My father bid me spare neither life nor limb in this quarrel, and if this honourable council thinks that the Duke may be gained over, I am ready to guarantee that the message shall be conveyed to him if man and horse can do it.'
'I'll warrant that no better herald could he found,' cried Saxon. 'The lad hath a cool head and a staunch heart.'
'Then, young sir, we shall accept your loyal and gallant offer,' said Monmouth. 'Are ye all agreed, gentlemen, upon the point?' A murmur of assent rose from the company.
'You shall draw up the paper, Wade. Offer him money, a seniority amongst the dukes, the perpetual Presidentship of Wales--what you will, if you can but shake him. If not, sequestration, exile, and everlasting infamy. And, hark ye! you can enclose a copy of the papers drawn up by Van Brunow, which prove the marriage of my mother, together with the attestations of the witnesses. Have them ready by to-morrow at daybreak, when the messenger may start.' [Note H, Appendix.]
'They shall be ready, your Majesty,' said Wade.
'In that case, gentlemen,' continued King Monmouth, 'I may now dismiss ye to your posts. Should anything fresh arise I shall summon ye again, that I may profit by your wisdom. Here we shall stay, if Sir Stephen Timewell will have us, until the men are refreshed and the recruits enrolled. We shall then make our way Bristolwards, and see what luck awaits us in the North. If Beaufort comes over all will be well. Farewell, my kind friends! I need not tell ye to be diligent and faithful.'
The council rose at the King's salutation, and bowing to him they began to file out of the Castle hall. Several of the members clustered round me with hints for my journey or suggestions as to my conduct.
'He is a proud, froward man,' said one. 'Speak humbly to him or he will never hearken to your message, but will order you to be scourged out of his presence.'
'Nay, nay!' cried another. 'He is hot, but he loves a man that is a man. Speak boldly and honestly to him, and he is more like to listen to reason.'
'Speak as the Lord shall direct you,' said a Puritan. 'It is His message which you bear as well as the King's.'
'Entice him out alone upon some excuse,' said Buyse, 'then up and away mit him upon your crupper. Hagelsturm! that would be a proper game.'
'Leave him alone,' cried Saxon. 'The lad hath as much sense as any of ye. He will see which way the cat jumps. Come, friend, let us make our way back to our men.'
'I am sorry, indeed, to lose you,' he said, as we threaded our way through the throng of peasants and soldiers upon the Castle Green. 'Your company will miss you sorely. Lockarby must see to the two. If all goes well you should be back in three or four days. I need not tell you that there is a real danger. If the Duke wishes to prove to James that he would not allow himself to be tampered with, he can only do it by punishing the messenger, which as lieutenant of a county he hath power to do in times of civil commotion. He is a hard man if all reports be true. On the other hand, if you should chance to succeed it may lay the foundations of your fortunes and be the means of saving Monmouth. He needs help, by the Lord Harry! Never have I seen such a rabble as this army of his. Buyse says that they fought lustily at this ruffle at Axminster, but he is of one mind with me, that a few whiffs of shot and cavalry charges would scatter them over the countryside. Have you any message to leave?'
'None, save my love to my mother,' said I.
'It is well. Should you fall in any unfair way, I shall not forget his Grace of Beaufort, and the next of his gentlemen who comes in my way shall hang as high as Haman. And now you had best make for your chamber, and have as good a slumber as you may, since to-morrow at cock-crow begins your new mission.'
Chapter XXII.
Of the News from Havant
Having given my orders that Covenant should be saddled and bridled by daybreak, I had gone to my room and was preparing for a long night's rest, when Sir Gervas, who slept in the same apartment, came dancing in with a bundle of papers waving over his head.