Chapter II

A WEEK later Guy stepped out of his wherry at Lambeth water-gate, and passed up into the post-room where Monsignor was awaiting him to take him in to see the Cardinal.

It had not been possible to arrange it before; the pressure of business had been overwhelming; and the Cardinal who, in Philip's absence, bore most of the weight of the government, was occupied in affairs from morning to night. The Queen had to be visited every day; there were numerous meetings of the Council, and a flood of messengers and letters poured in continually from all parts of the country. There was little doubt which way the tide was turning.

The rush of business was evident in miniature even in the post-room as the two went through towards the chapel. Men-at-arms, in pikes and breastplates stood at the four doors, and allowed none to pass without credentials. Half a dozen benches were grouped round the central pillar and others along the walls, and all were crowded with persons awaiting their turn to go through to the palace. A couple of couriers, splashed from head to foot with hard riding, stood by the chapel-door talking to the sentry, and stepped aside for Monsignor and his companion to go through.

They passed through the chapel, making their reverence to the newly-restored altar beneath the five lights at the eastern end, and turned up to go through the

The Queen's Tragedy lobby towards the private parlour beneath Monsignor's own room.

In spite of Guy's promise to the priest, he had been hard to persuade. Monsignor had insisted that the information gained through the cypher should be followed up; and that the man through whom it had been forthcoming was the proper person to act. Guy had argued that the paper was two years old, that nothing could be done now, that the matter was best forgotten; but both the priest and Jack Norris had been loud in disagreement. It was real evidence, they said, as to the Princess' dispositions, for the note had formed part of a memorandum held by one of the conspirators; the Queen had a right to see it, they declared; it might be of immense weight in any action she might take towards the bequest of her crown. Guy had protested, entreated, and fallen silent; and as a solution at last Monsignor Priuli had persuaded him to see the Cardinal and abide by his judgment.

They had half-an-hour to wait before the Cardinal made his appearance, and it was passed in almost complete silence. Monsignor took his seat at once at one end of the three tables set in the dark-panelled parlour, and began work upon a pile of correspondence that waited there, tearing open letters, annotating, writing a line or two, and setting the broad sheets one by one spread wide for his master's inspection. Guy went across to the little sliding window that looked into the interior of the chapel, and stared out with unseeing eyes at the devout gloom, the low arched gallery on the other side of the sanctuary from which late-comers might hear mass, the splendid sombre altar to his left with its hanging pyx and flickering light.

He was very ill-at-ease. He regretted having found the paper at all; he regretted still more the priest's

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen astonishing skill and good fortune in deciphering it. The whole matter was interwoven for him with shocking associations; there was a bruised spot in his soul that was now laid bare again to assault. The miseries of the past two years came crowding on him again, the memory of Stephen, and his own action towards him. And all the present flowed so inevitably out of that. If he had not been vindictive, if he had been less zealous; if he had been less ambitious and obstinate in keeping the paper to himself at first — all this would not have happened. He had sinned, as the priest had told him, and here was the penalty of it.

He had begun to desire simplicity and peace more than anything in the world, and behold! his quest for that was leading him once more towards elaborate intrigue. He would be interrogated, doubted, blamed; or worse — perhaps even commended.

He looked across at the busy priest bent over his letters in the dark corner below the single window by which the room was lighted; at his leisurely assured movements, his concentrated keen face, standing out in the candlelight, his delicate fingers poised with a paper between them, or deftly smoothing out the creases and laying it flat on the little growing heap. Why could not he himself be quiet and business-like too? But it must be easier here, he thought, in this peaceful and pious household, where there was a mighty head and a Christian temper to bear responsibilities, than in the feverish unsettled Court, whose ruler was a woman, and a sick one at that; where men gossipped and fooled and slandered and mocked, unrebuked; where it was so bitterly hard to steer a steady course.

He knew there was no escape from the present difficulty; a stronger man than he had his hand on the affair, and must be obeyed. And even without that a

The Queen's Tragedy little event had happened, which the young man had not yet dared to tell him, which put quiescence out of the field. He would tell him in the presence of the Cardinal.

The door suddenly opened: Monsignor sprang to his feet, and Guy closed the window and straightened himself as the stately Cardinal- Archbishop in his long robes came forward unattended into the room, and the heavy door swung to behind him.

He was very grey now, the young man saw — far more so than a year ago. His long forked beard was streaked with it thickly, and the silver hairs showed the more plainly across his scarlet cape and the jewelled cross on his breast. His curly hair too retired further back than ever under the square red cap, and showed snow-white above the temples; only above his large brown eyes the eyebrows were still dark and young.

Then Guy was on his knee, kissing the oval sapphire ring on the slender fore-finger.

In a very few sentences Monsignor had sketched out the story, and as he talked the Cardinal looked across the candles once or twice at Master Manton in his chair on the opposite side of the table.

" Master Manton has agreed to follow your Eminence's advice," the priest ended. "He is unwilling to push himself forward in any way. I have told him that I think it a matter in which he must forget himself and his wishes. No man but he can vouch that the paper is genuine, and I believe your Eminence will think with me that it is an affair that must be placed before her Grace."

Monsignor laid the sheet before the Cardinal, bowed slightly to both the men, and sat down himself.

The Cardinal lifted the paper, balanced it a moment

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen irresolutely, as if to speak, then checked himself; held the paper before his eyes, read it slowly and laid it down on the oak table.

" If I understand Monseigneur aright, Master Manton," he began in his deep tender voice, " this paper came into your possession from the person of a spy. The date is two years ago."

Guy bowed. He felt a little reassured by that kindly tone and virile presence. What a pair were these friends, he thought, the one as keen as steel, the other strong as iron. And what could he, a poor wooden thing, do between them?

" Two years ago," went on the Archbishop, " at the time when the great plot was discovered. The spy was secretary to Master Christopher Ashton, and therefore likely to have true information. These notes, I understand you to think, Monseigneur, were parts of a verbal message that the secretary was to give to some man — we do not know whom "

" Yes, your Eminence; we suppose so. The last point, about the Lady Elizabeth, would bear very greatly on the plot. It would encourage those of the conspirators who were attached to the new religion, and dismay the Catholics. Therefore, I should think, it would be told to these and not to those. It would be kept for example from the King of France."

" I understand, Monseigneur. Well, that does not concern us now; except so far as it was probably true then. What was the Lady Elizabeth's religious position at that time? "

" Her Highness had conformed more than two years before, and furnished her chapel then," answered the priest instantly, " but no man that I can find has ever believed in her conversion, except perhaps her Grace and a few of the common folk."

The Queen's Tragedy

" And at the time of which we speak? "

Monsignor shrugged his shoulders.

" Chi lo so,? Her Highness had begun to hear mass But your Eminence knows better than I."

The Cardinal smiled at the brisk tone of the other.

" I have never had any great faith " he began.

Then he turned to Guy.

" You understand, Master Manton, do you not? Now I will tell you this, which is a matter for your ear alone. You know that her Grace has power to leave the crown to whom she will — at least, 'tis supposed so. She is not greatly inclined to the Lady Elizabeth, even now. You understand that if the Lady Elizabeth is legitimate, then her Grace cannot be; for their mothers and their common father were alive together. But I think her Grace will overlook that, if she is satisfied that her sister is a good Catholic. Her Grace told me once that she will have a promise out of the Lady Elizabeth, before she leaves the crown to her — should God give no son to her Grace — that she believes and will maintain the Catholic Religion."

Guy bowed. He saw what was coming, and his heart sank.

" Well then, Master Manton, if the Queen's Majesty should hear that her sister thinks herself absolved from her promises in such circumstances — nay, if even she should suspect that it might be so; I doubt whether she would ask for such promises at all. She would leave her crown to another — to her husband, may be. There would be war, no doubt; but better war than Satan's peace. You understand me, sir? "

" I understand, your Eminence."

The Cardinal paused a moment, fingered the paper again, and glanced at Guy reassuringly. The young man felt more than ever now how hopeless was even

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen the thought of resistance to that dominant will. Yet, at the same time, he felt more secure. There was a sense of protection in that scarlet presence, those tranquil eyes, and in the sound of the voice.

" I think, then, with Monseigneur in this," went on the Archbishop. " The Queen's Majesty should certainly see this paper. It may be that she will pay it no attention. Also, I think, that you are the proper person, Master Manton, to show it to her. It will further your own prospects "

" Master Manton has no ambitions," put in the priest swiftly.

" Ah! so much the better. Master Manton then is free from very subtle enemies; and it is the more merit for him to approach her Grace so. But you must go, Master Manton; there is no choice. I will go with you, if you will, or Monseigneur here will. But there is no choice."

Something seemed to strike Monsignor suddenly, and he interposed with rather a doubtful air.

" I had not thought of this, your Eminence. Supposing that her Grace pays the paper no attention, and the Lady Elizabeth should ever come to the throne, it will not be a happy day for Master Manton."

The Cardinal looked sharply from one to the other.

" It will not be a happy day for any of us, my friend, but I understood you to say that Master Manton had no ambitions."

" Indeed, your Eminence, I have no ambitions, save to be quiet now," burst in Guy, feeling himself slightly wronged. " I wish Monseigneur had not said that. I do not fear for myself. There is another matter too, my lord, that I have not yet spoken of; but it bears now upon the question. I have not even told Monseigneur."

The two looked up at him.

The Queen's Tragedy

" I have been ashamed to tell it," went on Guy uneasily, " ashamed for a friend of mine; but the affair has got abroad through his indiscretion. He confessed to me last night that he had bragged of this matter in his cups."

" He? " snapped Monsignor.

" The gentleman who was with us when you came to St. James', sir. I do not know how far it has spread; but two days ago I was questioned by one or two as to whether I had not something against the Lady Elizabeth."

Monsignor sprang up.

" Then that ends it, your Eminence. There is no longer the shadow of a question. Master Manton must go to her Grace at once. What was it that Master Norris said, sir? I will never trust one of the Court sparks again! "

" I think that my friend said that I had something that might set them all at ease; that the heretic would never come to the throne."

" And who was present? "

" Half-a-dozen I should suppose. Master Wentworth, Master Bassett, and some others."

There was silence for fully a minute. Monsignor sat down again and looked at the Cardinal; Guy stared at the ground, and the Cardinal once more fingered the paper doubtfully.

Guy had not been quite prepared for the sensation that he had caused. He had thought it annoying that Jack Norris had blabbed; but very characteristic; and he was sorry to have to put him to shame before these two ecclesiastics. He feared that they would not understand Jack's harmlessness.

But he had not thought more of it than that, and he was considerably startled by the Cardinal's next

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen little speech, which he uttered with a good deal of solemnity.

" Master Manton, I am very sorry for it. You must look to yourself sharply. The Lady Elizabeth has friends who stick at nothing. You had best leave the paper here with me; and tell any so who trouble you. They can do nothing without that. I will think over the matter for a day, and let you know when it will be best to go to her Grace. I should say not until after Easter; there is too much on her Grace's mind; and she would not deal with it as she should. And look to yourself, Master Manton."

There had been two or three taps upon the door that Guy had just noticed; he had supposed that it was one of the household-officials. Now the tap came again, sharp and insistent.

Monsignor noticed it, rose with an air of slight annoyance, and went to the door, and opened it. Guy saw a page on the stone-landing outside lean forward and whisper to the priest, and the next instant to his astonishment the door was pulled wide, and Tom Bradshawe stepped into the room in his page's dress, flushed and excited.

Monsignor closed the door, bolted it, and came forward past the boy, who made his obeisance, and then stood irresolute, looking eagerly from his master to the Cardinal and back again.

" It is a message from the Court, your Eminence," said the priest; " this boy is sent for Master Manton."

Guy stood up, with a beating heart.

" Well, Tom? "

" If you please, sir, we are to ride to Bishop's Hatfield to-day."

There was a moment's breathless silence. Guy stared

The Queen's Tragedy at the boy's flushed face and black eyes, scarcely understanding yet what the message implied.

" By whose orders? " asked the Cardinal quietly.

" By her Grace's, your Eminence."

" Why? "

" I am to sing before my Lady Elizabeth to-night," said the boy.

" And Master Manton? "

" Master Manton is to go with me, my Lord."

Then Guy spoke, and his voice sounded natural enough, in spite of the effort which he was making.

" Go, down Tom; wait for me in the post-room. I will be with you in five minutes."

Tom went out after a hasty salutation to the prelates, and the door closed.

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

There was silence in the dark room till the footfalls ceased. Then the Cardinal lifted his rochet a little, crossed his knees, looked straight at Guy, and spoke.

" Master Manton, you will want a cool head. Can you trust yourself? Or shall I go to her Grace? "

" Your Eminence can trust him," put in Monsignor breathlessly.

" It is far better that I should not go to her Grace. There are a hundred reasons. She is sick and cannot bear much more; she will not act strongly; I had determined already to bring nothing before her that was not necessary. And I do not think you need fear for your life, sir, if you take some strong friend, and let it be known whither you are going. Yet I should go armed, sir, for all that. It is after you have seen her Highness that you will have most to fear."

' And the paper " began the priest.

" The paper shall be in your keeping, Monseigneur. Master Manton can tell her Highness so. He must not even have a copy with him. Do you understand me, Master Manton? "

" I understand, Eminence."

The rush of excitement had subsided and left him passive. He scarcely yet foresaw all that threatened; he only understood that he was in the hands of those two men, and must go whither they directed.

" It may be that God is helping us," went on the Cardinal quietly. " We shall learn much from her Highness' behaviour as to whether she fears the evidence or no. Of course one of her friends has told her what the talk was. I suspect she has a bad conscience, or she would not have sent for Master Manton."

" Your Eminence will give Master Manton some instructions? " suggested Monsignor.

The Queen's Tragedy

" I see no need for them," said the Archbishop. '' We cannot instruct in what we do not know. All that this gentleman has to do is to be wary, to tell nothing, and to remember all that is said."

He was silent again. Then he stood up, stepped forward and lifted his hand as Guy sank down on his knees.

" Benedicat te Omnipotens Deus," came the deep voice. " Pater... et Filius... et Spiritus Sanctus."

" Amen," said Monsignor Priuli.

On the way home Tom gave him details. The order had come through the new Comptroller of the Household, Sir Thomas Cornwallis, that Master Bradshawe was to sing before the Lady Elizabeth that night; that his master was to go with him, and take three or four servants for escort. Master Manton still held his position among the pensioners, and in that capacity was subject to Master Cornwallis' orders; his post of lieutenant in the Queen's Guard was little more than an honourable sinecure.

There was no possibility of appeal, even if Guy had wished for it. He must first obey.

He said nothing to Tom then, beyond bidding him to go upstairs and begin to pack, telling him he would be with him presently, and himself went straight off to Master Kearsley's room.

Dick was just preparing to go down to dinner. Guy shut the door when he had entered, and stood with his back to it.

" Dick," he said. " I have a favour to ask of you. I am sent for to Bishop's Hatfield. You have heard talk of something I have against her Highness. It is true that I have, but I have given an undertaking not to speak of it till the proper time. I think I may be in

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen some danger at my lady's hands. Will you ride with me?"

Dick looked at him with his head a little on one side and his eyes all alert.

" At what time do you ride? "

" At three o'clock."

Dick nodded.

" I will come with you," he said shortly.

" And you will come armed? "

The other laughed bitterly.

" I would not go to my Lady Elizabeth other than armed."

Guy saw that he sufficiently understood the situation, and left him.

There were not very many preparations to be made. Guy gave directions as to the horses, and ordered three of his men to ride with him; then he went back to his room.

" Tom," he said, " we will dine here together. I do not wish to be questioned, nor you either. And I have a great deal to tell you. Go and tell the cooks to send dinner up here. Stay; you had better bring it. And do not gossip,"

It was an extraordinary pleasure to Tom to dine with his master, and still a greater pleasure to be a person of such importance. He had never before been sent for to sing before her Highness; his voice was on the very point of breaking for he was already sixteen; and it seemed to him a special grace of Providence that had sent him this honour just in time. It was a small matter to sing with others in a Cathedral or the Queen's chapel, where good music was a matter of course; it was quite another thing to be sent for to Bishop's Hatfield.

" Her Highness sings herself, sir, does she not? " he v>— (2094)

The Queen's Tragedy said as he brought the pewter dishes in and set them down.

" I daresay," said Guy. " Shut the door. Say grace. Sit down. Now listen to me."

He put half a pigeon on the boy's plate, and the other half on his own.

" Now, Tom, listen to every word. You must repeat it all to me afterwards You remember Master Stephen Brownrigg? "

Tom's fork sank again with the meat still on it.

" Yes, boy. Master Stephen Brownrigg. You need not look at me like that. Well — Defunctus adhuc loquitur. You understand that? "

Guy was determined that there should be no emotion. He had had a difficult task two years before, when the tragedy had happened, to keep the boy from lamentation in public over the death of the man who had once given him an old gown. He put a violent constraint on himself now. He desired Tom to become accustomed again to that name that had not been spoken between them since the July day when the bearer of it had ceased to claim it. There might be need of self-restraint at Hatfield.

" You understand that? " he said again. " Do not be a fool. ' He, though dead, still speaketh.' Well, you remember the little paper that I took from him. It was in cypher, I told you; and I could not read it. Another has read it now, and it holds news of my Lady Elizabeth. So far, you follow? "

" Yes, sir," said the boy in a subdued voice.

" You must not pull long faces. When you feel so, pray for his soul instead. That will do him good, instead of. Well, my Lady Elizabeth has heard of that little paper; she desires that the Queen's Majesty should not see it... Yes; another pot of ale... So

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen she has sent for you and me, to — to — I do not know what — but at least to ask us questions. Those questions must not be answered. If she asks "

" Does my lady then not wish to hear me sing? " asked Tom, more dismayed than ever.

" Yes, foolish boy; or she would not have sent for you at all. But there are some questions too. Now, if she asks you questions, I will tell you what to say. Listen carefully. You are to say that you knew Master Brownrigg at College, that he was not a good Catholic; that you and I were at the taking of him for conspiracy; you did not understand it all, but that I forced you to do it, because you were my servant; that you have never seen the paper, that you do not know where it is; that you do not know what is in it. Now tell me, what is it you may say to my Lady Elizabeth? "

Tom repeated his instructions tolerably, with a little prompting, and before the pigeon was done had his lesson learnt.

" If my lady presses you over much or asks you about Master Ashton and the rest," ended Guy, " look foolish, and make as if you do not understand. There will be no difficulty in that, I know."

Then Guy led off on to music, questioned him about his songs, bade him sing well, and had him reassured again by the time that dinner was done.

He felt ashamed of his sharpness of manner when the boy had left him at last, but he knew that it was the only way. Tom's sentimental nature was already ardent enough to make him dangerous; if the Princess played upon that, as she well knew how, and broke down his defences, Tom could tell her a good deal that Guy did not wish her to know; perhaps she suspected that the information he had sprang out of that old plot; but she could not be certain of it, and he did not propose

The Queen's Tragedy to tell her. It was his part to draw her on to commit herself in some way, and to keep his knowledge to himself. Probably she did suspect the origin of his information, or she would scarcely have asked that Tom Bradshawe might come to Hatfield too — unless indeed his singing was merely a device to get his master at the same time. At least it was plain that a good deal of adroitness would be needed, and he did not want his cards to be shown by any indiscretion on Tom's part.

It was after sunset before the party of six came up by the inn and saw the roofs of Bishop's Hatfield against the sky.

The two gentlemen had ridden fifty yards in front of the servants all the way, and Guy had found Dick a soothing companion. He had told him a little more of the errand on which they were come, mentioning Master Brownrigg as being the source of the information, as well as the fact that Monsignor Priuli had the written paper in his keeping, but he did not inform him as to the nature of the statement; nor did Dick ask: it was enough for him that it was a weapon against the Princess Elizabeth.

Guy had never before recognised how deeply his friend hated and distrusted that lady. He had learnt to like Dick lately, but he did not know why; his character when looked into seeemd neither loveable nor loving; his chief passions appeared to be those of scorn and hatred and mistrust, directed against most persons with whom he was brought into contact and against a good many whom he scarcely knew more than by sight. However, Guy liked him and trusted him, and was pleased that he had made him his confidant.

They were apparently looked for with some impatience 300

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen at Hatfield, for the arched doors flew wide swiftly when the porter understood who they were, and a servant walked beside them with a link, from under the gate across the gravelled space to the west front of the house itself. It was a great buttressed brick building gabled at this end and that, and Guy looked with some excitement at the double row of mullioned windows, bright below and dark above, wondering in which of them his ordeal would take place.

There was a clatter of dishes as they dismounted within the central tower.

" My lady is at supper, sir," said the man. " You are to be served upstairs."

The three were taken on — for Tom in honour of his invitation was to sup and sleep with the gentlemen — through the inner court and up a staircase on the left, along a corridor or two, up and down a couple of small flights, and were shown at last into what seemed an upstairs parlour with a further room opening beyond.

" The bed-chamber, sir," said the man to Guy, setting down the trunk; then he appeared suddenly thoughtful. " But there are only two beds, sir; I was not told."

" There must be three then," said Guy tersely.

The servant hesitated.

" If you are in any doubt," added Guy sharply, " you may send word to Master Pope. He knows me."

The man went out without speaking.

" We will have no nonsense," said Guy. " My lady Elizabeth is not mistress here after all."

They set to work to dress at once, for there was no knowing how soon after supper they might not be summoned, and were ready before the man came in to tell them that supper was laid in the outer room, and that there would be no difficulty about the beds.

Dick had not troubled to bring his best suit; he had

The Queen's Tragedy not been invited after all; and in any case he had no great wish to do this woman especial honour; but the other two were a superb sight.

They were alike dressed in the Queen's colours — green-and-white: Guy was in white ribbed silk throughout, his sleeves and trunks slashed with green velvet, and green leather belt about his waist with a long sword hanging from it, and a dagger on the other side. Tom was in white satin, slashed with green satin again, with white shoes; his cap and ruff each bore a little emerald brooch that his master had lent him. It was only the second time that he had worn the dress, and he regarded himself with some satisfaction. The two gentlemen also were not displeased with him, as he stood on tiptoe craning his head to see as much of his figure in the mirror as possible, with his pale cheeks flushed faintly with excitement, and his eyes, bright with the air and exercise, burning like black jewels in his face.

" Enough mincing," said Guy abruptly. " Sit down, Tom. Her Highness does not wish to see you, but to hear you."

They did not talk much at supper; there was too much excitement in the air. From below they heard the crash of the band in the court as the Princess came out of hall, the tramp of feet and the buzz of voices. Then all was still again. Once or twice a footstep passed down the corridor outside, and five minutes after they had finished supper the servant came in to take away the dishes.

Guy was a little anxious that Tom should not forget his lesson, so he took him through into the bedroom under pretence of looking over his music, and shut the door behind him.

" You remember? " he said. " No folly now! Tell me what you have to say."

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

Tom repeated his lesson with roaming eyes.

" And no word of Master Ashton, or Oxford," added his master.

" No, sir; I will remember."

Guy looked at him doubtfully, and as he looked heard the outer door open, and a voice speaking.

" The music, boy! quick! " he hissed; and the two came out together with the candle to find a page standing at the further door.

" Master Bradshawe is to come down," said the boy superciliously, running his eyes up and down Tom's figure.

" You damned puppy! " snapped Dick explosively. " Is that the way my lady sends messages to the Queen's gentlemen? "

The page winced and turned scarlet.

" I beg your pardon, sir. Her Highness desires to see Master Bradshawe in the parlour."

" Go, Tom," said Guy, looking at him steadily.

Tom opened his mouth, drew a long breath, eyed the page with an overwhelming contempt, looked at his master, sighed, took up his music and went out.

Guy could not have believed that an hour in a pleasant room, furnished with hangings on the wall, a little shelf of books, a bright fire and the company of one of his friends, could have passed so slowly. Half a dozen times he went to the door and listened; once he opened it, and heard from far down the corridors a glorious boy's voice singing below. Once he drew aside the curtains and looked out at the night, at the row of lighted windows like pale streaked eyes between the buttresses of the hall on his right, the central tower and the pair of slender chimneys against the stars.

Each time he came back and sat down again in

The Queen's Tragedy silence. Dick did not speak, but sat with his chin on his hands staring into the fire. Once he yawned, twice he sighed; once he took a book and turned its pages, but laid it down again and fell to staring once more.

In spite of his yawning Guy ould see that he was on the alert. He longed to teJl h m the whole story, but hesitated after what Monsignoi had said. But he found a certain strength in looking at that thin grim mouth, lined with middle-age from nostrils to chin, at the square jaw, and the tangled bushy eyebrows beginning to turn a little grey.

He wondered what Kearsley was thinking — how much he had guessed. Then he thought of the Cardinal again and his advice; of Monsignor Priuli and his shrewdness; and back his thoughts leapt to the present. What was happening downstairs? Had Tom been discreet?

It was a real relief, in spite of the ordeal that was to follow, when the page appeared again, and with a good deal more courtesy than he had shown before, said that the Lady Elizabeth desired to see Master Manton in the parlour.

Guy looked once at Dick, but the other had moved his eyes without changing the position of his head, and was looking up now like a dog that has awakened from sleep but is too idle to stir. Then Guy followed the boy.

They went along the corridors up which he had come on his first arrival, down the grand staircase, and turned to the right along another passage or two. The page opened the door of a room on the left, and motioned Guy in; and then himself passed through the little chamber, and out at a further door leaving him standing there.

A whiff of hot air came through the door, and a burst of laughter from a woman's voice. Then the door closed.

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

There was a profound silence for a minute. Then the page returned, and with him again the hot whiff of scent. He seemed amused at something.

" Her Highness is ready," he said, with an apparent effort not to laugh; and threw the door wide.

The Queen's Tragedy

It was a low parlour, ceiled, walled and floored with oak. A spider-candlestick of brass hung from the centre, ablaze with lights, and others burned round the room. There was a fire burning on a wide hearth immediately opposite the door by which Guy had entered; over this hung a piece of arras embroidered with arms, and two pair of curtains hid the windows on the right hand side. In the left and further corner stood a virginal, and before it a chair was wheeled round with two figures in it, a woman in a white dress and a boy in white satin and green. A tall girl stood by smiling; three or four sheets of music lay on the floor by the chair as if suddenly dropped.

Guy saw these things in the swift look he threw round the room as he came in. Then as the girl who held Tom on her knees lifted a laughing face and looked over the boy's shoulder, Guy fell on his knees, but he still stared, amazed.

Tom was sitting astride of the girl's knee, his white-snod feet dangling, his head on her shoulder, and leaning back, as if he had been suddenly caught and pulled there; one hand had seized the girl's bare arm that held him there as if to keep his balance. Then as Guy watched he saw the Princess lift herself a little, bend her head, and kiss him again twice, once on the neck so close to her own, and once full on the lips.

" You darling," she said, " and what a blessed mouth to sing so! There, enough."

Tom struggled forwards, recovered himself, slipped to his feet and stood up, flushed and embarrassed, with tumbled black hair. He threw a piteous look of shame towards his master, and sidled away towards the fire.

Elizabeth smoothed her skirt.

" There," she said. " Ah! Master Manton, you have.

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen caught me making love to your boy. But who could help it? "

She stood up, went to the fire and turned round again.

" There, Anne; take him away and put him to bed."

She held out her hand to Tom, who after one more miserable look at his master, dropped on his knee and kissed her fingers.

" Good-night, sweetheart," cried Elizabeth smiling, as he went across towards the door. " I would kiss you again if I dared."

The door closed behind the two, and the Princess held out her hand once more.

" Now, Master Manton."

Guy rose, with a sense of outrage in his heart that he scarcely understood, came across to her, knelt, kissed the gemmed fingers, and stood up once more.

Elizabeth sat down, and pointed to a chair beside her.

" Sit down, sir; you and I must have some talk. What a boy that is of yours, and what a divine voice! "

" I am happy that he pleases your Highness," said Guy icily.

" He has pleased me very much, by his singing and by his talk," said Elizabeth sedately.

Guy glanced at her, a little uneasily. The Princess was sitting quietly enough now, her white hands in her lap, her narrow eyes downcast, and her small red, upturned mouth smiling as if with some secret pleasure He noticed that her clear pallor was a little flushed on her cheeks. Her auburn hair, drawn up tightly under her white gemmed head-dress, and the muslin about her breast was tumbled as if with a struggle. It seemed to Guy that Tom could not have yielded too readily to her wooing.

" Now, Master Manton," said Elizabeth again, " you

The Queen's Tragedy and I must have some talk together — but your boy fought so that I am all out of breath. He is modest enough, by God's Son! "

" I am pleased that your Highness thinks him so."

The little red mouth smiled again.

" Well, then, for our business. What have you got against me, Master Manton of her Grace's household? "

Guy was dazed by the sudden attack, and it was the more effective in that the girl did not look at him as she spoke, or change the tone of her voice. It was as if she had asked him whether he had supped well.

" Against your Highness? " he stammered.

Elizabeth looked at him a moment, still smiling. They were almost facing one another, with the fire between; either could look at the other without much movement of the head.

" Oh! do not make as if you did not understand. Indeed, I am no fool, and I know quite enough. What is it that you have against me? "

Guy was silent.

" You do not believe that I know anything, then? " went on the girl. " Well, then, must I tell you of Master Ashton and Abingdon, and Master Brownrigg, and the little house at Lambeth? "

He felt those narrow bright eyes on him now, but he was aware that the mouth still smiled.

" Ah! " he cried, and stopped.

" Why, of course, sir, your boy has told me everything. Did you think he would not? Did you think that a maiden does not know how to woo? There is nothing I cannot get from a lad like that."

Mingled with his fury there was a touch of relief. First, there was less for him to conceal; and secondly, Elizabeth was plainly pretending to know more than she did; Tom could not tell her " everything," because

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen he did not know it. Presumably then she was alarmed. He registered that guess, and then answered quietly.

" Your Highness will tell me what you please."

" Very well then, listen."

Elizabeth threw one knee over the other, and clasped her hands round it.

" Master Brownrigg was a friend of yours at Gonville College, Cambridge; you entered my sister's service a little more than a year after she came to the crown. Master Brownrigg came to London a little afterwards. You saw no more of him then, though you heard of him from your boy, until you were at Oxford for the burnings of the heretics; you followed after him then, and caught him at last in an inn at Lambeth. You took two or three papers. I say two or three, for I do not know whether there were three or two — two or three papers from him. You gave two papers to Master Norris, and I think, though I do not know, that you kept one for yourself. Master Brownrigg was racked, and then hanged with other traitors to the Queen's Majesty — and very justly,

I say; though I say so to his friend " she glanced at him swiftly and down again — " Then nearly two years went by.

" Now, listen, Master Manton, very closely to this. It will show you that I know more than you think for. A week or two ago you went to Monsignor Priuli, my lord Cardinal's friend, and showed him a paper which you said — which you said you had taken from Master Brownrigg. This paper holds somewhat against me; I will not tell you what that is, for you already know; I daresay you have it on you at this moment " — she paused again. " Monsignor Priuli read the paper; it was in cypher, and you said — you said that you could not read it yourself. And now you mean to go to the Queen's Majesty with that paper, to tell her the same tale, and

The Queen's Tragedy do me an injury. There is the text, Master Manton. I shall be happy to hear the gloss upon it."

Elizabeth unclasped her hands, clasped them again behind her head, leaned back and looked at him.

Guy had listened intently to every word. Then he licked his dry lips, and parried carefully.

" I have no gloss, your Highness."

" You cannot contradict it, then? "

" I do not contradict it, madam."

Elizabeth laughed pleasantly.

" That is very adroit," she said, " but I knew you were adroit. Then shall I supply the gloss as well as the text? "

" If your Highness pleases."

" Very well then. First, I love loyalty; I do not know which I love most, loyalty to a friend or loyalty to a mistress. You have the advantage to possess both. You showed loyalty to your friend when you let him go the first time, and loyalty to your mistress when you took him."

Guy was tempted by this.

" Or disloyalty to my mistress when I let him go, madam; and disloyalty to my friend when I took him."

Elizabeth laughed again delightedly.

" You are a treasure, sir. Add that to your virtues. But I prefer to think the other; it is a matter of choice after all; and I wish to think the best of my friends; and I am sure you will be that, sir, before I have done."

" Well, madam? "

" You showed loyalty again to your mistress when you went to Monsignor Priuli with the paper; but scarce loyalty to me who, please God, will be your mistress some day; but may He long avert that day! That disloyalty to me is the one defect in you; but you can cure it, and I can forgive it."

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

" I can cure it, madam? "

" Why, yes; do you not know how? "

" Monsignor Priuli has the paper, your Highness; I have it no longer."

She did not wince at that, for he watched her.

" Do you not know how, Master Manton? " she repeated.

" I do not, madam."

"Oh! that is too adroit! But I will tell you presently. Let me speak of another matter first."

Again she unclasped her hands, leaned forward a little, and re-clasped them round her knee. Guy noticed the white slender roundness of the arm nearest him, as it emerged from the deep satin sleeve, and the faint line of rippling muscle below the elbow. She was quite aware of her seductiveness, he knew; and he was beginning to be aware of it. In dramatic contrast there flashed on him the memory of the Queen, of the fallen face, the hard tired peering eyes, the sour lips, the wasted distorted body. Elizabeth's next words drove the contrast further home

" Master Manton, you are in her Majesty's household, and you and I know what others do not. Her Grace will have no child. We know that, you and I, and others know it, if they would but speak."

She paused a moment, her voice was tender, as if with pity for the delusion.

" And her Grace is sick. She has been sick for years, and I think she is broken-hearted with the coldness of her people, and — and of the Prince of Spain. Master Manton, you see that I speak plainly; I have nothing that I keep back from you. Well, when folks are like that, I think that God has pity on them " — her voice quivered a little — " pity on them, and takes them home."

It seemed to Guy, watching her closely, that her lips

The Queen's Tragedy shook too, as if with compassion and sorrow. He was astonished at the change.

" God knows! " cried the girl passionately. " Christ is my witness that I do not desire her death, though wicked folks have said so. I pray every day that she may have a long life, and bear a son to His glory, and that I may be spared from the burden of ruling this heretic country. But, Master Manton, I do not think that God has heard those prayers. He has His own purposes for me and England, and as He sees us now, I tell you that I do not doubt that I shall come to it soon. Not all that my enemies — and I have many of them — not all that they can work against me will hinder His will. They failed when my house was set afire and I near burned with it; they failed again when the warrant was sent down for my death, and when they slandered me to her Grace. Not even the paper that Monsignor holds in his strongbox in my lord Cardinal's house can keep me from what my Maker wills for me."

She wheeled round and faced him with blazing eyes and passionate face.

He was almost convinced. Her sincerity seemed overwhelming. For a moment he doubted the evidence of the past five years, the tale after tale that ran about the Court, the confessions drawn from her friends on the rack, even the little paper of which she had spoken. It seemed brutal to suspect this loyal hot girl who spoke with such a fire of love and compassion and resolution. He made a violent effort and set his teeth.

" Yes, madam? "

She sprang up.

" ' Yes, madam,' " she sneered. " And do you not understand me now, sir? "

Again she sat down, and he could see her trembling.

For a moment she could not speak; she drew a sobbing

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen breath or two, clasped and unclasped her hands, and sat quiet in her old position.

" Well, Master Manton, you are not so clever as I thought, or else more clever yet. This is what I mean. No man can hinder me from being Queen. They have tried often enough, God knows! You cannot hinder me. Well, then, why will you try? Do you wish to be my enemy always? Have you thought of that? "

She had dropped her voice almost to a whisper, and was looking at him.

Still he did not understand what she asked of him. Surely he had made it plain that the matter had passed out of his hands.

" Madam; I do not understand. I have told your Highness that the paper is in Monsignor Priuli's hands."

She sighed, almost ostentatiously, he thought.

" Well, you will say that I insult you, I know; but I cannot help that, and — and one who has done as you have done has no right to protest. Well, then — do you think that I do not know that you wrote the paper yourself? "

The shock was so sudden that his hands rose convulsively; he knew that the colour had left his face, that his mouth was open and his eyes staring. Yet he could not control himself, or look other than guilty; and he knew it.

" Ah! Master Manton; I do not wish you to be my enemy, nor to be yours myself. I desire to have such a man as you as my friend and servant. I can forgive the treachery and cure it, and I can use your wits for truer ends. Will you not do what I ask? "

" What is it that you ask, madam? "

His voice sounded hollow in his own ears. It was as if another spoke for him.

" I ask this only," said Elizabeth softly. " I ask you

The Queen's Tragedy to spare my dear sister the sorrow and anxiety that this tale will cause her. I know she will not believe it when I see her and tell her all, but she will suffer so much, and she suffers already. I ask you to be brave and tender; to write your confession and leave it with me. I swear by God that I will not show it till you be out of the country. If you need money, I will provide it, until the day that you come back to be my servant and my friend."

There fell a dead silence in the little room. The fire had sunk to a red core; there was not even the leap or crackle of the smallest tongue of flame to break the stillness. The heavy folds of the girl's dress had sunk down and were quiet, and she herself sat, an image of hopeful patience, waiting for the word that would make this young man hers. Outside all was still; the hall was closed and dark; the last servant had long left the corridor, and was gone upstairs. Within and without the room it seemed that all waited in expectant quiet for the decision to be made. It was a full minute before the silenpe was broken.

" Oh! by God! "

The Queen's gentleman had sprung to his feet, his hands clenched, and his white face glaring at the woman who had tempted him.

She rose too, and went to the fire, turned round and faced him.

" Then you will not do me this kindness? "

" I will not do this damned treachery."

She looked at him for a full quarter-minute through half-closed contemptuous eyes. Then she spoke:

" Very well, Master Manton. I have no more to ask. I shall command next time."

She put out her hand to be kissed.

He looked at her a moment longer, almost dominated

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen by her personality; then he wheeled to go across the floor.

" Master Manton! "

He turned, breathing heavily.

" There was no need to bring Master Kearsley. I do not stab my enemies in the dark. I shall have other weapons some day."

Her voice rose a little, with an odd ring in it.

" I shall remember that you showed me neither kindness nor courtesy, on a day when I could not command it."

He turned again, and as he reached the door, the voice cried after him.

" God keep you, Master Manton! and sweetheart Tom! "

He went very slowly upstairs.

Two pairs of eyes were fixed on the door as he came in; and the boy ran across, still in his Court-suit, seized him by the arm and lifted a tear-stained face.

" Oh! Master Manton, Master Kearsley has said such things to me! I could not help it. She was so clever; she seemed to know all already. And I did not kiss her; she kissed me."

Guy patted him mechanically on the shoulder.

" Yes, yes, dear lad. I know she is clever. Go to bed now. I must talk to Master Kearsley. My God! how clever! Dick, do you hear? She does not even now know what is in the paper! "

The Queen's Tragedy

The three left again on the following morning about nine o'clock.

They saw nothing more of the Princess. Tom came upstairs an hour before they started with the news that she had gone to mass as usual. It seemed that she heard two masses each day, for the living and the dead. They rode out through the archway with their servants, and the salutes of the porter, and were out immediately on the Queen's highway — not Elizabeth's.

Guy had told Dick everything the night before, under the strictest confidence, and had received his counsel such as it was. Master Kearsley approved heartily of all that his friend had said and done, and especially of his leaving the room without paying his homage.

" That was well done," he said; " it will do the minx a world of good."

He had recommended also an immediate visit to the Cardinal, and the placing of the paper in her Grace's hands at the earliest opportunity.

" If you do not, my lady will get at her first. Oh! she will manage it, whether she is sent for or no."

There was one fact that Guy had not revealed; he was too much ashamed of it, and that was the very real struggle he had gone through during the silent minute after the girl had made her proposal.

He was rather silent during the ride to London, in consequence, reviewing what had taken place in his soul, for he was beginning to take pains again with that part of his being. He could hardly believe that he could have hesitated. But the struggle had been made possible for him, he saw now, by the girl's extreme skill in conversation. — Ah! how skilful she had been; and he? — he had hesitated!

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

He made another discovery about himself, later in the day, that he could not understand.

They arrived home at St. James' as the ladies were going across the court to dinner, and dismounted and uncovered as they went past. The Queen of course was not there; she was dining in private; but young Mistress Dormer detached herself from the group, and came towards him.

" So you are back, sir," she said pleasantly. " You are early. Her Grace told me to ask you how you had sped, and whether my Lady Elizabeth was pleased with Master Bradshawe's singing."

Guy walked across the court to the hall-door with her, telling her the superficial part of the news. Tom had sung excellently, he believed, but it was the swan-song of his voice, he feared. Master Tallis had said a month ago that it was a miracle it had not gone already. Her Highness had honoured himself too with a few minutes' conversation; she had looked very well and happy, and had asked after her Majesty's health. Her Highness had heard mass that morning. They had left at nine o'clock; the roads were in good order. He begged Mistress Dormer to convey his duty and thanks to her Grace.

It was then that he made the discovery, and he pondered it all the way up to his own rooms. It was that his feelings towards her Grace had undergone a certain change. There seemed a kind of link between her and him that had been wanting before; the wall of ice seemed thinner. He found himself interested in the thought that she would hear his adventures; he even experienced a faint envy of Mistress Dormer who would tell her them. The feeling perplexed him a little; he was not a good enough psychologist to understand it.

The Queen's Tragedy

He dined downstairs, came up an hour later, and found Monsignor Priuli waiting for him.

" I was obliged to come," said the priest smiling and taking his hand. " I could not rest till I knew. I have been anxious."

Guy gave him a seat, and closed the door. Then he sat down himself.

" Monsignor," he said, " you need not have been anxious on my behalf. Her Highness is too clever."

" Too clever? "

" Too clever to do me an injury. She told me that I need not have troubled to bring Master Kearsley, and that she did not stab in the dark."

" The whole story, my dear friend! " cried the priest eagerly, rubbing his hands softly together between his knees.

He sat very quiet and attentive as Guy told him, nodding from time to time, putting a question once or twice, and nodding again vigorously at the answers he received.

" But I am a knave at heart, Monsignor," he ended desperately. " I tell your lordship that I hesitated; that for a while I did not know what I should do."

The priest's face grew grave and tender.

" Forgive me, my son, but you speak as a fool. When will souls learn that there is no sin in temptation, and that there can be no temptation without a lively image being presented to the mind? Have you not heard an hundred times that sin lies in the will, and not in the magination? "

" But I hesitated," said the young man persistently.

" Of course you hesitated. It was there that temptation lay. Satan presented the picture through her Highness' words; you regarded that picture, and said No, like a good Christian and a true man. Put that

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen clean away, Master Manton: I tell you that you are not guilty before God. Rather you have acquired merit. So her Highness feigned that you had written the paper yourself, and begged you to be honest for once? "

" She feigned so," said Guy, " but, by God, she knew the truth."

" Why, yes, she knew it; but we cannot prove that. She has said nothing that we can use."

" Even had she done so," went on Guy bitterly, " it would have been of no avail. She would have sworn that she had not."

" Yes, but we could have sworn that she had. And now we cannot. We shall be forced to tell her Grace that the Princess protested her innocence from the beginning."

He was silent a moment.

" I shall see my lord Cardinal to-night,' he said presently; " my lord asked if there were any news this morning, and I told him No, there could not be. I will tell him all to-night, and we will hear his advice as to going to her Grace. We cannot forestall the Lady Elizabeth. She can have written even by now if she intends it at all. I think we had best do nothing until Easter is over."

There was little more to be said, and a few minutes later Monsignor took his leave.

He held Guy's hand a moment in his slender brown fingers.

" You have come very well out of it, sir. Her Grace has at least one faithful servant in her house. God bless you, my son."

A letter was put into Guy's hands as he came out from supper that night. It was from the priest, written in Latin, and told him that the Cardinal still held to the

The Queen's Tragedy former plan, and that the Queen should not be approached till Easter was over. The Archbishop wished his congratulations and blessing to be conveyed to a man who had acted well and faithfully in a difficult affair, and he desired to see him within a few days.

Guy went to his room that night very content. He had been relieved by the priest's interpretation of what he himself had considered a moral failure. Perhaps he was not such a knave after all.

He said his prayers with devotion, and found himself praying for the Queen with a fervour which he had never experienced before. He wondered that he had not hitherto realised her loneliness; that he had not understood that emotionalism was out of place in a ruler — Monsignor Priuli's words to him on the subject a month or so before came back to him now, and he questioned himself as to whether they had not been intentional; certainly he had confessed to a cold devotion to his sovereign. Then his thoughts leapt to the Queen again. He sat back on his heels and considered her. No; she was not loveable in the ordinary sense, but was she not admirable, and pitiable too? He remembered her disappointments; the mockery of her mortal disease, the failure that walked with her from cradle to crown, and seemed likely to go further and take her to the grave itself.

Had he been fair to her? Had he made the allowances that he desired others to make for him? Surely compassion, and not contempt, was the proper emotion. She was so old now, and with an age more piteous than that of years! — so zealous; so well controlled, and yet so passionate and simple when she thought it right to let her heart go out to the man whom she called her husband, and who gave her a courteous hatred in return.

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

As he knelt upright now at his bed-side with his hands clasped, the image of the two sisters came before him once more — Elizabeth, flushed with youth, narrow-eyed, red-lipped, supple, indomitable; Mary, withered, peevish, pathetically dignified, heart-broken. There the two stood, as they had stood this time last night. Each invited allegiance. The one with years and honour before her, with rewards in her hands, the hope of a restless people fixed on her and their hearts and bodies at her service, with a religion that made but little claim on faith or life, and a policy that flattered an island's pride. And the other, sinking down to the grave, hated by those who knew her and distrusted by those who did not, powerless to help or to reward except with thanks, and sparing of those, with a faith so keen that it could not abide unfaith, and a plan of rule that would make England one with the nations instead of setting her aloof in a fierce and capable insularity. The one had offered him honour; the other had neglected him.

These were the two that asked for his homage, and this time he did not hesitate.

He knelt staring before him a minute longer, then he beat on his breast, and threw his face forward on to the bed. His eyes were bright with tears.

" God be merciful to me a sinner! "

The Queen's Tragedy

The Court went down to Greenwich to keep Easter, and returned to Richmond soon after Low Sunday. A piece of news was made public during this time that caused some astonishment; it was to the effect that the Count de Feria had proposed for the hand of Mistress Dormer, and had been accepted, though she had previously refused such great persons as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Devon, but what gave greater surprise was that although it was said that the Queen had consented, yet no announcement was made as to when the wedding would take place. Men asked one another why there need be delay; her Grace could not expect to keep her friend always at her side. It was supposed that the Queen was depressed and could make up her mind to nothing. Everything was going wrong; the attempt to re-take the French forts had failed wretchedly. As Master Kearsley had remarked, they had fallen by treachery, and they could not be regained without it; and French treachery was not so easy to win as English. The result of the failure was to increase still further the Queen's unpopularity, and she seldom set foot outside her palace.

Her domestic affairs too were in a miserable state. Her ladies whispered that she spent hours in writing to Philip, and that the arrival of his letters in answer always meant tears and unhappiness. It was supposed that the subject of dissension between them was the proposed marriage between Elizabeth and Prince Philibert of Savoy, which the King urged and the Queen refused to sanction. The arrival of Princess Christina, of Denmark, did not improve matters. It was said that Philip was in love with her; at any rate it was obvious that Mary was jealous of her. She would hardly ever see her alone; she took every opportunity to avoid her,

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen and the Princess went again after a few days without having accomplished anything with regard to the King's desire on the subiect of the Savoy marriage.

It was towards the end of April that the Cardinal arrived at Richmond, and sent the same evening for Guy Manton.

Guy went to him, and found him in his rooms that looked out over the park. It was already dark, and the shutters were drawn across the windows. When he had kissed hands and sat down the Cardinal began at once.

" I have seen her Grace," he said, " but I had no time to speak of our affair. But I am to see her to-morrow at ten o'clock, and will tell her then. You had best be in the ante-room, and I will send for you at the proper time. I will tell her Grace first all the story, and of the Lady Elizabeth's words to you; then she will no doubt wish to ask you questions herself."

Guy assented.

" Keep nothing back, Master Manton, and add nothing. I mean, do not make the case stronger than it is. The burden of it is not upon us, but upon her Grace, though I would we could lighten it."

"What do you think her Grace will- do, your Eminence? "

The Cardinal raised his dark eyebrows and smiled.

" How can we know, sir? If she already doubts, it may make her doubt a certainty. If she is already convinced of the Princess' innocence, it may make her doubt it. In the first case, I think she will bequeath the crown to another; in the second case it may cause her to look with more favour upon this foreign marriage. Have you spoken with her Grace at all, Master Manton? "

" No, your Eminence."

" She seemed to me very sick. She hardly spoke to

The Queen's Tragedy me, except what was necessary. She has been a burning and a shining light in this dark country; one little lamp in a wilderness, blown upon by every wind, and preserved only by her own innocence. But the oil is low, Master Manton, unless God replenish it "

He spoke very softly and serenely. Guy wondered what he thought as to his own prospects should the Queen die. The last Cardinal in England who had raised his voice in an heretical Court had lost his life for doing it; his own mother had died on the scaffold for the same cause. What would be this man's fate should Elizabeth come to her throne and find him still on his?

Guy served the lavabo at the Cardinal's mass next morning, kneeling on the footpace of the temporary altar, and was vividly conscious as he did so of the Queen's shrunken presence in the great chair in the background, and of her ladies behind her. She did not know yet what part he was going to play in an hour or two. He wondered what she would think and say, and what form her thanks would take.

At ten o'clock he was in the second ante-room, and knelt as the Cardinal presently swept through in his scarlet. Then he sat down again and waited.

There were half a dozen others there, waiting to see her Grace, or to catch the Cardinal as he came out. Guy wished that Monsignor Priuli had been able to come, but he had been told last night that it had been found impossible for the secretary to leave Lambeth at the same time as his master. It would have been pleasant to have had his kindly strong presence.

He scarcely knew whether the time seemed to pass fast or slow. At one instant he dreaded the interview so intolerably that it seemed hardly a moment since he

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen had come in, at another he hated the waiting so much that he thought it must have lasted an hour already. It was not a pleasing task, this of accusing one sister to another of the most sordid kind of deceit; he would have to accuse himself too of misdemeanours — of holding back an information for nearly two years, of having shown unwillingness even then to do justice. Yet he did not doubt that she would be grateful at her heart for what he had done. He recalled his last emotional interview with the Queen, when he had gone in to beg that Stephen's agony might cease. She had been so slow to understand, so searching in her questions, so cold when she consented. Would she freeze him again now before thawing? It would be harder to bear, this time too. He did not relish the prospect of even a temporary injustice from this woman.

" Master Guy Manton to go in to her Grace." The shrill voice startled him; he had not seen the page open the door. He passed through the first anteroom with a painful throbbing at the base of his throat, and went through the further door that the boy pushed open for him.

The Queen was in her upright arm-chair with her back to the light, and did not turn her head as he came in. On the other side of the hearth sat the Cardinal, his scarlet robe lying out across the rushes, and his little cap a vivid vermilion spot against the oak mantel-piece. One of his hands rested along the arm of his chair, and the other held the fatal paper. His eyes threw a kindly momentary look at the young man on his knees by the door, and then moved back to the Queen's face.

There was silence for a moment. Then the Cardinal broke it.

The Queen's Tragedy

" I have told her Grace, Master Manton, about this paper that I hold, and how it came into your possession; and I have held myself responsible for having troubled her Grace with it now. I have related too the whole story of how you went to Bishop's Hatfield, and of what the Lady Elizabeth said to you there. Her Grace now wishes you to answer a few questions in her presence."

The Cardinal paused, lifted the paper and looked at it. There seemed to be a few notes written upon it.

" First, Master Manton, why did you not give up the paper sooner? "

Guy moved his eyes from the Cardinal to the Queen and back again. Then he drew a breath, and still kneeling began to answer.

" Because, your Eminence, I was ambitious. I kept the paper back at first because I wished to distinguish myself. After Master Brownrigg's death I laid it aside — I could not bear to" look at it. Then I mislaid it, and thought no more of it."

" As soon as you found it then, you gave it up? "

" As soon as I found it I brought it to Lambeth, to Monseigneur Priuli."

Guy glanced again at the Queen. She had not moved a muscle. Her face was in shadow, and he could not see her expression. Her thin hands were gripped on the arms of her chair.

" Good, Master Manton," said the Cardinal, looking at the paper again.

" What did you tell Monseigneur Priuli when you saw him? "

" My lord, I told him that I understood he was skilful in cyphers; and that I could* not read the paper myself. I told him that, if his lordship could read it, I would do what he bade."

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

" How long a time passed before you saw Monseigneur again? "

" Monseigneur wrote to me once and asked me if I knew any words — he called them key-words, my lord — that Master Brownrigg had engraved on any rings or such-like. I told him I knew of none. That would be about a week later. I saw him again, when he came to St. James' to tell me he had read the cypher. I should say after a fortnight or three weeks more."

" Have you any skill in cyphers yourself? "

" None, your Eminence."

" Could you explain to her Grace the cypher of which we are speaking? "

" No, your Eminence."

" Then you cannot swear that Monseigneur has read it rightly? "

" No, your Eminence; except so far as I could swear to Monseigneur Priuli's good faith."

The Cardinal smiled faintly, but did not lift his eyes.

" When you saw the Lady Elizabeth at Bishop's Hatfield she told you that you had written the paper yourself? "

" Yes, my lord."

" Did her Highness know what was in the paper? "

" I think not, my lord."

" Why do you think not, Master Manton? "

' Because her Highness told me a great number of other things that she had discovered, but said no word of that, except that she feared it would trouble the Queen's Majesty to hear of it."

" How did her Highness speak of the Queen's Majesty? "

Guy hesitated.

" She spoke of her Grace with an appearance of great love and pity."

The Queen's Tragedy

A deep rough voice jarred suddenly from the Queen's chair.

" Why do you say ' appearance,' sir?"

Guy was horribly startled. He hesitated again a moment.

" I think it was only an appearance of it, your Grace."

" Did you think so at the time, or afterwards? " said the harsh voice again.

" I was not sure at the time, your Grace."

Again there was silence. The Queen had not stirred while she spoke. The Cardinal looked up questioningly, then lifted the paper once more and went on.

" Her Highness asked you to leave the country, and to give her a confession that you had written the paper yourself? "

" Yes, my lord. She offered also to supply me with money while I needed it, until "

" Well, Master Manton? "

" Until her Highness came to the throne."

Guy's voice shook as he spoke. It was as if he were driving swords into the heart of the woman who sat there. And the worst was that she did not flinch.

The Cardinal went on, with a touch of haste.

" How did her Highness discover that you had such a paper at all? "

" A friend of mine blabbed of it, and "

" Stay, sir. What did he say? Do you know? "

" He said that I had something against her Highness that would hinder her ever coming to the throne, and that Catholics need be in no fear."

" Well, Master Manton? "

" My lord, I can only suppose that one who heard it told her Highness that. Then she sent for me, through Master Cornwallis."

" Did any go with you? "

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen

" My servant, Tom Bradshawe, one of her Grace's choir, was sent for also by her Highness; and I took Master Kearsley as well, with three servants."

" Why did you take Master Kearsley? "

Again Guy paused. But he knew he must not incriminate the Cardinal.

" I took him, my lord, because I feared her Highness.'*

" Did any tell you to take a friend? "

"Yes, my lord!"

" Who was it? "

" Yourself, my lord," said Guy with an effort. But he was grateful for the friendliness.

The Cardinal paused just long enough to let the answer sink home, and then went on without any sign of discomposure.

" What else did her Highness say to you, sir? "

" She threatened me, my lord."

" Threatened? "

" Yes, my lord. Her Highness said that I need not have brought Master Kearsley, for that she did not stab her enemies in the back, but that she would use other weapons some day."

" What did you understand by that? "

" I understood that she would use the law against me, my lord, when — when she was able."

" The law, Master Manton? But you had done no wrong? "

" No, my lord."

The Cardinal looked at the paper again.

" Why was Master Bradshawe sent for to Bishop's Hatfield? "

" Her Highness said that she wished to hear him sing."

" And what do you think of it, Master Manton? "

" My lord, I think it was that she might discover if he knew aught of the paper? "

a»— (2094)

The Queen's Tragedy

" And did her Highness discover aught? "

" She discovered how the paper came into my hands."

" How did she prevail on Master Bradshawe to tell her that? "

Guy eyed first the Archbishop, then the Queen. Then he looked down.

" My lord, I found the boy on her Hignness' knees. She was kissing him."

He saw the Queen's scarlet-clad foot tap two or three times, and cease.

" I have just finished, Master Manton," said the Cardinal. " But tell me this. Will you swear before God and the Court of Heaven that you have spoken the truth, that you had no hand in the making of the cypher, and what the paper says is true? "

" My lord, I swear before God and the Court of Heaven that I have spoken the truth, that I have had no hand in the making of the cypher. I cannot swear that what the paper says is true, because I do not know. But I swear that I believe it to be true."

The Cardinal laid the paper on his knee, and looked at the Queen.

Then the woman turned in her chair, and Guy, waiting for her thanks, saw her pinched agonised face, her hard wild eyes, and her drawn mouth. Then her harsh voice began —

" Master Manton, I do not believe it. I am amazed that you should believe such things of her Highness. Her Highness is a good Catholic — a good Catholic, my lord Cardinal, I tell you. I am astonished, Master Manton, I say, at your giving credit to a scrap of paper two years old, and written by an enemy of myself and her Highness. There be slanderers enough, God knows, without seeking for them in mine own household. I forbid you to speak of the matter again, except to deny

Master Manton Fails to Serve the Queen it to any who speak of it to you. You are no just judge or witness, Master Manton, in such a cause. You have believed the worst without sufficient reason. You had best pray our Lord to purify your heart of such thoughts. You have been wild and indiscreet. The only reason that I do not turn you from my household is that I think you have been honest, and have told the truth as you believe it. But I am disappointed in you, Master Manton. You have my leave to go."

A moment or two later Guy followed the Cardinal out of the room, stumbled after him through the staring ante rooms, down the corridor, and into the Archbishop's own chamber, and stood there shaking.

The Cardinal put his hand on the young man's silken shoulder.

" There, there, Master Manton; you must not grieve. Her Grace is near mad with suspicion and sorrow; and her Highness has written to her. But she believes it, sir; she believes it, in spite of what she said. There, there, Master Manton! "

Plures arnicas re secunda comfiara: Paucos amicos rebus adversis proba.

Pittac apud Auson.