Marjorie Bowen

“ Lady Newcastle returned to an alien London, and sat down in her forlorn and ancient splendour to write to her beloved lord in Antwerp, where he lodged in the house of the late King's painter, Sir Peter Rubens.
As the shadows fell over the city, over the fresh countryside, over the river, as the night moths came out and the early stocks and pinks in the gardens at Hampton Palace filled the air with sweetness, His Highness still toiled in his cabinet, and Elisabeth Claypole still sat at the open window of her room with folded hands and thoughtful eyes gazing across the twilight. ”

“ But thou art in these Fifth-Monarchy plots."
"We do not plot," returned Harrison, "nor intrigue, whatever may be noised of us."
"Thou mayst put what name thou wilt to it, Major-General Harrison," said His Highness; "but it is a known fact that thou seekest to disturb the Government and seduce the army."
"I neither own the Government nor molest it. But wherefore these words? I do not seek to fly or in any way to save myself. Sir, I am in your power, both I and those poor hearts, those few redcoats who still hold the pure doctrine." ”

“ Lord Winchester, who had hitherto been silent, now broke out.
"If the King had had no more ground in England than Basing House, I would have adventured as I did and maintained it to the uttermost!"
"Art so stubborn," cried Mr. Peters, "when all is taken from thee?"
"Ay," said the Marquess, "Loyalty House this was called, and in that I take comfort, hoping His Majesty may have his day again. As for me, I have done what I could; and though this hour be as death, yet I would sooner be as I am than as thou art!" ”

“ Cromwell, however, found him more acceptable than Manchester or Essex.
"Sir," cried the General, "you are as welcome to me as water in a drought. Sir, I give to you the command of all the horse, and may you do the good service you did at Long Marston Moor."
"We are but a company of poor ignorant men, General Fairfax," replied Oliver Cromwell, "and the malignants, I hear, make great scorn of us as a rabble that are to be taught a lesson. Yet I do smile out to God in praises, in assurance of victory, for He will, by things that are not, bring to naught things that are!" ”

“ I feel the years grow marvellously heavy and my body full of the evils of old age. So little done, so much to do! For all of us, such a little while."
"Many more years for thee, son Oliver," she replied. "Many more and much to do in them! If there be something to be done in England, wilt thou not do it?"
"Surely," he said, straightening himself, "for I am English—it is the English who now testify most for the Lord, and He out of His mercy hath given us great gifts."
The last sunlight had faded from the narrow street, and the precise chamber was growing dark. ”

“ The King put his hand on Strafford's great shoulder.
"My friend," he said warmly, "no king ever had a truer. Do not blame my lord, Mary, for this pass we are in, for he, if any man can, will serve us and help us to a better issue."
"In France we have other ways to deal with treason and rebellion," said the Queen with sudden weariness; "but do what thou wilt! Call thy Parliament, and God grant it avail thee to ease thy needs!"
She moved, with a whisper of silk, from the two men, and, taking up a vellum-bound book from the little bureau where the King had sat, fluttered over the painted leaves. ”

“ Rupert's dark countenance flashed into a smile as he glanced at her pale fervency.
"That cursed Cromwell is on his way to join Fairfax," he remarked. "Pray, Mrs. Lucas, that he doth not arrive in time."
"Is he so terrible a man?" asked the Queen scornfully: she could not endure to give even the compliment of fear to these rebels.
"A half-crazed fanatic or a very cunning hypocrite," returned the Prince; "but an able fighter, on my soul, Madame!"
"His army consisteth of poor ignorant men," cried Henriette Marie. "Surely, surely gentlemen can prevail against them." ”

“ Madonna! how can one support the burden! Oh, to be a man and go forward in the front ranks to die as Lord Falkland did! But to be a woman—a woman who must wait till she die of remembering!"
"There is no answer to be made—none," said the Countess; "the heart knoweth its own bitterness."
"And we sit here in poverty, bereaved and desolate, and Oliver Cromwell hath my Lord Worchester's estates and the thanks of Parliament," continued Lady William, following out thoughts too bitter to be kept silent. "Loyalty now must go barefoot and impudent knavery swell in high places! ”

“ She looked at him out of untroubled eyes; his bold, hawk-like face, the black eyes, the white teeth flashing in a smile, the waving black hair, the dark complexion above the white collar, and all his attire of scarlet and buff and gold and trappings of war, his great horse, and the background of cannon, halberdiers, and stormy heavens, made a noble and splendid picture.
"I have no cavalier," said Margaret Lucas calmly, "nor have I yet seen the man to whom I could give my troth."
"How many years hast thou?" asked Rupert. ”

“ I am heard!" answered Lady Pawlet, to whom horror and wrath had given an exalted dignity and a desperate strength. "Man of blood and disloyalty, a scourge upon this land, a bitterness and a terror to these unhappy people!"
"Shall I take her away?" asked Gaveston, advancing.
"Nay," replied Cromwell, "let her speak. Words no more than swords touch those who wear the armour of the Lord. As for thee, vain, unhappy one, go and wrestle with the evil errors that hold thee, and pray that light be given to thy eternal darkness." ”

“ Elisabeth Cromwell was wondering, in sentences half-awed, half-vexed, how she should keep house in a great place like Hampton Court?—how many servants must she have, and how could they use such a number of rooms?
"We will come and stay with thee," said Dorothy, Richard's wife, who was not averse to her share of her father-in-law's splendour. Her pretty face was very bright and smiling to-day above the demure fall of her lawn collar, and her gown was new silk, embroidered in a fashion not uncourtly; her husband, too, was habited with a richness beyond his father's. ”

“ The Queen looked keenly at the young man on whom so much depended in the issue of to-morrow, and seemed as if she was about to make some appeal or exhortation; but she turned away with a mere quiet farewell. The King followed her with a smile to his nephew.
Margaret Lucas remained under the great cedar tree and Rupert lingered.
"The white roses are again in bloom," he said.
"When they next flourish may the King be safe in London again!" cried the lady.
"Amen," said Rupert. "Do you know the noble Marquess of Newcastle, Mrs. Lucas?" he added, with a smile. ”

“ The white hawthorn and roses, the last lilac still showed pallid through the gloaming; the stars were beginning to sparkle in a sky from which the gold had faded, leaving it the colour of dead violets; the pure air was rich and sweet as honey.
"Whatever betide," said the King, "remember this—I will never forsake my children's heritage nor my faith."
He had always scrupulously kept his promise never to discuss religion with his Papist Queen, and he did not emphasize his resolve to remain for ever faithful to the Church of England. ”

“ Then Lieutenant Cromwell demanded my lord's sword.
"The King did give me this blade, and to him alone will I return it," replied the Marquess.
"Proud man!" cried Cromwell. "Dost thou still vaunt thyself when God hath delivered thee, by His great mercy, into our hands?"
He turned to the soldiers.
"Take this malignant prisoner and cast down these idolatrous shows and images—for what told I ye this morning? 'They that make them are like unto them, so is every one who trusteth in them'—the which saying is now accomplished." ”

“ But none stood out so vividly in the eyes of both friend and foe as did the figure of Oliver Cromwell, whose cavalry charges had turned the tide of battle at Marston Moor and Naseby, who was the idol of that army which seemed now to hold the balance of power, and whose utterances in Parliament had shown him to be as decisive, as wary, as brilliant in attack, as quick in resource, as commanding a personality in politics as he was on the battlefield. ”

“ They came out into the ill-lit street, down which the sleet was sweeping in icy spears; the close, stale odours of the city encompassed them, and the bitter damp struck through their mantles and made their flesh shiver.
"Methinks," said Cromwell, "this dark air is full of portents and heavy with forebodings. Thou knowest, Mr. Pym, that we stand in a little mean street, in the cold and darkness, in the midst of a distressed and oppressed city, yet I tell thee the Lord hath us by the hand and will lead us yet into the freedom and light of great spaces, there to work His will." ”

“ JOHN PYM AND THE KING
"This is Lord Falkland's advice," said the Queen, "and I do wonder you should so listen to one who was but lately in the forefront of your enemies and even now is close with them."
"It is the advice of the moderate men," returned Charles, with a sneer on the adjective, "and I must listen to them. Patience, my dear, my beloved. If I could win John Pym it were worth some sacrifice of pride."
"Things run more smoothly in your favour now," retorted Henriette Marie, "and you have no need for these concessions. Was not our welcome to London fair enough? ”

“ Neither in dress nor manner was she a Puritan; her lavender-blue silk gown, flowing open on a lemon-coloured petticoat, her deep falling collar and cuffs of Flemish lace, the bow of rose colour at her breast and in her hair, her white sarcenet shoes with the silver buckles, the long ringlets which escaped the pearl comb and fell on her shoulders, even her piquant bright face, with eyes slightly languishing and mouth slightly wilful, seemed more to belong to the now exiled court of Henriette Marie than to the household of the leader of the Roundhead army. ”

“ Pym; "and every plain fellow who can handle a sword may rightly endeavour to strike at them."
"Your presence flouts me," cried Lady Strafford. "Drive on!"
The coach swung forward on the leathers and jolted off down Whitehall, still pursued by a few boys shouting and hooting.
"In the old days when I knew her," said John Pym, "she was a most modest, excellent lady, but now I doubt but that she is proud and blinded even as her lord."
"She seemed to me," replied Mr. Cromwell, "to be not so much as one proud, but as one in a mortal fear." ”

“ Cromwell," he said, "there is good material here if the right man could be found to handle it."
"'Tis a great nation," answered Mr. Cromwell, "but 'tis to the ancient blood we must look—not to these."
"That was my meaning," returned John Pym; "there are among us many able men—but who will be called?"
"Thou thyself, Mr. Pym," said his friend warmly, "art surely a man after God's own heart, one whom he hath raised up to be a captain, even as he raised up David."
"I do what I can," returned Mr. Pym quietly, "but I am not the man for whom England waiteth." ”

“ My Lord Duke, with his great straggling army, came over the open heaths as far as Preston and Wigan, no colours displayed because of the wind, no tents nor fires at night because of the wind and the rain; so they marched, a weary troop, neither well-disciplined nor well-generaled, and soon to face those troops which Oliver Cromwell had made the best in the world. But there was with them neither hesitation nor dismay, for half of them were Scots, and Langdale's men were of the same breed as Cromwell's, and would fight as well and endure as stubbornly. ”

“ Among her keen, delicate sisters she showed yet more keen and delicate, and though she had now lost the fresh English fairness which bloomed in the Lady Mary and the Lady Frances, and which had become womanly grace in Bridget Fleetwood, yet of all of them she was the most lovable. If any wished a favour from the Lord-Protector it was to her they went to ask her intercession, for as her illness and her weakness grew and her end came nearer, nearer with every painful breath she drew, His Highness' tender love increased into an agony of yearning, until it seemed as if he could refuse her nothing. ”

“ LIEUT.-GENERAL CROMWELL, ROYALIST
"Thou goest too often to Hampton Court," said Major Harrison. "I say it to thy face."
"Thou mayst say it before any man," returned Cromwell mildly, "and do no harm."
"If you will have any influence with the army you will go no more," continued Harrison.
"Ay!" said Cromwell, with the same patience; "but I think neither of my influence with the army nor of any other thing, friends, but of what the Lord hath put it in my heart to do for His service and the peace of these times." ”

“ Oliver Cromwell's whole stout frame trembled, as if responding to some intense and suppressed emotion.
"England! England!" he muttered, "are we come to have to heal thy hurts with the bloody steel and the devouring flame? I had hoped differently."
"If the King armeth so must we," said John Pym. "But there is yet some hope. Hyde and Falkland are now something in the councils of the King, and he may listen to them."
"My Lord Falkland will do a true man's uttermost," replied Cromwell, with that sudden tenderness that was as natural to him as his sudden fierceness. "But will he avail? ”

“ By his valour and skill he had turned the tide at Marston, after Manchester, Fairfax, and Leven had fled from the battle as lost; he had beaten Rupert's victorious horse with his own light cavalry, and he had led the Scotch infantry in an overwhelming charge against the enemy. The north of England was now lost to the King, the prestige of the parliamentary army had never stood higher, and Oliver Cromwell was become the foremost soldier in their ranks, both for fame and success. ”

“ Only a month ago he had been at Windsor, firmly believing that his enemies would destroy each other, firmly believing that he would once more come to Whitehall, a king, and hang all these rebels and traitors.
And now it was all over, all the hopes and fears, suspenses and agitations, all the struggles and defeats and intrigues; there were only a few hours of time left, and only one thing more to do—to die decently.
He put on his shoes with the big crimson roses, his light sword, his George with the collar of knots and roses, his black velvet cloak ”

“ Not yet, my lord, not yet. When we lay down the sword the King must be so defeated that he is glad to take our terms, otherwise why did we ever unsheath the sword?"
"Success lies so far with His Majesty," was the reply. "Fairfax and Essex can hardly hold their own, Rupert hath proved a very genius, the Queen cometh from over seas with men and money—bethink you a little, Colonel Cromwell, if the King should defeat us? Death for us all, aye, to our poorest followers, as traitors, and his own terms imposed on a bleeding nation!" ”