"Now the de'il go with thee, man, for I will never see thy face any more."
It is difficult to understand what was really the King's belief, or what were really the King's motives, on this occasion.
To some persons he asserted that he did not believe Somerset had anything to do with the actual murder. Yet it was he who caused his favourite to be arrested; and when that arrest had been made and the Chief Justice had arrived at Royston, the King spoke with exceeding angry energy, charging Sir Edward to prosecute the affair with the utmost diligence.
He was to search into the very bottom of the conspiracy, and to spare no man, however great he might be; the King concluding his adjuration thus:
"God's curse be upon you and yours if you spare any of them, and God's curse be upon me and mine, if I spare any one of them."
Not only the Earl of Somerset, but his wife, the young and beautiful Countess of Somerset, was also arrested as being implicated in the crime; and whilst their trials were in course of preparation, many other persons of inferior rank were tried, condemned, and executed.
On the 7th November, Mrs. Anne Turner, who had been about Lady Somerset from her childhood, was tried, convicted, and hanged.
On the 16th of the same month, Sir George Ellways, Lieutenant of the Tower, was also convicted, and was hanged on Tower Hill on the 20th.
A week later, namely, on the 27th, James Franklin was tried, convicted, and, a few days afterwards, hanged.
It might have been supposed that so many trials and executions showed no want of zeal on the part of the Chief Justice and the other Commissioners. Yet notwithstanding so sanguinary a list, Sir Edward fell into disfavour for not hunting down and giving over to the gibbet more of these miserable victims—victims who in all probability had been but the creatures and tools of those who were far more deeply implicated, and far more deeply culpable.