"I fear much," he said, "that there is a traitor somewhere, for why have we been thus suddenly attacked? The king was quite aware from the first that my father was a Parliamentarian; the only thing he did not know was that he was present at the late king's death. It is upon this charge that my father has been arrested. We cannot clear him; it is quite hopeless; we can only trust to the king's clemency, and that," he continued, "is of no great account. I am much afraid that I shall be obliged to resign my commission, and thus, though I am blameless, I must suffer, and the king will lose a good servant."
"Do you think he will be arraigned for treason?" asked Ann.
"No, that he cannot be," was the answer, "seeing that he was only captain at that time of a body of horse. He obeyed orders, and he kept the street clear in the precincts of Whitehall, but he was not actually on the spot."
"And though he has never allowed that it was so," said Ann, "in his heart I believe he grieved that the execution was carried out."
"His refraining from giving his vote was a proof of it," said Reginald. "Where is our mother?"
"In her own apartment," said Ann. "It is no use your trying to go to her; she will see no one. Agnes was with her, and I think she frightened the child; she has been very much excited all day. Martha tells me she has gone to bed, which is proof that she has worn herself out. She may be more composed to-morrow. You see, she considers our father's arrest a retribution."
"And she may not be quite wrong," said Reginald. "If he had only voted against instead of keeping silent, he would have been not only safe from molestation, but honourably revered."
"That he could not do," said Ann. "I have heard him say that though he disapproved of the king's execution, he did not see how otherwise order and justice were to be restored, or the Civil War ended."
"The whole thing is ineffably sad," said Reginald; "it is too late in the day now to discuss the pros and cons. Go to bed, Ann, and sleep; you will need all your strength and courage to face the next few months." And so they bade each other good-night and parted.
So worn out was Ann that her head was no sooner on the pillow than she slept; but Reginald sat till an unusually late hour in the house-parlour thinking matters over and trying to find out who could have betrayed his father.