His eyes burned with mad anger, but he saw that I was on guard; he saw, too, that I was young and lithe and strong.
"But you would not do this?" he cried.
"Why not?" I asked quietly.
"But what could he do?" he asked almost helplessly.
"That depends," I replied. "If the thing is true, he will take summary measures with Master Elijah Pycroft. He would know that the proof of such an event would throw the country into civil war. Lucy Walters' son lives at Paris, and if the marriage can be proved he is the next heir to the English throne. But what would that mean? You know, Father Solomon. Besides, think you that James, Duke of York, would be idle? Then let us suppose the thing is not true. Do you think Charles Stuart would take no steps to punish the man who gave birth to such a lie?"
He sat with his chin resting on his chest for some time without speaking. Occasionally he would take a furtive glance at me, and again he seemed to be trying to understand the bearings of what I had said.
"Would you do this?" he asked again presently.
"When one can do a thing, there is always a danger that he will," I replied.
Again he gave me a searching glance, and again he seemed to be trying to see his way through a difficulty.
"Tell me what interest you have in all this?" he said presently.