Coupling Hugh Calveley's present strange appearance and solemn warning
with his previous denunciations uttered in secret, and his intimations
of some dread design, with which he had sought to connect the young man
himself, intimating that its execution would jeopardize his life;
putting these things together, we say, Jocelyn could not for an instant
doubt that the King was in imminent danger, and he felt called upon to
interfere, even though he should be compelled to act against his
father's friend, and the father of Aveline. No alternative, in fact, was
allowed him. As a loyal subject, his duty imperiously required him to
defend his sovereign; and perceiving that no one (in consequence of the
King's injunctions) advanced towards the Puritan, Jocelyn hastily
quitted the Conde de Gondomar, and rushing forward stationed himself
between the monarch and his bold admonisher; and so near to the latter,
that he could easily prevent any attack being made by him upon James.
Evidently disconcerted by the movement, Hugh Calveley signed to the
young man to stand aside, but Jocelyn refused compliance; the rather
that he suspected from the manner in which the other placed his hand in
his breast that he had some weapon concealed about his person. Casting a
look of bitterest reproach at him, which plainly as words
said--"Ungrateful boy, thou hast prevented my purpose," the Puritan
folded his hands upon his breast with an air of deep disappointment.
"Fly!" cried Jocelyn, in a tone calculated only to reach his ears. "I
will defend you with my life. Waste not another moment--fly!"
But Hugh Calveley regarded him with cold disdain, and though he moved
not his lips, he seemed to say, "You have destroyed me; and I will not
remove the guilt of my destruction from your head."
The Puritan's language and manner had filled James with astonishment and
fresh alarm; but feeling secure in the propinquity of Jocelyn to the
object of his uneasiness, and being closely environed by his retinue,
the foremost of whom had drawn their swords and held themselves in
readiness to defend him from the slightest hostile attempt, it was not
unnatural that even so timorous a person as he, should regain his
confidence. Once more, therefore, he restrained by his gestures the
angry impetuosity of the nobles around him, who were burning to chastise
the rash intruder, and signified his intention of questioning him before
any measures were adopted against him.
"Let him be," he cried. "He is some puir demented creature fitter for
Bedlam than anywhere else; and we will see that he be sent thither; but
molest him not till we hae spoken wi' him, and certified his condition
more fully. Quit not the position ye hae sae judiciously occupied, young
Sir, albeit against our orders," he cried to Jocelyn. "Dinna draw your
blade unless the fellow seeks to come till us. Not that we are under ony
apprehension; but there are bluidthirsty traitors even in our pacific
territories, and as this may be ane of them, it is weel not to neglect
due precaution. And now, man," he added, raising his voice, and
addressing the Puritan, who still maintained a steadfast and unmoved
demeanour, with his eye constantly fixed upon his interrogator. "Ye say
ye are a messenger frae heaven. An it be sae,--whilk we take leave to
doubt, rather conceiving ye to be an envoy from the Prince of Darkness
than an ambassador from above,--an ill choice hath been made in ye. Unto
what order of prophets do ye conceive yourself to belong?"
To this interrogation, propounded in a jeering tone, the Puritan deigned
no reply; but an answer was given for him by Archee, the court jester,
who had managed in the confusion to creep up to his royal master's side.
"He belongs to the order of Melchisedec," said Archee. A reply that
occasioned some laughter among the nobles, in which the King joined
heartily.
"Tut, fule! ye are as daft as the puir body before us," cried James.
"Ken ye not that Melchisedec was a priest and not a prophet; while to
judge frae yon fellow's abulyiements, if he belongs to any church at
all, it maun be to the church militant. And yet, aiblins, ye are na sae
far out after a'. Like aneuch, he may be infected with the heresy of the
Melchisedecians,--a pestilent sect, who plagued the early Christian
Church sairly, placing their master aboon our Blessed Lord himself, and
holding him to be identical wi' the Holy Ghaist. Are ye a
Melchisedecian, sirrah?"
"I am a believer in the Gospel," the Puritan replied. "And am willing to
seal my faith in it with my blood. I am sent hither to warn thee, O
King, and thou wilt do well not to despise my words. Repent ere it be
too late. Wonderfully hath thy life been preserved. Dedicate the
remainder of thy days to the service of the Most High. Persecute not His
people, and revile them not. Purge thy City of its uncleanness and
idolatry, and thy Court of its corruption. Profane not the Sabbath"--
"I see how it is," interrupted Archee with a scream; "the man hath been
driven stark wud by your Majesty's Book of Sports."
"A book devised by the devil," cried Hugh Calveley, catching at the
suggestion; "and which ought to be publicly burnt by the hangman,
instead of being read in the churches. How much, mischief hath that
book done! How many abominations hath it occasioned! And, alas! how much
persecution hath it caused; for have not many just men, and sincere
preachers of the Word, been prosecuted in thy Court, misnamed of
justice, and known, O King! as the Star-Chamber; suffering stripes and
imprisonment for refusing to read thy mischievous proclamation to their
flocks."
"I knew it!--I knew it!" screamed Archee, delighted with the effect he
had produced. "Take heed, sirrah," he cried to the Puritan, "that ye
make not acquaintance wi' 'that Court misnamed of justice' yer ain
sell."
"He is liker to be arraigned at our court styled the King's Bench, and
hanged, drawn, and quartered afterwards," roared James, far more enraged
at the disrespectful mention made of his manifesto, than by anything
that had previously occurred. "The man is not sae doited as we supposed
him."
"He is not sane enough to keep his neck from the halter," rejoined
Archee. "Your Majesty should spare him, since you are indirectly the
cause of his malady."
"Intercede not for me," cried Hugh Calveley. "I would not accept any
grace at the tyrant's hands. Let him hew me in pieces, and my blood
shall cry out for vengeance upon his head."
"By our halidame! a dangerous traitor!" exclaimed James.
"Hear me, O King!" thundered the Puritan. "For the third and last time I
lift up my voice to warn thee. Visions have appeared to me in the night,
and mysterious voices have whispered in mine ear. They have revealed to
me strange and terrible things--but not more strange and terrible than
true. They have told me how thy posterity shall suffer for the injustice
thou doest to thy people. They have shown me a scaffold which a King
shall mount--and a block whereon a royal head shall be laid. But it
shall be better for that unfortunate monarch, though he be brought to
judgment by his people, than for him who shall be brought to judgment by
his God. Yet more. I have seen in my visions two Kings in exile: one of
whom shall be recalled, but the other shall die in a foreign land. As to
thee, thou mayst live on yet awhile in fancied security. But destruction
shall suddenly overtake thee. Thou shalt be stung to death by the
serpent thou nourishest in thy bosom."
Whatever credit might be attached to them, the Puritan's prophetic
forebodings produced, from the manner in which they were delivered, a
strong impression upon all his auditors. Unquestionably the man was in
earnest, and spoke like one who believed that a mission had been
entrusted to him. No interruption was offered to his speech, even by the
King, though the latter turned pale as these terrible coming events
were shadowed forth before him.
"His words are awsome," he muttered, "and gar the flesh creep on our
banes. Will nane o' ye stap his tongue?"
"Better hae stapt it afore this," said Archee; "he has said ower meikle,
or not aneuch, The Deil's malison on thee, fellow, for a prophet of ill!
Hast thou aught to allege why his Majesty should not tuck thee up with a
halter?"
"I have spoken," responded the Puritan; "let the King do with me what he
lists."
"Seize him! arrest him! ye are nearest to him, Sir," shouted the king to
Jocelyn.
The command could not be disobeyed. As Jocelyn drew near, and laid his
hand upon Hugh Calveley, the latter looked reproachfully at him, saying,
"Thou doest well, son of my old friend."
Jocelyn was unable to reply, for a crowd now pressed forward on all
sides, completely surrounding the prisoner. Some of the nobles
threatened him with their swords, and the warders, who had come up from
the gateway, thrust at him with their partizans. Jocelyn had great
difficulty in shielding him from the infuriated throng.
"Touch him not!" he cried, clearing a space around them with the point
of his sword. "His Majesty has committed him to my custody, and I am
responsible for him. Pardon me if I disarm you, Sir," he added in an
undertone to the prisoner.
"Here is my sword," replied Hugh Calveley, unbuckling his belt and
delivering up the weapon it sustained to Jocelyn; "it hath never been
dishonoured, and," he added, lowering his voice, "it hath been twice
drawn in thy father's defence."
The reproach cut Jocelyn to the heart.
At this moment the crowd drew aside to allow the King's approach.
"Hath he been searched to see whether any deadly or offensive weapon is
concealed about him?" demanded James.
"He cannot have any more offensive weapon than his tongue," cried
Archee, who accompanied his royal master. "I counsel your Majesty to
deprive him of that."
"There is something hidden in his breast," cried one of the warders,
searching in his jerkin, and at length drawing forth a short, clumsy
pistol, or dag, as the weapon was then called. "It is loaded, an please
your Majesty," the man continued, after examining it.
Exclamations of horror arose from those around, and Jocelyn had again
some difficulty in protecting the prisoner from their fury.
"A dag!" ejaculated James, "a loaded dag, crammed to the muzzle wi'
bullets, nae doubt. Haud it down, man! haud it down! it may fire off of
itsel', and accomplish the villain's murtherous and sacrilegious design.
And sae this was to be the instrument of our destruction! Dost thou
confess thy guilt, thou bluid-thirsty traitor, or shall the torture
force the truth from thee?"
"The torture will force nothing from me," replied Hugh Calveley. "But I
tell thee, tyrant, that I would have slain thee, had not my hand been
stayed."
"Heard ye ever the like o' that?" exclaimed James, his ruddy cheek
blanched with fright, and his voice quavering. "Why, he exceedeth in
audacity the arch-traitor Fawkes himsel'. And what stayed thy hand,
villain?" he demanded,--"what stayed thy hand, thou blood-thirsty
traitor?"
"The presence of this youth, Jocelyn Mounchensey," rejoined Hugh
Calveley. "Had he not come between us when he did, and checked my
purpose, I had delivered my country from oppression. I told thee,
tyrant, thou hadst been marvellously preserved. Thy preserver stands
before thee."
"Heaven defend us!" exclaimed James, trembling. "What an escape we hae
had. There hath been a special interposition o' Providence in our
behoof. Our gratitude is due to Him who watcheth ower us."
"And in some degree to him who hath been made the instrument of your
Majesty's preservation," observed the Conde de Gondomar, who formed one
of the group near the King. "Since the foul traitor hath proclaimed the
name of my young protegé, there can be no need for further concealment.
Master Jocelyn Mounchensey hath been singularly fortunate in rendering
your Majesty a service, and may for ever congratulate himself on his
share--accidental though it be--in this affair."
"By my halidame! he shall have reason for congratulation," cried James,
graciously regarding the young man.
"Ay, let him rise by my fall. 'Tis meet he should," cried the Puritan,
bitterly. "Shower thy honours upon him, tyrant. Give him wealth and
titles. I could not wish him worse misfortune than thy favour."
"Hold thy scurril tongue, villain, or it shall be torn out by the
roots," said James. "Thou shalt see that I can as promptly reward those
that serve me, as thou shalt presently feel I can severely punish those
that seek to injure me. Hark ye, Count!" he added to the Spanish
Ambassador, while those around drew back a little, seeing it was his
Majesty's pleasure to confer with him in private, "this youth--this
Jocelyn Mounchensey, hath gentle bluid in his veins?--he comes of a good
stock, ha?"
"He is the representative of an old Norfolk family," De Gondomar
replied.
"What! the son of Sir Ferdinando?" demanded James, a shade crossing his
countenance, which did not escape the wily ambassador's notice.
"You have guessed right, Sire," he said. "This is Sir Ferdinando's son;
and, if I may be permitted to say so, your Majesty owes him some
reparation for the wrongs done his father."
"How! Count!" exclaimed James, with a look of slight displeasure. "Do
you venture to question our judgments on hearsay--for ye can know
naething o' your ain knowledge?"
"I know enough to be satisfied that misrepresentations were made to your
Majesty respecting this young man's father," De Gondomar replied; "for I
am well assured that if you ever erred at all, it must have been through
ignorance, and want of due information. This was what I designed to
explain more fully than I can well do now, when I availed myself of your
Majesty's gracious permission to bring the young man into your presence;
and I should then have taken leave to express how much he merited your
Majesty's favour and protection. Fortune, however, has outrun my wishes,
and given him a stronger claim upon you than any I could urge."
"Ye are right, Count," rejoined James cautiously. "He hath the strongest
claim upon us, and he shall not find us ungrateful. We will confer wi'
Steenie--wi' Buckingham, we mean--about him."
"Pardon me, Sire," said De Gondomar, "if I venture to suggest that your
Majesty hath an admirable opportunity, which I should be sorry to see
neglected, of showing your goodness and clemency, and silencing for ever
the voice of calumny, which will sometimes be raised against you."
"What mean ye, Count?" cried James. "Ye wad na hae me pardon yon
traitor?"
"Most assuredly not, Sire," De Gondomar rejoined. "But I would urge some
present mark of favour for him who hath saved you from the traitor's
fell designs. And I am emboldened to ask this, because I feel assured it
must be consonant to your Majesty's own inclinations to grant the
request."
"It is sae, Count," rejoined James. "We only desired to consult wi'
Buckingham to ascertain whether he had ony objections; but as this is
altogether unlikely, we will follow our ain inclinations and do as your
Excellency suggests."
De Gondomar could scarcely conceal his satisfaction.
At this moment Lord Roos pressed towards the King.
"I have something to say in reference to this young man, my liege," he
cried.
"In his favour?" demanded the King.
"Yes, yes; in his favour, Sire," said De Gondomar, looking hard at the
young nobleman. "You need not trouble his Majesty further, my lord. He
is graciously pleased to accede to our wishes."
"Ay, ay; nae mair need be said," cried James. "Let the young man stand
forward."
And as Jocelyn obeyed the injunction which was immediately communicated
to him by De Gondomar, the King bade him kneel down, and taking Lord
Roos's sword, touched him with it upon the shoulder, exclaiming, "Arise!
Sir Jocelyn."
"You are safe now," whispered De Gondomar. "This is the first blow, and
it has been well struck."
So confused was the new-made knight by the honour thus unexpectedly
conferred upon him, that when he rose to his feet he could scarcely
command himself sufficiently to make the needful obeisance, and tender
thanks to the King. For a moment, his brow was flushed with pride, and
his breast beat high; but the emotions were instantly checked, as he
thought how the title had been purchased. Looking towards the prisoner,
he beheld him in the hands of the warders, to whose custody he had been
committed, with his arms bound behind him by thongs. His gaze had never
quitted the young man during the ceremony which had just taken place,
and he still regarded him sternly and reproachfully.
"Let the prisoner be removed, and kept in a place of safety till our
pleasure respecting him be made known," cried James. "And now, my lords
and ladies, let us forward to the palace."
And the cavalcade was once more put in motion, and passing through the
great gateway entered the Fountain Court, where the nobility of both
sexes dismounted, while their attendants and the falconers and varlets
passed off to the offices.
The prisoner was conveyed to the porter's lodge, and strictly guarded,
till some secure chamber could be prepared for him. On the way thither
Jocelyn contrived to approach him, and to say in a low tone--"Can I do
aught for Aveline?"
"Concern not yourself about her, _Sir_ Jocelyn," rejoined Hugh Calveley,
with stern contempt. "She is in a place of safety. You will never behold
her more."