"But I have plenty of folks who can do all that," he said. "In what are you distinguished from the rest?"
Then I determined on a bold stroke; for I knew that the King liked such things, if they were not too bold.
"I am a Jesuit at heart, Sir;" I said. "I desire to do these things, if Your Majesty wills it so, simply that I may serve His Holiness in serving Your Majesty."
"Oho!" said Charles; and he gathered his feet under him and looked at me more closely. I met his eyes fairly and then dropped my own.
"Oho! That is frank enough, Mr. Mallock. You know all about me, I suppose. You seem very young for such work. How old are you? Twenty-five?"
"I pass as twenty-five, Sir. But I am only twenty-one!"
"I would that I were!" said Charles earnestly. "And so you are a Jesuit in disguise—a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"No, Sir. I am a Jesuit at heart only, in that I would do anything in
God's cause. But I am rather a sheep in wolf's clothing. I was a
Benedictine novice till lately."
He seemed not to hear me. He had dropped his chin on his hand, and was looking at me as if he were thinking of something else.
"So you are come to serve me," he said presently, "in any way that I will; and you will serve me only that you may serve your master better. And what wages do you want?"