"The attempt, and not the deed,
Confounds us."
_Shakespeare_, "Macbeth."
Anna's father, jogging along comfortably on the borrowed cob, overtook
the rearmost of the rabble near St. Dunstan's. Anger made him red, and
alarm made him white, when he heard the disjointed tales of those who
sought to enlighten him.
That the daughter and niece of one who held high place in his native
county, and whose brother in the city was loaded with civic dignities,
should be waylaid in the Strand by a number of young profligates aping
Rochester's license, was not to be endured. Therefore, Sir Thomas
flushed like a turkey, and his right hand, long unaccustomed to more
serious weapon than a carving-knife, tightened on the reins in a way
that surprised his placid steed.
But it was an equally serious thing that certain youthful hot-heads,
led by "a pair of Yorkshire gallants, one of whom was like unto Gog
himself," should have stormed the house of the Spanish Ambassador in
order to rescue the two girls. The royal prerogative, already in grave
dispute, was sadly abused by this disorder, and Gondomar was well
fitted, by diplomatic skill and political acumen, to make the most of
the incident. When Sir Thomas thought of the way in which James, with
his dagger-proof doublet unfastened and his points tied awry, would
stamp up and down his council-chamber in maundering rage, the color fled
from his ruddy cheeks and left him pallid, with drawn under lip.
Nevertheless, when he reached the house of Alderman Cave, situate on the
north side of Draper's Garden, his natural dread of the King's wrath
soon yielded to indignation. He found there not only Anna and Eleanor,
but Walter Mowbray and Roger Sainton, with a concourse of friends and
neighbors drawn together by news of the outrage.
The old knight's vanity was not proof against the knowledge of the peril
from which the girls were saved. He swore roundly that he had been
separated from them by a trick, and admitted that the King did not want
him at all. With tears in his eyes he thanked the two young men for
their timely aid.
"You will be the son of Sir Walter Mowbray who fell in the great
sea-fight against the Spanish Armada?" he cried, seizing Walter's hand
effusively.
"Yes. I scarce remember my father. I was but five years old when he
died. Yet my mother taught me to regard all Spaniards as false men, so I
scrupled the less to take part against Gondomar."
"Mercy-a-gad, she might justly have given thee sterner counsel. Thy
father was a brave and proper man. I knew him well. Were there more of
the like to-day these graceless rogues would not treat as courtezans
the daughters of honest folk. And thy friend, if he be not Goliath come
to life, how is he known?"
"Let me present to your worship Master Roger Sainton, of Wensleydale, in
Yorkshire."
"Ecod, he is well named. I warrant him sain (wholesome) and I trow he
weigheth nearest a ton of any man breathing."
Roger, seldom at a loss for a repartee, waited until the laugh raised by
Sir Thomas's jest had passed.
"'Tis an empty tun at this moment, your Honor," said he, glancing
plainly at the row of shining tankards which graced a sideboard.
"Where are those lasses?" shouted the knight, glad of the diversion
afforded by the claims of hospitality. "Zounds! Here be their defenders
athirst and not a flagon on the table."
In truth, Anna and Eleanor, flurried out of their self-possession by the
turmoil of the past hour, had escaped to their apartments, whence they
sent the excuse that they were engaged in exchanging their out-of-door
dresses and cloaks for raiment more suited to the house.
There were servants in plenty, however, to bring wine enough for a
regiment, and certain city magnates, arriving about this time, were
emphatic in their advice that Mowbray and Sainton should not attempt
to traverse the Strand a second time that day in their search for the
residence of the North-country nobleman whom Walter meant to visit.
"A bonny tale will have reached his Majesty ere this," ran their
comment. "Were the pair of you to be haled before him after Gondomar had
poisoned his mind you were like to lose your right hands within the hour
for brawling in the streets."
"Neither Roger nor I broke the peace," protested Mowbray.
"They say that one of you nearly broke Lord Dereham's neck," put in a
city sheriff, "and that will be held a grave crime when recited to his
Majesty by his crony, Carr (Rochester). No, no, my lads, bide ye in the
city until such time as inquiry shall be made with due circumspection.
The King hath a good heart and a sound understanding, and I'll wager my
chain of office he shall not be pleased to hear that his name was used
to decoy my worthy gossip, Sir Thomas Cave, from the company of his
daughter and niece."
This shrewd comment was greeted with solemn nods and winks. The timely
arrival of Alderman Cave, with the intelligence that Gondomar, summoned
from play at Beaujeu's, had ridden furiously to Whitehall, determined
Mowbray to accept the safe custody offered to him.
Gradually the assemblage dispersed. A man was sent to the Swan Inn, by
Holborn Bridge, where the travelers' nags and pack-horses were stabled.
Hence, ere supper was served, Walter wore garments of livelier hue, and
Roger was able to discard his heavy riding coat and long boots for a
sober suit of homespun.
The girls were discreetly reserved as to their adventure. True, they
said that no incivility was offered them. For all they could tell to
the contrary the Marquis of Bath and Sir Harry Revel, who made their
names known to them, had really saved them from an affray of rowdies.
"I would I had been there," vowed young George Beeston, who seemed to
resent the part played in the affair by Mowbray and his gigantic friend.
"A yard measure is of little avail when swords are drawn," cried Anna,
tartly. The hit was, perhaps, unworthy of her wonted good nature, for
Beeston belonged to the Linen-drapers' Company.
He reddened, but made no reply, and Sir Thomas took up the cudgels in
his behalf:--
"When George weds thee, Ann, thou wilt find that a linen-draper of the
city is better able to safeguard his wife than any mongrel popinjay who
flaunts it at Whitehall."
"I am in no mind to wed anyone, father," said she, "nor do I seek other
protection than yours."
"Nay, lass, I am getting old. Be not vexed with young Master Beeston
because he guessed not of your peril."
"I would brave a hundred swords to serve you," stammered George. Better
had he remained silent. No girl likes love-making in public. Anna
seemingly paid no heed to his bashful words, but her eyes sparkled with
some glint of annoyance.
Roger Sainton, ever more ready to laugh than to quarrel, smoothed over
the family tiff by breaking out into a diatribe on the virtues of the
knight's Brown Devon ale. Mowbray, too, seeing how the land lay,
offered more attention to Mistress Eleanor Roe than to her stately
cousin.
Herein he only followed his secret inclination. The girl's shy blue
eyes and laughing lips formed a combination difficult to resist, if
resistance were thought of. She was dressed in simple white. Her hair,
plaited in the Dutch style, was tied with a bow of blue riband, nor was
her gown too long to hide the neat shoes of saffron-colored leather
which adorned her pretty feet.
She wore no ornaments, and her attire was altogether less expensive
than that of Anna Cave. His own experiences had given Mowbray a clear
knowledge of domestic values. Judging by appearances, he thought that
the house of Roe was not so well endowed with wealth as the house of
Cave. He did not find the drawback amiss. He was young enough, and
sufficiently romantic in disposition, to discover ample endowment in
Eleanor's piquant face and bright, if somewhat timid, wit.
Anna, who looked preoccupied, quickly upset an arrangement which
threatened to leave her and Beeston to entertain each other.
It was not yet dark when the supper was ended. Anna, rising suddenly
when a waiting-man produced a dust-covered flagon of Alicant, assumed
an animated air.
"I see you sip your wine rather than drink it, Master Mowbray," she
cried. "Will you not join Nellie and me in the garden, and leave to
these graver gentlemen the worship of Bacchus?"
"Aye," growled George Beeston, spurred into a display of spirit, "though
Venus may be coy the god of wine never refuses his smile."
"Take an old man's advice, George," said Sir Thomas confidentially, "and
never seek to woo a girl with a glum face."
"Better still," said Roger, reaching for the flagon, "wait until she
woos thee. Gad, a woman plagues a man sufficiently after he is wed that
his heart should ache before the knot is tied."
"If your heart ached, Master Sainton, its size would render the ailment
of much consequence," said Eleanor.
"Mayhap 'tis like an August mushroom, which, when overgrown, hath the
consistency of hide," he answered, and his jolly laugh caused even young
Beeston to smile.
"Roger and I were bred together," said Mowbray, as he walked with the
two girls into the small public garden which faced the house. "I vow he
never cared for woman other than his mother."
"Belike it is the fashion in Wensleydale," was Anna's comment.
"Nay, Mistress Cave, such fashion will not commend itself anywhere.
Certes, I have observed that it does not prevail in London."
This with a glance at Eleanor, but the retort told Anna that although
Mowbray came from the shires his wits were not dull.
As his hostess, however, she curbed the inclination to make some one
suffer vicariously for poor George Beeston.
"May I make bold to ask if you seek advancement at court?" she inquired
civilly.
"Yes, if it help one at court to wish to fight for his Majesty. That is
my desire. After much entreaty, my mother allowed me to travel hither,
in the hope that my distant kinsman, the Earl of Beverley, might procure
me the captaincy of a troop of horse. As for Roger, his mother was my
mother's foster-sister, so the worthy dame sent her son to take care of
me."
"What will the good ladies say when they hear that you had not been in
London an hour ere you stormed Gondomar's house to succor a couple of
silly wenches?" put in Eleanor.
"My mother will remember that my father lamed two men who sought to stop
their wedding, but Mistress Sainton will clap her hands and cry, 'Mercy
o' me! what manner o' fules be those Spaniards that they didna run when
they set eyes on my Roger? They mun be daft!'"
His ready reproduction of the Yorkshire dialect brought a laugh to their
lips; it aided Eleanor in no small degree to hide the blush which
mantled her fair cheeks when Walter so aptly turned the tables on her.
But Anna, if restrained in her own behalf, thought that this young
spark's wooing of her friend should be curbed.
"There was purpose in your father's prowess," she said. "Sir Harry Revel
told me he wished us no indignity, so, perchance, you erred in your
boldness, though, indeed, I do not cavil at it."
"Sir Harry Revel lied. When I meet the fop I shall tell him so."
"Nay, nay. You take me too seriously. I pray you forget my banter. It
would ill requite your service were careless words of mine to provoke
another encounter."
"For my part, I plead with you on behalf of the Marquis of Bath. He is
but a goose, though he carries the feathers of a peacock," added Nellie.
In their talk they passed along the north side of the garden. Here, a
number of trees gave grateful shade in the daytime. A wall beyond, with
foliage peeping over it, showed that another smaller enclosure,
belonging to some civic dignitary, occupied one of the few open spaces
remaining within the city defenses.
At this moment, though darkness had not yet fallen, the gloom cast by
the trees rendered persons near at hand indistinct. Their voices must
have given warning of their coming, for a tall cavalier, wrapped in a
cloak, suddenly stepped from behind a broad-beamed elm.
"Anna!" he said, "and Nellie! But whom else have we here?"
The girls started, and Mowbray would have resented the newcomer's manner
had not Eleanor cried:--
"My brother!"
Anna, too, quickly intervened.
"This is Master Walter Mowbray," she said, "and his breeding, no less
than the help he rendered so freely to-day, warrants more courteous
greeting from Sir Thomas Roe."
The stranger, a young man of dignified appearance, made such amends for
the abruptness of his challenge that Mowbray wondered how it happened
that so elegant and polished a gentleman should have startled two ladies
with a peremptory challenge.
Soon this bewilderment passed. They strolled on in company, and they had
not been discoursing five minutes before he discovered that Sir Thomas
Roe was favored of Anna if young Beeston was favored of her father.
A certain reluctance on their part to return to the more open part of
the garden did not escape him, and, although there was no actual pairing
off, he found little difficulty in addressing his conversation
exclusively to the bewitching Eleanor.
In the half light of evening she was fairy-like, a living dream of
beauty, a coy sprite, who laughed, and teased, and tantalized by her
aloof propinquity. It was strange, too, that a youngster who could hold
his own so fairly in an encounter of wits with Anna should be suddenly
overtaken by one-syllable bashfulness when left alone with Eleanor. Yet,
if Master Mowbray's confusion were inexplicable, what subtle craft can
dissipate the mystery of Nellie Roe's change of manner? From being shy,
she became pert. She seemed to pass with a bound from demure girlhood to
delightful womanhood. When Walter strove to rally her with an apt retort
she overwhelmed him with a dozen. Her eyes met his and looked him out
of face. It might be that the presence of her brother gave her
confidence, that the sweet gloaming of a summer's eve enchanted her,
that the day's adventures flashed a new and wondrous picture into the
undimmed mirror of her mind. Whatever the cause, Mowbray was vanquished
utterly, and, being of soldierly stock, he recognized his defeat.
There came to him, in that magic garden, the first dazzling vision of
love. Never before had he met a maid to whom his heart sang out the glad
tidings that here was his mate. Somehow, the wondrous discovery, though
it thrilled his very soul, sobered his thoughts. And then, with quick
alternation of mood, he found his tongue again, and behold, Mistress Roe
must fain listen, with many a sigh and sympathetic murmur, whilst he
poured forth his day-dreams of founding anew the fortunes of his house.
Ah, those summer nights, when hearts are virginal: they are old as
Paradise, young as yester eve!
Unhappily, true love does not always find a rose-strewn path. Absorbed
though they were in their talk, and ever drawing nearer until a rounded
arm touched by chance was now pressed with reassuring confidence, they
could not help seeing, when they met Anna and Sir Thomas Roe in a little
open space, that the lady had been crying.
Indeed, she herself made no secret of it, but bravely carried off the
situation by vowing that old friends should never say "Good-by."
"Here is your brother, Nell, come to tell us that he sails forthwith
for some far-off land he calls Guiana," she cried, striving to laugh in
order to hide the nervous break in her voice. "Not content with that, he
must need add that he hopes to discover the limits of that wild river of
the Amazons, as if there were greater fortunes for men of intelligence
in savage countries than in our own good city."
"Can it be true that you leave us so soon?" cried Eleanor, disengaging
her arm from Mowbray's hand in quick alarm.
"It is, indeed, but a matter of hours," he said lightly. "I did but
break in on your after-supper stroll to ask your fair gossip for some
token which should cheer my drooping spirits by kind remembrance when
England shall have sunk below the line."
"A most reasonable request," put in Walter. "Had I another such keepsake
from a lady whom I honor most highly I would seek the further privilege
of going with you on your travels."
"Lack-a-day! at this rate we shall lose every youth of our
acquaintance," said Anna, who found in excited speech the safest outlet
for her emotions. "Yet, lest it be said that I would restrain young
gentlemen of spirit who would fain wander abroad, I have here a memento
of myself which Sir Thomas Roe shall carry as a talisman against all
barbarians."
She took from beneath a ruff of lace on her breast a small oval object
which was fastened by a tiny gold chain around her neck. Even in the dim
light they could see it was a miniature.
"It is the work of that excellent painter, Master Isaac Olliver," she
added hastily, "and, from what I know of his skill, I vow his brush was
worthy of a better subject."
"Anna, it is your own portrait!" cried Roe.
"Indeed, would any woman give you the picture of another?"
"Not unless she wished me well and gave me yours."
"Have you also sat to this Master Olliver?" whispered Mowbray to
Eleanor.
"'Tis clear you come from the country, sir. His repute is such that to
procure one of his miniatures would cost me my dress for a year or
more."
"Then he has not seen you, or, being an artist, he would beseech you to
inspire his pencil."
Already they were alone again, for Roe and his lady might reasonably be
expected to say something in privacy concerning that painting, and there
is no telling what topic Walter would have pursued with Eleanor, his
dumbness having passed away wholly, had not the noise of some one
running hastily in their direction along the gravel path drawn the four
together with the men in front.
It was now nearly dark, and they knew not, until he was upon them, that
the individual in such urgency was George Beeston.
"Master Mowbray!" he called out, "Master Mowbray, an you be in the
company, I pray you answer."
"Here I am. Is aught amiss?"
"But there is another, yet I left your good friend Sainton at the door?"
"We are accompanied by Sir Thomas Roe, with whom you are acquainted,"
intervened Anna, in the clear, cold accents which were but too familiar
in Beeston's ears.
"Ah!"
The little word meant a good deal, but the young man was too
single-minded to seek a quarrel with a rival at that moment. Gulping
back the bitter exclamation which rose to his lips, he said quietly:--
"I am glad it is none other. Here be ill news to hand. The King has sent
officers demanding the instant rendition of two strangers, one Mowbray
by name and the other a maniac of monstrous growth, who committed grave
default to-day without the confines of the city. The requisition is made
in proper form, under his Majesty's sign manual. The sheriff cannot
withstand it. He hath sent a privy warning, and he comes hither with
some pomp quick on the heels of his messenger."
"Then the King's orders must be obeyed. What sayeth Sir Thomas Cave?"
said Mowbray.
"His worship is greatly perturbed. He fears that Gondomar has poisoned
the King's mind. You had best consult with him instantly."
"The sheriff did not give warning without motive," said Sir Thomas Roe.
"He conveyed a hint that those he sought had better be absent.
Unhappily, Sir Thomas Cave would not be pleased by my presence in his
house, or I would accompany you. Nevertheless, I advise you to avoid
arrest."
"Tell us, brother dear, how this can be accomplished."
There was a tremulous anxiety in Eleanor Roe's question that sent a
thrill of joy through one listener at least. Unnoticed in the darkness,
Walter sought and pressed her hand.
Again Roe's natural air of domination made itself felt. Even Beeston,
who would gladly have run him through the body, found himself waiting
for his sage counsel.
"Return, all of you, to the dwelling," said Roe. "Let Master Mowbray
bring his friend hither, and I shall conduct them both to a place of
safety. None need know of my presence here. If Master Beeston desires an
explanation thereof I shall accord it fittingly hereafter."
"For my part I shall be equally ready to receive it, when these
Yorkshire gentlemen are provided for," said Beeston.
"Then these polite rejoinders are needless," cried Anna softly, "for Sir
Thomas Roe sails forthwith for the Spanish main. Come! No more idle
words. Our feet are more needed than our tongues."
They raced away together, Walter thinking no harm in helping Nellie by
catching hold of her slender wrist.
They found Sir Thomas Cave's house in some disorder of frightened
domestics. The knight himself was raging at the garden door.
"A nice thing," he roared at the girls, "gadding about among the bushes
and gilliflowers when men's lives are at stake. Here be arquebusiers by
the score come from Whitehall--"
"Where is Sainton?" demanded Mowbray, wishful to cut short any
discussion that threatened to waste time.
"Gone to don his suit of leather. He says he has no mind to see his
mother's good homespun cut by steel bodkins. Gad! he is a proper man.
But this is a bad business, Master Mowbray. I pray you demand fair
trial, yet anger not the King by repartee. He is fair enough when the
harpies about him leave him to his pleasure. I have some little favor at
court. It shall be exerted to the utmost, and backed by my last penny if
need be. Never shall it be said that I left my daughter's protectors to
languish in gaol, maimed for life, without striving with all my power--"
"Never fash yourself about us, most excellent host," roared Sainton,
appearing behind the distressed old gentleman. "Friend Mowbray and I can
win our way out of London as we won our way into it. Methinks 'tis a
place that has little liking for honest men, saving those who, like your
worship, are forced to bide in it."
Seizing the cue thus unconsciously given by Roger, Walter said
hurriedly:--
"We bid you Godspeed, my worthy friend, and hope some day to see you
again. Farewell, Mistress Anna. Come, Roger. I think I hear the clank of
steel in the distance."
"My soul, whither will you hie yourselves at this hour?" gasped Sir
Thomas.
"We can strive to avoid arrest, and that is a point gained. Forgive me!
Lights are dangerous."
He seized a lantern held by a serving-man and blew out the flame.
Instantly he clasped Eleanor Roe around the waist and kissed her on the
lips. She was so taken by surprise that she resisted not at all, even
lifting her pretty face, in sheer wonderment, it might be.
"Good-by, sweetheart," he whispered. "I shall see you again, if all the
King's men made a cordon about you."
Then Roger and he vanished among the trees, while a loud knocking
disturbed the quietude of the night in the street which adjoined the
gardens.