Eagerly did he debate the question with himself; and he strove resolutely to act as an impartial judge between desire and self-denial; but love is the most eloquent of advocates; and it is not to be wondered at, that, with so good a cause as that which he had to plead, he overpowered all the arguments on the opposite side. To a mind not very sensible to fear, or alive to danger, the risks and inconveniences seemed small--the probabilities of success great; and happiness, if their escape could be effected, certain. He recollected all that Arabella herself had said; the frank confession of her love, the deep devotion which she showed towards him, her readiness to abandon everything for him. He asked himself, if his whole happiness for life was staked upon his union with her, could he doubt that hers was equally dependent upon it also. And then he went on to think of what would be her fate, if, neglecting the opportunity--if, abandoning the chance of uniting themselves together for ever, she were left still in the same situation at the Court of England, in which she had lived for the last two or three years. The argument which that question called forth was conclusive. Could he, for any consideration, leave her to wither under the cold and icy tyranny of a monarch like James I.,--the sport of all his caprices, the victim of whatever a harsh policy, or a weak complacence with the views of his vicious favourites, might require. He pictured her, day after day, suffering from unjust severity, or chilling neglect; he thought of her, forced to mingle in scenes of vicious excess with those whom her pure heart contemned and abhorred; he saw her urged, commanded, forced to give her hand to some base minion of an unprincipled king; living a short life of misery and gloom; and dying with blighted hope and disappointed love. Could he suffer this? Ought he to suffer it? For her sake, as well as his own, if there were but a bare chance of delivering her, could he stand coldly by, and abandon her to such a fate as this?
Love, as may well be supposed, easily won the day, and proved, to his conviction, that the only hope of happiness for himself, and her he loved, was in speedy flight; and, after a few moments given to the arrangement of his dress, he again sought Arabella and the Countess, determined to persevere.
He found them both with the Earl; and, by common consent, nothing was said upon the subject, which occupied all thoughts, for about an hour and a half, over which space of time we will pass, as the conversation of persons, whose minds are filled with one engrossing theme, upon every day topics in which they feel no interest, would be as tedious to the reader as to themselves.
The supper was over; the windows were closed; the lights were lighted; and the party had once more assembled in the Countess's drawing-room. The Earl, however, stood beside one of the tables, and, taking up a light, he said, "I am going to the book room. When this plot is hatched, you can come and tell me, sweetheart; and then you shall play me an air on the virginals, or sing me a song to the lute."
"Dear uncle," said Arabella, laying her hand upon his arm, and looking up in his face, as if she wished him to stay. But Lord Shrewsbury merely bent down his head and kissed her cheek, saying, "God protect thee, in all circumstances, my dear girl!" and, without waiting for farther reply, quitted the room.
Arabella leaned her arm upon the table, and placed her hand over her eyes, while the Countess demanded, as soon as the door was closed, "Well, Seymour, what are your plans? It is high time that all this should come to some conclusion; or you two, unable to restrain your love from appearing, and not having taken care to shelter it against storms, will get into misery, from which we shall not be able to rescue you."
"I think so too, dear lady," replied Seymour; "and I have come hither, certain of your kind support and assistance, to arrange what is to be done."
"You are both agreed I suppose?" said the Countess; "you love each other dearly, I know.--Is it not so, Bella?"
Arabella looked up with a smile, but made no answer, and the Countess proceeded.
"That will do," she said; "and I do not see why your affection should be barred by the swine King we have now upon the throne. Seymour, you have got some plan in your head, I am sure. Let us hear what it is."