had despoiled me and which she had returned to me, and, asking for
pen and ink, I gave to Master Dunner such writings as, in his
judgment and mine, would enable him to command the sum of seven
thousand pounds, which, with what he had, would complete the sum of
ten thousand with which to approach the King. Master Dunner was very
careful to give me such security as he could, acting as the Earl's
agent and jealous for his patron's honour, and promised speedy
repayment of the loan. Lady Katharine made some demur, but between
us we easily overruled her: I, because I was determined that my
quixotic impulse should be carried out; and Master Dunner, because he
would have taken anything from anybody to save his patron. The
transaction was soon over, and I arose to take my departure.
"I have a word of advice to give," I remarked, ere I said good-bye.
"Whatever you do, do quickly. It is quite late. I may have
difficulty in getting access to the Lord Chief Justice or the
military commandant. Possibly I shall not see them until the
morning. No messenger, it is likely, will be despatched to the King
until late to-morrow."
"I will ride to the King myself early in the morning," said Lady
Katharine immediately. "You told me that he would be at Durham by
the time I could get there."
"Ay," replied I, "but it will be a hard ride for a woman."
"I will go just as I am," returned her ladyship.
"Your wounded shoulder?"
"A night's rest will put that to rights."
"Have you none other who can go?"
"I have only two friends," returned her ladyship--and her
appreciation really thrilled me--"Master Dunner"--she hesitated--"and
yourself, Sir Hugh," she continued, extending her hand.
I do not know what made me do it. I had kissed it in the carriage
like a courtier. Now I took her fine hand in my own and shook it
well.
"As one soldier to another, lad," I said, clapping her lightly upon
the shoulder for the third time. "'Fore God, I like you well, and,
when the time comes, I should be glad to have you in my company," I
said, with double meaning, "forever."
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[Illustration: "I like you well, and...]
"I like you well, and
when the time comes I
should be glad to have
you in my
company--forever"
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"Should I enlist as a soldier, Captain Richmond," returned my lady,
saluting gallantly with her disengaged hand, "I should like no better
fortune than to follow your flag."
I dared not trust myself to continue the conversation in this vein.
There was no doubt about it, although I be writ down here as a fool,
I was head over heels in love with this beautiful and daring woman.
She had captured my heart as completely as she had captured my person
back on the highroad. I was helpless before her. And only the fact
that she was in some small measure in my debt prevented me from
carrying her heart by escalade. I would have taken it by storm like
a soldier had it not been that gratitude might have inclined a
capitulation, which I would not accept unless it came from an
interest and affection that equalled my own.
I answered her salute in kind, therefore, and, not trusting myself to
say another word, turned on my heel and went out, accompanied by
Master Dunner, who desired to walk a space with me and talk further
about these various matters. He begged Lady Katharine to retire at
once and get such rest as she could, if she persisted in her
determination to ride south in the morning, and he promised to be
with her betimes.
"Sir Hugh," he began, as we walked along the almost deserted
street,--the house being in one of the meaner quarters of the city
for safety,--"it is idle to attempt to disguise from me that you have
placed yourself in a position of considerable danger."
"I did not choose," said I, "to dwell upon that in the presence of
her ladyship, for obvious reasons."
"I understand," said the old lawyer gravely, and yet with a little
twinkle in his eye. "Your interest in her ladyship can only arise
from one cause."
"You are not so blind as I fancied, Master Dunner," I returned,
smiling. "I confess to you, I have never met a woman of her spirit,
her wit, her resource, and, if I may judge from what I see, of her
beauty, of..."
"You may spare me the catalogue of her ladyship's attractions," said
the old man drily, "not because I am not fain to hear you dilate upon
them, but there are other matters more pressing which must be
considered between us, and more interesting as well."
"There is nothing more interesting," said I--and if I had been a
young cornet instead of a veteran captain of horse well on his way to
majority, who indeed might have commanded a regiment had he chosen to
give up his place in the King's bodyguard, I could not have been more
reckless in my speech--"than discussing Lady Katharine, but what you
say is true. I cannot and need not disguise from you that my
position is somewhat perilous."
"Exactly," returned the lawyer. "You have been robbed of the King's
warrant here in Scotland. The act is more than highway robbery; it
is treason. The fact that the only warrant that is taken is
Clanranald's points to some adherent of that house. It is possible
there are those who will say that the resistance you offered was not
so vigorous as you might have made, despite that bandage upon your
forehead. You may have been observed. Indeed, I am sure you must
have been, for you have admitted to me that you gave your full name
and rank most imprudently at the city gate and at Musselburgh as
well. Perhaps some one may have heard your conversation with Lady
Katharine in the wood. In short, sir, I need not refrain from
telling a soldier that you are in grave peril of being attainted for
treason yourself as an accomplice--and, forgive me, that you
certainly are--to a treasonable attack upon the King his privilege."
"Even so," I replied. "But I can honestly give my word that the
warrant was taken from me by force, and back it with my oath were
that necessary; that I did not surrender it willingly; that I did
everything that I could to retain and defend it, and that it was not
until I was senseless from a bullet wound that I lost it. I have not
failed in my duty."
"Except," said Master Dunner, "you have not given up to justice the
assailant whom you captured after the assault."
"Lady Katherine?" said I.
"Exactly," was the answer.
"Well, my only defence for that is Lady Katharine herself."
"And how far think you would that go in a court of justice?"
"Before a jury of soldiers, a long distance," I laughingly replied.
"But, jesting aside, I realise all that you say, and, were any harm
to come to the King from my action, I should feel differently, and I
should have acted differently. Lady Katharine Clanranald made a
brave play for a few days' delay, and all I have done is to assure
her that she shall have the time for which she struggled. If the
King persists in his determination that the Earl shall pay the
extreme penalty, why, no great harm will have been done by the few
days' respite which he will enjoy. And if, on the contrary, his
daughter's enterprise meet with its proper reward, a great harm will
have been avoided. Therefore, I justify myself for what I have done,
and hold it not inconsistent with my honour as a man, my obligation
as a subject, or with my duty as an officer."
The reasoning was specious, but, specious or not, it had to serve.
"I am glad to see you in so reasonable a frame of mind," continued
the advocate. "We are now upon the High Street. If you will refresh
yourself in the inn yonder, I will have your horse brought to you and
you can then ride to the castle and report to the Governor and the
Lord Chief Justice while I turn these bills of exchange into drafts
upon London. It would not advantage your cause, should you fall into
difficulties, if I should be seen in conversation with you. But
should you need an advocate, I recommend to you Master William
Abadie, a skilled and learned counsellor-at-law, and my very good
friend, through whom my own poor talent will also be at your service
freely."
"I thank you," said I, "and I will await my horse here."
We parted with mutual expressions of esteem, and, though I have
little affection for lawyers, I own I never met one that I liked
better than Master Dunner. If I got in trouble and Master Abadie
proved as agreeable, I should be in fortune. I ventured to charge
Master Dunner, ere he left me, with a message of reassurance to her
ladyship, which he promised faithfully to deliver, and I engaged his
good offices as well to represent my conduct to her in the proper
light should occasion serve.
My horse was soon brought to me, and I made my way without difficulty
to the gates of the castle, announced my name and rank, and demanded
to see the commandant without delay. I was ushered into the presence
of General Ramesay. He was seated at a table in his office, and by
him in another chair was another man of imposing, if somewhat legal,
aspect. General Ramesay received me with a certain abruptness, which
was somewhat disconcerting. However, I was not called to be a censor
to his manners, and, so long as he was decently civil to me, I had no
reason to make any complaint.
I reported briefly that I had been stopped on the road from Cockenzie
to Musselburgh that morning by a highwayman, with whom I had had an
encounter; that, although I had wounded him in the shoulder, he had
been fortunate enough in an exchange of shots to strike me in the
head; that his bullet had laid me senseless in the road, whereupon he
had taken my despatch-bag, broken it open, extracted therefrom the
warrant for the execution of the Earl of Clanranald, and made off
with it; that I had come to my senses, and, without a horse, had
availed myself of such means as presented to reach Musselburgh, where
I had bought the animal I had left outside, and I now delivered my
other despatches and reported myself subject to his orders.
General Ramesay heard me without interruption. When I finished my
brief recital, in which I told nothing that was not absolutely true,
although I was very careful not to tell everything that happened, it
was the man on the other side of the table who spoke. His accent was
decidedly Scottish. His manner was harsh, imperious, and severe. I
felt instinctively that trouble was to be looked for from him. He
had some notes scribbled upon a sheet of paper before him, which he
drew closer and examined carefully through a pair of great horn
spectacles before he spoke.
"You lay last night at Cockenzie you said, Captain Richmond?"
I turned to General Ramesay.
"Sir," said I, "I am quite willing, in the exercise of my duty, to
answer any question, to obey any order from you, my superior officer,
but before I reply to this gentleman, will you kindly advise me as
to..."
"This is Sir Alexander Forfair, Sir Hugh," said the General. "The
Lord Chief Justice of Scotland. 'Tis he to whom the warrant was to
have been delivered."
"I beg your pardon, your lordship," said I, bowing to the old man.
He wasted no time in ceremony.
"Your answer to my question, please."
Although I did not at all fancy his manner, and saw indication of
trouble for me therein, I promptly replied in the affirmative with
the best grace possible.
"You had as a companion at table a young"--he paused--"gentleman?"
"I had, sir."
"What was his name?"
"He told me that it was Carthew."
"Have you any reason for believing that that name was assumed for the
occasion?"
I was silent.
The Lord Chief Justice was skilled in reading men, and he saw at once
that he need press that question no further.
"He answers not, mark you, Ramesay," he said, turning to the General.
"Sir Hugh," said the old soldier, with whom I had some acquaintance,
having served under him previously, "as a brother officer, and I may
say as a friend, I advise you to be entirely frank with his lordship.
You stand in a position of some peril."
"Pardon me, General Ramesay," interposed the other man. "We need not
dwell upon that at present. Sir Hugh doubtless understands his
position. He is experienced enough to know how grave it is and what
the consequences of his refusal to answer would be."
I knew well how serious the position might be if these men knew all
that I had done, but that they could know it was beyond belief. I
determined, whatever might betide, not to betray Lady Katharine. I
was in for it, I supposed, and I did not disguise to myself the
gravity of the situation in which I had become involved.
"We know more," resumed Sir Alexander Forfair, "of your movements
than you imagine, sir. We know that you and this young man were
extremely friendly on last night; that you parted after an evening
spent together on the most amicable terms; that the young man left
before you did; that some sort of an encounter, as you allege, took
place in the wood a few miles this side of Cockenzie. We know
further that you and the young man rode together in Lord Leven's
coach to Musselburgh; that you and he came a-horseback to Edinburgh,
and that you are now here alone."
It was not difficult for me to see whence this information had come.
My horse had gone back to the inn at Cockenzie. The landlord had
sent a messenger immediately, who had observed the blood and evidence
of struggle in the wood. He had galloped on to report the adventure
to the authorities at Edinburgh. They had been looking for me. They
had learned in some way of our ride to Musselburgh, probably from the
coachman, who would be apt to talk about it, and our entrance through
the city gates an hour since had been doubtless reported.
What a fool I had been! I had permitted myself to be robbed by a
woman and had become so infatuated with her that the simplest
precautions had escaped me. I stood absolutely convicted. There was
no defence I could make; no explanation in the least degree plausible
that I could urge. In one moment the peril of the situation burst
upon me. Lady Katharine's act had undoubtedly been treason. I stood
as an abettor and participant therein. My only salvation would be to
tell the whole truth and throw myself upon the mercy of the Justice
and the King. If I did that, I had no doubt that I might escape with
no more severe punishment than a reprimand. But that was the one
thing I could not do. I had put my head in a noose, or under the axe
rather, having previously fettered myself, hand and foot. I was
helpless. What I should have been glad to have done for love of her
ladyship, I had now the added incentive to do for my honour's sake.
No gentleman, under such circumstances, could have betrayed a woman.
"Now, sir," continued the Chief Justice, as these thoughts ran
lightning-like through my head, "what have you done with the royal
warrant for Clanranald's execution?"
"It was burned," I answered.
"Who burned it?"
"The highwayman."
"And you permitted it?"
"I had naught to do with it, lying senseless in the road."
"Do you deny that the young man with whom you supped at Cockenzie and
with whom, doubtless, you arranged this pretty little play was the
highwayman?"
"I deny nothing, sir, neither do I affirm anything, save that there
was no arrangement between us; that I was assaulted upon the highway;
that I made the best defence I could, and that I was wounded."
"Do you deny that you were thereafter this day in company with this
young man?"
A thought came to me.
"I will take oath, sir; I will pledge my word as an officer and a
gentleman that I was not in company with any young man during the
whole day, save such chance companionship as was thrust upon me by
the inn-keeper at Musselburgh, the men from whom I bought horses, and
so on," I protested warmly.
General Ramesay of his kindness here did me a good turn.
"I have known Sir Hugh Richmond these many years, my lord," he said
to the Chief Justice; "we have served together and I would stake my
life upon his honour."
"I have heard the testimony of many men," said Sir Alexander. "I
think I am as able to tell when a man is speaking the truth as any
judge in all Scotland. I beg to assure you, General Ramesay, and
you, Sir Hugh Richmond, that I not only believe but know that you are
speaking truthfully, for the man who held you up on the highway, with
whom you rode to Musselburgh, with whom you entered the city, was a
woman. What is her name?"
If a bombshell had exploded at my feet, I could not have been more
amazed.
"That," I said at last, with such firmness as I could muster, "I
decline to state."
"Sir Hugh Richmond," continued the old man, pointing his finger at
me, "I rather like your bearing and appearance. I have no doubt what
you say is, in the main, true; that you were robbed on the highway by
a woman."
He laughed grimly, and, while I was willing to be robbed by her
ladyship, I could have killed him for the mocking sneer in his voice.
It is one thing to be robbed by the woman you love; it is another
thing to be twitted about it and have the world throw the fact in
your face.
But I could do nothing. It was part of the price that I would have
to pay for the winning of her ladyship, which had become the chief
object of my life, from the moment I held her wounded and senseless
in my arms by the brook-side in the wood.
"But, sir," continued the Chief Justice, "while I, for one, am rather
glad that the warrant hath not reached my hand, for I understand that
a petition for pardon, with a full statement of certain circumstances
which render it reasonable, is to be presented to the King, yet all
this has nothing to do with your conduct. You are constructively
guilty of the gravest dereliction of duty and of high treason, and it
becomes my duty, sir, to see that you are arrested and tried
forthwith. The fact that you have done this halfway under
compulsion, and halfway out of foolish regard for a petticoat, or
that which should have worn one I would better say, may mitigate your
offence in the eyes of frail mankind, but the law takes no cognisance
of that. I think, however, that I may promise you clemency and my
interest with His Majesty, which is not small, as well, if you will
disclose to me the name of your accomplice, the woman in question."
"That, sir," said I, bowing to the old man, "is the one thing which
as a gentleman, if not as a justice, you will perceive that I can by
no means declare."
"As a gentleman, sir, I am not discussing this matter, but as a
justice."
"Then, sir," said I, "we have no common ground on which to meet."
"You may pay," said Sir Alexander, smiling grimly at my repartee,
"for your silence with your head."
"At least, sir," I answered, "'tis better to pay with my head than
with my honour."
"There is not a woman in Edinburgh," said my lord reflectively, "or
in Scotland, that I know of, who could do this thing, unless it were
Clanranald's daughter."
I was a veteran; I am glad to say I did not change colour or manifest
the slightest emotion, although this arrow drawn at a venture had hit
the mark.
It was General Ramesay who interposed at this juncture to relieve
what might otherwise have been an embarrassing pause.
"She hath been searched for throughout Scotland. She hath vanished
completely since her father's apprehension, and it is believed she is
now in England," he said.
Would God she were, thought I.
"Well," said Sir Alexander, "whoever it was, she must be found. 'Tis
not safe that such a woman should be at large."
He rose to his feet as he spoke and bowed grimly but not ungracefully
toward me. Indeed I rather liked this stern old Justiciary.
"Sir Hugh Richmond," he said, "speaking as a man, and not as a
justice, I will admit that there is some reason for admiration and
protection and alliance with a woman of that stamp, if her person
accord with her courage."
"Sir," said I, bowing in my turn, "her spirit is above all praise,
and her wit and her beauty are beyond even her enterprise."
"I take it," continued Sir Alexander, "that if you escape the block,
Sir Hugh, you will be a lucky man in more ways than one."
"Even should I not escape, sir," said I, "I shall count myself
fortunate in what I have been able to do."
"As a man," continued Sir Alexander, stepping closer to me, "I offer
you my hand."
I shook it heartily as he continued, turning to withdraw:
"And as a justice, if I have to sentence you, it will be with a very
grave regret. General Ramesay, with this information laid before
you, attested by the landlord of the inn, the physician at
Musselburgh, the soldiers on watch at the gate, Lord Leven's
coachman,--you see we have agents everywhere and spies as well in
these troublous times, Sir Hugh,--you will, of course, put this
gentleman under immediate arrest, and keep him in close confinement,
pending the formal presentation of the charges, the trial, and the
King's pleasure."
After having thus boldly laid his cards upon the table and revealed
the course by which our movements had been traced, and how he got
knowledge that my companion was a woman, the Lord Chief Justice bowed
to us both and left the apartment. General Ramesay summoned his
guard, demanded my sword, placed me in ward for the night, allowing
me to use one of the rooms of the castle upon my parole. At my
urgent request, he forthwith sent a messenger for Master Abadie,
urging him to come to me without delay. I was then left to my own
reflections.
Well, I had done that which had brought my fortunes to a pretty pass,
but, when I thought of Lady Katharine, I could not bring myself to
regret it as I should. I had somehow a confident hope that Fortune,
which had thus favoured me in permitting me to make her acquaintance,
would be of service to her and see me through this coil of difficulty.
My head ached furiously, as it had off and on, from the wound, but I
welcomed every pang with pleasure, for was I not suffering for her,
and did I not know by intuition that she would be acutely conscious
of every pang that I felt? Indeed, I think I was inclined to
luxuriate a little in my martyrdom, and, although I was not base
enough to declare the situation to Lady Katharine, yet I knew that
she would hear of it sooner or later, e'en though I used every
precaution to keep it from her.
Indeed, I realised that I must get word to her in some way of the
fact that her venture was known; that my companion was discovered to
be a woman, and that, if she wanted to get out of Edinburgh, she must
do it that very night. Well it was for me that Master Dunner had
given me the name of Master Abadie. It was through him that I must
communicate with Lady Katharine at once.
_Chapter_
VIII
_How I got the News of a noble Self-Sacrifice, how it affected me,
and what I resolved to do for Sir Hugh Richmond_
I now take up the telling of my own story once more.
Of all that happened as Sir Hugh has related it, I was, of course, in
entire ignorance until some time after. He left me with a growing
amazement and a growing admiration for his generosity. He had borne
the humiliation of being overmastered by a woman with such
good-humour and such gallantry that the shame an ordinary man would
have felt in such circumstances was mine.
By not resenting it, he had laid me under a tremendous obligation,
which he had increased until it was almost unbearable, by his after
treatment: his refusal to take me prisoner, his risking his
reputation and name as a soldier to shield me, his bestowal upon
Master Dunner of the moneys which he had so generously offered to
lend to my father in his strait, his advice and counsel as to what
was to be done. Indeed, I could not with my life repay what he had
done for us, or to be honest, not for us but for me, I thought. Yet
I knew instinctively that I had it in my power to bestow upon him a
reward which, unless I were greatly mistaken, would go far to
compensate him for all.
Under other circumstances, I would have considered his evident
predilection for me, his admiration so boldly and yet so tactfully
expressed, as the mere casual compliment of a gallant soldier; but
his words were backed by deeds, and, strange as it might be, I could
not disguise the fact from myself that the man's profession had been
just short of ardent devotion to me and my fortunes, of passionate
desire to have me for his own.
Was I willing or unwilling? I had blushed many times before during
this adventure, but all the colour rolled into one wave would not
have equalled the rush of emotion that came over me when I put that
question to myself and found but one answer in my heart.
What a fool I was, to stand many a stubborn siege and fall at the
lifted hand of the first wayside comer! And yet, how nobly he had
behaved, how gallantly he had treated me, with what self-abnegation,
with what generosity, with what infinite delicacy. He had shaken me
by the hand like a man and called me his little comrade and clapped
me on the shoulder and wished that I might be in his company. I
admitted to myself that I could think of no sweeter command. If I
were a fool, I even luxuriated and rejoiced in this my folly.
Although I was intensely weary from my two days of hard journeying,
the emotions through which I had gone, and the strain through which I
had passed, it was a long time before I fell into the sound and
dreamless sleep in which I sought recuperation from all the fatigues
and excitements of the days before.
I was awakened by the tapping of the serving-woman upon my door.
When I made sleepy answer to her repeated summons, she said that
Master Dunner was below and insisted upon seeing me at once, upon
matters of the gravest import. I must hasten for life and death.
I thrust my bare feet into a pair of slippers, threw over my
night-dress a robe which lay at hand, and descended the stairs to the
dining-room. With Master Dunner was another elderly gentleman, at
the sight of whom I started back in great dismay, for I would not
thus be seen by any other than he who was as a foster-father to me.
But the attorney stayed my intended retreat.
"This," said he, "is the learned Counsellor Abadie. You must waive
ceremony and hear what is to be said."
Counsellor Abadie was a friend of our own advocate. I had often
heard of him as one of the most eminent and upright attorneys of
Edinburgh.
"This," said Master Dunner, "is Lady Katharine Clanranald, the
heroine of the adventure of which I have told you."
"Madam," said the other attorney, bowing low, "I am vastly honoured
to have the privilege of your acquaintance. As a friend and admirer
of the Earl of Clanranald, your noble father, I want to thank you and
congratulate you, in the name of Scotland, for your filial devotion
and splendid courage."
"Sir," said I, "'tis but what any daughter might have done."
"But what few would have ventured upon," he answered.
"We are not here to exchange compliments--forgive me, Abadie," said
Master Dunner impatiently. "Will you explain the situation to Lady
Katharine?"
"Madam," said the other advocate, "I am charged with the delivery of
an important message to you."
"From my father?"
"From Sir Hugh Richmond."
"No harm hath happened to him?" I cried in great alarm.
"None yet," was the answer, "but he hath been--er"--the advocate
paused--"apprehended. He hath summoned me as his counsel, and he now
desires me to say to you that it is known that he was in company with
a woman disguised as a man; that the hue and cry is to be raised for
you in the morning; that strict search is to be made, and that, if
you have business which calls you from Edinburgh, you must get away
to-night."
"What hath happened to Sir Hugh Richmond?" I asked.
"Why, nothing," began Master Abadie speciously.
"Sir," persisted I, now thoroughly alarmed, "I am my father's
daughter. I am much beholden to the gallant gentleman you represent.
I must know the whole truth."
"Tell her what she wants to know, Abadie," said my old friend
sharply. "She is of the stuff that must know and that can bear."
I thanked him with a look.
"He hath been arrested, charged with dereliction of duty, giving aid
and comfort to the King's enemies, high treason, in short," was the
answer.
"My God!" I exclaimed.
"His whole course is known. It is believed, since he entered the
city in friendship with you, that the robbery was arranged between
you; that he was privy to it before and accessory to it afterward."
"But could he not say that it was I, and, by delivering me up, have
saved himself?"
"Madam, he could not."
"Why not?"
"Can you, a soldier's daughter, ask that question?" returned Master
Abadie. "His honour as a gentleman..."
"Oh!" I gasped. "Is that all?"
"All and enough, your ladyship."
"Is it known who...?"
"Not yet. They seek a woman, not you especially."
"I will go at once and deliver myself up to Sir Alexander Forfair and
declare the whole story."
"But your father!" said Master Dunner. "The information must be
spread before the King. We dare not trust the papers and the money
to another hand."
"Was ever woman so torn," cried I, "between her father and her...!"
I stopped. What was I about to say?
"Sir Hugh Richmond," interposed Master Abadie, "hath said that you
are to give yourself no concern as to his fortune, but you are to go
at once to the King. Some means must be found to get you safely out
of Edinburgh before the morning. He bids you think not of him, but
of your father."
"What is the punishment should Sir Hugh be found guilty, Master
Abadie?"
"As he is a soldier," said the advocate, "he may have choice of being
shot rather than be beheaded."
"I cannot sacrifice his life to save my father's," I continued, sick
at heart and, I make no doubt, white to the lips at the dreadful
alternative Fate had propounded to me. "I have no right to do so."
"Sir Hugh is an officer of the King's Guards," broke in Master
Dunner. "They will not execute him without royal approval."
"Ay," assented the other advocate. "General Ramesay is his friend.
They will not hasten the procedure. I have his word on 't."
"But, if I surrender myself, they will let him go free at once,
and..."
"And your father, the Earl!" cried Master Dunner.
"God help me!" I moaned.
"Ay, so may He do!" was the answer. "But be advised by me, madam,"
continued my old friend. "My brother advocate and I here have talked
the matter over carefully. The appeal for your father must go to the
King. The one chance of clemency for Sir Hugh Richmond is there as
well. I tell you plainly that, even though you were to give yourself
up, which no gentleman could suffer under any circumstances, his
guilt in the eyes of the law would be none the less plain. It is not
only your father's life, but Sir Hugh's as well and your own liberty,
that depend upon the King's action; and the sooner you appeal to him,
the better it will be for you all."
There was sound sense in this certainly.
"Can I not see my father or Sir Hugh before I go?"
"It would be impossible," cried both gentlemen in a breath, "and
fatal even if it could be brought about!"
"Can you get me out of Edinburgh at this hour of the night?"
"Ay," was the immediate answer. "Five hundred pounds hath bribed a
soldier at the Dumfries gate. But it must be done within the hour or
not at all."
"I have my clothes, but I shall need another horse?"
"It shall be here, it should be here now, for we have already taken
order for it, anticipating your consent," answered Master Dunner.
"How doth your wound?"
"I suffer nothing from it, the pain in my heart is so great," I said.
"'Tis a hard fortune that drives you on."
"Hard indeed," said I, "but we cannot repine over that. The King
fortunately is at Durham according to Sir Hugh's word. I should be
there within the week."
"I would you had some one to ride with you!" cried Master Dunner.
"I had best go alone," I answered.
"But if you should be stopped in the way, Lady Katharine?"
"Think you," I cried, "that I have gone through all these perils and
dangers to be stopped in the way?"
"Go and dress, then, and make you ready at once. I have here the
petition, and something over ten thousand pounds in two equal bills
of London exchange, easily carried and negotiable. You must do the
rest," said Master Dunner.
"But hasten, I pray you, madam," added Master Abadie.
I nodded, turned, and ran from the room. I was soon dressed. Save
that I donned a fresh shirt in exchange for that which I had worn, I
wore the same attire as I had put on when I first set forth on the
adventure. I do not suppose ever maid got into men's clothes quicker
or more eagerly than I.
But for Sir Hugh, I thought as I fumbled nervously among the
unfamiliar buttons, I would fain have been born a man myself. But
now, in spite of my father's peril, in spite of Sir Hugh's danger, in
spite of my own position, and the trying journey that lay before me,
I could not but exult in this further and final evidence of my
soldier's devotion to me, evidently as deep as it was sudden. I
could no longer disguise, had I wished to, his feelings or my own.
When I descended to the hall, I found the two advocates waiting for
me. Master Abadie, being able to ride a horse, was to accompany me
as far as the gate. I bade farewell to Master Dunner, implored his
prayers for my safe journey and success, and Master Abadie and I
mounted our horses and rode quietly away through the deserted streets
of the town. I heard the clock in the old church tower toll two
strokes in the morning. There was no moon and it was very dark.
None accosted or molested us. We were shrouded in horsemen's cloaks
and went silently along, saying nothing.
The sentry at the gate was ready for us, and, faithful to his
agreement, he slipped open the postern. I shook hands with Master
Abadie, and then, upon the impulse of the moment, whispered a message
to him for my soldier.
"Tell him," said I, "that I ride to the King to tell him all, to beg
his clemency, and should I fail--he called me his comrade, we struck
hands on it--I shall come back as a soldier to die by his side."
_Chapter_
IX
_My Interview with the King of England and the good and bad Angels
that attended him_
I pass over the adventures of my journey albeit they were
sufficiently thrilling to furnish pages for a romance. On second
thoughts I went via Galashiels, Hawick, Norham, Warwick, and Shields
to Durham. The distance as the crow flies was not much more than a
hundred miles; by the road it was perhaps half again as long. I
accomplished it in four days and a half at the expense of a foundered
horse which I left at Norham. A man as hard pressed as I could have
done it in less time, I know, but for a woman it was a fine ride, I
have been told by those whose judgment I value, and certainly it was
hard upon me.
Early in the afternoon of the fifth day my horse and I staggered into
Durham. Which was the more tired I cannot say. For myself I was
utterly weary. What little good looks I might have boasted in the
beginning had been entirely worn away.
Had my errand been completed, I doubt not I should have collapsed
utterly, but the hardest part was yet to come. I ascertained from
the landlord of the hotel where I drew rein that His Majesty was
still in Durham, or rather he was at Bishop-Auckland, the residence
of the Lord Bishop of Durham. Rumour had it that His Majesty was to
move on the morrow. I had no time to lose, therefore, and it was
well that by hard riding, without sparing myself, I had arrived as
soon as I had.
I was shown to a private chamber and there summoned the landlady and
took her into my confidence. She was an honest, motherly sort of a
woman. There was no reason for concealment. I told her who I was,
and for what I had come, and asked her aid. She was blithe to assist
me. I was well provided with ready money, not merely the bills of
exchange for the greater sum, but sufficient for all the expenses of
my journey, and it was an easy matter, therefore, for the worthy
woman to procure me dress suited to my sex and station.
I lacked the freedom of my man's attire when I was again stayed
within my woman's garments, and yet there was a certain satisfaction
in being once more a girl as Nature had designed me. I forced myself
to partake of food and wine. The landlady and her daughter acted as
my tire-women. Somewhat refreshed by my meal and a bath, I called a
carriage, and accompanied by the young girl, set out in more comfort
than at any other period in my journey for Bishop-Auckland.
I went just as I was, pale, haggard, drawn, and worn. With my short
crop of curly hair I must have looked strangely out of mode. The
landlady was for touching my cheeks with rouge and for supplementing
my lack of long locks with false ones which she declared could easily
be procured at the nearest wig-maker's, but I would have none of it.
It was quite late when we reached the castle, and some demur was made
as to my admittance. It was not until I had declared my name and
rank to the gentleman-in-waiting that I effected entrance. When I
told him that I was my father's daughter, he looked at me curiously,
but after a momentary hesitation bowed before me and led me into the
palace, leaving the maid without.
I had never seen King James. The mean and treacherous qualities he
afterward showed, indeed, which were first displayed in his conduct
after Monmouth's rebellion, had not yet become widely known, but we
in Scotland had our suspicions of his character. I looked for no
royal magnanimity or generosity from His Majesty.
It was with a dubious and a sinking heart, therefore, that I followed
my guide. We presently stopped before a great door. The officer
knocked thereon, and after a moment was bidden to enter. Directing
me to remain where I was until further notice, he at once opened the
door, and passed within, leaving it slightly ajar.
I had so much at stake that I did that from which under other
circumstances I would have recoiled. I stepped closer to the door
where I could hear what transpired, if I could neither see nor be
seen.
"Well, sir," I heard a voice from within saying, high, thin,
imperious notes, "what means this interruption?"
"May it please Your Majesty," was the reply, "there is a young woman
without who seeks audience."
"Woman! What woman?" the first voice ran on.
"She says that her name is Clanranald, Your Majesty."
"What!" came in violent suddenness from the one whom I judged to be
the King.
"Yes, Your Majesty. She professes to be Lady Katharine Clanranald,
daughter of the earl of that ilk."
"What would she with us? We will not see her."
"A woman," broke in a third voice, harsh, cold, infinitely brutal and
cruel, "Your Majesty, should ever be welcome to a king, especially if
she have no natural protector."
How I loathed and hated that voice with its frightful insinuation! I
wondered whose it might be? But I had no time to indulge my
emotions, for the King spoke again.
"True," he laughed, "Clanranald must ere this have left his head by
the block. Sir Hugh Richmond hath had time to go and come."
"Those," said a fourth voice, "who are fatherless should have a
father in the King, Your Majesty."
It was in substance just what the other man had said, but how
different was its tone and meaning? There were sweetness,
gentleness, as well as force in the new voice that moved my heart.
There was some kindness in that room then after all, I thought.
"Well put, my lord," said the King. "Captain Culver, you may admit
the lady."
"How," said the third voice, which had made the ineffably brutal
suggestion a moment before, "if she be armed and hath come to revenge
her father's death?"
"Well thought on, my lord," said the King.
"I will take it upon myself to see that Your Majesty comes to no
harm," broke in a fifth voice at this juncture, speaking our language
brokenly with a slight French accent, by the way, which I shall not
attempt to reproduce.
"'Tis well, my friend. Stand you there on guard with your sword
drawn and keep the girl at a distance."
"I want no sword, Your Majesty," was the reply, "to master a woman."
"I hold you responsible for her, Louis. Now, Captain Culver."
In another moment my messenger and guide came out to the anteroom,
threw open the door, and motioned me to proceed. Summoning my
courage, I stepped through the doorway. The door was closed behind
me immediately, and I found myself in a vast vaulted room, a library
apparently. On a high chair at the head of a large table sat the
King. I knew him at once. To his left there was a man in the robes
of a Bishop of the Church, a man of kindly, benignant, gentle,
merciful face, so different in his aspect from the man who sat on the
other side of the King that his good heart, which would have been
evident anywhere, was the more marked by contrast. The other man
wore the dress of a cavalier, but he had thrown over it the robe of a
justice. His face was handsome but marred by the most brutal, cruel,
and licentious expression. His eyes stared at me and his look was an
insult. On the hither side of the table an elderly but gallant
soldier of foreign aspect in the rich uniform of a general officer
waited. Next to the Bishop's his was the pleasantest countenance
that I fronted. Pride, haughtiness, cruelty, covetousness were
evidenced in the King's face, but by the side of the man next to him,
he almost looked like an angel of light.
I surveyed the four with lightning-like rapidity. I was fighting for
life, my father's life, Sir Hugh Richmond's life, and I almost felt
in that baleful royal presence for my own honour as well, and I must
take stock of my enemies or friends.
"The King, madam!" cried the soldier, inclining his head toward His
Majesty as I advanced.
I sank to my knees instantly and stretched out my hands.
"Your Majesty," I pleaded, "mercy!"
"Rise, madam," said the King. "Nay, stand you there," he added
quickly as I rose and made a sudden movement toward him, "by the Earl
of Feversham."
I glanced rapidly at the soldier. So this was Louis de Duras, the
French soldier of fortune, the favourite of the King, the commander
of his armies, the hero of Sedgemoor. This was the commander who had
dashed all of Monmouth's hopes. It was the Bishop who spoke.
"Your Majesty, the young woman looks weary. Will not your grace
permit her the privilege of a chair?"
"Ay," said the King indifferently, "she may be seated, if she will."
"I would make the rebel stand," growled the man upon the other side
under his breath while the Earl of Feversham courteously handed me a
chair.
"I' faith you have made many of them stand upon nothing, Jeffreys,"
laughed the King uproariously.
So that was Jeffreys, he of the Bloody Assize, the greatest disgrace
to justice that ever had been seen in all England. He had hanged and
burned and beaten and scourged and robbed and murdered without let or
hindrance after Sedgemoor, and writ his name in such gory letters
upon the pages of history that not all the waters of all the oceans
could ever wash him clean, or wash out his damnable record. I looked
upon him and I hated him.
The fierce soldier, the unjust judge, the mean king--into what den of
wild animals had I thrust myself? Well, I had played gallantly
heretofore, and I would bear myself in the same way to the end.
"I thank Your Majesty," I said, declining the proffered seat. "I
come as a suppliant from my father."
"From your father?" inquired the King in great wonderment.
He looked at Jeffreys and laughed.
"You must have come from hell then," roared the Justice, emboldened
by the King's look, "for the vile traitor's head hath rolled from the
block four or five days since."
"Shame!" murmured the Bishop, not so low but that all could hear.
I despised Jeffreys; I loathed him; I answered him back not as a
woman, I am glad to say, but as a man.
"That's a lie!" I cried impetuously. "My father lives."
"The falsehood can easily be made truth then, woman!" cried the King,
leaning forward with an angry frown.
"At Your Majesty's pleasure," said I boldly. "God hath put the lives
of your poor subjects into your hand, but it is to stay that royal
hand that I am come."
"What mean you?"
"Give me leave, Your Majesty," interposed Jeffreys. "A royal warrant
for the execution of the Earl of Clanranald was made out; I wrote it
myself. It was sent to Sir Alexander Forfair, my brother of
Scotland. Hath he dared to delay its execution, hussy?"
He rose as he spoke, leaned over the table and shook his fist in my
face. I cannot describe the insolence, the overbearing brutality of
his manner. I looked him straight in the face, and answered nothing.
"Well, madam?" cried the King.
"Your Majesty," I answered, "I will hold no converse with this man.
My errand is with yourself."
"Give her to me, Your Majesty," roared Jeffreys. "I will have her
stripped and whip her naked at the cart's tail like Anne Lisle and
the rest of the cursed brood of rebels."
"Sire," interposed the Bishop quickly, "Your Majesty will not do this
thing. The meanest subject hath the right to appeal to the Crown,
and here is a defenceless woman who begs only for her father's life."
"Peace, Jeffreys!" said the King. "As for you, my lord of Bath and
Wells"--so this was good Bishop Ken of whom I had heard!--"your
advice for once is good. I will hear the lady. Madam, your story."
"I thank Your Majesty," I said quickly. "Sir Hugh Richmond was set
on by a highwayman near Edinburgh, shot, left senseless in the road,
despoiled of the royal warrant, which was burned. Therefore, there
hath as yet been no execution, fortunately for my plea."
"The matter then is but postponed," said the King indifferently.
"For the present, yes, Your Majesty, but meanwhile if Your Majesty
will permit me"--I took from a little bag which hung at my waist a
parcel of papers--"here is an appeal for clemency. 'Tis signed by
the Lord Chief Justice and the Justices of your High Court. 'Tis
countersigned by many great and loyal gentlemen to Your Majesty.
'Tis attested by depositions to show my father's unwillingness to
follow the Duke of Monmouth, his efforts at restraint. Upon it I
base an appeal for mercy."
The King looked hard upon me, frowning as before.
"Fetch hither the paper, Feversham," he said at last.
When it was placed in his hands--it was a brief paper for all its
weighty import--he glanced at it curiously and balanced it a moment,
his eye turning to Jeffreys and then to Ken. What was passing
through his mind? I divined instantly. He would give it to one or
the other of these men for examination, and as he gave it, he would
determine the fate of us all, for I do believe no human soul ever
looked to Jeffreys for mercy and received it.
My hand caught my throat. I bent forward, such pleading in my looks
as for the moment seemed to move even the hard heart of the King. To
my relief, he turned to the left and handed the note to the Bishop.
"Do you examine this, my lord," he said, "with all speed, and let me
have your best opinion of its contents."
Ken instantly opened the paper.
"Now," said the King, turning his face toward me, "while my lord of
Bath and Wells reads your humble petition for mercy, I would fain
question you further, madam."
"I have naught to conceal from Your Majesty," replied I.
"You say that Sir Hugh Richmond was stopped and robbed in the
highway?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Was he seriously wounded?"
"No, Your Majesty."
"Why hath he not returned at once then to report the failure of his
errand?"
I hesitated.
"Sire," said I at last, "rumour hath it that he is under close
arrest."
"Arrest!"
"It is suspected that he connived with the highwayman."
"That's treason!" roared Jeffreys.
"But, Your Majesty...." I faltered, and then I stopped.
How could I say that it was not true, for it was. The King looked
puzzled.
"Hath search been made for this highwayman?"
"I suppose so," was my answer.
"Your Majesty," interposed Feversham, "I know General Ramesay well.
He would leave no stone unturned to apprehend the villain who
affected this bold despoilment."
"Evidently," said the King to me, "it was some one interested in the
welfare of your house who thus robbed my messenger on the highway.
Do you know his name?"
What I did from one point of view was wild, foolish, reckless, and
yet I believe that my action was the result of one of those sudden
inspirations which sometimes govern people to their weal or woe in
critical moments.
"Your Majesty," said I boldly, "I myself despoiled your messenger."
"Good God!" exclaimed the King, "you, a woman, to overmaster a tried
soldier like Sir Hugh Richmond?"
"It was not as a woman that I did it."
"What mean you?"
"In man's attire I won his friendship, Sire, and then unsuspecting
shot him. My bullet fortunately, however, glanced across his
forehead and merely stunned him. His bullet tore its way through my
shoulder."
"Here is no collusion between ye then," said the King.
"Nay, Your Majesty. But afterward when I had burned the warrant, Sir
Hugh overtook me, discovered me to be a woman, had compassion on me,
failed to report my assault, did not deliver me to the authorities,
and now languishes in the Tolbooth in my place."
"That accounts for your short hair," said the King irrelevantly. "I
had wondered why you came thus out of the mode. You cut it off to
pass for boy?"
"Your Majesty's penetration does you high honour," said I, passing
him the sweet compliment deftly.
"I should like to see thee as lad," laughed the King. "What think
ye, Jeffreys?"
"Saving your grace," cried the Justice, "I think her an impudent,
traitorous wench who deserveth nothing whatever from Your Majesty's
hands but a place on the block beside her father and her paramour."
"You coward!" I cried. "You low, base, ineffable cur!"
"Did ye not pay a price to Sir Hugh for his complacence, answer me
that, you little baggage?" he roared.
"Your Majesty," cried I, flaming, "I appeal to you as the first
gentleman of your kingdom to protect me from the insults of this man.
Naught, I declare upon my word of honour as my father's daughter,
hath passed between Sir Hugh Richmond and myself that the whole world
might not know."
"You go too far, Jeffreys," said the King, turning upon the Chief
Justice. "This passeth even my easy permission."
"I shall be pleased, madam, with the King's gracious permission,"
said Feversham with the chivalric gallantry of his race and ancestry,
"to make your cause my own."
He touched his sword and looked threateningly at Jeffreys. There was
kindly blood in this courteous soldier. I thanked him by a grateful
look. It was the good Bishop who interposed in the angry scene.
"Your Majesty," he said, "I have read here the papers. 'Tis as the
maiden declares. The petition is signed by the most noble and most
loyal gentlemen of Scotland. The affidavits indicate the Earl of
Clanranald's reluctance, his endeavour to restrain his
fellow-conspirators. Here is surely a case for clemency."
"Did you ever see a case that was not for clemency?" roared Jeffreys.
"Few indeed, sir," said the Bishop, confronting him without blenching.
The King took the papers and stood looking at me thoughtfully. He
was hesitating. With a prayer I played my last card.
"Your Majesty," I said, "out of the wreck of my father's fortune I
have here some five thousand pounds, which should Your Majesty
incline to mercy, I will gladly place in Your Majesty's hands."
"Bribery, woman!" cried the King.
But I had wit enough to see the answer.
"God forbid, Your Majesty, but there must be some worthy friend, some
needy charity which Your Majesty would be glad to relieve with this
benefaction and evidence of our gratitude."
"What would you do, Jeffreys? The maid speaks fair."
"Were I the King," growled the Justice, "I would have the head of the
Earl, the five thousand pounds, and the woman as well."
"And your advice, Lord Bishop?"
"I would give the maid her father's life, her own liberty, and return
her the five thousand pounds."
The King paused.
"I choose the middle course. She shall have her liberty and her
father's life, and we will keep the five thousand pounds ... for
charity, my lords."
_Chapter_
X
_In which I bargain successfully for that which is
as dear to me as the Life of my Father_
I had succeeded in saving my father's life. It was incredible, but
none the less true. Yet my task was but half achieved. All my joy
would be turned into bitterness, if, through my action my good
friend, Sir Hugh Richmond, were to suffer.
"Make out a pardon," continued the King, "for the traitorous Earl of
Clanranald. Let it be conditioned upon his instant departure from
our realm of Scotland. If he be found alive therein four days after
he hath been enlarged from prison, his head shall be forfeit. Make
out also a safe-conduct for this brave young lady back to Scotland."
The King spoke directly neither to the Bishop nor to the Justice. It
was Jeffreys who broke the silence.
"Do it thou, Lord Bishop," he said roughly. "Thy hand is more used
than mine to the writing of pardons."
"Thank God for that!" said the good Bishop, drawing writing materials
toward him and at once beginning.
"Art satisfied with our royal clemency, madam?" said the King,
smiling.
"Sire," I replied, "it fills me with joy, but 'tis only what I might
have expected from your royal mercy."
May God forgive me for that atrocious lie! I whispered the instant I
had uttered it, as I continued:
"I have yet another petition to lay before Your Majesty."
"What's that, girl?" said the King. "Hast another father?"
"Not a father this time. A lover, as I live!" roared Jeffreys
triumphantly. "Said I not so, Your Majesty?"
"Not a lover," said I to the King, "but Sir Hugh Richmond lieth
charged with treason under close arrest. I would also have a full
pardon for him."
"Pardon for a traitor?"
"He is not so guilty as he seems, Your Majesty. I robbed him of the
warrant fairly and burned it. It was not until after it had gone
that he retook me, and then his treason consisted in letting me go
free that I might appeal with confidence to Your Majesty's tender
heart."
The King swelled visibly.
"Ay," he said, "tenderhearted should be the King. My lord Jeffreys,
did any one ever attribute tender heart to you?"
"Not in the service of Your Majesty," bellowed the Justice. "I have
no heart to pity treason to Your Majesty."
"'Blessed are the merciful,' interposed Ken softly, "'for they shall
obtain mercy.'"
"Mercy," said the King, who was in a tender mood apparently, "'tis a
pleasant word."
Indeed he might well think it so, since by common report it was one
he was but little accustomed to use.
"Out upon both word and thing!" cried Jeffreys. "I plead for justice
on the traitorous soldier. Your Majesty's power hath been limited
already by the mercy you have shown the false Clanranald."
"'And earthly power doth then show likest God's when mercy seasons
justice,'" quoted the Bishop still softly, looking kindly at me.
I recognised Master William Shakespeare's words as I had recognised
them before on Master Dunner's lips.
The King hesitated as before between these two differing counsellors.
And once more I threw the golden weights in the balance, hoping to
incline it my way.
"If it please you, Sire, I have yet another five thousand pounds...."
The King started.
"For charity, Your Majesty," I added quickly, "if Sir Hugh Richmond
be enlarged."
"By the Mass," said the King, betraying himself, at which Ken
started, "methinks the lady rains gold pieces."
"Sir Hugh Richmond's whole estate will be confiscate, Your Majesty,"
said Jeffreys. "'Tis worth much more."
"Why, so it will," replied the King, "yet five thousand pounds more
for charity, 'tis a goodly sum, hey, my Lord Bishop?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty, well expended it will relieve the suffering of
many of God's poor," returned the Bishop.
"Quite so," said the King.
He stopped again. I had played my last card. I could do no more if
it failed. Jeffreys opened his mouth to speak. As he did so, my
heart sank, but the King stopped him.
"My Lord Chief Justice," he said, "we will decide this matter
ourselves. Madam," he said at last, "your plea for mercy hath been
heard again. Sir Hugh Richmond's life shall be spared. His estates
shall be confiscate. He is broke from his rank, dismissed from our
guards, and must leave our realm at once. My Lord Bishop, since you
have already tried your hand, will you draw up the writing for that?"
"With alacrity, Your Majesty," said the Bishop, busying himself
writing once more.
"Now, madam, I believe that all is completed except..."
The King paused.
I thrust my hand into the bosom of my dress and drew forth the bills
of exchange. I very well knew what he wanted; the mean King, not
content with confiscating my friend's estate, would have the bribe as
well. He was more avaricious even than the base and contemptible
Jeffreys if it were possible for any one to go lower than this unjust
judge.
"They are here, Your Majesty, ten thousand pounds in bills of
exchange upon London," I said, lifting them up.
"You may present them yourself, madam," said the King with a manner
he meant to be gracious, as I made as if to hand them to General
Feversham.
Thereupon, I approached the King, taking care that my access to him
should be on the side of Bishop Ken, who drew back courteously as I
came near. I knelt before the King and extended the papers. His
Majesty took them, examined them cannily, laid them on the table
before him, and extended his hand. I had just bought his favour in
the most barefaced and open way, yet such as it was I had received
mercy, although I knew that without the money, all my pleas would
have been of no avail. There was no help for it; although I could
rather have bitten it, I had to kiss the royal hand.
"Here are the writings, Your Majesty," said Bishop Ken.
The King signed them; they were sealed with the royal seal which lay
upon the table, folded, tied, waxed by the Bishop's own hand, and
then were handed to me. I had triumphed in all points. I could not
resist a look at Jeffreys as I took them. And if looks could kill,
he had been a dead man. Indeed, for that matter, my lord repaid my
envenomed glance with interest. I little knew what was brewing
behind his malevolent aspect.
"Here, too," said the King, "is your safe-conduct."
"I thank Your Majesty once more," said I, "with all the gratitude in
a daughter's heart, and now I crave leave to withdraw."
"Wait!" cried Jeffreys hatefully. "Your Majesty, you have pardoned
two notorious criminals, one an atrocious rebel, the other a traitor
against your person. You have not, however, disposed of this woman."
"What mean ye, Jeffreys?"
"By her own confession she, too, is a traitor to Your Majesty. She
robbed Sir Hugh Richmond on the King's Highway. She burned the
warrant for her father."
"Shame!" protested the Bishop, rising. "This passeth all bounds,
Your Majesty. I have kept silent while this bloodthirsty Man of
Belial hath raved and blasphemed. Were I not a man of peace..."
"I wear a sword as I have said, Your Majesty," interposed Feversham,
"and I will most gladly make this lady's cause my own if you will but
give permission."
"Peace, gentlemen all! No brawling in our presence. My Lord Chief
Justice hath spoken true. This woman is a traitor, and we have not
yet disposed of her personal affairs."
I would have given the world at that moment for another five thousand
pounds.
"Perchance," sneered Jeffreys, almost, as it were, reading my
thoughts, "she hath come prepared with another offer to Your
Majesty's needy charities. Is it so, madam?"
"Alas, sir," said I, lifting my hands, "you have my all. My only
hope is in your clemency."
"You shall not hope in vain," said the King promptly and to the great
surprise of everybody, I am sure.
"Thank God that I hear Your Majesty speak those words," cried the
Bishop.
There was a muffled roar from Jeffreys.
"Is she to go scot-free, Your Majesty?"
"No," said the King. "Her punishment shall be suited to her crime."
What could that be, I thought, but death? Well, if I had saved my
father and Sir Hugh, I could well die.
"I will confer," said the King, "with the Bishop here upon it."
At that my hopes took an upward bound.
"But first," he turned to me again, "I would have you return to your
abiding place and after supper present yourself to me as the
highwayman you have declared yourself to be. Meanwhile leave here
the papers."
"Sire!" cried I imploringly.
"Enough," said the King. "My mind is made up as to that. Feversham,
do you escort this lady. I hold you responsible for her custody.
She must be produced here after supper, and mark ye that she come in
manly fashion else she shall feel the weight of our displeasure."
"May I not have my father's and the soldier's pardons to take with
me?"
"They shall be delivered to you to-night," was the unsatisfactory
reply.
My heart sank. Perhaps some of my disappointment appeared in my face.
"On the word," said His Majesty, "of a king." He paused as if there
were some doubt as to the value of that attestation, as indeed there
was. "On the word of a gentleman, I promise you shall have them," he
added.
He bowed not ungracefully. He had some of the Stewart charm, for all
his meanness, when he chose to display it. He picked the pardons up
and handed them to the Bishop.
"Here, my lord, do you be the custodian of them until the lady
returns."
"I would Your Majesty had given them to me!" cried Jeffreys.
"I know you too well for that," laughed the King.
"You have played at mercy, Sire," said the Justice, frowning.
"It was my fancy," said the King haughtily, "for the first time; it
may be for the last time, but whatever it be, I will not have it
questioned. Go, Feversham. Until to-night, madam. And you, my
lords, attend me."
The Earl of Feversham, who had evidently been deeply moved by my
story, was kindness itself to me. His own carriage, a much more
luxurious equipage with much better horses than the public conveyance
I had hired, which he dismissed forthwith, was placed at my disposal.
Together we rode back to the inn, and taking my word of honour that I
would present myself in the parlour thereof in due time to enable us
to keep the appointment with the King, he most obligingly left me to
my own devices.
Bidding the inn maid who had accompanied me to call me without fail
in time for me to make ready, I slipped off my dress, threw myself
upon the bed, and fell instantly to sleep. The greater anxiety had
been removed from my heart. Although I do not pretend to disdain
life, yet since I had secured the freedom and immunity from further
punishment of my father and my soldier, naught else very greatly
mattered. I did not really think that anything very serious was
toward, so far as I was concerned, and whatever may be the
explanation, I fell fast asleep. The short period of rest greatly
refreshed me and presently I felt another woman.
When the maid summoned me, I arose, bathed and put on my faded,
tarnished suit of blue and silver. Round my waist I belted my sword,
freshening the clothes where I could, and then booted, spurred,
wigged, hatted, coated, armed, I descended to the parlour where the
Earl of Feversham awaited me. He was evidently much struck by my
appearance, but had the delicacy to say nothing.
We returned to the palace a-horseback, it being quicker and suited to
the changed conditions. Promptly at the appointed time we were
ushered into the presence of the King in the same room in which the
interview of the afternoon had taken place. Now, I had worn this
suit of blue and silver after the first compunction of conscience
with absolute indifference. I had become entirely accustomed to it,
and my modesty took no affront because I was seen abroad in it. I
had passed muster easily enough for a stripling and I had never
thought of what the clothes concealed or revealed until that moment
when I stood in the presence of the King.
The same gentlemen who had been with him before were with him now,
Jeffreys on his right, Ken on his left. Naturally I suppose I made a
striking figure. Their curiosity was, without doubt, much excited,
and they were all anxious to see me. The look that the Bishop bent
upon me was full of interest, but it was full of a gentle
consideration, almost of pity. He might have looked at his own
daughter that way, deprecating the fact while he acknowledged the
necessity for her unmaidenly appearance. But the glances of the King
and his minion were so brutal, so suggestive, so degrading that
unconsciously, as my face flamed and my body tingled, I clapped my
hand to the hilt of my sword.
"By the Mass," laughed the King, although there was a quaver of
uncertainty in his cowardly voice, "never lay your hand on your sword
in the royal presence in that manner. Stay, madam," he cried hastily
as I made a bold step forward. "Feversham!"
The officer quietly laid a restraining hand upon my arm.
"Bethink you where you are, madam," he whispered, "and how much
depends on your conduct."
"Your Majesty," said I quickly, "I did but lay my hand upon my sword
to proffer it in your service,"--which was another falsehood, for I
would have been glad to have driven it into Jeffreys' black heart in
his very presence; ay, even into the King's heart also.
"You come of a stock, madam," said the King, "which makes us doubt
such protestations of true service. Yet she can be a bold enough
enemy; hey, my lord?"
He turned to the Bishop.
"She hath shown here, Your Majesty," returned the prelate, "how
deeply devoted she is to the noble earl, her father."
"She shows more than that," roared Jeffreys, leering lustfully, "she
shows a pretty figure, a well turned leg...."
My hand went to my sword again. Had I been a man, I could not have
more fiercely resented his disgracefully insulting words and looks.
Again Feversham laid his hand upon my arm.
"Sire," he burst out, "this is unendurable. Your Majesty hath made
me the protector and guardian of this lady. As a man of the sword I
usually have little to do with those of the robe, but on my word..."
"I shall myself protect this lady's honour," interposed the King
loftily.
It seemed to me that the protection was like to be that afforded by
the wolf to the lamb. Still, however, bad as he might be, he did not
equal Jeffreys in baseness. There was something apparently in being
a king.
"And I think you go too far, Jeffreys," His Majesty ran on.
"Why, you wanted to see for yourself," the other muttered.
"Will you be silent, sir?" cried the King, now thoroughly aroused and
indignant at being thus shamed before the rest, at which Jeffreys
slunk back, abashed.
"Your story, madam," continued the monarch, addressing me, "seemed so
incredible to me that I wished to see for my own eyes what appearance
you made, and by our Lady, what hath been disclosed of your temper
makes me the more inclined to credit it. We have deliberated
carefully with the Lord Bishop as to your future punishment, and..."
He stopped.
"Wouldst like to stay at our court and win our royal favour?" he
asked, with a certain eager solicitation in his bearing.
At this Jeffreys' lip curled, and the Bishop looked gravely anxious.
They both knew very well what he meant and so, in sooth, did I.
"Your Majesty," said I, "I must share the fortunes of my father, and
I take it that his presence will not be acceptable at your court."
"Very well then," said the King, looking very much disappointed at my
refusal to his sudden proposition, "we will say no more on't, save to
add this, should your inclinations ever change, you will find a warm
welcome here ... I mean at court."
"I thank Your Majesty," said I.
The King turned to the Bishop, who arose, bowed, and presented three
sealed documents. The King took them in his hand and then extended
them to me.
"Here," said he, "is the pardon of your father, that of Sir Hugh
Richmond, and..." he paused as he lifted the third paper, "and your
own sentence."
"And may I ask what that is, Sire?"
"You may ask," was the answer, "but you are not to be told what it is
until you reach Edinburgh."
"Whatever it may be," said I, "I shall submit to it gladly in view of
Your Majesty's clemency to those I came hither to save."
The King laughed uproariously.
"Don't be too sure of that," he said. "Now, Feversham, will you have
this lady and these documents delivered to General Ramesay and Sir
Alexander Forfair at Edinburgh on pain of our displeasure and without
delay?"
"Your Majesty," I cried, "let me take the pardons there alone. I
give you my word of honour, Sire, that I will not break the seal or
look within that which concerns me personally, but I will deliver it
as it stands, and the others also, to the Lord Chief Justice."
"Your word of honour as a man?"
"As a woman, Sire."
"And why do you wish to go alone?"
"Because I can make the greater speed if I be not hampered by an
escort of soldiery."
"Would you take a woman's word, Your Majesty?" growled Jeffreys.
"Not that of the women with whom you consort, my lord," said the King
caustically, "but of this one, yes. How if you should be stopped,
madam?"
"I can defend myself," I answered, "and these papers would be of no
value to any one but myself. There is not a highwayman in Scotland
who would despoil me of them, or who, knowing my story, would not aid
my progress."
"You shall go as you came, alone," said the King. "Feversham, take
orders for the lady's departure on the morrow, escort her safely
beyond the limits of the town."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty," returned the soldier.
"And now, Sire," I asked, "have I leave to retire?"
"You may go," said the King magniloquently, "and hereafter, when men
speak ill of me as they often do of kings, remember that in your case
at least I used you well."
"I shall not forget, Your Majesty," said I, bowing low, "your royal
kindness, nor the reasons therefor," I could not help adding in spite
of the danger, as I thought how I had bribed him.
The King looked at me suspiciously at this equivocal compliment,
which was a great act of folly on my part, for I had not yet got away
with my precious documents, but by great good-fortune for me he said
nothing.
"Have I Your Majesty's leave to speak a word of farewell and
acknowledgment to Your Majesty's friends?" I asked further.
The King nodded gravely.
"As for you, sir," then said I, turning to the Bishop, "you have been
a father in God indeed to the afflicted and the troubled, the cast
down and the weak. I shall remember it in far Scotland, and before I
go, may I ask your prayers and your blessing?"
I humbly knelt before him as I had not knelt since I had knelt to the
King himself when I first entered the room.
The old man, his homely face lighted with divine and tender
compassion, laid his hands upon my head and prayed for my defence.
"You have said well," commented the King, somewhat touched by this
tender action, "for you owe more to the cleric than you dream of.
Now, 'tis your turn, Jeffreys."
He laughed viciously.
"As for you, sir," said I, rising and turning toward him,--I stood
this time with my head up and my hand upon my sword,--"I would to God
I were in truth instead of seeming a man, for, saving the royal
presence, I would drive this weapon through your black heart, and
were there any men of my race alive, they would never rest until they
had struck you down."
"Treason, treason!" bellowed Jeffreys. "She would raise a weapon
against the King, his Justice, Your Majesty!"
"You brought it on yourself," said the King coolly. "Faith, I like
the woman's spirit. Look to it, Jeffreys! Look to it! Hast any
word for me, madam?"
"No more than I have said, Sire, save to wish that I had another five
thousand pounds."
The King started.
"For Your Majesty's charities."
"You have said words enough," returned James, who evidently liked ill
the turn of the conversation. "Had best withdraw from our presence
now."
I went out of the chamber with my colours flying, General Feversham
in attendance upon me. The gallant soldier chuckled mightily when we
were safely out of earshot of the King.
"Faith, madam," he said, "you made a fine end. Ride you to-morrow
morning?"
"Sir," said I, "a word in your ear. You will not betray me?"
"On the faith of a soldier, no."
"I fear the King, I fear Lord Jeffreys more. He is capable of
apprehending me and destroying the pardons. Therefore, I ride
to-night."
"But you are road-weary."
"What of that? I will take an unfrequented road, and lie to-morrow
in some quiet spot until I be recovered."
"You shall not go alone," said Feversham. "The peril that you
mention is not imaginary. I myself will ride the night through with
you. Nay, I have a wife and daughters older than yourself. You may
trust me without fear."
"Indeed, I do," I cried, gladly extending my hand, which the brave
soldier took and shook vigorously.
"I will see you safely over the frontiers. Damn that Jeffreys for a
black-hearted villain. He is a man of peace, but he hath slain and
tortured more in his Bloody Assize than even that most ruthless
soldier Kirke himself."
Which was putting it pretty strongly, indeed, I thought!
_Chapter_
XI
_Wherein Sir Hugh Richmond finds me, not
unwilling, thrust upon him_
Six days after, my return progress being slower than my dash
southward, I rode through the gates of Edinburgh.
The Earl of Feversham had been as good as his word. He had convoyed
me by retired roads until all possibility of interference had been
avoided. At the first convenient opportunity I had lain down and
slept a day and a night straight through. Had I not enjoyed this
chance for rest, I should have died of sheer fatigue and nervous
strain. As it was, I was still a wreck of a woman when I was halted
by the soldiers of the guard at the familiar city gate.
"Is your name Carthew?" cried the officer, who had been summoned by
the sentry as I approached.
"Well, sir, I have sometimes been so called," I answered.
"Humph!"
He read from a lengthy written description in his hand:
"'Young, slight, fair of face, a woman in man's attire, a riding suit
of blue and silver, sometimes known as Carthew.'"
The description certainly fitted me.
"Madam, or sir, whatever you be, you are under arrest," he said. "We
have been searching for you for ten days. I have orders to convey
you instantly you are apprehended to the castle and turn you over to
the Commandant or the Lord Chief Justice."
"I would fain make some change in my apparel, sir. You have guessed
right; I am a woman. I should like to resume the garments of my sex,
but after that, I shall be at your service. Indeed, you could do me
no greater kindness than to take me speedily where you mention."
"I should like to oblige you, madam," said the officer, "but my
orders admit of no discretion. As you are, you must be delivered to
the Commandant at once."
"Very well, then. I will give you my word," said I, "if you will
allow me to ride quietly by your side, to make no effort to escape
your custody."
"Your word!" said the officer. "The word of one Carthew, a traitor?"
"The word of Lady Katharine Clanranald, daughter of the Earl of
Clanranald, carrying messages from His Majesty, the King, to Governor
Ramesay and Lord Chief Justice Forfair," I answered quite calmly.
The officer stared.
"So that's the solution of the mystery," he exclaimed. "Very well,
madam, I accept your word. If you will wait here a moment until my
horse is saddled, we will proceed."
His trust in my honour touched me. In a short time, his horse was
brought around. He spoke to a squad of cavalry, and I riding by his
side, we cantered through the streets and up toward the castle.
General Ramesay and Sir Alexander Forfair were closeted together. So
soon as the officer declared who was the prisoner he brought, I was
instantly admitted. It was the same chamber, I afterwards learned,
in which Sir Hugh had submitted to the questioning. The two
gentlemen were alone. The officer was dismissed. I was courteously
invited to a seat and the questioning began.
"You are, I take it," said Sir Alexander, "Lady Katharine Clanranald?"
"I am, sir."
"You stopped the King's messenger on the King's Highway a fortnight
ago?"
"I did, sir."
"You robbed him of the royal warrant for the execution of your
father. This warrant was destroyed."
"I cannot deny it."
"Afterward by cajolery, or bribery, or whatever female arts or
influence you possess, you suborned an honest soldier, you won him
away from his duty, you made him a traitor to his King, and faithless
to his cause."
"Sir," said I, "if to be touched by the misfortunes of a daughter who
risked life and reputation to save her father, especially when the
warrant had been destroyed before he reached me; and if to extend
compassion to a woman wounded, helpless, and at his mercy be to fail
in his duty, to betray his trust, to be a traitor to his King, then I
suppose that I cannot deny the charge against Sir Hugh."
"Do you deny, madam," asked the Chief Justice sternly, "that it was
all arranged between you; that the scheme was concocted in the inn,
that you and he connived together by superficial wounds, perhaps
self-inflicted, to give your own interpretation to the facts?"
Oh, how fierce was his look at poor me!
"On my solemn word, sir, as my father's daughter, I do deny that. I
did deliberately rob Sir Hugh Richmond, but without his knowledge
beforehand. We had met in friendly converse the night before and had
conceived a mutual regard for each other."
General Ramesay smiled, and even a flicker of humour appeared on the
face of Sir Alexander. I resented it hotly.
"As one man and another," I cried, "for Sir Hugh knew not that I was
a woman until later. I will admit that he was unsuspicious of me,
and that gave me the only advantage by which I could have hoped to
overcome so tried a soldier. As for the rest, sirs, it happened as I
have said. It was pure kindness of heart toward me. And what would
have been gained by handing poor me over to punishment since the
warrant had been destroyed, sirs?"
"That was not a matter about which a soldier need have inquired,"
said General Ramesay. "He had a certain duty to do. He failed to do
it. He has been arrested, tried, condemned."
"But not executed!" I cried, laying my hand upon my heart and turning
very white.
"Not yet, madam," said the General, looking very stern.
"How could he be tried without me as the principal witness?"
"He hath admitted everything, except to disclose your name, rank, and
whereabouts."
"Indeed, madam, you yourself are a prisoner and must submit to the
same trial," interrupted the Justice.
"Nay, not so, your lordship," I answered triumphantly.
I drew from the pocket of my coat the three papers.
"Here," said I, extending one, "is His Majesty's free pardon for the
Earl, my father. This," I continued, laying the other upon the
table, "is a document of similar purport for Sir Hugh Richmond."
I held back the third, while Sir Alexander Forfair eagerly picked up
the other two. He broke the seals, scanned them hastily, passed them
to General Ramesay, and then addressed me.
"Madam, it is as you say. Never did I receive orders with a better
grace, never shall I carry out royal mandates with a lighter heart.
Hey, Ramesay?"
"As for the Earl," said the General, "he is a political prisoner with
whom I am not greatly concerned, but I am rejoiced indeed that my old
friend and comrade, Sir Hugh Richmond, is to go free. He hath failed
in his duty, 'tis true, but, by Heaven, madam, when I look at you, I
find excuse for him."
"But yourself, Lady Katharine," said the Justice gravely, "you at
least are not relieved by these documents."
"Sir," said I, "I have here still a third paper of importance."
"What saith it?"
"With its contents I am not acquainted, but His Majesty did declare
that it prescribed my punishment. I gave my word to him that I would
deliver it to your lordship unopened, and you can testify that I do
so."
"Hast not thy share of the curiosity of woman, madam?" queried the
Justice.
"Not in this case, my lord," said I boldly. "I left it with my
petticoats."
"Wouldst know thy fate, girl?" he continued, breaking the seal and
looking at me before he examined the contents.
"So long as my father and ... friend are free, what happens to me is
of little consequence," was my answer.
The Lord Chief Justice looked at the paper. His lips twitched. He
passed it over to General Ramesay. Less controlled than the other,
the soldier burst into a loud laugh.
"A sentence, indeed!" he cried. "How think you it will be liked?"
"Prisoners, I believe," returned the Justice, "are not consulted as
to their likes and dislikes when sentence is passed upon them."
This was all very mystifying to me, but at least it was evident that
my punishment was not very terrible. Sir Alexander and the General
consulted together in whispers for a few moments, and then the
soldier spoke to me.
"Madam, your sentence contemplates a life imprisonment, but under
conditions which perhaps may make it bearable. I regret extremely to
be compelled to communicate such unpleasant tidings to you, but I
have no option, and as the sentence is to commence immediately on
your arrival here, I shall have to order you into close confinement
at once."
"May I not see my father?" said I, bravely striving to keep up heart
under this tremendous and surprising prospect. Indeed, I could see
nothing in it to cause such laughter on the part of the two old men
before me.
"Presently, madam, but not now."
"And if I might see Sir Hugh Richmond for a moment, I should like to
tell him," I faltered, "that I have succeeded in securing his
freedom, as I am responsible for his detention."
"Presently, presently," said the Justice. "Meanwhile, I will prepare
orders for your father's freedom and for Sir Hugh's as well, but you
will have to obey General Ramesay's orders. There is no choice."
"Let me see my father, then, as soon as possible, and Sir Hugh
Richmond, if he care to visit me and it is permitted," said I, rising
and preparing to follow the Governor.
He escorted me gravely along several corridors and down several
flights of stairs until we came to the strong rooms of the castle.
Summoning a turnkey, we paused before a locked and grated door.
"Your present place of detention will be here, madam," he said as the
door was unlocked.
I entered the room. It was bare and simply furnished, empty of other
person than myself. Some grated windows admitted light, but were so
high placed that I could not see anything but sky out of them. It
was indeed a prison. There was an opening in the wall beyond, closed
with a door.
"Should you care to do so," said the commandant very softly, "you may
open the door and enter the other room. Is there anything I can do
for you before I go?"
"Send me some clothes suitable to my sex and station, if you will.
Master Dunner, the advocate, will procure them, I am sure. And that
is all, sir."
"They shall be sent for immediately," said the General, bowing
himself out.
I heard the door close; I heard the key turn in the lock. I was
alone. My great adventure was over; my punishment had begun. Well,
I had saved my father's life and Sir Hugh Richmond's life. I was
willing to pay the price by the long confinement to which I must
perforce look forward. This was the mercy of the King! I tried to
keep up a brave heart, and yet after a while I failed. I sank down
on a rude chair by a ruder table, and laid my head on my arms, and
cried just like any other woman.
A noise called me to myself. Fearful, I raised my head. The door to
the right into the other room was open. A man stood in fair view
under the arch of it. It was Sir Hugh Richmond.
"My God!" he exclaimed. "Lady Katharine, is it you? What do you
here?"
"I am a prisoner," I faltered, "a prisoner for life." He came closer
to me. "But you are free, sir."
"What mean you?"
"I rode south to King James. His Majesty hath been graciously
pleased to pardon you,"--was there indication of my feelings in the
fact that I put Sir Hugh first?--"you and my father," I said. "But
me he hath condemned to imprisonment for life."
"The dog!" cried the soldier. "I renounce his allegiance. The
cruel, brutal tyrant! And I have fought for him. Madam, I will not
have it so. I will go to him myself and wrest from him your pardon."
"You cannot," I cried; "by the terms of your release, if you are
found in Scotland within four days thereafter, you are to be killed
as an outlaw without recourse."
"And if I were to be shot the next moment, I would still force my way
into his presence if for naught but to tell him what I thought of
him. What is life, what is freedom for me without you? I might not
tell you before when I had rendered you some slight service, but now
when there is much to do for you, I can declare that I love you, and
you only, and that without you life, liberty are nothing."
"Is this," said I, "one of those protestations which spring
fortnightly from your lips?"
"Madam, it springs eternally from my heart. I am ashamed of my
foolish words."
"And your ideal woman?" I persisted.
"Lady Katharine," said the man, "I never thought to see her, to look
upon her as I do now. I never thought..."
He came closer to me; he caught me in his arms. Was I too tired or
disinclined to struggle, I wonder? At any rate, he was not to be
denied in his purpose.
"I never thought," he went on, "thus to hold her in my arms. I never
expected thus to kiss her lips."
He suited his action to his words. And I--what was the matter with
me?--I resisted not; I lay there trembling, thrilling--his own!
"I am a prisoner," I said at last when he gave me breath and space to
talk, although still he held me close, and still my arms clung about
his neck. "I can be nothing to you except...."
"I would tear down the castle stone by stone, hurl the King from his
throne itself, but I would have you now," said my soldier.
Neither of us had noticed that the door at the back of the room had
opened. It was Sir Alexander Forfair's dry and caustic voice which
broke upon our passion.
"Still talking treason, Sir Hugh?" he said, shaking his finger. "But
we will overlook it this time. We have not heard a word. Hey,
General Ramesay?"
"I am as deaf as the walls, your lordship," replied the soldier.
Sir Hugh and I parted in great confusion. At that moment my eye fell
upon the tall figure of my father, white-haired, bent and broken from
his long confinement. In a moment I was in his arms, the others
standing aside respectfully to let us come together. As I hung upon
my father, as he kissed me, fondled me, and blessed me, it was Sir
Hugh's voice which interrupted us.
"Sir," said he to General Ramesay, "is that the Earl of Clanranald?"
"The same," said the General.
"By your leave, sir," continued the young soldier stepping forward,
"I am Sir Hugh Richmond of Surrey, until recently an officer in the
King's Guards, now a disgraced soldier, and if I understand your
daughter aright, sentenced to exile like yourself. I am not without
friends upon the continent, especially in Holland whither I propose
to retire, and whither I should be glad, if your plans permit, to
have you accompany me. Nor am I absolutely penniless, for I have
certain moneys at interest in that country which are at your service.
For the rest, I love your daughter; I would fain make her my wife.
May I have your consent to our union, my lord?"
At this Sir Alexander and the General looked at each other and smiled
again.
"I know naught of you, sir," replied the old Earl courteously. "You
seem a gallant gentleman." He hesitated. "I am old, friendless,
alone. This is the last of my ancient race. What saith my daughter?"
Thus adjured I spoke up bravely.
"If it pleases you, sir, to give your consent, I shall be very
happy," I answered. "Had it not been for Sir Hugh's kindness to me,
I had not succeeded in procuring your freedom. You know the story?"
"Master Dunner hath told me. And you wish to marry this gentleman?"
"'Tis the dearest wish of my heart," I said with growing courage and
resolution.
"It is also evidently," interposed Sir Alexander Forfair, "the
dearest wish of His Majesty the King's heart as well."
He lifted a paper as he spoke, which I immediately recognised.
"My punishment!" I exclaimed in amazement.
"'Tis indeed a heavy one."
"Imprisonment for life," I broke out.
"Even so, madam, but in the custody of Sir Hugh Richmond, who will
give bond, a marriage bond, forthwith to safeguard the prisoner."
"With all I have, or hope to have," answered the delighted soldier.
And this time before them all once more he took me in his arms.
Outside in the corridor, a priest, the chaplain of the garrison,
waited, and there before them all, clad as I was, I placed my hand in
that of my soldier, and we were made man and wife.
The brief ceremony was soon over. There was little time for delay;
we had but four days in which to leave Scotland, yet the others
considerately withdrew, leaving me alone with my husband for a
moment. The door was open and there was none to bar our going when
we chose. The footfalls of my father, who was the last to go, had
scarce died away in the passage when my husband took me once more in
his arms.
"I feel," said I, "as if I had won you at the pistol's point."
"My lad," said he, laughing, "as I told thee before, I am glad to
have thee in my company and under my command."
"You shall find me," said I, "a faithful comrade, a dutiful and
obedient..." I paused ... "soldier," I managed to say before he
clasped me close again.
BOOK II
THE KEEPING OF A WIFE
_As described by the Gentleman who did it,
with an incidental Digression by
the Lady herself_
_Chapter_
XII
_In which I, Sir Hugh Richmond, who tell this Tale, find that it is
easier to marry Lady Katharine Clanranald than to keep her for my own_
Being a soldier and a veteran of many an out-fall and on-fall, of
frequent battle and stubborn leaguer, I know that to get and to keep
are two entirely different operations. To have and to hold, which go
together in the phrase, are not always associated in life, especially
in a soldier's life.
Through a series of the most romantic adventures and perils, which
she herself most gallantly, with some slight assistance from me, had
overcome, I had got myself a wife; but as I stood on the low bluff
near Cockenzie that afternoon and watched her being borne away,
swiftly away from me, by a small boat to a smart brigantine hove to
in the offing, it seemed to me that I had won her but to lose her.
Enlarged from prison by her woman's wit and married that very
morning, I had counted myself the happiest of men; now I was the most
miserable. Exiled by the King, my estates confiscate, broke in
rank--these I could have borne. But to find my wife torn from me by
force of arms, myself regarded with sudden hatred and suspicion by
those by whom I was surrounded, surely I might have been forgiven if
I had fallen into utter despair.
But I was a soldier, I had bided the shock in many a stricken field,
and I knew that the battle was not lost or won whiles I, or the
enemy, could keep that field. Therefore I did not despair; on the
contrary, I was white hot with growing rage.
The Majesty of England was a large thing. I was but a poor soldier,
an outlaw and an exile, a proscribed man, a death sentence hanging
over my head if I were found within the confines of the three
kingdoms within four days. So far so good, no worse sentence could
be passed upon me. If I failed, I would liefer die than not without
Lady Katharine Clanranald--this morning by the grace of God become
Lady Katharine Richmond, and my wife. Losing her, I did not care
what happened to me.
I was a tried and veteran soldier, a seasoned man of the world, yet
the passion that I had so suddenly developed for this splendid woman
might have amazed even me, had I been capable of considering it from
any point of detachment. I had met with many women in my life, some
good and some bad,--the latter, I am afraid, predominating; and I had
been drawn in touch with all classes from the peasant to the great
dame of the court, but I had never seen anybody who united in her own
proper person so many, or I believe I may say all, of the qualities I
loved in woman as Katharine Clanranald. Not only her beauty, which
was incomparable and unsurpassable, but her wit, her bravery, her
address, her--but the reader who has read her story, even though she
so modestly told it herself, knoweth all this as well as I. Do you
wonder that I felt reckless, friend, who read this rougher and
blunter chronicle of mine, or that I came to instant and desperate
resolution there on the shore?
The King basely, treacherously, but perhaps as monarchs went in those
days, not unroyally, had taken my wife; I would take her back, I
swore. I would pluck that coward fox from his very throne and, if I
found a hair of her head had been injured, his life should pay for
it, if I were to be hung, drawn, and quartered the next moment. I
took a solemn oath to it by the Living God, as I stood there on the
bluff.
It all happened this way. We were married in the morning, there was
naught to keep us in Scotland, where Master Dunner--a gentleman,
truly, even if an advocate--with Master Abadie's assistance, to whom
I was much indebted, foreseeing the turn of affairs, had everything
in readiness, every resource that the Earl could reasonably come at
instantly available.
The quicker we escaped from the reach of so uncertain a monarch as
James II., the better. All men knew him well enough, but I knew him
best of all, for I had served long in his Guards, so we planned
instant departure.
By good fortune we found a stout ship was sailing from Cockenzie for
the Low Countries that very night. It was necessary to ride thither
to take passage upon her. Master Dunner cast his fortunes in with
those of his patron and kinsman, the Earl, and had elected to go with
us. As we were proscribed people and found not many clamouring for
service with us, we chose to go as we were, without servants or
further tendance than what we ourselves could easily furnish each to
the other.
My wife laughingly pointed out that I could appropriately play
lady's-maid to her since she had played soldier laddie to me, and
though my blunt fingers were better fitted to pistol butt and sword
grip, I had no doubt that I could pass a lashing for her stays or
join together a hook and eye, if main strength and determination and
good will were necessary qualifications.
You have seen my lady dressed as a boy before, and you might have
seen her wearing her brother's clothes again that day for better
convenience in riding and travelling. I do not know whether I like
her better in her proper woman's gear or in men's--to tell the truth
she is adorable in either--but I had such sweet associations with the
latter, she was more comrade and not less wife as she bestrode her
horse gallantly booted and spurred and cantered by my side, that I
was more than satisfied with her election. Never hoped I to find
both comrade and wife in one woman.
I doubt not I behaved like a foolish boy. Anon I trolled out a stave
of soldier song. In the lonesomer parts of the road I clapped her on
the shoulder when I had a chance, as if she had been a boy; yet I
recognised such colour as no boy ever sported come and go in her
cheek under my touch as I drew her to me and kissed her as no boy was
ever kissed.
I vow, if it had given her pleasure, I would have got down in the
road and let her ride over me. She bewitched me, she possessed me,
she does still for that matter, I am more fond and foolish now than
ever. I can master with ease my turbulent regiment of soldiers of
fortune with which we were getting ready for a great adventure toward
England under Dutch William, but in truth she wound me around her
finger then and ever.
Did the men of my command but know it I should have been disgraced
forever, and it is only of her charity that she confines her sweet
dominance over me to our lodgings, in the quiet of our chamber rather
than in camp and court and field. I grow garrulous as an old woman
when I think of her.
Now I know full well that a soldier should ever be on the alert, but
I was as unsuspicious on that mid-day as any man that lived.
Monmouth's rebellion had been stamped out with such thorough-going
ferocity by that brute Jeffreys, that there was not even a whisper of
disappointment heard; not one, not even among Scotsmen. Nor were
there any gentlemen of the highway to be feared, and if there were we
were all armed, and Katharine was as good as a fourth man.
We rode carelessly therefore, she and I in the advance, sometimes
galloping ahead until screened behind a turn of the road or a clump
of trees for an exchange of kisses unseen by the Earl and Master
Dunner who jogged on behind sedately. We were approaching the
outskirts of Cockenzie village when the road suddenly swerved around
a thick woodland toward the bluff overlooking the sea, where I marked
a small brigantine in the offing and pointed it out idly enough to my
Lady Katharine.
"Will that be our ship, Hugh?" asked my wife, following my hand with
her eyes.
"No, Kate, I think not," I replied after a careless glance. "'Tis
too small a boat for such happiness as is ours, Sweet."
I had scarcely said the word when from out the wood which we were
nearly approaching--the road running along the very verge of the low
bluff that lifted it above the high tide--burst a score or more of
men on foot. They were led by a person richly dressed whose features
were covered with a black visard.
I had barely time to whisk out my sword and they were on us. One
fellow bolder than the rest I had spitted with the blade, but it was
jerked out of my hands. The next moment I was confronted by half a
dozen heavy pistols, and the leader, he of the mask, cried:
"Yield you, Sir Hugh. A motion and we blow you from the saddle."
I might not have hesitated to take the risk, although it would have
probably ended in my sudden death, had I not observed that the others
of my party were alike menaced. I had fronted cold steel and had
looked into the open mouth of musket and pistol, ay and of cannon,
too, many times, but it gave me a thrill of horror to see my wife so
threatened. I did not realise that she stood in no danger, or I
might have acted differently. I made up my mind quickly, as a
soldier needs must, and I said with a coolness I did not feel--on
account of my dear wife:
"Your arguments are too strong for me, gentlemen. I suppose you have
come for plunder; my purse is in my pocket, you'll find there is
little enough in it, we are exiles proscribed by King James, and..."
"I don't want your purse, Sir Hugh Richmond," interposed the
spokesman, drawing nearer to me. He stopped close by my side, and by
a sudden impulse, for which I have ever been glad, before he could
prevent it I reached over and twitched from his face with one quick
movement of my hand the black mask that hid it. I recognised the man
instantly.
"Stenwold!" I cried. "What does this mean?"
He was furiously angry at being discovered and showed it now.
"By Heaven!" he roared, "I could have you shot for that."
"And since when," I sneered, "has Lord Stenwold addressed himself to
the cut-purse trade upon the King's Highway?":
Now I knew in an instant that my aggravating accusation was a false
one; as in a flash I had divined the whole situation. Lord Stenwold
was King James' most intimate friend, a man who would stop at
nothing, honourable or dishonourable, to further His Majesty's
desires. And I knew that King James, probably aided and abetted
thereto by that arch-devil Jeffreys' counsel, had repented him of his
clemency and that he wanted to gain possession of my wife, for what
purpose I could well imagine.
I went white hot with wrath as these thoughts rushed over me. For a
moment I had the baresark impulse to throw myself upon Stenwold and
his gang and die fighting, and it was hard for me to restrain that
impulse; yet it would have been madness, suicide, and it would have
served no purpose, for it would have thrown Lady Katharine
defenceless and without resource into the hands of the enemy. So,
although my blood boiled in my veins, I retained an impassive front.
Stenwold laughed mockingly.
"You play the game well," he said meaningly, "I didn't know you were
so good an actor. I was charged to keep our agreement a secret from
the lady here, but I see no need of it now. The King loyally and
royally does as he said, here is your thousand pounds in gold." He
laid a bulky purse across my saddle bow. "We take the lady, you the
money, the King's pardon covers you for three days more, but if you
be found in his realm thereafter God help you."
"Hugh," cried my wife, "what does this mean?"
"Hoity-toity," ran on that devil Stenwold, "my lady, you know very
well what it means: it was all arranged between King James and
yourself before you left Durham; I had His Majesty's word for it."
"Liar!" cried Lady Katharine viciously.
She was free enough of speech when the situation warranted it.
"You dog!" cried the Earl of Clanranald, leaning forward. "Do you
mean to imply that my daughter----"
"The King's word----"
"Out upon the King's word. I wish to God, Monmouth----"
"Have a care, Lord Clanranald," interposed Stenwold darkly. "Your
pardon I take it covers acts of the past, there is nothing to prevent
me from re-arresting you and laying charges of high treason against
you once more for abusing His Majesty's clemency."
"Damn his clemency and His Majesty too," roared the Earl, struggling
to force his horse nearer the other. "If you are a gentleman, draw
sword. I am old but I will prove you lie in your own heart's blood."
"I am not here to fight duels with men old enough to be my
grandfather," answered Stenwold, coolly enough.
"With me then," I burst out.
The rogue answered me jeeringly again. He had the whip hand and he
knew it.
"What benefit would it be if I spitted you or you spitted me on the
road here? Besides it is all part of the game, as you know."
"You lie, in your soul," I cried, for the moment wrath getting the
better of me, but Stenwold only laughed again that irritating,
maddening laugh. God, how I itched to get my hand on his lying
throat and shake the wretched pander to death.
"We have had enough of this," he said, turning away from me
indifferently. "My lady, will you come peaceably or----"
"Hugh," cried Lady Katharine, bending toward me in wild terror, "you
won't let them take me away from you?"
"Why, he hath sold you," said Stenwold. "The price hangs on his
saddle bow. Come, I have no time for further parley."
Now what was I to do? Before God if I had let go of myself for a
single moment I would have thrown myself upon him, yet I could have
effected nothing; there were only four of us and one of us a woman,
and they were a score and a half. If I had killed one or a dozen of
them, what remained would have sufficed to carry out their purpose,
and then what would be done with my wife?
In all that broad realm there was only one man who could succour
her--myself! Was I to throw myself away uselessly and force her to
shift for herself? Nay, I must bide my time; I must contain myself
for her sake. Therefore, although to see her manhandled and
ruthlessly dragged from her horse, torn from her saddle, almost
killed me, I sat immobile on my own steed.
"Don't hurt her," said Stenwold, never looking my way, as if I was
not worth further consideration. "We must deliver her in good
condition to the King."
Katharine made a hard struggle, she was a strong, brave woman, but
what chance had she? She looked at me appealingly, she called my
name again and again, but I made no response. Presently realising
the absolute futility of it, she stopped and stood shuddering on the
road. Stenwold's bullies closed about her and forced her to where a
small boat lay concealed beneath the bluff. Ere she descended she
turned and gave me one look in which love and contempt struggled for
the predominance. I dare say that I made a sorry figure, sitting my
horse there on the strand with King James' guineas hanging across my
saddle bow, unable to hold the wife who had risked so much for me.
"Good-by, Richmond," Stenwold called out quite airily as the boat, a
large one capable of taking them all in, shoved off. "Any message
for the King?"
"Thank his gracious Majesty," cried I bitterly, "for his royal
conduct toward me and mine, and say to him that I hope to requite him
to the full for all that he hath done."
_Chapter_
XIII
_Wherein I set down in due Course the Resolution to which I came,
which boded ill to the King, as I rode southward_
My poor wife did not look at me as the boat rapidly drew away from
the shore; she sat helpless in the stern sheets, her face buried in
her hands. I shuddered to think of the light in which she and the
rest must have regarded me then. I had personal and unequivocal
evidence of it immediately, for I found myself tapped on the
shoulder. The old Earl of Clanranald had advanced threateningly
toward me.
"You English coward!" he cried. "Was it for this you married my
daughter, who risked her life and honour for you and me? We should
have known better than to have trusted any one who had ever been for
a moment associated with James Stewart."
"And do you believe this monstrous lie, Lord Clanranald?"
"Believe it? Can I not see and hear? Draw, sir, if you have a spark
of courage left, or I shall run you through where you stand!"
"I cannot fight with you," I said; "you are her father."
"The more reason."
Indeed, I felt the prick of his sword at my throat. I found I had to
do something or be cut down.
"Draw quickly or I will shoot you from your saddle, you villain!"
cried Master Dunner, at that time interposing and presenting a huge
old horse-pistol.
There was nothing left for me. In a twinkling, my blade was in my
hand. It had been restored to me by one of Stenwold's men ere they
departed. As it gritted against my lord's steel, something of my
self-control came back to me. He had been no mean fencer in his
younger days, he could have matched any man in the three kingdoms
doubtless, but now he was old, he had been some time in prison and
was certainly out of practice. His force and fire were soon spent, I
was his master, yet he never blenched, although he knew it as soon
and as well as I.
"I tremble," he said grimly, "from physical weakness, not from fear."
"That I know," I answered.
"Finish then; you have sold the daughter; spare not the father!"
"My lord," said I, as by a sudden trick of fence I twisted his sword
from his hands and flung it to the ground, "you wrong me. I neither
connived at the abduction of my wife, nor will I requite your quite
natural suspicion with what it merits."
"Now is it in my mind," cried Master Dunner, seeing his patron's
discomfiture and peril, "to pull the trigger of my pistol."
"Do it and kill me if you will, but know that to do so is to destroy
the only possible hope of rescue for the woman we all love," I
returned quietly, determined to have this all over without more delay
and put our affairs on a proper basis immediately.
"What do you mean?" asked Master Dunner, pistol-muzzle wavering
downward.
"Think for a moment. I love your daughter, Lord Clanranald; I
perilled my life and honour for her. I was attainted of treason and
death had been my portion for her. I have had no communication with
King James, save through your daughter. Could I, could any one, have
foreseen the course of events that brought me to the Tolbooth and
what hath happened since? It is absurd, sir, on its face. I wonder
that you do not see it."
"But Lord Stenwold?" asked Master Dunner, somewhat shaken by my
reasoning.
"Stenwold is a devil," I persisted. "Did not you see that he tried
to convince me that Lady Katharine had made an agreement with the
King?"
"My life on her truth and honour!" cried the Earl.
"Mine, too," said I quickly. "I would believe her innocent in the
face of twenty kings, backed by as many Stenwolds."
"But why did you sit so calmly by?" faltered the bewildered old man.
"What could I have done? The four of us together might have cut down
or disposed of a dozen men out of the thirty; the rest would have
worked their will; there would have been no one left to save her." I
gritted my teeth as I spoke: "I will rescue her, or avenge her. We
alone in the three kingdoms are able to help her. Do you think that
I intend to sit calmly by and let her fall into the arms of the King?
It was a part of the plan to discredit me in the mind of my wife, to
make it easier for him to overcome her resistance."
"But you took the money."
"Certainly; why not? We shall have need of all of it and more
mayhap. We'll fight the King with his own coin."
"What mean you to do?"
"When my wife is brought before the King, I mean to be there."
"But how?"
"I don't know; I shall accomplish it in some way; I saved my own life
but to lay it down again for her. God help the King when he comes
under my hand!"
"My lad," said the Earl, at last convinced, "I did, indeed, misjudge
you. Forgive me. My hand."
"And mine too, sir," said Master Dunner, "if in truth you will honour
me."
I grasped them both eagerly, saying:
"We waste time, gentlemen; we must be doing."
"What plans have you?"
"I ride south to-night; the King was at Durham; its nearest port is
Sunderland. That ship will take her there; at least, I think so. If
I could only have some assurance..."
At that juncture I caught sight of a figure moving in the trees;
instantly my pistol was out of its holster and levelled in that
direction.
"Hands up," I cried, "or you shall be shot down!"
"I have no fear of your weapon, sir soldier," came from the coppice,
"but, because I can render you service, I..."
"Come forth," said I, as a sturdy Scotsman stepped out upon the road
and saluted me.