Richard followed Mr. Rogers in silence as he emerged from their place of shelter, and hurried cityward along the less crowded streets that lay northward of the Strand. He strode along behind the flying form of the little minister, inwardly furious at the saintly and exasperating person who forced him to seek out the company that was precisely the most painful and uncongenial to him, when his one sole idea was to hide himself in solitude like some wounded animal and there wrestle down the grief and horror that possessed him. Yet the grief and horror was still only in the background of his mind, his brain felt numbed, though an instinctive dread warned him that they lurked there ready at the first opportunity to spring out on him with overwhelming force. It was only by an effort that he could rouse himself to consider what steps he must take to remove Mrs. Harrison from the party of desperate men among whom she had thrown herself.
He knew that the extraordinary person in whose company he walked was completely deaf to the usual reasons that govern men's conduct; but, mixed up with his insane and even blasphemous beliefs, Mr. Rogers had occasional flashes of what can only be termed inspired common sense; and if he were judiciously approached, it was even possible that such an incalculable person might use his influence to restrain the old soldiers of his congregation from rushing on immediate destruction. Mr. Rogers was a gentleman by birth and a scholar by training, and was therefore accessible to arguments that did not affect the ruder members of his sect.
Richard had been familiar with Mr. Rogers from his boyhood, and had a strong personal liking for the affectionate and unselfish little man as well as a real admiration for the saner points in his doctrines. But the more he considered, the less he saw how to remonstrate with the excitable minister without irritating him afresh, and finally, in the very desperation of helplessness, he resolved to trust to his own influence over Mrs. Harrison, and hope that Mr. Roger's kindly feelings would prevent his interfering in any tyrannical manner with the poor lady's wishes. Having come to this conclusion, he controlled himself sufficiently to speak to his companion in a more friendly tone.
"By your leave, sir, I should like to stay and give orders as I pass our lodgings. Mrs. Harrison had set to leave London instantly, and a hackney coach will be now in waiting at our door. It will be the better to have it near at hand should she resolve to carry out that intention; so, if it please you, I will bid the coachman drive her woman to Colman Street and await near your meeting house till we know her will."
The minister readily assented, and they turned into Watling Street, where, as Dick had foretold, a hackney coach stood ready packed before the mercer's shop that had belonged to Mrs. Harrison's father, and a groom was leading a stout cob up and down beside it. A waiting woman in hood and cloak was peering anxiously from the door, but as Dick ran up the steps he was surprised to find she was not the only watcher. An officer in the gay uniform of the Coldstream Guards came forward holding out his hand.
"I have waited a round hour to catch you, Harrison," he said. "I bring you a message from my Lord Monck."
"I am sorry my lord should have troubled you," answered Dick, stiffly.
"Tut, tut, Harrison; what though we have forsworn our protectorate sins and got a batch of new ones to suit the new times, we are not all born to be play-book heroes like you. There are worse men than old George, and you were as well to listen to his message." And, taking Dick by the arm, the officer continued earnestly, in a low tone, "You remember that fellow, Patrick Keith, with whom you quarrelled in Edinburgh; he is here in London in my Lord Lauderdale's household, and he swears he will be revenged on you. He gives out he has sufficient evidence that you are corresponding with Johnson of Warriston and the other Scotch gentlemen under sentence of outlawry, and that he will see you at the gallows before he leaves you. Now, you know the fellow is quite able to forge or trump up evidence enough to be mighty unpleasant, so Lord Monck prays you give no colour to anything he may say, by frequenting the company of any suspicious or fanatical people. If you can keep private a while, his lordship makes no doubt it will all blow over, and he will use his influence to have Keith sent back to Scotland, or over sea on some errand."
"I caned Keith in the High Street of Edinburgh for that he kicked a woman who by chance stood in his way," answered Dick, hotly; "and if I meet him in Fleet Street, I will cane him once more there."
"That will doubtless be much to the advantage of Keith's manners," laughed the other, "but scarce to the furtherance of your safety! Now, I ride to Harrow to-night—why will you not bear me company and lie at my house, and so travel into the country for a while. On my honour, Keith is a dangerous man," he continued, seeing that Richard's expression of careless contempt did not change. "Every one of us at court finds his new seat so slippery that he dare not wag a finger for fear of being upset—and I know none there who dare meddle with my Lord Lauderdale's favourite. He can tell such a cursed lot of tales of us all and what we did in Edinburgh in the days when we were all saints and went to meeting!"