Thou must not linger here;
Storms hang about the closing day;
To-morrow may be clear."
The boat glided on; and that day Markham had no good news to carry back to William Seymour; for though he rowed more than once past the gardens, neither Arabella nor Ida Mara were on the terrace. When he returned to the Tower, some difficulty was made in admitting him; and the moment he entered the prisoner's room, when he had obtained permission to see his master, as he called him, Seymour exclaimed, "You have bad tidings, Markham; I am prepared to hear them."
"I have no tidings at all," was the reply. "The lady and the pretty Italian were both upon the terrace, but they gave me the sign agreed upon, to show that danger was near; and when I returned there was no one there.
"Something has been discovered," said Seymour, "for I have had my liberty, such as it was, abridged. I am now forbidden to pass the gates. Something has been discovered, depend upon it."
"Perhaps not," answered Markham; "for, as I rowed down just now, I saw a boat with a guard, evidently conveying a prisoner hither; and as to the affair at Sir Thomas Parry's house, a thousand accidents might have made them wish me to keep off. His stately old lady herself might be walking in the garden; there might be some of the King's officers there, or expected; but I will hie me home with all speed, and if there be anything to communicate, depend upon it I shall either have a message or a visit from Ida Mara. I know not how it is, that girl seems to win the confidence of every one. I saw good Sir Harry West yesterday, as I promised you. He said he had seen and conversed with you, and so would say no more; but he spoke of that girl as if she were an angel."
"Well he may so speak," replied William Seymour; "for she nursed him through the plague, at a time when fathers fled from their children, and children abandoned their parents. But I did see Sir Harry; and the good old knight--though, heaven knows, in former times he tried to dissuade me from what he called my rash love, as if he could have foreseen all the wretchedness it has produced now--urges me strongly to make my escape with Arabella at any risk, rather than linger here; where, as he truly says, I may be shut up for years,--perhaps for life, like Raleigh or Grey."
"He is right, too," said Markham; "and the sooner it is done, depend upon it, the better. You have committed no offence against the law; you are unjustly detained by the mere will of the King; and, if I had been with Sir Harry, I should have joined my voice to his."
"But I showed him it was impossible even to attempt it," replied Seymour; "for I had then pledged my word not to go beyond certain limits, and that could not be broken. Now, however, I am free from that bond; for they have taken from me the degree of freedom for which I made the engagement; and, with whatever other fetters they may think to enthral me, I may yet find means to cast them off when they least expect it. However, my kind and devoted friend, do you return home, and, if possible, see this excellent Italian girl. Let her tell her mistress that, whatever happens, I am determined to attempt an escape. Arabella must hold herself prepared to go with me, or to follow me; and I will beseech all my friends, and you in particular, Markham, to bend every thought and energy to secure her flight. Think not of me, I will take care of myself; and free myself from this tyranny by some means. Watch you over Arabella! I would fain, too, free the Countess of Shrewsbury, who is, I find, imprisoned in the apartments next to those of Raleigh; but they will not suffer me to hold the least communication with her, which I grieve for deeply, as it is by favouring me that she has brought this misfortune on her head."