"Fear not," answered Algernon Grey, raising her hand to his lips; "on my honour, on my truth, I will give you no cause to doubt or fear--No, no, Agnes, you cannot doubt me."
"Nor do I, nor do I," she said, laying her other hand upon his; "oh no, I am sure you are all that is noble and good.--Farewell, farewell!--we part in a terrible moment. Do not expose yourself rashly; but come back with victory, if it be possible, and if not, still come back to protect poor Agnes Herbert in the moment of danger and need."
He did not answer; but again and again he kissed her hand; and then, turning away, he strode along the wide corridor towards the head of the great stairs.
He thought he heard a low laugh from the farther end of the passage, but his mind was in no state to attend to trifles; and, descending rapidly, he found himself the next moment in the wide vestibule below. All the servants and attendants were absent. The two large chairs, in which the chief porters sat, were vacant; the broad table, at which the pages and daily waiters played at different games, displayed not a single figure learning the shortest road to vice and folly. Algernon Grey was walking quickly across, when he heard--proceeding from a door at the side--a well-known voice pronounce his name.
"What, Algernon!" cried William Lovet; and the young Englishman, as he turned round, could see the foot of a narrow staircase faintly marked beyond the doorway, near which Lovet stood; "what, Algernon! you here? You, a man of feuds and battle-fields, contemner of love and all soft delights,--you within the silky precincts of a court, where the star of beauty reigns supreme; and Eros holds one side of the house, while Bacchus holds the other! Wonders will never cease! I shall expect to see old Christian of Anhalt tripping it gaily with Amelia of Solms in some gay ball, or the Prince of Hohenloe twirling round upon his toes, with heels unspurred, and a soft simper on his bellicose lip. In fortune's name! what has brought you hither?"
"Business, my good cousin," answered Algernon Grey; "and that business none of mine. The secret is another's; therefore it must rest where it is--in my own bosom."
"Good," answered Lovet, "exceeding good. I would not add an ounce-weight to my camp-equipage, for all the secrets that ever yet were kittened. I am neither a great general nor a great diplomatist, thank heaven and the stars that are therein! I can fight and make love, play a shrewd game at cards with a knavish adversary, rattle the dice-box hard and yet throw sixes; but I know nought of the trade of negotiation, thanks be unto God! Your taciturn virtue, with the hat over the left ear, the moustachio turned up at the corner, and the feather half hiding the right eye, tawny leather boots, a sober doublet, and a sword long enough for Don Pedro of Spain, give you all the qualities requisite for a profound ambassador; and the gods forfend, that I should meddle with the puddle, or stir the duck-weed of your stagnant diplomacy!--But whither away? You seem in haste, when every man this night is idling out his moments, what with cups of wine, what with huge sirloins, what with bright eyes and sweet smiles, thinking that this same perishable commodity, called Time, may be but scanty in the purse of the future, and that it is but wise to get the money's worth ere it is all expended."
"I am back to the camp with all speed," answered Algernon Grey. "Matters are not going on there as I could wish; and, moreover, it is late."
"Not too late to take a walk round the ramparts," said Lovet, in a graver tone than he had used. "It is well worth our while, my noble cousin, to look at what is going on there."
"It will occupy much time," answered his companion, somewhat struck by the change in his manner; "and, in the present state of affairs, we shall be challenged and stopped by every sentry that we meet with."