said we +might have walked through her means into the fair grounds of the Abbey +of Woburn, which she thanked God was not now a hive for drones, as it +had once been, but the seat of a worthy nobleman; which did more +credit to the town, and drew customers to the inn), brought us for our +entertainment a huge book, which she said had as much godliness in +each of its pages as might serve to convert as many Papists--God save +the mark!--as there were leaves in the volume. My cheeks glowed like +fire when she thus spoke, and I looked at Mistress Ward, wondering +what she would say. But she only bowed her head, and made pretence to +open the book, which, when the good woman was gone, + +"Mistress Constance," quoth she, "this is a book writ by Mr. Fox, the +Duke of Norfolk's old schoolmaster, touching those he doth call +martyrs, who suffered for treason and for heresy in the days of Queen +Mary,--God rest her soul!--and if it ever did convert a Papist, I do not +say on his deathbed, but at any time of his life, except it was +greatly for his own interest, I be ready . . ." + +"To be a martyr yourself, Mistress Ward," I cried, with my ever too +great proneness to let my tongue loose from restraint. The color rose +in her cheek, which was usually pale, and she said: + +"Child, I was about to say, that in the case I have named, I be ready +to forego the hope of that which I thank God I be wise enough to +desire, though unworthy to obtain; but for which I do pray each day +that I live." + +"Then would you not be afraid to die on a scaffold," I asked, "or to +be hanged, Mistress Ward?" + +"Not in a good cause," she said. + +But before the words were out of her mouth our landlady knocked at the +door, and said a gentleman was in the house with his two sons, who +asked to pay their compliments to Mistress Ward and the young lady +under her care. The name of this gentleman was Rookwood, of Rookwood +Hall in Suffolk, and Mistress Ward desired the landlady presently to +bring them in, for she had often met them at my aunt's house, as she +afterward told me, and had great contentment we should have such good +company under the same roof with us; whom when they came in she very +pleasantly received, and informed Mr. Rookwood of my name and +relationship to Mistress Congleton; which when he heard, he asked if I +was Mr. Henry Sherwood's daughter; which being certified of, he +saluted me, and said my father was at one time, when both were at +college, the closest friend that ever he had, and his esteem for him +was so great that he would be better pleased with the news that +he should see him but once again, than if any one was to give him a +thousand pounds. I told him my father often spake of him with singular +affection, and that the letter I should write to him from London would +be more welcome than anything else could make it, by the mention of +the honor I had had of his notice. Mistress Ward then asked him what +was the news in London, from whence he had come that morning. He +answered that the news was not so good as he would wish it to be; for +that the queen's marriage with monsieur was broke off, and the King of +France greatly incensed at the favor M. de Montgomeri had experienced +at her hands; and that when he had demanded he should be given up, she +had answered that she did not see why she should be the King of +France's hangman; which was what his father had replied to her sister, +when she had made the like request anent some of her traitors who had +fled to France. + +"Her majesty," he said, "was greatly incensed against the Bishop of +Ross, and had determined to put him to death; but that she was +dissuaded from it by her council; and that he prayed God Catholics +should not fare worse now that Ridolfi's plot had been discovered to +declare her highness illegitimate, and place the Queen of Scots on the +throne, which had moved her to greater anger than even the rising in +the north. + +"And touching the Duke of Norfolk," Mistress Ward did ask, "what is +like to befal him?" + +Mr. Rookwood said, "His grace had been removed from the Tower to his +own house on account of the plague; but it is reported the queen is +more urgent against him than ever, and will have his head in the end." + +"If her majesty will not marry monsieur," Mistress Ward said, "it will +fare worse with recusants." + +Upon which one of the young gentlemen cried out, "'Tis not her majesty +will not have him; but monsieur will not have her. My Lord of Oxford, +who is to marry my Lord Burleigh's daughter, said yesterday at the +tennis court, that that matter of monsieur is grieviously taken on her +grace's part; but that my lord is of opinion that where amity is so +needful, her majesty should stomach it; and so she doth pretend to +break it off herself by reason of her religious scruples." + +At the which both brothers did laugh, but Mr. Rookwood bade them have +a care how they did suffer their tongues to wag anent her grace and +such matters as her grace's marriage; which although in the present +company might be without danger, was an ill habit, which in these +times was like to bring divers persons into troubles. + +"Hang it!" cried the eldest of his sons, who was of a well-pleasing +favor and exceeding goodly figure; "recusants be always in trouble, +whatsoever they do; both taxed for silence and checked for speech, as +the play hath it. For good Mr. Weston was racked for silence last week +till he fainted, for that he would not reveal what he had heard in +confession from one concerned in Ridolfi's plot; and as to my Lord +Morley, he hath been examined before the council, touching his having +said he would go abroad poorly and would return in glory, which he did +speak concerning his health; but they would have it meant treason." + +"Methinks, Master Basil," said his father, "thou art not like to be +taxed for silence; unless indeed on the rack, which the freedom of thy +speech may yet bring thee to, an thou hast not more care of thy words. +See now, thy brother keeps his lips closed in modest silence." + +"Ay, as if butter would not melt in his mouth," cried Basil, laughing. + +And I then noticed the countenance of the younger brother, who was +fairer and shorter by a head than Basil, and had the most beautiful +eyes imaginable, and a high forehead betokening thoughtfulness. Mr. +Rookwood drew his chair further from the table, and conversed in a low +voice with Mrs. Ward, touching matters which I ween were of too +great import to be lightly treated of. I heard the name of Mr. Felton +mentioned in their discourse, and somewhat about the Pope's Bull, in +the affixing of which at the Bishop of London's gate he had lent a +hand; but my ears were not free to listen to them, for the young +gentlemen began to entertain me with divers accounts of the shows in +London; which, as they were some years older than myself, who was then +no better than a child, though tall of mine age, I took as a great +favor, and answered them in the best way I could. Basil spoke mostly +of the sights he had seen, and a fight between a lion and three dogs, +in which the dogs were victorious; and Hubert of books, which he said, +for his part, he had always a care to keep handsome and well bound. + +"Ay," quoth his brother, "gilding them and stringing them like the +prayer-books of girls and gallants, which are carried to church but +for their outsides. I do hate a book with clasps, 'tis a trouble to +open them." + +"A trouble thou dost seldom take," quoth Hubert. "Thou art ready +enough to unclasp the book of thy inward soul to whosoever will read +in it, and thy purse to whosoever begs or borrows of thee; but with +such clasps as shut in the various stores of thought which have issued +forth from men's minds thou dost not often meddle." + +"Beshrew me if I do! The best prayer-book I take to be a pair of +beads; and the most entertaining reading, the 'Rules for the Hunting +of Deer;' which, by what I have heard from Sir Roger Ashlon, my Lord +Stafford hath grievously transgressed by assaulting Lord Lyttleton's +keepers in Teddesley Haye." + +"What have you here?" Hubert asked, glancing at Mr. Fox's _Book of +Martyrs_, and another which the landlady had left on the table; _A +profitable New Year's Gift to all England._ + +"They are not mine," I answered, "nor such as I do care to read; but +this," I said, holding out Mr. Page's gift, which I had in my pocket, +"is a rare fund of entertainment and very full of pleasant tales." + +"But," quoth he, "you should read the _Morte d'Arthur_ and the _Seven +Champions of Christendom."_ + +Which I said I should be glad to do when I had the good chance to meet +with them. He said, "My cousin Polly had a store of such pleasant +volumes, and would, no doubt, lend them to me. She has such a sharp +wit," he added, "that she is ever exercising it on herself or on +others; on herself by the bettering of her mind through reading; and +on others by such applications, of what she thus acquires as leaves +them no chance in discoursing with her but to yield to her superior +knowledge." + +"Methinks," I said, "if that be her aim in reading, may be she will +not lend to others the means of sharpening their wits to encounter +hers." + +At the which both of them laughed, and Basil said he hoped I might +prove a match for Mistress Polly, who carried herself too high, and +despised such as were slower of speech and less witty than herself. +"For my part," he cried, "I am of opinion that too much reading doth +lead to too much thinking, and too much thinking doth consume the +spirits; and often it falls out that while one thinks too much of his +doing, he leaves to do the effect of his thinking." + +At the which Hubert smiled, and I bethought myself that if Basil was +no book-worm neither was he a fool. With such like discourse the +evening sped away, and Mr. Rookwood and his sons took their leave with +many civilities and pleasant speeches, such as gentlemen are wont to +address to ladies, and hopes expressed to meet again in London, and +good wishes for the safe ending of our journey thither. + +Ah, me! 'tis passing strange to sit here and write in this little +chamber, after so many years, of that first meeting with those +brothers, Basil and Hubert; to call to mind how they did look and +speak, and of the pretty kind of natural affection there was +betwixt them in their manner to each other. Ah, me! the old trick of +sighing is coming over me again, which I had well-nigh corrected +myself of, who have more reason to give thanks than to complain. Good +Lord, what fools you be! sighing heart and watering eyes! As great +fools, I ween, as the Mayor of Coventry, whose foolish rhymes do keep +running in my head. + +The day following we came to London, which being, as it were, the +beginning of a new life to me, I will defer to speak of until I find +myself, after a night's rest and special prayers unto that end, less +heavy of heart than at present. + +CHAPTER VII. + +Upon a sultry evening which did follow an exceeding hot day, with no +clouds in the sky, and a great store of dust on the road, we entered +London, that great fair of the whole world, as some have titled it. +When for many years we do think of a place we have not seen, a picture +forms itself in the mind as distinct as if the eye had taken +cognizance thereof, and a singular curiosity attends the actual vision +of what the imagination hath so oft portrayed. On this occasion my +eyes were slow servants to my desires, which longed to embrace in the +compass of one glance the various objects they craved to behold. +Albeit the sky was cloudless above our heads, I feared it would rain +in London, by reason of a dark vapor which did hang over it; but +Mistress Ward informed me that this appearance was owing to the smoke +of sea-coal, of which so great a store is used in the houses that the +air is filled with it. "And do those in London always live in that +smoke?" I inquired, not greatly contented to think it should be so; +but she said Mr. Congleton's house was not in the city, but in a very +pleasant suburb outside of it, close unto Holborn Hill and Ely Place, +the bishop's palace, in whose garden the roses were so plentiful that +in June the air is perfumed with their odor. I troubled her not with +further questions at that time, being soon wholly taken up with the +new sights which then did meet us at every step. So great a number of +gay horsemen, and litters carried by footmen with fine liveries, and +coaches drawn by horses richly caparisoned and men running alongside +of them, and withal so many carts, that I was constrained to give over +the guiding of mine own horse by reason of the confusion which the +noise of wheels and men's cries and the rapid motion of so many +vehicles did cause in me, who had never rode before in so great a +crowd. + +At about six o'clock of the afternoon we did reach Ely Place, and +passing by the bishop's palace stopped at the gate of Mr. Congleton's +house, which doth stand somewhat retired from the high-road, and the +first sight of which did greatly content me. It is built of fair and +strong stone, not affecting fineness, but honorably representing a +firm stateliness, for it was handsome without curiosity, and homely +without negligence. At the front of it was a well-arranged ground +cunningly set with trees, through which we rode to the foot of the +stairs, where we were met by a gentleman dressed in a coat of black +satin and a quilted waistcoat, with a white beaver in his hand, whom I +guessed to be my good uncle. He shook Mistress Ward by the hand, +saluted me on both cheeks, and vowed I was the precise counterpart of +my mother, who at my age, he said, was the prettiest Lancashire witch +that ever he had looked upon. He seemed to me not so old as I did +suppose him to be, lean of body and something low of stature, with a +long visage and a little sharp beard upon the chin of a brown color; a +countenance not very grave, and, for his age, wanting the authority of +gray hairs. He conducted me to mine aunt's chamber, who was seated in +an easy-chair near unto the window, with a cat upon her knees and + a tambour-frame before her. She oped her arms and kissed me with +great affection, and I, sliding down, knelt at her feet and prayed her +to be a good mother to me, which was what my father had charged me to +do when I should come into her presence. She raised me with her hand +and made me sit on a stool beside her, and stroking my face gently, +gazed upon it, and said it put her in mind of both of my parents, for +that I had my father's brow and eyes, and my mother's mouth and +dimpling smiles. + +"Mr. Congleton," she cried, "you do hear what this wench saith. I pray +you to bear it in mind, and how near in blood she is to me, so that +you may show her favor when I am gone, which may be sooner than you +think for." + +I looked up into her face greatly concerned that she was like so soon +to die. Methought she had the semblance of one in good health and a +reasonable good color in her cheeks, and I perceived Mr. Congleton did +smile as he answered: + +"I will show favor to thy pretty niece, good Moll, I promise thee, be +thou alive or be thou dead; but if the leeches are to be credited, who +do affirm thou hast the best strength and stomach of the twain, thou +art more like to bury me than I thee." + +Upon which the good lady did sigh deeply and cast up her eyes and +lifted up her hands as one grievously injured, and he cried: + +"Prithee, sweetheart, take it not amiss, for beshrew me if I be not +willing to grant thee to be as diseased as will pleasure thee, so that +thou wilt continue to eat and sleep as well as thou dost at the +present and so keep thyself from dying." + +Upon which she said that she did admire how a man could have so much +cruelty as to jest and jeer at her ill-health, but that she would +spend no more of her breath upon him; and turning toward me she asked +a store of questions anent my father, whom for many years she had not +seen, and touching the manner of my mother's death, at the mention of +which my tears flowed afresh, which caused her also to weep; and +calling for her women she bade one of them bring her some hartshorn, +for that sorrow, she said, would occasion the vapors to rise in her +head, and the other she sent for to fetch her case of trinkets, for +that she would wear the ring her brother had presented her with some +years back, in which was a stone which doth cure melancholy. When the +case was brought she displayed before my eyes its rich contents, and +gifted me with a brooch set with turquoises, the wearing of which, she +said, doth often keep persons from falling into divers sorts of peril. +Then presently kissing me she said she felt fatigued, and would send +for her daughters to take charge of me; who, when they came, embraced +me with exceeding great affection, and carried me to what had been +their schoolroom and was now Mrs. Ward's chamber, who no longer was +their governess, they said, but as a friend abode in the house for to +go abroad with them, their mother being of so delicate a constitution +that she seldom left her room. Next to this chamber was a closet, +wherein Kate said I should lie, and as it is one I inhabited for a +long space of time, and the remembrance of which doth connect itself +with very many events which, as they did take place, I therein mused +on, and prayed or wept, or sometimes laughed over in solitude, I will +here set down what it was like when first I saw it. + +The bed was in an alcove, closed in the day by fair curtains of +taffety; and the walls, which were in wood, had carvings above the +door and over the chimney of very dainty workmanship. The floor was +strewn with dried neatly-cut rushes, and in the projecting space where +the window was, a table was set, and two chairs with backs and seats +cunningly furnished with tapestry. In another recess betwixt the +alcove and the chimney stood a praying stool and a desk with a cushion +for a book to lie on. Ah, me! how often has my head rested on +that cushion and my knees on that stool when my heart has been too +full to utter other prayers than a "God ha' mercy on me!" which at +such times broke as a cry from an overcharged breast. But, oh! what a +vain pleasure I did take on that first day in the bravery of this +little chamber, which Kate said was to be mine own! With what great +contentment I viewed each part of it, and looked out of the window on +the beds of flowers which did form a mosaical floor in the garden +around the house, in the midst of which was a fair pond whose shaking +crystal mirrored the shrubs which grew about it, and a thicket beyond, +which did appear to me a place for pleasantness and not unfit to +flatter solitariness, albeit so close unto the city. Beyond were the +bishop's grounds, and I could smell the scent of roses coming thence +as the wind blew. I could have stood there many hours gazing on this +new scene, but that my cousins brought me down to sup with them in the +garden, which was not fairer in natural ornaments than in artificial +inventions. The table was set in a small banqueting-house among +certain pleasant trees near to a pretty water-work; and now I had +leisure to scan my cousins' faces and compare what I did notice in +them with what Mistress Ward had said the first night of our journey. + +Kate, the eldest of the three, was in sooth a very fair creature, +proportioned without any fault, and by nature endowed with the most +delightful colors; but there was a made countenance about her mouth, +between simpering and smiling, and somewhat in her bowed-down head +which seemed to languish with over-much idleness, and an inviting look +in her eyes as if they would over-persuade those she spoke to, which +betokened a lack of those nobler powers of the mind which are the +highest gifts of womanhood. Polly's face fault-finding wits might +scoff at as too little for the rest of the body, her features as not +so well proportioned as Kate's, and her skin somewhat browner than +doth consist with beauty; but in her eyes there was a cheerfulness as +if nature smiled in them, in her mouth so pretty a demureness, and in +her countenance such a spark of wit that, if it struck not with +admiration, filled with delight. No indifferent soul there was which, +if it resisted making her its princess, would not long to have such a +playfellow. Muriel, the youngest of these sisters, was deformed in +shape, sallow in hue, in speech, as Mistress Ward had said, slow; but +withal in her eyes, which were deep-set, there was lacking neither the +fire which betokens intelligence, nor the sweetness which commands +affection, and somewhat in her plain face which, though it may not be +called beauty, had some of its qualities. Methought it savored more of +heaven than earth. The ill-shaped body seemed but a case for a soul +the fairness of which did shine through the foul lineaments which +enclosed it. Albeit her lips opened but seldom that evening, only +twice or thrice, and they were common words she uttered and fraught +with hesitation, my heart did more incline toward her than to the +pretty Kate or the lively Polly. + +An hour before we retired to rest, Mr. Congleton came into the garden, +and brought with him Mr. Swithin Wells and Mr. Bryan Lacy, two +gentlemen who lived also in Holborn; the latter of which, Polly +whispered in mine ear, was her sister Kate's suitor. Talk was +ministered among them touching the queen's marriage with Monsieur; +which, as Mr. Rookwood had said, was broken off; but that day they had +heard that M. de la Motte had proposed to her majesty the Due +d'Alençon, who would be more complying, he promised, touching religion +than his brother. She inquired of the prince's age, and of his height; +to the which he did answer, "About your majesty's own height." But her +highness would not be so put off, and willed the ambassador to write +for the precise measurement of the prince's stature. + +"She will never marry," quoth Mr. Wells, "but only amuse the French + court and her council with further negotiations touching this +new suitor, as heretofore anent the archduke and Monsieur. But I would +to God her majesty were well married, and to a Catholic prince; which +would do us more good than anything else which can be thought of." + +"What news did you hear, sir, of Mr. Felton?" Mistress Ward asked. +Upon which their countenances fell; and one of them answered that that +gentleman had been racked the day before, but steadily refused, though +in the extremity of torture, to name his accomplices; and would give +her majesty no title but that of the Pretender; which they said was +greatly to be regretted, and what no other Catholic had done. But when +his sentence was read to him, for that he was to die on Friday, he +drew from his finger a ring, which had diamonds in it, and was worth +four hundred pounds, and requested the Earl of Sussex to give it to +the queen, in token that he bore her no ill-will or malice, but rather +the contrary. + +Mr. Wells said he was a gentleman of very great heart and noble +disposition, but for his part he would as lief this ring had been +sold, and the money bestowed on the poorer sort of prisoners in +Newgate, than see it grace her majesty's finger; who would thus play +the hangman's part, who inherits the spoils of such as he doth put to +death. But the others affirmed it was done in a Christian manner, and +so greatly to be commended; and that Mr. Felton, albeit he was +somewhat rash in his actions, and by some titled Don Magnifico, by +reason of a certain bravery in his style of dress and fashion of +speaking, which smacked of Monsieur Traveller, was a right worthy +gentleman, and his death a blow to his friends, amongst whom there +were some, nevertheless, to be found who did blame him for the act +which had brought him into trouble. Mistress Ward cried, that such as +fell into trouble, be the cause ever so good, did always find those +who would blame them. Mr. Lacy said, one should not cast himself into +danger wilfully, but when occasion offered take it with patience. +Polly replied, that some were so prudent, occasions never came to +them. And then those two fell to disputing, in a merry but withal +sharp fashion. As he did pick his words, and used new-fangled terms, +and she spoke roundly and to the point, methinks she was the nimblest +in this encounter of wit. + +Meanwhile Mr. Wells asked Mr. Congleton if he had had news from the +north, where much blood was spilt since the rising; and he apprehended +that his kinsmen in Richmondshire should suffer under the last orders +sent to Sir George Bowes by my Lord Sussex. But Mr. Congleton did +minister to him this comfort, that if they were noted wealthy, and had +freeholds, it was the queen's special commandment they should not be +executed, but two hundred of the commoner sort to lose their lives in +each town; which was about one to each five. + +"But none of note?" quoth Mr. Wells. + +"None which can pay the worth of their heads," Mr. Congleton replied. + +"And who, then, doth price them?" asked Kate, in a languishing voice. + +"Nay, sister," quoth Polly, "I warrant thee they do price themselves; +for he that will not pay well for his head must needs opine he hath a +worthless one." + +Upon which Mr. Lacy said to Kate, "One hundred angels would not pay +for thine, sweet Kate." + +"Then she must needs be an archangel, sir," quoth Polly, "if she be of +greater worth than one hundred angels." + +"Ah, me!" cried Kate, very earnestly, "I would I had but half one +hundred gold-pieces to buy me a gown with!" + +"Hast thou not gowns enough, wench?" asked her father. "Methought thou +wert indifferently well provided in that respect." + +"Ah, but I would have, sir, such a velvet suit as I did see some +weeks back at the Italian house in Cheapside, where the ladies of the +court do buy their vestures. It had a border the daintiest I ever +beheld, all powdered with gold and pearls. Ruffiano said it was the +rarest suit he had ever made; and he is the Queen of France's tailor, +which Sir Nicholas Throgmorton did secretly entice away, by the +queen's desire, from that court to her own." + +"And what fair nymph owns this rare suit, sweetest Kate?" Mr. Lacy +asked. "I'll warrant none so fair that it should become her, or rather +that she should become it, more than her who doth covet it." + +"I know not if she be fair or foul," quoth Kate, "but she is the Lady +Mary Howard, one of the maids of honor of her majesty, and so may wear +what pleaseth her." + +"By that token of the gold and pearls," cried Mr. Wells, "I doubt not +but 'tis the very suit anent which the court have been wagging their +tongues for the last week; and if it be so, indeed, Mistress Kate, you +have no need to envy the poor lady that doth own it." + +Kate protested she had not envied her, and taxed Mr. Wells with +unkindness that he did charge her with it; and for all he could say +would not be pacified, but kept casting up her eyes, and the tears +streaming down her lovely cheeks. Upon which Mr. Lacy cried: + +"Sweet one, thou hast indeed no cause to envy her or any one else, +howsoever rare or dainty their suits may be; for thy teeth are more +beauteous than pearls, and thine hair more bright than the purest +gold, and thine eyes more black and soft than the finest velvet, which +nature so made that we might bear their wonderful shining, which else +had dazzled us:" and so went on till her weeping was stayed, and then +Mr. Wells said: + +"The lady who owned that rich suit, which I did falsely and +feloniously advance Mistress Kate did envy, had not great or long +comfort in its possession; for it is very well known at court, and +hence bruited in the city, what passed at Richmond last week +concerning this rare vesture. It pleased not the queen, who thought it +did exceed her own. And one day her majesty did send privately for it, +and put it on herself, and came forth into the chamber among the +ladies. The kirtle and border was far too short for her majesty's +height, and she asked every one how they liked her new fancied suit. +At length she asked the owner herself if it was not made too short and +ill-becoming; which the poor lady did presently consent to. Upon which +her highness cried: 'Why, then, if it become me not as being too +short, I am minded it shall never become thee as being too fine, so it +fitteth neither well.' This sharp rebuke so abashed the poor lady that +she never adorned her herewith any more." + +"Ah," cried Mr. Congleton, laughing, "her majesty's bishops do come by +reproofs as well as her maids. Have you heard how one Sunday, last +April, my Lord of London preached to the queen's majesty, and seemed +to touch on the vanity of decking the body too finely. Her grace told +the ladies after the sermon, that if the bishop held more discourse on +such matters she would fit him for heaven, but he should walk thither +without a staff and leave his mantle behind him." + +"Nay," quoth Mr. Wells, "but if she makes such as be Catholics taste +of the sharpness of the rack, and the edge of the axe, she doth then +treat those of her own way of thinking with the edge of her wit and +the sharpness of her tongue. 'Tis reported, Mr. Congleton, I know not +with what truth, that a near neighbor of yours has been served with a +letter, by which a new sheep is let into his pastures." + +"What," cried Polly, "is Pecora Campi to roam amidst the roses, and go +in and out at his pleasure through the bishop's gate? The 'sweet lids' +have then danced away a large slice of the Church's acres. But what, I +pray you, sir, did her majesty write?" + +"Even this," quoth her father, "I had it from Sir Robert +Arundell: 'Proud Prelate! you know what you were before I made you, +and what you are now. If you do not immediately comply with my +request, I will unfrock you, by God!--ELIZABETH R.'" + +"Our good neighbor," saith Polly, "must show a like patience with Job, +and cry out touching his bishopric, 'The queen did give it; the queen +doth take it away; the will of the queen be done.'" + +"He is like to be encroached upon yet further by yon cunning Sir +Christopher," Mr. Wells said; "I'll warrant Ely Place will soon be +Hatton Garden." + +"Well, for a neighbor," answered Polly, "I'd as soon have the queen's +lids as her hedge-bishop, and her sheep as her shepherd. 'Tis not all +for love of her sweet dancer her majesty doth despoil him. She never, +'tis said, hath forgiven him that he did remonstrate with her for +keeping a crucifix and lighted tapers in her own chapel, and that her +fool, set on by such as were of the same mind with him, did one day +put them out." + +In suchlike talk the time was spent; and when the gentlemen had taken +leave, we retired to rest; and being greatly tired, I slept heavily, +and had many quaint dreams, in which past scenes and present objects +were curiously blended with the tales I had read on the journey, and +the discourse I had heard that evening. When I awoke in the morning, +my thoughts first flew to my father, of whom I had a very passionate +desire to receive tidings. When my waiting-woman entered, with a +letter in her hand, I foolishly did fancy it came from him, which +could scarcely be, so soon after our coming to town; but I quickly +discerned, by the rose-colored string which it was bounden with, and +then the handwriting, that it was not from him, but from her whom, +next to him, I most desired to hear from, to wit, the Countess of +Surrey. That sweet lady wrote that she had an exceeding great desire +to see me, and would be more beholden to my aunt than she could well +express, if she would confer on her so great a benefit as to permit me +to spend the day with her at the Charter House, and she would send her +coach for to convey me there, which should never have done her so much +good pleasure before as in that service. And more to that effect, with +many kind and gracious words touching our previous meeting and +correspondence. + +When I was dressed, I took her ladyship's letter to Mrs. Ward, who was +pleased to say she would herself ask permission for me to wait upon +that noble lady; but that her ladyship might not be at the charge of +sending for me, she would herself, if my aunt gave her license, carry +me to the Charter House, for that she was to spend some hours that day +with friends in the city, and "it would greatly content her," she +added, "to further the expressed wish of the young countess, whose +grandmother, Lady Mounteagle, and so many of her kinsfolk, were +Catholics, or at the least, good friends to such as were so." My aunt +did give leave for me to go, as she mostly did to whatsoever Mrs. Ward +proposed, whom she trusted entirely, with a singular great affection, +only bidding her to pray that she might not die in her absence, for +that she feared some peaches she had eaten the day before had +disordered her, and that she had heard of one who had died of the +plague some weeks before in the Tower. Mrs. Ward exhorted her to be of +good cheer, and to comfort herself both ways, for that the air of +Holborn was so good, the plague was not likely to come into it, and +that the kernels of peaches being medicinal, would rather prove an +antidote to pestilence than an occasion to it; and left her better +satisfied, insomuch that she sent for another dish of peaches for to +secure the benefit. Before I left, Kate bade me note the fashion of +the suit my Lady Surrey did wear, and if she had on her own hair, and +if she dyed it, and if she covered her bosom, or wore plaits, and if +her stomacher was straight and broad, or formed a long waist, +extending downward, and many more points touching her attire, which I +cannot now call to mind. As I went through the hall to the steps where +Mistress Ward was already standing, Muriel came hurrying toward me, +with a faint color coming and going in her sallow cheek, and twice she +tried to speak and failed. But when I kissed her she put her lips +close to my ear and whispered, + +"Sweet little cousin, there be in London prisoners in a very bad +plight, in filthy dungeons, because of their religion. The noble young +Lady Surrey hath a tender heart toward such if she do but hear of +them. Prithee, sweet coz, move her to send them relief in food, money, +or clothing." + +Then Mistress Ward called to me to hasten, and I ran away, but Muriel +stood at the window, and as we passed she kissed her hand, in which +was a gold angel, which my father had gifted me with at parting. + +"Mrs. Ward," I said, as we went along, "my cousin Muriel is not fair, +and yet her face doth commend itself to my fancy more than many fair +ones I have seen; it is so kindly." + +"I have even from her infancy loved her," she answered, "and thus much +I will say of her, that many have been titled saints who had not, +methinks, more virtue than I have noticed in Muriel." + +"Doth she herself visit the prisoners she spoke of?" + +"She and I do visit them and carry them relief when we can by any +means prevail with the gaolers from compassion or through bribing of +them to admit us. But it is not always convenient to let this be +known, not even at home, but I ween, Constance, as thou wilt have me +to call thee so, that Muriel saw in thee--for she has a wonderful +penetrative spirit--that thou dost know when to speak and when to keep +silence." + +"And may I go with you to the prisons?" I asked with a hot feeling in +my heart, which I had not felt since I had left home. + +"Thou art far too young," she answered. "But I will tell thee what +thou canst do. Thou mayst work and beg for these good men, and not be +ashamed of so doing. None may visit them who have not made up their +minds to die, if they should be denounced for their charity." + +"But Muriel is young," I answered. "Hath she so resolved?" + +"Muriel is young," was the reply; "but she is one in whom wisdom and +holiness have forestalled age. For two years that she hath been my +companion on such occasions, she has each day prepared for martyrdom +by such devout exercises as strengthen the soul at the approach of +death." + +"And Kate and Polly," I asked, "are they privy to the dangers that you +do run, and have they no like ambition?" + +"Rather the contrary," she answered; "but neither they nor any one +else in the house is fully acquainted with these secret errands save +Mr. Congleton, and he did for a long time refuse his daughter license +to go with me, until at last, by prayers and tears, she won him over +to suffer it. But he will never permit thee to do the like, for that +thy father hath intrusted thee to his care for greater safety in these +troublesome times." + +"Pish!" I cried pettishly, "safety has a dull mean sound in it which I +mislike. I would I were mine own mistress." + +"Wish no such thing, Constance Sherwood," was her grave answer. +"Wilfulness was never nurse to virtue, but rather her foe; nor ever +did a rebellious spirit prove the herald of true greatness. And now, +mark my words. Almighty God hath given thee a friend far above thee in +rank, and I doubt not in merit also, but whose faith, if report saith +true, doth run great dangers, and with few to advise her in these evil +days in which we live. Peradventure he hath appointed thee a work in a +palace as weighty as that of others in a dungeon. Set thyself to +it with thy whole heart, and such prayers as draw down blessings from +above. There be great need in these times to bear in remembrance what +the Lord says, that he will be ashamed in heaven before his angels of +such as be ashamed of him on earth. And many there are, I greatly +fear, who though they be Catholics, do assist the heretics by their +cowardice to suppress the true religion in this land; and I pray to +God this may never be our case. Yet I would not have thee to be rash +in speech, using harsh words, or needlessly rebuking others, which +would not become thy age, or be fitting and modest in one of inferior +rank, but only where faith and conscience be in question not to be +afraid to speak. And now God bless thee, who should be an Esther in +this house, wherein so many true confessors of Christ some years ago +surrendered their lives in great misery and torments, rather than +yield up their faith." + +This she said as we stopped at the gate of the Charter House, where +one of the serving-men of the Countess of Surrey was waiting to +conduct me to her lodgings, having had orders to that effect. She left +me in his charge, and I followed him across the square, and through +the cloisters and passages which led to the gallery, where my lady's +chamber was situated. My heart fluttered like a frightened caged bird +during that walk, for there was a solemnity about the place such as I +had not been used to, and which filled me with apprehension lest I +should be wanting in due respect where so much state was carried on. +But when the door was opened at one end of the gallery, and my sweet +lady ran out to meet me with a cry of joy, the silly heart, like a +caught bird, nestled in her embrace, and my lips joined themselves to +hers in a fond manner, as if not willing to part again, but by fervent +kisses supplying the place of words, which were lacking, to express +the great mutual joy of that meeting, until at last my lady raised her +head, and still holding my hands, cried out as she gazed on my face: + +"You are more welcome, sweet one, than my poor words can say. I pray +you, doff your hat and mantle, and come and sit by me, for 'tis a +weary while since we have met, and those are gone from us who loved us +then, and for their sakes we must needs love one another dearly, if +our hearts did not of themselves move us unto it, which indeed they +do, if I may judge of yours, Mistress Constance, by mine own." + +Then we kissed again, and she passed her arm around my neck with so +many graceful endearments, in which were blended girlish simplicity +and a youthful yet matronly dignity, that I felt that day the love +which, methinks, up to that time had had its seat mostly in the fancy, +take such root in mine heart, that it never lost its hold on it. + +At the first our tongues were somewhat tied by joy and lack of +knowledge how to begin to converse on the many subjects whereon both +desired to hear the other speak, and the disuse of such intercourse as +maketh it easy to discourse on what the heart is full of. Howsoever, +Lady Surrey questioned me touching my father, and what had befallen us +since my mother's death. I told her that he had left his home, and +sent me to London by reason of the present troubles; but without +mention of what I did apprehend to be his further intent. And she then +said that the concern she was in anent her good father the Duke of +Norfolk did cause her to pity those who were also in trouble. + +"But his grace," I answered, "is, I hope, in safety at present, and in +his own house?" + +"In this house, indeed," she did reply, "but a strait prisoner in Sir +Henry Neville's custody, and not suffered to see his friends without +her majesty's especial permission. He did send for his son and me last +evening, having obtained leave for to see us, which he had not done +since the day my lord and I were married again, by his order, +from the Tower, out of fear lest our first marriage, being made before +Phil was quite twelve years old, it should have been annulled by order +of the queen, or by some other means. It grieved me much to notice how +gray his hair had grown, and that his eyes lacked their wonted fire. +When we entered he was sitting in a chair, leaning backward, with his +head almost over the back of it, looking at a candle which burnt +before him, and a letter in his hand. He smiled when he saw us, and +said the greatest comfort he had in the world was that we were now so +joined together that nothing could ever part us. You see, Mistress +Constance," she said, with a pretty blush and smile, "I now do wear my +wedding-ring below the middle joint." + +"And do you live alone with my lord now in these grand chambers?" I +said, looking round at the walls, which were hung with rare tapestry +and fine pictures. + +"Bess is with me," she answered, "and so will remain I hope until she +is fourteen, when she will be married to my Lord William, my lord's +brother. Our Moll is likewise here, and was to have wedded my Lord +Thomas when she did grow up; but she is not like to live, the +physicians do say." + +The sweet lady's eyes filled with tears, but, as if unwilling to +entertain me with her griefs, she quickly changed discourse, and spoke +of my coming unto London, and inquired if my aunt's house were a +pleasant one, and if she was like to prove a good kinswoman to me. I +told her how comfortable had been the manner of my reception, and of +my cousins' goodness to me; at the which she did express great +contentment, and would not be satisfied until I had described each of +them in turn, and what good looks or what good qualities they had; +which I could the more easily do that the first could be discerned +even at first sight, and touching the last, I had warrant from Mrs. +Ward's commendations, which had more weight than my own speerings, +even if I had been a year and not solely a day in their company. She +was vastly taken with what I related to her of Muriel, and that she +did visit and relieve poor persons and prisoners, and wished she had +liberty to do the like; and with a lovely blush and a modest +confusion, as of one who doth not willingly disclose her good deeds, +she told me all the time she could spare she did employ in making +clothes for such as she could hear of, and also salves and cordials +(such as she had learnt to compound from her dear grandmother), and +privately sent them by her waiting-maid, who was a young gentlewoman +of good family, who had lost her parents, and was most excellently +endowed with virtue and piety. + +"Come to my closet, Miss Constance," she said, "and I doubt not but we +shall find Milicent at work, if so be she has not gone abroad to-day +on some such errand of charity." Upon which she led the way through a +second chamber, still more richly fitted up than the first, into a +smaller one, wherein, when she opened the door, I saw a pretty living +picture of two girls at a table, busily engaged with a store of +bottles and herbs and ointments, which were strewn upon it in great +abundance. One of them was a young maid, who was measuring drops into +a phial, with a look so attentive upon it as if that little bottle had +been the circle of her thoughts. She was very fair and slim, and had a +delicate appearance, which minded me of a snow-drop; and indeed, by +what my lady said, she was a floweret which had blossomed amidst the +frosts and cold winds of adversity. By her side was the most gleesome +wench, of not more than eight years, I ever did set eyes on; of a +fatness that at her age was comely, and a face so full of waggery and +saucy mirth, that but to look upon it drove away melancholy. She was +compounding in a cup a store of various liquids, which she said did +cure shrewishness, and said she would pour some into her nurse's +night-draught, to mend her of that disorder. + + +"Ah, Nan," she cried, as we entered, "I'll help thee to a taste of +this rare medicine, for methinks thou art somewhat shrewish also and +not so conformable to thy husband's will, my lady, as a good wife +should be. By that same token that my lord willed to take me behind +him on his horse a gay ride round the square, and, forsooth, because I +had not learnt my lesson, thou didst shut me up to die of melancholy. +Ah, me! My mother had a maid called Barbara-- + + 'Sing willow, willow, willow.' + +That is one of Phil's favorite songs. Milicent, methinks I will call +thee Barbara, and thou shalt sing with me-- + + 'The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,-- + Sing all a green willow; + Her hand on her bosom,'-- + +There, put thy hand in that fashion-- + + 'her head on her knee,'-- + +Nay, prithee, thou must bend thy head lower-- + + 'Sing willow, willow, willow.'" + +"My lady," said the gentlewoman, smiling, "I promise you I dare not +take upon me to fulfil my tasks with credit to myself or your +ladyship, if Mistress Bess hath the run of this room, and doth prepare +cordials after her fashion from your ladyship's stores." + +"Ah, Bess!" quoth my lady, shaking her finger at the saucy one; "I'll +deliver thee up to Mrs. Fawcett, who will give thee a taste of the +place of correction; and Phil is not here to-day to beg thee off. And +now, good Milicent, prithee make a bundle of such clothes as we have +in hand, and such comforts as be suitable to such as are sick and in +prison, for this sweet young lady hath need of them for some who be in +that sad plight." + +"And, my lady," quoth the gentlewoman, "I would fain learn how to +dress wounds when the flesh is galled; for I do sometimes meet with +poor men who do suffer in that way, and would relieve them if I +could." + +"I know," I cried, "of a rare ointment my mother used to make for that +sort of hurt; and if my Lady Surrey gives me license, I will remember +you, mistress, with the receipt of it." + +My lady, with a kindly smile and expressed thanks, assented; and when +we left the closet, I greatly commending the young gentlewoman's +beauty, she said that beauty in her was the worst half of her merit. + +"But, Mistress Constance," she said, when we had returned to the +saloon, "I may not send her to such poor men, and above all, priests, +who be in prison for their faith, as I hear, to my great sorrow, there +be so many at this time, and who suffer great hardships, more than can +be easily believed, for she is Protestant, and not through conforming +to the times, but so settled in her way of thinking, and earnest +therein, having been brought up to it, that she would not so much as +open a Catholic book or listen to a word in defence of papists." + +"But how, then, doth she serve a Catholic lady?" I asked, with a +beating heart; and oh, with what a sad one did hear her answer, for it +was as follows: + +"Dear Constance, I must needs obey those who have a right to command +me, such as his grace my good father and my husband; and they are both +very urgent and resolved that by all means I shall conform to the +times. So I do go to Protestant service; but I use at home my prayers, +as my grandmother did teach me; and Phil says them too, when I can get +him to say any." + +"Then you do not hear mass," I said, sorrowfully, "or confess your +sins to a priest?" + +"No," she answered, in a sad manner; "I once asked my Lady Lumley, who +is a good Catholic, if she could procure I should see a priest with +that intent at Arundel House; but she turned pale as a sheet, and said +that to get any one to be reconciled who had once conformed to +the Protestant religion, was to run danger of death; and albeit for +her own part she would not refuse to die for so good a cause, she +dared not bring her father's gray hairs to the block." + +As we were holding this discourse--and she so intent in speaking, and +I in listening, that we had not heard the door open--Lord Surrey +suddenly stood before us. His height made him more than a boy, and his +face would not allow him a man; for the rest, he was +well-proportioned, and did all things with so notable a grace, that +nature had stamped him with the mark of true nobility. He made a +slight obeisance to me, and I noticed that his cheek was flushed, and +that he grasped the handle of his sword with an anger which took not +away the sweetness of his countenance, but gave it an amiable sort of +fierceness. Then, as if unable to restrain himself, he burst forth, + +"Nan, an order is come for his grace to be forthwith removed to the +Tower, and I'll warrant that was the cause he was suffered to see us +yesterday. God send it prove not a final parting!" + +"Is his grace gone?" cried the countess, starting to her feet, and +clasping her hands with a sorrowful gesture. + +"He goes even now," answered the earl; and both went to the window, +whence they could see the coach in which the duke was for the third +time carried from his home to the last lodging he was to have on this +earth. Oh, what a sorrowful sight it was for those young eyes which +gazed on the sad removal of the sole parent both had left! How her +tears did flow silently like a stream from a deep fount, and his with +wild bursts of grief, like the gushings of a torrent over rocks! His +head fell on her shoulder, and as she threw her arms round him, her +tears wetted his hair. Methought then that in the pensive tenderness +of her downcast face there was somewhat of motherly as well as of +wifely affection. She put her arm in his, and led him from the room; +and I remained alone for a short time entertaining myself with sad +thoughts anent these two young noble creatures, who at so early an age +had become acquainted with so much sorrow, and hoping that the +darkness which did beset the morning of their lives might prove but as +the clouds which at times deface the sky before a brilliant sunshine +doth take possession of it, and dislodge these deceitful harbingers, +which do but heighten in the end by contrast the resplendency they did +threaten to obscure. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +After I had been musing a little while, Mistress Bess ran into the +room, and cried to some one behind her: + +"Nan's friend is here, and she is mine too, for we all played in a +garden with her when I was little. Prithee, come and see her." Then +turning to me, but yet holding the handle of the door, she said: "Will +is so unmannerly, I be ashamed of him. He will not so much as show +himself." + +"Then, prithee, come alone," I answered. Upon which she came and sat +on my knee, with her arm round my neck, and whispered in mine ear: + +"Moll is very sick to-day; will you not see her, Mistress Sherwood?" + +"Yea, if so be I have license," I answered; and she, taking me by the +hand, offered to lead me up the stairs to the room where she lay. I, +following her, came to the door of the chamber, but would not enter +till Bess fetched the nurse, who was the same had been at Sherwood +Hall, and who, knowing my name, was glad to see me, and with a curtsey +invited me in. White as a lily was the little face resting on a +pillow, with its blue eyes half shut, and a store of golden hair about +it, which minded me of the glories round angels' heads in my mother's +missal. + +"Sweet lamb!" quoth the nurse, as I stooped to kiss the pale forehead. +"She be too good for this world. Ofttimes she doth babble in her sleep +of heaven, and angels, and saints, and a wreath of white roses +wherewith a bright lady will crown her." + +"Kiss my lips," the sick child softly whispered, as I bent over her +bed. Which when I did, she asked, "What is your name? I mind your +face." When I answered, "Constance Sherwood," she smiled, as if +remembering where we had met. "I heard my grandam calling me last +night," she said; "I be going to her soon." Then a fit of pain came +on, and I had to leave her. She did go from this world a few days +after; and the nurse then told me her last words had been "Jesu! +Mary!" + +That day I did converse again alone with my Lady Surrey after dinner, +and walked in the garden; and when we came in, before I left, she gave +me a purse with some gold pieces in it, which the earl her husband +willed to bestow on Catholics in prison for their faith. For she said +he had so tender and compassionate a spirit, that if he did but hear +of one in distress he would never rest until he had relieved him; and +out of the affection he had for Mr. Martin, who was one while his +tutor, he was favorably inclined toward Catholics, albeit himself +resolved to conform to the queen's religion. When Mistress Ward came +for me, the countess would have her shown into her chamber, and would +not be contented without she ordered her coach to carry us back to +Holborn, that we might take with us the clothes and cordials which she +did bestow upon us for our poor clients. She begged Mrs. Ward's +prayers for his grace, that he might soon be set at liberty; for she +said in a pretty manner, "It must needs be that Almighty God takes +most heed of the prayers of such as visit him in his affliction +in the person of poor prisoners; and she hoped one day to be free to +do so herself." Then she questioned of the wants of those Mistress +Ward had at that time knowledge of; and when she heard in what sore +plight they stood, it did move her to so great compassion, that she +declared it would be now one of her chiefest cares and pleasures in +life to provide conveniences for them. And she besought Mistress Ward +to be a good friend to her with mine aunt, and procure her to permit +of my frequent visits to Howard House, as the Charter House is now +often called: which would be the greatest good she could do her; and +that she would be most glad also if she herself would likewise favor +her sometimes with her company; which, "if it be not for mine own +sake, Mistress Ward," she sweetly said, "let it be for his sake who, +in the person of his afflicted priests, doth need assistance." + +When we reached home, we hid what we had brought under our mantles, +and then in Mistress Ward's chamber, where Muriel followed us. When +the door was shut we displayed these jewelled stores before her +pleased eyes, which did beam with joy at the sight. + +"Ah, Muriel," cried Mistress Ward, "we have found an Esther in a +palace; and I pray to God there may be other such in this town we ken +not of, who in secret do yet bear affection to the ancient faith." + +Muriel said in her slow way: "We must needs go to the Clink to-morrow; +for there is there a priest whose flesh has fallen off his feet by +reason of his long stay in a pestered and infected dungeon. Mr. Roper +told my father of him, and he says the gaoler will let us in if he be +reasonably dealt with." + +"We will essay your ointment, Mistress Sherwood," said Mistress Ward, +"if so be you can make it in time." + +"I care not if I sit up all night," I cried, "if any one will buy me +the herbs I have need of for the compounding thereof." Which Muriel +said she would prevail on one of the servants to do. + +The bell did then ring for supper; and when we were all seated, Kate +was urgent with me for to tell her how my Lady Surrey was dressed; +which I declared to her as follows: "She had on a brown juste au corps +embroidered, with puffed sleeves, and petticoat braided of a deeper +nuance; and on her head a lace cap, and a lace handkerchief on her +bosom." + +"And, prithee, what jewels had she on, sweet coz?" + +"A long double chain of gold and a brooch of pearls," I answered. + +"And his grace of Norfolk is once more removed to the Tower," said Mr. +Congleton sorrowfully. "'Tis like to kill him soon, and so save her +majesty's ministers the pains to bring him to the block. His +physician, Dr. Rhuenbeck, says he is afflicted with the dropsy." + +Polly said she had been to visit the Countess of Northumberland, who +was so grievously afflicted at her husband's death, that it was feared +she would fall sick of grief if she had not company to divert her from +her sad thoughts. + +"Which I warrant none could effect so well as thee, wench," her father +said; "for, beshrew me, if thou wouldst not make a man laugh on his +way to the scaffold with thy mad talk. And was the poor lady of better +cheer for thy company?" + +"Yea, for mine," Polly answered; "or else for M. de la Motte's, who +came in to pay his devoirs to her, for the first time, I take it, +since her lord's death. And after his first speech, which caused her +to weep a little, he did carry on so brisk a discourse as I never +noticed any but a Frenchman able to do. And she was not the worst +pleased with it that the cunning gentleman did interweave it with +anecdotes of the queen's majesty; which, albeit he related them with +gravity, did carry somewhat of ridicule in them. Such as of her +grace's dancing on Sunday before last at Lord Northampton's wedding, +and calling him to witness her paces, so that he might let +monsieur know how high and disposedly she danced; so that he would not +have had cause to complain, in case he had married her, that she was a +boiteuse, as had been maliciously reported of her by the friends of +the Queen of Scots. And also how, some days since, she had flamed out +in great choler when he went to visit her at Hampton Court; and told +him, so loud that all her ladies and officers could hear her +discourse, that Lord North had let her know the queen-mother and the +Duke of Guise had dressed up a buffoon in an English fashion, and +called him a Milor du Nord; and that two female dwarfs had been +likewise dressed up in that queen's chamber, and invited to mimic her, +the queen of England, with great derision and mockery. 'I did assure +her,' M. de la Motte said, 'with my hand on my heart, and such an +aggrieved visage, that she must needs have accepted my words as true, +that Milor North had mistaken the whole intent of what he had +witnessed, from his great ignorance of the French tongue, which did +render him a bad interpreter between princes; for that the +queen-mother did never cease to praise her English majesty's beauty to +her son, and all her good qualities, which greatly appeased her grace, +who desired to be excused if she, likewise out of ignorance of the +French language, had said aught unbecoming touching the queen-mother.' +'Tis a rare dish of fun, fit to set before a king, to hear this +Monsieur Ambassador speak of the queen when none are present but such +as make an idol of her, as some do." + +"For my part," said her father, when she paused in her speech, "I +mislike men with double visages and double tongues; and methinks this +monseer hath both, and withal a rare art for what courtiers do call +diplomacy, and plain men lying. His speeches to her majesty be so +fulsome in her praise, as I have heard some say who are at court, and +his flattery so palpable, that they have been ashamed to hear it; but +behind her back he doth disclose her failings with an admirable +slyness." + +"If he be sly," answered Polly, "I'll warrant he finds his match in +her majesty." + +"Yea," cried Kate, "even as poor Madge Arundell experienced to her +cost." + +"Ay," quoth Polly, "she catcheth many poor fish, who little know what +snare is laid for them." + +"And how did her highness catch Mistress Arundell?" I asked. + +"In this way, coz," quoth Polly: "she doth often ask the ladies round +her chamber, 'If they love to think of marriage?' and the wise ones do +conceal well their liking thereunto, knowing the queen's judgment in +the matter. But pretty, simple Madge Arundell, not knowing so deeply +as her fellows, was asked one day hereof, and said, 'She had thought +much about marriage, if her father did consent to the man she loved.' +'You seem honest, i' fait said the queen; 'I will sue for you your +father.' At which the dam was well pleased; and when father, Sir +Robert Arundell, came court, the queen questioned him his daughter's +marriage, and pressed him to give consent if the match were discreet. +Sir Robert, much astonished, said, 'He never had heard his daughter +had liking to any man; but he would give his free consent to what was +most pleasing to her highness's will and consent.' Then I will do the +rest,' saith the queen. Poor Madge was called in, and told by the +queen that her father had given his free consent. 'Then,' replied the +simple one, 'I shall be happy, an' it please your grace.' 'So thou +shalt; but not to be a fool and marry,' said the queen. 'I have his +consent given to me, and I vow thou shalt never get it in thy +possession. So go-to about thy business. I see thou art a bold one to +own thy foolishness so readily.'" + +"Ah me!" cried Kate, "I be glad not to be a maid to her majesty; for I +would not know how to answer her grace if she should ask me a +like question; for if it be bold to say one hath a reasonable desire +to be married, I must needs be bold then, for I would not for two +thousand pounds break Mr. Lacy's heart; and he saith he will die if I +do not marry him. But, Polly, thou wouldst never be at a loss to +answer her majesty." + +"No more than Pace her fool," quoth Polly, "who, when she said, as he +entered the room, 'Now we shall hear of our faults,' cried out, 'Where +is the use of speaking of what all the town doth talk of?'" + +"The fool should have been whipped," Mistress Ward said. + +"For his wisdom, or for his folly, good Mistress Ward?" asked Polly. +"If for wisdom, 'tis hard to beat a man for being wise. If for folly, +to whip a fool for that he doth follow his calling, and as I be the +licensed fool in this house--which I do take to be the highest +exercise of wit in these days, when all is turned upside down--I do +wish you all good-night, and to be no wiser than is good for your +healths, and no more foolish than suffices to lighten the heart;" and +so laughing she ran away, and Kate said in a lamentable voice, + +"I would I were foolish, if it lightens the heart." + +"Content thee, good Kate," I said; but in so low a voice none did +hear. And she went on, + +"Mr. Lacy is gone to Yorkshire for three weeks, which doth make me +more sad than can be thought of." + +I smiled; but Muriel, who had not yet oped her lips whilst the others +were talking, rising, kissed her sister, and said, "Thou wilt have, +sweet one, so great a contentment in his letters as will give thee +patience to bear the loss of his good company." + +At the which Kate brightened a little. To live with Muriel was a +preachment, as I have often had occasion since to find. + +On the first Sunday I was at London, we heard mass at the Portuguese +ambassador's house, whither many Catholics of his acquaintance +resorted for that purpose from our side of the city. In the afternoon +a gentleman, who had travelled day and night from Staffordshire on +some urgent business, brought me a letter from my father, writ only +four days before it came to hand, and about a week after my departure +from home. It was as follows: + + "MINE OWN DEAR CHILD,--The bearer of this letter hath promised to do + me the good service to deliver it to thee as soon as he shall reach + London; which, as he did intend to travel day and night, I compute + will be no later than the end of this week, or on Sunday at the + furthest. And for this his civility I do stand greatly indebted to + him; for in these straitened times 'tis no easy matter to get + letters conveyed from one part of the kingdom to another without + danger of discovering that which for the present should rather be + concealed. I received notice two days ago from Mistress Ward's + sister of your good journey and arrival at London; and I thank God, + my very good child, that he has had thee in his holy keeping and + bestowed thee under the roof of my good sister and brother; so that, + with a mind at ease in respect to thee, my dear sole earthly + treasure, I may be free to follow whatever course his providence may + appoint to me, who, albeit unworthy, do aspire to leave all things + to follow him. And indeed he hath already, at the outset of my + wanderings, sweetly disposed events in such wise that chance hath + proved, as it were, the servant of his providence; and, when I did + least look for it, by a divine ordination furnished me, who so short + a time back parted from a dear child, with the company of one who + doth stand to me in lieu of her who, by reason of her tender sex and + age, I am compelled to send from me. For being necessitated, for the + preservation of my life, to make seldom any long stay in one place, + I had need of a youth to ride with me on those frequent journeys, + and keep me company in such places as I may withdraw unto for + quietness and study. So being in Stafford some few days back, I + inquired of the master of the inn where I did lay for one night, if + it were not possible to get in that city a youth to serve me as a + page, whom I said I would maintain as a gentleman if he had + learning, nurture, and behavior becoming such a person. He said his + son, who was a schoolmaster, had a youth for a pupil who carried + virtue in his very countenance; but that he was the child of a + widow, who, he much feared, would not easily be persuaded to part + from him. Thereupon I expressed a great desire to have a sight of + this youth and charged him to deal with his master so that he should + be sent to my lodgings; which, when he came there, lo and behold, I + perceived with no small amazement that he was no other than Edmund + Genings, who straightway ran into my arms, and with much ado + restrained himself from weeping, so greatly was he moved with + conflicting passions of present joy and recollected sorrow at this + our unlooked-for meeting; and truly mine own contentment therein was + in no wise less than his. He told me that his mother's poverty + increasing, she had moved from Lichfield, where it was more bitter + to her, by reason of the affluence in which she had before lived in + that city, to Stafford, where none did know them; and she dwelt in a + mean lodging in a poor sort of manner. And whereas he had desired to + accept the offer of a stranger, with a view to relieve his mother + from the burden of his support, and maybe yield her some assistance + in her straits, he now passionately coveted to throw his fortune + with mine, and to be entered as a page in my service. But though she + had been willing before, from necessity, albeit averse by + inclination, to part with him, when she knew me it seemed awhile + impossible to gain her consent. Methinks she was privy to Edmund's + secret good opinion of Catholic religion, and feared, if he should + live with me, the effect thereof would follow. But her necessities + were so sharp, and likewise her regrets that he should lack + opportunities for his further advance in learning, which she herself + was unable to supply, that at length by long entreaty he prevailed + on her to give him license for that which his heart did prompt him + to desire for his own sake and hers. And when she had given this + consent, but not before, lest it should appear I did seek to bribe + her by such offers to so much condescension as she then evinced, I + proposed to assist her in any way she wished to the bettering of her + fortunes, and said I would do as much whether she suffered her son + to abide with me or no: which did greatly work with her to conceive + a more favorable opinion of me than she had heretofore held, and to + be contented he should remain in my service, as he himself so + greatly desired. After some further discourse, it was resolved that + I should furnish her with so much money as would pay her debts and + carry her to La Rochelle, where her youngest son was with her + brother, who albeit he had met with great losses, would + nevertheless, she felt assured, assist her in her need. Thus has + Edmund become to me less a page than a pupil, less a servant than a + son. I will keep a watchful eye over his actions, whom I already + perceive to be tractable, capable, willing to learn, and altogether + such as his early years did promise he should be. I thank God, who + has given me so great a comfort in the midst of so great trials, and + to this youth in me a father rather than a master, who will ever + deal with him in an honorable and loving manner, both in respect to + his own deserts and to her merits, whose prayers have, I doubt not, + procured this admirable result of what was in no wise designed, but + by God's providence fell out of the asking a simple question in an + inn and of a stranger. + + "And now, mine only and very dear child, I commend thee to + God's holy keeping; and I beseech thee to be as mindful of + thy duty to him as thou hast been + (and most especially of late) of thine to me; and imprint + in thy heart those words of holy writ, 'Not to fear those + that kill the body, but cannot destroy the soul;' but + withal, in whatever is just and reasonable, and not + clearly against Catholic religion, to observe a most exact + obedience to such as stand to thee at present in place of + thy unworthy father, and who, moreover, are of such virtue + and piety as I doubt not would move them rather to give + thee an example how to suffer the loss of all things for + Christ his sake than to offend him by a contrary + disposition. I do write to my good brother by the same + convenience to yield him and my sister humble thanks for + their great kindness to me in thee, and send this written + in haste; for I fear I shall not often have means + hereafter. Therefore I desire Almighty God to protect, + bless, and establish thee. So in haste, and _in + visceribus Christi_, adieu." + +The lively joy I received from this letter was greater than I can +rehearse, for I had now no longer before my eyes the sorrowful vision +of my dear father with none to tend and comfort him in his wanderings; +and no less was my contentment that Edmund, my dearly-loved playmate, +was now within reach of his good instructions, and free to follow that +which I was persuaded his conscience had been prompting him to seek +since he had attained the age of reason. + +I note not down in this history the many visits I paid to the Charter +House that autumn, except to notice the growing care Lady Surrey did +take to supply the needs of prisoners and poor people, and how this +brought her into frequent occasions of discourse with Mistress Ward +and Muriel, who nevertheless, as I also had care to observe, kept +these interviews secret, which might have caused suspicion in those +who, albeit Catholic, were ill-disposed to adventure the loss of +worldly advantages by the profession of what Protestants do term +perverse and open papistry. Kate and Polly were of this way of +thinking--prudence was ever the word with them when talk of religion +was ministered in their presence; and they would not keep as much as a +prayer-book in their chambers for fear of evil results. They were +sometimes very urgent with their father for to suffer them to attend +Protestant service, which they said would not hinder them from hearing +mass at convenient times, and saying such prayers as they listed; and +Polly the more so that a young gentleman of good birth and high +breeding, who conformed to the times, had become a suitor for her +hand, and was very strenuous with her on the necessity of such +compliance, which nevertheless her father would not allow of. Much +company came to the house, both Protestant and Catholic; for my aunt, +who was sick at other times, did greatly mend toward the evening. When +I was first in London for some weeks, she kept me with her at such +times in the parlor, and encouraged me to discourse with the visitors; +for she said I had a forwardness and vivacity of speech which, if +practised in conversation, would in time obtain for me as great a +reputation of wit as Polly ever enjoyed. I was nothing loth to study +in this new school, and not slow to improve in it. At the same time I +gave myself greatly to the reading of such books as I found in my +cousins' chambers; amongst which were some M. de la Motte had lent to +Polly, marvellous witty and entertaining, such as _Les Nouvelles de la +Reine de Navarre_ and the _Cents Histoires tragiques;_ and others done +in English out of French by Mr. Thomas Fortescue; and a poem, writ by +one Mr. Edmund Spenser, very beautiful, and which did so much bewitch +me, that I was wont to rise in the night to read it by the light of +the moon at my casement window; and the _Morte d' Arthur_, which Mr. +Hubert Rookwood had willed me to read, whom I met at Bedford, and +which so filled my head with fantastic images and imagined scenes, +that I did, as it were, fall in love with Sir Launcelot, and +would blush if his name were but mentioned, and wax as angry if his +fame were questioned as if he had been a living man, and I in a +foolish manner fond of him. + +This continued for some little time, and methinks, had it proceeded +further, I should have received much damage from a mode of life with +so little of discipline in it, and so great incitements to faults and +follies which my nature was prone to, but which my conscience secretly +reproved. And among the many reasons I have to be thankful to Mistress +"Ward, that never-to-be-forgotten friend, whose care restrained me in +these dangerous courses, partly by compulsion through means of her +influence with my aunt and her husband, and partly by such admonitions +and counsel as she favored me with, I reckon amongst the greatest +that, at an age when the will is weak, albeit the impulses be good, +she lent a helping hand to the superior part of my soul to surmount +the evil tendencies which bad example on the one hand, and weak +indulgence on the other, fostered in me, whose virtuous inclinations +had been, up to that time, hedged in by the strong safeguards of +parental watchfulness. She procured that I should not tarry, save for +brief and scanty spaces of time, in my aunt's parlor when she had +visitors, and so contrived that it should be when she herself was +present, who, by wholesome checks and studied separation from the rest +of the company, reduced my forwardness with just restraints such as +became my age. And when she discovered what books I read, oh, with +what fervent and strenuous speech she drove into my soul the edge of a +salutary remorse; with what tearful eyes and pleading voice she +brought before me the memory of my mother's care and my father's love, +which had ever kept me from drinking such empoisoned draughts from the +well-springs of corruption which in our days books of entertainment +too often prove, and if not altogether bad, yet be such as vitiate the +palate and destroy the appetite for higher and purer kinds of mental +sustenance. Sharp was her correction, but withal so seasoned with +tenderness, and a grief the keenness of which I could discern was +heightened by the thought that my two elder cousins (one time her +pupils) should be so drawn aside by the world and its pleasures as to +forget their pious habits, and minister to others the means of such +injury as their own souls had sustained, that every word she uttered +seemed to sink into my heart as if writ with a pen of fire; and mostly +when she thus concluded her discourse: + +"There hath been times, Constance, when men, yea and women also, might +play the fool for a while, without so great danger as now, and dally +with idle folly like children who do sport on a smooth lawn nigh to a +running stream, under their parents' eyes, who, if their feet do but +slip, are prompt to retrieve them. But such days are gone by for the +Catholics of this land. I would have thee to bear in mind that 'tis no +common virtue--no convenient religion--faces the rack, the dungeon, and +the rope; that wanton tales and light verses are no _viaticum_ for a +journey beset with such perils. And thou--thou least of all--whose +gentle mother, as thou well knowest, died of a broken heart from the +fear to betray her faith--thou, whose father doth even now gird +himself for a fight, where to win is to die on a scaffold--shouldst +scorn to omit such preparation as may befit thee to live, if it so +please God, or to die, if such be his will, a true member of his holy +Catholic Church. O Constance, it doth grieve me to the heart that thou +shouldst so much as once have risen from thy bed at night to feed thy +mind with the vain words of profane writers, in place of nurturing thy +soul by such reasonable exercises and means as God, through the +teaching of his Church, doth provide for the spiritual growth of his +children, and by prayer and penance make ready for coming conflicts. +Bethink thee of the many holy priests, yea and laymen also, who be in +uneasy dungeons at this time, lying on filthy straw, with chains +on their bruised limbs, but lately racked and tormented for their +religion, whilst thou didst offend God by such wanton conduct. Count +up the times thou hast thus offended; and so many times rise in the +night, my good child, and say the psalm 'Miserere,' through which we +do especially entreat forgiveness for our sins." + +I cast myself in her arms, and with many bitter tears lamented my +folly; and did promise her then, and, I thank God, ever after did keep +that promise, whilst I abode under the same roof with her, to read no +books but such as she should warrant me to peruse. Some days after she +procured Mr. Congleton's consent, who also went with us, to carry me +to the Marshalsea, whither she had free access at that time by reason +of her acquaintanceship with the gaoler's wife, who, when a maid, had +been a servant in her family, and who, having been once Catholic, did +willingly assist such prisoners as came there for their religion. +There we saw Mr. Hart, who hath been this long while confined in a +dark cell, with nothing but boards to lie on till Mistress Ward gave +him a counterpane, which she concealed under her shawl, and the gaoler +was prevailed on by his wife not to take from him. He was cruelly +tortured some time since, and condemned to die on the same day as Mr. +Luke Kirby and some others on a like charge, that he did deny the +queen's supremacy in spiritual matters; but he was taken off the +sledge and returned to prison. He did take it very quietly and +patiently; and when Mr. Congleton expressed a hope he might soon be +released from prison, he smiled and said: + +"My good friend, my crosses are light and easy; and the being deprived +of all earthly comfort affords a heavenly joy, which maketh my prison +happy, my confinement merciful, my solitude full of blessings. To God, +therefore, be all praise, honor, and glory, for so unspeakable a +benefit bestowed upon his poor, wretched, and unworthy servant." + +So did he comfort those who were more grieved for him than he for +himself; and each in turn we did confess; and after I had disburdened +my conscience in such wise that he perceived the temper of my mind, +and where to apply remedies to the dangers the nature of which his +clearsightedness did foresee, he thus addressed me: + +"The world, my dear daughter, soon begins to seem insipid, and all its +pleasures grow bitter as gall; all the fine shows and delights it +affords appear empty and good for nothing to such as have tasted the +happiness of conversing with Christ, though it be amidst torments and +tribulations, yea and in the near approach of death itself. This joy +so penetrates the soul, so elevates the spirit, so changes the +affections, that a prison seems not a prison but a paradise, death a +goal long time desired, and the torments which do accompany it jewels +of great price. Take with thee these words, which be the greatest +treasure and the rarest lesson for these times: 'He that loveth his +life in this world shall lose it, and he that hateth it shall find +it;' and remember the devil is always upon the watch. Be you also +watchful. Pray you for me. I have a great confidence that we shall see +one another in heaven, if you keep inviolable the word you have given +to God to be true to his Catholic Church and obedient to its precepts, +and he gives me the grace to attain unto that same blessed end." + +These words, like the sower's seed, fell into a field where thorns +oftentimes threatened to choke their effect; but persecution, when it +arose, consumed the thorns as with fire, and the plant, which would +have withered in stony ground, bore fruit in a prepared soil. + +As we left the prison, it did happen that, passing by the gaoler's +lodge, I saw him sitting at a table drinking ale with one whose back +was to the door. A suspicion came over me, the most unlikely in the +world, for it was against all credibility, and I had not seen so much +as that person's face; but in the shape of his head and the manner of + his sitting, but for a moment observed, there was a resemblance +to Edmund Genings, the thought of which I could not shake off. When we +were walking home, Mr. Congleton said Mr. Hart had told him that a +short time back a gentleman had been seized, and committed to close +confinement, whom he believed, though he had not attained to the +certainty thereof, to be Mr. Willisden; and if it were so, that much +trouble might ensue to many recusants, by reason of that gentleman +having dealt in matters of great importance to such persons touching +lands and other affairs whereby their fortunes and maybe their lives +might be compromised. On hearing of this, I straightway conceived a +sudden fear lest it should be my father and not Mr. Willisden was +confined in that prison; and the impression I had received touching +the youth who was at table with the gaoler grew so strong in +consequence, that all sorts of fears founded thereon ran through my +mind, for I had often heard how persons did deceive recusants by +feigning themselves to be their friends, and then did denounce them to +the council, and procured their arrest and oftentimes their +condemnation by distorting and false swearing touching the speech they +held with them. One Eliot in particular, who was a man of great +modesty and ingenuity of countenance, so as to defy suspicion (but a +very wicked man in more ways than one, as has been since proved), who +pretended to be Catholic, and when he did suspect any to be a Jesuit, +or a seminary priest, or only a recusant, he would straightway enter +into discourse with him, and in an artful manner cause him to betray +himself; whereupon he was not slow to throw off the mask, whereby +several had been already brought to the rope. And albeit I would not +credit that Edmund should be such a one, the evil of the times was so +great that my heart did misgive me concerning him, if indeed he was +the youth whom I had espied on such familiar terms with that ruffianly +gaoler. I had no rest for some days, lacking the means to discover the +truth of that suspicion; for Mrs. Ward, to whom I did impart it, dared +not adventure again that week to the Marshalsea, by reason of the +gaoler's wife having charged her not to come frequently, for that her +husband had suddenly suspected her to be a recusant, and would by no +means allow of her visits to the prisoners; but that when he was drunk +she could sometimes herself get his keys and let her in, but not too +often. Mr. Congleton would have it the prisoner must be Mr. Willisden +and no other, and took no heed of my fears, which he said had no +reasonable grounds, as I had not so much as seen the features of the +youth I took to be my father's page. But I could by no means be +satisfied, and wept very much; and I mind me how, in the midst of my +tears that evening, my eyes fell on the frontispiece of a volume of +the _Morte d' Arthur_ which had been loosened when the book was in my +chamber, and in which was picture of Sir Launcelot, the present mirror +of my fancy. I had pinned it to my curtain, and jewelled it as a +treasure and fund of foolish musings, even after yielding up, with +promise to read no more therein, the book which had once held it. And +thus were kept alive the fantastic imaginings wherewith I clothed a +creature conceived in a writer's brain, whose nobility was the +offspring of his thoughts and the continual entertainment of mine own. +But, oh, how just did I now find the words of a virtuous friend, and +how childish my folly, when the true sharp edge of present fear +dispersed these vapory clouds, even as the keen blast of a north wind +doth drive away a noxious mist! The sight of the dismal dungeon that +day visited, the pallid features of that true confessor therein +immured, his soul-piercing words, and the apprehensions which were +wringing my heart--banished of a sudden an idle dream engendered by +vain readings and vainer musings, and Sir Launcelot held henceforward +no higher, or not so high, a place in my esteem as the good Sir +Guy of Warwick, or the brave Hector de Valence. + +A day or two after, my Lady Surrey sent her coach for me; and I found +her in her dressing-room seated on a couch with her waiting-women and +Mistress Milicent around her, who were displaying a great store of +rich suits and jewels and such-like gear drawn from wardrobes and +closets, the doors of which were thrown open, and little Mistress Bess +was on tiptoe on a stool afore a mirror with a diamond necklace on, +ribbons flaring about her head, and a fan of ostrich-feathers in her +hand. + +"Ah, sweet one," said my lady, when I came in, "thou must needs be +surprised at this show of bravery, which ill consorts with the +mourning of our present garb or the grief of our hearts; but, i' +faith, Constance, strange things do come to pass, and such as I would +fain hinder if I could." + +"Make ready thine ears for great news, good Constance," cried Bess, +running toward me encumbered with her finery, and tumbling over sundry +pieces of head-gear in her way, to the waiting-woman's no small +discomfiture. "The queen's majesty doth visit upon next Sunday the +Earl and Countess of Surrey; and as her highness cannot endure the +sight of dool, they and their household must needs put it off and +array themselves in their costliest suits; and Nan is to put on her +choicest jewels, and my Lady Bess must be grand too, to salute the +queen." + +"Hush, Bessy," said my lady; and leading me into the adjoining +chamber, "'tis hard," quoth she, holding my hand in hers,--"'tis hard +when his grace is in the Tower and in disgrace with her majesty, and +only six weeks since our Moll died, that she must needs visit this +house, where there be none to entertain her highness but his grace's +poor children; 'tis hard, Constance, to be constrained to kiss the +hand which threatens his life who gave my lord his, and mostly to +smile at the queen's jesting, which my Lord Arundel saith we must of +all things take heed to observe, for that she as little can endure +dool in the face as in the dress." + +A few tears fell from those sweet eyes upon my hand, which she still +held, and I said, "Comfort you, my sweet lady. It must needs be that +her majesty doth intend favor to his grace through this visit. Her +highness would never be minded to do so much honor to the children if +she did not purpose mercy to the father." + +"I would fain believe it were so," said the countess, thoughtfully; +"but my Lord Arundel and my Lady Lumley hold not, I fear, the same +opinion. And I do hear from them that his grace is much troubled +thereat, and hath written to the Earl of Leicester and my Lord +Burleigh to lament the queen's determination to visit his son, who is +not of age to receive her." [Footnote 1] + + [Footnote 1: Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1547 to + 1580: "Duke of Norfolk to the Earl of Leicester and Lord Burleigh; + laments the queen's determination to visit his son's house, who is + not of age to receive her."] + +"And doth my Lord of Surrey take the matter to heart?" + +"My lord's disposition doth incline him to conceive hope where others +see reason to fear," she replied. "He saith he is glad her majesty +should come to this house, and that he will take occasion to petition +her grace to release his father from the Tower; and he hath drawn up +an address to that effect, which is marvellous well expressed; and, +since 'tis written, he makes no more doubt that her majesty will +accede to it than if the upshot was not yet to come, but already past. +And he hath set himself with a skill beyond his years, and altogether +wonderful in one so young, to prepare all things for the queen's +reception; so that when his grandfather did depute my Lord Berkeley +and my Lady Lumley to assist us (he himself being too sick to go out +of his house) in the ordering of the collation in the banqueting-room, +and the music wherewith to greet her highness on her arrival, as well +as the ceremonial to be observed during her visit, they did find that +my lord had so disposedly and with so great taste ordained the +rules to be observed, and the proper setting forth of all things, that +little remained for them to do. And he will have me to be richly +dressed, and to put on the jewels which were his mother's, which, +since her death, have not been worn by the two Duchesses of Norfolk +which did succeed her. Ah me, Mistress Constance, I often wish my lord +and I had been born far from the court, in some quiet country place, +where there are no queens to entertain, and no plots which do bring +nobles into so great dangers." + +"Alack," I cried, "dear lady, 'tis not the highest in the land that be +alone to suffer. Their troubles do stand forth in men's eyes; and when +a noble head is imperilled all the world doth know of it; but blood is +spilt in this land, and torments endured, which no pen doth chronicle, +and of which scant mention is made in palaces." + +"There is a passion in thy speech," my lady said, "which betrayeth a +secret uneasiness of heart. Hast thou had ill news, my Constance?" + +"No news," I answered, "but that which my fears do invent and +whisper;" and then I related to her the cause of my disturbance, which +she sought to allay by kind words, which nevertheless failed to +comfort me. + +Before I left she did propose I should come to the Charter House on +the morning of the queen's visit, and bring Mistress Ward and my +cousins also, as it would pleasure them to stand in the gallery and +witness the entertainment, and albeit my heart was heavy, methought it +was an occasion not to be overpast to feast my eyes with the sight of +majesty, and to behold that great queen who doth hold in her hands her +subjects' lives, and who, if she do but nod, like the god of the +heathen which books do speak of, such terrible effects ensue, greater +than can be thought of; and so I gave my lady mine humble thanks, and +also for that she did gift me with a dainty hat and a well-embroidered +suit to wear on that day; which, when Kate saw, she fell into a +wonderful admiration of the pattern, and did set about to get it +copied afore the day of the royal visit to Howard House. As I returned +to Holborn in my lady's coach there was a great crowd in the Cornhill, +and the passage for a while arrested by the number of persons on their +way to what is now called the Royal Exchange, which her majesty was to +visit in the evening. I sat very quietly with mine eyes fixed on the +foot-passengers, not so much looking at their faces as watching their +passage, which, like the running of a river, did seem endless. But at +last it somewhat slackened, and the coach moved on, when, at the +corner of a street, nigh unto a lamp over a shop, which did throw a +light on his face, I beheld Edmund Genings. Oh, how my heart did beat, +and with what a loud cry I did call to the running footmen to stop! +But the noise of the street was so great they did not hear me, and I +saw him turn and pursue his way down another street toward the river. +My good uncle, when he heard I had verily seen my father's new page in +the city, gave more heed to my suspicions, and did promise to go +himself unto the Marshalsea on the next day, and seek to verify the +name of the prisoner Mr. Hart had made mention of. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +On the next morning Mr. Congleton called me into the library from the +garden, where I was gathering for Muriel a few of such hardy flowers +as had survived the early frost. She was wont to carry them with her +to the prisons; for it was one of her kindly apprehensions of the +sufferings of others to divide the comfort wherewith things seemingly +indifferent do affect those that be shut out of all kinds of +enjoyments; and where a less tender nature should have been content to +provide necessaries, she, through a more delicate acquaintanceship and +light touch, as it were, on the strings of the human heart, ever +bethought herself when it was possible to minister if but one minute's +pleasure to those who had often well-nigh forgotten the very taste of +it. And she hath told me touching that point of flowers, how it had +once happened that the scent of some violets she had concealed in her +bosom with a like intent did move to tears an aged man, who for many +years past had not seen, no not so much as one green leaf in his +prison; which tears, he said, did him more good than anything else +which could have happened to him. + +I threw down on a bench the chrysanthemums and other bold blossoms I +had gathered, and running into the house, opened the door of the +library, where, lo and behold, to my no small agitation and amaze, I +discovered Edmund Genings, who cried out as I entered: + +"O my dear master's daughter and well-remembered playmate, I do greet +you with all mine heart; and I thank God that I see you in so good a +condition, as I may with infinite gladness make report of to +your good father, who through me doth impart to you his paternal +blessing and most affectionate commendations." + +"Edmund," I cried, scarce able to speak for haste, "is he in London? +is he in prison?" + +"No, forsooth," quoth Mr. Congleton. + +"No, verily," quoth Edmund; both at the same time. + +"Thy fears, silly wench," added the first, "have run away with thy +wits, and I do counsel thee another time to be at more pains to +restrain them; for when there be so many occasions to be afraid of +veritable evils, 'tis but sorry waste to spend fears on present +fancies." + +By which I did conjecture my uncle not to be greatly pleased with +Edmund's coming to his house, and noticed that he did fidget in his +chair and ever and anon glanced at the windows which opened on the +garden in an uneasy manner. + +"And wherefore art thou then in London?" I asked of Edmund; who thus +answered: + +"Because Mr. James Fenn, who is also called Williesden, was taken and +committed close prisoner to the Marshalsea a short time back; which, +when my dear master did hear of, he was greatly disturbed and +turmoiled thereby, by reason of weighty matters having passed betwixt +him and that gentleman touching lands belonging to recusants, and that +extraordinary damage was likely to ensue to several persons of great +merit, if he could not advertise him in time how to answer to those +accusations which would be laid against him; and did seek if by any +means he could have access to him; but could find no hope thereof +without imminent danger not to himself only, but to many beside, if he +had come to London and been recognized." + +"Wherein he did judge rightly," quoth my uncle; and then Edmund-- + +"So, seeing my master and others of a like faith with him in so great +straits touching their property and their lives also, I did most +earnestly crave his licence, being unknown and of no account in the +world, and so least to be suspected, to undertake this enterprise, +which he could not himself perform; which at last he did grant me, +albeit not without reluctance. And thus resolved I came to town." + +"And has your hope been frustrated?" Mr. Congleton asked. To whom +Edmund--"I thank God, the end hath answered my expectations. I +committed the cause to him to whom nothing is impossible, and +determined, like a trusty servant, to do all that in me did lie +thereunto. And thinking on no other means, I took up my abode near to +the prison, hoping in time to get acquainted with the keeper; for +which purpose I had to drink with him each day, standing the cost, +beside paying him well, which I was furnished with the means to do. At +last I did, by his means, procure to see Mr. Fenn, and not only come +to speak to him, but to have access to his cell three or four times +with pen and ink and paper to write his mind. So I have furnished him +with the information he had need of, and likewise brought away with me +such answers to my master's questions as should solve his doubts how +to proceed in the aforesaid matters." + +"God reward thee, my good youth," Mr. Congleton said, "for this thing +which thou hast done; for verily, under the laws lately set forth, +recusants be in such condition that, if not death, beggary doth stare +them in the face, and no remedy thereunto except by such assistance as +well-disposed Protestants be willing to yield to them." + +"And where doth my father stay at this present time?" I asked; and +Edmund answered: + +"Not so much as to you, Mistress Constance, am I free to reply to that +question; for when I left, 'Edmund,' quoth my master, 'it is a part of +prudence in these days to guard those that be dear to us from dangers +ensuing on what men do call our perversity; and as these new laws +enact that he which knoweth any one which doth hear mass, be it +ever so privately, or suffers a priest to absolve him, or performs any +other action appertaining to Catholic religion, and doth not discover +him before some public magistrate within the space of twenty days next +following, shall suffer the punishment of high treason, than which +nothing can be more horrible; and that neither sex nor age be a cause +of exemption from the like penalties, so that father must accuse son, +and sister brother, and children their parents;--it is, I say, a +merciful part to hide from our friends where we do conceal ourselves, +whose consciences do charge us with these novel crimes, lest theirs be +also burdened with the choice either to denounce us if called upon to +testify thereon, or else to speak falsely. Therefore I do charge thee, +my son Edmund' (for thus indeed doth my master term me, his unworthy +servant), 'that thou keep from my good child, and my dear sister, and +her no less dear husband, the knowledge of my present, but indeed +ever-shifting, abode; and solely inform them, by word of mouth, that I +am in good health, and in very good heart also, and do most earnestly +pray for them, that their strength and patience be such as the times +do require.'" + +"And art thou reconciled, Edmund?" I asked, ever speaking hastily and +beforehand with prudence. Mr. Congleton checked me sharply; whereupon, +with great confusion, I interrupted my speech; but Edmund, albeit not +in words yet by signs, answered my question so as I should be +certified it was even as I hoped. He then asked if I should not be +glad to write a letter to my father,--which he would carry to him, so +that it was neither signed nor addressed,--which letter I did sit down +to compose in a hurried manner, my heart prompting my pen to utter +what it listed, rather than weighing the words in which those +affectionate sentiments were expressed. Mr. Congleton likewise did +write to him, whilst Edmund took some food, which he greatly needed; +for he had scarce eaten so much as one comfortable meal since he had +been in London, and was to ride day and night till he reached his +master. I wept very bitterly when he went away; for the sight of him +recalled the dear mother I had lost, the sole parent whose company I +was likewise reft of, and the home I was never like to see again. But +when those tears were stayed, that which at the time did cause sadness +ministered comfort in the retrospect, and relief from worse fears made +the present separation from my father more tolerable. And on the next +Sunday, when I went to the Charter House, with my cousins and Mistress +Ward, I was in such good cheer that Polly commended my prating; which +she said for some days had been so stayed that she had greatly feared +I had caught the infectious plague of melancholy from Kate, whom she +vowed did half kill her with the sound of her doleful sighing since +Mr. Lacy was gone, which she said was a dismal music brought into +fashion by love-sick ladies, and such as she never did intend to +practise; "for," quoth she, "I hold care to be the worst enemy in +life; and to be in love very dull sport, if it serve not to make one +merry." This she said turning to Sir Ralph Ingoldby, the +afore-mentioned suitor for her hand, who went with us, and thereupon +cried out, "Mercy on us, fair mistress, if we must be merry when we be +sad, and by merriment win a lady's love, the lack of which doth so +take away merriment that we must needs be sad, and so lose that which +should cure sadness;" and much more he in that style, and she +answering and making sport of his discourse, as was her wont with all +gentlemen. + +When we reached the house, Mrs. Milicent was awaiting us at the door +of the gallery for to conduct us to the best place wherein we could +see her majesty's entrance. There were some seats there and other +persons present, some of which were of Polly's acquaintance, with whom +she did keep up a brisk conversation, in which I had occasion to +notice the sharpness of her wit, in which she did surpass any woman I +have since known, for she was never at a loss for an answer; as when +one said to her-- + +"Truly, you have no mean opinion of yourself, fair mistress." + +"As one shall prize himself," quoth she, "so let him look to be valued +by others." + +And another: "You think yourself to be Minerva." + +Whereupon she: "No, sir, not when I be at your elbow;" meaning he was +no Ulysses. + +And when one gentleman asked her of a book, if she had read it: + +"The epistle," she said, "and no more." + +"And wherefore no more," quoth he, "since that hath wit in it?" + +"Because," she answered, "an author who sets all his wit in his +epistle is like to make his book resemble a bankrupt's doublet." + +"How so?" asked the gentleman. + +"In this wise," saith she, "that he sets the velvet before, though the +back be but of buckram." + +"For my part," quoth a foppish young man, "I have thoughts in my mind +should fill many volumes." + +"Alack, good sir," cries she, "is there no type good enough to set +them in?" + +He, somewhat nettled, declares that she reads no books but of one +sort, and doats on _Sir Bevis and Owlglass_, or _Fashion's Mirror_, +and such like idle stuff, wherein he himself had never found so much +as one word of profitable use or reasonable entertainment. + +"I have read a fable," she said, "which speaks of a pasture in which +oxen find fodder, hounds, hares, storks, lizards, and some animals +nothing." + +"To deliver you my opinion," said a lady who sat next to Polly's +disputant, "I have no great esteem for letters in gentlewomen. The +greatest readers be oft the worst doers." + +"Letters!" cries Polly; "why, surely they be the most weighty things +in creation; for so much as the difference of one letter mistaken in +the order in which it should stand in a short sentence doth alter the +expression of a man's resolve in a matter of life and death." + +"How prove you that, madam?" quoth the lady. + +"By the same token," answered Polly, "that I once did hear a gentleman +say, 'I must go die a beggar,' who willed to say, 'I must go buy a +dagger.'" + +They all did laugh, and then some one said, "There was a witty book of +emblems made on all the cardinals at Rome, in which these scarlet +princes were very roughly handled. Bellarmine, for instance, as a +tiger fast chained to a post, and a scroll proceeding from the beast's +mouth--'Give me my liberty; you shall see what I am.' I wish," quoth +the speaker, "he were let loose in this island. The queen's judges +would soon constrain him to eat his words." + +"Peradventure," answered Polly, "his own words should be too good food +for a recusant in her majesty's prisons." + +"Maybe, madam, you have tasted of that food," quoth the aforesaid +lady, "that you be so well acquainted with its qualities." + +Then I perceived that Mistress Ward did nudge Polly for to stay her +from carrying on a further encounter of words on this subject; for, as +she did remind us afterward, many persons had been thrown into prison +for only so much as a word lightly spoken in conversation which should +be supposed even in a remote manner to infer a favorable opinion of +Catholic religion; as, for instance, a bookseller in Oxford, for a +jest touching the queen's supremacy in ecclesiastical matters, had +been a short time before arrested, pilloried, whipped, and his ears +nailed to a counter, which with a knife he had himself to cut through +to free himself; which maybe had not been taken much notice of, as +nothing singular in these days, the man being a Catholic and of no +great note, but that much talk had been ministered concerning a +terrible disease which broke out immediately after the passing of that +sentence, by which the judge which had pronounced it, the jury, and +many other persons concerned in it, had died raving mad; to the no +small affright of the whole city. I ween, howsoever, no nudging should +have stopped Polly from talking, which indeed was a passion with her, +but that a burst of music at that time did announce the queen's +approach, and we did all stand up on the tiptoe of expectation to see +her majesty enter. + +My heart did beat as fast as the pendulum of a clock when the cries +outside resounded, "Long live Queen Elizabeth!" and her majesty's +voice was distinctly heard answering, "I thank you, my good people;" +and the ushers crying out, "La Royne!" as the great door was thrown +open; through which we did see her majesty alight from her coach, +followed by many nobles and lords, and amongst them one of her +bishops, and my Lord and my Lady Surrey, kneeling to receive her on +the steps, with a goodly company of kinsfolks and friends around them. +Oh, how I did note every lineament of that royal lady, of so great +power and majesty, that it should seem as if she were not made of the +same mould as those of whom the Scriptures do say, that dust they are, +and to dust must they return. Very majestic did she appear; her +stature neither tall nor low, but her air exceedingly stately. Her +eyes small and black, her face fair, her nose a little hooked, and her +lips narrow. Upon her head she had a small crown, her bosom was +uncovered; she wore an oblong collar of gold and jewels, and on her +neck an exceeding fine necklace. She was dressed in white silk +bordered with pearls, and over it a mantle of black silk shot with +silver threads; her train, which was borne by her ladies, was very +long. When my lord knelt, she pulled off her glove, and gave him her +right hand to kiss, sparkling with rings and jewels; but when my lady, +in as sweet and modest a manner as can be thought of, advanced to pay +her the same homage, she did withdraw it hastily and moved on. I can +even now, at this distance of time, call to mind the look of that +sweet lady's face as she rose to follow her majesty, who leant on my +lord's arm with a show of singular favor, addressing herself to him in +a mild, playful, and obliging manner. How the young countess's cheek +did glow with a burning blush, as if doubting if she had offended in +the manner of her behavior, or had anyways merited the repulse she had +met with! How she stood for one moment irresolute, seeking to catch my +lord's eye, so as to be directed by him; and failing to do so, with a +pretty smile, but with what I, who loved her, fancied to be a +quivering lip, addressed herself to the ladies of the queen, and +conducted them through the cloisters to the garden, whither her +highness and my lord had gone. + +In a brief time Mistress Milicent came to fetch us to a window which +looked on the square, where a great open tent was set for a collation, +and seats all round it for the concert which was to follow. As we went +along, I took occasion to ask of her the name of a waiting-gentleman, +who ordered about the servants with no small alacrity, and met her +majesty with many bows and quirks and a long compliment in verse. + +"Tis Mr. Churchyard," she said; "a retainer of his grace's, and a poet +withal." + +"Not a _grave_ one, I hope," said Polly. + +"Nay," answered the simple gentlewoman, "but one well versed in +pageants and tournaments and suchlike devices, as well as in writing +of verses and epigrams very fine and witty. Her majesty doth sometimes +send for him when any pageant is on hand." + +"Ah, then, I doubt not," quoth Polly, "he doth take himself to be no +mean personage in the state, and so behaves accordingly." + + +Pretty Milicent left us to seek for Mistress Bess, whom she had charge +of that day; and now our eyes were so intent on watching the spectacle +before us that even Polly for a while was silent. The queen did sit at +table with a store of noblemen waiting on her; and a more goodly sight +and a rarer one is not to be seen than a store of men famed for so +much bravery and wit and arts of state, that none have been found to +surpass them in any age, who be so loyal to a queen and so reverent to +a woman as these to this lady, who doth wear the crown of so great a +kingdom, so that all the world doth hold it in respect, and her hand +sought by so many great princes. But all this time I could not +perceive that she so much as once did look toward my Lady Surrey, or +spoke one single word to her or to my Lady Lumley, or little Bess, and +took very scanty notice also of my Lady Berkeley, his grace's sister, +who was a lady of so great and haughty a stomach, and of speech so +eloquent and ready, that I have heard the queen did say, that albeit +Lady Berkeley bent her knee when she made obeisance to her, she could +very well see she bent not her will to love or serve her, and that she +liked not such as have a man's heart in a woman's body. 'Tis said that +parity breedeth not affection, or affinity respect, of which saying +this opinion of the queen's should seem a notable example. But to see +my Lady Surrey so treated in her own husband's father's house worked +in me such effects of choler, mingled with sadness, that I could +scarce restrain my tears. Methought there was a greater nobleness and +a more true queenly greatness in her meek and withal dignified +endurance of these slights who was the subject, than in the sovereign +who did so insult one who least of all did deserve it. What the queen +did, others took pattern from; and neither my Lord Burleigh, nor my +Lord Leicester, or Sir Christopher Hatton, or young Lord Essex (albeit +my lord's own friend ), or little Sir John Harrington, her majesty's +godson, did so much as speak one civil word or show her the least +attention; but she did bear herself with so much sweetness, and, +though I knew her heart was full almost to bursting, kept up so brave +an appearance that none should see it except such as had their own +hearts wounded through hers, that some were present that day who since +have told me that, for promise of future distinction and true nobility +of aspect and behavior, they had not in their whole lives known one to +be compared with the young Countess of Surrey. + +Polly did point out to us the aforesaid noblemen and gentlemen, and +also Dr. Cheney, the bishop of Gloucester, who had accompanied her +majesty, and M. de la Motte, the French ambassador, whom she did seem +greatly to favor; but none that day so much as my Lord Surrey, on whom +she let fall many gracious smiles, and used playful fashions with him, +such as nipping him once or twice on the forehead, and shaking her +fan, as if to reprove him for his answers to her questions, which +nevertheless, if her countenance might be judged of, did greatly +content her; albeit I once observed her to frown (and methought, then, +what a terror doth lie in a sovereign's frown) and speak sharply to +him; at the which a high color came into his cheek, and rose up even +to his temples, which her majesty perceiving, she did again use the +same blandishments as before; and when the collation was ended, and +the concert began, which had been provided for her grace's +entertainment, she would have him sit at her feet, and gave him so +many tokens of good-will, that I heard Sir Ralph Ingoldby, who was +standing behind me, say to another gentleman: + +"If that young nobleman's father is like to be shorter by the head, +his father's son is like to have his own raised higher than ever his +father's was, so he doth keep clear of papistry and overmuch fondness +for his wife, which be the two things her majesty doth most abhor +in her courtiers." + +My heart moving me to curiosity, I could not forbear to ask: + +"I pray you, sir, wherefore doth not her majesty like her courtiers to +love their wives?" + +At the which question he laughed, and said: + +"By reason, Mistress Constance, that when they be in that case they do +become stayers at home, and wait not on her majesty with a like +diligence as when they are unmarried, or leastways love not their +ladies. The Bible saith a man cannot serve God and mammon. Now her +grace doth opine men cannot serve the queen and their wives also." + +"Then," I warmly cried, "I hope my Lord Surrey shall never serve the +queen!" + +"I' faith, say it not so loud, young Mistress Papist," said Sir Ralph, +laughing, "or we shall have you committed for high treason. Some are +in the Tower, I warrant you, for no worse offence than the uttering of +such like rash words. How should you fancy to have your pretty ears +bored with a rougher instrument than Master Anselm's the jeweller?" + +And so he; but Polly, who methinks was not well pleased that he should +notice mine ears, which were little and well-shaped, whereas hers were +somewhat larger than did accord with her small face, did stop his +further speech with me by asking him if he were an enemy to papists; +for if so, she would have naught to say to him, and he might become a +courtier to the queen, or any one else's husband, for anything she did +care, yea, if she were to lose her ears for it. + +And he answered, he did very much love some papists, albeit he hated +papistry when it proved not conformable to reason and the laws of the +country. + +And so they fell to whispering and suchlike discourses as lovers hold +together; and I, being seated betwixt this enamored gentleman and the +wall on the other side, had no one then to talk with. But if my tongue +and mine ears also, save for the music below, were idle, not so mine +eyes; for they did stray from one point to another of the fair +spectacle which the garden did then present, now resting on the queen +and those near unto her, and anon on my Lady Surrey, who sat on a +couch to the left of her majesty's raised canopy, together with Lady +Southwell, Lady Arundell (Sir Robert's wife), and other ladies of the +queen, and on one side of her the bishop of Gloucester, whom, by +reason of his assiduous talking with her, I took more special note of +than I should otherwise have done; albeit he was a man which did +attract the eye, even at the first sight, by a most amiable suavity of +countenance, and a sweet and dignified behavior both in speech and +action such as I have seldom observed greater in any one. His manners +were free and unconstrained; and only to look at him converse, it was +easy to perceive he had a most ready wit tempered with benevolence. He +seemed vastly taken with my Lady Surrey; and either had not noticed +how others kept aloof from her, or was rather moved thereby to show +her civility; for they soon did fall into such eager, and in some sort +familiar, discourse, as it should seem to run on some subject of like +interest to both. Her color went and came as the conversation +advanced; and when she spoke, he listened with such grave suavity, +and, when she stayed her speech, answered in so obliging a manner, and +seemed so loth to break off, that I could not but admire how two +persons, hitherto strangers to each other, and of such various ages +and standing, should be so companionable on a first acquaintanceship. + +When the queen rose to depart, in the same order in which she came, +every one kneeling as she passed, I did keenly watch to see what +visage she would show to my Lady Surrey, whom she did indeed this time +salute; but in no gracious manner, as one who looks without looking, +notices without heeding, and in tendering of thanks thanketh +not. As my lord walked by her majesty's side through the cloisters to +the door, he suddenly dropped on one knee, and drawing a paper from +his bosom, did present it to her highness, who started as if +surprised, and shook her head in a playful manner--(oh, what a cruel +playfulness methought it was, who knew, as her majesty must needs also +have done, what that paper did contain)--as if she would not be at that +time troubled with such grave matters, and did hand it to my Lord +Burleigh; then gave again her hand to my lord to kiss, who did kneel +with a like reverence as before; but with a shade of melancholy in his +fair young face, which methought became it better than the smiles it +had worn that day. + +After the queen had left, and all the guests were gone save such few +as my lord had willed to stay to supper in his private apartments, I +went unto my lady's chamber, where I found Mistress Milicent, who said +she was with my lord, and prayed me to await her return; for that she +was urgent I should not depart without speaking with her, which was +also what I greatly desired. So I took a book and read for the space +of an hour or more, whilst she tarried with my lord. When she came in, +I could see she had been weeping. But her women being present, and +likewise Mistress Bess, she tried to smile, and pressed my hand, +bidding me to stay till she was rid of her trappings, as she did term +them; and, sitting down before her mirror,--though I ween she never +looked at her own face, which that evening had in it more of the +whiteness of a lily than the color of the rose,--she desired her women +to unbraid her hair, and remove from her head the diamond circlet, and +from her neck the heavy gold chain with a pearl cross, which had +belonged to her husband's mother. Then stepping out of her robe, she +put on a silk wrapper, and so dismissed them, and likewise little +Bess, who before she went whispered in her ear: + +"Nan, methinks the queen is foul and red-haired, and I should not care +to kiss her hand for all the fine jewels she doth wear." + +And so hugged her round the neck and stopped her mouth with kisses. +When they were gone, + +"Constance," quoth she, "we be full young, I ween, for the burden laid +upon us, my lord and me." + +"Ay, sweet one," I cried; "and God defend thou shouldst have to carry +it alone;" for my heart was sore that she had had so little favor +shown to her and my lord so much. A faint color tinged her cheek as +she replied: + +"God knows I should be well cotent that Phil should stand so well in +her majesty's good graces as should be convenient to his honor and the +furtherance of his fortunes, if so be his father was out of prison; +and 'tis little I should reck of such slights as her highness should +choose to put upon me, if I saw him not so covetous of her favor that +he shall think less well of his poor Nan hereafter by reason of the +lack of her majesty's good opinion of her, which was so plainly showed +to-day. For, good Constance, bethink thee what a galling thing it is +to a young nobleman to see his wife so meanly entreated; and for her +majesty to ask him, as she did, if the pale-faced chit by his side, +when she arrived, was his sister or his cousin. And when he said it +was his wife who had knelt with him to greet her majesty"--"Wife!" +quoth the queen; "i' faith, I had forgotten thou wast married--if +indeed that is to be called a marriage which children do contract +before they come to the age of reason; and said she would take +measures for that a law should be passed which should make such +foolish marriages unlawful. And when my lord tried to tell her we had +been married a second time a few months since, she pretended not to +hear, and asked M. de la Motte if, in his country, children were made +to marry in their infancy. To which he gave answer, that the like +practice did sometimes take place in France; and that he had +himself been present at a wedding where the bridegroom was whipped +because he did refuse to open the ball with the bride. At the which +her majesty very much laughed, and said she hoped my lord had not been +so used on his wedding-day. I promise you Phil was very angry; but the +wound these jests made was so salved over with compliments, which +pleasantly tickle the ears when uttered by so great a queen, and marks +of favor more numerous than can be thought of, in the matter of +inviting him to hunt with her in Marylebone and Greenwich park, and +telling him he deserved better treatment than he had, as to his +household and setting forward in the world, that methinks the scar was +not long in healing; albeit in the relating of these passages the pain +somewhat revived. But what doth afflict me the most is the refusal her +highness made to read my lord's letter, lamenting the unhappy position +of the duke his father, and hoping the queen, by his means and those +of other friends, should mitigate her anger. I would have had Phil not +only go down on his knees as he did, but lie on the threshold of the +door, so that she should have walked over the son's body if she +refused to show mercy to the father; but he yet doth greatly hope from +the favor showed him that he may sue her majesty with better effect +some other time; and I pray God he may be right." + +Here did the dear lady break off her speech, and, hiding her face in +her hands, remained silent for a short space; and I, seeing her so +deeply moved, with the intent to draw away her thoughts from painful +musings, inquired of her if the good entertainment she had found in +conversing with the bishop had been attributable to his witty +discourse, or to the subjects therein treated of. + +"Ah, good Constance," she answered, "our talk was of one whom you have +often heard me speak of--Mr. Martin's friend, Master Campion, +[Footnote 2] who is now beyond seas at Douay, and whom this bishop +once did hold to be more dear to him than the apple of his eye. He +says his qualifications were so excellent, and he so beloved by all +persons in and outside of his college at Oxford, that none more so; +and that he did himself see in him so great a present merit and +promise of future excellence, that it had caused him more grief than +anything else which had happened to him, and been the occasion of his +shedding more tears than he had ever thought to have done, when he who +had received from him deacon's orders, and whom he had hoped should +have been an honor and a prop to the Church of England, did forsake it +and fly in the face of his queen and his country: first, by going into +Ireland; and then, as he understood, beyond seas, to serve the bishop +of Rome, against the laws of God and man. But that he did yet so +dearly affection him that, understanding we had sometimes tidings of +Mr. Martin, by whose means he had mostly been moved to this lamentable +defection, he should be contented to hear somewhat of his whilom son, +still dear to him, albeit estranged. I told him we did often see +Master Campion when Mr. Martin was here; and that, from what I had +heard, both were like to be at Douay, but that no letters passed +between Mr. Martin and ourselves; for that his grace did not allow of +such correspondence since he had been reconciled and gone beyond seas. +Which the bishop said was a commendable prudence in his grace, and the +part of a careful father; and added, that then maybe he knew more of +what had befallen Master Campion than I did; for that he had a long +epistle from him, so full of moving arguments and pithy remonstrances +as might have shaken one not well grounded and settled in his +religion, and which also contained a recital of his near arrest in +Dublin, where the queen's officers would have arrested him, if a +friend had not privately warned him of his danger. And I do know, good + Constance, who that friend was; for albeit I would not tell the +bishop we had seen Master Campion since he was reconciled, he, in +truth, was here some months ago: my lord met him in the street, +disguised as a common travelling man, and brought him into the garden, +whither he also called me; and we heard then from him how he would +have been taken in Ireland, if the viceroy himself, Sir Henry Sydney, +who did greatly favor him,--as indeed all who know him incline to do, +for his great parts, and nobleness of mind and heart, and withal most +attractive manners,--had not sent him a message, in the middle of the +night, to the effect that he should instantly leave the city, and take +measures for to escape abroad. So, under the name of Patrick, and +wearing the livery of the Earl of Kildare, he travelled to a port +twenty miles from Dublin, and there embarked for England. The queen's +officers, coming on board the ship whereon he had taken his passage, +before it sailed, searched it all over; but through God's mercy, he +said, and St. Patrick's prayers, whose name he had taken, no one did +recognize him, and he passed to London; and the day after, my lord +sent him over to Flanders. So much as the bishop did know thereon, he +related unto me, and stinted not in his praise of his great merits, +and lamentations for what he called his perversion; and hence he took +occasion to speak of religion. And when I said I had been brought up +in the Catholic religion, albeit I now conformed to the times, he said +he would show me the way to be Catholic and still obey the laws, and +that I might yet believe for the most part what I had learnt from my +teachers, so be I renounced the Pope, and commended my saying the +prayers I had been used to; which, he doubted not, were more pleasing +to God than such as some ministers do recite out of their own heads, +whom he did grieve to hear frequented our house, and were no better +than heretics, such as Mr. Fox and Mr. Fulke and Mr. Charke, and the +like of them. But what did much content me was, that he mislikes the +cruel usage recusants do meet with; and he said, not as if boasting of +it, but to declare his mind thereon, that he had often sent them alms +who suffered for their conscience' sake, as many do at this time. But +that I was to remember many Protestants were burnt in the late queen's +time, and that if Papists were not kept under by strict laws, the like +might happen again." + + [Footnote 2: State Papers.] + +"You should have told him," I cried, who had been silent longer than I +liked, "that Protestants are burnt also in this reign, by the same +token that some Anabaptists did so suffer a short time back, to your +Mr. Fox's no small disgust, who should will none but Catholics to be +put to death." + +"Content thee, good Constance," my lady answered; "I be not so +furnished with arguments as thou in a like case wouldst be. So I only +said, I would to God none were burnt, or hanged, or tortured any more +in this country, or in the world at all, for religion; and my lord of +Gloucester declared he was of the same mind, and would have none so +dealt with, if he could mend it, here or abroad. Then the queen rising +to go, our discourse came to an end; but this good bishop says he will +visit me when he next doth come to London, and make that matter plain +to me how I can remain Catholic, and obey the queen, and content his +grace." + +"Then he will show you," I cried, "how to serve God and the world, +which the gospel saith is a thing not to be thought of, and full of +peril to the soul." + +My Lady Surrey burst into tears, and I was angered with myself that I +had spoken peradventure over sharply to her who had too much trouble +already; but it did make me mad to see her so beset that the faith +which had been once so rooted in her, and should be her sure and only +stay in the dangerous path she had entered on, should be in such wise +shaken as her words did indicate. But she was not angered, the +sweet soul; and drawing me to herself, laid her head on my bosom, and +said: + +"Thou art a true friend, though a bold one; and I pray God I may never +lack the benefit of such friendship as thine, for he knoweth I have +great need thereof." + +And so we parted with many tender embraces, and our hearts more +strictly linked together than heretofore. + + +CHAPTER X. + +In the month of November of the same year in which the queen did visit +Lord and Lady Surrey at the Charter House, a person, who mentioned not +his name, delivered into the porter's hands at our gate a letter for +me, which I found to be from my good father, and which I do here +transcribe, as a memorial of his great piety toward God, and tender +love for me his unworthy child. + + "MY DEARLY BELOVED DAUGHTER (so he),--Your comfortable letter has + not a little cheered me; and the more so that this present one is + like to be the last I shall be able to write on this side of the + sea, if it so happen that it shall please God to prosper my intent, + which is to pass over into Flanders at the first convenient + opportunity: for the stress of the times, and mine own earnest + desire to live within the compass of a religious life, have moved me + to forsake for a while this realm, and betake myself to a place + which shall afford opportunity and a sufficiency of leisure for the + prosecution of my design. The comfortable report Edmund made of thy + health, increased height, and good condition, as also of thy + exceeding pleasant and affectionate behavior to him, as deputed from + thy poor father to convey to thee his paternal blessing, together + with such tokens as a third person may exhibit of that most natural + and tender affection which he bears to thee, his sole child, whom + next to God he doth most entirely value and love,--of which charge + this good youth assured me he did acquit himself as my true son in + Christ, which indeed he now is,--and my good brother's letter and + thine, which both do give proof of the exceeding great favor shown + toward thee in his house, wherein he doth reckon my Constance not so + much a niece (for such be his words) as a most cherished daughter, + whose good qualities and lively parts have so endeared her to his + family, that the greatest sorrow which could befal them should be to + lose her company; which I do not here recite for to awaken in thee + motions of pride or a vain conceit of thine own deserts, but rather + gratitude to those whose goodness is so great as to overlook thy + defects and magnify thy merits;--Edmund's report, I say, coupled with + these letters, have yielded me all the contentment I desire at this + time, when I am about to embark on a perilous voyage, of which none + can foresee the course or the end; one in which I take the cross of + Christ as my only staff; his words, "Follow me," for my motto; and + his promise to all such as do confess him before men, as the assured + anchor of my hope. + + "Our ingenuous youth informed thee (albeit I doubt not in such wise + as to conceal, if it had been possible, his own ability, which, with + his devotedness, do exceed praise) how he acquitted both me and + others of much trouble and imminent danger by his fortunate despatch + with that close prisoner. I had determined to place him with some of + my acquaintance, lest perhaps he should return, not without some + danger of his soul, to his own friends; but when he understood my + resolution, he cried out with like words to those of St. Lawrence, + 'Whither goeth my master without his servant? Whither goeth my + father without his son?' and with tears distilling from his eyes, he + humbly entreated he might go together with me, saying, as it were + with St. Peter, 'Master, I am ready to go with you to prison, + yea to death;' but, forecasting his future ability, as also to try + his spirit a little further, I made him answer it was impossible; to + which our Edmund replied, 'Alas! and is it impossible? Shall my + native soil restrain free will? or home-made laws alter devout + resolutions? Am I not young? Can I not study? May I not in time get + what you now have got--learning for a scholar? yea, virtue for a + priest, perhaps; and so at length obtain that for which you now are + ready? Direct me the way, I beseech you; and let me, if you please, + be your precursor. Tell me what I shall do, or whither I must go; + and for the rest, God, who knows my desire, will provide and supply + the want. Can it be possible that he who clothes the lilies of the + field, and feeds the fowls of the air, will forsake him who forsakes + all to fulfil his divine precept, "Seek first the kingdom of God and + his justice, and all other things shall be given to you?"' Finally, + he ended, to my no small admiration, by reciting the words of our + Saviour, 'Whosoever shall forsake home, or brethren, or sisters, or + father, or mother, for my sake and the gospel's, shall receive a + hundredfold and possess life everlasting.' + + "By these impulses, often repeated with great fervor of spirit, I + perceived God Almighty's calling in him, and therefore at last + condescended to let him take his adventures, procuring him + commendations to such friends beyond seas as should assist him in + his purpose, and furnishing him with money sufficient for such a + journey; not judging it to be prudent to keep him with me, who have + not ability to warrant mine own passage; and so noted a recusant, + that I run a greater risk to be arrested in any port where I embark. + And so, in all love and affection, we did part; and I have since had + intelligence, for the which I do return most humble and hearty + thanks to God, that he hath safely crossed the seas, and has now + reached a sure harbor, where his religious desires may take effect. + And now, daughter Constance, mine own good child, fare thee well! + Pray for thy poor father, who would fain give thee the blessing of + the elder as of the younger son--Jacob's portion and Esau's also. + But methinks the blessings of this world be not at the present time + for the Catholics of this land; and so we must needs be content, for + our children as for ourselves (and a covetous man he is which should + not therewith be satisfied), with the blessings our Lord did utter + on the mountain, and mostly with that in which he doth say, 'Blessed + are ye when men shall persecute you, and revile you, and say all + manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake; for great is + your reward in heaven.' + + "Your loving father in natural affection and ten thousand times more + in the love of Christ, H. S." + +Oh, what a gulf of tenfold separation did those words "beyond seas" +suggest betwixt that sole parent and his poor child! Thoughts travel +not with ease beyond the limits which nature hath set to this isle; +and what lies beyond the watery waste wherewith Providence hath +engirdled our shores offers no apt images to the mind picturing the +invisible from the visible, as it is wont to do with home-scenes, +where one city or one landscape beareth a close resemblance to +another. And if, in the forsaking of this realm, so much danger did +lie, yea, in the very ports whence he might sail, so that I, who +should otherwise have prayed that the winds might detain him, and the +waves force him back on his native soil, was constrained to supplicate +that they should assist him to abandon it,--how much greater, +methought, should be the perils of his return, when, as he indeed +hoped, a mark should be set on him which in our country dooms men to a +cruel death! Many natural tears I shed at this parting, which until +then had not seemed so desperate and final; and for a while +would not listen to the consolations which were offered by the good +friends who were so tender to me, but continued to wander about in a +disconsolate manner in the garden, or passionately to weep in my own +chamber, until Muriel, the sovereign mistress of comfort to others, +albeit ever ailing in her body, and contemned by such as dived not +through exterior deformity into the interior excellences of her soul, +with sweet compulsion and authoritative arguments drawn from her +admirable faith and simple devotion, rekindled in mine the more noble +sentiments sorrow had obscured, not so much through diverting, as by +elevating and sweetening, my thoughts to a greater sense of the +goodness of God in calling my father, and peradventure Edmund also, to +so great an honor as the priesthood, and never more honorable than in +these days, wherein it oftentimes doth prove the road to martyrdom. + +In December of that year my Lord and my Lady Surrey, by the Duke of +Norfolk's desire, removed for some weeks to Kenninghall for change of +air, and also Lady Lumley, his grace judging them to be as yet too +young to keep house alone. My lord's brothers and Mistress Bess, with +her governess, were likewise carried there. Lady Surrey wrote from +that seat, that, were it not for the duke's imprisonment and constant +fears touching his life, she should have had great contentment in that +retirement, and been most glad to have tarried there, if it had +pleased God, so long as she lived, my lord taking so much pleasure in +field-sports, and otherwise so companionable, that he often offered to +ride with her; and in the evenings they did entertain themselves with +books, chiefly poetry, and sometimes played at cards. They had but few +visitors, by reason of the disgrace and trouble his grace was in at +that time; only such of their neighbors as did hunt and shoot with the +earl her husband; mostly Sir Henry Stafford and Mr. Rookwood's two +sons, whom she commended; the one for his good qualities and honest +carriage, and the other for wit and learning; as also Sir Hammond +l'Estrange, a gentleman who stayed no longer away from Kenninghall, +she observed, than thereunto compelled by lack of an excuse for +tarrying if present, or returning when absent. He often procured to be +invited by my lord, who used to meet him out of doors, and frequently +carried him back with him to dine or to sup, and often both. + +"And albeit" (so my lady wrote) "I doubt not but he doth set a +reasonable value on my lord's society,--who, although young enough to +be his son, is exceedingly conversable and pleasant, as every one who +knows him doth testify,--and mislikes not, I ween, the good cheer, or +the wine from his grace's cellar; yet I warrant thee, good Constance, +'tis not for the sake only of our poor company or hospitable table +that this good knight doth haunt us, but rather from the passion I +plainly see he hath conceived for our Milicent since a day when he +hurt his arm by a fall not far from hence, and I procured she should +dress it with that rare ointment of thine, which verily doth prove of +great efficacy in cases where the skin is rubbed off. Methinks the +wound in his arm was then transplanted into his heart, and the good +man so bewitched with the blue eyes and dove-like countenance of his +chirurgeon, that he has fallen head-over-ears in love, and is, as I +hope, minded to address her in a lawful manner. His wound did take an +exceeding long time in healing, to the no small discredit of thy +ointment; for he came several days to have it dressed, and I could not +choose but smile when at last our sweet practitioner did ask him, in +an innocent manner, if the wound did yet smart, for indeed she could +see no appearance in it but what betokened it to be healed. He +answered, 'There be wounds, Mistress Milicent, which smart, albeit no +outward marks of such suffering do show themselves.' 'Ay,' quoth +Milicent, 'but for such I be of opinion further dressing is needless; +and with my lady's licence, I will furnish you, sir, with a liquid +which shall strengthen the skin, and so relieve the aching, if so you +be careful to apply it night and morning to the injured part, and to +cork the bottle after using it.' 'My memory is so bad, fair +physician,' quoth the knight, 'that I am like to forget the +prescription.' She answered, he should stand the bottle so as it +should meet his eyes when he rose, and then he must needs remember it. + +"And so broke off the discourse. But when he is here I notice how his +eyes do follow her when she sets the table for primero, or works at +the tambour-frame, or plays with Bess, to whom he often talks as she +sits on _her_ knees, who, if I mistake not, shall be, one of these +days, Lady l'Estrange, and is as worthy to be so well married as any +girl in the kingdom, both as touching her birth and her exceeding +great virtue and good disposition. He is an extreme Protestant, and +very bitter against Catholics; but as she, albeit mild in temper, is +as firmly settled in the new religion as he is, no difference will +exist between them on a point in which 'tis most of all to be desired +husbands and wives should be agreed. Thou mayst think that I have been +over apt to note the signs of this good knight's passion, and to draw +deductions from such tokens as have appeared of it, visible maybe to +no other eyes than mine; but, trust me, Constance, those who do +themselves know what 'tis to love with an engrossing affection are +quick to mark the same effects in others. When Phil is in the room, I +find it a hard matter at times to restrain mine eyes from gazing on +that dear husband, whom I do so entirely love that I have no other +pleasure in life but in his company. And not to seem to him or to +others too fond, which is not a beseeming thing even in a wife, I +study to conceal my constant thinking on him by such devices as +cunningly to provoke others to speak of my lord, and so appear only to +follow whereunto my own desire doth point, or to propose questions,--a +pastime wherein he doth excel,--and so minister to mine own pride in +him without direct flattery, or in an unbecoming manner setting forth +his praise. And thus I do grow learned in the tricks of true +affection, and to perceive in such as are in love what mine own heart +doth teach me to be the signals of that passion." + +So far my lady; and not long after, on the first day of February, I +had a note from her, written in great distraction of mind at the +Charter House, where she and all his grace's children had returned in +a sudden manner on the hearing that the queen had issued a warrant for +the duke's execution on the next Monday. Preparations were made with +the expectation of all London, and a concourse of many thousands to +witness it, the tread of whose feet was heard at night, like to the +roll of muffled drums, along the streets; but on the Sunday, late in +the night, the queen's majesty entered into a great misliking that the +duke should die the next day, and sent an order to the sheriffs to +forbear until they should hear further. His grace's mother, the +dowager countess, and my Lady Berkeley his sister (now indeed lowering +her pride to most humble supplication), and my Lord Arundel from his +sick-bed, and the French ambassador, together with many others, sued +with singular earnestness to her majesty for his life, who, albeit she +had stayed the execution of his sentence, would by no means recall it. +I hasted to the Charter House, Mistress Ward going with me, and both +were admitted into her ladyship's chamber, with whom did sit that day +the fairest picture of grief I ever beheld--the Lady Margaret Howard, +who for some months had resided with the Countess of Sussex, who was a +very good lady to her and all these afflicted children. Albeit Lady +Surrey had often greatly commended this young lady, and styled her so +rare a piece of perfection that no one could know and not admire +her, the loveliness of her face, nobility of her figure, and +attractiveness of her manners exceeded my expectations. The sight of +these sisters minded me then of what Lady Surrey had written when they +were yet children, touching my Lord Surrey, styling them "two twin +cherries on one stalk;" and methought, now that the lovely pair had +ripened into early maturity, their likeness in beauty (though +differing in complexion) justified the saying. Lady Margaret greeted +us as though we had not been strangers, and in the midst of her great +and natural sorrow showed a grateful sense of the share we did take in +a grief which methinks was deeper in her than in any other of these +mourners. + +Oh, what a period of anxious suspense did follow that first reprieve! +what alternations of hope and fear! what affectionate letters were +exchanged between that loving father and good master and his sorrowful +children and servants; now writing to Mr. Dyx, his faithful steward: + + "Farewell, good Dyx! your service hath been so faithful unto me, as + I am sorry that I cannot make proof of my good-will to recompense + it. I trust my death shall make no change in you toward mine, but + that you will faithfully perform the trust that I have reposed in + you. Forget me, and remember me in mine. Forget not to counsel and + advise Philip and Nan's unexperienced years; the rest of their + brothers' and sisters' well-doing resteth much upon their virtuous + and considerate dealings. God grant them his grace, which is able to + work better in them than my natural well-meaning heart can wish unto + them. Amen. And so, hoping of your honesty and faithfulness when I + am dead, I bid you this my last farewell. T. H." + +Now to another trusty friend and honest dependent: + + "Good friend George, farewell. I have no other tokens to send my + friends but my books; and I know how sorrowful you are, amongst the + rest, for my hard hap, whereof I thank God; because I hope his + merciful chastisement will prepare me for a better world. Look well + throughout this book, and you shall find the name of duke very + unhappy. I pray God it may end with me, and that others may speed + better hereafter. But if I might have my wish, and were in as good a + state as ever you knew me, yet I would wish for a lower degree. Be a + friend, I pray you, to mine; and do my hearty commendations to your + good wife and to gentle Mr. Dennye. I die in the faith that you have + ever known me to be of. Farewell, good friend. + + "Yours dying, as he was living, + + "NORFOLK." + +These letters and some others did pass from hand to hand in that +afflicted house; and sometimes hope and sometimes despair prevailed in +the hearts of the great store of relatives and friends which often +assembled there to confer on the means of softening the queen's anger +and moving her to mercy; one time through letters from the king of +France and other princes, which was an ill shot, for to be so +entreated by foreign potentates did but inflame her majesty's anger +against the duke; at others, by my Lord Sussex and my Lord Arundel, or +such persons in her court as nearly approached her highness and could +deal with her when she was merry and chose to condescend to their +discourse. But the wind shifts not oftener than did the queen's mind +at that time, so diverse were her dispositions toward this nobleman, +and always opposed to such as appeared in those who spoke on this +topic, whether as pressing for his execution, or suing for mercy to be +extended to him. I heard much talk at that time touching his grace's +good qualities: how noble had been his spirit; how moderate his +disposition; how plain his attire; how bountiful his alms. + + +As the fates of many do in these days hang on the doom of one, much +eagerness was shown amongst those who haunted my uncle's house to +learn the news afloat concerning the issue of the duke's affair. Some +Catholics of note were lying in prison at that time in Norwich, most +of them friends of these gentlemen; of which four were condemned to +death at that time, and one to perpetual imprisonment and loss of all +his property for reconcilement; but whilst the Duke of Norfolk was yet +alive, they held the hope he should, if once out of prison, recover +the queen's favor and drive from their seats his and their mortal +enemies, my Lords Burleigh and Leicester. And verily the axe was held +suspended on the head of that duke for four months and more, to the +unspeakable anguish of many; and, amongst others, his aged and +afflicted mother, the Dowager Countess of Surrey, who came to London +from the country to be near her son in this extremity. Three times did +the queen issue a warrant for his death and then recalled it; so that +those trembling relatives and well-wishers in and out of his house did +look each day to hear the fatal issue had been compassed, In the month +of March, when her majesty was sick with a severe inflammation and +agonizing pain, occasioned, some said, by poison administered by +papists, but by her own physicians declared to arise from her contempt +of their prescriptions, there was a strange turmoil, I ween, in some +men's breasts, albeit silent as a storm brewing on a sultry day. Under +their breath, and with faces shaped to conceal the wish which bred the +inquiry, they asked of the queen's health; whilst others tore their +hair and beat their breasts with no affected grief, and the most part +of the people lamented her danger. Oh, what five days were those when +the shadow of death did hover over that royal couch, and men's hearts +failed them for fear, or else wildly whispered hopes such as they +durst not utter aloud,--not so much as to a close friend,--lest the +walls should have ears, or the pavement open under their feet! My God, +in thy hands lie the issues of life and death. Thou dost assign to +each one his space of existence, his length of days. Thy ways are not +as our ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts. She lived who was yet +to doom so many princely heads to the block, so many saintly forms to +the dungeon and the rack. She lived whose first act was to stretch +forth a hand yet weakened by sickness to sign, a fourth time, a +warrant for a kinsman's death, and once again recalled it. Each day +some one should come in with various reports touching the queen's +dispositions. Sometimes she had been heard to opine that her dangers +from her enemies were so great that justice must be done. At others +she vehemently spoke of the nearness of blood to herself, of the +superiority in honor of this duke; and once she wrote to Lord Burleigh +(a copy of this letter Lord Surrey saw in Lord Oxford's hands), "that +she was more beholden to the hinder part of her head than she dared +trust the forward part of the same;" and expressed great fear lest an +irrevocable deed should be committed. But she would not see Lord +Surrey, or suffer him to plead in person for his father's life. Yet +there were good hopes amongst his friends he should yet be released, +till one day--I mind it well, for I was sitting with Lady Surrey, +reading out loud to her, as I was often used to do--my Lord Berkeley +burst into the chamber, and cried, throwing his gloves on the table +and swearing a terrible oath: + +"That woman has undone us!" + +"What, the queen?" said my lady, white as a smock. + +"Verily a queen," he answered gloomily. "I warrant you the Queen of +Scots hath ended as she did begin, and dragged his grace into a pit +from whence I promise you he will never now rise. A letter writ in her +cipher to the Duke of Alva hath been intercepted, in which that +luckless royal wight, ever fatal to her friends as to herself, +doth say, 'that she hath a strong party in England, and lords who +favor her cause; some of whom, albeit prisoners, so powerful, that the +Queen of England should not dare to touch their lives.' Alack! those +words, 'should not dare,' shall prove the death-warrant of my noble +brother. Cursed be the day when he did get entangled in that popish +siren's plots!" + +"Speak not harshly of her, good my lord," quoth Lady Surrey, in her +gentle voice. "Her sorrows do bear too great a semblance to our own +not to bespeak from us patience in this mishap." + +"Nan," said Lord Berkeley, "thou art of too mild a disposition. 'Tis +the only fault I do find with thee. Beshrew me, if my wife and thee +could not make exchange of some portion of her spirit and thy meekness +to the advantage of both. I warrant thee Phil's wife should hold a +tight hand over him." + +"I read not that precept in the Bible, my lord," quoth she, smiling. +"It speaketh roundly of the duty of wives to obey, but not so much as +one word of their ruling." + +"Thou hadst best preach thy theology to my Lady Berkeley," he +answered; "and then she--" + +"But I pray you, my lord, is it indeed your opinion that the queen +will have his grace's life?" + +"I should not give so much as a brass pin, Nan, for his present chance +of mercy at her hands," he replied sadly. And his words were justified +in the event. + +Those relentless enemies of the duke, my Lords Burleigh and Leicester, +--who, at the time of the queen's illness, had stood three days and +three nights without stirring from her bedside in so great terror lest +she should die and he should compass the throne through a marriage +with the Queen of Scots, that they vowed to have his blood at any cost +if her majesty did recover,--so dealt with parliament as to move it to +send a petition praying that, for the safety of her highness and the +quieting of her realm, he should be forthwith executed. And from that +day to the mournful one of his death, albeit from the great reluctance +her majesty had evinced to have him despatched, his friends, yea unto +the last moment, lived in expectancy of a reprieve; he himself made up +his mind to die with extraordinary fortitude, not choosing to +entertain so much as the least hope of life. + +One day at that time I saw my Lady Margaret mending some hose, and at +each stitch she made with her needle tears fell from her eyes. I +offered to assist her ladyship; but she said, pressing the hose to her +heart, "I thank thee, good Constance; but no other hands than mine +shall put a stitch in these hose, for they be my father's, who hath +worn them with these holes for many months, till poor Master Dyx +bethought himself to bring them here to be patched and mended, which +task I would have none perform but myself. My father would not suffer +him to procure a new pair, lest it should be misconstrued as a sign of +his hope or desire of a longer life, and with the same intent he +refuseth to eat flesh as often as the physicians do order; 'for,' +quoth he, 'why should I care to nourish a body doomed to such near +decay?'" Then, after a pause, she said, "He will not wear clothes +which have any velvet on them, being, he saith, a condemned person." + +Lady Surrey took one of the hose in her hand, but Lady Margeret, with +a filial jealousy, sadly smiling, shook her head: "Nay, Nan," quoth +she, "not even to thee, sweet one, will I yield one jot or tittle of +this mean, but, in relation to him who doth own these poor hose, +exalted labor." Then she asked her sister if she had heard of the +duke's request that Mr. Fox, his old schoolmaster, should attend on +him in the Tower, to whom he desired to profess that faith he did +first ground him in. + +And my Lady Surrey answered yea, that my lord had informed her of + it, and many other proofs beside that his grace sought to +prepare for death in the best manner he could think of. + +"Some ill-disposed persons have said," quoth Lady Margaret, "that it +is with the intent to propitiate the queen that my father doth show +himself to be so settled in his religion, and that he is not what he +seems; but tis a slander on his grace, who hath been of this way of +thinking since he attained to the age of reason, and was never at any +time reconciled, as some have put forth." + +This was the last time I did see these afflicted daughters until long +after their father's death, who was beheaded in the chapel of the +Tower shortly afterward. When the blow fell which, striking at him, +struck a no less fatal blow to the peace and well-doing of his +children, they all left the Charter House, and removed for a time into +the country, to the houses of divers relatives, in such wise as before +his death the duke had desired. A letter which I received from Lady +Surrey a few weeks after she left London doth best serve to show the +manner of this disposal, and the temper of the writer's mind at that +melancholy time. + + "My OWN DEAR CONSTANCE,--It may like you to hear that your afflicted + friend is improved in bodily health, and somewhat recovered from the + great suffering of mind which the duke, their good father's death, + has caused to all his poor children--mostly to Megg and Phil and me; + for their brothers and my sister are too young greatly to grieve. My + Lord Arundel is sorely afflicted, I hear, and hath writ a very + lamentable letter to our good Lady Sussex concerning this sad + mishap. My Lady Berkeley and my Lady Westmoreland are almost + distracted with grief for the death of a brother they did singularly + love. That poor lady (of Westmoreland) is much to be pitied, for + that she is parted from her husband, maybe for ever, and has lost + two fair daughters in one year. + + "My lord hath shown much affection for his father, and natural + sorrow in this sad loss; and when his last letters written a short + time before he suffered, and addressed "To my loving children," + specially the one to Philip and Nan, reached his hands, he wept so + long and bitterly that it seemed as if his tears should never cease. + My lord is forthwith to make his chief abode at Cambridge for a year + or two; and Meg and I, with Lady Sussex, and I do hope Bess + also--albeit his grace doth appear in his letter to be otherwise + minded. But methinks he apprehended to lay too heavy a charge on + her, who is indeed a good lady to us all in this our unhappy + condition, and was loth Megg should be out of my company. + + "The parting with my lord is a sore trial, and what I had not looked + to; but God's will be done; and if it be for the advantage of his + soul, as well as the advancement of his learning, he should reside + at the university, it should ill befit me to repine. And now + methinks I will transcribe, if my tears do not hinder me, his + grace's letters, which will inform thee of his last wishes better + than I could explain them; for I would have thee know how tender and + forecasting was his love for us, and the good counsel he hath left + unto his son, who, I pray to God, may always follow it. And I would + have thee likewise note one point of his advice, which indeed I + should have been better contented he had not touched upon, forasmuch + as his having done so must needs hinder that which thy fond love for + my poor self, and resolved adherence to what he calls 'blind + papistry,' doth so greatly prompt thee to desire; for if on his + blessing he doth charge us to beware of it, and then I should move + my lord to so much neglect of his last wishes as at any time to be + reconciled, bethink thee with what an ill grace I should urge on + him, in other respects, obedience to his commands, which indeed are + such as do commend themselves to any Christian soul as most wise and + profitable. And now, breaking off mine own discourse to + transcribe his words--a far more noble and worthy employment of my + pen--and praying God to bless thee, I remain thy tender and loving + friend, + "ANN SURREY." + +"The Duke of Norfolk's letters to his children: + + "DEAR CHILDREN,--This is the last letter that ever I think to write + to you; and therefore, if you loved me, or that you will seem + grateful to me for the special love that I have ever borne unto you, + then remember and follow these my last lessons. Oh, Philip, serve + and fear God, above all things. I find the fault in myself, that I + have (God forgive me!) been too negligent in this point. Love and + make much of your wife; for therein, considering the great adversity + you are now in, by reason of my fall, is your greatest present + comfort and relief, beside your happiness in having a wife which is + endued with so great towardness in virtue and good qualities, and in + person comparable with the best sort. Follow these two lessons, and + God will bless you; and without these, as you may see by divers + examples out of the Scripture, and also by ordinary worldly proof, + where God is not feared, all goeth to wreck; and where love is not + between the husband and wife, there God doth not prosper. My third + lesson is, that you show yourself loving and natural to your + brothers and sister and sister-in-law. Though you be very young in + years, yet you must strive with consideration to become a man; for + it is your own presence and good government of yourself that must + get friends; and if you take that course, then have I been so + careful a father unto you, as I have taken such order as you, by + God's grace, shall be well able, beside your wife's lands, to + maintain yourself like a gentleman. Marry! the world is greedy and + covetous; and if the show of the well government of yourself do not + fear and restrain their greedy appetite, it is like that, by + undirect means, they will either put you from that which law layeth + upon you, or else drive you to much trouble in trying and holding + your right. When my grandfather died, I was not much above a year + elder than you are now; and yet, I thank God, I took such order with + myself, as you shall reap the commodity of my so long passed travel, + if you do now imitate the like. Help to strengthen your young and + raw years with good counsel. I send you herewith a brief schedule, + whom I wish you to make account of as friends, and whom as servants; + and I charge you, as a father may do, to follow my direction + therein; my experience can better tell what is fit for you than your + young years can judge of. I would wish you for the present to make + your chief abode at Cambridge, which is the place fittest for you to + promote your learning in; and beside, it is not very far hence, + whereby you may, within a day's warning, be here to follow your own + causes, as occasion serveth. If, after a year or two, you spend some + time in a house of the law, there is nothing that will prove more to + your commodity, considering how for the time you shall have + continual business about your own law affairs; and thereby also, if + you spend your time well, you shall be ever after better able to + judge in your own causes. I too late repent that I followed not this + course that now I wish to you; for if I had, then my case perchance + had not been in so ill state as now it is. + + "When God shall send you to those years as that it shall be fit for + you to keep house with your wife (which I had rather were sooner, + than that you should fall into ill company), then I would wish you + to withdraw yourself into some private dwelling of your own. And if + your hap may be so good as you may so live without being called to + higher degree, oh, Philip, Philip, then shall you enjoy that blessed + life which your woful father would fain have done, and never could + be so happy. Beware of high degree. To a vain-glorious, proud + stomach it seemeth at the first sweet. Look into all + chronicles, and you shall find that in the end it brings heaps of + cares, toils in the state, and most commonly in the end utter + overthrow. Look into the whole state of the nobility in times past, + and into their state now, and then judge whether my lessons be true + or no. Assure yourself, as you may see by the book of my accounts, + and you shall find that my living did hardly maintain my expenses; + for all the help that I had by Tom's lands, and somewhat by your + wife's and sister's-in-law, I was ever a beggar. You may, by the + grace of God, be a great deal richer and quieter in your low degree, + wherein I once again wish you to continue. They may, that shall wish + you the contrary, have a good meaning; but believe your father, who + of love wishes you best, and with the mind that he is at this + present fully armed to God, who sees both states, both high and low, + as it were even before his eyes. Beware of the court, except it be + to do your prince service, and that, as near as you can, in the + lowest degree, for that place hath no certainty; either a man, by + following thereof, hath too much of worldly pomp, which, in the end, + throws him down headlong, or else he liveth there unsatisfied; + either that he cannot attain for himself that he would, or else that + he cannot do for his friends as his heart desireth. Remember these + notes, and follow them; and then you, by God's help, shall reap the + commodity of them in your old years. + + "If your brothers may be suffered to remain in your company, I would + be most glad thereof, because continuing together should still + increase love between you. But the world is so catching of + everything that falls, that Tom being, as I believe, after my death, + the queen's majesty's ward, shall be begged by one or another. But + yet you are sure to have your brother William left still with you, + because, poor boy, he hath nothing to feed cormorants withal; to + whom you will as well be a father as a brother; for upon my blessing + I commit him to your charge to provide for, if that which I have + assured him by law shall not be so sufficient as I mean it. If law + may take place, your sister-in-law will be surely enough conveyed to + his behoof, and then I should wish her to be brought up with some + friend of mine; as for the present I allow best of Sir Christopher + Heydon, if he will so much befriend you as to receive her to sojourn + with him; if not there in some other place, as your friends shall + best allow of. And touching the bestowing of your wife and Megg, who + I would be loth should be out of your wife's company; for as she + should be a good companion for Nan, so I commit Megg of especial + trust to her. I think good, till you keep house together, if my Lady + of Sussex might be entreated to take them to her as sojourners, + there were no place so fit considering her kindred unto you, and the + assured friend that I hope you shall find of her; beside she is a + good lady. If it will not be so brought to pass, then, by the advice + of your friends, take some other order; but in no case I would wish + you to keep any house except it be together with your wife. + + "Thus I have advised you as my troubled memory can at present suffer + me. Beware of pride, stubbornness, taunting, and sullenness, which + vices nature doth somewhat kindle in you; and therefore you must + with reason and discretion make a new nature in yourself. Give not + your mind too much and too greedily to gaming; make a pastime of it, + and no toil. And lastly, delight to spend some time in reading of + the Scriptures; for therein is the whole comfort of man's life; all + other things are vain and transitory; and if you be diligent in + reading of them, they will remain with you continually, to your + profit and commodity in this world, and to your comfort and + salvation in the world to come, whither, in grace of God, I am now + with joy and consolation preparing myself. And, upon my blessing, + beware of blind papistry, which brings nothing but bondage to men's + consciences. Mix your prayers with fasting, not thinking + thereby to merit; for there is nothing that we ourselves can do that + is good,--we are but unprofitable servants; but fast, I say, thereby + to tame the wicked affection of the mind, and trust only to be saved + by Christ's precious blood; for without a perfect faith therein, + there is no salvation. Let works follow your faith; thereby to show + to the world that you do not only say you have faith, but that you + give testimony thereof to the full satisfaction of the godly. I + write somewhat the more herein, because perchance you have + heretofore heard, or perchance may hereafter hear, false bruits that + I was a papist; [Footnote 3] but trust unto it, I never, since I + knew what religion meant (I thank God) was of other mind than now + you shall hear that I die in; although (I cry God mercy) I have not + given fruits and testimony of my faith as I ought to have done; the + which is the thing that I do now chiefliest repent. + + [Footnote 3: There would seem to be no doubt that the Duke of + Norfolk was a sincere Protestant. The strenuous advice to his + children to beware of Popery affords evidence of it. Greatly, + however, as it would have tended to their worldly prosperity to + have followed their father's last injunctions in this respect, all + but one of those he thus counselled were subsequently reconciled + to the Catholic Church. + + The Duke's letters in this chapter are all authentic. See the Rev. + M. Tierney's History of Arundel, and the Appendix to Nott's + edition of Lord Surrey's poems.] + + "When I am gone, forget my condemning, and forgive, I charge you, my + false accusers, as I protest to God I do; but have nothing to do + with them if they live. Surely, Bannister dealt no way but honestly + and truly. Hickford did not hurt me in my conscience, willingly; nor + did not charge me with any great matter that was of weight otherways + than truly. But the Bishop of Ross, and specially Barber, did + falsely accuse me, and laid their own treasons upon my back. God + forgive them, and I do, and once again I will you to do; bear no + malice in your mind. And now, dear Philip, farewell. Read this my + letter sometimes over; it may chance make you remember yourself the + better; and by the same, when your father is dead and rotten, you + may see what counsel I would give you if I were alive. If you follow + these admonitions, there is no doubt but God will bless you; and I, + your earthly father, do give you God's blessing and mine, with my + humble prayers to Almighty God that it will please him to bless you + and your good Nan; that you may both, if it be his will, see your + children's children, to the comfort of you both; and afterward that + you may be partakers of the heavenly kingdom. Amen, amen. Written by + the hand of your loving father. T. H." + +"And to Tom his grace did write: + + "Tom, out of this that I have written to your brother, you may learn + such lessons as are fit for you. That I write to one, that I write + to all, except it be somewhat which particularly touches any of you. + To fear and serve God is generally to you all; and, on my blessing, + take greatest care thereof, for it is the foundation of all + goodness. You have, even from your infancy, been given to be + stubborn. Beware of that vice, Tom, and bridle nature with wisdom. + Though you be her majesty's ward, yet if you use yourself well to my + Lord Burleigh, he will, I hope, help you to buy your own wardship. + Follow your elder brother's advice, who, I hope, will take such a + course as may be to all your comforts. God send him grace so to do, + and to you too! I give you God's blessing and mine, and I hope he + will prosper you." + + "And to Will he saith (whom methinks his heart did incline to, as + Jacob's did to Benjamin): + + "Will, though you be now young, yet I hope, if it shall please God + to send you life, that you will then consider of the precepts + heretofore written to your brethren. I have committed the charge of + your bringing-up to your elder brother; and therefore I charge you + to be obedient to him, as you would have been to me if I had been + living. If you shall have a liking to my daughter-in-law, Bess + Dacres, I hope you shall have it in your own choice to marry her. I + will not advise you otherways than yourself, when you are of fit + years, shall think good; but this assure yourself, it will be a good + augmentation to your small living, considering how chargeable the + world groweth to be. As you are youngest, so the more you ought to + be obedient to your elders. God send you a good younger brother's + fortune in this world, and his grace, that you may ever be his, both + in this world and in the world to come." + +"To me, his unworthy daughter, were these lines written, which I be +ashamed to transcribe, but that his goodness doth appear in his good +opinion of me rather than my so poor merits: + + "Well-beloved Nan, that hath been as dear to me as if you had been + my own daughter, although, considering this ill hap that has now + chanced, you might have had a greater marriage than now your husband + shall be; yet I hope that you will remember that, when you were + married, the case was far otherways; and therefore I hope your + dutiful dealings shall be so to your husband, and your sisterly love + to your brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, as my friends that shall + see it may think that my great affection to you was well bestowed. + Thanks be to God, you have hitherto taken a good course; whereby all + that wish you well take great hope rather of your going forward + therein than backward--which God forbid! I will request no more at + your hands, now that I am gone, in recompense of my former love to + you, but that you will observe my three lessons: to fear and serve + God, flying idleness; to love faithfully your husband; and to be + kind to your brothers and sisters--specially committing to your care + mine only daughter Megg, hoping that you will not be a sister-in-law + to her, but rather a natural sister, yea even a very mother; and + that as I took care for the well bestowing of you, so you will take + care for the well bestowing of her, and be a continual caller on + your husband for the same. If this mishap had not chanced, you and + your husband might have been awhile still young, and I would, by + God's help, have supplied your wants. But now the case is changed, + and you must, at your years of fifteen, attain to the consideration + and discretion of twenty; or else, if God send you to live in your + age, you shall have cause to repent your folly in youth, beside the + endangering the casting away of those who do wholly depend upon your + two well-doings. I do not mistrust that you will be mindful of my + last requests; and so doing God bless you, and send you to be old + parents to virtuous children, which is likeliest to be if you give + them good example. Farewell! for this is the last that you shall + ever receive from your loving father. Farewell, my dear Nan!" + + "And to his own sweet Megg he subjoined in the same letter these + words: + + "Megg, I have, as you see, committed you to your loving sister. I + charge you therefore, upon my blessing, that you obey her in all + things, as you would do me or your own mother, if we were living; + and then I doubt not but by her good means you shall be in fit time + bestowed to your own comfort and contentment. Be good; no babbler, + and ever be busied and doing of somewhat; and give your mind to + reading in the Bible and such other good books, whereby you may + learn to fear God; and so you shall prove, by his help, hereafter + the better wife, and a virtuous woman in all other respects. If you + follow these my lessons, then God's blessing and mine I give you, + and pray that you may both live and die his servant. Amen." + +When I read these letters, and my Lady Surrey's comments upon them, +what pangs seized my heart! Her messenger was awaiting an +answer, which he said must be brief, for he had to ride to Bermondsey +with a message for my Lord Sussex, and had been long delayed in the +city. I seized a pen, and hastily wrote: + + "Oh, my dear and honored lady, what grief, what pain, your letter + hath caused me! Forgive me if, having but brief time in which to + write a few lines by your messenger, I dwell not on the sorrow which + doth oppress you, nor on the many excellences apparent in those + farewell letters, which give token of so great virtue and wisdom in + the writer, that one should be prompted to exclaim he did lack but + one thing to be perfect, that being a true faith,--but rather + direct my answer to that passage in yours which doth work in me such + regret, yea such anguish of heart, as my poor words can ill express. + For verily there can be no greater danger to a soul than to be lured + from the profession of a true Catholic faith, once firmly received + and yet inwardly held, by deceptive arguments, whereby it doth + conceal its own weakness under the garb of respect for the dead and + duty to the living. For, I pray you, mine own dear lady, what + respect and what duty is owing to men which be not rather due to him + who reads the heart, and will ask a strict account of such as, + having known his will, yet have not done it? Believe me, 'tis a + perilous thing to do evil that good may come. Is it possible you + should resolve never to profess that religion which, in your + conscience, you do believe to be true, nor to move your lord + thereunto, for any human respect, however dear and sacred? I hope + other feelings may return, and God's hand will support, uphold, and + never fail you in your need. I beseech him to guard and keep you in + the right way. + + "Your humble servant and truly loving poor friend, + + "CONSTANCE SHERWOOD." + + +CHAPTER XI. + +During the two years which followed the Duke of Norfolk's death I did +only see my Lady Surrey once, which was when she came to Arundel +House, on a visit to her lord's grandfather; and her letters for a +while were both scanty and brief. She made no mention of religion, and +but little of her husband; and chiefly touched on such themes as Lady +Margaret's nuptials with Mr. Sackville (Lord Dorset's heir) and +Mistress Milicent's with Sir Hammond l'Estrange. She had great +contentment, she wrote, to see them both so well married according to +their degree; but that for herself she did very much miss her good +sister's company and her gentlewoman's affectionate services, who +would now reside all the year at her husband's seat in Norfolk; but +she looked when my lord and herself should be at Kenninghall, when he +left the university, that they might yet, being neighbors, spend some +happy days together, if it so pleased God. Once she wrote in exceeding +great joy, so that she said she hardly knew how to contain herself, +for that my lord was coming in a few days to spend the long vacation +at Lord Sussex's house at Bermondsey. But when she wrote again, +methought--albeit her letter was cheerful, and she did jest in it +somewhat more than was her wont--that there was a silence touching her +husband, and her own contentment in his society, which betokened a +reserve such as I had not noticed in her before. About that time it +was bruited in London that my Lord Surrey had received no small +detriment by the bad example he had at Cambridge, and the liberty +permitted him. + +And now, forsaking for a while the theme of that noble pair, whose +mishaps and felicities have ever saddened and rejoiced mine heart +almost equally with mine own good or evil fortune, I here purpose to +set down such occurrences as should be worthy of note in the more +obscure sphere in which my lot was cast. + +When I was about sixteen, my cousin Kate was married to Mr. Lacy; +first in a secret manner, in the night, by Mr. Plasden, a priest, in +her father's library, and the next day at the parish church at +Holborn. Methinks a fairer bride never rode to church than our Kate. +Her mother went with her, which was the first time she had been out of +doors for a long space of time, for she feared to catch cold if the +wind did blow from the north or the east; and if from the south she +feared it should bring noxious vapors from the river; and the west, +infection from the city, and so stayed at home for greater safety. But +on Kate's wedding day we did all protest the wind blew not at all, so +that from no quarter of the sky should mischief arise; and in a closed +litter, which she reckoned to be safer than a coach, she consented to +go to church. + +"Marry, good wife," cried Mr. Congleton, when she had been magnifying +all the dangers she mostly feared, "thou dost forget the greatest of +all in these days, which doth hold us all by the neck, as it were. For +hearing mass, as we did in this room last night, we do all run the +risk of being hanged, which should be a greater peril methinks than a +breath of foul air." + + +She, being in a merry mood, replied: "Twittle twattle, Mr. Congleton; +the one may be avoided, the other not. 'Tis no reason I should get a +cold to-day because I be like to be hanged to-morrow." + +"I' faith," cried Polly, "my mother hath well parried your thrust, +sir; and methinks the holy Bishop of Rochester was of the same mind +with her." + +"How so, Polly?" quoth her father; and she, "There happened a false +rumor to rise suddenly among the people when he was in the prison, so +I have heard Mr. Roper relate, that he should be brought to execution +on a certain day; wherefore his cook, that was wont to dress his +dinner and carry it daily unto him, hearing of his execution, dressed +him no dinner at all that day. Wherefore, at the cook's next repair +unto him, he demanded the cause why he brought him not his dinner. +'Sir,' said the cook, 'it was commonly talked all over the town that +you should have died to-day, and therefore I thought it but vain to +dress anything for you.' 'Well,' quoth the bishop merrily, 'for all +that report, thou seest me yet alive; and therefore, whatsoever news +thou shalt hear of me hereafter, prithee let me no more lack my +dinner, but make it ready; and if thou see me dead when thou comest, +then eat it thyself. But I promise thee, if I be alive, by God's +grace, to eat never a bit the less.'" + +"And on the day he was verily executed," said Mistress Ward, "when the +lieutenant came to fetch him, he said to his man, 'Reach me my furred +tippet, to put about my neck.' 'O my lord!' said the lieutenant, 'what +need you be so careful of your health for this little time, being not +much above in hour?' 'I think no otherwise,' said this blessed father; +'but yet, in he mean time, I will keep myself as well as I can; for I +tell you truth, though I have, I thank our Lord, a very good desire +and a willing mind to die at this present, and so I trust of his +infinite mercy and goodness he will continue it, yet I will not +willingly hinder my health one minute of an hour, but still prolong +the same as long as I can by such reasonable ways as Almighty God hath +provided for me.'" Upon which my good aunt fastened her veil about her +head, and said the holy bishop was the most wise saint and +reasonablest martyr she had yet heard of. + +Kate was dressed in a kirtle of white silk, her head attired with an +habiliment of gold, and her hair, brighter itself than gold, woven +about her face in cunningly wrought tresses. She was led to church +between two gentlemen--Mr. Tresham and Mr. Hogdson--friends of the +bridegroom, who had bride-laces and rosemary tied about their silken +sleeves. There was a fair cup of silver gilt carried before her, +wherein was a goodly branch of rosemary, gilded very fair, and hung +about with silken ribbons of all colors. Musicians came next; then a +group of maidens bearing garlands finely gilded; and thus we passed on +to the church. The common people at the door cheered the bride, whose +fair face was a passport to their favor; but as Muriel crept along, +leaning on my arm, I caught sound of murmured blessings. + +"Sweet saint," quoth an aged man, leaning on his staff, near the +porch, "I ween thine espousals be not of earth." A woman, with a child +in her arms, whispered to her as she past, "He thou knowest of is +dead, and died praying for thee." A man, whose eyes had watched her +painfully ascending the steps, called her an angel; whereupon a beggar +with a crutch cried out, "Marry, a lame angel!" A sweet smile was on +her face as she turned toward him; and drawing a piece of silver from +her pocket, she bestowed it on him, with some such words as +these--that she prayed they might both be so happy, albeit lame, as to +hobble to heaven, and get there in good time, if it should please God. +Then he fell to blessing her so loud, that she hurried me into the +church, not content to be thanked in so public a manner. + + +After the ceremony, we returned in the same order to Ely Place. The +banquet which followed, and the sports succeeding it, were conducted +in a private and somewhat quiet fashion, and not many guests invited, +by reason of the times, and Mr. Congleton misliking to draw notice to +his house, which had hitherto been but little molested, partly for +that Sir Francis Walsingham had a friendship for him, and also for his +sister, Lady Egerton of Ridley, which procured for them greater favor, +in the way of toleration, than is extended to others; and likewise the +Portuguese ambassador was his very good friend, and his chapel open to +us at all times; so that priests did not need to come to his house for +the performance of any religious actions, except that one of the +marriage, which had taken place the night before in his library. +Howsoever, he was very well known to be a recusant, for that neither +himself, nor any belonging to him, attended Protestant worship; and +Sir Francis sometimes told him that the clemency with which he was +treated was shown toward him with the hope that, by mild courses, he +might be soon brought to some better conformity. + +Mr. Lacy's house was in Gray's Inn Lane, a few doors from Mr. Swithin +Wells's; and through this proximity an intimate acquaintanceship did +arise between that worthy gentleman and his wife and Kate's friends. +He was very good-natured, pleasant in conversation, courteous, and +generous; and Mrs. Wells a most virtuous gentlewoman. Although he (Mr. +Swithin) much delighted in hawking, hunting, and other suchlike +diversions, yet he so soberly governed his affections therein, as to +be content to deprive himself of a good part of those pleasures, and +retire to a more profitable employment of training up young gentlemen +in virtue and learning; and with such success that his house has been, +as it were, a fruitful seminary to many worthy members of the Catholic +Church. Among the young gentlemen who resided with him at that time +was Mr. Hubert Rookwood, the youngest of the two sons of Mr. Rookwood, +of Euston, whom I had seen at the inn at Bedford, when I was +journeying to London. We did speedily enter into a somewhat close +acquaintanceship, founded on a similarity of tastes and agreeable +interchange of civilities, touching the lending of books and likewise +pieces of music, which I did make fair copies of for him, and which we +sometimes practiced in the evening; for he had a pleasant voice and an +aptness to catch the trick of a song, albeit unlearned in the art, +wherein he styled me proficient; and I, nothing loth to impart my +knowledge, became his instructor, and did teach him both to sing and +play the lute. He was not much taller than when I had seen him before; +but his figure was changed, and his visage had grown pale, and his +hair thick and flowing, especially toward the back of the head, +discovering in front a high and thoughtful forehead. There was a great +deal of good young company at that time in Mr. Wells's house; for some +Catholics tabled there beside those that were his pupils, and others +resorted to it by reason of the pleasant entertainment they found in +the society of ingenuous persons, well qualified, and of their own +religion. I had most days opportunities of conversing with Hubert, +though we were never alone; and, by reason of the friendship which had +existed between his father and mine, I allowed him a kindness I did +not commonly afford to others. + +Mr. Lacy had had his training in that house, and, albeit his natural +parts did not title him to the praise of an eminent scholar, he had +thence derived a great esteem for learning, a taste for books, of the +which he did possess a great store (many hundred volumes), and a +discreet manner of talking, though something tinctured with +affectation, inasmuch as he should seem to be rather enamored of the +words he uttered, than careful of the substance. Hubert was wont +to say that his speech was like to the drawing of a leaden sword out +of a gilded sheath. He was a very virtuous young man; and his wife had +never but one complaint to set forth, which was that his books took up +so much of his time that she was almost as jealous of them as if they +had been her rivals. She would have it he did kill himself with study; +and, in a particular manner, with the writing of the life of one +Thomas à Kempis, which was a work he had had a long time on hand. One +day she comes into his library, and salutes him thus: "Mr. Lacy, I +would I were a book; and then methinks you would a little more respect +me." Polly, who was by, cried out, "Madam, you must then be an +almanac, that he might change every year;" whereat she was not a +little displeased. And another time, when her husband was sick, she +said, if Mr. Lacy died, she would burn Thomas a Kempis for the killing +of her husband. I, hearing this, answered that to do so were a great +pity; to whom she replied, "Why, who was Thomas a Kempis?" to which I +answered, "One of the saintliest men of the age wherein he lived." +Wherewith she was so satisfied, that she said, then she would not do +it for all the world. + +Methinks I read more in that one year than in all the rest of my life +beside. Mine aunt was more sick than usual, and Mistress Ward so taken +up with the nursing of her, that she did not often leave her room. +Polly was married in the winter to Sir Ralph Ingoldby, and went to +reside for some months in the country. Muriel prevailed on her father +to visit the prison with her, in Mistress Ward's stead, so that +sometimes they were abroad the whole of the day; by reason of which, I +was oftener in Gray's Inn Lane than at home, sometimes at Kate's +house, and sometimes at Mistress Wells's mansion, where I became +infected with a zeal for learning, which Hubert's example and +conversation did greatly invite me to. He had the most winning tongue, +and the aptest spirit in the world to divine the natural inclinations +of those he consorted with. The books he advised me to read were +mostly such as Mistress Ward, to whom I did faithfully recite their +titles, accounted to be not otherwise than good and profitable, having +learned so much from good men she consulted thereon, for she was +herself no scholar; but they bred in me a great thirst for knowledge, +a craving to converse with those who had more learning than myself, +and withal so keen a relish for Hubert's society, that I had no +contentment so welcome as to listen to his discourse, which was +seasoned with a rare kind of eloquence and a discursive fancy, to +which, also, the perfection of his carriage, his pronunciation of +speech, and the deportment of his body lent no mean lustre. Naught +arrogant or affected disfigured his conversation, in which did lie so +efficacious a power of persuasion, and at times, when the occasion +called for it, so great a vehemency of passion, as enforced admiration +of his great parts, if not approval of his arguments. I made him at +that time judge of the new thoughts which books, like so many keys +opening secret chambers in the mind, did unlock in mine; and I mind me +how eagerly I looked for his answers--how I hung on his lips when he +was speaking, not from any singular affection toward his person, but +by reason of the extraordinary fascination of his speech, and the +interest of the themes we discoursed upon; one time touching on the +histories of great men of past ages, at another on the changes wrought +in our own by the new art of printing books, which had produced such +great changes in the world, and yet greater to be expected. And as he +was well skilled in the Italian as well as the French language, I came +by his means to be acquainted with many great writers of those +nations. He translated for me sundry passages from the divine play of +Signor Dante Alighieri, in which hell and purgatory and heaven +are depicted, as it were by an eye-witness, with so much pregnancy of +meaning and force of genius, that it should almost appear as if some +special revelation had been vouchsafed to the poet beyond his natural +thoughts, to disclose to him the secrets of other spheres. He also +made me read a portion of that most fine and sweet poem on the +delivery of the holy city Jerusalem, composed by Signor Torquato +Tasso, a gentleman who resided at that time at the court of the Duke +of Ferrara, and which one Mr. Fairfax has since done into English +verse. The first four cantos thereof were given to Mr. Wells by a +young gentleman, who had for a while studied at the University of +Padua. This fair poem, and mostly the second book thereof, hath +remained imprinted in my memory with a singular fixity, by reason that +it proved the occasion of my discerning for the first time a special +inclination on Hubert's side toward myself, who thought nothing of +love, but was only glad to have acquired a friend endowed with so much +wit and superior knowledge, and willing to impart it. This book, I +say, did contain a narration which bred in me so great a resentment of +the author's merits, and so quick a sympathy with the feigned subjects +of his muse, that never before or since methinks has a fiction so +moved me as the story of Olindo and Sophronisba. + +Methinks this was partly ascribable to a certain likeness between the +scenes described by the poet and some which take place at this time in +our country. In the maiden of high and noble thoughts, fair, but +heedless of her beauty, who stood in the presence of the soldan, once +a Christian, then a renegade, taking on herself the sole guilt,--O +virtuous guilt! O worthy crime!--of which all the Christians were +accused, to wit, of rescuing sacred Mary's image from the hands of the +infidels who did curse and blaspheme it, and, when all were to die for +the act of one unknown, offered herself a ransom for all, and with a +shamefaced courage, such as became a maid, and a bold modesty +befitting a saint--a bosom moved indeed, but not dismayed, a fair but +not pallid cheek--was content to perish for that the rest should +live;--in her, I say, I saw a likeness in spirit to those who suffer +nowadays for a like faith with hers, not at the hands of infidels, but +of such whose parents did for the most part hold that same belief +which they do now make out to be treason. + +Hubert, observing me to be thus moved, smiled, and asked if, in the +like case, I should have willed to die as Sophronisba. + +"Yes," I answered, "if God did give me grace;" and then, as I uttered +the words, I thought it should not be lawful to tell a lie, not for to +save all the lives in the world; which doubt I imparted to him, who +laughed and said he was of the poet's mind, who doth exclaim, touching +this lie, "O noble deceit! worthier than truth itself!" and that he +thought a soul should not suffer long in purgatory for such a sin. +"Maybe not," I answered; "yet, I ween, there should be more faith in a +sole commitment to God of the events than in doing the least evil so +that good should come of it." + +He said, "I marvel, Mistress Constance, what should be your thoughts +thereon if the life of a priest was in your hands, and you able to +save him by a lie." + +"Verily," I answered, "I know not, Master Rookwood; but I have so much +trust in Almighty God that he would, in such a case, put words into my +mouth which should be true, and yet mislead evil-purposed men, or that +he shall keep me from such fearful straits, or forgive me if, in the +stress of a great peril, I unwittingly should err." + +"And I pray you," Hubert then said, as if not greatly caring to pursue +the theme, "what be your thought concerning the unhappy youth Olindo, +who did so dote on this maiden that, fearful of offending there where +above all he desired to please, had, greatly as he loved, little +hoped, nothing asked, and not so much as revealed his passion until a +common fate bound both to an equal death?" + +"I thought not at all on him," I answered; "but only on Sophronisba." + +At which he sighed and read further: "That all wept for her who, +albeit doomed to a cruel death, wept not for herself, but in this wise +secretly reproved the fond youth's weeping: 'Friend,' quoth she, +'other thoughts, other tears, other sighs, do beseem this hour. Think +of thy sins, and God's great recompense for the good. Suffer for his +sole sake, and torment shall be sweet. See how fair the heavens do +show, the sun how bright, as it were to cheer and lure us onward!'" + +"Ah!" I exclaimed, "shame on him who did need to be so exhorted, who +should have been the most valiant, being a man!" To the which he +quickly replied: + +"He willed to die of his own free will rather than to live without her +whom he jewelled more than life: but in the matter of grieving love +doth make cowards of those who should else have been brave." + +"Me thinks, rather," I answered, "that in noble hearts love's effects +should be noble." + +"Bethink you, Mistress Constance," he then asked, "that Sophronisba +did act commendably, insomuch that when an unlooked-for deliverance +came, she refused not to be united in life to him that had willed to +be united to her in death." + +"You may think me ungrateful, sir," answered; "but other merits +methinks than fondness for herself should have won so great a heart." + +"You be hard to content, Mistress Constance," he answered somewhat +resentfully. "To satisfy you, I perceive one should have a hard as +well as a great heart." + +"Nay," I cried, "I praise not hardness, but love not softness either. +You that be so learned, I pray you find the word which doth express +what pleaseth me in a man." + +"I know not the word," he answered; "I would I knew the substance of +your liking, that I might furnish myself with it." + +Whereupon our discourse ended that day; but it ministered food to my +thoughts, and I fear me also to a vain content that one so gifted with +learning and great promise of future greatness should evince something +of regard beyond a mutual friendship for one as ignorant and young as +I then was. + +Some months after Kate's marriage, matters became very troublesome, by +reason of the killing of a great store, as was reported, of French +Huguenots in Paris on St. Bartholomew's day, and afterward in many +cities of France, which did consternate the English Catholics for more +reasons than one, and awoke so much rage in the breasts of +Protestants, that the French ambassador told Lady Tregony, a friend, +of Mistress Wells, that he did scarce venture to show his face; and +none, save only the queen herself, who is always his very good friend, +would speak to him. I was one evening at the house of Lady Ingoldby, +Polly's mother-in-law, some time after this dismal news had been +bruited, and the company there assembled did for the most part +discourse on these events, not only as deploring what had taken place, +and condemning the authors thereof,--which, indeed, was what all good +persons must needs have done,--but took occasion thence to use such +vile terms and opprobrious language touching Catholic religion, and +the cruelty and wickedness of such as did profess it, without so much +as a thought of the miseries inflicted on them in England, that--albeit +I had been schooled in the hard lesson of silence--so strong a passion +overcame me then, that I had well nigh, as the Psalmist saith, spoken +with my tongue, yea, young as I was, uttered words rising hot from my +heart, in the midst of that adverse company, which I did know, them to +be, if one had not at that moment lifted up his voice, whose +presence I had already noted, though not acquainted with his name; a +man of reverent and exceedingly benevolent aspect; aged, but with an +eye so bright, and silvery hair crowning a noble forehead, that so +much excellence and dignity is seldom to be observed in any one as was +apparent in this gentleman. + +"Good friends," he said, and at the sound of his voice the speakers +hushed their eager discoursing, "God defend I should in any way differ +with you touching the massacres in France; for verily it has been a +lamentable and horrible thing that so many persons should be killed, +and religion to be the pretence for it; but to hear some speak of it, +one should think none did suffer in this country for their faith, and +bloody laws did not exist, whereby Papists are put to death in a +legal, cold-blooded fashion, more terrible, if possible, than the +sudden bursts of wild passions and civil strife, which revenge for +late cruelties committed by the Huguenots, wherein many thousand +Catholics had perished, the destruction of churches, havoc of fierce +soldiery, and apprehension of the like attempts in Paris, had stirred +up to fury; so that when the word went forth to fall on the leaders of +the party, the savage work once begun, even as a fire in a city built +of wood, raged as a madness for one while, and men in a panic struck +at foes, whose gripe they did think to feel about their throats." + +Here the speaker paused an instant. This so bold opening of his speech +did seem to take all present by surprise, and almost robbed me of my +breath; for it is well known that nowadays a word, yea a piece of a +word, or a nod of the head, whereby any suspicion may arise of a +favorable disposition toward Catholics, is often-times a sufficient +cause for a man to be accused and cast into prison; and I waited his +next words (which every one, peradventure from curiosity, did likewise +seem inclined to hear) with downcast eyes, which dared not to glance +at any one's face, and cheeks which burned like hot coals. + +"It is well known," quoth he, "that the sufferings which be endured by +recusants at this time in our country are such, that many should +prefer to die at once than to be subjected to so constant a fear and +terror as doth beset them. I speak not now of the truth or the falsity +of their religion, which, if it be ever so damnable and wicked, is no +new invention of their own, but what all Christian people did agree +in, one hundred years ago; so that the aged do but abide by what they +were taught by undoubted authority in their youth, and the young have +received from their parents as true. But I do solely aver that Papists +are subjected to a thousand vexations, both of bonds, imprisonments, +and torments worse than death, yea and oftentimes to death itself; and +that so dreadful, that to be slain by the sword, or drowned, yea even +burned at the stake, is not so terrible; for they do hang a man and +then cut him down yet alive, and butcher him in such ways--plucking out +his heart and tearing his limbs asunder--that nothing more horrible can +be thought of." + +"They be traitors who are so used," cried one gentleman, somewhat +recovering from the surprise which these bold words had caused. + +"If to be of a different religion from the sovereign of the country be +a proof of treason," continued the venerable speaker, "then were the +Huguenots, which have perished in France, a whole mass and nest of +traitors." + +A gentleman seated behind me, who had a trick of sleeping in his +chair, woke up and cried out, "Not half a one, sirs; not so much as +half a one is allowed," meaning the mass, which he did suppose to have +been spoken of. + +"And if so, deserved all to die,' continued the speaker. + +"Ay, and so they do, sir," quoth the sleeper. "I pray you let them all +be hanged." Upon which every one laughed, and the aged gentleman +also; and then he said, + +"Good my friends, I ween 'tis a rash thing to speak in favor of +recusants nowadays, and what few could dare to do but such as cannot +be suspected of disloyalty to the queen and the country, and who, +having drunk of the cup of affliction in their youth, even to the +dregs, and held life for a long time as a burden which hath need to be +borne day by day, until the wished for hour of release doth come--and +the sooner, the more welcome--have no enemies to fear, and no object +to attain. And if so be that you will bear with me for a few moments, +yea, if ye procure me to be hanged to-morrow" (this he said with a +pleasant smile; and, "Marry, fear not, Mr. Roper," and "I' faith, +speak on, sir," was bruited round him by his astonished auditors), "I +will recite to you some small part of the miseries which have been +endured of late years by such as cannot be charged with the least +thought of treason, or so much as the least offence against the laws, +except in what touches the secret practice of their religion. Women +have, to my certain knowledge, been hung up by the hands in prisons +(which do overflow with recusants, so that at this time there +remaineth no room for common malefactors), and cruelly scourged, for +that they would not confess by which priest they had been reconciled +or absolved, or where they had heard mass. Priests are often tortured +to force them to declare what they hear in confession, who harbor +priests and Papists, where such and such recusants are to be found, +and the like questions; and in so strenuous a manner, that needles +have been thrust under their nails, and one man, not long since, died +of his racking. O sirs and gentle ladies, I have seen with mine own +eyes a youth, the son of one of my friends--young Mark Typper, born of +honest and rich parents, skilful in human learning, having left his +study for a time, and going home to see his friends--whipped through +the streets of London, and burnt in the ear, because, forsooth, a +forward judge, to whom he had been accused as a Papist, and finding no +proof thereof, condemned him as a vagabond. And what think you, good +people, of the death of Sir Robert Tyrwit's son, who was accused for +hearing of a mass at the marriage of his sister, and albeit at the +time of his arrest in a grievous fever, was pulled out of the house +and thrust into prison, even as he then was, feeble, faint, and +grievously sick? His afflicted parents entreat, make intercession, and +use all the means they can to move the justices to have consideration +of the sick; not to heap sorrow upon sorrow, nor affliction on the +afflicted; not to take away the life of so comely a young gentleman, +whom the physicians come and affirm will certainly die if he should be +removed. All this is nothing regarded. They lay hold on the sick man, +pull him away, shut him up in prison, and within two days next after +he dies. They bury him, and make no scruple or regard at all. O sirs, +bethink you what these parents do feel when they hear Englishmen speak +of the murders of Protestants in France as an unheard of crime. If, in +these days, one in a family of recusants doth covet the inheritance of +an elder brother--yea, of a father--he hath but to conform to the now +established religion (I leave you to think with how much of piety and +conscience), and denounce his parent as a Papist, and straightway he +doth procure him to be despoiled, and his lands given up to him. Thus +the seeds of strife and bitter enmity have been sown broadcast through +the land, the bands of love in families destroyed, the foundations of +honor and beneficence blown up, the veins and sinews of the common +society of men cut asunder, and a fiendly force of violence and a +deadly poison of suspicion used against such as are accused of no +other crime than their religion, which they yet adhere to; albeit +their fortunes be ruined by fines and their lives in constant +jeopardy from strenuous laws made yet more urgent by private malice. +My friends, I would that not one hair of the head of so much as one +Huguenot had been touched in France; that not one Protestant had +perished in the flames in the late queen's reign, or in that of her +present majesty; and also that the persecution now framed in this +country against Papists, and so handled as to blind men's eyes and +work in them a strange hypocrisy, yea and in some an innocent belief +that freedom of men's souls be the offspring of Protestant religion, +should pass away from this land. I care not how soon (as mine honored +father-in-law, and in God too, I verily might add, was wont to say),--I +care not how soon I be sewn up in a bag and cast into the Thames, if +so be I might first see religious differences at an end, and men of +one mind touching God's truth." + +Here this noble and courageous speaker ceased, and various murmurs +rose among the company. One lady remarked to her neighbor: "A +marvellous preacher that of seditious doctrines, methinks." + +And one gentleman said that if such talk were suffered to pass +unpunished in her majesty's subjects, he should look to see massing +and Popery to rear again their heads in the land. + +And many loudly affirmed none could be Papists, or wish them well, and +be friends to the queen's government, and so it did stand to reason +that Papists were traitors. + +And another said that, for his part, he should desire to see them less +mercifully dealt with; and that the great clemency shown to such as +did refuse to come to church, by only laying fines on them, and not +dealing so roundly as should compel them to obedience, did but +maintain them in their obstinacy; and he himself would as lief shoot +down a seminary priest as a wolf, or any other evil beast. + +I noticed this last speaker to be one of those who had spoken with +most abhorrence of the massacres in France. + +One lady called out in a loud voice that Papists, and such as take +their part, among which she did lament to see Mr. Roper, should be +ashamed so much as to speak of persecution; and began to relate the +cruelties practised upon Protestants twenty years back, and the +burning at Oxford of those excellent godly men, the bishops of London +and Worcester. + +Mr. Roper listened to her with an attentive countenance, and then +said: + +"I' faith, madam, I cannot choose but think Dr. Latimer, if it be he +you speak of, did somewhat approve of such a method of dealing with +persons obstinate touching religion, when others than himself and +those of his own way of thinking were the subjects of it, if we judge +by a letter he wrote in 1538 to his singular good friend the Lord +Privy Seal Cromwell, at the time he was appointed to preach at the +burning at Smithfield of Friar Forest of Greenwich, a learned divine I +often did converse with in my young years." + +"What wrote the good bishop?" two or three persons asked; and the lady +who had spoken before said she should warrant it to be something +pious, for a more virtuous Protestant never did live than this holy +martyr. + +Whereupon Mr. Roper: "This holy bishop did open his discourse right +merrily, for in a pleasant manner he thus begins his letter: 'And, +sir, if it be your pleasure, as it is, that I shall play the fool in +my customable manner when Forest shall suffer, I would wish my stage +stood near unto Forest; for I would endeavor myself so to content the +people that therewith I might also convert Forest, God so helping.' +And further on he doth greatly lament that the White Friars of +Doncaster had access to the prisoner, and through the fault of the +sheriff or jailers, or both, he should be allowed to hear mass and +receive the sacrament, by which he is rather comforted in his way than +discouraged. And _such is his foolishness_, this good doth +humbly say, that if Forest would abjure his religion, he should yet +(for all his past obstinacy) wish him pardoned. O sirs, think you that +when at Oxford this aged man, seventeen years after, did see the +flames gather round himself, that he did not call to mind what time he +preached, playing the fool, as he saith, before a man in like agonies, +and never urged so much as one word against his sentence?" + +"Marry, if he did not," said one, whom I take to have been Sir +Christopher Wray, who had been a silent listener until then, "if his +conscience pricked him not thereon, it must needs have been by the +same rule as the lawyer used to the countryman, who did put to him +this question: 'Sir, if my cow should stray into your field and feed +there one whole day, what should be the law touching compensation +therefor?' 'Marry, friend, assuredly to pay the damage to the full, +which thou art bounden at once to do.' 'Ay,' quoth the countryman; +'but 'tis your cow hath strayed into my field.' Upon which, 'Go to, go +to,' cries the lawyer; 'for I warrant thee that doth altogether alter +the law.'" + +Some smiled, and others murmured at this story; and meanwhile one of +the company, who from his dress I perceived to be a minister, and +moreover to hold some dignity in the Protestant Church, rose from his +place, and crossing the room, came up to Mr. Roper (for that bold +speaker was no other than Sir Thomas More's son-in--law, whose great +charity and goodness I had often heard of), and, shaking hands with +him, said: "I be of the same mind with you, friend Roper, in every +word you have uttered tonight. And I pray to God my soul may be with +yours after this life, and our end in heaven, albeit I should not sail +there in the same boat with thou." + +"Good Mr. Dean," quoth Mr. Roper, "I do say amen to your prayer." and +then he added somewhat in a low voice, and methinks it was that there +is but one ship chartered for safety in such a voyage. + +At the which the other shook his head and waved his hand, and then +calling to him a youth not more than twelve or thirteen years old, his +son, he did present him to Mr. Roper. I had observed this young +gentleman to listen, with an eagerness betokening more keenness for +information than is usually to be found in youths of his years, to the +discourses held that evening. His father told Mr. Roper that this his +son's parts and quick apprehension in learning did lead him to hope he +should be one day, if it pleased God, an ornament to the church. Mr. +Roper smiled as he saluted the youth, and said a few words to him, +which he answered very readily. I never saw again that father or that +son. The one was Dr. Mathews, whom the queen made Bishop of Durham; +and the other, Toby Mathews, his son, who was reconciled some years +ago, and, as I have heard from some, is now a Jesuit. + +The venerable aspect of the good Mr. Roper so engaged my thoughts, +that I asked Lady Tregony, by whose side I was sitting, if she was +acquainted with him, and if his virtue was as great as his appearance +was noble. She smiled, and answered that his appearance, albeit +honorable and comely, was not one half so honorable as his life had +been, or so comely as his mind. That he had been the husband of Sir +Thomas More's never-to-be-forgotten daughter, Margaret, whose memory +he so reverently did cherish that he had never so much as thought of a +second marriage; and of late years, since he had resigned the office +of sub-notary in the Queen's Bench to his son, he did give his whole +substance and his time to the service of the poor, and especially to +prisoners, by reason of which he was called the staff of the +sorrowful, and sure refuge of the afflicted. Now, then, I looked on +the face of this good aged man with a deeper reverence than +heretofore. Now I longed to be favored with so much of his +notice as one passing word. Now I watched for an opportunity to +compass my desire, and I thank God not without effect; for I do count +it as a chief blessing to have been honored, during the remaining +years of this virtuous gentleman's life, with so much of his +condescending goodness, that if the word friendship may be used in +regard to such affectionate feelings as can exist between one verging +on four-score years of age and of such exalted merit, and a foolish +creature yet in her teens, whom he honored with his notice, it should +be so in this instance; wherein on the one side a singular reverence +and humble great affection did arise almost on first acquaintance, and +on the other so much benignity and goodness shown in the pains taken +to cultivate such good dispositions as had been implanted in this +young person's heart by careful parents, and to guard her mind against +the evils of the times, that nothing could be greater. + +Mr. Roper chancing to come near us, Lady Tregony said somewhat, which +caused him to address me in this wise: + +"And are there, then, maidens in these days not averse to the sight of +gray hairs, and who mislike not to converse with aged men?" + +This was said with so kindly a smile that timidity vanished, and +confidence took its place. + +"Oh, sir," I cried, "when I was not so much as five years old, my good +father showed me a picture of Sir Thomas More, and told me he was a +man of such angelic wit as England never had the like before, nor is +ever like to have again, and of a most famous and holy memory; and +methinks, sir, that you, being his son-in-law, who knew his doings and +his mind so well, and lived so long in his house, must needs in many +things resemble him." + +"As to his doings and his mind," Mr. Roper replied, "no man living +knoweth them so well, and if my mean wit, memory, and knowledge could +serve me now, could declare so much thereof. But touching resemblance, +alas! there was but one in all the world that represented the likeness +of his virtues and perfections; one whom he loved in a particular +manner, and who was worthiest of that love more than any creature God +has made." + +Here the good man's voice faltered a little, and he made a stop in his +discourse; but in a little while said that he had thought it behoved +him to set down in writing such matters concerning Sir Thomas's life +as he could then call to remembrance, and that he would lend me the +manuscript to read, which I did esteem an exceeding great favor, and +one I could not sufficiently thank him for. Then he spoke somewhat of +the times, which were waxing every day more troublesome, and told me +he often called to mind a conversation he once had with Sir Thomas, +walking along the side of the Thames at Chelsea, which he related in +these words: + +"'Now would to God, my son Roper,' quoth Sir Thomas, 'I were put in a +sack, and presently cast into the Thames, upon condition that three +things were well established throughout Christendom.' 'And what mighty +things are those, sir?' I asked. Whereupon he: 'Wouldst thou know, son +Roper, what they be?' 'Yea, marry, sir, with a good will, if it please +you,' quoth I. 'I' faith, son, they be these,' he said: 'The first is +that, whereas the most part of Christian princes are at mortal wars, +they were all at peace; the second that, whereas the church of Christ +is at present sorely afflicted with so many heresies, it were settled +in perfect uniformity of religion; the third that, where the matter of +the king's marriage is now come in question, it were, to the glory of +God and the quietness of all parties, brought to a good conclusion.' +'Ay, sir,' quoth I, 'those were indeed three things greatly to be +desired; but'--I continued with a certain joy--'where shall one see a +happier state than in this realm, that has so Catholic a prince that +no heretic durst show his face; so virtuous and learned a +clergy; so grave and sound a nobility; and so loving, obedient +subjects, all in one faith agreeing together?' 'Truth it is indeed, +son Roper,' quoth he; and in all degrees and estates of the same went +far beyond me in commendation thereof. 'And yet, son Roper, I pray +God,' said he, 'that some of us, as high as we seem to sit on the +mountains, treading heretics under our feet like ants, live not the +day that we would gladly be at league and composition with them, to +let them have their churches quietly to themselves, so that they would +be contented to let us have ours quietly to ourselves.' After I had +told him many considerations why he had no cause to say so: 'Well,' +said he, 'I pray God, son Roper, some of us will live not to see that +day.' To whom I replied: 'By my troth, sir, it is very desperately +spoken.' These vile terms, I cry God mercy, did I give him, who, +perceiving me to be in a passion, said merrily unto me, 'It shall not +be so; it shall not be so.' In sixteen years and more, being in the +house conversing with him, I could not perceive him to be so much as +once out of temper." + +This was the first of many conversations I held, during the years I +lived in Holborn, with this worthy gentleman, who was not more pleased +to relate, than I to hear, sundry anecdotes concerning Sir Thomas +More, his house, and his family. + +Before he left me that day, I did make bold to ask him if he feared +not ill consequences from the courageous words he had used in a mixed, +yea rather, with few exceptions, wholly adverse, company. + +"Not much," he answered. "Mine age; the knowledge that there are those +who would not willingly see me roughly handled, and have power to +prevent it; and withal no great concern, if it should be so, to have +my liberty constrained, yea, my life shortened by a few years, or +rather days,--doth move me to a greater freedom of speech than may +generally be used, and a notable indifference to the results of such +freedom." + +Having whispered the like fears I had expressed to him to Lady +Tregony, she did assure me his confidence was well based, and that he +had connexions which would by no means suffer him to be thrown into +prison, which should be the fate of any one else in that room who had +spoken but one half, yea one tenth part, as boldly as he had ventured +on. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +It was some time before I could restore myself to my countenance, +after so much moving discourse, so as to join with spirit in the +sports and the dancing which did ensue among the young people that +evening. But sober thoughts and painful themes after a while gave +place to merriment; and the sound of music, gay tattle, and cheerful +steps lured me to such enjoyment as youth is wont to take in these +kinds of pastimes. It was too much my wont to pursue with eagerness +the present humor, and drink deeply of innocent pleasure wherein no +harm should exist if enjoyed with moderation. But like in a horse on +whose neck the bridle is cast, what began in a gentle ambling ends in +wild gallopping; so lawful merriment, if unrestrained, often ends in +what is unbeseeming, and in some sort blameable. So this time, when +dancing tired, a ring was formed for conversation, and the choice of +the night's pastime yielded to my discretion; alack, rather to my +imprudence and folly, methinks I might style it. I chose that +arguments should be held by two persons of the company, turn by turn, +and that a judge should be named to allot a reward to the worthiest, +and a penance to the worst. This liked them all exceedingly, and by +one consent they appointed me to be judge, and to summon such as +should dispute. There were there two young gentlemen which +haunted our house, and Lady Ingoldby's also. One was Martin Tregony, +Lady Tregony's nephew, an ill-favored young man, with manners worse +than his face, and so apish and foppish in his dress and behavior, +that no young woman could abide him, much less would receive his +addresses, or if she did entertain him in conversation, it was to make +sport of his so great conceit. He had an ill-natured kind of wit, more +sharp than keen, more biting than sarcastic. He studied the art of +giving pain, and oftentimes did cause shamefaced merit to blush. The +other was Mr. Thomas Sherwood, who, albeit not very near in blood to +my father, was, howsoever, of the same family as ourselves. He had +been to the English College in Douay, and had brought me tidings a +short time back of my father and Edmund Genings' safe arrival thither, +and afterward came often to see us, and much frequented Lady Tregony's +house. He had exceedingly good parts, but was somewhat diffident and +bashful. Martin Tregony was wont to make him a mark, as it were, of +his ill-natured wit, and did fancy himself to be greatly his superior +in sharpness, partly because Mr. Sherwood's disposition was retiring, +and partly that he had too much goodness and sense to bandy words with +so ill-mannered a young man. I pray you who read this, could aught be +more indiscreet than, in a thoughtless manner, to have summoned these +two to dispute? which nevertheless I did, thinking some sport should +arise out of it, to see Master Martin foisted in argument by one he +despised, and also from his extravagant gestures and affected +countenances. So I said: + +"Master Tregony, your task shall be to dispute with Master Sherwood; +and this the theme of your argument, 'The Art of Tormenting.' He who +shall describe the nicest instances of such skill, when exercised by a +master toward his servant, a parent to his child, a husband to his +wife, a wife to her husband, a lover to his mistress, or a friend to +his friend, shall be proclaimed victorious; and his adversary submit +to such penance as the court shall inflict." + +Master Sherwood shook his head for to decline to enter these lists; +but all the young gentlemen and ladies cried, he should not be +suffered to show contempt of the court, and forced him to stand up. + +Master Martin was nothing loth, and in his ill-favored countenance +there appeared a made smile, which did indicate an assurance of +victory; so he began: + +"The more wit a man hath, the better able he shall be at times to +torment another; so I do premise, and at the outset of this argument +declare, that to blame a man for the exercise of a talent he doth +possess is downright impiety, and that to wound another by the +pungency of home-thrusts in conversation is as just a liberty in an +ingenious man, as the use of his sword in a battle is to a soldier." + +Mr. Sherwood upon this replied, that he did allow a public +disputation, appointed by meet judges, to come under the name of a +fair battle; but even in a battle (he said) generous combatants aim +not so much at wounding their adversaries, as to the disarming of +them; and that he who in private conversation doth make a weapon of +his tongue is like unto the man who provokes another to a single +combat, which for Christians is not lawful, and pierces him easily who +has less skill in wielding the sword than himself. + +"Marry, sir," quoth Master Martin, "if you do bring piety into your +discourse, methinks the rules of just debate be not observed; for it +is an unfair thing for to overrule a man with arguments he doth not +dare to reply to under pain of spiritual censures." + +"I cry you mercy, Master Martin," quoth the other; "you did bring in +_im_piety, and so methought piety should not be excluded." At the which +we all applauded, and Martin began to perceive his adversary to be +less contemptible than he had supposed. + +"Now to the point," I cried; "for exordiums be tedious. I pray you, +gentlemen, begin, and point out some notable fashion wherewith a +master might torment his servant." + +Upon which quoth Martin: "If a man hath a sick servant, and doth note +his fancy to be set on some indulgence not of strict necessity, and +should therefore deny it to him, methinks that should be a rare +opportunity to exercise his talent." + +"Nay," cried Master Sherwood, "a nicer one, and ever at hand +afterward, should be to show kindness once to a dependent when sick, +and to use him ten times the worse for it when he is well, upbraiding +him for such past favors, as if one should say: 'Alack, be as kind as +you will, see what return you do meet with!'" + +This last piece of ingenuity was allowed by the court to surpass the +first. "Now," I cried, "what should be the greatest torment a parent +could inflict on a child?" + +Martin answered: "If it should be fond of public diversion, to confine +it in-doors. If retirement suits its temper, to compel it abroad. If +it should delight in the theatre, to take it to see a good play, and +at the moment when the plot shall wax most moving, to say it must be +tired, and procure to send it home. Or, in more weighty matters,--a +daughter's marriage, for instance,--to detect if the wench hath set her +heart on one lover, and if so, to keep from her the knowledge of this +gentleman's addresses; and when she hath accepted another, to let her +know the first had sued for her hand, and been dismissed." + +Here all the young gentlewomen did exclaim that Master Sherwood could +by no means think of a more skilful torment than this should prove. He +thought for an instant, and then said: + +"It should be a finer and more delicate torment to stir up in a young +gentlewoman's mind suspicions of one she loved, and so work on her +natural passions of jealousy and pride, that she should herself, in a +hasty mood, discard her lover; and ever after, when the act was not +recallable, remind her she herself had wrought her own unhappiness, +and wounded one she loved." + +"Yea, that should be worse than the first torment," all but one young +lady cried out; who, for her part, could better endure, she said, to +have injured herself than to be deceived, as in the first case. + +"Then do come husbands," quoth Mr. Martin; "and I vow," he cried, "I +know not how to credit there be such vile wretches in the world as +should wish to torment their wives; but if such there be, methinks the +surest method they may practise is, to loving wives to show +indifferency; to such as be jealous, secrecy; to such as be pious, +profaneness; and the like in all the points whereon their affections +are set." + +"Alack!" cried Mistress Frances Bellamy, "what a study the man hath +made of this fine art! Gentlewomen should needs beware of such a one +for a husband. What doth Master Sherwood say?" + +Whereupon he: "Methinks the greatest torment a husband might inflict +on a worthy wife should be to dishonor her love by his baseness; or if +he had injured her, to doubt her proneness to forgive." + +"And wives," quoth Mistress Southwell,--"what of their skill therein, +gentlemen?" + +"It be such," cried Martin, "as should exceed men's ability thereof to +speak. The greatest instance of talent of this sort I have witnessed +is in a young married lady, whose husband is very willing to stay in +his house or go abroad, or reside in town, or at his seat in the +country, as should most please her, so she would let him know her +wishes. But she is so artful in concealing them, that the poor man can +never learn so much as should cause him to guess what they may be; but +with a meek voice she doth reply to his asking, 'An it please you, +sir, let it be as you choose, for you very well know I never do +oppose your will.' Then if he resolve to leave town, she maketh not +much ado till they have rode twenty or thirty miles out of London. +Then she doth begin to sigh and weep, for that she should be a most +ill-used creature, and her heart almost broken for to leave her +friends, and be shut up for six months in a swamp, for such she doth +term his estate; and if she should not have left London that same day, +she should have been at the Lord Mayor's banquet, and seen the French +princes, which, above all things, she had desired. But some husbands +be so hard-hearted, if they can hunt and hawk, 'tis little count they +make of their wives' pleasures. Then when she hath almost provoked the +good man to swear, she hangeth down her head and saith, 'Content you, +sir--content you; 'tis your good fortune to have an obedient wife.' +And so mopes all the time of the journey." + +Whilst Martin was speaking, I noted a young gentlewoman who did deeply +blush whilst he spoke, and tears came into her eyes. I heard afterward +she had been lately married, and that he counterfeited her voice in so +precise a manner, so that all such as knew her must needs believe her +to be the wife he spoke of; and that there was so much of truth in the +picture he had drawn, as to make it seem a likeness, albeit most +unjust toward one who, though apt to boast of her obedience, and to +utter sundry trifling complaints, was a fond wife and toward lady to +her dear husband; and that this malice in Mr. Tregony, over and above +his wonted spite, was due to her rejection of his hand some short time +before her marriage. Master Sherwood, seeing the ungracious +gentleman's ill-nature and the lady's confusion, stood up the more +speedily to reply, and so cut him short. "I will relate," he said, "a +yet more ingenious practice of tormenting, which should seem the +highest proof of skill in a wife, albeit also practised by husbands, +only not so aptly, or peradventure so often. And this is when one hath +offered to another a notable insult or affront, so to turn the tables, +even as a conjuror the cards he doth handle, that straightway the +offended party shall seem to be the offender, and be obliged to sue +forgiveness for that wherein he himself is hurt. I pray you, gentlemen +and ladies, can anything more ingenious than this practice be thought +on?" + +All did admit it to be a rare example of ability in tormenting; but +some objected it was not solely exercised by wives and husbands, but +that friends, lovers, and all sorts of persons might use it. Then one +gentleman called for some special instance of the art in lovers. But +another said it was a natural instinct, and not an art, in such to +torment one another, and likewise their own selves, and proposed the +behavior of friends in that respect as a more new and admirable theme. + +"Ah," quoth Master Martin, with an affected wave of his hand, "first +show me an instance of a true friendship betwixt ladies, or a sincere +affection betwixt gentlemen; and then it will be time for to describe +the arts whereby they do plague and torment each other." + +Mr. Sherwood answered, "A French gentleman said, a short time since, +that it should be a piece of commendable prudence to live with your +friend as looking that he should one day be your enemy. Now we be +warranted, by Master Tregony's speech, to conclude his friendships to +be enmities in fair disguise; and the practices wherewith friends +torment each other no doubt should apply to this case also; and so his +exceptions need in no wise alter the theme of our argument. I pray +you, sir, begin, and name some notable instance in which, without any +apparent breach of friendship, the appearance of which is in both +instances supposed, one may best wound his friend, or, as Mr. Tregony +hath it, the disguised object of his hatred." + +I noticed that Master Martin glanced maliciously at his +adversary, and then answered, "The highest exercise of such ability +should be, methinks, to get possession of a secret which your friend, +_or disguised enemy_, has been at great pains to conceal, and to let +him know, by such means as shall hold him in perpetual fear, but never +in full assurance of the same, that you have it in your power to +accuse him at any time of that which should procure him to be thrown +into prison, or maybe hanged on a gibbet." + +A paleness spread over Master Sherwood's face, not caused, I ween, by +fear so much as by anger at the meanness of one who, from envy and +spite, even in the freedom of social hours, should hint at secrets so +weighty as would touch the liberty, yea, the life, of one he called +his friend; and standing up, he answered, whilst I, now too late +discerning mine own folly in the proposing of a dangerous pastime, +trembled in every limb. + +"I know," quoth he,--"I know a yet more ingenious instance of the +skill of a malicious heart. To hang a sword over a friend's head, and +cause him to apprehend its fall, must needs be a well-practised +device; but if it be done in so skilful a manner that the weapon shall +threaten not himself alone, but make him, as it were, the instrument +of ruin to others dearer to him than his own life,--if, by the +appearance of friendship, the reality of which such a heart knoweth +not, he hath been to such confidence as shall be the means of sorrow +to those who have befriended him in another manner than this false +friend, this true foe,--the triumph is then complete. Malice and hatred +can devise naught beyond it." + +Martin's eyes glared so fearfully, and his voice sounded so hoarse, as +he hesitated in answering, that, in a sort of desperation, I stood up, +and cried, "Long enough have these two gentlemen had the talk to +themselves. Verily, methinks there be no conqueror, but a drawn game +in this instance." + +But a murmur rose among the company that Master Sherwood was +victorious, and Master Tregony should do penance. + +"What shall it be?" was asked; and all with one voice did opine Master +Sherwood should name it, for he was as much beloved as Master Tregony +was misliked. He (Sherwood), albeit somewhat inwardly moved, I ween, +had restrained his indignation, and cried out merrily, "Marry, so will +I! Look me in the face, Martin, and give me thy hand. This shall be +thy penance." + +The other did so; but a fiendly look of resentment was in his eyes; +and methinks Thomas Sherwood must needs have remembered the grasp of +his hand to forgive it, I doubt not, even at the foot of the scaffold. + +From that day Martin Tregony conceived an implacable hatred for Master +Sherwood, whom he had feigned a great friendship for on his first +arrival in London, because he hoped, by his means and influence with +his aunt, to procure her to pay his debts. But after he had thrown off +the mask, he only waited for an opportunity to denounce him, being +privy to his having brought a priest to Lady Tregony's house, who had +also said mass in her chapel. So one day meeting him in the streets, +he cried out, "Stop the traitor! stop the traitor!" and so causing him +to be apprehended, had him before the next justice of the peace; +where, when they were come, he could allege nothing against him, but +that he suspected him to be a Papist. Upon which he was examined +concerning his religion, and, refusing to admit the queen's +church-headship, he was cast into a dungeon in the Tower. His lodgings +were plundered, and £25, which he had amassed, as I knew, who had +assisted him to procure it, for the use of his aged and sick father, +who had been lately cast into prison in Lancaster, was carried off +with the rest. He was cruelly racked, we heard, for that he would not +reveal where he had heard mass; and kept in a dark filthy hole, +where he endured very much from hunger, stench, and cold. No one being +allowed to visit him--for the Tower was not like some other prisons +where Mistress Ward and others could sometimes penetrate--or afford +him any comfort, Mr. Roper had, by means of another prisoner, conveyed +to his keeper some money for his use; but the keeper returned it the +next day, because the lieutenant of the Tower would not suffer him to +have the benefit of it. All he could be prevailed upon to do was to +lay out one poor sixpence for a little fresh straw for him to lie on. +About six months after, he was brought to trial, and condemned to die, +for denying the queen's supremacy, and was executed at Tyburn, +according to sentence, being cut down whilst he was yet alive, +dismembered, bowelled, and quartered. + +Poor Lady Tregony's heart did almost break at this his end and her +kinsman's part in it; and during those six months--for she would not +leave London whilst Thomas Sherwood was yet alive--I did constantly +visit her, almost every day, and betwixt us there did exist a sort of +fellowship in our sorrow for this worthy young man's sufferings; for +that she did reproach herself for lack of prudence in not sufficient +distrust of her own nephew, whom now she refused to see, at least, she +said, until he had repented of his sin, which he, glorying in, had +told her, the only time they had met, he should serve her in the same +manner, and if he could ever find out she heard mass, should get her a +lodging in the Tower, and for himself her estate in Norfolk, whither +she was then purposing to retire, and did do so after Master +Sherwood's execution. For mine own part, as once before my father's +apprehended danger had diverted my mind from childish folly, so did +the tragical result of an entertainment, wherein I had been carried +away by thoughtless mirth, somewhat sicken me of company and sports. I +went abroad not much the next year; only was often at Mr. Wells's +house, and in Hubert's society, which had become so habitual to me +that I was almost persuaded the pleasure I took therein proceeded from +a mutual inclination, and I could observe with what jealousy he +watched any whom I did seem to speak with or allow of any civility at +their hands. Even Master Sherwood he would jalouse, if he found me +weeping over his fate; and said he was happier in prison, for whom +such tears did flow, than he at liberty, for whom I showed no like +regard. "Oh," I would answer, "he is happy because, Master Rookwood, +his sufferings are for his God and his conscience' sake, and not such +as arise from a poor human love. Envy him his faith, his patience, his +hope, which make him cry out, as I know he doth, 'O my Lord Jesu! I am +not worthy that I should suffer these things for thee;' and not the +compassionate tears of a paltry wench that in some sort was the means +to plunge him in these straits." + +In the spring of the year which did follow, I heard from my father, +who had been ordained at the English College at Rheims, and was on the +watch, he advertised me, for an opportunity to return to England, for +to exercise the sacred ministry amongst his poor Catholic brethren. +But at which port he should land, or whither direct his steps, if he +effected a safe landing, he dared not for to commit to paper. He said +Edmund Genings had fallen into a most dangerous consumption, partly by +the extraordinary pains he took in his studies, and partly in his +spiritual exercises, insomuch that the physicians had almost despaired +of his recovery, and that the president had in consequence resolved to +send him into England, to try change of air. That he had left Rheims +with great regret, and went on his journey, as far as Havre de Grace, +and, after a fortnight's stay in that place, having prayed to God very +heartily for the recovery of his health, so that he might return, and, +without further delay, continue his studies for the priesthood, +he felt himself very much better, almost as well as ever he was in his +life; upon which he returned to his college, and took up again, with +exceeding great fervor, his former manner of life; "and," my father +added, "his common expression, as often as talk is ministered of +England and martyrdom there, is this: _'Vivamus in spe! Vivamus in +spe!_'" + +This letter did throw me into an exceeding great apprehension that my +father might fall into the hands of the queen's officers at any time +he should land, and the first news I should hear of him to be that he +was cast into prison. And as I knew no Catholic priest could dwell in +England with out he did assume a feigned name, and mostly so one of +his station, and at one time well noted as a gentleman and a recusant, +I now never heard of any priest arrested in any part of England but I +feared it should be him. + +Hubert Rookwood was now more than ever at Mr. Lacy's house, and in his +library, for they did both affection the same pursuits, albeit with +very different abilities; and I was used to transcribe for them divers +passages from manuscripts and books, taking greater pleasure, so to +spend time, than to embroider in Kate's room, the compass of whose +thoughts became each day more narrow, and her manner of talk more +tasteless. Hubert seemed not well pleased when I told him my father +had been ordained abroad. I gathered this from a troubled look in his +eyes, and an increasing paleness, which betokened, to my now observant +eyes, emotions which he gave not vent to in words at all, or leastways +in any that should express strong resentment. His silence always +frighted me more than anger in others. He had acquired a great +influence over me, and, albeit I was often ill at ease in his company, +I ill brooked his absence. He was a zealous Catholic, and did adduce +arguments and proofs in behalf of his religion with rare ability. Some +of his writings which I copied at that time had a cogency and +clearness in their reasons and style, which in my poor judgment +betokened a singular sharp understanding and ingenuity of learning; +but in his conversation, and writings also, was lacking the fervency +of spirit, the warmth of devout aims, the indifferency to worldly +regards, which should belong to a truly Christian soul, or else the +nobleness and freedom of speech which some do possess from natural +temper. But his attainments were far superior to those of the young +men I used to see at Mr. Wells's, and such as gave him an +extraordinary reputation amongst the persons I was wont to associate +with, which contributed not a little to the value I did set on his +preference, of which no proofs were wanting, save an open paying of +his addresses to me, which by reason of his young age and mine, and +the poorness of his prospects, being but a younger son of a country +gentleman, was easy of account. He had a great desire for wealth and +for all kind of greatness, and used to speak of learning as a road to +it. + +In the spring of that year, my Lord Surrey left Cambridge, and came to +live at Howard House with his lady. They were then both in their +eighteenth years, and a more comely pair could not be seen. The years +that had passed since she had left London had greatly matured her +beauty. She was taller of stature than the common sort, and very fair +and graceful. The earl was likewise tall, very straight, long-visaged, +but of a pleasant and noble countenance. I could not choose but admire +her perfect carriage, toward her lord, her relatives, and her +servants; the good order she established in her house; the care she +took of her sister's education, who in two years was to be married to +Lord William Howard; and her great charity to the poor, which she then +began to visit herself, and to relieve in all sorts of ways, and was +wont to say the angels of that old house where God had been served by +so many prayers and alms must needs assist her in her care for +those in trouble. My lord appeared exceedingly fond of her then. One +day when I was visiting her ladyship, he asked me if I had read the +life of that sweet holy Queen Elizabeth of Hungary; and as I said I +had not met with it, he gifted me with a copy fairly printed and well +ornamented, which Mr. Martin had left behind him when he went beyond +seas, and said: + +"Mistress Sherwood, see if in this book you find not the likeness of a +lady which you mislike not any more than I do. Beshrew me, but I fear +I may find some day strange guests in mine house if she do copy the +pattern herein set down; and so I will e'en send the book out of the +house, for my lady is too good for me already, and I be no fitting +husband for a saint, which a very little more of virtue should make +her." + +And so he laughing, and she prettily checking his wanton speech, and +such sweet loving looks and playful words passing between them as +gladdened my heart to see. + +Some time after, I found one day my Lady Surrey looking somewhat grave +and thoughtful. She greeted me with an affectionate kiss, and said, + +"Ah, sweet Constance, I be glad thou art come; for methinks we shall +soon leave London." + +"So soon?" I answered. + +"Not _too_ soon, dear Constance," she said somewhat sadly. + +I did look wistfully in her sweet face. Methought there was trouble in +it, and doubt if she should further speak or not; for she rested her +head on her hand, and her dark eyes did fix themselves wistfully on +mine, as if asking somewhat of me, but what I knew not. "Constance," +she said at last, "I have no mother, no sister of mine own age, no +brother, no ghostly father, to speak my mind to. Methinks it should +not be wrong to unbosom my cares to thee, who, albeit young, hast a +thoughtful spirit, and, as I have often observed, an aptness to give +good counsel. And then thou art of that way of thinking wherein I was +brought up, and though in outward show we now do differ, I am not +greatly changed therein, as thou well knowest." + +"Alack!" I cried, "too well I do know it, dear lady; and, albeit my +tongue is silent thereon, my heart doth grieve to see you comfortless +of that which is the sole source of true comfort." + +"Tis not that troubles me," she answered, a little impatiently. "Thou +art unreasonable, Constance. My duty to my lord shapes my outward +behavior; but I have weighty cares, nevertheless. Dost thou mind that +passage in the late duke our father's letter to his son and me?--that +we should live in a lower degree, and out of London and from the +court. Methinks a prophetic spirit did move him thus to write. My lord +has a great heart and a generous temper, and loves to spend money in +all sorts of ways, profitable and unprofitable, as I too well observe +since we have been in London. And the queen sent him a store of +messages by my Lord Essex, and others of his friends, that she was +surprised not to see him at court; and that it was her highness's +pleasure he should wait upon her, and she shall show him so much favor +as he deserves, and such like inducements." + +"And hath my lord been to court?" I asked. + +"Yea, he hath been," she answered, sighing deeply. "He hath been +forced to kiss the hand which signed his father's death-warrant. +Constance, it is this which doth so pain me, that her majesty should +think he hath in his heart no resentment of that mishap. She said to +my Lady Berkeley some days since, when she sued for some favor at her +hands, 'No, no, my Lady Berkeley; you love us not, and never will. You +cannot forgive us your brother's death.' Why should her grace think a +son hath less resentment of a father's loss than a sister?" + +Willing to minister comfort to her touching that on which I did, +nevertheless, but too much consent to her thinking, I said, "In my +lord's case, he must have needs appeared to mislike the queen +and her government if he stayed away from court, and his duty to his +sovereign compelleth him to render her so much homage as is due to her +majesty." + +"Yea," cried my lady, "I be of the same mind with thee, that if my +lord do live in London he is in a manner forced to swim with the tide, +and God only knoweth into what a flood of troubles he may thus be led. +But I have prevailed on him to go to Kenninghall, and there to enjoy +that retired life his father passionately wished him to be contented +with. So I do look, if it please God, to happy days when we leave this +great city, where so many and great dangers beset us." + +"Have you been to court likewise, dear lady?" I asked; and she +answered, + +"No; her majesty doth deny me that privilege which the wife of a +nobleman should enjoy without so much as the asking for it. My Lord +Arundel and my Lord Sussex are mad thereon, and swear 'tis the gipsy's +doing, as they do always title Lord Leicester, and a sign of his +hatred to my lord. But I be not of their mind; for methinks he doth +but aid my lord to win the queen's favor by the slights which are put +on his wife, which, if he doth take patiently, must needs secure for +him such favor as my Lord Leicester should wish, if report speaks +truly, none should enjoy but himself." + +"But surely," I cried, "my lord's spirit is too noble to stomach so +mean a treatment of his lady?" + +A burning blush spread over the countess's face, and she answered, + +"Constance, nobility of soul is shaped into action by divers motives +and influences. And, I pray thee, since his father's death and the +loss of his first tutor, who hath my lord had to fashion the aims of +his eager spirit to a worthy ambition, and teach him virtuous +contentment with a meaner rank and lower fortunes than his birth do +entitle him to? He chafes to be degraded, and would fain rise to the +heights his ancestors occupied; and, alas! the ladder which those who +beset him--for that they would climb after him--do ever set before his +eyes is the queen's majesty's favor. 'Tis the breath of their +nostrils, the perpetual theme of their discourse. Mine ears sometimes +ache with the sound of their oft-repeated words." + +Then she broke off her speech for an instant, but soon asked me if to +consult fortune-tellers was not a sin. + +"Yea," I answered, "the Church doth hold it to be unlawful." + +"Ah!" she replied, "I would to God my lord had never resorted to a +person of that sort, which hath filled his mind with an apprehension +which will work us great evil, if I do mistake not." + +"Alas!" I said, "hath my lord been so deluded?" + +"Thou hast heard, I ween," my lady continued, "of one Dr. Dee, whom +the queen doth greatly favor, and often charge him to cast her +horoscope. Some time ago my lord was riding with her majesty and the +most part of her court near unto this learned gentleman's house at +Mortlake, which her highness, taking notice of, she must needs propose +to visit him with all her retinue, in order, she said, to examine his +library and hold conference with him. But learning that his wife had +been buried only four hours, her majesty would not enter, but desired +my Lord Leicester to take her down from her horse at the church-wall +at Mortlake and to fetch the doctor unto her, who did bring out for +her grace's inspection his magic-glass, of which she and all those +with her did see some of the properties. Several of the noblemen +thereunto present were greatly contented and delighted with this +cunning witchery, and did agree to visit again, in a private manner, +this learned man, for to have their nativities calculated; and my +lord, I grieve to say, went with them. And this cheat or wizard, for +methinks one or other of those names must needs belong to him, +predicted to my lord that he should be in great danger to be +overthrown by a woman. And, I ween, good Constance, there was a +craft in this most deep and deceptive, for doth it not tend, whichever +way it be understood, to draw and urge onward my lord to a careful +seeking to avoid this danger by a diligent serving and waiting on her +majesty, if she be the woman like to undo him, or else to move him to +the thought that his marriage--as I doubt not many endeavor to +insinuate into his mind--should be an obstacle to her favor such as +must needs mar his fortunes? Not that my lord hath breathed so much as +one such painful word in my hearing, or abated in his kind behavior; +but there are others who be not slow to hint so much to myself; and, I +pray you, shall they not then deal with him in the same manner, albeit +he is too noble and gentle to let me hear of it? But since that day he +is often thoughtful when we are alone, and his mind ever running on +means to propitiate her majesty, and doth send her many presents, the +value of which should rather mark them as gifts from one royal person +to another than from a subject to his prince. O Constance, I would +Kenninghall were a thousand miles from London, and a wild sea to run +between it and the court, such as could with difficulty be crossed; +but 'tis vain wishing; and I thank God my lord should be willing to +remove there, and so we shall be in quiet." + +"God send it!" I answered; "and that you, my sweet lady, may find +there all manner of contentment." Then I asked her ladyship if she had +tidings of my Lady l'Estrange. + +"Yea," she answered; "excellent good tidings, for that she was a +contented wife to a loving husband. Sir Hammond," she said, "hath a +most imperious temper, and, as I hear, doth not brook the least +contradiction; so that a woman less mild and affectionate than +Milicent should not, I ween, live at peace with him. But her sweet +temper doth move her to such strict condescension to his humors, that +she doth style herself most fortunate in marriage and a singular happy +wife. Dost mind Master Chaucer's tale of the patient Grizzel, which +Phil read to me some years back, soon after our first marriage, for to +give me a lesson on wifely duty, and which I did then write to thee +the story of?" + +"Yea, well," I cried; "and that I was so angered at her patience, +which methought was foolish, yea, wicked in its excess, that it did +throw me into a passion." + +My lady laughed and said, indeed she thought so too; but Milicent, in +her behavior and the style of her letters, did mind her so much of +that singular obedient wife, that she did sometimes call her Grizzel +to her face. "She is now gone to reside with her husband," she said, +"at a seat of his not very far from Lynn. 'Tis a poor and wild +district; and the people, I hear, do resort to her in great numbers +for assistance in the way of medicine and surgery, and for much help +of various sorts. She is greatly contented that her husband doth in +nowise impede her in these charitable duties, but rather the contrary. +She is a creature of such natural good impulses and compassionate +spirit that must needs show kindness to all who do come in her way." + +Then my lady questioned me touching Muriel and Mistress Ward, and Kate +and Polly, who were now both married; and I told her Kate had a fair +son and Polly a little daughter, like to prove as sharp as her mother +if her infant vivacity did not belie her. As to Muriel and her guide +and friend, I told her ladyship that few were like to have speech with +them, save such as were in so destitute a condition that nothing could +exceed it. Now that my two elder cousins had left home, mine uncle's +house was become a sort of refuge for the poor, and an hospital for +distressed Catholics. + +"And thou, Constance," my lady said, "dost thou not think on +marriage?" + +I smiled and answered I did sometimes; but had not yet met with any +one altogether conformable to my liking. + + +"Not Mr. Hubert Rookwood?" she said smiling; "I have been told he +haunts Mrs. Lacy's house, and would fain be admitted as Mistress +Sherwood's suitor." + +"I will not deny," I answered, "but that he doth testify a vast regard +for me, or that he is a gentleman of such great parts and exceedingly +winning speech that a gentlewoman should be flattered to be addressed +by him; but, dear lady," I continued, opening my heart to her, "albeit +I relish greatly his society, mine heart doth not altogether incline +to his suit; and Mr. Congleton hath lately warned me to be less free +in allowing of his attentions than hath hitherto been my wont; for, he +said, his means be so scanty, that it behoveth him not to think of +marriage until his fortunes do improve; and that his father would not +be competent to make such settlements as should be needful in such a +case, or without which he should suffer us to marry. As Hubert had +never opened to me himself thereon in so pointed a fashion as to +demand an answer from me, I was somewhat surprised at mine uncle's +speech; but I found he had often ministered talk of his passion for +me--for so he termed it--to Kate and her husband." + +"And did it work in thee, sweet one, no regrets," my lady asked, "that +the course of this poor gentleman's true love should be marred by his +lack of wealth?" + +"In truth no, dear lady," I replied; "except that I did notice, with +so much of pain as a good heart must needs feel in the sufferings of +another, that he was both sad and wroth at the change in my manner. +And indeed I had always seen--and methinks this was the reason that my +heart inclined not warmly toward his suit--that his affection was of +that sort that doth readily breed anger; and that if he had occasion +to misdoubt a return from me of such-like regard as he professed, his +looks of love sometimes changed into a scowl, or something nearly +resembling one. Yet I had a kindness toward him, yea, more than a +kindness, an attachment, which methinks should have led me to +correspond to his affection so far as to be willing to marry him, if +mine uncle had not forbade me to think on it; but since he hath laid +his commands upon me on that point, methinks I have experienced a +freedom of soul and a greater peace than I had known for some time +past." + +"'Tis well then as it is," my lady said; and after some further +discourse we parted that day. + +It had been with me even as I had said to her. My mind had been more +at ease since the contending would and would not, the desire to please +Hubert and the fear to be false in so doing, had been stayed,--and +mostly since he had urged me to entertain him as a friend, albeit +defended to receive him as a lover. And that peace lasted until a +day--ay, a day which began like other days with no perceptible +presentiment of joy or sorrow, the sun shining as brightly, and no +more, at its rise than on any other morning in June; and the +thunder-clouds toward noon overshadowing its glory not more darkly +than a storm is wont to do the clear sky it doth invade; nor yet +evening smiling again more brightly and peacefully than is usually +seen when nature's commotion is hushed, and the brilliant orb of day +doth sink to rest in a bed of purple glory; and yet that day did +herald the greatest joys, presage the greatest anguish, mark the most +mighty beginnings of most varied endings that can be thought of in the +life of a creature not altogether untried by sorrow, but on the brink +of deeper waters than she had yet sounded, on the verge of such +passages as to have looked forward to had caused her to tremble with a +two-fold resentment of hope and of fear, and to look back to doth +constrain her to lay down her pen awhile for to crave strength to +recount the same. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +One day there was a great deal of company at Mistress Wells's house, +which was the only one I then haunted, being as afore said, somewhat +sickened of society and diversions. The conversation which was mostly +ministered amongst such as visited there related to public affairs and +foreign countries, and not so much as in some other houses to private +scandals and the tattle of the town. The uncertainty I was in +concerning my father's present abode and his known intent soon to +cross over the sea from France worked in me a constant craving for +news from abroad, and also an apprehensive curiosity touching reports +of the landing of seminary priests at any of the English ports. Some +would often tarry at Mr. Wells's house for a night who had lately come +from Rheims or Paris, and even Rome, or leastways received letters +from such as resided in those distant parts. And others I met there +were persons who had friends at court; and they often related +anecdotes of the queen and the ministers, and the lords and ladies of +her household, which it also greatly concerned me to hear of, by +reason of my dearest friend having embarked her whole freight of +happiness in a frail vessel launched on that stormy sea of the court, +so full of shoals and quicksands, whereby many a fair ship was daily +chanced to be therein wrecked. + +Nothing notable of this kind had been mentioned on the day I speak of, +which, howsoever, proved a very notable one to me. For after I had +been in the house a short time there came there one not known, and yet +it should seem not wholly unknown to me; for that I did discover in +his shape and countenance something not unfamiliar, albeit I could not +call to mind that I had ever seen this gentleman before. I asked his +name of a young lady who sat near to me, and she said she thought he +should be the elder brother of Mr. Hubert Rookwood, who was lodging in +the house, and that she heard he tabled there also since he had come +to town, and that he was a very commendable person, above the common +sort, albeit not one of such great parts as his brother. Then I did +instantly take note of the likeness between the brothers which had +made the elder's face not strange to me, as also perhaps that one +sight of him I had at Bedford some years before. Their visages were +very like; but their figures and mostly their countenances different. +I cannot say wherein that great differency did lie; but methinks every +one must have seen, or rather felt it. Basil was the tallest and the +handsomest of the twain. I will not be so great a prodigal of time as +to bestow it on commendations of his outward appearance whose inward +excellences were his chiefest merit. Howsoever, I be minded to set +down in this place somewhat touching his appearance; as it may so +happen that some who read this history, and who have known and loved +Basil in his old years, should take as much pleasure in reading as I +do in writing the description of his person, and limning as it were +the resemblance of him at a period in this history wherein the +hitherto separate currents of his life and mine do meet, like a noble +river and a poor stream, for to flow onward in the same channel. + +Basil Rookwood was of a tall stature, and well-proportioned shape in +all parts. His hair of light brown, very thickly set, and of a sunny +hue, curled with a graceful wave. His head had many becoming motions. +His mouth was well-made, and his lips ruddy. His forehead not very +high, in which was a notable dissemblance from his brother. His nose +raised and somewhat sharply cut. His complexion clear and rosy; his +smile so full of cheer and kindliness that it infected others with +mirthfulness. He was very nimble and active in all his movements, and +well skilled in riding, fencing, and dancing. I pray you who have +known him in his late years, can you in aught, save in a never-altered +sweetness mixing with the dignity of age, trace in this picture a +likeness to Basil, your Basil and mine? + +I care not, in writing this plain showing of mine own life, to use +such disguises as are observed in love-stories, whereby the reader is +kept ignorant of that which is to follow until in due time the course +of the tale doth unfold it. No, I may not write Basil's name as that +of a stranger. Not for the space of one page; nay, not with so much as +one stroke of my pen can I dissemble the love which had its dawn on +the day I have noted. It was sudden in its beginnings, yet steady in +its progress. It deepened and widened with the course of years, even +as a rivulet doth start with a lively force from its source, and, +gathering strength as it flows, grows into a broad and noble river. It +was ardent but not idolatrous; sudden, as I have said, in its rise, +but not unconsidered. It was founded on high esteem on the one side, +on the other an inexpressible tenderness and kindness. Religion, +honor, and duty were the cements of this love. No blind dotage; but a +deathless bond of true sympathy, making that equal which in itself was +unequal; for, if a vain world should have deemed that on the one side +there did appear some greater brilliancy of parts than showed in the +other, all who could judge of true merit and sound wisdom must needs +have allowed that in true merit Basil was as greatly her superior whom +he honored with his love, as is a pure diamond to the showy setting +which encases it. + +Hubert presented to me his brother, who, when he heard my name +mentioned, would not be contented till he had got speech of me; and +straightway, after the first civilities had passed between us, began +to relate to me that he had been staying for a few days before coming +to town at Mr. Roper's house at Richmond, where I had often visited in +the summer. It so befel that I had left in the chamber where I slept +some of my books, on the margins of which were written such notes as I +was wont to make whilst reading, for so Hubert had advised me, and his +counsel in this I found very profitable; for this method teaches one +to reflect on what he reads, and to hold converse as it were with +authors whose friendship and company he thus enjoys, which is a source +of contentment more sufficient and lasting than most other pleasures +in this world. + +Basil chanced to inhabit this room, and discovered on an odd by-shelf +these volumes so disfigured, or, as he said, so adorned; and took such +delight in the reading of them, but mostly in the poor reflections an +unknown pen had affixed to these pages, that he rested not until he +had learnt from Mr. Roper the name of the writer. When he found she +was the young girl he had once seen at Bedford, he marvelled at the +strong impulse he had toward her, and pressed the venerable gentleman +with so many questions relating to her that he feared he should have +wearied him but his inquiries met with such gracious answers that he +perceived Mr. Roper to be as well pleased with the theme of his +discourse as himself, and as glad to set forth her excellences (I +be ashamed to write the words which should indeed imply the speaker to +have been in his dotage, but for the excuse of a too great kindness to +an unworthy creature) as he had to listen to them. And here I must +needs interrupt my narrative to admire that one who was no scholar, +yea, no great reader at any time, albeit endowed with excellent good +sense and needful information, should by means of books have been +drawn to the first thoughts of her who was to enjoy his love which +never was given to any other creature but herself. But I pray you, +doth it not happen most often, though it is scarce to be credited, +that dissemblance in certain matters doth attract in the way of love +more than resemblance? That short men do choose tall wives; lovers of +music women who have no ear to discern one tune from another; scholars +witless housewives; retired men ambitious helpmates; and gay ladies +grave husbands? This should seem to be the rule, otherways the +exception; and a notable instance of the same I find in the first +motions which did incline Basil to a good opinion of my poor self. + +But to return. "Mistress Sherwood," quoth Basil, "Mr. Roper did not +wholly praise you; he recited your faults as well as your virtues." + +I answered, it did very much content me he should have done so, for +that then more credit should be given to his words in that wherein he +did commend me, since he was so true a friend as to note my defects. + +"But what," quoth he, archly smiling, "if the faults he named are such +as pleased me as well as virtues?" + +"Then," I replied, "methinks, sir, the fault should be rather in you +than in her who doth commit them, for she may be ignorant, or else +subject to some infirmity of temper; but to commend faults should be a +very dangerous error." + +"But will you hear," quoth he, "your faults as Mr. Roper recited +them?" + +"Yea, willingly," I answered, "and mend them also if I can." + +"Oh, I pray you mend them not," he cried. + +At which I laughed, and said he should be ashamed to give such wanton +advice. And then he: + +"Mr. Roper declares you have so much inability to conceal your +thoughts that albeit your lips should be forcibly closed, your eyes +would speak them so clearly that any one who listed should read them." + +"Methinks," I said, willing to excuse myself like the lawyer in the +gospel, "that should not be my fault, who made not mine own eyes." + +"Then he also says, that you have so sharp an apprehension of wrongs +done to others, that if you hear of an injustice committed, or some +cruel treatment of any one, you are so moved and troubled, that he has +known you on such occasions to shed tears, which do not flow with a +like ease for your own griefs. Do you cry mercy to this accusation, +Mistress Sherwood?" + +"Indeed," I answered, "God knoweth I do, and my ghostly father also. +For the strong passions of resentment touching the evil usage our +Catholics do meet with work in me so mightfully, that I often am in +doubt if I have sinned therein. And concerning mine own griefs, they +have been but few as yet, so that 'tis little praise I deserve for not +overmuch resentment in instances wherein, if others are afflicted, I +have much ado to restrain wrath." + +"Ah," he said, "methinks if you answer in so true and grave a manner +my rude catechizing. Mistress Sherwood, I be not bold enough to +continue the inventory of your faults." + +"I pray you do," I answered; for I felt in my soul an unusual liking +for his conversation, and the more so when, leaving off jesting, he +said, "The last fault Mr. Roper did charge you with was lack of +prudence in matters wherein prudence is most needed in these days." + + +"Alas!" I exclaimed; "for that also do I cry mercy; but indeed, Master +Rookwood, there is in these days so much cowardice and time-serving +which doth style itself prudence, that methinks it might sometimes +happen that a right boldness should be called rashness." + +Raising my eyes to his, I thought I saw them clouded by a misty dew; +and he replied, "Yea, Mistress Constance, and if it is so, I had +sooner that myself and such as I have a friendship for should have to +cry mercy on their death-beds for too much rashness in stemming the +tide, than for too much ease in yielding to it. And now," he added, +"shall I repeat what Mr. Roper related of your virtues?" + +"No," I answered, smiling. "For if the faults he doth charge me with +be so much smaller than the reality, what hope have I that he should +speak the truth in regard to my poor merits?" + +Then some persons moving nearer to where we were sitting, some general +conversation ensued, in which several took part; and none so much to +my liking as Basil, albeit others might possess more ready tongues and +a more sparkling wit. In all the years since I had left my home, I had +not found so much contentment in any one's society. His mind and mine +were like two instruments with various chords, but one key-note, which +maintained them in admirable harmony. The measure of our agreement +stood rather in the drift of our desires and the scope of our +approval, than in any parity of tastes or resemblance of disposition. +Acquaintanceship soon gave way to intimacy, which bred a mutual +friendship that in its turn was not slow to change into a warmer +feeling. We met very often. It seemed so natural to him to affection +me, and to me to reciprocate his affection, that if our love began +not, which methinks it did, on that first day of meeting, I know not +when it had birth. But if it be difficult precisely to note the +earliest buddings of the sweet flower love, it was easy to discern the +moment when the bitter root of jealousy sprang up in Hubert's heart. +He who had been suspicious of every person whose civilities I allowed +of, did not for some time appear to mislike the intimacy which had +arisen betwixt his brother and me. I ween from what he once said, when +on a later occasion anger loosened his tongue, that he held him in +some sort of contempt, even as a fox would despise a nobler animal +than himself. His subtle wit disdained his plainness of speech. His +confiding temper he derided; and he had methinks no apprehension that +a she-wit, as he was wont to call me, should prove herself so witless +as to prefer to one of his brilliant parts a man notable for his +indifferency to book learning, and to his smooth tongue and fine +genius the honest words and unvarnished merits of his brother. + +Howsoever, one day he either did himself notice some sort of +particular kindness to exist between us, or he was advertised thereof +by some of the company we frequented, and I saw him fix his eyes on us +with so arrested a persistency, and his frame waxed so rigid, that +methought Lot's wife must have so gazed when she turned toward the +doomed city. I was more frighted at the dull lack of expression in his +face than at a thousand frowns or even scowls. His eyes were reft of +their wonted fire; the color had flown from his lips; his always pale +cheek was of a ghastly whiteness; and his hand, which was thrust in +his bosom, and his feet, which seemed rooted to the ground, were as +motionless as those of a statue. A shudder ran through me as he stood +in this guise, neither moving nor speaking, at a small distance from +me. I rose and went away, for his looks freezed me. But the next time +I met him this strangeness of behavior had vanished, and I almost +misdoubted the truth of what I had seen. He was a daily witness, for +several succeeding weeks, of what neither Basil nor I cared much +to conceal--the mutual confidence and increasing tenderness of +affection, which was visible in all our words and actions at that +time, which was one of greater contentment than can be expressed. That +summer was a rare one for fineness of the weather and its great store +of sun-shiny days. We had often pleasant divertisements in the +neighborhood of London, than which no city is more famous for the +beauty of its near scenery. One while we ascended the noble river +Thames as far as Richmond, England's Arcadia, whose smooth waters, +smiling meads, and hills clad in richest verdure, do equal whatsoever +poets have ever sung or painters pictured. Another time we disported +ourselves in the gardens of Hampton, where, in the season of roses, +the insects weary their wings over the flower-beds--the thrifty bees +with the weight of gathered honey--and the gay butterflies, idlers as +ourselves, with perfume and pleasure. Or we went to Greenwich Park, +and underneath the spreading trees, with England's pride of shipping +in sight, and barges passing to and fro on the broad stream as on a +watery highway, we whiled away the time in many joyous pastimes. + +On an occasion of this sort it happened that both brothers went with +us, and we forecasted to spend the day at a house in the village of +Paddington, about two miles from London, where Mr. Congleton's sister, +a lady of fortune, resided. It stood in a very fair garden, the gate +of which opened on the high road; and after dinner we sat with some +other company which had been invited to meet us under the large cedar +trees which lined a broad gravel-walk leading from the house to the +gate. The day was very hot, but now a cooling air had risen, and the +young people there assembled played at pastimes, in which I was +somewhat loth to join; for jesting disputations and framing of +questions and answers, an amusement then greatly in fashion, minded +one of that fatal encounter betwixt Martin Tregony and Thomas +Sherwood, the end of which had been the death of the one and a fatal +injury to the soul of the other. Hubert was urgent with me to join in +the arguments proposed; but I refused, partly for the aforesaid +reason, and methinks, also, because I doubted that Basil should acquit +himself so admirably as his brother in these exercises of wit, wherein +the latter did indeed excel, and I cared not to shine in a sport +wherein he took no part. So I set myself to listen to the disputants, +albeit with an absent mind; for I had grown to be somewhat thoughtful +of late, and to forecast the future with such an admixture of hope and +fear touching the issue of those passages of love I was engaged in, +that the trifles which entertained a disengaged mind lacked ability to +divert me. I ween Polly, if she had been then in London, should have +laughed at me for the symptoms I exhibited of what she styled the +sighing malady. + +A little while after the contest had begun, a sound was heard at a +distance as of a trampling on the road, but not discernible as yet +whether of men or horses' feet. There was mixed with it cries of +hooting and shouts, which increased as this sort of procession (for so +it should seem to be) approached. All who were in the garden ran to +the iron railing for to discover the cause. From the houses on both +sides the road persons came out and joined in the clamor. As the crowd +neared the gate where we stood, the words, "Papists--seditious +priests--traitors," were discernible, mixed with oaths, curses, and +such opprobrious epithets as my pen dares not write. At the hearing of +them the blood rushed to my head, and my heart began to beat as if it +should burst from the violence with which it throbbed; for now the mob +was close at hand, and we could see the occasion of their yells and +shoutings. About a dozen persons were riding without bridle or spur or +other furniture, on lean and bare horses, which were fastened one +to the other's tails, marching slowly in a long row, each man's feet +tied under his horse's belly and his arms bound hard and fast behind +him. A pursuivant rode in front and cried aloud that those coming +behind him were certain papists, foes to the gospel and enemies to the +commonwealth, for that they had been seized in the act of saying and +hearing mass in disobedience to the laws. And as he made this +proclamation, the rabble yelled and took up stones and mud to cast at +the prisoners. One man cried out, "Four of them be vile priests." O ye +who read this, have you taken heed how, at some times in your lives, +in a less space than the wink of an eye, thought has outrun sight? So +did mine with lightning speed apprehend lest my father should be one +of these. I scanned the faces of the prisoners as they passed, but he +was not amongst them; however I recognized, with a sharp pain, the +known countenance of the priest who had shriven my mother on her +death-bed. He looked pale and worn to a shadow, and hardly able to sit +on his horse. I sunk down on my knees, with my head against the +railings, feeling very sick. Then the gate opened, and with a strange +joy and trembling fear I saw Basil push through the mob till he stood +close to the horse's feet where the crowd had made a stoppage. He +knelt and took off his hat, and the lips of the priests moved, as they +passed, for to bless him. Murmurs rose from the rabble, but he took no +heed of them. Till the last horseman had gone by he stood with his +head uncovered, and then slowly returned, none daring to touch him. +"Basil, dear Basil!" I cried, and, weeping, gave him my hand. It was +the first time I had called him by his name. Methinks in that moment +as secure a troth-plight was passed between us as if ten thousand +bonds had sealed it. When, some time afterward, we moved toward the +house, I saw Hubert standing at the door with the same stony rigid +look which had frighted me once before. He said not one word as I +passed him. I have since heard that a lady, endowed with more +sharpness than prudence or kindness, had thus addressed him on this +occasion: "Methinks, Master Hubert Rookwood, that you did perform your +part excellently well in that ingenious pastime which procured us so +much good entertainment awhile ago; but beshrew me if your brother did +not exceed you in the scene we have just witnessed, and if Mistress +Sherwood's looks do not belie her, she thought so too. I ween his +tragedy hath outdone your comedy." Then he (well-nigh biting his lips +through, as the person who related it to me observed) made answer: "If +this young gentlewoman's taste be set on tragedy, then will I promise +her so much of it another day as should needs satisfy her." + +This malicious lady misliked Hubert, by reason of his having denied +her the praise of wit, which had been reported to her by a third +person. She was minded to be revenged on him, and so the shaft +contained in her piercing jest had likewise hit those she willed not +to injure. It is not to be credited how many persons have been ruined +in fortune, driven into banishment, yea, delivered over to death, by +careless words uttered without so much as a thought of the evil which +should ensue from them. + +And now upon the next day Basil was to leave London. Before he went he +said he hoped not to be long absent, and that Mr. Congleton should +receive a letter, if it pleased God, from his father; which, if it +should be favorably received, and I willed it not to be otherwise, +should cause our next meeting to be one of greater contentment than +could be thought of. + +I answered, "I should never wish otherwise than that we should meet +with contentment, or will anything that should hinder it." Which he +said did greatly please him to hear, and gave him a comfortable hope +of a happy return. + + +He conversed also with Mistress Ward touching the prisoners we had +seen the day before, and left some money with her in case she should +find means to see and assist them, which she strove to do with the +diligence used by her in all such managements. In a few days she +discovered Mr. Watson to be in Bridewell, also one Mr. Richardson in +the Marshalsea, and three laymen in the Clink. Mr. Watson had a sister +who was a Protestant, and by her means she succeeded in relieving his +wants, and dealt with the gaolers at the other prisons so as to convey +some assistance to the poor men therein confined, whose names she had +found out. + +One morning when I was at Kate's house Hubert came there; and she, the +whole compass of whose thoughts was now circled in her nursery, not +minding the signs I made she should not leave us alone, rose and said +she must needs go and see if her babe was awake, for Hubert must see +him, and he should not go away without first he had beheld him walk +with his new leading-strings, which were the tastefullest in the world +and fit for a king's son; and that she doubted not we could find good +enough entertainment in each other's company, or in Mr. Lacy's books, +which must be the wittiest ever written, if she judged by her +husband's fondness for them. As soon as the door was shut on her, +Hubert began to speak of his brother, and to insinuate that my +behavior to himself was changed since Basil had come to London, which +I warmly denied. + +"If," I said, "I have changed--" + +"_If_," he repeated, stopping my speaking with an ironical and +disdainful smile, and throwing into that one little word as he uttered +it more of meaning than it would seem possible it should express. + +"Yes!" I continued, angered at his defiant looks. "Yes, if my behavior +to you has changed, which, I must confess, in some respects it has, +the cause did lie in my uncle's commands, laid on me before your +brother's coming to London. You know it, Master Rookwood, by the same +token that you charged me with unkindness for not allowing of your +visits, and refusing to read Italian with you, some weeks before ever +he arrived." + +"You have a very obedient disposition, madam," he answered in a +scornful manner, "and I doubt not have attended with a like readiness +to the behest to favor the _elder_ brother's suit as to that which +forbade the receiving of the younger brother's addresses." + +"I did not look upon you as a suitor," I replied. + +"No!" he exclaimed, "and not as on a lover? Not as on one whose lips, +borrowing words from enamored poets twenty times in a day, did avow +his passion, and was entertained on your side with so much good-nature +and apparent contentment with this mode of disguised worship, as +should lead him to hope for a return of his affection? But why +question of that wherein my belief is unshaken? I know you love me, +Constance Sherwood, albeit you peradventure love more dearly my +brother's heirship of Euston and its wide acres. Your eyes deceived +not, nor did your flushing cheek dissemble, when we read together +those sweet tales and noble poems, wherein are set forth the dear +pains and tormenting joys of a mutual love. No, not if you did take +your oath on it will I believe you love my brother!" + +"What warrant have you, sir," I answered with burning cheek, "to +minister such talk to one who, from the moment she found you thought +of marriage, did plainly discountenance your suit?" + +"You were content, then, madam, to be worshipped as an idol," he +bitterly replied, "if only not sued for in marriage by a poor man." + +My sin found me out then, and the hard taunt awoke dormant pangs in my +conscience for the pleasure I had taken and doubtless showed in the +disguised professions of an undisguised admiration; but anger yet +prevailed, and I cried, "Think you to advance your interest in my +friendship, sir, by such language and reproaches as these?" + +"Do you love my brother?" he said again, with an implied contempt +which made me mad. + +"Sir," I answered, "I entertain for your brother so great a respect +and esteem as one must needs feel toward one of so much virtue and +goodness. No contract exists between us; nor has he made me the tender +of his hand. More than that it behoves you not to ask, or me to +answer." + +"Ah! the offer of marriage is then the condition of your regard, and +love is to follow, not precede, the settlements, I' faith, ladies are +very prudent in these days; and virtue and goodness the new names for +fortune and lands. Beshrew me, if I had not deemed you to be made of +other metal than the common herd. But whatever be the composition of +your heart, Constance Sherwood, be it hard as the gold you set so much +store on, or, like wax, apt to receive each day some new impress, I +will have it; yea, and keep it for my own. No rich fool shall steal it +from me." + +"Hubert Rookwood," I cried in anger, "dare not so to speak of one +whose merit is as superior to thine as the sun outshines a +torchlight." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, turning pale with rage, "if I thought thou didst +love him!" and clenched his hand with a terrible gesture, and ground +his teeth. "But 'tis impossible," he added bitterly smiling. "As soon +would I believe Titania verily to doat on the ass's head as for thee +to love Basil!" + +"Oh!" I indignantly replied, "you do almost constrain me to avow that +which no maiden should, unasked, confess. Do you think, sir, that +learning and scholarship, and the poor show of wit that lies in a +ready tongue, should outweigh honor, courage, and kindliness of heart? +Think you that more respect should be paid to one who can speak, and +write also, if you will, fair sounding words, than to him who in his +daily doings shows forth such nobleness as others only inculcate, and +God only knoweth if ever they practise it?" + +"Lady!" he exclaimed, "I have served you long; sustained torments in +your presence; endured griefs in your absence; pining thoughts in the +day, and anguished dreams in the night; jealousies often in times +past, and now--" + +He drew in his breath; and then not so much speaking the word +"despair" as with a smothered vehemence uttering it, he concluded his +vehement address. + +I was so shaken by his speech that I remained silent: for if I had +spoken I must needs have wept. Holding my head with both hands, and so +shielding my eyes from the sight of his pale convulsed face, I sat +like one transfixed. Then he again: "These be not times, Mistress +Sherwood, for women to act as you have done; to lift a man's heart one +while to an earthly heaven, and then, without so much as a thought, to +cast him into a hellish sea of woes. These be the dealings which drive +men to desperation; to attempt things contrary to their own minds, to +religion, and to honesty; to courses once abhorred--" + +His violence wrung my heart then with so keen a remorse that I cried +out, "I cry you mercy, Master Rookwood, if I have dealt thus with you; +indeed I thought not to do it. I pray you forgive me, if unwittingly, +albeit peradventure in a heedless manner, I have done you so much +wrong as your words do charge me with." And then tears I could not +stay began to flow; and for awhile no talk ensued. But after a little +time he spoke in a voice so changed and dissimilar in manner, that I +looked up wholly amazed. + +"Sweet Constance," he said, "I have played the fool in my customable +fashion, and by such pretended slanders of one I should rather incline +to commend beyond his deserts, if that were possible, than to give him +vile terms, have sought--I cry you mercy for it--to discover your +sentiments, and feigned a resentment and a passion which indeed has +proved an excellent piece of acting, if I judge by your tears. I pray +you pardon and forget my brotherly device. If you love Basil--as I +misdoubt not he loves you--where shall a more suitable match be found, +or one which every one must needs so much approve? Marry, sweet lady; +I will be his best man when he doth ride to church with you, and cry +'Amen' more loudly than the clerk. So now dart no more vengeful +lightnings from thine eyes, sweet one; and wipe away the pearly drops +my unmannerly jesting hath caused to flow. I would not Basil had +wedded a lady in love with his pelf, not with himself." + +"I detest tricks," I cried, "and such feigning as you do confess to. I +would I had not answered one word of your false discourse." + +Now I wept for vexation to have been so circumvented and befooled as +to own some sort of love for a man who bad not yet openly addressed +me. And albeit reassured in some wise, touching what my conscience had +charged me with when I heard Hubert's vehement reproaches, I +misdoubted his present sincerity. He searched my face with a keen +investigation, for to detect, I ween, if I was most contented or +displeased with his late words. I resolved, if he was false, I would +be true, and leave not so much as a suspicion in his mind that I did +or ever had cared for him. But Kate, who should not have left us +alone, now returned, when her absence would have been most profitable. +She had her babe in her aims, and must needs call on Hubert to praise +its beauty and list to its sweet crowing. In truth, a more winsome, +gracious creature could not be seen; and albeit I had made an +inpatient gesture when she entered, my arms soon eased hers of their +fair burthen, and I set to playing with the boy, and Hubert talking +and laughing in such good cheer, that I began to credit his passion +had been feigning, and his indifferency to be true, which contented me +not a little. + +A few days afterward Mr. Congleton received a letter, in the evening, +when we were sitting in my aunt's room, and a sudden fluttering in my +heart whispered it should be from Basil's father. Mine eyes affixed +themselves on the cover, which had fallen on the ground, and then +travelled to my uncle's face, wherein was a smile which seemed to say, +"This is no other than what I did expect." He put it down on the +table, and his hand over it. My aunt said he should tell us the news +he had received, to make us merry; for that the fog had given her the +vapors, and she had need of some good entertainment. + +"News!" quoth he. "What news do you look for, good wife?" + +"It would not be news, sir," she answered, "if I expected it." + +"That is more sharp than true," he replied. "There must needs come +news of the queen of France's lying-in; but I pray you how will it be? +Shall she live and do well? Shall it be a prince or a princess?" + +"Prithee, no disputings, Mr. Congleton," she said. "We be not playing +at questions and answers." + +"Nay, but thou dost mistake," he cried out, laughing. "Methinks we +have here in hand some game of that sort if I judge by this letter." + +Then my heart leapt, I knew not how high or how tumultuously; for I +doubted not now but he had received the tidings I hoped for. + +"Constance," he said, "hast a mind to marry?" + +"If it should please you, sir," I answered; "for my father charged me +to obey you." + +"Good," quoth he. "I see thou art an obedient wench. And thou wilt +marry who I please?" + +"Nay, sir; I said not that." + +"Oh, oh!" quoth he. "Thou wilt marry so as to please me, and yet--" + +"Not so as to displease myself, sir," I answered. + +"Come," he said, "another question. Here is a gentleman of +fortune and birth, and excellent good character, somewhat advanced in +years indeed, but the more like to make an indulgent husband, and to +be prudent in the management of his affairs, hath heard so good a +report from two young gentlemen, his sons, of thy abilities and proper +behavior, that he is minded to make thee a tender of marriage, with so +good a settlement on his estate in Suffolk as must needs content any +reasonable woman. Wilt have him, Conny?" + +"Who, sir?" I asked, waxing, I ween, as red as a field-poppy. + +"Mr. Rookwood, wench--Basil and Hubert's father." + +Albeit I knew my uncle's trick of jesting, my folly was so great just +then, hope and fear working in me, that I was seized with fright, and +from crimson turned so white, that he cried out: + +"Content thee, child! content thee! 'Tis that tall strapping fellow +Basil must needs make thee an offer of his hand; and by my troth, +wench, I warrant thee thou wouldst go further and fare worse; for the +gentleman is honorably descended, heir-apparent to an estate worth +yearly, to my knowledge, three thousand pounds sterling, well disposed +in religion, and of a personage without exception. Mr. Rookwood +declares he is more contented with his son's choice than if he married +Mistress Spencer, or any other heiress; and beshrew me, if I be not +contented also." + +Then he bent his head close to mine ear, and whispered, "And so art +thou, methinks, if those tell-tale eyes of thine should be credited. +Yea, yea, hang down thy head, and stammer 'As you please, sir!' And +never so much as a _Deo gratias_ for thy good fortune! What thankless +creatures women be!" I laughed and ran out of the room before mine +aunt or Mistress Ward had disclosed their lips; for I did long to be +in mine own chamber alone, and, from the depths of a heart over full +of, yea overflowing with, such joy as doth incline the knees to bend +and the eyes to raise themselves to the Giver of all good--he whom +all other goodness doth only mirror and shadow forth--pour out a hymn +of praise for the noble blessing I had received. For, I pray you, +after the gift of faith and grace for to know and love God, is there +aught on earth to be jewelled by a woman like to the affection of a +good man; or a more secure haven for her to anchor in amid the present +billows of life, except that of religion, to which all be not called, +than an honorable contract of marriage, wherein reason, passion, and +duty do bind the soul in a triple cord of love? + +And oh! with what a painful tenderness I thought in that moving hour +on mine own dear parents--my mother, now so many years dead; my +father, so parted from his poor child, that in the most weighty +concernment of her life--the disposal of her in marriage--his consent +had to be presumed; his authority, for so he had with forecasting care +ordained, being left in other hands. But albeit a shade of melancholy +from such a retrospect as the mind is wont to take of the past, when +coming events do cast, as it should seem, a new light on what has +preceded them, I could not choose but see, in this good which had +happened to me, a reward to him who had forsaken all things--lands, +home, kindred, yea his only child, for Christ's dear sake. It minded +me of my mother's words concerning me, when she lay dying, "Fear not +for her." + +I was somewhat loth to return to mine aunt's chamber, and to appear in +the presence of Kate and Polly, who had come to visit their mother, +and, by their saucy looks when I entered, showed they were privy to +the treaty in hand. Mine aunt said she had been thinking that she +would not go to church when I was married, but give me her blessing at +home; for she had never recovered from the chilling she had when Kate +was married, and had laid abed on Polly' wedding-day, which she +liked better. Mistress Ward had great contentment, she said, that I +should have so good an husband. Kate was glad Basil was not too fond +of books, for that scholars be not as conversable as agreeable +husbands should be. Polly said, for her part, she thought the less wit +a man had, the better for his wife, for she would then be the more +like to have her own way. But that being her opinion, she did not +wholly wish me joy; for she had noticed Basil to be a good thinker, +and a man of so much sense, that he would not be ruled by a wife more +than should be reasonable. I was greatly pleased that she thus +commended him, who was not easily pleased, and rather given to despise +gentlemen than to praise them. I kissed her, and said I had always +thought her the most sensible woman in the world. She laughed, and +cried, "That was small commendation, for that women were the +foolishest creatures in the world, and mostly such as were in love." + +Ah me! The days which followed were full of sweet waiting and pleasant +pining for the effects of the letter mine uncle wrote to Mr. Rookwood, +and looking for one Basil should write himself, when licence for to +address me had been yielded to him. When it came, how unforeseen, how +sad were the contents! Albeit love was expressed in every line, sorrow +did so cover its utterance, that my heart overflowed through mine +eyes, and I could only sigh and weep that the beginning of so fair a +day of joy should have set in clouds of so much grief. Basil's father +was dead. The day after he wrote that letter, the cause of all our +joy, he fell sick and never bettered any more, but the contrary: time +was allowed him to prepare his soul for death, by all holy rites and +ghostly comforts. One of his sons was on each side of his bed when he +died; and Basil closed his eyes. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Basil came to London after the funeral, and methought his sadness then +did become him as much as his joyfulness heretofore. His grief was +answerable to the affection he had borne unto his father, and to that +gentlemen's most excellent deserts. He informed Mr. Congleton that in +somewhat less than one year he should be of age, and until then his +wardship was committed to Sir Henry Stafford. It was agreed betwixt +them, that in respect of his deep mourning and the greater commodity +his being of age would afford for the drawing up of settlements, our +marriage should be deferred until he returned from the continent in a +year's time. Sir Henry was exceeding urgent he should travel abroad +for the bettering as he affirmed of his knowledge of foreign +languages, and acquirement of such useful information as should +hereafter greatly benefit him; but methinks, from what Basil said, it +was chiefly with the end that he should not be himself troubled during +his term of guardianship with proceedings touching his ward's +recusancy, which was so open and manifest, no persuasions dissuading +him from it, that he apprehended therefrom to meet with difficulties. + +So with heavy hearts and some tears on both sides, a short time after +Mr. Rookwood's death, we did part, but withal with so comfortable a +hope of a happy future, and so great a security of mutual affection, +that the pangs of separation were softened, and a not unpleasing +melancholy ensued. We forecasted to hold converse by means of letters, +of which he made me promise I should leastways write two for his one; +for he argued, as I always had a pen in my hand, it should be no +trouble to me to write down my thoughts as they arose, but as for +himself, it would cost him much time and labor for to compose such a +letter as it would content me to receive. But herein he was too +modest; for, indeed, in everything he wrote, albeit short and +mostly devoid of such flowers of the fancy as some are wont to scatter +over their letters, I was always excellently well pleased with his +favors of this kind. + +Hubert remained in London for to commence his studies in a house of +the law; but when my engagement with his brother became known, he left +off haunting Mr. Lacy's house, and even Mr. Wells's, as heretofore. +His behavior was very mutable; at one time exceedingly obliging, and +at another more strange and distant than it had yet been; so that I +did dread to meet him, not knowing how to shape mine own conduct in +his regard; for if on the one hand I misliked to appear estranged from +Basil's brother, yet if I dealt graciously toward him I feared to +confirm his apprehension of some sort of unusual liking on my part +toward himself. + +One month, or thereabouts, after Basil had gone to France, Lady Surrey +did invite me to stay with her at Kenninghall, which greatly delighted +me, for it was a very long time then since I had seen her. The reports +I heard of her lord's being a continual waiter on her majesty, and +always at court, whereas she did not come to London so much as once in +the year, worked in me a very uneasy apprehension that she should not +be as happy in her retirement as I should wish. I long had desired to +visit this dear lady, but durst not be the first to speak of it. Also +to one bred in the country from her infancy, the long while I had +spent in a city, far from any sights or scents of nature, had created +in me a great desire for pure air and green fields, of which the +neighborhood of London had afforded only such scanty glimpses as +served to whet, not satisfy, the taste for such-like pleasures. So +with much contentment I began my journey into Norfolk, which was the +first I had taken since that long one from Sherwood Hall to London +some years before. A coach of my Lord Surrey's, with two new pairs of +horses, was going from the Charter-house to Kenninghall, and a +chamber-woman of my lady's to be conveyed therein; so for conveniency +I travelled with her. We slept two nights on the road (for the horses +were to rest often), in very comfortable lodgings; and about the +middle of the third day we did arrive at Kenninghall, which is a place +of so great magnitude and magnificence, that to my surprised eyes it +showed more like unto a palace, yea, a cluster of palaces, than the +residence of a private though illustrious nobleman. The gardens which +we passed along-side of, the terraces adorned with majestic trees, the +woods at the back of the building, which then wore a gaudy dress of +crimson and golden hues,--made my heart leap for joy to be once more +in the country. But when we passed through the gateway, and into one +court and then another, methought we left the country behind, and +entered some sort of city, the buildings did so close around us on +every side. At last we stopped at a great door, and many footmen stood +about me, and one led me through long galleries and a store of empty +chambers; I forecasting in my mind the while how far it should be to +the gardens I had seen, and if the birds could be heard to sing in +this great house, in which was so much fine tapestry, and pictures in +high-gilt frames, that the eye was dazzled with their splendor. A +little pebbly brook or a tuft of daisies would then have pleased me +more than these fine hangings, and the grass than the smooth carpets +in some of the rooms, the like of which I had never yet seen. But +these discontented thoughts vanished quickly when my Lady Surrey +appeared; and I had nothing more to desire when I received her +affectionate embrace, and saw how joyful was her welcome. Methought, +too, when she led me into the chamber wherein she said her time was +chiefly spent, that its rich adornment became her, who had verily a +queenly beauty, and a presence so sweetly majestic that it alone +was sufficient to call for a reverent respect from others even in her +young years. There was an admirable simplicity in her dress; so that I +likened her in my mind, as she sat in that gilded room, to a pare fair +diamond enchased in a rich setting. In the next chamber her +gentlewoman and chambermaids were at work--some at frames, and others +making of clothes, or else spinning; and another door opened into her +bed-chamber, which was very large, like unto a hall, and the canopy of +the bed so high and richly adorned that it should have beseemed a +throne. The tapestry on the wall, bedight with fruits and flowers, +very daintily wrought, so that nature itself hath not more fair hues +than therein were to be seen. + +"When my lord is not at home, I mislike this grand chamber, and do lie +here," she said, and showed me an inner closet; which I perceived to +be plainly furnished, and in one corner of it, which pleased me most +for to see, a crucifix hung against the wall, over above a +kneeling-stool. Seeing my eyes did rest on it, she colored a little, +and said it had belonged to Lady Mounteagle, who had gifted her with +it on her death-bed; upon which account she did greatly treasure the +possession thereof. + +I answered, it did very much content me that she should set store on +what had been her grandmother's, for verily she was greatly indebted +to that good lady for the care she had taken of her young years; "but +methinks," I added, "the likeness of your Saviour which died for you +should not need any other excuse for the prizing of it than what +arises from its being what it is, his own dear image." + +She said she thought so too; but that in the eyes of Protestants she +must needs allege some other reason for the keeping of a crucifix in +her room than that good one, which nevertheless in her own thinking +she allowed of. + +Then she showed me mine own chamber, which was very commodious and +pleasantly situated, not far from hers. From the window was to be seen +the town of Norwich, and an extensive plain intersected with trees; +and underneath the wall of the house a terrace lined with many fair +shrubs and strips of flower-beds, very pleasing to the eye, but too +far off for a more familiar enjoyment than the eyesight could afford. + +When we had dined, and I was sitting with my lady in her dainty +sitting-room, she at her tambour-frame, and I with a piece of +patch-work on my knees which I had brought from London, she began +forthwith to question me touching my intended marriage, Mr. Rookwood's +death, and Basil's going abroad, concerning which she had heard many +reports. I satisfied her thereon; upon which she expressed great +contentment that my prospects of happiness were so good; for all which +knew Basil thought well on him, she said; and mostly his neighbors, +which have the chiefest occasions for to judge of a man's disposition. +And Euston, she thought, should prove a very commendable residence, +albeit the house was small for so good an estate; but capable, she +doubted not, of improvements, which my fine taste would bestow on it; +not indeed by spending large sums on outward show, but by small +adornments and delicate beautifying of a house and gardens, such as +women only do excel in; the which kind of care Mr. Rookwood's seat had +lacked for many years. She also said it pleased her much to think that +Basil and I should agree touching religion, for there was little +happiness to be had in marriage where consent doth not exist in so +important a matter. I answered, that I was of that way of thinking +also. But then this consent must be veritable, not extorted; for in so +weighty a point the least shadow of compulsion on the one side, and +feigning on the other, do end by destroying happiness, and virtue +also, which is more urgent. She made no answer; and I then asked her +if she liked Kenninghall more than London, and had found in a +retired life the contentment she had hoped for. She bent down her head +over her work-frame, so as partly to conceal her face; but how +beautiful what was to be seen of it appeared, as she thus hid the +rest, her snowy neck supporting her small head, and the shape of her +oval cheek just visible beneath the dark tresses of jet-black hair! +When she raised that noble head methought it wore a look of becoming, +not unchristian, pride, or somewhat better than should be titled +pride; and her voice betokened more emotion than her visage betrayed +when she said, "I am more contented, Constance, to inhabit this my +husband's chiefest house than to dwell in London or anywhere else. +Where should a wife abide with so much pleasure as in a place where +she may be sometimes visited by her lord, even though she should not +always be so happy as to enjoy his company? My Lord Arundel hath often +urged me to reside with him in London, and pleaded the comfort my Lady +Lumley and himself, in his declining years, should find in my filial +care; but God helping me--and I think in so doing I fulfill his +will--naught shall tempt me to leave my husband's house till he doth +himself compel me to it; nor by resentment of his absence lose one day +of his dear company I may yet enjoy." + +"O my dear lady," I exclaimed, "and is it indeed thus with you? Doth +my lord so forget your love and his duty as to forsake one he should +cherish as his most dear treasure?" + +"Nay, nay," she hastily replied; "Philip doth not forsake me; a little +neglectful he is" (this she said with a forced smile), "as all the +queen's courtiers must needs be of their wives; for she is so +exacting, that such as stand in her good graces cannot be stayers at +home, but ever waiters on her pleasure. If Philip doth only leave +London or Richmond for three or four days, she doth suspect the cause +of his absence; her smiles are turned to frowns, and his enemies +immediately do take advantage of it. I tried to stay in London one +while this year, after Bess was married; but he suffered so much in +consequence from the loss of her good graces when she heard I was at +the Charter-house, that I was compelled to return here." + +"And hath my lord been to see you since?" I eagerly asked. + +"Once," she answered; "for three short days. O Constance, it was a +brief, and, from its briefness, an almost painful joy, to see him in +his own princely home, and at the head of his table, which he doth +grace so nobly; and when he went abroad saluted by every one with so +much reverence, that he should be taken to be a king when he is here; +and himself so contented with this show of love and homage, that his +face beamed with pleasant smiles; and when he observed what my poor +skill had effected in the management of his estates, which do greatly +suffer from the prodigalities of the court, he commended me with so +great kindness as to say he was not worthy of so good a wife." + +I could not choose but say amen in mine own soul to this lord's true +estimation of himself, and of her, one hair of whose head did, in my +thinking, outweigh in merit his whole frame; but composed my face lest +she should too plainly read my resentment that the like of her should +be so used by an ungrateful husband. + +"Alas," she continued, "this joy should be my constant portion if an +enemy robbed me not of my just rights. 'Tis very hard to be hated by a +queen, and she so great and powerful that none in the compass of her +realm can dare to resent her ill treatment. I had a letter from my +lord last week, in which he says if it be possible he will soon visit +me again; but he doth add that he has so much confidence in my +affection, that he is sure I would not will him to risk that which may +undo him, if the queen should hear of it. 'For, Nan,' he writes, 'I +resemble a man scrambling up unto a slippery rock, who, if he +gaineth not the topmost points, must needs fall backward into a +precipice; for if I lose but an inch of her majesty's favor, I am like +to fall as my fathers have done, and yet lower. So be patient, good +Nan, and bide the time when I shall have so far ascended as to be in +less danger of a rapid descent, in which thine own fortunes would be +involved." + +She folded this letter, which she had taken out of her bosom, with a +deep sigh, and I doubt not with the same thought which was in mine own +mind, that the higher the ascent, the greater doth prove the peril of +an overthrow, albeit to the climber's own view the further point doth +seem the most secured. She then said she would not often speak with me +touching her troubles; but we should try to forget absent husbands and +lovers, and enjoy so much pleasure in our mutual good company as was +possible, and go hawking also and riding on fine days, and be as merry +as the days were long. And, verily, at times youthful spirits assumed +the lead, and like two wanton children we laughed sometimes with +hearty cheer at some pleasantry in which my little wit but fanciful +humor did evince itself for her amusement. But the fair sky of these +sunshiny hours was often overcast by sudden clouds; and weighty +thoughts, ill assorting with soaring joylity, wrought sad endings to +merry beginnings. I restrained the expression of mine own sorrow at my +father's uncertain fate and Basil's absence, not to add to her +heaviness; but sometimes, whilst playing in some sort the fool to make +her smile, which smiles so well became her, a sharp aching of the +heart caused me to fail in the effort; which when she perceived, her +arm was straightway thrown round my neck, and she would speak in this +wise: + +"O sweet jester! poor dissembler! the heart will have its say, albeit +not aided by the utterance of the tongue. Believe me, good Constance, +I am not unmindful of thy griefs, albeit somewhat silent concerning +them, as also mine own; for that I eschew melancholy themes, having a +well-spring of sorrow in my bosom which doth too readily overflow if +the sluices be once opened." + +Thus spake this sweet lady; but her unconscious tongue, following the +current of her thoughts more frequently than she did credit, dwelt on +the theme of her absent husband; and on whichever subject talk was +ministered between us, she was ingenious to procure it should end with +some reference to this worshipped object. But verily, I never +perceived her to express, in speaking of that then unworthy husband, +but what, if he had been present, must needs have moved him to regret +his negligent usage of an incomparable, loving, and virtuous wife, +than to any resentment of her complaints, which were rather of others +who diverted his affections from her than of him, the prime cause of +her grief. One day that we walked in the pleasaunce, she led the way +to a seat which she said during her lord's last visit he had commended +for the fair prospect it did command, and said it should be called "My +Lady's Arbor." + +"He sent for the head-gardener," quoth she, "and charged him to plant +about it so many sweet flowers and gay shrubs as should make it in +time a most dainty bower fit for a queen. These last words did, I +ween, unwittingly escape his lips, and, I fear me, I was too shrewish; +for I exclaimed, 'O no, my lord; I pray you let it rather be +_un_fitted for a queen, if so be you would have me to enjoy it!' He +made no answer, and his countenance was overcast and sad when he +returned to the house. I misdoubted my hasty speech had angered him; +but when his horse came to the door for to carry him away to London +and the court, he said very kindly, as he embraced me, 'Farewell, dear +heart! mine own good Nan!' and in a letter he since wrote he inquired +if his orders had been obeyed touching his sweet countess's +pleasure-house." + + +I always noticed Lady Surrey to be very eager for the coming of the +messenger which brought letters from London mostly twice in the week, +and that in the untying of the strings which bound them her hand +trembled so much that she often said, "Prithee, Constance, cut this +knot. My fingers be so cold I have not so much patience as should +serve to the undoing thereof." + +One morning I perceived she was more sad than usual after the coming +of this messenger. The cloud on her countenance chased away the joy I +had at a letter from Basil, which was written from Paris, and wherein +he said he had sent to Rheims for to inquire if my father was yet +there, for in that case he should not so much fail in his duty as to +omit seeking to see him; and so get at once, he trusted, a father and +a priest's blessing." + +"What ails you, sweet lady?" I asked, seeing her lips quiver and her +eyes to fill with tears. + +"Nothing should ail me," she answered more bitterly than was her wont. +"It should be, methinks, the part of a wife to rejoice in her +husband's good fortune; and here is one that doth write to me that my +lord's favor with the queen is so great that nothing greater can be +thought of: so that some do say, if he was not married he would be +like to mount, not only to the steps, but on to the throne itself. +Here should be grand news for to rejoice the heart of the Countess of +Surrey. Prithee, good wench, why dost thou not wish thy poor friend +joy?" + +I felt so much choler that any one should write to my lady in this +fashion, barbing with cruel malice, or leastways careless lack of +thought, this wanton arrow, that I exclaimed in a passion it should be +a villain had thus written. She smiled in a sad manner and answered: + +"Alas, an innocent villain I warrant the writer to be, for the letter +is from my Bess, who has heard others speak of that which she doth +unwittingly repeat, thinking it should be an honor to my lord, and to +me also, that he should be spoken of in this wise. But content thee; +'tis no great matter to hear that said again which I have had hints of +before, and am like to hear more of it, maybe." + +Then hastily rising, she prepared to go abroad; and we went to a lodge +in the park, wherein she harbored a great store of poor children which +lacked their parents; and then to a barn she had fitted up for to +afford a night's lodging to travellers; and to tend sick +people--albeit, saving herself, she had no one in her household at +that time one half so skilful in this way as my Lady l'Estrange. I +ween this was the sole place wherein her thoughts were so much +occupied that she did for a while forget her own troubles in curing +those of others. A woman had stopped there the past night, who, when +we went in, craved assistance from her for to carry her to her native +village, which was some fifteen miles north of Norwich. She was +afraid, she said, for to go into the town; for nowadays to be poor was +to be a wicked person in men's eyes; and a traveller without money was +like to be whipt and put into the stocks for a vagabond, which she +should die of if it should happen to her, who had been in the service +of a countess, and had not thought to see herself in such straits, +which she should never have been reduced to if her good lady had not +been foully dealt with. Lady Surrey, wishing, I ween, by some sort of +examination, to detect the truth of her words, inquired in whose +service she had lived. + +"Madam," she answered, "I was kitchen maid in the Countess of +Leicester's house, and never left her service till she was murthered +some years back by a black villain in her household, moved by a +villain yet more black than himself." + +"Murthered!" my lady exclaimed. "It was bruited at the time that lady +had died of a fall." + +"Ay, marry," quoth the beggar, shaking her head, "I warrant you, +ladies, that fall was compassed by more hands than two, and more minds +than one. But it be not safe for to say so; as Mark Hewitt could +witness if he was not dead, who was my sweetheart and a scullion at +Cumnor Place, and was poisoned in prison for that he offered to give +evidence touching his lady's death which would have hanged some which +deserved it better than he did--albeit he had helped to rob a coach in +Wales after he had been discharged, as we all were, from the old +place. Oh, if folks dared to tell all they do know, some which ride at +the queen's side should swing on a gibbet before this day +twelvemonth." + +Lady Surrey sat down by this woman; and albeit I pulled her by the +sleeve and whispered in her ear to come away--for methought her talk +was not fitting for her to hear, whose mind ran too much already on +melancholy themes--she would not go, and questioned this person very +much touching the manner of Lady Leicester's life, and what was +reported concerning her death. This recital was given in a homely but +withal moving manner, which lent a greater horror to it than more +studied language should have done. She said her lady bad been ill some +time and never left her room; but that one day, when one of her lord's +gentlemen had come from London, and had been examining of the house +with the steward for to order some repairing of the old walls and +staircases, and the mason had been sent for also late in the evening, +a so horrible shriek was heard from the part of the house wherein the +countess's chamber was, that it frighted every person in the place, so +that they did almost lose their senses; but that she herself had run +to the passage on which the lady's bed-chamber did open, and saw some +planking removed, and many feet below the body of the countess lying +quite still, and by the appearance of her face perceived her to be +gone. And when the steward came to look also (this the woman said, +lowering her voice, with her hollow eyes fixed on Lady Surrey's +countenance, which did express fear and sorrow), "I'll warrant you, my +lady, he did wear a murtherer's visage, and I noticed that the corpse +bled at his approach. But methinketh if that earl which rides by the +queen's side, and treads the world under his feet, had then been nigh, +the mangled form should have raised itself and the cold dead lips +cried out, 'Thou art the man!' Marry, when poor folks do steal a +horse, or a sheep, or shoot the fallow-deer in a nobleman's park, they +straightway do suffer and lose their life; but if a lord which is a +courtier shall one day choose to put his wife out of his way for the +bettering of his fortunes, even though it be by a foul murther, no +more ado is made than if he had shot a pigeon in his woods." + +Then changing her theme, she asked Lady Surrey to dress a wound in her +leg, for that she did hear from some in that place that she often did +use such kindness toward poor people. Without such assistance, she +said, to walk the next day would be very painful. My lady straightway +began to loosen the bandages which covered the sore, and inquired how +long a time it should be since it had been dressed. + +"Four days ago," the beggar answered, "Lady l'Estrange had done her so +much good as to salve the wound with a rare ointment which had greatly +assuaged the pain, until much walking had inflamed it anew." + +We both did smile; and my lady said she feared to show herself less +skilful than her old pupil; but if the beggar should be credited, she +did acquit herself indifferently well of her charitable task; and the +bounty she bestowed upon her afterward, I doubt not, did increase her +patient's esteem of her ability. But I did often wish that evening my +lady had not heard this woman's tale, for I perceived her to harp upon +it with a very notable persistency; and when I urged no credit should +attach itself to her report, and it was most like to be untrue, +she affirmed that some similar surmises had been spoken of at the time +of Lady Leicester's death; and that Lord Sussex and Lord Arundel had +once mentioned, in her hearing, that the gypsy was infamed for his +wife's death, albeit never openly accused thereof. She had not taken +much heed of their discourse at the time, she said; but now it came +back into her mind with a singular distinctness, and it was passing +strange she should have heard from an eye-witness the details of this +tragedy. She should, she thought, write to her husband what the woman +had related; and then she changed her mind, and said she would not. + +All my pleadings to her that she should think no more thereon were +vain. She endeavored to speak of other subjects, but still this one +was uppermost in her thoughts. Once, in the midst of an argument +touching the uses of pageants, which she maintained to be folly and +idle waste, but which I defended, for that they sometimes served to +exercise the wit and memory of such as contrive them, carrying on the +dispute in a lively fashion, hoping thus to divert her mind, she broke +forth in these exclamations: "Oh, what baneful influences do exist in +courts, when men, themselves honorable, abhor not to company with such +as be accused of foul crimes never disproved, and if they will only +stretch forth their blood-stained hands to help them to rise, disdain +not to clasp them!" + +Then later, when I had persuaded her to play on the guitar, which she +did excellently well, she stopped before the air was ended to ask if I +did know if Lady Leicester was a fair woman, and if her husband was at +any time enamored of her. And when I was unable to resolve these +questions, she must needs begin to argue if it should be worse never +to be loved, or else to lose a husband's affection; and then asked me, +if Basil should alter in his liking of me, which she did not hold to +be possible, except that men be so wayward and inconstant that the +best do sometimes change, if I should still be glad he had once loved +me. + +"If he did so much alter," I answered, "as no longer to care for me, +methinks I should at once cast him out of my heart; for then it would +not have been Basil, but a fancied being coined by mine own +imaginings, I should have doted on." + +"Tut, tut!" she cried; "thou art too proud. If thou dost speak truly, +I misdoubt that to be love which could so easily discard its object." + +"For my part," I replied, somewhat nettled, "I think the highest sort +of passion should be above suspecting change in him which doth inspire +it, or resenting a change which should procure it freedom from an +unworthy thrall." + +"I ween," she answered, "we do somewhat misconceive each one the +other's meaning; and moreover, no parallel can exist between a wife's +affection and a maiden's liking." Then she said she hoped the poor +woman would stay another day, so that she might speak with her again; +for she would fain learn from her what was Lady Leicester's behavior +during her sorrowful years, and the temper of her mind before her so +sudden death. + +"Indeed, dear lady," I urged, "what likelihood should there be that a +serving-wench in her kitchen should be acquainted with a noble lady's +thoughts?" + +"I pray God," my lady said, "our meanest servants do not read in our +countenance, yea in the manner of our common and indifferent actions, +the motions of our souls when we be in such trouble as should only be +known to God and one true friend." + +Lady Surrey sent in the morning for to inquire if the beggar was gone. +To my no small content she had departed before break of day. Some days +afterward a messenger from London brought to my lady, from Arundel +House, a letter from my Lady Lumley, wherein she urged her to +repair instantly to London, for that the earl, her grandfather, was +very grievously sick, and desired for to see her. My lady resolved to +go that very day, and straightway gave orders touching the manner of +her journey, and desired her coach to be made ready. She proposed that +the while she was absent I should pay a visit to Lady l'Estrange, +which I had promised for to do before I left Norfolkshire; "and then," +quoth my lady, "if my good Lord Arundel doth improve in his health, so +that nothing shall detain me at London, I will return to my +banishment, wherein my best comfort shall ever be thy company, good +Constance. But if peradventure my lord should will me to stay with +him" (oh, how her eyes did brighten! and the fluttering of her heart +could be perceived in her quick speech and the heaving of her bosom as +she said these words), "I will then send one of my gentlewomen to +fetch thee from Lynn Court to London; and if that should happen, why +methinks our meeting may prove more merry than our parting." + +She then dispatched a messenger on horseback to Sir Hammond +l'Estrange's house, which did return in some hours with a very +obliging answer; for his lady did write that she almost hoped my Lady +Surrey would be detained in London, if so be it would not discontent +her, and so she should herself have the pleasure of my company for a +longer time, which was what she greatly desired. + +For some miles, when she started, I rode with my lady in her coach, +and then mounted on a horse she had provided for my commodity, and, +accompanied by two persons of her household, went to Sir Hammond +l'Estrange's seat. It stood in a bleak country without scarce so much +as one tree in its neighborhood, but a store of purple heath, then in +flower, surrounding it on all sides. As we approached unto it, I for +the first time beheld the sea. The heath had minded me of Cannock +Chase and my childhood. I ween not what the sea caused me to think of; +only I know that the waves which I heard break on the shore had, to my +thinking, a wonderful music, so exceeding sweet and pleasant to mine +ears that one only sound of it were able to bring, so it did seem to +me, all the hearts of this world asleep. Yet although I listed +thereunto with a quiet joy, and mine eyes rested on those vasty depths +with so much contentment, as if perceiving therein some image of the +eternity which doth await us, the words which rose in my mind, and +which methinks my lips also framed, were these of Holy Writ: "Great as +the sea is thy destruction." If it be not that some good angel +whispered them in mine ear for to temper, by a sort of forecasting of +what was soon to follow, present gladness, I know not what should have +caused so great a dissimilarity between my then thinking and the words +I did unwittingly utter. + +Lady l'Estrange met me on the steps of her house, which was small, but +such as became a gentleman of good fortune, and lacking none of the +commodities habitual to such country habitations. The garden at the +back of it was a true labyrinth of sweets; and an orchard on one side +of it, and a wood of fir-trees beyond the wall, shielded the shrubs +which grew therein from the wild sea-blasts. Milicent was delighted +for to show me every part of this her home. The bettering of her +fortunes had not wrought any change in the gentle humility of this +young lady. The attractive sweetness of her manner was the same, +albeit mistress of a house of her own. She set no greater store on +herself than she had done at the Charter-house, and paid her husband +as much respect and timid obedience as she had ever done her mistress. +Verily, in his presence I soon perceived she scarce held her soul to +be her own; but studied his looks with so much diligence, and framed +each word she uttered to his liking with so much ingenuity, that +I marvelled at the wit she showed therein, which was not very apparent +in other ways. He was a tall man, of haughty carriage and +well-proportioned features. His eyes were large and gray; his nose of +a hawkish shape; his lips very thin. I never in any face did notice +the signs of so set a purpose or such unyielding lineaments as in this +gentleman. Milicent told me he was pious, liberal, an active +magistrate, and an exceeding obliging and indulgent husband; but +methought her testimony on this score carried no great weight with it, +for that her meekness would read the most ordinary kindnesses as rare +instances of goodness. She seemed very contented with her lot; and I +heard from Lady Surrey's waiting-maid (which she had sent with me from +Kenninghall) that all the servants in her house esteemed her to be a +most virtuous and patient lady; and so charitable, that all who knew +her experience her bounty. On the next day she showed me her garden, +her dairy, poultry-yard, and store-room; and also the closet where she +kept the salves and ointments for the dressing of wounds, which she +said she was every morning employed in for several hours. I said, if +she would permit me, I would try to learn this art under her +direction, for that nothing could be thought of more useful for such +as lived in the country, where such assistance was often needed. Then +she asked me if I was like to live in the country, which, from my +words, she hoped should be the case; and I told her, if it pleased +God, in one year I would be married to Mr. Rookwood, of Euston Hall; +which she was greatly rejoiced to learn. + +Then, as we walked under the trees, talk ensued between us touching +former days at the Charter-house; and when the sun was setting amidst +gold and purple clouds, and the wind blew freshly from the sea, whilst +the barking of Sir Hammond's dogs, and the report of his gun as he +discharged it behind the house, minded me more than ever of old +country scenes in past time, my thoughts drew also future pictures of +what mine own home should be, and the joy with which I should meet +Basil, when he returned from the field-sports in which he did so much +delight. And a year seemed a long time to wait for so much happiness +as I foresaw should be ours when we were once married. "If Lady +l'Estrange is so contented," I thought, "whose husband is somewhat +churlish and stem, if his countenance and the reports of his neighbors +are to be credited, how much enjoyment in her home shall be the +portion of my dear Basil's wife! than which a more sweet-tempered +gentleman cannot be seen, nor one endued with more admirable qualities +of all sorts, not to speak of youth and beauty, which are perishable +advantages, but not without attractiveness." + +Mrs. l'Estrange, an unmarried sister of Sir Hammond, lived in the +house, and some neighbors which had been shooting with him came to +supper. The table was set with an abundance of good cheer; and +Milicent sat at the head of it, and used a sweet cordiality toward all +her guests, so that every one should seem welcome to her hospitality; +but I detected looks of apprehension in her face, coupled with hasty +glances toward her husband, if any one did bring forward subjects of +discourse which Sir Hammond had not first broached, or did appear in +any way to differ with him in what he himself advanced. Once when Lord +Burleigh was mentioned, one of the gentleman said somewhat in +disparagement of this nobleman, as if he should have been to blame in +some of his dealings with the parliament, which brought a dark cloud +on Sir Hammond's brow. Upon which Milicent, the color coming into her +cheeks, and her voice trembling a little, as she seemed to cast about +her for some subject which should turn the current of this talk, began +to tell what a store of patients she had seen that day, and to +describe them, as if seeking to stop the mouths of the disputants. +"One," quoth she, "hath been three times to me this week to have his +hands dressed, and I be verily in doubt what his station should be. He +hath a notable appearance of good breeding, albeit but poorly +apparelled, and his behavior and discourse should show him to be a +gentleman. The wounds of his hands were so grievously galled for want +of proper dressing, when he first came, I feared they should mortify, +and the curing of them to exceed my poor skill. The skin was rubbed +off the whole palms, as if scraped off by handling of ropes. A more +courageous patient could not be met with. Methought the dressing +should have been very painful, but he never so much as once did wince +under it. He is somewhat reserved in giving an account of the manner +in which he came by those wounds, and answered jestingly when I +inquired thereof. But to-morrow I will hear more on it, for I charged +him to come for one more dressing of his poor hands." + +"Where doth this fellow lodge?" Sir Hammond asked across the table in +a quick eager manner. + +"At Master Rugeley's house, I have heard," quoth his wife. + +Then his fist fell on the table so that it shook. + +"A lewd recusant, by God!" he cried. "I'll be sworn this is the popish +priest escaped out of Wisbeach, for whom I have this day received +orders to make diligent search. Ah, ah! my lady hath trapped the +Jesuit fox." + +I looked at Milicent, and she at me. O my God, what looks those were! + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Then methought was witnessed (I speak of the time when Sir Hammond +l'Estrange made the savage speech which caused his lady and me to +exchange affrighted looks) a rare instance of the true womanly courage +which doth sometimes lie at the core of a timid heart. The meek wife, +which dared not so much as to lift up her eyes to her lord if he did +only frown, or to oppose his will in any trifling matter; whose color +I had seen fly from her cheek if he raised his voice, albeit not in +anger against herself, now in the presence of those at table, with a +face as pale as ashes, but a steady voice, and eyes fixed on him, thus +addressed her husband: + +"Sir, since we married I have never opposed your will, or in anything +I wot of offended you, or ever would if I could help it. Do not, +therefore, displeasure me so much, I beseech you, in this grave +instance, as to make me an instrument in the capture. And God knoweth +what should follow of one which came to me for help, and to whom the +service I rendered him would prove the means of his ruin if you +persist therein." + +"Go to, madam, go to," cries Sir Hammond; "your business doth lie with +poor people, mine with criminals. Go your way, and intrude not +yourself in weightier matters than belong to your sex." + +"Sir," she answers, braving his frowning looks, albeit her limbs began +to tremble, "I humbly crave your patience; but I will not leave you, +neither desist from my suit, except thereunto compelled by force. I +would to God my tongue had been plucked out rather than that it should +utter words which should betray to prison, yea, perhaps to death, the +poor man whose wounds I tended." + +The cloud on Sir Hammond's brow waxed darker as she spoke. He glanced +at me, and methinks perceived my countenance to be as much disturbed +as his lady's. A sudden thought, I ween, then passed through his mind; +and with a terrible oath he swore that he misliked this strenuous +urging in favor of a vile popish priest, and yet more the manner of +this intercession. + +"Heaven shield, madam," he cried, "you have not companied with +recusants so as to become infected with a lack of zeal for the +Protestant religion!" + +The color returned for a moment to Lady l'Estrange's cheeks as she +answered: + +"Sir, I have never, from the time my mother did teach me my prayers, +been of any other way of thinking than that wherein she then +instructed me, or so much as allowed myself one thought contrary to +true Protestant religion; or ever lent an ear, and with God's help +never will, to what papists do advance; but nevertheless, if this +priest do fall into any grievous trouble through my speeches, I shall +be a most unhappy woman all my life." + +And then the poor soul, rising from her seat, went round to her +husband's side, and, kneeling, sought to take his hands, beseeching +him in such moving and piteous terms to change his purpose as I could +see did visibly affect some present. But I also noticed in Sir +Hammond's face so resolved an intent as if nothing in earth or heaven +should alter it. A drowning wretch would as soon have moved a +rock to advance toward him as she succeeded in swerving his will by +her entreaties. + +A sudden thought inspired me to approach her where she had sunk down +on her knees at her husband's feet, he seeking angrily to push her +away. I took her by the hand and said: + +"I pray you, dear lady, come with me. These be indeed matters wherein, +as Sir Hammond saith, women's words do not avail." + +Both looked at me surprised; and she, loosing her hold of him, +suffered me to lead her away. We went into the parlor, Mrs. l'Estrange +following us. But as I did try to whisper in her ear that I desired to +speak with her alone, the bell in the dining-room began to ring +violently; upon which she shuddered and cried out: + +"Let me go back to him, Mistress Sherwood. I'll warrant you he is +about to send for the constables; but beshrew me if I die not first at +his feet; for if this man should be hung, peace will be a stranger to +me all my life." + +Mistress l'Estrange essayed to comfort her; but failing therein, said +she was very foolish to be so discomposed at what was no fault of +hers, and she should think no more thereon, for in her condition to +fret should be dangerous; and if people would be priests and papists +none could help if they should suffer for it. And then she left the +parlor somewhat ruffled, like good people sometimes feel when they +perceive their words to have no effect. When we were alone, "Lady +l'Estrange," I said, "where is Master Rugeley's house?" + +"One mile, or thereabouts, across the heath," she answered. + +"And the way to it direct?" I asked. + +"Yea, by the footpath," she replied; "but much longer by the high +road." + +I went to the window and opened the shutter and the lattice also. The +moon was shining very brightly. + +"Is it that cottage near to the wood?" I inquired, pointing to a +thatched roof nigh unto the darksome line of trees against the sky. + +"Yea," she answered, "how near it doth seem seen in this light! +Constance, what think you to do?" she exclaimed, when I went to her +cupboard and took out the keys she had showed me that morning opened +the doors of the kitchen garden and the orchard. + +"Did you not say," I answered, "that the gentleman now in so great +peril did lodge with Master Rugeley?" + +"Would you go there?" she said, looking aghast. "Not alone; you durst +not do it!" + +"Twenty times over," I answered, "for to save a man's life, and he--he +a--" But there I stopped; for it was her fellow-creature she desired +to save. Her heart bled not like mine for the flock which should be +left without a shepherd; and albeit our fears were the same, we felt +not alike. I went into the hall, and she pursued me--one-half striving +to stay me from my purpose, one-half urging me to fulfil it; yet +retracting her words as soon as uttered. + +"When I issue from the door of the orchard unto the heath," I said, +the while wrapping round me a cloak with a hood to it, "and pursue the +path in front, by what token may I find Master Rugeley's house if the +moon should be obscured?" + +"Where two roads do meet," she said, "at the edge of the heath, a tall +oak doth stand near to a gate; a few steps to the right should then +lead to it. But verily, Mistress Constance, I be frightened to let you +go; and oh, I do fear my husbands's anger." + +"Would you, then, have a man die by your means?" I asked, thinking for +to cure one terror by another, as indeed it did; for she cried, + +"Nay, I will speed you on your way, good Constance; and show so brave +a face during your absence as God shall help me to do; yea, and open +the door for you myself, if my husband should kill me for it!" + + +Then she took the keys in her hand, and glided like unto a pale ghost +before me through the passage into the hall, so noiselessly that I +should have doubted if aught of flesh and blood could have moved so +lightly, and undid the bars of the back door without so much as a +sound. Then she would fetch some thick shoes for me to wear, which I +did entreat her not to stay me for; but nothing else would content the +poor soul, and, as she had the keys in her hand, I was forced to wait +her return with so much impatience as may be guessed. I heard the +voices of the gentlemen still carousing after supper; and then a +servant's below in the hall, who said the constables had been sent +for, and a warrant issued for the apprehension of a black papist at +Master Rugeley's. Then Milicent returned, and whilst I put on the +shoes she had brought, and she was tying with trembling fingers the +hood of my cloak, the rustling of Mrs. l'Estrange's silk gown was +heard on the stair above our heads, from whence we were like to be +seen; and, fear awakening contrivance, I said aloud, + +"Oh, what a rare pastime it should be to dress as a ghost, and +frighten the good lady your sister-in-law! I pray you get me some +white powder to pale my face. Methinks we need some kind of sport to +drive away too much thinking on that dismal business in hand." + +The steps over our head sounded more hurried, and we heard the door of +the parlor close with a bang, and the lattice also violently shut. + +"Now," I whispered, "give me the keys, good Lady l'Estrange, and go to +your sister yourself. Say I was ashamed to have been overheard to plan +so rank a piece of folly (and verily you will be speaking no other +than the truth), and that you expect I shall not so much as show my +face in the parlor this evening; and lock also my chamber-door, that +none may for a surety know me for to be absent." + +"Yea," answered the poor lady, with so deep a sigh as seemed to rend +her heart; "but, God forgive me, I never did think to hide anything +from my husband! And who shall tell me if I be doing right or wrong?" + +I could not stay, though I grieved for her; and the sound of her voice +haunted me as I went through the garden, and then the orchard, unto +the common, locking the doors behind me. When this was done, I did +breathe somewhat more freely, and began to run along the straight path +amidst the heath. I wot not if my speed was great--the time seemed +long; yet methinks I did not slacken my pace once, but rather +increased it, till, perceiving the oak, and near it the gate Lady +l'Estrange had mentioned, I stopped to consider where to turn; and +after I had walked a little to the right I saw a cottage and a light +gleaming inside. Then my heart beat very fast; and when I knocked at +the door I felt scarce able to stand. I did so three times, and no +answer came. Then I cried as loudly as I could, "Master Rugeley, I +beseech you open the door." I heard some one stirring within, but no +one came. Then I again cried out, "Oh, for our Blessed Lady's sake, +some one come." At last the lattice opened, and a man's head appeared. + +"Who are you?" he said, in a low voice. + +"A friend," I answered, in a whisper; "a Catholic. Are yon Master +Rugeley?" + +"Yea," he answered. + +"Oh, then, if Mr. Tunstall is here, hide him quickly, or send him +away. I am a friend of Lady l'Estrange's and staying in her house. Sir +Hammond hath received tidings that a priest is in this neighborhood, +and a warrant is issued for to apprehend him. His lady unwittingly, +and sorely troubled she is thereat, showed by her speeches touching +your guest, that he is like to be Mr. Tunstall; and the constables +will soon be here." + +"Thank you," he replied whom I was addressing; "but Mr. Tunstall is +not the name of my friend." + +Then I feared he did take me for a spy, and I cried out, greatly +moved, "As I do hope to go to heaven one day, and not to hell, +Master Rugeley, I speak the truth, and my warning is an urgent one." + +Then I heard some one within the house, who said, "Open the door, +Master Rugeley. I should know that voice. Let the speaker in." + +Methought I, too, knew the voice of the person who thus spoke. The +door was opened, and I entered a room dimly lighted by one candle. + +"Oh, for God's sake," I cried, "if a priest is here, hide him +forthwith." + +"Are you a Catholic, my child?" + +I looked up to the person who put this question to me, and gave a +sudden cry, I know not whether of terror or joy; for great as was the +change which the lapse of years, and great inward and outward changes, +had wrought in his aspect, I saw it was my father. + +"I am Constance," I cried; "Constance Sherwood! Oh, my dear father!" +and then fell at his feet weeping. + +After an instant's, astonishment and fixed gazing on my face, he +recognized me, who was, I doubt not, more changed than himself, and +received me with a great paternal kindness and the tenderest greeting +imaginable, yet tempered with reserve and so much of restraint as +should befit one who, for Christ's sake, had dissevered himself from +the joys, albeit not from the affections, of the natural heart. + +"Oh, my good child, my own dear Constance," he said; "hath God in his +bounty given thy poor father a miraculous sight of thee before his +death, or art thou come verily in flesh and blood to warn him of his +danger?" + +"My dear and honored father," I replied, "time presses; peril is +indeed at hand, if you and Mr. Tunstall are the same person." + +"The wounds in my hands," he answered, "must prove me such, albeit now +healed by the care of that good Samaritan, Lady l'Estrange. But +prithee, my good child, whence comest thou?" + +"Alas!" I said; "and yet not alas, if God should be so good to me as +by my means to save you, I am Sir Hammond's guest, being a friend of +his lady's. I came there yesterday." + +"Oh, my good child, I thought not to have seen thee in these thy +grown-up years. Master Rugeley," he added, turning to his host, "this +is the little girl I forsook four years ago, for to obtain the +hundredfold our Lord doth promise." + +"My very dear father," I said, "joy is swallowed up in fear. God help +me, I came to warn a stranger (if so be any priest in these times +should be a stranger to a Catholic), and I find you." + +"Oh, but I am mightfully pleased," quoth he, "to see thee, my child, +even in this wise, and to hear thee speak like a true daughter of Holy +Church. And Lady l'Estrange is then thy friend?" + +"Yea, my dear father; but for God and our lady's sake hide yourself. I +warrant yon the constables may soon be here. Master Rugeley, where can +he be concealed, or whither fly, and I with him?" + +"Nay, prithee not so fast," quoth he. "Flight would be useless; and in +the matter of hiding, one should be more easily concealed than two; +beside that, the hollow of a tree, which Master Rugeley will, I ween, +appoint me for a bed-chamber to-night, should hardly lodge us both +with comfort." + +"Oh, sir," said Rugeley, "do not tarry." + +"For thy sake, no; not for more than one minute, Thomas; but ere I +part from this wench, two questions I must needs ask her." + +Then he drew me aside and inquired what facilities I continued to have +in London for the exercise of Catholic religion, and if I was punctual +in the discharge of my spiritual duties. When I had satisfied him +thereon, he asked if the report was true which he heard from a +prisoner for recusancy in Wisbeach Castle, concerning my troth-plight +with Mr. Rookwood. + +"Yea," I said, "it is true, if so be you now do add your consent to +it." + + +He answered he should do so with all his heart, for he knew him to be +a good Catholic and a virtuous gentleman; and as we might lack the +opportunity to receive his blessing later, he should now give it unto +me for both his most dear children. Which he did, laying his hand on +my head with many fervent benisons, couched in such words as these, +that he prayed for us to be stayed up with the shore of God's grace in +this world; and after this transitory life should end, to ascend to +him, and appear pure and unspotted before his glorious seat. Then he +asked me if it was Lady l'Estrange who had detected him; whereupon I +briefly related to him what had occurred, and how sore her grief was +therein. + +"God bless her," he answered; "and tell her I do thank her and pray +for her with all mime heart." + +And more he would have added, but Master Rugeley opened the door +impatiently. So, after kissing once more my father's hand, I went +away, compelled thereunto by fears for his safety, if he should not at +once conceal himself. + +Looking back, I saw him and his guide disappear in the thicket, and +then, as I walked on toward Lynn Court, it did almost seem to me as if +the whole of that brief but pregnant interview should have been a +dream; nor could I verily persuade myself that it was not a half +habitant of another world I had seen and spoken with rather than mine +own father; and in first thinking on it I scarcely did fully apprehend +the danger he was in, so as to feel as much pain as I did later, when +the joy and astonishment of that unexpected meeting had given way to +terrifying thoughts. Ever and anon I turned round to gaze on the dark +wood wherein his hopes of safety did lie, and once I knelt down on the +roadside to pray that the night should be also dark and shield his +escape. But still the sense of fear was dulled, and woke not until the +sound of horses' feet on the road struck on my ear, and I saw a party +of men riding across the common. The light in the cottage was +extinguished, but the cruel moon shone out then more brightly than +heretofore. Now I felt so sick and faint that I feared to sink down on +the path, and hurried through the orchard-door and the garden to the +house. When I had unlocked the back door and stood in the hall where a +lately kindled fire made a ruddy light to glow, I tried again to think +I had been dreaming, like one in a nightmare strives to shake off an +oppressive fancy. I could not remain alone, and composed my +countenance for to enter the parlor, when the door thereof opened and +Mrs. l'Estrange came out, who, when she perceived me standing before +her, gave a start, but recovering herself, said, good-naturedly: + +"Marry, if this be not the ghost we have been looking for; now +ashamed, I ween, to show itself. I hope, Mistress Sherwood, you do not +haunt quiet folks in their beds at night; for I do, I warn you, +mislike living ghosts, and should be disposed to throw a jug of water +at the head of such a one." And laughing, she took my hand in a kind +manner, which when she did, almost a cry broke from her: "How now, +Milicent! she is as cold as a stone figure. Where has she been +chilling herself?" + +Milicent pressed forward and led me to my chamber, wherein a fire had +been lighted, and would make me drink a hot posset. But when I thought +of the cold hollow of a tree wherein my father was enclosed, if it +pleased God no worse mishap had befallen him, little of it could I +force myself to swallow, for now tears had come to my relief, and +concealing my face in the pillow of the bed whereon for weariness I +had stretched myself, I wept very bitterly. + +"Is that poor man gone from Rugeley's house?" Milicent whispered. + +Alas! she knew not who that poor man was to me, nor with what anguish +I answered: "He is not in the cottage, I hope; but God only +knoweth if his pursuers shall not discover him." The thought of what +would then follow overcame me, and I hid my face with mine hands. + +"Oh, Constance," she exclaimed, "was this poor man known to thee, that +thy grief is so great, whose conscience doth not reproach thee as mine +doeth?" + +I held out my hand to her without unshading my face with the other, +and said: "Dear Milicent! thou shouldst not sorrow so mach for thine +own part in this sore trial. It was not thy fault. He said so. He +blest thee, and prays for thee." + +Uncomforted by my words, she cried again, what she had so often +exclaimed that night, "If this man should die, my happiness is over." + +Then once more she asked me if I know this priest, and I was froward +with her (God forgive me, for the suspense and fear overthrew better +feelings for a moment), and I cried, angrily, "Who saith he is a +priest? Who can prove it?" + +"Think you so?" she said joyfully; "then all should be right." + +And once more, with some misdoubting, I ween, that I concealed +somewhat from her, she inquired touching my knowledge of this +stranger. Then I spoke harshly, and bade her leave me, for I had +sorrow enough without her intermeddling with it; but then grieving for +her, and also afraid to be left alone, I denied my words, and prayed +her to stay, which she did, but did not speak much again. The silence +of the night seemed so deep as if the rustling of a leaf could be +noticed; only now and then the voices of the gentlemen below, and some +loud talking and laughter from some of them was discernible through +the closed doors. Once Lady l'Estrange said: "They be sitting up very +late; I suppose till the constables return. Oh, when will that be?" + +The great clock in the hall then struck twelve; and soon after, +starting up, I cried, "What should be that noise?" + +"I do hear nothing," she answered, trembling as a leaf. + +"Hush," I replied, and going to the window, opened the lattice. The +sound in the road on the other side of the house was now plain. On +that we looked on naught was to be seen save trees and grass, with the +ghastly moonlight shining on them. A loud opening and shutting of +doors and much stir now took place within the house, and, moved by the +same impulse, we both went out into the passage and half way down the +stairs. Milicent was first. Suddenly she turned round, and falling +down on her knees, with a stifled exclamation, she hid her face +against me, whisperings "He is taken!" + +We seemed both turned to stone. O ye which have gone through a like +trial, judge ye; and you who have never been in such straits, imagine +what a daughter should feel who, after long years' absence, beholdeth +a beloved father for one instant, and in the next, under the same roof +where she is a guest, sees him brought in a prisoner and in jeopardy +of his life. Every word which was uttered we could hear where we sat +crouching, fearful to advance--she not daring to look on the man she +had ruined, and I on the countenance of a dear parent, lest the sight +of me should distract him from his defence, if that could be called +such which he was called on to make. They asked him touching his name, +if it was Tunstall. He answered he was known by that name. Then +followed the murtherous question, if he was a Romish priest? To which +he at once assented. Then said Sir Hammond: + +"How did you presume, sir, to return into England contrary to the +laws?" + +"Sir," he answered, "as I was lawfully ordained a priest by a Catholic +bishop, by authority derived from the see of Rome" (one person here +exclaimed, "Oh, audacious papist! his tongue should be cat out;" +but Sir Hammond imposed silence), "so likewise," he continued, "am I +lawfully sent to preach the word of God, and to administer the +sacraments to my Catholic countrymen. As the mission of priests +lawfully ordained is from Christ, who did send his apostles even as +his Father sent him, I do humbly conceive no human laws can justly +hinder my return to England, or make it criminal; for this should be +to prefer the ordinances of man to the commands of the supreme +legislator, which is Christ himself." + +Loud murmurs were here raised by some present, which Sir Hammond again +silencing, he then inquired if he would take the oath of allegiance to +the queen? He answered (my straining ears taking note of every word he +uttered) that he would gladly pay most willing obedience to her +majesty in all civil matters; but the oath of allegiance, as it was +worded, he could not take, or hold her majesty to possess any +supremacy in spiritual matters. He was beginning to state the reasons +thereof, but was not suffered to proceed, for Sir Hammond, +interrupting him, said he was an escaped prisoner, and by his own +confession condemned, so he should straightway commit him to the gaol +in Norwich. Then I lost my senses almost, and seizing Lady +l'Estrange's arm, I cried, "Save him! he is mine own father, Mr. +Sherwood!" She uttered a sort of cry, and said, "Oh, I have feared +this, since I saw his face!" and running forward, I following her, +affrighted at what should happen, she called out, "It shall not be! He +shall not do it!" and with a face as white as any smock, runs to her +husband, and perceiving the constables to be putting chains on my +father's hands and feet, which I likewise beheld with what feelings +you who read this may think, she falls on her knees and gasps out +these words in such a mournful tone, that I shuddered to hear her, +"Oh, sir! if this man leaves this house a chained prisoner, I shall +never be the like of my-self again. There shall be no more joy for me +in life." And then faints right away, and Sir Hammond carries her in +his arms out of the hall. Mine eyes the while met my father's; who +smiled on me with kind cheer, but signed for me to keep away. I +stretched my arms toward him, and with his chained hand he contrived +yet once more for to bless me; then was hurried out of my sight. Far +more time than I ever did perceive or could remember the length of I +remained in that now deserted hall, motionless, alone, near to the +dying embers, the darkness still increasing, too much confused to +recall at once the comforts which sacred thoughts do yield in such +mishaps, only able to clasp my hand and utter broken sentences of +prayer, such as "God, ha' mercy on us," and the like; till about the +middle of the night, Sir Hammond comes down the stairs, with a lamp in +his hand, and a strange look in his face. + +"Mistress Sherwood," he says, "come to my lady. She is very ill, and +hath been in labor for some time. She doth nothing but call for you, +and rave about that accursed priest she will have it she hath +murthered. Come and feign to her he hath escaped." + +"O God!" I cried, "my words may fall on her ear, Sir Hammond, but my +face cannot deceive her." + +He looked at me amazed and angry. "What meaneth this passion of grief? +What is this old man to you, that his misfortune should thus disorder +you?" And as I could not stay my weeping, he asked in a scornful +manner, "Do papists so dote on their priests as to die of sorrow when +they get their deserts?" This insulting speech did so goad me, that, +unable to restrain myself, I exclaimed, "Sir Hammond, he whom you have +sent to a dungeon, and perhaps to death also (God pardon you for it!), +is my true father!--the best parent and the noblest gentleman that +ever breathed, which for many years I had not seen; and here under +your roof, myself your guest, I have beheld him loaded with +chains, and dared not to speak for fear to injure him yet further, +which I pray God I have not now done, moved thereunto by your cruel +scoffs." + +"Your father!" he said amazed; "Mr. Sherwood! These cursed feignings +do work strange mishaps. But he did own himself a priest." + +Before I had time to answer, a serving woman ran into the hall, crying +out, "Oh, sir, I pray you come to my lady. She is much worse; and the +nurse says, if her mind is not eased she is like to die before the +child is born." + +"Oh, Milicent! sweet Milicent!" I cried, wringing my hands; and when I +looked at that unhappy husband's face, anger vanished and pity took +its place. He turned to me with an imploring countenance as if he +should wish to say, "None but you can save her." I prayed to Our Lady, +who stood and fainted not beneath the Rood, to get me strength for to +do my part in that sick chamber whither I signed to him to lead the +way. "God will help me," I whispered in his ear, "to comfort her." + +"God bless you!" he answered in a hoarse voice, and opened the door of +the room in which his sweet lady was sitting in her bed, with a wild +look in her pale blue eyes, which seemed to start out of her head. + +"Sir," I heard her say, as he approached, "what hath befallen the poor +man you would not dismiss?" + +I took a light in my hand, so that she should see my face, and smiled +on her with such good cheer, as God in his mercy gave me strength to +do even amidst the two-fold anguish of that moment. Then she threw her +arms convulsively round my neck, and her pale lips gasped the same +question as before. I bent over her, and said, "Trouble yourself no +longer, dear lady, touching this prisoner. He is safe (in God's +keeping, I added, internally). He is where he is carefully tended (by +God's angels, I mentally subjoined); he hath no occasion to be afraid +(for God is his strength), and I warrant you is as peaceful as his +nearest friends should wish him to be." + +"Is this the truth?" she murmured in my ear. + +"Yea," I said, "the truth, the very truth," and kissed her flushed +cheek. Then feeing like to faint, I went away, Sir Hammond leading me +to my chamber, for I could scarce stand. + +"God bless you!" he again said, when he left me, and I think he was +weeping. + +I fell into a heavy, albeit troubled, sleep, and when I awoke it was +broad daylight. When the waiting-maid came in, she told me Lady +l'Estrange had been delivered of a dead child and Sir Hammond was +almost beside himself with grief. My lady's mind had wandered ever +since; but she was more tranquil than in the night. Soon after he sent +to ask if he could see me, and I went down to him into the parlor. A +more changed man, in a few hours, I ween, could not be seen, than this +poor gentleman. He spoke not of his lady; but briefly told me he had +sent in the night a messenger on horseback to Norwich, with a letter +to the governor of the gaol, praying him to show as much +consideration, and allow so much liberty as should consist with +prudence, to the prisoner in his custody, sent by him a few hours +before, for that he had discovered him not to be one of the common +sort, nor a lewd person, albeit by his own confession amenable to the +laws, and escaped from another prison. Then he added, that if I wished +to go to Norwich, and visit this prisoner, he would give me a letter +to the governor, and one to a lady, who would conveniently harbor me +for a while in that city, and his coach should take me there, or he +would lend me a horse and a servant to attend me. I answered, I should +be glad to go, and then said somewhat of his lady, hoping she should +now do well. He made no reply for a moment, and then only said, + +"God knoweth! she is not like herself at the present." + +The words she had so mournfully spoken the day before came into +my mind, "I shall never be like myself again, and there shall be no +more joy in this house." And, methinks, they did haunt him also. + +I sat for some time by her bedside that day. She seemed not ill at +ease, but there was something changed in her aspect, and her words +when she spoke had no sense or connection. And here I will set down, +before I relate the events which followed my brief sojourn under their +roof, what I have heard touching the sequel of Sir Hammond and his +wife's lives. + +In that perilous and sorely troubled childbirth understanding was +alienated, and the art of the best physicians in England could never +restore it. She was not frantic; but had such a pretty deliration, +that in her ravings there was oftentimes more attractiveness than in +many sane persons' conversation. They mostly ran on pious themes, and +she was wont to sing psalms, and talk of heaven, and that she hoped to +see God there; and in many things she showed her old ability, such as +fine embroidery and the making of preserves. One day her waiting-woman +asked her to dress a person's wounds, which did greatly need it, and +she set herself to do it in her accustomed manner; but at the sight of +the wounds, she was seized with convulsions, and became violently +delirious, so that Sir Hammond sharply reprehended the imprudent +attendant, and forbade the like to be ever proposed to her again. He +gave himself up to live retired with her, and ceased to be a +magistrate, nor ever, that I could hear of, took any part again in the +persecution of Catholics. The distemper which had estranged her mind +in all things else, had left her love and obedience entire to her +husband; and he entertained a more visible fondness, and evinced a +greater respect for her after she was distempered than he had ever +done in the early days of their marriage. Methinks, the gentleness of +her heart, and delicacy of her conscience, which till that misfortune +had never, I ween, been burdened by any, even the least, +self-reproach, and the lack of strength in her mind to endure an +unusual stress, made the stroke of that accidental harm done to +another through her means too heavy for her sufferance, and, as the +poet saith, unsettled reason on her throne. For mine own part, but let +others consider of it as they list, I think that had she been a +Catholic by early training and distinct belief, as verily I hope she +was in rightful intention, albeit unconsciously to herself (as I make +no doubt many are in these days, wherein persons are growing up with +no knowledge of religion except what Protestant parents do instill +into them), that she would have had a greater courage for to bear this +singular trial; which to a feeling natural heart did prove unbearable, +but which to one accustomed to look on suffering as not the greatest +of evils, and to hold such as are borne for conscience sake as great +and glorious, would not have been so overwhelming. But herein I write, +methinks, mine own condemnation, for that in the anguish of filial +grief I failed to point out to her during those cruel moments of +suspense that which in retrospection I do so clearly see. And so, may +God accept the blighting of her young life, and the many sufferings of +mine which I have still to record, as pawns of his intended mercies to +both her and to me in his everlasting kingdom! + +When I was about to set out for Norwich, late in the afternoon of that +same day, Sir Hammond's messenger returned from thence with a letter +from the governor of the gaol; wherein he wrote that the prisoner he +had sent the night before was to proceed to London in a few hours with +some other priests and recusants which the government had ordered to +be conveyed thither and committed to divers prisons. He added, that he +had complied with Sir Hammond's request, and shown so much favor to +Mr. Tunstall as to transfer him, as soon as he received his +letter, from the common dungeon to a private cell, and to allow him to +speak with another Catholic prisoner who had desired to see him. Upon +this I prayed Sir Hammond to forward me on my journey to London, as +now I desired nothing so much as to go there forthwith; which he did +with no small alacrity and good disposition. Then, with so much speed +as was possible, and so much suffering from the lapse of each hour +that it seemed to me the journey should never end, I proceeded to what +was now the object of my most impatient pinings--the place where I +should bear tidings of my father, and, if it should be possible, +minister assistance to him in his great straits. At last I reached +Holborn; and, to the no small amazement of my uncle, Mrs. Ward, and +Muriel, revealed to them who Mr. Tunstall was, whose arrival at the +prison of Bridewell Mrs. Ward had had notice of that morning, when she +had been to visit Mr. Watson, which she had contrived to do for some +time past in the manner I will soon relate. + +CHAPTER XVI. + +One of the first persons I saw in London was Hubert Rookwood, who, +when he heard (for being Basil's brother I would not conceal it from +him) that my father was in prison at Bridewell, expressed so much +concern therein and resentment of my grief, that I was thereby moved +to more kindly feelings toward him than I had of late entertained. He +said that in the houses of the law which he frequented he had made +friends which he hoped would intercede in his behalf, and therein +obtain, if not his release, yet so much alleviation of the hardships +of a common prison as should render his condition more tolerable, and +that he would lose no time in seeking to move them thereunto; but that +our chief hope would lie in Sir Francis Walsingham, who, albeit much +opposed to papists, had always showed himself willing to assist his +friends of that way of thinking, and often procured for them some +relief, which indeed none had more experienced than Mr. Congleton +himself. Hubert commended the secrecy which had been observed touching +my father's real name; for if he should be publicly known to be +possessed of lands and related to noble families, it should be harder +for any one to get him released than an obscure person; but +nevertheless he craved license to intimate so much of the truth to Sir +Francis as should appear convenient, for he had always observed that +gentlemen are more compassionate to those of their own rank than to +others of meaner birth. Mr. Congleton prayed him to use his own +discretion therein, and said he should acquaint no one himself of it +except his very good friend the Portuguese ambassador, who, if all +other resources failed, might yet obtain of the queen herself some +mitigation of his sentence. Thereupon followed some days of weary +watching and waiting, in which my only comfort was Mistress Ward, who, +by means of the gaoler's wife, who had obliged her in the like manner +before, did get access from time to time to Mr. Watson, and brought +him necessaries. From him she discovered that the prisoner in the +nearest cell to his own was the so-called Mr. Tunstall, and that by +knocks against the wall, ingeniously numbered so as to express the +letters of the alphabet, as one for _a_, two for _b_, and so to the +end thereof, they did communicate. So she straightway began to +practice this management; but time allowed not of many speeches to +pass between them. Yet in this way he sent me his blessing, and that +he was of very good cheer; but that none should try for to visit him, +for he had only one fear, which was to bring others into trouble; and, +for himself, he was much beholden to her majesty, which had provided +him with a quiet lodging and time to look to his soul's welfare; +which evidence of his cheerful and pious spirit comforted me not a +little. Then that dear friend which had brought me this good comfort +spoke of Mr. Watson, and said she desired to procure his escape from +prison more than that of any other person in the same plight, not +excepting my father. "For, good Constance," quoth she, "when a man is +blest with a stout heart and cheerful mind, except it be for the sake +of others, I pray you what kind of service do you think we render him +by delaying the victory he is about to gain, and peradventure +depriving him of the long-desired crown of martyrdom? But this good +Mr. Watson, who as you well know was a zealous priest and pious +missioner, nevertheless, some time after his apprehension and +confinement in Bridewell, by force of torments and other miseries of +that place, was prevailed upon to deny his faith so far as to go once +to the Protestant service--not dragged there by force as some have +been, but compelled thereunto by fear of intolerable sufferings, and +was then set at liberty. But the poor man did not thus better his +condition; for the torments of his mind, looking on himself as an +apostate and traitor to the Church, he found to be more insupportable +than any sufferings his gaolers put upon him. So, after some miserable +weeks, he went to one of the prisons where some other priests were +confined for to seek comfort and counsel from them; and, having +confessed his fault with great and sincere sorrow, he received +absolution, and straightway repaired to that church in Bridewell +wherein he had in a manner denied his faith, and before all the people +at that time therein assembled, declared himself a Catholic, and +willing to go to prison and to death sooner than to join again in +Protestant worship. Whereupon he was laid hold of, dragged to prison, +and thrown into a dungeon so low and so straight that he could neither +stand up in it nor lay himself down at his full length to sleep. They +loaded him with irons, and kept him one whole month on bread and +water; nor would suffer any one to come near him to comfort or speak +with him." + +"Alas!" I cried, "and is this, then, the place where my father is +confined?' + +"No,", she answered; "after the space of a month Mr. Watson was +translated to a lodging at the top of the house, wherein the prisoners +are leastways able to stretch their limbs and to see the light; but he +having been before prevailed on to yield against his conscience +touching that point of going to Protestant worship, no peace is left +to him by his persecutors, which never cease to urge on him some sort +of conformity to their religion. And, Constance, when a man hath once +been weak, what security can there be, albeit I deny not hope, that he +shall always after stand firm?" + +"But by what means," I eagerly asked, '"do you forecast to procure his +escape?" + +"I have permission," she answered, "to bring him necessaries, which I +do in a basket, on condition that I be searched at going in and coming +out, for to make sure I convey not any letter unto him or from him; +and this was so strictly observed the first month that they must needs +break open the loaves or pies I take to him lest any paper should be +conveyed inside. But they begin now to weary of this strict search, +and do not care at ways to hearken when I speak with him; so he could +tell me the last time I did visit him that he had found a way by which +if he had but a cord long enough for his purpose, he could let himself +down from the top of the house, and so make his escape in the night." + +"Oh," I cried, "dear Mistress Ward, but this is a perilous venture, to +aid a prisoner's escape. One which a daughter might run for her +father, oh, how willingly, but for a stranger--" + +"A stranger!" she answered. "Is he a stranger for whom Christ died, +and whose precious soul is in danger, even if not a priest; and +being so, is he not entitled to more than common reverence, chiefly in +these days when God's servants minister to us in the midst of such +great straits to both soul and body?' + +"I cry God mercy," I said; "I did term him a stranger who gave ghostly +comfort to my dear mother on her death-bed; but oh, dear Mistress +Ward, I thought on your peril, who, he knoweth, hath been as a mother +to me for these many years. And then-if you are resolved to run this +danger, should it not be possible to save my father also by the same +means? Two cords should not be more difficult to convey, methinks, +than one, and the peril not greater." + +"If I could speak with him," she replied, "it would not be impossible. +I will tell Muriel to make two instead of one of these cords, which +she doth twine in some way she learnt from a Frenchman, so strong as, +albeit slight, to have the strength of a cable. But without we do +procure two men with a boat for to fetch the prisoners when they +descend, 'tis little use to make the attempt. And it be easier, I +warrant thee, Constance, to run one's self into a manifest danger than +to entice others to the like." + +"Should it be safe," I asked, "to speak thereon to Hubert Rookwood? He +did exhibit this morning much zeal in my father's behalf, and promised +to move Sir Francis Walsingham to procure his release." + +"How is he disposed touching religion? she asked, in a doubtful +manner. + +"Alas!" I answered, "there is a secrecy in his nature which in more +ways than one doth prove unvestigable, leastways to me; but when he +comes this evening I will sound him thereon. Would his brother were in +London! Then we should not lack counsel and aid in this matter." + +"We do sorely need both," she answered; "for your good uncle, than +which a better man never lived, wanes feeble in body, and hence easily +overcome by the fears such enterprises involve. Mr. Wells is not in +London at this tune, or he should have been a very palladium of +strength in this necessity. Hubert Rookwood hath, I think, a good +head." + +"What we do want is a brave heart," I replied, thinking on Basil. + +"But wits also," she said. + +"Basil hath them too," I answered, forgetting that only in mine own +thinking had he been named. + +"Yea," she cried, "who doth doubt it? but, alas! he is not here." + +Then I prayed her not to be too rash in the prosecution of her design. +"Touching my father," I said, "I have yet some hope of his release; +and as long as any remaineth, flight should be methinks a too +desperate attempt to be thought of." + +"Yea," she answered, "in most cases it would be so." But Mr. Watson's +disposition she perceived to be such as would meet a present danger +and death itself, she thought, with courage, but not of that stamp +which could endure prolonged fears or infliction of torments. + +Since my coming to London I had been too much engaged in these weighty +cares to go abroad; but on that day I resolved, if it were possible, +to see my Lady Surrey. A report had reached me that the breach between +her and her husband had so much deepened that a separation had ensued, +which if true, I, which knew her as well almost as mine own self, +could judge what her grief must be. I was also moved to this endeavor +by the hope that if my Lord Arundel was not too sick to be spoken +with, she should perhaps obtain some help through his means for that +dear prisoner whose captivity did weigh so heavily on my heart. + +So, with a servant to attend on me, I went through the city to the +Chapter-house, and with a misgiving mind heard from the porter that +Lady Surrey lodged not there, but at Arundel House, whither she had +removed soon after her coming to London. Methought that in the +telling of it this man exhibited a sorrowful countenance; but not +choosing to question one of his sort on so weighty a matter, I went on +to Arundel House, where, after some delay, I succeeded in gaining +admittance to Lady Surrey's chamber, whose manner, when she first saw +me, lacked the warmth which I was used to in her greetings. There +seemed some fear in her lest I should speak unadvisedly that which she +would be loth to hear; and her strangeness and reserve methinks arose +from reluctance to have the wound in her heart probed,--too sore a +one, I ween, even for the tender handling of a friend. I inquired of +her if my Lord Arundel's health had improved. She said he was better, +and like soon to be as well as could be hoped for now-a-days, when his +infirmities had much increased. + +"Then you will return to Kenninghall?" I said, letting my speech +outrun discretion. + +"No," she replied; "I purpose never more to leave my Lord Arundel or +my Lady Lumley as long as they do live, which I pray God may be many +years." + +And then she sat without speaking, biting her lips and wringing the +kerchief she held in her hands, as if to keep her grief from +outbursting. I dared not to comment on her resolve, for I foresaw that +the least word which should express some partaking of her sorrow, or +any question relating to it, would let loose a torrent weakly stayed +by a mightful effort, not like to be of long avail. So I spoke of mine +own troubles, and the events which had occasioned my sudden departure +from Lynn Court. She had heard of Lady l'Estrange's mishap, and that +the following day I had journeyed to London; but naught of the causes +thereof, or of the apprehension of any priest by Sir Hammond's orders. +Which, when she learnt the manner of this misfortune, and the poor +lady's share therein, and that it was my father she had thus +unwittingly discovered, her countenance softened, and throwing her +arms round my neck, she bitterly wept, which at that moment methinks +did her more good than anything else. + +"Oh, mine own good Constance," she said, "I doubt not nature riseth +many passionate workings in your soul at this time; but, my dear +wench, when good men are in trouble our grief for them should be as +noble as their virtues. Bethink thee what a worst sorrow it should be +to have a vile father, one that thou must needs love,--for who can +tear out of his heart affection strong as life?--and he should then +prove unworthy. Believe me, Constance, God gives to each, even in this +world, a portion of their deserts. Such griefs as thy present one I +take to be rare instances of his favor. Other sorts of trials are meet +for cowardly souls which refuse to set their lips to a chalice of +suffering, and presently find themselves submerged in a sea of woes. +But can I help thee, sweet one? Is there aught I can do to lighten thy +affliction? Hast thou license for to see thy father?" + +"No, dear lady," I answered; "and his name being concealed, I may not +petition as his daughter for this permission; but if my Lord Arundel +should be so good a lord to me as to obtain leave for me to visit this +prisoner, without revealing his name and condition, he should do me +the greatest benefit in the world." + +"I will move him thereunto," my lady said. "But he who had formerly no +equal in the queen's favor, and to whom she doth partly owe her crown, +is now in his sickness and old age of so little account in her eyes, +that trifling favors are often denied him to whom she would once have +said: 'Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it unto thee.' But +what my poor endeavors can effect through him or others shall not be +lacking in this thy need. But I am not in that condition I was once +like to have enjoyed." Then with her eyes cast on the ground she +seemed for to doubt if she should speak plainly, or still shut +up her grief in silence. As I sat painfully expecting her next words, +the door opened, and two ladies were announced, which she whispered in +mine ear she would fain not have admitted at that time, but that Lord +Arundel's desire did oblige her to entertain them. One was Mistress +Bellamy, and the other her daughter, Mistress Frances, a young +gentlewoman of great beauty and very lively parts, which I had once +before seen at Lady Ingoldsby's house. She was her parents' sole +daughter, and so idolized by them that they seemed to live only to +minister to her fancies. Lord Arundel was much bounden to this family +by ancient ties of friendship, which made him urgent with his +granddaughter that she should admit them to her privacy. I admired in +this instance how suddenly those which have been used to exercise such +self-command as high breeding doth teach can school their exterior to +seem at ease, and even of good cheer, when most ill at ease +interiorly, and with hearts very heavy. Lady Surrey greeted these +visitors with as much courtesy, and listened to their discourse with +as much civility and smiles when called for, as if no burthensome +thoughts did then oppress her. + +Many and various themes were touched upon in the random talk which +ensued. First, that wonted one of the queen's marriage, which some +opined should verily now take place with Monsieur d'Alençon; for that +since his stealthy visits to England, she did wear in her bosom a +brooch of jewels in a frog's shape. + +"Ay," quoth Mistress Frances, "that stolen visit which awoke the ire +of the poor soul Stubbs, who styled it 'an unmanlike, unprincelike, +French kind of wooing,' and endeth his book of 'The Gaping Gulph' in a +loyal rage: 'Here is, therefore, an imp of the crown of France, to +marry the crowned nymph of England,'--a nymph indeed well stricken in +years. My brother was standing by when Stubbs' hand was cut off; for +nothing else would content that sweet royal nymph, albeit the lawyers +stoutly contended the statute under which he suffered to be null and +void. As soon as his right hand is off, the man takes his hat off with +the left, and cries 'God bless the queen!'" + +"Here is a wonder," I exclaimed; "I pray you, what is the art this +queen doth possess by which she holdeth the hearts of her subjects in +so great thrall, albeit so cruel to them which do offend her?" + +"Lady Harrington hath told me her majesty's own opinion thereon," said +Mrs. Bellamy; "for one day she did ask her in a merry sort, 'How she +kept her husband's good-will and love?' To which she made reply that +she persuaded her husband of her affection, and in so doing did +command his. Upon which the queen cries out, 'Go to, go to, Mistress +Moll! you are wisely bent, I find. After such sort do I keep the good +wills of all my husbands, my good people; for if they did not rest +assured of some special love toward them, they would not readily yield +me such good obedience.'" + +"Tut, tut!" cried Mistress Frances; "all be not such fools as John +Stubbs; and she knoweth how to take rebukes from such as she doth not +dare to offend. By the same token that Sir Philip Sydney hath written +to dissuade her from this French match, and likewise Sir Francis +Walsingham, which last did hint at her advancing years; and her +highness never so much as thought of striking off their hands. But I +warrant you a rebellion shall arise if this queen doth issue such +prohibitions as she hath lately done." + +"Of what sort?" asked Lady Surrey. + +"First, to forbid," Mrs. Bellamy said, "any new building to be raised +within three thousand paces of the gates of London on pain of +imprisonment, and sundry other penalties; or for more than one family +to inhabit in one house. For her majesty holds it should be an +impossible thing to govern or maintain order in a city larger than +this London at the present time." + +Mistress Frances declared this law to be more tolerable than the one +against the size of ladies' ruffs, which were forsooth not to exceed a +certain measure; and officers appointed for to stand at the comers of +streets and to clip such as overpassed the permitted dimensions, which +sooner than submit to she should die. + +Lady Surrey smiled, and said she should have judged so from the size +of her fine ruff. + +"But her majesty is impartial," quoth Mrs. Bellamy; "for the +gentlemen's rapiers are served in the same manner. And verily this law +hath nearly procured a war with France; for in Smithfield Lane some +clownish constables stayed M. de Castelnau, and laid hands on his +sword for to shorten it to the required length. I leave you to judge. +Lady Surrey, of this ambassador's fury. Sir Henry Seymour, who was +tidying the air in Smithfield at the time, perceived him standing with +the drawn weapon in his hand, threatening to kill whosoever should +approach him, and destruction on this realm of England if the officers +should dare to touch his sword again; and this with such frenzy of +speech in French mixed with English none could understand, that God +knoweth what should have ensued if Sir Henry had not interfered. Her +majesty was forced to make an apology to this mounseer for that her +officers had ignorantly attempted to clip the sword of her good +brother's envoy." + +"Why doth she not clip," Mistress Frances said, "if such be her +present humor, the orange manes of her gray Dutch horses, which are +the frightfullest things in the world?" + +"Tis said," quoth Mrs. Bellamy, "that a new French embassy is soon +expected, with the dauphin of Auvergne at its head." + +"Yea," cried her daughter, "and four handsome English noblemen to meet +them at the Tower stairs, and conduct them to the new banqueting-house +at Westminster,--my Lord Surrey, Lord Windsor, Sir Philip Sydney, and +Sir Fulke Greville. Methinks this should be a very fine sight, if rain +doth not fall to spoil it." + +I saw my Lady Surrey's countenance change when her husband was +mentioned; and Mrs. Bellamy looked at her daughter forasmuch as to +check her thoughtless speeches, which caused this young lady to glance +round the room, seeking, as it seemed, for some other topic of +conversation. + +Methinks I should not have preserved so lively a recollection of the +circumstances of this visit if some dismal tidings which reached me +afterward touching this gentlewoman, then so thoughtless and innocent, +had not revived in me the memory of her gay prattle, bright unabashed +eyes, and audacious dealing with subjects so weighty and dangerous, +that any one less bold should have feared to handle them. After the +pause which ensued on the mention of Lord Surrey's name, she took for +her text what had been said touching the prohibitions lately issued +concerning ruffs and rapiers, and began to mock at her majesty's +favorites; yea, and to mimic her majesty herself with so much humor +that her well-acted satire must have needs constrained any one to +laugh. Then, not contented with these dangerous jests, she talked such +direct treason against her highness as to say she hoped to see her +dethroned, and a fair Catholic sovereign to reign in her stead, who +would be less shrewish to young and handsome ladies. Then her mother +cried her, for mercy's sake, to restrain her mad speech, which would +serve one day to bring them all into trouble, for all she meant it in +jest. + +"Marry, good mother," she answered, "not in jest at all; for I do +verily hold myself bound to no allegiance to this queen, and would +gladly see her get her deserts." + +Then Lady Surrey prayed her not to speak so rashly; but methought in + her heart, and somewhat I could perceive of this in her eyes, +she misliked not wholly this young lady's words, who then spoke of +religion; and oh, how zealous therein she did appear, how boldly +affirmed (craving Lady Surrey's pardon, albeit she would warrant, she +said, there was no need to do so, her ladyship she had heard being +half a papist herself) that she had as lief be racked twenty times +over and die also, or her face to be so disfigured that none should +call her ever after anything but a fright--which martyrdom she held +would exceed any yet thought of--than so much as hold her tongue +concerning her faith, or stay from telling her majesty to her face, if +she should have the chance to get speech with her, that she was a foul +heretic, and some other truths beside, which but once to utter in her +presence, come of it what would, should be a delicious pleasure. Then +she railed at the Catholics which blessed the queen before they +suffered for their religion, proving them wrong with ingenious reasons +and fallacious arguments mixed with pleasantries not wholly becoming +such grave themes. But it should have seemed as reasonable to be angry +with a child babbling at random of life and death in the midst of its +play, as with this creature, the lightest of heart, the fairest in +face, the most winsome in manner, and most careless of danger, that +ever did set sail on life's stream. + +Oh, how all this rose before me again, when I heard, two years +afterward, that for her bold recusancy--alas! more bold, as the +sequel proved, than deep, more passionate than fervent--this only +cherished daughter, this innocent maiden, the mirror of whose fame no +breath had sullied, and on whose name no shadow had rested, was torn +by the pursuivants from her parents' home, and cast into a prison with +companions at the very aspect of which virtue did shudder. And the +unvaliant courage, the weak bravery, of this indulged and wayward +young lady had no strength wherewith to resist the surging tides of +adversity. No voice of parent, friend, or ghostly father reached her +in that abode of despair. No visible angel visited her, but a fiend in +human form haunted her dungeon. Liberty and pleasure he offered in +exchange for virtue, honor, and faith. She fell; sudden and great was +that fall. + +There is a man the name of which hath blenched the cheeks and riven +the hearts of Catholics, one who hath caused many amongst them to lose +their lands and to part from their homes, to die on gibbets and their +limbs to be torn asunder--one Richard Topcliffe. But, methinks, of all +the voices which shall be raised for to accuse him at Christ's +judgment-seat, the loudest will be Frances Bellamy's. Her ruin was his +work; one of those works which, when a man is dead, do follow him; +whither, God knoweth! + +Oh, you who saw her, as I did, in her young and innocent years, can +you read this without shuddering? Can you think on it without weeping? +As her fall was sudden, so was the change it wrought. With it vanished +affections, hopes, womanly feelings, memory of the past; nay, methinks +therein I err. Memory did yet abide, but linked with hatred; Satan's +memory of heaven. From depths to depths she hath sunk, and is now +wedded to a mean wretch, the gaoler of her old prison. So rank a +hatred hath grown in her against recusants and mostly priests, that it +rages like a madness in her soul, which thirsts for their blood. Some +months back, about the time I did begin to write this history, news +reached me that she had sold the life of that meek saint, that sweet +poet, Father Southwell, of which even an enemy, Lord Mountjoy, did +say, when he had seen him suffer, "I pray God, where that man's soul +now is, mine may one day be." Her father had concealed him in that +house where she had dwelt in her innocent days. None but the family +knew the secret of its hiding-place. +She did reveal it, and took gold for her wages! What shall be that +woman's death-bed? What trace doth remain on her soul of what was once +a share in the divine nature? May one of God's ministers be nigh unto +her in that hour for to bid her not despair! If Judas had repented, +Jesus would have pardoned him. Peradventure, misery without hope of +relief overthrew her brain. I do pray for her always. 'Tis a vain +thought perhaps, but I sometimes wish I might, though I see not how to +compass it, yet once speak with her before she or I die. Methinks I +could say such words as should touch some old chord in her dead heart. +God knoweth! That day I write of, little did I ween what her end would +be. But yet it feared me to hear one so young and of so frail an +aspect speak so boastfully; and it seemed even then to my +inexperienced mind, that my Lady Surrey, who had so humbly erewhile +accused herself of cowardice and lamented her weakness, should be in a +safer plight, albeit as yet unreconciled. + +The visit I have described had lasted some time, when a servant came +with a message to her ladyship from Mr. Hubert Rookwood, who craved to +be admitted on an urgent matter. She glanced at me somewhat surprised, +upon which I made her a sign that she should condescend to his +request; for I supposed he had seen Sir Francis Walsingham, and was in +haste to confer with me touching that interview; and she ordered him +to be admitted. Mrs. Bellamy and her daughter rose to go soon after +his entrance; and whilst Lady Surrey conducted them to the door he +asked me if her ladyship was privy to the matter in hand. When I had +satisfied him thereof, he related what had passed in an interview he +had with Sir Francis, whom he found ill-disposed at first to stir in +the matter, for he said his frequent remonstrances in favor of +recusants had been like to bring him into odium with some of the more +zealous Protestants, and that he must needs, in every case of that +sort, prove it to be his sole object to bring such persons more +surely, albeit slowly, by means of toleration, to a rightful +conformity; and that with regard to priests he was very loth to +interfere. + +"I was compelled," quoth Hubert, "to use such arguments as fell in +with the scope of his discourse, and to flatter him with the hope of +good results in that which he most desired, if he would procure Mr. +Sherwood's release, which I doubt not he hath power to effect. And in +the end he consented to lend his aid therein, on condition he should +prove on his side so far conformable as to suffer a minister to visit +and confer with him touching religion, which would then be a pretext +for his release, as if it were supposed he was well disposed toward +Protestant religion, and a man more like to embrace the truth when at +liberty than if driven to it by stress of confinement. Then he would +procure," he added, "an order for his passage to France, if he +promised not to return, except he should be willing to obey the laws." + +"I fear me much," I answered, "my father will not accept these terms +which Sir Francis doth offer. Methinks he will consider they do +involve some lack of the open profession of his faith." + +"It would be madness for one in his plight to refuse them," Hubert +exclaimed, and appealed thereon to Lady Surrey, who said she did +indeed think as he did, for it was not like any better could be +obtained. + +It pained me he should refer to her, who from conformity to the times +could not well conceive how tender a Catholic conscience should feel +at the least approach to dissembling on this point. + +"Wherein," he continued, "is the harm for to confer with a minister, +or how can it be construed into a denial of a man's faith to listen to +his arguments, unless, indeed, he feels himself to be in danger of +being shaken by them?" + +"You very well know," I exclaimed with some warmth, "that not to +be my meaning, or what I suppose his should be. Our priests do +constantly crave for public disputations touching religion, albeit +they eschew secret ones, which their adversaries make a pretext of to +spread reports of their inability to defend their faith, or +willingness to abandon it. But heaven forbid I should anyways prejudge +this question; and if with a safe conscience--and with no other I am +assured will he do it--my father doth subscribe to this condition, +then God be praised for it!" + +"But you will move him to it, Mistress Constance?" he said. + +"If I am so happy," I answered, "as to get speech with him, verily I +will entreat him not to throw away his life, so precious to others, if +so be he can save it without detriment to his conscience." + +"Conscience!" Hubert exclaimed, "methinks that word is often +misapplied in these days." + +"How so?" I asked, investigating his countenance, for I misdoubted his +meaning. Lady Surrey likewise seemed desirous to hear what he should +say on that matter. + +"Conscience," he answered, "should make persons, and mostly women, +careful how they injure others, and cause heedless suffering, by a too +great stiffness in refusing conformity to the outward practices which +the laws of the country enforce, when it affects not the weightier +points of faith, which God forbid any Catholic should deny. There is +often as much of pride as of virtue in such rash obstinacy touching +small yieldings as doth involve the ruin of a family, separation of +parents and children, and more evils than can be thought of." + +"Hubert," I said, fixing mine eyes on him with a searching look he +cared not, I ween, to meet, for he cast his on a paper he had in his +hand, and raised them not while I spoke, "'sit is by such reasonings +first, and then by such small yieldings as you commend, that some have +been led two or three times in their lives, yea, oftener perhaps, to +profess different religions, and to take such contradictory oaths as +have been by turns prescribed to them under different sovereigns, and +God each time called on to witness their perjuries, whereby truth and +falsehood in matters of faith shall come in time to be words without +any meaning." + +Then he: "You do misapprehend me, Mistress Constance, if you think I +would counsel a man to utter a falsehood, or feign to believe that +which in his heart he thinketh to be false. But, in heaven's name, I +pray you, what harm will your father do if he listens to a minister's +discourse, and suffers it to be set forth he doth ponder thereon, and +in the meantime escapes to France? whereas, if he refuses the loophole +now offered to him, he causeth not to himself alone, but to you and +his other friends, more pain and sorrow than can be thought of, and +deprives the Church of one of her servants, when her need of them is +greatest." + +I made no reply to this last speech; for albeit I thought my father +would not accede to these terms, I did not so far trust mine own +judgment thereon as to predict with certainty what his answer should +be. And then Hubert said he had an order from Sir Francis that would +admit me on the morrow to see my father; and he offered to go with me, +and Mistress Ward too, if I listed, to present it, albeit I alone +should enter his cell. I thanked him, and fixed the time of our going. + +When he had left us, Lady Surrey commended his zeal, and also his +moderate spirit, which did charitably allow, she said, for such as +conformed to the times for the sake of others which their +reconcilement would very much injure. + +Before I could reply she changed this discourse, and, putting her +hands on my shoulders and kissing my forehead, said, + +"My Lady Lumley hath heard so much from her poor niece of one +Mistress Constance Sherwood, that she doth greatly wish to see this +young gentlewoman and very resolved papist." And then taking me by the +arm she led me to that lady's chamber, where I had as kind a welcome +as ever I received from any one from her ladyship, who said "her dear +Nan's friends should be always as dear to her as her own," and added +many fine commendations greatly exceeding my deserts. + +CHAPTER XVII. + +When I had been a short time in my Lady Lumley's chamber, my Lord +Arundel sent for his granddaughter, who was wont, she told me, at that +hour to write letters for him; and I stayed alone with her ladyship, +who, as soon as Lady Surrey left us, thus broke forth in her praise: + +"Hath any one, think you. Mistress Sherwood, ever pictured or imagined +a creature more noble, more toward in disposition, more virtuous in +all her actions, of greater courage in adversity or patience under +ill-usage than this one, which God hath sent to this house to cheer +two lonely hearts, whilst her own is well-nigh broken?" + +"Oh, my Lady Lumley!" I exclaimed, "I fear some new misfortune hath +befallen this dear lady, who is indeed so rare a piece of goodness +that none can exceed in describing her deserts. Hitherto she hath +condescended to impart her sorrows to her poor friend; but to-day she +shut up her griefs in her own bosom, albeit I could read unspoken +suffering in every lineament of her sweet countenance." + +"God forgive me," her ladyship replied, "if in speaking of her wrongs +I should entertain over-resentful feelings toward her ungracious +husband, whom once I did love as a mother, and very loth hath my heart +been to condemn him; but now, if it were not that I myself received +him in my arms what time he was born, whose life was the cause of my +sweet young sister's death, I should doubt he could be her son." + +"What fresh injury," I timidly asked, "hath driven Lady Surrey from +her house?" + +"_Her_ house no longer," quoth Lady Lumley. "She hath no house, no +home, no husband worthy of the name, and only an old man nigh unto the +grave, alas! and a poor feeble woman such as I am to raise a voice in +her behalf, who is spurned by one who should have loved and cherished +her, as twice before God's altar he vowed to do. Oh," cried the poor +lady, weeping, "she hath borne all things else with a sweet fortitude +which angels looking down on her must needs have wondered at. She +would ever be excusing this faithless husband with many pretty wiles +and loving subterfuges, making, sweet sophist, the worst appear the +better reason. 'Men must needs be pardoned,' she would say, when my +good father waxed wroth at his ill-usage of her, 'for such outward +neglect as many practice in these days toward their wives, for that it +was the fashion at the court to appear unhusbandly; but if women would +be patient, she would warrant them their love should be requited at +last.' And when news came that Phil had sold an estate for to +purchase--God save the mark!--a circlet of black pearls for the queen; +and Lord Arundel swore he should leave him none of his lands but what +by act of parliament he was compelled to do, she smiled winsomely, and +said: 'Yea, my lord, I pray you, let my dear Phil be a poor man as his +father wished him to be, and then, if it please God, we may live in a +cottage and be happy.' And so turned away his anger by soft words, for +he laughed and answered: 'Heaven help thee. Nan! but I fear that +cottage must needs be Arundel Castle, for my hands are so tied therein +that thy knavish husband cannot fail to inherit it. And beshrew me if +I would either rob thee of it, mine own good Nan, or its old walls of +thy sweet presence when I shall be dead.' And so she always pleaded +for him, and never lost heart until . . . Oh, Mistress Sherwood, I +shall never forget the day when her uncle, Francis Dacre--wisely or +unwisely I know not, but surely meaning well--gave her to read in this +house, where she was spending a day, a letter which had fallen into +his hands, I wot not how, in the which Philip--God forgive +him!--expressed some kind of doubt if he was truly married to her or +not. Some wily wretch had, I ween, whispered to him, in an evil hour, +this accursed thought. When she saw this misdoubt written in his hand +she straightway fell down in a swoon, which recovering from, the first +thing she did was to ask for her cloak and hat, and would have walked +alone to her house if I had not stayed her almost by force, until Lord +Arundel's coach could be got ready for her. In less than two hours she +returned with so wan and death-like a countenance that it frighted me +to see her, and for some time she would not speak of what had passed +between her lord and herself; only she asked for to stay always in +this house, if it should please her grandfather, and not to part from +us any more. At the which speech I could but kiss her, and with many +tears protest that this should be the joyfullest news in the world to +Lord Arundel and to me, and what he would most desire, if it were not +for her grief, which, like an ill wind, yet did blow us this good. +'Yea,' she answered, with the deepest sigh which can be thought of, 'a +cold, withering blast which driveth me from the shelter which should +be mine! I have heard it said that when Cardinal Wolsey lay a-dying he +cried, "It were well with me now if I had served my God with the like +zeal with which I have served my king," or some words of that sort. +Oh, my Lady Lumley!' the poor child exclaimed, 'if I had not loved +Philip more than God and his Church, methinks I should not thus be +cast off!' 'Cast off,' I cried; 'and has my graceless nephew, then, +been so wicked?' 'Oh, he is changed,' she answered--'he is changed. +In his eyes, in his voice, I found not Philip's looks, nor Philip's +tones. Nought but harshness and impatience to dismiss me. The queen, +he said, was coming to rest at his house on her way to the city, and +he lacked leisure to listen to my complaints. Then I felt grief and +anger rise in my breast with such vehemency that I charged him, maybe +too suddenly, with the doubt he had expressed in his letter to my Lord +Oxford. His face flushed deeply; but drawing up haughtily, as one +aggrieved, he said the manner of our marrying had been so unusual that +there were some, and those persons well qualified to judge, who +misdoubted if there did not exist a flaw in its validity. That he +should himself be loth to think so, but that to seek at that moment to +prove the contrary, when his fortunes hung on a thread, would be to +ruin him.' + +"There she paused, and clasped her hands together as if scarce able to +proceed; but soon raising her head, she related in a passionate manner +how her heart had then swelled well-nigh to bursting, pride and +tenderness restraining the utterance of such resentful thoughts as +rose in her when she remembered his father's last letter, wherein he +said his chief prop and stay in his fallen estate should be the wife +he had bestowed on him; of her own lands sold for the supply of his +prodigal courtiership; of her long patience and pleading for him to +others; and this his present treatment of her, which no wife could +brook, even if of mean birth and virtue, much loss one his equal in +condition, as well dowered as any in the land, and as faithful +and tender to him as he did prove untoward to her. But none of these +reproaches passed her lips; for it was an impossible thing to her, she +said, to urge her own deserts, or so much as mention the fortune she +had brought him. Only twice she repeated, 'Ruin your fortunes, my +lord! ruin your fortunes! God help me, I had thought rather to mend +them!' And then, when he tried to answer her in some sort of evading +fashion, as if unsaying, and yet not wholly denying his former speech, +she broke forth (and in the relation of this scene the passion of her +grief renewed itself) in vehement adjurations, which seemed somewhat +to move him, not to be so unjust to her or to himself as to leave that +in uncertainty which so nearly touched both their honors; and if the +thought of a mutual love once existing between them, and a firm bond +of marriage relied on with unshaken security, and his father's dying +blessing on it, and the humble duty she had shown him from the time +she had borne his name, sufficed not to resolve him thereunto, yet for +the sake of justice to one fatherless and brotherless as herself, she +charged him without delay to make that clear which, left uncertain, +concerned her more nearly than fortune or state, and without which no, +not one day, would she abide in his house. Then the sweet soul said +she hoped, from his not ungracious silence and the working of his +features, which visibly revealed an inward struggle, that his next +words should have been of comfort to her; but when she had drawn nigh +to him, and, taking his hand, called him by his name with so much of +reproachful endearment as could be expressed in the utterance of it, a +gentleman broke into the room crying out: 'My lord, my lord, the +trumpets do sound! The queen's coach is in sight.' Upon which, she +said that, with a muttered oath, he started up and almost thrust her +from him, saying, 'For God's sake, be gone!' And by a back-door,' she +added, 'I went out of mine own house into the street, where I had left +my Lord Arundel's coach, and crept into it, very faint and giddy, the +while the queen's coach did enter the court with gay banners waving, +and striking-up of music, and the people crying out, "God bless the +queen!" I cry God mercy for it,' she said, 'but I could not say amen.' +Now she is resolved," my Lady Lumley continued, "never to set her foot +again in any of her husband's houses, except he doth himself entreat +her to it, and makes that matter clear touching his belief in the +validity of their marriage; and methinks she is right therein. My Lord +Arundel hath written to remonstrate with his grandson touching his +ill-usage of his lady, and hath also addressed her majesty thereupon. +But all the comment she did make on his letter, I have been told, was +this: 'That she had heard my Lord Arundel was in his dotage; and +verily she did now hold it to be so, for that she had never received a +more foolish letter; and she did pity the old white horse, which was +now only fit to be turned out to grass;' and other biting jests, +which, when a sovereign doth utter them, carry with them a rare +poignancy." + +Then my Lady Lumley wiped her eyes, and bade me to be of good cheer, +and not to grieve overmuch for Lady Surrey's troubles (but all the +while her own tears continued to flow), for that she had so noble and +religious a disposition, with germs of so much virtue in it, that she +thought her to be one of those souls whom Almighty God draws to +himself by means of such trials as would sink common natures; and that +she had already marked how, in much prayer, ever-increasing good +works, and reading of books which treat of wholesome doctrine and +instruction, she presently recalled the teachings of her childhood, +and took occasion, when any Catholics came to the house, to converse +with them touching religion. Then, with many kind expressions, she +dismissed me; and on the stairs, as I went out, I met Lady +Surrey, who noticed mine eyes to be red with weeping, and, embracing +me, said: + +"I ween Lady Lumley hath been no hider of my griefs, good Constance, +and, i' faith, I am obliged to her if she hath told thee that which I +would fain not speak of, even to thee, dear wench. There are sorrows +best borne in silence; and since the last days we talked together mine +have grown to be of that sort. And so farewell for to-day, and may God +comfort thee in thy nobler troubles, and send his angels to thine +aid." + +When I returned to Holborn, Mistress Ward met me with the news that +she had been to the prison, and heard that Mr. Watson was to be +strenuously examined on an approaching day--and it is well known what +that doth signify--touching the names of the persons which had +harbored him since his coming to England. And albeit he was now +purposed steadily to endure extreme torments sooner than to deny his +faith or injure others, she did so much apprehend the weakness of +nature should betray him, that her resolve was taken to attempt the +next day, or rather on the following night, to further his escape. But +how, she asked, could my father be dealt with in time touching that +matter? I told her I was to see him on the morrow, by means of an +order from Sir Francis Walsingham, and should then lay before him the +issues offered unto his election. She said she was very much contented +to hear it; and added, she must now secure boatmen to assist in the +escape who should be reliable Catholic men; and if in this she did +succeed, she feared not to fail in her design. + +At the hour I had fixed upon with Hubert, on the next day, he came to +carry me to the prison at Bridewell. Mistress Ward prevailed on Mr. +Congleton to go thither with us, for she was loth to be seen there in +company with known persons, and added privily in mine ear, "The more +so at a time when it may happen I should get into trouble touching the +matter I have in hand." When we reached the place, Hubert presented to +the gaoler Sir Francis's letter, which was also signed by the +governor, and I was forthwith conducted to my father's cell. When I +entered it, and advanced toward that dear prisoner, I dared not in the +man's presence to show either the joy or grief I felt at that meeting, +but stood by his side like one deprived of the power of speech, and +only struggling to restrain my tears. I feared we should not have been +left alone, and then this interview should have proved of little use +or comfort; but after setting for me a chair, which he had sent +for--for there was only one small bench in the cell--this officer +withdrew, and locked the door on me and that dear parent, whose face +was very white and wan, but who spoke in as cheerful and kind a manner +as can be thought of, albeit taxing me with wilfulness for that I had +not complied with his behest that none should come to visit him. I +would not have the chair which had been sent for me--for I did hold +it to be an unbecoming thing for a daughter to sit down in her +father's presence (and he a priest), who had only a poor bench to rest +his limbs on--but placed myself on the ground at his feet; which at +first he misliked, but afterward said it should be as I pleased. Then, +after some affectionate speeches, wherein his great goodness toward me +was shown, and my answers to them, which disburthened my heart of some +of the weight which oppressed it, as did likewise the shedding of a +few tears on his hand, which was clasped in mine, I spoke, in case +time should press, of Sir Francis's offer, and the condition thereunto +attached, which I did with a trembling voice, and yet such indifferent +tones as I could affect, as if showing no leaning to one way of +thinking or the other, touching his acceptance of these terms. In the +brief time which did elapse between my speaking and his reply, +methinks I had an equal fear lest he should assent or dissent +therein--filial love mightfully prompting me to desire his acceptance +of this means of deliverance, yet coupled with an apprehension that in +that case he should stand one degree less high in the favor of God and +the eyes of men. But I was angered with myself that I should have mine +own thoughts therein, or in any way form a judgment forestalling his, +which peradventure would see no evil in this concession; and +forecasting also the consequences which should ensue if he refused, I +resolved to move him thereunto by some such words as these: "My dearly +beloved father, if it be possible, I pray you yield this small matter +to those that seek to save your life. Let the minister come to satisfy +Sir Francis, and all shall be well, yea, without your speaking one +word, or by so much as one look assenting to his arguments." + +I dared not to meet his eyes, which he fixed on me, but kept kissing +his hand whilst he said: "Daughter Constance, labor not to move me in +this matter; for far above all other things I may have to suffer, +nothing would touch me so near, or be so grievous to me, as to see +you, my well-beloved child, try to persuade me unto that which in +respect of my soul I will never consent to. For, I pray you, first as +regards religion, can I suffer any to think, albeit I should give no +cause for it but silence, that my faith is in any wise shaken, which +peradventure would prove a stumbling-block to others? or, touching +truth and honesty, shall I accept life and freedom on some such +supposition as that I am like to change my religion, when I should as +soon think to cast myself into hell of mine own free will as to deny +one point of Catholic belief? No, no, mine own good child; 'tis a +narrow path which doth lead to heaven, and maybe it shall prove +exceeding narrow for me ere I reach its end, and not over easy to the +feet or pleasant to the eye; but God defend I should by so much as one +hair's-breadth overpass a narrowness which tendeth to so good a +conclusion; and verily, to be short, my good child, tender my thanks +to Sir Francis Walsingham--who I doubt not meaneth excellently well by +me--and to young Master Rookwood, who hath dealt with him therein; +but tell them I am very well pleased with my present abode as long as +it shall please God to keep me in this world; and when he willeth me +to leave it, believe me, daughter Constance, the quickest road to +heaven shall be the most pleasing to me." + +His manner was so resolved that I urged him no further, and only +heaved a deep sigh. Then he said, kindly: "Come, mine own good child, +give me so much comfort as to let me hear that thou art of the same +way of thinking in this matter as thy unworthy but very resolved +father." + +"My dear father," I replied, "methinks I never loved you so well, or +honored you one half so much as now, when you have cast off all human +consolation, yea, and a certain hope of deliverance, rather than give +occasion to the enemies of our faith to boast they had prevailed on +you, in ever so small a matter, to falter in the open profession +thereof; and I pray God, if ever I should be in a like plight, I may +not prove myself to be otherwise than your true child in spirit as in +nature. As to what shall now follow your refusal, it lieth in God's +hands, and I know he can deliver you, if he doth will it, from this +great peril you are in." + +"There's my brave wench," quoth he then, laying his scarred hand on my +head; "thy mother had a prophetic spirit, I ween, when she said of +thee when yet a puling girl, 'As her days, so shall her strength be.' +Verily God is very good, who hath granted us these moments of peaceful +converse in a place where we had once little thought for to meet." + +As I looked upon him, sitting on a poor bench in that comfortless +cell, his noble fair visage oldened by hardships and toils rather than +years, his eyes so full of peace, yea of contentment, that joy +seemed to beam in them, I thought of the words of Holy Writ, which do +foretell which shall be said hereafter of the just by such as have +afflicted them and taken away their labors: "There are they whom we +had some time in derision and for a parable of reproach. We fools +esteemed their life madness and their end without honor. Behold, how +they are numbered with the children of God, and their lot amongst the +saints." + +At that time a knock against the wall was heard, and my father set his +ear against it, counting the number of such knocks; for it was Mr. +Watson, he said, beginning to converse with him in their wonted +fashion. "I will tell him I am engaged," quoth he, in his turn tapping +in the same manner. "But peradventure he hath somewhat to +communicate," I said. + +"No," he answered, "for in that case he would have knocked three times +at first, for on this signal we have agreed." Smiling, he added, "We +do confess to each other in this way. 'Tis somewhat tedious, I do +admit; but thanks be to God we lack not leisure here for such duties." + +Then I briefly told him of Mistress Ward's intent to procure Mr. +Watson's escape. + +"Ay," he said, "I am privy to it, and I do pray God it may succeed. It +should be to me the greatest joy in the world to hear that good man +was set free, or made free by any good means." + +"Then," I added, "will you not join in the attempt, if so be she can +convey to you a cord? and the same boat should carry you both off." + +"Nay," he replied; "for more reasons than one I am resolved against +that in mine own case which in Mr. Watson's I do commend. This +enterprise must needs bring that good woman, Mrs. Ward, into some sort +of danger, which she doth well to run for his sake, and which he doth +not wrong to consent unto, she being of a willing mind to encounter +it. For if the extremity of torture should extort the admissions they +do seek from him, many should then grievously suffer, and mostly his +own soul. But I have that trust in God, who hath given me in all my +late perils what nature had verily not furnished me with, an undaunted +spirit to meet sufferings with somewhat more than fortitude, with a +very great joy such as his grace can only bestow, that he will +continue to do so, whatever straits I do find myself in; and being so +minded, I am resolved not again by mine own doing to put mine own and +others' lives in jeopardy; but to take what he shall send in the +ordinary course of things, throwing all my care on him, without whose +knowledge and will not so much as one hair of our heads doth fall to +the ground. But I am glad to be privy to the matter in hand for Mr. +Watson, so as to pray for him this day and night, and also for that +noble soul who doth show herself so true a Christian in her care for +his weal and salvation." + +Then, changing to other themes, he inquired of me at some length +touching the passages of my life since he had parted with me, and my +dispositions touching the state of life I was about to embrace, +concerning which he gave me the most profitable instructions which can +be thought of, and rules of virtue, which, albeit imperfectly +observed, have proved of so great and wholesome guidance to my +inexperienced years that I do stand more indebted to him for this fine +advice, there given me, than for all other benefits besides. He then +spoke of Edmund Genings, who, by a special dispensation of the Pope, +had lately been ordained priest, being but twenty-three years of age, +and said the preparation he had made for receiving this holy order was +very great, and the impression the greatness of the charge made upon +his mind so strong, that it produced a wonderful effect in his very +body, affecting for a time his health. He was infirmarian at Rheims, +and labored among the sick students, a very model of piety and +humility; but _vivamus in spe_ was still, as heretofore, his motto, +and that hope in which he lived was to be sent upon the English +mission. These, my father said, were the last tidings he had heard of +him. His mother he did believe was dead, and his younger brother had +left La Rochelle and was in Paris, leading a more gay life than was +desirable. "And now I pray you, mine own dear honored father," I said, +"favor me, I beseech you, with a recital of your own haps since you +landed in England, and I ceased to receive letters from you." He +condescended to my request, in the words which do follow: + +"Well, my good child, I arrived in this country one year and five +months back, having by earnest suit and no small difficulty obtained +from my superiors to be sent on the English mission; for by reason of +the weakness of my health, and some use I was of in the college, owing +to my acquaintanceship with the French and the English languages, Dr. +Allen was loth to permit my departure. I crossed the seas in a small +merchant-vessel, and landed at Lynn. The port-officers searched me to +the skin, and found nothing on me; but one Sledd, an informer, which +had met me in an inn at Honfleur, where I had lodged for some days +before sailing for England, had taken my marks very precisely; and +arriving in London some time before I landed in Norfolk, having been +stayed by contrary winds in my longer passage, he there presented my +name and marks; upon which the queen's council sent to the searchers +of the ports. These found the said marks very apparent in me; but for +the avoiding of charges, the mayor of the place, one Mr. Alcock, and +Rawlins the searcher, requested a gentleman which had landed at the +same time with me, and who called himself Haward, to carry me as a +prisoner to the lord-lieutenant of the county. He agreed very easily +thereunto; but as soon as we were out of the town, 'I cannot,' says +this gentleman, 'in conscience, nor will not, being myself a Catholic, +deliver you, a Catholic priest, prisoner to the lord-lieutenant. But +we will go straight to Norwich, and when we come there, shift for +yourself, as I will do for myself.' + +"Coming to Norwich, I went immediately to one of the gaols, and +conferred with a Catholic, a friend of mine, which by chance I found +out to be there imprisoned for recusancy. I recounted to him the order +of my apprehension and escape; and he told me that in conscience I +could not make that escape, and persuaded me I ought to yield myself +prisoner; whereupon I went to my friend Haward, whom, through the +aforesaid Catholic prisoner, I found to be no other than Dr. Ely, a +professor of canon and civil law at Douay. I requested him to deliver +to me the mayor's letter to the lord-lieutenant. 'Why, what will you +do with it?' said he. 'I will go,' I said, 'and carry it to him, and +yield myself a prisoner; for I am not satisfied I can make this escape +in conscience, having had a contrary opinion thereon.' And I told him +what that prisoner I had just seen had urged. 'Why,' said Haward, +'this counsel which hath been given you proceedeth, I confess, from a +zealous mind; but I doubt whether it carrieth with it the weight of +knowledge. You shall not have the letter, nor you may not in +conscience yield yourself to the persecutors, having so good means +offered to escape their cruelty.' But as I still persisted in my +demand, 'Well,' said Mr. Haward, 'seeing you will not be turned by me +from this opinion, let us go first and consult with such a man,' and +he named one newly come over, who was concealed at the house of a +Catholic not very far off. This was a man of singular wit aid +learning, and of such rare virtues that I honored and reverenced him +greatly, which Mr. Haward perceiving, he said, with a smile, 'If he be +of your opinion, you shall have the letter, and go in God's name!' +When we came to him, he utterly disliked of my intention, and +dissuaded me from what he said was a fond cogitation. So being +assuaged, I went quietly about my business, and travelled for the +space of more than a year from one Catholic house to another in +Norfolk and Suffolk, ministering the sacraments to recusants, and +reconciling many to the Church, which, from fear or lack of +instruction or spiritual counsel, or only indifferency, had conformed +to the times. Methinks, daughter Constance, for one such year a man +should be willing to lay down a thousand lives, albeit, or rather +because, as St. Paul saith, he be 'in journeyings often, in perils +from his own nation, in perils from false brethren' (oh, how true and +applicable do these words prove to the Catholics of this land!), 'in +perils in the city, in perils of the wilderness, in perils of the +sea.' And if it pleases God now to send me labors of another sort, so +that I may be in prisons frequently, in stripes above measure, and, +finally, in death itself, his true servant,--oh, believe me, my good +child, the right fair house I once had, with its library and garden +and orchard, and everything so handsome about us, and the company of +thy sweet mother, and thy winsome childish looks of love, never gave +me so much heartfelt joy and comfort as the new similitude I +experience, and greater I hope to come, to my loved and only Master's +sufferings and death!" + +At this time of his recital my tears flowed abundantly; but with an +imparted sweetness, which, like a reflected light, shone from his soul +on mine. But to stay my weeping he changed his tone, and said with +good cheer: + +"Come now, my wench, I will presently make thee merry by the recital +of a strait in which I once found myself, and which maketh me to laugh +to think on it, albeit at the time, I warrant thee, it was like to +prove no laughable matter. It happened that year I speak of that I was +once secretly sent for by a courtlike gentleman of good wealth that +had lived in much bravery, and was then sick and lying in great pain. +He had fallen into a vehement agitation and deep study of the life to +come; and thereupon called for a priest--for in mind and opinion he +was Catholic--that he might learn from him to die well. According to +the custom of the Church, I did admonish him, among other things, that +if he had any way hurt or injured any man, or unjustly possessed other +men's goods, he should go about by-and-by to make restitution +according to his ability. He agreed to do so, and called to mind that +he had taken away something from a certain Calvinist, under pretence +of law indeed, but not under any good assurance for a Catholic +conscience to trust to. Therefore, he took order for restitution to be +made, and died. The widow, his wife, was very anxious to accomplish +her husband's will; but being afraid to commit the matter to any one, +her perplexed mind was entangled in briers of doubtfulness. She one +day declared her grief unto me, and beseeched me, for God's sake, to +help her with my counsel and travail. So, seeing her distress, I +proffered to put myself in any peril that might befall in the doing of +this thing; but, indeed, persuaded myself that no man would be so +perverse as of a benefit to desire revengement. Therefore committing +the matter to God, I mounted on horseback, and away I went on my +journey. When I came to the town where the man did dwell to whom the +money was to be delivered, I set up my horse in the next inn, that I +might be readier at hand to scape immediately after my business was +despatched. I then went to the creditor's house, and called the man +forth alone, taking him by the hand and leading him aside from the +company of others. Then I declared to him that I had money for him, +which I would deliver into his hands with this condition, that he +inquired no further either who sent or who brought it unto him, or +what the cause and matter was, but only receive the money and +use it as his own. The old fellow promised fair, and with a good will +gave his word faithfully so to do, and with many thanks sent me away. +With all the speed I was able to make, I hastened to mine host's +house, for to catch hold of my horse and fly away. But forthwith the +deceitful old fellow betrayed me, and sent men after to apprehend me, +not supposing me this time to be a priest, but making the surmise +against me that forsooth I was not a man but a devil, which had +brought money of mine own making to bewitch him. All the people of the +town, when they heard the rumor, confirmed the argument, with this +proof among others, that I had a black horse, and gave orders for to +watch the animal diligently, whether he did eat hay as other horses, +or no. As for me, they put a horse-lock about my leg, shut me up close +in a strong chamber, and appointed a fellow to be with me continually, +night and day, which should watch if I did put off my boots at any +time, and if my feet were like horses' feet, or that I was +cloven-footed, or had feet slit and forked as beasts have; for this +they affirmed to be a special mark whereby to know the devil when he +lieth lurking under the shape and likeness of a man. Then the people +assembled about the house in great numbers, and proffered money +largely that they might see this monster with their own eyes; for by +this time they were persuaded that I was indeed an ill spirit, or the +very devil. 'For what man was ever heard of,' said they, 'which, if he +had the mind, understanding, and sense of a man, would, of his own +voluntary will, and without any respect or consideration at all, give +or proffer such a sum of money to a man utterly unknown?' God knowcth +what should have ensued if some hours later it had not chanced that +Sir Henry Stafford did ride into the town, and, seeing a great +concourse of people at the door of the inn, he stopped to inquire into +the cause; which when it was related to him, he said he was a +magistrate, and should himself examine, face to face, this limb of +Satan. So I was taken before him into the parlor; and being alone with +him, and knowing him to be well-disposed in religion, albeit +conforming to the times, I explained in a general manner what sort of +an errand had brought me to that place. Methinks he guessed me to be a +priest, although he said nothing thereon, but only licensed me to +depart and go away whither I would, himself letting me out of the +house through a back-door. I have heard since that he harangued the +people from the balcony, and told them, that whilst he was examining +me a strong smell of sulphur had come into the chamber, and a pack of +devils carried me off through the window into the air; and he doubted +not I had by that time returned to mine own lodging in hell. Which he +did, I knew, for to prevent their pursuing me and using such violence +as he might not have had means to hinder." + +"It was not, then," I asked, "on this occasion you were apprehended +and taken to Wisbeach?" + +"No," he answered; "nor indeed can I be said to have been apprehended +at all, for it happened in this wise that I became a prisoner. I was +one day in Norwich, whither I had gone to baptize a child, and, as +Providence would have it, met with Haward, by whose means I had been +set at liberty one year before. After ordinary salutations, he said to +me, 'Mr. Tunstall' (for by that name only he knew me), 'the host of +the inn where you were taken last year says I have undone him, by +suffering the prisoner I had promised to deliver to escape; for he +having been my surety with the mayor, he is threatened with eight +months' imprisonment, or the payment of a large fine. He hath come to +this town for to seek me, and hath seized upon me on this charge; so +that I be only at liberty for six hours, for I promised that I +would bring you to him by four o'clock (a Catholic merchant yielding +him security thereof), or else that I should deliver him my body +again. 'I am content,' he said, 'so that I have one of you two.' So +either you, Mr. Tunstall, or I, must needs go to prison. You know my +state and condition, and may guess how I shall be treated, if once I +appear under my right name before them. You know, also, your own +state. Now, it is in your choice whether of us shall go; for one must +go; there is no remedy; and to force you I will not, for I had rather +sustain any punishment whatsoever.' 'Now God be blessed,' I cried, +'that he hath thrown me in your way at this time, for I should never +while I lived have been without scruple if you had gone to prison in +my stead. Nothing grieveth me in this but that I have not finished off +some business I had in this town touching a person in some distress of +mind.' 'Why,' said Haward, 'it is but ten o'clock yet; you may +despatch your business by four of the clock, and then you may go to +the sign of the Star and inquire for one Mr. Andrews, the +lord-lieutenant's deputy, and to him you may surrender yourself.' 'So +I will,' I said; and so we parted. At four of the clock I surrendered +myself, and was straightway despatched to Wisbeach Castle, where I +remained for three months. A message reached me there that a Catholic +which had led a very wicked life, and was lying on his death-bed, was +almost beside himself for that he could get no priest to come to him. +The person which delivered this advertisement left some ropes with me, +by which means I escaped out of the window into the moat with such +damage to my hands that I was like to lose the use of them, and +perhaps of my life, if these wounds had mortified before good Lady +l'Estrange dressed them. But I reached the poor sinner, which had +proved the occasion of my escaping, in time for to give him +absolution, and from Mr. Rugeley's house visited many Catholics in +that neighborhood. The rest is well known to thee, my good child. . . ." + +As he was speaking these words the door of the cell opened, and the +gaoler advertised me I could tarry no longer; so, with many blessings, +my dear father dismissed me, and I went home with Mr. Congleton and +Hubert, who anxiously inquired what his answer had been to the +proposal I had carried to him. + +"A most resolved denial of the conditions attached to it," I said, +"joined to many grateful acknowledgments to Sir Francis and to you +also for your efforts in his favor." + +"'Tis madness!" he exclaimed. + +"Yea," I answered, "such madness as the heathen governor did charge +St. Paul with." + +And so no more passed between us whilst we rode back to Holborn. Mr. +Congleton put questions to me touching my father's health and his +looks,--if he seemed of good cheer, and spoke merrily as he used to +do; and then we all continued silent. When we arrived at Ely Place, +Hubert refused to come into the house, but detained me on the outward +steps, as if desirous to converse with me alone. Thinking I had spoken +to him in the coach in an abrupt manner which savored of ingratitude, +I said more gently, "I am very much beholden to you, Hubert, for your +well-meaning toward my father." + +"I would fain continue to help you," he answered in an agitated voice. +"Constance," he exclaimed, after a pause, "your father is in a very +dangerous plight." + +"I know it," said I, quickly; "but I know, too, he is resolved and +content to die rather than swerve an inch from his duty to God and his +Church." + +"But," quoth he then, "do you wish to save him?" + +I looked at him amazed. "Wish it! God knoweth that to see him in +safety I would have my hand cut off,--yea, and my head also." + + +"What, and rob him of his expectant crown--the martyr's palm, and all +the rest of it?" he said, with a perceptible sneer. + +"Hubert!" I passionately exclaimed, "you are investigable to me; you +chill my soul with your half-uttered sentences and uncertain meanings! +Once, I remember, you could speak nobly,--yea, and feel so too, as +much as any one. Heaven shield you be not wholly changed!" + +"Changed!" quoth he, in a low voice, "I am changed;" and then abruptly +altering his manner, and leaving me in doubt as to the change he did +intend to speak of, he pressed me to take no measures touching my +father's release till he had spoken with me again; for he said if his +real name became known, or others dealt in the matter, all hope on Sir +Francis's side should be at an end. He then asked me if I had heard of +Basil lately. I told him of the letter I had had from him at +Kenninghall some weeks back. He said a report had reached him that he +had landed at Dover and was coming to London; but he hoped it was not +true, for that Sir Henry Stafford was very urgent he should continue +abroad till the expiration of his wardship. + +I said, "If he was returned, it must surely be for some sufficient +cause, but that I had heard nothing thereof, and had no reason to +expect it." + +"But you would know it, I presume, if he was in London?" he urged. I +misliked his manner, which always put me in mind of one in the dark, +which feeleth his way as he advances, and goeth not straight to the +point. + +"_Is_ Basil in England?" I inquired, fixing mine eyes on him, and with +a flutter at my heart from the thought that it should be possible. + +"I heard he was," he answered in a careless tone; "but I think it not +to be true. If he should come whilst this matter is in hand, I do +conjure you, Constance, if you value your father's existence and +Basil's also, let him not into this secret." + +"Wherefore not?" I quickly answered. "Why should one meet to be +trusted, and by me above all other persons in the world, be kept +ignorant of what so nearly doth touch me?" + +"Because," he said, "there is a rashness in his nature which will +assuredly cause him to run headlong into danger if not forcibly +withheld from the occasions of it." + +"I have seen no tokens of such rashness as you speak of in him," I +replied; "only of a boldness such as well becomes a Christian and a +gentleman." + +"Constance Sherwood!" Hubert exclaimed, and seized hold of my hand +with a vehemency which caused me to start, "I do entreat you, yea, on +my bended knees, if needs be, I will beseech you to beware of that +indomitable and resolved spirit which sets at defiance restraint, +prudence, pity even; which leads you to brave your friends, spurn +wholesome counsel, rush headlong into perils which I forewarn you do +hang thickly about your path. If I can conjure them, I care not by +what means, I will do so; but for the sake of all you do hold dear, +curb your natural impetuosity, which may prove the undoing of those +you most desire to serve." + +There was a plausibility in this speech, and in mine own knowledge of +myself some sort of a confirmation of what he did charge me with, +which inclined me somewhat to diffide of mine own judgment in this +matter, and not to turn a wholly deaf ear to his advertisement. He had +the most persuasive tongue in the world, and a rare art at +representing things under whatever aspect he chose. He dealt so +cunningly therein with me that day, and used so many ingenious +arguments, that I said I should be very careful how I disclosed +anything to Basil or any one else touching my father's imprisonment, +who Mr. Tunstall was, and my near concern in his fate; but would give +no promise thereupon: so he was forced to content himself with as much +as he could obtain, and withdrew himself for that day, he said; +but promised to return on the morrow. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +When at last I entered the house I sought Mistress Ward; for I desired +to hear what assistance she had procured for the escape of the +prisoners, and to inform her of my father's resolved purpose not +himself to attempt this flight, albeit commending her for moving Mr. +Watson to it and assisting him therein. Not finding her in the parlor, +nor in her bed-chamber, I opened the door of my aunt's room, who was +now very weak, and yet more so in mind than in body. She was lying +with her eyes shut, and Mistress Ward standing by her bedside. I +marked her intent gaze on the aged, placid face of the poor lady, and +one tear I saw roll down her cheek. Then she stooped to kiss her +forehead. A noise I made with the handle of the door caused her to +turn round, and hastening toward me, she took me by the hand and led +me to her chamber, where Muriel was folding some biscuits and cakes in +paper and stowing them in a basket. The thought came to me of the +first day I had arrived in London, and the comfort I had found in this +room, when all except her were strangers to me in that house. She sat +down betwixt Muriel and me, and smiling, said: "Now, mine own dear +children, for such my heart holds you both to be, and ever will whilst +I live, I am come here for to tell you that I purpose not to return to +this house to-night, nor can I foresee when, if ever, I shall be free +to do so." + +"O, what dismal news!" I exclaimed, "and more sad than I did expect." + +Muriel said nothing, but lifting her hand to her lips kissed it. + +"You both know," she continued, "that in order to save one in cruel +risk and temptation of apostasy, and others perhaps, also, whom his +possible speaking should imperil, I be about to put myself in some +kind of danger, who of all persons in the world possess the best right +to do so, as having neither parents, or husband, or children, or any +on earth who depend on my care. Yea, it is true," she added, fixing +her eyes on Muriel's composed, but oh how sorrowful, countenance, +"none dependent on my care, albeit some very dear to me, and which +hang on me, and I on them, in the way of fond affection. God knoweth +my heart, and that it is very closely and tenderly entwined about each +one in this house. Good Mr. Congleton and your dear mother, who hath +clung to me so long, though I thank God not so much of late by reason +of the weakening of her mind, which hath ceased greatly to notice +changes about her, and you, Constance, my good child, since your +coming hither a little lass commended to my keeping. . . . ." There +she stopped; and I felt she could not name Muriel, or then so much as +look on her; for if ever two souls were bound together by an +unperishable bond of affection, begun on earth to last in heaven, +theirs were so united. I ween Muriel was already acquainted with her +purpose, for she asked no questions thereon; whereas I exclaimed, "I +do very well know, good Mistress Ward, what perils you do run in this +charitable enterprise; but wherefore, I pray you, this final manner of +parting? God's providence may shield you from harm in this passage, +and, indeed, human probability should lead us to hope for your safety +if becoming precautions be observed. Then why, I say, this certain +farewell?" + +"Because," she answered, "whatever comes of this night's enterprise, I +return not to this house." + +"And wherefore not?" I cried; "this is indeed a cruel resolve, a hard +misfortune." + +"Heretofore," she answered, "I had noways offended against the laws of +the country, except in respect of recusancy, wherein all here +are alike involved; but by mine act tonight I do expose myself to so +serious a charge (conscience obliging me to prefer the law of divine +charity to that of human authority), that I may at any time and +without the least hope of mercy be exposed to detection and +apprehension; and so am resolved not to draw down sorrow and obloquy +on the gray hairs of my closest friends and on your young years such +perils as I do willingly in mine own person incur, but would not have +others to be involved in. Therefore I will lodge, leastwise for a +time, with one who feareth not any more than I do persecution, who +hath no ties and little or nothing on earth to lose, and if she had +would willingly yield it a thousand times over for to save a soul for +whom Christ died. Nor will I have you privy, my dear children, to the +place of mine abode, that if questioned on it you may with truth aver +yourselves to be ignorant thereof. And now," she said, turning to me, +"is Mr. Sherwood willing for to try to escape by the same means as Mr. +Watson? for methinks I have found a way to convey to him a cord, and, +by means of the management he knoweth of instructions how to use it." + +"Nay," I answered, "he will not himself avail himself of this means, +albeit he is much rejoiced you have it in hand for Mr. Watson's +deliverance from his tormentors; and he doth pray fervently for it to +succeed." + +"Everything promiseth well," she replied. "I dealt this day with an +honest Catholic boatman, a servant of Mr. Hodgson, who is willing to +assist in it. Two men are needed for to row the boat with so much +speed as shall be necessary to carry it quickly beyond reach of +pursuers. He knoweth none of his own craft which should be reliable or +else disposed to risk the enterprise; but he says at a house of resort +for Catholics which he doth frequent, he chanced to fall in with a +young gentleman, lately landed from France, whom he doth make sure +will lend his aid in it. As dextrous a man," he saith, "to handle an +oar, and of as courageous a spirit, as can be found in England." + +As soon as she had uttered these words, I thought of what Hubert had +said touching a report of Basil being in London and of his rashness in +plunging into dangers; a cold shiver ran through me. "Did he tell you +this gentleman's name?" I asked. + +"No," she answered, "he would not mention it; but only that he was one +who could be trusted with the lives of ten thousand persons, and so +zealous a Catholic he would any day risk his life to do some good +service to a priest." + +"And hath this boatman promised," I inquired, "to wait for Mr. Watson +and convey him away?" + +"Yea, most strictly," she answered, "at twelve o'clock of the night he +and his companion shall approach a boat to the side of some +scaffolding which lieth under the wall of the prison; and when the +clock of the tower striketh, Mr. Watson shall open his window, the +bars of which he hath found it possible to remove, and by means of the +cord, which is of the length he measured should be necessary, he will +let himself down on the planks, whence he can step into the boat, and +be carried to a place of concealment in a close part of the city till +it shall be convenient for him to cross the sea to France." + +"Must you go?" I said, seeing her rise, and feeling a dull hard +heaviness at my heart which did well-nigh impede my utterance. I was +not willing to let her know the fear I had conceived; "of what use +should it be," I inwardly argued, "to disturb her in the discharge of +her perilous task by a surmise which might prove groundless; and, +indeed, were it certainly true, could she, nay, would she, alter her +intent, or could I so much as ask her to do it?" Whilst, with Muriel's +assistance, she concluded the packing of her basket, wherein the +weighty cord was concealed in an ingenious manner, I stood by +watching the doing of it, fearing to see her depart, yet unable to +think of any means by which to delay that which I could not, even if I +had willed it, prevent. When the last contents were placed in the +basket, and Muriel was pressing down the lid, I said: "Do you, +peradventure, know the name of the inn where you said that gentleman +doth tarry which the boatman spake of?" + +"No," she replied; "nor so much as where the good boatman himself +lodgeth. I met with him at Mr. Hodgson's house, and there made this +agreement." + +"But if," I said, "it should happen by any reason that Mr. Watson +changed his mind, how should you, then, inform him of it?" + +"In that case," she answered, "he would hang a white kerchief outside +his window, by which they should be advertised to withdraw themselves. +And now," she added, "I have always been of the way of thinking that +farewells should be brief; and 'God speed you,' and 'God bless you,' +enough for those which do hope, if it shall please God, on earth, but +for a surety in heaven, to meet again." + +So, kissing us both somewhat hurriedly, she took up her basket on her +arm, and said she should send a messenger on the morrow for her +clothes; at which Muriel, for the first time, shed some tears, which +was an instance of what I have often noticed, that grief, howsoever +heavy, doth not always overflow in the eyes unless some familiar words +or homely circumstance doth substantiate the verity of a sorrow known +indeed, but not wholly apparent till its common effects be seen. Then +we two sat awhile alone in that empty chamber--empty of her which for +so long years had tenanted it to our no small comfort and benefit. +When the light waned, Muriel lit a candle, and said she must go for to +attend on her mother, for that duty did now devolve chiefly on her; +and I could see in her sad but composed face the conquering peace +which doth exceed all human consolation. + +For mine own part, I was so unhinged by doubtful suspense that I +lacked ability to employ my mind in reading or my fingers in +stitch-work; and so descended for relief into the garden, where I +wandered to and fro like an uneasy ghost, seeking rest but finding +none. The dried shaking leaves made a light noise in falling, which +caused me each time to think I heard a footstep behind me. And despite +the increasing darkness, after I had paced up and down for near unto +an hour, some one verily did come walking along the alley where I was, +seeking to overtake me. Turning round I perceived it to be mine own +dear aged friend, Mr. Roper. Oh, what great comfort I experienced in +the sight of this good man! How eager was my greeting of him! How full +my heart as I poured into his ear the narrative of the passages which +had befallen me since we had met! Of the most weighty he knew +somewhat; but nothing of the last haunting fear I had lest my dear +Basil should be in London, and this very night engaged in the perilous +attempt to carry off Mr. Watson. When I told him of it, he started and +exclaimed: + +"God defend it!" but quickly corrected himself and cried, "God's +mercy, that my first feeling should have led me to think rather of +Basil's safety than of the fine spirit he showed in all instances +where a good action had to be done, or a service rendered to those in +affliction." + +"Indeed, Mr. Roper," I said, as he led me back to the house and into +the solitary parlor (where my uncle now seldom came, but remained +sitting alone in his library, chiefly engaged in praying and reading), +"I do condemn mine own weakness in this, and pray God to give me +strength for what may come upon us; but I do promise you 'tis no easy +matter to carry always so high a heart that it shall not sink with +human fears and griefs in such passages as these." + + +"My dear," the good man answered, "God knoweth 'tis no easy matter to +attain to the courage you speak of. I have myself seen the sweetest, +the lovingest, and the most brave creature which ever did breathe give +marks of extraordinary sorrow when her father, that generous martyr of +Christ, was to die." + +"I pray you tell me," I answered, "what her behavior was like in that +trial; for to converse on such themes doth allay somewhat the torment +of suspense, and I may learn lessons from her example, who, you say, +joined to natural weakness so courageous a spirit in like straits." + +Upon which he, willing to divert and yet not violently change the +current of my thoughts, spake as followeth: + +"On the day when Sir Thomas More came from Westminster to the +Tower-ward, my wife, desirous to see her father, whom she thought she +should never see in this world after, and also to have his final +blessing, gave attendance about the wharf where she knew he should +pass before he could enter into the Tower. As soon as she saw him, +after his blessing upon her knees reverently received, hastening +toward him without care or consideration of herself, passing in +amongst the throng and company of the guard, she ran to him and took +him about the neck and kissed him; who, well liking her most natural +and dear daughterly affection toward him, gave her his fatherly +blessing and godly words of comfort beside; from whom, after she was +departed, not satisfied with the former sight of him, and like one +that had forgotten herself, being all ravished with the entire love of +her father, suddenly turned back again, ran to him as before, took him +about the neck, and divers times kissed him lovingly, till at last, +with a full and heavy heart, she was fain to depart from him; the +beholding thereof was to many that were present so lamentable, and +mostly so to me, that for very sorrow we could not forbear to weep +with her. The wife of John Harris, Sir Thomas's secretary, was moved +to such a transport of grief, that she suddenly flew to his neck and +kissed him, as he had reclined his head on his daughter's shoulder; +and he who, in the midst of the greatest straits, had ever a merry +manner of speaking, cried, 'This is kind, albeit rather unpolitely +done.'" + +"And the day he suffered," I asked, "what was this good daughter's +behavior?" + +"She went," quoth he, "to the different churches, and distributed +abundant alms to the poor. When she had given all her money away, she +withdrew to pray in a certain church, where she on a sudden did +remember she had no linen in which to wrap up her father's body. She +had heard that the remains of the Bishop of Rochester had been thrown +into the ground, without priest, cross, lights, or shroud, for the +dread of the king had prevented his relations from attempting to bury +him. But Margaret resolved her father's body should not meet with such +unchristian treatment. Her maid advised her to buy some linen in the +next shop, albeit having given away all her money to the poor, there +was no likelihood she should get credit from strangers. She ventured, +howsoever, and having agreed about the price, she put her hand in her +pocket, which she knew was empty, to show she forgot the money, and +ask credit under that pretence. But to her surprise, she found in her +purse the exact price of the linen, neither more or less; and so +buried the martyr of Christ with honor, nor was there any one so +inhuman found as to hinder her." + +"Mr. Roper," I said, when he had ended his recital, "methinks this +angelic lady's trial was most hard: but how much harder should it yet +have been if you, her husband, had been in a like peril at that time +as her father?" + + +A half kind of melancholy, half smiling look came into the good old +man's face as he answered: + +"Her father was Sir Thomas More, and he so worthy of a daughter's +passionate love, and the affection betwixt them so entire and +absolute, compounded of filial love on her part, unmitigated +reverence, and unrestrained confidence, that there was left in her +heart no great space for wifely doating. But to be moderately +affectioned by such a woman, and to stand next in her esteem to her +incomparable father, was of greater honor and worth to her unworthy +husband, than should have been the undivided, yea idolatrous, love of +one not so perfect as herself." + +After a pause, during which his thoughts, I ween, reverted to the +past, and mine investigated mine own soul, I said to Mr. Roper: + +"Think you, sir, that love to be idolatrous which is indeed so +absolute that it should be no difficulty to die for him who doth +inspire it; which would prefer a prison in his company, howsoever dark +and loathsome (yea consider it a very paradise), to the beautifullest +palace in the world, which without him would seem nothing but a vile +dungeon; which should with a good-will suffer all the torments in the +world for to see the object of its affection enjoy good men's esteem +on earth, and a noble place in heaven; but which should be, +nevertheless, founded and so wholly built up on a high estimate of his +virtues; on the quality he holdeth of God's servant; on the likeness +of Christ stamped on his soul, and each day exemplified in his manner +of living, that albeit to lose his love or his company in this world +should be like the uprooting of all happiness and turning the +brightness of noonday to the darkness of the night, it should a +thousand times rather endure this mishap than that the least shade or +approach of a stain should alter the unsullied opinion till then held +of his perfections?" + +Mr. Roper smiled, and said that was a too weighty question to answer +at once; for he should be loth to condemn or yet altogether to absolve +from some degree of overweeningness such an affection as I described, +which did seem indeed to savor somewhat of excess; but yet if noble in +its uses and held in subjection to the higher claims of the Creator, +whose perfections the creature doth at best only imperfectly mirror, +it might be commendable and a means of attaining ourselves to the like +virtues we doated on in another. + +As he did utter these words a servant came into the parlor, and +whispered in mine ear: + +"Master Basil Rookwood is outside the door, and craves--" + +I suffered him not to finish his speech, but bounded into the hall, +where Basil was indeed standing with a traveller's cloak on him, and a +slouched hat over his face. After such a greeting as may be conceived +(alas, all greetings then did seem to combine strange admixtures of +joy and pain!), I led him into the parlor, where Mr. Roper in his turn +received him with fatherly words of kindness mixed with amazement at +his return. + +"And whence," he exclaimed, "so sudden a coming, my good Basil? +Verily, you do appear to have descended from the skies!" + +Basil looked at me and replied: "I heard in Paris, Mr. Roper, that a +gentleman in whom I do take a very lively interest, one Mr. Tunstall, +was in prison at London; and I bethought me I could be of some service +to him by coming over at this time." + +"O Basil," I cried, "do you then know he is my father?" + +"Yea," he joyfully answered, "and I am right glad you do know it also, +for then there is no occasion for any feigning, which, albeit I deny +it not to be sometimes useful and necessary, doth so ill agree with my +bluntness, that it keepeth me in constant fear of stumbling in my +speech. I was in a manner forced to come over secretly; because if Sir +Henry Stafford, who willeth me to remain abroad till I have got +out of my wardship, should hear of my being in London, and gain scent +of the object of my coming, he should have dealt in all sorts of ways +to send me out of it. But, prithee, dearest love, is Mrs. Ward in this +house?" + +"Alas!" I said, "she is gone hence. Her mind is set on a very +dangerous enterprise." + +"I know it," he saith (at which word my heart began to sink); "but, +verily, I see not much danger to be in it; and methinks if we do +succeed in carrying off your good father and that other priest +to-night in the ingenious manner she hath devised, it will be the best +night's work done by good heads, good arms, and good oars which can be +thought of." + +"Oh, then," I exclaimed, "it is even as I feared, and you, Basil, have +engaged in this rash enterprise. O woe the day you came to London, and +met with that boatman!" + +"Constance," he said reproachfully, "should it be a woful day to thee +the one on which, even at some great risk, which I deny doth exist in +this instance, I should aid in thy father's rescue?" + +"Oh, but, my dear Basil," I cried, "he doth altogether refuse to stir +in this matter. I have had speech with him to-day, and he will by no +means attempt to escape again from prison. He hath done it once for +the sake of a soul in jeopardy; but only to save his life, he is +resolved not to involve others in peril of theirs. And oh, how +confirmed he would be in his purpose if he knew who it was who doth +throw himself into so great a risk! I' faith, I cannot and will not +suffer it!" I exclaimed impetuously, for the sudden joy of his +presence, the sight of his beloved countenance, lighted up with an +inexpressible look of love and kindness, more beautiful than my poor +words can describe, worked in me a rebellion against the thought of +more suffering, further parting, greater fears than I had hitherto +sustained. + +He said, "He could wish my father had been otherwise disposed, for to +have aided in his escape should have been to him the greatest joy he +could think of; but that having promised likewise to assist in Mr. +Watson's flight, he would never fail to do so, if he was to die for +it." + +"'Tis very easy," I cried, "to speak of dying, Basil, nor do I doubt +that to one of your courage and faith the doing of it should have +nothing very terrible in it. But I pray you remember that that life, +which you make so little account of, is not now yours alone to dispose +of as you list. Mine, dear Basil, is wrapped up with it; for if I lose +you, I care not to live, or what becomes of me, any more." + +Mr. Roper said he should think on it well before he made this venture; +for, as I had truly urged, I had a right over him now, and he should +not dispose of himself as one wholly free might do. + +"Dear sir," quoth he in answer, "my sweet Constance and you also might +perhaps have prevailed with me some hours ago to forego this +intention, before I had given a promise to Mr. Hodgson's boatman, and +through him to Mistress Ward and Mr. Watson; I should then have been +free to refuse my assistance if I had listed; and albeit methinks in +so doing I should have played a pitiful part, none could justly have +condemned me. But I am assured neither her great heart nor your +honorable spirit would desire me so much as to place in doubt the +fulfilment of a promise wherein the safety of a man, and he one of +God's priests, is concerned. I pray thee, sweetheart, say thou wouldst +not have me do it." + +Alas! this was the second time that day my poor heart had been called +upon to raise itself higher than nature can afford to reach. But the +present struggle was harder than the first. My father had long been to +me as a distant angel, severed from my daily life and any future hope +in this world. His was an expectant martyrdom, an exile from his true +home, a daily dying on earth, tending but to one desired end. +Nature could be more easily reconciled in the one case than in the +other to thoughts of parting. Basil was my all, my second self, my +sole treasure,--the prop on which rested youth's hopes, earth's joys, +life's sole comfort; and chance (as it seemed, and men would have +called it), not a determined seeking, had thrust on him this danger, +and I must needs see him plunged into it, and not so much as say a +word to stay him or prevent it. . . . . I was striving to constrain my +lips to utter the words my rebelling heart disavowed, and he kneeling +before me, with his dear eyes fixed on mine, awaiting my consent, when +a loud noise of laughter in the hall caused us both to start up, and +then the door was thrown open, and Kate and Polly ran into the room so +gaily attired, the one in a yellow and the other in a crimson gown +bedecked with lace and jewels, that nothing finer could be seen. + +"Lackaday!" Polly cried, when she perceived Basil; "who have we here? +I scarce can credit mine eyes! Why, Sir Lover, methought you were in +France. By what magic come you here? Mr. Roper, your humble servant. +'Tis like you did not expect so much good company to-night, Con, for +you have but one poor candle or two to light up this dingy room, and I +fear there will not be light enough for these gentlemen to see our +fine dresses, which we do wear for the first time at Mrs. Yates's +house this evening." + +"I thought you were both in the country," I said, striving to disguise +how much their coming did discompose me. + +"Methinks," answered Polly, laughing, "your wish was father to that +thought, Con, and that you desired to have the company of this fine +gentleman to yourself alone, and Mr. Roper's also, and no one else for +to disturb you. But, in good sooth, we were both at Mr. Benham's seat +in Berkshire when we heard of this good entertainment at so great a +friend's house, and so prevailed on our lords and governors for to +hire a coach and bring us to London for one night. We lie at Kate's +house, and she and I have supped on a cold capon and a veal pie we +brought with us, and Sir Ralph and Mr. Lacy do sup at a tavern in the +Strand, and shall fetch us here when it shall be convenient to them to +carry us to this grand ball, which I would not have missed, no, not +for all the world. So I pray you let us be merry till they do come, +and pass the time pleasantly." + +"Ay," said Kate, in a lamentable voice, "you would force me to dress +and go abroad, when I would sooner be at home; for John's stomach is +disordered, and baby doth cut her teeth, and he pulled at my ribbons +and said I should not leave him; and beshrew me if I would have done +so, but for your overpersuading me. But you are always so absolute! I +wonder you love not more to stay at home, Polly." + +Basil smiled with a better heart than I could do, and said he would +promise her John should sleep never the less well for her absence, and +she should find baby's tooth through on the morrow; and sitting down +by her side, talked to her of her children with a kindliness which +never did forsake him. Mr. Roper set himself to converse with Polly; I +ween for to shield me from the torrent of her words, which, as I sat +between them, seemed to buzz in mine ear without any meaning; and yet +I must needs have heard them, for to this day I remember what they +talked of;--that Polly said, "Have you seen the ingenious poesy which +the queen's saucy godson, the merry wit Harrington, left behind her +cushion on Wednesday, and now 'tis in every one's hands?" + +"Not in mine," quoth Mr. Roper; "so, if your memory doth serve you, +Lady Ingoldsby, will you rehearse it?" which she did as follows; and +albeit I only did hear those lines that once, they still remain +in my mind: + + "For ever dear, for ever dreaded prince, + You read a verse of mine a little since, + And so pronounced each word and every letter, + Your gracious reading graced my verse the better; + Sith then your highness doth by gift exceeding + Make what you read the better for your reading, + Let my poor muse your pains thus far importune, + Like as you read my verse--so read my fortune!" + +"Tis an artful and witty petition," Mr. Roper observed; "but I have +been told her majesty mislikes the poet's satirical writings, and +chiefly the metamorphosis of Ajax." + +"She signified," Polly answered, "some outward displeasure at it, but +Robert Markham affirms she likes well the marrow of the book, and is +minded to take the author to her favor, but sweareth she believes he +will make epigrams on her and all her court. Howsoever, I do allow she +conceived much disquiet on being told he had aimed a shaft at +Leicester. By the way, but you, cousin Constance, should best know the +truth thereon" (this she said turning to me), "'tis said that Lord +Arundel is exceeding sick again, and like to die very soon. Indeed his +physicians are of opinion, so report speaketh, that he will not last +many days now, for as often as he hath rallied before." + +"Yesterday," I said, "when I saw Lady Surrey, he was no worse than +usual." + +"Oh, have you heard," Polly cried, running from one theme to another, +as was her wont, "that Leicester is about to marry Lettice Knollys, my +Lady Essex?" + +"'Tis impossible," Basil exclaimed, who was now listening to her +speeches, for Kate had finished her discourse touching her Johnny's +disease in his stomach. The cause thereof, she said, both herself +thought, and all in Mr. Benham's house did judge to have been, the +taking in the morning a confection of barley sodden with water and +sugar, and made exceeding thick with bread. This breakfast lost him +both his dinner and supper, and surely the better half of his sleep; +but God be thanked, she hoped now the worst was past, and that the +dear urchin would shortly be as merry and well-disposed as afore he +left London. Basil said he hoped so too; and in a pause which ensued, +he heard Polly speak of Lord Leicester's intended marriage, which +seemed to move him to some sort of indignation, the cause of which I +only learnt many years later; for that when Lady Douglas Howard's +cause came before the Star-Chamber, in his present majesty's reign, he +told me he had been privy, through information received in France, of +her secret marriage with that lord. + +"'Tis not impossible," Polly retorted, "by the same token that the new +favorite, young Robert Devereux, maketh no concealment of it, and +calleth my Lord Leicester his father elect. But I pray you, what is +impossible in these days? Oh, I think they are the most whimsical, +entertaining days which the world hath ever known; and the merriest, +if people have a will to make them so." + +"Oh, Polly," I cried, unable to restrain myself, "I pray God you may +never find cause to change your mind thereon." + +"Yea, amen to that prayer," quoth she; "I'll promise you, my grave +little coz, that I have no mind to be sad till I grow old--and there +be yet some years to come before that shall befall me. When Mistress +Helen Ingoldsby shall reach to the height of my shoulder, then, +methinks, I may begin to take heed unto my ways. What think you the +little wench said to me yesterday? 'What times is it we do conform to, +mother? dinner-times or bed-times?'" "She should have been answered, +'The devil's times,'" Basil muttered; and Kate told Polly she should +be ashamed to speak in her father's house of the conformity she +practised when others were suffering for their religion. And, +methought, albeit I had scarcely endured the jesting which had +preceded it, I could less bear any talk of religion, least-ways of +that kind, just then. But, in sooth, the constraint I suffered almost +overpassed my strength. There appeared no hope of their going, and +they fell into an eager discourse concerning the bear-baiting they had +been to see in Berkshire, and a great sort of ban-dogs, which had been +tied in an outer court, let loose on thirteen bears that were baited +in the inner; and my dear Basil, who doth delight in all kinds of +sports, listened eagerly to the description they gave of this +diversion. Oh, how I counted the minutes! what a pressure weighted my +heart! how the sound of their voices pained mine ears! how long an +hour seemed! and yet too short for my desires, for I feared the time +must soon come when Basil should go, and lamented that these +unthinking women's tarrying should rob me of all possibility to talk +with him alone. Howsoever, when Mr. Roper rose to depart, I followed +him into the hall and waited near the door for Basil, who was bidding +farewell to Kate and Polly. I heard him beseech them to do him so much +favor as not to mention they had seen him; for that he had not +informed Sir Henry Stafford of his coming over from France, which if +he heard of it otherwise than from himself, it should peradventure +offend him. They laughed, and promised to be as silent as graves +thereon; and Polly said he had learnt French fashions she perceived, +and taken lessons in wooing from mounseer; but she hoped his stealthy +visit should in the end prove more conformable to his desires than +mounseer's had done. At last they let him go; and Mr. Roper, who had +waited for him, wrung his hand, and the manner of his doing it made my +eyes overflow. I turned my face away, but Basil caught both my hands +in his and said, "Be of good cheer, sweetheart. I have not words +wherewith to express how much I love thee, but God knoweth it is very +dearly." + +"O Basil! mine own dear Basil," I murmured, laying my forehead on his +coat-sleeve, and could not then utter another word. Ere I lifted it +again, the hall-door opened, and who, I pray you, should I then see +(with more affright, I confess, than was reasonable) but Hubert? My +voice shook as he said to Basil, whose back was turned from the door, +"Here is your brother." + +"Ah, Hubert!" he exclaimed; "I be glad to see thee!" and held out his +hand to him with a frank smile, which the other took, but in the doing +of it a deadly paleness spread over his face. + +"I have no leisure to tarry so much as one minute," Basil said; "but +this sweet lady will tell thee what weighty reasons I have for +presently remaining concealed; and so farewell, my dear love, and +farewell, my good brother. Be, I pray you, my bedes-woman this night, +Constance; and you too, Hubert,--if you do yet say your prayers like a +good Christian, which I pray God you do,--mind you say an ave for me +before you sleep." + +When the door closed on him I sunk down on a chair, and hid my face +with my hands. + +"You have not told him anything?" Hubert whispered; and I, "God help +you, Hubert! he hath come to London for this very matter, and hath +already, I fear, albeit not in any way that shall advantage my father, +yet in seeking to assist him, run himself into danger of death, or +leastways banishment." + +As I said this mine eyes raised themselves toward him; and I would +they had not, for I saw in his visage an expression I have tried these +many years to forget, but which sometimes even now comes back to me +painfully. + +"I told you so," he answered. "He hath an invariable aptness to miss +his aim, and to hurt himself by the shafts he looseth. What plan hath +he now formed, and what shall come of it?" + + +But, somewhat recovered from my surprise, I bethought myself it +should not be prudent, albeit I grieved to think so, to let him know +what sort of enterprise it was Basil had in hand; so I did evade his +question, which indeed he did not show himself very careful to have +answered. He said he was yet dealing with Sir Francis Walsingham, and +had hopes of success touching my father's liberation, and so prayed me +not to yield to despondency; but it would take time to bring matters +to a successful issue, and patience was greatly needed, and likewise +prudence toward that end. He requested me very urgently to take no +other steps for the present in his behalf, which might ruin all. And +above all things not to suffer Basil to come forward in it, for that +he had made himself obnoxious to Sir Francis by speeches which he had +used, and which some one had reported to him, touching Lady Ridley's +compliance with his (Sir Francis's) request that she should have a +minister in her house for to read Protestant prayers to her household, +albeit herself, being bedridden, did not attend; and if he should now +stir in this matter, all hope would be at an end. So he left me, and I +returned to the parlor, and Kate and Polly declared my behavior to +them not to be over and above civil; but they supposed when folks were +in love, they had a warrant to treat their friends as they pleased. +Then finding me very dull and heavy, I ween, they bethought themselves +at the last of going to visit their mother in her bed, and paying +their respects to their father, whom they found asleep in his chair, +his prayer-book, with which he was engaged most of the day, lying open +by his side. Polly kissed his forehead, and then the picture of our +Blessed Lady in the first page of this much-used volume; which sudden +acts of hers comforted me not a little. + +Muriel came out of her mother's chamber to greet them, but would not +suffer them to see her at this unexpected time, for that the least +change in her customable habits disordered her; and then whispered to +me that she had often asked for Mistress Ward, and complained of her +absence. + +At the last Sir Ralph came, but not Mr. Lacy, who he said was tired +with his long ride, and had gone home to bed. Thereupon Kate began to +weep; for she said she would not go without him to this fine ball, for +it was an unbecoming thing for a woman to be seen abroad when her +husband was at home, and a thing she had not yet done, nor did intend +to do. But that it was a very hard thing she should have been at the +pains to dress herself so handsomely, and not so much as one person to +see her in this fine suit; and she wished she had not been so foolish +as to be persuaded to it, and that Polly was very much to blame +therein. At the which, "I' faith, I think so too," Polly exclaimed; +"and I wish you had stayed in the country, my dear." + +Kate's pitiful visage and whineful complaint moved me, in my then +apprehensive humor, to an unmerry but not to be resisted fit of +laughter, which she did very much resent; but I must have laughed or +died, and yet it made me angry to hear her utter such lamentations who +had no true cause for displeasure. + +When they were gone,--she, still shedding tears, in a chair Sir Ralph +sent for to convey her to Gray's Inn Lane, and he and Polly in their +coach to Mrs. Yates's,--the relief I had from their absence proved so +great that at first it did seem to ease my heart. I went slowly up to +mine own chamber, and stood there a while at the casement looking at +the quiet sky above and the unquiet city beneath it, and chiefly in +the distant direction where I knew the prison to be, picturing to +myself my father in his bare cell. Mistress Ward regaining her obscure +lodging, Mr. Watson's dangerous descent, and mostly the boat which +Basil was to row,--that boat freighted with so perilous a burthen. +These scenes seemed to rise before mine eyes as I remained motionless, +straining their sight to pierce the darkness of the night and of +the fog which hung over the town. When the clock struck twelve, a +shiver ran through me, for I thought of the like striking at Lynn +Court, and what had followed. Upon which I betook myself to my +prayers, and thinking on Basil, said, "Speak for him, O Blessed Virgin +Mary! Entreat for him, O ye apostles! Make intercession for him, all +ye martyrs! Pray for him, all ye confessors and all ye company of +heaven, that my prayers for him may take effect before our Lord Jesus +Christ!" Then my head waxed heavy with sleep, and I sank on the +cushion of my kneeling-stool. I wot not for how many hours I slumbered +in this wise; but I know I had some terrible dreams. + +When I awoke it was daylight. A load knocking at the door of the house +had aroused me. Before I had well bethought me where I was, Muriel's +white face appeared at my door. The pursuivants, she said, were come +to seek for Mistress Ward. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +My first thought, when Muriel had announced to me the coming of the +pursuivants in search of Mistress Ward, was to thank God she was +beyond their reach, and with so much prudence had left us in ignorance +of her abode. Then making haste to dress--for I apprehended these +officers should visit every chamber in the house--I quickly repaired +to my aunt's room, who was persuaded by Muriel that they had sent for +to take an inventory of the furniture, which she said was a very +commendable thing to do, but she wished they had waited until such +time as she had had her breakfast. By an especial mercy, it so +happened that these officers--or, leastways, two out of three of +them--were quiet, well-disposed men, who exercised their office with +as much mildness as could be hoped for, and rather diminished by their +behavior than in any way increased the hardships of this invasion of +domestic privacy. We were all in turns questioned touching Mistress +Ward's abode except my aunt, whose mental infirmity was pleaded for to +exempt her from this ordeal. The one officer who was churlish said, +"If the lady's mind be unsound, 'tis most like she will let the cat +out of the bag," and would have forced questions on her; but the +others forcibly restrained him from it, and likewise from openly +insulting us, when we denied all knowledge of the place she had +resorted to. Howsoever, he vented his displeasure in scornful looks +and cutting speeches. They carried away sundry prayer-books, and +notably the "Spiritual Combat," which Mrs. Engerfield had gifted me +with, when I slept at her house at Northampton, the loss of which +grieved me not a little, but yet not so much as it would have done at +another time, for my thoughts were then wholly set on discovering who +had betrayed Mistress Ward's intervention, and what had been Mr. +Watson's fate, and if Basil also had been implicated. I addressed +myself to the most seemly of the three men, and asked him what her +offence had been. + +"She assisted," he answered, "in the escape of a prisoner from +Bridewell." + +"In what manner?" I said, with so much of indifferency as I could +assume. + +"By the smuggling of a rope into his cell," he answered, "which was +found yet hanging unto his window, and which none other than that +pestilent woman could have furnished him with." + +Alas! this was what I feared would happen, when she first formed this +project; but she had assured us Mr. Watson would let himself down, +holding the two ends of the cord in his hands, and so would be enabled +to carry it away with him after he had got down, and so it would never +be discovered by what means he had made his escape. + +"And this prisoner hath then escaped?" I said, in a careless manner. + +"Marry, out of one cage," he answered; "but I'll warrant you he is by +this time lodged in a more safe dungeon, and with such bracelets on +his hands and feet as shall not suffer him again to cheat the +gallows." + +I dared not question him further; and finding nothing more to +their purpose, the pursuivants retired. + +When Mr. Congleton, Muriel, and I afterward met in the parlor, none of +us seemed disposed to speak. There be times when grief is loquacious, +but others when the weight of apprehension doth check speech. At last +I broke this silence by such words as "What should now be done?" and +"How can we learn what hath occurred?" + +Then Mr. Congleton turned toward me, and with much gravity and unusual +vehemency, + +"Constance," quoth he, "when Margaret Ward resolved on this bold +action, which in the eyes of some savored of rashness, I warned her to +count the cost before undertaking it, for that it was replete with +many dangers, and none should embark in it which was not prepared to +meet with a terrible death. She told me thereupon that for many past +years her chief desire had been to end her life by such a death, if it +should be for the sake of religion, and that the day she should be +sentenced to it would prove the joyfullest she had yet known. This she +said in an inflamed manner, and I question not but it was her true +thinking. I do not gainsay the merit of this pining, though I could +wish her virtue had been of a commoner sort. But such being her aim, +her choice, and desire, I am not of opinion that I should now disturb +the peace of my wife's helpless days or mine own either (who have not, +I cry God mercy for it, the same wish to suffer the pains reserved to +recusants, albeit I hope in him he would give me strength, to do so if +conscience required it), not to speak of you and Muriel and my other +daughters, for the sake of unavailing efforts in her so desperate +case, who hath made her own bed (and I deny it not to be a glorious +one) and, as she hath made it, must lie on it. So I will betake myself +to prayer for her, which she said was the whole scope of the favor she +desired from her friends, if she fell into trouble, and dreaded +nothing so much as any other dealings in her behalf; and if Mr. Roper, +or Brian Lacy, or young Rookwood, have any means by which to send her +money for her convenience in prison, I will give it; but other +measures I will not take, nor by any open show of interest in her fate +draw down suspicions on us as parties and abettors in her so-called +treason." + +Neither of us replied to this speech; and after that our short meal +was ended, Muriel went to her mother's chamber, and I set myself to +consider what I should do; for to sit and wait in this terrible +ignorance of what had happened seemed an impossible thing. So taking +my maid with me, albeit it rained a little, I walked to Kate's house, +and found she and her husband had left it an hour before for to return +to Mr. Benham's seat. Polly and Sir Ralph, who slept there also, were +yet abed, and had given orders, the servant said, not to be disturbed. +So I turned sorrowfully from the door, doubting whither to apply +myself; for Mr. Roper lived at Richmond, and Mr. and Mrs. Wells were +abroad. I thought to go to Mr. Hodgson, whose boatman had drawn Basil +into this enterprise, and was standing forecasting which way to turn, +when all of a sudden who should I see but Basil himself coming down +the lane toward me! I tried to go for to meet him, but my legs failed +me, and I was forced to lean against my maid till he came up to us and +drew my arm in his. Then I felt strong again, and bidding her to go +home, walked a little way with him. The first words he said were: + +"Mr. Watson is safe, but hath broke his leg and his arm. Know you +aught of Mistress Ward?" + +"There is a warrant out against her," I answered, and told him of the +pursuivants coming to seek for her at our house. + +"God shield," he said, "she be not apprehended! for sentence of death +would then be certainly passed upon her." + + +"Oh, Basil," I exclaimed, "why was the cord left?" + +"Ah, the devil would have it," he began; but chiding himself, lifted +off his hat, and said, "Almighty God did so permit it to happen that +this mishap occurred. But I see," he subjoined, "you are not fit to +walk or stand, sweetheart. Come into Mr. Wells's house. Albeit they +are not at home, we may go and sit in the parlor; and it may be more +prudent I should not be seen abroad to-day. I pray God Mr. Watson and +I will sail to-night for Calais." + +So we rang the bell at the door of Mr. Wells's house; and his +housekeeper, who opened it, smiled when she saw Basil, for he was a +great favorite with her, as, indeed, methinks he always was with all +kinds of people. She showed us into Mr. Wells's study, which she said +was the most comfortable room and best aired in the house, for that, +for the sake of the books, she did often light a fire in it; and +nothing would serve her but she must do so now. And then she asked if +we had breakfasted, and Basil said i' faith he had not, and should be +very glad of somewhat to eat, if she would fetch it for him. So when +the fire was kindled--and methought it never would burn, the wood was +so damp--she went away for a little while, and he then told me the +haps of the past night. + +"Tom Price (Hodgson's boatman) and I," he said, "rowed his boat close +onto the shore, near to the prison, and laid there under the cover of +some penthouses which stood betwixt the river and the prison's wall. +When the clock struck twelve, I promise you my heart began to beat as +any girl's, I was so frightened lest Mr. Watson should not have +received the cord, or that his courage should fail. Howsoever, in less +than one minute I thought I perceived something moving about one of +the windows, and then a body appeared sitting at first on the ledge, +but afterward it turned itself round, and, facing the wall, sank down +slowly, hanging on by a cord." + +"Oh, Basil!" I exclaimed, "could you keep on looking?" + +"Yea," he answered; "as if mine eyes should start out of my head. He +came down slowly, helping himself, I ween, with his feet against the +wall; but when he got to about twenty or thirty feet, I guess it to +have been, from the roof of the shed, he stopped of a sudden, and hung +motionless. 'He is out of breath,' I said to Tom. 'Or the rope proves +too short,' quoth he. We watched him for a moment. He swung to and +fro, then rested again, his feet against the wall. 'Beshrew me, but I +will climb on to that roof myself, and get nigh to him,' I whispered +to Tom, and was springing out of the boat, when we heard a noise more +loud than can be thought of. 'I'll warrant you he hath fallen on the +planks,' quoth Tom. 'Marry, but we will pick him up then,' quoth I; +and found myself soon on the edge of the roof, which was broken in at +one place, and, looking down, I thought I saw him lying on the ground. +I cried as loud as I durst, 'Mr. Watson, be you there? Hist! Are you +hurt? Speak if you can.' Methinks he was stunned by the fall, for he +did not answer; so there remained nothing left to do but to leap +myself through the opening into the shed, where I found him with his +eyes shut, and moaning. But when I spake to him he came to himself, +'and tried to rise, but could not stand, one of his legs being much +hurt. 'Climb on to my back, reverend sir,' I said 'and with God's help +we shall get out.' Howsoever, the way out did not appear manifest, and +mostly with another beside one's self to carry. But glancing round the +inside of the shed, I perceived a door, the fastening of which, when I +shook it, roughly enough I promise you, gave way; and the boat lay, +God be praised, close to it outside. I gave one look up to the prison, +and saw lights flashing in some of the windows. 'They be astir,' I +said to Tom. 'Hist! lend a hand, man, and take the reverend gentleman +from off my back and into the boat.' Mr. Watson uttered a groan. +He most have suffered cruel pain; for, as we since found, his leg and +also his arm were broken, and he looked more dead than alive. + +"We began to row as fast as we could; but now he, coming to himself, +feels in his coat, and cries out: + +"'Oh, kind sirs--the cord, the cord! Stop, I pray you; stop, turn +back.' + +"'Not for the world,' I cried, 'reverend sir.' + +"Then he, in a lamentable voice: + +"'Oh, if you turn not back and bring away the cord, the poor +gentlewoman which did give it unto me must needs fall into sore +trouble. Oh, for God's sake, turn back!' + +"I gave a hasty glance at the prison, where increasing stir of lights +was visible, and resolved that to return should be certain ruin to +ourselves and to him for whom Mistress Ward had risked her life, and +little or no hope in it for her, as it was not possible there should +be time to get the cord and then escape, which with best speed now +could with difficulty be effected. So I turned a deaf ear to Mr. +Watson's pleadings, with an assured conscience she should have wished +no otherwise herself; and by God's mercy we made such way before they +could put out a boat, landing unseen beyond the next bridge, that we +could secretly convey him to the house of a Catholic not far from the +river on the other side, where he doth lie concealed. I promise you, +sweetheart, we did row hard. Albeit I strove very much last year when +I won the boat-match at Richmond, by my troth it was but child's play +to last night's racing. Poor Mr. Watson fainted before we landed, and +neither of us dared venture to stop from pulling for to assist him. +But, God be praised, he is now in a good bed; and I fetched for him at +daybreak a leech I know in the Borough, who hath set his broken limbs; +and to-night if the weather be not foul, when it gets dark, we will +convey him in a boat to a vessel at the river's mouth, which I have +retained for to take us to Calais. But I would Mistress Ward was on +board of it also." + +"Oh, Basil," I exclaimed, "if we can discover where she doth lodge, it +would not then be impossible. If we had forecasted this yesterday, she +would be saved. Yet she had perhaps refused to tell us." + +"Most like she would," he answered; "but if you do hit by any means +upon her abode to-day, forthwith despatch a trusty messenger unto me +at Mr. Hodgson's, and I promise you, sweetheart, she shall, will she +nill she, if I have to use force for it, be carried away to France, +and stowed with a good madame I know at Calais." + +The housekeeper then came in with bread and meat and beer, which my +dear Basil did very gladly partake of, for he had eat nothing since +the day before, and was greatly in want of food. I waited on him, +forestalling housewifely duties, with so great a contentment in this +quiet hour spent in his company that nothing could surpass it. The +fire now burned brightly; and whilst he ate, we talked of the time +when we should be married and live at Euston, so retired from the busy +world without as should be most safe and peaceful in these troublesome +times, even as in that silent house we were for a short time shut out +from the noisy city, the sounds of which reached without disturbing +us. Oh how welcome was that little interval of peace which we then +enjoyed! I ween we were both very tired; and when the good housekeeper +came in for to fetch away his plate he had fallen asleep, with his +head resting on his hands; and I was likewise dozing in a high-backed +chair opposite to him. The noise she made awoke me, but not him, who +slept most soundly. She smiled, and in a motherly manner moved him to +a more comfortable position, and said she would lay a wager on it he +had not been abed at all that night. + + +"Well, I'll warrant you to be a good guesser, Mistress Mason," I +answered. "And if you did but know what a hard and a good work he hath +been engaged in, methinks you would never tarry in his praise." + +"Ah, Mistress Sherwood," she replied, "I have known Master Basil these +many years; and a more noble, kindly, generous heart never, I ween, +did beat in a man's bosom. He very often came here with his father and +his brother when both were striplings; and Master Hubert was the +sharpest and some said the most well-behaved of the twain. But beshrew +me if I liked not better Master Basil, albeit he was sometimes very +troublesome, but not techey or rude as some boys be. I remember it +well how I laughed one day when these young masters--methinks this +one was no more than five years and the other four--were at play +together in this room, and Basil had a new jerkin on, and colored hose +for the first time. Hubert wore a kirtle, which displeasured him, for +he said folks should take him to be a wench. So he comes to me, +half-crying, and says, 'Why hath Baz that fine new suit and me not the +same?' 'Because, little sir, he is the eldest,' I said. 'Ah,' quoth +the shrewd imp, 'the next time I be born methinketh I will push Baz +aside and be the eldest.' If I should live one hundred years I shall +never forget it, the little urchin looked so resolved and spiteful." + +I smiled somewhat sadly, I ween, but with better cheer when she +related how tender a heart Basil had from his infant years toward the +poor, taking off his clothes for to give them to the beggars he met, +and one day, she said, praying very hard Mrs. Wells for to harbor a +strolling man which had complained he had no lodging. + +"'Mistress,' quoth he, 'you have many chambers in your house, and he +hath not so much as a bed to lie in tonight;' and would not be +contented till she had charged a servant to get the fellow a lodging. +And me he once abused very roundly in his older years for the same +cause. There was one Jack Morris, an old man which worked sometimes in +Mr. Wells's stable, but did lie at a cottage out of the town. And one +day in winter, when it snowed, Master Basil would have me make this +fellow sleep in the house, because he was sick, he said, and he would +give him his own bed and lie himself on straw in the stable; and went +into so great a passion when I said he should not do so, for that he +was a mean person and could not lie in a gentleman's chamber, that my +young master cries out, 'Have a care. Mistress Mason, I do not come in +the night and shake you out of your own bed, for to give you a taste +of the cold floor, which yet is not, I promise you, so cold as the +street into which you would turn this poor diseased man.' And then he +fell to coaxing of me till I consented for to send a mattress and a +warm rug to the stable for this pestilent old man, who I warrant you +was not so sick as he did assume to be, but had sufficient cunning for +to cozen Master Basil out of his money. Lord bless the lad! I have +seen him run out with his dinner in his hand, if he did but see a +ragged urchin in the streets, and gift him with it; and then would +slug lustily about the house--methinks I do hear him now-- + + 'Dinner, O dinner's a rare good thing + Alike for a beggar, alike for a king.'" + +Basil opened then his eyes and stared about him. + +"Why, Mistress Mason," he cried, "beshrew me if you are not rehearsing +a rare piece of poesy!--the only one I ever did indite." At the which +speech we all laughed; but our merriment was short; for time had sped +faster than we thought, and Basil said he must needs return to the +Borough to forecast with Mr. Hodgson and Tom Price means to convey Mr. +Watson to the ship, which was out at sea nigh unto the shore, and a +boat must be had to carry them there, and withal such appliances +procured as should ease his broken limbs. + +"Is there not danger" I asked, "in moving him so soon?" + + +"Yea," he said, "but a less fearful danger than in long tarrying in +this country." + +This was too true to be gainsayed; and so thanking the good +housekeeper we left the house, which had seemed for those few hours +like onto a harbor from a stormy sea, wherein both our barks, +shattered by the waves, had refitted in peace. + +"Farewell, Basil," I mournfully said; "God knoweth for how long." + +"Not for very long," he answered. "In three months I shall have crept +out of my wardship. Then, if it please God, I will return, and so deal +with your good uncle that we shall soon after that be married." + +"Yea," I answered, "if so be that my father is then in safety." + +He said he meant not otherwise, but that he had great confidence it +should then be so. When at last we parted he went down Holborn Hill +very fast, and I slowly to Ely Place, many times stopping for to catch +one more sight of him in the crowd, which howsoever soon hid him from +me. + +When I arrived at home I found Muriel in great affliction, for news +had reached her that Mistress Ward had been apprehended and thrown +into prison. Methinks we had both looked for no other issue than this, +which she had herself most desired; but nevertheless, when the +certainty thereof was confirmed to us, it should almost have seemed as +if we were but ill-prepared for it. The hope I had conceived a short +time before that she should escape in the same vessel with Basil and +Mr. Watson, made me less resigned to this mishap than I should have +been had no means of safety been at hand, and the sword, as it were, +hanging over her head from day to day. The messenger which had brought +this evil news being warranted reliable by a letter from Mr. Hodgson, +I intrusted him with a few lines to Basil, in which I informed him not +to stay his departure on her account, who was now within the walls of +the prison which Mr. Watson had escaped from, and that her best +comfort now should be to know he was beyond reach of his pursuers. The +rest of the day was spent in great heaviness of spirit. Mr. Congleton +sent a servant to Mr. Roper for to request him to come to London, and +wrote likewise to Mr. Lacy for to return to his house in town, and +confer with some Catholics touching Mistress Ward's imprisonment. +Muriel's eyes thanked him, but I ween she had no hope therein and did +resign herself to await the worst tidings. Her mother's unceasing +asking for her, whose plight she dared not so much as hint at in her +presence, did greatly aggravate her sufferings. I have often thought +Muriel did then undergo a martyrdom of the heart as sharp in its kind +as that which Mistress Ward endured in prison, if the reports which +did reach us were true. But more of that anon. The eventful day, which +had opened with so much of fear and sorrow, had yet in store other +haps, which I must now relate. + +About four of the clock Hubert came to Ely Place, and found me alone +in the parlor, my fingers busied with some stitching, my thoughts +having wandered far away, where I pictured to myself the mouth of the +river, the receding tide, the little vessel which was to carry Basil +away once more to a foreign land, with its sails flapping in the wind; +and boats passing to and fro, plying on the fair bosom of the broad +river, and not leaving so much as a trace of their passage. And his +boat with its freight more precious than gold--the rescued life bought +at a great price--methought I saw it glide in the dark amidst those +hundred other boats unobserved (so I hoped), unstayed on its course. +Methought that so little bark should be a type of some lives which +carry with them, unwatched, undiscerned, a purpose, which doth freight +them on their way to eternity--somewhat hidden, somewhat close to +their hearts, somewhat engaging their whole strength; and all the + while they seem to be doing the like of what others do; and God +only knoweth how different shall be the end! + +"Ah, Hubert," I exclaimed when the door opened, "is it you? Methinks +in these days I see no one come into this house but a fear or a hope +doth seize me. What bringeth you? or hath nothing occurred?" + +"Something may occur this day," he answered, "if you do but will it to +be so, Constance." + +"What?" I asked eagerly; "what may occur?" + +"Your father's deliverance," he said. + +"Oh, Hubert," I cried, "it is not possible!" + +"Go to!" he said in a resolved manner. "Don your most becoming suit, +and follow my directions in all ways. Lady Ingoldsby, I thank God, +hath not left London, and will be here anon to carry you to Sir +Francis Walsingham's house, where her familiar friend, Lady Sydney, +doth now abide during Sir Philip's absence. You shall thus get speech +with Sir Francis; and if you do behave with diffidency, and beware of +the violence of your nature and exorbitancy of your tongue, checking +needless speeches, and answering his questions with as many words as +courtesy doth command, and as few as civility doth permit, I doubt not +but you may obtain your father's release in the form of a sentence of +banishment; for he is not ill-disposed thereunto, having received +notice that his health is sinking under the hardships of his +confinement, and his strength so impaired that, once beyond seas, he +is not like to adventure himself again in this country." + +"Alas!" I cried, "mine eyes had discerned in his shrunken form and +hollow cheeks tokens of such a decay as you speak of; and I pray God +Mr. Secretary may deal mercifully with him before it shall be too +late." + +"I'll warrant you," he replied, "that if you do rightly deal with him, +he win sign an order which shall release this very night your father +from prison, and send him safe beyond seas before the week is ended." + +"Think you so?" I said, my heart beating with an uncertain kind of +hope mixed with doubting. + +"I am assured of it," Hubert confidently replied. + +"I must ask my uncle's advice," doubtfully said, "before I go with +Polly." + +A contemptuous smile curled his lip. "Yea," he said, "Be directed in +these weighty matters, I do advise you, by your aunt also, and the +saintly Muriel, and twenty hundred others beside, if you list; and the +while this last chance shall escape, and your father be doomed to +death. I have done my part, God knoweth. If he perish, his blood will +not be on my head; but mark my words, if he be not presently released, +he will appear before the council in two days, and the oath be +tendered to him, which you best know if he will take, and his refusal +without fail will send him to the scaffold." + +"God defend," I exclaimed, greatly moved, "I should delay to do that +which may yet save him. I will go, Hubert. But I pray you, who are +familiar with Sir Francis, what means should be best for to move him +to compassion? Is there a soft corner in his heart which a woman's +tears can touch? I will kneel to him if needful, yea, kiss his +feet--mind him of his own fair daughter. Lady Sydney, which, if he was +in prison, and my father held his fate in his hands, would doubtless +sue to him with the like ardor, yea, the like agony of spirit, for +mercy. Oh, tell me, Hubert, what to say which shall drive the edge of +pity into his soul." + +"Silence will take effect in this case sooner than the most moving +speeches," he answered. "Steel your soul to it, whatever he may say. +Your tears, your eyes, will, I warrant you, plead more mightfully than +your words. He is as obliging to the softer but predominant parts of +the world as he is serviceable to the more severe. To him men's +faces speak as much as their tongues, and their countenances are +indexes of their hearts. Judge if yours, the liveliest piece of +eloquence which ever displayed itself in a fair visage, shall fail to +express that which passionate words, missing their aim, would of a +surety ill convey. And mind you, Mistress Constance, this man is of +extreme ability in the school of policy, and albeit inclined to +recusants with the view of winning them over by means of kindness, yet +an extreme hater of the Pope and Church of Rome, and moreover very +jealous to be considered as such; so if he do intend to show you favor +in this matter, make your reckoning that he will urge you to +conformity with many strenuous exhortations, which, if you remain +silent, no harm shall ensue to yourself or others." + +"And not to mine own soul, Hubert?" I mournfully cried. "Methinks my +father and Basil would not counsel silence in such a case." + +"God in heaven give me patience!" he exclaimed. "Is it a woman's +calling, I pray you, to preach? When the apostles were dismissed by +the judges, and charged no longer to teach the Christian faith, went +they not forth in silence, restraining their tongues then, albeit not +their actions when once at liberty? Methinks modesty alone should +forbid one of your years from dangerous retorts, which, like a +two-edged sword, wound alike friend and foe." + +I had no courage left to withstand the promptings of mine own heart +and his urgency. + +"God forgive me," I cried, "if I fail in aught wherein truth or +honesty are concerned. He knoweth I would do right, and yet save my +father's life." + +Then falling on my knees, unmindful of his presence, I prayed with an +intense vehemency, which overcame all restraint, that my tongue might +be guided aright when I should be in his presence who under God did +hold my father's life in his hands. But hearing Polly's voice in the +hall, I started up, and noticed Hubert leaning his head on his hand, +seemingly more pitifully moved than was his wont. When she came in, he +met her, and said: + +"Lady Ingoldsby, I pray you see that Mistress Constance doth so attire +herself as shall heighten her natural attractions; for, beshrew me, if +grave Mr. Secretary hath not, as well as other men, more pity for a +fair face than a plain one; and albeit hers is always fair, nature +doth nevertheless borrow additional charms from art." + +"Tut, tut," quoth Polly. "She is a perfect fright in that hat, and her +ruff hideth all her neck, than which no swan hath a whiter; and I pray +you what a farthingale is that! Methinks it savors of the fashions of +the late queen's reign. Come, Con, cheer up, and let us to thy +chamber. I'll warrant you, Master Rookwood, she will be twice as +winsome when I have exercised my skill on her attire." + +So she led me away, and I suffered her to dress mine hair herself and +choose such ornaments as she did deem most becoming. Albeit she +laughed and jested all the while, methinks the kindness of her heart +showed through this apparent gaiety; and when her task was done, and +she kissed my forehead, I threw my arms round her neck and wept. + +"Nay, nay!" she cried; "no tears, coz--they do serve but to swell the +eyelids and paint the nose of a reddish hue;" and shaping her own +visage into a counterfeit of mine, she set me laughing against my +will, and drew me by the hand down the stairs and into the parlor. + +"How now, sir?" she cried to Hubert "Think you I have indifferently +well performed the task you set me?" + +"Most excellently well," he answered, and handed us to her coach, +which was to carry us to Seething Lane. When we were seated in it, she +told me Hubert had disclosed to her the secret of my father's +plight, and that she was more concerned than she could well express at +so great a mishap, but nevertheless entertained a comfortable hope +this day should presently see the end of our troubles. Howsoever, she +did know but half of the trouble I was in, weighty as was the part she +was privy to. Hubert, she told me, had dealt with a marvellous great +zeal and ability in this matter, and proved himself so good a +negotiator that she doubted not Sir Francis himself must needs have +appreciated his ingenuity. + +"That young gentleman," she added, "will never spoil his own market by +lack of timely boldness or opportune bashfulness. My Lady Arundel +related to me last night at Mrs. Yates's what passed on Monday at the +banquet-hall at Whitehall. Hath he told you his hap on that occasion?" + +"No," I answered. "I pray you, Polly, what befel him there?' + +"Well, her majesty was at dinner, and Master Hubert comes there to see +the fashion of the court. His handsome features and well-set shape +attract the queen's notice. With a kind of an affected frown she asks +Lady Arundel what he is. She answers she knows him not. Howsoever, an +inquiry is made from one to another who the youth should be, till at +length it is told the queen he is young Rookwood of Euston, in +Suffolk, and a ward of Sir Henry Stafford's." + +"Mistaking him then for Basil?" I said. + +Then she: "I think so; but howsoever this inquisition with the eye of +her majesty fixed upon him (as she is wont to fix it, and thereby to +daunt such as she doth make the mark of her gazing), stirred the blood +of our young gentleman, Lady Arundel said, insomuch that a deep color +rose in his pale cheek and straightway left it again; which the queen +observing, she called him unto her, and gave him her hand to kiss, +encouraging him with gracious words and looks; and then diverting her +speech to the lords and ladies, said that she no sooner observed him +than she did note there was in him good blood, and she ventured to +affirm good brains also; and then said to him, 'Fail not to come to +court, sir, and I will bethink myself to do you good.' Now I warrant +you, coz, this piece of a scholar lacked not the wit to use this his +hap in the furtherance of his and your suit to Sir Francis, whom he +adores as his saint, and courts as his Maecenas." + +This recital of Polly's worked a tumultuous conflict in my soul; for +verily it strengthened hope touching my father's release; but methinks +any other channel of such hope should have been more welcome. A +jealousy, an unsubstantial fear, an uneasy misdoubt oppressed this +rising hope. I feared for Hubert the dawn of such favor as was shown +to him by her whose regal hand doth hold a magnet which hath +oftentimes caused Catholics to make shipwreck of their souls. And then +truth doth compel me to confess my weakness. Albeit God knoweth I +desired not for my true and noble sweetheart her majesty's gracious +smiles, or a higher fortune than Providence hath by inheritance +bestowed on him, a vain humane feeling worked in me some sort of +displeasure that his younger brother should stand in the queen's +presence as the supposed head of the house of Rookwood, and no more +mention made of him than if he had been outlawed or dead. Not that I +had then reason to lay this error to Hubert's door, for verily naught +in Polly's words did warrant such a suspicion; but my heart was sore, +and my spirits chafed with apprehensions. God forgive me if I then did +unjustly accuse him, and, in the retrospect of this passage in his +life, do suffer subsequent events to cast backward shadows on it, +whereby I may wrong him who did render to me (I write it with a +softened--yea, God is my witness--a truly loving, albeit sorrowing, +heart) a great service in a needful time. Oh, Hubert, Hubert! my heart +acheth for thee. Methinks God will show thee great mercy yet, +but, I fear me, by such means only as I do tremble to think of. + +CHAPTER XX. + +When we reached Seething Lane, Polly bade me be of good heart, for +that Lady Sydney was a very affable and debonnaire lady, and Sir +Francis a person of toward and gentle manners, and exceedingly polite +to women. We were conducted to a neat parlor, where my Lady Sydney was +awaiting us. A more fair and accomplished lady is not, I ween, to be +found in England or any other country, than this daughter of a great +statesman, and wife at that time of Sir Philip Sydney, as she hath +since been of my Lords Essex and St. Albans. Methinks the matchless +gentleman, noble knight, and sweet writer, her first husband, who did +marry her portionless, not like as is the fashion with so many in our +days carrying his love in his purse, must have needs drawn from the +fair model in his own house the lovely pictures of beauteous women he +did portray in his "Arcadia." She greeted us with so much heartfelt +politeness, and so tempered gay discoursing with sundry marks of +delicate feeling, indicative, albeit not expressive, of a sense of my +then trouble, that, albeit a stranger, methinks her reserved +compassion and ingenious encouragements served to tranquillize my +discomposed mind more than Polly's efforts toward the same end. She +told us Lord Arundel had died that morning; which tidings turned my +thoughts awhile to Lady Surrey, with many cogitations as to the issue +of this event in her regard. + +After a short space of time, a step neared the door, and Lady Sydney +smiled and said, "Here is my father." I had two or three times seen +Sir Francis Walsingham in public assemblies, but his features were +nevertheless not familiar to me. Now, after he had saluted Polly and +me, and made inquiry touching our relatives, while he conversed with +her on indifferent topics, I scanned his face with such careful +industry as if in it I should read the issue of my dear father's fate. +Methinks I never beheld so unreadable a countenance, or one which bore +the impress of so refined a penetration, so piercing an +inquisitiveness, so keen a research into others' thoughts, with so +close a concealment of his own. I have since heard what his son-in-law +did write of him, that he impoverished himself by the purchase of dear +intelligence; that, as if master of some invisible spring, all the +secrets of Christendom met in his closet, and he had even a key to +unlock the Pope's cabinet. His mottoes are said to be _video et +taceo_, and that knowledge can never be bought at too high a price. +And verily methinks they were writ in his face, in his quick-turning +eyes, his thin, compressed lips, and his soft but resolved accents, +minding one of steel cased in velvet. 'Tis reported he can read any +letter without breaking the seal. For mine own part, I am of opinion +he can see through parchment, yea, peradventure, through stone walls, +when bent on some discovery. After a few minutes he turned to me with +a gracious smile, and said he was very glad to hear that I was a young +gentlewoman of great prudence, and well disposed in all respects, and +that he doubted not that, if her majesty should by his means show me +any favor, I should requite it with such gratitude as should appear in +all my future conduct. + +"God knoweth," I stammered, mine eyes filling with tears, "I would be +grateful to you, sir, if it should please you to move her majesty to +grant my prayer, and to her highness for the doing of it." + +"And how would you show such gratitude, fair Mistress Constance?" he +said, smiling in an encouraging manner. + + +"By such humble duty," I answered, "as a poor obscure creature can pay +to her betters." + +"And I hope, also," he said, "that such dutifulness will involve no +unpleasing effort, no painful constraint on your inclinations; for I +am assured her majesty will never desire from you anything but what +will well accord with your advantage in this world and in the next." + +These words caused me some kind of uneasiness; but as they called for +no answer, I took refuge in silence; only methinks my face, which he +did seem carefully to study, betrayed anxiety. + +"Providence," Sir Francis then said, "doth oftentimes marvellously +dispose events. What a rare instance of its gracious workings should +be seen in your case, Mistress Constance, if what your heart doth +secretly incline to should become a part of that dutifulness which you +do intend to practice in future!" + +Before I had clearly apprehended the sense of his words, Lady Sydney +said to Polly: + +"My father hath greatly commended to Sir Philip and me a young +gentleman which I understand. Lady Ingoldsby, to be a friend of yours, +Mr. Hubert Rookwood, of Euston. He says the gracefulness of his +person, his excellent parts, his strong and subtle capacity, do +excellently fit him to learn the discipline and garb of the times and +court." + +"Ay," then quoth Sir Francis, "he hath as large a portion of gifts and +endowments as I have ever noticed in one of his age, and I'll warrant +he proves no mere vegetable of the court, springing up at night and +sinking at noon." + +Polly did warmly assent to these praises of Hubert, for whom she had +always entertained a great liking; but she merrily said he was not gay +enough for her, which abhorred melancholy as cats do water. + +"Oh, fair lady," quoth Sir Francis, "God defend we should be +melancholy; verily 'tis fitting we should be sometimes serious, for +while we laugh all things are serious round about us. The whole +creation is serious in serving God and us. The holy Scriptures bring +to our ears the most serious things in the world. All that are in +heaven and hell are serious. Then how should we be always gay?" + +Polly said--for when had she not, I pray you, somewhat to say?--that +certain things in nature had a propensity to gaiety which naught could +quell, and instanced birds and streamlets, which never cease to sing +and babble as long as they do live or flow. And to be serious, she +thought, would kill her. The while this talk was ministered between +them, my Lady Sydney, on a sign from her father, I ween, took my hand +in hers, and offered to show me the garden; for the heat of the room, +she said, was like to give me the headache. Upon which I rose, and +followed her into a court planted with trees, and then on to an alley +of planes strewed with gravel. As we entered it I perceived several +persons walking toward us. When the first thought came into my mind +who should be the tall personage in the centre, of hair and complexion +fair, and of so stately and majestic deportment, I marvel my limbs +gave not way, but my head swam and a mist obscured mine eyes. +Methinks, as one dreaming, I heard Lady Sydney say, "The queen, +Mistress Sherwood; kneel down, and kiss her majesty's hand." Oh, in +the brief moment of time when my lips pressed that thin, white, +jewelled hand, what multiplied thoughts, resentful memories, trembling +awe, and instinctive, homage to royal greatness, met in my soul, and +worked confusion in my brain! + +"Ah, mine own good Sydney," I heard her majesty exclaim; "is this the +young gentlewoman your wise father did speak of at Greenwich +yesterday? The daughter of one Sherwood now in prison for popish +contumacy?" + + +"Even so," said Lady Sydney; "and your sacred majesty hath it now in +her power to show + + "The quality of mercy is not strained--'" + + "'But droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven + Upon the place beneath,'" + +interrupted the queen, taking the words out of her mouth. "We be not +ignorant of those lines. Will Shakespeare hath it, + + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown.' + +And i' faith we differ not from him, for verily mercy is our habit and +the propension of our soul; but, by God, the malice and ingratitude of +recusant traitors doth so increase, with manifold dangers to our +person and state, that mercy to them doth turn into treason against +ourselves, injury to religion, and an offence to God. Rise," her +majesty then said to me; and as I stood before her, the color, I ween, +deepening in my cheeks, "Thou hast a fair face, wench," she cried; +"and if I remember aright good Mr. Secretary's words, hast used it to +such purpose that a young gentleman we have of late taken into our +favor is somewhat excessive in his doting on it. Go to, go to; thou +couldst go further and fare worse. We ourselves are averse to +marriage; but if a woman must needs have a husband (and that deep +blushing betokeneth methinks thy bent thereon), she should set her +heart wisely, and govern it discreetly." + +"Alas, madam!" I cried, "'tis not of marriage I now do think; but, on +my knees" (and falling again at her feet, I clasped them, with tears), +"of my father's release; I do crave your majesty's mercy." + +"Content thee, wench; content thee. Mr. Secretary hath obtained from +us the order for that foolish man's banishment from our realm." + +"Oh, madam!" I cried, "God bless you!" + +Then my heart did smite me I should with so great vehemency bless her +who, albeit in this nearest instance pitiful to me, did so +relentlessly deal with others; and I bethought me of Mistress Ward, +and the ill-usage she was like to meet with. And her words touching +Hubert, and silence concerning Basil, weighed like lead on my soul; +yet I taxed myself with folly therein, for verily at this time the +less he was thought of the greater should be his safety. Sir Francis +had now approached the queen, and I did hear her commend to him his +garden, which she said was very neat and trim, and the pattern of it +most quaint and fanciful. Polly did also kiss her hand, and Sir Walter +Raleigh and Sir Christopher Hatton, which accompanied her majesty, +whilst she talked with Sir Francis, conversed with Lady Sydney. I ween +my Lord Leicester and many other noblemen and gentlemen were also in +her train, but mine eyes took scant note of what passed before them; +the queen herself was the only object I could contemplate, so +marvellous did it seem I should thus have approached her, and had so +much of her notice as she did bestow on me that day. And here I cannot +choose but marvel how strangely our hearts are made. How favors to +ourselves do alter the current of our feelings; how a near approach to +those which at a distance we do think of with unmitigated enmity, doth +soften even just resentments; and what a singular fascination doth lie +in royalty for to win unto itself a reverence which doth obliterate +memories which in common instances should never lose their sting. + +The queen's barge, which had moored at the river-side of Sir Francis's +garden, was soon filled again with the goodly party it had set down; +and as it went up the stream, and I stood gazing on it, methought the +whole scene had been a dream. + +Lady Sydney and Polly moved Sir Francis to repeat the assurance her +majesty had given me touching the commutation of my father's +imprisonment into an order of banishment. He satisfied me thereon, and +did promise to procure for me permission to see him once more +before his departure; which interview did take place on the next day; +and when I observed the increased paleness of his face and feebleness +of his gait, the pain of bidding that dear parent farewell equalled +not the joy I felt in the hope that liberty and the care of those good +friends to whose society he would now return, should prolong and cheer +the remaining days of his life. Methinks there was some sadness in him +that the issue he had so resolutely prepared for, and confidently +looked to, should be changed to one so different, and that only by +means of death would he have desired to leave the English mission; but +he meekly bowed his will to that of God, and said in an humble manner +he was not worthy of so exalted an end as he had hoped for, and he +refused not to live if so be he might yet serve God in obscure and +unnoticed ways. + +When I returned home after this comfortable, albeit very sad, parting, +I was too weary in body and in mind for to do aught but lie down for a +while on a settle, and revolve in my mind the changes which had taken +place around me. Hubert came for a brief time that evening; and +methinks he had heard from Polly the haps at Seething Lane. He strove +for to move me to speak of the queen, and to tell him the very words +she had uttered. The eager sparkling of his eyes, the ill-repressed +smilingness of his countenance, the manner of his questioning, worked +in me a secret anger, which caused the thanks I gave him for his +successful dealings in my father's behalf to come more coldly from +mine heart than they should otherwise have done, albeit I strove to +frame them in such kind terms as were befitting the great service he +had rendered us. But to disguise my thoughts my tongue at last +refused, and I burst forth: + +"But, for all that I do thank you, Hubert, yea, and am for ever +indebted to you, which you will never have reason, from my conduct and +exceedingly kind sisterly love, to doubt: bear with me, I pray you, +when I say (albeit you may think me a very foolish creature) that I +wish you not joy, but rather for your sake do lament, the new favor +you do stand in with the queen. O Hubert, bethink you, ere you set +your foot on the first step of that slippery ladder, court favor, that +no man can serve two masters." + +"Marry," he answered in a light manner, "by that same token or text, +papists can then not serve the queen and also the Pope!" + +There be nothing which so chilleth or else cutteth the heart as a +jesting retort to a fervent speech. + +I hid my face on my arm to hide some tears. + +"Constance," he softly said, seeing me moved, "do you weep for me?" + +"Yea," I murmured; "God knoweth what these new friendships and this +dangerous favor shall work in you contrary to conscience, truth, and +virtue. Oh! heaven shield Basil's brother should be a favorite of the +queen!" + +"Talk not of Basil," he fiercely cried, "I warrant you the day may be +at hand when his fate shall hang on my favor with those who can make +and mar a man, or ruin and mend his fortunes, as they will, by one +stroke of a pen!" + +"Yea," I replied; "I doubt not his fortune is at their mercy. His +soul, God be praised, their arts cannot reach." + +"Constance," he then said, fixedly gazing on me, "if you only love me, +there is no ambition too noble, no heights of virtue too exalted, no +sacrifices too entire, but I will aim at, aspire to, resolve on, at +your bidding." + +"Love _you_!" I said, raising mine eyes to his, somewhat scornfully I +fear, albeit not meaning it, if I judge by his sudden passion. + +"God defend," he cried, "I do not arrive at hating you with as great +fervency as I have, yea, as even yet I do love you! O Constance, if I +should one day be what I do yet abhor to think of, the guilt +thereof shall lie with you if there be justice on Earth or in heaven!" + +I shook my head, and laying my hand on his, sadly answered: + +"I choose not to bandy words with you, Hubert, or charge you with +what, if I spoke the truth, would be too keen and resentful reproaches +for your unbrotherly manner of dealing with Basil and me; for it would +ill become the close of this day, on which I do owe you, under God, my +dear father's life, to upbraid where I would fain only from my heart +yield thanks. I pray you, let us part in peace. My strength is +well-nigh spent and my head acheth sorely." + +He knelt down by my side, and whispered, "One word more before I go. +You do hold in your keeping Basil's fate and mine. I will not forsake +the hope that alone keepeth me from desperation. Hush! say not the +word which would change me from a friend to a foe, from a Catholic to +an apostate, from a man to a fiend. I have gone well-nigh into the +gate of hell; a slender thread yet holds me back; snap it not in +twain." + +I spoke not, for verily my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth, and a +fainting sensation of a sudden came over me. I felt his lips pressed +on my hand, and then he left me; and that night I felt very ill, and +for nigh unto a fortnight could by no means leave my bed. + +One morning, being somewhat easier, I sat up in a high-backed chair, +in what had once been our school-room; and when Muriel, who had been a +most diligent nurse to me in that sickness, came to visit me, I +pressed her for to tell me truly if she had heard aught of Basil or of +Mistress Ward; for every day when I had questioned her thereon she had +denied all knowledge of their haps, which now began to work in me a +suspicion she did conceal from me some misfortune, which doubt, I told +her, was more grievous to me than to be informed what had befallen +them; and so constrained her to admit that, albeit of Basil she had in +truth no tidings, which she judged to be favorable to our hopes, of +Mistress Ward she had heard, in the first instance, a report, eight or +ten days before, that she had been hung up by the hands and cruelly +scourged; which torments she was said by the jailors, which Mr. Lacy +had spoken with, to have borne with exceeding great courage, saying +they were the preludes of martyrdom, with which, by the grace of God, +she hoped she should be honored. Then Mr. Roper and Mr. Wells, who was +now returned to London, had brought tidings the evening before that on +the preceding day she had been brought to the bar, where, being asked +by the judges if she was guilty of that treachery to the queen and to +the laws of the realm of furnishing the means by which a traitor of a +priest had escaped from justice, she answered with a cheerful +countenance in the affirmative; and that she never in her life had +done anything of which she less repented than of the delivering that +innocent lamb from the wolves which should have devoured him. + +"Oh, Muriel," I cried, "cannot you see her dear resolved face and the +lighting up of her eyes, and the quick fashion of her speech, when she +said this?" + +"I do picture her to myself," Muriel answered in a low voice, "at all +hours of the day, and marvel at mine own quietness therein. But I +doubt not her prayers do win for me the grace of resignation. They +sought to oblige her to confess where Mr. Watson was, but in vain; and +therefore they proceeded to pronounce sentence upon her. But withal +telling her that the queen was merciful, and that if she would ask +pardon of her majesty, and would promise to go to church, she should +be set at liberty; otherwise that she must look for nothing but +certain death." + +I drew a deep breath then, and said, "The issue is, then, not +doubtful." + +"She answered," Muriel said, "that as to the queen, she had +never offended her majesty; that as to what she had done in favoring +Mr. Watson's escape, she believed the queen herself, if she had the +bowels of a woman, would have done as mach if she had known the +ill-treatment he underwent; and as to going to church, she had for +many years been convinced that it was not lawful for her so to do, and +that she found no reason now for to change her mind, and would not act +against her conscience; and therefore they might proceed to the +execution of the sentence pronounced against her; for that death for +such a cause would be very welcome, and that she was willing to lay +down not one life only, but many, if she had them, rather than act +against her religion." + +"And she is then condemned to death without any hope?" I said. + +Muriel remained silent. + +"Oh, Muriel!" I cried; "it is not done? it is not over?" + +She wiped one tear that trickled down her cheek, and said, "Yesterday +she suffered at Tyburn with a wonderful constancy and alacrity." + +I hid my face in my hands; for the sight of the familiar room, of the +chair in which she was sitting what time she took leave of us, of a +little picture pinned to the wall, which she had gifted me with, moved +me too much. But when I closed mine eyes, there arose remembrances of +my journeying with her; of my foolish speeches touching robbers; of +her motherly reproofs of my so great confidence, and comfort in her +guidance; and I was fain to seek comfort from her who should have +needed it rather than me, but who indeed had it straight from heaven, +and thereby could impart some share of it to others. + +"Muriel," I said, resting my tired head on her bosom, "the day you say +she suffered, I now mind me, I was most ill, and you tended me as +cheerfully as if you had no grief." + +"Oh, 'tis no common grief," she answered, "no casting-down sorrow, her +end doth cause me; rather some kind of holy jealousy, some over-eager +pining to follow her." + +A waiting-woman then came in, and I saw her give a letter to Muriel, +who I noticed did strive to hide it from me. But I detected it in her +hand, and cried, "'Tis from Basil; how hath it come?" and took it from +her; but trembling so much, my fingers could scarce untie the strings, +for I was yet very unwell from my sickness. + +"Mr. Hodgson hath sent it," quoth Muriel; "God yield it be good news!" + +Then my eyes fell on the loved writing, and read what doth follow: + +"DEAR HEART AND SWEET WIFE +soon to be--God be praised, we are now safe in port at Calais, but +have not lacked dangers in our voyage. But all is well, I ween, that +doth end well; and I do begin my letter with the tokens of that good +ending that mine own sweet love should have no fears, only much +thankfulness to God, whilst she doth read of the perils we have +escaped. We carried Mr. Watson--Tom and I and two others--into the +boat, on the evening of the day when I last saw you, and made for the +Dutch vessel out at sea near the river's mouth. The light was waning, +but not yet so far gone but that objects were discernible; and we had +not rowed a very long time before we heard a splashing of oars behind +us, and turning round what should we see but one of the Queen's +barges, and by the floating pennon at the stem discerned her majesty +to be on board! We hastily turned our boat, and I my back toward the +bank; threw a cloak over Mr. Watson, who, by reason of his broken +limbs, was lying on a mattress at the bottom of it; and Tom and the +others feigned to be fishing. When the royal barge passed by, some one +did shout, railing at us for that we did fish in the dark, and a storm +coming up the river; and verily it did of a sudden begin to blow very +strong. Sundry small craft were coming from the sea into the river for +shelter; and as they did meet as, expressed marvel we should +adventure forth, jeering us for our thinking to catch fish and a storm +menacing. None of us, albeit good rowers, were much skilled in the +mariner's art; but we commended ourselves to God and went onward all +the night; and when the morning was breaking, to our unspeakable +comfort, we discovered the Dutch vessel but a few strokes distant at +anchor, when, as we bethought ourselves nearly in safety, a huge +rolling wave (for now the weather had waxed exceedingly rough) upset +our boat." + +"O Muriel," I exclaimed, "that night I tossed about in a high fever, +and saw Basil come dripping wet at the foot of my bed: I warrant you +'twas second sight." + +"Read on, read on," Muriel said; "nor delude yourself touching +visions." + +"Tom, the other boatman, and I, being good swimmers, soon regained the +boat, the which floated keel upwards, whereon we climbed, but +well-nigh demented were we to find Mr. Watson could nowhere be seen. +In desperation I plunged again into the sea, swimming at hazard, with +difficulty buffeting the waves; when nearly spent I descried the good +priest, and seized him in a most unmannerly fashion by the collar, and +dragging him along, made shift to regain the floating keel; and Tom, +climbing to the top, waved high his kerchief, hoping to be seen by the +Dutchman, who by good hap did espy our signal. Soon had we the joy to +see a boat lowered and advance toward us. With much difficulty it +neared us, by reason of the fury of the waves; but, God be thanked, it +did at last reach us; and Mr. Watson, insensible and motionless, was +hoisted therein, and soon in safety conveyed on board the vessel. I +much feared for his life; for, I pray you, was such a cold, long bath, +succeeding to a painful exposed night, meet medicine for broken limbs, +and the fever which doth accompany such hurts? I wot not; but yet, God +be praised, he is now in the hospital of a monastery in this town, +well tended and cared for, and the leeches do assure me like to do +well. Thou mayest think, sweetheart, that after seeing him safely +stowed in that good lodgment, I waited not for to change my clothes or +break my fast, before I went to the church; and on my knees blessed +the Almighty for his protection, and hung a thank-offering on to our +Lady's image; for I warrant you, when I was fishing for Mr. Watson in +that raging sea, I missed not to put up Hail Marys as fast as I could +think them, for beshrew me if I had breath to spare for to utter. I do +now pen this letter at my good friend Mr. Wells's brother's, and Tom +will take it with him to London, and Mr. Hodgson convey it to thee. +Thy affectionate and humble obedient (albeit intending to lord it over +thee some coming day) servant and lover, BASIL ROOKWOOD. + +"Oh, how the days do creep till I be out of my wardship! Methinks I do +feel somewhat like Mrs. Helen Ingoldsby, who doth hate patience, she +saith, by reason that it doth always keep her waiting. I would not be +patient, sweet one, I fear, if impatience would carry me quicker to +thy dear side." + +"Well," said Muriel, sweetly smiling when I had finished reading this +comfortable letter, "the twain which we have accompanied this past +fortnight with our thoughts and prayers have both, God be praised, +escaped from a raging sea into a safe harbor, albeit not of the same +sort--the one earthly, the other heavenly. Oh, but I am very glad, +dear Constance, thou art spared a greater trial than hath yet touched +thee!" and so pure a joy beamed in her eyes, that methought no one +more truly fulfilled that bidding, "to rejoice with such as rejoice, +as well as to weep with such as weep." + +This letter of my dear Basil hastened my recovery; and three days +later, having received an invitation thereunto, I went to visit the +Countess of Surrey, now also of Arundel, at Arundel House. The trouble +she was in by reason of her grandfather's death, and of my Lady +Lumley's, who had preceded her father to the grave, exceeded anything +she had yet endured. The earl her husband continued the same hard +usage toward her, and never so much as came to visit her at that time +of her affliction, but remained in Norfolk, attending to his sports of +hunting and the like. Howsoever, as he had satisfied her uncles, Mr. +Francis and Mr. Leonard Dacre, Mr. James Labourn, and also Lord +Montague, and his own sister Lady Margaret Sackville, and likewise +Lord Thomas and Lord William Howard, his brothers, that he put not in +any doubt, albeit words to that effect had once escaped him, the +validity of his marriage, she, with great wisdom and patience, and +prudence very commendable in one of her years, being destitute of any +fitting place to dwell in, resolved to return to his house in London. +At the which at first he seemed not a little displeased, but yet took +no measures for to drive her from it. And in the ordering of the +household and care of his property manifested the same zeal, and +obtained the same good results, as she had procured whilst she lived +at Kenninghall. Methought she had waxed older by some years, not +weeks, since I had seen her, so staid and composed had become the +fashion of her speech and of her carriage. She conversed with me on +mine own troubles and comforts, and the various and opposite haps +which had befallen me; which I told her served to strengthen in me my +early thinking, that sorrows are oftentimes so intermixed with joys +that our lives do more resemble variable April days than the cloudless +skies of June, or the dark climate of winter. + +Whilst we did thus discourse, mine eyes fell on a quaint piece of work +in silk and silver, which was lying on a table, as if lately unfolded. +Lady Arundel smiled in a somewhat sad fashion, and said: + +"I warrant thou art curious, Constance, to examine that piece of +embroidery; and verily as regards the hands which hath worked it, and +the kind intent with which it was wrought, a more notable one should +not easily be found. Look at it, and see if thou canst read the +ingenious meaning of it." + +This was the design therein executed with exceeding great neatness and +beauty: there was a tree framed, whereon two turtle-doves sat, on +either side one, with this difference, that by that on the right hand +there were two or three green leaves remaining, by the other none at +all--the tree on that side being wholly bare. Over the top of the tree +were these words, wrought in silver: "Amoris sorte pares." At the +bottom of the tree, on the side where the first turtle-dove did sit by +the green leaves, these words were also embroidered: "Haec ademptum," +with an anchor under them. On the other side, under the other dove, +were these words, in like manner wrought: "Illa peremptum," with +pieces of broken board underneath. + +"See you what this doth mean?" the countess asked. + +"Nay," I answered; "my wit is herein at fault." + +"You will," she said, "when you know whence this gift comes to me. +Methought, save by a few near to me in blood, or by marriage +connected, and one or two friends--thou, my Constance, being the +chiefest--I was unknown to all the world; but a sad royal heart having +had notice, in the midst of its own sore griefs, how the earl my +husband doth, through evil counsel, absent and estrange himself from +me, partly to comfort, and partly to show her love to one she once +thought should be her daughter-in-law, for a token thereof she sent me +this gift, contrived by her own thinking, and wrought with her own +hands. Those two doves do represent herself and me. On my side an +anchor and a few green leaves (symbols of hope), show I may yet +flourish, because my lord is alive; though, by reason of his absence +and unkindness, I mourn as a lone turtle-dove. But the bare +boughs and broken boards on her side signify that her hopes are wholly +wrecked by the death of the duke, for whom she doth mourn without hope +of comfort or redress." + +The pathetic manner in which Lady Arundel made this speech moved me +almost to tears. + +"If Philip," she said, "doth visit me again at any time, I will hang +up this ingenious conceit where he should see it. Methinks it will +recall to him the past, and move him to show me kindness. Help me, +Constance," she said after a pause, "for to compose such an answer as +my needle can express, which shall convey to this royal prisoner both +thanks, and somewhat of hope also, albeit not of the sort she doth +disclaim.'" + +I mused for a while, and then with a pencil drew a pattern of a like +tree to that of the Scottish queen's design; and the dove which did +typify the Countess of Arundel I did represent fastened to the branch, +whereon she sat and mourned, by many strings wound round her heart, +and tied to the anchor of an earthly hope, whereas the one which was +the symbol of the forlorn royal captive did spread her wings toward +the sky, unfettered by the shattered relics strewn at her feet. Lady +Arundel put her arm round my neck, and said she liked well this +design; and bade me for to pray for her, that the invisible strings, +which verily did restrain in her heavenward motions, should not always +keep her from soaring thither where only true joys are to be found. + +During some succeeding weeks I often visited her, and we wrought +together at the same frame in the working of this design, which she +had set on hand by a cunning artificer from the rough pattern I had +drawn. Much talk the while was ministered between us touching +religion, which did more and more engage her thoughts; Mr. Bayley, a +Catholic gentleman who belonged to the earl her husband, and whom she +did at that time employ to carry relief to sick and poor persons, +helping her greatly therein, being well instructed himself, and +haunting such priests as did reside secretly in London at that time. + +About the period when Basil was expected to return, my health was +again much affected, not so sharply as before, but a weakness and +fading of strength did show the effects of such sufferings as I had +endured. Hubert's behavior did tend at that time for to keep me in +great uneasiness. When he came to the house, albeit he spake but +seldom to me, if we ever were alone he gave sundry hints of a +persistent hope and a possible desperation, mingled with vague +threats, which disturbed me more than can be thought of. Methinks +Kate, Polly, and Muriel held council touching my health; and thence +arose a very welcome proposal, from my Lady Tregony, that I should +visit her at her seat in Norfolk, close on the borders of Suffolk, +whither she had retired since Thomas Sherwood's death. Polly, who had +a good head and a good heart albeit too light a mind, forecasted the +comfort it should be to Basil and me, when he returned, to be so near +neighbors until we were married (which could not be before some months +after he came of age), that we could meet every day; Lady Tregony's +seat being only three miles distant from Euston. They wrote to him +thereon; and when his answer came, the joy he expressed was such that +nothing could be greater. And on a fair day in the spring, when the +blossoms of the pear and apple-trees were showing on the bare +branches, even as my hopes of coming joys did bud afresh after long +pangs of separation, I rode from London, by slow journeys, to Banham +Hall, and amidst the sweet silence of rural scenes, quiet fields, and +a small but convenient house, where I was greeted with maternal +kindness by one in whom age retained the warmth of heart of youth, I +did regain so much strength and good looks, that when, one day, a + horsemen, when I least thought of it, rode to the door, and I +turned white and red in turns, speechless with delight, perceiving it +to be Basil, he took me by both hands, looked into my face and cried: + +"Hang the leeches! Suffolk air was all thou didst need, for all they +did so fright me." + +"Norfolk air, I pray you," quoth my Lady Tregony, smiling. + +"Nay, nay," quoth Basil. "It +doth blow over the border from Suffolk." + +"Happiness, leastways, bloweth thence," I whispered. + +"Yea," he answered; for he was not one for to make long speeches. + +But, ah me! the sight of him was a cure to all mine ailments. + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +It is not to be credited with how great an admixture of pleasure and +pain I do set myself to my daily task of writing, for the thought of +those spring and summer months spent in Lady Tregony's house doth stir +up old feelings, the sweetness of which hath yet some bitterness in +it, which I would fain separate from the memories of that happy time. + +Basil had taken up his abode at Euston, whither I so often went and +whence he so often came, that methinks we could both have told (for +mine own part I can yet do it, even after the lapse of so many years) +the shape of each tree, the rising of each bank, the every winding of +the fair river Ouse betwixt one house and the other. Yea, when I now +sit down on the shore, gazing on the far-off sea, bethinking myself it +doth break on the coast of England, I sometimes newly draw on memory's +tablet that old large house, the biggest in all Suffolk, albeit homely +in its exterior and interior plainness, which sitteth in a green +hollow between two graceful swelling hills. Its opposite meadows +starred in the spring-tide with so many daisies and buttercups that +the grass scantily showeth amidst these gay intruders; the ascending +walk, a mile in length, with four rows of ash-trees on each side, the +tender green of which in those early April days mocked the sober tints +of the darksome tufts of fir; and the noble deer underneath the old +oaks, carrying in a stately manner their horned heads, and darting +along the glades with so swift a course that the eye could scarce +follow them. But mostly the little wooden bridge where, when Basil did +fish, I was wont to sit and watch the sport, I said, but verily him, +of whose sight I was somewhat covetous after his long absence. And I +mind me that one day when we were thus seated, he on the margin of the +stream and I leaning against the bridge, we held an argument touching +country diversions, which began in this wise: + +"Methinks," I said, "of all disports fishing hath this advantage, that +if one faileth in the success he looketh for, he hath at least a +wholesome walk, a sweet air, a fragrant savor of the mead flowers. He +seeth the young swans, herons, ducks, and many other fowls with their +broods, which is surely better than the noise of hounds, the blast of +horns, and the cries the hunters make. And if it be in part used for +the increasing of the body's health and the solace of the mind, it can +also be advantageously employed for the health of the soul, for it is +not needful in this diversion to have a great many persons with you, +and this solitude doth favor thought and the serving of God by +sometimes repeating devout prayers." + +To this Basil replied: "That as there be many men, there be also many +minds; and, for his part, when the woods and fields and skies seemed +in all one loud cry and confusion with the earning of the hounds, the +gallopping of the horses, the hallowing of the huntsmen, and the +excellent echo resounding from the hills and valleys, he did not think +there could be a more delectable pastime or a more tuneable +sound by any degree than this, and specially in that place which is +formed so meet for the purpose. And if he should wish anything, it +would be that it had been the time of year for it, and for me to ride +by his side on a sweet misty mornings to hear this goodly music and to +be recreated with this excellent diversion. And for the matter of +prayers," he added, smiling, "I warrant thee, sweet preacher, that as +wholesome cogitations touching Almighty God and his goodness, and +brief inward thanking of him for good limbs and an easy heart, have +come into my mind on a horse's back with a brave westerly wind blowing +about my head, as in the quiet sitting by a stream listing to the +fowls singing." + +"Oh, but Basil," I rejoined, "there are more virtues to be practised +by an angler than by a hunter." + +"How prove you that, sweetheart?" he asked. + +Then I: "Well, he must be of a well-settled and constant belief to +enjoy the benefit of his expectation. He must be full of love to his +neighbor, that he neither give offence in any particular, nor be +guilty of any general destruction; then he must be exceeding patient, +not chafing in losing the prey when it is almost in hand, or in +breaking his tools, but with pleased sufferance, as I have witnessed +in thyself, amend errors and think mischances instructions to better +carefulness. He must be also full of humble thoughts, not disdaining +to kneel, lie down, or wet his fingers when occasion commands. Then +must he be prudent, apprehending the reasons why the fish will not +bite; and of a thankful nature, showing a large gratefulness for the +least satisfaction." + +"Tut, tut," Basil replied, laughing; "thinkest thou no patience be +needful when the dogs do lose the scent, or your horse refuseth to +take a gate; no prudence to forecast which way to turn when the issue +be doubtful; no humility to brook a fall with twenty fellows passing +by a-jeering of you; no thankfulness your head be not broken; no love +of your neighbor for to abstain in the heat of the chase from treading +down his corn, or for to make amends when it be done? Go to, go to, +sweetheart; thou art a dextrous pleader, but hast failed to prove thy +point. Methinks there doth exist greater temptations for to swear or +to quarrel in hunting than in fishing, and, if resisted, more +excellent virtues then observed. One day last year, when I was in +Cheshire, Sir Peter Lee of Lime did invite me to hunt the stag, and +there being a great stag in chase and many gentlemen hot in the +pursuit, the stag took soil, and divers, whereof I was one, alighted +and stood with sword drawn to have a cut at him." + +"Oh, the poor stag!" I cried; "I do always sorely grieve for him." + +"Well," he continued, "the stags there be wonderfully fierce and +dangerous, which made us youths more eager to be at him. But he +escaped us all; and it was my misfortune to be hindered in my coming +near him, the way being slippery, by a fall which gave occasion to +some which did not know me to speak as if I had failed for fear; which +being told me, I followed the gentleman who first spoke it, intending +for to pick a quarrel with him, and, peradventure, measure my sword +with his, so be his denial and repentance did not appear. But, I thank +God, afore I reached him my purpose had changed, and in its stead I +turned back to pursue the stag, and happened to be the only horseman +in when the dogs set him up at bay; and approaching near him, he broke +through the dogs and ran at me, and took my horse's side with his +horns. Then I quitted my horse, and of a sudden getting behind him, +got on his back and cut his throat with my sword." + +"Alack!" I cried, "I do mislike these bloody pastimes, and love not to +think of the violent death of any living creature." + + +"Well, dear heart," he answered, "I will not make thee sad again by +the mention of the killing of so much as a rat, if it displeaseth +thee. But truly I mislike not to think of that day, for I warrant +thee, in turning back from the pursuit of that injurious gentleman, +somewhat more of virtue did exist than it hath been my hap often to +practice. For, look you, sweet one, to some it doth cause no pain to +forgive an injury which toucheth not their honor, or to plunge into +the sea to fish out a drowning man; but to be styled a coward, and yet +to act as a Christian man should do, not seeking for to be revenged, +why, methinks, there should be a little merit in it." + +"Yea," I said, "much in every way; but truly, sir, if your thinking is +just that easy virtue is little or no virtue, I shall be the least +virtuous wife in the world." + +Upon this he laughed so loud that I told him he would fright all the +fishes away. + +"I' faith, let them go if they list," he cried, and cast away his rod. +Then coming to where I was sitting, he invited me to walk with him +alongside the stream, and then asked me for to explain my last speech. + +"Why, Basil," I said, "what, I pray you, should be the duty of a +virtuous wife but to love her husband?" + +So then he, catching my meaning, smiled and replied, + +"If that duty shall prove easy to thy affectionate heart, I doubt not +but others will arise which shall call for the exercise of more +difficult virtue." + +When we came to a sweet nook, where the shade made it too dark for +grass to grow, and only moss yielded a soil carpet for the feet, we +sat down on a shelving slope of broken stones, and I exclaimed, + +"Oh, Basil, methinks we shall be too happy in this fair place; and I +do tax myself presently with hardness of heart, that in thy company, +and the forecasting of a blissful time to come, I lose the sense of +recent sorrows." + +"God doth yield thee this comfort," he answered, "for to refresh thy +body and strengthen thy soul, which have both been verily sorely +afflicted of late. I ween he doth send us breathing-times with this +merciful intent." + +By such discourses as these we entertained ourselves at sundry times; +but some of the sweetest hours we spent were occupied in planning the +future manner of our lives, the good we should strive to do amongst +our poor neighbors, and the sweet exercise of Catholic religion we +should observe. + +Foreseeing the frequent concealing of priests in his house, Basil sent +one day for a young carpenter, one Master Owen, who hath since been so +noted for the contriving of hiding-places in all the recusants' houses +in England; and verily what I noticed in him during the days he was at +work at Euston did agree with the great repute of sanctity he hath +since obtained. His so small stature, his trick of silence, his +exceeding recollected and composed manner filled me with admiration; +and Basil told me nothing would serve him, the morning he arrived, +when he found a priest was in the house, but to go to shrift and holy +communion, which was his practice, before ever he set to work at his +good business. I took much pleasure in watching his progress. He +scooped out a cell in the walls of the gallery, contriving a door such +as I remembered at Sherwood Hall, which none could see to open unless +they did know of the spring. All the time he was laboring thereat, I +could discern him to be praying; and when he wot not any to be near +him, sang hymns in a loud and exceeding sweet voice. I have never +observed in any one a more religious behavior than in this youth, who, +by his subtle and ingenious art, hath saved the lives of many priests, +and procured mass to be said in houses where none should have durst +for to say or hear it if a refuge of this kind did not exist, wherein +a man may lie ensconced for years, and none can find him, if he come +not forth himself. + + +When he was gone, other sort of workmen were called in, for to make +more habitable and convenient a portion of this large house. For in +this the entire consenting of our minds did appear, that neither of us +desired for to spend money on showy improvements, or to inhabit ten +chambers when five should suffice. What one proposed, the other always +liked well; and if in tastes we did sometimes differ, yet no +disagreement ensued. For, albeit Basil cared not as much as I did for +the good ordering of the library, his indulgent kindness did +nevertheless incline him to favor me with a promise that one hundred +fair, commendable books should be added to those his good father had +collected. He said that Hubert should aid us to choose these goodly +volumes, holy treatises, and histories in French and English, if it +liked me, and poetry also. One pleasant chamber he did laughingly +appoint for to be the scholar's room, in the which he should never so +much as show his face, but Hubert and I read and write, if we listed, +our very heads off. The ancient chapel was now a hall; and, save some +carving on the walls which could not be recovered, no traces did +remain of its old use. But at the top-most part of the house, at the +head of a narrow staircase, was a chamber wherein mass was sometimes +said; and since Basil's return, he had procured that each Saturday a +priest should come and spend the night with him, for the convenience +of all the neighboring Catholics who resorted there for to go to their +duty. Lady Tregony and her household--which were mostly Catholic, but +had not the same commodities in her house, where to conceal any one +was more hard, for that it stood almost in the village of Fakenham, +and all comers and goers proved visible to the inhabitants--did repair +on Sundays, at break of day, to Euston. How sweet were those rides in +the fair morning light, the dew bespangling every herb and tree, and +the wild flowers filling the air with their fresh fragrance! The pale +primroses, the azure harebell, the wood-anemone, and the dark-blue +hyacinth--what dainty nosegays they furnished us with for our Blessed +Lady's altar! of which the fairest image I ever beheld stood in the +little secret chapel at Euston. Basil did much affection this image of +Blessed Mary; for as far back as he could remember he had been used to +say his prayers before it; and when his mother died, he being only +seven years of age, he knelt before this so lively representation of +God's Mother, beseeching of her to be a mother to him also; which +prayer methinks verily did take effect, his life having been marked by +singular tokens of her maternal care. + +In the Holy Week, which fell that year in the second week of April, he +procured the aid of three priests, and had all the ceremonies +performed which do appertain to that sacred season. On Wednesday, +toward evening began _Tenebrae_, with the mysterious candlestick of +fifteen lights, fourteen of them representing, by the extinguishing of +them, the disciples which forsook Christ; the fifteenth on the top, +which was not put out, his dear Mother, who from the crib to the +cross, was not severed from him. On Thursday we decked the sepulchre +wherein the Blessed Sacrament reposed with flowers and all such jewels +as we possessed, and namely with a very fair diamond cross which Basil +had gifted me with, and reverently attended it day and night. "God +defend," I said to Basil, when the sepulchre was removed, "I should +retain for vain uses what was lent to our Lord yester eve!" and +straightway hung on the cross to our Lady's neck. On Friday we all +crept to the crucifix, and kissing, bathed it with our tears. On +Saturday every fire was extinguished in the house, and kindled again +with hallowed fire. Then ensued the benediction of the paschal candle, +and the rest of the divine ceremonies, till mass. At mass, as soon as +the priest pronounced "Gloria in excelsis," a cloth, contrived by Lady +Tregony and me, and which veiled the altar, made resplendent +with lights and flowers, was suddenly snatched away, and many little +bells we had prepared for that purpose rung, in imitation of what was +done in England in Catholic times, and now in foreign countries. On +Easter Sunday, after mass, a benediction was given to divers sorts of +meat, and, in remembrance of the Lamb sacrificed two days before, a +great proportion of lamb. Nigh one hundred recusants had repaired to +Euston that day for their paschal communion. Basil did invite them all +to break Lent's neck with us, in honor of Christ's joyful +resurrection; and many blessings were showered that day, I ween, on +Master Rookwood, and for his sake, I ween, on Mistress Sherwood also. +The sun did shine that Easter morning with more than usual brightness. +The common people do say it danceth for joy at this glorious tide. For +my part, methought it had a rare youthful brilliancy, more cheering +than hot, more lightsome than dazzling. All nature seemed to rejoice +that Christ was risen; and pastoral art had devised arches of flowers +and gay wreaths hanging from pole to pole and gladdening every +thicket. + +Verily, if the sun danced in the sky, my poor heart danced in my +bosom. At Basil's wishing, anticipating future duties, I went to the +kitchen for to order the tansy-cakes which were to be prizes at the +hand-ball playing on the next day. Like a foolish creature, I was +ready to smile at every jest, howsoever trifling; and when Basil put +in his head at the door and cried, "Prithee, let each one that eateth +of tansy-cake to-morrow, which signifieth bitter herbs, take also of +bacon, to show he is no Jew," the wenches and I did laugh till the +tears ran down our cheeks. Ah me! when the heart doth overflow with +joy 'tis marvellous how the least word maketh merriment. + +One day late in April I rode with Basil for to see some hawking, which +verily is a pleasure for high and mounting spirits; howsoever, I wore +not the dress which the ladies in this country do use on such +occasions, for I have always thought it an unbecoming thing for women +to array themselves in male attire, or ride in fashion like a man, and +Basil is of my thinking thereon. It was a dear, calm, sun-shiny +evening, about an hour before the sun doth usually mask himself, that +we went to the river. There we dismounted and, for the first time, I +did behold this noble pastime. For is it not rare to consider how a +wild bird should be so brought to hand and so well managed as to make +us such pleasure in the air; but most of all to forego her native +liberty and feeding, and return to her servitude and diet? And what a +lesson do they read to us when our wanton wills and thoughts take no +heed of reason and conscience's voices luring us back to duty's perch. + +When we had stood a brief time watching for a mallard, Basil perceived +one and whistled off his falcon. She flew from him as if she would +never have turned her head again, yet upon a shout came in. Then by +degrees, little by little, flying about and about, she mounted so high +as if she had made the moon the place of her flight, but presently +came down like a stone at the sound of his lure. I waxed very eager in +the noticing of these haps, and was well content to be an eye-witness +of this sport. Methought it should be a very pleasant thing to be +Basil's companion in it, and wear a dainty glove and a gentle tasel on +my fist which should never cast off but at my bidding, and when I let +it fly would return at my call. And this thought minded me of a +faithful love never diverted from its resting-place save by heavenward +aspirations alternating betwixt earthly duties and ghostly soarings. +But oh, what a tragedy was enacted in the air when Basil, having +detected by a little white feather in its tail a cock in a brake, cast +off a tasel gentle, who never ceased his circular motion till he had +recovered his place. Then suddenly upon the flushing of the cock +he came down, and missing of it in that down-come, lo what working +there was on both sides! The cock mounting as if he would have pierced +the skies; the hawk flying a contrary way until he had made the wind +his friend; what speed the cock made to save himself! What hasty +pursuit the hawk made of the fugitive! after long flying killing of +it, but alack in killing of it killing himself! + +"Ah, a fatal ending to a fatal strife!" exclaimed a known voice close +unto mine ear, a melodious one, albeit now harsh to my hearing. Mine +eyes were dazzled with gazing upward, and I confusedly discerned two +gentlemen standing near me, one of which I knew to be Hubert. I gave +him my hand, and then Basil turning round and beholding him and his +companion, came up to them with a joyful greeting: + +"Oh, Sir Henry," he exclaimed, "I be truly glad to see you; and you, +Hubert, what a welcome surprise is this!" + +Then he introduced me to Sir Henry Jemingham; for he it was who, +bowing in a courteous fashion, addressed to me such compliments as +gentlemen are wont to pay to ladies at the outset of their +acquaintanceship. + +These visitors had left their horses a few paces off, and then Sir +Henry explained that Hubert had been abiding with him at his seat for +a few days, and that certain law-business in which Basil was concerned +as well as his brother, and himself also, as having been for one year +his guardian, did necessitate a meeting wherein these matters should +be brought to a close. + +"So," quoth he then, "Master Basil, I proposed we should invade your +solitude in place of withdrawing you from it, which methought of the +two evils should be the least, seeing what attractions do detain you +at Euston at this time." + +I foolishly dared not look at Hubert when Sir Henry made this speech, +and Basil with hearty cheer thanked him for his obliging conduct and +the great honor he did him for to visit him in this amicable manner. +Then he craved his permission for to accompany me to Lady Tregony's +house, trusting, he said, to Hubert to conduct him to Euston, and to +perform there all hospitable duties during the short time he should be +absent himself. + +"Nay, nay," quoth Sir Henry, "but, with your license, Master Basil, we +will ride with you and this lady to Banham Hall. Methinks, seeing you +are such near neighbors, that Mistress Sherwood lacketh not +opportunities to enjoy your company, and that you should not deprive +me of the pleasure of a short conversation with her whilst Hubert and +you entertain yourselves for the nonce in the best way you can." + +Basil smiled, and said it contented him very much that Sir Henry +should enjoy my conversation, which he hoped in future should make +amends to his friends for his own deficiencies. So we all mounted our +horses, and Sir Henry rode alongside of me, and Basil and Hubert +behind us; for only two could hold abreast in the narrow lane which +led to Fakenham. A chill had fallen on my heart since Hubert's +arrival, which I can only liken to the sudden overcasting of a bright +sun-shiny day by a dark, cold cloud. + +At first Sir Henry entered into discourse with me touching hawking, +which he talked of in a merry fashion, drawing many similitudes +betwixt falconers and lovers, which he said were the likest people in +the world. + +"For, I pray you," said he "are not hawks to the one what his mistress +is to the other? the objects of his care, admiration, labor, and all. +They be indeed his idols. To them he consecrates his amorous ditties, +and courts each one in a peculiar dialect. Oh, believe me, Mistress +Sherwood, that lady may style herself fortunate in love who shall meet +with so much thought, affection, and solicitude from a lover or a +husband as his birds do from a good ostringen." + + +Then diverting his speech to other topics, he told me it was bruited +that the queen did intend to make a progress in the eastern counties +that summer, and that her majesty should be entertained in a very +splendid manner at Kenninghall by my Lord Arundel and also at his +house in Norwich. + +"It doth much grieve me to hear it," I answered. + +Then he: "Wherefore, Mistress Sherwood?" + +"Because," I said, "Lord Arundel hath already greatly impaired his +fortune and spent larger sums than can be thought of in the like +prodigal courtly expenses, and also lost a good part of the lands +which his grandfather and my Lady Lumley would have bequeathed to him +if he had not turned spendthrift and so greatly displeased them." + +"But and if it be so," quoth he again, "wherefore doth this young +nobleman's imprudence displeasure you, Mistress Sherwood?" + +I answered, "By reason of the pain which his follies do cause to his +sweet lady, which for many years hath been more of a friend to my poor +self, than unequal rank and, if possible, still more unequal merit +should warrant." + +"Then I marvel not," replied Sir Henry, "at your resentment of her +husband's folly, for by all I have ever seen or heard of this lady she +doth show herself to be the pattern of a wife, the model of high-born +ladies; and 'tis said that albeit so young, there doth exist in her so +much merit and dignity that some noblemen confess that when they come +into her presence they dare not swear, as at other times they are wont +to do before the best of the kingdom. But I have heard, and am verily +inclined to believe it, that he is much changed in his dispositions +toward his lady; though pride, it may be, or shame at his ill-usage of +her, or fear that it should seem that, now his favor with the queen +doth visibly decline, he should turn to her whom, when fortune smiled +upon him, he did keep aloof from, seeking her only when clouds gather +round him, do hinder him from showing these new inclinations." + +"How much he would err," I exclaimed, "and wrong his noble wife if he +misdoubted her heart in such a case! Methinks most women would be +ready to forgive one they loved when misfortune threatened them, but +she beyond all others, who never at any time allowed jealousy or +natural resentments to draw away her love from him to whom she hath +vowed it. But is Lord Arundel then indeed in less favor with her +majesty? And how doth this surmise agree with the report of her visit +to Kenninghall?" + +"Ah, Mistress Sherwood," he answered, "declines in the human body +often do call for desperate remedies, and the like are often required +when they occur in court favor. 'Tis a dangerous expedient to spend +two or three thousands of pounds in one or two days for the +entertainment of the queen and the court; but if, on the report of her +intended progress, one of such high rank as Lord Arundel had failed to +place his house at her disposal, his own disgrace and his enemies' +triumph should have speedily ensued. I pray God my Lord Burleigh do +not think on Cottessy! Egad, I would as lief pay down at once one +year's income as to be so uncertainly mulcted. I warrant you Lord +Arundel shall have need to sell an estate to pay for the honor her +majesty will do him. He hath a spirit will not stop half-way in +anything he doth pursue." + +"Then think you, sir," I said, "he will be one day as noted for his +virtues as now for his faults?" + +Sir Henry smiled as he answered, "If Philip Howard doth set himself +one day to serve God, I promise you his zeal therein will far exceed +what he hath shown in the devil's service." + +"I pray you prove a true prophet, sir," I said; and, as we now had +reached the door of Lady Tregony's house, I took leave of this +courteous gentlemen, and hastily turned toward Basil--with an +uneasy desire to set him on his guard to use some reserve in his +speeches with Hubert, but withal at a loss how to frame a brief +warning, or to speak without being overheard. Howsoever, I drew him a +little aside, and whispered, "Prithee, be silent touching Owen's work, +even to Hubert." + +He looked at me so much astonished, and methought with so great a look +of pain, that my heart smote me. We exchanged a brief farewell; and +when they had all ridden away, I felt sad. Our partings were wont to +be more protracted; for he would most times ask me to walk back with +him to the gate, and then made it an excuse that it should be +unmannerly not to see me home, and so three or four times we used to +walk to and fro, till at last I did laughingly shut the door on him, +and refused to open it again. But, ah me! that evening the chill I +spoke of had fallen on our simple joys like a blight on a fair +landscape. + +On the next day two missives came to me from Euston, sent by private +hand, but not by the same messenger. I leave the reader to judge what +I felt in reading these proofs of the dispositions of two brothers, so +alike in features, so different in soul. This was Basil's letter: + +"MINE OWN DEAR HEART-- +The business which hath brought Sir Henry and Hubert here will, I be +frightened, hold me engaged all to-morrow. But, before I sleep, I must +needs write thee (poor penman as I be) how much it misliketh me to see +in thee an ill opinion of mine only and dear brother, and such +suspicion as verily no one should entertain of a friend, but much less +of one so near in blood. I do yield thee that he is not as zealous as +I could wish in devout practices, and something too fond of worldly +pleasures; but God is my witness, I should as soon think of doubting +mine own existence as his fidelity to his religion, or his kindness to +myself. So, prithee, dear love, pain me not again by the utterance of +such injurious words to Hubert as that I should not trust him with any +secrets howsoever weighty, or should observe any manner of restraint +in communicating with him touching common dangers and interests. +Methinks he is very sad at this time, and that the sight of his +paternal home hath made him melancholy. Verily, his lot hath in it +none of the brightness which doth attend mine, and I would we could +anyways make him a partaker in the happiness we do enjoy. I pray God +he may help me to effect this, by the forwarding of any wish he hath +at heart; but he was always of a very reserved habit of mind, and not +prone to speak of his own concernments. Forgive, sweetheart, this +loving reproof, from thy most loving friend and servant," +"BASIL ROOKWOOD." + +Hubert's was as followeth: + +"MADAM-- +My presumption toward you hath doubtless been a sin calling +for severe punishment; but I pray you leave not the cause of it +unremembered. The doubtful mind you once showed in my regard, and of +which the last time I saw you some marks methought did yet appear, +should be my excuse if I have erred in a persistency of love, which +most women would less deserve indeed, but would more appreciate than +you have done. If this day no token doth reach me of your changed +mind, be it so. I depart hence as changed as you do remain unchanged. +It may be for mine own weal, albeit passion deems of it otherwise, if +you finally reject me whom once you did look upon with so great favor, +that the very thought of it works in me a revived tenderness as should +be mine own undoing if it prevailed, for this country hath laws which +are not broken in vain, and faithful loyal service is differently +requited than traitorous and obstinate malignity. I shall be the +greater for lacking your love, proud lady; but to have it I would +forego all a sovereign can bestow--all that ambition can desire. +These, then, are my last words. If we meet not to-day, God +knoweth with what sentiments we shall one day meet, when justice hath +overtaken you, and love in me hath turned to hatred!" + +"HUBERT ROOKWOOD." + +"Ay," I bitterly exclaimed, laying the two letters side by side before +me, "one endeth with love, the other with hate. The one showeth the +noble fruits of true affection, the other the bitter end of selfish +passion." Then I mused if I should send Basil, or show him later +Hubert's letter, clearing myself of any injustice toward him, but +destroying likewise for ever his virtuous confidence his brother's +honor. A short struggle with myself ensued, but I soon resolved, for +the present at least, on silence. If danger did seem to threaten +Basil, which his knowledge of his brother's baseness could avert, then +I must needs speak; but God defend I should without constraint pour a +poisoned drop into the dear fount of his undoubting soul. Passion may +die away, hatred may cease, repentance arise; but the evil done by the +revealing of another's sin worketh endless wrong to the doer and the +hearer. + +The day on which I received these two letters did seem the longest I +had ever known. On the next Basil came to Banham Hall, and told me his +guests were gone. A load seemed lifted from my heart But, albeit we +resumed our wonted manner of life, and the same mutual kindness and +accustomed duties and pleasures filled our days, I felt less secure in +my happiness, less thoughtless of the world without, more subject to +sudden sinkings of heart in the midst of greatest merriment, than +before Hubert's visit. + +In the early part of June, Mr. Congleton wrote in answer to Basil's +eager pressings that he would fix the day of our marriage, that he was +of opinion a better one could not be found than that of our Lady's +Visitation, on the 2d of July, and that, if it pleased God, he should +then take the first journey he had made for five-and-twenty years; for +nothing would serve Lady Tregony but that the wedding should take +place in her house, where a priest would marry us in secret at break +of day, and then we should ride to the parish church at Euston for the +public ceremony. He should, he added, carry Muriel with him, howsoever +reluctant she should be to leave London; but he promised us this +should be a welcome piece of constraint, for that she longed to see me +again more than can be told. + +Verily, pleasant letters reached me that week; for my father wrote he +was in better health, and in great peace and contentment of mind at +Rheims, albeit somewhat sad, when he saw younger and more fortunate +men (for so he styled them) depart for the English mission; and by a +cypher we had agreed on he gave me to understand Edmund Genings was of +that number. And Lady Arundel, to whom I had reported the conversation +I had with Sir Henry Jemingham, sent me an answer which I will here +transcribe: + +"MY WELL-BELOVED CONSTANCE +--You do rightly read my heart, and the hope you express in my regard, +with so tender a friendship and solicitous desire for my happiness, +hath indeed a better foundation than idle surmises. It hath truly +pleased God that Philip's disposition toward me should change; and +albeit this change is not as yet openly manifested, he nevertheless +doth oftentimes visit me, and testifies much regret for his past +neglect of one whom he doth now confess to be his truest friend, his +greatest lover, and best comfort. O mine own dear friend! my life has +known many strange accidents, but none greater or more strange than +this, that my so long indifferent husband should turn into a secret +lover who doth haunt me by stealth, and looking on me with new eyes, +appears to conceive so much admiration for my worthless beauty, and to +find such pleasure in my poor company, that it would seem as if a new +face and person had been given to me wherewith to inspire him +with this love for her to whom he doth owe it. Oh, I promise thee this +husbandly wooing liketh me well, and methinks I would not at once +disclose to the world this new kindness he doth show me and revival of +conjugal affection, but rather hug it and cherish it like a secret +treasure until it doth take such deep root that nothing can again +separate his heart from me. His fears touching the queen's +ill-conception of him increase, and his enemies do wax more powerful +each day. The world hath become full of uneasiness to him. Methinks he +would gladly break with it; but like to one who walketh on a narrow +plank, with a precipice on each side of him, his safety lieth only in +advancing. The report is true--I would it were false--of the queen's +progress, and her intended visit to Kenninghall. I fear another fair +estate in the north must needs pay the cost thereof; but avoidance is +impossible. I am about to remove from London to Arundel Castle, where +my lord doth will me for the present to reside. The sea-breezes on +that coast, and the mild air of Sussex, he thinks should improve my +health, which doth at this time require care. Touching religion, I +have two or three times let fall words which implied an increased +inclination to Catholic religion. Each time his countenance did very +much alter, and assumed a painful expression. I fear he is as greatly +opposed to it as heretofore. But if once resolved on what conscience +doth prescribe, with God's help, I hope that neither new-found joys +nor future fears shall stay me from obeying its voice. + +"And so thou art to be married come the early days of July! I' faith +thy Basil and thou have, like a pair of doves, cooed long enough, I +ween, amidst the tall trees of Euston; which, if you are to be +believed, should be the most delectable place in the whole world. And +yet some have told me it is but a huge plain building, and the country +about it, except for its luxuriant trees, of no notable beauty. The +sunshine of thine own heart sheddeth, I ween, a radiancy on the plain +walls and the unadorned gardens greater than nature or art can bestow. +I cry thee mercy for this malicious surmise, and give thee license, +when I shall write in the same strain touching my lord's castle at +Arundel to flout me in a like manner. Some do disdainfully style it a +huge old fortress; others a very grand and noble pile. If that good +befalleth me that he doth visit me there, then I doubt not but it will +be to me the cheerfullest place in existence. Thy loving servant to +command, + + "ANN ARUNDEL AND SURREY." + +This letter came to my hand at Whitsuntide, when the village folks +were enacting a pastoral, the only merit of which did lie in the +innocent glee of the performers. The sheep-shearing feast, a very +pretty festival, ensued a few days later. A fat lamb was provided, and +the maidens of the town permitted to run after it, and she which took +hold of it declared the lady of the lamb. 'Tis then the custom to kill +and carry it on a long pole before the lady and her companions to the +green, attended with music and morisco dances. But this year I +ransomed the lamb, and had it crowned with blue corn-flowers and +poppies, and led to a small paddock, where for some time I visited and +fed it every day. Poor little lamb! like me, it had one short happy +time that summer. + +In the evening I went with the lasses to the banks of the Ouse, and +scattered on the dimpling stream, as is their wont at the lamb-ale, a +thousand odorous flowers--new-born roses, the fleur-de-luce, +sweet-williams, and yellow coxcombs, the small-flowered +lady's-slipper, the prince's-feather and the clustered bell-flower, +the sweet-basil (the saucy wenches smiled when they furnished me with +a bunch thereof), and a great store of midsummer daisies. When, with +due observance, I threw on the water a handful of these golden-tufted +and silver-crowned flowerets, I thought of Master Chaucer's +lines: + + "Above all the flowers in the mead + These love I most--these flowers white and red. + And in French called _la belle Marguerite_. + O commendable flower, and most in mind! + O flower and gracious excellence! + O amiable Marguerite." + +The great store of winsome and graciously-named flowers used that day +set me to plan a fair garden, wherein each month should yield in its +turn to the altar of our secret chapel a pure incense of nature's own +furnishing. Basil was helping me thereto, and my Lady Tregony smiling +at my quaint devices, when Mr. Cobham, a cousin of her ladyship, +arrived, bringing with him news of the queen's progress, which quickly +diverted us from other thoughts, and caused my pencil to stand idle in +mine hand. + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"Ah, ladies," exclaimed Mr. Cobham--pleased, I ween, to see how +eagerly we looked for his news--"I promise you the eastern counties do +exhibit their loyalty in a very commendable fashion, and so report +saith her majesty doth think. The gallant appearance and brave array +of the Suffolk esquires hath drawn from her highness sundry marks of +her approval. What think you, my Lady Tregony, of two hundred +bachelors, all gaily clad in white-velvet coats, and those of graver +years in black-velvet coats and fair gold chains, with fifteen hundred +men all mounted on horseback, and Sir William le Spring of Lavenham at +their head. I warrant you a more comely troop and a nobler sight +should not often be seen. Then, in Norfolk, what great sums of money +have been spent! Notably at Kenninghall, where for divers days not +only the queen herself was lodged and feasted, with all her household, +council, courtiers, and all their company, but all the gentlemen also, +and people of the country who came thither upon the occasion, in such +plentiful, bountiful, and splendid manner, as the like had never been +seen before in these counties. Every night she hath slept at some +gentleman's seat. At Holdstead Hall I had the honor to be presented to +her highness, and to see her dance a minuet. But an unlucky accident +did occur that evening." + +"No lives were lost, I hope?" Lady Tregony said. + +"No lives," Master Cobham answered; "but a very precious fan which her +majesty let drop into the moat--one of white and red feathers, which +Sir Francis Drake had gifted her with on New Year's day. It was +enamelled with a half-moon of mother-o'-pearl and had her majesty's +picture within it." + +"And at Norwich, sir?" I asked. "Methinks, by some reports we heard, +the pageants there must have proved exceeding grand." + +"Rare indeed," he replied. "On the 16th she did enter the town at +Harford Bridge. The mayor received her with a long Latin oration, very +tedious; and, moreover, presented her with a fair cup of silver, +saying, 'Here is one hundred pounds pure gold.' To my thinking, the +cup was to her liking more than the speech, and the gold most of all; +for when one of her footmen advanced for to take the cup, she said +sharply, 'Look to it: there is one hundred pounds.' Lord! what a +number of pageants were enacted that day and those which followed! +Deborah, Judith, Esther at one gate; Queen Martia at another; on the +heights near Blanche-flower Castle, King Gurgunt and his men. Then all +the heathen deities in turn: Mercury driving full speed through the +city in a fantastic car; Jupiter presenting her with a riding-rod, and +Venus with a white dove. But the rarest of all had been designed +by Master Churchyard. Where her majesty was to take her barge, at the +back-door of my Lord Arundel's town-house, he had prepared a goodly +masque of water-nymphs concealed in a deep hole, and covered with +green canvas, which suddenly opening as if the ground gaped, first one +nymph was intended to pop up and make a speech to the queen, and then +another; and a very complete concert to sound secretly and strangely +out of the earth. But when the queen passed in her coach, a +thunder-shower came down like a water-spout, and great claps of +thunder silenced the concert; which some did presage to be an evil +omen of the young lord's fortunes." + +"I' faith," cried Basil, "I be sorry for the young nobleman, and yet +more for the poor artificer of this ingenious pageant, to whom his +nymphs turned into drowned rats must needs have been a distressing +sight." + +"He was heard to lament over it," Master Cobham said, "in very +pathetic terms: 'What shall I say' (were his words) 'of the loss of +velvets, silks, and cloths of gold? Well, nothing but the old +adage--Man doth purpose, but God dispose.' Well, the mayor hath been +knighted; and her majesty said she should never forget his city. On +her journey she looked back, and, with water in her eyes, shaked her +riding whip, and cried, 'Farewell Norwich!' Yesterday she was to sleep +at Sir Henry Jerningham's at Cottessy, and hunt in his park to-day." + +"Oh, poor Sir Henry!" I said laughing. "Then he hath not escaped this +dear honor?" + +"Notice of it was sent to him but two days before, from Norwich," +Master Cobham rejoined; "and I ween he should have been glad for to be +excused." + +Lady Tregony then reminded us that supper was ready, and we removed to +the dining-hall; but neither did this good gentleman weary of relating +nor we of listening to the various haps of the royal progress, which +he continued to describe whilst we sat at meat. + +He was yet talking when the sound of a horse gallopping under the +windows surprised us, and we had scarce time to turn our heads before +Basil's steward came tumbling into the room head foremost, like one +demented. + +"Sir, sir!" he cried, almost beside himself; "in God's name, what do +you here, and the queen coming for to sleep at your house to-morrow?" + +Methinks a thunder-clap in the midst of the stilly clear evening +should not have startled us so much. Basil's face flushed very deeply; +Lady Tregony looked ready to faint; my heart beat as if it should +burst; Master Cobham threw his hat into the air, and cried, "Long live +Queen Elizabeth, and the old house of Rookwood!" + +"Who hath brought these tidings?" Basil asked of the steward. + +"Marry," replied the man, "one of her majesty's gentlemen and two +footmen have arrived from Cottessy, and brought this letter from Lord +Burleigh for your honor." + +Basil broke the seal, read the missive, and then quietly looking up, +said, "It is true; and I must lose no time to prepare my poor house +for her majesty's abode in it." + +He looked not now red, but somewhat pale. Methinks he was thinking of +the chapel, and what it held; and the queen's servants now in the +house. I would not stay him; but, taking my hand whilst he spoke, he +said to Lady Tregony, + +"Dear lady, I shall lack yours and Constance's aid to-morrow. Will you +do me so much good as to come with her to Euston as early before +dinner as you can?" + +"Yea, we will be with you, my good Basil," she answered, "before ten +of the clock." + +"'Tis not," he said, "that I intend to cast about for fine silks and +cloths of gold, or contrive pageants--God defend it!--or ransack +the country for rare and costly meats; but such honorable cheer and so +much of comfort as a plain gentleman's house can afford, I be bound to +provide for my sovereign when she deigneth to use mine house." + +"Master Cobham, I do crave the honor of your company also," he added, +turning to that gentleman, who, with many acknowledgments of his +courtesy, excused himself on the plea that he must needs be at his own +seat the next day. + +Then Basil, mounting his horse which the steward had brought with him, +rode away so fast that the old man could scarce keep up with him. + +Not once that night did mine eyes close themselves. Either I sat bolt +upright in my bed counting each time the clock struck the number of +chimes, or else, unable to lie still, paced up and down my chamber. +The hours seemed to pass so slowly, more than in times of deep grief. +It seemed so strange a hap that the queen should come to Euston, I +almost fancied at moments the whole thing to be a dream, so fantastic +did it appear. Then a fear would seize me lest the chapel should have +been discovered before Basil could arrive. Minor cares likewise +troubled me; such as the scantiness and bad state of the furniture, +the lack of household conveniences, the difficulty that might arise to +procure sufficient food at a brief notice for so great a number of +persons. Oh, how my head did work all night with these various +thinkings! and it seemed as if the morning would never come, and when +it did that Lady Tregony would never ring her bell. Then I bethought +myself of the want of proper dresses for her and myself to appear in +before her majesty, if so be we were admitted to her presence. +Howsoever, I found she was indifferently well provided in that +respect, for her old good gowns stood in a closet where dust could not +reach them, and she bethought herself I could wear my wedding-dress, +which had come from the seamstress a few days before; and so we should +not be ashamed to be seen. I must needs confess that, though many +doubts and apprehensions filled me touching this day, I did feel some +contentment in the thought of the honor conferred on Basil. If there +was pride in this, I do cry God mercy for it. As we rode to Euston, +the fresh air, the eager looks of the people on the road--for now the +report had spread of the queen's coming--the stir which it caused, the +puttings up of flags, and buildings of green arches, strengthened this +gladness. Basil was awaiting us with much impatience, and immediately +drew me aside. + +"I have locked," he said, "all the books and church furniture, and our +Blessed Lady's image, in Owen's hiding place; so methinks we be quite +secure. Beds and food I have sent for, and they keep coming in. +Prithee, dear love, look well thyself to her majesty's chamber, for to +make it as handsome and befitting as is possible with such poor means +thereunto. I pray God the lodging may be to her contentation for one +night." + +So I hasted to the state-chamber--for so it was called, albeit except +for size it had but small signs of state about it. Howsoever, with the +maids' help, I gathered into it whatsoever furniture in the house was +most handsome, and the wenches made wreaths of ivy and laurel, which +we hung round the bare walls. Thence I went to the kitchen, and found +her majesty's cook was arrived, with as many scullions as should have +served a whole army; so, except speaking to him civilly, and inquiring +what provisions he wanted, I had not much to do there. Then we went +round the house with Mr. Bowyer, the gentleman-usher, for to assign +the chambers to the queen's ladies, and the lords and gentlemen and +the waiting-women. There was no lack of room, but much of proper +furniture; albeit chairs and tables were borrowed on all sides from +the neighboring cottages, and Lady Tregony sent for a store from +her house. Mr. Bowyer held in his hand a list of the persons of the +court now journeying with the queen; Lord Burleigh, Sir Francis +Walsingham, Sir Christopher Hatton, Sir Walter Raleigh, and many other +famous courtiers were foremost in it. When their lodgings were fixed, +he glanced down the paper, and, mine eyes following his, I perceived +among the minor gentlemen there set down Hubert's name, which moved me +very much; for we did not of a surety know at that time he did belong +to the court, and I would fain he had not been present on this +occasion, and new uneasy thoughts touching what had passed at Sir +Francis Walsingham's house, and the words the queen had let fall +concerning him and me, crossed my mind in consequence. But in that +same list I soon saw another name which caused me so vehement an +emotion that Basil, noticing it, pulled me by the hand into another +room for to ask me the cause of that sudden passion. + +"Basil," I whispered, "mine heart will break if that murthering +Richard Topcliffe must sleep under your roof." + +"God defend it!" he exclaimed. But pausing in his speech leant his arm +against the chimney and his head on it for a brief space. Then raising +it, said, in an altered tone, "Mine own love, be patient. We must +needs drink this chalice to the dregs" (which showed me his thoughts +touching this visit had been from the first less hopeful than mine). +Taking my pencil out of mine hand, he walked straight to the door +before which Mr. Bowyer was standing, awaiting us, and wrote thereon +Master Topcliffe's name. Methought his hand shook a little in the +doing of it. I then whispered again in his ear: + +"Know you that Hubert is in the queen's retinue?" + +"No, indeed!" he exclaimed; and then with his bright winning smile, +"Prithee now, show him kindness for my sake. He had best sleep in my +chamber to-night. It will make room, and mind us of our boyish days." + +The day was waning and long shadows falling on the grass when tidings +came that her majesty had been hunting that morning, and would not +arrive till late. About dusk warning was given of her approach. She +rode up on horseback to the house amidst the loud cheering of the +crowd, with all her train very richly attired. But it had waxed so +dark their countenances could not be seen. Her master of the horse +lifted her from the saddle, and she went straight to her own +apartments, being exceeding tired, it was said, with her day's sport +and long riding. Notice was given that her highness would admit none +to her presence that evening. Howsoever, she sent for Basil, and, +giving him her hand to kiss, thanked him in the customary manner for +the use of his house. It had not been intended that Lady Tregony and I +should sleep at Euston, where the room did scarcely suffice for the +queen's suite. So when it was signified her majesty should not leave +her chamber that night, but, after a slight refection, immediately +retire to rest, and her ladies likewise, who were almost dead with +fatigue, she ordered our horses to be brought to the back-door. Basil +stole away from the hall where the lords and gentlemen were assembled +for to bid us good-night. After he had lifted me on the saddle, he +threw his arm round the horse's neck as if for to detain him, and +addressing me very fondly, called me his own love, his sole comfort, +his best treasure, with many other endearing expressions. + +Then I, loth to leave him alone amidst false friends and secret +enemies, felt tenderness overcome me, and I gave him in return some +very tender and passionate assurances of affection; upon which he +kissed mine hands over and over again, and our hearts, overcharged +with various emotions, found relief in this interchange of loving +looks and words. But, alas! this brief interview had an unthought + of witness more than good Lady Tregony, who said once or twice, +"Come, children, bestir yourselves," or "Tut, tut, we should be off;'" +but still lingered herself for to pleasure us. I chanced to look up, +whilst Basil was fastening my horse's bit, and by the light of a lamp +projecting from the wall, I saw Hubert at an open window right over +above our heads. I doubt not but that he had seen the manner of our +parting, and heard the significant expressions therein used; for a +livid hue, and the old terrible look which I had noticed in him +before, disfigured his countenance. I am of opinion that until that +time he had not believed with certainty that my natural, unbiassed +inclination did prompt me to marry Basil, or that I loved him with +other than a convenient and moderate regard, which, if circumstances +reversed their positions, should not be a hindrance to his own suit. +Basil having finished his management with my bridle stepped back with +a smile and last good-night, all unconscious of that menacing visage +which my terrified eyes were now averted from, but which I still +seemed pursued by. It made me weep to think that these two brothers +should lie in the same chamber that coming night; the one so confiding +and guileless of heart, the other so full of envy and enmity. + +I was so tired when I reached home that I fell heavily asleep for some +hours. But, awaking between five and six of the clock, and not able to +rest in my chamber, dressed myself and went into the garden. Not far +from the house there was an arbor, with a seat in it. Passing +alongside of it, I perceived, with no small terror, a man lying asleep +on this bench. And then, with increased affright, but not believing +mine own eyes, but rather thinking it to be a vision, saw Basil, as it +seemed to me, in the same dress he wore the day before, but with his +face much paler. A cry burst from me, for methought perhaps he should +be dead. But he awoke at my scream, looked somewhat wildly about him +for a minute, rubbed his eyes, and then with a kind of smile, albeit +an exceeding sad one, said, + +"Is it you, my good angel?" + +"O Basil," I cried, sitting down by his side, and taking hold of his +chilled hand, "what hath happened? Why are you here?" + +He covered his face with his hands. Methinks he was praying. Then he +raised his pale, noble visage and said: + +"About one hour after your departure, supper being just ended, I was +talking with Sir Walter Raleigh and some other gentlemen, when a +message was brought unto me from Lord Burleigh, who had retired to his +chamber, desiring for to speak with me. I thought it should be +somewhat anent the queen's pleasure for the ordering of the next day, +and waited at once on his lordship. When I came in, he looked at me +with a very severe and harsh countenance. 'Sir,' he said in an abrupt +manner, 'I am informed that you are excommunicated for papistry. How +durst you then attempt the royal presence, and to kiss her majesty's +hand? You--unfit to company with any Christian person--you are fitter +for a pair of stocks, and are forthwith commanded not to appear again +in her sight, but to hold yourself ready to attend her council's +pleasure.' Constance, God only knoweth what I felt; and oh, may he +forgive me that for one moment I did yield to a burning resentment, +and forgot the prayers I have so often put up, that when persecution +fell on me I might meet it, as the early Christians did, with +blessings, not with curses. But look you, love, a judicial sentence, +torture, death methinks, should be easier to bear than this insulting, +crushing, brutal tone, which is now used toward Catholics. Yet if +Christ was for us struck by a slave and bore it, we should also be +able for to endure their insolent scorn. Bitter words escaped me, I +think, albeit I know not very well what I said; but his lordship +turned his back on the man he had insulted, and left the room without +listening to me. I be glad of it now. What doth it avail to +remonstrate against injuries done under pretence of law, or bandy +words with a judge which can compel you to silence?" + +"Basil," I cried, "you may forgive that man; I cannot'.' + +"Yea, but if you love me, you shall forgive him," he cried. "God +defend mine injuries should work in thee an unchristian resentment! +Nay, nay, love, weep not; think for what cause I am ill-used, and thou +wilt presently rejoice thereat rather than grieve." + +"But what happened when that lord had left you?" I asked, not yet able +to speak composedly. + +Then he: "I stood stock-still for a while in a kind of bewilderment, +hearing loud laughter in the hall below, and seeing, as it did happen, +a man the worse for liquor staggering about the court. To my heated +brain it did seem as if hell had been turned loose in my house, where +some hours before--" Then he stopped, and again sinking his head on +his hands, paused a little, and then continued without looking up: +"Well, I came down the stairs and walked straight out at the front +door. As I passed the hall I heard some one ask, 'Which is the master +of this huge house?' and another, whom by his voice I knew to be +Topcliffe, answered, 'Rookwood, a papist, newly crept out of his +wardship. As to his house, 'tis most fit for the blackguard, but not +for her gracious majesty to lodge in. But I hope she will serve God +with great and comfortable examples, and have all such notorious +papists presently committed to prison.' This man's speech seemed to +restore me to myself, and a firmer spirit came over me. I resolved not +to sleep under mine own roof, where, in the queen's name, such +ignominious treatment had been awarded me,' and went out of my house, +reciting those verses of the Psalms, 'O God, save me in thy name, and +in thy strength judge me. Because strangers have risen up against me, +and the strong have sought my soul.' I came here almost unwittingly, +and not choosing to disturb any one in the midst of the night, lay +down in this place, and, I thank God, soon fell asleep." + +"You did not see Hubert?" I timidly inquired. + +"No," he said, "neither before nor after my interview with Lord +Burleigh. I hope no one hath accused him of papistry, and so this time +he may escape." + +"And who did accuse you?" I asked. + +"I know not," he answered; "we are never safe for one hour. A +discontented groom or covetous neighbor may ruin us when they list." + +"But are you not in danger of being called before the council?" I +said. + +"Yea, more than in danger," he answered. "But I should hope a heavy +fine shall this time satisfy the judges; which, albeit we can ill +afford it, may yet be endured." + +Then I drew him into the house, and we continued to converse till good +Lady Tregony joined us. When I briefly related to her what Basil had +told me, the color rose in her pale, aged cheek; but she only clasped +her hands and said, + +"God's holy will be done." + +"Constance," Basil exclaimed, whilst he was eating some breakfast we +had set before him, "prithee get me paper and ink for to write to +Hubert." + +I looked at him inquiringly as I gave him what he asked for. + +"I am banished from mine own house," he said; "but as long as it is +mine the queen should not lack anything I can supply for her comfort. +She is my guest, albeit I am deemed unworthy to come into her +presence; I must needs charge Hubert to act the host in my place, and +see to all hospitable duties." + +My heart swelled at this speech. Methought, though I dared not utter + my thinking for more reasons than one, that Hubert had most like +not waited for his brother's licence to assume the mastership of his +house. The messenger was despatched, and then a long silence ensued, +Basil walking to and fro before the house, and I embroidering, with +mine eyes often raised from my work to look toward him. When nine +o'clock struck I joined him, and we strolled outside the gate, and +without forecasting to do so walked along the well-known path leading +to Euston. When we reached a turn of the road whence the house is to +be seen, we stopped and sat down on a bank under a sycamore tree. We +could discern from thence persons going in and out of the doors, and +the country-folk crowding about the windows for to catch a glimpse of +the queen, the guard ever and anon pushing them back with their +halberds. The numbers of them continually increased, and deputations +began to arrive with processions and flags. It was passing strange for +to be sitting there gazing as strangers on this turmoil, and folks +crowding about that house the master of which was banished from it. At +last we noticed an increased agitation amongst the people which seemed +to presage the queen's coming out. Sounds of shouting proceeded from +inside the building, and then a number of men issued from the front +door, and pushing back the crowd advanced to the centre of the green +plot in front and made a circle there with ropes. + +"What sport are they making ready for?" I said, turning to Basil. + +"God knoweth," he answered in a despondent tone. Then came others +carrying a great armed-chair, which they placed on one side of the +circle and other chairs beside it, and some country people brought in +their arms loads of fagots, which they piled up in the midst of the +green space. A painful suspicion crossed my mind, and I stole a glance +at Basil for to see if the same thought had come to him. He was +looking another way. I cast about if it should be possible on some +pretence to draw him off from that spot, whence it misgave me a +sorrowful sight should meet his eyes. But at that moment both of us +were aroused by loud cries of "God save the queen!" "Long live Queen +Elizabeth!" and we beheld her issue from the house bowing to the +crowd, which filled the air with their cries and vociferous cheering. +She seated herself in the armed-chair, her ladies and the chief +persons of her train on each side of her. On the edge of this +half-circle I discerned Hubert. The straining of mine eyes was very +painful; they seemed to burn in their sockets. Basil had been watching +the forth-coming of the queen, but his sight was not so quick as mine, +and as yet no fear such as I entertained had struck him. + +"What be they about?" he said to me with a good-natured smile. Before +I could answer--"Good God!" he exclaimed in an altered voice; "what +sound is that?" for suddenly yells and hooting noises arose, such as a +mob do salute criminals with, and a kind of procession issued from the +front door. "What, what is it?" cried Basil, seizing my hand with a +convulsive grasp; "what do they carry?--not Blessed Mary's image?" + +"Yea," I said, "I see Topcliffe walking in front of them. They will +burn it. There, there--they do lift it in the air in mockery. Oh, some +people do avoid and turn away; now they lay it down and light the +fagots." Then I put my hand over his eyes for that he should not see a +sort of dance which was performed around the fire, mixed with yells +and insulting gestures, and the queen sitting and looking on. He +forced my hand away; and when I said, "Oh, prithee, Basil, stay not +here--come with me," he exclaimed. + +"Let me go, Constance! let me go! Shall I stand aloof when at mine own +door the Blessed Mother of God is outraged? Am I a Jew or a heretic +that I should endure this sight and not smite this queen of earth, +which dareth to insult the Queen of Saints? Yea, if I should be +torn to pieces, I will not suffer them to proceed." + +I clung to him affrighted, and cried out, "Basil, you shall not go. +Our Blessed Lady forbids it; your passion doth blind you. You will +offend God and lose your soul if you do. Basil, dearest Basil, 'tis +human anger, not godly sorrow only, moves you now." Then he cast +himself down with his face on the ground and wept bitterly; which did +comfort me, for his inflamed countenance had been terrible, and these +tears came as a relief. + +Meantime this disgusting scene ended, and the queen withdrew; after +which the crowd slowly dispersed, smouldering ashes alone remaining in +the midst of the burnt-up grass. Then Basil rose, folded his arms, and +gazed on the scene in silence. At last he said: + +"Constance, this house shall no longer be mine. God knoweth I have +loved it well since my infancy. More dearly still since we forecasted +together to serve God in it. But this scene would never pass away from +my mind. This outrage hath stained the home of my fathers. This +people, whose yells do yet ring in mine ears, can no longer be to me +neighbors as heretofore, or this queen my queen. God forgive me if I +do err in this. I do not curse her. No, God defend it! I pray that on +her sad deathbed--for surely a sad one it must be--she shall cry for +mercy and obtain it; but her subject I will not remain. I will +compound my estate for a sum of money, and will go beyond seas, where +God is served in a Catholic manner and his Holy Mother not dishonored. +Wilt thou follow me there, Constance?" + +I leant my head on his shoulder, weeping. "O, Basil," I cried, "I can +answer only in the words of Ruth: 'Whithersoever thou shalt go, I will +go; and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be +my people, and thy God my God.'" + +He drew my arm in his, and we walked slowly away toward Fakenham. +Wishing to prepare his mind for a possible misfortune, I said: "We be +a thousand times happier than those which shall possess thy lands." + +"What say you?" he quickly answered; "who shall possess them?" + +"God knoweth," I replied, afraid to speak further. + +"Good heavens!" he exclaimed: "a dreadful thought cometh to me; where +was Hubert this morning?" + +I remained silent. + +"Speak, speak! O Constance, God defend he was there!" + +His grief and horror were so great I durst not reveal the truth, but +made some kind of evasive answer. To this day methinks he is ignorant +on that point. + +The queen and the court departed from Euston soon after two of the +clock; not before, as I since heard, the church furniture and books +had been all destroyed, and a malicious report set about that a piece +of her majesty's plate was missing, as an excuse for to misuse the +poor servants which had showed grief at the destruction carried on +before their eyes. When notice of their departure reached Banham Hall, +whither we had returned, Basil immediately went back to Euston. I much +lamented he should be alone that evening, in the midst of so many sad +sights and thoughts as his house now should afford him, little +forecasting the event which, by a greater mishap, surmounted minor +subjects of grief. + +About six of the clock, Sir Francis Walsingham, attended by an esquire +and two grooms, arrived at Lady Tregony's seat, and was received by +her with the courtesy she was wont to observe with every one. After +some brief discoursing with her on indifferent matters, he said his +business was with young Mistress Sherwood, and he desired to see her +alone. Thereupon I was fetched to him, and straightway he began to +speak of the queen's good opinion of me, and that her highness had +been well contented with my behavior when I had been admitted +into her presence at his house; and that it should well please her +majesty I should marry a faithful subject of her majesty's, whom she +had taken into her favor, and then she would do us both good. + +I looked in a doubtful manner at Sir Francis, feigning to misapprehend +his meaning, albeit too clear did it appear to me. Seeing I did not +speak, he went on: + +"It is her majesty's gracious desire, Mistress Sherwood, that you +should marry young Rookwood, her newly appointed servant, and from +this time possessor of Euston House, and all lands appertaining unto +it, which have devolved upon him in virtue of his brother's recusancy +and his own recent conformity." + +"Sir," I answered, "my troth is plighted to his brother, a good man +and an honorable gentleman, up to this time master of Euston and its +lands; and whatever shall betide him or his possessions, none but him +shall be my husband, if ten thousand queens as great as this one +should proffer me another." + +"Madam," said Sir Francis, "be not too rash in your pledges. I should +be loth to think one so well trained in virtue and loyalty should +persist in maintaining a troth-plight with a convicted recusant, an +exceeding malignant papist, who is at this moment in the hands of the +pursuivants, and by order of her majesty's council committed to +Norwich gaol. If he should (which is doubtful) escape such a sentence +as should ordain him to a lasting imprisonment or perpetual banishment +from this realm, his poverty must needs constrain him to relinquish +all pretensions to your hand: for his brother, a most learned, +well-disposed, commendable young gentleman, with such good parts as +fit him to aspire to some high advancement in the state and at court, +having conformed some days ago to the established religion and given +many proofs of his zeal and sincerity therein, his brother's estates, +as is most just, have devolved on him, and a more worthy and, I may +add, from long and constant devotion and fervent humble passion long +since entertained for yourself, more desirable candidate for your hand +could not easily be found." + +I looked fixedly at Sir Francis, and then said, subduing my voice as +much as possible, and restraining all gestures: + +"Sir, you have, I ween, a more deep knowledge of men's hearts and a +more piercing insight into their thoughts than any other person in the +world. You are wiser than any other statesman, and your wit and +sagacity are spoken of all over Christendom. But methinketh, sir, +there are two things which, wise and learned as you are, you are yet +ignorant of, and these are a woman's heart and a Catholic's faith. I +would as soon wed the meanest clown which yelled this day at Blessed +Mary's image, as the future possessor of Euston, the apostate Hubert +Rookwood. Now, sir, I pray you, send for the pursuivants, and let me +be committed to gaol for the same crime as my betrothed husband, God +knoweth I will bless you for it." + +"Madam," Sir Francis coldly answered, "the law taketh no heed of +persons out of their senses. A frantic passion and an immoderate +fanaticism have distracted your reason. Time and reflection will, I +doubt not, recall you to better and more comfortable sentiments; in +which case I pray you to have recourse to my good offices, which shall +ever be at your service." + +Then bowing, he left me; and when he was gone, and the tumult of my +soul had subsided, I lamented my vehemency, for methought if I had +been more cunning in my speech, I could have done Basil some good; but +now it was too late, and verily, if again exposed to the same +temptation, I doubt if I could have dissembled the indignant feelings +which Sir Francis's advocacy of Hubert's suit worked in me. + +Lady Tregony, pitying my unhappy plight, proposed to travel with me to + London, where I was now desirous to return, for there I thought +some steps might be taken to procure Basil's release, with more hope +of success than if I tarried in the scene of our late happiness. She +did me also the good to go with me in the first place to Norwich, +where, by means of that same governor to whom Sir Hammond l'Estrange +had once written in my father's behalf, we obtained for to see Basil +for a few minutes. His brother's apostasy, and the painful suspicion +that it was by his means the secret of Owen's cell at Euston had been +betrayed, gave him infinite concern; but his own imprisonment and +losses he bore with very great cheerfulness; and we entertained +ourselves with the thought of a small cottage beyond seas, which +henceforward became the theme of such imaginings as lovers must needs +cherish to keep alive the flame of hope. Two days afterward I reached +London, having travelled very fast, and only slept one night on the +road. + +It sometimes happens that certain misfortunes do overtake us which, +had we foreseen, we should well-nigh have despaired, and misdoubted +with what strength we should meet them; but God is very merciful, and +fitteth the back to the burthen. If at the time that Basil left me at +four of the clock to return to Euston, without any doubt on our minds +to meet the next day, I should have known how long a parting was at +hand, methinks all courage would have failed me. But hope worketh +patience, and patience in return breedeth hope, and the while the soul +is learning lessons of resignation, which at first would have seemed +too hard. At the outset of this trouble, I expected he should have +soon been set at liberty on the payment of a fine; but I had forgot he +was now a poor man, well-nigh beggared by the loss of his inheritance. +Mr. Swithin Wells, one of the best friends he and myself had--for, +alas! good Mr. Roper had died during my absence--told me that, when +Hubert heard of his brother's arrest, he fell into a great anguish of +mind, and dealt earnestly with his new patrons to procure his release, +but with no effect. Then, in a letter which he sent him, he offered to +remit unto him whatever moneys he desired out of his estates; but +Basil steadfastly refused to receive from him so much as one penny, +and to this day has persisted in this resolve. I have since seen the +letter which he wrote to him on this occasion, in which this +resolution was expressed, but in no angry or contumelious terms, +freely yielding him his entire forgiveness for his offence against +him, if indeed any did exist, but such as was next to nothing in +comparison of the offence toward God committed in the abandonment of +his faith; and with all earnestness beseeching him to think seriously +upon his present state, and to consider if the course he had taken, +contrary to the breeding and education he had received, should tend to +his true honor, reputation, contentment of mind, and eternal +salvation. This he said he did plainly, for the discharge of his own +conscience, and the declaration of an abiding love for him. + +For the space of a year and two months he remained in prison at +Norwich, Mr. Wells and Mr. Lacy furnishing him with assistance, +without which he should have lacked the necessaries of life; leastways +such conveniences as made his sufferings tolerable. At the end of that +time, it may be by Hubert's or some other friend's efforts, a sentence +of banishment was passed upon him, and he went beyond seas. I would +fain have then joined him, but it pleased not God it should be at that +time possible. Some moneys which were owing to him by a well-disposed +debtor he looked for to recover, but till that happened he had not +means for his own subsistence, much less wherewith to support a wife +in howsoever humble a fashion. Dr. Allen (now cardinal) invited him to +Rheims, and received him there with open arms. My father, during the +last years of his life, found in him a most dutiful and affectionate +son, who closed his eyes with a true filial reverence. Our love +waxed not for this long separation less ardent or less tender; only +more patient, more exalted, more inwardly binding, now so much the +more outwardly impeded. The greatest excellency I found in myself was +the power of apprehending and the virtue of loving his. If his name +appear not so frequently in this my writing as it hath hitherto done, +even as his visible presence was lacking in that portion of my life +which followed his departure, the thought of him never leaves me. If I +speak of virtue in any one else, my mind turns to him, the most +perfect exemplar I have met with of self-forgetting goodness; if of +love, my heart recalls the perfect exchange of affection which doth +link his soul with mine; if of joy, the memory of that pure happiness +I found in his society; if of sorrow, of the perpetual grief his +absence did cause me; if of hope, the abiding anchor whereon I rested +mine during the weary years of separation. Yea, when I do write the +words faith, honor, nobility, firmness, tenderness, then I think I am +writing my dear Basil's name. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +The year which followed Basil's arrest, and during which he was in the +prison at Norwich, I wholly spent in London; not with any success +touching the procuring of his release, as I had expected, but with a +constant hope thereof which had its fulfilment later, albeit not by +any of the means I had looked to. I shared the while with Muriel the +care of her now aged and very infirm parents, taking her place at home +when she went abroad on her charitable errands, or employed by her in +the like good works when my ability would serve. A time cometh in most +persons' lives, when maturity doth supplant youthfulness. I say most +persons, because I have noticed that there are some who never do seem +to attain unto any maturity of mind, and do live and die with the same +childish spirit they had in youth. To others this change, albeit real, +is scarcely perceptible, so gradual are its effects; but some again, +either from a natural thoughtfulness, or by the influence of +circumstances tending to sober in them the exuberance of spirits which +appertaineth to early age, do wax mature in disposition before they +grow old in years; and this befel me at that time. The eager temper, +the intent desire and pursuit of enjoyment (of a good and innocent +sort, I thank God) which had belonged to me till then, did so much and +visibly abate, that it caused me some astonishment to see myself so +changed. Joyful hours I have since known, happy days wherein mine +heart hath been raised in adoring thankfulness to the Giver of all +good; but the color of my mind hath no more resembled that of former +years, than the hues of the evening sky can be likened to the roseate +flush of early morning. The joys have been tasted, the happiness +relished, but not with the same keenness as heretofore. Mine own +troubles, the crowning one of Basil's misfortune, and what I continued +then to witness in others of mine own faith, wrought in me these +effects. The life of a Catholic in England in these days must needs, I +think, produce one of two frames of mind. Either he will harbor angry +passions, which religion reproves, which change a natural indignation +into an unchristian temper of hatred, and lead him into plots and +treasons; or else he becomes detached from the world, very quiet, +given to prayer, ready to take at God's hands, and as from him at +men's also, sufferings of all kinds; and even those as yet removed +from so great perfection learn to be still, and to bethink themselves +rather of the next world than of the present one, more than even good +people did in old tunes. + +The only friends I haunted at that time were Mr. and Mrs. Swithin +Wells. In the summer of that year I heard one day, when in their +company, that Father Edmund Campion was soon to arrive in London. +Father Parsons was then lodging at Master George Gilbert's house, and +much talk was ministered touching this other priest's landing, and how +he should be conducted thither in safety. Bryan Lacy, Thomas James, +and many others, took it by turns to watch at the landing-place where +he was expected to disembark. Each evening Mr. Wells's friends came +for to hear news thereof. One day, when no tidings of it had yet +transpired, and the company was leaving, Mr. James comes in, and +having shut the door, and glanced round the room before speaking, +says, with a smile, + +"What think you, sirs and ladies?" + +"Master Campion is arrived," cries Mistress Wells. + +"God be praised!" cries her husband, and all giving signs of joy do +gather round Mr. James for to hear the manner of his landing. + +"Well," quoth he, "I had been pacing up and down the quay for +well-nigh five hours, when I discerned a boat, which (God only knoweth +wherefore) I straightway apprehended to be the one should bring Master +Campion. And when it reached the landing-place, beshrew me if I did +not at once see a man dressed in some kind of a merchant suit, which, +from the marks I had of his features from Master Parsons, I made sure +was the reverend father. So when he steps out of the boat I stand +close to him, and in an audible voice, 'Good morrow, Edmund,' says I, +which he hearing, turns round and looks me in the face. We both smile +and shake hands, and I lead him at once to Master Gilbert's house. Oh, +I promise you, it was with no small comfort to myself I brought that +work to a safe ending. But now, sir," he continued, turning to Mr. +Wells, "what think you of this? Nothing will serve Master Campion but +a place must be immediately hired, and a spacious one also, for him to +begin at once to preach, for he saith he is here but for that purpose, +and that he would not the pursuivants should catch him before he hath +opened his lips in England; albeit, if God will grant him for the +space of one year to exercise his ministry in this realm, he is most +content to lay down his life afterward. And methinks he considers +Almighty God doth accept this bargain, and is in haste for to begin." + +"Hath Master Gilbert called his friends together for to consider of +it?" asked Mr. Wells. + +"Yea," answered Mr. James. "Tomorrow, at ten of the clock, a meeting +will be held, not at his house, for greater security, but at Master +Brown's shop in Southwark, for this purpose, and he prayeth you to +attend it, sir, and you, and you, and you," he continued, turning to +Bryan Lacy, William Gresham, Godfrey Fuljambe, Gervase Pierpoint, and +Philip and Charles Bassett, which were all present. + +The next day I heard from Mrs. Wells that my Lord Paget, at the +instigation of his friends which met at Mr. Brown's, had hired, in his +own name, Noel House, in the which one very large chamber should serve +as a chapel, and that on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, which +fell on the coming Sunday, Father Campion would say mass there, and +for the first time preach. She said the chief Catholics in London had +combined for to send there, in the night, some vestments, some +ornaments for the altar, books, and all that should be needful for +divine worship. And the young noblemen and gentlemen which had been at +her house the night before, and many others also, such as Lord Vaux, +William and Richard Griffith, Arthur Cresswell, Charles Tilvey, +Stephen Berkeley, James Hill, Thomas de Salisbury, Thomas Fitzherbert, +Jerom Bellamy, Thomas Pound, Richard Stanyhurst, Thomas Abington, and +Charles Arundel (this was one of the Queen's pages, but withal a +zealous Catholic), had joined themselves in a company, for to +act, some as sacristans of this secret chapel, some as messengers, to +go round and give notice of the preachments, and some as porters, +which would be a very weighty office, for one unreliable person +admitted into that oratory should be the ruin of all concerned. + +Muriel and I, with Mr. Wells, went at an early hour on the Sunday to +Noel House. Master Philip Bassett was at the door. He smiled when he +saw us, and said he supposed he needed not to ask us for the password. +The chamber into which we went was so large, and the altar so richly +adorned, that the like, I ween, had not been seen since the queen had +changed the religion of the country. + +Mass was said by Father Campion, and that noble company of devout +gentlemen aforementioned almost all communicated thereat, and many +others beside, an ladies not a few. When mass was ended, and Father +Campion stood up for to begin his sermon, so deep a silence reigned in +that crowded assembly--for the chamber was more full than it could +well hold--that a pin should have been heard to drop. Some thirsting +for to hear Catholic preaching, so rare in these days, some eager to +listen to the words of a man famous for his learning and parts, both +before and after his conversion, beyond any other in this country. For +mine own part, methought his very countenance was a preachment. When +his eyes addressed themselves to heaven, it seemed as if they did +verily see God, so piercing, so awed, so reverent was their gaze. He +took for his text the words, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will +build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." +My whole soul was fastened on his words; and albeit I have had but +scant occasion to compare one preacher with another, I do not think it +should be possible for a more pathetic and stirring eloquence to flow +from human lips than his who that day gave God's message to a +suffering and persecuted people. I had not taken mine eyes off his +pale and glowing face not for so much as one instant, until, near the +close of his discourse, I chanced to turn them to a place almost +hidden by the curtain of an altar, where some gentlemen were standing, +concealing themselves from sight. Alas! in one instant the fervent +glowing of my heart, the staid, rapt intentness with which I had +listened, the heavenward lifting up of my soul, vanished as if a +vision of death had risen before me. I had seen Hubert Rookwood's +face, that face so like--oh, what anguish was that likeness to me +then!--to my Basil's. No one but me could perceive him, he was so hid +by the curtain; but where I sat it opened a little, and disclosed the +stern, melancholy, beautiful visage of the apostate, the betrayer of +his own brother, the author of our ruin, the destroyer of our +happiness. I thank God that I first beheld him again in that holy +place, by the side of the altar whereon Jesus had lately descended, +whilst the words of his servant were in mine ears, speaking of love +and patience. It was not hatred, God knoweth it, I then felt for +Basil's brother, but only terror for all present, and for him also, if +peradventure he was there with an evil intent. Mine eyes were fixed as +by a spell on his pale face, the while Father Campion's closing words +were uttered, which spoke of St. Peter, of his crime and of his +penance, of his bitter tears and his burning love. "If," he cried, +"there be one here present on whose soul doth lie the guilt of a like +sin; one peradventure yet more guilty than Peter; one like Judas in +his crime; one like Judas in his despair--to him I say, There is mercy +for thee; there is hope for thee, there is heaven for thee, if thou +wilt have it. Doom not thyself, and God will never doom thee." These +or the like words (for memory doth ill serve me to recall the fervent +adjurations of that apostolical man) he used; and, lo, I beheld tears +running down like rain from Hubert's eyes--an unchecked, +vehement torrent which seemed to defy all restraint. How I blessed +those tears! what a yearning pity seized me for him who did shed them! +How I longed to clasp his hand and to weep with him! I lost sight of +him when the sermon was finished; but in the street, when we +departed--which was done slowly and by degrees, for to avoid notice, +four or five only going out at a time--I saw him on the other side of +the pavement. Our eyes met; he stopped in a hesitating manner, and I +also doubted what to do, for I thought Mistress Wells and Muriel would +be averse to speak to him. Then he rapidly crossed over, and said, in +a whisper: + +"Will you see me, Constance, if I come to you this evening?" + +I pondered; I feared to quench, it might be, a good resolve, or +precipitate an evil one by a refusal; and building hopes of the former +on the tears I had seen him shed, I said: + +"Yea, if you come as Basil's brother and mine." + +He turned and walked hastily away. + +Mistress Wells and Muriel asked me with some affright if it was Hubert +who had spoken to me, for they had scarce seen his face, although from +his figure they had judged it was him; and when I told them he had +been at Noel House, "Then we are undone!" the one exclaimed; and +Muriel said, "We must straightway apprise Mr. Wells thereof; but there +should be hopes, I think, he came there in some good disposition." + +"I think so too," I answered, and told them of the emotion which I had +noticed in him at the close of the sermon, which comforted them not a +little. But he came not that evening; and Mr. Wells discovered the +next day that it was Thomas Fitzherbert, who had lately arrived in +London, and was not privy to his late conformity, which had invited +him to come to Noel House. Father Campion continued to preach once a +day at the least, often twice, and sometimes thrice, and very +marvellous effects ensued. Each day greater crowds did seek admittance +for to hear him, and Noel House was as openly frequented as if it had +been a public church. Numbers of well-disposed Protestants came for to +hear him, and it was bruited at the time that Lord Arundel had been +amongst them. He converted many of the best sort, beside young +gentlemen students, and others of all conditions, which by day, and +some by night, sought to confer with him. I went to the preachments as +often as possible. We could scarce credit our eyes and ears, so +singular did it appear that one should dare to preach, and so many to +listen to Catholic doctrine, and to seek to be reconciled in the midst +of so great dangers, and under the pressure of tyrannic laws. Every +day some newcomer was to be seen at Noel House, sometimes their faces +concealed under great hats, sometimes stationed behind curtains or +open doors for to escape observation. + +After some weeks had thus passed, when I ceased to expect Hubert +should come, he one day asked to see me, and having sent for Kate, who +was then in the house, I did receive him. Her presence appeared +greatly to displease him, but he began to speak to me in Italian; and +first he complained of Basil's pride, which would not suffer him to +receive any assistance from him who should be so willing to give it. + +"Would you--" I said, and was about to add some cutting speech, but I +resolved to restrain myself and by no indiscreet words to harden his +soul against remorse, or perhaps endanger others. Then, after some +other talking, he told me in a cunning manner, making his meaning +clear, but not couching it in direct terms, that if I would conform to +the Protestant religion and marry him, Basil should be, he could +warrant it, set at liberty, and he would make over to him more than +one-half of the income of his estates yearly, which, being done in +secret, the law could not then touch him. I made no answer thereunto, +but fixing mine eyes on him, said, in English: + + +"Hubert, what should be your opinion of the sermon on St. Peter and +St. Paul's Day?" He changed color. "Was it not," I said, "a moving +one?" Biting his lip, he replied: + +"I deny not the preacher's talent." + +"O Hubert," I exclaimed, "fence not yourself with evasive answers. I +know you believe as a Catholic." + +"The devils believe," he answered. + +"Hubert," I then said, with all the energy of my soul, "if you would +not miserably perish--if you would not lose your soul--promise me this +night to retrace your steps; to seek Father Campion and be +reconciled." His lip quivered; methought I could almost see his good +angel on one side of him and a tempting fiend on the other. But the +last prevailed, for with a bitter sneer he said: + +"Yea, willingly, fair saint, if you will marry me." + +Kate, who till then had not much understood what had passed, cried +out, "Fie, Hubert, fie on thee to tempt her to abandon Basil, and he a +prisoner." + +"Madam," he said, turning to her, "recusants should not be so bold in +their language. The laws of the land are transgressed in a very daring +manner now-a-days, and those who obey them taunted for the performance +of their duty to the queen and the country." + +Oh, what a hard struggle it proved to be patient; to repress the +vehement reproaches which hovered on my lips. Kate looked at me +affrighted. I trembled from head to foot. Father Campion's life and +the fate of many others, it might be, were in the hands of this man, +this traitor, this spy. To upbraid him I dared not, but wringing my +hands, exclaimed: + +"O Hubert, Hubert! for thy mother's sake, who looks down on us from +heaven, listen to me. There be no crimes which may not be forgiven; +but some there be which if one doth commit them he forgiveth not +himself, and is likely to perish miserably." + +"Think you I know this not?" he fiercely cried; "think you not that I +suffer even now the torment you speak of, and envy the beggar in the +street his stupid apathy?" He drew a paper from his bosom and unfolded +it. A terrible gleam shot through his eyes. "I could compel you to be +my wife." + +"No," I said, looking him in the face, "neither man nor fiends can +give you that power. God alone can do it, and he will not." + +"Do you see this paper?" he asked. "Here are the names of all the +recusants who have been reconciled by the Pope's champion. I have but +to speak the word, and to-morrow they are lodged in the Marshalsea or +the Tower, and the priest first and foremost." + +"But you will not do it," I said, with a singular calmness. "No, +Hubert; as God Almighty liveth, you will not. You cannot commit this +crime, this foul murther." + +"If it should come to that," he fiercely cried, "if blood should be +shed, on your head it will fall. You can save them if you list." + +"Would you compel me by a bloody threat to utter a false vow?" I said. +"O Hubert, Hubert! that you, you should threaten to betray a priest, +to denounce Catholics! There was a day--have you forgot it?--when at +the chapel at Euston, your father at your side, you knelt, an innocent +child, at the altar's rail, and a priest came to you and said, +'_Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam ad vitam +aeternam_.' If any one had then told you"-- + +"Oh, for God's sake speak not of it!" he wildly cried; "that way +madness doth lie." + +"No, no," I cried; "not madness, but hope and return." + +A change came over his face; he thrust the paper in my hand. "Destroy +it," he cried; "destroy it, Constance!" And then bursting into tears, +"God knoweth I never meant to do it." + +"O Hubert, you have been mad, dear brother, more mad than guilty. +Pray, and God will bless you." + +"Call me not brother, Constance Would to God I had been _only_ mad! +But it is too late now to think on it." + + +"Nay, nay," I cried, "it never is too late." + +"Pray for me then," he said, and went to the door: but, turning +suddenly, whispered in a scarce audible manner, "Ask Father Campion to +pray for me," and then rushed out. + +Kate had now half-fainted, and would have it we were all going to be +killed. I pacified and sent her home, lest she should fright her +parents with her rambling speeches. + +Albeit Hubert's last words had seemed to be sincere, I could not but +call to mind how, after he had been apparently cut to the heart and +moved even to tears by Father Campion's preaching, he had soon uttered +threats which, howsoever recalled, left me in doubt if it should be +safe to rely on his silence; so I privately informed Mr. Wells, and he +Master George Gilbert and Father Parsons, of what had passed between +us. At the same time, I have never known whether by Hubert's means, or +in any other way, her majesty's council got wind of the matter, and +gave out that great confederacies were made by the Pope and foreign +princes for the invasion of this country, and that Jesuits and +seminary priests were sent to prepare their ways. Exquisite diligence +was used for the apprehension of all such, but more particularly the +Pope's champion, as Master Campion was called. So in the certainty +that Hubert was privy to the existence of the chapel at Noel House, +and that many Protestants were also acquainted with it, and likewise +with his lodging at Master Elliot's, where not a few resorted to him +in the night, he was constrained by Father Parsons to leave London, to +the no small regret of Catholics and others also which greatly admired +his learning and eloquence, the like of which was not to be found in +any other person at that time. None of those which had attended the +preachments at Noel House were accused, nor the place wherein they had +met disclosed, which inclineth me to think Hubert did not reveal to +her majesty's government his knowledge thereof. + +About two months afterward Basil's release and banishment happened. I +would fain have seen him on his way to the coast; but the order for +his departure was so sudden and peremptory, the queen's officers not +losing sight of him until he was embarked on a vessel going to France, +that I was deprived of that happiness. That he was no longer a +prisoner I rejoiced; but it seemed as if a second and more grievous +separation had ensued, now that the sea did divide me from the dear +object of my love. + +Lady Arundel, whose affectionate heart resented with the most tender +pity the abrupt interruption of our happiness, had often written to me +during this year to urge my coming to Arundel Castle; "for," said she, +"methinks, my dear Constance, a third turtle-dove might now be added +to the two on the Queen of Scotland's design; and on thy tree, sweet +one, the leaves are, I warrant thee, very green yet, and future joys +shall blossom on its wholesome branches, which are pruned but not +destroyed, injured but not withered." She spoke with no small +contentment of her then residence, that noble castle, her husband's +worthiest possession (as she styled it), and the grandest jewel of his +earldom. For albeit (thus she wrote) "Kenninghall is larger in the +extent it doth cover and embrace, and far more rich in its decorations +and adornments, I hold it not to be comparable in true dignity to this +castle, which, for the strength of its walls, the massive grandeur of +its keep, the vast forests which do encircle it, the river which +bathes its feet, the sea in its vicinity and to be seen from its +tower, the stately trees about it, and the clinging ivy which softens +with abundant verdure the stern, frowning walls, hath not its like in +all England." But a letter I had from this dear lady a few months +after this one contained the most joyful news I could receive, as will +be seen by those who read it: + +"My good Constance" (her ladyship wrote), "I would I had you a +prisoner in this fortress, to hold and detain at my pleasure. +Methinks I will present thee as a recusant, and sue for the privilege +of thy custody. Verily, I should keep good watch over thee. There be +dungeons enough, I warrant you, in the keep, wherein to imprison +runaway friends. Master Bayley doth take great pains to explain to me +the names and old uses of the towers, chapels, and buildings within +and without the castle, which do testify to the zeal and piety of past +generations: the Chapel of St. Martin, in the keep, which was the +oratory of the garrison; the old collegiate buildings of the College +of the Holy Trinity; the b Maison-Dieu, designed by Richard, Earl of +Arundel, and built by his son on the right bank of the river, for the +harboring of twenty aged and poor men, either unmarried or widowers, +which, from infirmity, were unable to provide for their own support; +the Priory of the Friars Preachers, with the rising gardens behind it; +the Chapel of Blessed Mary, over the gate; that of St. James ad +Leprosos, which was attached to the Leper's Hospital; and St. +Lawrence's, which standeth on the hill above the tower; and in the +valley below, the Priory of St. Bartholomew, built by Queen Adeliza +for the monks of St. Austin. Verily the poor were well cared for when +all these monasteries and hospitals did exist; and it doth grieve me +to think that the moneys which were designed by so many pious men of +past ages for the good of religion should now be paid to my lord, and +spent in worldly and profane uses. Howsoever, I have better hopes than +heretofore that he will one day serve God in a Christian manner. And +now, methinks, after much doubting if I should dare for to commit so +weighty a secret unto paper, that I must needs tell thee, as this time +I send my letter by a trusty messenger, what, if I judge rightly, will +prove so great a comfort to thee, my dear Constance, that thine own +griefs shall seem the lighter for it. Thou dost well know how long I +have been well-affected to Catholic religion, increasing therein daily +more and more, but yet not wholly resolved to embrace and profess it. +But by reading a book treating of the danger of schism, soon after my +coming here, I was so efficaciously moved, that I made a firm purpose +to become a member of the Catholic and only true Church of God. I +charged Mr. Bayley to seek out a grave and ancient priest, and to +bring him here privately; for I desired very much that my +reconciliation, and meeting with this priest to that intent, should be +kept as secret as was possible, for the times are more troublesome +than ever, and I would fain have none to know of it until I can +disclose it myself to my lord in a prudent manner. I have, as thou +knoweth, no Catholic women about me, nor any one whom I durst acquaint +with this business; so I was forced to go alone at an unseasonable +hour from mine own lodging in the castle, by certain dark ways and +obscure passages, to the chamber where this priest (whose name, for +greater prudence, I mention not here) was lodged, there to make my +confession--it being thought, both by Mr. Bayley and myself, that +otherwise it could not possibly be done without discovery, or at least +great danger thereof. Oh, mine own dear Constance, when I returned by +the same way I had gone, lightened of a burthen so many years endured, +cheered by the thought of a reconcilement so long desired, +strengthened and raised, leasts ways for a while, above all worldly +fears, darkness appeared light, rough paths smooth; the moon, shining +through the chinks of the secret passage, which I thought had shed +before a ghastly light on the uneven walls, now seemed to yield a mild +and pleasant brightness, like unto that of God's grace in a heart at +peace. And this exceeding contentment and steadfastness of spirit have +not--praise him for it--since left me; albeit I have much cause for +apprehension in more ways than one; for what in these days is so +secret it becometh not known? But whatever now shall befal me--public +dangers or private sorrows--my feet do rest on a rock, not on +the shifting sands of human thinkings, and I am not afraid of what man +can do unto me. Yea, Philip's displeasure I can now endure, which of +all things in the world I have heretofore most apprehended." + +The infinite contentment this letter gave me distracted me somewhat +from the anxious thoughts that filled my mind at the time it reached +me, which was soon after Hubert's visit. A few days afterward Lady +Arundel wrote again: + +"My lord has been here, but stayed only a brief time. I found him very +affectionate in his behavior, but his spirits so much depressed that I +feared something had disordered him. Conversation seemed a burthen to +him, and he often shut himself up in his own chamber or walked into +the park with only his dog. When I spoke to him he would smile with +much kindness, uttering such words as 'sweet wife,' or 'dearest Nan,' +and then fall to musing again, as if his mind had been too oppressed +with thinking to allow of speech. The day before he left I was sorting +flowers at one end of the gallery in a place which the wall projecting +doth partly conceal. I saw him come from the hall up the stairs into +it, and walk to and fro in an agitated manner, his countenance very +much troubled, and his gestures like unto those of a person in great +perplexity of mind. I did not dare so much as to stir from where I +stood, but watched him for a long space of time with incredible +anxiety. Sometimes he stopped and raised his hand to his forehead. +Another while he went to the window and looked intently, now at the +tower and the valley beyond it, now up to the sky, on which the last +rays of the setting sun were throwing a deep red hue, as if the world +had been on fire. Then turning back, he joined his hands together and +anon sundered them again, pacing up and down the while more rapidly +than before, as if an inward conflict urged this unwitting speed. At +last I saw him stand still, lift up his hands and eyes to heaven, and +move his lips as if in prayer. What passed in his mind then, God only +knowcth. He is the most reluctant person in the world to disclose his +thoughts. + +"When an hour afterward we met in the library his spirits seemed +somewhat improved. He spoke of his dear sister Meg with much +affection, and asked me if I had heard from Bess. Lord William, he +said, was the best brother a man ever had; and that it should like him +well to spend his life in any corner of the world God should appoint +for him, so that he had to keep him company Will and Meg and his dear +Nan, 'which I have so long ill-treated,' he added, 'that as long as I +live I shall not cease to repent of it; and God he knoweth I deserve +not so good a wife;' with many other like speeches which I wish he +would not use, for it grieveth me he should disquiet himself for what +is past, when his present kindness doth so amply recompense former +neglect. Mine own Constance, I pray you keep your courage alive in +your afflictions. There be no lane so long but it hath a turning, the +proverb saith. My sorrows seemed at one time without an issue. Now +light breaketh through the yet darksome clouds which do environ us. So +will it be with thee. Burn this letter, seeing it doth contain what +may endanger the lives of more persons than one.--Thy loving, faithful +friend, + "ANN, ARUNDEL AND SURREY." + +A more agitated letter followed this one, written at different times, +and detained for some days for lack of a safe messenger to convey it. + +"What I much fear," so it began, "is the displeasure of my lord when +he comes to know of my reconcilement, for it cannot, I think, be long +concealed from him. This my fear, dear Constance, hath been much +increased by the coming down from London of one of his chaplains, who +affirms he was sent on purpose by the earl to read prayers and to +preach to me and my family; and on last Sunday he came into the +great chamber of the castle, expecting and desiring to know my +pleasure therein. I thought best for to send for him to my chamber, +and I desired him not to trouble himself nor me in that matter, for I +would satisfy the earl therein. But oh, albeit I spoke very +composedly, my apprehensions are very great. For see, my dear friend, +Philip hath been but lately reconciled to me, and his fortunes are in +a very desperate condition, so that he may think I have given the last +blow to them by this act, which his enemies will surely brave at. +Think not I do repent of it. God knoweth I should as soon repent of my +baptism as of my return to his true Church; but though the spirit is +steadfast, the flesh is weak, and the heart also. What will he say to +me when he cometh? He did once repulse me, but hath never upbraided +me. How shall I bear new frowns after recent caresses?--peradventure +an eternal parting after a late reunion? O Constance, pray for me. But +I remember I have no means for to send this letter. But God be +praised, I have now friends in heaven which I may adjure to pray for +me who have at hand no earthly ones." + +Four or live days later, her ladyship thus finished her letter: + +"God is very merciful; oh, let his holy name be praised and magnified +for ever! Now the weight of a mountain is off my heart. Now I care not +for what man may do unto me. Phil has been here, and I promise thee, +dear Constance, when his horse stopped at the castle-door, my heart +almost stopped its beating, so great was my apprehension of his anger. +But, to my great joy and admiration, he kissed me very tenderly, and +did not speak the least word of the chaplain's errand. And when we did +walk out in the evening, and, mounting to the top of the keep, stood +there looking on the fine trees and the sun sinking into the sea, my +dear lord, who had been some time silent, turned to me and said, 'Meg +has become Catholic.' Joy and surprise almost robbed me of my breath; +for next to his reconcilement his sister's was what I most desired in +the world, and also I knew what a particular love he had ever shown +for her, as being his only sister, by reason whereof he would not seem +to be displeased with her change, and consequently he could not in +reason be much offended with myself for being what she was; so when he +said, 'Meg has become Catholic,' I leant my face against his shoulder, +and whispered, 'So hath Nan.' He spoke not nor moved for some minutes. +Methinks he could have heard the beatings of my heart. I was comforted +that, albeit he uttered not so much as one word, he made no motion for +to withdraw himself from me, whose head still rested against his +bosom. Suddenly he threw his arms about me, and strained me to his +breast. So tender an embrace I had never before had from him, and I +felt his tears falling on my head. But speech there was none touching +my change. Howsoever, before he left me I said to him 'My dear Phil, +Holy Scripture doth advise those who enter into the service of +Almighty God to prepare themselves for temptation. As soon as I +resolved to become Catholic, I did deeply imprint this in my mind; for +the times are such that I must expect to suffer for that cause.' 'Yea, +dearest Nan,' he answered, with great kindness, 'I doubt not thou hast +taken the course which will save thy soul from the danger of +shipwreck, although it doth subject thy body to the peril of +misfortune.' Then waxing bolder, I said, 'And thou, Phil--' and there +stopped short, looking what I would speak. He seemed to struggle for a +while with some inward difficulty of speaking his mind, but at last he +began, 'Nan, I will not become Catholic before I can resolve to live +as a Catholic, and I defer the former until I have an intent and +resolute purpose to perform the latter. O Nan, when I think of +my vile usage of thee, whom I should have so much loved and esteemed +for thy virtue and discretion; of my wholly neglecting, in a manner, +my duty to the earl my grandfather, and my aunt Lady Lumley; of my +wasting, by profuse expenses, of great sums of money in the following +of the courts, the estate which was left me, and a good quantity of +thine own lands also; but far more than all, my total forgetting of my +duty to Almighty God--for, carried away with company, youthful +entertainments, pleasures, and delights, my mind being wholly +possessed with them, I did scarce so much as think of God, or of +anything concerning religion or the salvation of my soul--I do feel +myself unworthy of pardon, and utterly to be contemned.' + +"So much goodness, humility, and virtuous intent was apparent in this +speech, and such comfortable hopes of future excellence, that I could +not forbear from exclaiming, 'My dear Phil, I ween thou wilt be one of +those who shall love God much, forasmuch as he will have forgiven thee +much.' And then I asked him how long it was since this change in his +thinking, albeit not yet acted upon, had come to him? He said, it so +happened that he was present, the year before, at a disputation held +in the Tower of London, between Mr. Sherwin and some other priests on +the one part, Charles Fulk, Whittakers, and some other Protestant +ministers on the other; and, by what he heard and saw there, he had +perceived, he thought, on which side the truth and true religion was, +though at the time he neither did intend to embrace or follow it. But, +he added, what had moved him of late most powerfully thereunto was a +sermon of Father Campion's, which he had heard at Noel House, whither +Charles Arundel had carried him, some days before his last visit to +me. 'The whole of those days,' he said, 'my mind was so oppressed with +remorse and doubt, that I knew no peace, until one evening, by a +special grace of God, when I was walking alone in the gallery, I +firmly resolved--albeit I knew not how or when to accomplish this +purpose--to become a member of his Church, and to frame my life +according to it; but I would not acquaint thee, or any other person +living, with this intention, until I had conferred thereof with my +brother William. Thou knowest, Nan, the very special love I bear him, +and which he hath ever shown to me. Well, a few days after I returned +to London, I met him accidentally in the street, he having come from +Cumberland touching some matter of Bess's lands; and taking him home +with me, I discovered to him my determination, somewhat covertly at +first; and after I lent him a book to read, which was written not long +ago by Dr. Allen, and have dealt with him so efficaciously that he has +also resolved to become Catholic. He is to meet me again next week, +for further conference touching the means of putting this intent into +execution, which verily I see not how to effect, being so watched by +servants and so-called friends, which besiege my doors and haunt mine +house in London on all occasions.' + +"This difficulty, dear Constance, I sought to remedy by acquainting my +lord that his secretary, Mr. Mumford, was Catholic, and he could, +therefore, disclose his thought with safety to him. And I also advised +him to seek occasion to know Mr. Wells and some other zealous persons, +which would confirm him in his present resolution and aid him in the +execution thereof. It may be, therefore, you will soon see him, and +fervently do I commend him to thy prayers and whatever service in the +one thing needful should be in thy power to procure for him. My heart +is so transported with joy that I never remember the like emotions to +have filled it. My most hope for this present time at least had been +he should show no dislike to my being Catholic; and lo, I find him to +be one in heart, and soon to be so in effect; and the great gap +between us, which so long hath been a yawing chasm of despair, now +filled up with a renewed love, and yet more by a parity of thinking +touching what it most behoveth us to be united in. _Deo gratias!_" + +Here this portion of my lady's manuscript ended, but these few hasty +lines were written below, visibly by a trembling hand, and the whole +closed, I ween, abruptly. Methinks it was left for me at Mr. Wells's, +where I found it, by Mr. Mumford, or some other Catholic in the earl's +household: + +"The inhabitants of Arundel have presented me for a recusant, and Mr. +Bayley has been committed and accused before the Bishop of Chichester +as a seminary priest. He hath, of course, easily cleared himself of +this; but because he will not take the oath of supremacy, he is forced +to quit the country. He hath passed into Flanders." + +And then for many weeks I had no tidings of the dear writer, until one +day it was told us that when the queen had notice of her reconcilement +she disliked of it to such a degree that presently she ordered her, +being then with child, to be taken from her own house and carried to +Wiston, Sir Thomas Shirley's dwelling-place, there to be kept prisoner +till further orders. Alas! all the time she remained there I received +not so much as one line from her ladyship, nor did her husband either, +as I afterward found. So straitly was she confined and watched that +none could serve or have access to her but the knight and his lady, +and such as were approved by them. Truly, as she since told me, they +courteously used her; but special care was taken that none that was +suspected for a priest should come within sight of the house, which +was no small addition to her sufferings. Lady Margaret Sackville was +at that time also thrown into prison. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +During the whole year of Lady Arundel's imprisonment, neither her +husband, nor her sister, nor her most close friends, such as my poor +unworthy self, had tidings from her, in the shape of any letter or +even message, so sharply was she watched and hindered from +communicating with any one. Only Sir Thomas Shirley wrote to the earl +her husband to inform him of his lady's safe delivery, and the birth +of a daughter, which, much against her will, was baptized according to +the Protestant manner. My Lord Arundel, mindful of her words in the +last interview he had with her before her arrest, began to haunt Mr. +Wells's house in a private way, and there I did often meet with him, +who being resolved, I ween, to follow his lady's example in all +things, began to honor me with so much of his confidence that I had +occasion to discern how true had been Sir Henry Jerningham's +forecasting, that this young nobleman, when once turned to the ways of +virtue and piety, should prove himself by so much the more eminent in +goodness as he had heretofore been distinguished for his reckless +conduct. One day that he came to Holborn, none others being present +but Mr. and Mrs. Wells and myself, he told us that he and his brother +Lord William, having determined to become Catholics, and apprehending +great danger in declaring themselves as such within the kingdom, had +resolved secretly to leave the land, to pass into Flanders, and there +to remain till more quiet times. + +"What steps," Mr. Wells asked, "hath your lordship disposed for to +effect this departure?" + +"In all my present doings," quoth the earl, "the mind of my dear wife +doth seem to guide me. The last time I was with her she informed me +that my secretary, John Mumford, is a Catholic, and I have since +greatly benefited by this knowledge. He is gone to Hull, in Yorkshire, +for to take order for our passage to Flanders, and I do wait +tidings from him before I leave London." + +Then, turning to me, he inquired in a very earnest manner if my +thinking agreed with his, that his sweet lady should be contented he +should forsake the realm, for the sake of the religious interests +which moved him thereunto, joined with the hope that when he should be +abroad and his lands confiscated, which he doubted not would follow, +she would be presently set at liberty, and with her little wench join +him in Flanders. I assented thereunto, and made a promise to him that +as soon as her ladyship should be released I would hasten to her, and +feast her ears with the many assurances of tender affection he had +uttered in her regard, and aid her departure; which did also Mr. +Wells. Then, drawing me aside, he spoke for some time, with tears in +his eyes, of his own good wife, as he called her. + +"Mistress Sherwood," he said, "I do trust in God that she shall find +me henceforward as good a husband, to my poor ability, by his grace, +as she has found me bad heretofore. No sin grieves me anything so much +as my offences against her. What is past is a nail in my conscience. +My will is to make satisfaction; but though I should live never so +long, I can never do so further than by a good desire to do it, which, +while I have any spark of breath, shall never be wanting." + +And many words like these, which he uttered in so heartfelt a manner +that I could scarce refrain from weeping at the hearing of them. And +so we parted that day; he with a confident hope soon to leave the +realm; I with some misgivings thereon, which were soon justified by +the event. For a few days afterward Mr. Lacy brought us tidings he had +met Mr. Mumford in the street, who had told him--when he expressed +surprise at his return--that before he could reach Hull he had been +apprehended and carried before the Earl of Huntingdon, president of +York, and examined by him, without any evil result at that time, +having no papers or auspicious things about him; but being now +watched, he ventured not to proceed to the coast, but straightway came +to London, greatly fearing Lord Arundel should have left it. + +"He hath not done so?" I anxiously inquired. + +"Nay," answered Mr. Lacy, "so far from it, that I pray you to guess +how the noble earl--much against his will, I ween--is presently +employed." + +"He is not in prison?" I cried. + +"God defend it!" he replied. "No; he is preparing for to receive the +queen at Arundel House; upon notice given him that her majesty doth +intend on Thursday next to come hither for her recreation." + +"Alack!" I cried, "her visits to such as be of his way of thinking +bode no good to them. She visited him and his wife at the Charterhouse +at the time when his father was doomed to death, and now when she is a +prisoner her highness doth come to Arundel House. When she set her +foot in Euston, the whole fabric of my happiness fell to the ground. +Heaven shield the like doth not happen in this instance; but I do +greatly apprehend the issue of this sudden honor conferred on him." + +On the day fixed for the great and sumptuous banquet which was +prepared for the queen at Arundel House, I went thither, having been +invited by Mrs. Fawcett to spend the day with her on this occasion, +which minded me of the time when I went with my cousins and mine own +good Mistress Ward for to see her majesty's entertainment at the +Charterhouse, wherein had been sowed the seeds of a bitter harvest, +since reaped by his sweet lady and himself. Then pageants had charms +in mine eyes; now, none--but rather the contrary. Howsoever, I was +glad to be near at hand on that day, so as to hear such reports as +reached us from time to time of her majesty's behavior to the earl. +From all I could find, she seemed very well contented; and Mr. +Mumford, with whom I was acquainted, came to Mrs. Fawcett's chamber, +hearing I was there, and reported that her highness had given his +lordship many thanks for her entertainment, and showed herself +exceeding merry all the time she was at table, asking him many +questions, and relating anecdotes which she had learnt from Sir Fulke +Greville, whom the maids-of-honor were wont to say brought her all the +tales she heard; at which Mrs. Fawcett said that gentleman had once +declared that he was like Robin Goodfellow; for that when the +dairy-maids upset the milk-pans, or made a romping and racket, they +laid it all on Robin, and so, whatever gossip-tales the queen's ladies +told her, they laid it all upon him, if he was ever so innocent of it. + +"Sir," I said to Mr. Mumford, "think you her majesty hath said aught +to my lord touching his lady or his lately-born little daughter?" + +"Once," he answered, "when she told of the noble trick she hath played +Sir John Spencer touching his grandson, whom he would not see because +his daughter did decamp from his house in a baker's basket for to +marry Sir Henry Compton, and her majesty invited him to be her gossip +at the christening of a fair boy to whom she did intend to stand +godmother, for that he was the first-born child of a young couple who +had married for love and lived happily; and so the old knight said, as +he had no heir, he should adopt this boy, for he had disinherited his +daughter. So then, at the font, the queen names him Spencer, and when +she leaves the church, straightway reveals to Sir John that his godson +is his grandson, and deals so cunningly with him that a reconciliation +doth ensue. Well, when she related this event, my lord said in a low +voice, 'Oh madame, would it might please your majesty for to place +another child, now at its mother's breast, a first-born one also, in +its father's arms! and as by your gracious dealing your highness +wrought a reconciliation between a father and a daughter, so likewise +now to reunite a parted husband from a wife which hath too long +languished under your royal displeasure.'" + +"What answered her grace?" I asked. + +"A few words, the sense of which I could not catch," Mr. Mumford +answered; "being placed so as to hear my lord's speaking more +conveniently than her replies. He said again, 'The displeasure of a +prince is a heavy burden to bear.' And then, methinks, some other talk +was ministered of a lighter sort. But be of good heart. Mistress +Sherwood; I cannot but think our dear lady shall soon be set at +liberty." + +Mr. Mumford's words were justified in a few days; for, to my +unspeakable joy, I heard Lady Arundel had been released by order of +the queen, and had returned to Arundel Castle. It was her lord himself +who brought me the good tidings, and said he should travel thither in +three days, when his absence from court should be less noted, as then +her majesty would be at Richmond. He showed me a letter he had +received from his lady, the first she had been able to write to him +for a whole year. She did therein express her contentment, greater, +she said, than her pen could describe, at the sight of the gray ivied +walls, the noble keep, her own chamber and its familiar furniture, and +mostly at the thought of his soon coming; and that little Bess had so +much sense already, that when she heard his name, nothing would serve +her but to be carried to the window, "whence, methinks," the sweet +lady said, "she doth see me always looking toward the entrance-gate, +through which all my joy will speedily come to me. When, for to cheat +myself and her, I cry, 'Hark to my lord's horse crossing the bridge,' +she coos, so much as to say she is glad also, and stretcheth her arms +out, the pretty fool, as if to welcome her unseen father, who, +methinks, when he doth come, will be no stranger to her, so +often doth she kiss the picture which hangeth about her mother's +neck." + +But, alas! before the queen went to Richmond, she sent a command that +my Lord Arundel should not go anywhither out of his house (so Mr. +Mumford informed me), but remain there a prisoner; and my Lord +Hunsdon, who had been in former times his father's page, and now was +his great enemy, was given commission to examine him about his +religion, and also touching Dr. Allen and the Queen of Scots. Now was +all the joy of Lady Arundel's release at an end. Now the sweet cooings +of her babe moved her to bitter tears. "In vain," she wrote to me +then, "do we now look for him to come! in vain listen for the sound of +his horse's tread, or watch the gateway which shall not open to admit +him! I sigh for to be once more a prisoner, and he, my sweet life, at +liberty. Alas! what kind of a destiny does this prove, if one is free +only when the other is shut up, and the word 'parting' is written on +each page of our lives?" + +About a month afterward, Mr. Mumford was sent for by Sir Christopher +Hatton, who asked him divers dangerous questions concerning the earl, +the countess, and Lord William Howard, and also himself--such as, if +he was a priest or no; which indeed I did not wonder at, so staid and +reverend was his appearance. But he answered he never knew or ever +heard any harm of these honorable persons, and that he himself was not +a priest, nor worthy of so great a dignity. He hath since told me that +on the third day of his examination the queen, the Earl of Leicester, +and divers others of the council came into the house for to understand +what he had confessed. Sir Christopher told them what answers he had +made; but they, not resting satisfied therewith, caused him, after +many threats of racking and other tortures, to be sent prisoner to the +Gate-house, where he was kept for some months so close that none might +speak or come to him. But by the steadfastness of his answers he at +last so cleared himself, and declared the innocency of the earl, and +his wife and brother, that they were set at liberty. + +Soon after her lord's release, I received this brief letter from Lady +Arundel: + +"MINE OWN GOOD CONSTANCE,--I have seen my lord, who came here the day +after he was set free. He very earnestly desires to put into execution +his reconciliation to the Church now that his troubles are a little +overpast. I have bethought myself that, since Father Campion hath left +London, diligence might be used for to procure him a meeting with +Father Edmonds, whom I have heard commended for a very virtuous and +religious priest, much esteemed both in this and other countries. +Prithee, ask Mr. Wells if in his thinking this should be possible, and +let my lord know of the means and opportunities thereunto. I shall +never be so much indebted, nor he either, to any one in this world, my +dear Constance, as to thee and thy good friends, if this interview +shall be brought to pass, and the desired effect ensue. + +"My Bess doth begin to walk alone, and hath learned to make the sign +of the cross; but I warrant thee I am sometimes frightened that I did +teach her to bless herself, until such time as she can understand not +to display her piety so openly as she now doeth. For when many lords +and gentlemen were here last week for to consider the course her +majesty's progress should take through Kent and Sussex, and she, +sitting on my knee, was noticed by some of them for her pretty ways, +the clock did strike twelve; upon which, what doth she do but +straightway makes the sign of the cross before I could catch her +little hand? Lord Cobham frowned, and my Lord Burleigh shook his head; +but the Bishop of Chichester stroked her head, and said, with a +smile, _'Honi soit qui mal y pense;'_ for which I pray God to bless +him. Oh, but what fears we do daily live in! I would sometimes we were +beyond seas. But if my lord is once reconciled, methinks I can endure +all that may befal us. Thy true and loving friend, + "ANN, ARUNDEL AND SURREY." + +I straightway repaired to Mr. Wells, and found him to be privy to +Father Edmonds's abode. At my request, he acquainted Lord Arundel with +this secret, who speedily availed himself thereof, and after a few +visits to this good man's garret, wherein he was concealed, was by him +reconciled, as I soon learnt by a letter from his lady. She wrote in +such perfect contentment and joy thereunto, that nothing could exceed +it. She said her dear lord had received so much comfort in his soul as +he had never felt before in all his life, and such directions from +Father Edmonds for the amending and ordering of it as did greatly help +and further him therein. Ever after that time, from mine own hearing +and observation, his lady's letters, and the report of such as haunted +him, I learnt that he lived in such a manner that he seemed to be +changed into another man, having great care and vigilance over all his +actions, and addicting himself much to piety and devotion. He procured +to have a priest ever with him in his own house, by whom he might +frequently receive the holy sacrament, and daily have the comfort to +be present at the holy sacrifice, whereto, with great humility and +reverence, he himself in person many times would serve. His visits to +his wife were, during the next years, as frequent as he could make +them and as his duties at the court and the queen's emergencies would +allow of; who, albeit she looked not on him with favor as heretofore, +did nevertheless exact an unremitting attendance on his part on all +public occasions, and jealously noted every absence he made from +London. Each interview between this now loving husband and wife was a +brief space of perfect contentment to both, and a respite from the +many cares and troubles which did continually increase upon him; for +the great change in his manner of life had bred suspicion in the minds +of some courtiers and potent men, who therefore began to think him +what he was indeed, but of which no proof could be alleged. + +During the year which followed these haps mine aunt died, and Mr. +Congleton sold his house in Ely Place, and took a small one in Gray's +Inn Lane, near to Mr. Wells's and Mr. Lacy's. It had no garden, nor +the many conveniences the other did afford; but neither Muriel nor +myself did lament the change, for the vicinity of these good friends +did supply the place of other advantages; and it also liked me more, +whilst Basil lived in poverty abroad, to inhabit a less sumptuous +abode than heretofore, and dispense with accustomed luxuries. Of +Hubert I could hear but scanty tidings at that time--only that he had +either lost or resigned his place at court? Mr. Hodgson was told by +one who had been his servant that he had been reconciled; others said +he did lead a very disordered life, and haunted bad persons. The truth +or falsity of these statements I could not then discern; but methinks, +from what I have since learnt, both might be partly true; for he +became subject to fits of gloom, and so discomfortable a remorse as +almost unsettled his reason; and then, at other times, plunged into +worldly excesses for to drown thoughts of the past. He was frightened, +I ween, or leastways distrustful of the society of good men, but +consorted with Catholics of somewhat desperate character and fortunes, +and such as dealt in plots and treasonable schemes. + +Father Campion's arrest for a very different cause--albeit his enemies +did seek to attach to him the name traitor--occurred this year at +Mrs. Yates's house in Worcestershire, and consternated the +hearts of all recusants; but when he came to London, and speech was +had of him by many amongst them which gained access to him in prison, +and reported to others his great courage and joyfulness in the midst +of suffering, then, methinks, a contagious spirit spread amongst +Catholics, and conversions followed which changed despondency into +rejoicing. But I will not here set down the manner of his trial, nor +the wonderful marks of patience and constancy which he showed under +torments and rackings, nor his interview with her majesty at my lord +Leicester's house, nor the heroic patience of his death; for others +with better knowledge thereof, and pens more able for to do it, have +written this martyr's life and glorious end. But I will rather relate +such events as took place, as it were, under mine own eye, and which +are not, I ween, so extensively known. And first, I will speak of a +conversation I held at that time with a person then a stranger, and +therefore of no great significancy when it occurred, but which later +did assume a sudden importance, when it became linked with succeeding +events. + +One day that I was visiting at Lady Ingoldsby's, where Polly and her +husband had come for to spend a few weeks, and much company was going +in and out, the faces and names of which were new to me, some +gentlemen came there whose dress attracted notice from the French +fashion thereof. One of them was a young man of very comely appearance +and pleasant manners, albeit critical persons might have judged +somewhat of' the bravado belonged to his attitudes and speeches, but +withal tempered with so much gentleness and courtesy, that no sooner +had the eye and mind taken note of the defect than the judgment was +repented of. What in one of less attractive face and behavior should +have displeased, in this youth did not offend. It was my hap to sit +beside him at supper, which lasted a long time; and as his behavior +was very polite, I freely conversed with him, and found him to be +English, though from long residence abroad his tongue had acquired a +foreign trick. When I told him I had thought he was a Frenchman, he +laughed, and said if the French did ever try to land in England, they +should find him to be a very Englishman for to fight against them; but +in the matter of dinners and beds, and the liking of a dear sunny sky +over above a dim cloudy one, he did confess himself to be so much of a +traitor as to prefer France to England, and he could not abide the +smoke of coal fires which are used in this country. + +"And what say you, sir," I answered, "to the new form of smoke which +Sir Walter Raleigh hath introduced since his return from the late +discovered land of Virginia?" + +He said he had learnt the use of it in France, and must needs confess +he found it to be very pleasant. Monsieur Nicot had brought some seeds +of tobacco into France, and so much liking did her majesty Queen +Catharine conceive for this practice of smoking, that the new plant +went by the name of the queen's herb. "It is not gentlemen alone who +do use a pipe in France," he said, "but ladies also. What doth the +fair sex in England think on it?" + +"I have heard," I answered, "that her majesty herself did try for to +smoke, but presently gave it up, for that it made her sick. Her +highness is also reported to have lost a wager concerning that same +smoking of tobacco." + +"What did her grace bet?" the gentleman asked. + +"Why, she was one day," I replied, "inquiring very exactly of the +various virtues of this herb, and Sir Walter did assure her that no +one understood them better than himself, for he was so well acquainted +with all its qualities, that he could even tell her majesty the weight +of the smoke of every pipeful he consumed. Her highness upon this +said, 'Monsieur Traveller, you do go too far in putting on me +the license which is allowed to such as return from foreign parts;' +and she laid a wager of many pieces of gold he should not be able to +prove his words. So he weighed in her presence the tobacco before he +put it into his pipe, and the ashes after he had consumed it, and +convinced her majesty that the deficiency did proceed from the +evaporation thereof. So then she paid the bet, and merrily told him +'that she knew of many persons who had turned their gold into smoke, +but he was the first who had turned smoke into gold.'" + +The young gentleman being amused at this story, I likewise told him of +Sir Walter's hap when he first returned to England, and was staying in +a friend's house: how a servant coming into his chamber with a tankard +of ale and nutmeg toast, and seeing him for the first time with a +lighted pipe in his mouth puffing forth clouds of smoke, flung the ale +in his face for to extinguish the internal conflagration, and then +running down the stairs alarmed the family with dismal cries that the +good knight was on fire, and would be burnt into ashes before they +could come to his aid. + +My unknown companion laughed, and said he had once on his travels been +taken for a sorcerer, so readily doth ignorance imagine wonders. "Near +unto Metz, in France," quoth he, "I fell among thieves. My money I had +quilted within my doublet, which they took from me, howsoever leaving +me the rest of my apparel, wherein I do acknowledge their courtesy, +since thieves give all they take not; but twenty-five French crowns, +for the worst event, I had lapped in cloth, and whereupon did wind +divers-colored threads, wherein I sticked needles, as if I had been so +good a husband as to mend mine own clothes. Messieurs the thieves were +not so frugal to take my ball to mend their hose, but did tread it +under their feet. I picked it up with some spark of joy, and I and my +guide (he very sad, because he despaired of my ability to pay him his +hire) went forward to Chalons, where he brought me to a poor +ale-house, and when I expostulated, he replied that stately inns were +not for men who had never a penny in their purses; but I told him that +I looked for comfort in that case more from gentlemen than clowns; +whereupon he, sighing, obeyed me, and with a dejected and fearful +countenance brought me to the chief inn, where he ceased not to bewail +my misery as if it had been the burning of Troy; till the host, +despairing of my ability to pay him, began to look disdainfully on me. +The next morning, when, he being to return home, I paid him his hire, +which he neither asked nor expected, and likewise mine host for +lodgings and supper, he began to talk like one mad for joy, and +professed I could not have had one penny except I were an alchemist or +had a familiar spirit." + +I thanked the young gentleman for this entertaining anecdote, and +asked him if France was not a very disquieted country, and nothing in +it but wars and fighting. + +"Yea," he answered; "but men fight there so merrily, that it appears +more a pastime than aught else. Not always so, howsoever. When +Frenchman meets Frenchman in the fair fields of Provence, and those of +the League and those of the Religion--God confound the first and bless +the last!--engage in battle, such encounters ensue as have not their +match for fierceness in the world. By my troth, the sight of dead +bodies doth not ordinarily move me; but the valley of Allemagne on the +day of the great Huguenot victory was a sight the like of which I +would not choose to look on again, an I could help it." + +"Were you, then, present at that combat, sir?" I asked. + +"Yea," he replied; "I was at that time with Lesdiguières, the +Protestant general, whom I had known at La Rochelle, and beshrew me if +a more valiant soldier doth live, or a worthier soul in a +stalwart frame. I was standing by his side when Tourves the butcher +came for to urge him, with his three hundred men, to ride over the +field and slay the wounded papists. 'No, sir,' quoth the general, 'I +fight men, but hunt them not down.' The dead were heaped many feet +thick on the plain, and the horses of the Huguenots waded to their +haunches in blood. Those of the Religion were mad at the death of the +Baron of Allemagne, the general of their southern churches, brave +castellane, who, when the fight was done, took off his helmet for to +cool his burning forehead; and lo, a shot sent him straight into +eternity." + +"The Catholics were then wholly routed?" I asked. + +"Yea," he answered; "mowed down like grass in the hay-harvest. De +Vins, however, escaped. He thought to have had a cheap victory over +those of the Religion; but the saints in heaven, to whom he trusted, +never told him that Lesdiguières on the one side and d'Allemagne on +the other were hastening to the rescue, nor that his Italian horsemen +should fail him in his need. So, albeit the papists fought like +devils, as they are, his pride got a fall, which well-nigh killed him. +He was riding frantically back into the fray for to get himself slain, +when St. Cannat seized his bridle, and called him a coward, so I have +heard, to dare for to die when his scattered troops had need of him; +and so carried him off the field. D'Oraison, Janson, Pontmez, hotly +pursued them, but in vain; and all the Protestant leaders, except +Lesdiguières, returned that night to the castle of Allemagne for to +bury the baron." + +A sort of shiver passed through the young gentleman's frame as he +uttered these last words. + +"A sad burial you then witnessed?" I said. + +"I pray God," he answered, "never to witness another such." + +"What was the horror of it?" I asked. + +"Would you hear it?" he inquired. + +"Yea," I said, "most willingly; for methinks I see what you describe." + +Then he: "If it be so, peradventure you may not thank me for this +describing; for I warrant you it was a fearful sight. I had lost mine +horse, and so was forced to spend the night at the castle. When it +grew dark I followed the officers, which, with a great store of the +men, also descended into the vault, which was garnished all round with +white and warlike sculptured forms on tombstones, most grim in their +aspect; and amidst those stone imager, grim and motionless, the +soldiers ranged themselves, still covered with blood and dust, and +leaning on their halberds. In the midst was the uncovered coffin of +the baron, his livid visage exposed to view--menacing even in death. +Torches threw a fitful, red-colored light over the scene. A minister +which accompanied the army stood and preached at the coffin's head, +and when he had ended his sermon, sang in a loud voice, in French +verse, the psalm which doth begin, + + 'Du fond de ma pensée, + Du fond de tous enuuis, + A tol s'est adressé + Ma clamear jour et nult.' + +When this singing began two soldiers led up to the tomb a man with +bound hands and ghastly pale face, and, when the verse ended, shot him +through the head. The corpse fell upon the ground, and the singing +began anew. Twelve times this did happen, till my head waxed giddy and +I became faint. I was led out of that vault with the horrible singing +pursuing me, as if I should never cease to hear it." + +"Oh, 'tis fearful," I exclaimed, "that men can do such deeds, and the +while have God's name on their lips." + +"The massacre of St. Bartholomew," he answered, "hath driven those of +the Religion mad against the papists." + +"But, sir," I asked, "is it not true that six thousand Catholics in +Languedoc had been murthered in cold blood, and a store of them +in other places, before that massacre?" + +"May I be so," he answered in a careless tone. "The shedding of blood, +except in a battle or lawful duel, I abhor; but verily I do hate +papists with as great a hate as any Huguenot in France, and most of +all those in this country--a set of knavish traitors, which would +dethrone the queen and sell the realm to the Spaniards." + +I could not but sigh at these words, for in this young man's +countenance a quality of goodness did appear which made me grieve that +he should utter these unkind words touching Catholics. But I dared not +for to utter my thinking or disprove his accusations, for, being +ignorant of his name, I had a reasonable fear of being ensnared into +some talk which should show me to be a papist, and he should prove to +be a spy. But patience failed me when, after speaking of the clear +light of the gospel which England enjoyed, and to lament that in +Ireland none are found of the natives to have cast off the Roman +religion, he said: + +"I ween this doth not proceed from their constancy in religion, but +rather from the lenity of Protestants, which think that the conscience +must not be forced, and seek rather to touch and persuade than to +oblige by fire and sword, like those of the south, who persecute their +own subjects differing from them in religion." + +"Sir," I exclaimed, "this is a strange thing indeed, that Protestants +do lay a claim to so great mildness in their dealings with recusants, +and yet such strenuous laws against such are framed that they do live +in fear of their lives, and are daily fined and tormented for their +profession." + +"How so?" he said, quickly. "No papist hath been burnt in this +country." + +"No, sir," I answered; "but a store of them have been hanged and cut +to pieces whilst yet alive." + +"Nay, nay," he cried, "not for their religion, but for their many +treason." + +"Sir," I answered, "their religion is made treason by unjust laws, and +then punished with the penalties of treason; and they die for no other +cause than their faith, by the same token that each of those which +have perished on the scaffold had his life offered to him if so he +would torn Protestant." + +In the heat of this argument I had forgot prudence; and some unkindly +ears and eyes were attending to my speech, which this young stranger +perceiving, he changed the subject of discourse--I ween with a +charitable intent--and merrily exclaimed, "Now I have this day +transgressed a wise resolve." + +"What resolve?" I said, glad also to retreat from dangerous subjects. + +'"This," he answered: "that after my return I would sparingly, and not +without entreaty, relate my journeys and observations." + +"Then, sir," I replied, "methinks you have contrariwise observed it, +for your observations have been short and pithy, and withal uttered at +mine entreaty." + +"Nothing," he said, "I so much fear as to resemble men--and many such +I have myself known--who have scarce seen the lions of the Tower and +the bears of Parish Garden, but they must engross all a table in +talking of their adventures, as if they had passed the Pillars of +Hercules. Nothing could be asked which they could not resolve of their +own knowledge." + +"Find you, sir," I said, "much variety in the manners of French people +and those you see in this country?" + +He smiled, and answered, "We must not be too nice observers of men and +manners, and too easily praise foreign customs and despise our own +--not so much that we may not offend others, as that we may not be +ourselves offended by others. I will yield you an example. A +Frenchman, being a curious observer of ceremonious compliments, when +he hath saluted one, and began to entertain him with speech, if he +chance to espy another man, with whom he hath very great +business, yet will he not leave the first man without a solemn excuse. +But an Englishman discoursing with any man--I mean in a house or +chamber of presence, not merely in the street--if he spy another man +with whom he hath occasion to speak, will suddenly, without any +excuse, turn from the first man and go and converse with the other, +and with like negligence will leave and take new men for discourse; +which a Frenchman would take in ill part, as an argument of +disrespect. This fashion, and many other like niceties and curiosities +in use in one country, we must forget when we do pass into another. +For lack of this prudence I have seen men on their return home tied to +these foreign manners themselves, and finding that others observe not +the like toward them, take everything for an injury, as if they were +disrespected, and so are often enraged." + +"What think you of the dress our ladies do wear?" I inquired of this +young traveller. + +He smiled, and answered: + +"I like our young gentlewomen's gowns, and their aprons of fine linen, +and their little hats of beaver; but why have they left wearing the +French sleeves, borne out with hoops of whalebone, and the French hood +of velvet, set with a border of gold buttons and pearls? Methinks +English ladies are too fond of jewels and diamond rings. They scorn +plain gold rings, I find, and chains of gold." + +"Yea," I said, "ladies of rank wear only rich chains of pearl, and all +their jewels must needs be oriental and precious. If any one doth +choose to use a simple chain or a plain-set brooch, she is marked for +wearing old-fashioned gear." + +"This remindeth me," he said, "of a pleasant fable, that Jupiter sent +a shower, wherein whosoever was wet became a fool, and that all the +people were wet in this shower, excepting one philosopher, who kept +his study; but in the evening coming forth into the market-place, and +finding that all the people marked him as a fool, who was only wise, +he was forced to pray for another shower, that he might become a fool, +and so live quietly among fools rather than bear the envy of his +wisdom." + +With this pleasant story our conversation ended, for supper was over, +and the young gentleman soon went away. I asked of many persons who he +should be, but none could tell me. Polly, the next day, said he was a +youth lately returned from France (which was only what I knew before), +and that Sir Nicholas Throckmorton had written a letter to Lady +Ingoldsby concerning him, but his name she had forgot. O what strange +haps, more strange than any in books, do at times form the thread of a +true history! what presentiments in some cases, what ignorance in +others, beset us touching coming events! + +The next pages will show the ground of these reflections. + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +One day that Mrs. Wells was somewhat disordered, and keeping her room, +and I was sitting with her, her husband came to fetch me into the +parlor to an old acquaintance, he said, who was very desirous for to +see me. "Who is it?" I asked; but he would not tell me, only smiled; +my foolish thinking supposed for one instant that it might be Basil he +spoke of, but the first glance showed me a slight figure and pale +countenance, very different to his whom my witless hopes had expected +for to see, albeit without the least shadow of reason. I stood looking +at this stranger in a hesitating manner, who perceiving I did not know +him, held out his hand, and said, + +"Has Mistress Constance forgotten her old playfellow?" + +"Edmund Genings!" I exclaimed, suddenly guessing it to be him. + + +"Yea," he said, "your old friend Edmund." + +"Mr. Ironmonger is this reverend gentleman's name now-a-days," Mr. +Wells said; and then we all three sat down, and by degrees in Edmund's +present face I discerned the one I remembered in former years. The +same kind and reflective aspect, the pallid hue, the upward-raised +eye, now with less of searching in its gaze, but more, I ween, of +yearning for an unearthly home. + +"O dear and reverend sir," I said, "strange it doth seem indeed thus +to address you, but God knoweth I thank him for the honor he hath done +my old playmate in the calling of him unto his service in these +perilous times." + +"Yea," he answered, with emotion, "I do owe him much, which life +itself should not be sufficient to repay." + +"My good father," I said, "some time before his death gave me a token +in a letter that you were in England. Where have you been all this +time?" + +"Tell us the manner of your landing," quoth Mr. Wells; "for this is +the great ordeal which, once overpassed, lets you into the vineyard, +for to work for one hour only sometimes, or else to bear many years +the noontide heat and nipping frosts which laborers like unto yourself +have to endure." + +"Well," said Edmund, "ten months ago we took shipping at Honfleur, +and, wind and weather being propitious, sailed along the coast of +England, meaning to have landed in Essex; but for our sakes the master +of the bark lingered, when we came in sight of land, until two hours +within night, and being come near unto Scarborough, what should happen +but that a boat with pirates or rovers in it comes out to surprise us, +and shoots at us divers times with muskets! But we came by no harm; +for the wind being then contrary, the master turned his ship and +sailed back into the main sea, where in very foul weather we remained +three days, and verily I thought to have then died of sea-sickness; +which ailment should teach a man humility, if anything in this world +can do it, stripping him as it does of all boastfulness of his own +courage and strength, so that he would cry mercy if any should offer +only to move him." + +"Ah!" cried Mr. Wells, laughing, "Topcliffe should bethink himself of +this new torment for papists, for to leave a man in this plight until +he acknowledged the queen's supremacy should be an artful device of +the devil." + +"At last," quoth Mr. Genings, "we landed, with great peril to our +lives, on the side of a high cliff near Whitby, in Yorkshire, and +reached that town in the evening. Going into an inn to refresh +ourselves, which I promise you we sorely needed, who should we meet +with there but one Radcliff?" + +"Ah! a noted pursuivant," cried Mr. Wells, "albeit not so topping a +one as his chief." + +"Ah!" I cried, "good Mr. Wells, that is but a poor pun, I promise you. +A better one you must frame before night, or you will lose your +reputation. The queen's last effort hath more merit in it than yours, +who, when she was angry with her envoy to Spain, said, 'If her royal +brother had sent her a goose-man, [Footnote 4] she had sent him in +return a man-goose.'" + + [Footnote 4: Guzman.] + +Mr. Genings smiled, and said: + +"Well, this same Radcliff took an exact survey of us all, questioned +us about our arrival in that place, whence we came, and whither we +were going. We told him we were driven thither by the tempest, and at +last, by evasive answers, satisfied him. Then we all went to the house +of a Catholic gentleman in the neighborhood, which was within two or +three miles of Whitby, and by him were directed some to one place, +some to another, according to our own desires. Mr. Plasden and I kept +together; but, for fear of suspicion, we determined at last to +separate also, and singly to commit ourselves to the protection of God +and his good angels. Soon after we had thus resolved, we came to +two fair beaten was, the one leading north-east, the other south-east, +and even then and there, it being in the night, we stopped and both +fell down on our knees and made a short prayer together that God of +his infinite mercy would vouchsafe to direct us, and send us both a +peaceable passage into the thickest of his vineyard." + +Here Mr. Genings paused, a little moved by the remembrance of that +parting, but in a few minutes exclaimed: + +"I have not seen that dear friend since, rising from our knees, we +embraced each other with tears trickling down our cheeks; but the +words he said to me then I shall never, methinks, forget. 'Seeing,' +quoth, he, 'we must now part through fear of our enemies, and for +greater security, farewell, sweet brother in Christ and most loving +companion. God grant that, as we have been friends in one college and +companions in one wearisome and dangerous journey, so we may have one +merry meeting once again in this world, to our great comfort, if it +shall please him, even amongst our greatest adversaries; and that as +we undertake, for his love and holy name's sake, this course of life +together, so he will of his infinite goodness and clemency make us +partakers of one hope, one sentence, one death, and one reward. And +also as we began, so may we end together in Christ Jesus.' So he; and +then not being able to speak one word more for grief and tears, we +departed in mutual silence; he directing his journey to London, where +he was born, and I northward." + +"Then you have not been into Staffordshire?" I said. + +"Yea," he answered, "later I went to Lichfield, in order to try if I +should peradventure find there any of mine old friends and kinsfolks." + +"And did you succeed therein?" I inquired. + +"The only friends I found," he answered, with a melancholy smile, +"were the gray cloisters, the old cathedral walls, the trees of the +close; the only familiar voices which did greet me were the chimes of +the tower, the cawing of the rooks over mine head as I sat in the +shade of the tall elms near unto the wall where our garden once +stood." + +"Oh, doth that house and that garden no more exist?" I cried. + +"No, it hath been pulled down, and the lawn thereof thrown into the +close." + +"Then," I said, "the poor bees and butterflies must needs fare badly. +The bold rooks, I ween, are too exalted to suffer from these changes. +Of Sherwood Hall did you hear aught, Mr. Genings?" + +"Mr. Ironmonger," Mr. Wells said, correcting me. + +"Alas!" Edmund replied, "I dared not so much as to approach unto it, +albeit I passed along the high road not very far from the gate +thereof. But the present inhabitants are famed for their hatred unto +recusants, and like to deal rigorously with any which should come in +their way." + +I sighed, and then asked him how long he had been in London. + +"About one month," he replied. "As I have told you. Mistress +Constance, all my kinsfolk that I wot of are now dead, except my young +brother John, whom I doubt not you yet do bear in mind--that fair, +winsome, mischievous urchin, who was carried to La Rochelle about one +year before your sweet mother died." + +"Yea," I said, "I can see him yet gallopping on a stick round the +parlor at Lichfield." + +"'Tis to look for him," Edmund said, "I am come to London. Albeit I +fear much inquiry on my part touching this youth should breed +suspicion, I cannot refrain, brotherly love soliciting me thereunto, +from seeking him whom report saith careth but little for his soul, and +who hath no other relative in the world than myself. I have warrant +for to suppose he should be in London; but these four weeks, +with useless diligence, I have made search for him, leaving no place +unsought where I could suspect him to abide; and as I see no hopes of +success, I am resolved to leave the city for a season." + +Then Mr. Wells proposed to carry Edmund to Kate's house, where some +friends were awaiting him; and for some days I saw him not again. But +on the next Sunday evening he came to our house, and I noticed a +paleness in him I had not before perceived. I asked him if anything +had disordered him. + +"Nothing," he answered; "only methinks my old shaking malady doth +again threaten me; for this morning, walking forth of mine inn to +visit a friend on the other side of the city, and passing by St. +Paul's church, when I was on the east side thereof, I felt suddenly a +strange sensation in my body, so much that my face glowed, and it +seemed to me as if mine hair stood on end; all my joints trembled, and +my whole body was bathed in a cold sweat. I feared some evil was +threatening me, or danger of being taken up, and I looked back to see +if I could perceive any one to be pursuing me; but I saw nobody near, +only a youth in a brown-colored cloak; and so, concluding that some +affection of my head or liver had seized me, I thought no more on it, +but went forward to my intended place to say mass." + +A strange thinking came into mine head at that moment, and I doubted +if I should impart to him my sudden fancy. + +"Mr. Edmund," I said, unable to refrain myself, "suppose that youth in +the brown cloak should have been your brother!" + +He started, but shaking of his head said: + +"Nay, nay, why should it have been him rather than a thousand others I +do see every day?" + +"Might not that strange effect in yourself betoken the presence of a +kinsman?" + +"Tut, tut, Mistress Constance," he cried, half kindly, half +reprovingly; "this should be a wild fancy lacking ground in reason." + +Thus checked, I held my peace, but could not wholly discard this +thought. Not long after--on the very morning before Mr. Genings +proposed to depart out of town--I chanced to be walking homeward with +him and some others from a house whither we had gone to hear his mass. +As we were returning along Ludgate Hill, what should he feel but the +same sensations he had done before, and which were indeed visible in +him, for his limbs trembled and his face turned as white as ashes! + +"You are sick," I said, for I was walking alongside of him. + +"Only affected as that other day," he answered, leaning against a post +for to recover himself. + +I had hastily looked back, and, lo and behold I a youth in a brown +cloak was walking some paces behind us. I whispered in Mr. Genings's +ear: + +"Look, Edmund; is this the youth you saw before?" + +"O my good Lord!" he cried, turning yet more pale, "this is strange +indeed! After all, it may be my brother. Go on," he said quickly; "I +must get speech with him alone to discover if it should be so." + +We all walked on, and he tarried behind. Looking back, I saw him +accost the stranger in the brown cloak. And in the afternoon he came +to tell us that this was verily John Genings, as I had with so little +show of reason guessed. + +"What passed between you?" I asked. + +He said: + +"I courteously saluted the young man, and inquired what countryman he +was; and hearing that he was a Staffordshireman, I began to conceive +hopes it should be my brother; so I civilly demanded his name. +Methought I should have betrayed myself at once when he answered +Genings; but as quietly as I could, I told him I was his +kinsman, and was called Ironmonger, and asked him what had become of +his brother Edmund. He then, not suspecting aught, told me he had +heard that he was gone to Rome to the Pope, and was become a notable +papist and a traitor both to God and his country, and that if he did +return he should infallibly be hanged. I smiled, and told him I knew +his brother, and that he was an honest man, and loved both the queen +and his country, and God above all. 'But tell me,' I added, 'good +cousin John, should you not know him if you saw him?' He then looked +hard at me, and led the way into a tavern not far off, and when we +were seated at a table, with no one nigh enough to overhear us, he +said: 'I greatly fear I have a brother that is a priest, and that you +are the man,' and then began to swear that if it was so, I should +discredit myself and all my friends, and protested that in this he +would never follow me; albeit in other matters he might respect me. I +promise you that whilst these harsh words passed his lips I longed to +throw my arms round his neck. I saw my mother's face in his, and his +once childish loveliness only changed into manly beauty. His young +years and mine rose before me, and I could have wept over this +new-found brother as Joseph over his dear Benjamin. I could no longer +conceal myself, but told him truly I was his brother indeed, and for +his love had taken great pains to seek him, and begged of him to keep +secret the knowledge of my arrival; to which he answered: 'He would +not for the world disclose my return, but that he desired me to come +no more unto him, for that he feared greatly the danger of the law, +and to incur the penalty of the statute for concealing of it.' I saw +this was no place or time convenient to talk of religion; but we had +much conversation about divers things, by which I perceived him to be +far from any good affection toward Catholic religion, and persistent +in Protestantism, without any hope of a present recovery. Therefore I +declared unto him my intended departure out of town, and took my +leave, assuring him that within a month or little more I should return +and see him again, and confer with him more at large touching some +necessary affairs which concerned him very much. I inquired of him +where a letter should find him. He showed some reluctance for to give +me any address, but at last said if one was left for him at Lady +Ingoldsby's, in Queen street, Holborn, he should be like to get it." + +After Mr. Genings had left, I considered of this direction his brother +had given him, which showed him to be acquainted with Polly's +mother-in-law, and then remembering the young gentleman I had met at +her house, I suspected him to be no other than John Genings. And +called back to mind all his speeches for to compare them with this +suspicion, wherein they did all tally; and some days afterward, when I +was walking on the Mall with Sir Ralph and Polly, who should accost +them but this youth, which they presently introduced to me, and Polly +added, she believed we had played at hide-and-seek together when we +were young. He looked somewhat surprised, and as if casting about for +to call to mind old recollections; then spoke of our meeting at Lady +Ingoldsby's; and she cried out, + +"Oh, then, you do know one another?" + +"By sight," I said, "not by name." + +Some other company joining us, he came alongside of me, and began for +to pay me compliments in the French manner. + +"Mr. John Genings," I said, "do you remember Lichfield and the close, +and a little; girl, Constance Sherwood, who used to play with you, +before you went to La Rochelle?" + +"Like in a dream," he answered, his comely face lighting up with a +smile. + +"But your brother," I said, "was my chiefest companion then; for at +that age we do always aspire to the notice of such as be older than + condescend to such as be younger than ourselves." + +When I named his brother a cloud darkened his face, and he abruptly +turned away. He talked to Polly and some other ladies in a gay, +jesting manner, but I could see that ever and anon he glanced toward +me, as if to scan my features, and, I ween, compare them with what +memory depicted; but he kept aloof from me, as if fearing I should +speak again of one he would fain forget. + +On the 7th of November, Edmund returned to London, and came in the +evening to Kate's house. He had been laboring in the country, +exhorting, instructing, and exercising his priestly functions amongst +Catholics with all diligence. It so happened that his friend, Mr. +Plasden, a very virtuous priest, which had landed with him at Whitby, +and parted with him soon afterward, was there also; and several other +persons likewise which did usually meet at Mr. Wells's house; but, +owing to that gentleman's absence, who had gone into the country for +some business, and his wife's indisposition, had agreed for to spend +the evening at Mr. Lacy's. Before the company there assembled parted, +the two priests treated with him where they should say mass the +following day, which was the Octave of All Saints. They agreed to say +their matins together, and, by Bryan's advice, to celebrate it at the +house of Mr. Wells, notwithstanding his absence; for that Mistress +Wells, who could not conveniently go abroad, would be exceeding glad +for to hear mass in her own lodging. I told Edmund of my meeting with +his brother on the Mall, and the long talk ministered between us some +weeks ago, when neither did know the other's name. Methought in his +countenance and conversation that night there appeared an unwonted +consolation, a sober joy, which filled me almost with awe. When he +wished me good-night, he added, "I pray you, my dear child, to lift +up your soul to heaven ere yon sleep and when you wake, and recommend +to heaven our good purpose, and then come and attend at the holy +sacrifice with the crowd of angels and saints which do always assist +thereat." When the light faintly dawned in the dull sky, Muriel and I +stole from our beds, quietly dressed ourselves, and slipping out +unseen, repaired as fast as we could, for the ground was wet and +slippery, to Mr. Wells's house. We found assembled in one room Mr. +Genings, Mr. Plasden, another priest, Mr. White, Mr. Lacy, Mistress +Wells, Sydney Hodgson, Mr. Mason, and many others. Edmund Genings +proceeded to say mass. There was so great a stillness in the room a +pin should have been heard to drop. Albeit he said the prayers in a +very low voice, each word was audible. Mine ears, which are very quick +were stretched to the utmost. Each sound in the street caused me an +inward flutter. Methought, when he was reading the gospel I discerned +a sound as of the hall-door opening, and of steps. Then nothing more +for a little while; but just at the moment of the consecration there +was a loud rush up the stairs, and the door of the chamber burst open. +The gentlemen present rose from their knees. Mistress Wells and I +contrariwise sunk on the ground. I dared not for to look, or move, or +breathe, but kept inwardly calling on God, then present, for to save +us. I heard the words behind me: "Topcliffe! keep him back!" "Hurl him +down the stairs!" and then a sound of scuffling, falling, and rolling, +followed by a moment's silence. + +The while the mass went forward, ever and anon noises rose without; +but the gentlemen held the door shut by main force all the time. They +kept the foe at bay, these brave men, each word uttered at the altar +resounding, I ween, in their breasts. O my God, what a store of +suffering was heaped into a brief space of time! What a viaticum was +that communion then received by thy doomed priest! "_Domine, non +sum dignus_," he thrice said, and then his Lord rested in his soul. +"_Deo gratias_" None could now profane the sacred mysteries; none +could snatch his Lord from him. "_Ite missa est_." The mass was said, +the hour come, death at hand. All resistance then ceased. I saw +Topcliffe hastening in with a broken head, and threatening to raise +the whole street. Mr. Plasden told him that, now the mass was ended, +we would all yield ourselves prisoners, which we did; upon which he +took Mr. Genings as he was, in his vestments, and all of us, men and +women, in coaches he called for, to Newgate. Muriel and I kept close +together, and, with Mistress Wells, were thrust into one cell. +Methinks we should all have borne with courage this misfortune but for +the thinking of those without--Muriel of her aged and infirm father; +Mistress Wells of her husband's return that day to his sacked house, +robbed of all its church furniture, books, and her the partner of his +whole life. And I thought of Basil, and what he should feel if he knew +of me in this fearful Newgate, near to so many thieves and wicked +persons; and a trembling came over me lest I should be parted from my +companions. I had much to do to recall the courageous spirit I had +heretofore nurtured in foreseeing such a hap as this. If I had had to +die at once, I think I should have been more brave; but terrible +forebodings of examinations--perchance tortures, long solitary hours +in a loathsome place--caused me inward shudderings; and albeit I said +with my lips over and over again, "Thy will be done, my God," I +passionately prayed this chalice might pass from me which often before +in my presumption--I cry mercy for it--I had almost desired to drink. +Oh, often have I thought since of what is said in David's Psalms, "It +is good for me that thou hast humbled me." From my young years a hot +glowing feeling had inflamed my breast at the mention of suffering for +conscience sake, and the words "to die" had been very familiar ones +to my lips; "rather to die," "gladly to die," "proudly to die;" alas, +how often had I uttered them! O my God, when the foul smells, the +faint light of that dreadful place, struck on my senses, I waxed very +weak. The coarse looks of the jailers, the disgusting food set before +us, the filthy pallets, awoke in me a loathing I could not repress. +And then a fear also, which the sense of my former presumption did +awaken. "Let he that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall," +kept running in mine head. I had said, like St. Peter, that I was +ready for to go to prison and to death; and now, peradventure, I +should betray my Lord if too great pain overtook me. Muriel saw me +wringing mine hands; and, sitting down by my side on the rude +mattress, she tried for to comfort me. Then, in that hour of bitter +anguish, I learnt that creature's full worth. Who should have thought, +who did not then hear her, what stores of superhuman strength, of +heavenly knowledge, of divine comfort, should have flowed from her +lips? Then I perceived the value of a wholly detached heart, +surrendered to God alone. Young as she was, her soul was as calm in +this trial as that of the aged resigned woman which shared it with us. +Mine was tempest-tossed for a while. I could but lie mine head on +Muriel's knee and murmur, "Basil, O Basil!" or else, "If, after all, I +should prove an apostate, which hath so despised others for it!" + +"'Tis good to fear," she whispered, "but withal to trust. Is it not +written, mine own Constance, 'My strength is sufficient for thee?' and +who saith this but the Author of all strength--he on whom the whole +world doth rest? He permitteth this fear in thee for humility's sake, +which lesson thou hast need to learn. When that of courage is needed, +be not affrighted; he will give it thee. He bestoweth not graces +before they be needed." + + +Then she minded me of little St. Agnes, and related passages of her +life; but mostly spoke of the cross and the passion of Christ, in such +piercing and moving tones, as if visibly beholding the scene on +Calvary, that the storm seemed to subside in my breast as she went on. + +"Pray," she gently said, "that, if it be God's will, the extremity of +human suffering should fall on thee, so that thy love for him should +increase. Pray that no human joy may visit thee again, so that heaven +may open its gates to thee and thy loved ones. Pray for Hubert, for +the queen, for Topcliffe, for every human soul which thou hast ever +been tempted to hate; and I promise thee that a great peace shall +steal over thy soul, and a great strength shall lift thee up." + +I did what she desired, and her words were prophetic. Peace came +before long, and joy too, of a strange unearthly sort. A brief +foretaste of heaven was showed forth in the consolations then poured +into mine heart. When since I have desired for to rekindle fervor and +awaken devotion, I recall the hours which followed that great anguish +in the cell at Newgate. + +Late in the evening an order came for to release Muriel and me, but +not Mrs. Wells. When this dear friend understood what had occurred, +she raised her hands in fervent gratitude to God, and dismissed us +with many blessings. + +The events which, followed I will briefly relate. When we reached home +Mr. Congleton was very sick; and then began the illness which ended +his life. Kate was almost wild with grief at her husband's danger, and +we fetched her and her children to her father's house for to watch +over them. On the next day all the prisoners which had been taken at +Mr. Wells's house (we only having been released by the dealings of +friends with the chief secretary) were examined by Justice Young, and +returned to prison to take their trials the next session. Mr. Wells, +at his return finding his house ransacked and his wife carried away to +prison, had been forthwith to Mr. Justice Young for to expostulate +with him, and to demand his wife and the key of his lodgings; but the +justice sent him to bear the rest company, with a pair of iron bolts +on his legs. The next day he examined him in Newgate; and upon Mr. +Wells saying he was not privy to the mass being said that day in his +house, but wished he had been present, thinking his name highly +honored by having so divine a sacrifice offered in it, the justice +told him "that though he was not at the feast, he should taste of the +same." + +The evening I returned home from the prison a great lassitude overcame +me, and for a few days increased so much, joined with pains in the +head and in the limbs, that I could scarcely think, or so much as +stand. At last it was discerned that I was sickening with the +small-pox, caught, methinks, in the prison; and this was no small +increase to Muriel's trouble, who had to go to and fro from my chamber +to her father's, and was forced to send Kate and her children to the +country to Sir Ralph Ingoldsby's house; but methinks in the end this +proved for the best, for when Mr. Lacy was, with the other prisoners, +found guilty, and condemned to death on the 4th of December, some for +having said, and the others for having heard, mass at Mr. Wells's +house, Kate came to London but for a few hours, to take leave of him, +and Polly's care of her afterward cheered the one sister in her great +but not very lasting affliction, and sobered the other's spirits in a +beneficial manner, for since she hath been a stayer at home, and very +careful of her children and Kate's also, and, albeit very secretly, +doth I hear practise her religion. Mr. Congleton never heard of his +son-in-law and his friend Mr. Wells's danger, the palsy which affected +him having numbed his senses so that he slowly sunk in his grave +without suffering of body or mind. From Muriel I heard the course of +the trial. How many bitter words and scoffs were used by the +judges and others upon the bench, particularly to Edmund Genings, +because of his youth, and that he angered them with his arguments! The +more to make him a scoff to the people, they vested him in a +ridiculous fool's coat which they had found in Mr. Wells's house, and +would have it to be a vestment. It was appointed they should all die +at Tyburn, except Mr. Genings and Mr. Wells, who were to be executed +before Mr. Wells's own door in Gray's Inn Fields, within three doors +of our own lodging. The judges, we were told, after pronouncing +sentence, began to persuade them to conform to the Protestant +religion, assuring them that by so doing they should obtain mercy, but +otherwise they must certainly expect to die. But they all answered +"that they would live and die in the true Roman and Catholic faith, +which they and all antiquity had ever professed, and that they would +by no means go to the Protestant churches, or for one moment think +that the queen could be head of the Church in spirituals." They dealt +most urgently with Edmund Genings in this matter of conformity, giving +him hopes not only of his life, but also of a good living, it he would +renounce his faith; but he remained, God be praised, constant and +resolute; upon which he was thrust into a dark hole within the prison, +where he remained in prayer, without food or sustenance, till the hour +of his death. Some letters we received from him and Mr. Wells, which +have become revered treasures and almost relics in our eyes. One did +write (this was Edmund): "The comforts which captivity bringeth are so +manifold that I have rather cause to thank God highly for his fatherly +dealings with me than to complain of any worldly misery whatsoever. +Custom hath caused that it is no grief to me to be debarred from +company, desiring nothing more than solitude. When I pray, I talk with +God--when I read, he talketh with me; so that I am never alone." And +much more in that strain. Mr. Wells ended his letter thus: "I am bound +with gyves, yet I am unbound toward God, and far better I account it +to have the body bound than the soul to be in bondage. I am threatened +hard with danger of death; but if it be no worse, I will not wish it +to be better. God send me his grace, and then I weigh not what flesh +and blood can do unto me. I have answered to many curious and +dangerous questions, but I trust with good advisements, not offending +my conscience. What will come of it God only knoweth. Through prison +and chains to glory. Thine till death." This letter was addressed to +Basil, with a desire expressed we should read it before it was sent to +him. + +On the day before the one of the execution, Kate came to take leave of +her husband. She could not speak for her tears; but he, with his usual +composure, bade her be of good comfort, and that death was no more to +him than to drink off the caudle which stood there ready on his table. +And methinks this indifferency was a joint effect of nature and of +grace, for none had ever seen him hurried or agitated in his life with +any matter whatsoever. And when he rolled Topcliffe down the stairs +and fell with him--for it was he which did this desperate action--his +face was as composed when he rose up again, one of the servants who +had seen the scuffle said, as if he had never so much as stirred from +his study; and in his last speeches before his death it was noticed +that his utterance was as slow and deliberate, and his words as +carefully picked, as at any other time of his life. Ah me! what days +were those when, hardly recovered from my sickness, only enough for to +sit up in an armed-chair and be carried from one chamber to another, +all the talk ministered about me was of the danger and coming death of +these dear friends. I had a trouble of mine own, which I be truly +ashamed to speak of; but in this narrative I have resolved above all +things to be truthful; and if I have ever had occasion, on the +one hand, to relate what should seem to be to mine own credit, on the +other also I desire to acknowledge my weaknesses and imperfections, of +which what I am about to relate is a notable instance. The small-pox +made me at that time the most deformed person that could be seen, even +after I was recovered; and the first time I beheld my face in a glass, +the horror which it gave me was so great that I resolved Basil should +never be the husband of one whom every person which saw her must needs +be affrighted to look on; but, forecasting he would never give me up +for this reason, howsoever his inclination should rebel against the +kindness of his heart and his true affection for me, I hastily sent +him a letter, in which I said I could give him no cause for the change +which had happened in me, but that I was resolved not to marry him, +acting in my old hasty manner, without thought or prudence. No sooner +had I done so than I grew very uneasy thereat, too late reflecting on +what his suspicions should be of my inconstancy, and what should to +him appear faithless breach of promise. + +It grieved me, in the midst of such grave events and noble sufferings, +to be so concerned for mine own trouble; and on the day before the +execution I was sitting musing painfully on the tragedy which was to +be enacted at our own doors as it were, weeping for the dear friends +which were to suffer, and ever and anon chewing the cud of my wilful +undoing of mine own, and it might prove of Basil's, future peace by my +rash letter to him, and yet more rash concealment of my motives. +Whilst I was thus plunged in grief and uneasiness, the door of my +chamber of a sudden opened, and the servant announced Mr. Hubert +Rookwood. I hid my face hastily with a veil, which I now did generally +use, except when alone with Muriel. He came in, and methought a change +had happened in his appearance. He looked somewhat wild and +disordered, and his face flushed as one used to drinking. + +"Constance," he said abruptly, "tidings have reached me which would +not suffer me to put off this visit. A man coming from France hath +brought me a letter from Basil, and one directed to you, which he +charged me to deliver into your hands. If it tallies with that which +he doth write to me--and I doubt not it must be so, for his dealings +are always open and honorable, albeit often rash--I must needs hope +for so much happiness from it as I can scarce credit to be possible +after so much suffering." + +I stretched out mine hand for Basil's letter. Oh, how the tears gushed +from mine eyes on the reading of it! He had received mine, and having +heard some time before from a friend he did not name of his brother's +passion for me, he never misdoubted but that I had at last yielded to +his solicitations, and given him the love which I withdrew from him. + +Never was the nobleness of his nature more evinced than in this +letter; never grief more heartfelt, combined with a more patient +endurance of the overthrow of his sole earthly happiness; never a +greater or more forgiving kindness toward a faithless creature, as he +deemed her, with a lingering care for her weal, whom he must needs +have thought so ill deserving of his love. So much sorrow without +repining, such strict charges not to marry Hubert if he was not a good +Catholic and truly reconciled to the Church. But if he was indeed +changed in this respect, an assent given to this marriage which had +cost him, he said, many tears and many prayers for to write, more than +if with his own heart's blood he had traced the words; but which, +nevertheless, he freely gave, and prayed God to bless us both, if with +a good conscience we could be wedded; and God forbid he should hinder +it, if I had ceased for to love him, and had given to Hubert--who had +already got his birthright--also a more precious treasure, the heart +once his own. + + +"What doth your brother write to you?" I coldly said; and then Hubert +gave me his letter to read. + +Methinks he imagined I concealed my face from some sort of shame; and +God knoweth, had I acted the part he supposed, I might well have +blushed deeper than can be thought of. + +This letter was like unto the other--the most touching proof of love +a man could give for a woman. Forgetting himself, my dearest Basil's +only care was my happiness; and firm remonstrances were blended with +touching injunctions to his brother to treasure every hair of the head +of one who was dearer to him than all the world beside, and to do his +duty to God and to her, which if he observed, he should, mindless of +all else, for ever bless him. + +When I returned the missive to him, Hubert said, in a faltering voice, +"Now you are free--free to be mine--free before God and man." + +"Yea," I answered; "free as the dead, for I am henceforward dead to +all earthly things." + +"What!" he cried, startled; "your thinking is not, God shield it, to +be a nun abroad?" + +"Nay," I answered; and then, laying my hand on Basil's letter, I said, +"If I had thought to marry you, Hubert; if at this hour I should say I +could love you, I ween you would leave the house affrighted, and never +return to it again." + +"Is your brain turned?" he impatiently cried. + +"No," I answered quietly, lifting my veil, "my face only is changed." + +I had a sort of bitter pleasure in the sight of his surprise. He +turned as pale as any smock. + +"Oh, fear not," I said; "my heart hath not changed with my face. I am +not in so merry a mood, God knoweth, as to torment you with any such +apprehensions. My love for Basil is the same; yea, rather at this +hour, after these noble proofs of his love, more great than ever. Now +you can discern why I should write to him I would never marry him." + +Hiding his face in his hands, Hubert said, "Would I had not come here +to embitter your pain?" + +"You have not added to my sorrow," I answered; "the chalice is indeed +full, but these letters have rather lightened than increased my +sufferings." + +Then concealing again my face, I went on, "O Hubert, will you come +here to-morrow morning? Know you the sight which from that window +shall be seen? Hark to that noise! Look out, I pray you, and tell me +what it is." + +He did as I bade him, and I marked the shudder he gave. His face, pale +before, had now turned of an ashy hue. + +"Is it possible?" he said; "a scaffold in front of that house where we +were wont to meet those old friends! O Constance, are they there to +die?--that brave joyous old man, that kind pious soul his wife?" + +"Yea," I answered; "and likewise the friend of my young years, good +holy Edmund Genings, who never did hurt a fly, much less a human +creature. And at Tyburn, Bryan Lacy, my cousin, once your friend, and +Sydney Hodgson, and good Mr. Mason, are to suffer." + +Hubert clenched his hands, ground his teeth, and a terrible look shot +through his eyes. I felt affrighted at the passion my words had +awakened. + +"Cursed," he cried, in a hoarse voice,--"cursed be the bloody queen +which reigneth in this land! Thrice accursed be the tyrants which hunt +us to death! Tenfold accursed such as lure us to damnation by the foul +baits they do offer to tempt a man to lie to God and to others, to +ruin those he loves, to become loathsome to himself by his mean +crimes! But if one hath been cheated of his soul, robbed of the hope +of heaven, debarred from his religion, thrust into the company of +devils, let them fear him, yea, let them fear him, I say. Revenge is +not impossible. What shall stay the hand of such a man? What +shall guard those impious tempters if many such should one day league +for to sweep them from earth's face? If one be desperate of this +world's life, he becomes terrible. How should he be to be dreaded who +doth despair of heaven!" + +With these wild words, he left me. He was gone ere I could speak. + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +On the night before the 10th of December neither Muriel nor I retired +to rest. We sat together by the rush-light, at one time saying +prayers, at another speaking together in a low voice. Ever and anon +she went to listen at her father's door, for to make sure he slept, +and then returned to me. The hours seemed to pass slowly; and yet we +should have wished to stay their course, so much we dreaded the first +rays of light presaging the tragedy of the coming day. Before the +first token of it did show, at about five in the morning, the +door-bell rung in a gentle manner. + +"Who can be ringing?" I said to Muriel. + +"I will go and see," she answered. + +But I restrained her, and went, to call one of the servants, who were +beginning to bestir themselves. The man went down, and returned, +bringing me a paper, on which these words were written: + +"MY DEAR CONSTANCE--My lord and myself have secretly come to join our +prayers with yours, and, if it should be possible, to receive the +blessing of the holy priest who is about to die, as he passeth by your +house, toward which, I doubt not, his eyes will of a surety turn. I +pray you, therefore, admit us." + +I hurried down the stairs, and found Lord and Lady Arundel standing in +the hall; she in a cloak and hood, and he with a slouching hat hiding +his face. Leading them both into the parlor, which looketh on the +street, I had a fire hastily kindled; and for a space her ladyship and +myself could only sit holding each other's hands, our hearts being too +full to speak. After a while I asked her when she had come to London. +She said she had done so very secretly, not to increase the queen's +displeasure against her husband; her majesty's misliking of herself +continuing as great as ever. + +"When she visited my lord last year, before his arrest," quoth she, +"on a pane of glass in the dining-room her grace perceived a distich, +writ by me in bygone days with a diamond, and which expressed hopes of +better fortunes." + +"I mind it well," I replied. "Did it not run thus? + + 'Not seldom doth the sun sink down In brightest light + Which rose at early dawn disfigured quite outright; + So shall my fortunes, wrapt so long in darkest night, + Revive, and show ere long an aspect clear and bright.'" + +"Yea," she answered. "And now listen to what her majesty, calling for +a like instrument, wrote beneath: + + 'Not seldom do vain hopes deceive a silly heart + Let all each witless dreams now vanish and depart; + For fortune shall ne'er shine, I promise thee, on one + Whose folly hath for aye all hopes thereof undone.' + +"We do live," she added, "with a sword hanging over our heads; and it +is meet we should come here this day to learn a lesson how to die when +a like fate shall overtake us. But thou hast been like to die by +another means, my good Constance," her ladyship said, looking with +kindness but no astonishment on my swollen and disfigured face, which +I had not remembered to conceal; grave thoughts, then uppermost, +having caused me to forget it. + +"My life," I answered, "God hath mercifully spared; but I have lost +the semblance of my former self." + +"Tut, tut!" she replied, "only for a time." + +And then we both drew near unto the fire, for we were shivering with +cold. Lord Arundel leant against the chimney, and watched the +timepiece. + +"Mistress Wells," he said, "is like, I hear, to be reprieved at the +last moment." + +"Alas!" I cried, "nature therein finds relief; yet I know not how much +to rejoice or yet to grieve thereat. For surely she will desire to die +with her husband. And of what good will life be to her if, like some +others, she doth linger for years in prison?" + +"Of much good, if God wills her there to spend those years," Muriel +gently said; which words, I ween, were called to mind long afterward +by one who then heard them. + +As the hour appointed for the execution approached, we became silent +again, and kneeling down betook ourselves to prayer. At eight o'clock +a crowd began to assemble in the street; and the sound of their feet +as they passed under the window, hurrying toward the scaffold, which +was hung with black cloth, became audible. About an hour afterward +notice was given to us by one of the servants that the sledge which +carried the prisoners was in sight. We rose from our knees and went to +the window. Mr. Wells's stout form and Mr. Genings's slight figure +were then discernible, as they sat bound, with their hands tied behind +their backs. I observed that Mr. Wells smiled and nodded to some one +who was standing amidst the crowd. This person, who was a friend of +his, hath since told me that as he passed he saluted him with these +words: "Farewell, dear companion! farewell, all hunting and hawking +and old pastimes! I am now going a better way." Mistress Wells not +being with them, we perceived that to be true which Lord Arundel had +heard. At that moment I turned round, and missed Muriel, who had been +standing close behind me. I supposed she could not endure this sight; +but, lo and behold, looking again into the street, I saw her threading +her way amongst the crowd as swiftly, lame though she was, as if an +angel had guided her. When she reached the foot of the scaffold, and +took her stand there, her aspect was so composed, serene, and +resolved, that she seemed like an inhabitant of another world suddenly +descended amidst the coarse and brutal mob. She was resolved, I +afterward found, to take note of every act, gesture, and word there +spoken; and by her means I can here set down what mine own ears heard +not, but much of which mine own eyes beheld. As the sledge passed our +door, Mr. Genings, as Lady Arundel had foreseen, turned his head +toward us; and seeing me at the window, gave us, I doubt not, his +blessing; for, albeit he could not raise his chained hand, we saw his +fingers and his lips move. On reaching the gibbet Muriel heard him cry +out with holy Andrew, "O good gibbet, long desired and now prepared +for me, much hath my heart desired thee; and now, joyful and secure, I +come to thee. Receive me, I beseech thee, as the disciple of him that +suffered on the cross!" Being put upon the ladder, many questions were +asked him by some standersby, to which he made clear and distinct +answers. Then Mr. Topcliffe cried out with a loud voice, + +"Genings, Genings, confess thy fault, thy papist treason; and the +queen, no doubt, will grant thee pardon!" + + +To which he mildly answered, "I know not, Mr. Topcliffe, in what I +have offended my dear anointed princess; if I have offended her or any +other person in anything, I would willingly ask her and all the world +forgiveness. If she be offended with me without a cause, for +professing my faith and religion, or because I am a priest, or because +I will not turn minister against my conscience, I shall be, I trust, +excused and innocent before God. 'We must obey God,' saith St. Peter, +'rather than men;' and I must not in this case acknowledge a fault +where there is none. If to return to England a priest, or to say mass, +is popish treason, I here do confess I am a traitor. But I think not +so; and therefore I acknowledge myself guilty of these things not with +repentance and sorrow of heart, but with an open protestation of +inward joy that I have done so good deeds, which, if they were to do +again, I would, by the permission and assistance of God, accomplish +the same, though with the hazard of a thousand lives." + +Mr. Topcliffe was very angry at this speech, and hardly gave him time +to say an "Our Father" before he ordered the hangman to turn the +ladder. From that moment I could not so much as once again look toward +the scaffold. Lady Arundel and I drew back into the room, and clasping +each other's hands, kept repeating, "Lord, help him! Lord, assist him! +Have mercy on him, O Lord!" and the like prayers. + +We heard Lord Arundel exclaim, "Good God! the wretch doth order the +rope to be cut!" Then avoiding the sight, he also drew back and +silently prayed. What followeth I learnt from Muriel, who never lost +her senses, though she endured, methinks, at that scaffold's foot as +much as any sufferer upon it. Scarcely or not at all stunned, Mr. +Genings stood on his feet with his eyes raised to heaven, till the +hangman threw him down on the block where he was to be quartered. +After he was dismembered, she heard him utter with a loud voice, "Oh, +it smarts!" and Mr. Wells exclaim, "Alas! sweet soul, thy pain is +great indeed, but almost past. Pray for me now that mine may come." +Then when his heart was being plucked out, a faint dying whisper +reached her ear, "Sancte Gregori, ora pro me!" and then the voice of +the hangman crying, "See, his heart is in mine hand, and yet Gregory +in his mouth! O egregious papist!" + +I marvel how she lived through it; but she assured us she was never +even near unto fainting, but stood immovable, hearing every sound, +listening to each word and groan, printing them on the tablet of her +heart, wherein they have ever remained as sacred memories. + +Mr. Wells, so far from being terrified by the sight of his friend's +death, expressed a desire to have his own hastened; and, like unto Sir +Thomas More, was merry to the last; for he cried, "Despatch, despatch, +Mr. Topcliffe! Be you not ashamed to suffer an old man to stand here +so long in his shirt in the cold? I pray God make you of a Saul a +Paul, of a persecutor a Catholic." A murmur, hoarse and loud, from the +crowd apprised us when all was over. + +"Where is Muriel?" I cried, going to the window. Thence I beheld a +sight which my pen refuseth to describe--the sledge which was +carrying away the mangled remains of those dear friends which so short +a time before we had looked upon alive! Like in a dream I saw this +spectacle; for the moment afterward I fainted. Many persons were +running after the cart, and Muriel keeping pace with what to others +would have been a sight full of horror, but to her were only relics of +the saintly dead. She followed, heedless of the mob, unmindful of +their jeers, intent on one aim--to procure some portion of those +sacred remains, which she at last achieved in an incredible manner; +one finger of Edmund Genings's hand, which she laid hold of, remaining +in hers. This secured, she hastened home, bearing away this her +treasure. + + +When I recovered from a long swoon, she was standing on one side of me +and Lady Arundel on the other. Their faces were very pale, but +peaceful; and when remembrance returned, I also felt a great and quiet +joy diffused in mine heart, such as none, I ween, could believe in who +have not known the like. For a while all earthly cares left me; I +seemed to soar above this world. Even Basil I could think of with a +singular detachment. It seemed as if angels were haunting the house, +whispering heavenly secrets. I could not so much as think on those +blessed departed souls without an increase of this joy sensibly +inflaming my heart. + +After Lady Arundel had left us, which she did with many loving words +and tender caresses, Muriel and I conversed long touching the future. +She told me that when her duty to her father should end with his life, +she intended to fulfil the vow she long ago had made to consecrate +herself wholly to God in holy religion, and go beyond the seas, to +become a nun of the order of St. Augustine. + +"May I not leave this world?" I cried; "may I not also, forgetting all +things else, live for God alone?" + +A sweet sober smile illumined Muriel's face as she answered, "Yea, by +all means serve God, but not as a nun, good Constance. Thine I take to +be the mere shadow of a vocation, if even so much as that. A cloud +hath for a while obscured the sunshine of thy hopes and called up this +shadow; but let this thin vapor dissolve, and no trace shall remain of +it. Nay, nay, sweet one, 'tis not chafed, nor yet, except in rare +instances, riven hearts which God doth call to this special +consecration--rather whole ones, nothing or scantily touched by the +griefs and joys which this world can afford. But I warrant thee--nay, +I may not warrant," she added, checking herself, "for who can of a +surety forecast what God's designs should be? But I think thou wilt +be, before many years have past, a careful matron, with many children +about thy apron-strings to try thy patience." + +"O Muriel," I answered, "how should this be? I have made my bed, and I +must lie on it. Like a foolish creature, unwittingly, or rather +rashly, I have deceived Basil into thinking I do not love him; and if +my face should yet recover its old fairness, he shall still think mine +heart estranged." + +Muriel shook her head, and said more entangled skeins than this one +had been unravelled. The next day she resumed her wonted labors in the +prisons and amongst the poor. Having procured means of access to +Mistress Wells, she carried to her the only comfort she could now +taste--the knowledge of her husband's holy, courageous end, and the +reports of the last words he did utter. Then having received a charge +thereunto from Mr. Genings, she discovered John Genings's place of +residence, and went to tell him that the cause of his brother's coming +to London was specially his love for him; that his only regret in +dying had been that he was executed before he could see him again, or +commend him to any friend of his own, so hastened was his death. + +But this much-loved brother received her with a notable coldness; and +far from bewailing the untimely and bloody end of his nearest kinsman, +he betrayed some kind of contentment at the thought that he was now +rid of all the persuasions which he suspected he should otherwise have +received from him touching religion. + +About a fortnight afterward Mr. Congleton expired. Alas! so +troublesome were the times, that to see one, howsoever loved, sink +peacefully into the grave, had not the same sadness which usually +belongs to the like haps. + +Muriel had procured a priest for to give him extreme unction--one Mr. +Adams, a friend of Mr. Wells, who had sometimes said mass in his +house. He also secretly came for to perform the funeral rites before +his burial in the cemetery of St. Martin's church. + + +When we returned home that day after the funeral, this reverend +gentleman asked us if we had heard any report touching the brother of +Mr. Genings; and on our denial, he said, "Talk is ministered amongst +Catholics of his sudden conversion." + +"Sudden, indeed, it should be," quoth Muriel; "for a more indifferent +listener to an afflicting message could not be met with than he proved +himself when I carried to him Mr. Genings's dying words." + +"Not more sudden," quoth Mr. Adams, "than St. Paul's was, and +therefore not incredible." + +Whilst we were yet speaking, a servant came in, and said a young +gentleman was at the door, and very urgent for to see Muriel. + +"Tell him," she said, raising her eyes, swollen with tears, "that I +have one hour ago buried my father, and am in no condition to see +strangers." + +The man returned with a paper, on which these words were written: + +"A penitent and a wanderer craveth to speak with you. If you shed +tears, his do incessantly flow. If you weep for a father, he grieveth +for one better to him than ten fathers. If your plight is sad, his +should be desperate, but for God's great mercy and a brother's prayers +yet pleading for him in heaven as once upon earth. + "JOHN GENINGS." + +"Heavens!" Muriel cried, "it is this changed man, this Saul become a +Paul, which stands at the door and knocks. Bring him in swiftly; the +best comfort I can know this day is to see one who awhile was lost and +is now found." + +When John Genings beheld her and me, he awhile hid his face in his +hands, and seemed unable to speak. To break this silence Mr. Adams +said, "Courage, Mr. Genings; your holy brother rejoiceth in heaven +over your changed mind, and further blessings still, I doubt not, he +shall yet obtain for you." + +Then this same John raised his head, and with as great and touching +sorrow as can be expressed, after thanking this unknown speaker for +his comfortable words, he begged of Muriel to relate to him each +action and speech in the dying scene she had witnessed; and when she +had ended this recital, with the like urgency he moved me to tell him +all I could remember of his brother's young years, all my father had +written of his life and virtues at college, all which we had heard of +his labors since he had come into the country, and lastly, in a manner +most simple and affecting, we all entreating him thereunto, he made +this narrative, addressing himself chiefly to Muriel: + +"You, madam, are acquainted with what was the hardness of mine heart +and cruel indifference to my brother's fate; with what disdain I +listened to you, with what pride I received his last advice. But about +ten days after his execution, toward night, having spent all that day +in sports and jollity, being weary with play, I resorted home to +repose myself. I went into a secret chamber, and was no sooner there +sat down, but forthwith my heart began to be heavy, and I weighed how +idly I had spent that day. Amidst these thoughts there was presently +represented to me an imagination and apprehension of the death of my +brother, and, amongst other things, how he had not long before +forsaken all worldly pleasure, and for the sake of his religion alone +endured dreadful torments. Then within myself I made long discourses +concerning his manner of living and mine own; and finding the one to +embrace pain and mortification, and the other to seek pleasure--the +one to live strictly, and the other licentiously--I was struck with +exceeding terror and remorse. I wept bitterly, desiring God to +illuminate mine understanding, that I might see and perceive the +truth. Oh, what great joy and consolation did I feel at that +instant! What reverence on the sudden did I begin to bear to the +Blessed Virgin and to the Saints of God, which before I had never +scarcely so much as heard of! What strange emotions, as it were +inspirations, with exceeding readiness of will to change my religion, +took possession of my soul! and what heavenly conception had I then of +my brother's felicity! I imagined I saw him--I thought I heard him. In +this ecstasy of mind I made a vow upon the spot, as I lay prostrate on +the ground, to forsake kindred and country, to find out the true +knowledge of Edmund's faith. Oh, sir," he ended by saying, turning to +Mr. Adams, which he guessed to be a priest, "think you not my brother +obtained for me in heaven what on earth he had not obtained? for here +I am become a Catholic in faith without persuasion or conference with +any one man in the world?" + +"Ay, my good friend," Mr. Adams replied; "the blood of martyrs will +ever prove the seed of the Church. Let us then, in our private +prayers, implore the suffrages of those who in this country do lose +their lives for the faith, and take unto ourselves the words of +Jeremiah: 'O Lord, remember what has happened unto us. Behold and see +our great reproach; our inheritance is gone to strangers, our houses +to aliens. We are become as children without a father, our mothers are +made as it were widows.'" + +These last words of Holy Writ brought to mine own mind private +sorrows, and caused me to shed tears. Soon after John Genings departed +from England without giving notice to us or any of his friends, and +went beyond seas to execute his promise. I have heard that he has +entered the holy order of St. Francis, and is seeking to procure a +convent of that religion at Douay, in hopes of restoring the English +Franciscan province, of which it is supposed he will be first +provincial. Report doth state him to be an exceeding strict and holy +religious, and like to prove an instrument in furnishing the English +mission with many zealous and apostolical laborers. + +Muriel and I were solitary in that great city where so many +misfortunes had beset us; she with her anchor cast where her hopes +could not be deceived; I by mine own folly like unto a ship at sea +without a chart. Womanly reserve, mixed, I ween, with somewhat of +pride, restraining me from writing to Basil, though, as my face +improved each day, I deplored my hasty folly, and desired nothing so +much as to see him again, when, if his love should prove unchanged +(shame on that word _if!_ which my heart disavowed), we should be as +heretofore, and the suffering I had caused him and endured myself +would end. But how this might happen I foresaw not; and life was sad +and weary while so much suspense lasted. + +Muriel would not forsake me while in this plight; but although none +could have judged it from her cheerful and amiable behavior, I well +knew that she sighed for the haven of a religions home, and grieved to +keep her from it. After some weeks spent in this fashion, with very +little comfort, I was sitting one morning dismally forecasting the +future, writing letter after letter to Basil, which still I tore up +rather than send them--for I warrant you it was no easy matter for to +express in writing what I longed to say. To tell him the cause of my +breaking our contract was so much as to compel him to the performance +of it; and albeit I was no longer so ill-favored as at the first, yet +the good looks I had before my sickness had by no means wholly +returned. Sometimes I wrote: "Your thinking, dear Basil, that I do +affection any but yourself is so false and injurious an imagination, +that I cannot suffer you to entertain it. Be sure I never can and +never shall love any but you; yet, for all that, I cannot marry you." +Then effacing this last sentence, which verily belied my true desire, +I would write another: "Methinks if you should see me now, yourself +would not wish otherwise than to dissolve a contract wherein +your contentment should be less than it hath been." And then thinking +this should be too obscure, changed it to--"In sooth, dear Basil, my +appearance is so altered that you would yourself, I ween, not desire +for to wed one so different from the Constance you have seen and +loved." But pride whispered to restrain this open mention of my +suspicious fears of his liking me less for my changed face; yet +withal, conscience reproved this misdoubt of one whose affection had +ever shown itself to be of the nobler sort, which looketh rather to +the qualities of the heart and mind than to the exterior charms of a +fair visage. + +Alas! what a torment doth perplexity occasion. I had let go my pen, +and my tears were falling on the paper, when Muriel opened the door of +the parlor. + +"What is it?" I cried, hiding my face with mine hand that she should +not see me weeping. + +"A letter from Lady Arundel," she answered. + +I eagerly took it from her; and on the reading of it found it +contained an urgent request from her ladyship, couched in most +affectionate terms, and masking the kindness of its intent under a +show of entreating, as a favor to herself that I would come and reside +with her at Arundel Castle, where she greatly needed the solace of a +friend's company, during her lord's necessary absences. + + "Mine own dear, good Constance," she wrote, "come to me quickly. In + a letter I cannot well express all the good you will thus do to me. + For mine own part, I would fain say come to me until death shall + part us. But so selfish I would not be; yet prithee come until such + time as the clouds which have obscured the fair sky of thy future + prospects have passed away, and thy Basil's fortunes are mended; for + I will not cease to call him thine, for all that thou hast thyself + thrust a spoke in a wheel which otherwise should have run smoothly, + for the which thou art now doing penance: but be of good cheer; time + will bring thee shrift. Some kind of comfort I can promise thee in + this house, greater than I dare for to commit to paper. Lose no time + then. From thy last letter methinks the gentle turtle-dove at whose + side thou dost now nestle hath found herself a nest whereunto she + longeth to fly. Let her spread her wings thither, and do thou hasten + to the shelter of these old walls and the loving faithful heart of + thy poor friend, + "ANNE ARUNDEL AND SURREY." + +Before a fortnight was overpast Muriel and I had parted; she for her +religious home beyond seas, I for the castle of my Lord Arundel, +whither I travelled in two days, resting on my way at the pleasant +village of Horsham. During the latter part of the journey the road lay +through a very wild expanse of down; but as soon as I caught sight of +the sea my heart bounded with joy; for to gaze on its blue expanse +seemed to carry me beyond the limits of this isle to the land where +Basil dwelt. When I reached the castle, the sight of the noble gateway +and keep filled me with admiration; and riding into the court thereof, +I looked with wonder on the military defences bristling on every side. +But what a sweet picture smiled from one of the narrow windows over +above the entrance-door!--mine own loved friend, yet fairer in her +matronly and motherly beauty than even in her girlhood's loveliness, +holding in her arms the pretty bud which had blossomed on a noble tree +in the time of adversity. Her countenance beamed on me like the +morning sun's; and my heart expanded with joy when, half-way up the +stairs which led to her chamber, I found myself inclosed in her arms. +She led me to a settle near a cheerful fire, and herself removed my +riding-cloak, my hat and veil, stroked my cheek with two of her +delicate white fingers, and said with a smile, + +"In sooth, my dear Constance, thou art an arrant cheat." + +"How so, most dear lady?" I said, likewise smiling. + + +"Why, thou art as comely as ever I thee; which, after all the torments +inflicted on poor Master Rookwood by thy prophetical vision of an +everlasting deformity, carefully concealed from him under the garb of +a sudden fit of inconstancy, is a very nefarious injustice. Go to, go +to; if he should see thee now, he never would believe but that that +management of thine was a cunning device for to break faith with him." + +"Nay, nay," I cried; "if I should be ever so happy, which I deserve +not, for to see him again, there could never be for one moment a +mistrust on his part of a love which is too strong and too fond for +concealment. If the feebleness of sickness had not bred unreasonable +fears, methinks I should not have been guilty of so great a folly as +to think he would prize less what he was always wont most to treasure +far above their merits--the heart and mind of his poor Constance +--because the casket which held them had waxed unseemly. But when the +day shall come in which Basil and I may meet, God only knoweth. Human +foresight cannot attain to this prevision." + +Lady Arundel's eyes had a smiling expression then which surprised me. +For mine own heart was full when I thus spoke, and I was wont to meet +in her with a more quick return of the like feelings I expressed than +at that time appeared. Slight inward resentments, painfully, albeit +not angrily, entertained, I was by nature prone to; and in this case +the effect of this impression suddenly checked the joy which at my +first arrival I had experienced. O, how much secret discipline should +be needed for to rule that little unruly kingdom within us, which many +look not into till serious rebellions do arise, which need fire and +sword to quell them for lack of timely repression! Her ladyship set +before me some food, and constrained me to eat, which I did merely for +to content her. She appeared to me somewhat restless: beginning a +sentence, and then breaking off suddenly in the midst thereof; going +in and out of the chamber; laughing at one time, and then seeming as +if about to weep. "When I had finished eating, and a servant had +removed the dishes, she sat down by my side and took my hand in hers. +Then the tears truly began to roll down her cheeks. + +"O, for God's sake, what aileth you, dearest lady?" I said, uneasily +gazing on her agitated countenance. + +"Nothing ails me," she answered; "only I fear to frighten thee, albeit +in a joyful manner." + +"Frightened with joy!" I sadly answered. "O, that should be a rare +fright, and an unwonted one to me of late." + +"Therefore," she said, smiling through her tears, "peradventure the +more to be feared." + +"What joy do you speak of? I pray you, sweet lady, keep me not in +suspense." + +"If, for instance," she said in a low voice, pressing my hands very +hard,--"if I was to tell thee Constance, that thy Basil was here, +shouldst thou not be affrighted?" + +Methinks I must have turned very white; leastways, I began to tremble. + +"Is he here?" I said, almost beside myself with the fearful hope her +words awoke. + +"Yea," she said. "Since three days he is here." + +For a moment I neither spoke nor moved. + +"How comes it about? how doth it happen?" I began to say; but a +passion of tears choked my utterance. I fell into her arms, sobbing on +her breast; for verily I had no power to restrain myself. I heard her +say, "Master Rookwood, come in." Then, after those sad long weary +years, I again heard his cheerful voice; then I saw his kind eyes +speaking what words could never have uttered, or one-half so well +expressed. Then I felt the happiness which is most like, I ween, +of any on earth to that of heaven: after long parting, to meet again +one intensely loved--each heart overflowing with an unspoken joy and +with an unbounded thankfulness to God. Amazement did so fill me at +this unlooked-for good, that I seemed content for a while to think of +it as of a dream, and only feared to be awoke. But oh, with how many +sweet tears of gratitude--with what bursts of wonder and admiration--I +soon learnt how Lady Arundel had formed this kind plot, to which +Muriel had been privy, for to bring together parted lovers, and +procure to others the happiness she so often lacked herself--the +company of the most loved person in the world. She had herself written +to Basil, and related the cause of my apparent change; a cause, she +said, at no time sufficient for to warrant a desperate action, and +even then passing away. But that had it forever endured, she was of +opinion his was a love would survive any such accident as touched only +the exterior, when all else was unimpaired. She added, that when Mr. +Congleton, who was then at the point of death, should have expired, +and Muriel gone beyond seas to fulfil her religious intent, she would +use all the persuasion in her power to bring me to reside with her, +which was the thing she most desired in the world; and that if he +should think it possible under another name for to cross the seas and +land at some port in Sussex, he should be the welcomest guest +imaginable at Arundel Castle, if even, like St. Alexis, he should hide +his nobility under the garb of rags, and come thither begging on foot; +but yet she hoped, for his sake, it should not so happen, albeit +nothing could be more honorable if the cause was a good one. It needed +no more inducement than what this letter contained for to move Basil +to attempt this secret return. He took the name of Martingale, and +procured a passage in a small trading craft, which landed him at the +port of a small town named Littlehampton, about three or four miles +from Arundel. Thence he walked to the castle, where the countess +feigned him to be a leech sent by my lord to prescribe remedies for a +pain in her head, which she was oftentimes afflicted with, and as such +entertained him in the eyes of strangers as long as he continued +there, which did often move us to great merriment; for some of the +neighbors which she was forced to see, would sometimes ask for to +consult the countess's physician; and to avoid misdoubts, Basil once +or twice made up some innocent compounds, which an old gentleman and a +maiden lady in the town vowed had cured them, the one of a fit of the +gout, and the other of a very sharp disorder in her stomach. But to +return to the blissful first day of our meeting, one of the happiest I +had yet known; for a paramount affection doth so engross the heart, +that other sorrows vanish in its presence like dewdrops in the +sunshine. I can never forget the smallest particle of its many joys. +The long talk between Basil and me, first in Lady Arundel's chamber, +and then in the gallery of the castle, walking up and down, and when I +was tired, I sitting and he standing by the window which looked on the +fair valley and silvery river Arun, running toward the sea, through +pleasant pastures, with woody slopes on both sides, a fair and a +peaceful scene; fair and peaceful as the prospect Basil unfolded to me +that day, if we could but once in safety cross the seas; for his +debtors had remitted to him in France the moneys which they owed him, +and he had purchased a cottage in a very commodious village near the +town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, with an apple-orchard and a garden stored +with gay flowers and beehives, and a meadow with two large +walnut-trees in it. "And then bethink thee," he added, "mine own dear +love, that right in front of this fine mansion doth stand the parish +church, where God is worshipped in a Catholic manner in peace +and freedom; and nothing greater or more weighty need, methinks, to be +said in its praise." + +I said I thought so too, and that the picture he drew of it liked me +well. + +"But," quoth Basil suddenly, "I must tell thee, sweetheart, I liked +not well thy behavior touching thine altered face, and the misleading +letter thou didst send me at that time. No!" he exclaimed with great +vehemency, "it mislikes me sorely that thou shouldst have doubted my +love and faith, and dealt with me so injuriously. If I was now by some +accident disfigured, I must by that same token expect thine affection +for me should decay." + +"O Basil!" I cried, "that would be an impossible thing!" + +"Wherefore impossible?" he replied; "you thought such a change +possible in me?" + +"Because," I said, smiling, "women are the most constant creatures in +the world, and not fickle like unto men, or so careful of a good +complexion in others, or a fine set of features." + +"Tut, tut!" he cried, "I do admire that thou shouldst dare to utter so +great a . . . ." then he stopped, and, laughing, added, "the last half +of Raleigh's name, as the queen's bad riddle doth make it." [Footnote 5] + + [Footnote 5: "The bane of the stomach, and the word of disgrace. + Is the name of the gentleman with the bold."] + +Well, much talk of this sort was ministered between us; but albeit I +find pleasure in the recalling of it, methinks the reading thereof +should easily weary others; so I must check my pen, which, like unto a +garrulous old gossip, doth run on, overstepping the limits of +discretion. + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Before I arrived, Lady Arundel had made Basil privy to a great secret, +with warrant to impart it to me. In a remote portion of the castle's +buildings was concealed at that time Father Southwell, a man who had +not his like for piety and good parts; a sweet poet also, whose pieces +of verse, chiefly written in that obscure chamber in Arundel Castle, +have been since done into print, and do win great praise from all +sorts of people. Adjoining to his room, which only one servant in the +house, who carried his meals to him, had knowledge of, and from which +he could not so much as once look out of the window for fear of being +seen, was a small oratory where he said mass every day, and by a +secret passage Lady Arundel went from her apartments for to hear it. +That same evening after supper she led me thither for to get this good +priest's blessing, and also his counsel touching my marriage; for both +her ladyship and Basil were urgent for it to take place in a private +manner at the castle before we left England. For, they argued, if +there should be danger in this departure, it were best encountered +together; and except we were married it should be an impossible thing +for me to travel in his company and land with him in France. Catholics +could be married in a secret manner now that the needs of the times, +and the great perils many were exposed to, gave warrant for it. After +some talk with Father Southwell and Lady Arundel, I consented to their +wishes with more gladness of heart, I ween, than was seemly to +exhibit; for verily I was better contented than can be thought of to +think I should be at last married to my dear Basil, and nevermore to +part from him, if it so pleased God that we should land safely in +France, which did seem to me then the land of promise. + +The next days were spent in forecasting means for a safe departure, as +soon as these secret nuptials should have taken place; but none had +been yet resolved on, when one morning I was called to Lady Arundel's +chamber, whom I found in tears and greatly disturbed, for that she had +heard from Lady Margaret Sackville, who was then in London, that +Lord Arundel was once more resolved to leave the realm, albeit Father +Edmunds did dissuade him from that course; but some other friend's +persuasions were more availing, and he had determined to go to France, +where he might live in safety and serve God quietly. + +My lady's agitation at this news was very great. She said nothing +should content her but to go with him, albeit she was then with child; +and she should write to tell him so; but before she could send a +letter Lord Arundel came to the castle, and held converse for many +hours with her and Father Southwell. When I met her afterward in the +gallery, her eyes were red with weeping. She said my lord desired to +see Basil and me in her chamber at nine of the clock. He wished to +speak with us of his resolve to cross the seas, and she prayed God +some good should arise out of it. Then she added, "I am now going to +the chapel, and if thou hast nothing of any weight to detain thee, +then come thither also, for to join thy prayers with mine for the +favorable issue of a very doubtful matter." + +When we repaired to her ladyship's chamber at the time appointed, my +lord greeted us in an exceeding kind manner; and after some talk +touching Basil's secret return to England, our marriage, and then as +speedy as possible going abroad, his lordship said: "I also am +compelled to take a like course, for my evil-willers are resolved to +work my ruin and overthrow, and will succeed therein by means of my +religion. Many actions which at the outset may seem rash and +unadvised, after sufficient consideration do appear to be just and +necessary; and, methinks, my dearest wife and Father Southwell are now +minded to recommend what at first they misliked, and to see that in +this my present intent I take the course which, though it imperils my +fortunes, will tend to my soul's safety and that of my children. Since +I have conceived this intent, I thank God I have found a great deal +more quietness in my mind; and in this respect I have just occasion to +esteem my past troubles as my greatest felicity, for they have been +the means of leading me to that course which ever brings perfect +quietness, and only procures eternal happiness. I am resolved, as my +dear Nan well knoweth, to endure any punishment rather than willingly +to decline from what I have begun; I have bent myself as nearly as I +could to continue in the same, and to do no act repugnant to my faith +and profession. And by means hereof I am often compelled to do many +things which may procure peril to myself, and be an occasion of +mislike to her majesty. For, look you, on the first day of this +parliament, when the queen was hearing of a sermon in the cathedral +church of Westminster, above in the chancel, I was driven to walk by +myself below in one of the aisles; and another day this last Lent, +when she was hearing another sermon in the chapel at Greenwich, I was +forced to stay all the while in the presence-chamber. Then also when +on any Sunday or holyday her grace goes to her great closet, I am +forced either to stay in the privy chamber, and not to wait upon her +at all, or else presently to depart as soon as I have brought her to +the chapel. These things, and many more, I can by no means escape, but +only by an open plain discovery of myself, in the eye and opinion of +all men, as to the true cause of my refusal; neither can it now be +long hidden, although for a while it may not have been generally noted +and observed." + +Lady Arundel sighed and said: + +"I must needs confess that of necessity it must shortly be discovered; +and when I remember what a watchful and jealous eye is carried over +all such as are known to be recusants, and also how their lodgings are +continually searched, and to how great danger they are subject if a +Jesuit or seminary priest be found within their house, I begin to see +that either you cannot serve God in such sort as you have +professed, or else you must incur the hazard of greater sufferings +than I am willing you should endure." + +"For my part," Basil said, "I would ask, my lord, those that hate you +most, whether being of the religion which you do profess, they would +not take that course for safety of their souls and discharge of their +consciences which you do now meditate? And either they must directly +tell you that they would have done the same, or acknowledge themselves +to be mere atheists; which, howsoever they be affected in their +hearts, I think they would be loth to confess with their mouths." + +"What sayest thou, Constance, of my lord's intent?" Lady Arundel said, +when Basil left off speaking. + +"I am ashamed to utter my thinking in his presence, and in yours, +dearest lady," I replied; "but if you command me to it, methinks that +having had his house so fatally and successfully touched, and finding +himself to be of that religion which is accounted dangerous and odious +to the present state, which her majesty doth detest, and of which she +is most jealous and doubtful, and seeing he might now be drawn for his +conscience into a great and continual danger, not being able to do any +act or duty whereunto his religion doth bind him without incurring the +danger of felony, he must needs run upon his death headlong, which is +repugnant to the law of God and flatly against conscience, or else he +must resolve to escape these perils by the means he doth propose." + +"Yea," exclaimed his lordship, with so much emotion that his voice +shook in the utterance of the words, "long have I debated with myself +on the course to take. I do see it to be the safest way to depart out +of the realm, and abide in some other place where I may live without +danger of my conscience, without offence to the queen, without daily +peril of my life; but yet I was drawn by such forcible persuasions to +be of another opinion, as I could not easily resolve on which side to +settle my determination. For on the one hand my native, and oh how +dearly loved country, my own early friends, my kinsfolk, my home, and, +more than all, my wife, which I must for a while part with if I go, do +invite me to stay. Poverty awaits me abroad; but in what have state +and riches benefited us, Nan? Shall not ease of heart and freedom from +haunting fears compensate for vain wealth? When, with the sweet +burthen in thine arms which for a while doth detain thee here, thou +shalt kneel before God's altar in a Catholic land, methinks thou wilt +have but scanty regrets for the trappings of fortune." + +"God is my witness," the sweet lady replied, "that should be the +happiest day of my life. But I fear--yea, much I do fear--the chasm +of parting which doth once more open betwixt thee and me. Prithee, +Phil, let me go with thee," she tearfully added. + +"Nay, sweet Nan," he answered; "thou knowest the physicians forbid thy +journeying at the present time so much as hence to London. How should +it then behoove thee to run the perils of the sea, and nightly voyage, +and it may be rough usage? Nay, let me behold thee again, some months +hence, with a fair boy in thine arms, which if I can but once behold, +my joy shall be full, if I should have to labor with mine hands for to +support him and thee." + +She bowed her head on the hand outstretched to her; but I could see +the anguish with which she yielded her assent to this separation. +Methinks there was some sort of presentiment of the future heightening +her present grief; she seemed so loth her lord should go, albeit +reason and expediency forced from her an unwilling consent. + +Before the conversation in Lady Arundel's chamber ended, the earl +proposed that Basil and I should accompany him abroad, and cross the +sea in the craft he should privately hire, which would sail from +Littlehampton, and carry us to some port of France, whence along the +coast we could travel to Boulogne. This liked her ladyship well. Her +eyes entreated our consent thereunto, as if it should have been a +favor she asked, which indeed was rather a benefit conferred on us; +for nothing would serve my lord but that he should be at the entire +charge of the voyage, who smiling said, for such good company as he +should thus enjoy he should be willing to be taxed twice as much, and +yet consider himself to be the obliged party in this contract. + +"But we must be married first," Basil bluntly said. + +Lady Arundel replied that Father Southwell could perform the ceremony +when we pleased--yea, on the morrow, if it should be convenient; and +that my lord should be present thereat. + +I said this should be very short notice, I thought, for to be married +the next day; upon which Basil exclaimed, + +"These be not times, sweetheart, for ceremonies, fashions, and nice +delays. Methinks since our betrothal there hath been sufficient +waiting for to serve the turn of the nicest lady in the world in the +matter of reserves and yeas and nays." + +Which is the sharpest thing, I think, Basil hath uttered to me either +before or since we have been married. So, to appease him, I said not +another word against this sudden wedding; and the next day but one, at +nine of the clock, was then fixed for the time thereof. + +On the following morning Lord Arundel and Basil (the earl had +conceived a very great esteem and good disposition toward him; as +great, and greater he told me, as for some he had known for as many +years as him hours) went out together, under pretence of shooting in +the woods on the opposite side of the river about Leominster, but +verily to proceed to Littlehampton, where the earl had appointed to +meet the captain of the vessel--a Catholic man, the son of an old +retainer of his family--with whom he had dealt for the hiring of a +vessel for to sail to France as soon as the wind should prove +favorable. Whilst they were gone upon this business, Lady Arundel and +I sat in the chamber which looked into the court, making such simple +preparations as would escape notice for our wedding, and the departure +which should speedily afterward ensue. + +"I will not yield thee," her ladyship said, "to be married except in a +white dress and veil, which I shall hide in a chamber nigh unto the +oratory, where I myself will attire thee, dear love; and see, this +morning early I went out alone into the garden and gathered this store +of rosemary, for to make thee a nosegay to wear in thy bosom. Father +Southwell saith it is used at weddings for an emblem of fidelity. If +so, who should have so good a right to it as my Constance and her +Basil? But I will lay it up in a casket, which shall conceal it the +while, and aid to retain the scent thereof." + +"O dear lady," I cried, seizing her hands, "do you remember the day +when you plucked rosemary in our old garden at Sherwood, and smiling, +said to me, 'This meaneth remembrance?' Since it signifieth fidelity +also, well should you affection it; for where shall be found one so +faithful in love and friendship as you?" + +"Weep not," she said, pressing her fingers on her eyelids to stay her +own tears. "We must needs thank God and be joyful on the eve of thy +wedding-day; and I am resolved to meet my lord also with a cheerful +countenance, so that not in gloom but in hope he shall leave his +native land." + +In converse such as this the hours went swiftly by. Sometimes we +talked of the past, its many strange haps and changes; sometimes of +the future, forecasting the manner of our lives abroad, where in +safety, albeit in poverty, we hoped to spend our days. In the +afternoon there arrived at the castle my Lord William Howard and his +wife and Lady Margaret Sackville, who, having notice of their +brother's intent to go beyond seas on the next day, if it should be +possible, had come for to bid him farewell. + +Leaving Lady Arundel in their company, I went to the terrace +underneath the walls of the castle, and there paced up and down, +chewing the cud of both sweet and sad memories. I looked at the soft +blue sky and fleecy clouds, urged along by a westerly breeze +impregnated with a salt savor; on the emerald green of the fields, the +graceful forms of the leafless trees on the opposite hills, on the +cattle peacefully resting by the river-side. I listed to the rustling +of the wind amongst the bare branches over mine head, and the bells of +a church ringing far off in the valley. "O England, mine own England, +my fair native land--am I to leave thee, never to return?" I cried, +speaking aloud, as if to ease my oppressed heart. Then mine eyes +rested on the ruined hospital of the town, the shut-up churches, the +profaned sanctuaries, and thought flying beyond the seas to a Catholic +land, I exclaimed, "The sparrow shall find herself a house, and the +turtle-dove a nest for herself--the altars of the Lord of hosts, my +king and my God." + +When Basil returned, he told me that the vessel which was to take us +to France was lying out at sea near the coast. Lord Arundel and +himself had gone in a boat to speak with the captain, who did seem a +particular honest man and zealous Catholic; and the earl had bespoken +some needful accommodation for Mistress Martingale, he said, smiling; +not very commodious, indeed, but as good as on board the like craft +could be expected. If the wind remained in the same quarter in the +afternoon of the morrow, we should then sail; if it should change, so +as to be most unfavorable, the captain should send private notice of +it to the castle. + +The whole of that evening the earl spent in writing a letter to her +majesty. He feared that his enemies, after his departure, would, by +their slanderous reports, endeavor to disgrace him with the people, +and cause the queen to have sinister surmises of him. He confided this +letter to the Lady Margaret, his sister, to be delivered unto her +after his arrival in France; by which it might appear, both to her and +all others, what were the true causes which had moved him to undertake +that resolution. + +I do often think of that evening in the great chamber of the +castle--the young earl in the vigorous strength and beauty of manhood, +his comely and fair face now bending over his writing, now raised with +a noble and manly grief, as he read aloud portions of it, which, +methinks, would have touched any hearts to hear them; and how much the +more that loving wife, that affectionate sister, that faithful +brother, those devoted friends which seemed to be in some sort +witnesses of his last will before a final parting! I mind me of the +sorrowful, dove-like sweetness of Lady Arundel's countenance; the +flashing eyes of Lady Margaret; the loving expression, veiled by a +studied hardness, of Lord William's face; of his wife my Lady Bess's +reddening cheek and tearful eyes, which she did conceal behind the +coif of her childish namesake sitting on her knees. When he had +finished his letter, with a somewhat moved voice the earl read the +last passages thereof: "If my protestation, who never told your +majesty any untruth, may carry credit in your opinion, I here call God +and his angels to witness that I would not have taken this course if I +might have stayed in England without danger of my soul or peril of my +life. I am enforced to forsake my country, to forget my friends, to +leave my wife, to lose the hope of all worldly pleasures and earthly +commodities. All this is so grievous to flesh and blood, that I could +not desire to live if I were not comforted with the remembrance +of his mercy for whom I endure all this, who endured ten thousand +times more for me. Therefore I remain in assured hope that myself and +my cause shall receive that favor, conceit, and rightful construction +at your majesty's hands which I may justly challenge. I do humbly +crave pardon for my long and tedious letter, which the weightiness of +the matter enforced me unto; and I beseech God from the bottom of my +heart to send your majesty as great happiness as I wish to mine own +soul." + +A time of silence followed the reading of these sentences, and then +the earl said in a cheerful manner: + +"So, good Meg, I commit this protestation to thy good keeping. When +thou hearest of my safe arrival in France, then straightway see to +have it placed in the queen's hands." + +The rest of the evening was spent in affectionate converse by these +near kinsfolk. Basil and I repaired the while by the secret passage to +Father Southwell's chamber, where we were in turn shriven, and +afterward received from him such good counsel and rules of conduct as +he deemed fitting for married persons to observe. Before I left him, +this good father gave me, writ in his own hand, some sweet verses +which he had that day composed for us, and which I do here transcribe. +He, smiling, said he had made mention of fishes in his poem, for to +pleasure so famous an angler as Basil; and of birds, for that he knew +me to be a great lover of these soaring creatures: + + "The lopped tree in time may grow again. + Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower; + The sorest wight may find release of pain. + The driest soil suck in some moistening shower; + Times go by turn, and chances change by course. + From foul to fair, from better hap to worse. + + "The sea of fortune doth not over flow, + She draws her favors to the lowest ebb; + Her time hath equal times to come and go. + Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web; + No joy so great but runneth to an end. + No hap so hard but may in fine amend. + + "A chance may win that by mischance was lost. + The well that holds no great, takes little fish; + In some things all, in all things none are crossed. + Few all they need, but none have all they wish; + Unmeddled joys here to no man befal, + Who least have some, who most have never all. + + "Not always fall of leaf, nor ever spring; + No endless night, yet not eternal day; + The saddest birds a season find to sing; + The roughest storm a calm may soon allay; + Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all, + That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall." + +The common sheet of paper which doth contain this his writing hath a +greater value in mine eyes than the most rich gift that can be thought +of. + +On the next morning. Lady Arundel conducted me from mine own chamber, +first into a room where with her own hands she arrayed me in my bridal +dress, and with many tender kisses and caresses, such as a sister or a +mother would bestow, testified her affection for her poor friend; and +thence to the oratory, where the altar was prepared, and by herself in +secret decked with early primroses, which had begun to show in the +woods and neath the hedges. A small but noble company were gathered +round us that day. From pure and holy lips the Church's benison came +to us. The vows we exchanged have been faithfully observed, and long +years have set a seal on the promises then made. + +Basil's wife! Oh, what a whole compass of happiness did lie in those +two words! Yea, the waves of the sea might now rage and the winds +blow. The haven might be distant and the way thither insecure. Man's +enmity or accident might yet rob us each of the other's visible +presence. But naught could now sever the cord, strong like unto a +cable chain, which bound our souls in one. Anchored in that wedded +unity, which is one of God's sacraments, till death, ay, and beyond +death also, this tie should last. + +We have been young, and now are old. We have lost country, home, and +almost every friend known and affectioned in our young years; but + that deepest, holiest love, the type of Christ's union with his +Church, still doth shed its light over the evening of life. My dear +Basil, I am assured, thinks me as fair as when we did sit together +fishing on the banks of the Ouse; and his hoary head and withered +cheeks are more lovely in mine eyes than ever were his auburn locks +and ruddy complexion. One of us must needs die before the other, +unless we should be so happy that that good should befal us as to end +our days as two aged married persons I have heard of. It was the +husband's custom, as soon as ever he unclosed his eyes, to ask his +wife how she did; but one night, he being in a deep sleep, she quietly +departed toward the morning. He was that day to have gone out +a-hunting, and it was his custom to have his chaplain pray with him +before he went out. The women, fearful to surprise him with the ill +news, had stolen out and acquainted the chaplain, desiring him to +inform him of it. But the gentleman waking did not on that day, as was +his custom ask for his wife, but called his chaplain to prayers, and, +joining with him, in the midst of the prayer expired, and both were +buried in the same grave. Methinks this should be a very desirable +end, only, if it pleased God, I would wish to have the last +sacraments, and then to die just before Basil, when his time cometh. +But God knoweth best; and any ways we are so old and so near of an +age, one cannot tarry very long behind when the other is gone. + +Being at rest after our marriage touching what concerned ourselves, +compassion for Lady Arundel filled our hearts. Alas! how bravely and +how sweetly she bore this parting grief. Her intense love for her +lord, and sorrow at their approaching separation, struggled with her +resolve not to sadden their last hours, which were prolonged beyond +expectancy. For once on that day, and twice on that which followed, +when all was made ready for departure, a message came from the captain +for to say the wind, and another time the tide, would not serve; and +albeit each time, like a reprieved person, Lady Arundel welcomed the +delay, methinks these retardments served to increase her sufferings. +Little Bess hung fondly on her father's neck the last time he returned +from Littlehampton with the tidings the vessel would not sail for some +hours, kissing his face and playing with his beard. + +"Ah, dearest Phil!" her mother cried, "the poor babe rejoiceth in the +sight of thee, all unwitting in her innocent glee of the shortness of +this joy. Howsoever, methinks five or six hours of it is a boon for to +thank God for;" and so putting her arm in his, she led him away to a +solitary part of the garden, where they walked to and fro, she, as she +hath since written to me, starting each time the clock did strike, +like one doomed to execution. Methinks there was this difference +between them, that he was full of hope and bright forecastings of a +speedy reunion; but on her soul lay a dead, mournful despondency, +which she hid by an apparent calmness. When, late in the evening, a +third message came for to say the ship could not depart that night, I +begun to think it would never go at all. I saw Basil looked at the +weathercock and shrugged his shoulders, as if the same thought was in +his mind. But when I spake of it, he said seafaring folks had a +knowledge in these matters which others did not possess, and we must +needs be patient under these delays. Howsoever, at three o'clock in +the morning the shipman signified that the wind was fit and all in +readiness. So we rose in haste and prepared for to depart. The +countess put her arms about my neck, and this was the last embrace I +ever had of her. My lord's brother and sisters hung about him awhile +in great grief. Then his wife put out her hands to him, and, with a +sorrow too deep for speech, fixed her eyes on his visage. + + +"Cheep up, sweetest wife," I heard him say. "Albeit nature suffers in +this severance from my native land, my true home shall be wherever it +shall please God to bring thee and me and our children together. God +defend the loss of this world's good should make us sad, if we be but +once so blessed as to meet again where we may freely serve him." + +Then, after a long and tender clasping of her to his breast, he tore +himself away and getting on a horse rode to the coast. Basil and I, +with Mr. William Bray and Mr. Burlace, drove in a coach to the port. +It was yet dark, and a heavy mist hung on the valley. Folks were yet +abed, and the shutters of the houses closed, as we went down the hill +through the town. After crossing the bridge over the Arun the air felt +cold and chill. At the steep ascent near Leominster I put my head out +of the window for to look once more at the castle, but the fog was too +thick. At the port the coach stopped, and a boat was found waiting for +us. Lord Arundel was seated in it, with his face muffled in a cloak. +The savor of the sea air revived my spirits; and when the boat moved +off, and I felt the waves lifting it briskly, and with my hand in +Basil's I looked on the land we were leaving, and then on the watery +world before us, a singular emotion filled my soul, as if it was some +sort of death was happening to me--a dying to the past, a gliding on +to an unknown future on a pathless ocean, rocked peacefully in the +arms of his sheltering love, even as this little bark which carried us +along was lifted up and caressed by the waves of the deep sea. + +When we reached the vessel the day was dawning. The sun soon emerged +from a bank of clouds, and threw its first light on the rippling +waters. A favoring wind filled our sails, and like a bird on the wing +the ship bounded on its way till the flat shore at Littlehampton and +the far-off white cliffs to the eastward were well-nigh lost sight of. +Lord Arundel stood with Basil on the narrow deck, gazing at the +receding coast. + +"How sweet the air doth blow from England!" he said; "how blue the sky +doth appear to-day! and those saucy seagulls how free and happy they +do look!" Then he noticed some fishing-boats, and with a telescope he +had in his hand discerned various ships very far off. Afterward he +came and sat down by my side, and spoke in a cheerful manner of his +wife and the simple home he designed for her abroad. "Some years ago, +Mistress Constance," he said--and then smiling, added, "My tongue is +not yet used to call you Mistress Rookwood--when my sweet Nan, albeit +a wife, was yet a simple child, she was wont to say, 'Phil, would we +were farmers! You would plough the fields and cut wood in the forest, +and I should milk the cows and feed the poultry.' Well, methinks her +wish may yet come to pass. In Brittany or Normandy some little +homestead should shelter us, where Bess shall roll on the grass and +gather the fallen apples, and on Sundays put on her bravest clothes +for to go to mass. What think you thereof, Mistress Constance? and who +knoweth but you and your good husband may also dwell in the same +village, and some eighteen or twenty years hence a gay wedding for to +take place betwixt one Master Rookwood and one Lady Ann or Margaret +Howard, or my Lord Maltravers with one Mistress Constance or Muriel +Rookwood? And on the green on such a day, Nan and Basil and you and I +should lead the brawls." + +"Methinks, my lord," I answered, smiling, "you do forecast too great a +condescension on your part, and too much ambition on our side, in the +planning of such a union." + +"Well, well," he said; "if your good husband carrieth not beyond seas +with him the best earl's title in England, I'll warrant you in God's +sight he weareth a higher one far away--the merit of an +unstained life and constant nobility of action; and I promise you, +beside, he will be the better farmer of the twain; so that in the +matter of tocher, Mistress Rookwood should exceed my Lady Bess or Ann +Howard." + +With such-like talk as this time was whiled away; and whilst we were +yet conversing I noticed that Basil spoke often to the captain and +looked for to be watching a ship yet at some distance, but which +seemed to be gaining on us. Lord Arundel, perceiving it, then also +joined them, and inquired what sort of craft it should be. The captain +professed to be ignorant thereof; and when Basil said it looked like a +small ship-of-war, and as there were many dangerous pirates about the +Channel it should be well to guard against it, he assented thereto, +and said he was prepared for defence. + +"With such unequal means," Basil replied, "as it is like we should +bring to a contest, speed should serve us better than defence." + +"But," quoth Lord Arundel, "she is, 'tis plain, a swifter sailer than +this one we are in. God's will be done, but 'tis a heavy misfortune if +a pirate at this time do attack us, and so few moneys with us for to +spare!" + +Now none of our eyes could detach themselves from this pursuing +vessel. The captain eluded further talk, on pretence for to give +orders and move some guns he had aboard on deck; but it was vain for +to think of a handful of men untrained to sea-warfare encountering a +superior force, such as this ship must possess, if its designs should +be hostile. As it moved nigher to us, we could perceive it to be well +manned and armed. And the captain then exclaimed: + +"'Tis Keloway's ship!" + +This man was of a notorious, infamous life, well known for his +sea-robberies and depredations in the Channel. + +"God yield," murmured the earl, "he shall content himself with the +small sum we can deliver to him and not stay us any further." + +A moment afterward we were boarded by this man, who, with his crew, +thrice as numerous as ours and armed to the teeth, comes on our deck +and takes possession of the ship. Straightway he walks to the earl and +tells him he doth know him, and had watched his embarkation, being +resolved to follow him and exact a good ransom at his hands, which if +he would pay without contention, he should himself, without further +stop or stay, pass him and his two gentlemen into France, adding, he +should take no less from him than one hundred pounds. + +"I have not so much, or near unto it, with me," Lord Arundel said. + +"But you can write a word or two to any friend of yours from whom I +may receive it." quoth Keloway. + +"Well," said the earl, "seeing I have pressing occasion for to go to +France, and would not be willingly delayed, I must needs consent to +your terms, no choice therein being allowed me. Get me some paper," he +said to Mr. William Bray. + +"Should this be prudent, my lord?" Basil whispered in his ear. + +"There is no help for it, Master Rookwood," the earl replied. "Beside, +there is honor even amongst thieves. Once secure of his money, this +man hath no interest in detaining us, but rather the contrary." + +And without further stopping, he hastily wrote a few lines to his +sister the Lady Margaret Sackville, in London, that she should speak +to Mr. Bridges, _alias_ Grately, a priest, to give one hundred pounds +to the bearer thereof, by the token that was between them, that _black +is white_, and withal assured her that he now certainly hoped to have +speedy passage without impediment. As soon as this paper was put into +Kelloway's hand, he read it, and immediately called on his men for to +arrest the Earl of Arundel, producing an order from the queen's +council for to prove he was appointed to watch there for him, +and carry him back again to land where her majesty's officers did +await him. + +An indescribable anguish seized my heart; an overwhelming grief, such +as methinks no other event, howsoever sad or tragical, or yet more +nearly touching me, had ever wrought in my soul, which I ascribe to a +presentiment that this should be the first link of that long chain of +woes which was to follow. + +"O, my lord!" I exclaimed, almost falling at his feet, "God help you +to bear this too heavy blow!" + +He took me by the hand; and never till I die shall I lose the memory +of the sweet serenity and noble steadfastness of his visage in this +trying hour. + +"God willeth it," he gently said; "his holy will be done! He will work +good out of what seemeth evil to us." And then gaily added, "We had +thought to travel the same way; now we must needs journey apart. Never +fear, good friends, but both roads shall lead to heaven, if we do but +tread them piously. My chief sorrow is for Nan; but her virtue is so +great, that affliction will never rob her of such peace as God only +giveth." + +Then this angelic man, forecasting for his friends in the midst of +this terrible mishap, passed into Basil's hands his pocket-book, and +said, "This shall pay your voyage, good friend; and if aught doth +remain afterward, let the poor have their share of it, for a +thank-offering, when you reach the shore in safety." + +Basil, I saw, could not speak; his heart was too full. O, what a +parting ensued on that sad ocean whose waves had seemed to dance so +joyously a short space before! With what aching hearts we pressed the +young earl's hand, and watched him pass into the other ship, +accompanied by his two gentlemen, which were with him arrested! No +heed was taken of us; and Kelloway, having secured his prey, abandoned +our vessel, the captain of which seemed uneasy and ill-disposed to +speak with us. We did then suspect, which doubt hath been since +confirmed, that this seeming honest Catholic man had acted a traitor's +part, and that those many delays had been used for the very purpose of +staying Lord Arundel until such time as all was prepared for his +capture. The wind, which was in our favor, bore us swiftly toward the +French coast; and we soon lost sight of the vessel which carried the +earl back to the shores of England. Fancy, you who read, what pictures +we needs must then have formed of that return; of the dismal news +reaching the afflicted wife, the sad sister, the mournful brother, and +friends now scattered apart, so lately clustered round him! Alas! when +we landed in France, at the port of Calais, the sense of our own +safety was robbed of half its joy by fears and sorrowing for the dear +friends whose fortunes have proved so dissimilar to our own. + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +The deep clear azure of the French sky, the lightsome pure air, the +quaint houses, and outlandish dresses of the people in Calais; the +sound of a foreign tongue understood, but not familiar, for a brief +time distracted my mind from painful themes. Basil led me to the +church for to give thanks to God for his mercies to us, and mostly did +it seem strange to me to enter an edifice in which he is worshipped in +a Catholic manner, which yet hath the form and appearance of a church, +and resembles not the concealed chambers in our country wherein mass +is said; an open visible house for the King of kings, not a +hiding-place, as in England. After we had prayed there a short time, +Basil put into a box at the entrance the money which Lord Arundel had +designed for the poor. A pale thin man stood at the door, which, when +we passed, said, "God bless you!" Basil looked earnestly at him, +and then exclaimed, "As I live, Mr. Watson!" "Yea," the good man +answered, "the same, or rather the shadow of the same, risen at the +last from the bed of sickness. O Mr. Rookwood, I am glad to see you!" +"And so am I to meet with you, Mr. Watson," Basil answered; and then +told this dear friend who I was, and the sad hap of Lord Arundel, +which moved in him a great concern for that young nobleman and his +excellent lady. Many tokens of regard and interchange of information +passed between us. He showed us where he lived, in a small cottage +near unto the ramparts; and nothing would serve him but to gather for +me in the garden a nosegay of early flowerets which just had raised +their heads above the sod. He said Dr. Allen had sent him money in his +sickness, and an English lady married to a French gentleman provided +for his wants. "Ah! that was the good madame I told you of," Basil +cried, turning to me; "who would have harbored . . . ." Then he +stopped short; but Mr. Watson had caught his meaning, and with tears +in his eyes said: "Fear not to speak of her whose death bought my +life, and it may be also my soul's safety. For, God knoweth, the +thought of her doth never forsake me so much as for one hour;" and +thereupon we parted with much kindness on both sides. That night we +lay at a small hostelry in the town; and the next morning hired a cart +with one horse, which carried us to Boulogne in one day, and thence to +this village, where we have lived since for many years in great peace. +I thank God, and very much contentment of mind, and no regrets save +such as do arise in the hearts of exiles without hope of return to a +beloved native country. + +The awaiting of tidings from England, which were long delayed, was at +the first a very sore trial, and those which reached us at last yet +more grievous than that suspense. Lord Arundel committed to the Tower; +his brother the Lord William and his sister the Lady Margaret not long +after arrested, which was more grief to him, his lady wrote to me, +than all his own troubles and imprisonment. But, O my God! how well +did that beginning match with what was to follow! Those ten years +which were spent amidst so many sufferings of all sorts by these two +noble persons, that the recital of them would move to pity the most +strong heart. + +Mine own sorrows, leastways all sharp ones, ended with my passage into +France. If Basil showed himself a worthy lover, he hath proved a yet +better husband. His nature doth so delight in doing good that it wins +him the love of all our neighbors. His life is a constant exercise of +charity. He is most indulgent to his wife and kind to his children, of +which it hath pleased God to give him three--one boy and two girls, of +as comely visages and commendable dispositions as can reasonably be +desired. He hath a most singular affection for all such as do suffer +for their religion, and cherishes them with an extraordinary bounty to +the limits of his ability; his house being a common resort for all +banished Catholics which land at Boulogne, from whence he doth direct +them to such persons as can assist them in their need. His love toward +my unworthy self hath never decreased. Methinks it rather doth +increase as we advance in years. We have ever been actuated as by one +soul; and never have any two wills agreed so well as Basil's and mine +in all aims in this world and hopes for the next. If any, in the +reading of this history, have only cared for mine own haps, I pray +them to end their perusal of it here; but if, even as my heart hath +been linked from early years with Lady Arundel's, there be any in +which my poor writing hath awakened somewhat of that esteem for her +virtues and resentment of her sorrows which hath grown in me from long +experience of her singular worth; if the noble atonement for +youthful offences and follies already shown in her lord's return to +his duty to her, and altered behavior in respect to God, hath also +moved them to desire a further knowledge of the manner in which these +two exalted souls were advanced by long affliction to a high point of +perfection--then to such the following pages shall not be wholly +devoid of that interest which the true recital of great misfortune +doth habitually carry with it. If none other had written the life of +that noble lady, methinks I must have essayed to do it; but having +heard that a good clergyman hath taken this task in hand, secretly +preparing materials whilst she yet lives wherewith to build her a +memorial at a future time, I have restrained myself to setting down +what, by means of her own writing or the reports of others, hath +reached my knowledge concerning the ten years which followed my last +parting with her. This was the first letter I received from this +afflicted lady after her lord's arrest: + + "O MY DEAR FRIEND--What days these have proved! Believe me, I + never looked for a favorable issue of this enterprise. When I first + had notice thereof, a notable chill fell on my soul, which never + warmed again with hope. When I began to pray after hearing of it, I + had what methinks the holy Juliana of Norwich (whose cell we did + once visit together, as I doubt not thou dost remember) would have + called a foreshowing, or, as others do express it, a presentiment of + coming evil. But how soon the effect followed! I had retired to rest + at nine of the clock; and before I was undressed Bertha came in with + a most downcast countenance. 'What news is there?' I quickly asked, + misdoubting some misfortune had happened. Then she began to weep. + 'Is my lord taken?' I cried, 'or worse befallen him?' 'He is taken,' + she answered, 'and is now being carried to London for to be + committed to the Tower. Master Ralph, the port-master, hath brought + the news. A man, an hour ago, had reported as much in the town; but + Mr. Fawcett would not suffer your ladyship to be told of it before a + greater certainty thereof should appear. O woe be the day my lord + ever embarked!' Then I heard sounds of wailing and weeping in the + gallery; and opening the door, found Bessy's nurse and some other of + the servants lamenting in an uncontrolled fashion. I could not shed + one tear, but gave orders they should fetch unto me the man which + had brought the tidings. From him I heard more fully what had + happened; and then, in the same composed manner, desired my coach + and horses for to be made ready to take me to London the next day at + daybreak, and dismissed everybody, not suffering so much as one + woman to sit up with me. When all had retired, I put on my cloak and + hood; and listing first if all was quiet, went by the secret passage + to the chapel-room. When I got there, Father Southwell was in it, + saying his office. When he saw me enter at that unusual hour, + methinks the truth was made known to him at once; for he only took + me by the hand, and said: 'My child, this would be too hard to bear + if it were not God's sweet will; but being so, what remaineth but to + lie still under a Father's merciful infliction?' and then he took + out the crucifix, which for safety was locked up, and set it on the + altar. 'That shall speak to you better than I can,' he said; and + verily it did; for at the sight of my dying Saviour I wept. The + whole night was spent in devout exercises. At dawn of day Father + Southwell said mass, and I received. Then, before any one was astir, + I returned to mine own chamber, and, lying down for a few moments, + afterward rung the bell, and ordered horses to be procured for to + travel to London, whence I write these lines. I have here heard this + report of my dear lord's journey from one which conversed with Sir + George Carey, who commanded the guard which conducted him, that he + was nothing at all daunted with so unexpected a misfortune, and not + only did endure it with great patience and courage, but, moreover, + carried it with a joyful and merry countenance. One night in the way + he lodged at Guildford, where seeing the master of the inn (who + sometime was our servant, and who hath written it to one of my + women, his sister), and some others who wished well unto him, + weeping and sorrowing for his misfortunes, he comforted them all, + and willed them to be of good cheer, because it was not for any + crime--treason or the like--he was apprehended, but only + for attempting to leave the kingdom, the which he had done only for + his own safety. He is soon to be examined by some of the council + sent to the Tower for this special purpose by the queen. I have + sought to obtain access to him, but been flatly reused, and a hint + ministered to me that albeit my residence at Arundel House is + tolerated at the present, if the queen should come to stay at + Somerset House, which she is soon like to do, my departure hence + shall be enforced; but while I remain I would fain do some good to + persons afflicted as myself. I pray you, my good Constance, when you + find some means to despatch me a letter, therewith to send the names + and addresses of some of the poor folks Muriel was wont to visit; + for I am of opinion grief should not make us selfish, but rather + move us to relieve in others the pains of which we feel the sharp + edge ourselves. I have already met by accident with many necessitous + persons, and they do begin in great numbers to resort to this house. + God knoweth if the means to relieve them will not be soon lacking. + But to make hay whilst the sun shines is a wise saying, and in some + instances a precept. Alas! the sunshine of joy is already obscured + for me. Except for these poor pensioners, that of fortune causeth me + small concern.-- + Thy loving friend, A. A. and S." + +"Will and Meg are at present in separate prisons. It is impossible but +that she shall be presently released; for against her nothing can be +alleged, so much as to give a pretence for an accusation. My lord and +Will's joint letter to Dr. Allen, sent by Mr. Brydges--who, out of +confidence, mentioned it to Mr. Gifford, a pretended priest, who lives +at Paris, and is now discovered to be a spy--is the ground of the +charges against them. How utterly unfounded thou well knowest; but so +much as to write to Dr. Allen is now a crime, howsoever innocent the +matter of such a correspondence should be. I do fear that in one of +his letters--but I wot not if of this they have possession--my lord, +who had just heard that the Earl of Leicester had openly vowed to make +the name of Catholic as odious in England as the name of Turk, did +say, in manner of a jest, that if some lawful means might be found to +take away this earl, it would be a great good for Catholics in +England; which careless sentence may be twisted by his enemies to his +disadvantage." + +Some time afterward, a person passing from London to Rheims, brought +me this second letter from her ladyship, written at Rumford, in Essex: + +"What I have been warned of verily hath happened. Upon the queen's +coming to London last month, it was signified to me I should leave it. +Now that Father Southwell hath been removed from Arundel Castle, and +no priest at this time can live in it, I did not choose to be +delivered there, without the benefit of spiritual assistance in case +of danger of death, and so hired a house in this town, at a short +distance of which a recusant gentleman doth keep one in his house. I +came from London without obtaining leave so much as once to see my +dear husband, or to send him a letter or message, or receive one from +him. But this I have learnt, that he cannot speak with any person +whatsoever but in the presence and hearing of his keeper or the +lieutenant of the Tower, and that the room in which he is locked up +has no sight of the sun for the greatest part of the year; so that if +not changed before the winter cometh it shall prove very unwholesome; +and moreover the noisomeness thereof caused by a vault that is under +it is so great that the keeper can scarce endure to enter into it, +much less to stay there any time. Alas! what ravages shall this +treatment cause on a frame of great niceness and delicate habits, I +leave you to judge. By this time he hath been examined twice; and +albeit forged letters were produced, the falsity of which the council +were forced to admit, and he was charged with nothing which could be +substantiated, except leaving the realm without license of the queen, +and being reconciled to the Church of Rome, his sentence is yet +deferred, and his imprisonment as strict as ever. I pray God it may +not be deferred till his health is utterly destroyed, which, I doubt +not, is what his enemies would most desire. + +"Last evening I had the exceeding great comfort of the coming hither +of mine own dear good Meg, who hath been some time released from +prison, with many vexatious restraints, howsoever, still laid upon +her. Albeit very much advanced in her pregnancy, nothing would serve +her when she had leave to quit London but to do me this good. This is +the first taste of joy I have had since my lord's commitment. In her +face I behold his; when she speaks I hear him. No talk is ministered +between us but of that beloved husband and brother; our common prayers +are put up for him. She hath spied his spies for to discover all which +relates to him, and hath found means to convey to him--I thank God for +it--some books of devotion, which he greatly needed. She is yet a-bed +this morning, for we sat up late yester-eve, so sweet, albeit sad, was +the converse we held after so many common sufferings. But methinks I +grudge her these hours of sleep, longing for to hear again those loved +accents which mind me of my dear Phil. + +"My pen had hardly traced those last words, when a messenger arrived +from the council with an express command to Margaret from her majesty +not to stay with me another night, but forthwith to return to London. +The surprise and fear which this message occasioned hastened the event +which should have yet been delayed some weeks. A few hours after (I +thank God, in safety) a fair son was born; but in the mother's heart +and mine apprehension dispelled joy, lest enforced disobedience should +produce fresh troubles. Howsoever, she recovered quickly; and as soon +as she could be removed I lost her sweet company. Thine affectionate +friend to command, + +"A. A. AND S." + +Some time afterward, one Mr. Dixon, a gentleman I had met once or +twice in London, tarried a night at our house, and brought me the news +that God had given the Countess of Arundel a son, which she had +earnestly desired her husband should be informed of, but he heard it +had been refused. Howsoever, when he was urgent with his keepers to +let him know if she had been safely delivered, they gave him to +understand that she had another daughter; his enemies not being +willing he should have so much contentment as the birth of a son +should have yielded him. + +"Doth the queen," I asked of this gentleman, "then not mitigate her +anger against these noble persons?" + +"So far from it," he answered, "that when, at the beginning of this +trouble, Lady Arundel went to Sir Francis Knowles for to seek by his +means to obtain an audience from her majesty, in order to sue for her +husband, he told her she would sooner release him at once--which, +howsoever, she had no mind to do--than only once allow her to enter +her presence. He then, her ladyship told me, rated her exceedingly, +asking if she and her husband were not ashamed to make themselves + papists, only out of spleen and peevish humor to cross and vex +the queen? She answered him in the same manner as her lord did one of +his keepers, who told him very many in the kingdom were of opinion +that he made show to be Catholic only out of policy; to whom he said, +with great mildness, that God doth know the secrets of all hearts, but +that he thought there was small policy for a man to lose his liberty, +hazard his estate and life, and live in that manner in a prison as he +then did." + +A brief letter from Lady Tregony informed me soon after this that, +after a third examination, the court had fined Lord Arundel in £10,000 +unto the queen and adjudged him to imprisonment during her pleasure. +What that pleasure proved, ten years of unmitigated suffering and slow +torture evinced; one of the most grievous of which was that his lady +could never obtain for to see him, albeit other prisoners' wives had +easy access to them. This touching letter I had from her three years +after he was imprisoned: + +"MINE OWN GOOD FRIEND--Life doth wear on, and relief of one sort +leastways comes not; but God forbid I should repine. For such +instances I see in the letters of my dear lord--which when some of +his servants do leave the Tower, which, worn out as they soon become +by sickness, they must needs do to preserve their lives--he findeth +means to write to me or to Father Southwell, that I am ashamed to +grieve overmuch at anything which doth befal us--when his willingness +and contentment to suffer are so great. As when he saith to that good +father, 'For all crosses touching worldly matters, I thank God they +trouble me not much, and much the less for your singular good counsel, +which I beseech our Lord I may often remember; and to me this dear +husband writes thus: 'I beseech you, for the love of God, to comfort +yourself whatsoever shall happen, and to be best pleased with that +which shall please God best, and be his will to send. I find that +there is some intent to do me no good, but indeed to do me the most +good of all; but I am--and, thank God, doubt not but I shall be by his +grace--ready to endure the worst which flesh and blood can do unto +me.' O Constance, flesh and blood doth sometimes rebel against the +keen edge of suffering; but I pray you, my friend, how can I complain +when I hear of this much, long dearly cherished husband, ascending by +steps the ladder of perfection, advancing from virtue to virtue as the +psalm saith, never uttering one unsubmissive word toward God, or one +resentful one toward his worst enemies; making, in the most sublime +manner, of necessity virtue, and turning his loathsome prison into a +religious cell, wherein every exercise of devotion is duly practised, +and his soul trained for heaven? + +"The small pittance the queen alloweth for his maintenance he so +sparingly useth, that most of it doth pass into the hands of the poor +or other more destitute prisoners than himself. But sickness and +disease prey on his frame. And the picture of him my memory draweth is +gradually more effaced in the living man, albeit vivid in mine own +portraying of it. + +There is now a priest imprisoned in the Tower, not very far from the +chamber wherein my lord is confined; one of the name of Bennet. My +lord desired much to meet him, and speak with him for the comfort of +his soul, and I have found means to bring it to effect by mediation of +the lieutenant's daughter, to whom I have given thirty pounds for her +endeavors in procuring it. And moreover she hath assisted in conveying +into his chamber church-stuff and all things requisite for the saying +of mass, whereunto she tells me, to my indescribable comfort, he +himself doth serve with great humility, and therein receives the +blessed sacrament frequently. Sir Thomas Gerard, she saith, and Mr. +Shelly, which are likewise prisoners at this time, she introduces +secretly into his lodgings for to hear mass and have speech with +him. Alas! what should be a comfort to him, and so the greatest of +joys to me, the exceeding peril of these times causeth me to look upon +with apprehension; for these gentlemen, albeit well disposed, are not +famed for so much wisdom and prudence as himself, in not saying or +doing anything which might be an occasion of danger to him; and the +least lack of wariness, when there is so much discourse about the +great Spanish fleet which is now in preparation, should prove like to +be fatal. God send no worse hap befal us soon. + +"In addition to these other troubles and fears, I am much molested by +a melancholy vapor, which ascends to my head, and greatly troubles me +since I was told upon a sudden of the unexpected death of Margaret +Sackville, whom, for her many great virtues and constant affection +toward myself, I did so highly esteem and affection." + + +From that time for a long while I had no direct news of Lady Arundel; +but report brought us woful tidings concerning her lord, who, after +many private examinations, had been brought from the Tower to the +King's Bench Court, in the hall of Westminster, and there publicly +arraigned on the charge of high treason, the grounds of which +accusation being that he had prayed and procured others to make +simultaneous prayer for twenty-four hours, and procured Mr. Bennet to +say a mass of the Holy Ghost, for the success of the Spanish fleet. +Whereas the whole truth of this matter consisted in this, that when a +report became current among the Catholics about London that a sudden +massacre of them all was intended upon the first landing of the +Spaniards, this coming to the earl's ear, he judged it necessary that +all Catholics should betake themselves to prayer, either for the +avoiding of the danger or for the better preparing themselves +thereunto, and so persuaded those in the Tower to make prayer together +for that end, and also sent to some others for the same purpose, +whereof one of greater prudence and experience than the rest signified +unto him that perhaps it might be otherwise interpreted by their +enemies than he intended, wishing him to desist, as presently +thereupon he did; but it was then too late. Some which he had trusted, +either out of fear or fair promises, testified falsely against him--of +which Mr. Bennet was one, who afterward retracted with bitter anguish +his testimony, in a letter to his lordship, which contained these +words: "With a fearful, guilty, unjust, and most tormented conscience, +only for saving of my life and liberty, I said you moved me to say a +mass for the good success of the Spanish fleet. For which unjust +confession, or rather accusation, I do again and again, and to my +life's end, most instantly crave God's pardon and yours; and for my +better satisfaction of this, my unjust admission, I will, if need +require, offer up both life and limbs in averring my accusation to be, +as it is indeed, and as I shall answer before God, angels, and men, +most unjust, and only done out of fear of the Tower, torments, and +death." Notwithstanding the earl's very stout and constant denial of +the charge, and pleading the above letter of Mr. Bennet, retracting +his false statement, he was condemned of high treason, and had +sentence pronounced against him. But the execution was deferred, and +finally the queen resolved to spare his life, but yet by no means to +release him. His estates, and likewise his lady's, were forfeited to +the crown, and he at that time dealt with most unkindly, as the +following letter will show: + +"DEAR CONSTANCE--At last I have found the means of sending a packet by +a safe hand, which in these days, when men do so easily turn +traitors--notable instances of which, to our exceeding pain and +trouble, have lately occurred--is no easy matter. I doubt not but thy +fond affectionate heart hath followed with a sympathetic grief the +anguish of mine during the time past, wherein my husband's life +hath been in daily peril; and albeit he is now respited, yet, alas! as +he saith himself, and useth the knowledge to the best purpose, he is +but a doomed man; reprieved, not pardoned; spared, not released. Mine +own troubles beside have been greater than can be thought of; by +virtue of the forfeiture of my lord's estates and mine, my home hath +been searched by justices, and no room, no corner, no trunk or coffer, +left unopened and unransacked. I have often been brought before the +council and most severely examined. The queen's officers and others in +authority--to whom I am sometimes forced to sue for favor, or some +mitigation of mine own or my lord's sufferings--do use me often very +harshly, and reject my petitions with scorn and opprobrious language. +All our goods are seized for the queen. They have left me nothing but +two or three beds, and these, they do say, but for a time. When +business requires, I am forced to go on foot, and slenderly attended; +my coach being taken from me. I have retained but two of my servants +--my children's nurse being one. I have as yet no allowance, as is +usual in such cases, for the maintenance of my family; so I am forced +to pay them and buy victuals with the money made by the sale of mine +own jewels; and I am sometimes forced to borrow and make hard shifts +to procure necessary provisions and clothes for the children; but if I +get eight pounds a week, which the queen hath been moved to allow me, +then methinks I shall think myself no poorer than a Christian woman +should be content to be; and I have promised Almighty God, if that +good shall befal us, to bestow one hundred marks out of it yearly on +the poor. I am often sent out of London by her majesty's commands, +albeit some infirmities I do now suffer from force me to consult +physicians there. Methinks when I am at Arundel House I am not wholly +parted from my lord, albeit my humble petition, by means of friends, +to see him is always denied. When I hear he is sick, mine anguish +increases. The like favor is often granted to Lady Latimore and others +whose husbands are at this time prisoners in the Tower, but I can +never obtain it. The lieutenant's daughter, whom I do sometimes see, +when she is in a conversible mood doth inform me of my dear husband's +condition, and relates instances of his goodness and patience which +wring and yet comfort mine heart. What think you of his never having +been heard so much as once to complain of the loss of his goods or the +incommodities of his prison; of his gentleness and humility where he +is himself concerned; of his boldness in defending his religion and +her ministers, which was alike shown, as well as his natural +cheerfulness, in a conversation she told me had passed between her +father, the lieutenant, and him, a few days ago? You have heard, I +ween, that good Father Southwell was arrested some time back at Mr. +Bellamy's house; it is reported by means of the poor unhappy soul his +daughter, whom I met one day at the door of the prison, attired in a +gaudy manner and carrying herself in a bold fashion; but when she met +mine eye hers fell. Alas! poor soul, God help her and bring her to +repentance. Well, now Father Southwell is in the Tower, my lord, by +Miss Hopton's melons, hath had once or twice speech with him, and doth +often inquire of the lieutenant about him, which when he did so the +other day he used the words 'blessed father' in speaking of him. The +lieutenant (she said) seemed to take exception thereat, saying, 'Term +you him blessed father, being as he is an enemy to his country?' My +lord answered: 'How can that be, seeing yourself hath told me +heretofore that no fault could be laid unto him but his religion?' +Then the lieutenant said: 'The last time I was in his cell your dog, +my lord, came in and licked his hand,' Then quoth my lord, +patting his dog fondly: 'I love him the better for it.' 'Perhaps,' +quoth the lieutenant in a scoffing manner, it might be he came thither +to have his blessing.' To which my lord replied, 'It is no new thing +for animals to seek a blessing at the hands of holy men, St. Jerome +writing how the lions which had digged St. Paul the hermit's grave +stood waiting with their eyes upon St. Anthony expecting his +blessing.' + +'Is it not a strange trial, mine own Constance, and one which hath not +befallen many women, to have a fondly loved husband yet alive, and to +be sometimes so near unto him that it should take but a few moments to +cross the space which doth divide us, and yet never behold him; year +after year passing away, and the heart waxing sick with delays? +Howsoever, one sad firm hope I hold, which keepeth me somewhat careful +of my health, lest I should be disabled when that time cometh--one on +which I fix my mind with apprehension and desire to defer the approach +thereof, yet pray one day to see it--yea, to live long enough for this +and then to die, if it shall please God. When mine own Philip is on +his death-bed, when the slow consumptive disease which devoureth his +vitals obtaineth its end, then, I ween, no woman upon earth, none that +I ever heard of or could think of, can deny me to approach him and +receive his last embrace. Oh that this should be my best comfort, mine +only hope!" + +I pass over many intervening letters from this afflicted lady which at +distant intervals I received, in one of which she expressed her sorrow +at the execution at Tyburn of her constant friend and guide, Father +Southwell, and likewise informed me of Mistress Wells's death in +Newgate, and transcribe this one, written about six months afterward, +in which she relates the closing scene of her husband's life: + +"MINE OWN DEAR CONSTANCE--All is over now, and my overcharged heart +casteth about for some alleviation in its excessive grief, which may +be I shall find in imparting to one well acquainted with his virtues +and my love for him what I have learnt touching the closing scenes of +my dear lord's mortal life. For think not I have been so happy as to +behold him again, or that he should die in my arms. No; that which was +denied me for ten long years neither could his dying prayers obtain. +For many months notice had been given unto me by his servants and +others that his health was very fast declining. One gentleman +particularly told me he himself believed his end to be near. His +devout exercises were yet increased--the bent of his mind more and +more directed solely toward God and heaven. In those times which were +allotted to walking or other recreation, his discourse and +conversation either with his keeper or the lieutenant or his own +servant, was either tending to piety or some kind of profitable +discourse, most often of the happiness of those that suffer anything +for our Saviour's sake; to which purpose he had writ with his own hand +upon the wall of his chamber this Latin sentence, 'Quanto plus +afflictionis pro Christo in hoc saeculo, tanto plus gloriae cum +Christo in futuro;' the which he used to show to his servants, +inviting them, as well as himself, to suffer all with patience and +alacrity. + +"In the month of August tidings were brought unto me that, sitting at +dinner, he had fallen so very ill immediately upon the eating of a +roasted teal, that some did suspect him to be poisoned. I sent him +some antidotes, and all the remedies I could procure; but all in vain. +The disease had so possessed him that it could not be removed, but by +little and little consumed his body, so that he became like an +anatomy, having nothing left but skin and bone. Much talk hath been +ministered anent his being poisoned. Alas! my thinking is, and ever +shall be, the slow poison he died of was lack of air, of sunshine, of +kindness, of loving aid, of careful sympathy. When I heard his +case was considered desperate, the old long hopes, sustained for ten +years, that out of the extremity of grief one hour of comfort should +arise, woke up; but now I was advised not to stir in this matter +myself, for it should only incense the queen, who had always hated me; +whereas my lord she once had liked, and it might be, when she heard he +was dying, she should relent. She had made a kind of promise to some +of his friends that before his death his wife and children should come +unto him; whereupon, conceiving that now his time in the world could +not be long, he writ a humble letter to her petitioning the +performance of her promise. The lieutenant of the Tower carried this +letter, and delivered it with his own hands to the queen, and brought +him her answer by word of mouth. What think you, mine own Constance, +was the answer she sent that dying man? God forgave her! Philip did; +yea, and so do I--not fully at the time, now most fully. His crown +should have been less glorious but for the heart-martyrdom she +invented. + +"This was her message: 'That if he would but once go to the Protestant +church his request should not only be granted, but he should moreover +be restored to his honor and estate with as much favor as she could +show.' Oh, what were estates and honors to that dying saint! what her +favor to that departing soul! One offering, one sacrifice, one final +withdrawing of affection's thirsty and parched lips from the chalice +of a supreme earthly consolation, and all was accomplished; the +bitterness of death overpast. He gave thanks to the lieutenant for his +pains; he said he could not accept her majesty's offers upon that +condition, and added withal that he was sorry he had but one life to +lose in that cause. A very worthy gentleman who was present at this +passage related it to me; and Lord Mountague I have also had it from, +which heard the same from his father-in-law, my Lord Dorset. +Constance, for a brief while a terrible tumult raged in my soul. Think +what it was to know one so long, so passionately loved, dying nigh +onto and yet apart from me, dying unaided by any priest--for though he +had a great desire to be assisted by Father Edmund, by whose means he +had been reconciled, it was by no means permitted that either he or +any other priest should come to him--dying without a kindred face to +smile on him, without a kinsman for to speak with him and list to his +last wishes. He desired to see his brother William or his uncle Lord +Henry; at least to take his last leave of them before his death; but +neither was that small request granted--no, not so much as to see his +brother Thomas, though both then and ever he had been a Protestant. +And all this misery was the fruit of one stem, cruel, unbending +hatred--of one proud human will; a will which was sundering what God +had joined together. Like a bird against the bars of an iron cage, my +poor heart dashed itself with wild throbbings against these human +obstacles. But not for very long, I thank God; brief was the storm +which convulsed my soul. I soon discerned his hand in this great +trial--his will above all human will; and while writhing under a +Father's merciful scourge, I could yet bless him who held it I pray +you, Constance, how should a woman have endured so great an anguish +which had not been helped by him? Methinks what must have sustained me +was that before-mentioned gentleman's report of my dear lord's great +piety and virtue, which made me ashamed of not striving to resemble +him in howsoever small a degree. Oh, what a work God wrought in that +chosen soul! What meekness, what humility, what nobleness of heart! He +grew so faint and weak by degrees that he was not able to leave his +bed. His physicians coming to visit him some days before his death, he +desired them not to trouble themselves now any more, his case +being beyond their skill. They thereupon departing, Sir Michael +Blount, then lieutenant of the Tower, who had been ever very hard and +harsh unto him, took occasion to come and visit him, and, kneeling +down by his bedside, in humble manner desired my dear Phil to forgive +him. Whereto mine own beloved husband answered in this manner, 'Do you +ask forgiveness, Mr. Lieutenant? Why, then, I forgive you in the same +sort as I desire myself to be forgiven at the hands of God;' and then +kissed his hand, and offered it in most kind and charitable manner to +him, and holding his fast in his own said, 'I pray you also to forgive +me whatever I have said or done in anything offensive to you,' and he +melting into tears and answering 'that he forgave him with all his +heart;' my lord raised himself a little upon his pillow, and made a +brief, grave speech unto the lieutenant in this manner: 'Mr. +Lieutenant, you have showed both me and my men very hard measure.' +'Wherein, my lord?' quoth he. 'Nay,' said my lord, 'I will not make a +recapitulation of anything, for it is all freely forgiven. Only I am +to say unto you a few words of my last will, which being observed, +may, by the grace of God, turn much to your benefit and reputation. I +speak not for myself; for God of his goodness hath taken order that I +shall be delivered very shortly out of your charge; only for others I +speak who may be committed to this place. You must think, Mr. +Lieutenant, that when a prisoner comes hither to the Tower that he +bringeth sorrow with him. Oh, then do not add affliction to +affliction; there is no man whatsoever that thinketh himself to stand +surest but may fall. It is a very inhuman part to tread on him whom +misfortune hath cast down. The man that is void of mercy God hath in +great detestation. Your commission is only to keep in safety, not to +kill with severity. Remember, good Mr. Lieutenant, that God who with +his finger turneth the unstable wheel of this variable world, can in +the revolution of a few days bring you to be a prisoner also, and to +be kept in the same place where now you keep others. There is no +calamity that men are subject unto but you may also taste as well as +any other man. Farewell, Mr. Lieutenant; for the time of my short +abode come to me whenever you please, and you shall be heartily +welcome as my friend.' My dear lord, when he uttered these words, +should seem to have had some kind of prophetic foresight touching this +poor man's fate; for I have just heard this day, seven weeks only +after my husband's death, that Sir Michael Blount hath fallen into +great disgrace, lost his office, and is indeed committed close +prisoner in that same Tower where he so long kept others. + +"And now my faltering pen must needs transcribe the last letter I +received from my beloved husband, for your heart, dear friend, is one +with mine. You have known its sufferings through the many years evil +influences robbed it of that love which, for brief intervals of +happiness afterward and this long separation since, hath, by its +steady and constant return, made so rich amends for the past. In these +final words you shall find proofs of his excellent humility and +notable affection for my unworthy self, which I doubt not, my dear +instance, shall draw water from your eyes. Mine yield no moisture now. +Methinks these last griefs have exhausted in them the fountain of +tears. + +"'Mine own good wife, I must now in this world take my last farewell +of you; and as I know no person living whom I have so much offended as +yourself, so do I account this opportunity of asking your forgiveness +as a singular benefit of Almighty God. And I most humbly and heartily +beseech you, even for his sake and of your charity, to forgive me all +whereinsoever I have offended you; and the assurance I have of this +your forgiveness is my greatest contentment at this present, and +will be a greater, I doubt not, when my soul is ready to depart out of +my body. I call God to witness it is no small grief unto me that I +cannot make you recompense in this world for the wrongs I have done +you. Affliction gives understanding. God, who knows my heart, and has +seen my true sorrow in that behalf, has, I hope, of his infinite +mercy, remitted all, I doubt not, as you have done in your singular +charity, to mine infinite comfort. + +"Now what remaineth but in a few brief sentences to relate how this +loved husband spent his last hours, and the manner of his death? Those +were for the most part spent in prayer; sometimes saying his beads, +sometimes such psalms and prayers as he knew by heart. Seeing his +servants (one of which hath been the narrator to me of these his final +moments) stand by his bedside in the morning weeping in a mournful +manner, he asked them 'what o'clock it was? they answering that it was +eight or thereabout, 'Why, then,' said he, 'I have almost run out my +course, and come to the end of this miserable mortal life,' desiring +them not to weep for him, since he did not doubt, by the grace of God, +but all would go well with him; which being said he returned to his +prayers upon his beads again, though then with a very slow, hollow, +and fainting voice; and so continued as long as he was able to draw so +much breath as was sufficient to sound out the names of Jesus and +Mary, which were the last words he was ever heard to speak. The last +minute of his last hour being come, lying on his back, his eyes firmly +fixed toward heaven, his long, lean, consumed arms out of the bed, his +hands upon his breast, laid in cross one upon the other, about twelve +o'clock at noon, in a most sweet manner, without any sign of grief or +groan, only turning his head a little aside as one falling into a +pleasing sleep, he surrendered his soul into the hands of God who to +his own glory had created it. And she who writeth this letter, she who +loved him since her most early years--who when he was estranged from +her waited his return--who gloried in his virtues, doated on his +perfections, endured his afflictions, and now lamenteth his death, +hath nothing left but to live a widow; indeed with no other glory than +that which she doth borrow from his merits, until such time as it +shall please God to take her from this earth to a world where he hath +found, she doth humbly hope, rest unto his soul." + +The Countess of Arundel is now aged. The virtues which have crowned +her mature years are such, as her youth did foreshadow. My pen would +run on too fast if it took up that theme. This only will I add, and so +conclude this too long piece of writing--she hath kept her constant +resolve to live and die a widow. I have seen many times letters from +both Protestants and Catholics which made unfeigned protestations that +they were never so edified by any as by her. As the Holy Scriptures do +say of that noble widow Judith, "Not one spoke an ill word of her," +albeit these times are extremely malicious. For mine own part I never +read those words of Holy Writ, "Who shall find a valiant woman?" and +what doth follow, but I must needs think of Ann Dacre, the wife of +Philip Howard, earl of Arundel and Surrey. + + +After the lapse of some years, it hath been my hap to have a sight of +this manuscript, the reading of which, even as the writing of it in +former days, doth cause me to live over again my past life. This lapse +of time hath added nothing notable except the dreadful death of +Hubert, my dear Basil's only brother, who suffered last year for the +share he had, or leastways was judged to have, in the Gunpowder Plot +and treason. Alas! he which once, to improve his fortunes, denied his +faith, when fortune turned her back upon him grew into a +virulent hatred of those in power, once his friends and tempters, and +consorted with desperate men; whether he was privy to their counsels, +or only familiar with them previous to their crimes, and so fell into +suspicion of their guilt, God knoweth. It doth appear from some good +reports that he died a true penitent. There is a better hope methinks +for such as meet in this world with open shame and suffering than for +secret sinners who go to their pompous graves unchastised and +unabsolved. + +By his brother's death Basil recovered his lands; for his present +majesty hath some time since recalled the sentence of his banishment. +And many of his friends have moved him to return to England; but for +more reasons than one he refused so much as to think of it, and has +compounded his estate for £700, 8s. 6d. + +Our children have now grown unto ripe years. Muriel (who would have +been a nun if she had followed her godmother's example) is now +married, to her own liking and our no small contentment, to a very +commendable young gentleman, the son of Mr. Yates, and hath gone to +reside with him at his seat in Worcestershire; and Ann, Lady Arundel's +god-daughter, nothing will serve but to be a "holy Mary," as the +French people do style those dames which that great and good prelate, +M. de Genève, hath assembled in a small hive at Annecy, like bees to +gather honey of devotion in the garden of religion. This should seem a +strange fancy, this order being so new in the Church, and the place so +distant; but time will show if this should be God's will; and if so, +then it must needs be ours also. + +What liketh me most is that my son Roger doth prove the very image of +his father, and the counterpart of him in his goodness. I am of +opinion that nothing better can be desired for him than that he never +lose so good a likeness. + +And now farewell, pen and ink, mine old companions, for a brief moment +resumed, but with a less steady hand than heretofore; now not to be +again used except for such ordinary purposes as housewifery and +friendship shall require. + +[THE END] + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Constance Sherwood, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40151 *** |