Either the moon had set, or lay behind a cloud; for the night was very
dark, with no trace of morning yet visible in the east. Frances buckled
on her shoes and stood up. The innkeeper led forward his horse, and
would doubtless have proffered his assistance, but when she spoke he
learned she was already in the saddle.
“Set me on the road to Broughton, if you please?”
“The word for to-night is ‘Broughton,’” he whispered, then took the
horse by the bridle and led him down the street. The girl became
aware that the town was alive with unseen men; for at every corner the
innkeeper breathed the word “Broughton” to some one who had challenged
his progress. She realized then that Cromwell had surrounded Armstrong
with a ring of flesh; a living clasp, as her own wrist had been circled
earlier in the night. At last they came suddenly from the shadow of the
houses into the open country, and the night seemed lighter.
“Straight on for about a league,” said the innkeeper. “You will be
challenged by a sentinel before you reach the castle, and he will lead
you there. Remember that the word, going and returning, is ‘Broughton.’
Do not forget, I beg of you, to tell the General that all preparations
were made to your liking;” and with that the honest man let go the rein,
smote the horse on the flank, and bade her goodnight.
In spite of herself the girl experienced that exhilaration which comes
of the morning air, the freshness of the country, and the movement of
a spirited horse. She breathed deeply and felt as one brought newly
to life again. If it were not for her upbraiding conscience and her
distress of mind, she could have sung for the joy of living. But the
Biblical phrase, “A thief in the night,” haunted her, and brought a
choking sensation to her throat. Once or twice she wavered and almost
turned back; for there was still time to undo; but reflection showed her
the uselessness of retreat, as the town she had left was man-environed,
and, until Cromwell gave the word of release, Armstrong could no more
reach its outer boundary than she could have escaped when his fingers
closed upon her wrist. Her sacrifice must be complete, or all she loved
were involved in common ruin. So, with the phrase ringing in her
ears, “Thief in the night, Thief in the night,” through the night she
galloped, until her horse suddenly placed his fore feet rigid, and came
to a stop so abrupt that the shock nearly unseated her.
“Who goes?” came the sharp challenge from under the trees that
overshadowed the highway.
“Broughton,” she answered automatically.
“Are you the woman from Banbury?”
“Yes.”
“This is Broughton Castle. I will lead your horse.”
They descended a slight depression and came to a drawbridge, passed
under an arch in the wall, then across a level lawn, on the further edge
of which stood the broad eastern front of the castle with its numerous
mullioned windows, a mysterious half-light in the horizon playing on the
blank panes, which recalled the staring, open eyes of a blind man. The
house seemed high and sombre, with no sign of light within. The sentinel
beat against the door, and it was opened at once. Muffled as had been
the knocking on the oak, it awoke the alert General; for when Frances
had dismounted and followed her guide into the ample hall, Cromwell
stood at the head of the stair, a candle in his hand. Less mindful of
his comfort than Armstrong, he had evidently slept in his boots; and,
as Frances looked up at him, his strong face seemed older than when she
last saw him, although but a few days had passed. The swaying flame of
the candle, held on a level with his head, made the shadows come and go
on his rugged features, and emphasized the deep furrows in his face.
His hair was tousled, and he had the unkempt appearance of a man who
had slept in his clothes. But his eyes burned down upon her, as if their
fire had never been extinguished even for a moment.
“Come up,” he commanded, and, as she ascended the stair, cried
impatiently, “Well!”
“There is the King’s commission,” she said quietly, presenting the
document to him. He took it without a word, turned, and entered the
room; she following him. He placed the candle on a table, did not take
the time to untie the silken cord that bound the royal communication,
but ripped it asunder, and spread open the crinkling parchment,
holding it up to the light. He read it through to the end, then cast it
contemptuously on the table, muttering:
“Charles Rex! A wreck you have made of life and opportunity and
country.” Then to the girl. “Wench, you have done well. Would you were a
man.”
“The pardon for my brother, sir, if it please you.”
“It is ready, and the commission as captain also. You see I trusted
you.”
“So did another, and through his faith he now lies undone in Banbury.”
“You have not killed him?” cried Cromwell sharply, looking with
something almost like alarm at the uncanny apparition. All beauty
had deserted her, and her face seemed pinched and small, white as the
parchment on the table, and rendered unearthly in its hue by the mass of
cavern-black hair that surrounded it.
“Killed him? No! But I have killed his faith in woman, cozened him, lied
to him, robbed him, to buy from you, with the name of your Maker on
your lips, a life that you know was not forfeited, but which you had the
power to destroy.”
“Ah, yes, yes, yes! I remember your tongue of old; but it may wag
harmless now, for all of me. His life _was_ forfeited; aye, and this
Scot’s as well. But no matter now.”
He threw before her the pardon for her brother and his commission as
captain, then strode out of the room to the head of the stair again, and
she heard his strenuous voice:
“Hobson!”
“Here, Excellency.”
“Ride at once to the commandant at Banbury. Tell him the Scot goes free.
Tell him to send word north, and see that he is not molested; but should
he turn in his tracks and attempt to reach Oxford again, hold him and
send word to me.”
“Yes, Excellency.”
“Send up a stoup of wine.”
He waited at the stair-head until the wine was brought, then took it
into the room and placed it on the table before her.
“Drink,” he said.
“I cannot,” she cried.
“Drink, _drink_,” he shouted in a voice so harsh that it made her
tremble. She lifted the flagon to her lips, and barely sipped the
liquid.
“Drink!” he roared, bringing his clenched fist down on the oaken table
with a force that made the very room quiver. The word had all the brutal
coarseness of an oath, and it beat down her weak resolution as the storm
levels the sapling. She drank deep, then let the flagon drop, raised her
hands to her face, and burst into a helpless wail of weeping.
Cromwell’s face softened, now that he was obeyed, and he looked at this
passion-swayed human flower with the air of a puzzled man. Then his huge
hand patted her heaving shoulders with some attempt at gentleness.
“There, there,” he said, in tones not unkindly, “do not distress
yourself. You are a brave wench, and the wine will do you good, though
you take it as it were a leech’s draught. I meant no harshness toward
you; indeed you remind me of my own daughter, who thinks her father
criminal, and will shout for this foolish King in my very ears. Aye,
and is as ready with the tears as any one of you, to the bewilderment of
straight-going folk. I have a younger daughter who is your namesake, and
I love her well. You will rest here in Broughton.”
“No, no!” sobbed the girl. “I must at once to Banbury. Give me, I beg of
you, a pass for my servant to the county of Durham. I would send him on
to my brother without delay, so that your release may reach him as soon
as may be.”
“But you? You do not purpose travelling further with this Scot?”
“I have done the crime; I must not shirk the punishment.”
“Tut, tut, this is woman’s talk. There is no punishment. He dare not
place a hand on you. You may have an escort of twenty men, who will see
you safe for all the Scots that ever depredated their neighbours.”
The girl dolefully shook her head.
“My punishment will take the shape of no harshness from him. It will
come to me when I see his face, knowing me a thief in the night. This
punishment is with me now and will be with me always.”
“Woman, I do not like your bearing, touching what you have done. You
did your duty by your country, God aiding you. Neither do I like
your attitude towards this meddler in affairs of state. What is your
relationship to him?”
“Merely that of the highwayman toward his victim.”
“Sharp words again; hollow-sounding brass, and the tinkling of cymbals.
I ask you if there has been any foolish talk between you?”
“If ’t were so, ’t is not an affair of state, and I shall follow the
example of General Cromwell and allow no meddlers in it.”
A wry smile came to the lips of her questioner, and he remarked drily:
“I told you the wine would do you good.”
He sat down by the table and wrote the pass for John, the servant, tying
the three papers together with the discarded silk cord that had wrapped
the parchment of the King. Giving her the package, he accompanied her to
the head of the stair, and stood there while she descended. He did not
offer her his hand, nor say any word of farewell. They needed now no
candle, for the early daylight was coming through the broad eastern
window. Half way down the stair she turned, and looked up at him.
“The innkeeper at Banbury did everything that was possible for a man to
do in aiding me.”
Cromwell made no comment on this piece of information, standing there as
if he were a carven, wooden statue, part of the decoration of the hall.
She completed her descent, passed outside without looking back, and
mounted the horse which a soldier was holding for her. The birds were
twittering in the trees, and the still water of the moat lay like molten
silver in the new light. She rode up the aclivity, then galloped for
Banbury, reaching the town before anyone was astir. The streets were
entirely deserted, Cromwell’s command having cleared them, and the
invisible guards of a few hours before, whom the magic pass-word
stilled, seemed as nonexistent as if they had been phantoms of a vision.
The sleepy innkeeper received the horse, and she crept up the stair of
Old John’s room and knocked upon it until he responded. She gave him his
pass, and the two documents for her brother, and told him to set off for
Durham as soon as he got his breakfast, making what haste he could to
Warburton Park, he was to tell her brother that she was well and would
follow shortly. Then she went to her own room, threw herself on the bed,
dressed as she was, and, certain she would never enjoy innocent sleep
again, slept instantly.