Ah, yes; I, too, had been invited to that ball, and by the governor himself. So I set out at once for the fort, to see the Earl and to warn my lady of her husband’s safety.
As was natural they refused me entrance at the gate because I had no card of introduction. But I still possessed the other key that the governor had given me on the night before I set out from New York upon my adventures at the manor-house. In five minutes I was inside the fort with the wicket gate locked behind me. As I approached the governor’s house, I thought of what an unusual request I was about to make, and whether the guard would deliver it or not. The earnestness of my manner, however, must have affected him, for he did my bidding after a little persuasion. Soon he returned with an answer that the Earl would see me. He conducted me to an inner room, and a moment later the governor appeared.
He recognized me at once. “Ah, St. Vincent, I am glad to see you. You are a welcome guest.”
There was a cordiality in his manner that an observer would not have suspected. I was surprised myself, for he thought me a follower of the patroon. In later times I understood him better. Whatever faults he may have had, Earl Bellamont was a gentleman to the heart.
I put my finger upon my lips and glanced about the room.
“Leave the room,” said the Earl to the guard who had accompanied me. “What is it that you have to say that requires such secrecy?”
“My name is not St. Vincent, sir. I am Michael Le Bourse.”
His astonishment knew no bounds, and it grew as I told my tale. As soon as I had finished he broke out with an expression that showed how he always thought of others before himself.
“We must send Lady Marmaduke home at once.”
He dispatched a messenger to fetch her from the ball room. He told her what had happened with a gentleness that won my heart more than anything he had ever done before. She had but one word to say.