“Ah, you knew that?” said Mordaunt.
“It matters little. Four men, disguised as workmen, were to get the king out of prison and take him to Greenwich, where a vessel was waiting.”
“And knowing all that, your honor remained here, far from the city, tranquil and inactive.”
“Tranquil, yes,” replied Cromwell. “But who told you I was inactive?”
“But—if the plot had succeeded?”
“I wished it to do so.”
“I thought your excellence considered the death of Charles I. as a misfortune necessary to the welfare of England.”
“Yes, his death; but it would have been more seemly not upon the scaffold.”
“Why so?” asked Mordaunt.
Cromwell smiled. “Because it could have been said that I had had him condemned for the sake of justice and had let him escape out of pity.”