Cromwell looked back at the slender, erect figure walking away under the bare trees.
"Thou hast a brave heart if I mistake not," he murmured.
Then he went on again, Bulstrode Whitelocke still waiting for him to deliver himself.
Not until they had almost reached the confines of the Park and the houses of Charing Cross did the Lord-General speak.
Then, turning suddenly to his expectant companion, he said—
"What if a man should take it upon himself to be king?"
Whitelocke stared, startled beyond concealment.
"Well?" urged Cromwell gently.
The lawyer, recovering himself, took refuge in the pedantic, formal objections offered by the law and the constitution.