"Then is thy news most jejune and unsatisfactory, seeing that our condition is neither war nor peace, but of sort of armed truce, liable to be broken at any moment by these treacherous savages. I am not to be deceived by the promise, that, for the present, we need fear no hostilities. I know their craft. If they refuse formally to make peace, they are preparing for war. Well, they may try their hand. But I am disappointed in the opinion I had of the extent of the influence, by some means acquired, over the Indians by this Sir Christopher Gardiner, if he indeed have authority to bear the title."
"Who dares to say," exclaimed Arundel, whose irritation this fresh taunt increased, "that Sir Christopher assumes a title which belongs not to him, or to asperse in any respect his character?"
"It will come to light," said Dudley, "in its own time; but tell me now, wherefore made not the Knight, as you choose to call him, his appearance himself? Methinks such proceeding were more respectful to the authority which commissioned him."
The brow of the young man flushed at the rude speech, and it was with difficulty that he restrained his feelings; but he succeeded so far as to reply with an appearance of tolerable calmness, that it was only that morning they had returned, and that the Knight purposed to present himself on the morrow, being detained for the present by reasons which doubtless ought to be satisfactory.
"It were strange," said the surly Dudley, "if his private affairs should be of more importance than the interests of our Commonwealth; and yet it seems that the former do, in his estimation, outweigh the latter."
"I pray of your goodness to pardon the fault," said Arundel, who was determined that nothing should provoke his anger again that day. "Sure am I that, had the Knight of the Golden Melice known the importance attached to his presence, he had come forthwith, without stopping for rest, or to change his soiled garments, instead of sending me, his unfortunate and most unworthy substitute."
"I like not this fantastic title," said Dudley, whose ill-humor seemed not at all soothed by the gentle language of the young man, but rather to increase. "I like it not, whether it be an idle appendage stuck on by the humorous learning of Winthrop, as I have heard, or a quaint conceit springing out of the man's own vanity. I deny not honor and dignity, where they rightfully belong, but what is to become of the realities, if the shams receive an equal consideration?"
"I wander like a man in a mist, who sees not a foot before him," said Arundel. "I have entreated your Worship to deal more plainly with me, but it has been your pleasure to seem as if you heard me not; and, for the report which, in the discharge of my duty, I have made, I have received only innuendos against the fair fame of my friend, and which do, in some sense, alight upon myself. From whatever quarter they may proceed, I scorn and defy them, and brand them as false; and, I doubt not, the appearance of Sir Christopher will force his detractors to disappear, even like so many whipped curs."
Arundel spoke with a feeling of anger, notwithstanding his resolution to keep command over himself, and rose to take his leave. The spirit which he had shown in his last speech, so far from displeasing the Deputy, had a contrary effect; for, rising himself, Dudley grasped his visitor's hand, and dismissed him with less frigidity than he had received him. Something also he said, as if in excuse of his conduct, about the necessity of caution, amounting sometimes to unreasonable suspicions on the part of the rulers of a weak colony, depending more upon the wisdom of its counsels than upon force for its existence, intimating at the same time, that if any suspicions were attached to the young man, it was doubtless more in consequence of his accidental connection with Sir Christopher, than because he deserved them.
It is natural that Arundel, after his long absence, and the unpleasant events of the day, should desire to derive some consolation from the society of his mistress. We are not surprised, therefore, to find him taking his way toward the house of the Assistant Spikeman, in the hope of receiving some signal which would permit him to enter. Nor was he disappointed—Prudence, with a light kerchief thrown over her head, being just stepping out of the door on an errand to some neighbor as he came up. The girl gave a pretty start as she beheld Arundel, partly natural and partly affected, and then beckoned to him to enter.