A Trying Experience
By the time we reached the vicinity of the outlying suburbs of London
City another danger menaced. It was impossible for so large a
company of horsemen to approach the metropolis unchallenged, and we
were brought to a standstill at Ditton by the cry from two police
officials--
'Halt, sirs! Halt! Are you for Queen Mary?'
[Illustration: A VOICE OF THUNDER DEMANDED, "ARE YOU FOR QUEEN MARY?"]
Now, we were none of us for Queen Mary, and we were all honest folk
and true, who hated and abhorred a lie; there was nothing for it
therefore but that we should hold our peace and try to rush from the
position by galloping past our questioners, who, when they found that
they were baulked, fired their pistols after us, but fortunately
without doing any of our party a mischief.
'We shall have to separate,' said Sir Hubert when, at last, we deemed
it safe to slacken our pace and pull up our steeds for a brief
confabulation. 'Every moment that we are together now increases our
danger, for news of us will fly round in every direction, and any
moment we may be apprehended and taken before the magistrates--that
is, if they can get hold of us. Once in Court,' he added, gravely,
'our fate is certain--I, for one, will never declare fealty to the
Papist Mary.'
'Nor I,' said I, in whispered words, but he heard them, and, turning
to me, said earnestly, 'You are a woman, and I pray you do not get
mixed up with political matters, which might endanger your dear head.'
I could not make any rejoinder, for Sir Hubert's friends now began to
discuss several matters, in which they wanted his guidance before
parting from him. A born leader of men was my Hubert, and there was
no hesitancy in his firm voice as he gave out peremptory advice and
commands.
I fancy that I see him now, sitting erect on his fine horse, with
enthusiasm and earnest hope lighting up his countenance, as, after
listening to all, he quietly settled every knotty point in as few
words as possible. Betsy's objections to being parted from me took
him a little longer to overrule than everything else, but he would
allow no one except himself to remain with me. It was only for a few
hours, he said, and the smaller my party the safer would be my
position. And he picked out a worthy man to escort Betsy into
London, and take her to London Bridge, where we were to join her.
However, Betsy would not consent to the plan until I also bade her
authoritatively to say no more, but obey in every particular. Then
she left me, weeping and declaring that she should see my face no
more, for we should both perish by the dangers of the way.
'And when you arrive in London,' she went on, in her inconsequent
way, 'people will recognize that you have been with Lady Jane Grey,
when she was queen, and then you will be burnt and beheaded as well
for high treason, or whatever they call it, and I shall have all the
misery of returning to Sussex alone, to acquaint your father with the
fearful tidings!'
When our company was broken up into twos and threes, Sir Hubert and I
rode on at a brisk pace, and did not draw rein until we reached the
River Thames at Kingston, a very pretty little town.
The glory of the brilliant summer day was waning then; the sunset was
obscured and clouded over by dark clouds; only its reflection
lingered a little over the silvery waters of the Thames.
'We cannot reach London to-day,' said I, looking inquiringly at my
companion.
I had been so happy riding along by his side that I had not realized
that even the longest day comes to an end at last and night will
follow. But he--he should have thought of that.
'No. Of course not. I have ascertained that Sir William Wood and
Lady Caroline are staying with some friends at a house at Kingston.
It is somewhere near the river. I thought that you would like to
stay the night with Lady Caroline.'
'Oh, yes, I should,' I replied, cheerfully, for it was very pleasant
to think of being with a gentlewoman again, after all the rough
experiences I had been through.
'If only I could find the place!' exclaimed Sir Hubert. 'We shall
attract observation if we go about on horseback seeking it. News
will arrive here, if it has not already arrived, of what happened at
Ditton, and we shall be arrested on suspicion.'
'What shall we do then?'
'Leave our horses at an inn, and take a walk along the riverside
until we find the house where our friends are. I know it is a house
by the river because I have been there.'
I made no objection to this, and we went to an inn, where they were
pleased to take our horses, as also to serve us with light
refreshment, of ale and bread and cheese for Sir Hubert and milk and
cake for me, after hurriedly partaking of which we went out and
walked down the street.
As we did so I noticed a little group of men standing near the river
were regarding my companion with great curiosity, but concluded that
this was due to the fine manly presence and dignified mien of Sir
Hubert.
It was a little startling, however, to find that, while we were
searching for the house we wanted, we occasionally encountered one or
another of these individuals, apparently watching us with interest.
'Those men get upon my nerves,' I said at last. 'We meet them
everywhere.'
Sir Hubert laughed.
'I have been thinking that the men of Kingston have a strange
similarity of appearance,' he said. 'Can they possibly be the same
men?'
I answered, 'Yes, I am sure of it. And I do not like to see them so
frequently.'
'But who is this?' exclaimed Sir Hubert with delight.
It was Sir William Wood, who, coming suddenly round a corner, almost
ran into my dear knight's arms.
'The very man I want!' cried he. 'You have been long in coming,
Hubert, my friend!'
'And now that I am here, before we discuss anything, there is this
lady, Mistress Margery Brown, to bring to a place of safety for the
night. I hope Lady Caroline is at Kingston.'
'She is,' replied Lady Caroline's husband, shaking hands cordially
with me, 'but I must tell you that we are hiding here. Our hostess,
Lady Mary Peterson, dared not have us staying with her openly. Even
now I have only ventured to leave the house by a subterranean passage
from the cellars to yonder clump of willows by the river, and if you
wish to remain over the night with us you will have to accompany me
that way. But who are those men?' He asked the question with
anxiety, pointing as he did so to two of the men who were following
us about.
They stood near a thick hedge, which partly screened them from
observation.
'Oh, those! I have an account to settle with them,' cried Sir Hubert
angrily, at once giving chase to the rascals.
There was a spice of boyishness always about Sir William, and now,
like a boy, he forgot all about me and ran off to aid Sir Hubert in
the pursuit.
I was left alone, and neither Sir Hubert nor Sir William heard my
pitiful little cry--
'Oh, do not leave me!'
By the light of the moon, which had now risen, I saw my escort
disappear, with feelings of great misgiving, and sat down
disconsolately upon a big boulder by the river side.
It was very lonely there. The water flowed placidly by, with
scarcely a murmur. A corncrake in a field behind made mournful
music, with monotonous persistence. A dog howled somewhere on the
other side of the river. From the town behind us proceeded subdued
sounds of horses' hoofs, men's voices, the clashing of steel and,
presently, the ringing of the curfew bell.
What a long time my knights were in catching, or frightening, or
punishing the spies, if the men were spies, and it seemed evident
that they were. Supposing that they had run in the direction of
their fellows, and the two knights following them were caught in a
trap, overpowered by numbers and taken to prison for rebelling
against Queen Mary, what could I do all by myself?
I was horribly frightened, and clasped my hands and strained my eyes
in my endeavour to see one or other of my knights returning for me.
But in vain. No one was visible. Should I go forward and look for
them? No; better to remain where they had left me, lest I missed
them altogether.
I sat still, leaning my head upon my hand, and tried to wait as
patiently as I could. Would that dog never cease howling? What was
that approaching on the river? A boat? It must be, for now the soft
beating of oars upon the water was plainly to be heard.
Oh, why did not Sir Hubert, or at least Sir William, return? There
were men in the boat--four men, two were rowing. Why, at a gesture
from the one sitting in the stern of the boat, did the oarsmen stop
rowing? Now they were approaching the bank where I sat. They must
have seen me, and indeed my figure, silhouetted against the sky, must
have been conspicuous.
They were getting out now--at least two of the men were--and coming
towards me.
But what was this? Oh joy! The men whom I now saw more clearly were
none other than my two good knights, returning to me in all haste.
Sir Hubert seized my trembling hands.
'You have been left too long, my love!' he said. 'But indeed we
could not help it. What do you think? The men we ran after were no
foes, after all. Far from it, they were friends. When we had
knocked them down, and they found out who we were, mostly from Sir
William, whom they had seen before, they informed us that they
belonged to a small party of men that the Duke of Suffolk had sent
out here to look for me. They had come down to Kingston by boat, and
were hoping to meet with me and take me to London City by water.'
'Then that was why they stared so hard at us, and followed us about?'
I said inquiringly.
'Exactly. They were not sure that it was I, until Sir William and I
had knocked a little sense into them!'
'Shall you go with them?' I asked. 'And I, what shall I do?'
'Well, you mast come too. You want to be with Lady Jane. I think
that I had better take you to her father, whom the queen has pardoned
and set free. He will know best how to get you into the Tower, and
to his daughter.'
'But it is night,' I said.
Sir Hubert was eager to go that very moment to the Duke, but, looking
down upon me, he suddenly perceived my weariness and weakness.
'Poor Margery!' he said, with infinite tenderness, 'you are worn out!
What shall we do with her, Sir William?'
'Leave her with me,' said Sir William at once. 'I will take her
straight to Lady Caroline, and we will all three follow you to London
to-morrow, probably by water, as that will attract the least
observation.'
After a hurried discussion we agreed to this, and Sir Hubert, who I
saw must have received some political information which greatly
excited him, took a hasty, though affectionate, leave of me there, by
the Thames, within sight of Kingston Bridge, which was so soon to be
the scene of a very daring exploit. And we parted, little knowing
what was to happen before we met again, he going to the boat to be
rowed down to London City, I going with Sir William through the
subterranean passage to the great house, where Lady Caroline received
me as a sister, and assisted me to bed with her own hands.
I was so tired that I fell asleep the moment my head touched the
pillow. But my dreams were troubled. For in them, over and over
again, I saw Sir Hubert in a boat, pulling against the stream, and
unable to get on, whilst I, standing on the river bank, besought him
to make haste to Lady Jane, who in the Tower was in sore need of
succour. And still he tried to go to her, but in vain; the boat
heaved and tossed, but did not advance at all, in spite of every
effort. And I wept in my sleep, because he could not go to Lady Jane.