“I see nothing in it,” replied the Earl. “What is your opinion, Mervyn?" he added, turning to another of his gentlemen, to whom he had likewise given his lesson.
“I am of the same mind as Ward,” replied the attendant.
“Your lordship will hardly hold yourself excused, if you neglect to give due warning, should aught occur hereafter.”
“Say you so, sirs?” cried Lord Mounteagle. “Let me hear it once more.”
The letter was accordingly read again by Ward, and the Earl feigned to weigh over each passage.
“I am advised not to attend the Parliament,” he said, “'for God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time.' That is too vague to be regarded. Then I am urged to retire into the country. The recommendation must proceed from some discontented Catholic, who does not wish me to be present at the opening of the house. This is not the first time I have been so adjured. 'They shall receive a terrible blow this Parliament, and yet shall not know who hurts them.' That is mysterious enough, but it may mean nothing,—any more than what follows, namely, 'the danger is passed as soon as you have burnt the letter.'"
“I do not think so, my lord,” replied Ward; “and though I cannot explain the riddle, I am sure it means mischief.”
“Well,” said Lord Mounteagle, “since you are of this mind, I must lose no time in communicating the letter to the Secretary of State. It is better to err on the safe side.”
Accordingly, after some further consultation, he set out at that late hour for Whitehall, where he roused the Earl of Salisbury, and showed him the letter. It is almost needless to state that the whole was a preconcerted scheme between these two crafty statesmen; but as the interview took place in the presence of their attendants, the utmost caution was observed.
Salisbury pretended to be greatly alarmed at the communication, and coupling it, he said, with previous intelligence which he had received, he could not help fearing, to adopt the words of the writer of the mysterious letter, that the Parliament was indeed threatened with some “terrible blow.” Acting, apparently, upon this supposition, he caused such of the lords of the Privy Council as lodged at Whitehall to be summoned, and submitting the letter to them, they all concurred in the opinion that it referred to some dangerous plot, though none could give a guess at its precise nature.