“So are we all!” cried the others.
“Our cry shall be, ‘Down with Philip and Mary! Down with the mass and idolatry! Long live Queen Elizabeth, the head and defender of the Protestant Church!’” said Stafford. “Every Protestant will respond to the call.”
“If we fail, we throw away our lives in a righteous cause,” rejoined Osbert.
“We shall not fail,” cried Sir Henry Dudley. “I was at Smithfield yesterday, and spoke with hundreds, who are ready for an outbreak.”
“So did I,” added Sir Anthony Kingston. “I can vouch for the detestation with which the King is regarded. Let not the attempt be delayed.”
“It shall be made to-morrow,” said Stafford. “I can muster fifty well armed men.”
“And I half that number,” said Dudley.
“And I twenty,” said Kingston.
“I can bring no one with me,” said Osbert. “But I will gain a thousand followers before the day is over.”
“At what hour shall we meet to-morrow?” said Dudley.