More than an hour went by without Lord Beverley hearing anything
further from the governor; and he was sitting at the table, meditating
over his scheme, when his ear caught the sound of voices without.
"Ah! here comes the messenger," he thought, "to summon me to Hotham's
presence;" but the moment after he distinguished the tones of his
worthy companion, Barecolt, who exclaimed, apparently addressing the
sentinel, "But I must see the block-house, I tell you, sair; it be
part of my dutee to see de block-house, and here be de wordy Capitaine
Jenkin, one man of de big respectability, who tell you de same ting."
Captain Jenkins grumbled a word or two in confirmation of Barecolt's
assertion; but the sentinel adhered steadfastly to his point, and said
that the mounseer might do what he pleased with the outside of the
place, but should not set his foot within the doors without a special
order from the governor, under his own hand.
Of this permission, limited as it was, Barecolt hastened to take
advantage; and having previously ascertained that his companion,
Jenkins, did not understand one word of the French language, he
approached the window at which he had caught sight of the face of Lord
Beverley in the morning, and which was still open, declaring that he
must look into the inside at all events.
The moment he was near, however, he said to the prisoner rapidly, but
in a low tone, "What can be done to get you out?"
He spoke in French, and the earl answered in the same tongue, "Nothing
that I know; but be ready to help me at a moment's notice. Where are
you to be found?"
"At the 'Swan' inn," replied Barecolt; "but I will be with you in the
course of this night--I have a plan in my head;" and seeing that
Captain Jenkins, who had been speaking a word or two to the sentinel,
was now approaching, he walked on, and busied himself with closely
examining the rest of the building.
Not long after he was gone, the earl was summoned before the governor;
and with one of the train-bands on each side--for at this time Hull
could boast of no other garrison--he was led from the block-house to
Sir John Hotham's residence. After being conducted up a wide flight of
stairs, he was shown into the same large room in which the examination
of Barecolt had taken place. On the present occasion, however, to the
surprise and somewhat to the dismay of the earl, he found the room
half-filled with people, many of whom he knew; and, for an instant
forgetting how completely he was disguised, he thought that all his
scheme must now fall to the ground, and his immediate discovery take
place.
The cold and strange looks, however, that were turned upon him, both
by Hotham himself and several of the officers with whose persons the
earl was acquainted, soon restored his confidence, and showed him that
his person was far better concealed than he had imagined. Never losing
his presence of mind for a single instant, he advanced at once to Sir
John Hotham, and made him a low bow, asking if he were the governor.
The answer, of course, was in the affirmative, and Hotham proceeded to
question him in French, which he spoke with tolerable fluency. With
never-failing readiness the earl answered all his questions, giving a
most probable account of himself, and stating that he had come over
from France with recommendations for the king, in the hope of getting
some important command, as it was expected every day at the French
court that Charles would be obliged to have recourse to arms against
his parliament.
Several of the gentlemen present, who had either been really at the
court of France very lately, or pretended to have been so, stepped
forward to ask a good number of questions of the prisoner, which were
not very convenient for him to answer. He continued to parry them,
however, with great dexterity for some time; but at length, finding
that this sort of cross-examination could not go on much longer
without leading to his detection, he turned suddenly to Sir John
Hotham, and asked him in a low voice if the guard had given him the
message which he had sent.
"Yes," replied the governor, "I received the message; what is it you
have to communicate?"
"Something, sir, for your private ear," continued the earl, still
speaking in French; "a matter which you will find of much importance,
and which you will not regret to have known; but I can only discover
it to you if you grant me an interview with yourself alone."
"Faith, I must hear more about you, sir, before I can do that,"
replied Hotham. "Come hither with me, and I will speak to you for a
moment in the window."
Thus saying, he led the way to the further end of the room, where a
deep bay-window looked out over the town. The distance from the rest
of the company was considerable, and the angle of the wall ensured
that no distinct sound could reach the other part of the hall; but
still Lord Beverley determined, if possible, to obtain a greater
degree of privacy, for he knew not what might be the effect of the
sudden disclosure he was about to make upon the governor himself.
"Can I not speak with you in another room, sir?" he asked, still using
the French tongue.
"That is quite impossible," answered Sir John Hotham; "you can say
what you have to say here. Speak low, and no ears but mine will hear
you."
The earl looked down, and then, raising his eyes suddenly to the
governor's face, he asked in English--
"Do you know me, Sir John Hotham?"
The governor started, and looked at him attentively for a moment or
two, but then replied in a decided tone--
"No, I do not, sir. How should I?"
"Well, then," replied the earl, "I will try whether I know Sir John
Hotham, and whether he be the same man of honour I have always taken
him to be. You see before you, sir, the Earl of Beverley; and you are
well aware that the activity I have displayed in the service of the
king, and the number of persons whom I have brought over to his
interest, by showing them that, whatever might be the case in times
past, their duty to their king and their country is now the same--you
are aware, I say, that these causes have rendered the parliament my
implacable enemies; and I do believe, that in confiding as I do this
day to you, instead of keeping up the disguise that I have maintained
hitherto, I place myself in the hands of one who is too much a
gentleman to use that information to my disadvantage, and give me up
to the fury of my adversaries."
The astonishment which appeared on Sir John Hotham's face, while the
earl was making this communication, might have attracted the attention
of his son and the rest of the company, had not his back been
fortunately turned towards them. He gazed earnestly on the earl's
countenance, however, and then, recollecting his features, wondered
that he had not discovered him at once. So transparent did the
disguise seem as soon as he knew the secret, that he could scarcely
persuade himself that the other gentlemen present would be long
deceived, and he was now only anxious to get the earl out of the room
as soon as possible; for many of those curious little motives which
influence all human actions made him determine in an instant to
justify the honourable character attributed to him.
"Say no more, say no more, sir!" he replied in a low tone, smoothing
down his countenance as best he might; "We cannot talk upon this
subject now. Rest satisfied, however, that you will not be sorry for
the trust you have reposed in me, and will find me the same man as you
supposed. I will see you again in private whenever I may meet with a
convenient opportunity; but in the mean time I am afraid you must
content yourself with the poor accommodation which you have, for any
change in it would beget suspicion, and I have shrewd and evil eyes
upon me here; so I must now send you away at once. Here, guard," he
continued, "take the prisoner back. Let him be well used, and provided
with all things necessary, but at the same time have a strict eye upon
him, and suffer no one to communicate with him but myself."
Lord Beverley bowed and withdrew, and Hotham, with strong signs of
agitation still in his countenance, returned to his companions,
saying--
"That Frenchman is a shrewd fellow, and knows more of the king's
councils than I could have imagined; but I must go and write a
despatch to the parliament, for he has told me things that they will
be glad to know, and I trust that in a few days I shall learn more
from him still."
Thus speaking, he retired from the hall, and one of the gentlemen
present inquired of another who was standing near--
"Did you not think that what they were saying just now in the window
sounded very like English?"
"Oh," replied Colonel Hotham, with a sneer, "my father's French has
quite an English tone. He changes the words, it is true, but not the
accent."
In the mean while the earl was carried back to the block-house, and
towards evening he received a few words, written on a scrap of paper,
telling him that the governor would be with him about ten o'clock that
night.
This was a mark of favour and consideration which Lord Beverley
scarcely expected, notwithstanding the difference of rank between
himself and Sir John Hotham, and the promises of honourable dealing
which the latter had made. There were also signs of a willingness to
attend to his comfort, which were even more consolatory in the
conclusions he drew from them than in the acts themselves. Poor Sinbad
the sailor, when he fell into the hands of the cannibal blacks, looked
upon all the good cheer that they placed before him as merely the
means employed to fatten him previous to killing and eating him; but,
as we never had such anthropophagous habits in Great Britain, even
during the great rebellion itself, the earl, when he saw sundry much
more savoury dishes provided for his dinner than he had hitherto been
favoured with, and a bottle of very good wine to wash them down
withal, received them as a mark of the governor's good intentions, and
an indication that there was some probability of his imprisonment
coming to an end by a more pleasant process than a walk to the
scaffold.
He ate and drank then with renewed hope, and saw the sun go down with
pleasure, totally forgetting Captain Barecolt's promise to see him at
night, which, if he had remembered it, might have somewhat disturbed
his serenity.
I know not whether the people of Hull are still a tribe early in their
habits, but certainly such was the case in those days; and towards
nine o'clock, or a little after, the noises of the great town began to
die away, and Silence to resume her reign through the place. The
watch, who had a great horror of everything like merriment, as the
reader may have in some degree perceived, took care to suffer neither
shouting nor brawling in the streets of the good city after dark; and
though, from the windows of the room in which he was confined, the
noble earl saw many a lantern pass along, it was still with a sober
and steady pace; and with his usual imaginative activity of mind, he
amused himself with fancying the character and occupations of the
various persons who thus flitted before his eyes, drawing many a
comment and meditative reflection upon everything in man's fate and
nature.
The lanterns, however, like the sounds, grew less and less frequent;
and near a quarter of an hour had passed without his seeing one, when
at length the clock of the neighbouring church slowly struck the hour
of ten, pausing long upon every dull tone, which seemed like the voice
of Time regretting the moments that had flown.
In about ten minutes more, the sentry before the blockhouse challenged
some one who approached rather nearer than he thought proper to his
post. A signal word was given in reply, and the next moment the sounds
of bolts being withdrawn and keys turned in the lock were heard,
announcing the approach of a visiter. The opening door, as the earl
expected, showed the stout and somewhat heavy person of Sir John
Hotham, who entered with a sort of furtive look behind him, as if he
were afraid of being watched.
"Keep at some distance in front," he said, turning to the guard; "and
do not let any one, coming from the side of my house, approach within
a hundred yards." Thus saying, he shut the door of the room, locked
it, and put the key in his pocket; then turning to the prisoner he
observed, "It is a terrible thing, my lord, to have nothing but spies
about one; and yet such is my case here. I do not know what I have
done to deserve this."
"It is the most natural thing in the world, Sir John," said the earl,
shaking him warmly by the hand: "when perverse, rash, and rebellious
men know that they have to deal with a gentleman of honour, who,
however much he may be attached to liberty, is well disposed towards
his sovereign, they naturally suspect and spy upon him."
"You judge me rightly, my lord; you judge me rightly," replied Sir
John Hotham. "I have always been a friend equally to my country and my
king; and deeply do I lament the discord which has arisen between his
majesty and the parliament. But I see you understand my conduct well,
my lord, and need not be told that I entertain very different
principles from the men who have driven things to this strait. I vow
to God I have always entertained the highest affection and sense of
duty towards his majesty, and lament deeply to think that my refusing
to open the gates of Hull, when the king sent to require reception for
his forces, will always be considered as the beginning, and perhaps
the cause, of this civil war, whereas I did it in my own defence."
"Indeed!" exclaimed the earl. "The king is not aware that such is the
case; for, when many people assured his majesty that there must have
been some error in the business, he has replied often, 'God grant it
be so; for I always held Sir John Hotham to be a man of singular
uprightness, and well affected towards myself, until he ventured to
shut his gates in the king's face.'"
"Ay, air," exclaimed the governor; "both the king and myself have been
greatly deceived; and I will now tell you what I never told to any
one, which I will beseech you, when we find means to set you free, to
report to his majesty, that he may judge favourably of me. There were
certain men, whom I have since discovered to be arrant knaves, and
employed by the more furious persons of the parliament to deceive me,
who assured me, with every protestation of concern for my safety, that
it was the king's intention, as soon as he got into Hull, to hang me
without form of trial further than a mere summary court-martial."
"It was false, sir! it was false, altogether, I assure you!" replied
the earl. "Nothing was ever farther from the king's intention."
"I know it--I know it now," answered Sir John Hotham: "but I believed
it at the time. However, to speak of what more nearly concerns you, my
lord, I came hither to tell you, that, as you have so frankly put
yourself in in hands, I will in no degree betray your trust; and I
much wish you to consider in what way, and upon what pretext, I can
set you at liberty, so that you may safely go whithersoever you will.
But there is one thing you must remember, that the secret of who and
what you are, and of my wish to treat you kindly, must be kept
inviolably between you and me; for there is not a man here whom I can
trust, and especially my own son, who is one of the worst and most
evil-intentioned men towards the king and his own father in all the
realm."
"The only way that I can see," replied the earl, "will be for me to
pass for a Frenchman still, and for you to make it appear that I am
willing to purchase my liberty by giving you at once some information
regarding his majesty's designs, and obtaining more for you hereafter.
But so sure am I of your good intentions towards me, that I fear not
to remain here several days, if I may but hope that, through my poor
mediation, you and the king may be reconciled to each other. It is,
indeed, a sad and terrible thing, that a handful of ill-disposed men,
such as those who now rule in the parliament, should be able to
overwhelm this country with bloodshed and devastation, when the king
himself is willing to grant his people everything that they can
rightly and justly demand; and, moreover, that they should have the
power, when their intention is clearly, not alone to overthrow this or
that monarch, but to destroy and abolish monarchy itself, to involve
gentlemen of high esteem, such as yourself, in acts which they abhor,
and which must first prove disastrous to the country, and ultimately
destructive to themselves."
"Do not let them deceive you, Sir John," he continued: "this struggle
can have but one termination, as you will plainly see if you consider
a few points. You cannot for a moment doubt, that the turbulence and
exactions of these men have already alienated from them the affections
of the great body of the people. The king is now at the head of a
powerful force, which is daily increasing. A great supply of
ammunition and arms has just been received. The fleet is entirely at
his majesty's disposal, and ready to appear before any place against
which he may direct it. And, although he is unwilling to employ
foreign troops against his rebellious subjects till the last
extremity, yet you must evidently perceive that every prince in
Christendom is personally interested in supporting him, and will do it
as soon as asked. Nay, more: I will tell you, what is not generally
known, that the Prince of Orange is now preparing to come over, at the
head of his army; and you may well suppose that his first stroke will
be at Hull, which cannot resist him three days."
Sir John Hotham looked somewhat bewildered and confounded by all these
arguments, and exclaimed in a musing tone, "How is it to be done? that
is the only question: how is it to be done?"
"If you mean, Sir John," continued Lord Beverley, "how is peace to be
restored to the country? methinks it may be easily done; but first I
would have you consider, what glory and renown would accrue to that
man who should ward off all these terrible events; who, by his sole
power and authority, and by setting a noble example to his countrymen,
should pave the way to a reconciliation between King Charles and his
parliament; and at the same time secure the rights and liberties of
the people and the stability of the throne. I will ask you, if you are
not sure that both monarch and people, seeing themselves delivered
from the horrors of a civil war, would not join in overwhelming him
with honours and rewards of all kinds, and whether his name would not
descend to posterity as the preserver of his country. You are the man,
Sir John Hotham, who can do all this. You are the man who can obtain
this glorious name. The surrender of Hull to the king would at once
remedy the mistakes committed on both parts, would crush the civil war
in the germ, would strengthen the good intentions of all the wise and
better men in the parliament, would make the whole country rise as one
man to cast off the treason in which it has unwillingly taken part;
and for my own self I can only say, that men attribute to me some
influence both with the king and queen, and that all which I do
possess should be employed to obtain for you due recompense for the
services you have rendered your country."
Hotham was evidently touched and moved; for so skilfully had the earl
introduced every subject that could affect the various passions of
which he was susceptible, that at every word some new pleader had,
risen up in the bosom of the governor, to advocate the same course
upon which Lord Beverley was urging him. Now it was fear that spoke;
now hope; now anger at the suspicions entertained by the parliament;
now expectations from the king. Pride, vanity, ambition--all had their
word; and good Sir John's face betrayed the agitation of his mind, so
that the earl was in no slight hope of speedily gaining one of the
most important converts that could be made to the royal cause, when,
to the surprise of both, the door of the chamber in which they were
was violently shaken from without, and a voice was heard muttering,
with a tremendous oath--
"They have taken the key out: curse me if I don't force the lock off
with my dagger!"
Sir John Hotham started, and looked towards the door with fear and
trepidation; for he expected nothing less than to see the face of his
son or some other of the violent men who had been sent down by the
parliament; and to say truth, not the countenance of a personage whose
appearance in his own proper person is generally deprecated by even
those who have the closest connexion with him _sub rosa_ could have
been more unpleasant to the governor of Hull. The Earl of Beverley
started, too, with no very comfortable feelings; for not only was he
unwilling to have his conversation at that moment interrupted, but
moreover, dear reader, he recognised at once the tones of the
magnanimous Captain Barecolt.
"It is my son, on my life?" cried Hotham, in a low tone.
"What, in the fiend's name, is to be done? This insolence is
insufferable; and yet I would give my right hand not to be found here!
Hark! On my life, he is forcing the lock!"
"Stay, stay!" whispered the earl. "Get behind the bed; but first give
me the key. I pledge you my word, Sir John, not even to attempt an
escape; and, moreover, to send this person away without discovering
you. Leave him to me--leave him to me. You may trust me!"
"Oh! willingly--willingly," cried Sir John, giving him the key, and
drawing back behind the bed. "For heaven's sake, do not let him find
me!"
The earl took the key, and approached the door; but before we relate
what followed, we must turn for a moment to explain the sudden
appearance of Captain Barecolt.