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+ float: left; + margin-right: 1em } + +.align-right { clear: right; + float: right; + margin-left: 1em } + +.align-center { margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto } + +div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } + +/* compact list items containing just one p */ +li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + +.first { margin-top: 0 !important; + text-indent: 0 !important } +.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } + +span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } +img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } +span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } + +.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +@media screen { + .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage + { margin: 10% 0; } + + div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage + { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } + + .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } +} + +@media print { + div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +</style> +<title>HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED</title> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="His Majesty's Well-Beloved" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Baroness Orczy" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1919" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="39787" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2012-05-24" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="His Majesty's Well-Beloved An Episode in the Life of Mr. Thomas Betteron as told by His Friend John Honeywood" /> + +<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> +<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> +<meta content="His Majesty's Well-Beloved An Episode in the Life of Mr. Thomas Betteron as told by His Friend John Honeywood" name="DCTERMS.title" /> +<meta content="beloved.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> +<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> +<meta content="2012-05-24T22:07:53.876611+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> +<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> +<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> +<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39787" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> +<meta content="Baroness Orczy" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> +<meta content="2012-05-24" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> +<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> +<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.19b4 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39787 ***</div> +<div class="document" id="his-majesty-s-well-beloved"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED</h1> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> +</div> +<div class="align-None container coverpage"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 48%" id="figure-6"> +<img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +Cover</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container titlepage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="pfirst white-space-pre-line x-large">HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED</p> +<p class="medium pnext white-space-pre-line">AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF MR.<br /> +THOMAS BETTERTON AS TOLD BY<br /> +HIS FRIEND JOHN HONEYWOOD</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">BY</p> +<p class="large pnext white-space-pre-line">BARONESS ORCZY</p> +<p class="pnext small white-space-pre-line">AUTHOR OF "THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET<br /> +PIMPERNEL," "FLOWER O' THE LILY,"<br /> +"LORD TONY'S WIFE," ETC.</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">NEW YORK</p> +<p class="pnext white-space-pre-line">GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-None center container verso white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="center pfirst small white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Copyright, 1919,</em></p> +<p class="pnext white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">By George H. Doran Company</em></p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst white-space-pre-line"><em class="italics white-space-pre-line">Printed in the United States of America</em></p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<div class="align-None container plainpage white-space-pre-line"> +<p class="center large pfirst white-space-pre-line">CONTENTS</p> +<div class="vspace white-space-pre-line" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="left pfirst small white-space-pre-line">CHAPTER</p> +<ol class="left medium upperroman simple white-space-pre-line"> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#how-it-all-began">How it all Began</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-rift-within-the-lute">The Rift Within the Lute</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-criminal-folly">A Criminal Folly</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#more-than-a-passing-fancy">More than a Passing Fancy</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-outrage">The Outrage</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-gathering-storm">The Gathering Storm</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#an-assembly-of-traitors">An Assembly of Traitors</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-lion-s-wrath">The Lion's Wrath</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#a-last-chance">A Last Chance</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-hour">The Hour</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#rumours-and-conjectures">Rumours and Conjectures</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#poisoned-arrows">Poisoned Arrows</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-lady-pleads">The Lady Pleads</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-ruling-passion">The Ruling Passion</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#more-deaf-than-adders">More Deaf than Adders</a></p> +</li> +<li class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first pfirst white-space-pre-line"><a class="reference internal white-space-pre-line" href="#the-game-of-love">The Game of Love</a></p> +</li> +</ol> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center pfirst x-large" id="how-it-all-began">HIS MAJESTY'S WELL-BELOVED</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst">CHAPTER I</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">How it all Began</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">From Mr. John Honeywood, clerk to Mr. Theophilus +Baggs, attorney-at-law, to Mistress +Mary Saunderson, of the Duke's Theatre in +Lincoln's Inn Fields.</em></p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">1662. October the 10th at 85, Chancery Lane in +the City of London. Honoured Mistress,—</p> +<p class="pnext">May it please you that I, an humble Clerk and +Scrivener, do venture to address so talented a Lady; +but there is that upon my Conscience which compels +me to write these lines. The Goodness and Charity +of Mistress Saunderson are well known, and 'tis not +as a Suppliant that I crave pardon for my +Presumption, but rather as one whose fidelity and +loyalty have oft been tried and never been found +wanting. 'Tis said, most gracious Mistress, that your +fancy hath been touched by the tenderness and +devotion of a Man who is as dear to me as if he +were mine own Brother, but that You hesitate to +bestow upon him that for which he craves more than +for anything in the world, your Hand and Heart. +And this because of many Rumours which have +sullied his fair Name. Mr. Betterton, Madam, hath +many enemies. How could this be otherwise seeing +that so vast a measure of Success hath attended his +career, and that the King's most gracious Majesty +doth honour him with Friendship and Regard to the +exclusion of others who are envious of so great a +fame? Those Enemies now, Madam, seeing that +your Heart hath been touched with the man's grace +and bearing, rather than with his undying Renown, +have set themselves the task of blackening +Mr. Betterton's character before your eyes, thus causing +you mayhap grievous Sorrow and Disappointment. +But this I do swear by all that I hold most sacred, +that Mr. Betterton hath never committed a mean +Act in his life nor done aught to forfeit your +Regard. Caustic of wit he is, but neither a +Braggart nor a Bully; he hath been credited with many +good Fortunes, but so hath every Gentleman in the +Kingdom, and there is no discredit attached to a +man for subjugating the Hearts of those that are +both frail and fair. My Lady Castlemaine hath +bestowed many favours on Mr. Betterton, so hath +the Countess of Shrewsbury, and there are others, +at least the Gossips do aver it. But on my Soul and +Honour, he hath never ceased to love You, until the +day when a certain great Lady came across his path +for his misfortune and his undying Regret. And +even so, Madam, though appearances are against +him, I own, let me assure You that the swerving of +his Allegiance to You was not only transitory but +it was never one of the Heart—it was a mere +aberration of the senses. He may never forget the +Lady—he certainly will never forget her Cruelty—but he +no longer loves Her, never did love Her as he loves +You, with his Heart and Mind, with Tenderness and +Devotion. The other was only a Dream—a fitful +fancy: his Love for You is as immortal as his +Fame. Therefore, gracious Mistress, I, the humble +Friend of so great a Man, have ventured to set forth +for your perusal that which he himself would be +too proud to put before you—namely, his Justification. +As for the rest, what I am about to relate +is the true Historie of Mr. Betterton's Romance, the +only one which might give you cause for sorrow, +yet none for uneasiness, because that Romance is +now a thing of the past, like unto a Flower that is +faded and without fragrance, even though it still lies +pressed between the pages of a great man's Book +of Life. Everything else is mere Episode. But this +which I have here set down will show you how much +nobility of heart and grandeur of Character lies +hidden beneath the flippant and at times grim +exterior of the Man whom you have honoured with +your regard.</p> +<p class="pnext">The writing of the Historie hath caused me much +anxiety and deep thought. I desired to present the +Truth before you, and not the highly-coloured +effusions of a Partisan. I have slurred over nothing, +concealed nothing. An you, gracious Mistress, +have the patience to read unto the End, I am +confident that any Hesitation as to your Future which +may still linger in your Heart will vanish with the +more intimate Knowledge of the true Facts of the +case, as well as of the Man whose faults are of his +own Time and of his Entourage, but whose Merits +are for the whole World to know and to cherish, for +as many Cycles of years as there will be Englishmen +to speak the Words of English Poets.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Dare I take you back, honoured Mistress, to those +humble days, five years ago, when first I entered the +Household of your worthy Uncle, Mr. Theophilus +Baggs, and of his still more worthy Spouse, Mistress +Euphrosine, where for a small—very small—stipend, +and free board and lodging, I copied legal +documents, Leases, Wills and Indentures for my +Employer?</p> +<p class="pnext">You, fair Lady, were then the only ray of +Sunshine which illumined the darkness of my dreary +Life. Yours was a Gaiety which nothing could +damp, a Courage and Vitality which not even the +nagging disposition of Mistress Euphrosine +succeeded in crushing. And when, smarting under her +many Chidings, my stomach craving for a small +Measure of satisfaction, my Bones aching from the +hardness of my bed, I saw your slim Figure flitting, +elf-like, from kitchen to living-room, your full +young Throat bursting with song like that of a Bird +at the first scent of Spring, I would find my lot less +hard, the bread less sour, even Mistress Euphrosine's +tongue less acrimonious. My poor, atrophied Heart +felt the warmth of your Smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then sometimes, when my Work was done and +my Employers occupied with their own affairs, You +used to allow me to be of service to you, to help +you wash the dishes which your dainty Hands +should never have been allowed to touch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh! how I writhed when I heard Mistress +Euphrosine ordering You about as if You were a +kitchen-wench, rather than her husband's Niece, +who was honouring his House with your presence! +You, so exquisite, so perfect, so cultured, to be the +Handmaid of a pair of sour, ill-conditioned +Reprobates who were not worthy to tie the lacets of your +dainty shoes. With what Joy I performed the +menial tasks which never should have been allotted +to You, I never until now have dared to tell. I did +not think that any Man could find dish-washing and +floor-scrubbing quite so enchanting. But then no +other Man hath ever to my knowledge performed +such tasks under such happy circumstances; with +You standing before me, smiling and laughing at +my clumsiness, your shapely arms akimbo, your +Voice now rippling into Song, now chaffing me +with Words full of kindness and good-humour.</p> +<p class="pnext">I have known many happy Hours since that Day, +Mistress, and many Hours full of Sorrow, but none +so full of pulsating Life as those which outwardly +had seemed so miserable.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then that wonderful afternoon when +Mr. Theophilus Baggs and his Spouse being safely out +of the way, we stole out together and spent a few +hours at the Play! Do you remember the day on +which we ventured on the Escapade? Mr. Baggs +and Mistress Euphrosine had gone to Hampton +Court: he to see a noble Client and she to +accompany him. The day being fine and the Client being +a Lady possessed of well-known charms, Mistress +Euphrosine would not have trusted her Lord alone +in the company of such a forward Minx—at least, +those were her Words, which she uttered in my +hearing two Days before the memorable Expedition.</p> +<p class="pnext">Memorable, indeed, it was to me!</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs left a sheaf of Documents for me to +copy, which would—he thought—keep me occupied +during the whole course of a long Day. You too, +fair Mistress, were to be kept busy during the +worthy couple's absence, by scrubbing and polishing +and sewing—Mistress Euphrosine holding all +idleness in abhorrence.</p> +<p class="pnext">I marvel if you remember it all!</p> +<p class="pnext">I do, as if it had occurred yesterday! We sat +up half the Night previous to our Taskmasters' +departure; you polishing and sewing, and I copying +away for very life. You remember? Our joint +Savings for the past six Months we had counted up +together. They amounted to three shillings. One +shilling we spent in oil for our lamps, so that we +might complete our Tasks during the Night. This +left us free for the great and glorious Purpose +which we had in our Minds and which we had +planned and brooded over for Days and Weeks.</p> +<p class="pnext">We meant to go to the Play!</p> +<p class="pnext">It seems strange now, in view of your Renown, +fair Mistress, and of mine own intimacy with +Mr. Betterton, that You and I had both reached +an age of Man and Womanhood without ever +having been to the Play. Yet You belonged from +childhood to the household of Mistress Euphrosine +Baggs, who is own sister to Mr. Betterton. But +that worthy Woman abhorred the Stage and all that +pertained to it, and she blushed—aye, blushed!—at +thought of the marvellous Fame attained by her +illustrious Brother.</p> +<p class="pnext">Do you remember confiding to me, less than a +month after I first entered the household of +Mr. Baggs, that You were pining to go to the Play? +You had seen Mr. Betterton once or twice when he +came to visit his Sister—which he did not do very +often—but you had never actually been made +acquainted with him, nor had you ever seen him act. +And You told me how handsome he was, and how +distinguished; and your dark Eyes would flash with +enthusiasm at thought of the Actor's Art and of +the Actor's Power.</p> +<p class="pnext">I had never seen him at all in those Days, but +I loved to hear about him. Strange what a +fascination the Stage exercised over so insignificant +and so mean a creature as I!</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Will you ever forget the dawn of that glorious +Day, fair Mistress?</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs and his Spouse went off quite early, +to catch the chaise at La Belle Sauvage which would +take them to Hampton Court. But however early +they went, we thought them mighty slow in making +a start. An hundred Recommendations, Orderings, +Scoldings, had to be gone through ere the respectable +Couple, carrying provisions for the day in a +Bandana Handkerchief, finally got on the way.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a perfect Morning early in March, with +the first scent and feel of Spring in the air. Not +a Cloud in the Sky. By Midday our tasks were +entirely accomplished and we were free! Free as +the Birds in the air, free as two 'prentices out for +a holiday! But little did we eat, I remember. We +were too excited for hunger; nor had Mistress +Euphrosine left much in the larder for us. What +did we care? Our Enthusiasm, our Eagerness, were +Cook and Scullion for us, that day!</p> +<p class="pnext">We were going to the Play!</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh! how we tripped to Cockpit Lane, asking our +way from passers-by, for we knew so little of +London—fashionable London, that is; the London +of Gaiety and Laughter, of careless Thoughts and +wayward Moods. Holding hands, we hurried +through the Streets. You wore a dark Cape with +a Hood to hide your pretty Face and your soft +brown Hair, lest some Acquaintance of your Uncle's +should chance to see You and betray our guilty +secret.</p> +<p class="pnext">Do you remember how we met Mr. Rhodes, the +bookseller, and friend of Mr. Baggs?—he to whom +young Mr. Betterton was even then apprenticed. +At the corner of Princes Street we came nose to +nose with him, and but for great presence of mind +on my part when, without an instant's hesitation, I +ran straight at him and butted him in the Stomach +so that he lost his Balance for the moment and only +recovered complete Consciousness after we had +disappeared round the corner of the Street, he no +doubt would have recognised us and betrayed our +naughty Secret.</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh, what a fright we had! I can see You now, +leaning, breathless and panting, against the street +corner, your Hand pressed to your Bosom, your +Eyes shining like Stars!</p> +<p class="pnext">As for the rest, it is all confusion in my mind. +The Crowd, the Bustle, the Noise, this great +Assembly, the like of which I had never seen before. +I do not know how we came to our seats. All I +know is that we were there, looking down upon the +moving throng. I remember that some Worthy of +obvious note was sitting next to me, and was +perpetually treading upon my toes. But this I did not +mind, for he was good enough to point out to me +the various Notabilities amongst the Audience or +upon the Stage; and I was greatly marvelled and +awed by the wonderful familiarity with which he +spoke of all these distinguished People.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There sits General Monk. Brave old George! +By gad! 'twere interesting to know what goes on +inside that square Head of his! King or Protector, +which is it to be? Or Protector <em class="italics">and</em> King! +George knows; and you mark my words, young Sir, +George will be the one to decide. Old Noll is sick; +he can't last long. And Master Richard hath not +much affection for his Father's Friends—calls them +Reprobates and ungodly. Well! can you see George +being rebuked by Master Richard for going to the +Play?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And I, not being on such intimate terms with the +Lord Protector's Son or with General Monk, could +offer no opinion on the subject. And after a while +my Neighbour went on glibly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah! here comes my Lady Viner, flaunting silks +and satins. Aye, the fair Alice—his third Wife, +mark you!—knows how to spend the money which +her Lord hath been at such pains to scrape together. +By gad! who'd have thought to see red-haired Polly +Ann so soon after the demise of His Grace! See, +not an inch of widows' Weeds doth she wear in +honour of the old Dotard who did her the infinite +favour of dying just in the nick of time...."</p> +<p class="pnext">And so on, the Man would babble in a continuous +stream of talk. You, Mistress, listened to him +open-mouthed, your great brown Eyes aglow with +curiosity and with excitement. You and I knew +but little of those great Folk, and seeing them all +around us, prepared for the same enjoyment which +we had paid to obtain, made us quite intoxicated +with eagerness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Our Neighbour, who of a truth seemed to know +everything, expressed great surprise at the fact that +Old Noll—as he so unceremoniously named the +Lord Protector—had tolerated the opening of the +Cockpit. "But," he added sententiously, "Bill +Davenant could wheedle a block of ice out of the +devil, if he chose."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Of the Play I remember but little. I was in truth +much too excited to take it all in. And sitting so +near You, Mistress—for the Place was +overcrowded—my Knee touching yours, your dear little +hand darting out from time to time to grip mine +convulsively during the more palpitating moments +of the Entertainment, was quite as much as an +humble Clerk's brain could hold.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a great deal of Music—that I do +remember. Also that the entertainment was termed +an opera and that the name of the piece was "The +Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru." My omniscient +Neighbour told me presently that no doubt the +Performance was an artful piece of Flattery on the part +of Bill (meaning, I suppose, Sir William Davenant) +who, by blackening the Spaniards, made Old Noll's +tyranny appear like bountiful Mercies.</p> +<p class="pnext">But I did not like to hear our Lord Protector +spoken of with such levity. Moreover, my +Neighbour's incessant Chatter distracted me from the +Stage.</p> +<p class="pnext">What I do remember more vividly than anything +else on that memorable Day was your cry of +delight when Mr. Betterton appeared upon the +Stage. I do not know if you had actually spoken +with him before; I certainly had never even seen +him. Mr. Betterton was then apprenticed to +Mr. Rhodes, the Bookseller, and it was entirely against +the Judgment and Wishes of Mistress Euphrosine +Baggs, his Sister, that he adopted the Stage as an +additional calling. I know that there were many +high Words on that subject between Mr. Betterton +and Mistress Euphrosine, Mr. Rhodes greatly +supporting the young Man in his Desire, he having +already formulated schemes of his own for the +management of a Theatre, and extolling the virtues of +the Actor's Art and the vastly lucrative State +thereof.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Mistress Euphrosine would have none of it. +Actors were Rogues and Vagabonds, she said, +ungodly Reprobates who were unfit, when dead, to be +buried in consecrated ground. She would never +consent to seeing a Brother of hers follow so +disreputable a Calling. From high words it came to +an open Quarrel, and though I had been over a year +in the House of Mr. Theophilus Baggs, I had never +until this day set eyes on young Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was not taking a very important part in the +Opera, but there was no denying the fact that as +soon as he appeared upon the Stage his very +Presence did throw every other Actor into the shade. +The Ladies in the Boxes gave a deep sigh of content, +gazing on him with admiring eyes and bestowing +loud Applause upon his every Word. And when +Mr. Betterton threw out his Arms with a gesture +expressive of a noble Passion and spoke the ringing +lines: "And tell me then, ye Sons of England..."—his +beautiful Voice rising and falling with the +perfect cadence of an exquisite Harmony—the uproar +of Enthusiasm became wellnigh deafening. The +Ladies clapped their Hands and waved their +Handkerchiefs, the Gentlemen stamped their feet upon the +floor; and some, lifting their Hats, threw them with +a flourish upon the Stage, so that anon Mr. Betterton +stood with a score or more Hats all round his +feet, and was greatly perturbed as to how he should +sort them out and restore them to their rightful +Owners.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ah, it was a glorious Day! Nothing could mar +the perfection of its Course. No! not even the +Rain which presently began to patter over the +Spectators, and anon fell in torrents, so that those who +were in the Pit had to beat a precipitate retreat, +scrambling helter-skelter over the Benches in a wild +endeavour to get under cover.</p> +<p class="pnext">This incident somewhat marred the Harmony of +the Ending, because to see Ladies and Gentlemen +struggling and scrambling to climb from bench to +bench under a Deluge of Rain, was in truth a very +droll Spectacle; and the attention of those in the +Boxes was divided between the Happenings on +the Stage and the antics of the rest of the Audience.</p> +<p class="pnext">You and I, fair Mistress, up aloft in our humble +place, were far better sheltered than the more grand +Folk in the Pit. I put your Cloak around your +Shoulders to protect You against the Cold, and thus +sitting close together, my knee still resting against +yours, we watched the Performance until the end.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">How we went home that afternoon I do not +remember. I know that it was raining heavily and +that we got very wet. But this caused me no +Inconvenience, because it gave me the privilege of +placing my Arm round your Shoulders so as to keep +your Cloak from falling. Also my Mind was too +full of what I had seen to heed the paltry +discomfort of a Wetting. My thoughts were of the Play, +the Music, the brilliant Assembly; yours, Mistress, +were of Mr. Betterton. Of him you prattled all +the way home, to the exclusion of every other Topic. +And if your enthusiastic Eulogy of that talented +Person did at times send a pang of Sorrow through +my Heart, You at least were unaware of my +Trouble. Not that I took no share in your +Enthusiasm. I did it whole-heartedly. Never had I +admired a Man before as I did Mr. Betterton on +that Day. His Presence was commanding, his Face +striking, his Voice at times masterful and full of +Power, at others infinitely sweet. My officious and +talkative Neighbour, just before the Rain came +down and rendered him dumb, had remarked to me +with a great air of Knowledge and of Finality: +"Mark my word, young Sir, England will hear +something presently of Tommy Betterton."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not until we reached the corner of +Chancery Lane that we were forced to descend to the +Realities of Life. We had had a glorious Day, and +for many Hours had wholly forgotten the many +Annoyances and Discomforts with which our lives +were beset. Now we were a little tired and exceedingly +wet. Mistress Euphrosine's Scoldings, our oft +empty stomachs, hard Beds and cheerless Lives +loomed once more largely upon the Horizon of our +mental vision.</p> +<p class="pnext">Our Pace began to slacken; your glib Tongue was +stilled. Holding Hands now, we hurried home in +silence, our Minds stirred by a still vague Sense of +Fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">Nor was that Fear unjustified, alas! as +subsequent Events proved. No sooner had We entered +the House than We knew that We were discovered. +Mr. Baggs' cloak, hung up in the Hall, revealed the +terrifying Fact that he and his indomitable Spouse +had unaccountably returned at this hour. No doubt +that the Weather was the primary cause of this +untoward Event: its immediate result was a Volley +of abuse poured upon our Heads by Mistress +Euphrosine's eloquent Tongue. We were +Reprobates, Spawns and Children of the Devil! We were +Liars and Cheats and Thieves! We had deserved +God's wrath and eternal punishment! Heavens +above! how she did talk! And we, alas! could not +escape that vituperative Torrent.</p> +<p class="pnext">We had fled into the Kitchen as soon as We had +realised that we were fairly caught; but Mistress +Euphrosine had followed us thither and had closed +the door behind her. And now, standing facing +Us, her large, gaunt Body barring every egress, she +talked and talked until You, fair Mistress, gave way +to a passionate Flood of tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">All our Pleasure, our Joy, had vanished; driven +hence by the vixenish Tongue of a soured Harridan. +I was beside myself with Rage. But for your +restraining influence, I could have struck that +shrieking Virago, and for ever after have destroyed what +was the very Essence of my Life. For she would +have turned me out of Doors then and there, and I +should have been driven forth from your Presence, +perhaps never to return.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sight of your Patience and of your Goodness +helped to deaden my Wrath. I hung my Head +and bit my Tongue lest it should betray me into +saying things which I should have regretted to the +end of my Days.</p> +<p class="pnext">And thus that memorable Day came to a close. +Somehow, it stands before my mind as would the +first legible Page in the Book of my Life. Before +it, everything was blurred; but that Page is clear. +I can read it now, even after four years. For the +first time, destiny had writ on it two Names in bold, +indelible Characters—yours, Mistress, and that of +Mr. Betterton. Henceforth, not a Day in my Life +would pass without one of You looming largely in +its Scheme.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mary Saunderson! Tom Betterton! My very +pulses seem to beat to the tune of those two Names! +I knew then, by one of those subtle intuitions which +no Man has ever succeeded in comprehending, that +Heaven itself had intended You for one another. +How then could I stand by and see the Wickedness +of Man striving to interfere with the decrees of God?</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-rift-within-the-lute">CHAPTER II</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE RIFT WITHIN THE LUTE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">After that memorable Day, Mistress, we were like +naughty Children who were being punished for +playing truant out of School. For Weeks and +Months our Lives went on with dreary monotony, +with never a chance of seeing Something of that +outside World of which we had caught a glimpse. +You continued to sew and to scrub and to be at the +beck and call of a Scold. I went on copying legal +Documents till my very Brain appeared atrophied, +incapable of a single happy Thought or of a joyous Hope.</p> +<p class="pnext">Out there in the great World, many things were +happening. The Lord Protector died; his Son +succeeded. And then England woke to the fact that +she had never cared for these Regicides, Republicans +and Puritans; that in her Heart she had always +loved the martyred King and longed to set his Son +once more upon his Throne.</p> +<p class="pnext">I often thought of my loquacious Neighbour at +the Play, with his talk of Old Noll and Master +Richard and of George. For George Monk in +truth had become the Man of the hour; for he it +was who was bringing King Charles back into his +Kingdom again.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two years had gone by since our memorable Day +at the Play, and as that same Neighbour had also +foretold, England was hearing a great deal about +Tom Betterton. His Name was on every one's lips. +Mr. Rhodes, the Bookseller, had obtained a licence +from General Monk to get a Company of Actors +together, and the palmy Days of the Cockpit had +begun. Then it was that some faint Echo of the +Life of our great City penetrated as far as the dull +Purlieus of Mr. Baggs' Household; then it was that +the ring of the Fame of Mr. Betterton even caused +Mistress Euphrosine to recall her former arbitrary +Judgments.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every one now was talking of her illustrious +Brother. General Monk himself had made a Friend +of him, so had Sir John Grenville, who was the +King's own Envoy; and those who were in the +know prophesied that His Majesty Himself would +presently honour the eminent Player with his +regard. My Lord Rochester was his intimate Friend; +Sir George Etherege was scarce ever seen in public +without him. Lord Broghill had vowed that the +English Stage was made famous throughout the +Continent of Europe by the superlative excellence of +Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">To such Eulogies, coming from the most exalted +Personages in the Land, Mistress Euphrosine could +not turn an altogether deaf Ear; and being a +Woman of character and ambition, she soon realised +that her Antagonism to her illustrious Brother not +only rendered her ridiculous, but might even prove +a bar to Mr. Theophilus Baggs' Advancement.</p> +<p class="pnext">The first Step towards a Reconciliation was taken +when Mr. Baggs and his Spouse went together to +the Play to see Mr. Betterton act <em class="italics">Solyman</em> in a play +called "The Siege of Rhodes." You and I, +Mistress, were by great favour allowed to go too, and +to take our places in that same Gallery where two +Years previously You and I had spent such happy +hours. We spoke little to one another, I remember. +Our hearts were full of Memories; but I could see +your brown Eyes lighten as soon as the eminent +Actor walked upon the Stage. The same Glamour +which his personality had thrown over You two +years ago was still there. Nay! it was enhanced +an hundredfold, for to the magnetic presence of the +Man was now added the supreme Magic of the +Artist. I am too humble a Scrivener, fair Lady, +to attempt to describe Mr. Betterton's acting, nor +do I think that such Art as his could be adequately +discussed. Your enjoyment of it I did fully share. +You devoured him with your Eyes while he was on +the Stage, and the Charm of his Voice filled the +crowded Theatre and silenced every other sound. +I knew that the World had ceased to exist for You +and that the mysterious and elusive god of Love +had hit your Heart with his wayward dart.</p> +<p class="pnext">I thank God that neither then nor later did any +feeling of Bitterness enter into my Soul. Sad I +was, but of a gentle Sadness which made me feel +mine own Unworthiness, even whilst I prayed that +You might realise your Heart's desire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Strangely enough, it was at the very moment +when I first understood the state of your Feelings +that mine eyes, a little dimmed with tears, were +arrested by the Sight of a young and beautiful Lady, +who sat in one of the Boxes, not very far from our +point of vantage. I wondered then what it was +about her that thus enchained mine Attention. Of +a truth, she was singularly fair, of that dainty and +translucent Fairness which I for one have never been +able to admire, but which is wont to set Men's pulses +beating with an added quickness—at least, so I've +heard it said. The Lady had blue Eyes, an +exquisitely white Skin, her golden Hair was dressed +in the new modish Fashion, with quaint little +Ringlets all around her low, square Brow. The face +was that of a Child, yet there was something about +the firm Chin, something about the Forehead +and the set of the Lips which spoke of +Character and of Strength not often found in one +so young.</p> +<p class="pnext">Immediately behind her sat a young Cavalier of +prepossessing Appearance, who obviously was +whispering pleasing Words in the Lady's shell-like ear. +I confess that for the moment I longed for the +presence of our loquacious Neighbour of two years ago. +He, without doubt, would have known who the +noble young Lady was and who was her attentive +Cavalier. Soon, however, the progress of the Play +once more riveted mine Attention upon the Stage, +and I forgot all about the beautiful Lady until it +was time to go. Then I sought her with mine +Eyes; but she had already gone. And I, whilst +privileged to arrange your Cloak around your +shoulders, realised how much more attractive brown +Hair was than fair, and how brilliant could be the +sparkle of dark Eyes as against the more +languorous expression of those that are blue.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I was not present at the time that You, Mistress, +first made the acquaintance of Mr. Betterton. He +came to the House originally for the sole purpose +of consulting with his Brother-in-law on a point of +Law, he having an idea of joining Sir William +Davenant in the Management of the new Theatre +which that Gentleman was about to open in +Lincoln's Inn Fields.</p> +<p class="pnext">The season in London promised to be very +brilliant. His Majesty the King was coming into his +own once more. Within a Month or two at the +latest, he would land at Dover, and as even through +his misfortunes and exile he had always been a +great Patron of the Arts of Drama and Literature, +there was no doubt that he would give his gracious +Patronage to such enterprises as Sir William +Davenant and Mr. Killigrew, not to mention others, had +already in view.</p> +<p class="pnext">No doubt that Sir William Davenant felt that no +Company of Actors could be really complete +without the leadership of Mr. Betterton; and we all +knew that both he and Mr. Killigrew were literally +fighting one another to obtain the great Actor's +services.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the end, of course, it was Sir William who +won, and thus Mr. Betterton came to visit +Mr. Theophilus Baggs to arrange for an Indenture +whereby he was to have a Share of the Profits +derived from the Performances at the new Theatre +in Lincoln's Inn Fields.</p> +<p class="pnext">You, Mistress, will remember that Day even +better than I do, for to me it only marked one more +Stage on the dreary road of my uneventful Life, +whilst for You it meant the first Pearl in that +jewelled Crown of Happiness which Destiny hath +fashioned for You. Mr. Baggs had sent me on that +day to Richmond, to see a Client of his there. +Whether he did this purposely, at the instance of +Mistress Euphrosine, in order to get me out of the +way, I know not. In her Estimation I was supposed +to have leanings for the Actor's profession in those +days—surely a foolish Supposition, seeing how +unprepossessing was my Appearance and how +mediocre my Intellect.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without doubt, however, could she have read the +Secrets of your Soul, dear Mistress, she would have +sent You on an errand too, to a remote corner of +England, or had locked You up in your Room, ere +you came face to face with the great Man whose +Personality and Visage were already deeply graven +upon your Heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">But her futile, unamiable Mind was even then +torn between the desire to make a brave show of +Prosperity before her illustrious Brother and to +welcome him as the Friend and Companion of great +Gentlemen, and the old puritanical Spirit within her +which still looked upon Actors as Rogues and +Vagabonds, Men upon whom God would shower some +very special, altogether terrible Curses because of +their loose and immoral Lives.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus Mistress Euphrosine's treatment of the +distinguished Actor was ever contradictory. She did +her best to make him feel that she despised him for +his Calling, yet nevertheless she fawned upon him +because of his connection with the Aristocracy. +Even subsequently, when Mr. Betterton enjoyed not +only the Patronage but the actual Friendship of His +Majesty the King, Mistress Euphrosine's attitude +towards him was always one of pious scorn. He +might be enjoying the protection of an earthly King, +but what was that in comparison with his Sister's +intimacy with God? He might consort with Dukes, +but she would anon make one in a company of +Angels, amongst whom such Reprobates as Actors +would never find a place.</p> +<p class="pnext">That, I think, was her chief Attitude of Mind, +one that caused me much Indignation at the time; +for I felt that I could have knelt down and +worshipped the heaven-born Genius who was delighting +the whole Kingdom with his Art. But Mr. Betterton, +with his habitual kindliness and good humour, +paid no heed to Mistress Euphrosine's sour Disposition +towards him, and when she tried to wither him +with lofty Speeches, he would quickly make her +ridiculous with witty Repartee.</p> +<p class="pnext">He came more and more frequently to the House, +and mine Eyes being unusually sharp in such +matters, I soon saw that You had wholly won his +regard. Those then became happy times. Happy ones +for You, Mistress, whose Love for a great and good +Man was finding full Reciprocity. Happy ones for +him, who in You had found not only a loving Heart, +but rare understanding, and that great Talent which +he then and there set himself to develop. They were +happy times also for me, the poor, obscure Scrivener +with the starved Heart and the dreary Life, who +now was allowed to warm his Soul in the Sunshine +of your joint Happiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not long before Mr. Betterton noticed the +profound Admiration which I had for him, not long +before he admitted me to his Friendship and +Intimacy. I say it with utmost pride, that I was the +first one with whom he discussed the question of +your Career and to whom he confided the fact that +You had a conspicuous talent for the Stage, and +that he intended to teach and to train You until You +could appear with him on the Boards. You may +imagine how this Idea staggered me at first—aye! and +horrified me a little. I suppose that something +of the old puritanical middle-class Prejudice had +eaten so deeply into my Soul that I could not be +reconciled to the idea of seeing any Woman—least +of all you, Mistress—acting a part upon the Stage. +Hitherto, young Mr. Kynaston and other +boy-actors had represented with perfect grace and charm +all the parts which have been written for Women; +and I could not picture to myself any respectable +Female allowing herself to be kissed or embraced +in full view of a large Audience, or speaking some +of those Lines which our great Dramatists have +thought proper to write.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Mr. Betterton's Influence and his unanswerable +Arguments soon got the better of those +old-fashioned Ideas, and anon I found myself looking +eagerly forward to the happy time when You would +be freed from the trammels of Mistress Euphrosine's +Tyranny and, as the Wife and Helpmate of +the greatest Actor of our times, take your place +beside him among the Immortals.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was not until the spring of the following Year +that I first noticed the cloud which was gathering +over your happiness. Never shall I forget the day +when first I saw Tears in your Eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">You had finally decided by then to adopt the Stage +as your Profession, and at the instance of Mr. Betterton, +Sir William Davenant had promised You a +small part in the new Play, wherewith he was about +to open his new Theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. +The piece chosen was called "Othello," written by +one William Shakespeare, and Sir William had +finally decided that the parts written in this Play by +the Author for Women should be enacted by +Women; an arrangement which was even then +being worked quite successfully by Mr. Killigrew at +his Theatre in Clare Market.</p> +<p class="pnext">I knew that a brilliant Future lay before You; +but Mistress Euphrosine, who had constituted +herself your Guardian and Mentor, tried in vain to turn +You from your Career. The day when You made +your Decision was yet another of those momentous +ones which will never fade from my Memory. You +had hitherto been clever enough to evade Mistress +Euphrosine's Vigilance whilst you studied the Art +of speaking and acting under the guidance of +Mr. Betterton. She thought that his frequent Visits to +the House were due to his Regard for her, whereas +he came only to see You and to be of service to You +in the pursuit of your Studies.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the time came when You had to avow openly +what were your Intentions with regard to the +Future. Sir William Davenant's Theatre in Lincoln's +Inn Fields was to be opened in June, and You, +Mistress, were, together with his principal Actresses, to +be boarded after that by him at his own House, in +accordance with one of the Provisions of the +Agreement. The Question arose as to where You should +lodge, your poor Mother having no home to offer +You. Mistress Euphrosine made a great Show of +her Abhorrence of the Stage and all the Immorality +which such a Career implied. My cheeks blush with +shame even now at the recollection of the +abominable language which she used when first You told +her what You meant to do, and my Heart is still +filled with admiration at your Patience and +Forbearance with her under such trying circumstances.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortunately for us all, Mr. Betterton arrived in +the midst of all this wrangle. He soon succeeded +in silencing Mistress Euphrosine's exacerbating +tongue, and this not so much by the magic of his +Persuasion as by the aid of the golden Key which +is known to open every door—even that which leads +to a scolding Harridan's heart. Mr. Betterton +offered his Sister a substantial Sum of Money if +she in return would undertake to give You a +comfortable lodging until such time as he himself would +claim You as his Wife. He stipulated that You +should be made comfortable and that no kind of +menial work should ever be put upon You.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mistress Saunderson," he said impressively, +"must be left absolutely free to pursue her Art, +unhampered by any other consideration."</p> +<p class="pnext">Even so, Mistress Euphrosine could not restrain +her malicious tongue, and the whole equitable +arrangement might even then have fallen through but +for your gentleness and quiet determination. +Finally, Mistress Euphrosine gave in. She accepted +the liberal terms which her illustrious Brother was +offering her for your Maintenance, but she reserved +unto herself the right of terminating the Arrangement +at her will and pleasure. Obviously, she meant +to be as disagreeable as she chose; but You had to +have a respectable roof over your head until such +time as You found a Haven under the ægis of your +future Husband's Name.</p> +<p class="pnext">After that, it seemed as if no cloud could ever +come to obscure the Heavens of your happiness. +Nevertheless, it was very soon after that Episode +that I chanced upon You one evening, sitting in the +parlour with the Book of a Play before You, yet +apparently not intent upon reading. When I spoke +your name You started as if out of a Dream and +quickly You put your handkerchief up to your eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">I made no remark then; it would have been +insolence on my part to intrude upon your private +Affairs. But I felt like some faithful cur on the +watch.</p> +<p class="pnext">For awhile dust was thrown in my eyes from the +fact that Mr. Betterton announced to us his +projected trip abroad, at the instance of Sir William +Davenant, who desired him to study the Scenery +and Decorations which it seems were noted +Adjuncts to the Stage over in Paris. If Mr. Betterton +approved of what he saw there, he was to bring +back with him a scheme for such Scenery to be +introduced at the new Theatre in Lincoln's Inn +Fields, which would be a great triumph over +Mr. Killigrew's Management, where no such innovations +had ever been thought of.</p> +<p class="pnext">Naturally, Mr. Betterton, being a Man and an +Artist, was eager and excited over this journey, +which showed what great confidence Sir William +Davenant reposed in his Judgment. This, +methought, accounted for the fact that You, Mistress, +seemed so much more dejected at the prospect of +his Absence than he was. I also was satisfied that +this Absence accounted for your tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fool that I was! I should have guessed!</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton was absent two months, during +which time I oft chanced upon You, dear Mistress, +with a book lying unheeded on your lap and your +dark eyes glistening with unnatural brilliancy. But +I still believed that it was only Mr. Betterton's +Absence that caused this sadness which had of late +fallen over your Spirits. I know that he did not +write often, and I saw—oh! quite involuntarily—that +when his Letters came they were unaccountably short.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, one day—it was in May—seeing You more +than usually depressed, I suggested that as the +weather was so fine we should repair to the Theatre +in Clare Market, and there see Mr. Killigrew's +company enact "The Beggar's Bush," a play in which +Major Mohun was acting the part of <em class="italics">Bellamente</em> +with considerable success.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had I but known what we were destined to see +in that Theatre, I swear to God that I would sooner +have hacked off my right leg than to have taken +You thither. Yet We both started on our way, +oblivious of what lay before Us. Time had long +since gone by when such expeditions had to be done +in secret. You, Mistress, were independent of +Mistress Euphrosine's threats and tantrums, and I had +come to realise that my Employer could nowhere +else in the whole City find a Clerk who would do +so much for such very scanty pay, and that he would +never dismiss me, for fear that he would never again +meet with such a willing Drudge.</p> +<p class="pnext">So, the day being one on which Mr. Baggs and +Mistress Euphrosine were absenting themselves +from home, I persuaded You easily enough to come +with me to the Play.</p> +<p class="pnext">Your spirits had risen of late because you were +expecting Mr. Betterton's home-coming. In fact, +You had received authentic news that he would +probably be back in England within the week.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">At once, when I took my seat in the Gallery +beside you, I noticed the beautiful fair Lady in the +Box, whom I had not seen since that marvellous +day a year ago, when you and I sat together at the +Play. She was more radiantly beautiful than ever +before.</p> +<p class="pnext">Discreet enquiries from my Neighbour elicited +the information that she was the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode, daughter of the Marquis of Sidbury, +and the acknowledged Belle among the Debutantes +of the season. I understood that nothing had been +seen of the Lady for the past year or more, owing +to the grave and lingering illness of her Mother, +during the whole course of which the young Girl +had given up her entire life to the tending of the +Invalid.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now that his Lordship was a Widower, he had +insisted on bringing his Daughter to London so +that she might be brought to the notice of His +Majesty and take her place at Court and in Society, +as it beseemed her rank. That place the Lady +Barbara conquered quickly enough, by her Beauty, her +Charm and her Wit, so much so that I was told that +all the young Gallants in the City were more or less +over head and ears in love with her, but that her +affections had remained steadfastly true to the +friend and companion of her girlhood, the young +Earl of Stour who, in his turn had never swerved +in his Allegiance and had patiently waited for the +day when her duty to her Mother would cease and +her love for him be allowed to have full sway.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this, of course, sounded very pretty and very +romantic; and you, Mistress, gave ungrudging +admiration to the beautiful girl who was the cynosure +of all eyes. She sat in the Box, in the company of +an elderly and distinguished Gentleman, who was +obviously her Father, and of another Man, who +appeared to be a year or two older than herself and +whose likeness of features to her own proclaimed +him to be her Brother. At the rear of the box a +number of brilliant Cavaliers had congregated, who +had obviously come in order to pay court to this +acknowledged Queen of Beauty. Foremost among +these we noticed a tall, handsome young Man whose +noble features looked to me to suggest a somewhat +weak yet obstinate disposition. He was undeniably +handsome: the huge, fair periwig which he wore +lent a certain manly dignity to his countenance. We +quickly came to the conclusion that this must be the +Earl of Stour, for it was obvious that the Lady +Barbara reserved her most welcoming smile and her +kindliest glances for him.</p> +<p class="pnext">The company in the Box kept us vastly amused +for a time, in the intervals of watching the Actors +on the Stage; and I remember that during the +second Act the dialogue in the Play being somewhat +dull, both You and I fell to watching the Lady +Barbara and her throng of Admirers. Suddenly we +noticed that all these Gentlemen gave way as if to a +New-comer who had just entered at the rear of the +Box and was apparently desirous of coming +forward in order to pay his respects. At first we could +not see who the New-comer was, nor did we greatly +care. The next moment, however, he was behind +the Lady Barbara's chair. Anon he stooped +forward in order to whisper something in her ear.</p> +<p class="pnext">And I saw who it was.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the moment, I remember that I felt as if I +were paralysed; either that or crazed. I could not +trust mine eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then I turned my head and looked at You.</p> +<p class="pnext">You too had seen and recognised. For the +moment You did not move, but sat rigid and silent. +Your face had become a shade or two paler and +there was a scarce perceptible tremor of your lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">But that was all. I alone knew that You had +just received a stab in your loving and trusting +Heart, that something had occurred which would +for ever mar the perfect trustfulness of your early +love ... something which you would never forget.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">You sat out the rest of the Play, dear Mistress, +outwardly quite serene. Never, I think, has my +admiration for your Character and for your Worth +been more profound. I believe that I suffered +almost as much as You. I suffered because many +things were made clear to me then that I had ignored +before. Your tears, your many Silences, that look +of trustful happiness now gone from your eyes. I +understood that the Incident was only the +confirmation of what you had suspected long since.</p> +<p class="pnext">But you would not let any one see your heart. +No! not even me, your devoted Bondsman, who +would gladly die to save You from pain. Yet I +could not bring my heart to condemn Mr. Betterton +utterly. I did not believe even then that he had +been unfaithful—led away no doubt by the glamour +of the society Beauty, by the talk and the swagger +of all the idle Gentlemen about town—but not +unfaithful. His was not a Nature to love more than +the once, and he loved You, Mistress—loved You +from the moment that he set eyes on You, from +the moment that he knew your Worth. His fancy +had perhaps been captured by the beautiful Lady +Barbara, his Heart wherein your image was +eternally enshrined, had been momentarily +bewitched by her wiles; but he was not responsible for +these Actions—that I could have sworn even then.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton is above all an Artist, and in my +humble judgment Artists are not to be measured +by ordinary standards. Their mind is more fanciful, +their fancy more roving; they are the Butterflies +of this World, gay to look at and light on the wing.</p> +<p class="pnext">You never told me, Mistress, what course You +adopted after that eventful afternoon; nor would I +have ventured to pry into your secrets. That You +and Mr. Betterton talked the whole matter over, I +make no doubt. I could even tell You, methinks, +on which day the heart to heart talk between You +took place. That there were no Recriminations on +your part I dare aver; also that Mr. Betterton +received his final dismissal on that day with a greater +respect than ever for You in his Heart, and with +deep sorrow weighing upon his Soul.</p> +<p class="pnext">After that, his visits to the house became more +and more infrequent; and at first You would +contrive to be absent when he came. But, as I have +always maintained, his love for You still filled his +innermost Being, even though the Lady Barbara +ruled over his fancy for the time. He longed for +your Presence and for your Friendship, even +though at that time he believed that You had totally +erased his image from your Heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">And so, when he came, and I had perforce to +tell him that You were absent, he would linger on +in the hope that You would return, and he would +go away with a bitter sigh of regret whenever he +had failed to catch a glimpse of You.</p> +<p class="pnext">You never told me in so many Words that you +had definitely broken off your Engagement to +Mr. Betterton, nor do I believe that such was your +intention even then. Mistress Euphrosine certainly +never realised that You were smarting under so +terrible a blow, and she still spoke glibly of your +forthcoming marriage.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was indeed fortunate for You, fortunate for us +all, that both she and Mr. Baggs were too +self-absorbed—he in his Business and she in her Piety—and +too selfish, to be aware of what went on around +them. Their self-absorption left You free to +indulge in the luxury of suffering in silence; and I +was made almost happy at times by an occasional +surreptitious pressure of your Hand, a glance from +your Eyes, telling me that my Understanding and +Sympathy were not wholly unwelcome.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-criminal-folly">CHAPTER III</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">A CRIMINAL FOLLY</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">In June, you made your debut upon the stage, +dear Mistress. Though You only played a small +Part, your Grace and Charm soon won universal +approval. I have so often told You of my feelings, +my hopes, my tremors and my joy on the occasion +when first I saw You upon the boards, that I will +not weary You with the re-telling of them once +again. Securely hidden behind a pillar, I only lived +through the super-acuteness of my Senses, which +drank in your Presence from the moment when You +stepped out from behind the Curtain and revealed +your gracious personality to an admiring Audience.</p> +<p class="pnext">As long as I live, every word which You spoke +on that day will continue to ring in mine ear, and +ere mine eyes close for ever in their last long Sleep, +I shall see your exquisite Image floating dreamlike +before their gaze.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">From that day onward, I saw you more seldom +than I had been wont to do before. Your Success +at the new Theatre had been so pronounced that +Sir William Davenant soon entrusted You with +more important parts. Thus your time was greatly +taken up both with Performances and with +Rehearsals and with the choosing and trying on of +dresses. Of necessity, your work threw you often +in the company of Mr. Betterton, he being the +leading Actor in Sir William's Company, and the most +popular as he was the most eminent of His +Majesty's Well-Beloved Servants. In fact, his +Fame at this time was reaching its Apogee. He +was reckoned one of the Intimates of His Majesty +himself; Gentlemen and Noblemen sought his +company; great Ladies were zealous to win his favours.</p> +<p class="pnext">Needless to say that concurrently with his rise to +pre-eminence, an army of Enemies sprung up +around him. Hungry curs will ever bay at the +moon. Set a cat upon a high post and in a moment +others will congregate down below and spit and +yowl at their more fortunate kind. Scandal and +spite, which had never been so rife as in these days, +fastened themselves like evil tentacles on Mr. Betterton's +fair Name.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was too proud to combat these, and You too +proud to lend an ear to them. You met him now +upon an easy footing of Friendship, of gentle +gratitude as of a successful Pupil towards a kindly +Teacher. To any one who did not know You as I +do, You must at that time have seemed completely +happy. You were independent now, earning a good +salary, paying Mistress Euphrosine liberally for the +lodgings which she placed at your disposal; free to +come and go as You pleased, to receive the visits of +Gentlemen who were desirous of paying their +respects to You. You were, in fact, Mistress +Saunderson, the well-known Actress, who was busy +climbing—and swiftly, too—the Ladder of Fame.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of your proposed Marriage with Mr. Betterton +there was of course no longer any talk. For some +reason best known to herself, and which I myself +never tried to fathom, even Mistress Euphrosine +had ceased to speak of it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Did she, within the depths of her ambitious and +avaricious Heart, harbour the belief that her +Brother would one day wed one of those great +Ladies, who were wont to hang entranced upon his +lips, when he spoke the immortal words of the late +Mr. William Shakespeare or of Mr. John Dryden? +I know not; nor what benefit she would have +derived from it if such an unlikely Event had indeed +taken place.</p> +<p class="pnext">Towards me, she was still frigidly contemptuous. +But as to that, I did not care. I was determined to +endure her worst gibes for the sake of dwelling +under the same roof which still had the privilege +of sheltering You.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was one day early in September—just something +over a year ago, in fact—that my Lord Stour +called at the house of Mr. Theophilus Baggs. I +knew him at once for the Cavalier who was ever in +attendance upon the Lady Barbara Wychwoode and +whom rumour had assigned to her as her future Husband.</p> +<p class="pnext">Frankly, I had never liked him from the first. +I thought him overbearing and arrogant. His +manner towards those who were inferior to him in +station was always one of contempt. And I often +wondered how Mr. Theophilus Baggs, who was an +Attorney of some standing in the City of London, +could endure the cool insolence wherewith young +Gentlemen like my Lord Stour and others were +wont to treat him. Not only that, but he seemed +to derive a sort of gratification from it, and was +wont to repeat—I was almost going to say that he +would boast of—these acts of overbearance to which +he was so often subjected.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Another of the stiff-necked sort," he would say +after he had bowed one of these fine Gentlemen +obsequiously out of his office. "An honest, +God-fearing Man is as dirt beneath the feet of these +Gallants."</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour, of a truth, was no exception to +the rule. I have since been assured that he was +quite kindly and gracious in himself, and that his +faults were those of the Milieu in which he had +been brought up, rather than of himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course, You, dear Mistress, were out of the +house during the whole of that never-to-be-forgotten +day of which I am about to speak, and +therefore knew nothing of the terrible Event which +then occurred and which, in my humble judgment, +completely revolutionized Mr. Betterton's character +for the time being. But Fate had decreed that +I should see it all. Every moment of that awful +afternoon is indelibly graven upon my Memory. I +had, however, neither the Chance nor the Opportunity +to speak to You of it all. At first I did not +think that it would be expedient. The humiliation +which Mr. Betterton was made to endure on that +day was such that I could not bear to speak of it, +least of all to You, who still held him in such high +esteem. And later on, I still thought it best to be +silent. Mr. Betterton and You seemed to have +drifted apart so completely, that I did not feel that +it would do any good to rake up old hurts, and to +submit them to the cruel light of day.</p> +<p class="pnext">But now everything is changed. The Lady +Barbara's influence over Mr. Betterton has gone, +never to return; whilst his Heart once more yearns +for the only true Love which has ever gladdened it.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">My Lord Stour came to call upon Mr. Theophilus +Baggs at three o'clock of the afternoon. Kathleen, +the maid of all work, opened the door to him, and +Mistress Euphrosine received him in the Parlour, +where I was also sitting at my desk, engaged in +copying out a lengthy Indenture.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Master Baggs awaits me, I think," my Lord +said as he entered the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mistress Euphrosine made a deep curtsey, for she +was ever fond of the Aristocracy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you deign to enter, my Lord?" she said. +"My husband will wait upon your pleasure."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell him to be quick, then," said my Lord; "for +I have not a great deal of time to spare."</p> +<p class="pnext">He seated himself beside the table and drew off +his gloves. He had taken absolutely no notice of +my respectful salutation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mistress Euphrosine sailed out of the room and +a moment or two later Mr. Baggs came in, carrying +a sheaf of papers and looking very fussy and +obsequious.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord did not rise to greet him, only turned +his head in his direction and said curtly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are Mr. Theophilus Baggs, Attorney-at-law?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"At your Lordship's service," replied my employer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Brother-in-law of Tom Betterton, the Actor, so +I am told," my Lord went on with quiet condescension.</p> +<p class="pnext">This innocent remark, however, appeared to upset +Mr. Baggs. He stammered and grew as red as a +turkey-cock, not realizing that his connection with +the great Actor was truly an honour upon his Name. +He hemmed and hawed and looked unutterably +foolish, as he mumbled confusedly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Er ... that is ... only occasionally, my +Lord ... very occasionally, I may say +... that is ... I..."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pray calm yourself," broke in my Lord +haughtily. "I admire the fellow's acting ... the +Man himself does not exist for me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are most gracious, my Lord," murmured +Mr. Baggs promptly, whilst I could have struck +him for his obsequiousness and his Lordship for his +arrogance.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seems that the matter which had brought Lord +Stour to Mr. Baggs' office was one of monies +connected with the winding-up of the affairs of the +late Earl, uncle of the present Peer. I was busy +with my work during the time that these affairs +were being discussed and did not pay much heed to +the conversation. Only two fragments thereof +struck mine ear. I remember, chiefly because they +were so characteristic of the two men—the Aristocrat +and the Plebeian—and of the times in which we live.</p> +<p class="pnext">At one time Mr. Baggs ventured to enquire after +the health of the Honourable Mrs. Stourcliffe, his +Lordship's mother; and you should have heard the +tone of frigid pride wherewith my Lord seemed to +repel any such presumptuous enquiries.</p> +<p class="pnext">The other fragment which I overheard was +towards the end of the interview, when Mr. Theophilus +Baggs, having counted over the Money before +his Lordship, placed a Paper before him and +bade me bring him a pen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's this?" queried my Lord, astonished.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" Mr. Baggs stammered, with his habitual +humility of demeanour, "a mere formality, my +Lord ... er ... h'm ... only a ... er +... receipt."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A receipt?" my Lord asked, with an elevation +of his aristocratic brows. "What for?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Er ... er..." Mr. Baggs stammered. +"For the monies, my Lord. That is ... er +... if you will deign to count it over yourself +... and see that it is correct."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this, my Lord rose from his seat, waved me +aside, took and pocketed the money. Then he said +coolly to Mr. Baggs:</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, Sir; I do not care to count. My Uncle +knew You to be honest, or he would not have placed +his affairs in your hands. That is sufficient for +me. I, on the other hand, have received the money.... +That is sufficient for You."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But——!" ejaculated Mr. Baggs, driven out of +his timidity by such summary procedure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Egad, Sir!" broke in my Lord, more haughtily +than before. "Are you perchance supposing that I +might claim money which I have already had?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No ... no!" protested Mr. Baggs hastily. +"I assure you, my Lord ... er ... that it is +... h'm ... a mere formality ... and..."</p> +<p class="pnext">"My word," retorted my Lord coolly, "is +sufficient formality."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon he turned to the door, taking no more +notice of me than if I were the doormat. He +nodded to Mr. Baggs, who was of a truth too deeply +shaken to speak, and with a curt "I wish you +good-day, Mr. Notary!" strode out of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">I doubt not, Mistress, that You and many others +of gentle Manners if not of gentle Birth, would +think that in recounting this brief interview between +my employer and the young Earl of Stour, I have +been guilty of exaggeration in depicting my Lord's +arrogance. Yet, on my word, it all occurred just +as I have told it. No doubt that Mr. Baggs' +obsequiousness must have been irritating, and that it +literally called forth the haughty Retort which +otherwise might have remained unspoken. I +myself, humble and insignificant as I am, have oft felt +an almost uncontrollable impulse to kick my worthy +Employer into some measure of manliness.</p> +<p class="pnext">For let me assure You that, though subsequently +I became more closely acquainted with my Lord +Stour, I never heard him use such haughty +language to any of his Dependents, nor do I think that +so gentle a Lady as Lady Barbara Wychwoode +would have bestowed her fondness and regard upon +him had his Nature been as supercilious and as +insolent as his Words.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">That afternoon was indeed destined to be fuller +of events than I ever could have anticipated. No +sooner had I closed the door upon my Lord Stour, +when I heard footsteps ascending the stairs, and +then my Lord's voice raised once more, this time +with a tone of pleasure mingled with astonishment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wychwoode, by gad!" he exclaimed. "And +what in Heaven's name have you come to do in +the old fox's lair?"</p> +<p class="pnext">I did not hear the immediate reply. More fussy +than ever, Mr. Baggs had already signed to me to +reopen the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lord Douglas Wychwoode," he murmured +hurriedly in my ear. "One of the younger sons of the +Marquis of Sidbury. I am indeed fortunate to-day. +The scions of our great Nobility do seek my help +and counsel..." and more such senseless words +did he utter, whilst the two young Gentlemen paused +for a moment upon the landing, talking with one +another.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought you still in France," Lord Douglas +said to his friend. "What hath brought you home +so unexpectedly?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I only arrived this morning," the other replied; +"and hoped to present my respects this evening, if +your Father and the Lady Barbara will receive me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed, they'll be delighted. <em class="italics">Cela va sans dire</em>, +my friend. My sister has been rather pensive of +late. Your prolonged absence may have had +something to do with her mood."</p> +<p class="pnext">"May you speak the truth there!" my Lord Stour +remarked with a sigh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But now you have not told me," rejoined Lord +Douglas, as he and his friend finally went into the +room and curtly acknowledged Mr. Baggs' reiterated +salutations, "what hath brought you to the house +of this bobbing old Thief yonder."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Private business," replied Lord Stour. "And you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The affairs of England," said the other, and +tossed his head proudly like some young Lion +scenting battle.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before his friend could utter another remark, +Lord Douglas strode rapidly across the room, took +some papers out of the inner pocket of his coat, +and called to Mr. Baggs to come up closer to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want," he said in a quick and peremptory +whisper, "a dozen copies of this Deed done at once +and by a sure hand. Can you do it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I think so," replied Mr. Baggs. "May I +see what the paper is?"</p> +<p class="pnext">I was watching the pair of them; so was my Lord +Stour. On his face there came a sudden frown as +of disapproval and anxiety.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wychwoode——!" he began.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the other did not heed him. His eyes—which +were so like those of his Sister—were fixed with an +eager, questioning gaze upon my Employer. The +latter's face was absolutely expressionless and +inscrutable whilst he scanned the paper which Lord +Douglas, after a scarce perceptible moment of +hesitation, had handed to him for perusal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he said quietly, when he had finished reading. +"It can be done."</p> +<p class="pnext">"At once?" asked Lord Douglas.</p> +<p class="pnext">"At once. Yes, my Lord."</p> +<p class="pnext">"By a sure hand?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Discretion, my Lord," replied Mr. Baggs, with +the first show of dignity I have ever seen him +display, "is a virtue in my profession, the failing in +which would be a lasting disgrace."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I rely even more upon your convictions, +Mr. Baggs," Lord Douglas rejoined earnestly, "than +upon your virtues."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You and your friends, my Lord, have deigned +to talk those matters over with me many a time +before. You and they know that You can count on me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs spoke with more Quietude and +Simplicity than was his wont when dealing with some +of these noble Lords. You may be sure, dear +Mistress, that I was vastly astonished at what I heard, +still more at what I guessed. That Mr. Baggs and +his Spouse belonged to the old Puritan Party which +had deplored the Restoration of the Kingship, I +knew well enough. I knew that both he and +Mistress Euphresine looked with feelings akin to horror +upon a system of Government which had for its +supreme head a King, more than half addicted to +Popery and wholly to fast living, with women, +gambling and drinking all the day. But what I had +never even remotely guessed until now was that he +had already lent a helping hand to those numerous +Organisations, which had for their object the +overthrow of the present loose form of Government, if +not that of the Monarchy itself.</p> +<p class="pnext">I did not know, in fact, that beneath a weak and +obsequious exterior, my Employer hid the stuff of +which dangerous Conspirators are often made.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the nonce, however, I imagine that he +contented himself with writing out Deeds and +Proclamations for the more important Malcontents, of +whom apparently my Lord Douglas Wychwoode +was one. He had never taken me into his +confidence, even though he must have known that he +could always rely upon my Discretion. What +caused him to trust me now more than he had +done before, I do not know. Perhaps he had +come to a final decision to throw in his lot with the +ultra-Protestant party, who viewed with such +marked disfavour the projects of the King's +marriage with the Popish Princess of Portugal. +Certain it is that he came to me without any hesitation +with the Papers which Lord Douglas had just +entrusted to him, and that he at once ordered me to +make the twelve copies which his Lordship desired.</p> +<p class="pnext">I retired within the window-recess which You +know so well, and wherein I am wont to sit at my +copying work. Mr. Baggs then set me to my task, +after which he drew the screen across the recess, +so that I remained hidden from the view of those +who were still in the room. I set to with a Will, for +my task was a heavy one. Twelve copies of a +Manifesto, which in itself covered two long pages.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Manifesto, in truth!</p> +<p class="pnext">I could scarce believe mine eyes as I read the +whole rambling, foolish, hot-headed Rigmarole. +Did I not have the Paper actually in my hand, had +I not seen Lord Douglas Wychwoode handing it +himself over to Mr. Baggs, I could not have believed +that any Men in their sober senses could have lent +a hand to such criminal Folly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Folly it was; and criminal to boot!</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole matter is past History now, and there +can be no harm in my relating it when so much of +it hath long ago been made public.</p> +<p class="pnext">That Manifesto was nothing more or less than an +Appeal to certain Sympathizers to join in one of the +maddest enterprises any man could conceive. It +seems that my Lady Castlemaine's house was to be +kept watched by Parties of these same Conspirators, +until one night when the King paid her one of his +customary evening Visits. Then the signal was to +be given, the House surrounded, my Lady +Castlemaine kidnapped, His Majesty seized and forced to +abdicate in favour of the young Duke of Monmouth, +who would then be proclaimed King of England, +with the Prince of Orange as Regent.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, have you ever heard of anything more +mad? I assure You that I was literally staggered, +and as my Pen went wearily scratching over the +Paper I felt as if I were in a dream, seeing before +me visions of what the end of such a foolish +Scheme would be: the Hangman busy, the Prisons +filled, sorrow and desolation in many homes that +had hoped to find peace at last after the turmoil of +the past twenty years. For the appeals were +directed to well accredited people outside London, +some of whom were connected with the best known +Families in the Country. I must, of course, refrain +from mentioning names that have been allowed to +fall into oblivion in connection with the affair; but +You, dear Mistress, would indeed be astonished if +You heard them now.</p> +<p class="pnext">And what caused me so much worry, whilst I +wrote on till my hand felt cramped and stiff, was +mine own Helplessness in the matter. What could I +do, short of betraying the trust which was reposed +in me?—and this, of course, was unthinkable.</p> +<p class="pnext">I wrote on, feeling ever more dazed and dumb. +From the other side of the screen the Voices of the +two young Gentlemen came at times to mine ear with +unusual clearness, at others only like an intermittent +hum. Mr. Baggs had apparently left the room, and +the others had no doubt become wholly oblivious of +my Presence. Lord Douglas Wychwoode had told +his Friend something of his madcap Schemes; his +voice sounded both eager and enthusiastic. But my +Lord Stour demurred.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am a Soldier," he said at one time; "not a +Politician."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's just it!" the other argued with +earnestness. "It is Men like you that we want. We must +crush that spendthrift Wanton who holds the King +in her thrall, and we must force a dishonoured +Monarch to give up the Crown of England to one +who is worthier to wear it, since he himself, even in +these few brief months, has already covered it with +infamy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have set yourself a difficult task, my +friend," my Lord Stour urged more soberly; "and +a dangerous one, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only difficult and dangerous," retorted Lord +Douglas, "whilst such Men as you still hold aloof."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I tell you, I am no Politician," his Friend +rejoined somewhat impatiently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But You are a Man, and not a senseless +profligate—an earnest Protestant, who must loathe that +cobweb of Popery which overlies the King's every +Action, and blurs his vision of duty and of dignity."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes—but——"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then it was that Lord Douglas, with great +patience and earnestness, gave to his Friend a detailed +account of his criminal Scheme—for criminal it was, +however much it might be disguised under the cloak +of patriotism and religious fervour. How Lord +Stour received the communication, I could not say. +I had ceased to listen and was concentrating my +mind on my uncongenial task. Moreover, I fancy +that Lord Stour did not say much. He must have +disapproved of it, as any right-minded Man would, +and no doubt tried his best to bring Lord Douglas +to a more rational state of mind. But this is mere +conjecture on my part, and, of course, I could not +see his face, which would have been a clear index +to his thoughts. At one time I heard him exclaim +indignantly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely You will not entrust the distribution +of those Manifestos, which may cost you your head, +to that obsequious and mealy-mouthed notary?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs should have heard the contempt +wherewith my Lord uttered those words! It would +have taught him how little regard his servile ways +had won for him, and how much more thoroughly +would he have been respected had he adopted a more +manly bearing towards his Clients, however highly +these may have been placed.</p> +<p class="pnext">After this, Lord Douglas Wychwoode became +even more persuasive and eager. Perhaps he had +noted the first signs of yielding in the Attitude of +his Friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no!" he said. "And that is our serious +trouble. I and those who are at one with me feel +that we are surrounded with spies. We do want a +sure Hand—a Hand that will not err and that we +can trust—to distribute the Manifestos, and, if +possible, to bring us back decisive Answers. Some of +the Men with whom we wish to communicate live +at some considerable distance from town. We only +wish to approach influential people; but some of +these seldom come to London; in fact, with the +exception of the Members of a venal Government and +of a few effete Peers as profligate as the King +himself, but few Men, worthy of the name, do elect to +live in this degenerate City."</p> +<p class="pnext">His talk was somewhat rambling; perhaps I did +not catch all that he said. After awhile Lord Stour +remarked casually:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so You thought of me as your possible Emissary?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was I wrong?" retorted Lord Douglas hotly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, my friend," rejoined the other coldly. "I +am honoured by this trust which You would place +in me; but——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But You refuse?" broke in Lord Douglas with +bitter reproach.</p> +<p class="pnext">I imagine that my Lord Stour's reply must have +been an unsatisfactory one to his Friend, for the +latter uttered an exclamation of supreme impatience. +I heard but little more of their conversation just +then, for the noise in the Street below, which had +been attracting my Attention on and off for some +time, now grew in intensity, and, curious to know +what it portended, I rose from my chair and +leaned out of the window to see what was happening.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the window, as You know, one gets a view +of the corner of our Street as it debouches into Fleet +Street by the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern, and even the +restricted View which I thus had showed me at once +that some kind of rioting was going on. Not +rioting of an ordinary kind, for of a truth we who live +in the heart of the City of London are used to its +many cries; to the "Make way there!" of the Sedan +Chairman and the "Make room there!" of the +Drivers of wheel-barrows, all mingling with the +"Stand up there, you blind dog!" bawled by every +Carman as he tries to squeeze his way through the +throngs in the streets.</p> +<p class="pnext">No! this time it seemed more than that, and I, +who had seen the crowds which filled the Streets of +London from end to end on the occasion of the +death of the Lord Protector, and had seen the +merry-makers who had made those same streets +impassable when King Charles entered London a +little more than a year ago, I soon realized that the +Crowd which I saw flocking both up and down +Fleet Street was in an ugly mood.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first I thought that some of those abominable +vagabonds from Whitefriars—those whom we call +the Alsatians, and who are in perpetual conflict with +the law—had come out in a body from their sink of +iniquity close by and had started one of their +periodical combats with the Sheriffs' Officers; but +soon I recognized some faces familiar to me among +the crowd as they ran past the corner—Men, +Women and Boys who, though of a rough and +turbulent Character, could in no way be confounded +with the law-breaking Alsatians.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was, for instance, the Tinker, whom I +knew well by sight. He was running along, knocking +his skillets and frying-pans against one another +as he passed, shouting lustily the while. Then there +was a sooty chimney-sweep, whom I knew to be an +honest Man, and the broom Men with their Boys, +and many law-abiding Pedestrians who, fearful of +the crowd, were walking in the traffic way, meekly +giving the wall to the more roisterous throng. They +all seemed to be a part of that same Crowd which +was scampering and hurrying up and down Fleet +Street, shouting and causing a disturbance such as +I do not remember ever having seen before.</p> +<p class="pnext">I should have liked to have gazed out of the +Window until I had ascertained positively what the +noise was about; but I remembered that my task +was only half-accomplished and that I had at the +least another half-dozen Manifestos to write out. +I was on the point of sitting down once more to +my Work when I heard Lord Douglas Wychwoode's +voice quite close to the screen, saying +anxiously, as if in answer to some remark made by +his friend:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I trust not. My Sister is out in her chair +somewhere in this neighbourhood, and only with +her two Bearers."</p> +<p class="pnext">Apparently the two Gentlemen's attention had +also been arrested by the tumult. The next moment +Mr. Theophilus Baggs came in, and immediately +they both plied him simultaneously with questions. +"What were those strange cries in the street? Was +there likely to be a riot? What was the cause of +the tumult?" All of which Mr. Baggs felt himself +unable to answer. In the end, he said that he would +walk down to the corner of the Street and ascertain +what was happening.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ensconced within the window recess and hidden +from view by the screen, I soon gave up all attempt +at continuing my work. Somehow, the two +Gentlemen's anxiety about the Lady Barbara had +communicated itself to me. But my thoughts, of course, +were of You. Fortunately for my peace of mind, I +knew that You were safe; at some distance, in fact, +from the scene of the present tumult. Nevertheless, +I had already made up my mind that if the rioting +spread to the neighbouring streets, I would slip out +presently and go as far as Dorset Gardens, where +you were busy at rehearsal, and there wait for you +until you came out of the Theatre, when, if you +were unattended, I could escort you home.</p> +<p class="pnext">I could not myself have explained why the Noise +outside and the obvious rough temper of the People +should have agitated me as they undoubtedly did.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anon, Mr. Baggs returned with a veritable sackful of news.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is a great tumult all down the +neighbourhood," said he, "because Lady Castlemaine is +even now at the India House drinking tea, and a lot +of rowdy folk have made up their minds to give her +a rough welcome when she comes out. She is not +popular just now, my Lady Castlemaine," +Mr. Baggs continued complacently, as he gave a look of +understanding to Lord Douglas Wychwoode, +"And I fancy that she will experience an +unpleasant quarter of an hour presently."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, surely," protested my Lord Stour, "a +whole mob will not be allowed to attack a +defenceless woman, however unpopular she may be!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, as to that," rejoined Mr. Baggs with an +indifferent shrug of the shoulders, "a London mob +is not like to be squeamish when its temper is +aroused; and just now, when work is scarce and +food very dear, the sight of her Ladyship's gorgeous +liveries are apt to exasperate those who have an +empty stomach."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what will they do to her?" urged my +Lord, whose manly feelings were evidently +outraged at the prospect of seeing any Woman a prey +to an angry rabble.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That I cannot tell you, my Lord," replied +Mr. Baggs. "The crowd hath several ways of showing +its displeasure. You know, when a Frenchman or +some other Foreigner shows his face in the Streets +of London, how soon he becomes the butt of passing +missiles. The sweep will leave a sooty imprint upon +his coat; a baker's basket will cover him with dust; +at every hackney-coach stand, some facetious +coachman will puff the froth of his beer into his face. +Well! you may draw your own conclusions, my +Lord, as to what will happen anon, when my Lady +Castlemaine hath finished drinking her dish of tea!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely no one would treat a Lady so?" once +more ejaculated my Lord Stour hotly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps not," retorted Mr. Baggs drily. "But +then you, see, my Lord, Lady Castlemaine is +... Well; she is Lady Castlemaine ... and at the +corner of our street just now I heard murmurs of +the Pillory or even worse for her——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But this is monstrous—infamous——!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And will be well deserved," here broke in Lord +Douglas decisively. "Fie on You, Friend, to worry +over that baggage, whilst we are still in doubt if +my Sister be safe."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes!" murmured Lord Stour, with a sudden +note of deep solicitude in his voice. "My God! I +was forgetting!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He ran to the window—the one next to the recess +where I still remained ensconced—threw open the +casement and gazed out even more anxiously than I +had been doing all along. Mr. Baggs in the +meanwhile endeavoured to reassure Lord Douglas.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If," he said, "her Ladyship knows that your +Lordship hath come here to visit me, she may seek +shelter under my humble roof."</p> +<p class="pnext">"God grant that she may!" rejoined the young +Man fervently.</p> +<p class="pnext">We all were on tenterhooks, I as much as the +others; and we all gazed out agitatedly in the +direction of Fleet Street. Then, all at once, my Lord +Stour gave a cry of relief.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's the chaise!" he exclaimed. "It has +just turned the corner of this street.... +No! not that way, Douglas ... on your right.... +That is Lady Barbara's chaise, is it not?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, it is!" ejaculated the other. "Thank +Heaven, her man Pyncheon has had the good +sense to bring her here. Quick, Mr. Notary!" he +added. "The door!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment a Sedan chair borne by two +men in handsome liveries of blue and silver came +to a halt just below. Already Mr. Baggs had +hurried down the stairs. He would, I know, yield to no +one in the privilege of being the first to make the +Lady Barbara welcome in his House. The +Excitement and Anxiety were momentarily over, and I +could view quite composedly from above the +beautiful Lady Barbara as she stepped out of her Chair, a +little flurried obviously, for she clasped and +unclasped her cloak with a nervy, trembling hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">A second or two later, I heard her high-heeled +shoes pattering up the stairs, whilst her Men with +the Chair sought refuge in a quiet tavern higher up +in Chancery Lane.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="more-than-a-passing-fancy">CHAPTER IV</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">MORE THAN A PASSING FANCY</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I would that You, fair Mistress, had seen the +Lady Barbara Wychwoode as I beheld her on that +never-to-be-forgotten afternoon, her Cheeks of a +delicate pallor, her golden Hair slightly disarranged, +her Lips trembling with excitement. You, who are +so inexpressibly beautiful, would have been generous +enough to give ungrudging Admiration to what was +so passing fair.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was panting a little, for obviously she had +been scared, and clung to her Brother as if for +protection. But I noticed that directly she entered the +room her Eyes encountered those of my Lord Stour, +and that at sight of him a happy smile at once +over-spread and illumined her Face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am so thankful, Douglas, dear," she said, +"that Pyncheon happened to know you were here. +He also knew the way to Mr. Baggs' house, and as +soon as he realized that the crowd in Fleet Street +was no ordinary one, he literally took to his heels +and brought me along here in amazingly quick time. +But, oh!" she added lightly, "I can tell You that I +was scared. My heart went thumping and I have +not yet recovered my breath."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her cheeks now had become suffused with a blush +and her blue eyes sparkled, more with excitement +than fear, I imagined. Certain it is that her Beauty +was enhanced thereby. But Lord Douglas, with a +Brother's privilege, shrugged his shoulders and said +with a show of banter:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Methinks, Babs, dear, that your heart hath +chiefly gone a-thumping because you are surprised +at finding Stour here."</p> +<p class="pnext">She gave a gay little laugh—the laugh of one who +is sure of Love and of Happiness; the same laugh, +dear Mistress, for which I have hearkened of late +in vain from You.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I only arrived in London this morning," my +Lord Stour explained.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And hastened to pay your respects to the law +rather than to me," Lady Barbara taunted him +lightly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would not have ventured to present myself at +this hour," he rejoined. "And, apparently, would +have found the Lady Barbara from home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So a beneficent Fairy whispered to You to go +and see Mr. Notary, and thus arranged everything +for the best."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The beneficent Fairy had her work cut out, +then," Lord Douglas remarked, somewhat +impatiently, I thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you mean?" she retorted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why," said he, "in order to secure this tryst, +the beneficient Fairy had first to bring me hither as +well as Stour, and Lady Castlemaine to the India +House. Then she had to inflame the temper of a +whole Crowd of Roisterers sufficiently to cause the +worthy Pyncheon to take to his heels, with you in +the chair. In fact, the good Fairy must have been +to endless trouble to arrange this meeting 'twixt +Lady Barbara and her Lover, when but a few hours +later that same meeting would have come about quite +naturally."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, then!" she riposted with perfect good +humour, "let us call it a happy Coincidence, and +say no more about it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Even then her Brother uttered an angry exclamation. +He appeared irritated by the placidity and +good humour of the others. His nerves were +evidently on edge, and while my Lord Stour, with the +egoism peculiar to Lovers, became absorbed in +whispering sweet nothings in Lady Barbara's ears, +Lord Douglas took to pacing up and down the Room +like some impatient Animal.</p> +<p class="pnext">I watched the three of them with ever-growing +interest. Being very sensitive to outward influences, +I was suddenly obsessed with the feeling that +through some means or other these three Persons, so +far above me in station, would somehow become +intermixed with my Life, and that it had suddenly +become my Duty to watch them and to listen to what +they were saying.</p> +<p class="pnext">I had no desire to pry upon them, of course; so +I pray You do not misunderstand nor condemn me +for thus remaining hidden behind the screen and for +not betraying my Presence to them all. Certainly my +Lord Stour and Lord Douglas Wychwoode had +known at one time that I was in the Room. They +had seen me installed in the window-recess, with +the treasonable Manifestos which I had been set to +copy. But since then the two Gentlemen had +obviously become wholly oblivious of my Presence, +and the Lady Barbara did not of course even know +of my Existence, whilst I did not feel disposed to +reveal myself to any of them just yet.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Lord Douglas, thereafter, was for braving the +Rioters and for returning home. But Lady +Barbara and Lord Stour, feeling happy in one another's +Company, were quite content to bide for a time +under Mr. Baggs' sheltering roof.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You must have patience, Douglas," she said to +her Brother. "I assure you that the Streets are +not safe. Some rowdy Folk have set themselves to +attacking every chair they see and tearing the gold +and silver lace from the Chairmen's liveries. Even +the side-streets are thronged. Pyncheon will tell +you of the difficulty he had in bringing me here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But we cannot wait until night!" Lord Douglas +urged impatiently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No!" said she. "Only an hour or two. As +soon as the people have seen Lady Castlemaine and +have vented their wrath on her, they will begin to +disperse, chiefly into the neighbouring Taverns, and +then we can slip quietly away."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Or else," broke in Lord Stour hotly, "surely +the watchmen will come anon and disperse that +rabble ere it vents its spite upon a defenceless +Woman!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A defenceless Woman, you call her, my Lord?" +Lady Barbara retorted reproachfully. "She is the +most dangerous Enemy England hath at this +moment!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are severe, Lady Barbara——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Severe!" she exclaimed, with a vehement tone +of resentment. "Ah! you have been absent, my +Lord. You do not know—You do not understand! +Over abroad You did not realise the Misery, the +Famine, that is stalking our land. Money that +should be spent on reclaiming our Industries, which +have suffered through twenty years of civil strife, +or in helping the poor to tide over these years of +lean Harvests, is being lavished by an irresponsible +Monarch upon a greedy Wanton, who——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She paused, recalled to herself by the stern voice +of her Brother. She had allowed her Indignation +to master her maidenly reserve. Her cheeks were +aflame now, her lips quivering with Passion. Of a +truth, she was a Woman to be admired, for, unlike +most of her sex, she had profound feelings of +Patriotism and of Charity; she had valour, +enthusiasm, temperament, and was not ashamed to speak +what was in her mind. I watched my Lord Stour +while she spoke, and saw how deeply he worshipped +her. Now she encountered his Gaze, and heavy +tears came into her Eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, my Lord," she said gently, "you will see +sadder sights in the Streets of London to-day than +ever you did in the Wars after the fiercest Battles."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis no use appealing to him, Babs," Lord +Douglas interposed with obvious exacerbation. "A +moment ago I told him of our Plans. I begged him +to lend us his sword and his hand to strike a blow +at the Profligacy and Wantonness which is sending +England to perdition worse than ever before——"</p> +<p class="pnext">Lady Barbara turned great, reproachful eyes on +my Lord.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And you refused?" she whispered.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord looked confused. All at once, I knew +that he was already wavering. A weak Man, +perhaps; he was deeply, desperately enamoured. I +gathered that he had not seen the Lady Barbara for +some months. No doubt his Soul hungered for her +Smiles. He was the sort of Man, methinks, who +would barter everything—even Honour—for the +Woman he loved. And I do not think that he cared +for much beyond that. His Father, an you +remember, fought on the Parliament side. I do not say +that he was one of the Regicides, but he did not +raise a finger to help or to serve his King. And he +had been a rigid Protestant. All the Stourcliffes of +Stour were that; and the present Earl's allegiance to +King Charles could only have been very perfunctory. +Besides which, this is the age of Conspiracies +and of political Factions. I doubt not but it will be +another twenty years before the Country is really +satisfied with its form of Government. I +myself—though God knows I am but a humble Clerk—could +wish that this Popish marriage for the King had +not been decided on. We do not want religious +factions warring with one another again.</p> +<p class="pnext">But all this is beside the mark, nor would I dwell +on it save for my desire to be, above all, just to these +three People who were destined to do the Man I +love best in the world an irreparable injury.</p> +<p class="pnext">As I said before, I could see that my Lord Stour +was hesitating. Now Lady Barbara invited him to +sit beside her upon the Sofa, and she began talking +to him quietly and earnestly, Lord Douglas only +putting in a word or so now and again. What they +said hath little to do with the portent of my +Narrative, nor will I plague You with the telling of it. +Those people are nothing to You; they have nothing +to do with humble Plebeians like ourselves; they are +a class apart, and we should never mix ourselves up +with them or their affairs, as Mr. Betterton hath +since learned to his hurt.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">While they were talking together, the three of +them, I tried once more to concentrate my mind +upon my work, and finished off another two or three +copies of the treasonable Manifesto.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this while, you must remember that the noise +and rowdiness in the streets had in no way +diminished. Rather had it grown in intensity. The +people whom I watched from time to time and saw +darting down Chancery Lane or across the corner +of Fleet Street, looked more excited, more bent on +mischief, than before. I had seen a few stones +flying about, and once or twice heard the ominous +crash of broken glass.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then suddenly there came an immense Cry, which +was not unlike the snarling of hundreds of angry +Beasts. I knew what that meant. My Lady Castlemaine +was either on the point of quitting the India +House or had been otherwise spied by the Populace. +I could no longer restrain my Curiosity. Once more +I cast my papers aside and leaned out of the window. +The shouting and booing had become more and more +ominous. Apparently, too, a company of the City +Watchmen had arrived. They were trying to force +through the throng, and their calls of "Make way +there!" sounded more and more peremptory. But +what was a handful of Watchmen beside an excited +crowd of Rioters determined to wreak their temper +upon an unpopular bit of baggage? I doubt not but +that His Majesty's Body-guard could alone restore +order now and compass the safety of the Lady.</p> +<p class="pnext">As I leaned out of the Window I could see stones +and miscellaneous missiles flying in every direction; +and then suddenly I had a clear vision of a gorgeous +Sedan Chair escorted by a dozen or more City +Watchmen, who were trying to forge a way for it +through the Crowd. They were trying to reach the +corner of our Street, hoping no doubt to turn up +this way and thus effect an escape by way of the +Lower Lincoln's Inn Fields and Drury Lane, while +the Crowd would of necessity be kept back through +the narrowness of the Streets and the intricacies of +the Alleys.</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole point now was whether the Chairmen +could reach our corner before the Roisterers had +succeeded in beating back the Watchmen, when of +course they meant to tear Lady Castlemaine out of +her chair. Poor, wretched Woman! She must +have been terribly frightened. I know that I +myself felt woefully agitated. Leaning out toward the +street, I could see Lady Barbara's pretty head at +the next window and my Lord Stour and Lord +Douglas close beside her. They too had forgotten all +about their talk and their plans and Conspiracies, +and were gazing out on the exciting Spectacle with +mixed feelings, I make no doubt. As for me, I feel +quite sure that but for my sense of utter helplessness, +I should have rushed out even then and tried +to lend a hand in helping an unfortunate Woman out +of so terrible a Predicament, and I marvelled how +deep must have been the hatred for her, felt by +Gentlemen like my Lord Stour and Lord Douglas +Wychwoode, that their Sense of Chivalry forsook +them so completely at this Hour, that neither of +them attempted to run to her aid or even suggested +that she should find shelter in this House.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Mr. Baggs, he was not merely idly curious; +he was delighted at the idea that my Lady +Castlemaine should be maltreated by the mob; whilst +Mistress Euphrosine's one idea was the hope that +if the Rioters meant to murder the Baggage, they +would not do so outside this door. She and +Mr. Baggs had come running into the Parlour the +moment the rioting reached its height, and of a truth, +dear Mistress, you would have been amused to see +us all at the three front windows of the house—three +groups watching the distant and wildly exciting +happenings in Fleet Street. There was I at one +window; Mr. and Mrs. Baggs at the other; Lady +Barbara and the two Gallants at the third. And the +ejaculations which came from one set of Watchers +or the other would fill several pages of my narrative.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mistress Euphrosine was in abject fear. "Oh! +I hope," cried she now and again, "that they won't +come this way. There'll be murder upon our doorstep!"</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour had just one revulsion of feeling +in favour of the unfortunate Castlemaine. "Come, +Douglas!" he called at one time. "Let's to her aid. +Remember she is a Woman, after all!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Lady Barbara placed a restraining hand upon +his arm, and Lord Douglas said with a rough laugh: +"I would not lift a finger to defend her. Let the +Devil befriend her, an he list."</p> +<p class="pnext">And all the while the mob hissed and hooted, and +stones flew like hail all around the Chaise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! they'll murder her! They'll murder her!" +called Mistress Euphrosine piously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And save honest men a vast deal of trouble +thereby," Mr. Baggs concluded sententiously.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Watchmen were now forging ahead. With +their sticks and staves they fought their way through +bravely, heading the chair towards our street. But +even so, methought that they stood but little Chance +of saving my Lady Castlemaine in the end. The +Crowd had guessed their purpose already, and were +quite ready to give Chase. The Chairmen with their +heavy burden could be no match against them in a +Race, and the final capture of the unfortunate +Woman was only now a question of time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then suddenly I gave a gasp. Of a truth I could +scarce believe in what I saw. Let me try and put +the picture clearly before you, dear Mistress; for in +truth You would have loved to see it as I did then. +About half a dozen Watchmen had by great exertion +succeeded in turning the corner of our Street. They +were heading towards us with only a comparatively +small knot of roisterers to contend against, and the +panting, struggling Chairmen with the Sedan Chair +were immediately behind them.</p> +<p class="pnext">As far as I could see, the Crowd had not +expected this Manoeuvre, and the sudden turning off +of their prey at right angles disconcerted the +foremost among them, for the space of a second or two. +This gave the Chairmen a brief start up the street. +But the very next moment the Crowd realized the +situation, and with a wild war-cry, turned to give +Chase, when a Man suddenly stepped out from +nowhere in particular that I could see, unless it was +from the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern, and stood at the +bottom of the street between two posts, all alone, +facing the mob.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Appearance, I imagine, had been so +unexpected as well as so sudden, that the young +Roisterers in the front of the Crowd paused—like a +Crowd always will when something totally +unexpected doth occur. The Man, of course, had his +back towards us, but I had recognized him, nor was +I surprised that his Appearance did have the effect +of checking for an instant that spirit of Mischief +which was animating the throng. Lady Barbara +and the young Gentlemen at the other window were +even more astonished than I at this wholly +unforeseen occurrence. They could not understand the +sudden checking of the Rioters and the comparative +silence which fell upon the forefront of their ranks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What does it all mean?" my Lord Stour exclaimed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A Man between the chair and its pursuers," +Lord Douglas said in amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who is it?" queried Lady Barbara.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a Gentleman," rejoined Lord Douglas; +"for he would not thus stop to parley with so foul +a mob. Meseems I know the figure," he added, and +leaned still further out of the window, the better +to take in the whole of the amazing scene. "Yes—by +gad! ... It is..."</p> +<p class="pnext">Here Mistress Euphrosine's cry of horror broke +in upon us all.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Alas!" she ejaculated piously. "'Tis that +reprobate Brother of mine!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"So it is!" added Mr. Baggs drily. "'Tis meet +he should raise his voice in defence of that baggage."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, who is it?" insisted my Lord Stour impatiently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Betterton the Actor," replied Lord +Douglas with a laugh. "Do you not know him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only from seeing him on the stage," said the +other. Then he added: "An Actor confronting a +mob! By gad! the fellow hath pluck!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He knows," protested Mr. Baggs acidly, "that +the mob will not hurt him. He hath so oft made +them laugh that they look upon him as one of themselves."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Listen!" said Lady Barbara. "You can hear +him speak quite plainly."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon they all became silent.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this, of course, had occurred in far less time +than it takes to describe. Not more than a few +seconds had gone by since first I saw Mr. Betterton +step out from Nowhere in particular into the Street. +But his Interposition had given my Lady +Castlemaine's Chairmen and also the Watchmen, who were +guarding her, a distinct advance. They were +making the most of the respite by hurrying up our street +as fast as they were able, even while the Crowd—that +portion of it that stood nearest to Mr. Betterton +and could hear his Voice—broke into a loud laugh at +some Sally of his which had apparently caught their +Fancy.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the distance the cry was raised: "To the +pillory, the Castlemaine!"</p> +<p class="pnext">It was at this point that my Lady Barbara bade +every one to listen, so that we all could hear +Mr. Betterton's rich and powerful Voice quite plainly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come, come, Friends!" he was saying; "the +Lady will get there without your help some day, +I'll warrant. Aye! and further too, an the Devil +gives her her due! Now, now," he continued, when +cries and murmurs, boos and hisses, strove to +interrupt him. "You are not going to hiss a +hard-working Actor off the Stage like this. Do, in the +name of Sport, which every sound-minded Englishman +loves, after all, await a fitter opportunity for +molesting a defenceless Woman. What say You to +adjourning to the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern, where mine +Host hath just opened a new cask of the most +delicious beer You have ever tasted? There's a +large room at the back of the bar—You know it. +Well! every one who goes there now—and there's +room for three or four hundred of You—can drink +a pint of that beer at my expense. What say You, +Friends? Is it not better than to give chase to a +pack of Watchmen and a pair of liveried Chairmen +who are already as scared as rabbits? See! they +are fast disappearing up the street. Come! who +will take a pint of beer at the invitation of Tom +Betterton? You know him! Is he not a jolly, +good fellow?..."</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course, he did not deliver this speech +uninterruptedly. It was only snatches of it that came to +our ear. But we Listeners soon caught the drift of +it, and watched its reception by the Crowd. Well! the +Fire-eaters gradually cooled down. The +prospect of the ale at the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> caused many a +smack of the lips, which in its turn smothered the +cries of Rage and Vituperation. Anon, One could +perceive one forearm after another drawn with +anticipatory Pleasure across lips that had ceased to +boo.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just then, too, Heaven interposed in a conciliatory +spirit in the form of a few drops of heavy Rain, +presaging a Storm. The next moment the stampede +in the direction of the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern had +begun, whilst my Lady Castlemaine's Chairmen +trudged unmolested past our door.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour gave a loud laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Twas well thought on," he exclaimed. "The +Mountebank hath found a way to stop the Rabble's +howls, whilst my Lady Baggage finds safety in +flight."</p> +<p class="pnext">But Lady Barbara added thoughtfully: "Methinks +'twas plucky to try and defend a Woman +single-handed."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I watched the turbulent throng, filing now in +orderly procession through the hospitably open +doors of the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern. Mr. Betterton +remained for awhile standing at the door, marshalling +the more obstreperous of his invited Guests and +parleying with Mr. Barraclough, the Host of the +<em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em>—no doubt making arrangements for +the quenching of three or four hundred thirsts at his +expense. Then he suddenly turned on his heel and +came up the Street. Lord Douglas gave one of his +rough, grating laughs, and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"So now I see that, like a wise man, Mr. Betterton +mistrusts his Popularity and proposes to seek +refuge from his ebullient Friends."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I believe," said Mistress Euphrosine to her Lord +in an awed whisper; "I believe that Thomas is +coming here."</p> +<p class="pnext">Which possibility greatly disconcerted Mr. Baggs. +He became quite agitated, and exclaimed fussily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll not have him here ... I'll not ... Not +while her Ladyship is here ... I'll not allow it!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And pray why not, Mr. Notary?" Lady Barbara +put in haughtily. "Mr. Betterton sups twice +a week with His Majesty. Surely then you may +invite him without shame under your roof!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I've never seen the great Actor close to," +remarked Lord Stour lightly. "I've oft marvelled +what he was like in private life."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" said Lord Douglas, with a distinct note +of acerbity in his voice, "he is just like any other +Fellow of his degree. These Mountebanks have of +late thought themselves Somebodies, just because 'tis +the fashion for Gentlemen to write plays and to go +to the Theatre. My Lord Rochester, Sir George +Etherege and the others have so spoilt them by going +about constantly with them, that the Fellows scarce +know their place now. This man Betterton is the +worst of the lot. He makes love to the Ladies of the +Court, forgets that he is naught but a Rogue and a +Vagabond and not worthy to be seen in the company +of Gentlemen. Oh! I've oft had an itching to lay a +stick across the shoulders of some of these louts!"</p> +<p class="pnext">I would that I could convey to you, dear +Mistress, the tone of Spite wherewith Lord Douglas +spoke at this moment, or the look of Contempt +which for the moment quite disfigured his +good-looking Face. That he had been made aware at +some time of Mr. Betterton's admiration for Lady +Barbara became at once apparent to me, also that +he looked upon that admiration as a Presumption +and an Insult.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was confirmed in this Supposition by the look +which he gave then and there to his Sister, a look +which caused her to blush to the very roots of her +hair. I fancy, too, that he also whispered +something on that Subject to my Lord Stour, for a dark +frown of Anger suddenly appeared upon the latter's +Face and he muttered an angry and rough Ejaculation.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for me, I am an humble Clerk, a peaceful +Citizen and a practising Christian; but just at that +moment I felt that I hated Lord Douglas Wychwoode +and his Friend with a bitter and undying +hatred.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Meseemed as if the air within the room had +become surcharged with a subtle and heady fluid akin +to an Intoxicant, so many Passions were even then +warring in the innermost hearts of us all. There +was Hatred and Spite, and Fervour and Love. We +were all of us alive at that moment, if You know +what I mean. We were Individuals who felt and +thought individually and strongly; not just the mere +sheeplike Creatures swayed hither and thither by the +Modes and Exigencies of the hour. And I can +assure you that even then, when we heard +Mr. Betterton's quick step ascending the stairs, we all +held our breath and watched the door as if +something Supernatural was about to be revealed to us.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment that door was thrown open and +Mr. Betterton appeared upon the threshold.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ah! if only You had seen him then, Mistress, +your heart would have rejoiced, just as mine did, at +the sight. Personally, I could never tell You if +Mr. Betterton is tall or short, handsome or +ill-favoured; all that I know is that when he is in a +room you cannot look at any one else; he seems to +dwarf every other Man by the Picturesqueness of +his Personality.</p> +<p class="pnext">And now—oh! You should have seen him as he +stood there, framed in the doorway, the grey +afternoon light of this dull September day falling full +upon his Face, with those glittering Eyes of his and +the kindly, firm Mouth, round which there slowly +began to spread a gently mocking Smile. He was +richly dressed, as was his wont, with priceless lace +frills at throat and wrists, and his huge Periwig +set off to perfection the nobility of his brow.</p> +<p class="pnext">With one swift gaze round the room, he had taken +in the full Situation. You know yourself, dear +Mistress, what marvellous Powers of Intuition he has. +His glance swept over Lady Barbara's exquisite +comeliness, her somewhat flurried mien and wide, +inquisitive eyes; over Lord Douglas, sullen and +contemptuous; my Lord Stour, wrathful and +suspicious; Mistress Euphrosine and Mr. Baggs, servile +and tremulous. I doubt not that his keen Eyes had +also spied me watching his every Movement from +behind the screen.</p> +<p class="pnext">The mocking Smile broadened upon his Face. +With one shapely leg extended forward, his right +arm holding his hat, his arm executing a superb +flourish, he swept to the assembled Company an +elaborate Bow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lords, your servant," he said. Then bowed +more gravely to Lady Barbara and added, with a +tone of subtle and flattering deference: "I am, as +always, your Ladyship's most humble and most +devoted Slave."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon her Ladyship swept him one of those +graceful Curtsies which I understand have become +the Mode in fashionable Society of late. But the +young Gentlemen seemed to have lost count of their +Manners. They were either too wrathful or too +much taken aback to speak. Mistress Euphrosine, +with her nose in the air, was preparing to sail +majestically out of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton then stepped in. He threw down +his hat and playfully made pretence to intercept +Mistress Euphrosine.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sister, I do entreat You," he said with mock +concern, "do not carry your well-shaped nose so +high. The scent of Heaven will not reach your +nostrils, try how you may.... 'Tis more likely +that you will smell the brimstone which clings to +my perruque."</p> +<p class="pnext">And before Mistress Euphrosine had time to think +of a retort, he had turned to her Ladyship with that +gentle air of deference which became him so well.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How comes it," he asked, "that I have the +privilege of meeting your Ladyship here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A mere accident, Sir," my Lord Stour +interposed, somewhat high-handedly I thought. "Her +Ladyship, fearing to be molested by the Crowd, +came to meet Lord Douglas here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I understand," murmured Mr. Betterton. And +I who knew him so well, realized that just for the +moment he understood nothing save that he was in +the presence of this exquisitely beautiful Woman +who had enchained his Fancy. He stood like one +transfixed, his eyes fastened almost in wonderment +upon the graceful Apparition before him. I should +not be exaggerating, fair Mistress, if I said that he +seemed literally to be drinking in every line of her +dainty Figure; the straight, white throat, the +damask cheek and soft, fair hair, slightly disarranged. +He had of a truth lost consciousness of his +surroundings, and this to such an extent that it +apparently set my Lord Stour's nerves on edge; for +anon he said with evident Irritation and a total +Disregard both of polite Usage and of Truth, since +of course he knew quite well to whom he was +speaking:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did not catch your name, Sir; though you +seem acquainted with her Ladyship."</p> +<p class="pnext">He had to repeat the Query twice, and with +haughty impatience, before Mr. Betterton descended +from the Clouds in order to reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My name is Betterton, Sir," he said, no less +curtly than my lord.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Betterton? Ah, yes!" his Lordship went on, +with what I thought was studied Insolence, seeing +that he was addressing one of the most famous +Men in England. "I have heard the Name before +... but where, I cannot remember.... Let +me see, you are...?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"An Actor, Sir," Mr. Betterton gave haughty +answer. "Therefore an Artist, even though an +humble one; but still a World contained in one Man."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then his manner changed, the stiffness and pride +went out of it and he added in his more habitual +mode of good-natured banter, whilst pointing in the +direction of Mistress Euphrosine:</p> +<p class="pnext">"That, however, is not, I imagine, the opinion +which my worthy Sister—a pious Lady, Sir—hath +of my talents. She only concedes me a Soul when +she gloats over the idea that it shall be damned."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are insolent!" quoth Mistress Euphrosine, +as she stalked majestically to the door. "And I'll +not stay longer to hear you blaspheme."</p> +<p class="pnext">Even so, her Brother's lightly mocking ripple of +Laughter pursued her along the course of her +dignified exit through the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, dear Sister," he said. "Why not stay +and tell these noble Gentlemen your doubts as to +which half of me in the hereafter will be stoking the +Fires of Hell and which half be wriggling in the +Flames?" Then he added, turning gaily once more +to the Visitors as Mistress Euphrosine finally +departed and banged the door to behind her: +"Mistress Baggs, Sir, is much troubled that she cannot +quite make up her mind how much of me is Devil +and how much a lost Soul."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of a surety, Sir," retorted Lord Douglas, with +the same tone of malicious Spite wherewith he had +originally spoken of Mr. Betterton, "every +Gentleman is bound to share your worthy Sister's doubts +on that point ... and as to whether your right +Hand or your sharp Tongue will fizzle first down below."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a moment's silence in the room—oh! the +mere fraction of a second—whilst I, who knew +every line of Mr. Betterton's face, saw the quick +flash of Anger which darted from his eyes at the +insolent speech. Lady Barbara too had made an +instinctive movement, whether towards him in +protection or towards her Brother in reproach, I could +not say. Certain it is that that Movement chased +away in one instant Mr. Betterton's flaming wrath. +He shrugged his shoulders and retorted with quiet +Mockery:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Lordship, I feel sure, will be able to have +those doubts set at rest presently. I understand that +vast intelligence will be granted to Gentlemen down +there."</p> +<p class="pnext">At once my Lord's hand went to his sword.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Insolent!—" he muttered; and my Lord Stour +immediately stepped to his Friend's side.</p> +<p class="pnext">Like the Fleet Street crowd awhile ago, these two +Gentlemen meant mischief. For some reason which +was not far to seek, they were on the verge of a +Quarrel with Mr. Betterton—nay! I believe that +they meant to provoke him into one. In wordy +Warfare, however, they did not stand much chance +against the great Actor's caustic Wit, and no doubt +their sense of Impotence made them all the more +wrathful and quarrelsome.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs, of course, servile and obsequious as +was his wont, was ready enough to interpose. A +Quarrel inside his house, between valued Clients and +his detested Brother-in-law, was not at all to his +liking.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lords ..." he mumbled half-incoherently, +"I implore you ... do not heed him ... he..."</p> +<p class="pnext">His futile attempts at Conciliation tickled +Mr. Betterton's sense of humour. The last vestige of +his Anger vanished in a mocking Smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, good Master Theophilus," he said coolly, +"prithee do not interfere between me and the Wrath +of these two Gentlemen. Attend to thine own +Affairs ... and to thine own Conspiracies," he +added—spoke suddenly under Mr. Baggs' very nose, +so that the latter gave a jump and involuntarily +gasped:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Conspiracies? ... What—what the devil do +you mean, Sir, by Conspiracies?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, nothing—nothing—my good Friend," +replied Mr. Betterton lightly. "But when I see two +hot-headed young Cavaliers in close conversation +with a seedy Lawyer, I know that somewhere in the +pocket of one of them there is a bit of Handwriting +that may send the lot of them to the Tower first +and to—well!—to Heaven afterwards."</p> +<p class="pnext">My Heart was in my Mouth all the time that he +spoke. Of course he could not know how near the +Truth he was, and I firmly believe that his banter +was a mere Arrow shot into the air; but even so it +grazed these noble Lords' equanimity. Lord +Douglas had become very pale, and my Lord Stour +looked troubled, or was it my fancy? But I am +sure that her Ladyship's blue eyes rested on +Mr. Betterton with a curious searching gaze. She too +wondered how much Knowledge of the Truth lay +behind his easy Sarcasm.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Lord Douglas broke into a laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, for once, Sir Actor," he said lightly, +"your perspicacity is at fault. My Lord the Earl +of Stour and I came to consult your Brother-in-law +on a matter of business."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And," exclaimed Mr. Betterton with mock +concern, "I am detaining you with my foolish talk. I +pray you, Gentlemen, take no further heed of me. +Time treads hard on your aristocratic Heels, whilst +it is the Slave of a poor, shiftless Actor like myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes," once more interposed the mealy-mouthed +Mr. Baggs. "I pray you, my Lords—your +Ladyship—to come to my inner office——"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a general movement amongst the +Company, during which I distinctly heard Lord +Douglas Wychwoode whisper to my Lord Stour:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can you wonder that I always long to lay a +stick across that Man's shoulders? His every word +sounds like insolence ... And he has dared to +make love to Barbara...."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her Ladyship, however, seemed loth to linger. +The hour, of a truth, was getting late.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Father will be anxious," she said. "I have +stayed out over long."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are the streets safe, I wonder?" my Lord Stour +remarked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perfectly," broke in Mr. Betterton. "And if +her Ladyship will allow me, I will conduct her to +her Chair."</p> +<p class="pnext">Again my Lord Stour flashed out angrily, and +once more the brooding Quarrel threatened to burst +the bounds of conventional Intercourse. This time +the Lady Barbara herself interposed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I pray you, my good Lord," she said, "do not +interfere. Mr. Betterton and I are old Friends. By +your leave, he shall conduct me to my chair. Do we +not owe it to him," she added gaily, "that the +streets are quiet enough to enable us all to get home +in peace?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then she turned to Mr. Betterton and said gently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"If You would be so kind, Sir—my men are +close by—I should be grateful if You will tell them +to bring my chair along."</p> +<p class="pnext">She held out her hand to him and he bowed low +and kissed the tips of her fingers. Then he went.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">6</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Lord Douglas' spiteful glance followed the distinguished +Actor's retreating figure until the door +had closed upon him. Then he said drily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps you are right, Babs. He may as well +fetch your chair. It is raining hard and one +Lacquey is as good as another."</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned to Mr. Baggs, who, standing first on +one leg then on the other, presented a truly pitiable +spectacle of Servility and Unmanliness. I think he +had just come to realize that I had been in the room +behind the screen all this while, and that my +Presence would be unwelcome to their Lordships if they +knew that I had overheard all their Conversation. +Certain it is that I saw him give a quick glance in +my direction, and then he became even more fussy +and snivelling than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"In my inner Office," he murmured. "I pray +you to honour me, my Lords.... A glass of +wine, perhaps ... until the copies are finished. +I should be so proud ... and ... and ... we +should be quite undisturbed ... whereas +here ... I only regret..."</p> +<p class="pnext">I despised him for all that grovelling, and so did +the Gentlemen, I make no doubt. Nevertheless, they +were ready to follow him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We must wait somewhere," Lord Douglas said +curtly. "And I should be glad of a glass of wine."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lady Barbara was standing in the window-recess, +waiting for her chair. She insisted on my Lord +Stour going with her Brother into the inner room. +Undoubtedly, she did not wish either of them to +meet Mr. Betterton again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I promise you," she said with quiet Determination, +"that I'll not stop to speak with him. I'll +watch through the window until my Men bring the +chair; then I will go down at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But——" protested his Lordship.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I entreat you to go, my Lord," she reiterated +tartly. "And you too, Douglas. My temper is on +edge, and if I am not left to myself for a few +moments I shall have an attack of Nerves."</p> +<p class="pnext">She certainly spoke with unwonted Sharpness. +Thus commanded, it would have been churlish to +disobey. The young Gentlemen, after a second or +two longer of Hesitation, finally followed Mr. Baggs +out of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, I could not see the Lady Barbara, for she +was ensconced in a window-recess, just as I was; +but I heard her give a loud Sigh of Impatience. +There was no doubt that her Nerves had been jarred. +Small wonder, seeing all that she had gone through—the +noise and rioting in the streets, her Terror and +her Flight; her unexpected meeting with her Lover; +then the advent of Mr. Betterton and that brooding +Quarrel between him and the two Gentlemen, which +threatened to break through at any moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next minute I saw her Ladyship's chair +brought to a halt down below, and she crossed the +Line of my Vision between the window and the +sofa, where she had left her cloak. She picked it +up and was about to wrap it round her shoulders, +when the door was flung open and Mr. Betterton +came in. He gave a quick glance round the room +and saw that the Lady Barbara was alone—or so he +thought, for, of course, he did not see me. He +carefully closed the door behind him and came +quickly forward, ostensibly to help her Ladyship on +with her cloak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is kind of you, Sir, thus to wait on me," she +said coldly. "May I claim your Arm to conduct +me to my chair?"</p> +<p class="pnext">She was standing close in front of him just then, +with her back to him and her hands raised up to her +shoulders in order to receive her cloak, which he had +somewhat roughly snatched out of her grasp.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Arm?" he riposted, with a vibrating note +of passion in his mellow voice. "My Life, +myself, are all at your Ladyship's service. But will +not you wait one little moment and say one kind +word to the poor Actor whose Art is the delight of +Kings, and whose Person is the butt of every +Coxcomb who calls himself a Gentleman?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He flung the cloak upon a chair and tried to take +her hand, which, however, she quickly withdrew, +and then turned, not unkindly, to face him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Brother is hasty, Sir," she said more gently. +"He has many prejudices which, no doubt, time and +experience of life will mend. As for me," she +added lightly, "I am quite ready to extend the +hand of Friendship, not only to the Artist but to +the Man."</p> +<p class="pnext">She held out her hand to him. Then, as he did +not take it, but stood there looking at her with +that hungry, passionate look which revealed the +depth of his Admiration for her, she continued with +a bantering tone of reproach:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will not take my hand, Sir?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," he replied curtly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But I am offering You my Friendship," she +went on, with a quick, nervy little laugh; for she +was Woman enough, believe me, to understand his look.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Friendship between Man and Woman is impossible," +he said in a strange, hoarse voice, which +I scarce recognized as his.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean?" she retorted, with a +sudden stiffening of her Figure and a haughty +Glance which he, of a truth, should have known +boded no good for his suit.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean," he replied, "that between a Man and +a Woman, who are both young and both endowed +with Heart and Soul and Temperament, there may +be Enmity or Love, Hatred or Passion; but +Friendship, never."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You talk vaguely, Sir," she rejoined coldly. "I +pray You, give me my cloak."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not," he retorted, "before I have caused your +Ladyship to cast one short Glance back over the +past few months."</p> +<p class="pnext">"With what purpose, I pray You?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"So that You might recognize, as You gaze +along their vista, the man who since he first beheld +you hath madly worshipped You."</p> +<p class="pnext">She stood before him, still facing him, tall and of +a truth divinely fair. Nay! this no one could +gainsay. For the moment I found it in my Heart to +sympathize with his Infatuation. You, dear +Mistress, were not there to show him how much lovelier +still a Woman could be, and the Lady Barbara had +all the subtle flavour, too, of forbidden fruit. +Mr. Betterton sank on one knee before her; his mellow +Voice sounded exquisitely tender and caressing. +Oh! had I been a Woman, how gladly would I have +listened to his words. There never was such a +Voice as that of Mr. Betterton. No wonder that +he can sway the hearts of thousands by its Magic; +no wonder that thousands remain entranced while +he speaks. Now, I assure You, Mistress, that tears +gathered in my eyes, there was such true Passion, +such depth of feeling in his tone. But Lady +Barbara's heart was not touched. In truth, she loved +another Man, and her whole outlook on Life and +Men was distorted by the Environment amidst +which she had been brought up.</p> +<p class="pnext">The exquisite, insinuating Voice with its note of +tender Appeal only aroused her contempt. She +jumped to her feet with an angry exclamation. +What she said, I do not quite remember; but it was +a Remark which must have stung him to the quick, +for I can assure You, dear Mistress, that Mr. Betterton's +pride is at least equal to that of the greatest +Nobleman in the land. But all that he did say was:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, Madam; an Artist's love is not an insult, +even to a Queen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Possibly, Sir," she riposted coldly. "But I at +least cannot listen to You. So I pray You let me +rejoin my Servants."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I pray You," he pleaded, without rising, +"humbly on my knees, to hear me just this once!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She protested, and would have left him there, +kneeling, while she ran out of the room; but he had +succeeded in getting hold of her Hand and was +clinging to it with both his own, whilst from his +lips there came a torrent of passionate pleading such +as I could not have thought any Woman capable +of resisting for long.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not a young Dandy," he urged; "nor yet +a lank-haired, crazy Poet who grows hysterical over +a Woman's eyebrow. I am a Man, and an Artist, +rich with an inheritance such as even your +Ancestors would have envied me. Mine inheritance is +the Mind and Memory of cultured England and a +Name which by mine Art I have rendered immortal."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I honour your Genius, Sir," she rejoined +coolly; "and because of it, I try to excuse your +folly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay!" he continued with passionate insistence. +"There are Passions so sweet that they excuse all +the Follies they provoke. Oh! I pray You listen +... I have waited in silence for months, not +daring to approach You. You seemed immeasurably +above me, as distant as the Stars; but whilst I, +poor and lowly-born, waited and worshipped +silently, success forged for me a Name, so covered +with Glory that I dare at last place it at your feet."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am touched, Sir, and honoured, I assure You," +she said somewhat impatiently. "But all this is +naught but folly, and reason should teach you that +the Daughter of the Marquis of Sidbury can be +nothing to You."</p> +<p class="pnext">But by this time it was evident that the great +and distinguished Actor had allowed his Folly to +conquer his Reason. I closed my eyes, for I could +not bear to see a Man whom I so greatly respected +kneeling in such abject humiliation before a Woman +who had nothing for him but disdain. Ah! Women +can be very cruel when they do not love. In truth, +Lady Barbara, with all her Rank and Wealth, could +not really have felt contempt for a Man whom the +King himself and the highest in the land delighted +to honour; yet I assure You, Mistress, that some of +the things she said made me blush for the sake of +the high-minded Man who honours me with his +Friendship.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Short of reason, Sir," she said, with unmeasured +hauteur at one time, "I pray you recall your +far-famed sense of humour. Let it show you Thomas +Betterton, the son of a Scullion, asking the hand of +the Lady Barbara Wychwoode in marriage."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was meant for a Slap in the Face, and was +naught but a studied insult; for we all know that the +story of Mr. Betterton's Father having been a +menial is utterly without foundation. But I assure +You that by this time he was blind and deaf to all +save to the insistent call of his own overwhelming +passion. He did not resent the insult, as I thought +he would do; but merely rejoined fervently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I strive to conjure the picture; but only see Tom +Betterton, the world-famed Artist, wooing the +Woman he loves."</p> +<p class="pnext">But what need is there for me to recapitulate here +all the fond and foolish things which were spoken +by a truly great Man to a chit of a Girl, who was +too self-centred and egotistical to appreciate the +great Honour which he was conferring on her by his +Wooing. I was holding my breath, fearful lest I +should be seen. To both of these proud People +before me, my known Presence would have been an +added humiliation. Already Lady Barbara, +impatient of Mr. Betterton's importunity, was raising her +Voice and curtly bidding him to leave her in peace. +I thought every moment that she would call out to +her Brother, when Heaven alone would know what +would happen next.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your importunity becomes an insult, Sir," she +said at last. "I command You to release my hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">She tried to wrench it from his Grasp, but I +imagine that his hold on her wrist was so strong +that she could not free herself. She looked around +her now with a look of Helplessness, which would +have gone to my Heart if I had any feeling of +sympathy left after I had poured out its full measure +for my stricken Friend. He was not himself then, +I assure You, Mistress. I know that the evil tongue +of those who hate and envy him have poured +insidious poison in your ears, that they told you that +Mr. Betterton had insulted the Lady Barbara past +forgiveness and had behaved towards her like a Cad +and a Bully. But this I swear to be untrue. I was +there all the time, and I saw it all. He was on his +knees, and never attempted to touch her beyond +clinging to her Hand and covering it with kisses. +He was an humbled and a stricken Man, who saw +his Love rejected, his Passion flouted, his Suffering +mocked.</p> +<p class="pnext">I tell you that all he did was to cling to her hand.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">7</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Then, all at once, I suppose something frightened +her, and she called loudly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Douglas! Douglas!"</p> +<p class="pnext">I don't think that she meant to call, and I am +sure that the very next moment she had already +regretted what she had done.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton jumped to his feet, sobered in the +instant; and she stood alone in the middle of the +room, gazing somewhat wild-eyed in the direction +of the door, which had already been violently flung +open and through which my Lord Stour and Lord +Douglas now hurriedly stepped forward.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Babs?" Lord Douglas queried +roughly. "Why are You still here? ... And what...?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He got no further. His glance had alighted on +Mr. Betterton, and I never saw quite so much +concentrated Fury and Hatred in any one's eyes as +now appeared in those of Lord Douglas Wychwoode.</p> +<p class="pnext">But already the Lady Barbara had recovered +herself. No doubt she realized the Mischief which +her involuntary call had occasioned. The Quarrel +which had been slowly smouldering the whole +Afternoon was ready to burst into living flame at this +moment. Even so, she tried to stem its outburst, +protesting that she had been misunderstood. She +even tried to laugh; but the laugh sounded pitiably +forced.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But it's nothing, Douglas, dear," she said. "I +protest. Did I really call? I do not remember. +As a matter of fact, Mr. Betterton was good enough +to recite some verses for my delectation ... My +Enthusiasm must have run away with me +... and, unwittingly, I must have called out..."</p> +<p class="pnext">Obviously the Explanation was a lame one. I +felt myself that it would not be believed. On the +face of my Lord Stour thunderclouds of Wrath +were fast gathering, and though Mr. Betterton had +recovered his presence of mind with all the Art at +his command, yet there was a glitter in his eyes +which he was powerless to veil, whilst the tremor +of her Ladyship's lips while she strove to speak +calmly aroused my Lord Stour's ever-wakeful +Jealousy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas, as was his wont apparently +whenever he was deeply moved, was pacing up and down +the room; his hands were clasped behind his back +and from time to time I could see their convulsive +twitching. Lord Stour now silently helped her +Ladyship on with her cloak. I was thankful that +Mr. Baggs and Mistress Euphrosine were keeping +in the background, else I verily believe that their +obsequious Snivellings would have caused my +quivering Nerves to play me an unpleasant trick.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton had retired to the nearest window +recess, so that I could not see him. All that I did +see were the two Gentlemen and the threatening +Clouds which continued to gather upon their Brows. +I also heard my Lord Stour whisper hurriedly in +Lord Douglas' ear:</p> +<p class="pnext">"In the name of our Friendship, Man, let me deal +with this."</p> +<p class="pnext">I felt as if an icy hand had gripped my Heart. +I could not conjecture what that ominous Speech +could portend. Lady Barbara now looked very pale +and troubled; her hands as they fumbled with her +cloak trembled visibly. Lord Stour, with a +masterful gesture, took one of them and held it firmly +under his arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">He then led her towards the door. Just before +she went with him, however, her Ladyship turned, +and I imagine sought to attract Mr. Betterton's +attention.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I must thank you, Sir," she said, with a final +pathetic attempt at Conciliation, "for your beautiful +Recitation. I shall be greatly envied, methinks, by +those who have only heard Mr. Betterton declaim +upon the Stage."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas had gone to the door. He opened +it and stood grimly by whilst my Lord Stour +walked out, with her Ladyship upon his arm.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-outrage">CHAPTER V</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE OUTRAGE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A great Sadness descends upon my Soul, dear +Mistress, even as I write. Cold shivers course up +and down the length of my spine and mine eyes feel +hot with tears still unshed—tears of Sorrow and of +Shame, aye! and of a just Anger that it should have +been in the power of two empty-headed Coxcombs +to wreak an irreparable Injury upon one who is as +much above them as are the Stars above the +grovelling Worms.</p> +<p class="pnext">I use the words "irreparable Injury" advisedly, +dear Lady, because what happened on that late +September afternoon will for ever be graven upon the +Heart and Memory of a great and noble Man, to the +exclusion of many a gentle feeling which was wont +to hold full sway over his Temperament before then. +Time, mayhap, and the triumph of a great Soul over +overwhelming temptation, have no doubt somewhat +softened the tearing ache of that cruel brand; but +only your Hand, fair Mistress, can complete the +healing, only your Voice can, with its tender gentleness, +drown the insistent call of Pride still smarting +for further Revenge.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Lord Douglas Wychwoode did not speak to +Mr. Betterton after her Ladyship and my Lord Stour +had gone out of the room, but continued his +restless pacing up and down. I thought his Silence +ominous.</p> +<p class="pnext">Half consciously, I kept my attention fixed upon +the street below, and presently saw the Lady +Barbara get into her chair and bid adieu to his Lordship, +who remained standing on our doorstep until the +Sedan was borne away up the street and out of sight. +Then, to my astonishment, he walked down as far +as the <em class="italics">Spread Eagle</em> tavern and disappeared within +its doors.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Silence in our parlour was getting on my +nerves. I could not see Mr. Betterton, only Lord +Douglas from time to time, when in his ceaseless +tramping his short, burly figure crossed the line of +my vision.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anon I once more thought of my Work. There +were a couple more copies of the Manifesto to be +done, and I set to, determined to finish them. Time +went on, and the afternoon light was now rapidly +growing dim. Outside, the weather had not +improved. A thin rain was coming down, which +turned the traffic-way of our street to sticky mud. +I remember, just after I had completed my Work +and tidied up my papers, looking out of the window +and seeing, in the now fast-gathering gloom, the +young Lord of Stour on the doorstep of the <em class="italics">Spread +Eagle</em> tavern, in close conversation with half a dozen +ill-clad and ill-conditioned Ruffians. But I gave the +matter no further thought just then, for my mind +happened to be engrossed with doubts as to how I +should convey the Copies I had made to my +Employer without revealing my presence to Lord +Douglas Wychwoode.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Lordship himself, however, soon relieved me +of this perplexity, for presently he came to a halt +by the door which led to the inner office and quite +unceremoniously pushed it open and walked through. +I heard his peremptory demands for the Copies, and +Mr. Baggs' muttered explanations. But I did not +wait a moment longer. This was obviously my best +opportunity for reappearing upon the Scene without +his Lordship realizing that I had been in the parlour +all the time. I slipped out from my hiding place and +carefully rearranged the screen in its former +position, then I tiptoed across the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the gloom, I caught sight of Mr. Betterton +standing in one of the Recesses, his slender white +hands, which were so characteristic of his refined, +artistic Personality, were clasped behind his back. +I would have given a year or two of my humdrum +life for the privilege of speaking to him then and of +expressing to him some of that Sympathy with +which my heart was overflowing. But no one knows +better than I how proud a Man he is, and how he +would have resented the thought that any one else +had witnessed his Humiliation.</p> +<p class="pnext">So I executed the Manoeuvre which I had in my +mind without further delay. I opened the door +which gave on the stairs noiselessly, then closed it +again with a bang, as if I had just come in. Then I +strode as heavily as I could across the room to the +door of the inner office, against which I then rapped +with my knuckles.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who's that?" Mr. Baggs' voice queried immediately.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Copies, Sir, which you ordered," I replied +in a firm voice. "I have finished them."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in! come in!" then broke in Lord +Douglas impatiently. "I have waited in this +accursed hole quite long enough."</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole thing went off splendidly, and even +Mr. Baggs did subsequently compliment me on my +clever Ruse. Lord Douglas never suspected the +fact that I had not been out of the Parlour for a +moment, but had heard from the safe shelter of +the window-recess everything that had been going on.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">When, a few moments later, I returned to the +Parlour, eager to have a few minutes' speech with +Mr. Betterton, I saw that he had gone. Anon, +Kathleen, the maid, brought in the candles and +closed the shutters. I once more took my place at +my desk, but this time made no use of the screen. +After awhile, Lord Douglas came in, followed by +the ever-obsequious Mr. Baggs, and almost directly +after that, my Lord Stour came back.</p> +<p class="pnext">His clothes were very wet and he shook the rain +out from the brim of his hat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What a time You have been!" Lord Douglas +said to him. "I was for going away without seeing You."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wanted to find out what had happened in +here," my Lord Stour gave reply, speaking in a whisper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Fellow had the audacity to pay his +addresses to Lady Barbara," my Lord Stour went on, +still speaking below his breath. "I guessed as much, +but wanted to make sure."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas uttered an angry Oath, and Lord +Stour continued hurriedly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Such Insolence had to be severely punished, of +course; and I saw to it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How?" queried the other eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have hired half a dozen Ruffians from the +tavern yonder, to waylay him with sticks on his way +from here, and to give him the sound thrashing he +deserves."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was with the most terrific effort at self-control +that I succeeded in smothering the Cry of Horror +which had risen to my lips. As it was, I jumped to +my feet and both my chair and the candle from my +desk fell with a clatter to the floor. I think that +Mr. Baggs hurled a Volley of abuse upon me for +my clumsiness and chided me in that the grease from +the candle was getting wasted by dripping on the +floor. But the Gentlemen paid no heed to me. They +were still engaged in their abominable conversation. +While I stooped to pick up the chair and the candle, +I heard my Lord Stour saying to his Friend:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come with me and see the Deed accomplished. +The Mountebank must be made to know whose +Hand is dealing him the well-merited punishment. +My Hirelings meant to waylay him at the corner +of Spreadeagle Court, a quiet place which is not far +from here, and which leads into a blind Alley. +Quickly, now," he added; "or we shall be too late."</p> +<p class="pnext">More I did not hear; for, believe me, dear +Mistress, I felt like one possessed. For the nonce, I +did not care whether I was seen or not, whether +Mr. Baggs guessed my purpose or not. I did not care if +he abused me or even punished me later for my +strange behaviour. All that I knew and felt just +then was that I must run to the corner of Spreadeagle +Court, where one of the most abominable Outrages +ever devised by one Man against Another was +even then being perpetrated. I tore across the room, +through the door and down the stairs, hatless, my +coat tails flying behind me, like some Maniac +escaping from his Warders.</p> +<p class="pnext">I ran up Chancery Lane faster, I think, than any +man ever ran before. Already my ears were +ringing with the sound of distant shouts and scuffling. +My God! grant that I may not come too late. I, +poor, weak, feeble of body, could of course do +nothing against six paid and armed Ruffians; but at +least I could be there to ward off or receive some of +the blows which the arms of the sacrilegious +Miscreants were dealing, at the instance of miserable +Coxcombs, to a man whose Genius and Glory should +have rendered him almost sacred in their sight.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">As long as I live will that awful picture haunt me +as I saw it then.</p> +<p class="pnext">You know the Blind Alley on the left-hand side of +Spreadeagle Court, with, at the end of it, the great +double doorway which gives on the back premises +of Mr. Brooks' silk warehouse. It was against that +doorway that Mr. Betterton had apparently sought +some semblance of refuge when first he was set upon +by the Ruffians. By the time that I reached the +corner of the Blind Alley, he had fallen against the +door; for at first I could not see him. All that I +saw was a group of burly backs, and arms waving +sticks about in the air. All that I heard, oh, my +God! were ribald cries and laughter, and sounds +such as wild animals must make when they fall, +hungry, upon their Prey. The Ruffians, I make no +doubt, had no grudge against their Victim; but +they had been well instructed and would be well +paid if their foul deed was conscientiously accomplished.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Wrath and Anxiety gave me the strength +which I otherwise lack. Pushing, jostling, crawling, +I contrived to work my way through the hideous +Barrier which seethed and moved and shouted +betwixt me and the Man whom I love.</p> +<p class="pnext">When I at last kneeled beside him, I saw and +heard nothing more. I did not feel the blows which +one or two of the Ruffians thought fit to deal to +Me. I only saw him, lying there against the door, +panting, bleeding from forehead and hands, his +clothes torn, his noble Face of a deathly Pallor. I +drew his handkerchief from his coat pocket and +staunched the wounds upon his face; I pillowed his +head against my Shoulder; I helped him to struggle +to his feet. He was in mortal pain and too weak +to speak; but a ray of kindliness and of gratitude +flashed through his eyes when he recognised me.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Ruffians were apparently satisfied with their +hideous work; but they still stood about at the top +of the Alley, laughing and talking, waiting no doubt +for their Blood Money. Oh! if wishes could have +struck those Miscreants dumb or blind or palsied, +my feeble voice would have been raised to Heaven, +crying for Vengeance on such an infamous Deed. +Hot tears came coursing down my cheeks, my temples +throbbed with pain and Misery, as my arm stole +round the trembling figure of my Friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then all at once those tears were dried, the +throbbing of my temples was stilled. I felt no longer +like a Man, but like a petrified Statue of Indignation +and of Hate. The sound of my Lord Stour's +Voice had just struck upon mine ear. Vaguely +through the gloom I could see him and Lord +Douglas Wychwoode parleying with those abominable +Ruffians.... I heard the jingle of Money +... Blood Money ... the ring of ribald +laughter, snatches of a bibulous song.</p> +<p class="pnext">These sounds and the clang of the Gentlemen's +footsteps upon the cobble-stones also reached +Mr. Betterton's fast-fading Senses. I felt a tremor +coursing right through his limbs. With an almost +superhuman Effort, he pulled himself together and +drew himself erect, still clinging with both hands +to my arms. By the time that the two young +Cavaliers had reached the end of the blind Alley, the +outraged Man was ready to confront them. Their +presence there, those sounds of jingling money and +of laughter, had told him the whole abominable tale. +He fought against his Weakness, against Pain and +against an impending Swoon. He was still livid, +but it was with Rage. His eyes had assumed an +unnatural Fire; his whole appearance as he stood +there against the solid background of the massive +door, was sublime in its forceful Expression of +towering Wrath and of bitter, deadly Humiliation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Even those two miserable Coxcombs paused for +an instant, silenced and awed by what they saw. +The laughter died upon their lips; the studied sneer +upon their Face gave place to a transient expression +of fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton's arm was now extended and with +trembling hand he pointed at Lord Stour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis You——" he murmured hoarsely. "You—who +have done—this thing?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"At your service," replied the young Man, with +a lightness of manner which was obviously forced +and a great show of Haughtiness and of Insolence. +"My friend Lord Douglas here, has allowed me the +privilege of chastising a common Mountebank for +daring to raise his eyes to the Lady Barbara Wychwoode——"</p> +<p class="pnext">At mention of the Lady's name, I felt +Mr. Betterton's clutch on my arm tighten convulsively.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Does she——" he queried, "does she—know?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I forbid You," interposed Lord Douglas curtly, +"to mention my Sister's name in the matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis to my Lord Stour I am speaking," rejoined +Mr. Betterton more firmly. Then he added: +"You will give me satisfaction for this outrage, +my Lord——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Satisfaction?" riposted his Lordship coolly. +"What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"One of us has got to die because of this," +Mr. Betterton said loudly.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon my Lord Stour burst into a fit of +hilarious laughter, which sounded as callous as it +was forced.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A Duel?" he almost shrieked, in a rasping +voice. "Ha! ha! ha! a Duel!!!—a duel with +You? ... With Tom Betterton, the Son of a Scullion.... +By my faith! 'tis the best joke you ever +made, Sir Actor ... 'tis worth repeating upon +the Stage!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But the injured Man waited unmoved until his +Lordship's laughter died down in a savage Oath. +Then he said calmly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The day and hour, my Lord Stour?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is folly, Sir," rejoined the young Cavalier +coldly. "The Earl of Stour can only cross swords +with an Equal."</p> +<p class="pnext">"In that case, my lord," was Mr. Betterton's +calm reply, "you can only cross swords henceforth +with a Coward and a Liar."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Damned, insolent cur!" cried Lord Stour, +maddened with rage no doubt at the other's calm +contempt. He advanced towards us with arm uplifted—then +perhaps felt ashamed, or frightened—I know +not which. Certain it is that Lord Douglas +succeeded in dragging him back a step or two, whilst +he said with well-studied contempt:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pay no further heed to the fellow, my Friend. +He has had his Punishment—do not bandy further +Words with him."</p> +<p class="pnext">He was for dragging Lord Stour away quickly +now. I do believe that he was ashamed of the +abominable Deed. At any rate, he could not bear +to look upon the Man who had been so diabolically +wronged.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come away, Man!" he kept reiterating at +intervals. "Leave him alone!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"One moment, my Lord," Mr. Betterton called +out in a strangely powerful tone of Voice. "I wish +to hear your last Word."</p> +<p class="pnext">By now we could hardly see one another. The +Blind Alley was in almost total gloom. Only against +the fast-gathering dusk I could still see the hated +figures of the two young Cavaliers, their outlines +blurred by the evening haze. Lord Stour was +certainly on the point of going; but at Mr. Betterton's +loudly spoken Challenge, he paused once more, then +came a step or two back towards us.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My last Word?" he said coldly. Then he +looked Mr. Betterton up and down, his every +Movement, his whole Attitude, a deadly Insult. "One +does not fight with such as You," he said, laughed, +and would have turned away immediately, only that +Mr. Betterton, with a quick and unforeseen +Movement, suddenly reached forward and gripped him +by the Wrist.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Insolent puppy!" he said in a whisper, so hoarse +and yet so distinct that not an Intonation, not a +syllable of it was lost, "that knows not the Giant +it has awakened by its puny bark. You refuse to +cross swords with Tom Betterton, the son of a +Menial, as you choose to say? Very well, then, +'tis Thomas Betterton, the Artist of undying +renown, who now declares war against You. For +every Jeer to-day, for every Insult and for every +Blow, he will be even with You; for he will launch +against You the irresistible Thunderbolt that kills +worse than death and which is called <em class="italics">Dishonour</em>! ... Aye! +I will fight You, my Lord; not to your +death, but to your undying Shame. And now," he +added more feebly, as he threw his Lordship's arm +away from him with a gesture of supreme contempt, +"go, I pray You, go! I'll not detain You any +longer. You and your friend are free to laugh for +the last time to-day at the name which I, with my +Genius, have rendered immortal. Beware, my +Lord! The Ridicule that kills, the Obloquy which +smirches worse than the impious hands of paid +Lacqueys. This is the Word of Tom Betterton, +my Lord; the first of his name, as you, please God, +will be the last of yours!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, without a groan, he fell, swooning, upon +my shoulder. When consciousness of my surroundings +once more returned to me, I realized that the +two Gentlemen had gone.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-gathering-storm">CHAPTER VI</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE GATHERING STORM</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was after that never-to-be-forgotten Episode +that Mr. Betterton honoured me with his full and +entire Confidence. At the moment that he clung so +pathetically to my feeble arms, he realized, I think +for the first time, what a devoted Friend he would +always find in me. Something of the powerful +magical Fluid of my devotion must have emanated +from my Heart and reached his sensitive Perceptions. +He knew from that hour that, while I lived +and had Health and Strength, I should never fail +him in Loyalty and willing Service.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon afterwards, if you remember, Mr. Betterton +went again to Paris, by command of His +Majesty this time, there to study and to master the +whole Question of Scenery and scenic Effects upon +the Stage, such as is practised at the Theatre de +Molière in the great City. That he acquitted +himself of his task with Honour and Understanding +goes without saying. The rousing Welcome which +the public of London gave him on his return testified +not only to his Worth but also to his Popularity.</p> +<p class="pnext">The scenic Innovations, though daring and at +times crudely realistic, did, in the opinion of +Experts, set off the art of Mr. Betterton to the greatest +possible Advantage. No doubt that his overwhelming +Success at that time was in a great measure +due to his familiarity with all those authentic-looking +doors and trees and distant skies which at +first bewildered such old-fashioned actors as +Mr. Harris or the two Messrs. Noakes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Never indeed had Mr. Betterton been so great +as he was now. Never had his Talents stood so high +in the estimation of the cultured World. His +success as <em class="italics">Alvaro</em> in "Love and Honour," as <em class="italics">Solyman</em> +in the "Siege of Rhodes," as <em class="italics">Hamlett</em> or <em class="italics">Pericles</em>, +stand before me as veritable Triumphs. Bouquets +and Handkerchiefs, scented Notes and Love-tokens, +were showered upon the brilliant Actor as he stood +upon the Stage, proudly receiving the adulation of +the Audience whom he had conquered by the Magic +of his Art.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Majesty hardly ever missed a Performance +at the new Duke's Theatre when Mr. Betterton +was acting, nor did my Lady Castlemaine, who was +shamelessly vowing about that time that she was +prepared to bestow upon the great Man any Favour +he might ask of her.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">But outwardly at any rate, Mr. Betterton had +become a changed Man. His robust Constitution +and splendid Vitality did in truth overcome the +physical after-effects of the abominable Outrage of +which he had been the Victim; but the moral +consequences upon his entire character and demeanour +were indeed incalculable. Of extraordinary purity +in his mode of living, it had been difficult, before +that Episode, for evil Gossip to besmirch his fair +name, even in these lax and scandalous times. But +after that grim September afternoon it seemed as +if he took pride in emulating the least +estimable characteristics of his Contemporaries. His +Majesty's avowed predilection for the great Actor +brought the latter into daily contact with all those +noble and beautiful Ladies who graced the Court +and Society, more by virtue of their outward +appearance than of their inner worth. Scarce ever +was a banquet or fête given at While Hall now but +Mr. Betterton was not one of the most conspicuous +guests; never a Supper party at my Lady +Castlemaine's or my Lady Shrewsbury's but the famous +Actor was present there. He was constantly in the +company of His Grace of Buckingham, of my Lord +Rochester and others of those noble young Rakes; +his name was constantly before the Public; he was +daily to be seen on the Mall, or in St. James's Park, +or at the more ceremonious parade in Hyde Park. +His elegant clothes were the talk of every young +Gallant that haunted Fop's Corner; his sallies were +quoted by every Cavalier who strove for a +reputation as a wit. In fact, dear Lady, You know just +as well as I do, that for that brief period of his +life Mr. Betterton became just one of the gay, idle, +modish young Men about town, one of that +hard-drinking, gambling, scandal-mongering crowd of +Idlers, who were none of them fit to tie the lacets +of his shoes.</p> +<p class="pnext">I, who saw more and more of him in those days, +knew, however, that all that gay, butterfly +Existence which he led was only on the surface. To me +he was like some poor Animal stricken by a mortal +wound, who, nevertheless, capers and gyrates +before a grinning Public with mechanical movements +of the body that have nothing in common with the mind.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Of the beautiful Lady Barbara I saw but little +during the autumn.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was much talk in the Town about her +forthcoming Marriage to my Lord of Stour, which was +to take place soon after the New Year. Many were +the conjectures as to why so suitable a Marriage +did not take place immediately, and it seemed +strange that so humble and insignificant a Person as +I was could even then have supplied the key to the +riddle which was puzzling so many noble Ladies +and Gentlemen. I knew, in my humble capacity as +Spectator of great events, that the Marriage would +only take place after the vast and treasonable +projects which had originated in my Lord Douglas +Wychwoode's turbulent mind had come to a successful issue.</p> +<p class="pnext">I often confided to You, dear Mistress, in those +days that Mr. Betterton, in the kindness of his +Heart, had made me many an offer to leave my +present humdrum employment and to allow myself +to be attached to his Person as his private Secretary +and personal Friend. For a long time I refused his +offers—tempting and generous though they were—chiefly +because if I had gone then to live with +Mr. Betterton, I should have been irretrievably +separated from You. But in my Heart I knew that, +though the great Man was not in pressing need of a +Secretary, his soul did even long and yearn for a +Friend. A more devoted one, I vow, did not exist +than my humble self; and when, during the early +part of the autumn, You, dear Mistress, finally +decided to leave your present uncomfortable quarters +for lodgings more befitting your growing Fame and +your Talents, there was nothing more to keep me +tied to my dour and unsympathetic Employer, and +to his no less unpleasant Spouse.</p> +<p class="pnext">I therefore gave Mr. Theophilus Baggs notice +that I had resolved to quit his Employ, hoping that +my Decision would meet with his Convenience.</p> +<p class="pnext">I could not help laughing to myself when I saw +the manner in which he received this Announcement. +To say that he was surprised and indignant +would be to put it mildly; indeed, he used every +Mode of persuasion to try and make me alter my +decision. He began by chiding me for an Ingrate, +vowing that he had taught me all I knew and had +lavished Money and Luxuries upon me, and that I +was proposing to leave him just when the time had +come for him to see some slight return for his +Expenditure and for his pains, in my growing +Efficiency. He went on to persuade, to cajole and to +bribe, Mistress Euphrosine joining him both in +Vituperation and in Unctuousness. But, as You +know, I was adamant. I knew the value of all this +soft-sawder and mouth-honour. I had suffered too +many Hardships and too many Indignities at the +hands of these selfish Sycophants, to turn a deaf +ear now that friendship and mine own future +happiness called to me so insistently.</p> +<p class="pnext">Finally, however, I yielded to the extent of agreeing +to stay a further three months in the service of +Mr. Baggs, whilst he took steps to find another +Clerk who would suit his purpose. But I only +agreed to this on the condition that I was to be +allowed a fuller amount of personal Freedom than +I had enjoyed hitherto; that I should not be set any +longer to do menial tasks, which properly pertained +to a Scullion; and that, whenever my clerical work +for the day was done, I should be at liberty to +employ my time as seemed best to me.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus it was that I had a certain amount of leisure, +and after You left us, fair Mistress, I was able to +take my walks abroad, there where I was fairly +certain of meeting You, or of having a glimpse of +Mr. Betterton, surrounded by his brilliant Friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">Often, dear Mistress, did You lavish some of your +precious time and company upon the seedy +Attorney's Clerk, who of a truth was not worthy to be +seen walking in the Park or in Mulberry Gardens +beside the beautiful and famous Mistress Saunderson, +who by this time had quite as many Followers and +Adorers as any virtuous Woman could wish for. +You never mentioned Mr. Betterton to me in those +days, even though I knew that You must often have +been thrown in his Company, both in the Theatre +and in Society. That your love for him had not +died in your Heart, I knew from the wistful look +which was wont to come into your eyes whenever +You chanced to meet him in the course of a +Promenade. You always returned his respectful and +elaborate bow on those occasions with cool +Composure; but as soon as he had passed by and his rich, +mellow Voice, so easily distinguishable amongst +others, had died away in the distance, I, who knew +every line of your lovely face, saw the familiar +look of Sorrow and of bitter Disappointment once +more mar its perfect serenity.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">We had an unusually mild and prolonged autumn +this past year, if you remember, fair Mistress; and +towards the end of October there were a few sunny +days which were the veritable aftermath of +Summer. The London Parks and Gardens were +crowded day after day with Ladies and Gallants, +decked in their gayest attire, for the time to don +winter clothing still appeared remote.</p> +<p class="pnext">I used to be fond of watching all these fair Ladies +and dazzling Cavaliers, and did so many a time on +those bright mornings whilst waiting to see You +pass. On one occasion I saw the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode, in company with my Lord Stour.</p> +<p class="pnext">Heaven knows I have no cause to think kindly +of her; but truth compels me to say that she +appeared to me more beautiful than ever before. She +and his Lordship had found two chairs, up against +a tree, somewhat apart from the rest of the glittering +throng. I, as a Spectator, could see that they +were supremely happy in one another's company.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How sweet the air is!" she was sighing +contentedly. "More like spring than late autumn. +Ah, me! How happily one could dream!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She threw him a witching glance, which no doubt +sent him straight to Heaven, for I heard him say +with passionate earnestness:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of what do Angels dream, my beloved?"</p> +<p class="pnext">They continued to whisper, and I of course did +not catch all that they said. My Lord Stour was +obviously very deeply enamoured of the Lady +Barbara. Because of this I seemed to hate and despise +him all the more. Oh! when the whole World +smiled on him, when Fortune and Destiny showered +their most precious gifts into his lap, what right had +he to mar the soul which God had given him with +such base Passions as Jealousy and Cruelty? With +his monstrous Act of unwarrantable violence he had +ruined the happiness of a Man greater, finer than +himself; he had warped a noble disposition, soured +a gentle and kindly spirit. Oh! I hated him! I +hated him! God forgive me, but I had not one +spark of Christian spirit for him within my heart. +If it lay in my power, I knew that I was ready to +do him an Injury.</p> +<p class="pnext">From time to time I heard snatches of his +impassioned speeches. "Barbara, my beloved! Oh, +God! how I love You!" Or else: "'Tis unspeakable +joy to look into your eyes, joyous madness to +hold your little hand!" And more of such stuff, +as Lovers know how to use.</p> +<p class="pnext">And she, too, looked supremely happy. There +was a sparkle in her eyes which spoke of a Soul +intoxicated with delight. She listened to him as if +every word from his lips was heaven-sent Manna +to her hungering heart. And I marvelled why this +should be; why she should listen to this +self-sufficient, empty-headed young Coxcomb and have +rejected with such bitter scorn the suit of a Man +worthy in every sense to be the Mate of a Queen. +And I thought then of Mr. Betterton kneeling +humbly before her, his proud Head bent before this +ignorant and wilful Girl, who had naught but cruel +words for him on her lips. And a great wrath +possessed me, greater than it ever had been before. I +suppose that I am very wicked and that the Devil +of Revenge had really possessed himself of my +Soul; but then and there, under the trees, with the +translucent Dome of blue above me, I vowed bitter +hatred against those two, vowed that Fate should +be even with them if I, the humble Clerk, could +have a say in her decrees.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Just now, they were like two Children playing at +love. He was insistent and bold, tried to draw her +to him, to kiss her in sight of the fashionable throng +that promenaded up and down the Avenue less than +fifty yards away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A murrain on the Conventions!" he said with +a light laugh, as she chided him for his ardour. +"I want the whole Universe to be witness of my joy."</p> +<p class="pnext">She placed her pretty hand playfully across his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hush, my dear Lord," she said with wonderful +tenderness. "Heaven itself, they say, is oft times +jealous to see such Happiness as ours.... And +I am so happy..." she continued with a deep +sigh, "so happy that sometimes a horrible +presentiment seems to grip my heart..."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Presentiment of what, dear love?" he queried lightly.</p> +<p class="pnext">I did not catch what she said in reply, for just +at that moment I caught sight of Mr. Betterton +walking at a distant point of the Avenue, in the +Company of a number of admiring Friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were hanging round him, evidently vastly +amused by some witty sallies of his. Never had I +seen him look more striking and more brilliant. +He wore a magnificent coat of steel-grey velvet +with richly embroidered waistcoat, and a cravat and +frills of diaphanous lace, whilst the satin breeches, +silk stockings and be-ribboned shoes set off his +shapely limbs to perfection. His Grace of +Buckingham was walking beside him, and he had my +Lady Shrewsbury upon his arm, whilst among his +Friends I recognised my Lords Orrery and +Buckhurst, and the Lord Chancellor himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Lady Barbara caught sight of Mr. Betterton, +too, I imagine, for as I moved away, I heard her +say in a curiously constrained voice:</p> +<p class="pnext">"That man—my Lord—he is your deadly Enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bah!" he retorted with a careless shrug of the +shoulders. "Actors are like toothless, ill-tempered +curs. They bark, but they are powerless to bite!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh, I hated him! Heavens above! how I hated him!</p> +<p class="pnext">How puny and insignificant he was beside his +unsuccessful Rival should of a surety have been +apparent even to the Lady Barbara. Even now, +Mr. Betterton, with a veritable crowd of Courtiers +around him, had come to a halt not very far from +where those two were sitting; and it was very +characteristic of him that, even whilst the Duke of +Buckingham was whispering in his ear and the Countess +of Shrewsbury was smiling archly at him, his eyes +having found me, he nodded and waved his hand to me.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">6</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A minute or two later, another group of Ladies +and Gallants, amongst whom Her Grace the +Duchess of York was conspicuous by her elegance +and the richness of her attire, literally swooped +down upon Mr. Betterton and his Friends, and Her +Grace's somewhat high-pitched voice came ringing +shrilly to mine ear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, Mr. Betterton!" she exclaimed. "Where +have you hid yourself since yesterday, you wicked, +adorable Man? And I, who wished to tell you how +entirely splendid was your performance in that +supremely dull play you call 'Love and Honour.' You +were superb, Sir, positively superb! ... I +was telling His Grace a moment ago that every +Actor in the world is a mere Mountebank when +compared with Mr. Betterton's Genius."</p> +<p class="pnext">And long did she continue in the same strain, +most of the Ladies and Gentlemen agreeing with +her and engaging in a chorus of Eulogy, all delivered +in high falsetto voices, which in the olden days, +when first I knew him, would have set Mr. Betterton's +very teeth on edge. But now he took up the +ball of airy talk, tossed it back to the Ladies, bowed +low and kissed Her Grace's hand—I could see that +she gave his a significant pressure—gave wit for wit +and flattery for flattery.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had of a truth made a great success the day +before in a play called "Love and Honour," writ +by Sir William Davenant, when His Majesty +himself lent his own Coronation Suit to the great Actor, +so that he might worthily represent the part of +<em class="italics">Prince Alvaro</em>. This Success put the crowning +Glory to his reputation, although in my humble +opinion it was unworthy of so great an Artist as +Mr. Betterton to speak the Epilogue which he had +himself written in eulogy of the Countess of +Castlemaine, and which he delivered with such magnificent +Diction at the end of the Play, that His Majesty +waxed quite enthusiastic in his applause.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">7</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Standing somewhat apart from that dazzling +group, I noticed my Lord Douglas Wychwoode, in +close conversation with my Lord Teammouth and +another Gentleman, who was in clerical attire. +After awhile, my Lord Stour joined them, the +Lady Barbara having apparently slipped away unobserved.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour was greeted by his friends with +every mark of cordiality.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!" the Cleric exclaimed, and extended both +his hands—which were white and plump—to my +Lord. "Here is the truant at last!" Then he +waxed playful, put up an accusing finger and added +with a smirking laugh: "Meseems I caught sight +of a petticoat just behind those trees, where his +Lordship himself had been apparently communing +with Nature, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon my Lord Teammouth went on, not +unkindly and in that dogmatic way which he was +pleased to affect: "Youth will ever smile, even in +the midst of dangers; and my Lord Stour is a great +favourite with the Ladies."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas Wychwoode was as usual petulant +and impatient, and rejoined angrily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Even the Castlemaine has tried to cast her nets +around him."</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour demurred, but did not try to +deny the soft impeachment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only because I am new at Court," he said, "and +have no eyes for her beauty."</p> +<p class="pnext">This, of course, was News to me. I am so little +versed in Court and Society gossip and had not +heard the latest piece of scandal, which attributed to +the Lady Castlemaine a distinct <em class="italics">penchant</em> for the +young Nobleman. Not that it surprised me +altogether. The newly created Countess of +Castlemaine, who was receiving favours from His +Majesty the King with both hands, never hesitated +to deceive him, and even to render him ridiculous +by flaunting her predilections for this or that young +Gallant who happened to have captured her +wayward fancy. My Lord Sandwich, Colonel Hamilton, +the handsome Mr. Wycherley, and even such a +vulgar churl as Jacob Hill, the rope dancer, had all, +at one time or another, been favoured with the lady's +fitful smiles, and while responding to her advances +with the Ardour born of Cupidity or of a desire for +self-advancement rather than of true love, they had +for the most part lost some shreds of their +Reputation and almost all of their Self-respect.</p> +<p class="pnext">But at the moment I paid no heed to Lord Douglas' +taunt levelled at his Friend, nor at the latter's +somewhat careless way of Retort. In fact, the +whole Episode did not then impress itself upon my +mind, and it was only in face of later events that I +was presently to be reminded of it all.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">8</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">For the moment I was made happy by renewed +kindly glances from Mr. Betterton. It seemed as +if his eyes had actually beckoned to me, so I made +bold to advance nearer to the dazzling group of +Ladies and Gentlemen that stood about, +talking—jabbering, I might say, like a number of +gay-plumaged birds, for they seemed to me irresponsible +and unintellectual in their talk.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course, I could not hear everything, and I +had to try and make my unfashionably attired +Person as inconspicuous as possible. So I drew a book +from my pocket, one that looked something like a +Greek Lexicon, though in truth it was a collection +of Plays writ by the late Mr. William Shakespeare, +in one or two of which—notably in one called +"Hamlett"—Mr. Betterton had scored some of his +most conspicuous Triumphs.</p> +<p class="pnext">The book, and my seeming absorption in it, gave +me the countenance of an earnest young Student +intent on the perusal of Classics, even whilst it +enabled me to draw quite near to the brilliant +Throng of Distinguished People, who, if they paid +any heed to me at all, would find excuses for my +Presumption in my obvious earnest Studiousness. +I was also able to keep some of my attention fixed +upon Mr. Betterton, who was surrounded by +admiring Friends; whilst at some little distance close by, +I could see Mr. Harris—also of the Duke's Theatre—who +was holding forth in a didactic manner +before a group of Ladies and gay young Sparks, even +though they were inclined to mock him because of +his Conceit in pitting his talent against that of +Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no doubt that a couple of years ago +Mr. Harris could be, and was considered, the +greatest Actor of his time; but since Mr. Betterton +had consolidated his own triumph by playing the +parts of <em class="italics">Pericles</em>, of <em class="italics">Hamlett</em> and of <em class="italics">Prince Alvaro</em> +in "Love and Honour," the older Actor's reputation +had undoubtedly suffered by comparison with +the Genius of his younger Rival, at which of course +he was greatly incensed. I caught sight now and +then of his florid face, so different in expression to +Mr. Betterton's more spiritual-looking countenance, +and from time to time his pompous, raucous voice +reached my ears, as did the more strident, +high-pitched voices of the Ladies. I heard one young +Lady say, to the accompaniment of some pretty, +mincing gestures:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Betterton was positively rapturous last +night ... enchanting! You, Mr. Harris, will in +truth have to look to your laurels."</p> +<p class="pnext">And an elderly Lady, a Dowager of obvious +consideration and dignity, added in tones which brooked +of no contradiction:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My opinion is that there never has been or ever +will be a Player equal to Mr. Betterton in Purity +of Diction and Elegance of Gesture. He hath indeed +raised our English Drama to the level of High Art."</p> +<p class="pnext">I could have bowed low before her and kissed +her hand for this; aye! and have paid homage, too, +to all these gaily-dressed Butterflies who, in truth, +had more Intellectuality in them than I had given +them credit for. Every word of Eulogy of my +beloved Friend was a delight to my soul. I felt +mine eyes glowing with enthusiasm and had grave +difficulty in keeping them fixed upon my book.</p> +<p class="pnext">I had never liked Mr. Harris personally, for I +was wont to think his conceit quite overweening +beside the unalterable modesty of Mr. Betterton, +who was so incomparably his Superior; and I was +indeed pleased to see that both the Dowager +Lady—who, I understood, was the Marchioness of +Badlesmere—and the younger Ladies and Gentlemen felt +mischievously inclined to torment him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is your opinion, Mr. Harris?" my Lady +Badlesmere was saying to the discomfited Actor. +"It would be interesting to know one Player's +opinion of another."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had a spy-glass, through which she regarded +him quizzically, whilst a mocking smile played +around her thin lips. This, no doubt, caused poor +Mr. Harris to lose countenance, for as a rule he is +very glib of tongue. But just now he mouthed and +stammered, appeared unable to find his words.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It cannot be denied, your Ladyship," he began +sententiously enough, "that Mr. Betterton's +gestures are smooth and pleasant, though they perhaps +lack the rhythmic grandeur ... the dignified +sweep ... of ... of ... the..."</p> +<p class="pnext">He was obviously floundering, and the old Lady +broke in with a rasping laugh and a tone of +somewhat acid sarcasm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of the gestures of Mr. Harris, you mean, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, Madam," he retorted testily, and distinctly +nettled. "I was about to say 'of the gestures of +our greatest Actors.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Surely the same thing, dear Mr. Harris," a +young Lady rejoined with well-assumed demureness, +and dropped him a pert little curtsey.</p> +<p class="pnext">I might have been sorry for the Man—for of a +truth these small pin-pricks must have been very +irritating to his Vanity, already sorely wounded by +a younger Rival's triumph—but for the fact that +he then waxed malicious, angered no doubt by +hearing a veritable Chorus of Eulogy proceeding from +that other group of Ladies and Gentlemen of which +Mr. Betterton was the centre.</p> +<p class="pnext">I do not know, as a matter of fact, who it was +who first gave a spiteful turning to the bantering, +mocking Conversation of awhile ago; but in my +mind I attributed this malice to Lord Douglas +Wychwoode, who came up with his clerical friend +just about this time, in order to pay his respects to +the Marchioness of Badlesmere, who, I believe, is +a near Relative of his. Certain it is that very soon +after his arrival upon the scene, I found that every +one around him was talking about the abominable +Episode, the very thought of which sent my blood +into a Fever and my thoughts running a veritable +riot of Revenge and of Hate. Of course, +Mr. Harris was to the fore with pointed Allusions to the +grave Insult done to an eminent Artist, and which, +to my thinking, should have been condemned by +every right-minded Man or Woman who had a +spark of lofty feeling in his or her heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, yes!" one of the Ladies was saying; "I +heard about it at the time ... a vastly diverting +story...."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Which went the round of the Court," added another.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Betterton's shoulders," a gay young Spark +went on airily, "are said to be still very sore."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And his usually equable Temper the sorer of the two."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas did not say much, but I felt his +spiteful Influence running as an undercurrent +through all that flippant talk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Faith!" concluded one of the young Gallants, +"were I my Lord Stour, I would not care to have +Mr. Betterton for an enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"An Actor can hit with great accuracy and +harshness from the Stage," Mr. Harris went on +pompously. "He speaks words which a vast Public +hears and goes on to repeat <em class="italics">ad infinitum</em>. Thus a +man's—aye! or a Lady's—reputation can be made +or marred by an Epilogue spoken by a popular +Player at the end of a Drama. We all remember +the case of Sir William Liscard, after he had +quarrelled with Mr. Kynaston."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon that old story was raked up, how +Mr. Kynaston had revenged himself for an insult upon +him by Sir William Liscard by making pointed +Allusions from the Stage to the latter's secret +intrigue with some low-class wench, and to the +Punishment which was administered to him by the +wench's vulgar lover. The Allusions were +unmistakable, because that punishment had taken the form +of a slit nose, and old Sir William had appeared in +Society one day with a piece of sticking plaster +across the middle of his face.</p> +<p class="pnext">Well, we all know what happened after that. Sir +William, covered with Ridicule, had to leave +London for awhile and bury himself in the depths of the +Country, for, in Town he could not show his face +in the streets but he was greeted with some vulgar +lampoon or ribald song, hurled at him by passing +roisterers. It all ended in a Tragedy, for Lady +Liscard got to hear of it, and there was talk of +Divorce proceedings, which would have put Sir +William wholly out of Court—His Majesty being +entirely averse to the dissolution of any legal Marriage.</p> +<p class="pnext">But all this hath naught to do with my story, and +I only recount the matter to You to show You how, +in an instant, the temper of all these great Ladies +and Gentlemen can be swayed by the judicious +handling of an evil-minded Person.</p> +<p class="pnext">All these Ladies and young Rakes, who awhile +ago were loud in their praises of a truly great Man, +now found pleasure in throwing mud at him, +ridiculing and mocking him shamefully, seeing that, +had he been amongst them, he would soon have +confounded them with his Wit and brought them back +to Allegiance by his magic Personality.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once again I heard a distinct Allusion to the +Countess of Castlemaine's avowed predilection for +Lord Stour. It came from one of the Cavaliers, +who said to Lord Douglas, with an affected little laugh:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps my Lord Stour would do well to place +himself unreservedly under the protection of Lady +Castlemaine! 'Tis said that she is more than willing +to extend her Favours to him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay! Stour hath nothing to fear," Lord Douglas +replied curtly. "He stands far above a mere +Mountebank's spiteful pin-pricks."</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh! had but God given me the power to strike +such a Malapert dumb! I looked around me, +marvelling if there was not one sane Person here who +would stand up in the defence of a great and +talented Artist against this jabbering of irresponsible +Monkeys.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">9</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I must admit, however, that directly Mr. Betterton +appeared upon the scene the tables were quickly +turned once more on Mr. Harris, and even on Lord +Douglas, for Mr. Betterton is past Master in the +art of wordy Warfare, and, moreover, has this great +Advantage, that he never loses control over his +Temper. No malicious shaft aimed at him will ever +ruffle his Equanimity, and whilst his Wit is most +caustic, he invariably retains every semblance of +perfect courtesy.</p> +<p class="pnext">He now had the Duchess of York on his arm, +and His Grace of Buckingham had not left his side. +His Friends were unanimously chaffing him about +that Epilogue which he had spoken last night, and +which had so delighted the Countess of Castlemaine. +My Lord Buckhurst and Sir William Davenant were +quoting pieces out of it, whilst I could only feel +sorry that so great a Man had lent himself to such +unworthy Flattery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Divinity, radiant as the stars!'" Lord Buckhurst +quoted with a laugh. "By gad, you Rogue, +you did not spare your words."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton frowned almost imperceptibly, and +I, his devoted Admirer, guessed that he was not a +little ashamed of the fulsome Adulation which he +had bestowed on so unworthy an Object, and I was +left to marvel whether some hidden purpose as yet +unknown to me had actuated so high-minded an +Artist thus to debase the Art which he held so dear. +It was evident, however, that the whole Company +thought that great things would come from that +apparently trivial incident.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lady Castlemaine," said Sir William +Davenant, "hath been wreathed in smiles ever since you +spoke that Epilogue. She vows that there is nothing +she would not do for You. And, as already You are +such a favourite with His Majesty, why, Man! there +is no end to your good fortune."</p> +<p class="pnext">And I, who watched Mr. Betterton's face again, +thought to detect a strange, mysterious look in his +eyes—something hidden and brooding was going on +behind that noble brow, something that was +altogether strange to the usually simple, unaffected and +sunny temperament of the great Artist, and which +I, his intimate Confidant and Friend, had not yet +been able to fathom.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whenever I looked at him these days, I was +conscious as of a sultry Summer's day, when nature is +outwardly calm and every leaf on every tree is still. +It is only to those who are initiated in the mysteries +of the Skies that the distant oncoming Storm is +revealed by a mere speck of cloud or a tiny haze +upon the Bosom of the Firmament, which hath no +meaning to the unseeing eye, but which foretells +that the great forces of Nature are gathering up +their strength for the striking of a prodigious blow.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="an-assembly-of-traitors">CHAPTER VII</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">AN ASSEMBLY OF TRAITORS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I, in the meanwhile, had relegated the +remembrance of Lord Douglas Wychwoode and his +treasonable Undertakings to a distant cell of my +mind. I had not altogether forgotten them, but +had merely ceased to think upon the Subject.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was still nominally in the employ of Mr. Baggs, +but he had engaged a new Clerk—a wretched, puny +creature, whom Mistress Euphrosine already held in +bondage—and I was to leave his Service definitely +at the end of the month.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meanwhile, my chief task consisted in +initiating the aforesaid wretched and puny Clerk +into the intricacies of Mr. Theophilus Baggs' +business. The boy was slow-witted and slow to learn, +and Mr. Baggs, who would have liked to prove to +me mine own Worthlessness, was nevertheless +driven into putting some of his more important +work still in my charge.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus it came to pass that all his Correspondence +with Lord Douglas Wychwoode went through my +Hands, whereby I was made aware that the Traitors—for +such in truth they were—were only waiting +for a favourable opportunity to accomplish their +damnable Purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">They meant to kidnap His Majesty's sacred +Person, to force him to sign an Abdication in favour +of the son of Mistress Barlow—now styled the Duke +of Monmouth—with the Prince of Orange as +Regent during the Duke's minority.</p> +<p class="pnext">A more abominable and treasonable Project it +were impossible to conceive, and many a wrestling +match did I have with mine own Conscience, whilst +debating whether it were my Duty or no to betray +the confidence which had been reposed in me, and +to divulge the terrible Secret of that execrable plot, +which threatened the very life of His Majesty the King.</p> +<p class="pnext">I understood that the Manifestos which it had +been my task to multiplicate, had met with some +success. Several Gentlemen, who held rigidly +Protestant views, had promised their support to a +project which ostensibly aimed at the overthrow of +the last vestiges of Popery in the Country. My +Lord Stour, who had also become a firm Adherent +of the nefarious scheme, in deference, I presume, +to the Lady Barbara's wishes in the matter, had, it +seems, rendered valuable service to the cause, by +travelling all over the Country, seeing these +proposed Adherents in person and distributing the fiery +Manifestos which were to rally the Waverers to the +cause.</p> +<p class="pnext">I imagined, however, that the whole project was +in abeyance for the moment, for I had heard but +little of it of late; until one day I happened to be +present when the Conspirators met in the house of +Mr. Theophilus Baggs.</p> +<p class="pnext">How it came to pass that these Gentlemen—who +were literally playing with their lives in their +nefarious undertaking—talked thus openly of their +Plans and Projects in my hearing, I do not pretend +to say. It is certain that they did not suspect me; +thought me one of themselves, no doubt, since I +had written out the Manifestos and was Clerk to +Mr. Baggs, who was with them Body and Soul. +No doubt, had Mr. Baggs been on the spot on that +day, he would have warned the Traitors of my +presence, and much of what happened subsequently +would never have occurred.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus doth Fate at times use simple tools to gain +her own ends, and it was given to an insignificant +Attorney's Clerk to rule, for this one day, the future +Destinies of England.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">My Lord Stour was present on that memorable +afternoon. I am betraying no Secret nor doing him +an injury by saying that, because his connection +with the Affair is of public knowledge, as is that of +Lord Douglas Wychwoode. The names of the other +Gentlemen whom I saw in Mr. Baggs' room that +day I will, by your leave, keep hidden behind the +veil of Anonymity, contenting myself by calling the +most important among them my Lord S., and +another Sir J., whilst there was also present on that +occasion the gentleman in clerical Attire whom I +had seen of late in Lord Douglas' Company, and +who was none other than the Lord Bishop of D.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour was in great favour amongst +them all. Every one was praising him and shaking +him by the hand. His Lordship the Bishop took it +upon himself to say, as he did most incisively:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gentlemen! I am proud and happy to affirm +that it is to the Earl of Stour that we shall owe +to-night the Success of our Cause. It is he who +has distributed our Appeal and helped to rally round +us some of our most loyal Friends!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Stour demurred, deprecated his own efforts. +His Attitude was both modest and firm; I had not +thought him capable of so much Nobility of Manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">But, believe me, dear Mistress, that I felt literally +confounded by what I heard. Mr. Baggs, who had +pressing business in town that day, had commanded +me to remain at home in order to receive certain +Gentlemen who were coming to visit him. I had +introduced some half-dozen of them, and they had +all gone into the inner office, but left the +communicating door between that room and the parlour wide +open, apparently quite acquiescing in my presence +there. In fact, they had all nodded very familiarly +to me as they entered; evidently they felt absolutely +certain of my Discretion. This, as you will readily +understand, placed me in a terrible Predicament. +Where lay my duty, I did not know; for, in truth, +to betray the Confidence of those who trust in You +is a mean and low trick, unworthy of a right-minded +Christian. At the same time, there was His +Majesty the King's own sacred Person in peril, and +that, as far as I could gather, on this very night; +and surely it became equally the duty of every loyal +Subject in the land to try and protect his Sovereign +from the nefarious attacks of Traitors!</p> +<p class="pnext">Be that as it may, however, I do verily believe +that if my Lord—Stour whom I hated with so +deadly a hatred, and who had done my dear, dear +Friend such an irreparable injury—if he, I say, had +not been mixed up in the Affair, I should have done +my duty as a Christian rather than as a subject of +the State.</p> +<p class="pnext">But You, dear Mistress, shall be judge of mine +actions, for they have a direct bearing upon those +subsequent events which have brought Mr. Betterton +once again to your feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">I have said that my Lord Stour received his +Friends' congratulations and gratitude with +becoming Modesty; but his Lordship the Bishop and also +Lord S. insisted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is thanks to your efforts, my dear Stour," +Lord S. said, "that at last success is assured."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But for you," added the Bishop, "our plan +to-night might have miscarried."</p> +<p class="pnext">My God! I thought, then it <em class="italics">is</em> for to-night! And +I felt physically sick, whilst wondering what I +should do. Even then, Lord Douglas Wychwoode's +harsh Voice came quite clearly to mine ear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The day is ours!" he said, with a note of +triumph in his tone. "Ere the sun rises again over +our downtrodden Country, her dissolute King and +his Minions will be in our hands!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pray God it may be so!" assented one of the +others piously.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It shall and will be so," protested Lord Douglas +with firm emphasis. "I know for a fact that the +King sups with the Castlemaine to-night. Well! we +are quite ready. By ten o'clock we shall have +taken up our Positions. These have all been most +carefully thought out. Some of us will be in hiding +in the Long Avenue in the Privy Garden; others +under the shadow of the Wall of the Bowling +Green; whilst others again have secured excellent +points of vantage in King Street. I am in +command of the Party, and I give you my word that +my Company is made up of young Enthusiasts. +They, like ourselves, have had enough of this +corrupt and dissolute Monarch, who ought never to +have been allowed to ascend the Throne which his +Father had already debased."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will have to be careful of the Night Watchmen +about the Gardens, and of the Bodyguard at +the Gate," one of the Gentlemen broke in.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course we'll be careful," Lord Douglas +riposted impatiently. "We have minimized our +risks as far as we are able. But the King, when he +sups with the Castlemaine, usually goes across to her +House unattended. Sometimes he takes a Man with +him across the Privy Gardens, but dismisses him +at the back door of Her Ladyship's House. As for +the City Watchmen over in King Street, they will +give us no trouble. If they do, we can easily +overpower them. The whole thing is really perfectly +simple," he added finally; "and the only reason why +we have delayed execution is because we wanted as +many Sympathizers here in London as possible."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now," here interposed His Lordship the Bishop, +"thanks to my Lord Stour's efforts, a number of +our Adherents have come up from the country and +have obtained lodgings in various Quarters of the +town, so that to-morrow morning, when we +proclaim the Duke of Monmouth King and the Prince +of Orange Regent of the Realm, we shall be in +sufficient numbers to give to our successful Coup +the appearance of a national movement."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Personally," rejoined Lord Douglas, with +something of a sneer, "I think that the Populace will be +very easily swayed. The Castlemaine is not popular. +The King is; but it is a factitious Popularity, and +one easily blown upon, once we have his Person +safely out of the way. And we must remember +that the 'No Popery' cry is still a very safe +card to play with the mob," he added with a dry laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then they all fell to and discussed their +abominable Plans all over again; whilst I, bewildered, +wretched, indignant, fell on my knees and marvelled, +pondered what I should do. My pulses were throbbing, +my head was on fire; I had not the faculty for +clear thinking. And there, in the next room, not +ten paces away from where I knelt in mute and +agonized Prayer, six Men were planning an outrage +against their King; amidst sneers and mirthless +laughter and protestations of loyalty to their +Country, they planned the work of Traitors. They drew +their Swords and there was talk of invoking God's +blessing upon their nefarious Work.</p> +<p class="pnext">God's blessing! Methought 'twas Blasphemy, and +I put my hands up to mine ears lest I should hear +those solemn words spoken by a consecrated Bishop +of our Church, and which called for the Almighty's +help to accomplish a second Regicide.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aye! A Regicide! What else was it? as all +those fine Gentlemen knew well enough in their +hearts. Would not the King resist? He was young +and vigorous. Would he not call for help? Had +not my Lady Castlemaine Servants who would rush +to His Majesty's assistance? What then? Was +there to be murder once more, and bloodshed and +rioting—fighting such as we poor Citizens of this +tortured land had hoped was behind us forever?</p> +<p class="pnext">And if it came to a hand-to-hand scuffle with the +King's most Sacred Majesty? My God! I shuddered +to think what would happen then!</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a mighty humming in my ears, like +the swarm of myriads of bees; a red veil gradually +spread before my eyes, which obscured the familiar +Surroundings about me. Through the haze which +gradually o'er-clouded my brain, I heard the voices +of those Traitors droning out their blasphemous Oaths.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Swear only to draw your swords in this just +cause, and not to shed unnecessary blood!"</p> +<p class="pnext">And then a chorus which to my ears sounded like +the howling of Evil Spirits let loose from hell:</p> +<p class="pnext">"We swear!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then may God's blessing rest upon You. May +His Angels guard and protect You and give You +the strength to accomplish what You purpose to do!"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a loud and prolonged "Amen!" But +I waited no longer. I rose from my knees, suddenly +calm and resolved. Do not laugh at me, dear +Mistress, for my conceit and my presumption when I +say that I felt that the destinies of England rested +in my hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">Another Regicide! Oh, my God! Another era +of civil Strife and military Dictatorship such as we +had endured in the past decade! Another era of +Suspicions and Jealousies and Intrigues between the +many Factions who would wish to profit by this +abominable crime! It was unthinkable. Whether +the King was God's Anointed or not, I, for one, am +too ignorant to decide; but this I know, that the +Stuart Prince was chosen little more than a year +ago by the will of his People, that he returned to +England acclaimed and beloved by this same Populace +which was now to be egged on to treason against +him by a handful of ambitious Malcontents, who +did not themselves know what it was they wanted.</p> +<p class="pnext">No! It should not be! Not while there existed +an humble and puny subject of this Realm who had +it in his power to put a spoke in the wheel of that +Chariot of Traitors.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ah! there was no more wavering in my heart +now! no more doubts and hesitation! I would not +be betraying the confidence of a trusting Man; +merely disposing of a secret which Chance had +tossed carelessly in my path—a Secret which +pertained to abominable Miscreants, one of whom was +the man whom I detested more than any one or +anything on God's earth—a flippant, arrogant young +Reprobate who had dared to level a deadly insult +against a Man infinitely his superior in Intellect and +in Worth, and before whom now he should be made +to lick the dust of Ignominy.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was now perfectly calm. From my desk I took +a copy of the Manifesto which had remained in my +possession all this while. I read the contents through +very carefully, so as to refresh my memory. Then +I took up my pen and, at the foot of the treasonable +document, I wrote the word: "To-night." Having +done that, I took a sheet of notepaper and +carefully wrote down the names of all the Gentlemen +who were even now in the next room, and of several +others whom I had heard mentioned by the Traitors +in the course of their Conversation. The two +papers I folded carefully and closed them down with +sealing wax.</p> +<p class="pnext">My hand did not shake whilst I did all this. I +was perfectly deliberate, for my mind was +irrevocably made up. When I had completed these +preparations, I slipped the precious Documents into +my pocket, took up my hat and cloak, and went out +to accomplish the Errand which I had set myself to do.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-lion-s-wrath">CHAPTER VIII</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE LION'S WRATH</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">His Majesty the King was, of course, inaccessible +to such as I. And the time was short.</p> +<p class="pnext">Did I say that the hour was even then after six? +The streets were very dark, for overhead the sky +was overcast, and as I walked rapidly down the +Lane to the Temple Stairs, a thin, penetrating +drizzle began to fall.</p> +<p class="pnext">My first thought had been to take boat to Westminster +and to go to the house of Mr. Betterton in +Tothill Street, there to consult with him as to what +would be my best course to pursue. But I feel sure +that You, dear Mistress, will understand me when I +say that I felt a certain pride in keeping my present +Project to myself.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was not egotistical enough to persuade myself +that love of Country and loyalty to my King were +the sole motive powers of my Resolve. My innermost +Heart, my Conscience perhaps, told me that an +ugly Desire for Revenge had helped to stimulate my +patriotic Ardour. I had realized that it lay in my +power to avenge upon an impious Malapert the +hideous Outrage which he had perpetrated against +the Man whom I loved best in all the World.</p> +<p class="pnext">I had realized, in fact, that I could become the +instrument of Mr. Betterton's revenge.</p> +<p class="pnext">That my Denunciation of the abominable +Conspiracy would involve the Disgrace—probably the +Death—of others who were nothing to me, I did +not pause to consider. They were all Traitors, +anyhow, and all of them deserving of punishment.</p> +<p class="pnext">So, on the whole, I decided to act for myself. +When I had seen the Countess of Castlemaine and +had put her on her guard, I would go to Mr. Betterton +and tell him what I had done.</p> +<p class="pnext">I beg you to believe, however, dear Mistress, that +no thought of any reward had entered my mind, +other than a Word of Appreciation from my Friend.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I had, as perhaps you know, a slight acquaintance +with Mistress Floid, who is one of my Lady Castlemaine's +tire-women. Through her, I obtained +speech with her Ladyship.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not very difficult. I sent in the two +Documents through Mistress Floid's hands. Five +minutes later I was told that my Lady desired speech +with me.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was a little bewildered and somewhat dazzled +to be in the presence of so great a lady. The +richness of the House, the liveries of the Servants, the +superciliousness of the Lacqueys, all tended to +discompose me; whilst the subtle Scent of Spice and +Perfumes which hung in the air and the chorus of +bird-song which came from an unseen Aviary, +helped to numb my Senses. I was thankful that I +had not trusted to Speech and Memory, but had set +documentary Evidence forward to prove what I +had to say.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of my interview with her Ladyship I have only +a confused memory. I know that she asked many +questions and listened to my stammering replies +with obvious impatience; but I have only a very +vague recollection of her flashing Eyes, of her Face, +flaming with anger, of her jewelled Hand clutching +the documents which I had brought, and of the +torrent of vituperative abuse which she poured upon +the Traitors, who she vowed would pay with their +lives for their Infamy. I know that, in the end, I +was allowed to kiss her hand and that she thanked +me in her own Name and that of His Majesty for +my Loyalty and my Discretion.</p> +<p class="pnext">I went out of the room and out of the house like +a Man in a dream. A whirl of conflicting Emotions +was rending my heart and my brain, until sheer +physical nausea caused me nigh to swoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">Truly it was a terrible Experience for a simple-minded +Clerk to go through, and it is a marvel to +me that my brain did not give way under the Strain.</p> +<p class="pnext">But my instinct—like that of a faithful dog +seeking shelter—led me to the lodgings of Mr. Betterton +in Tothill Street, the very house in which his +father had lived before him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had not yet returned from the Theatre, where +he was at Rehearsal; but his Servant knew me well +and allowed me to go up into the parlour and to lie +down upon the sofa for a moment's rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then nearing seven, and I knew that +Mr. Betterton would soon be coming home. I now +felt infinitely weary; numbness of body and brain +had followed the conflicting Emotions of the past +hours, and I was only conscious of an overwhelming +desire to rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">I closed my eyes. The place was warm and still; +a veritable Haven of Quietude. And it was the +place where dwelt the Man for whose sake I had +just done so much. For awhile I watched the play +of the firelight upon the various articles of +furniture in the room; but soon a pleasing Torpor +invaded my tired Brain, and I fell asleep.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The sound of Voices upon the landing outside, the +opening and closing of one door and then another, +recalled me to myself. The familiar sound of my +Friend's footsteps gave me an infinity of Pleasure.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment Mr. Betterton came into the +room. He was preceded by his Servant, who +brought in a couple of Candles which he placed upon +the table. Apparently he had said nothing to his +Master about my presence here, for Mr. Betterton +seemed vastly surprised when he saw me. I had +just jumped to my feet when I heard him entering +the room, and I suppose that I must have looked +somewhat wild and dishevelled, for he expressed +great astonishment at my Appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">Astonishment, and also Pleasure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, friend Honeywood!" he exclaimed, and +came to greet me with both hands outstretched. +"What favourable Wind hath blown you to this port?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked tired and very much aged, methought. +He, a young Man, then in the prime of Life, looked +harassed and weary; all the Elasticity seemed to +have gone out of his Movements, all the Springiness +from his Footstep. He sat down and rested his +elbows on his knees, clasped his slender hands +together and stared moodily into the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">I watched him for awhile. His clear-cut Profile +was outlined like an Italian Cameo against the +dark angle of the room; the firelight gave a strange +glow to his expressive Eyes and to the sensitive +Mouth with the firm lips pressed closely together, +as if they would hold some Secret which was even +then threatening to escape.</p> +<p class="pnext">That look of dark and introspective Brooding sat +more apparent now than ever upon his mobile +face, and I marvelled if the News which I was about +to impart would tend to dissipate that restless, +searching glance, which seemed for ever to be +probing into the future decrees of Fate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have come to tell you news, Sir," I said after +a while.</p> +<p class="pnext">He started as from a Reverie, and said half-absently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"News? What news, friend? Good, I hope."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," I replied very quietly, even though I felt +that my heart was beating fast within my breast +with excitement. "Good news of the Man You hate."</p> +<p class="pnext">He made no reply for the moment, and even by +the dim, uncertain light of the fire I could see the +quick change in his face. I cannot explain it exactly, +but it seemed as if something Evil had swept over +it, changing every noble line into something that was +almost repellent.</p> +<p class="pnext">My heart beat faster still. I was beginning to +feel afraid and a queer, choking Sensation gripped +me by the throat and silenced the Words which were +struggling to come to my lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well?" queried Mr. Betterton a second or two +later, in a calm, dull, unemotional Voice. "What is +thy news, friend Honeywood?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is a plot," I replied, still speaking with an +effort, "against His Majesty and the Countess of +Castlemaine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I knew that," he rejoined. "'Tis no news. +There is more than one plot, in fact, against the +King and the Castlemaine. You surely haven't +come out on this wet night," he added with a +mirthless laugh, "in order to tell me that!"</p> +<p class="pnext">After all that I had gone through, after my tussle +with my conscience and my fight against myself, I +felt nettled by his flippant tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know not," I said firmly, "if there is more +than one plot against His Majesty the King. But I +do know that there is one which aims at striking at +his sacred Person to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That also is possible," he retorted, with still that +same air of flippant Carelessness. "But even so, I +do not see, my dear Friend, what You can do in +the matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can denounce the Plot," I riposted warmly, +"and help to save the life of His Majesty the King."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So you can, my dear Honeywood," he said with +a smile, amused at my vehemence. "So you can! +And upon the King's gratitude you may lay the +foundations of your future Fortune."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was not thinking of a Fortune," I retorted +gruffly; "only of Revenge."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this he looked up suddenly, leaned forward +and in the firelight tried to read my face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Revenge?" he queried curtly. "What do you mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean," I replied earnestly, "that the Plot of +which I speak is real, tangible and damnable. That +a set of young Gallants have arranged between +themselves to waylay His Majesty the King this night +in the house of the Countess of Castlemaine, to +kidnap his sacred person, force him to abdicate, then +proclaim the Duke of Monmouth King and the +Prince of Orange Regent of the Realm."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know all this, Honeywood?" Mr. Betterton +rejoined quietly, dragged, meseemed, out +of his former Cynicism by the earnestness of my +manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was one of the first to know of it," I replied, +"because on a certain day in September I was +employed in copying the Manifesto wherewith that +pack of Traitors hoped to rally distant Friends +around their Standard. For awhile I heard nothing +more of the Affair, thought the whole thing had +sizzled out like a fire devoid of fuel; until to-day, +when the Conspirators once more met in the house +of Mr. Theophilus Baggs and arranged to carry +their execrable Project through to-night. Careless +of my presence, they planned and discussed their +Affairs in my hearing. They thought, I suppose, +that I, like Mr. Baggs, was one of their Gang."</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually, while I spoke, I could see the Dawn +of Comprehension illumining Mr. Betterton's face. +He still was silent, and let me speak on to the end. +He was once more gazing into the fire; his arms +were resting on his knees, but his hands were beating +one against the other, fist to palm, with a violent, +intermittent Gesture, which proclaimed his growing +Impatience.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then suddenly he raised his head, looked me once +more straight in the eyes, and said slowly, reiterating +some of my words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Conspirators met in the house of Mr. Theophilus +Baggs—then—he——"</p> +<p class="pnext">I nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord Stour," I said, deliberately measuring +my words, "is up to his neck in the damnable +Conspiracy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Still his searching gaze was fixed upon me; and +now he put out his hand and clutched my forearm. +But he did not speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was burning with rage," I said, "at the insult +put upon you by my Lord Stour ... I longed to +be revenged..."</p> +<p class="pnext">His clutch upon my arm tightened till it felt like +a Vice of Steel, and his Voice came to my ear, +hoarse and almost unrecognizable.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Honeywood," he murmured, "what do You +mean? What have You done?"</p> +<p class="pnext">I tried to return his gaze, but it seemed to sear +my very Soul. Terror held me now. I scarce +could speak. My voice came out in a husky whisper.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had the copy of the Manifesto," I said, "and +I knew the names of the Conspirators. I wrote +these out and placed them with the Manifesto in +the hands of my Lady Castlemaine."</p> +<p class="pnext">Dear Mistress, you know the beautiful picture by +the great Italian artist Michael Angelo which +represents Jove hurling his thunderbolt at some puny +human Creature who hath dared to defy him. The +flash of Anger expressed by the Artist in the mighty +god's eyes is truly terrifying. Well! that same +Expression of unbounded and prodigious Wrath +flashed out in one instant from the great Actor's +eyes. He jumped to his feet, towered above me like +some Giant whom I, in my presumption, had dared +to defy. The flickering candle light, warring with +the fireglow, and its play of ruddy Lights and deep +phantasmagoric Shadows, lent size and weirdness +to Mr. Betterton's figure and enhanced the dignity +and magnitude of his Presence. His lips were +working, and I could see that he had the +greatest difficulty in forcing himself to speak +coherently.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have done that?" he stammered. "You...?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To avenge the deadly insult——" I murmured, +frightened to death now by his violence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Silence, you fool!" he riposted hoarsely. "Is +it given to the Mouse to avenge the hurt done to +the Lion?"</p> +<p class="pnext">I guessed how deeply he was moved by these +Words which he spoke, more even than by his +Attitude. Never, had he been in his normal frame of +mind, would he have said them, knowing how their +cruel intent would hurt and wound me.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was angry with me. Very angry. And I, +as yet, was too ignorant, too unsophisticated, to +know in what way I had injured him. God knows +it had been done unwittingly. And I could not +understand what went on in that noble and obviously +tortured Brain. I could only sit there and gaze upon +him in helpless Bewilderment, as he now started to +pace up and down the narrow room in very truth +like a caged Lion that hath been teased till it can +endure the irritation no longer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are angry with me?" I contrived to stammer +at last; and indeed I found much difficulty in +keeping the tears which were welling up to mine eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">But my timid query only appeared to have the +effect of bringing his Exasperation to its highest +pitch. He did in truth turn on me as if he were +ready to strike me, and I slid down on my Knees, +for I felt now really frightened, as his fine voice +smote mine ears in thunderous Accents of unbridled Wrath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Angry?" he exclaimed. "Angry...? I..."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he paused abruptly, for he had caught sight +of me, kneeling there, an humble and, I doubt not, +a pathetic Figure; and, as you know, Mr. Betterton's +heart is ever full of Pity for the Lowly and the +Weak. By the flickering candle light I could +distinguish his noble Features, a moment ago almost +distorted with Passion, but now, all of a sudden, +illumined by tender Sympathy.</p> +<p class="pnext">He pulled himself together. I almost could see +the Effort of Will wherewith he curbed that +turbulent Passion which had threatened to overmaster +him. He passed his hand once or twice across his +brow, as if he strove to chase away, by sheer +physical Force, the last vestige of his own Anger.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No—no——," he murmured gently, bent down +to me and helped me to my feet. "No, my dear +Friend; I am not angry with You ... I—I +forgot myself just now ... something seemed to +snap in my Brain when you told me that +... When you told me that——" he reiterated slowly; +then threw back his head and broke into a laugh. +Oh! such a laugh as I never wish to hear again. +It was not only mirthless, but the Sound of it did +rend my heart until the tears came back to mine +eyes; but this time through an overwhelming feeling +of Pity.</p> +<p class="pnext">And yet I did not understand. Neither his Anger +nor his obvious Despair were clear to my +Comprehension. I hoped he would soon explain, feeling +that if he spoke of it, it would ease his heartache. +Mine was almost unendurable. I felt that I could +cry like a child, Remorse warring with Anxiety +in my heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then suddenly Mr. Betterton came close to me, +sat down on the sofa beside me and said, with a +Recrudescence of his former Vehemence:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Friend Honeywood, you must go straightway +back to my Lady Castlemaine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," I replied meekly, for I was ready to do +anything that he desired.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Either to my Lady Castlemaine," he went on, +his voice trembling with agitation, "or to her menial +first, but ultimately to my Lady Castlemaine. Go +on your hands and knees, Honeywood; crawl, +supplicate, lick the dust, swear that the Conspiracy had +no existence save in your own disordered brain +... that the Manifesto is a forgery ... the list of +Conspirators a fictitious one ... swear above all +that my Lord Stour had no part in the murderous +Plot——"</p> +<p class="pnext">I would, dear Lady, that mine was the pen of a +ready Writer, so that I might give you a clear idea +of Mr. Betterton's strange aspect at that moment. +His face was close to mine, yet he did not seem like +himself. You know how serene and calm is the +Glance of his Eyes as a rule. Well! just then they +were strangely luminous and restless; there was a +glitter in them, a weird, pale Light that I cannot +describe, but which struck me as coming from a +Brain that, for the moment, was almost bereft +of Reason.</p> +<p class="pnext">That he was not thinking coherently was obvious +to me from what he said. I, who was ready and +prepared to do anything that might atone for the +Injury, as yet inexplicable, which I had so unwittingly +done to him, felt, nevertheless, the entire +Futility of his Suggestion. Indeed, was it likely that +my Lady Castlemaine's Suspicions, once roused, +could so easily be allayed? Whatever I told her +now, she would of a surety warn the King—had +done so, no doubt, already. Measures would be +taken—had already been taken—to trap the +infamous Plotters, to catch them red-handed in the +Act; if indeed they were guilty. Nay! I could not +very well imagine how such great Personages would +act under the Circumstances that had come about. +But this much I did know; that not one of them +would be swayed by the Vagaries of a puny Clerk, +who had taken it upon himself to denounce a number +of noble Gentlemen for Treason one moment and +endeavoured to exonerate them the next. So I +could only shake my head and murmur:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Alas, Sir! all that now would be too late."</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked at me searchingly for a second or two. +The strange glitter died out from his eyes, and he +gave a deep sigh of weariness and of disappointment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye!" he said. "True! true! It is all too late!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Imagine, dear Mistress, how puzzled I was. +What would You have thought of it all, yourself, +had your sweet Spirit been present then at that hour, +when a truly good, yet deeply injured Man bared +his Soul before his Friend?</p> +<p class="pnext">Just for a second or two the Suspicion flashed +through my mind that Mr. Betterton himself was +in some secret and unaccountable manner mixed up +with the abominable Conspiracy. But almost at +once my saner Judgment rejected this villainous +Suggestion; for of a truth it had no foundation +save in Foolishness engendered by a bewildered +brain. In truth, I had never seen Mr. Betterton +in the Company of any of those Traitors whose +names were indelibly graven upon the tablets of my +Memory, save on that one occasion—that unforgettable +afternoon in September, when he entered the +house of Mr. Theophilus Baggs at the hour when +Lord Douglas Wychwoode had just entrusted his +Manifesto to me. What was said then and what +happened afterwards should, God help me! have +convinced me that no sort of intimate Connection, +political or otherwise, could ever exist between my +Lord Stour, Lord Douglas Wychwoode or their +Friends, and Mr. Betterton.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Even while all these Thoughts and Conjectures +were coursing through my brain, my innermost +Consciousness kept my attention fixed upon my friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had once more resumed his restless pacing up +and down the narrow room. His slender hands +were closely linked together behind his back, and +at times he strode quite close to me, so close that +the skirts of his fashionably cut coat brushed against +my knee. From time to time disconnected Phrases +came to his lips. He was talking to himself, a thing +which I had never known him do before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I, who wished to return Taunt for Taunt and +Infamy for Infamy!" he said at one time. And at +another: "To-day ... in a few hours perhaps, +that young Coxcomb will be in the Tower +... and then the Scaffold!"</p> +<p class="pnext">I listened as attentively as I could, without +seeming to do so, thinking that, if I only caught more +of these confused Mutterings, the Puzzle, such as it +was, would become more clear to me. Picture the +two of us then, dear Mistress, in the semi-darkness, +with only fitful candle light to bring into occasional +bold relief the fine Figure of the great Actor pacing +up and down like a restless and tortured Beast; and +mine own meagre Form cowering in an angle of +the sofa, straining mine ears to catch every syllable +that came from my Friend's lips, and mine eyes to +note every Change of his Countenance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She will think 'twas I who spied upon him," I +heard him say quite distinctly through his clenched +teeth. "I who betrayed him, her Friends, her +Brother."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He will die a Martyr to the cause she loves," +he murmured a few moments later. "A Hero to +his friends—to <em class="italics">her</em> a demi-god whose Memory she +will worship."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he paused, and added in a loud and firm +voice, apostrophizing, God knows what Spirits of +Hate and of Vengeance whom he had summoned:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And <em class="italics">that</em> is to be my Revenge for the deadliest +Insult Man ever put upon Man! ... Ha! ha! ha! ha!" +he laughed, with weird Incontinence. "God +above us, save me from my Friends and let me deal +alone with mine Enemies!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He fell back into the nearest chair and, resting +his elbows on his knees, he pressed his forehead +against his clenched fists. I stared at him, mute, +dumbfounded. For now I understood. I knew +what I had done, knew what he desired, what he +had striven for and planned all these past weary +weeks. His Hopes, his Desires, I had frustrated. +I, his Friend, who would have given my Life for +his welfare!</p> +<p class="pnext">I had been heart-broken before. I was doubly +so now. I slid from the sofa once more on my +knees and, not daring to touch him, I just remained +there, sobbing and moaning in helpless Dejection +and Remorse.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can I do?—what can I do?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked at me, obviously dazed, had apparently +become quite oblivious of my presence. Once more +that look of tender Commiseration came into his +eyes, and he said with a gently ironical smile:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You? Poor little, feeble Mouse, who has +gnawed at the Giant's prey—what can you do? +... Why, nothing. Go back to our mutual +Friend, Mr. Theophilus Baggs, and tell him to make +his way—and quickly too—to some obscure corner +of the Country, for he also is up to the neck in that +damnable Conspiracy."</p> +<p class="pnext">This set my mind to a fresh train of thought.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shall I to my Lord Stour by the same token?" +I asked eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"To my Lord Stour?" he queried, with a puzzled +frown. "What for?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To warn him," I replied. "Give him a chance +of escape. I could tell him you sent me," I added +tentatively.</p> +<p class="pnext">He laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no, my Friend," he said drily. "We'll not +quite go to that length. Give him a chance of +Escape?" he reiterated. "And tell him I sent +You? No, no! He would only look upon my +supposed Magnanimity as a sign of cringing Humility, +Obsequiousness and Terror of further Reprisals. +No, no, my Friend; I'll not give the gay young +Spark another chance of insulting me.... But +let me think ... let me think ... Oh, if only +I had a few days before me, instead of a mere few +hours! ... And if only my Lady Castlemaine..."</p> +<p class="pnext">He paused, and I broke in on the impulse of the +moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Sir! hath not the Countess of Castlemaine +vowed often of late that she would grant any Favour +that the great Mr. Betterton would ask of her?"</p> +<p class="pnext">No sooner were the words out of my mouth than +I regretted them. It must have been Instinct, for +they seemed innocent enough at the time. My only +thought in uttering them was to suggest that at +Mr. Betterton's request the Traitors would be pardoned. +My Lady Castlemaine in those days held the King +wholly under her Domination. And I still believed +that my Friend desired nothing so much at this +moment than that my Lord Stour should not die a +Hero's death—a Martyr to the cause which the +beautiful Lady Barbara had at heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">But since that hour, whenever I have looked +back upon the Sequence of Events which followed +on my impulsive Utterance, I could not help but +think that Destiny had put the words into my mouth. +She had need of me as her tool. What had to be, +had to be. You, dear Mistress, can now judge +whether Mr. Betterton is still worthy of your Love, +whether he is still worthy to be taken back into your +heart. For verily my words did make the turning +point in the workings of his Soul. But I should +never have dared to tell you all that happened, face +to face, and I desired to speak of the matter +impartially. Therefore I chose the medium of a pen, +so that I might make You understand and, +understanding, be ready to forgive.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="a-last-chance">CHAPTER IX</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">A LAST CHANCE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Of course, what happened subsequently, I can +only tell for the most part from what Mr. Betterton +told me himself, and also from one or two facts +revealed to me by Mistress Floid.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the moment, Mr. Betterton commended me +for my Suggestion, rested his hand with all his +former affectionate Manner upon my shoulder, and +said quite simply:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thank you, friend, for reminding me of this. +My Lady Castlemaine did indeed last night intimate +to me that she felt ready to grant any Favour I +might ask of her. Well! I will not put her +Magnanimity to an over severe test. Come with me, +friend Honeywood. We'll to her Ladyship. There +will be plenty of time after that to go and warn that +worthy Mr. Baggs and my equally worthy Sister. +I should not like them to end their days upon the +Scaffold. So heroic an ending doth not seem +suitable to their drabby Existence, and would war with +all preconceived Dramatic Values."</p> +<p class="pnext">He then called to his man and ordered a couple +of linkmen to be in readiness to guide us through the +Streets, as these were far from safe for peaceful +Pedestrians after dark! Then he demanded his hat +and cloak, and a minute or so later he bade me +follow him, and together we went out of the house.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was now raining heavily, and we wrapped our +Cloaks tightly round our Shoulders, speeding along +as fast as we could. The streets were almost +deserted and as dreary as London streets alone can be +on a November evening. Only from the closed +Windows of an occasional Tavern or Coffee-house +did a few rays of bright light fall across the road, +throwing a vivid bar of brilliance athwart our way, +and turning the hundreds of Puddles into shining +reflections, like so many glimmering Stars.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the rest, we were dependent on the linkmen, +who walked ahead of us, swinging their Lanterns +for Guidance on our path. Being somewhat timid +by nature, I had noted with satisfaction that they +both carried stout Cudgels, for of a truth there were +many Marauders about on dark nights such as this, +Footpads and Highway Robbers, not to mention +those bands of young Rakes, who found pleasure in +"scouring" the streets o' nights and molesting the +belated Wayfarer.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton, too, carried a weighted stick, and +he was a Man whom clean, sturdy living had +rendered both athletic and powerful. We were soon, +both of us, wet to the Skin, but Mr. Betterton +appeared quite oblivious of discomfort. He walked +with a quick step, and I perforce had to keep up +with him as best I could.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had told me, before we started out, that he +was bent for my Lady Castlemaine's House, the +rear of which looks down upon the Gardens of +White Hall. I knew the way thither just as well as +he did. Great was my astonishment, therefore, +when having reached the bottom of King Street, +when we should have turned our steps northwards, +Mr. Betterton suddenly ordered the linkmen to +proceed through Palace Yard in the direction of +Westminster Stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">I thought that he was suffering from a fit of +absent-mindedness, which was easily understandable +on account of his agitated Frame of Mind; and +presently I called his attention to his mistake. He paid +no heed to me, however, and continued to walk on +until we were some way up Canon's Row.</p> +<p class="pnext">Here he called to his linkmen to halt, and himself +paused; then caught hold of my cloak, and dragged +me under the shelter of a great gateway belonging to +one of those noble Mansions which front the River. +And he said to me, in a strange and peremptory +Voice, hardly raised above a Whisper:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do You know where we are, Honeywood?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," I said, not a little surprised at the +question. "We are at the South End of Canon's Row. +I know this part very well, having often——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, then," he broke in, still in the same +imperious Manner. "You know that we are under +the gateway belonging to the Town Mansion of the +Earl of Stour, and that the house is some twenty +yards up the fore-court."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know the house," I replied, "now you mention it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then you will go to my Lord Stour now, +Honeywood," my Friend went on.</p> +<p class="pnext">"To warn him?" I queried eagerly, for of a +truth I was struck with Admiration at this excess +of Magnanimity on the part of an injured Man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," Mr. Betterton replied curtly. "You will +go to my Lord Stour as my Friend and Intermediary. +You will tell him that I sent You, +because I desire to know if he hath changed his mind, +and if he is ready to give me Satisfaction for the +Insult, which he put upon me nigh on two months ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">I could not restrain a gasp of surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But——" I stammered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are not going to play me false, +Honeywood," he said simply.</p> +<p class="pnext">That I swore I would not do. Indeed, he knew +well enough that if he commanded me to go to +the outermost ends of the Earth on his errand, or +to hold parley with the Devil on his behalf, I +would have been eager and ready to do it.</p> +<p class="pnext">But I must confess that at this moment I would +sooner have parleyed with the Devil than with the +Earl of Stour. The Man whom I had denounced, +You understand. I felt that the shadow of +Death—conjured by me, menacing and unevasive—would +perhaps lie 'twixt him and me whilst I spoke with +him. Yet how could I demur when my Friend +besought me?—my Friend, who was gravely troubled +because of me.</p> +<p class="pnext">I promised that I would do as he wished. Whereupon +he gave me full instructions. Never had +so strange a task been put upon a simple-minded +Plebeian: for these were matters pertaining to +Gentlemen. I knew less than nothing of Duels, +Affairs of Honour, or such like; yet here was +I—John Honeywood, an humble Attorney's Clerk—sent +to convey a challenge for a Duel to a high and +noble Lord, in the manner most approved by +Tradition.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was ready to swoon with Fright; for, in truth, +I am naught but a timid Rustic. In spite of the cold +and the rain I felt a rush of hot blood coursing up +and down my Spine. But I learned my Lesson from +end to end, and having mastered it, I did not waver.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving Mr. Betterton under the shelter of the +gateway, I boldly crossed the fore-court and +mounted the couple of steps which led up to the +front door of the Mansion. The fore-court and the +front of the House were very dark, and I was not +a little afraid of Night Prowlers, who, they do say, +haunt the immediate Purlieus of these stately +Abodes of the Nobility, ready to fall upon any +belated Visitor who might be foolish enough to +venture out alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, everything around me was so still and +seemed so desolate that an Access of Fear seized +me, whilst I vainly tried to grope for the bell-handle +in the Darkness. I very nearly gave way to my +Cowardice then and there, and would have run back +to my Friend or called out to the Linkmen for their +Company, only that at the very moment my Hand +came in contact with the iron bell pull, and fastened +itself instinctively upon it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon the clang of the Bell broke the +solemn Silence which reigned around.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I had grave Difficulty in obtaining access to my +Lord Stour, his Servant telling me in the first +instance that his Lordship was not at home, and in +the second that he was in any event too busy to +receive Visitors at this hour. But I have oft been +told that I possess the Obstinacy of the Weak, and +I was determined that, having come so far, I would +not return to Mr. Betterton without having +accomplished mine Errand. So, seeing that the Servant, +with the Officiousness and Insolence of his kind, was +about to slam the door in my face, an Inspiration +seized me, and taking on a haughty Air, I stepped +boldly across the Threshold and then commanded +the Menial to go to his Lordship at once and +announce the visit of Mr. Theophilus Baggs' Clerk on +a matter of the utmost Urgency.</p> +<p class="pnext">I suppose that now I looked both determined and +fierce, and after a good deal of hem-ming and +hawing, the Varlet apparently felt that non-compliance +with my Desire might bring contumely upon +himself; so he went, leaving me most unceremoniously +to cool my heels in the Hall, and returned but a very +few minutes later looking distinctly crestfallen and +not a little astonished.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Lordship would see me at once, he announced. +Then bade me follow him up the stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">To say that my Heart was beating furiously +within my Breast would be but a bald Statement of +my Frame of Mind. I fully expected that his +Lordship, directly he knew that it was not Mr. Baggs +who had sent me, would have me ignominiously +turned out of the House. However, I was not given +much time to indulge in my Conjectures and my +Fears, for presently I was ushered into a large room, +dimly lighted by a couple of wax candles and the +Walls of which, I noticed, were entirely lined with Books.</p> +<p class="pnext">After the Menial had closed the door behind me, +a Voice bade me curtly to come forward and to state +mine Errand. Then I saw that my Lord Stour was +not alone. He was sitting in a chair in front of the +fire, and opposite to him sat the beautiful Lady +Barbara, whilst standing in front of the hearth, with +legs apart and hands thrust in the pockets of his +breeches, was Lord Douglas Wychwoode.</p> +<p class="pnext">What Courage was left in me now went down +into my shoes. I felt like a Man faced with three +Enemies where he had only expected to meet one. +My Throat felt very dry and my Tongue seemed to +cleave to my Palate. Nevertheless, in response to a +reiterated curt Command to state mine Errand, I +did so unfalteringly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Thomas Betterton, one of His Majesty's +Well-Beloved Servants," I said, "hath sent me to +his Lordship the Earl of Stour."</p> +<p class="pnext">My Words were greeted with an angry Oath from +Lord Douglas, an ironical Laugh from my Lord +Stour and a strange little Gasp, half of Terror, +wholly of Surprise, from the Lady Barbara.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Methought You came from Mr. Baggs," my +Lord Stour remarked haughtily. "So at least You +gave my Servant to understand, else You would +not have been admitted."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Lordship's Servant misunderstood me," +I rejoined quite quietly. "I gave my name as Clerk +to Mr. Baggs; but mine Errand concerns Mr. Thomas +Betterton, and he honours me with his Friendship."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And as Mr. Betterton's Affairs do not concern +me in any way——" his Lordship began coldly, and +would no doubt have dismissed me then and there, +but that the Lady Barbara interposed gently yet with +great Firmness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I pray You, my Lord," she said, "do not be +over-hasty. We might at least listen to what +Mr. Betterton's Messenger has to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," added Lord Douglas in his habitual +brusque Manner. "Let us hear what the Fellow wants."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was not encouraging, you will admit; but, +like many over-timid People, there are times when +I am conscious of unwonted Calm and Determination. +So even now I confronted these two +supercilious Gentlemen with as much Dignity as I could +command, and said, addressing myself directly to +the Earl of Stour:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Betterton hath sent me to You, my Lord, +to demand Satisfaction for the abominable Outrage +which You perpetrated upon his Person nigh on two +months ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Stour shrugged his Shoulders and riposted +coldly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"That tune is stale, my Man. Mr.—er—Betterton +has had mine Answer."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Since then, my Lord," I insisted firmly, "Time +hath no doubt brought saner Reflection. Mr. Betterton's +Fame and his Genius have raised him to a +level far above that conferred by mere Birth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have made a Gentleman of him, You mean?" +Lord Stour rejoined with a sarcastic curl of the lip.</p> +<p class="pnext">"More noble far than any Gentleman in the +Land," I retorted proudly.</p> +<p class="pnext">He gave a harsh laugh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"In that case, my Man," he said tartly, "you +can inform your worthy Friend that two hundred +years hence my Descendants might fight him on a +comparatively equal Footing. But until then," he +added firmly and conclusively, "I must repeat for +the last time what I have already told Mr.—er—Betterton: +the Earl of Stour cannot cross Swords +with a Mountebank."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take care, my Lord, take care——"</p> +<p class="pnext">The Exclamation had burst quite involuntarily +from my Lips. The next moment I felt ashamed +to have uttered it, for my Lord Stour looked me up +and down as he would an importunate Menial, and +Lord Douglas Wychwoode strode towards me and +pointed to the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get out!" he commanded curtly.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was nothing more to be done—nothing +more to be said, if I desired to retain one last +Shred of Dignity both for myself and for the great +Artist who—in my Person this time—had once +again been so profoundly humiliated.</p> +<p class="pnext">My wet cloak I had left down in the Hall, but I +still held my hat in my hands. I now bowed with +as much Grace as I could muster. Lord Douglas +still pointed a peremptory finger towards the door, +making it clear that I was not going of mine own +Accord, like the Intermediary of any Gentleman +might be, but that I was being kicked out like some +insolent Varlet.</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh! the shame of it! The shame!</p> +<p class="pnext">My ears were tingling, my temples throbbing. A +crimson Veil, thrust before mine eyes by invisible +Hands, caused my footsteps to falter. Oh! if only +I had had the strength, I should even then have +turned upon those aristocratic Miscreants and, with +my hands upon their throats, have forced them to +eat their impious Words.</p> +<p class="pnext">But even as I crossed the Threshold of that Room +where I had suffered such bitter Humiliation, I +heard loud and mocking Laughter behind me; and +words such as: "Insolence!" "Mountebank!" +"Rogue!" and "Vagabond!" still reached my ears.</p> +<p class="pnext">I suppose that the door did not close quite fully +behind me, for even as I crossed the landing +meseemed that I heard the Lady Barbara's voice raised +in a kind of terrified Appeal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Would to God, my dear Lord," she appeared to +plead with passionate Earnestness, "You had not +incurred the Enmity of that Man. Ever since that +awful day I have felt as if You were encompassed +by Spirits of Hate and of Vengeance which threaten +our Happiness."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her Voice broke in a sob. And, indeed, I found +it in my heart to pity her, for she seemed deeply +grieved. I still could hear him—her Lover and +mine Enemy, since he was the Enemy of my +Friend—trying to laugh away her fears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, sweetheart," he was saying tenderly. "A +Man like that can do us no harm. Mine own +Conscience is clear—my Life honourable—and to-night +will see the triumph of your Cause, to which I have +given willing help. That Man's Malice cannot touch +me, any more than the snarling of a toothless cur. +So do not waste these precious moments, my +Beloved, by thinking of him."</p> +<p class="pnext">After which the door behind me was closed to, +and I heard nothing more. I hurried down the +Stairs, snatched up my cloak and hurried out of the +House.</p> +<p class="pnext">Never should I have believed that a human Heart +could contain so much Hatred as mine held for my +Lord Stour at that moment.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I found Mr. Betterton waiting for me under the +Gateway where I had left him a quarter of an hour ago.</p> +<p class="pnext">As soon as he heard my footsteps upon the +uneven pavement of the fore-court, he came forward +to meet me, took hold of my cloak and dragged me +back into shelter.</p> +<p class="pnext">He only said the one word: "Well?" but it is +not in my power, dear Mistress, to render adequately +all that there was of Anxiety, Impatience and of +Passion in that one brief Query.</p> +<p class="pnext">I suppose that I hesitated. Of a truth the +Message which I was bringing was choking me. And he +who is so sensitive, so understanding, learned +everything, and at once, from my Silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He hath refused?" he said simply.</p> +<p class="pnext">I nodded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He will not fight me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And my Silence gave reply. A curious, hoarse +Cry, like that of a wounded Animal, escaped his +Throat and for a moment we were both silent—so +silent that the patter of the rain appeared like some +thunderous Noise: and the divers sounds of the +great City wrapped in the Cloak of Evening came +to us with sharp and eerie Distinctness. Far away, +a dog barked; some belated Chairman called: +"Make room, there!"; a couple of Watchmen +passed close by, clinking their halberts against the +ground, and from one of the noble Mansions nigh +to us there came the sound of Revelry and of +Laughter.</p> +<p class="pnext">I felt like in a Dream, conscious only that the +Finger of Destiny was pointing to the Dial of a +Clock, and that I was set here to count the Seconds +and the Minutes until that ghostly Finger had +completed its task and registered the final Hour when +the Decrees of God would inevitably be fulfilled.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-hour">CHAPTER X</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE HOUR</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A quarter of an hour—perhaps less—later, we +were speeding back, Mr. Betterton and I, down +Canon's Row on our way to Westminster Stairs, +intending to take boat for the City.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the terrible mental upheaval which had +followed on the renewed Outrage that had been put +upon my beloved Friend, I had well-nigh forgotten +that secret conspiracy which was even now threatening +the stability of our Country, and in which my +former Employer and his Spouse were so deeply +involved.</p> +<p class="pnext">The striking of Church Bells far and near, +chiming the hour of eight, recalled me to the danger +which threatened Mr. Baggs along with his more +aristocratic co-traitors. And, strangely enough, +Mr. Betterton thought of this at the very same time. +He had been sunk in moody Reverie ever since my +Silence had told him the grim tale of my +unsuccessful Embassy to the Earl of Stour, and through +the darkness it was impossible even for my devoted +eyes to watch the Play of Emotions upon his +tell-tale face, or to read in his eyes the dark thoughts +which I knew must be coursing through his Brain.</p> +<p class="pnext">In myself, I could not help but be satisfied at the +turn of Events. The Conspirators, denounced by +me to the Countess of Castlemaine, would of a +certainty meet the Punishment which they so fully +deserved. Lord Stour was one of them, so was Lord +Douglas Wychwoode. The Scaffold, or at least, +Banishment, would be their lot, and how could I +grieve—I, who hated them so!—that the Earth +would presently be rid of two arrogant and +supercilious Coxcombs, Traitors to their King, +vainglorious and self-seeking. True, the Lady Barbara +would weep. But when I remembered the many +bitter tears which you, dear Mistress, have shed +these past months because she had enchained +the fancy of the Man whom you loved, then had +scorned his Ardour and left him a Prey to +Humiliation and Shame at the hands of Men unworthy to +lick the dust at his feet; when I remembered all +that, I could find no Pity in my heart for the Lady +Barbara, but rather a Hope that one so exquisitely +fair would pass through Sorrow and Adversity the +purer and softer for the Ordeal.</p> +<p class="pnext">True again, that for some reason still unexplained +Mr. Betterton appeared to desire with an almost +passionate intensity that his successful Rival should +escape the fate of his fellow-Conspirators. Such +Magnanimity was beyond my Comprehension, and +I felt that the Sentiment which engendered it could +not be a lasting one. Mr. Betterton was for the +moment angry with me—very angry—for what I +had done; but his Anger I knew would soon melt +in the Warmth of his own kindly Heart. He would +forgive me, and anon forget the insolent Enemy +after the latter had expiated his Treachery and his +Arrogance upon the Scaffold. The whole of this +hideous past Episode would then become a mere +Memory, like unto a nightmare which the healthful +freshness of the newly-born Day so quickly dispels.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">So on the whole it was with a lightened heart +that I stepped into the boat in the wake of +Mr. Betterton. I thanked the Lord that the Rain had +ceased for the moment, for truly I was chilled to +the Marrow and could not have borne another wetting.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every Angle and Stone and Stair and Landing +Stage along the Embankment was of course familiar +to me; and I could not help falling into a Reverie +at sight of those great houses which were the City +homes of some of the noblest Families in the Land. +How many of these stately walls, thought I, +sheltered a nest of Conspirators as vile and as disloyal +as were Lord Douglas Wychwoode and his friends? +Suffolk House and Yorke House, Salisbury House +and Worster House, to mention but a few. How +did the mere honest Citizen know what went on +behind their Portals, what deadly secrets were +whispered within their doors?</p> +<p class="pnext">I had been taught all my life to respect those who +are above me in Station and to reverence our titled +Nobility; but truly my short Experience of these +high-born Sparks was not calculated to enhance my +Respect for their Integrity or my Admiration for +their Intellect. Some older Gentlemen there were, +such as the Lord Chancellor himself, who were +worthy of Everybody's regard; but I must confess +that the Behaviour of the younger Fops was oft +blameworthy.</p> +<p class="pnext">I might even instance our Experience this dark +night after we had landed at the Temple Stairs, and +were hurrying along our way up Middle Temple +Lane in the wake of our linkmen. We were +speeding on, treading carefully so as to avoid as much +as was possible the mud which lay ankle-deep in +the Lane, when we suddenly spied ahead of us a +party of "Scourers"—young Gentlemen of high +Rank, very much the worse for drink, who, being +at their wits' end to know how to spend their +evenings, did it in prowling about the Streets, insulting +or maltreating peaceable Passers-by, molesting +Women, breaking Tavern windows, stealing +Signboards and otherwise rendering themselves noxious +to honest Citizens, and helping to make the Streets +of our great City an object of terror by night, in +emulation of highway Robbers and other foul +Marauders.</p> +<p class="pnext">No doubt Mr. Betterton and I would—despite the +aid of our two linkmen and of their stout Cudgels—have +fallen a victim to these odious Miscreants, +and the great Actor would of a surety have been +very rudely treated, since he had so often denounced +these Mal-practices from the Stage and held up to +public Ridicule not only the young Rakes who took +part in the riotous Orgies, but also our Nightwatchmen, +who were too stupid or too cowardly to cope +with them. But, knowing our danger, we avoided +it, and hearing the young Mohocks coming our way +we slipped up Hare Alley and bided our time until +the noise of Revels and Riotings were well behind us.</p> +<p class="pnext">I heard afterwards that those Abominable +Debauchees—who surely should have known better, +seeing that they were all Scions of great and noble +Families—had indeed "scoured" that night with +some purpose. They broke into Simond's Inn in +Fleet Street, smashed every Piece of Crockery they +could find there, assaulted the Landlord, beat the +Customers about, broke open the money-box, stole +some five pounds in hard cash and insulted the +waiting-maids. Finally they set a seal to their +Revels by falling on the Nightwatchmen who had +come to disperse them, beating them with their own +halberts and with sticks, and wounding one so +severely that he ultimately died in Hospital, while +the Miscreants themselves got off scot-free.</p> +<p class="pnext">Truly a terrible state of Affairs in such a noble +City as London!</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">As for Mr. Betterton and myself, we reached the +corner of Chancery Lane without serious +Adventure. As we neared the house of Mr. Theophilus +Baggs, however, I felt my Courage oozing down +into my shoes. Truly I could not then have faced +my former Employer, whom I had just betrayed, +and the mean side of my Action in the Matter came +upon me with a shaming force.</p> +<p class="pnext">I begged Mr. Betterton, therefore, to go and +speak with Mr. Baggs whilst I remained waiting +outside upon the doorstep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of all that miserable day, this was perhaps to me +the most painful moment. From the instant that +Mr. Betterton was admitted into the house until he +returned to me some twenty minutes later, I was +in a cold sweat, devoured with Apprehension and +fighting against Remorse. I could not forget that +Mr. Baggs had been my Master and Employer—if +not too kind an one—for years, and if he had been +sent to the Tower and accompanied his fellow +Conspirators upon the Scaffold, I verily believe that I +should have felt like Judas Iscariot and, like him, +would have been unable to endure my life after such +a base Betrayal.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortunately, however, Mr. Betterton was soon +able to reassure me. He had, he said, immediately +warned Mr. Baggs that something of the Secret +of the Conspiracy had come to the ears of the +Countess of Castlemaine, and that all those who +were in any way mixed up in the Affair would be +wise to lie low as far as possible, at any rate for +a while.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Baggs, it seems, was at first terrified, and +was on the point of losing his Head and committing +some act of Folly through sheer fright. But +Mr. Betterton's quieting Influence soon prevailed. The +worthy Attorney, on thinking the matter over, +realized that if he destroyed certain Documents +which might prove incriminating to himself, he +would have little else to fear. He himself had never +written a compromising Letter—he was far too +shrewd to have thus committed himself—and there +was not a scrap of paper in any one else's +possession which bore his Name or might mark his +Identity, whilst he had not the slightest fear that the +other Conspirators—who were all of them +Gentlemen—would betray the Complicity of an humble +Attorney who had rendered them loyal Service.</p> +<p class="pnext">Strangely enough, Mr. Baggs never suspected me +of having betrayed the whole thing; or, if he did, +he never said so. So many People plotted these +days, so many Conspiracies were hatched then blown +upon, that I for one imagine that Mr. Baggs had a +hand in several of these and was paid high Fees +for his share in them. Then, when anything +untoward happened, when mere Chance, or else a +Traitor among the Traitors, caused the Conspiracy +to abort, the worthy Attorney would metaphorically +shake the dust of political Intrigue from his shabby +shoes, and make a bonfire of every compromising +Document that might land him in the Tower and +further. After which, he was no doubt ready to +begin all over again.</p> +<p class="pnext">So it had occurred in this instance. Mr. Betterton +did not wait to see the bonfire, which was just +beginning to blaze merrily in the old-fashioned +hearth. He told me all about it when he joined me +once more upon the doorstep, and for the first time +that day I heard him laugh quite naturally and +spontaneously while he recounted to me Mr. Baggs' +Terrors and Mistress Euphrosine's dignified +Fussiness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She would have liked to find some Pretext," he +said quite gaily, "for blaming me in the Matter. +But on the whole, I think that they were both +thankful for my timely Warning."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">But, as far as I was concerned, this ended once +and for all my Connection with the house of +Mr. Theophilus Baggs, and since that memorable night +I have never once slept under his roof.</p> +<p class="pnext">I went back with Mr. Betterton to his House in +Tothill Street. By the time we reached it, it was +close on ten o'clock. Already he had intimated to +me that henceforth I was to make my home with +him; and as soon as we entered the House he +ordered his Servant to make my room and bed ready +for me. My Heart was filled with inexpressible +gratitude at his Kindness. Though I had, in an +altogether inexplicable manner, run counter to his +Plans, he was ready to forgive me and did not +withdraw his Friendship from me.</p> +<p class="pnext">As time went on, I was able to tell him something +of the Emotions which coursed through my Heart +in recognition of his measureless Kindness to me; +but on that first evening I could not speak of it. +When I first beheld the cosy room which he had +assigned to me, with its clean and comfortable bed +and substantial furniture, I could only bow my +Head, take his Hand and kiss it reverently. He +withdrew it as if he had been stung.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Keep such expressions of Respect," he said +almost roughly, "for one who is worthy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You," I riposted simply, "are infinitely worthy, +because You are good."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then once again his harsh, mirthless Laugh—so +unlike his usual light-hearted Merriment—grated +upon mine ear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good!" he exclaimed. "Nay, friend Honeywood, +You are not, meseems, a master of intuition. +Few Hearts in London this night," he added +earnestly, "harbour such evil Desires as mine."</p> +<p class="pnext">But in spite of what he said, in spite of that +strange look in his eyes, that Laugh which +proclaimed a perturbed Soul, I could not bring myself +to believe that his noble Heart was a Prey to aught +but noble Desires, and that those awful and subtle +Schemes of deadly Revenge which have subsequently +threatened to ruin his own Life were even now +seething in his Brain.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the moment, I only remembered that when +first he had requested me to accompany him on his +evening Peregrinations, it had been with a view to +visiting the Countess of Castlemaine, and I now +reminded him of his Purpose, thinking that his +desire had been to beg for my Lord Stour's pardon. +I did so, still insisting upon her Ladyship's avowed +Predilection for himself, and I noticed that while +I spoke thus he smiled grimly to himself and +presently said with slow Deliberation:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye! Her Ladyship hath vowed that out of +Gratitude for his public Eulogy of her Virtue and +her Beauty, she would grant Mr. Thomas Betterton +any Favour he might ask of her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye! and her Ladyship is not like to go back +on her word," I assented eagerly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Therefore," he continued, not heeding me, "the +Countess of Castlemaine, who in her turn can +obtain any Favour she desires from His Majesty the +King, will at my request obtain a full and gracious +Pardon for the Earl of Stour."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She will indeed!" I exclaimed, puzzled once +more at this strange trait of Magnanimity—Weakness, +I called it—on the part of a Man who had on +two occasions been so monstrously outraged. "You +are a hero, Sir," I added in an awed whisper, "to +think of a pardon for your most deadly Enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">He turned and looked me full in the eyes. I +could scarce bear his Glance, for there seemed to +dwell within its glowing depths such a World of +Misery, of Hatred and of thwarted Passion, that +my Soul was filled with dread at the sight. And +he said very slowly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are wrong there, my Friend. I was not +thinking of a pardon for mine Enemy, but of +Revenge for a deadly Insult, which it seems cannot +be wiped out in Blood."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I would have said something more after that, for +in truth my Heart was full of Sympathy and of +Love for my Friend and I longed to soothe and +console him, as I felt I could do, humble and +unsophisticated though I was. Thoughts of You, dear +Mistress, were running riot in my Brain. I longed +at this momentous hour, when the Fate of many +Men whom I knew was trembling in the balance, to +throw myself at Mr. Betterton's feet and to +conjure him in the name of all his most noble Instincts +to give up all thoughts of the proud Lady who had +disdained him and spurned his Affections, and to +turn once more to the early and pure Love of his +Life—to You, dear Mistress, whose Devotion had +been so severely tried and yet had not been found +wanting, and whose influence had always been one +of Gentleness and of Purity.</p> +<p class="pnext">But, seeing him sitting there brooding, obviously a +Prey to Thoughts both deep and dark, I did not dare +speak, and remained silent in the hope that, now that +I was settled under his roof, an Opportunity would +occur for me to tell him what weighed so heavily on +my Heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the Servant came in and brought +Supper, and Mr. Betterton sat down to it, bidding +me with perfect Grace and Hospitality to sit +opposite to him. But we neither of us felt greatly +inclined to eat. I was hungry, it is true; yet every +Morsel which I conveyed to my mouth cost me an +effort to swallow. This was all the more remarkable +as at the moment my whole Being was revelling +in the Succulence of the fare spread out before me, +the Excellence of the Wine, the snowy Whiteness of +the Cloths, the Beauty of Crystal and of Silver, +all of which bore testimony to the fastidious Taste +and the Refinement of the great Artist.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of the great Events which were even then shaping +themselves in White Hall, we did not speak. We +each knew that the Other's mind was full of what +might be going on even at this hour. But +Mr. Betterton made not a single Reference to it, and +I too, therefore, held my tongue. In fact, we spoke +but little during Supper, and as I watched my +dearly loved Friend toying with his food, and I +myself felt as if the next mouthful would choke me, +I knew his Mind was far away.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was fixed upon White Hall and its stately +Purlieus and upon the house of the Countess of +Castlemaine, which overlooked the Privy Gardens, +and of His Majesty the King. His senses, I knew, +were strained to catch the sound of distant +Murmurs, of running Footsteps, of the grinding of Arms +or of pistol shots.</p> +<p class="pnext">But not a Sound came to disturb the peaceful +Silence of this comfortable Abode. The Servant +came and went, bringing food, then clearing it away, +pouring Wine into our glasses, setting and removing +the silver Utensils.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anon Mr. Betterton and I both started and +furtively caught one another's Glance. The tower +clock of Westminster was striking eleven.</p> +<p class="pnext">"For Good or for Evil, all is over by now," +Mr. Betterton said quietly. "Come, friend +Honeywood; let's to bed."</p> +<p class="pnext">I went to bed, but not to sleep. For hours I lay +awake, wondering what had happened. Had the +Conspirators succeeded and was His Majesty a +Prisoner in their hands? or were they themselves +Captives in that frowning Edifice by the Water, +which had witnessed so many Deaths and such grim +Tragedies, and from which the only Egress led +straight to the Scaffold?</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="rumours-and-conjectures">CHAPTER XI</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">RUMOURS AND CONJECTURES</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Very little of what had actually occurred came to +the ear of the Public. In fact, not one Man in ten +in the whole of the Cities of London and +Westminster knew that a couple of hours before +midnight, when most simple and honest Citizens were +retiring to their beds, a batch of dangerous +Conspirators had been arrested even within the +Precincts of White Hall.</p> +<p class="pnext">I heard all that there was to know from +Mr. Betterton, who went out early the following +Morning and returned fully informed of the events of the +preceding Night. Subsequently too, I gleaned a +good deal of information through the instrumentality +of Mistress Floid. As far as I could gather, +the Conspirators did carry out their Project just +as they had decided on it in my Presence. They did +assemble in King Street and in the by-lanes leading +out of it, keeping my Lady Castlemaine's House in +sight, whilst others succeeded in Concealing +themselves about the Gardens of White Hall, no doubt +with the Aid of treacherous and suborned Watchmen.</p> +<p class="pnext">The striking of the hour of ten was to be the +signal for immediate and concerted Action. Those +in the Gardens stood by on the watch, until after +His Majesty the King had walked across from his +Palace to Her Ladyship's House. His Majesty, as +was his wont when supping with Lady Castlemaine, +entered her house by the back door, and his Servants +followed him into the house.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then the Conspirators waited for the Hour to +strike. Directly the last clang of church bells had +ceased to reverberate through the humid evening air, +they advanced both from the Back and the Front +of the House simultaneously, when they were set +upon on the one side by a Company of His Majesty's +Body Guard under the Command of Major +Sachvrell, who had remained concealed inside the +Palace, and on the other by a Company of +Halberdiers under the Command of Colonel Powick.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the Traitors were thus confronted by loyal +Troops, they tried to put up a Fight, not realizing +that such measures had been taken by Major +Sachvrell and Colonel Powick that they could not +possibly hope to escape.</p> +<p class="pnext">A scuffle ensued, but the Conspirators were very +soon overpowered, as indeed they were greatly +outnumbered. The Neighbourhood—even then +slumbering peacefully—did no more than turn over in +bed, marvelling perhaps if a party of Mohocks on +mischief bent had come in conflict with a Posse of +Night-watchmen. The Prisoners were at once +marched to the Tower, despite the Rain which had +once more begun to fall heavily; and during the +long, wearisome Tramp through the City, their +Ardour for Conspiracies and Intrigues must have +cooled down considerably.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Lieutenant of the Tower had everything +ready for the Reception of such exalted Guests; for +in truth my Lady Castlemaine had not allowed +things to be done by halves. Incensed against her +Enemies in a manner in which only an adulated and +spoilt Woman can be, she was going to see to it +that those who had plotted against her should be as +severely dealt with as the Law permitted.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Later on, I had it from my friend, Mistress +Floid, that the Lady Barbara Wychwoode visited +the Countess of Castlemaine during the course of +the morning. She arrived at her Ladyship's House +dressed in black and with a Veil, as if of mourning, +over her fair Hair.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mistress Floid hath oft told me that the Interview +between the two Ladies was truly pitiable, and that +the Lady Barbara presented a heart-rending +Spectacle. She begged and implored her Ladyship to +exercise Mercy over a few young Hotheads, who +had been misled into Wrong-doing by inflammatory +Speeches from Agitators, these being naught but +paid Agents of the Dutch Government, she averred, +set to create Discontent and if possible Civil War +once again in England, so that Holland might +embark upon a War of Revenge with some Certainty +of Success.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the Countess of Castlemaine would not listen +to the Petition at all, and proud Lady Barbara +Wychwoode then flung herself at the other Woman's +feet and begged and implored for Pardon for her +Brother, her Lover and her Friends. Mistress Floid +avers that my Lady Castlemaine did nothing but +laugh at the poor Girl's pleadings, saying in a +haughty, supercilious Manner:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Beauty in tears? 'Tis a pretty sight, forsooth! +But had your Friends succeeded in their damnable +Plot, would You have shed tears of sympathy for +Me, I wonder?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And I could not find it in me to be astonished at +my Lady Castlemaine's Spitefulness, for in truth the +Lady Barbara's Friends had plotted her Disgrace +and Ruin. Not only that, they had taken every +opportunity of vilifying her Character and making +her appear as odious in the Eyes of the People as +they very well could.</p> +<p class="pnext">You must not infer from this, dear Mistress, that +I am upholding my Lady Castlemaine in any way. +Her mode of life is abhorrent to me and I deeply +regret her Influence over His Majesty and over the +public Morals of the Court Circle, not to say of the +entire Aristocracy and Gentry. I am merely noting +the fact that human Nature being what it is, it is +not to be wondered at that when the Lady had a +Chance of hitting back, she did so with all her +Might, determined to lose nothing of this +stupendous Revenge.</p> +<p class="pnext">However secret the actual Arrest of the +Conspirators was kept from public Knowledge, it soon +transpired that such great and noble Gentlemen as +Lord Teammouth, Lord Douglas Wychwoode, the +Earl of Stour, not to mention others, were in the +Tower, and that a sensational Trial for Conspiracy +and High Treason was pending.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually the History of the Plot had leaked +out, and how it had become abortive owing to an +anonymous Denunciation (for so it was called). +The Conspiracy became the talk of the Town. +Several Ladies and Gentlemen, though not directly +implicated in the Affair, but of known ultra-Protestant +views, thought it best to retire to their Country +Estates, ostensibly for the benefit of their Health.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sinister Rumours were afloat that the +Conspirators would be executed without Trial—had +already suffered the extreme Penalty of the Law; +that the Marquis of Sidbury, Father of Lord +Douglas Wychwoode, had suddenly died of Grief; +that Torture would be applied to the proletarian +Accomplices of the noble Lords—of whom there +were many—so as to extract further Information +and Denunciations from them. In fact, the Town +seethed with Conjectures; People talked in +Whispers and dispersed at sight of any one who was +known to belong to the Court Circle. The Theatres +played to empty Benches, the Exchanges and Shops +were deserted, for no one liked to be abroad when +Arrests and Prosecutions were in the Air.</p> +<p class="pnext">Through it all, very great Sympathy was evinced +for the Lady Barbara Wychwoode, whose pretty +Face was so well-known in Town and whose Charm +of Manner and kindly Disposition had endeared her +to many who had had the privilege of her Acquaintance. +Public Opinion is a strange and unaccountable +Factor in the Affairs of Men, and Public +Opinion found it terribly hard that so young and +adulated a Girl as was the Lady Barbara should +at one fell swoop lose Brother, Lover and Friends. +And I may truly say that Satisfaction was +absolutely genuine and universal when it became known +presently that the young Earl of Stour had +received a full and gracious Pardon for his supposed +Share in the abominable Plot.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whether, on closer Investigation, he had been +proved innocent or whether the Pardon was due to +exalted or other powerful Influences, no one knew +as yet: all that was a Certainty was that my Lord +Stour presently left the Tower a free Man even +whilst his Friends were one and all brought to +Trial, and subsequently most of them executed for +High Treason, or otherwise severely punished.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Teammouth suffered Death upon the +Scaffold, so did Sir James Campsfield and Mr. Andrew +Kinver; and there were others, whose Names escape +me for the moment. Lord Douglas Wychwoode +succeeded in fleeing to Scotland and thence to +Holland; most people averred owing to the marvellous +Pluck and Ingenuity of his Sister. A number of +Persons of meaner degree were hanged; in fact, a +Reign of Terror swept over the country, and many +thought that the Judges had been unduly harsh and +over free with their Pronouncements of Death +Sentences.</p> +<p class="pnext">But it was obvious that His Majesty himself +meant to make an Example of such abominable +Traitors, before political Intrigues and Rebellion +spread over the Country once again.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was all the more strange, therefore, that one +of the Conspirators—the Earl of Stour, in fact, +whose name had been most conspicuous in connection +with the Affair—should thus have been the only +one to enjoy Immunity. But, as I said before, +nothing but Satisfaction was expressed at first for +this one small Ray of Sunshine which came to +brighten poor Lady Barbara Wychwoode's Misery.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for me, I did not know what to think. Surely +my heart should have been filled with Admiration +for the noble Revenge which a great Artist had +taken upon a hot-headed young Coxcomb. Such +Magnanimity was indeed unbelievable; nay, I felt +that it showed a Weakness of Character of which in +my innermost Heart I did not believe Mr. Betterton +capable.</p> +<p class="pnext">To say that I was much rejoiced over the +Clemency shown to my Lord Stour would be to deviate +from the Truth. Looking back upon the Motives +which had actuated me when I denounced the +infamous Plot to the Countess of Castlemaine, I could +not help but admit to myself that Hatred of a young +Jackanapes and a Desire for Vengeance upon his +impudent Head had greatly influenced my Course +of Action. Now that I imagined him once more +kneeling at the Lady Barbara's feet, an accepted +Lover, triumphant over Destiny, all the Sympathy +which I may have felt for him momentarily in the +hour of his Adversity, died out completely from my +Heart, and I felt that I hated him even more +virulently than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Image, as he had last stood before me in the +dimly-lighted room of his noble Mansion, +surrounded by Books, costly Furniture, and all the +Appurtenances of a rich and independent Gentleman, +was constantly before my Mind. I could, just by +closing mine eyes, see him sitting beside the hearth, +with the lovely Lady Barbara beaming at him from +the place opposite, and his Friend standing by, +backing him up with Word and Deed in all his +Arrogance and Overbearing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Earl of Stour cannot cross swords with a +Mountebank."</p> +<p class="pnext">I seemed to hear those Words reverberating +across the street like the clank of some ghostly +Bell; and whenever mine ears rang to their sound +I felt the hot Blood of a just Wrath surge up to +my cheeks and my feeble Hands would close in a +Clutch, that was fierce as it was impotent.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The reported Death from grief of the Marquis +of Sidbury proved to be a false Rumour. But the +aged Peer did suffer severely from the Shame put +upon him by his Son's Treachery. The Wychwoodes +had always been loyal Subjects of their +King. At the time of the late lamented Monarch's +most crying Adversity, he knew that he could always +count on the Devotion of that noble Family, the +Members of which had jeopardized their entire +Fortune, their very Existence, in the royal Cause.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course, the present Marquis's two Children +were scarce out of the Nursery when the bitter +Conflict raged between the King and his People; +but it must have been terribly hard for a proud +Man to bear the thought that his only Son, as soon +as he had reached Man's Estate, should have raised +his Hand against his Sovereign.</p> +<p class="pnext">No doubt owing to the disturbed State of many +influential Circles of Society that Winter, and the +number of noble Families who were in mourning +after the aborted Conspiracy and the wholesale +Executions that ensued, the Marriage between the +Lady Barbara Wychwoode and the Earl of Stour +was postponed until the Spring, and then it would +take place very quietly at the Bride's home in +Sussex, whither she had gone of late with her +Father, both living there for a while in strict +Retirement.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Douglas Wychwoode, so it was understood, +had succeeded in reaching Holland, where, I doubt +not, he continued to carry on those political +Intrigues against his lawful Sovereign which would +of a surety one day bring him to an ignominious End.</p> +<p class="pnext">I was now living in the greatest Comfort and was +supremely happy, in the House of Mr. Betterton. +He employed me as his Secretary, and in truth my +place was no sinecure, for I never could have +believed that there were so many foolish Persons in +the World who spent their time in writing +Letters—laudatory or otherwise—to such great Men as +were in the public Eye. I myself, though I have +always been a wholehearted Admirer of Men of +Talent and Erudition, would never have taken it +upon myself to trouble them with Effusions from my +Pen. And yet Letter after Letter would come to +the house in Tothill Street, addressed to +Mr. Thomas Betterton. Some written by great and +noble Ladies whose Names would surprise You, +dear Mistress, were I to mention them; others were +from Men of position and of learning who desired +to express to the great Artist all the Pleasure that +they had derived from his rendering of noble +Characters.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Pepys, a Gentleman of great knowledge and +a Clerk in the Admiralty, wrote quite frequently to +Mr. Betterton, sometimes to express unstinted +Praise for the great Actor's Performance in one of +his favourite Plays, or sometimes venturing on +Criticism, which was often shrewd and never disdained.</p> +<p class="pnext">But, after all, am I not wasting time by telling +You that which You, dear Mistress, know well +enough from your own personal Experience? I +doubt not but you receive many such Letters, both +from Admirers and from Friends, not to mention +Enemies, who are always to the fore when a Man +or Woman rises by Talent or Learning above the +dead level of the rest of Humanity.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then my duty to read those Letters and +to reply to them, which I did at Mr. Betterton's +Dictation, and in my choicest Caligraphy with many +Embellishments such as I had learned whilst I was +Clerk to Mr. Baggs. Thus it was that I obtained +Confirmation of the Fact which was still agitating +my Mind: namely, Mr. Betterton's share in the +Events which led to His Majesty's gracious Pardon +being extended to the Earl of Stour. I had, of +course, more than suspected all along that it was my +Friend who had approached the Countess of +Castlemaine on the Subject, yet could not imagine +how any Man, who was smarting under such a +terrible Insult, as Mr. Betterton had suffered at the +hands of my Lord Stour, could find it in his Heart +thus to return Good for Evil, and with such splendid +Magnanimity.</p> +<p class="pnext">But here I had Chapter and Verse for the whole +Affair, because my Lady Castlemaine wrote to +Mr. Betterton more than once upon the Subject, and +always in the same bantering tone, chaffing him for +his Chivalry and his Heroism, saying very much +what I should myself, if I had had the Courage or +the Presumption to do so. She kept him well +informed of her Endeavours on behalf of Lord Stour, +referring to the King's Severity and Obstinacy in +the matter in no measured Language, but almost +invariably closing her Epistles with a reiteration +of her promise to the great Artist to grant him any +Favour he might ask of her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do work most strenuously on your behalf, +You adorably wicked Man," her Ladyship wrote in +one of her Letters; "but I could wish that You +would ask something of me which more closely +concerned Yourself."</p> +<p class="pnext">On another occasion she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"For the first time yester evening I wrung a half +Promise from His Majesty; but You cannot +conceive in what a Predicament You have placed me, +for His Majesty hath shown signs of Suspicion +since I plead so earnestly on behalf of Lord Stour. +If my Insistence were really to arouse his Jealousy +your Protégé would certainly lose his Head and I +probably my Place in the King's Affections."</p> +<p class="pnext">And then again:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It greatly puzzles me why You should thus +favour my Lord Stour. Is it not a fact that he +hath insulted You beyond the Hope of Pardon? +And yet, not only do You plead for your Enemy +with passionate insistence, but You enjoin me at +the same time to keep your noble purpose a Secret +from him. Truly, but for my promise to You, I +would throw up the Sponge, and that for your own +good.... I did not know that Artists were +Altruists. Methought that Egotism was their most +usual Foible."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus I could no longer remain in doubt as to +who the Benefactor was, whom my Lord of Stour +had to thank for his very life. Yet, withal, the +Secret was so well kept that, even in this era of +ceaseless Gossip and Chatter, every one, even in the +most intimate Court Circle, was ignorant of the +subtle Intrigue which had been set in motion on +behalf of the young Gallant.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="poisoned-arrows">CHAPTER XII</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">POISONED ARROWS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Do you remember, dear Mistress, those lovely +days we had in February this year? They were +more like days of Spring than of Winter. For a +fortnight we revelled in sunshine and a temperature +more fitting for May than for one of the Winter +months.</p> +<p class="pnext">In London, Rich and Poor alike came out into +the Air like flies; the public Gardens and other +Places of common resort were alive with +Promenaders; the Walks and Arbours in the Gray's Inn +Walks or the Mulberry Garden were astir with +brilliant Company. All day, whether you sauntered in +Hyde Park, refreshed yourself with a collation in +Spring Gardens or strolled into the New Exchange, +you would find such a crowd of Men and Women +of Mode, such a Galaxy of Beauty and Bevy of fair +Maids and gallant Gentlemen as had not been seen +in the Town since that merry month of May, nigh +on two years ago now, when our beloved King +returned from Exile and all vied one with the other +to give him a cheerful Welcome.</p> +<p class="pnext">To say that this period was one of unexampled +Triumph for Mr. Betterton would be but to repeat +what You know just as well as I do. He made +some truly remarkable hits in certain Plays of the +late Mr. William Shakespeare, notably in +"Macbeth," in "King Lear," and in "Hamlett." Whether +I like these Plays myself or not is beside +the point; whatever I thought of them I kept to +myself, but was loud in my Admiration of the great +Actor, who indeed had by now conquered all Hearts, +put every other Performer in the Shade and raised +the Status of the Duke's Company of Players to a +level far transcending that ever attained by +Mr. Killigrew's old Company.</p> +<p class="pnext">This Opinion, at any rate, I have the Honour of +sharing with all the younger generation of +Play-goers who flock to the Theatre in Lincoln's Inn +Fields, even while the King's House in Vere Street +is receiving but scanty Patronage. Of course my +Judgment may not be altogether impartial, seeing +that in addition to Mr. Betterton, who is the finest +Actor our English Stage has ever known, the Duke's +House also boasts of the loveliest Actress that ever +walked before the Curtain.</p> +<p class="pnext">You, dear Mistress, were already then, as You +are now, at the zenith of your Beauty and Fame, +and your damask Cheeks would blush, I know, if +you were to read for yourself some of the Eulogies +which the aforementioned Mr. Samuel Pepys in his +Letters to Mr. Betterton bestows upon the exquisite +Mistress Saunderson—"Ianthe," as he has been +wont to call you ever since he saw You play that +part in Sir William Davenant's "The Siege of Rhodes."</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course I know that of late no other sentimental +tie hath existed outwardly between Mr. Betterton +and Yourself save that of Comradeship and friendly +Intercourse; but often when sitting in the Pit of the +Theatre I watched You and Him standing together +before the curtain, and receiving the Plaudits of an +enthusiastic Audience, I prayed to God in my Heart +to dissipate the Cloud of Misunderstanding which +had arisen between You; aye! and I cursed +fervently the Lady Barbara and her noble Lover, who +helped to make that Cloud more sombre and impenetrable.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I naturally heard a great deal more of Society +Gossip these days than I was wont to do during +the time that I was a mere Clerk in the Employ +of Mr. Theophilus Baggs. My kind Employer +treated me more as a Friend than a Servant. I +had fine Clothes to wear, accompanied him on +several Occasions when he appeared in Public, and was +constantly in his tiring-room at the Theatre, where +he received and entertained a never-ending Stream +of Friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus, towards the end of the Month, I gathered +from the Conversation of Gentlemen around me +that the Marquess of Sidbury had come up to Town +in the Company of his beautiful Daughter. He had, +they said, taken advantage of the fine Weather to +make the Journey to London, as he desired to consult +the Court Physician on the Matter of his Health.</p> +<p class="pnext">I shall never forget the strange Look that came +into Mr. Betterton's face when first the Subject was +mentioned. He and some Friends—Ladies as well +as Gentlemen—were assembled in the small +Reception Room which hath lately been fitted up behind +the Stage. Upholstered and curtained with a +pleasing Shade of Green, the Room is much frequented +by Artists and their Friends, and it is always +crowded during the Performance of those Plays +wherein one of the leading Actors or Actresses has +a part.</p> +<p class="pnext">We have taken to calling the place the Green +Room, and here on the occasion of a performance +of Mr. Webster's "Duchess of Malfy," in which +You, dear Mistress, had no part, a very brilliant +Company was assembled. Sir William Davenant +was there, as a matter of course, so was Sir George +Etherege, and that brilliant young dramatist +Mr. Wycherley. In addition to that, there were one or +two very great Gentlemen there, members of the +Court Circle and enthusiastic Playgoers, who were +also intimate Friends of Mr. Betterton. I am +referring particularly to the Duke of Buckingham, to +my Lord Rochester, Lord Orrery and others. A +brilliant Assembly forsooth, which testified to the +high Esteem in which the great Artist is held by all +those who have the privilege of knowing him.</p> +<p class="pnext">I told You that when first the Name of the Lady +Barbara was mentioned in the Green Room, a +strange Glance, which I was unable to interpret, shot +out of Mr. Betterton's eyes, and as I gazed upon that +subtle, impalpable Change which suddenly transformed +his serene Expression of Countenance into +one that was almost Evil, I felt a curious sinking of +the Heart—a dread Premonition of what was to +come. You know how his lips are ever ready to +smile: now they appeared thin and set, while the +sensitive Nostrils quivered almost like those of the +wild Beasts which we have all of us frequently +watched in the Zoological Gardens, when the +Attendants bring along the food for the day and they, +eager and hungry, know that the Hour of +Satisfaction is nigh.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The fair Lady Babs," one of the young +Gallants was saying with studied Flippancy, "is more +beautiful than ever, methinks; even though she goes +about garbed in the Robes of Sorrow."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor young thing!" commented His Grace of +Buckingham kindly. "She has been hard hit in that +last Affair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder what has happened to Wychwoode," +added Lord Rochester, who had been a known +Friend of Lord Douglas.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! he reached Holland safely enough," +another Gentleman whom I did not know averred. "I +suppose he thinks that it will all blow over +presently and that he will obtain a free pardon——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Like my Lord Stour," commented Mr. Betterton drily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! that's hardly likely," interposed Sir George +Etherege. "Wychwoode was up to the neck in the +Conspiracy, whilst Stour was proved to be innocent +of the whole affair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know that?" Mr. Betterton asked quietly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do I know it?" retorted Sir George. +"Why? ... How do we all know it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was wondering," was Mr. Betterton's calm +Rejoinder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I imagine," broke in another Gentleman, "that +at the Trial——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stour never stood his trial, now you come to +think of it," here interposed my Lord of Rochester.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He was granted a free Pardon," asserted His +Grace of Buckingham, "two days after his Arrest."</p> +<p class="pnext">"At the Instance of the Countess of Castlemaine, +so I am told," concluded Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">You see, he only put in a Word here and there, +but always to some purpose; and oh! that Purpose +I simply dared not guess. I was watching him, +remember, watching him as only a devoted Friend +or a fond Mother know how to watch; and I saw +that set look on his Face grow harder and harder +and a steely, glittering Light flash out of his Eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">My God! how I suffered! For with that Intuition +which comes to us at times when those whom +we love are in deadly peril, I had suddenly beheld +the Abyss of Evil into which my Friend was about +to plunge headlong. Yes! I understood now why +Mr. Betterton had pleaded with my Lady Castlemaine +for his Enemy's Life. It was not in order +to confer upon him a lasting benefit and thus shame +him by his Magnanimity; but rather in order to do +him an Injury so irreparable that even Death could +not wipe it away.</p> +<p class="pnext">But you shall judge, dear Mistress; and thus +judging You will understand much that has been +so obscure in my dear Friend's Character and in his +Actions of late. And to understand All is to +forgive All. One thing you must remember, however, +and that is that no Man of Mr. Betterton's Worth +hath ever suffered in his Pride and his innermost +Sensibilities as he hath done at the Hands of that +young Jackanapes whom he hated—as I had good +cause to know now—with an Intensity which was +both cruel and relentless. He meant to be even with +him, to fight him with his own Weapons, which +were those of Contempt and of Ridicule. He meant +to wound there, where he himself had suffered most, +in Reputation and in Self-Respect.</p> +<p class="pnext">I saw it all, and was powerless to do aught save +to gaze in mute Heart-Agony on the marring of a +noble Soul. Nay! I am not ashamed to own it: +I did in my Heart condemn my Friend for what he +had set out to do. I too hated Lord Stour, God +forgive me! but two months ago I would gladly +have seen his arrogant Head fall upon the Scaffold; +but this subtle and calculating Revenge, this cold +Intrigue to ruin a Man's Reputation and to +besmirch his Honour, was beyond my ken, and I could +have wept to see the great Soul of the Man, whom +I admired most in all the World, a prey to such an +evil Purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We all know," one of the young Sparks was +saying even now, "that my Lady Castlemaine +showed Stour marked favour from the very +moment he appeared at Court."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We also know," added Mr. Betterton with +quiet Irony, "that the whisper of a beautiful +Woman often drowns the loudest call of Honour."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But surely you do not think——?" riposted +Lord Rochester indignantly, "that—that——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That what, my lord?" queried Mr. Betterton calmly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, demme, that Stour did anything dishonourable?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why should I not think that?" retorted Mr. Betterton, +with a slight Elevation of the Eyebrows.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because he is a Stourcliffe of Stour, Sir," broke +in Sir George Etherege in that loud, blustering way +he hath at times; "and bears one of the greatest +Names in the Land."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A great Name is hereditary, Sir," rejoined the +great Actor quietly. "Honesty is not."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But what does Lady Castlemaine say about it +all?" interposed Lord Orrery.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lady Castlemaine hath not been questioned on +the subject, I imagine," interposed Sir William +Davenant drily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!" rejoined His Grace of Buckingham. +"There you are wrong, Davenant. I remember +speaking to her Ladyship about Stour one +day—saying how glad I was that he, at any rate, had had +nothing to do with that abominable Affair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well?" came eagerly from every one. "What +did she say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">His Grace remained thoughtful for a time, as if +trying to recollect Something that was eluding his +Memory. Then he said, turning to Mr. Betterton:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Tom, you were there at the time. Do +You recollect? It was at one of Her Ladyship's +Supper Parties. His Majesty was present. We all +fell to talking about the Conspiracy, and the King +said some very bitter things. Then I thought I +would say something about Stour. You remember?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes!" replied Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did Lady Castlemaine say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't think she said anything. Methinks she +only laughed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So she did!" assented His Grace; "and winked +at You, you Rogue! I recollect the Circumstance +perfectly now, though I attached no importance to +it at the time. But I can see it all before me. His +Majesty frowned and continued to look glum, whilst +the Countess of Castlemaine vowed with a laugh +that, anyway, my lord Stour was the handsomest +Gentleman in London, and that 'twere a pity to +allow such a beautiful Head to fall on the Scaffold."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It certainly sounds very strange," mused my +Lord Rochester, and fell to talking in Whispers with +Sir George Etherege, whilst His Grace of Buckingham +went and sat down beside Mr. Betterton, +and obviously started to discuss the Incident of the +Supper Party all over again with the great Actor. +Other isolated Groups also formed themselves, and +I knew that my Lord Stour's Name was on every +one's lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Traducement and Gossip is Meat and Drink to +all these noble and distinguished Gentlemen, and +here they had something to talk about, which would +transcend in Scandal anything that had gone +before. The story about my Lord Stour would +spread with the Rapidity which only evil-loving +Tongues can give. Alas! my poor Friend knew that +well enough when he shot his poisoned Arrows into +the Air. I was watching him whilst His Grace of +Buckingham conversed with him: I saw the feverishly +keen look in his eyes as he, in his turn, watched +the Ball of Slander and Gossip being tossed about +from one Group to another. He said but little, +hardly gave Answer to His Grace; but I could see +that he was on the alert, ready with other little +poisoned Darts whenever he saw Signs of weakening +in the Volume of Backbiting, which he had so +deliberately set going.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I liked Stour and I admired him," Lord +Rochester said at one time. "I could have sworn +that Nature herself had written 'honest man' on +his face."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!——" interposed Mr. Betterton, with that +quiet Sarcasm which I had learned to dread. +"Nature sometimes writes with a very bad Pen."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">It was not to be wondered at that the Scandal +against my Lord Stour, which was started in the +Green Room of the Theatre, grew in Magnitude +with amazing Rapidity. I could not tell you, dear +Mistress, what my innermost feelings were in +regard to the Matter: being an humble and ignorant +Clerk and devoted to the one Man to whom I owe +everything that makes life pleasing. I had neither +the Wish nor the mental Power to tear my Heart +to Pieces, in order to find out whether it beat in +Sympathy with my Friend, or with the Victim of +such a complete and deadly Revenge.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour was not then in London. He too, +like many of his Friends—notably the Marquis of +Sidbury and others not directly accused of Participation +in the aborted Plot—had retired to his Country +Estate, probably unwilling to witness the gaieties +of City Life, while those he cared for most were +in such dire Sorrow. But now that the Lady +Barbara and her Father were once more in Town, there +was little doubt that he too would return there +presently. Since he was a free Man, and Lord +Douglas Wychwoode had succeeded in evading the +Law, there was no doubt that the natural Elasticity +of Youth coupled with the prospect of the happy +future which lay before him, would soon enable him +to pick up the Threads of Life, there where they +had been so unexpectedly and ruthlessly entangled.</p> +<p class="pnext">I imagine that when his Lordship first arrived in +Town and once more established himself in the +magnificent Mansion in Canon's Row which I had +bitter cause to know so well, he did not truly +visualize the Atmosphere of brooding Suspicion which +encompassed him where e'er he went. If he did +notice that one or two of his former Friends did +give him something of a cold shoulder, I believe that +he would attribute this more to political than to +personal Reasons. He had undoubtedly been +implicated in a Conspiracy which was universally +condemned for its Treachery and Disloyalty, and no +doubt for a time he would have to bear the brunt +of public Condemnation, even though the free +Pardon, which had so unexpectedly been granted +him, proved that he had been more misguided than +really guilty.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Arrival in London, his Appearance in Public +Places, his obvious ignorance of the Cloud which +was hanging over his fair Name, were the subject +of constant Discussion and Comment in the Green +Room of the Theatre as well as elsewhere. And I +take it that his very Insouciance, the proud +Carelessness wherewith he met the cold Reception which +had been granted him, would soon have got over +the scandalous tale which constant Gossip alone +kept alive, except that one tongue—and one +alone—never allowed that Gossip to rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">And that Tongue was an eloquent as well as a +bitter one, and more cunning than even I could ever +have believed.</p> +<p class="pnext">How oft in the Green Room, in the midst of a +brilliant Company, have I listened to the flippant +talk of gay young Sparks, only to hear it drifting +inevitably toward the Subject of my Lord Stour, +and of that wholly unexplainable Pardon, which +had left him a free Man, whilst all his former +Associates had either perished as Traitors, or were forced +to lead the miserable life of an Exile, far from +Home, Kindred and Friends.</p> +<p class="pnext">Drifting, did I say? Nay, the Talk was +invariably guided in that direction by the unerring +Voice of a deeply outraged Man who, at last, was +taking his Revenge. A word here, an Insinuation +there, a witty Remark or a shrug of the shoulders, +and that volatile sprite, Public Opinion, would veer +back from any possible doubt or leniency to the +eternally unanswered Riddle: "When so many of +his Friends perished upon the Scaffold, how was it +that my Lord Stour was free?"</p> +<p class="pnext">How it had come about I know not, but it is +certain that very soon it became generally known +that his Lordship had been entrusted by his Friends +with the distribution of Manifestos which were to +rally certain Waverers to the cause of the +Conspirators. And it was solemnly averred that it was +in consequence of a Copy of this same Manifesto, +together with a list of prominent Names, coming +into the hands of my Lady Castlemaine, that so +many Gentlemen were arrested and executed, +and my Lord Stour had been allowed to go scot-free.</p> +<p class="pnext">How could I help knowing that this last Slander +had emanated from the Green Room, with the object +of laying the final stone to the edifice of Calumnies, +which was to crush an Enemy's Reputation and fair +Fame beyond the hope of Retrieval?</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A day or two later my Lord Stour, walking with +a Friend in St. James's Park, came face to face with +Mr. Betterton, who had Sir William Davenant and +the Duke of Albemarle with him as well as one or +two other Gentlemen, whilst he leaned with his +wonted kindness and familiarity on my arm. +Mr. Betterton would, I think, have passed by; but my +Lord Stour, ignoring him as if he were dirt under +aristocratic feet, stopped with ostentatious good-will +to speak with the General.</p> +<p class="pnext">But his Grace did in truth give the young Lord a +very cold shoulder and Sir William Davenant, +equally ostentatiously, started to relate piquant +Anecdotes to young Mr. Harry Wordsley, who was +just up from the country.</p> +<p class="pnext">I saw my Lord Stour's handsome face darken +with an angry frown. For awhile he appeared to +hesitate as to what he should do, then with scant +Ceremony he took the Duke of Albemarle by the +coat-sleeve and said hastily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord Duke, You and my Father fought side +by side on many occasions. Now, I like not your +Attitude towards me. Will you be pleased to +explain?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The General tried to evade him, endeavoured to +disengage his coat-sleeve, but my Lord Stour was +tenacious. A kind of brooding Obstinacy sat upon +his good-looking face, and after awhile he reiterated +with almost fierce Insistence:</p> +<p class="pnext">"No! no! you shall not go, my Lord, until You +have explained. I am tired," he added roughly, +"of suspicious looks and covert smiles, an +atmosphere of ill-will which greets me at every turn. +Politically, many may differ from Me, but I have +yet to learn that a Gentleman hath not the right to +his own Opinions without being cold-shouldered by +his Friends."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke of Albemarle allowed him to talk on +for awhile. His Grace obviously was making up +his mind to take a decisive step in the matter. After +a while he did succeed in disengaging his +coat-sleeve from the persistent Clutch of his young +Friend, and then, looking the latter straight between +the eyes, he said firmly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord, as You say, your Father and I were +Friends and Comrades in Arms. Therefore You +must forgive an old Man and a plain Soldier a +pertinent question. Will you do that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly," was my Lord Stour's quiet Reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well then," continued His Grace, while all +of us who were there held our breath, feeling that +this Colloquy threatened to have a grave issue. +"Very well. I am glad that You have given me +this opportunity of hearing some sort of Explanation +from You, for in truth, Rumour of late hath +been over busy with your Name."</p> +<p class="pnext">"An Explanation, my Lord?" the young Man +said, with an added frown.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye!" replied His Grace. "That's just the +Word. An Explanation. For I, my Lord, as your +Father's Friend, will ask You this: how is it that +while Teammouth, Campsfield and so many of your +Associates perished upon the Scaffold, You alone, +of those implicated in that infamous Plot, did obtain +an unconditional Pardon?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Lord Stour stepped back as if he had been hit in +the face. Boundless Astonishment was expressed in +the Gaze which he fixed upon the General, as well +as wrathful indignation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord!" he exclaimed, "that Question is an +insult!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Make me swallow mine own Words," retorted +His Grace imperturbably, "by giving me a straight +Answer."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mine Answer must be straight," rejoined Lord +Stour firmly, "since it is based on Truth. I do +not know."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Duke shrugged his Shoulders, and there came +a sarcastic laugh from more than one of the +Gentlemen there.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I give your Lordship my Word of Honour," +Lord Stour insisted haughtily. Then, as His Grace +remained silent, with those deep-set eyes of his fixed +searchingly upon the young Man, the latter added +vehemently: "Is then mine Honour in question?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon Mr. Betterton, who hitherto had +remained silent, interposed very quietly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The honour of some Gentlemen, my Lord, is +like the Manifestation of Ghosts—much talked of +... but always difficult to prove!"</p> +<p class="pnext">You know his Voice, dear Mistress, and that +subtle carrying Power which it has, although he +never seems to raise it. After he had spoken You +could have heard the stirring of every little twig in +the trees above us, for no one said another Word +for a moment or two. We all stood there, a +compact little Group: Lord Stour facing the Duke of +Albemarle and Mr. Betterton standing a step or two +behind His Grace, his fine, expressive Face set in a +mask of cruel Irony. Sir William Davenant and +the other Gentlemen had closed in around those +three. They must have felt that some strange Storm +of Passions was brewing, and instinctively they tried +to hide its lowering Clouds from public gaze.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortunately there were not many Passers-by just +then, and the little Scene remained unnoted by the +idly curious, who are ever wont to collect in Crowds +whenever anything strange to them happens to +attract their Attention.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour was the first to recover Speech. +He turned on Mr. Betterton with unbridled Fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What!" he cried, "another sting from that +venomous Wasp? I might have guessed that so +miserable a Calumny came from such a vile Caitiff +as this!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Abuse is not Explanation, my Lord," interposed +the Duke of Albemarle firmly. "And I must +remind you that you have left my Question unanswered."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Put it more intelligibly, my Lord," retorted +Lord Stour haughtily. "I might then know how +to reply."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," riposted His Grace, still apparently +unmoved. "I will put it differently. I understand +that your Associates entrusted their treasonable +Manifestos to you. Is that a fact?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll not deny it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You cannot," rejoined the Duke drily. "Sir +James Campsfield, in the course of his Trial, +admitted that he had received his Summons through +You. But a Copy of that Manifesto came into the +hands of my Lady Castlemaine just in time to cause +the Conspiracy to abort. How was that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Some Traitor," replied Lord Stour hotly, "of +whom I have no Cognizance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yet it was You," riposted the General quietly, +"who received a free Pardon ... no one else. +How was that?" he reiterated more sternly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have sworn to You that I do not know," +protested my Lord Stour fiercely.</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked now like a Man at Bay, trapped in a +Net which was closing in around him and from +which he was striving desperately to escape. His +face was flushed, his eyes glowed with an unnatural +fire. And always his restless gaze came back to +Mr. Betterton, who stood by, calm and impassive, +apparently disinterested in this Colloquy wherein a +man's Honour was being tossed about to the Winds +of Slander and of Infamy. Now Lord Stour gazed +around him, striving to find one line of genuine +Sympathy on the stern Faces which were confronting him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My word of Honour, Gentlemen," he exclaimed +with passionate Earnestness, "that I do not know."</p> +<p class="pnext">Honestly, I think that one or two of them did +feel for him and were inclined to give him Credence. +After all, these young Fops are not wicked; they +are only mischievous, as Children or young Puppies +are wont to be, ready to snarl at one another, to +yap and to tear to pieces anything that happens to +come in their way. Moreover, there was the great +bond of Caste between these People. They were, +in their innermost Hearts, loth to believe that one +of themselves—a Gentleman, one bearing a great +Name—could be guilty of this type of foul Crime +which was more easily attributable to a Plebeian. +It was only their Love of Scandal-monging and of +Backbiting that had kept the Story alive all these +weeks. Even now there were one or two +sympathetic Murmurs amongst those present when my +Lord Stour swore by his Honour.</p> +<p class="pnext">But just then Mr. Betterton's voice was heard +quite distinctly above that Murmur:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Honour is a strangely difficult word to +pronounce on the Stage," he was saying to Sir William +Davenant, apparently <em class="italics">á propos</em> of something the +latter had remarked just before. "You try and +say it, Davenant; you will see how it always +dislocates your Jaw, yet produces no effect."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Therefore, Mr. Actor," Lord Stour broke in +roughly, "it should only be spoken by those who +have a glorious Ancestry behind them to teach them +its true Significance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well spoken, my Lord," Mr. Betterton rejoined +placidly. "But you must remember that but few +of His Majesty's Servants have a line of glorious +Ancestry behind them. In that way they differ from +many Gentlemen who, having nothing but their +Ancestry to boast of, are very like a Turnip—the best +of them is under the ground."</p> +<p class="pnext">This Sally was greeted with loud Laughter, and +by a subtle process which I could not possibly define, +the wave of Sympathy which was setting in the +direction of my Lord Stour, once more receded +from him, leaving him wrathful and obstinate, His +Grace of Albemarle stern, and the young Fops +flippant and long-tongued as before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord Stour," the General now broke in once +more firmly, "'tis You sought this Explanation, not +I. Now You have left my Question unanswered. +Your Friends entrusted their Manifestos to You. +How came one of these in Lady Castlemaine's hands?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And the young Man, driven to bay, facing half +a dozen pairs of eyes that held both Contempt and +Enmity in their glance, reiterated hoarsely:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have sworn to You that I do not know." +Then he added: "Hath Loyalty then left this +unfortunate Land, that You can all believe such a vile +thing of me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And in the silence that ensued, Mr. Betterton's +perfectly modulated Voice was again raised in +quietly sarcastic accents:</p> +<p class="pnext">"As You say, my Lord," he remarked. "Loyalty +hath left this unfortunate Country. Perhaps," he +added with a light shrug of the shoulders, "to take +Refuge with your glorious Ancestry."</p> +<p class="pnext">This last Gibe, however, brought my Lord Stour's +exasperation to a raging Fury. Pushing +unceremoniously past His Grace of Albemarle, who stood +before him, he took a step forward and confronted +Mr. Betterton eye to eye and, drawing himself up +to his full Height, he literally glowered down upon +the great Artist, who stood his Ground, placid and +unmoved.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Insolent Varlet!" came in raucous tones from +the young Lord's quivering lips. "If you had a +spark of chivalry or of honour in You——"</p> +<p class="pnext">At the arrogant Insult every one drew their +breath. A keen Excitement flashed in every eye. +Here was at last a Quarrel, one that must end in +bloodshed. Just what was required—so thought +these young Rakes, I feel sure—to clear the +Atmosphere and to bring abstruse questions of +Suspicion and of Honour to a level which they could all +of them understand. Only the Duke of Albemarle, +who, like a true and great Soldier, hath the greatest +possible Abhorrence for the gentlemanly Pastime +of Duelling, tried to interpose. But Mr. Betterton, +having provoked the Quarrel, required no interference +from any one. You know his way, dear +Mistress, as well as I do—that quiet Attitude which he +is wont to assume, that fraction of a second's +absolute Silence just before he begins to speak. I know +of no Elocutionist's trick more telling than that. It +seems to rivet the Attention, and at the same time +to key up Excitement and Curiosity to its greatest strain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By your leave, my Lord," he said slowly, and +his splendid Voice rose just to a sufficient pitch of +Loudness to be distinctly heard by those immediately +near him, but not one yard beyond. "By your +leave, let us leave the word 'honour' out of our +talk. It hath become ridiculous and obsolete, now +that every Traitor doth use it for his own ends."</p> +<p class="pnext">But in truth my Lord Stour now was beside +himself with Fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By gad!" he exclaimed with a harsh laugh. +"I might have guessed that it was your pestilential +Tongue which stirred up this Treason against me. +Liar!—Scoundrel!——"</p> +<p class="pnext">He was for heaping up one Insult upon the other, +lashing himself as it were into greater Fury still, +when Mr. Betterton's quietly ironical laugh broke +in upon his senseless ebullitions.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Liar?—Scoundrel, am I?" he said lightly, and, +still laughing, he turned to the Gentlemen who stood +beside him. "Nay! if the sight of a Scoundrel +offends his Lordship, he should shut himself up in +his own Room ... and break his Mirror!"</p> +<p class="pnext">At this, my Lord Stour lost the last vestige of his +self-control, seized Mr. Betterton by the Shoulder +and verily, I thought, made as if he would strike him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall pay for this Insolence!" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">But already, with perfect <em class="italics">sang-froid</em>, the great +Artist had arrested his Lordship's uplifted hand and +wrenched it away from his shoulder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By your leave, my Lord," he said, and with +delicate Fingers flicked the dust from off his coat. +"This coat was fashioned by an honest tailor, and +hath never been touched by a Traitor's hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">I thought then that I could see Murder writ +plainly on My Lord's face, which was suddenly +become positively livid. The Excitement around us +was immense. In truth I am convinced that every +Gentleman there present at the moment, felt that +something more deep and more intensely bitter lay +at the Root of this Quarrel, between the young +Lord and the great and popular Artist. Even now +some of them would have liked to interfere, whilst +the younger ones undoubtedly enjoyed the Spectacle +and were laying, I doubt not, imaginary Wagers as +to which of the two Disputants would remain +Master of the Situation.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Grace of Albemarle tried once more to interpose +with all the Authority of his years and of his +distinguished Position, for indeed there was +something almost awesome in Lord Stour's Wrath by +now. But Mr. Betterton took the Words at once +out of the great General's mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, my Lord," he said with quiet Firmness, +"I pray You, do not interfere. I am in no danger, +I assure You. My Lord Stour would wish to kill +me, no doubt. But, believe me, Fate did not ordain +that Tom Betterton should die by such a hand +... the fickle Jade hath too keen a Sense of +Humour."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon he made a movement, as if to walk +away. I felt the drag upon my arm where his +slender hand was still resting. The Others were +silent. What could they say? Senseless Numskulls +though they were for the most part, they had enough +Perception to realize that between these two Men +there was Hatred so bitter that no mere +Gentlemanly Bloodshed could ever wipe it away.</p> +<p class="pnext">But ere Mr. Betterton finally turned to go, my +Lord of Stour stepped out in front of him. All the +Rage appeared to have died out of him. He was +outwardly quite calm, only a weird twitching of his +lips testified to the Storm of Passion which he had +momentarily succeeded in keeping under control.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Actor," he said slowly, "but a few Weeks +ago You asked me to cross swords with You.... +I refused then, for up to this hour I have never +fought a Duel save with an Equal. But now, I +accept," he added forcefully, even while the Words +came veiled and husky from his throat. "I accept. +Do You hear me? ... for the laws of England +do not permit a Murder, and as sure as there's a +Heaven above me, I am going to kill You."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton listened to him until the end. You +know that Power which he hath of seeming to tower +above every one who stands nigh him? Well! he +exercised that Power now. He stepped quite close +to my Lord Stour, and though the latter is of more +than average height, Mr. Betterton literally +appeared to soar above him, with the sublime +Magnificence of an outraged Man coming into his own +at last.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord of Stour," he said, with perfect +quietude, "a few weeks ago you insulted me as +Man never dared to insult Man before. With every +blow dealt upon my shoulders by your Lacqueys, +You outraged the Majesty of Genius ... yes! its +Majesty! ... its Godhead! ... You raised +your insolent hand against me—against me, the +Artist, whom God Himself hath crowned with +Immortality. For a moment then, my outraged +Manhood clamoured for satisfaction. I asked You to +cross swords with me, for You seemed to me +... then ... worthy of that Honour. But to-day, +my Lord of Stour," he continued, whilst every +Word he spoke seemed to strike upon the ear like +Blows from a relentless Hammer; "Traitor to your +Friends, Liar and Informer!!!! Bah! His +Majesty's Well-Beloved Servant cannot fight with +such as You!"</p> +<p class="pnext">In truth I do not remember what happened after +that. The unutterable Contempt, the Disgust, the +Loathing expressed in my Friend's whole Attitude, +seemed to hit even me between the eyes. I felt as if +some giant Hands had thrown a kind of filmy grey +veil over my Head, for I heard and saw nothing +save a blurred and dim Vision of uplifted Arms, of +clenched Fists and of a general Scrimmage, of which +my Lord Stour appeared to be the Centre, whilst +my ears only caught the veiled Echo of Words flung +hoarsely into the air:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me go! Let me go! I must kill him! I must!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton, on the other hand, remained +perfectly calm. I felt a slight pressure on my arm and +presently realized that he and I had turned and were +walking away down the Avenue of the Park, and +leaving some way already behind us, a seething mass +of excited Gentlemen, all intent on preventing +Murder being committed then and there.</p> +<p class="pnext">What the outcome of it all would be, I could not +visualize. Mr. Betterton had indeed been able to +give Insult for Insult and Outrage for Outrage at +last. For this he had schemed and worked and +planned all these weeks. Whether God and Justice +were on his side in this terrible Revenge, I dared +not ask myself, nor yet if the Weapon which he had +chosen were worthy of his noble Character and of +his Integrity. That public Opinion was on his side, +I concluded from the fact that the Duke of +Albemarle and Sir William Davenant both walked a few +yards with him after he had turned his back on my +Lord, and that His Grace constituting himself +Spokesman for himself and Sir William, offered +their joint Services to Mr. Betterton in case he +changed his mind and agreed to fight my Lord Stour +in duel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thank your Grace," was Mr. Betterton's +courteous reply; "but I am not like to change my +Mind on that Score."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-lady-pleads">CHAPTER XIII</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE LADY PLEADS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I am not able quite to determine in my own mind +whether the Lady Barbara Wychwoode did hear and +see something of the violent Scene which I have +just attempted to describe.</p> +<p class="pnext">I told You, dear Mistress, that fortunately for +us all, this part of the Park where the Scene +occurred was for the moment practically deserted. At +any rate, no Crowd collected around us, for which, +methinks, we were, every one of us, thankful. If +a few of the Passers-by heard anything of the +altercation, they merely hurried past, thinking no doubt, +that it was only one or two young City Sparks, none +too sober even at this morning hour, who were +quarrelling among themselves.</p> +<p class="pnext">When we walked away down the Avenue which +leads in the direction of Knight's Bridge, +Mr. Betterton's well-known, elegant figure was remarked +by a few Pedestrians on their way to and fro, as +was also the familiar one of the Duke of Albemarle, +and some People raised their hats to the great Artist, +whilst others saluted the distinguished General.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently His Grace and Sir William Davenant +took leave of Mr. Betterton, and a few moments +later the latter suggested that we should also begin +to wend our way homewards.</p> +<p class="pnext">We retraced our steps and turned back in the +direction of Westminster. Mr. Betterton was +silent; he walked quite calmly, with head bent and +firm footsteps, and I, knowing his humour, walked +along in silence by his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then suddenly we came upon the Lady Barbara.</p> +<p class="pnext">That she had sought this meeting I could not +doubt for a moment. Else, how should a Lady of +her Rank and Distinction be abroad, and in a public +Park, unattended? Indeed, I was quite sure that +she had only dismissed her maid when she saw +Mr. Betterton coming along, and that the Wench was +lurking somewhere behind one of the shrubberies, +ready to accompany her Ladyship home when the +interview was at an end.</p> +<p class="pnext">I said that I am even now doubtful as to whether +the Lady Barbara saw and heard something of the +violent Altercation which had taken place a quarter +of an hour ago between her Lover and the great +Actor. If not, she certainly displayed on that +occasion that marvellous intuition which is said to be +the prerogative of every Woman when she is in love.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was walking on the further side of Rosamond +Pond when first I caught sight of her, and +when she reached the Bridge, she came deliberately +to a halt. There is no other way across the Pond +save by the Bridge, so Mr. Betterton could not have +escaped the meeting even if he would. Seeing the +Lady, he raised his hat and made a deep bow of +respectful salutation. He then crossed the Bridge +and made as if he would pass by, but she held her +Ground, in the very centre of the Path, and when +he was quite near her, she said abruptly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Betterton, I desire a word with you."</p> +<p class="pnext">He came at once to a halt, and replied with +perfect deference:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I await your Ladyship's commands."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I was for hurrying away, thinking that my +Presence would be irksome both to the Lady and to my +Friend; but an unmistakable pressure of Mr. Betterton's +hand on my arm caused me to stay where +I was. As for the Lady, she appeared not to care +whether I stayed or went, for immediately she +retorted:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My commands, Sir Actor? They are, that you +at once and completely do Reparation for the wrong +which you are trying to do to an innocent Man."</p> +<p class="pnext">She looked proud and commanding as a Queen, +looking through the veil of her lashes at Mr. Betterton +as if he were a supplicating Slave rather than +the great Artist whom cultured Europe delighted to +honour. Never did I admire my Friend so much +as I did then. His self-possession was perfect: his +attitude just the right balance 'twixt deference due +to a beautiful Woman and the self-assurance which +comes of conscious Worth. He looked splendid, +too—dressed in the latest fashion and with unerring +taste. The fantastic cut of his modish clothes +became his artistic Personality to perfection: the soft +shade of mulberry of which his coat was fashioned +made an harmonious note of colour in the soft grey +mist of this late winter's morning. The lace at his +throat and wrists was of unspeakable value, filmy +and gossamer-like in texture as a cobweb; and in +his cravat glittered a diamond, a priceless gift to the +great English Artist from the King of France.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, the Lady Barbara Wychwoode might +look the world-famous Actor up and down with +well-studied superciliousness; she might issue her +commands to him as if she were his royal Mistress +and he but a Menial set there to obey her behest; +but, whatever she did, she could not dwarf his +Personality. He had become too great for disdain or +sneers ever to touch him again; and the shafts of +scorn aimed at him by those who would set mere +Birth above the claims of Genius, would only find +their points broken or blunted against the +impenetrable armour of his Glory and his Fame.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the nonce, I think that he was ready enough +to parley with the Lady Barbara. He had not to +my knowledge spoken with her since that never +forgotten day last September; and I, not +understanding the complex workings of an Artist's heart, +knew not if his Love for her had outlived the crying +outrage, or had since then turned to Hate.</p> +<p class="pnext">In answer to her peremptory command, he +assumed an air of innocent surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I?" he queried. "Your Ladyship is pleased to +speak in riddles."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay!" she retorted. "'Tis you, Sir, who +choose not to understand. But I'll speak more +plainly, an you wish. I am a woman, Mr. Actor, +and I love the Earl of Stour. Now, you know just +as well as I do, that his Lordship's honour has of +late been impugned in a manner that is most +mysterious. His Friends accuse him of treachery; even +mere Acquaintances prefer to give him the cold +shoulder. And this without any definite Indictment +being levelled against him. Many there are who +will tell You that they have not the faintest +conception of what crime my Lord Stour stands +accused. Others aver that they'll not believe any +Slander that may be levelled against so high-souled +a Gentleman. Nevertheless, the Slander continues. +Nay! it gathers volume as it worms its way from +one house to another, shedding poison in its wake +as it drifts by; and more and more People now +affect to look another way when the Earl of Stour +comes nigh them, and to be otherwise engaged when +he desires to shake them by the hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">She paused for a moment, obviously to regain her +Composure, which was threatening to leave her. +Her cheeks were pale as ashes, her breath came and +went in quick, short gasps. The Picture which she +herself had drawn of her Lover's plight caused her +heart to ache with bitterness. She seemed for the +moment to expect something—a mere comment, +perhaps, or a word of Sympathy, from Mr. Betterton. +But none came. He stood there, silent and +deferential, with lips firmly set, his slender Hand +clutched upon the gold knob of his stick, till the +knuckles shone creamy-white, like ivory. He +regarded her with an air of Detachment rather than +Sympathy, and though by her silence she appeared +to challenge him now, he did not speak, and after +awhile she resumed more calmly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Lord of Stour himself is at his wits' ends +to interpret the attitude of his Friends. Nothing +tangible in the way of a spoken Calumny hath as +yet reached his ears. And his life has been rendered +all the more bitter that he feels that he is being +struck by a persistent but mysterious Foe in what +he holds dearer than aught else on earth, his +Integrity and his Honour."</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis a sad case," here rejoined Mr. Betterton, +for her Ladyship had paused once more. "But, by +your leave, I do not see in what way it concerns me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay! but I think you do, Sir Actor," Lady +Barbara riposted harshly. "Love and Hate, +remember, see clearly where mere Friendship and +Indifference are blind. Love tells me that the Earl +of Stour's Integrity is Unstained, his Honour +unsullied. But the Hatred which you bear him," +added her Ladyship almost fiercely, "makes me look +to You for the cause of his Disgrace."</p> +<p class="pnext">No one, however, could have looked more utterly +astonished, more bland and uncomprehending, as +Mr. Betterton did at that moment. He put up his +hand and regarded the Lady with an indulgent +smile, such as one would bestow on a hot-headed Child.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, your Ladyship!" he said courteously. +"I fear that you are attributing to an humble +Mountebank a power he doth not possess. To +disgrace a noble Gentleman?" he exclaimed with +well-feigned horror. "I?—a miserable Varlet—an +insolent cur whom one thrashes if he dares to bark!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!" she broke in, with a swift exclamation. +"Then I have guessed the truth! This is your Revenge!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Revenge?" he queried blandly. "For what?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You hate the Earl of Stour," she retorted.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once more his well-shaped hand went up, as if in +gentle protest, and he uttered a kind and deprecating "Oh!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You look upon the Earl of Stour as your +enemy!" she insisted.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have so many, your Ladyship," he riposted +with a smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Twas you who obtained his Pardon from my +Lady Castlemaine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The inference is scarcely logical," he retorted. +"A man does not as a rule sue for pardon for his Enemy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think," she rejoined slowly, "that in this case +Mr. Betterton did the illogical thing."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then I do entreat your Ladyship," he +protested with mock terror, "not to repeat this +calumny. <em class="italics">I</em>, accused of a noble action! Tom Betterton +pardoning his Enemies! Why, my friends +might believe it, and it is so difficult these days to +live down a good Reputation."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You choose to sharpen your wit at my expense, +Sir Actor," the lady rejoined with her former +haughtiness, "and to evade the point."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is the point, your Ladyship?" he queried +blandly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That you set an end to all these Calumnies +which are levelled against the Earl of Stour."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How can we stay the Sun in his orbit?" he +retorted; "or the Stars in their course?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mean that your Campaign of Slander has +already gone too far? But remember this, +Mr. Betterton: that poisoned darts sometimes wound the +hand that throws them. You may pursue the Earl +of Stour with your Hatred and your Calumnies, +but God will never allow an innocent Man to suffer +unjustly."</p> +<p class="pnext">Just for a few seconds Mr. Betterton was silent. +He was still regarding the Lady with that same +indulgent smile which appeared to irritate her nerves. +To me, the very air around seemed to ring as if +with a clash of ghostly arms—the mighty clash of +two Wills and two Temperaments, each fighting for +what it holds most dear: she for the Man whom she +loved, he for his Dignity which had been so cruelly +outraged.</p> +<p class="pnext">"God will never allow," she reiterated with slow +emphasis, "an innocent Man to suffer at the hands +of a Slanderer."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah!" riposted Mr. Betterton suavely. "Is +your Ladyship not reckoning over-confidently on +Divine interference?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I also reckon," she retorted, "on His Majesty's +sense of justice—and on the Countess of Castlemaine, +who must know the truth of the affair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Majesty's senses are very elusive," he +rejoined drily, "and are apt to play him some +wayward tricks when under the influence of the +Countess of Castlemaine. The Earl of Stour, it seems, +disdained the favours which that Lady was willing +to bestow on him. He preferred the superior +charms and intellect of the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode. A very natural preference, of course," he +added, with elaborate gallantry. "But I can assure +your Ladyship that, as Helpmeets to heavenly +Interference, neither His Majesty nor the Countess +of Castlemaine are to be reckoned with."</p> +<p class="pnext">She bit her lip and cast her eyes to the ground. +I could see that her lovely face expressed acute +disappointment and that she was on the verge of tears. +I am not versed in the ways of gentle Folk nor yet +in those of Artists, but I could have told the Lady +Barbara Wychwoode that if she wanted to obtain +Sympathy or Leniency from Mr. Betterton, she had +gone quite the wrong way to work.</p> +<p class="pnext">Even now, I think if she had started to plead +... but the thought of humbling herself before +a Man whom she affected to despise was as far +from this proud Woman's heart, as are thoughts +of self-glorification from mine.</p> +<p class="pnext">A second or two later she had succeeded in +forcing back the tears which had welled to her eyes, +and she was able once more to look her Adversary +straight in the face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And will you tell me, Sir Actor," she queried +with cold aloofness, "how far you intend to carry +on this Infamy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">And Mr. Betterton replied, equally coldly and +deliberately:</p> +<p class="pnext">"To the uttermost limits of the Kingdom, Madam."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean?" she riposted.</p> +<p class="pnext">He drew a step or two nearer to her. His face +too was pale by now, his lips trembling, his eyes +aglow with Passion masterfully kept under control. +His perfect voice rose and fell in those modulated +Cadences which we have all learned to appreciate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only this, your Ladyship," he began quite +slowly. "For the present, the History of the Earl +of Stour's treachery is only guessed at by a few. +It is a breath of Scandal, born as you say somewhat +mysteriously, wafted through Palaces and noble +Mansions to-day—dead, mayhap, to-morrow. But +I have had many opportunities for thought of late," +he continued—and it seemed to me as if in his +quivering voice I could detect a tone of Threat as +well as of Passion—"and have employed my leisure +moments in writing an Epilogue which I propose +to speak to-morrow, after the Play, His Majesty and +all the Court being present, and many Gentlemen +and Ladies of high degree, as well as Burgesses and +Merchants of the City, and sundry Clerks and other +humbler Folk. A comprehensive Assembly, what? and +an attentive one; for that low-born Mountebank, +Tom Betterton, will be appearing in a new +play and the Playhouse will be filled to the roof in +order to do him honour. May I hope that the Lady +Barbara Wychwoode herself——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A truce on this foolery, Sir," she broke in +harshly. "I pray you come to the point."</p> +<p class="pnext">She tried to look brave and still haughty, but I +knew that she was afraid—knew it by the almost +unearthly pallor of her skin, and the weird glitter +in her eyes as she regarded him, like a Bird +fascinated by a Snake.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The point is the Epilogue, my Lady," Mr. Betterton +replied blandly. "And after I have spoken +it to-morrow, I shall speak it again and yet again, +until its purport is known throughout the length +and breadth of the Land. The subject of that +Epilogue, Madam, will be the secret History of a certain +aborted Conspiracy, and how it was betrayed in +exchange for a free Pardon by one of our noblest +Gentlemen in England. Then, I pray your +Ladyship to mark what will happen," he continued, and +his melodious voice became as hard and trenchant as +the clang of metal striking metal. "After that +Epilogue has been spoken from the Stage half a dozen +times after His Majesty has heard it and shrugged +his shoulders, after my Lady Castlemaine has +laughed over it and my Lord of Rochester aped it +in one of his Pasquinades, there will be a man whose +Name will be a by-word for everything that is most +infamous and most false—a Name that will be +bandied about in Taverns and in drinking Booths, +quipped, decried, sneered at, anathematized; a +Name that will be the subject of every lampoon and +every scurrilous rhyme that finds over-ready +purchasers—a Name, in fact, that will for ever be +whispered with bated breath or bandied about in a +drunken brawl, whene'er there is talk of treachery +and of dishonour!"</p> +<p class="pnext">At this, she—great Lady to her finger tips—threw +up her head proudly, still defying him, still +striving to hide her Fears and unwilling to +acknowledge Defeat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will be your Word against his," she said with +a disdainful curl of her perfect lips. "No one +would listen to such calumnies."</p> +<p class="pnext">And he—the world-famed Artist—at least as +proud as any high born Gentleman in the Land, +retorted, equally haughtily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"When Tom Betterton speaks upon the Stage, +my Lady, England holds her breath and listens +spellbound."</p> +<p class="pnext">I would I could render the noble Accent of his +magnificent Voice as he said this. There was no +self-glorification in it, no idle boasting; it was the +accent of transcendent Worth conscious of its Power.</p> +<p class="pnext">And it had its effect upon the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode. She lowered her Eyes, but not before +I had perceived that they were full of Tears; her +Lips were trembling still, but no longer with +Disdain, and her hands suddenly dropped to her side +with a pathetic gesture of Discouragement and of +Anguish.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment, however, she was again +looking the great Actor fully in the face. A change +had come over her, quite suddenly methought—a +great Change, which had softened her Mood and to +a certain extent lowered her Pride. Whether this +was the result of Mr. Betterton's forceful +Eloquence or of her own Will-power, I could not guess; +but I myself marvelled at the Tone of Entreaty +which had crept into her Voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will not speak such Falsehoods in Public, +Sir," she said with unwonted softness. "You will +not thus demean your Art—the Art which you love +and hold in respect. Oh, there must be some +Nobility in You! else you were not so talented. Your +Soul must in truth be filled with Sentiments which +are neither ignoble nor base."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay!" he exclaimed, and this time did not +strive to conceal the intense Bitterness which, as +I knew well enough, had eaten into his very Soul; +"but your Ladyship is pleased to forget. I am +ignoble and base! There cannot be Nobility in me. +I am only the low-born Lout! Ask my Lord of +Stour; ask your Brother! They will tell you that I +have no Feelings, no Pride, no Manhood—that I +am only a despicable Varlet, whom every Gentleman +may mock and insult and whip like a dog. To You +and to your Caste alone belong Nobility, Pride and +Honour. Honour!!!"—and he broke into a +prolonged laugh, which would have rent your Heart to +hear—"Honour! Your false Fetish! Your counterfeit +God!! Very well, then so be it!! That +very Honour which he hath denied me, I will wrench +from him. And since he denied me Satisfaction by +the Sword, I turn to my own weapon—my Art—and +with it I will exact from him to the uttermost +fraction, Outrage for Outrage—Infamy for Infamy."</p> +<p class="pnext">His wonderful Voice shook, broke almost into a +sob at last. I felt a choking sensation in my Throat +and my Eyes waxed hot with unshed Tears. As if +through a mist, I could see the exquisite Lady +Barbara Wychwoode before me, could see that she, too, +was moved, her Pride crushed, her Disdain yielding +to involuntary Sympathy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But he is innocent!" she pleaded, with an +accent verging on Despair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so was I!" was his calm retort.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He——" she entreated, "he loves me——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so do I!" he exclaimed, with a depth of +Passion which brought the hot Blood to her pale +Cheeks. "<em class="italics">I</em> would have given my Life for one +Smile from your Lips."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon, womanlike, she shifted her ground, +looked him straight between the Eyes, and, oh! I +could have blushed to see the Wiles she used in order +to weaken his Resolve.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You love me?" she queried softly, and there +was now a tone of almost tender Reproach in her +Voice. "You love me! yet you would drag the +Man who is dearer to me than Life to Dishonour +and to Shame. You trap him, like a Fowler does +a Bird, then crush him with Falsehoods and +Calumnies! No, no!" she exclaimed—came a step +or two nearer to him and clasped her delicate Hands +together in a Gesture that was akin to Prayer. "I'll +not believe it! You will tell the Truth, Mr. Betterton, +publicly, and clear him.... You +will.... You will! For my sake—since You +say You love me."</p> +<p class="pnext">But the more eager, the more appealing she grew, +the calmer and more calculating did he seem. Now +it was his turn to draw away from Her, to measure +Her, as it were, with a cold, appraising Look.</p> +<p class="pnext">"For Your sake?" he said with perfect quietude, +almost as if the matter had become outside himself. +I cannot quite explain the air of detachment which +he assumed—for it was an assumption, on that I +would have staked my Life at the moment. I, who +know him so well, felt that deep down within his +noble Heart there still burned the fierce flames of +an ardent Passion, but whether of Love or Hate, +I could not then have told You.</p> +<p class="pnext">She had recoiled at the coolness of his Tone; +and he went on, still speaking with that strange, +abnormal Calm:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes!" he said slowly, "for <em class="italics">Your</em> love I would +do what You ask ... I would forego that Feast +of Satisfaction, the Thought of which hath alone +kept me sane these past few months.... Yes! for +the Love of Lady Barbara Wychwoode I could +bring myself to forgive even his Lordship of Stour +for the irreparable wrong which he hath done to +Me. I would restore to him his Honour, which +now lies, a Forfeit, in my Hands: for I shall then +have taken Something from him which he holds +well-nigh as dear."</p> +<p class="pnext">He paused, and met with the same calm relentlessness +the look of Horror and of Scorn wherewith +she regarded him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"For my Love?" she exclaimed, and once more +the warm Blood rushed up to her face, flooding her +wan Cheeks, her pale Forehead, even her delicate +Throat with crimson. "You mean that +I? ... Oh! ... what Infamy! ... So, Mr. Actor, +that was your reckoning!" she went on with +supreme Disdain. "It was not the desire for +Vengeance that prompted You to slander the Earl of Stour, +but the wish to entrap <em class="italics">me</em> into becoming your Wife. +You are not content with Your Laurels. You want +a Coat of Arms ... and hoped to barter one +against Your Calumnies!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay, your Ladyship!" he rejoined simply, "in +effect, I was actually laying a Name famed +throughout the cultured world humbly at your feet. You +made an appeal to my Love for You—and I laid a +test for your Sincerity. Mine I have placed beyond +question, seeing that I am prepared to drag my +Genius in the dust before Your Pride and the +Arrogance of Your Caste. An Artist is a Slave of his +Sensibilities, and I feel that if, in the near Future, +I could see a Vision of your perfect hand resting +content in mine, if, when You pleaded again for my +Lord Stour, You did so as my promised Wife—not +his—I would do all that You asked."</p> +<p class="pnext">She drew herself up to her full height and glanced +at him with all the Pride which awhile ago had +seemed crushed beyond recall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sir Actor," she said coldly, "shame had gripped +me by the throat, or I should not have listened so +long to such an Outrage. The Bargain You +propose is an Infamy and an Insult."</p> +<p class="pnext">And she gathered up her Skirts around her, as +if their very contact with the Soil on which he trod +were a pollution. Then she half turned as if ready +to go, cast a rapid glance at the Shrubberies close +by, no doubt in search of her Attendant. Why it +was that she did not actually go, I could not say, +but guessed that, mayhap, she would not vacate the +Field of Contention until quite sure that there was +not a final Chance to soften the Heart of the Enemy. +She had thrown down yet another Challenge when +she spoke of his proposed Bargain as an Infamy; +but he took up the Gage with the same measured +Calm as before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you will," he said. "It was in Your +Ladyship's name that the Earl of Stour put upon Me +the deadliest Insult which any Man hath ever put +on Man before. Since then, every Fibre within Me +has clamoured for Satisfaction. My Work hath +been irksome to me ... I scarce could think +... My Genius lay writhing in an agony of +Shame. But now the hour is mine—for it I have +schemed and lied—aye, lied—like the low-born cur +You say I am. A thousand Devils of Hate and of +Rage are unchained within me. I cannot grapple +with them alone. They would only yield—to your kiss."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" she cried in uttermost despair, "this is +horrible!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then let the Man you love," he rejoined coldly, +"look to himself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Conscious of his Innocence, my Lord Stour and +I defy you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah, well!" he said imperturbably, "the Choice +is still with Your Ladyship. Remember that I do +not speak my Epilogue until to-morrow. When I +do, it will be too late. I have called my Phantasy +'The Comedie of Traitors.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon he bowed low before her, in the most +approved Fashion. But already she was fleeing up +the path in the direction of Westminster. Soon her +graceful Figure was lost to our sight behind an +intervening clump of Laurels. Here no doubt her +Ladyship's Attendant was waiting for her Mistress, +for anon I spied two figures hurrying out of the Park.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">For a long time Mr. Betterton remained standing +just where he was, one hand still clutching the knob +of his Stick, the other thrust in the pocket of his +capacious Coat. I could not see his Face, since his +Back was turned towards me, and I did not dare +move lest I should be interrupting his Meditations. +But to Me, even that Back was expressive. There +was a listlessness, hardly a stoop, about it, so unlike +my Friend's usual firm and upright Carriage. How +could this be otherwise, seeing what he had just +gone through—Emotions that would have swept +most Men off their mental balance. Yet he kept +his, had never once lost control of himself. He had +met Disdain with Disdain in the end, had kept +sufficient control over his Voice to discuss with absolute +calm, that Bargain which the Lady Barbara had +termed infamous. There had been a detachment +about his final Ultimatum, a "take it or leave it" +air, which must have been bitterly galling to the +proud Lady who had stooped to entreat. He was +holding the winning Hand and did not choose to yield.</p> +<p class="pnext">And it was from his attitude on that Day that I, +dear Mistress, drew an unerring inference. +Mr. Betterton had no Love for the Lady Barbara, no +genuine, lasting Affection such as, I maintain, he +has never ceased to feel for You. Passion swayed +him, because he has, above all, that unexplainable +artistic Temperament which cannot be measured by +everyday Standards. Pride, Bitterness, +Vengefulness—call it what you will; but there was not a +particle of Love in it all. I verily believe that his +chief Desire, whilst he stood pondering there at the +bridgehead, was to humiliate the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode by forcing her into a Marriage which +she had affected to despise. He was not waiting for +her with open, loving Arms, ready to take her to his +Heart, there to teach her to forget the Past in the +safe haven of his Love. He was not waiting to lay +his Service at her feet, and to render her happy as +the cherished Wife and Helpmate of the great Artist +whom all England delighted to honour. He was +only waiting to make her feel that She had been +subjected to his Will and her former Lover brought +down to Humiliation, through the Power of the +miserable Mountebank whom they had both deemed +less than a Man.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus meditating, I stood close to my Friend, until +Chance or a fleeting Thought brought him back to +the realities of Life. He sighed and looked about +him, as a Man will who hath just wakened from a +Dream. Then he spied me, and gave me his wonted +kindly smile and glance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good old John!" he said, with a self-deprecating +shrug of the shoulders. "'Twas not an edifying +Scene You have witnessed, eh?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Twas a heartrending one," I riposted almost +involuntarily.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Heartrending?" he queried, in a tone of intense +bitterness, "to watch a Fool crushing every Noble +Instinct within him for the sake of getting even +with a Man whom he neither honours nor esteems?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He sighed again, and beckoned to me to follow him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let us home, good Honeywood," he said. "I +am weary of all this wrangle, and pine to find solace +among the Poets."</p> +<p class="pnext">Nor did he mention the name of the Lady Barbara +again to me, and I was left to ponder what was +going on in his Mind and whether his cruelly +vengeful Scheme for the final undoing of my Lord Stour +would indeed come to maturity on the following +day. I knew that a great and brilliant Representation +of the late Mr. William Shakespeare's play, +"Twelfth Night," was to be given at the Duke's +Theatre, with some of the new Scenery and realistic +scenic Effects brought over last Autumn from Paris +by Mr. Betterton. His Majesty had definitely +promised that he would be present and so had the +Countess of Castlemaine, and there would doubtless be +a goodly and gorgeous Company present to applaud +the great Actor, whose Performance of Sir Toby +Belch was one of the Marvels of histrionic Art, +proclaiming as it did his wonderful versatility, by +contrast with his equally remarkable exposition of +the melancholy Hamlett, Prince of Denmark.</p> +<p class="pnext">That I now awaited that Day with Sorrow in +my Heart and with measureless Anxiety, You, dear +Mistress, will readily imagine. Until this morning +I had no idea of the terrible Thunderbolt which my +Friend had in preparation for those who had so +shamefully wronged him; and I still marvelled +whether in his talk with the Lady Barbara there had +not lurked some idle Threats rather than a serious +Warning. How could I think of the Man whom +I had learned to love and to reverence as one who +would nurture such cruel Schemes? And yet, did +not the late Mr. Shakespeare warn us that +"Pleasure and Revenge have ears more deaf than Adders +to the voice of any true decision"? Ah, me! but +I was sick at heart.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-ruling-passion">CHAPTER XIV</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE RULING PASSION</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">And now, dear Mistress, I come to that memorable +Evening wherein happened that which causes +You so much heart-ache at this Hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">I know that the Occurrences of that Night have +been brought to your Notice in a garbled Version, +and that Mr. Betterton's Enemies have placed the +Matter before You in a manner calculated to blacken +his Integrity. But, as there is a living Judge above +Us all, I swear to You, beloved Mistress, that what +I am now purposing to relate is nothing but the +Truth. Remember that, in this miserable Era of +Scandal and Backbiting, of loose Living and +Senseless Quarrels, Mr. Betterton's Character has always +stood unblemished, even though the evil Tongue of +Malice hath repeatedly tried to attack his +untarnished Reputation. Remember also that the great +Actor's few but virulent Enemies are all Men who +have made Failures of their Lives, who are Idlers, +Sycophants or Profligates, and therefore envious of +the Fame and Splendour of one who is thought +worthy to be the Friend of Kings.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">We spoke but little together that day on our way +home from the Park. Mr. Betterton was moody, +and I silent. We took our dinner in quietude. +There being no Performance at the Theatre that +day, Mr. Betterton settled down to his Desk in the +afternoon, telling me that he had some writing to do.</p> +<p class="pnext">I, too, had some of his Correspondence to attend +to, and presently repaired to my room, my Heart +still aching with Sorrow. Did I not guess what +Work was even now engrossing the Attention of +my Friend? He was deep in the Composition of +that cruel Lampoon which he meant to speak on the +Stage to-morrow, in the presence of His Majesty +and of a large and brilliant Assembly. Strive as I +might, I could not to myself minimize the probable +Effect of the Lampoon upon the Mind of the Public. +It is not for me, dear Mistress, to remind You of +the amazing Popularity of Mr. Betterton—a +Popularity which hath never been equalled ere this by +any Actor, Artist or Poet in England. Whatever +he spoke from the Stage would be treasured and +reiterated and commented upon, until every Citizen +of London and Westminster became himself a +storehouse of Mud that would be slung at the unfortunate +Earl of Stour. And the latter, by refusing to +fight Mr. Betterton when the Latter had been the +injured Party, had wilfully cast aside any Weapon +of Redress which he might after this have called +to his Aid.</p> +<p class="pnext">Well! we all know the Effect of scurrilous Quips +spoken from the Stage; even the great Mr. Dryden +or the famous Mr. Wycherley have not been above +interpolating some in their Plays, for the Confusion +of their Enemies; and many a Gentleman's or a +Lady's Reputation has been made to suffer through +the Vindictiveness of a noted Actor or Playwright. +But, as you know, Mr. Betterton had never hitherto +lent himself to such Scandal-monging; he stood far +above those petty Quarrels betwixt Gentlemen and +Poets that could be settled by wordy Warfare across +the Footlights. All the more Weight, therefore, +would the Public attach to an Epilogue specially +written and spoken by him on so great an occasion. +And, alas! the Mud-slinging was to be of a very +peculiar and very clinging Nature.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then let the Man you love look to himself!" +the outraged Artist had said coldly, when +confronted for the last time by the Lady Barbara's +Disdain. And in my Mind I had no doubt that, for +Good or for Evil, if Tom Betterton set out to do a +Thing, he would carry it through to its bitter End.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">When, having finished my work, I went into +Mr. Betterton's study, I found him sitting beside his +Desk, though no longer writing. He was leaning +back against the cushions of his chair with eyes +closed, his face set and hard. Some loose papers, +covered with his neat, careful Caligraphy, lay in +an orderly heap upon the Desk.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Work was evidently finished. Steeped in +Bitterness and in Vengeance, his Pen had laboured +and was now at rest. The Eloquence of the +incomparable Actor would now do the rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">As I entered the Room, the tower clock of +Westminster was just striking seven. The deep bay +Window which gave on a solitary corner of +St. James's Park, was wide open, and through it there +came from afar, wafted upon the evening breeze, the +strains of a masculine Voice, warm and mellow, +singing to the accompaniment of one of those +stringed Instruments which have been imported of +late from Italy.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Voice rose and fell in pleasing Cadences, and +some of the Words of the Song reached mine Ear.</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"You are my Life. You ask me why?</div> +<div class="line">Because my hope is in your love."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">Whether Mr. Betterton heard them or not, I could +not say. He sat there so still, his slender Hands—white +and tapering, the veritable Hands of an Artist—rested +listlessly upon the arms of his chair.</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"Through gloomy Clouds to sunlit Skies,</div> +<div class="line">To rest in Faith and your dear Eyes."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">So sang the sweet Minstrel out there in the fast +gathering Gloom. I went up to the window and +gazed out into the open Vista before me. Far away +I could see the twinkling lights from the windows +of St. James's Palace, and on my right those of +White Hall. The Singer I could not see. He +appeared to be some distance away. But despite +the lateness of the hour, the Park was still alive +with people. And indeed as I leaned my Head +further out of the Window, I was struck by the +animated spectacle which it presented.</p> +<p class="pnext">No doubt that the unwonted mildness of this +early spring evening had induced young Maids and +Gallants, as well as more sober Folk and Gentlemen, +to linger out in the open. The charm of the +Minstrel and his Song, too, must have served as an +additional Attraction, for as I watched the People +passing to and fro, I heard snatches of Conversation, +mostly in praise of the Singer or of the Weather.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anon I espied Sir William Davenant walking with +Mr. Killigrew, and my Lord of Rochester dallying +with a pretty Damsel; one or two more Gentlemen +did I recognize as I gazed on the moving Sight, until +suddenly I saw that which caused me to draw my +Head back quickly from the Window and to gaze +with added Anxiety on the listless Figure of my Friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">What I had seen down below had indeed filled +my Heart with Dread. It was the Figure of my +Lord Stour. I could have sworn to it, even though +his Lordship was wrapped in a mantle from Head to +Foot and wore a broad-rimmed Hat, both of which +would indeed have disguised his Person completely +before all Eyes save those of Love, of Hate, or of +an abiding Friendship.</p> +<p class="pnext">What was my Lord Stour doing at this Hour, +and in disguise, beneath the Window of his bitterest +Foe? My Anxiety was further quickened by the +Certainty which I had that neither he nor the Lady +Barbara would allow Mr. Betterton's Schemes to +mature without another Struggle. Even as I once +more thrust my Head out of the Window, in order +to catch another glimpse of the moody and solitary +Figure which I had guessed to be Lord Stour, +methought that close by the nearest Shrubbery I espied +the Figure of the Lady Barbara, in close +conversation with her Attendant. Both Women were +wrapped in dark Mantles and wore thick veils to +cover their Hair.</p> +<p class="pnext">A dark presentiment of Evil now took possession +of my Soul. I felt like a Watch-dog scenting +Danger from afar. The Man whom I loved better than +any other on Earth was in peril of his Life, at the +hands of an Enemy driven mad by an impending +Doom—of that I felt suddenly absolutely convinced. +And somehow, I felt equally convinced at the +moment that we—I, the poor, insignificant Clerk, as +well as my illustrious Friend—were standing on the +Brink of an overwhelming Catastrophe.</p> +<p class="pnext">I had thought to warn him then and there, yet +dared not do so in so many words. Men in the +prime of Life and the plentitude of their mental +Powers are wont to turn contemptuous and obstinate +if told to be on their guard against a lurking +Enemy. And I feared that, in his utter contempt +for his Foe, Mr. Betterton might be tempted to do +something that was both unconsidered and perilous.</p> +<p class="pnext">So I contented myself for the nonce with turning +to my Friend, seeing that he had wakened from his +reverie and was regarding me with that look of +Confidence and Kindliness which always warmed +my heart when I was conscious of it, I merely +remarked quite casually:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Park is still gay with Ladies and Gallants. +'Tis strange at this late hour. But a Minstrel is +discoursing sweet Music somewhere in the distance. +Mayhap people have assembled in order to listen +to him."</p> +<p class="pnext">And, as if to confirm my Supposition, a merry +peal of laughter came ringing right across the Park, +and we heard as it were the hum and murmur of +Pedestrians moving about. And through it all the +echo of the amorous Ditty still lingering upon the +evening air:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"For you are Love—and I am yours!"</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">"Close that window, John," Mr. Betterton said, +with an impatient little sigh. "I am in no mood +for sentimental Ballads."</p> +<p class="pnext">I did as he desired, and whilst in the act of closing +the Window, I said guardedly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I caught sight of my Lord Stour just now, +pacing the open Ground just beneath this Window. He +appeared moody and solitary, and was wrapped +from head to foot in a big Mantle, as if he wished +to avoid Recognition."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I too am moody and solitary, good Honeywood," +was Mr. Betterton's sole comment on my +remark. Then he added, with a slight shiver of his +whole body: "I prithee, see to the Fire. I am +perished with the cold."</p> +<p class="pnext">I went up to the Hearth and kicked the dying +embers into a Blaze; then found some logs and +threw them on the Fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The evening is warm, Sir," I said; "and you +complained of the Heat awhile ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he rejoined wearily. "My head is on +fire and my Spine feels like ice."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was quite dark in the Room now, save for the +flickering and ruddy firelight. So I went out and +bade the Servant give me the candles. I came back +with them myself and set them on the Desk. As +I did so, I glanced at Mr. Betterton. He had once +more taken up his listless Attitude; his Head was +leaning against the back of his Chair, and I could +not fail to note how pallid his Face looked and how +drawn, and there was a frown between his Brows +which denoted wearying and absorbing Thoughts. +Wishing to distract him from his brooding Melancholy, +I thought of reminding him of certain artistic +and social Duties which were awaiting his Attention.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you send an Answer, Sir," I asked him +with well-assumed indifference, "to the Chancellor? +It is on the Subject of the Benefit Performance in +aid of the Indigent Poor of the City of Westminster. +His Lordship again sent a messenger this +afternoon."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes!" Mr. Betterton replied readily enough, +and sought amongst his Papers for a Letter which +he had apparently written some time during the +Day. "If His Lordship's Messenger calls again, +let him have this Note. I must arrange for the +Benefit Performance, of course. But I doubt if +many members of the Company will care to give +their Services."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think that Mr. Robert Noakes would be +willing," I suggested. "Also Mr. Lilleston."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps, perhaps!" he broke in listlessly. "But +we must have Actresses too, and they——"</p> +<p class="pnext">He shrugged his shoulders, and I rejoined with +great alacrity:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! I feel sure that Mistress Saunderson would +be ready to join in any benevolent Scheme for the +betterment of the Poor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah! but she is an Angel!" Mr. Betterton +exclaimed. And, believe me, dear Mistress, that those +words came as if involuntarily to his Lips, out of +the Fulness of his Heart. And even when he had +spoken, a Look of infinite Sadness swept over his +Face and he rested his Head against his Hand, +shading his Eyes from the light of the Candles, lest +I should read the Thoughts that were mirrored +therein.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There came a messenger, too, this afternoon," +I reminded him, "from Paris, with an autograph +Letter from His Majesty the King of France."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes!" he replied, and nodded his Head, I +thought, uncomprehendingly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Also a letter from the University of Stockholm. +They propose that You should visit the City +in the course of the Summer and——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes! I know!" he rejoined impatiently. +"I will attend to it all another time ... But not +to-night, good Honeywood," he went on almost +appealingly, like a Man wearied with many Tasks. +"My mind is like a squeezed Orange to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he held out his Hand to me—that beautiful, +slender Hand of his, which I had so often kissed +in the excess of my Gratitude—and added with +gentle Indulgence:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me be to-night, good Friend. Leave me to +myself. I am such poor Company and am best alone."</p> +<p class="pnext">I took his hand. It was burning hot, as if with +inward Fever. All my Friendship for him, all my +Love, was at once on the alert, dreading the +ravages of some inward Disease, brought on mayhap +by so much Soul-worry.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not relish leaving You alone to-night," I +said, with more gruffness than I am wont to +display. "This room is easy of Access from the Park."</p> +<p class="pnext">He smiled, a trifle sadly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dost think," he asked, with a slight shrug of +the shoulders, "that a poor Mountebank would +tempt a midnight Robber?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No!" I replied firmly. "But my Lord Stour, +wrapped to the eyes in his Mantle, hath prowled +beneath these Windows for an hour." Then, as he +made no comment, I continued with some Fervour: +"A determined Man, who hates Another, can easily +climb up to a first floor Window——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tush, friend!" he broke in sharply. "I am +not afraid of his Lordship ... I am afraid of +nothing to-night, my good Honeywood," he added +softly, "except of myself."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">You certainly will not wonder, dear Mistress, +that after that I did not obey his Commands to leave +him to himself. I am nothing of an Eavesdropper, +God knows, nor yet would I pry into the Secrets of +the Soul of the one Man whom I reverence above +all others. But, even as I turned reluctantly away +from him in order to go back to my Room, I +resolved that, unless he actually shut the Door in my +Face, I would circumvent him and would remain +on the watch, like a faithful Dog who scents Danger +for his Master. In this I did not feel that I was +doing any Wrong. God saw in my Heart and knew +that my Purpose was innocent. I thank Him on +my Knees in that He strengthened me in my +Resolve. But for that Resolve, I should not have been +cognizant of all the details of those Events which +culminated in such a dramatic Climax that night, +and I would not have been able to speak with +Authority when placing all the Facts before You. Let +me tell You at once that I was there, in Mr. Betterton's +Room, during the whole of the time that the +Incident occurred which I am now about to relate.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had remained sitting at his Desk, and I went +across the Room in the direction of the +communicating Door which gave on my own Study. But I +did not go through that Door. I just opened and +shut it noisily, and then slipped stealthily behind the +tall oaken Dresser, which stands in a dark Angle +of the Room. From this point of Vantage I could +watch closely and ceaselessly, and at the slightest +Suspicion of immediate Danger to my Friend I +would be free to slip out of my Hiding-place and to +render him what Assistance he required. I had to +squat there in a cramped Position, and I felt half +suffocated with the closeness of the Atmosphere +behind so heavy a Piece of Furniture; but this I +did not mind. From where I was I could command +a view of Mr. Betterton at his Desk, and of the +Window, which I wished now that I had taken the +Precaution to bar and bolt ere I retired to my +Corner behind the Dresser.</p> +<p class="pnext">For awhile, everything was silent in the Room; +only the great Clock ticked loudly in its case, and +now and again the blazing logs gave an intermittent +Crackle. I just could see the outline of +Mr. Betterton's Shoulder and Arm silhouetted against +the candle light. He sat forward, his elbow resting +upon the Desk, his Head leaning against his Hand, +and so still that presently I fell to thinking that he +must have dropped to sleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">But suddenly he gave that quick, impatient Sigh +of his, which I had learned to know so well, pushed +back his chair, and rose to his Feet. Whereupon, +he began pacing up and down the Room, in truth +like some poor, perturbed Spirit that is denied the +Solace of Rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he began to murmur to himself. I know +that mood of his and believe it to be peculiar to the +artistic Temperament, which, when it feels itself +untrammelled by the Presence of Others, gives vent +to its innermost Thoughts in mumbled Words.</p> +<p class="pnext">From time to time I caught Snatches of what he +said—wild Words for the most part, which showed +the Perturbation of his Spirit. He, whose Mind +was always well-ordered, whose noble Calling had +taught him to co-ordinate his Thoughts and to +subdue them to his Will, was now murmuring +incoherent Phrases, disjointed Sentences that would +have puzzled me had I not known the real Trend of +his Mood.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara!..." he said at one time. "Beautiful, +exquisite, innocent Lady Babs; the one pure +Crystal in that Laboratory of moral Decomposition, +the Court of White Hall...." Then he paused, +struck his Forehead with his Hand, and added with +a certain fierce Contempt: "But she will yield +... she is ready now to yield. She will cast aside her +Pride, and throw herself into the arms of a Man +whom she hates, all for the sake of that young +Coxcomb, who is not worthy to kiss the Sole of +her Shoe!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Again he paused, flung himself back into his +Chair, and once more buried his Face in his Hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Woman, Woman!" I could hear him +murmuring. "What an Enigma! How can the mere +Man attempt to understand thee?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he laughed. Oh! I could not bear the sound +of that laugh: there was naught but Bitterness in +it. And he said slowly muttering between his Teeth:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Philosopher alone knows that Women are +like Melons: it is only after having tasted them that +one knows if they are good."</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course, he said a great deal more during the +course of that dreary, restless hour, which seemed +to me like a Slice out of Eternity. His +Restlessness was intense. Every now and then he would +jump up and walk up and down, up and down, +until his every Footstep had its counterpart in the +violent beatings of my Heart. Then he would fling +himself into a Chair and rest his Head against the +Cushions, closing his Eyes as if he were in bodily +Pain, or else beat his Forehead with his Fists.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of course he thought himself unobserved, for +Mr. Betterton is, as You know, a Man of great +mental Reserve. Not even before me—his faithful +and devoted Friend—would he wittingly have +displayed such overmastering Emotion. To say that +an equally overwhelming Sorrow filled my Heart +would be but to give You, dear Mistress, a feeble +Statement of what I really felt. To see a Man of +Mr. Betterton's mental and physical Powers so +utterly crushed by an insane Passion was indeed +heartrending. Had he not everything at his Feet +that any Man could wish for?—Fame, Honours, the +Respect and Admiration of all those who mattered +in the World. Women adored him, Men vied with +one another to render him the sincerest Flattery by +striving to imitate his Gestures, his Mode of Speech, +the very Cut of his Clothes. And, above all—aye, +I dare assert it, and You, beloved Mistress will, I +know, forgive me—above all, he had the Love of a +pure and good Woman, of a talented Artist—yours, +dear Lady—an inestimable Boon, for which many a +Man would thank his Maker on his Knees.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ah! he was blind then, had been blind since that +fatal Hour when the Lady Barbara Wychwoode +crossed his Path. I could endorse the wild Words +which he had spoken to her this forenoon. A +thousand devils were indeed unchained within him; but +'tis not to her Kiss that they would yield, but rather +to the gentle Ministration of exquisite Mistress +Saunderson.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="more-deaf-than-adders">CHAPTER XV</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">MORE DEAF THAN ADDERS</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">I felt so cramped and numb in my narrow hiding-place +that I verily believe I must have fallen into a +kind of trance-like Slumber.</p> +<p class="pnext">From this I was suddenly awakened by the loud +Clang of our front-door Bell, followed immediately +by the Footsteps of the Serving Man upon the +Landing, and then by a brief Colloquy between him +and the belated Visitor.</p> +<p class="pnext">Seriously, at the moment I had no Conception of +who this might be, until I glanced at Mr. Betterton. +And then I guessed. Guessed, just as he had already +done. Every line of his tense and expectant +Attitude betrayed the Fact that he had recognized the +Voice upon the Landing, and that its sound had +thrilled his very Soul and brought him back from +the Land of Dreams and Nightmare, where he had +been wandering this past hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">You remember, dear Lady, the last time +Mr. Betterton played in a Tragedy called "Hamlett," +wherein there is a Play within a Play, and the +melancholy Prince of Denmark sets a troupe of +Actors to enact a Representation of the terrible +Crime whereof he accuses both his Uncle and his +Mother? It is a Scene which, when played by +Mr. Betterton, is wont to hold the Audience enthralled. +He plays his Part in it by lying full length on the +Ground, his Body propped up by his Elbow and his +Chin supported in his Hand. His Eyes—those +wonderful, expressive Eyes of his—he keeps fixed upon +the guilty Pair: his Mother and his Uncle. He +watches the play of every Emotion upon their +faces—Fear, Anger, and then the slowly creeping, +enveloping Remorse; and his rigid, stern Features +express an Intensity of Alertness and of Expectancy, +which is so poignant as to be almost painful.</p> +<p class="pnext">Just such an Expression did my dear Friend's +Face wear at this Moment. He had pushed his +Chair back slightly, so that I had a fuller view of +him, and the flickering light of the wax Candles +illumined his clear-cut Features and his Eyes, fixed +tensely upon the door.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The next moment the serving Man threw open +the door and the Lady Barbara walked in. I could +not see her until she had advanced further into the +middle of the Room. Then I beheld her in all her +Loveliness. Nay! I'll not deny it. She was still +incomparably beautiful, with, in addition, that +marvellous air of Breeding and of Delicacy, which +rendered her peerless amongst her kind. I hated +her for the infinite wrong which she had done to my +Friend, but I could not fail to admire her. Her +Mantle was thrown back from her Shoulders and a +dark, filmy Veil, resembling a Cloud, enveloped her +fair Hair. Beneath her Mantle she wore a Dress +of something grey that shimmered like Steel in the +Candlelight. A few tendrils of her ardent Hair had +escaped from beneath her Veil, and they made a +kind of golden Halo around her Face. She was +very pale, but of that transparent, delicate Pallor +that betokens Emotion rather than ill-health, and her +Eyes looked to me to be as dark as Sloes, even +though I knew them to be blue.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the space of one long Minute, which seemed +like Eternity, these two remained absolutely still, +just looking at one another. Methought that I could +hear the very heart-beats within my breast. Then +the Lady said, with a queer little catch in her Throat +and somewhat hesitatingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are surprised to see me, Sir, no doubt +... but ..."</p> +<p class="pnext">She was obviously at a loss how to begin. And +Mr. Betterton, aroused no doubt by her Voice from +his absorption, rose quickly to his Feet and made +her a deep and respectful Obeisance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Angels from Heaven sometimes descend to +Earth," he said slowly; "yet the Earth is more +worthy of their Visit than is the humble Artist of +the Presence of his Muse." Then he added more +artlessly: "Will You deign to sit?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He drew a Chair forward for her, but She did +not take it, continued to speak with a strange, +obviously forced Gaiety and in a halting Manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thank you, Sir," she said. "That is +... no ... not yet ... I like to look about me."</p> +<p class="pnext">She went close up to the Desk and began to finger +idly the Books and Papers which lay scattered +pell-mell upon it, he still gazing on her as if he had +not yet realized the Actuality of her Presence. +Anon she looked inquiringly about her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What a charming room!" she said, with a little +cry of wonder. "So new to me! I have never seen +an Artist's room before."</p> +<p class="pnext">"For weeks and months," Mr. Betterton rejoined +simply, "this one has been a temple, hallowed by +thoughts of You. Your Presence now, has henceforth +made it a Sanctuary."</p> +<p class="pnext">She turned full, inquiring Eyes upon him and +riposted with childlike Ingenuousness:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yet must You wonder, Sir, at my Presence +here ... alone ... and at this hour."</p> +<p class="pnext">"In my heart," he replied, "there is such an +Infinity of Happiness that there is no Room for +Wonder."</p> +<p class="pnext">"An Infinity of Happiness?" she said with a +quaint little sigh. "That is what we are all +striving for, is it not? The Scriptures tell us that this +Earth is a Vale of Tears. No wonder!" she added +naïvely, "since we are so apt to allow Happiness to +pass us by."</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh! how I wished I had the Courage then and +there to reveal myself to these Twain, to rush out of +my Hiding-place and seize that wily Temptress who, +I felt sure, was here only for the undoing of a Man +whom she hated with unexampled Bitterness. Oh, +why hath grudging Nature made me weak and +cowardly and diffident, when my whole Soul yearns at +times to be resourceful and bold? Believe me, dear +Mistress, that my Mind and my Will-power were +absolutely torn between two Impulses—the one +prompting me to put a stop to this dangerous and +purposeless Interview, this obvious Trap set to catch +a great and unsuspecting Artist unawares; and the +other urging me not to interfere, but rather to allow +Destiny, Fate or the Will of God alone to straighten +out the Web of my Friend's Life, which had been +embroiled by such Passions as were foreign to his +noble Nature.</p> +<p class="pnext">And now I am thankful that I allowed this latter +Counsel to prevail. The Will of God did indeed +shape the Destinies of Men this night for their +Betterment and ultimate Happiness. But, for the +moment, the Threads of many a Life did appear to +be most hopelessly tangled: the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode, daughter of the Marquis of Sidbury, +the fiancée of the Earl of Stour, was in the house of +Tom Betterton, His Majesty's Well-Beloved Servant, +and he was passionately enamoured of her and +had vowed Vengeance against the Man she loved. +As he gazed on her now there was no Hatred in +his Glance, no evil Passion disturbed the Look of +Adoration wherewith he regarded her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara," he pleaded humbly, "be merciful to +me.... For pity's sake, do not mock me with +your smile! My dear, do you not see that I scarce +can believe that I live ... and that you are here? +... You! ... You!" he went on, with +passionate Earnestness. "My Divinity, whom I only +dare approach on bended Knees, whose Garment I +scarce dare touch with my trembling Lips!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He bent the Knee and raised the long, floating +End of her cloudlike Veil to his Lips. I could have +sworn at that Moment that she recoiled from him +and that she made a Gesture to snatch away the +Veil, as if his very Touch on it had been Pollution. +That Gesture and the Recoil were, however, quite +momentary. The next second, even whilst he rose +once more to his Feet, she had already recovered +herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hush!" she said gently, and drew herself +artlessly away from his Nearness. "I want to listen.... +People say that Angels wait upon Mr. Betterton +when he studies his Part ... and I want to +hear the flutter of their Wings."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Air vibrates with the Echo of your sweet +Name," he rejoined, and his exquisite Voice sounded +mellow and vibrant as a sensitive Instrument +touched by a Master's Hand. "Your name, which +with mad longing I have breathed morning, noon +and eve. And now ... now ... I am not +dreaming ... You are near me! ... You, the +perfect Lady Barbara ... my Lady Babs.... +And you look—almost happy!"</p> +<p class="pnext">She gave him a Look—the true Look of a Siren +set to enchain the Will of Man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Happy?" she queried demurely. "Nay, Sir +... puzzled, perhaps."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Puzzled?" he echoed. "Why?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wondering," she replied, "what magic is in the +air that could make a Woman's Heart ... forsake +one Love ... for ... for Another."</p> +<p class="pnext">Yes! She said this, and looked on him straight +between the Eyes as she spoke. Yet I knew that she +lied, could have screamed the Accusation at her, so +convinced was I that she was playing some subtle +and treacherous Game, designed to entrap him and +to deliver him helpless and broken into her Power. +But he, alas! was blinded by his Passion. He saw +no Siren in her, no Falsehood in her Smile. At her +Words, I saw a great Light of Happiness illumine +his Face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara!" he pleaded. "Have pity on me, for +my Reason wanders. I dare not call it back, lest this +magic hour should prove to be a Dream."</p> +<p class="pnext">He tried to take her in his Arms, but she evaded +him, ran to the other side of the Desk, laughing +merrily like a Child. Once again her delicate +Fingers started to toy with the Papers scattered +there.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, ho!" she exclaimed, with well-feigned +astonishment. "Your desk! Why, this," she said, +placing her Hand upon the neat pile before her, +"must be that very Thunderbolt wherewith +to-morrow you mean to crush an arrogant Enemy!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara!" he rejoined with ever growing passion, +and strove to take her Hand. "Will you not +let me tell You——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes!" she replied archly, and quietly +withdrew her Hand from his grasp. "You shall speak +to me anon some of those Speeches of our great +Poets, which your Genius hath helped to +immortalize. To hear Mr. Betterton recite will be an +inestimable Privilege ... which your many +Admirers, Sir, will envy me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The whole world would envy me to-night," he +retorted, and gazed on her with such Ardour that +she was forced to lower her Eyes and to hide their +Expression behind the delicate Curtain of her Lashes.</p> +<p class="pnext">I, who was the dumb Spectator of this cruel +Game, saw that the Lady Barbara was feeling her +way towards her Goal. There was so much Excitement +in her, such palpitating Vitality, that her very +Heart-beats seemed to find their Echo in my breast. +Of course, I did not know yet what Game it was +that she was playing. All that I knew was that it +was both deadly and treacherous. Even now, when +Mr. Betterton once more tried to approach her and +she as instinctively as before recoiled before him, she +contrived to put strange softness into her Voice, and +a subtle, insidious Promise which helped to confuse +his Brain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No—no!" she said. "Not just yet ... I +pray you have pity on my Blushes. I—I still am +affianced to my Lord Stour ... although..."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are right, my beloved," he rejoined simply. +"I will be patient, even though I am standing on the +Threshold of Paradise. But will You not be +merciful? I cannot see you well. Will you not take off +that Veil? ... It casts a dark shadow over your Brow."</p> +<p class="pnext">This time she allowed him to come near her, and, +quite slowly, she unwound the Veil from round her +Head. He took it from her as if it were some +hallowed Relic, too sacred to be polluted by earthly +Touch. And, as her back was turned towards him, +he crushed the Gossamer between his Hands and +pressed its Fragrance to his Lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There!" she said coolly. "'Tis done. Your +magic, Sir Actor, has conquered again."</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed to me that she was more self-possessed +now than she had been when first she entered the +Room. Indeed, her Serenity appeared to grow as his +waned perceptibly. She still was a little restless, +wandering aimlessly about the Room, fingering the +Books, the Papers, the Works of Art that lay +everywhere about; but it seemed like the restlessness of +Curiosity rather than of Excitement. In her own +Mind she felt that she held the Winning Hand—of +this I was convinced—and that she could afford to +toy with and to befool the Man who had dared to +measure his Power against hers.</p> +<p class="pnext">After awhile, she sat down in her Chair which he +had brought forward for her, and which stood close +to the Desk.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now, Sir," she said with cool composure, +"'tis You who must humour me. I have a fancy +... now, at this moment ... and my Desire +is to be thoroughly spoiled."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Every Whim of yours," he rejoined, "is a +Command to your humble Slave."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Truly?" she queried.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Truly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then will You let me see you ... sitting at +your Desk ... Pen in hand ... writing +something just for me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"All my work of late," he replied, "has been done +because of You ... but I am no Poet. What I +speak may have some Merit. What I write hath none."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" she protested with well-simulated +Coquetry, "what I desire You to write for me, Sir +Actor, will have boundless Merit. It is just a couple +of Lines designed to ... to ... prove your +Love for me—Oh!" she added quickly, "I scarce +dare believe in it, Sir ... I scare understood +... You remember, this morning in the Park, I +was so excited, yet you asked me—to be—your Wife!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Wife!" he cried, his Voice ringing with +triumphant Passion. "And you would consent?——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so I came," she riposted, evading a direct +Answer, "to see if I had been dreaming ... if, +indeed, the great and illustrious Mr. Betterton had +stooped to love a Woman ... and for the sake +of that Love would do a little Thing for Her."</p> +<p class="pnext">Lies! Lies! I knew that every Word which she +spoke was nothing but a Lie. My God! if only I +could have unriddled her Purpose! If only I could +have guessed what went on behind those marvellous +Eyes of hers, deep and unfathomable as the Sea! +All I knew—and this I did in the very Innermost of +my Soul—was that the Lady Barbara Wychwoode +had come here to-night in order to trick Mr. Betterton, +and to turn his Love for her to Advantage for +my Lord Stour. How carefully she had thought out +the Part which she meant to play; how completely +she meant to have him at her Mercy, only in order +to mock and deride him in the End, I had yet to learn.</p> +<p class="pnext">Even now she completed his Undoing, the +Addling of his noble Mind, by casting Looks of +shy Coquetry upon him. What Man is there who +could have resisted them? What Man, who was +himself so deeply infatuated as was Mr. Betterton, +could believe that there was Trickery in those +Glances? He sat down at his Desk, as she had +desired him to do, and drew Pen, Ink and Paper +closer to his Hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"An you asked my Life," he said simply, "I +would gladly give it to prove my Love for You." Then, +as she remained silent and meditative, he +added: "What is your Ladyship's wish?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh!" she replied, "'tis a small matter +... It concerns the Earl of Stour ... We were +Friends ... once ... Playmates when we were +Children ... That Friendship ripened into +a—a—Semblance of Love. No! No!" she went on +rapidly, seeing that at her Words he had made a +swift Movement, leaning towards her. "I pray you, +listen. That Semblance of Love may have gone +... but Friendship still abides. My Lord Stour, +the Playmate of my Childhood, is in sore trouble +... I, his Friend, would wish to help him, and +cannot do this without your Aid. Will You—will +You grant me this Aid, Sir," she queried shyly, "if +I beg it of You?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Ladyship has but to command," he +answered vaguely, for, in truth, his whole Mind +was absorbed in the contemplation of her Loveliness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Twas You," she asserted boldly, "who begged +for his Lordship's pardon from the Countess of +Castlemaine ... 'Twas not he who betrayed his +Friends. That is a Fact, is it not?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A Fact. Yes," he replied.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then I pray you, Sir, write that down," she +pleaded, with an ingenuous, childish Gesture, "and +sign it with your Name ... just to please me."</p> +<p class="pnext">She looked like a lovely Child begging for a Toy. +To think of Guile in connection with those Eyes, +with that Smile, seemed almost a Sacrilege. And +my poor Friend was so desperately infatuated just +then! Has any Man ever realized that Woman is +fooling him, when she really sets her Wiles to +entrap him? Surely not a Man of Mr. Betterton's +keen, artistic and hot-blooded Temperament. I saw +it all now, yet I dared not move. For one thing, +the time had gone by when I might have done it with +good Effect. Now it was too late. Any interference +on my part would only have led to Ignominy +for myself and the severance of a Friendship that +I valued more than Life itself. Betwixt a Friend's +warning and a Woman's Cajolery, what Man would +hesitate? What could I, in any event, have done +now, save to hold up the inevitable Catastrophe for +a few Moments—a few Seconds, perhaps? Truly, +my hour was past. I could but wait now in Silence +and Misery until the End.</p> +<p class="pnext">There she sat, pleading, speaking that eternal +Phrase, which since the beginning of primeval times +hath been used by wily Woman for the undoing of a +generous-minded Man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will You do this, Sir—just to please me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I swear to You that it shall be done," he +rejoined with passionate fervour. "But will you not +let me tell you first——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No!—No!" she said quickly, clasping her +delicate hands. "I pray You—not just yet. I—I so +long to see You write ... there ... at this +Desk, where lie piled letters from every illustrious +Person and every crowned Head in Europe. And +now You will write," she entreated, in the tone of an +indulged and wayward Child. "You will? Just +one little Document for me, because ... because +You say You love me, and ... because ... I..."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara!" he cried in an Ecstasy of Happiness. +"My Beloved!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He was on the point of falling on his Knees, but +once more a demure Gesture, a drawing back of her +whole Figure, restrained him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No! No!" she reiterated firmly. "When you +have written, I will listen——"—another Glance, +and he was vanquished. Then she completed her +Phrase—"to all you have to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">He drew back with a sigh, and took up his Pen.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As you command," he said simply, and made +ready to write.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Even now, whene'er I close mine Eyes, I can see +those twain as a vivid Picture before me. The +Massive Desk, littered with papers, the Candles +flickering in their Sconces, illumining with their +elusive Light the Figure of the great Actor, sitting +with shoulders slightly bent forward, one Arm +resting upon the Desk, half buried in the filmy folds of +her Ladyship's Veil, his Face upturned towards the +Enchantress, who held him at this Hour an absolute +Slave to her Will. She had risen from her Chair +and stood immediately behind him; her Face I could +not see, for her back was towards me, but the light +caught the loose Tendrils of her fair Hair, and from +where I stood watching, this looked just like a +golden Aureole around her small Head, bent slightly +towards him. She too was leaning forward, over +him, with her Hand extended, giving him Directions +as to what he should write.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I pray You," she said with an impatient +little Sigh, "do not delay! I will watch You as You +write. I pray You write it as a Message addressed +to the Court of White Hall. Not in Poetry," she +added, with a nervous little Laugh; "but in Prose, +so that all may understand."</p> +<p class="pnext">He bent to his task and began to write, and she +straightened out her elegant Figure and murmured, +as if oppressed: "How hot this room is!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Slowly, as if in Absence of Mind, She wandered +towards the Window.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have heard it said," she remarked, "that +Mr. Betterton's worst enemy is the cold. But a +fire! ... on such a glorious Evening. The first Kiss +of awakening Spring."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had reached the Window now, and stood for +awhile in the Bay, leaning against the Mullion; and +I could not help but admire her Duplicity and her +Pluck. For, indeed, She had risked Everything that +Woman holds most dear, for the sake of the Man +she loved. And She could not help but know that +She herself and her fair Name would anon be at +the mercy of a Man whom her Cajoleries and her +Trickery would have rendered desperate.</p> +<p class="pnext">Anon, as if quite overcome by the Heat, she threw +open the Casement, and then leaned out, peering into +the Darkness beyond. Ensconced in my Corner at +some distance from the Window, I was conscious +of the Movement and subdued Noise which came up +from the still crowded Park. A number of People +appeared to be moving out there, and even as I +strained my Ears to listen, I caught the sweet sound +of the selfsame Song of awhile ago, wafted hither +on the cool night Air:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"You are my Life! You ask me why?</div> +<div class="line">Because my Hope is in Your Love."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">I caught myself marvelling if the Ladies and +Gallants of the Court had strolled out into the Park +at this hour, drawn thither by the amorous Melodies +sung by the unknown Minstrel; or by the balmy Air +of Spring; or merely by the passing Whim of some +new Fashion or Fancy. I even strained my Ears +so that I might recognise the sound of Voices that +were familiar to me. I heard my Lord of +Rochester's characteristic Laugh, Sir William +Davenant's dictatorial tones and the high-pitched +Cackle of Mr. Killigrew.</p> +<p class="pnext">So doth our Mind oft dwell on trivial Thoughts +at times of gravest Stress. Her Ladyship had sat +down on a low Stool beside the Window. I could +only see the vague outline of her—the Expression +of her Face, the very Poise of her Head, were wrapt +in the surrounding Gloom.</p> +<p class="pnext">For awhile there was perfect Silence in the Room, +save for the monotonous ticking of the old Clock +and the scratching of Mr. Betterton's Pen as he +wrote with a rapid and unhesitating Hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Minutes sped on, and anon he had completed +his Task. I saw him lay down his Pen, then raise +the Paper and read through very carefully all that +he had written, and finally strew Sand upon the +momentous Document. For awhile after that he +remained perfectly still, and I observed his clear-cut +Face, with Eyes fixed as it were inwards into his +own Soul, and sensitive Lips pressed tightly one +against the other. The Hand which held the +Document was perfectly steady, an obedient slave to his +Will. And yet that Sign-manual, as directed by her +Ladyship, was a direct Avowal of a dastardly Deed, +of the gratuitous Slandering of an innocent Man's +Honour, without Provocation or Justification, seeing +that no mention was made in the Confession of the +abominable Outrage which had brought about this +grim Retaliation, or of the Refusal on the part of +his Lordship to grant the Satisfaction that is +customary between Gentlemen. It was, in fact, his own +Integrity and his own Honour that the eminent +Actor was even now bartering for a Woman's Love. +This will prove to You, dear Mistress, that +Mr. Betterton's Love for the Lady Barbara Wychwoode +did not at any time resemble true Affection, which, +of all the Passions to which the human Heart is apt +to become Slave, is the one that leads the Mind to +the highest and noblest Thoughts; whereas an +Infatuation can only be compared to a Fever. Man +hath no more control over the one than he hath over +the other, and cannot curb its Violence or the +Duration of its Attack.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">The next thing that I remember most clearly is +seeing Mr. Betterton put the fateful Paper down +again, take up her Ladyship's Veil and bury his Face +in its cloudy Folds. I heard him murmur faintly, +after awhile:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, if I dared, I would believe myself almost happy!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he rose, picked up the Paper, and with it +went up to the Lady Barbara.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Tis done, as you did command," he said quite +quietly, and placed the Document in her Hand. She +took it from him and rose to her Feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A Light, I pray You," she said coldly.</p> +<p class="pnext">He brought one of the Candles across and stood +beside her, holding it aloft. She read the Paper +through with great Deliberation, nodding Approval +from time to time as she did so. Then she folded +it into a very small Compass, while she thanked him +coldly and guardedly. He then went back to the +Desk with the Candle and put it down. During +these few Seconds, whilst his back was turned to +her, I noticed that the Lady Barbara took a heavy, +jewelled Brooch from her Gown and fastened it by +its pin to the Document. Her movements were +methodical but very quick, and my own Mind +worked too slowly to guess at her Intention.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next moment, Mr. Betterton was once more +by her side. Eager, alert, and with the glow of +Triumph in his Eyes, he flung himself at her Feet. +She was his now!—his by Right of Conquest! He +had won her by measureless Self-Sacrifice, and now +he meant to hold the Guerdon for which he had paid +so heavy a Price.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because you deigned to cross this humble +Threshold," he said, and his arms encircled her +Waist with the masterful and passionate Gesture +of a Victor, "the poor Actor places his Name and +Fame, his Pride and baffled Revenge, at your feet."</p> +<p class="pnext">"At the World's Feet, Sir Mountebank!" she +cried exultantly, and with a swift movement she +flung the weighted Paper far out through the +Window. Then, leaning out into the Darkness, she +called at the top of her Voice: "To me, Adela! +Here is the Message from Mr. Betterton. Take it +to my Lord Sidbury at once!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Mr. Betterton was no longer in a mental State +to care what happened after this; I doubt if he +realized just what was impending. He was still on +his Knees, holding on to her with both Arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay!" he said wildly. "That is as You please. +Let the whole World think me base and abject. +What care I for Honour, Fame or Integrity now +that You are here, and that You will be my Wife?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Ah! the poor, deluded Fool! How could he be +so blind? Already the Lady Barbara had turned +on him with flashing Eyes, and a loud, hysterical +Laugh of measureless Contempt broke from her Lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your Wife!" she exclaimed, and that harsh +laugh echoed through the Silence of the House. +"So, Mr. Actor, you thought to entrap the Daughter +of the Marquis of Sidbury into becoming your +Wife! ... Nay! you miserable Fool! 'Twas I +entrapped and cheated you.... Your Wife! +Ye Saints in Heaven, hear him! His Wife! The +Wife of Thomas Betterton, the Mountebank!! I!!!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Her Words, her Laughter, the Bitterness of her +Contempt, stung him like a Whip-lash. In an +instant, he was on his Feet, staggered back till he +came in contact with the Desk, to which he clung +with both hands, while he faced her, his Cheeks +pale as Ashes, his Eyes glowing with a Light that +appeared almost maniacal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You cheated me?" he murmured inarticulately. +"You lied to me? ... You ... I'll not +believe it ... I'll not believe it...."</p> +<p class="pnext">She appeared not to heed him, was gazing out of +the Window, shouting directions to some one—her +waiting-maid, no doubt, or other Confidante—who +was searching for the Paper down below.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There, Adela!" she called out eagerly. "Dost +see ... just by those bushes ... something +white ... my brooch.... Dost see?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly she gave a Cry of Triumph, and then +turned back exultantly to her baffled Foe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My maid," she said, somewhat wildly, and +panting as if she were exhausted with fast running. +"We had planned it all ... She is devoted to me +... She has been on the Watch ... She has +the paper now ... There!" she added, and with +outstretched arm pointed out into the Gloom +beyond. "There; Do you see?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Can You wonder that her Trickery, her Contempt +had made him mad? Indeed, even I felt that at that +moment I could have held her slender throat between +my two Hands and crushed the Life out of her. To +a Man of Mr. Betterton's temperament, the +Provocation was obviously beyond his Powers of +Endurance. Even in the dim Light, I could see a positive +Fury of Passion akin to Hate literally distorting his +Face. The next second he was once more by her +side, and whilst she still cried wildly: "Do you see? +Do you see? Run, Adela, run!" he seized her in +his arms and retorted roughly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see nothing now but your Beauty, and that +has made me mad."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Run, Adela! Run!" she cried again. "That +message from Mr. Betterton is for the whole World +to see!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But he held her tightly round the Shoulders now, +and she, probably realizing her Danger for the first +time, strove to struggle against his Embrace.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me go!" she commanded. "Let me go! or +I swear by God in Heaven that I will find the +Strength to kill myself and You."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I love You," was his only reply to her Threat. +"Nay!" he added, speaking in rapid, jerky Phrases, +the while she continued to struggle with ever +growing loss of Power. "You shall kill me later if You +will, but not till I have lived. My Dear, my Love, +my Saint! Have I not worshipped you for days and +months? Have I not held You in Dream in my +Arms? You are my Muse, my Divinity, my Hope! +Mine! Mine! Exquisite, adorable Lady Barbara! +No! No! You cannot escape, struggle how You +might. This is my hour! 'Tis you who gave it me, +and I defy Heaven itself to rob me of a single instant!"</p> +<p class="pnext">My God! what could I do? More and more did +I curse the Folly and Cowardice which had kept me +riveted to this Spot all this while. Now there was +nothing for it but to reveal my Presence, to draw +upon my foolish Head the Contempt and Anger of a +Man for whom I would gladly have laid down my +Life. My Brain became confused. I ceased to see +clearly. A ruddy Mist was gathering before my +Eyes. I was on the Verge of losing Consciousness +and was struggling pitifully to retain Command over +my Senses. Through this fast approaching Swoon +I could hear, as through an intervening Veil, the +hoarse and broken Accents of the Voice that I loved +so well:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are here alone with me. The last shred +of my Reason is scattered to the Winds. England, +Fame, the World, are empty Words to me. Do you +not see that now I am ready to die an hundred +Deaths, for at last I shall have lived ... I shall +have held You in my Arms."</p> +<p class="pnext">And one great and pitiful Appeal from her Lips: +"Oh, God! If there is Justice in Heaven—defend +me now——"</p> +<p class="pnext">And, even half conscious as I was, I saw her—yes, +saw her quite distinctly give a sudden wrench +which freed her right Arm. She plunged her Hand +into the bosom of her Gown, and the next instant +the flickering light of the Candle flashed a vivid +gleam upon the narrow steel blade of a dagger +which she held. This, with the swiftness of +lightning, brought me back to the Consciousness of the +present, grim Reality. With a loud and sudden Cry, +I darted out of my Hiding Place and stood there +before them both, pale no doubt with a well-nigh +unearthly Pallor, which must have given me the +Appearance of a Ghost.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was now the Lady Barbara who was nigh to +Swooning. But, with that coolness which comes at +times to the Helpless and the Weak, I had already +snatched her Veil from the Desk, and whilst she +tottered and almost fell into my Arms, I wrapped +it around her Head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Quick! The Door!" I said. "You are quite safe!"</p> +<p class="pnext">I dared not look at Mr. Betterton. Indeed, I +could not even now tell You in what Attitude or +with what Expression of Face he watched me whilst +I seemed thus to take Command of the Situation. +The Lady Barbara was trembling so violently that +some few moments elapsed before she was able to +walk across the Room. When she finally did so, +her Foot kicked against the Dagger which had +dropped from her Hand when I so suddenly +appeared before her. She gave a faint Cry of Horror, +and I stooped and picked up the Dagger and placed +it back in her Hand without looking at her.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">5</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Her Ladyship then went on towards the door. +But suddenly she came to a halt, and I, who was +close to her heels, paused likewise, for I felt that +every drop of Blood within me had turned to Ice. +From the Hall below there had come the sound of +angry Altercation and a Man's voice was raised +loudly and peremptorily, saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me pass, man! I will speak with Mr. Betterton."</p> +<p class="pnext">The voice was that of my Lord Stour.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Lady Barbara stood quite still for a moment, +rigid as a carved Statue. Then a low, inexpressibly +pathetic Moan rose to her Lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! for the Earth to open!" she cried pitiably, +"and bury me and this Shame——"</p> +<p class="pnext">She was overwrought and weak with Emotion, +but in any Event it was a terrible Position for any +Lady of Rank to be found in, at this late hour, and +alone. Overcome no doubt with the superabundance +of harrowing Sensations, she tottered as if +about to swoon. Mr. Betterton caught her as she fell.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My Divinity! My Queen!" he murmured +quickly. "No one shall harm you, I swear it! No +one shall!" Then he added under his breath: +"Heaven above me, help me to protect her!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon he lifted her up in his Arms as if +she were a Child, and carried her as far as the +Embrasure of the Window. Then, with one of +those quick movements which were so characteristic +of him, he drew the Curtains together, which shut +off the Bay from the rest of the Room and screened +its fair Occupant completely from view.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was a different Man now to the Passion-racked +Creature of awhile ago; absolutely calm; the +Man I had known and loved and respected all these +years. Though my whole Being was still convulsed +in an Agony of Apprehension, I felt that from him +now would come moral Comfort for me and +Protection for the unfortunate Lady, whose Burden of +Sorrow had at last touched his Heart. And I do +verily believe, dear Lady, that in that Instant of +supreme Danger for us all, his Passion fell from him +like a Curtain from before his Eyes. It had gone +through its culminating Anguish when he discovered +that she whom he loved had lied to him and cheated +him. Now, when she stood here before him, utterly +helpless and utterly crushed, his Infatuation +appeared to writhe for one Moment in the Crucible of +his own Manliness and Chivalry, and then to emerge +therefrom hallowed and purified.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">6</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">In the meanwhile, less than a minute had elapsed. +My Lord Stour had ascended the Stairs, undeterred +by the Protestations of Mr. Betterton's Servant. +The next moment he had violently wrenched the +Door open and now stood before us, pale, trembling +with Rage or Excitement, hatless, his Mantle +thrown back from his Shoulders. His right Hand +clutched his naked Sword, and in his Left he had +a crushed ball of paper, held together by her +Ladyship's brooch. His entire Attitude was one of firm +and deadly Menace.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I heard a Voice!" he exclaimed, staring wildly +around him. "I saw a Face—a Form.... This +Paper was flung out from yonder Window +... was picked up by a serving Wench.... What +does it mean?" he queried harshly, and advanced +threateningly towards Mr. Betterton, who was +standing midway between him and the curtained Bay.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How can I tell?" riposted the great Actor +blandly, with a careless Shrug of his Shoulders. "I +was not moon-gazing, as your Lordship appears to +have done. A paper, did You say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are not alone," retorted my Lord roughly. +"I heard a voice ... just now...."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We are all apt to hear voices in the moonlight, +my Lord," Mr. Betterton rejoined simply. "The +Artist hears his Muse, the Lover his Mistress, the +Criminal his Conscience."</p> +<p class="pnext">His unruffled calm seemed to exasperate his +Lordship's fury, for he now appeared even more +menacing than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And did You perchance hear a Voice to-night, +Sir Actor," he queried, his voice hoarse with +Passion, "warning You of Death?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nay!" replied Mr. Betterton. "That Voice +whispers to Us all, and always, my Lord, even in +our Cradles."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then hear it for the last time now, and from my +Lips, you abominable Mountebank!" my Lord cried, +beside himself in truth. "For unless You draw +aside that Curtain, I am going to kill You."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is as you please," retorted Mr. Betterton +simply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stand aside!" commanded his Lordship.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Mr. Betterton looked him calmly up and +down and did not move one inch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is a most unwarrantable Interference," he +said quietly, "with the Freedom of His Majesty's +well-beloved Servant. Your Lordship seems to +forget that every inch of this Floor is mine, and that I +stand on it where I please. I pray you, take that +Paper—that Message—elsewhere. An it came +down from Heaven, read it—but leave me in Peace."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll not go," asserted my Lord harshly, "till +you have drawn aside that Curtain."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then we'll see whose Legs will weary first, my +Lord, yours or mine," was Mr. Betterton's unruffled +rejoinder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Draw then and defend yourself!" cried my +Lord, who before his Enemy's unbroken Calm, had +lost what Semblance of Self-Control he still possessed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am unarmed," riposted Mr. Betterton simply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then let Satan have his due," exclaimed the +young Hothead, and raised his Sword ready to +strike, "for your Soul shall go down to Hell at last!"</p> +<p class="pnext">In a moment, of course, I was on him. But he +had the vigour of a trained Soldier, enhanced by an +overwhelming Passion of Enmity and of Rage; and +though I seized him unawares—I doubt if he had +realized that I was in the Room—he shook me off +in an instant, as a Dog might shake off an +importunate Rat. Before I had time to recover my breath +from his quick and furious Defence, he had turned +on me and dealt me such a vigorous Blow with his +Fist between the Eyes, that the whole Room began +to gyrate around me and the Atmosphere became +peopled with Stars. I staggered and half fell +against the Dresser that had sheltered me awhile +ago. For the space of half a dozen seconds mine +Eyes were closed.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">7</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">When I opened them again, the Scene had indeed +changed. Her Ladyship had pushed the Curtains +aside and stood there in the window Embrasure, +revealed to her irate Lover. And he, though he +must have known that she was there all the Time, +appeared so staggered by her Apparition that his +Arm dropped by his side and his Sword fell with a +clatter to the Ground, while he murmured as if in +the last Throes of mental Suffering:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara ... my Barbara .. here—alone—at +night ... with this Man!..."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her Ladyship, however, appeared perfectly +composed. The light of the Candles revealed her +exquisite Face, pale but serene, and her small Head +crowned with the Aureole of her golden Hair, held +up proudly as one who hath naught to fear, naught +for which she need be ashamed. She pointed with +perfect steadiness to the Paper which my Lord still +held tightly clasped in his left Hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That paper!" she said, and only a slight veiling +of her Voice betrayed the Emotion which she felt. +"I sent it. 'Tis for you, my Lord. It will clear +your Honour, and proclaim your Innocence."</p> +<p class="pnext">But his Lordship did not appear to hear her. He +continued to murmur to himself mechanically, and +in tones of the deepest Despair:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Barbara ... alone ... with him!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Read that Paper, my dear Lord," her Ladyship +insisted with calm dignity, "ere with another +Thought you further dare to wrong me!"</p> +<p class="pnext">These simple Words, however, so full of +conscious Worth and of Innocence, let loose the +Floodgates of my Lord's pent-up, insensate jealousy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wrong you!" he cried, and a harsh, almost +maniacal laugh broke from his choking Throat. +"Wrong you! Nay! I suppose I must be grateful +and thank Heaven on my Knees that You, my +promised Bride, deigned to purchase mine Honour +at the Price of your Kisses!"</p> +<p class="pnext">At this gross Insult her Ladyship uttered a pitiful +Moan; but ere she could give Reply, Mr. Betterton, +who hitherto had not interfered between the Twain, +now did so, and in no measured Tone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Silence, Madman!" he commanded, "ere You +blaspheme."</p> +<p class="pnext">But my Lord had apparently lost his last Shred +of Reason. Jealousy was torturing him in a +manner that even Hatred had failed to do.</p> +<p class="pnext">"God!" he exclaimed repeatedly, calling to the +Almighty to witness his Soul-Misery. "I saw her +at that Window.... Who else saw her?... +How many Varlets and jabbering Coxcombs know +at the present moment that the Lady Barbara +Wychwoode spends the night alone with a Mountebank?" In +an excess of ungoverned Rage he tore the Paper +to shreds and threw the Scraps almost into her +Ladyship's Face. "Take back your Proofs!" he +cried. "I'll not take mine Honour from Your +hands! Ah!" he added, and now turned once more +toward Mr. Betterton, who, I could see, was calmly +making up his Mind what next to do. "Whoever +you are—Man or Devil—are you satisfied with your +Revenge? Was it not enough to cover <em class="italics">me</em> with +Infamy; what need had You to brand <em class="italics">Her</em> with +Dishonour?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Overcome with Emotion, his Soul on the Rack, +his Heart wounded and bleeding, he appeared like a +lost Spirit crying out from an Abyss of Torment. +But these last Ravings of his, these final, abominable +Insults, levelled against the Woman who had done +so much for him, and whom he should have been the +first to protect, lashed Mr. Betterton's ire and +contempt into holy Fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye gods in Heaven, hear him!" he cried, with +an outburst of Rage at least as great as that of the +other Man. "He loves her, and talks of Dishonour, +whilst I love her and only breathe of Worship! +By all the Devils in Hell, my Lord Stour, I tell you +that you lie!"</p> +<p class="pnext">And before any of us there realized what he +meant to do, he ran to the Window, threw open all +the Casements with such violence that the glass +broke and fell clattering down upon the gravelled +place below.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hallo!" he called in a stentorian Voice. +"Hallo, there!"</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour, bewildered, un-understanding, +tried to bluster.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What are you doing, man?" he queried +roughly. "Silence! Silence, I say!"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Mr. Betterton only shouted the louder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hallo, there! Friends! Enemies! England! Here!"</p> +<p class="pnext">I could hear the Tumult outside. People were +running hither from several directions, thinking, no +doubt, that a Fire had broken out or that Murder +was being done. I could hear them assembling +beneath the window, which was not many feet from +the Ground. "Why! it's Tom Betterton!" some of +them said. And others added: "Hath he gone +raving mad?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is any one there who knows me?" queried +Mr. Betterton loudly.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes! Yes!" was the ready response.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who is it?" he asked, peering into the darkness +below.</p> +<p class="pnext">I heard Sir William Davenant's voice give reply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Killigrew and I are down here, Tom. What in +the Name of —— is the matter?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come round to my rooms, Davenant," Mr. Betterton +replied; "and bring as many friends with you +as you can."</p> +<p class="pnext">He was standing in the Bay of the Window, and +his Figure, silhouetted against the Light in the +Room, must have been plainly visible to the crowd +outside. That a number of People had assembled by +now was apparent by the Hum and Hubbub which +came to us from below. Unable to restrain my +Curiosity, I too approached the open Casements and +peered out into the Gloom. Just as I thought, quite +a Crowd had collected down there, some of whom +were making ready to climb up to the Window by +way of the Gutter-pipes or the solid stems of the +Ivy, whilst others were trooping down the narrow +little Alley which connects Tothill Street with the +Park at the base of Mr. Betterton's house. There +was a deal of talking, laughing and shouting. +"Tom Betterton is up to some Prank," I heard +more than one Person say.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">8</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Perhaps You will wonder what was my Lord's +Attitude during the few minutes—it was less than +five—which elapsed between the Instant when +Mr. Betterton first threw open the Casements, and that +when the Crowd, headed by Sir William Davenant +and Mr. Killigrew, trooped down the Alley on their +Way to this House. To me he seemed at first +wholly uncomprehending, like a Man who has +received a Blow on the Head—just as I did from his +Fist a moment ago—and before whose Eyes the +Walls of the Room, the Furniture, the People, are +all swimming in an Ocean of Stars. I imagine that +at one time the Thought flashed as Lightning +through his Mind that this was but the culminating +Outrage, wherewith his Enemy meant to pillory him +and his Bride before a jeering Public. That was +the moment when he turned to her Ladyship and, +uttering a hoarse Cry, called to her by Name. She +was, just then, leaning in semi-consciousness against +the Angle of the Bay. She did not respond to his +Call, and Mr. Betterton, quick in his Movements, +alert now like some Feline on the prowl, stepped +immediately in front of Her, facing my Lord and +screening Her against his Approach.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stand back, Man," he commanded. "Stand +back, I tell You! You shall not come nigh Her +save on bended Knees, with Head bowed in the +Dust, suing for Pardon in that you dared to Insult +her."</p> +<p class="pnext">Everything occurred so quickly, Movements, +Events, High Words, threatening Gestures from +both sides, followed one another in such rapid +Succession, that I, overcome with Agitation and the +Effect of the stunning Blow which I had received, +was hardly able to take it all in. Much less is it in +my Power to give You a faithful Account of it +all. Those five Minutes were the most spirit-stirring +ones I have ever experienced throughout my +Life—every Second appeared surcharged with an +exciting Fluid which transported Me to supernal +Regions, to Lands of Unrealities akin to vivid Dreams.</p> +<p class="pnext">At one Moment, I remember seeing my Lord +Stour make a rapid and furtive movement in the +direction of his Sword, which lay some little +Distance from him on the Ground, but Mr. Betterton +was quicker even than his Foe, more alert, and with +one bound he had reached the Weapon, ere my +Lord's Hand was nigh it, had picked it up and, +with a terrific Jerk, broke it in half across his Knee. +Then he threw the mangled Hilt in one direction, the +Point in another, and my Lord raised his Fists, +ready, methinks, to fly at his Throat.</p> +<p class="pnext">But, as I have already told You, dear Mistress, +the whole Episode stands but as a confused Mirage +before my Mind; and through it all I seemed to see +a mere Vision of her Ladyship, pale and ethereal, +leaning against the Angle of the Bay; one delicate +Hand was clutching the heavy Curtain, drawing +it around her as it were, as if in a pathetic and +futile Desire to shield herself from view.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="the-game-of-love">CHAPTER XVI</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE GAME OF LOVE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">1</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">In the meanwhile, the Crowd all round the House +had visibly swelled. Some People were still +standing immediately beneath the Bow-window, whilst +Others swarmed into Tothill Street; the foremost +amongst the Latter had given a vigorous Tug at +the Bell-pull, and the front Door being opened for +them by the bewildered Servant, they had made a +noisy Irruption into the House. We could hear +them clattering up the Stairs, to the Accompaniment +of much Laughing and Talking, and the +oft-reiterated Refrain: "Tom Betterton is up to some +Prank! Hurrah!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Some few again, more venturesome and certainly +more Impudent than most, had indeed succeeded in +scrambling up to the Window, and, one after +another, Heads and Shoulders began to appear in the +Framework of the open Casements.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her Ladyship had no doubt realized from the first +that Escape became impossible, within two Minutes +of Mr. Betterton's first Summons to the Public. +Just at first, perhaps, if my Lord had preserved his +entire Presence of Mind, he might have taken her +by the Hand and fled with Her out of the House, +before the unruly Crowd had reached Tothill Street. +But my Lord, blinded by jealous Rage, had not +thought of Her quickly enough, and now the Time +was past, and he remained impotent, gasping with +Fury, hardly conscious of his Actions. He had +been literally swept off his Feet by Mr. Betterton's +eagle-winged <em class="italics">coup de main</em>, which left him puzzled +and the prey to a nameless Terror as to what was +about to follow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, when he saw a number of Gentlemen trooping +in by the Door, he could but stare at them in +utter Bewilderment. Most of these Gallants were +personally known to him: Sir William Davenant +was in the forefront with Mr. Thomas Killigrew of +the King's Theatre, and the Earl of Rochester was +with them, as well as Mr. Wycherley. I also +recognized Sir Charles Sedley and old Sir John Denham, +as well as my Lord Roscommon, among the crowd.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had all rushed in through the Door, laughing +and jesting, as was the wont of all these gay +and courtly Sparks; but at sight of the Lady +Barbara, they halted. Gibes and unseemly Jokes broke +upon their Lips, and for the most part their Hands +went up to their Hats, and they made her Ladyship +a deep obeisance. Indeed, just then she looked more +like a Wraith than a living Woman, and the Light +of the Candles, which flickered wildly in the +Draught, accentuated the Weirdness of her Appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Tom? What is amiss?" Sir +William Davenant was thus the first to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We thought You were playing some Prank."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You did call from that Window, did You not, +Tom?" my Lord Rochester insisted.</p> +<p class="pnext">And one or two of the Gentlemen nodded +somewhat coldly to my Lord Stour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. I did call," Mr. Betterton replied, quite +firmly. "But 'twas no Whim on my Part thus to +drag You into my House. It was not so much my +Voice that you heard as the Trumpet blast of Truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this, my Lord Stour broke into one of those +harsh, mirthless Fits of Laughter which betokened +the perturbation of his Spirit.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Truth!" he exclaimed with a cutting Sneer. +"From You?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye! the Truth!" Mr. Betterton rejoined with +perfect calm, even whilst his Friends glanced, +puzzled and inquiring, from my Lord Stour to him, +and thence to her Ladyship's pale face, and even to +Me. "The Truth," he added with a deep Sigh as +of intense Relief; "The Truth, at Last!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He stood in the centre of the Room, with one +Hand resting upon the Desk, his Eyes fixed +fearlessly upon the Sea of Faces before him. Not the +slightest Tremor marred the perfect Harmony of +his Voice, or the firm poise of his manly Figure. +You know as well as I do, dear Mistress, the +marvellous Magnetism of Mr. Betterton's Personality, +the Way he hath of commanding the Attention of +a Crowd, whenever he chooseth to speak. Think of +him then, dear Lady, with Head thrown back, his +exquisite Voice rising and falling in those subtle +and impressive Cadences wherewith he is wont to +hold an Audience enthralled. Of a truth, no +experienced Manager in Stage-Craft could have devised +so thrilling an Effect, as the Picture which +Mr. Betterton—the greatest Actor of this or of any +Time—presented at that Moment, standing alone, +facing the Crowd which was thrilled into deadly +Silence, and with the wraith-like Figure of that +exquisitely beautiful Woman as a Foil to his own +self-possessed, virile Appearance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gentlemen," he began, with slow, even +Emphasis, "I pray you bear with me; for what I have +to say will take some time in telling. Awhile ago his +Lordship of Stour put upon me such an Insult as +the Mind of Man can hardly conceive. Then, on +the Pretence that I was not a born Gentleman as +he was, he refused me Satisfaction by the Sword. +For this I hated him and swore that I would be even +with him, that I would exact from his Arrogance, +Outrage for Outrage, and Infamy for Infamy." He +then turned to my Lord Stour and spoke to him +directly. "You asked me just now, my Lord, if +my Revenge was satisfied. My answer to that is: +not yet! Not until I see You on Your bended +Knees here, before these Gentlemen—my Friends +and Yours—receiving from the miserable +Mountebank whom you mocked, the pitiful cur whom You +thrashed, that which you hold—or should hold—more +precious than all the Treasures of this earth: +your Honour and the good Name of the Lady who +honours You with her Love! Gentlemen!" he went +on, and once more faced the Crowd. "You know +the Aspersions which have been cast on my Lord +Stour's Loyalty. Rumours have been current that +the late aborted Conspiracy was betrayed by him to +the Countess of Castlemaine, and that She obtained +his Pardon, whilst all or most of his Associates +were driven into Exile or perished on the Scaffold. +Well, Gentlemen, 'twas I who begged for my Lord's +pardon from the Countess of Castlemaine. His +Degradation, his Obloquy, was the Revenge which +I had studiously planned. Nay! I pray you, hear +me unto the End," he continued, as a loud Murmur +of Horror and of Indignation followed on this +Self-Accusation. "My Lord Stour is no Traitor, save +to Her whom he loves and whom in his Thoughts +he hath dared to outrage. The Lady Barbara +Wychwoode deigned to plead with me for the Man whom +she honoured with her Love. She pleaded with me +this afternoon, in the Park, in sight of many +Passers-by; but I in my Obstinacy and Arrogance +would not, God forgive me, listen to her."</p> +<p class="pnext">He paused, and I could see the beads of +Perspiration glittering upon his Forehead, white now +like Italian Alabaster. They all stood before him, +subdued and silent. Think of Sir William +Davenant, dear Mistress, and his affection for +Mr. Betterton; think of my Lord Roscommon and of Sir +Charles Sedley and his Lordship of Rochester, +whose Admiration for Mr. Betterton's Talent was +only equalled by their Appreciation for His Worth! +It was before them all, before all these fastidious +Gentlemen, that the great and sensitive Artist had +elected to humble his Pride to the dust.</p> +<p class="pnext">But you shall judge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Gentlemen," Mr. Betterton went on after a +brief while; "We all know that Love is a Game +at which one always cheats. I loved the Lady +Barbara Wychwoode. I had the presumption to dream +of her as my future Wife. Angered at her Scorn +of my Suit, I cheated her into coming here to-night, +luring her with the Hope that I would consent to +right the Man for whose sake she was willing to +risk so much, for whom she was ready to sacrifice +even her fair Name. Now I have learned to my +hurt that Love, the stern little god, will not be +trifled with. When we try to cheat him, he cheats +us worse at the last; and if he makes Kings of us, +he leaves us Beggars in the End. When my Lord +Stour, burning with sacrilegious jealousy, made +irruption into my Room, the Lady Barbara had +just succeeded in wringing from me an Avowal +which proclaimed his Integrity and my Shame. She +was about to leave me, humbled and crushed in my +Pride, she herself pure and spotless as the Lilies, +unapproachable as the Stars."</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">2</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Mr. Betterton had ceased speaking for some time; +nevertheless, Silence profound reigned in the dark, +wainscotted Room for many seconds after the final +echo of that perfect Voice had ceased to reverberate. +Indeed, dear Mistress, I can assure You that, though +there were at least fifty Persons present in the +Room, including those unknown to Me who were +swarming around the Framework of the Casements, +you might have heard the proverbial Pin drop just +then. A tense Expression rested on every Face. +Can You wonder that I scanned them all with the +Eagerness born of my Love for the great Artist, +who had thus besmirched his own fair Name in +order to vindicate that of his bitterest Foe? That +I read Condemnation of my Friend in many a +Glance, I'll not deny, and this cut me to the Quick.</p> +<p class="pnext">True! Mr. Betterton's Scheme of Vengeance had +been reprehensible if measured by the high +Standards of Christian Forbearance. But remember how +he had been wronged, not once, but repeatedly; and +even when I saw the Frown on my Lord +Roscommon's brow, the Look of Stern Reproof in Sir +Charles Sedley's Face, there arose before mine Eyes +the Vision of the great and sensitive Artist, of the +high-souled Gentleman, staggering beneath the +Blows dealt by a band of hired Ruffians at the +Bidding of this young Coxcomb, whose very Existence +was as naught in the Eyes of the cultured World +beside the Genius of the inimitable Mr. Betterton.</p> +<p class="pnext">I said that the Silence was tense. Meseemed that +no one dared to break it. Even those idly Curious +who had swarmed up the Rainpipes of this House +in order to witness one of Tom Betterton's Pranks, +felt awed by the Revelation of this Drama of a +great Man's Soul. Indeed, the Silence became +presently oppressive. I, for one, felt a great Buzzing +in mine Ears. The Lights from the Candles +assumed weird and phantasmagoric Proportions till +they seared my aching Eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then slowly my Lord Stour approached her +Ladyship, sank on his Knees before Her and raised the +Hem of her Robe to his Lips. A sob broke from +her Throat; she tried to smother it by pressing her +Handkerchief into her Mouth. It took Her a second +or two to regain her Composure. But Breeding and +Pride came to her Aid. I saw the stiffening of her +Figure, the studied and deliberate Movement +wherewith She readjusted her Mantle and her Veil.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Lord Stour was still on his Knees. At a +sign from her Ladyship he rose. He held out his +left Arm and she placed her right Hand on it, then +together they went out of the Room. The Crowd of +Gentlemen parted in order to make way for the +Twain, then when they had gone through, some of +the Gentlemen followed them immediately; others +lingered for awhile, hesitating. Sir William +Davenant, Mr. Killigrew, my Lord Rochester, all +of Mr. Betterton's Friends, appeared at first inclined +to remain in order to speak with him. They even +did me the Honour of consulting me with a Look, +asking of my Experience of the great Actor whether +they should stay. I slowly shook my Head, and +they wisely acted on my Advice. I knew that my +Friend would wish to be alone. He, so reserved, +so proud, had laid his Soul bare before the Public, +who was wont to belaud and to applaud him. The +Humiliation and the Effort must have been a terrible +Strain, which only Time and Solitude could +effectually cure.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had scarce moved from his Position beside the +Desk, still stood there with one slender Hand +resting upon it, his Gaze fixed vaguely upon the Door +through which his Friends were slowly filing out.</p> +<p class="pnext">Within two minutes or less after the Departure of +my Lord Stour and her Ladyship, the last of the +Crowd of Gentlemen and of Idlers had gone. Anon +I went across the Room and closed the Door behind +them. When I turned again, I saw that the knot of +quidnuncs no longer filled the Casements, and a +protracted hum of Voices, a crackling of Ivy twigs +and general sound of Scrimmage and of Scrambling +outside the Window, proclaimed the Fact that even +they had had the Sense and the Discretion to retire +quietly from this Spot, hallowed by the Martyrdom +of a great Man's Soul.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">3</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Thus I was left alone with my Friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had drawn his habitual Chair up to the Desk +and sat down. Just for a few Moments he rested +both his Elbows on the Desk and buried his Face +in his Hands. Then, with that familiar, quick little +Sigh of His, He drew the Candles closer to him and, +taking up a Book, he began to read.</p> +<p class="pnext">I knew what it was that he was reading, or, +rather, studying. He had been absorbed in the +Work many a time before now, and had expressed +his ardent Desire to give public Readings of it one +day when it was completed. It was the opening +Canto of a great Epic Poem, the manuscript of +which had been entrusted to Mr. Betterton for +Perusal by the author, Mr. John Milton, who had +but lately been liberated from prison through the +untiring Efforts of Sir William Davenant on his +behalf. Mr. Milton hoped to complete the Epic in +the next half-dozen years. Its Title is "Paradise Lost."</p> +<p class="pnext">I remained standing beside the open Window, +loath to close it as the Air was peculiarly soft and +refreshing. Below me, in the Park, the idle, +chattering Crowd had already dispersed. From far +away, I still could hear the sweet, sad Strains of the +amorous Song, and through the Stillness of the +Evening, the Words came to mine Ear, wafted on +the Breeze:</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">"You are my Faith, my Hope, my All!</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">What e'er the Future may unfold,</div> +</div> +<div class="line">No trial too great—no Thing too small.</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">Your whispered Words shall make me bold</div> +</div> +<div class="line">To win at last for Your dear Sake</div> +<div class="inner line-block"> +<div class="line">A worthy Place in Future's World."</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">I felt my Soul enwrapt in a not unpleasant +reverie; an exquisite Peace seemed to have +descended on my Mind, lately so agitated by Thoughts +of my dear, dear Friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly a stealthy Sound behind Me caused me +to turn; and, in truth, I am not sure even now if +what I saw was Reality, or the Creation of mine +own Dreams.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Lady Barbara had softly and surreptitiously +re-entered the Room. She walked across it on tip-toe, +her silken Skirts making just the softest possible +<em class="italics">frou-frou</em> as she walked. Her cloud-like Veil +wrapped her Head entirely, concealing her fair Hair, +and casting a grey Shadow over her Eyes. Mr. Betterton +did not hear her, or, if he did, he did not +choose to look up. When her Ladyship was quite +close to the Desk, I noticed that she had a Bunch +of white Roses in her Hand such as are grown in +the Hot-houses of rich Noblemen.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a few Seconds she stood quite still. Then +she raised the Roses slowly to her Lips, and laid +them down without a word upon the Desk.</p> +<p class="pnext">After which, she glided out of the Room as +silently, as furtively, as she came.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">4</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">And thus, dear Mistress, have I come to the end +of my long Narrative. I swear to You by the living +God that everything which I have herein related is +the Truth and Naught but the Truth.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were many People present in Mr. Betterton's +room during that memorable Scene, when he +sacrificed his Pride and his Revenge in order to +right the Innocent. Amongst these Witnesses there +were some, whom Malice and Envy would blind +to the Sublimity of so noble an Act. Do not listen +to them, honoured Mistress, but rather to the +promptings of your own Heart and to that unerring +Judgment of Men and of Events which is the +Attribute of good and pure Women.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Betterton hath never forfeited your Esteem +by any Act or Thought. The Infatuation which +momentarily dulled his Vision to all save to the Beauty +of the Lady Barbara, hath ceased to exist. Its +course was ephemeral and hath gone without a +Trace of Regret or Bitterness in its wake. The +eminent Actor, the high-souled Artist, whom all +cultured Europe doth reverence and admire, stands +as high to-day in that same World's Estimation as +he did, before a young and arrogant Coxcomb dared +to measure his own Worth against that of a Man +as infinitely above him as are the Stars. But, dear +Mistress, Mr. Betterton now is lonely and sad. He +is like a Man who hath been sick and weary, and is +still groping after Health and Strength. Take pity +on his Loneliness, I do conjure You. Give him back +the inestimable Boon of your Goodwill and of your +Friendship, which alone could restore to him that +Peace of Mind so necessary for the furtherance of +his Art.</p> +<p class="pnext">And if, during the Course of my Narrative, I +have seemed to you over-presumptuous, then I do +entreat your Forgiveness. Love for my Friend and +Reverence for your Worth have dictated every +Word which I have written. If, through my +Labours, I have succeeded in turning away some +of the just Anger which had possessed your Soul +against the Man whom, I dare aver, you still honour +with your Love, then, indeed, I shall feel that even +so insignificant a Life as mine hath not been wholly +wasted.</p> +<p class="pnext">I do conclude, dear and honoured Mistress, with +a Prayer to Almighty God for your Welfare and +that of the Man whom I love best in all the World. +I am convinced that my Prayer will find Favour +before the Throne of Him who is the Father of us +All. And He who reads the innermost Secrets of +every Heart, knows that your Welfare is coincident +with that of my Friend. Thus am I content to +leave the Future in His Hands.</p> +<dl class="docutils left medium white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">And I myself do remain, dear Mistress,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><dl class="docutils first last white-space-pre-line"> +<dt class="white-space-pre-line">Your humble and obedient Servant,</dt> +<dd class="white-space-pre-line"><p class="first last pfirst white-space-pre-line">JOHN HONEYWOOD.</p> +</dd> +</dl> +</dd> +</dl> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst" id="epilogue">EPILOGUE</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Ring down the Curtain. The Play is ended. +The Actors have made their final Bow before You +and thanked You for your Plaudits. The chief +Player—a sad and lonely Man—has for the nonce +spoken his last upon the Stage.</p> +<p class="pnext">All is Silence and Mystery now. The Lights are +out. And yet the Audience lingers on, loath to +bid Farewell to the great Artist and to his minor +Satellites who have helped to wile away a few +pleasant Hours. You, dear Public, knowing so much +about them, would wish to know more. You wish +to know—an I am not mistaken—whether the +Labour of Love wrought by good Master Honeywood +did in due course bear its Fruitfulness. You +wish to know—or am I unduly self-flattered—whether +the Play of Passion, of Love and of +Revenge, set by the worthy Clerk before You, had +an Epilogue—one that would satisfy your Sense of +Justice and of Mercy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, I pray You, turn to the Pages of History, +of which Master Honeywood's Narrative forms an +integral and pathetic Part. One of these Pages will +reveal to You that which You wish to know. +Thereon You will see recorded the Fact that, after a +brief and distinguished Visit during that Summer to +the City and University of Stockholm, where +Honours without number were showered upon the +great English Actor, Mr. Betterton came back to +England, to the delight of an admiring Public, +for he was then in the very Plenitude of his Powers.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having read of the Artist's triumph, I pray You +then to turn over the Page of the faithful Chronicle +of his Career, and here You will find a brief Chapter +which deals with his private Life and with his +Happiness. You will see that at the End of this +self-same year 1662, the Register of St. Giles', +Cripplegate, contains the Record of a Marriage +between Thomas Betterton, Actor, of the parish +of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and Mary +Joyce Saunderson, of the aforesaid parish of St. Giles'.</p> +<p class="pnext">That this Marriage was an exceptionally happy +one we know from innumerable Data, Minutes and +Memoranda supplied by Downes and others; that +Master John Honeywood was present at the +Ceremony itself we may be allowed to guess. Those +of us who understand and appreciate the artistic +Temperament, will readily agree with the worthy +Clerk when he said that it cannot be judged by +ordinary Standards. The long and successful Careers +of Thomas Betterton and of Mistress Saunderson +his Wife testify to the Fact that their Art in no +way suffered, while their Souls passed through the +fiery Ordeal of Passion and of Sorrow; but rather +that it became ennobled and purified, until they +themselves took their place in the Heart and +Memory of the cultured World, among the Immortals.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">THE END</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="center large pfirst">By BARONESS ORCZY</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> +</div> +<p class="left medium pfirst white-space-pre-line">His Majesty's Well-Beloved<br /> +The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel<br /> +Flower o' the Lily<br /> +The Man in Grey<br /> +Lord Tony's Wife<br /> +A Sheaf of Bluebells<br /> +Leatherface<br /> +The Bronze Eagle<br /> +A Bride of the Plains<br /> +The Laughing Cavalier<br /> +"Unto Cæsar"<br /> +El Dorado<br /> +Meadowsweet<br /> +The Noble Rogue<br /> +The Heart of a Woman<br /> +Petticoat Rule</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +<p class="center medium pfirst">GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> +<p class="center medium pnext">NEW YORK</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em"> +</div> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39787 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |