"Oh! fear not," cried the Countess; "a reason will not be wanting. Shrewd must that man be, and virtuous beyond this earth, who, in the courts of kings, can walk so scrupulously as not to give, each day, pretexts for accusation. The wise and the good have fallen beneath the axe, and the best that ever lived was crucified; there is no fear that fair Sir Thomas Overbury has not abundance of such vices in his composition as may well move a monarch's indignation, with a good word to help."
"No," said Rochester, who had been thinking deeply, and was not yet brought fully to that utter shamelessness at which his partner in evil had arrived--"No, a means may be devised for attaining our object, without bringing on my own head the charge of ingratitude. Let us give him the embassy to some foreign court, where he may wear out his days in peace and honour, neither obstructing our views, nor lost altogether to his own."
"But I will not have him sent," exclaimed the Countess, "to some high and honourable mission, which the best nobles of the land might strive for. I will not have him so honoured, that men may say, 'See, what is the reward of calumniating Frances Howard; the man who called her harlot to her promised husband, makes that husband's favour the stepping-stone to his own advancement. Lo! he is ambassador to France, or to the great Spaniards, and goes to carry the tales of her love for Rochester to the gay Court of France, or the graver one of Spain.'--Stay, Rochester, you shall send him to Russia! Let him freeze amongst the Muscovites, since his cold blood can never comprehend the fire that burns in ours."
"He will refuse to go," said Rochester; "'tis but another name for banishment."
"Let him refuse!" exclaimed Lady Essex; "and send him to the Tower. The King will be ready enough so to deal with one who rejects his offers.--Nay, Rochester, I will have it so," she continued, in a caressing tone. "You must not refuse me, if you love me. I vow you shall not see me more unless you consent. This shall be the price of our next interview. I might well ask you, as a gallant knight and true, to put that man to death who spoke against your lady's name; but I forbear, you see; and in this you must obey my behest. Offer him Russia. If he refuses, the offence is to the King, not to you, and leave the King to deal with him. But be sure, unless he be far removed from the English Court, he will so machinate as to separate you and me, as he has parted those two unhappy lovers."
"It was, in truth, all his doing, I find," answered Rochester. "He never left the affair alone, till he had discovered their marriage; and he then incensed the King, against them."
"And they are really married?" said the Countess, in a tenderer tone than she had used; "then they are happy; for though they may be separate, they can yet think that there is that sweet bond between them which no King's word can break.--That is a blessing that nothing can take from them. Do you not hate the man who could step in, and blast their happiness, Rochester?"
"I certainly do not love him for so doing," replied the Viscount, "and thank him but little for mingling my name in the affair."
"As he has done by them, so will he do by you and me," said Lady Essex, in a grave and sad tone, "unless you stop him, Rochester. We stand in his way; our marriage is the obstacle to his ambitious views; he will not cease till he has frustrated our hopes, or ruined us both. There can be no terms with such an enemy; and till I hear that he is gone, I shall never see you without apprehension."
"Well," answered Rochester; "well, it shall be done. I will ask the King for the embassy to Russia on his behalf. I know he aims at much higher things, indeed; and nothing less than a seat in the Council, with some high office in the state or household, would satisfy his ambition. But he shall be offered this embassy. If he refuse it, the consequences be on his own head.