"I hope the children are safe."
"Why, master," said Geoffery, "you have sent them out of harm's way, I
hope; but--I know not what ails me--an uneasy night of it I have had
about them."
"What hast thou seen?" eagerly demanded Hildebrand.
"Seen! I have seen nothing, but I have been haunted at all quarters by a
vast crowd of vexatious busy dreams--about cut-throats and murderers."
"Who says murderer?--I will have thee in the stocks."
Hildebrand attempted to lay hold on him as he spoke; but, accustomed to
these outbreaks of temper, Master Hardpiece merely stepped on one side,
still maintaining his usual forward and self-sufficient demeanour.
"Mr Hildebrand Wentworth, when an old servant"----
"Peace!" interrupted his master,--"I am chafed beyond endurance." He
struck his forehead violently, but suddenly recollecting himself, he
seized Geoffery by the arm.
"What sawest thou last night, knave?"
"Only dreams, master--but"----
"Say on--what makes thee hesitate?"
"A messenger arrived last night."
"A messenger!--from whence?" eagerly demanded Hildebrand.
"Unluckily," said Geoffery, "it was shortly after you had retired for
the night; I durst not then trouble you with the message. Marry, it's
not the sort of news one likes to be in a hurry to tell."
"Go on, varlet."
"Why," continued the provoking simpleton, looking as if he had to reveal
unpleasant tidings, and drawing back as he spoke, "the bearer is in the
train of some herald or pursuivant, come from o'er sea to our court,
about exchange of prisoners and the like. This man has a message from
Sir Henry Fairfax."
"He lies! I'll have his tongue bored!" furiously cried Hildebrand.
"Nay, but listen: he says Sir Henry, whom we all thought dead, is now
alive, and a prisoner in some ugly old German fortress."
During this recital the astonished Hildebrand clenched his hands, with a
look of awful and impotent rage. Hardpiece continued--
"This coxcomb says he was sent specially by Sir Henry to obtain from you
some papers of great moment, which will ensure his immediate release. He
bears Sir Henry's signet, and the knave hath no lack of assurance."
"Has this fellow had any communication with the menials, Geoffery?--or
hast thou done me the service to keep him and his message to thyself?"
anxiously inquired Hildebrand.
"Why, as touching that, Alice, somehow or other,--for these women are
always looking to anybody's business but their own,--wormed out his
message in part, before I was aware of her drift."
"Alice!--Again has that viper crossed my path?--Bid the messenger
attend."
When Geoffery returned he was followed by a short, muscular-looking
personage, attired in a foreign garb. A military cloak, and slouched
hat, garnished with a broad band and feather, gave him altogether an air
of importance which his bare exterior had not sustained. On entering he
made a slight obeisance. Hildebrand watched his bearing, as if he would
have searched him to the heart's core. Not in the least disconcerted,
the soldier threw himself on a seat. Preliminaries were waived by this
unceremonious guest, who, speaking evidently in a foreign accent, began
the interrogatory as follows:--
"You were the private secretary of Sir Henry Fairfax?"
"I was," briefly replied Hildebrand.
"Know you this signet?"
"I do," again he sullenly answered.
"It was given into my keeping," said the stranger, "as a token whereby
Hildebrand Wentworth should, in the due exercise of his fealty and
trust, commit to my charge certain documents that shall immediately be
set forth. But first, and briefly, it may be needful to relate the
manner in which Sir Henry recovered after your departure. On the day
following the skirmish, wherein Sir Henry was supposed to be mortally
wounded, he gave unto you, as his most valued and bosom friend, those
solemn credentials, by which, as a dying man, he invested you with full
powers to proceed to England, as the sole guardian and protector of his
beloved wife and their infant offspring. The goods and effects of which
he died the possessor were vested in your name, I believe, in trust for
her benefit and the surviving children. I think I am right in this? In
case of her death, though, I believe the property became yours."
"It did."
"Such was the nature of the wound that his physicians believed a few
hours only could intervene before his dissolution. He urged your
immediate departure. Shortly afterwards the whole camp equipage,
together with the sick and wounded, fell into the hands of his enemies.
Driven off to a considerable distance up the Rhine at full speed, and
without any other comforts or necessaries than what his captors could
supply, his wounds bleeding afresh, and every limb racked with pain, to
the astonishment of all he speedily recovered; and from that time he has
remained a close prisoner in the fortress. Not receiving any tidings
from his native shores, he knows not his loss. Yesternight only I heard
of Lady Fairfax's most lamentable decease. In a cartel lately arrived
for negotiating an exchange of prisoners, Sir Henry sends by me,
secretly, as one of the envoys, a requisition for the papers I have
before mentioned. His name, by some mistake, perhaps, not being included
in the lists for exchange, has induced him so to act. The credentials,
which he will thus be enabled through me to present, will doubtless
accomplish his release, and restore him to his family and to his home.
They are papers of great moment, and will set forth claims which cannot
be overlooked; and I have most minute and special instructions to get
them laid before the council."
"Where are these precious documents deposited?" said Hildebrand.
"An Eastern cabinet of choice and costly workmanship, containing other
records of great value, stands in Sir Henry's private chamber." The
envoy looked round, and his eyes rested on the cabinet. "The outer doors
being opened, there are seen two ranges of drawers, with their separate
mountings and compartments, each containing materials of greater or less
moment. Sir Henry was minute in his directions, lest his lady might be
bsent; and the innermost secrets of this goodly tabernacle not being
known, save to themselves, the object of my visit might be retarded.
With the permission of Hildebrand Wentworth, I will describe minutely
where he may find this deposit."