C. Lee

“ Though "Long live King Monmouth!" was echoing all down the street as he passed, he did not smile, but merely bowed mechanically, without caring to glance up at the faces which filled every window and balcony on both sides of the way.
'"Why does he look like that?" said Camilla, quite disappointed, like the rest of us, at the change which had come over the Duke since yesterday.
'"Perhaps he is sorry to leave Taunton," suggested Agnes. "You know every one seems to like him so much here, and maybe they will not in other places." ”

“ Then, turning to Bessie suddenly again: "Child," said he, "I fear I can do nought to help you. Nay, mayhap it may rather harm you to be seen conversing with me now. So fare ye well. The only piece of counsel that I can give you, is to plead for yourself."
'"Plead with him?" quoth the jailer under whose charge we were. "By your leave, sir, that's no wise counsel of yours. Far better tell her to hold her peace. What!"—here he sank his voice to a significant whisper, and raised his eyebrows expressively—"you don't know my Lord Chief-Justice better than that!" ”

“ She was looking then as she had looked on that fatal day when the banner was presented to Monmouth, only more beautiful. It struck me even at that moment, and I understood what Dr. Power meant. Fear and excitement had heightened the colour in her cheek, instead of taking it away, and added a feverish brightness to her eyes. I have never in my life seen any one so lovely as Bessie looked just then. Nevertheless the jailer only smiled a rather compassionate but yet more contemptuous smile, and shrugged his shoulders. ”

“ I did not at all care for girls, excepting only Agnes, who was just like my sister, and always did whatever I told her. Nevertheless, I was sorry for Frances from the bottom of my heart. I tried to fancy her shut up in a gloomy jail, ill with fever, with no one to nurse her, and perhaps nothing to eat or drink: she whom I had last seen with bright eyes and rosy cheeks, so fearless and high-spirited, and leading what I thought must be such a happy life at that charming old place Horsemandown, with her brothers, her dogs, and her ponies for companions! ”

“ I stood by, meanwhile, awe-stricken and bewildered, for I had never seen any one in a swoon before; and as the moments passed on, and she did not move or breathe, I began to fancy that she was dead, and that Henrietta was trying to hide it from me. At length, when the turnkey's wife came in with the "strong waters," and rubbed her temples, and poured a spoonful down her throat, Bessie did begin to show some signs of life. A tinge of colour came back to her cheeks, and she half-opened her eyes. ”

“ Fortescue was thinking the same thing, for a sudden smile lit up her face for a moment; but the next it was sad and anxious as ever, and she said earnestly: "I would I might go with you, sweetheart, only that perhaps I am as much needed here. We are all prisoners, you know—not so much better off than you, after all. There!"—as another impatient summons from Master Noakes was heard from the staircase—"we must not linger any more now. God be with you, child. Don't be down-hearted; you have naught to blame yourself for in this matter. ”

“ Fortescue actually taking not the smallest notice of it; there was Dr. Power with his wig more crooked than I could ever have conceived possible if I had not seen it; and, what seemed stranger to us than anything else, there was Madame St. Aubert perched on one of our narrow, long-legged, and most uncomfortable stools, instead of her own chair of state, and almost tumbling off, from the vehemence of her hysterical sobs.
'"What does it all mean? Is there going to be a civil war?" whispered Agnes Blount to Bessie, who was in far too much of a flutter either to hear or heed. ”

“ Sir Harry's complimentary remarks hardly made up for Algernon's indifference; but when she ended, I forgot his offences in pity for one whose only companions were a tutor and Lady Mountfort, whose stiff figure and severe expression of countenance had filled me with awe and dislike the moment I saw her. "How dreadful!" I exclaimed. "What should Oliver and I do if we had to live like that?"
'"Hush!" said Agnes; "don't speak so loud, or my aunt will hear you. She says children ought never to speak when they are in the same room as their elders, unless they are spoken to." ”

“ Besides, I felt that no one, however kind, could be quite the same as mamma when one was ill; so I am afraid I must have seemed very ungrateful to poor Henrietta, when I murmured fretfully, "Oh dear! oh dear! why doesn't my mother come? No one can nurse me as well as she can. I am sure I shall die if she won't come soon. Oh, mamma, mamma, I do want you so very much!" ”

“ Fortescue had said about the terrible fever at the jail, and the fear of infection; and I thought of that poor girl who was just recovering from it, and to whom Bessie and I had talked so much at dinner the day before. Somehow, the very serious risk that we ran had never struck me until this moment; but now that I did realize it, a perfect panic of fear began to overwhelm me.
'"Oh Henrietta!" I cried, springing to my feet. "She is going to have the fever. I know she is. Oh poor, poor Bessie! Perhaps she will die; and we shall all catch it, and die too. Oh mamma! I must go home to mamma. ”

“ Princess Anne was the very soul of good-nature, it could not be denied; but had she a strong influence over the Queen, or any one else? No, we had a great misgiving that she had not. '"Hal," cried I suddenly, "I have it at last! Father Niccolo!"
'"Bravo!" was Hal's enthusiastic reply. "The very man!"
'And he was the very man, as far as regarded influence with the Queen; but whether he would be likely to prove a warm partisan of one of the Taunton rebels, the adherents of the "Protestant Duke," was more doubtful; for Father Niccolo was the most staunch, not to say bigoted of Papists. ”

“ All the afternoon I had felt tired and drowsy, and as if a heavy weight was pressing down my eyes. Now my head was aching painfully, my throat felt terribly parched and sore, and I lay down and sobbed on drearily, while Henrietta made me as comfortable as she could, and then went to keep watch by Bessie's side.
'"Perhaps she will be better to-morrow, if she goes to sleep," I murmured dreamily. But Henrietta's only answer was a silent kiss; and that is the last I remember of that weary night. ”

“ Here they had a long and exciting game of hide-and-seek; and it was not till the autumn afternoon was near its close, and twilight was gradually creeping on and filling the corners of the garret with gloom, that Silvia, the least active of the party, and tired of the sport, stole away by herself to one of her favourite haunts. This was the top step of the fine old oak staircase, which formed one of the chief beauties of the house of Horsemandown. From there she could peep through the carved, twisted bannisters, and watch whatever went on in the hall below. ”

“ I was convinced, from what Sir Bernard said, that you, as well as he, wished to break off all connection between us. I did not wonder, for I saw that it was hard for you to be bound for life to a man without fortune, friends, or position; and I should certainly have taken your father at his word, and have allowed him to try all the means in his power to break off our marriage and leave you free, had it not been for the sight of Oliver's face in that Dutch coffee-house. ”

“ They all began to laugh at this speech (except Henrietta) —even the sour-looking Colonel Dare, which rather hurt my feelings, for I was quite in earnest, and really began to feel myself a loyal and devoted follower of the Duke of Monmouth, though, until the last hour, I had scarcely heard more of him than his name.
'"And Henrietta?" asked Madame St. Aubert gently, though at the same time with a shade of uneasiness in her tone—"But I scarce need call for your promise. You are no babbler, as we all surely know." ”

“ I always call her "Lady Greensleeves,"' replied Silvia.
'She is very pretty, I think, in spite of that funny dress. But she looks very proud and dignified.'
'I suppose she was some grand lady. How she stares at one!' added Silvia, hastily turning her eyes away, but only to meet the gaze of other generations of Dalrymples, who frowned or smiled on her in all directions. 'It is very odd that they should look at one so hard, isn't it?' she said in a half-whisper to Robin. ”

“ Aubert came to superintend; and, after a time, when lion and unicorn were beginning to stand forth in all their bravery from their gay background, carefully balancing a glistening crown between their uplifted fore-paws, she brought in Dr. Power to see and admire. He praised our needlework to our hearts' content; but when he put on his spectacles to examine the device, he looked almost as grave as Henrietta had done, and gave a sort of subdued whistle of surprise. ”

“ Fortescue's last hurried whisper, "Take care of them, Henrietta. I trust to you." And when the door had closed on Mrs. Fortescue, and we were actually in the conveyance provided by Master Noakes and his friend the notary, still that strange sense of being in a dream could not be shaken off. I gazed out at the well-known streets as we drove through the town, and tried to realize that we were indeed being carried to a prison; and then I looked at Bessie's tearful face opposite, and wondered at myself for feeling so apathetic. ”

“ It gave me a slight shock, to be sure, to hear his Majesty spoken of in such terms of disrespect, for mamma had always taught me that we ought to honour the King; but then Dr. Power had said that the Duke of Monmouth had really more right to be king than he, so my mind was set at ease upon that point. I had not learned in those days that even learned and pious men can sometimes make mistakes, nor that two people may be equally honest—equally wise and good—and yet see the same thing in a perfectly different light. ”

“ Aubert.
'"I think she may be trusted," Madame said, smiling a little, and holding out her hand to me. "When one is already a wife, one ought to be discreet enough to keep a secret; eh, Frances? Yes, I think we may trust Lady Desmond!"
'These words made me altogether forget my shyness and my fright, and I ran to Madame St. Aubert's side, exclaiming as enthusiastically as Bessie herself: "Oh yes; indeed, Madame, you may trust me; and I would do anything to serve the Duke of Monmouth too, if I could—just as much as Bessie would." ”

“ Aubert at last dismissed us. "Oh, if I were only as rich as Henrietta, or Eleanor Page!" So exclaimed Bessie, as we ran up-stairs into the great bed-chamber where the six elder girls slept. None of them were there at present; and Bessie sat down upon her own bed, with one arm thrown round me, sighing out again, "If I was but as rich as Henrietta!"
'"Why do you want to be rich, Bessie? Do you want money so much just now?" ”

“ Indeed, difficult as I had thought it then to ask a grace of the Queen, it seemed almost impossible now. And Lady Dalrymple had implored me above all things to be speedy. I was at my wit's end to know what to do in the matter next, and gave vent to my perplexities in such a heavy sigh, that Hal clapped me on the shoulder, saying:
'"Cheer up, Algernon. I've been in and out of many a worse strait than this. The Queen's anger won't last for ever; and even if she does flout us for a time, we can live very well without Court favour." ”

“ Then, when our laugh was over, Agnes began to wonder again what side my father and Sir Harry Mountfort would take in the coming war, if war there really was to be. Mamma, I felt pretty sure, would be for the Duke of Monmouth, because Dr. Power had said that the King would make Papists of us all; and I knew that mamma was the stanchest of Protestants, and that nothing on earth would be so abhorrent to her as the idea of having her own religion or that of her children interfered with. ”

“ Because Christie happens to be twelve, she is always setting-up to be as clever as Miss Gregory. As if one could worry one's self about grammar out of school hours. Now, Silvia, I'll tell you where I'd go if I had those goloshes: I'd go right into fairy-land, and see all the people in the Arabian Nights and the Midsummer Night's Dream, and Hans Andersen's stories. They would be much better worth seeing than your Sir Walter Raleighs and Horatiuses and Syd's savages. I shouldn't care to see real people; they would put me so in mind of Mangnall.'
'I don't much like Mangnall,' Silvia confessed. ”

“ I asked, eagerly. "The King has really granted a pardon?"
'"Yes, a free pardon at the Queen's intercession. The whole of the fine is remitted, and I am going to bring her home. I start for Taunton in an hour. Poor heart," and she sighed, repeating half to herself, "if only I am not too late!"
'"Oh, pray, madam, do not say so," I cried earnestly. "You will not be too late,—indeed you will not! When once she is taken out of that horrible place, with you to nurse her too, she must get well. Oh, the sight of you will do her good directly, I am sure it will!" ”

“ I was not, like Henrietta, strong and brave and unselfish enough to think of other people in the midst of our anxiety; and we had been waiting some time in that crowded ante-room, before I bethought myself of looking to see how she was faring. Then, greatly to my astonishment, I saw that she was speaking to some one among the throng of prisoners awaiting their trial, and at the next glance I recognised her acquaintance as no other than our good old vicar, Dr. Power. ”

“ Power's mother," suggested Lucy Fordyce, looking at me with a sort of scared expression.
'I made an effort to fancy myself like Dr. Power's mother, and the consequence was a violent fit of laughter, which checked my tears completely, and dried up Agnes's too; for Mistress Tabitha Power was eighty-five, and wore deep mourning robes which swept the ground, a black hood drawn almost over her face, and always leaned upon an ebony crutch with a silver handle. ”