Now the next morning I came, as I had been bidden, to speak with my lord marquis in his privy closet, and was received of him very courteously, and asked to wait while he made an end of his matters. And this done, I looked that he should have laid some command upon me, but he turned himself about in his chair, and began to talk with me familiarly.
“Pray, Mr Carlyon,” says he, “what do you think of my situation here? No doubt it seems to you that I have all that I could wish for, with six hundred stout fellows to do my bidding, and this fair town and palace for to dwell in.”
So greatly was I astonished by the suddenness of this question, that ’twas all I could do to answer with some hesitation that his lordship had indeed seemed to me to be highly favoured in his lot.
“So I thought,” said he, “but you must learn, sir, that power and high place are naught when there are around enemies that grudge ’em to you. And chiefly this is true of the Hollanders, that are jealous of our footing here, and would not willingly allow us even this poor little town from which to trade. But also it is true of those that are set in command under me in the conduct of this adventure, that are for ever plotting and striving to ruin me, and may yet succeed in this. They know that their power is great. Already more than one of our captains, that had proved his fidelity to me, has been summoned to France upon a sealed letter,[93] to linger out the remainder of his life in prison, and I know that the base wretches among whom my lot is cast would willingly see the same done by me. Tell me, sir, what you would consider the duty of a person of honour in such a case, whether to obey his majesty’s order, or to resist, if resistance were possible?”
“Truly, my lord,” says I, “my impulse would be to escape, if this could be done without loss of credit, though I conceive it should be most honourable to abide and receive the blow.”
“Ah!” cried he, with sudden passion, rising from his seat and walking to and fro in the chamber, “would that I had always at my side a man that I could trust! He should be related to me, if that were possible, either by blood or by marriage” (here he cast a look at my face, yet suddenly and hastily, not as doing it with intention), “and ’twould be all as well if he wan’t a Frenchman. He should be next to me in all things, and I would always seek his counsel, feeling assured that such a man was the immediate gift of heaven. What do you say, Mr Carlyon? Are you acquainted with any such person? You will think upon the matter, and if there come to your mind one that may seem to you worthy of my trust and of such a high place, you will give me to know of him.”
“Most gladly, my lord,” said I, though somewhat slowly, for he was regarding me strangely, as I thought. He remained silent for some time, his chin on his hand, and then spake again.
“Mr Carlyon, I am about to repose a great trust in you. You must perceive that I entertain the highest confidence in your honour and discretion before I should so far outrage the customs of my great nation as to prefer you to the charge I now propose to you. You have heard that a Dutch fleet has lain of late before our walls, and left us only in that hurracan that preceded your coming hither?”
“Yes, my lord,” says I. “Mr Marigny hath told me on’t.”
“Now that our harbour is once more free,” saith his lordship, “it is in my mind to go out with the ships that are left us, and voyage along the coast, seeking whether there be any place more propitious than this for us poor exiles. On such a voyage as this there may well be both hardship and danger, and I don’t desire that my daughter shall accompany me. She must remain here, but I am interested to leave with her a protector in whom I can repose confidence. Will you be so good as accept this office?”