“Ah, you differ with Lord Ashley?”
“Not only differ with him, Sire,” replied Kearns boldly, “but I pronounce him wholly and utterly wrong. Why, Captain Swords himself can assure you of this!”
“Captain Swords,” said the King, “did not see his assailant and is himself, I am informed, entirely deceived as to Captain Mortimer.”
“I beg to assure you, Sire,” declared Kearns earnestly, “that Captain Mortimer has been guilty of no conspiracy, or other seditious act. He is one of the bravest and most loyal officers in Your Majesty’s service. You have been utterly misled in this matter.”
“You speak with such conviction,” said the King, “that your words carry weight with us. Still, we would learn the reasons with which you support your assertions.”
“When I assumed this task, Sire,” replied Kearns, “it was with the express stipulation that I should be permitted to adopt my own methods. I must beg you, Sire, to permit me to withhold my report until I can present a completed case.”
“Be it as you ask, then,” said the King, with a slight frown. “We would not have it in your power to ascribe failure to any interference you had met with. In the meantime, you must not be astonished if we give ear and weight to the disclosures of Lord Ashley. He, at least, brings some news and that news we regard as of sufficient importance to warrant the apprehension of Captain Mortimer and we have so ordered.”
Kearns visibly expressed his astonishment.
“Captain Mortimer,” continued the King, “has, we are aware, performed gallant military service and his arrest has been so ordered as to preserve due secrecy and not injure his career should it develop, as you pretend, that a mistake has been made.”
“It most assuredly has, Sire,” replied Kearns.