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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
"It is thanks to your efforts, my dear Stour," Lord S. said, "that at last success is assured."
"But for you," added the Bishop, "our plan to-night might have miscarried."
My God! I thought, then it is 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.
"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!"
"Pray God it may be so!" assented one of the others piously.