“And I—I will appeal against this outrage,” my lady cried quickly.
“Appeal to the—queen, an you will, madam,” he answered rudely. “Though, distracted as she is with fears for her husband’s safety in Ireland, I scarcely think that she will interfere on behalf of those who are his active enemies. To the Council! Proclaim yourself a Papist and see what consideration you will meet with at their hands. No, no, I give you credit for more sense, madam,” he continued; “and I trust that you will take this lesson to heart.”
“And I trust,” Mistress Maddon cried ironically, “that your ladyship has suffered no hurt through entering this house! Perhaps for the future, my lady, you will learn a little more experience of how to treat ‘such women!’”
And she swept her a mocking curtesy.
My lady was beaten, and she knew it.
In that moment I could almost have found it in my heart to pity her. Yet she spoke no word.
For a moment, indeed, she stood gazing at the woman before her with a look of unutterable scorn, then she turned upon her heel.
I sprang to the door and flung it wide. “Permit me to be your lackey, madam, for this occasion,” I cried sneeringly, “until I can appear as your master—at Cleeve!”
CHAPTER V
OF HOW THREE GENTLEMEN OF DEVON DRANK THE KING’S HEALTH
An hour later, when I left the house, I carried in my breast a sealed document giving me the fullest powers of acting, both in Cleeve and the surrounding district, against “all Papists and adherents of the man James Stuart; being enemies of his Majesty, King William, and of the peace of this realm.” Moreover, I had received an order from my lord upon the treasury—which had been duly paid me by his secretary—that had lined my pockets with gold pieces, to defray all such disbursements as should be necessary to bring M. de Launay to London. For the express orders of the Privy Council were that the marquis should be treated with all courtesy until such time as he should be delivered into the custody of the governor of the Tower, that grim and ill-omened fortress, at present crowded with the partisans, real or suspected, of the base and despicable James; amongst the most noteworthy of whom were the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Queen’s uncle, Clarendon.