THE KING'S AGENT
 
 KING'S AGENT 
 
 BY ARTHUR PATERSON 
 
 AUTHOR OF CROMWELL'S OWN, THE GOSPEL WRIT IN STEEL, 
 FOR FREEDOM'S SAKE, A SON OF THE PLAINS, ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
 1902
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1902 
 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
 
 Published October, J902
 
 DEDICATED TO 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL, VISCOUNT WOLSELEY, K. P., 
 
 ETC., 
 
 TO WHOSE GREAT WORK ON 
 JOHN CHURCHILL, DUKE OF MARYBOROUGH, 
 
 THIS BOOK OWES ITS EXISTENCE; 
 
 AND FOR WHOSE WISE ADVICE 
 AND GENEROUS HELP IN OBTAINING 
 ACCESS TO IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS 
 
 THE AUTHOR CANNOT BE 
 
 SUFFICIENTLY GRATEFUL. 
 
 2137S67
 
 THE KING'S AGENT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A SHARP, frosty evening in January, 1692. A full 
 moon shone from a cloudless sky and silvered the roofs 
 of the high gabled houses in the fashionable quarters 
 of town, and even straggled fitfully down into the nar- 
 row, ill-paved, uninviting streets below. It was a night 
 when, in the city of London of those days, no man 
 who had anything to lose embarked upon a journey 
 without providing himself with an armed escort. Not 
 only were the professional gentlemen of the high- 
 way numerous and bold, but deserters from the army 
 and navy, " pressed " men who had escaped but 
 dared not return to their native villages, infested the 
 large towns, begging by day, and robbing by night. 
 Not a street but was patrolled by these lost dogs, not 
 a beer-house but served them as a house of call, and 
 on such a night as this they turned out in formidable 
 numbers. On this particular evening certain of these 
 men had hardly taken up their regular beats in a street 
 near Pall Mall, when they saw something which 
 caused them to speed swiftly to a well-considered point 
 of vantage, crouch beneath the long, sinister shadows 
 of the house, and wait with eager eyes. 
 
 A gentleman, unattended except by a lantern 
 bearer a wizened old man and with only a light 
 rapier carried negligently under one arm, was strolling 
 down the street at a leisurely pace. That he was a man 
 
 i
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 of substance and consideration every night-walker saw 
 at a glance. His dress was of rich material and the 
 latest mode; his peruke a mountain of curls fearfully 
 and wonderfully made. Even his heavy overcoat, 
 worn loose and unbuttoned, as if the month were 
 June instead of January, was stylishly cut, the cape 
 giving just the requisite appearance of breadth to a 
 figure inclined to be a shade too slim, the waist fitting 
 like a glove, the skirts expansive, not to say volumi- 
 nous, to allow free play to the limbs. 
 
 He walked carelessly, and looked neither to right 
 nor left, and those who were watching him smiled. He 
 came nearer and they braced their muscles for a spring. 
 He was abreast of them and they shrank back into 
 the shadow, flattened themselves against the wall, and 
 let him pass. 
 
 He had made only one movement a turn of his 
 head so that they could see his face but that was 
 enough. 
 
 It was not a face easily to be mistaken. Long and 
 cadaverous, with high cheek-bones, a straight, promi- 
 nent nose, full lips, and a long chin. A face which, at 
 times, was extremely repulsive, but at other times was 
 attractive and pleasing, for above the coarse mouth 
 and obstinate chin, dominating them, were a noble 
 forehead and a pair of large and beautiful eyes. 
 
 By the eyes of a man, say physiognomists, shall 
 the elements of his character be known. This is true 
 as a principle, but unfortunately is not to be applied 
 to every case. In this instance, though the eyes could 
 express on occasion friendship or hatred, anger, ten- 
 derness or love, now, when the face was in repose, 
 they were as cold and unfathomable as the eyes of a 
 dead man. 
 
 He was under thirty years of age, though he looked 
 
 2
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 more, and his clear complexion and alertness of car- 
 riage showed him to be in the prime of physical 
 strength. There was, indeed, a peculiar balance and 
 grace of movement about him, acquired by a long 
 course of severe training of the muscles of the body 
 and limbs, one result of which was that this evening, 
 though cumbered with heavy boots, he walked so 
 lightly that he followed his little servant without sound, 
 like an attendant spirit. 
 
 They were moving slowly, as if expecting some 
 one, and at the slightest noise turned their heads to 
 listen. At last the master touched his companion with 
 his sheathed rapier, and stood still. Presently the 
 sound of many feet tramping in unison was heard on 
 the hard, frosty road, and round the corner came a 
 sedan chair, escorted by four armed men in livery. As 
 the chair came abreast of the pedestrians, the lantern 
 bearer raised his light so that it shone full on his 
 master's face. A head was instantly thrust from the 
 chair, the bearers came to a stand, and a large elderly 
 man rolled heavily out. 
 
 " Why, what is this ? " he exclaimed. " Master 
 Karl Brownker afoot on so bitter a night like some 
 prowling grimalkin ! Ho, ho ! was ever such a man ? " 
 
 " Nay such a night, my lord. Only the sick or 
 the Earl of Tottenham would ride to-night." 
 
 He doffed his hat with a respectful bow, while his 
 lordship laughed aloud. 
 
 " Pinked, on my faith, for indolence ! But when 
 did Karl Brownker spare a foe or friend ? " 
 
 " If my thrust gives me the honour of your com- 
 pany, my lord, it will have served its purpose." 
 
 Lord Tottenham had begun to laugh again; but 
 now stopped short. 
 
 " So you wished to speak to me, and feared I 
 3
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 would begin a-shivering unless you shamed me. Pish ! 
 You fellows " to the chairmen " follow at a dis- 
 tance." 
 
 " I stopped you, my lord," Mr. Brownker said as 
 they turned and strolled away together, " because I 
 thought you might be well advised to speak to me." 
 
 He bowed again, but there was a penetrating in- 
 cisiveness in his tone which made his companion 
 bridle. 
 
 " 'Deed, good sir," he said tartly, " there are some 
 who can live without your favours." 
 
 Mr. Brownker coolly shrugged his shoulders. " It 
 is not true, then, that you dine to-night with the town's 
 talk, Mr. Hugh Montgomery." 
 
 " Devil take it, sir, what business is that of yours ? " 
 
 " It is my master's," was the tranquil reply. 
 
 " Not his either," his lordship retorted with some 
 heat. " My private affairs concern not King William 
 nor any other man. You, who know everything, know 
 that this lad is son of my old friend Ralf Montgom- 
 ery " 
 
 " And nephew, my lord, to Lady Susan Montgom- 
 ery, suspected agent and open supporter of James 
 Stuart." 
 
 Lord Tottenham swore a rude oath. 
 
 " The worn-out old poll-parrot ! If the King fears 
 Lady Susan, then the deuce is in it ! " 
 
 " The King fears no one, but he watches all, my 
 lord." 
 
 Lord Tottenham winced, and continued in a lower 
 tone : " Hugh has never seen his aunt, and never will. 
 I'll answer for it he is no Jacobite." 
 
 " It is, then, a pity," Mr. Brownker said dryly, 
 " that he invites so many Jacobites this evening." 
 
 " They are his father's friends. The boy knows 
 4
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 not a soul in London but myself. You have over- 
 reached yourself this time." 
 
 He laughed hoarsely. Mr. Brownker echoed the 
 laugh, at which his lordship quickly became grave 
 again. 
 
 " The history of this boy," he said with emphasis, 
 " is in every one's mouth. I marvel you should not 
 know it." 
 
 " I have heard something," the other said mod- 
 estly. " Until a month ago he was an ensign in the 
 Fusiliers, as lean and hungry as a rat. Of a sud- 
 den he comes into 150,000, left him by his uncle, the 
 rich merchant. And now he hath come to town, and 
 will be, by all accounts, a very blade of fashion. He is 
 an ambitious, reckless rat, boasting that he will take 
 the court by storm, and the Lord knows what besides." 
 
 " You have it, you have it," his lordship said brisk- 
 ly, adding as if to himself, " even as I have Karl 
 Brownker in a clutch." Mr. Brownker turned his 
 head, though he did not speak. " I mean," his lordship 
 continued in a light tone, but out of the corner of his 
 eye closely watching his companion, " that I do now 
 perceive the cause of your solicitude. This poor lad of 
 mine has done you an ill turn." 
 
 At these words Mr. Brownker gave a sharp, hard 
 laugh, but Lord Tottenham, who knew him well, saw 
 his lips tighten and the smooth face grow dark as a 
 thunder-cloud. " I do assure you, my lord," he said 
 contemptuously, " he is no more to me than these night- 
 hawks lurking in the streets, who run when I raise my 
 eyes. But he is rich and of a headstrong nature, and, 
 being his own master, he may become of some interest 
 to King William in such troublous times as these." 
 
 He said the last words with quiet deliberation and 
 distinctness. 
 
 5
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Tottenham smiled knowingly, and took snuff. 
 
 " To argue with a king's agent," he said, " is but 
 a thought less dangerous than arguing with a king. 
 Yet, on my faith, it seems to me that this trade of 
 intelligencing has well-nigh turned all our heads. 
 Hugh is twenty-one years old, and since boyhood has 
 served in his Majesty's army faithfully and well. 
 Yet because he has been written on by the diurnals 
 and signalizes his good fortune by a public dinner to 
 gentlemen who knew his father at King Charles's 
 court he becomes immediately a suspect, a traitor by 
 default. Zounds, sir ! " Lord Tottenham's tongue 
 was not a well-guarded one. " I'd have you know, an' 
 it come to that, I am the most intimate of all these 
 friends ! " 
 
 " I will inform his Majesty, my lord," said Mr. 
 Brownker in his dryest tone. 
 
 " And you will add, I trust, that he has not a more 
 faithful subject in this land." 
 
 " In England surely not," was the answer, " but 
 his Majesty might reply that does not mean over- 
 much." 
 
 " A curse on your Dutch wit ! " Lord Tottenham's 
 temper had blazed up again. " A member of the 
 King's Privy Council should be exempt from insult 
 even from Master Brownker " 
 
 " Ah ! The Privy Council ? Your lordship's par- 
 don, I had quite forgotten you were a privy council- 
 lor." 
 
 Lord Tottenham muttered a curse. 
 
 " Your memory needs refreshing, sir." 
 
 " Nay ; your lordship has done so. I will now, in 
 all humbleness, refresh yours." 
 
 His voice was quiet and gentle; but he laid a 
 hand on Lord Tottenham's arm, and looked at him 
 
 6
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 with an expression of such significance that the earl's 
 heat of manner died away. 
 
 " Go on," he said hoarsely, for Mr. Brownker 
 paused. 
 
 " Your lordship's close attention. It is within my 
 personal knowledge that certain members of King 
 William's Privy Council have, within the last week, 
 sent in addresses of allegiance to King James, and one 
 of them " 
 
 " Stop on your life ! " 
 
 Lord Tottenham's face grew rigid. He threw 
 away the hand that touched him, and grasped his 
 sword. 
 
 " You dog ! Though I am no match for you in 
 fence now, and may die for it, by God, you shall not 
 call me traitor twice ! " 
 
 Mr. Brownker laughed. He had good teeth, 
 rather prominent, and he showed them all. " Traitor ! 
 Truly an ugly name. But it is of your lordship's 
 choosing, not mine." 
 
 " Such an address to James is treason black 
 treason and you said that " 
 
 " One hath been writ by members of the Privy 
 Council. Yes." 
 
 " Am I accused of it or not ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 The word came roundly, and Lord Tottenham's 
 hand left his sword. 
 
 " But," added Mr. Brownker dryly, " your lordship 
 must walk warily and mind your company." 
 
 " Then I am suspected." 
 
 " A pardon. We do not warn men whom we sus- 
 pect." 
 
 " But my lad, now. He is suspect." 
 
 Mr. Brownker showed his teeth. 
 7
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " That fool is a honey-pot, about whom the flies are 
 gathering to-night." 
 
 Lord Tottenham nodded. 
 
 " I see your full meaning ; trust me to keep them 
 oft him." 
 
 " See you do it, my lord." 
 
 Mr. Brownker was not smiling now. 
 
 Again Lord Tottenham's fingers grasped his 
 sword. " S'death, sir ! Had his Majesty himself said 
 as much in such a tone I had asked his meaning for it." 
 
 " I am his Majesty's mouthpiece here." 
 
 Lord Tottenham made no reply for a moment. 
 Then he said sullenly : 
 
 " In plain words, then, what doth he want of 
 me?" 
 
 " The old story, my lord. A little more faith in 
 his goodwill, a little better attention to his business, 
 a little less complaisance towards his enemies." 
 
 " Enemies ! I speak complaisantly to none." 
 
 " A pardon." Mr. Brownker spoke in his smooth- 
 est tones. " But your lordship cannot deny that you 
 are bosom friend of the Earl of Marlborough." 
 
 Lord Tottenham started now in good earnest. He 
 even so far forgot himself as to grasp his companion's 
 arm. 
 
 " Marlborough ! Jack Churchill ! What hath he 
 done?" 
 
 But Mr. Brownker shook his head, and walked on 
 with a quicker step. 
 
 " Ask questions of his Majesty, my lord, not me. 
 Hark ! there is a church bell ; we shall keep our enter- 
 tainer waiting for his dinner." 
 
 " You are to be a guest, then ? " 
 
 " I received an invitation rather late. But it was 
 welcome." 
 
 8
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Tottenham sighed. 
 
 " My poor lad, my poor lad ! " he muttered. 
 
 " If I had 10,000 a year," Mr. Brownker said 
 pensively, " I should not live in poverty." 
 
 " If Marlborough is out of favour, Hugh will be 
 poorer, in a sense, than his neediest comrade," Lord 
 Tottenham said bitterly. " Jack is Hugh's hero, as he 
 is to every soldier who fights under him. A word 
 against Lord Marlborough, and Hugh would defy the 
 King himself. See here, Brownker, if you value my 
 friendship or regard, guard your tongue in this lad's 
 presence when you speak of Marlborough." 
 
 Mr. Brownker turned away, and Lord Tottenham 
 did not see the expression of his face. 
 
 " I will confess," his lordship went on, " that Hugh 
 is something hot and violent in his ways. He is his 
 father's son." 
 
 Brownker looked up sharply. 
 
 " Mr. Ralf Montgomery, I heard, was killed in a 
 duel." 
 
 " Murdered. He was no hand at fence, and he 
 fought Lord Casterton." 
 
 " Casterton, my master ! That is, I have seen him 
 with foils. Doth this Montgomery fight duels ? " 
 
 He spoke slowly. Lord Tottenham, peering into 
 his face, saw him smile dreamily, as at some pleasant 
 memory or anticipation. 
 
 " I trust not. A good soldier keeps his sword for 
 the King's enemies." 
 
 Brownker sighed gently. 
 
 " His father, so they say, once sent a challenge to 
 King Charles." 
 
 " It caused his death, and another's," was the reply. 
 "You know the story?" 
 
 " I would give much to hear your lordship tell it." 
 
 9
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I will. It may awaken your interest in this lad 
 of mine." 
 
 " That is awake," Mr. Brownker replied gravely. 
 " But I would increase my knowledge through his 
 friends." 
 
 " It all came about by Hugh's mother," Lord Tot- 
 tenham began. " She was reigning toast the Restora- 
 tion year, and Charles pursued her even to her hus- 
 band's house. Ralf, hearing this from her own lips, 
 laid hands upon his Majesty, reckless of consequence, 
 and challenged him. Of course the scandal was 
 hushed up. The King made all amends he could, and 
 ever treated Ralf with marked favour when they met 
 afterward. But naught could heal the wound. The 
 Montgomerys left court and lived quietly in the coun- 
 try, and there Hugh was nurtured. But his father ill- 
 brooked a humdrum life, and used to spend much 
 time in town alone. One day Casterton met him, and 
 to court favour with the King, so he said afterward, 
 taunted Ralf upon the amour with his wife. Ralf laid 
 him by the heels in public and beat him savagely. 
 They fought. I was Ralf's second, and I saw him 
 pinked by that damned villain. God, Brownker, that 
 sight sickened me of duelling forever! Before, I had 
 done my share and a little more. I have done naught 
 since." 
 
 " Nay your lordship doth forget," said Mr. 
 Brownker softly. His eyes were bright now, his face 
 as animated as a fox-hunter's when he sees the hounds 
 break off. " You fought one more, my lord one 
 more." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's teeth closed. 
 
 " I killed Casterton. I could never have faced 
 Ralf's wife again if Casterton had lived." 
 
 " Yet your lordship never married, after all. For- 
 10
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 give me. I do not speak from curiosity, but for a pur- 
 pose, and from knowledge " 
 
 His voice was gentle now and sympathetic, his face 
 grave. Lord Tottenham gave a short laugh. 
 
 " Deuce take you, Brownker ! Where do you get 
 your knowledge ? Yet, since you know something, you 
 shall know all ; though why I do confide to you I can- 
 not tell," and he broke off again. 
 
 " Your lordship's confidence is not misplaced." 
 
 The men looked steadily at each other in the moon- 
 light, and Lord Tottenham nodded. 
 
 " I believe that. I never married, then, because 
 Margaret Montgomery could not forget her husband. 
 She spent her life bringing up that boy Hugh. He 
 was his father's image, and hers and hers! On her 
 deathbed she sent for me, made me his guardian, and 
 gave his life into my charge. As God is my witness, 
 Brownker, that life is dearer than my own dearer 
 than anything I have on earth as dear as if he were 
 indeed my son." 
 
 They were in a broader thoroughfare now, toler- 
 ably lighted ; on the opposite side of the road stood a 
 large well-appointed building. Before its broad stone 
 steps were a throng of coaches and chairs ; round its 
 doors lounged a group of servants in brilliant liveries. 
 It was the St. James's Club-house, Pall Mall, the most 
 fashionable resort of the day. 
 
 By a mutual impulse the men paused, and then 
 Lord Tottenham touched his companion on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 " I have never told this to a man before." 
 
 " My lord, my lips are sealed." 
 
 " Ay, ay. But a confidence deserves a confidence. 
 Now tell me this : What is your real purpose in forcing 
 an acquaintance with my boy? You know, as well as 
 
 2 II
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 I do, that he is simple-hearted, loyal, true. What is 
 in your mind ? " 
 
 Mr. Brownker smiled a smile that was not pleas- 
 ant to see. 
 
 " Your lordship has answered your own question. 
 A gentleman such as you describe is so rare to 
 find in England that I would go to the land's end just to 
 see him. So would his Majesty." 
 
 " Pish ! " cried his lordship. " Tell me more than 
 that " 
 
 " I will, my lord." 
 
 The words were spoken quietly, but something in 
 their tone made Lord Tottenham hold his breath. 
 
 " I have to put some in this place to a test 
 of loyalty. A test that would break the teeth, I do 
 assure you, of half the Privy Council, though not, 
 I think, your lordship's. That is my purpose here 
 to-night." 
 
 " Something has happened." 
 
 Mr. Brownker stifled a yawn, but his eyes were 
 gleaming still. 
 
 " Ay a little thing so common that it is hardly 
 worthy of remark to Englishmen. Another plot 
 against King William's life, my lord, in which a cer- 
 tain member of the Government a noble and a gal- 
 lant earl " 
 
 "You dare!" 
 
 " / know." 
 
 They faced one another, and Lord Tottenham 
 dropped his eyes. 
 
 " Tell me more," he said hoarsely, " tell me all." 
 
 " Not now. We should miss our dinner." And he 
 began to cross the road. 
 
 " But to-night " Lord Tottenham whispered, fol- 
 lowing him. " What shall you do to-night ? " 
 
 12
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " My duty, and best endeavours, my lord, in the 
 service of the King." He had reached the steps, and 
 now handed his coat and hat to a servant, and then, 
 amid the bows of the attendants of the club, entered 
 first.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 A LONG table, well furnished with costly glass and 
 silver, and flanked with tankards of wine; on either 
 side two score of gentlemen preparing for an evening's 
 enjoyment. Some, if the wine proved good enough, 
 to drink until they were unable to lift a glass ; the rest, 
 after partaking as freely as their heads would allow 
 it, to retire to the card-rooms and play hazard until 
 morning. In other words, except for the selectness of 
 the company, it was an ordinary, every-day dinner of 
 the period. 
 
 One person present, however, considered the occa- 
 sion far from being an ordinary one. Hugh Montgom- 
 ery for the first time in his life was about to entertain 
 men of his own rank, and of greater rank than his own, 
 in a manner suitable to their position. Hugh Mont- 
 gomery was, in consequence, extremely nervous. For 
 the first time he was clad in a resplendent suit, made 
 by the best tailor in town ; for the first time he mixed 
 as an equal with men of the first fashion in the land. 
 It might be that their motives for accepting his invita- 
 tion were mixed, and that for the most part the ex- 
 quisites of the English aristocracy who honoured 
 Hugh Montgomery's board to-night, came to see how 
 this translated subaltern of a line regiment comport- 
 ed himself under the weight of his new fortunes. But 
 they came; and Hugh, blissfully unconscious of their 
 motives, was happy. 
 
 14
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 In the seventeenth century such a rise in life as 
 this attracted much more attention than it would do 
 now, perhaps because there were fewer people who 
 had 10,000 a year. The diurnals were full of 
 it, as Lord Tottenham had said, and sketched the 
 fortunate man's career with the customary journalistic 
 embellishments to such purpose that Hugh, waking 
 one day to find himself rich, woke the next to find him- 
 self famous. As an item of society gossip for at least 
 a week, his affairs put the execution of a notorious 
 highwayman into the shade and ran the latest court 
 scandal close. 
 
 What could an ambitious young man want more? 
 Not Hugh Montgomery, though as yet he knew noth- 
 ing of court scandals. He was in perfect health, and 
 he had an easy conscience. Hard work, and harder 
 discipline, had braced, not broken, his strength and 
 spirits. He had not an enemy that he knew of, and 
 had many warm friends. The world was before him, 
 smiling pleasantly. 
 
 Hugh had only one anxiety : that this, his first 
 public entertainment, should be an unqualified suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Lord Tottenham and Mr. Brownker were the last 
 guests to arrive, but a vacant place on Hugh's right 
 hand had been reserved for my lord, and. when Mr. 
 Brownker was introduced as his lordship's friend 
 Lord Tottenham had his reasons for making this state- 
 ment room was made for that gentleman close by. 
 Opposite to the earl, on Hugh's left, was the colonel 
 of his old regiment, and Lord Tottenham noticed with 
 secret amusement that other officers in the Fusiliers, 
 though in some instances of very humble rank, took 
 precedence at their comrade's table of men of rank and 
 fashion. 
 
 IS
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " He forgets not his old friends," he whispered to 
 Mr. Brownker. 
 
 " He forgets his own interests," was the rejoinder. 
 " A fig for his old friends ! " 
 
 The words were spoken under cover of the noise 
 occasioned by the beginning of dinner. It was one 
 of the best dinners ever served at the St. James's, 
 and was done ample justice to ; but there were two men 
 present who scarcely knew what they were eating. 
 Mr. Brownker was keenly studying the face of his 
 host, his eyes following every movement of the man; 
 while Lord Tottenham, though talking and laughing 
 with the rest, closely studied Mr. Brownker. 
 
 As for Hugh Montgomery, he was as unconscious 
 of this by-play as a frolicsome young spring-bok 
 stalked by his first lion. His initial nervousness was 
 over; his heart was warmed with good wine; and he 
 was brimming over with the milk of human kindness. 
 His nature held little pride and no fear, and he took 
 men as he found them mostly at the value they chose 
 to set upon themselves. Consequently he was popular. 
 Moreover, he greeted all alike, and was as simple and 
 as natural in his treatment of the stiffest and most ex- 
 clusive man of fashion as of one of his fellow sub- 
 alterns. 
 
 Mr. Brownker caught Lord Tottenham's eye. " A 
 pity," he whispered, " that the manners of the camp 
 are so manifest. Watch the faces round. All the gilt 
 upon this pill will hardly serve to get it down." 
 
 " Yet it goes down," my lord replied, as a burst of 
 laughter broke out about him at some droll story the 
 host told against himself. " I have not heard my Lord 
 Haliburton shake his sides so heartily these five years 
 past. But, Lord save us," he exclaimed, " what is the 
 boy doing now ? " 
 
 16
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 It was indeed a startling sight. Lord Haliburton, 
 a powdered, rouged old beau of the last generation, 
 had choked violently in his merriment, upon which 
 Hugh, oblivious of his rank and age, had administered 
 to him a vigorous blow on the back, and nearly 
 knocked all the remaining breath out of the old gentle- 
 man's body. The incident caused a louder roar of 
 laughter than the story, and his lordship became pur- 
 ple in the face, upon which Hugh, in sincere contri- 
 tion, humbly apologized. 
 
 There is always something attractive in a young- 
 ster in full strength of manhood earnestly blaming 
 his own vigour, and in this instance Lord Hali- 
 burton, to every one's surprise, recovered his tem- 
 per at once, and even made a feeble joke himself, at 
 which Hugh laughed with all his might. After this 
 the flow of mirth and good-fellowship became stronger 
 than ever. The dinner promised to be a remarkable 
 success. 
 
 Now Hugh, flushed with the pride of appreciated 
 hospitality, rose with a bumper of wine. 
 
 " A toast, gentlemen all. The King ! God bless 
 him!" 
 
 A sudden silence fell upon the table. Faces clouded 
 over, laughter died away. Only the soldiers present 
 honoured the toast with alacrity and decent warmth. 
 The rest, except Lord Tottenham and Mr. Brownker, 
 made a very cold response, while some even muttered 
 a name which was certainly not William. 
 
 Hugh, startled and greatly discomfited, had just re- 
 sumed his seat, when Mr. Brownker addressed him in 
 tones that were heard all over the room. 
 
 " You will note, sir, that some of your friends have 
 mistaken the meaning of your toast unless I have 
 mistaken it myself." 
 
 17
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "Mistake!" Hugh answered sharply. "There 
 could be no mistake. I said the King." 
 
 " In the best society, sir, it is customary to say 
 which King." 
 
 Mr. Brownker spoke blandly, but with a studied 
 superiority that cut Hugh to the quick. He hastily 
 filled another glass to the brim, and held it high. 
 
 " The King! If any gentleman disputes the title 
 of his Majesty, King William, my sword is at his 
 service ay, even though he is my guest." And toss- 
 ing off the wine at a draught, he gave Mr. Brownker 
 an aggressive nod, which to his surprise was greeted 
 by the rest of the company with a peal of laughter. 
 Mr. Brownker moved not a muscle. 
 
 " Your sword, sir," he replied, " will not, in this 
 company, rust for want of use." 
 
 Hugh flushed crimson, and his hands twitched. 
 
 " These gentlemen are my father's friends and 
 mine, and are not to be insulted at my table." 
 
 There was another laugh, in which Mr. Brownker 
 joined ; but Lord Tottenham's deep voice chimed in at 
 the moment, asserting that Mr. Montgomery was 
 right, evoking an immediate response from the sol- 
 diers. In the midst of this Hugh sat down, and with 
 an effort, turning away from Mr. Brownker, began to 
 talk to his colonel. But his joy of the evening had de- 
 parted. A shadow had come between him and his 
 friends, or those who might have become his friends 
 a shadow no effort of his could drive away. 
 
 Hugh had joined the army soon after the corona- 
 tion of William and Mary. He was little more than 
 a boy at the time, and had been brought up far from 
 any centre of social or political life. His only com- 
 panion was his mother, a devout hater of the Stuarts, 
 and, moreover, the daughter of a man who had been 
 
 18
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 a close friend of Cromwell's. Once in the army, cus- 
 tom and discipline, and the fact that William was not 
 unpopular, made loyalty easy and natural. Hugh, 
 therefore, the army having been the only world he 
 knew, was utterly ignorant of Jacobitism. Nor was 
 he as yet acquainted with the names of men most 
 influential in politics beyond the well-known noble- 
 men of mark. But Hugh was not wanting in per- 
 ception or the faculty of learning from experience, 
 and seeing that he had made himself absurd by 
 suspecting Mr. Brownker to be of Jacobite ten- 
 dencies, and had stirred up a hornet's nest by his 
 challenge for King William, he wisely endeavoured 
 to divert the thoughts of his guests into safer chan- 
 nels, and turned his back resolutely upon an inhospi- 
 table desire to pick a quarrel with this very disagree- 
 able stranger. 
 
 Meanwhile Lord Tottenham had plucked Mr. 
 Brownker by the sleeve. 
 
 " I spoke truth. He is loyal to the bone." 
 
 Mr. Brownker's only reply was a significant lift 
 of the eyebrows, and after a short interval he addressed 
 Hugh again. 
 
 " I ask your pardon," he said in the tone of one 
 conferring a favour upon an inferior, " if I seemed 
 to cast a doubt upon your principles. But these are 
 times you will grasp my meaning before long when 
 a man is like to be suspicious of his brother. Will you 
 drink this toast with me ? " He raised his glass, and 
 the ghost of a sardonic smile curved about his loose 
 lips and deepened the lines of his hard face. " Confu- 
 sion to all who, having sworn allegiance to King Wil- 
 liam, yet correspond in writing, and by word of mouth, 
 with the agents of King James ! " 
 
 " On that," Hugh answered, " I take you willingly. 
 19
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Death and confusion to all traitors in the land, be they 
 whom they may ! " 
 
 Their glasses clinked, and the soldiers rapped the 
 table with their knuckles ; but from other parts of the 
 table came a murmur of disgust. Several even pushed 
 back their chairs as if about to leave. 
 
 Mr. Brownker looked slowly round, and his smile 
 deepened and widened. He had, certainly, exceedingly 
 prominent front teeth. 
 
 " What ! Am I breaking up the good company ? 
 Yet, if it teaches Mr. Montgomery to be wiser and 
 more prudent in his choice of friends, it is well 
 worth it." 
 
 At these words Hugh started to his feet, expecting 
 to see violent hands laid upon the speaker for his in- 
 sulting words. But no one moved or spoke. Some 
 strange awe of this pale, slight man with his gleam- 
 ing eyes and ugly mouth seemed to hold them spell- 
 bound. Hugh turned on him, blazing with indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 " Sir, you have said enough. The politics of these 
 gentlemen are not your business. Yet I thank you for 
 one lesson you have taught me. I should be wiser, 
 you have said, and more prudent in my choice of 
 guests. Truly, I will remember this when next it is 
 suggested that I invite you to my table." 
 
 A murmur of amazement greeted these ominous 
 words, and Hugh's colonel, a gray-haired veteran, 
 caught him by the arm. 
 
 " Fool ! You speak to the King's agent," he whis- 
 pered. " Apologize before it is too late." 
 
 But Hugh's blood was up. 
 
 " At my table," he said aloud, " not the King him- 
 self should insult my company, and still remain a 
 guest." 
 
 20
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Applause followed these words, though men began 
 to hold their breath for what was to follow, and a 
 dead silence fell upon them all when Mr. Brownker 
 opened his lips to reply. He bowed to Hugh, vacated 
 his chair, and placed it against the table. 
 
 " There is only one thing for me to say," he was 
 beginning, when Lord Tottenham started up, and 
 brought a heavy hand down upon his shoulder. 
 
 " Let me speak first. S'death, gentlemen all, rouse 
 up and stop this quarrel. A curse upon you both! 
 Flying at each other's throats, and with no more rea- 
 son than two dogs ! What is it all about ? Nothing. 
 Hugh, this gentleman represents his Majesty, and so 
 has a right to be jealous for his master. Brownker " 
 here his lordship lowered his voice " what devil 
 possesses you to-night ? " 
 
 But the earl's protest fell on deaf ears. Hugh 
 only shrugged his shoulders, while Mr. Brownker 
 quietly disengaged himself from the restraining hand. 
 
 " I was about to say," he remarked, " that Mr. 
 Montgomery cannot face both ways. His devotion to 
 the King is but skin deep while he consorts with men 
 who will not drink his health. I will tender this ad- 
 vice " 
 
 Hugh burst into an insulting laugh. 
 
 " Who gave you authority to tender me advice ? " 
 
 Mr. Brownker smiled amiably. 
 
 " My report to the King must be, then, that Mr. 
 Hugh Montgomery prefers traitors to his Majesty's 
 good name." 
 
 " Your report will be a lie." 
 
 At this fatal word, Mr. Brownker slightly changed 
 his position and laid a hand on his sword, while Hugh, 
 casting to one side a chair that was in his way, ad- 
 vanced upon him. But before either could draw his 
 
 21
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 weapon, Lord Tottenham had thrust himself between 
 them. 
 
 " This must not be," he said between his teeth, his 
 face white and rigid. " Hugh, you have forgot that 
 this gentleman is still your guest. Mr. Brownker, if 
 you draw, I will hand you over to an officer of law." 
 
 Mr. Brownker gave a low laugh. " How con- 
 siderate and courteous! But your lordship leaves me 
 no choice. Since this young gentleman cannot defend 
 himself " 
 
 Lord Tottenham gnashed Ms teeth. 
 
 " Damn you, be silent ! This is all your doing. 
 You set a trap, baited it, spurred him into it, and now 
 but I will foil you. Fight if you will, but by God, 
 you shall fight me ! " And seizing a glass of wine, he 
 tried to throw its contents into Brownker's smiling face. 
 The earl had counted, however, without Hugh Mont- 
 gomery. His hand was caught as he raised it, and the 
 glass dashed in fragments on the floor. There was 
 then a sharp struggle between them, for Lord Totten- 
 ham was beside himself with passion ; but the strength 
 of the young man conquered, and Hugh, gently but 
 firmly thrusting his guardian aside, stood foot to foot 
 with Brownker. Yet short as the struggle was, it so- 
 bered Hugh, as the controlling of another's rage will 
 often do. 
 
 " Your pardon, my lord," he said very quietly, " but 
 this is my affair." Then to Mr. Brownker : " His lord- 
 ship was just in his reproof. You are my guest; I 
 crave your pardon." 
 
 Mr. Brownker's bitter smile vanished. 
 
 " It is granted," he said curtly, and Lord Totten- 
 ham drew a long breath of relief. 
 
 " You will be friends," he cried, catching up a 
 decanter, " and drown all in a bumper." 
 
 22
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 But Mr. Brownker did not move. 
 
 " So frank an apology," he said, " demands ac- 
 knowledgment in kind. But I will intrude no fur- 
 ther on Mr. Montgomery's hospitality." 
 
 " And I, my lord," Hugh said, looking Mr. Brown- 
 ker steadily in the eyes, " hold myself at Mr. Brown- 
 ker's service, if he doth desire to meet me." 
 
 " He does not desire it," interposed the earl quickly. 
 He had recovered his self-control, though his face was 
 anxious. " He cannot, for he is one who holds a place 
 of great responsibility, and for every act is person- 
 ally answerable to his Majesty the King." 
 
 Mr. Brownker smiled without bitterness. 
 
 " Your lordship strikes heavily and home ; but you 
 remind me of a thing I had forgotten. Gentlemen," he 
 turned from Hugh, and leaning on the table looked 
 from face to face, " before I leave your presence, I 
 have some news concerning a nobleman well known to 
 every one." 
 
 He paused, and the room was still as death. 
 
 "The King has been pleased to-day to dismiss the 
 Earl of Marlborough from all his offices." 
 
 The sensation caused by this announcement was 
 profound. Consternation spread from face to face. 
 The soldiers groaned aloud, and Hugh swore a round, 
 full-flavoured military oath. 
 
 " His Majesty hath thrown away the services of the 
 greatest man in England." 
 
 Mr. Brownker turned upon him swiftly. 
 
 " You are, then, well acquainted with the earl? " 
 
 There was a keen inquiry in his tone, which struck 
 Hugh and Lord Tottenham at the same moment. 
 Hugh forgot it afterward, but the earl did not for- 
 get. 
 
 " I have served under Lord Marlborough, and if I 
 23
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 live a week I hope to pay my respects to him and to his 
 lady," Hugh answered proudly. " He is a noble gen- 
 tleman." 
 
 The old mocking smile played about Mr. Brown- 
 ker's lips. 
 
 " You would rather serve him than the King." 
 
 " I would serve him as he would serve King Wil- 
 liam to the death." 
 
 Mr. Brownker showed his teeth. 
 
 " But my Lord Marlborough has been openly ac- 
 cused of treason." 
 
 "Who says that?" 
 
 Hugh's face had become colourless and hard. His 
 chest heaved slowly, as if he were in pain. Mr. 
 Brownker laughed. 
 
 " Ask my Lord of Tottenham." 
 
 "Who says that?" 
 
 The words came like an echo in a low strained 
 voice. 
 
 " I say it," Mr. Brownker answered in a quiet, 
 e-"en tone, watching Hugh as a lion tamer watches a 
 troublesome pupil. Then he stepped quickly aside, 
 but it was too late. Hugh had leaped upon him and 
 struck him a blow upon the chest that dashed him 
 backward on the floor. 
 
 "You liar!" 
 
 There was a gasp of amazement, and then, while 
 half a dozen men sprang forward to help Mr. Brown- 
 ker to his feet, Lord Tottenham and some of the sol- 
 diers threw themselves on Hugh. Their attentions 
 were superfluous. Mr. Brownker rose without assist- 
 ance as lightly as he fell, while Hugh stood quite still 
 and waited. He had not to wait long. 
 
 " Accept my compliments," Mr. Brownker said 
 with cold politeness, delicately dusting his coat with a 
 
 24
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 silk handkerchief, " you have disposed of all impedi- 
 ments. We will arrange now." 
 
 " I am your servant, sir," Hugh said in the same 
 tone. " My lord " he turned to Lord Tottenham with 
 a frank, boyish smile " once you stood my father's 
 friend. Now you will stand mine ? " 
 
 " Great God," exclaimed the earl shuddering, 
 "that it should come to this! But I do it," he said 
 abruptly. " May the Lord help you, boy ! " 
 
 " Amen," said Mr. Brownker ; and Lord Totten- 
 ham was not the only man who shuddered at the quiet 
 assurance of his tone. 
 
 " The weapons ! " he added. " Your choice." 
 
 " Small swords, of course," cried Lord Tottenham 
 before Hugh could speak. 
 
 " Your lordship's pardon," Hugh interrupted cool- 
 ly. "Foils." 
 
 Mr. Brownker smiled grimly, while Lord Totten- 
 ham groaned, and striding to the table tossed off a 
 glass of wine. His hand was shaking; his forehead 
 clammy with perspiration. He dashed down the glass 
 and broke it. 
 
 " So help me God," he cried, " I will not stand by 
 again to see a murder done ! It must be small swords." 
 
 But the young men, who had drawn aside from the 
 rest and were talking in whispers, paid no attention 
 to him, and the colonel, to whom he now appealed, 
 shook his head. " Let be, my lord," he said sadly, 
 " no small sword would draw blood enough to wash 
 that insult out." 
 
 Meanwhile Hugh and Mr. Brownker completed 
 their arrangements. 
 
 " I would sooner it had been to-morrow," Hugh 
 said politely, " but your time is mine." 
 
 " I have business to-morrow " Mr. Brownker 
 25
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 coughed " business which I may not neglect. Let us 
 say, the fields near Hampstead at dawn on the next 
 day. 
 
 Hugh nodded, then moved back to the table and 
 took up a decanter of wine. He was smiling into Mr. 
 Brownker's eyes. 
 
 " Drink with me," he said quickly. " All is done 
 now, and and perhaps my blow was harder than I 
 did intend." 
 
 Mr. Brownker smiled back, and bowed acceptance. 
 Then before the astonished company they pledged each 
 other. 
 
 " Good fortune and a long life to you ! " Mr. 
 Brownker said. The glasses touched. 
 
 " To both of us ! " Hugh cried impulsively, and 
 laughed. 
 
 " Nay," said the other very quietly, with a most 
 courtly bow, " it cannot be to both." 
 
 Then he wiped his lips slowly with a handkerchief. 
 " Sir, your servant. My Lord Tottenham, your hum- 
 ble servant. Gentlemen, a good evening to you all." 
 
 In this way, and with an elaborate salute, Mr. 
 Brownker took his leave, his manner, face, and 
 bearing expressing the serene content of a man who 
 has accomplished in a manner entirely satisfactory 
 some very profitable stroke of business for himself. 
 
 26
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 AT Mr. Brownker's departure Hugh Montgom- 
 ery's company rapidly melted away. They went with 
 many and various excuses, all of which Hugh received 
 with a bad grace, comparing himself to a sinking ship 
 deserted by the rats. He was unjust. These guests, 
 Jacobites, as Mr. Brownker had told Lord Tottenham, 
 almost to a man, would have overwhelmed him with 
 professions of friendship the moment the King's agent 
 turned his back had they not perceived that the quarrel 
 was personal, not political. The younger men, it was 
 true, were fired with enthusiasm at the courage of a 
 raw young soldier, who could so recklessly insult one 
 who was reputed to be the deadliest duellist in Eng- 
 land; but so engrossed were they all by more impor- 
 tant matters nearer home that even this interesting 
 event received but a passing thought. 
 
 Marlborough was down! Marlborough, the mov- 
 ing spirit of the army ; the only soldier for the Protest- 
 ant cause who had never been defeated by the French ; 
 the man William had created earl, groom of the bed- 
 chamber, privy councillor, and whom he consulted 
 confidentially in military affairs. Marlborough was 
 stripped without warning of all his offices, and dis- 
 missed from court in disgrace. It was a thunderbolt. 
 What had happened? Above all, what would happen 
 next? These were the thoughts which engrossed the 
 minds of Hugh's fashionable guests to the exclusion of 
 3 27
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 all others, and sent them hurrying homeward in chairs, 
 coaches, and afoot, in a state of sobriety and decorum 
 which filled the club waiters with astonishment and 
 disgust. 
 
 Hugh, left with Lord Tottenham and the officers of 
 the Fusiliers, suggested that they should make a night 
 of it, and drink confusion to all the King's enemies, and 
 their own, in bumpers. He was flushed and excited, 
 as young men are when they have put down their last 
 stake in the game of life and death. He was not afraid, 
 but he knew the risk he ran, and life was sweet. 
 
 The soldiers, however, tried friends and true, shook 
 their heads, and went their way. Rest by night and 
 hard exercise by day these were the needful prelimi- 
 naries for Hugh to the meeting in the Hampstead 
 fields. 
 
 Lord Tottenham knew this well; and the soldiers 
 having departed, he carried Hugh off to his own house, 
 Tottenham Place, standing near the present site of 
 Berkeley Square. Hugh himself had a bachelor estab- 
 lishment in Westminster, pending the purchase of an 
 estate in the country, which, up to this evening, had 
 been his chief interest in life. 
 
 Tottenham Place was a huge establishment, but 
 there was only one really interesting room in it. This 
 room, the library, its owner had made his home until 
 it had become a very part of him, and a faithful reflec- 
 tion of his personality. In this room, walled about 
 with books he never read and which were mouldering 
 to decay, his lordship ate and drank, transacted busi- 
 ness, and entertained his friends and his enemies. 
 There, deep in the oaken panelling, lay embedded the 
 end of a broken foil with which a Jacobite spy had 
 treacherously drawn upon him, thrust at his heart, and 
 missed. 
 
 28
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Tottenham would never allow the steel to be 
 removed. He said it was a refreshment, now that he 
 was getting gouty, to see before him a proof that 
 he had been active once. The sequel of the story he 
 refused to talk about. When pressed haro 7 by a friend, 
 he would take a pinch of snuff and kick aside 
 a rug at the other end of the room. The floor was 
 polished oak, but at this place there was a long black 
 stain. 
 
 " He fought well," my lord would say, then he 
 kicked the rug back, and changed the subject. 
 
 Throughout the room were trophies of the chase, 
 specimens of British fauna, stuffed with my lord's own 
 hands, such as in these days though sportsmen see, 
 they never catch. A monstrous pike, a white otter, a 
 grinning wild-cat, almost leopard size, a perch weigh- 
 ing above five pounds. In the corners of the room were 
 fishing-rods and guns, all neatly placed in racks more 
 of his lordship's handiwork. Over the great fire-place 
 hunting whips, a pair of foils in good condition, and 
 beneath, portraits of the Tottenham racing stud, the 
 finest in the country. 
 
 As a centre-piece this night, completing the pic- 
 ture and bringing all its various features into harmony, 
 was my lord himself, sitting in his great arm-chair, 
 mixing for a night-cap a special and particular brew 
 of brandy punch. The Earl of Tottenham was as fine 
 an example of the English nobleman of the period as 
 one might find in a day's march. Broad in the shoul- 
 ders and deep in the chest, with brawny hands, and 
 limbs a lad of twenty might have envied, they were 
 so straight and muscular. He carried himself well, 
 and, despite his fifty years and increasing weight, was 
 in hard condition. His face was not refined. The 
 jaw was too square, the lips too full. But it was the 
 
 29
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 'face of a good sportsman, keen, shrewd, firm a man 
 of quick perception, strong will, and courage; a bad 
 enemy, and a good friend. 
 
 The water in the kettle boiled, and Lord Totten- 
 ham was very busy for a few minutes, watched by 
 Hugh with respectful interest; for the art of making 
 really good punch was a coveted one, and Lord Tot- 
 tenham's brew was famous. The business done, my 
 lord critically sipped his mixture, and while Hugh 
 praised it, reached out a long arm for a pipe hanging 
 on the wall. 
 
 " The first time we have spent an evening together, 
 lad, since the old man died." 
 
 " I should have been here before," Hugh answered 
 hastily, but I but there have been so many engage- 
 ments " 
 
 "Pshaw!" ejaculated his lordship. "Of course 
 there are engagements. An't you young and I old? 
 You have the new plays to see, and the cards, and the 
 pretty women. Hey, what! Frowning! Ho, ho, ho! 
 spoil not your manhood by a frown. 'Fore gad, 
 you are your father's son, lad ! And your father was 
 well he was my friend and Jack Churchill's I mean 
 Marlborough's in the blessed Restoration days. Ho, 
 ho, ho ! " and his lordship laughed until he choked him- 
 self. 
 
 Hugh flushed to the roots of his hair, and did not 
 laugh. He was of a fair complexion a great tribula- 
 tion to him and had curly hair a worse misfortune 
 still, in his eyes that grew long enough to reach his 
 shoulders. He wore it naturally, without powder or 
 peruke. His eyes, set wide apart, were blue as a sum- 
 mer sky, and though soldiering had roughened his 
 cheek, tightened his lips, and straightened his jaw, and 
 from a height of six feet two inches he could survey 
 
 30
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 the world from a distinctly independent standpoint, 
 he looked very young and fresh. He spoke now. 
 with a curious abruptness. "You said once, my lord, 
 that I was my mother's son." 
 
 Lord Tottenham became closely interested in his 
 pipe. " You have not forgot your mother," he said 
 softly. Hugh gave a bitter laugh. 
 
 " When I do, my lord, I shall be worse than any, 
 of my ancestors." 
 
 Lord Tottenham glanced keenly up. Hugh was 
 still flushed, but his teeth were set now and he was 
 looking grimly into the fire. There was no lack of 
 strength about the face, but Lord Tottenham thought 
 it very, very young. 
 
 " Your father was a brave and generous man, my 
 boy." 
 
 " He left my mother " and Hugh looked grimmer 
 still " while he spent her money and his own in town. 
 Because of her poverty she slowly killed herself with 
 work the hardest work. I judge him not, nor any 
 other man, but the truth's the truth." 
 
 Lord Tottenham sighed. 
 
 " And 'twas I who told you, when first you joined 
 the army. I thought that you should know it for her 
 sake. But maybe I was wrong. Poor Ralf ! " 
 
 " I have thanked you on my knees," Hugh cried 
 earnestly. " It has held me back from from doing 
 things time and again. But it is just this makes me 
 grudge that you should think I had followed his ex- 
 ample." 
 
 Lord Tottenham grunted disapprovingly. He had 
 lit his pipe, and was now in that condition of repose- 
 fulness which good tobacco produces in all well-regu- 
 lated minds and bodies ; and he resented Hugh's stren- 
 uousness, as an elderly tom-cat, who has seen the 
 
 31
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 world, resents the simplicity of some young puppy 
 that he has taken under his protection. 
 
 " Pish ! " he growled. " Are you a Puritan, then ! 
 I smell you I smell you. A rank one, too. But cheer 
 up ; your time will come. 'Sh ! don't draw on me ! 
 You are, at present, all too innocent to be alive, and 
 I must change the subject, or I'll quarrel with you. I 
 detest all Puritans, and ever did, and ever will." 
 
 " Yet my mother was one, and you were her best 
 friend, my lord," said Hugh smiling. " And to me 
 you have been a guardian so vigilant and wise that 
 in the service I have lived on less than any other 
 officer." 
 
 Lord Tottenham groaned deeply. " I have often 
 grieved over that, and pictured how your ears would 
 grow longer year by year, your eyes turn up, and 
 your lips turn down. I would have lost a limb if I 
 could have withheld the promise to your mother to 
 preach morality to you. But she beseeched me on her 
 death-bed, so I gave my tongue a twist and sent ye 
 pious counsel. God forgive me! And now, on my 
 own hearthstone, you stand in judgment over me. 
 Well-a-day, well-a-day! Yet methinks there will be 
 no lack of spending now, eh ? Tell me you can spend, 
 and set my mind at rest." 
 
 Hugh looked a trifle foolish. 
 
 " There is little left, I fear, of the hundred pounds 
 I had three days ago. The stakes were high, and my 
 luck was bad last night." 
 
 " A hundred in three days ! " purred his lordship 
 complacently. " Then there is hope ! Blood tells 
 blood always tells. You are a Montgomery, and if 
 you weren't, let me tell ye, your mother's father was 
 no crop-ear. Many a good bottle of wine had he, they 
 say, with his friend, old Noll, for black-hearted regi- 
 
 32
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 cide as Cromwell was, he was no puling water-drinker. 
 And now, there will be no lack of wine for you, nor of 
 play, nor of of devil take it, lad, of all else that 
 makes life joyous, and turns a boy into a man. Tell 
 me this, now ; you do not hate women, do ye ? I have 
 heard there are such men, though, thank my stars, I've 
 never hit on 'em." 
 
 Hugh burst out laughing, and held up his glass. 
 
 " The health of all the women in the world. If 
 you knew how I have bewailed my poverty when the 
 rest were off to foot it at a ball, and I had to stay be- 
 hind because I was too poor ! But that's over, thanks 
 to Uncle Dan. Women! You'll see, my lord. The 
 estate I intend buying is for one now ; but if there's a 
 maid in England that comes up to my ideal, it will be 
 for two, within a year. But I have seen none yet, so 
 this is foolish talk." 
 
 " Foolish ! " cried his lordship with a disgusted face. 
 " Most accursed foolish. You marry ! Gad ! Talk of 
 marriage five years hence, when the world, and the 
 men ay, and women mark ye that, boy women 
 have given you some taste and judgment about things, 
 and have driven wisdom into your rattle-pate. Marry ! 
 Heaven forbid! But now, a truce to nonsense. On 
 the morning after to-morrow you are to fight Karl 
 Brownker. How many men have you fought already, 
 and whom ? " 
 
 Lord Tottenham's voice was now sharp, curt, and 
 business-like. Hugh shrugged his shoulders care- 
 lessly. 
 
 " This is my first with foils." 
 
 Lord Tottenham dropped his pipe a very pre- 
 cious, deeply-coloured clay and deliberately stamped 
 it into powder. Then he swore a most improper oath, 
 twice. Then he lay back in his chair, and gasped out : 
 
 33
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " And you meet Brownker. Boy, you're as good 
 as dead as good as dead." 
 
 Hugh coolly stirred his toddy. 
 
 " That is as it may be. That man dared to slander 
 Marlborough. I could do naught else, and if God 
 wills it " 
 
 " God ! " interrupted the earl, " God hath not much 
 to do with duels, boy; nor, I fear, with Jack Marl- 
 borough. Pish ! don't look at me like that. I say you 
 were in the wrong to-night. What Marlborough can 
 have done, the Lord knows ; but Brownker is an officer 
 of the King's household, and was within his rights. 
 None but a madman would have drawn him on to 
 blood." 
 
 " Your lordship did give me an example," Hugh 
 said demurely. 
 
 " I ? Drat you ! That was another matter. And 
 two fools don't make a wise man, younker, any more 
 than a smooth-spoken, pretty-faced, double-edged 
 courtier, like my old friend Jack Churchill, makes a 
 hero. Mark that ! " 
 
 Hugh crimsoned all over. 
 
 " I pray you, leave my general alone, my lord. I 
 will not hear him so miscalled, even by you." 
 
 " Hoity, toity," cried his lordship. " What? Touch 
 not the Lord's anointed ! Let me tell you, boy, I have 
 known this noble person thirty odd years " 
 
 " Your lordship has never served under him." 
 
 " No, praised be the Lord, else I had been insubor- 
 dinate a dozen times a week. Hugh, your freshness is 
 amazing, and on my soul, doth begin to pall. Marl- 
 borough hath qualities ; oh, he hath qualities. I will 
 give Jack his due. Did we not fish and hunt together 
 as boys, and make love together, too, long years ago ! 
 Why, there was a day when Mistress Sarah Jennings 
 
 34
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 and myself But no more of that. In short, we have 
 been intimates near all our lives, and are so still. I 
 love Jack. I can't help loving him. But I know him. 
 Ton my word, you will tell me next I do not know 
 myself." 
 
 Lord Tottenham spoke with heat, and a convincing 
 emphasis, but if he thought to impress Hugh he was 
 far out of his reckoning. The young soldier only 
 waited with ill-concealed impatience until his lordship 
 had finished. 
 
 " Lord Marlborough, my lord," he exclaimed, " I 
 do assure you, I think the greatest man alive. At 
 Walcourt, through the indulgence of my colonel, I 
 was on staff duty, and was near him more than once. 
 It was a stiff engagement, the result long doubtful. 
 Our officers were distraught, the Prince of Waldeck in 
 despair. But Marlborough, when defeat seemed cer- 
 tain, when the foot were driven back, the guns silenced, 
 and the town like to be taken by assault, sat his horse 
 as serenely as if victory were sure. He was like 
 one waiting for a word from heaven. Of a sudden he 
 spoke to the prince and pointed with his finger. The 
 prince nodded, and then Marlborough struck his blow, 
 and, marking the one weak spot in the enemy's bat- 
 talion, led the Life Guards 'gainst their flank. Charge 
 after charge we made. It was no child's play ; but at 
 length the lines were broken ; they fled ; their whole 
 army fell into confusion, and we held the field. The 
 King, they say, gave the prince the credit of it all ; but 
 we know who won that victory. Ay and who beat 
 the Irish at Kinsale and Cork, and whom we'll follow 
 if he were to say the word to the pit itself." 
 
 Lord Tottenham nodded with a grunt. His brow 
 had cleared. Hugh's enthusiasm was not without 
 effect. 
 
 35
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Well, well ; so be it. I am no soldier." Then, 
 rising with a yawn, " To bed, my boy. To-morrow we 
 will go more particularly into this business of the duel. 
 But not to-night." 
 
 They went to Hugh's bed-chamber. As Lord Tot- 
 tenham was about to close the door, Hugh stopped 
 him. 
 
 " I crave a favour of you." 
 
 " And welcome, lad." 
 
 " A week since I wrote to my Lord of Marl- 
 borough, asking permission to pay my respects to him. 
 He replied most kindly, and invited me to ride down 
 to St. Albans six days hence. I have resolved to go 
 to-morrow, as it may be the only opportunity I shall 
 ever have. Would you is it asking too much ? will 
 you ride with me ? " 
 
 Lord Tottenham swore aloud. 
 
 " What ! Zounds ! Ride twenty miles to see this 
 Lord Marlborough? " Then he laughed. " I am jeal- 
 ous, on my oath, as any woman. Yet, we will go. The 
 thought strikes me but that is my business we will 
 go. Now, to sleep with you. They shall call ye be- 
 times, before we start. I have some little turns of fence 
 to show you that may be useful. Good-night; sleep 
 sound, my boy." 
 
 He retreated hastily to cut short Hugh's thanks, 
 then walked very slowly to his own chamber, set his 
 candle down, and paced the room. 
 
 " Marlborough," he said to himself. " Jack Marl- 
 borough. Hugh hath writ to him, and Marlborough 
 writes back, and Brownker said what did Brownker 
 say?" He shook his head. " I can't remember, but I 
 know that when he found Hugh was like to go to 
 Marlborough's house he hardened down and brought 
 the quarrel to a head. It is clear Marlborough is the 
 
 36
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 magnet that draws that Brownker and Hugh to death" 
 gripe. They fight on Marlborough. And if Jack knew 
 it! Gad! there is hope. Jack loves not duels. He 
 shall be told. He shall prevent it. At least the chance 
 is worth a ride. So that is settled." 
 
 His lordship yawned and undressed. By the time 
 he was in bed, a reaction had set in. 
 
 " Is it worth it ? I had forgot she will be there. 
 Yet I must go now." He sighed heavily and shivered. 
 " The gods grant her temper is in order." 
 
 He closed his eyes, and began to get drowsy. 
 
 " A beauty what a beauty ! But a devil. A good 
 wife, they say, and a true one, yet the Lord be thanked 
 the Lord be thanked it was not I who married 
 Sarah." 
 
 And then he fell asleep. 
 
 37
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THOSE were days when men kept early hours. 
 Breakfast was served by candle-light at six o'clock. 
 By seven, the morning being clear and fine, Lord Tot- 
 tenham and Hugh were at work with the foils on the 
 terrace, and by eight word was brought by a groom 
 that the horses were ready for the St. Albans expe- 
 dition. 
 
 The earl was not sorry. He had been a fencer in 
 his day, and was able to teach Hugh much ; but the on- 
 slaughts of the young soldier were extremely vigor- 
 ous, and his lordship was very tired. 
 
 " Keep your head, lad, and you may get through 
 yet. You have a marvellous reach, and a rare, quick 
 eye." 
 
 " They used to tell me," Hugh said modestly, " that 
 I had a strong arm." 
 
 " Humph ! " growled his lordship, tenderly feeling 
 the muscles of his arm. " That is true. Yet think not 
 to hold your own with Brownker. The most I hope 
 for is that he will be careless, seeing the rudeness of 
 your style, and perchance, even, be scratched first. 
 Then I could stop the fight. Strength! Pish! he is 
 strong enough, and light and nimble as a cat. You 
 are as stiff made as some great mastiff dog." 
 
 This opinion, given with all his lordship's accus- 
 tomed vigour, was not encouraging, and Hugh's face 
 fell. 
 
 38
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 They dressed and took the road. It was bright and 
 frosty, and the horses were thoroughbred. Hugh soon 
 recovered his spirits. Lord Tottenham was in the 
 best of humours. 
 
 " I wonder," he said with a sudden laugh, " how 
 you will please her ladyship. Mightily, I think, until 
 she finds you not as simple as you look." 
 
 He wagged his head and chuckled, as if in antici- 
 pation of mirth to come. 
 
 " Tell me of the countess," said Hugh eagerly. 
 " In the army men said she was the greatest beauty at 
 the court, though past thirty." 
 
 " Hem ! " coughed his lordship gravely, his eyes 
 twinkling. " And what else did they say ? " 
 
 " That she had so great a spirit even the Queen 
 Mary could scarce contradict her, which was why the 
 countess seldom goes to court." 
 
 The earl began to laugh internally, while Hugh 
 went on in all sincerity : 
 
 " A worthy mate she must be, by all accounts, for 
 our great general." 
 
 Lord Tottenham stopped laughing. 
 
 " Egad ! " he cried impatiently, " has the man con- 
 quered Europe then ? " 
 
 " He might if the King " Hugh stopped here, 
 remembering last night. 
 
 " Were of your opinion ? " Lord Tottenham said 
 testily. " Then I will tell you a state secret. His 
 Majesty thinks just the same, and has turned my Lord 
 Maryborough out, fearing lest he might conquer 
 Europe for King James." 
 
 " You don't believe that lie, my lord ? " 
 
 Hugh looked severely into his lordship's face, and 
 Lord Tottenham felt like a prisoner called upon to 
 plead. 
 
 39
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Nay, I do not," he answered grimly. " Because 
 it would not profit Maryborough. He would lose all 
 here, and James is a bad paymaster. If it did profit 
 Jack, well, I do not know. Look not so savage. If 
 you go to draw on all who distrust Marlborough you'll 
 have to fight half England and every man upon the 
 Privy Council, beginning with myself." 
 
 St. Albans was reached in three hours a brisk and 
 bustling town. They trotted through it without pause, 
 up the long hill and along the market-place, leav- 
 ing the abbey on their left, and so onward to the strag- 
 gling hamlet of Sandridge, from which could be seen, 
 embowered in trees, their destination, Hollywell 
 House. 
 
 The road here was little better than a lane; low 
 hedges on either side, dividing it from large fields of 
 cultivated land. To the left the ground rose to some 
 height, topped by a clump of trees. 
 
 Suddenly Lord Tottenham, whose eyes were roving 
 the country round, pulled in with an exclamation. 
 
 " Look ye, lad, on the top of yonder hill. Is not a 
 petticoat there? Tell me. Your eyes are younger 
 than mine." 
 
 " A man and a woman, my lord, are just within the 
 trees." 
 
 Lord Tottenham gave a whoop like a boy. 
 
 " Then there's game afoot. Curse it all, Hugh, if 
 you die to-morrow, you must live to-day. Ask no 
 questions now, but follow me." And, spurring his 
 horse, the earl put him at the hedge, cleared it and gal- 
 loped up the hill. 
 
 Hugh followed, nothing loth, and they rapidly ap- 
 proached the trees. The field was extensive, the 
 ground heavy, and the horses soon began to show signs 
 of distress. Lord Tottenham pulled up. 
 
 40
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 * They have had twenty miles of road. We must 
 get down, and breathe them." 
 
 They dismounted and walked on leisurely. The 
 figures they had seen had disappeared over the brow 
 of the hill, but a brisk breeze was blowing from the 
 trees, and now bore with it the sound of voices. Hugh 
 could not distinguish any words, but Lord Tottenham, 
 as became an old sportsman, had sharper ears. 
 
 " Listen ! " he cried, speaking in an excited whis- 
 per. " What is that ? Something is amiss. By Gad ! 
 this is an adventure. Give me your horse, and get you 
 forward afoot. Hark ! Run, boy, run run run ! " 
 
 A sharp gust had brought words that could not be 
 mistaken, and without reply Hugh threw the reins into 
 his lordship's hand, and dashed madly up the hill. 
 
 " Sir, you are mad ! " cried a voice a woman's 
 voice. " Stand back or I strike." 
 
 " Strike then, pretty one," replied another voice, in 
 a tone that made Hugh clutch his riding-whip with a 
 murderous grip. " For every blow I'll have a dozen 
 kisses. We're alone, my sweet." 
 
 " Back ! The whip is loaded." 
 
 The answer was a low, hoarse laugh. Then came 
 the sound of a blow, a savage curse, and then Hugh 
 reached the brow of the hill. 
 
 Twenty paces off, in a hollow of the ground, was a 
 man with a girl in his arms, whom he held despite 
 her frantic struggles as easily as if she were a baby. A 
 whip lay on the ground, and from the man's forehead 
 oozed a streak of blood. He was a long, gaunt person- 
 age, with a narrow, cadaverous face, sallow and 
 unhealthy, his dress a clergyman's, considerably the 
 worse for wear. 
 
 Neither the man nor his victim perceived Hugh, 
 and the first hint the former received of the presence 
 
 41
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 of a third person was the grip of strong fingers and a 
 swinging blow on the crown from the butt of a heavy 
 riding-stock. The shock of the blow and still more 
 the surprise of the attack caused the ruffian to let the 
 girl go, and stare stupidly at his assailant, who there- 
 upon delivered a second blow, which, descending full 
 upon his mouth, made havoc of lips and teeth. At this 
 he gave a yell like a beast, and throwing forward a 
 pair of long arms, caught Hugh by the throat. 
 
 The whip was useless now, and Hugh stood in 
 danger of his life, for the man had fingers like an ape. 
 They closed about Hugh's throat with a vicelike grip, 
 and had they clinched, he would have been strangled 
 before Lord Tottenham could have reached them. But 
 Hugh coolly met the attack with two blows in the 
 face so straight and heavy that the man's arms 
 dropped, and, reeling back, he stumbled and fell on the 
 ground. 
 
 The force of the blows and the fall cowed him, and 
 he held up his hands for mercy, but no mercy was in 
 Hugh's face. Winding the lash of his whip about the 
 stock, he raised his hand to strike again. Before it 
 could descend, however, a hand caught his arm, and 
 the girl he had rescued had thrust herself between 
 him and his enemy. 
 
 " Hold, I beg you ! Hold, I say ! " 
 
 Hugh stared in blank amazement. He had vaguely 
 thought of this damsel as reposing somewhere on the 
 ground, bathed in hysterical tears. But not at all. 
 Though her face was flushed and quivering, and her 
 hair dishevelled, she was perfectly self-possessed, and 
 now assumed complete control of the situation. 
 
 " I pray you, stay your hand, sir," she said. " You 
 have given him his deserts. Now let him go." 
 
 " Go, madam ! " Hugh panted, trying to put her on 
 42
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 one side without rudeness. " I have only just begun 
 upon him." 
 
 The grasp on his arm tightened. 
 
 " Your pardon, sir," was the peremptory rejoinder. 
 " He is my servant. Mr. Robert Young " glanc- 
 ing over her shoulder at the man " be off, this in- 
 stant, and let me never see your face again. And mark 
 me well, but for your cloth, this gentleman had rightly 
 done his will upon you." 
 
 The person addressed needed no second bidding. 
 Without a word of reply he sprang to his feet and fled 
 down the hill. 
 
 Hugh was excessively angry, and forgot his man- 
 ners. 
 
 " I have a mind to ride him down now," he cried. 
 " He is no parson, but some villain counterfeit. This 
 kindness is an encouragement to crime." 
 
 The girl laughed, a silvery, musical laugh, which, 
 in spite of Hugh's anger, thrilled him strangely. 
 
 " My word, sir, if this is your kindness, what are 
 you like, pray, when one puts you out of countenance? 
 But, indeed indeed think me not ungrateful for 
 your kindness," her face suddenly softening. " I know 
 not how to express my thanks. Yet, of a truth, I 
 could not have the man, be he what he may, killed be- 
 fore my eyes. Why, pardon me, this surely is the Earl 
 of Tottenham." 
 
 His lordship had followed Hugh with extreme de- 
 liberation, and listened with great amusement to the 
 dispute between the young people. Now he doffed his 
 hat with a deep obeisance, as she went towards him 
 with outstretched hand. 
 
 " A greeting, my lord. This is a great surprise, 
 and a most pleasant one." 
 
 " A surprise, Mistress Isabel," he answered with 
 4 43
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 a meaning glance at Hugh, " which you owe unto my 
 friend. Allow me to present him. Mr. Hugh Mont- 
 gomery the Mistress Isabel Fretchville. Mr. Mont- 
 gomery," the earl continued, still looking hard at 
 Hugh, " detected you all the distance from the road, 
 and would not be content till I gave permission to 
 ride over. He is indeed something impetuous, as you 
 may have heard and seen. But truly " his voice 
 deepening " in this instance his over-quickness was 
 a providential thing for you." 
 
 Mistress Isabel blushed rosy red. 
 
 " I am most obliged to your friend, my lord. But," 
 forcing a laugh, " I would that any one I know rather 
 than your lordship had seen me in this plight. I shall 
 now never hear the last of it never ! " 
 
 Lord Tottenham shook his finger at her. " That 
 will depend on your behaviour to me, mistress. At 
 present I am so consumed with envy at this young gen- 
 tleman I hardly know how to be civil to him. Would 
 that my hand, and not his, had been your weapon of 
 defence." 
 
 " A very feeble weapon," Hugh said ruefully. " I 
 had hoped to have broken his back, or my whip 
 upon it." 
 
 " That would have been cruelty," the young lady 
 said. " Besides, my Lord of Tottenham will tell you, 
 sir, when I am out of hearing, that this has served me 
 right. And, indeed, I should not have trusted myself 
 alone with such a man, though he did pretend to be a 
 clergyman. I am forever forgetting," she sighed deep- 
 ly, " that women are so weak." 
 
 " On my oath, then, mistress," cried Lord Totten- 
 ham laughing, " you deserve no consideration in the 
 world." 
 
 They were now strolling slowly towards Hollywell 
 44
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 House. Lord Tottenham had handed the horses over 
 to Hugh, and walked beside the young lady, his 
 hands behind his back, chatting as with an old friend. 
 Hugh wondered much, and deeply, who this damsel 
 could be. Clearly she must be a person of some con- 
 sideration, for the earl, in a score of little ways, gave 
 her that deference which men of his stamp never pay 
 to their inferiors. But who was she and what . . . ? 
 Never in his life had Hugh seen any one quite like 
 Mistress Isabel Fretchville. A gray felt farmer's hat 
 covered a head of wavy black hair, a pair of very bright 
 brown eyes, rosy cheeks, and a mouth and chin 
 as square as a man's. Flung over her shoulders was a 
 rough cape, and beneath it a long, straight overcoat. 
 Her skirts, of thick gray cloth, barely reached her 
 ankles ; and, most curious of all, she wore jack-boots 
 to the knee. She was tall and slim, and might perhaps 
 be handsome in feminine garments, but in this half 
 masculine, and entirely unbecoming, dress she looked 
 extremely strange. 
 
 Lord Tottenham perceived Hugh's bewilderment, 
 and was vastly entertained by it; but presently took 
 compassion on him. 
 
 " It was said in Thatchford, Hugh," he remarked 
 in a pause of his conversation with Isabel, " that in all 
 the country there was not a better husbandman than 
 your mother. You and Mistress Isabel here should be 
 akin. This estate of my Lord Marlborough's could not 
 exist a day without her stewardship." 
 
 He said the last words with a comically wry face. 
 
 " It pleases your lordship to be in a sarcastic mood 
 to-day," Isabel said with spirit. " What is my of- 
 fence?" 
 
 " That you take me not seriously," he answered. 
 "An occupation more becoming and grateful to a 
 
 45
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 woman than your own no man could wish to see at 
 least no man of the stamp of this Reverend Robert 
 Young." 
 
 " You are so cruel, my lord, that I will appeal for 
 succour to Mr. Montgomery. Sir, your opinion on a 
 point. My Lord Tottenham would have women do 
 nothing but work worsteds, nurse little dogs, and be- 
 have for all the world like those dancing dolls men 
 pull with wires. Tell me, do you think that women 
 should be dolls?" 
 
 Hugh did think so, at least it was his creed that 
 women should in all ways be the opposite of men. 
 But this pleading voice for she was in earnest the 
 bright, inquiring eyes, appealing, demanding sympa- 
 thy, were too much for all his principles. 
 
 " Indeed, I would see a woman do all that she has 
 the will and power to do," he said. " And I believe 
 nay, I know " the thought of his mother came to him, 
 and his voice became earnest " there are women that 
 are as strong as and far braver than some men." 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried Isabel joyfully. " My lord, hear 
 you that? Why, sir, if you will believe it, Lord Tot- 
 tenham thinks me a very monster because I earn a liv- 
 ing by hard work, and labour with my brains as well 
 as with my fingers. But if you, though a man, hold 
 your opinion, I can afford to laugh. My lord, this is 
 a glorious victory." 
 
 " Why, yes," he admitted, standing aside to let her 
 pass. They were at the house, and a groom had taken 
 the horses to the stable. " Or rather, I should say, 
 your ladyship hath made a conquest, which is better 
 still." 
 
 Hugh frowned at the words, fearing what was to 
 come. But the young lady only laughed, as if used to 
 these sallies. 
 
 46
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " You shall not pluck away my laurels. Mr. Mont- 
 gomery always speaks the truth, or his face belies him. 
 Wait here, gentlemen, and I will find the countess and 
 my lord." 
 
 She had ushered them into a large and handsome 
 drawing-room overlooking the lawn and the road be- 
 yond, and now left them, whistling merrily as she went 
 along the hall. 
 
 " She is my Lady Sarah's cousin once removed," 
 Lord Tottenham said, answering a question in Hugh's 
 face. " And, by Gad ! as sweet a little piece as you will 
 meet. But I see you know it." 
 
 Hugh tried to look critical. " Her dress is most 
 uncouth," he began. 
 
 " Bah ! " cried his lordship, " what of that? Doth 
 not her face and form shine through? Wait till you 
 see her in an evening gown. She has the arms, neck, 
 and shoulders of a goddess, boy. And she likes you. 
 But, 'pon my oath, you lied most scandalously. You 
 dog, I believe, on my soul I do, that you are a very 
 rake with women. Karl Brownker could not have 
 beaten that one speech." 
 
 Hugh tried to look offended. 
 
 " I said what was partly true," he protested. But 
 Lord Tottenham would not listen. 
 
 " You said what pleased her. Gad ! do not gain- 
 say it. I admire ye for y6ur art. Go on go on. This 
 afternoon you shall visit the estate with her alone. I 
 doubt not she'll let you take her hand. She has no 
 fear of men. I am most pleased at this. A man of 
 your age, if he is cold when a girl smiles on him, 
 should be shot." 
 
 A servant now entered with a tankard of ale and 
 cut short the discussion. He said that my Lord Marl- 
 borough was out a-walking, but my lady would wait 
 
 47
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 upon them presently. He had scarcely departed when 
 they heard the rustle of a skirt, and thought the coun- 
 tess had arrived. It was, however, Mistress Isabel, 
 bearing on her shoulders a blue-eyed, curly-headed 
 youngster, about two years old. Hugh stared at her 
 spell-bound. No longer was she in a man's hat and 
 coat, but as a woman should be most becomingly at- 
 tired in the long, flowing dress of the period a dress, 
 alas, so soon to be eclipsed by hoops, quilted satins, and 
 stiff brocades. She had left them a personage piquant 
 but peculiar, she returned in all the glory and halo of 
 a radiant womanhood. And Mistress Isabel knew it. 
 Demure and well-bred as she appeared, with no trace 
 of consciousness in her manner or her speech, there 
 was a barely repressed sparkle in her brown eyes, and 
 a suspicious dimple round her mouth which spoke vol- 
 umes to Lord Tottenham. She did not look at Hugh, 
 however, or appear to notice him. 
 
 " Charles has come to greet you, my lord. Char- 
 ley, say how d'ye do to the earl." 
 
 But Charley was at the age when the intrusion of 
 strange company upon his presence was an outrage to 
 all his susceptibilities what fond mothers call the 
 " shy age." Instead of holding out his hand, he turned 
 his back on Lord Tottenham, and made inarticulate, 
 but perfectly unmistakable, sounds of an inhospitable 
 and extremely definite dislike. Isabel reproached him, 
 but in vain. Then, all at once, after stealing a furtive 
 glance at both gentlemen, he opened his arms to Hugh 
 with a beaming smile and an emphatic exclamation of 
 " Dadda." 
 
 It was useless for Isabel to assure him that this 
 was a case of mistaken identity. His only reply was 
 to repeat the word with greater emphasis than before ; 
 and Hugh, being highly flattered by the attention, the 
 
 48
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 small Turk was soon planted on his knee, examining 
 with absorbed interest the enormous buttons of his 
 riding-cape. 
 
 " A shameless rascal, on my word," exclaimed 
 Lord Tottenham, keeping a sharp eye upon Isabel's 
 face. " He turns from me to this puppy, who is near 
 as young and foolish as himself, and flies from a lady's 
 arms." 
 
 " The compliment to Mr. Montgomery is marvel- 
 lous," said Isabel, smiling. " I have never before been 
 so deserted." 
 
 At that moment, with one of those sudden impulses 
 common to small children, the boy held out his arms 
 to be taken back again. As Isabel caught him up he 
 nestled his head in her neck, and held out one hand to 
 grasp Hugh's, saying with infantile unction and com- 
 placency : 
 
 " Dad, dad ; mum, mum, mum ! " 
 
 " On my word," cried my lord, unaware that a door 
 behind him had opened, and that a gentleman, coming 
 in unannounced, was silently observing the group, " he 
 hath united both of you in the bonds of ahem a life- 
 long friendship. Be careful, Hugh. You have won 
 his favour and his lady-love's ; be sure, now, you do 
 not forfeit it. Those whom Charles Churchill hates 
 his fair mistress never trusts." 
 
 There was a movement at the door, and the new- 
 comer came down to them. Lord Tottenham and 
 Hugh turned, and the earl uttered an exclamation that 
 is not to be found in any dictionary. 
 
 " Brownker ! " he exclaimed. " You here ! " 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed and opened his lips to speak. 
 His voice, however, was inaudible, for at sight of his 
 face Master Charley, casting his arms desperately 
 about Isabel's neck, lifted up his voice and howled. 
 
 49
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MR. BROWNKER'S appearance was a bolt from the 
 blue. Even Lord Tottenham's self-possession failed 
 him and he muttered strong words under his breath. 
 As for Hugh, if a troop of French cavalry had ap- 
 peared on the lawn, and he had been called on to sur- 
 render in the name of King Louis, he could not have 
 been more taken aback. What Mr. Brownker's own 
 feelings were it was hard to discover. He saw the oth- 
 ers before they perceived him, and his manner was the 
 perfection of nonchalance and self-possession. Pass- 
 ing Lord Tottenham with a slight bow he greeted Isa- 
 bel with an assumption of familiar friendship that 
 made Hugh tingle all over. 
 
 " As an uninvited and unexpected guest," he said, 
 making himself heard with difficulty, as Charley 
 clinched both fists and screamed with passion, " I must 
 expect a left-handed welcome. Your servant, Master 
 Churchill." 
 
 " He deserves a sound whipping," Isabel ex- 
 claimed, extending her hand with a bright nod and 
 smile. " Charley, who gave you that squeaking frog 
 you love so dearly ? You have no manners, sir, and no 
 gratitude." 
 
 But Charley was not in the least ashamed of him- 
 self, and had at last to be borne away raging by a 
 nurse. 
 
 " The day will come," Mr. Brownker said prophet- 
 50
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ically, releasing Isabel's hand, which he had held in his 
 distinctly longer than was at all necessary, " when that 
 boy will be Prime Minister of England." 
 
 Isabel laughed. 
 
 " Because of his contempt for bribes ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, because he never will refuse 
 them, nor fail, when it suits his interest to turn his 
 back upon the men who helped him into power." 
 
 " Indeed," said Isabel warmly, " I trust Charles 
 will never be so great a knave as that." 
 
 " Then he'll not be a Prime Minister." 
 
 " If Mr. Brownker doth live long enough," Lord 
 Tottenham said gaily (his lordship had now quite re- 
 covered himself), "I would not stake much on 
 Charles's opportunities. Those two will be enemies 
 for life." 
 
 " A life, my lord," and Mr. Brownker calmly bowed 
 to Hugh, " sometimes lasts only for a day. Yet if 
 mine last a hundred years " he spoke now with a 
 curious deliberation and distinctness " so long as I 
 possess the friendship of the Mistress Isabel, I shall be 
 perfectly content." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's eyes grew wicked. This ap- 
 pearance of Karl Brownker had blown all his plans 
 to the winds, and he was reckless of consequences. 
 
 " Faith ! " he exclaimed cheerfully. " Mistress Isa- 
 bel hath no lack of friends. She has made one more 
 to-day a friend in need." 
 
 Mr. Brownker started. The movement was very 
 slight, but Lord Tottenham saw it and rejoiced. Isabel 
 saw it too, and raised her head with a very becoming 
 dignity. 
 
 " His lordship is right. Mr. Montgomery was in 
 very truth a friend in need." 
 
 " You honour me too much, dear madam," HugK
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 said, looking straight into Mr. Brownker's eyes. " It 
 was a very paltry service. But I will do my best 
 to deserve the title yet." 
 
 " You should know the circumstances of it, Karl," 
 Isabel went on, and at her familiar usage of the name 
 it was Lord Tottenham's turn to start. " That Master 
 Robert Young you commended to me as a chaplain to 
 the men fell a-drinking yesterday, and had to be given 
 his dismissal. This morning under a pretence of snow- 
 ing me the condition of the ten-acre field, he drew me 
 far beyond the village, and then dared to lay hands 
 upon me. But for Mr. Montgomery, who was passing 
 with the earl, I should have been in a sorry plight. 
 As it was, however, nothing happened. Nay, I tell 
 you, nothing." 
 
 She said this rapidly and with emphasis. Mr. 
 Brownker's face had paled to the lips. 
 
 " That devil dared to touch you," he said in a voice 
 so tense with passion that even Lord Tottenham was 
 startled. " That damned hound. Montgomery, you 
 spared him not ? " 
 
 " I did my best," Hugh muttered, " but " 
 
 " He still lives, then. When I find him, which will 
 not be long not long, I will draw his blood from him 
 in drops." 
 
 It is a ghastly sight to see a self-contained man 
 lose all self-control. Isabel shuddered, and covered 
 her face with her hand. 
 
 " Karl, be silent ! Stop, I say, stop ! I seem to 
 hear the poor wretch groaning in his agony. I will 
 not have him touched. Mr. Montgomery has already 
 punished him severely. Let him alone. Your promise 
 on it, here ! " 
 
 She spoke in the arbitrary tone of one who could 
 enforce obedience to her commands. Hugh and Lord 
 
 52
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Tottenham glanced at each other in mute dismay. 
 Mr. Brownker's lips relaxed into a smile. 
 
 " I will promise to do naught that is not according 
 to my custom. More I cannot promise. It was my 
 fault, Isabel." 
 
 The fierceness had gone from his face. His voice 
 was low and tender. 
 
 " Well said," exclaimed Lord Tottenham briskly, 
 drawing the attention upon himself. He spoke to 
 Brownker, but he looked at Hugh. Hugh's eyes were 
 blazing, and his teeth were set. The sight of the man 
 who had publicly slandered Marlborough calmly ma- 
 king himself at home in Marlborough's house was bad 
 enough ; but to see him making love to this fresh, sweet 
 girl was maddening. Lord Tottenham saw this, and 
 was afraid. At all risks he must prevent another ex- 
 plosion in this house. 
 
 " Well said," he repeated. " It is seldom a man has 
 the honesty to blame himself. But rest easy, Master 
 Brownker. Montgomery had the villain in his hands 
 for ten good minutes, and Montgomery's hands, as 
 you may know, are hard and heavy." 
 
 " I am glad," Mr. Brownker replied with a grim 
 smile, " that Mr. Montgomery's hands have this time 
 done him a service. The Mistress Isabel's favour, like 
 that of most ladies, is to be won by a doughty deed." 
 
 " It is not to be lost, at least," she retorted with a 
 sudden flush, " through a few words, as my dear Lord 
 Marlborough lost the King's." 
 
 " That was a shameful and abominable act," Hugh 
 cried. Such a remark in Mr. Brownker's presence was 
 a suicidal one. But Hugh was not in the mood when 
 a man measures his words. Isabel clapped her hands. 
 
 " I thank you, sir, from the bottom of my heart." 
 
 " Nonsense," exclaimed Lord Tottenham before 
 
 53
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Mr. Brownker could retort. " I will not have the 
 favour of any king, even King William's, compared 
 with Mistress Isabel's. His Majesty has many cour- 
 tiers, no doubt, but all men are hers." He made an 
 elaborate bow, and Isabel could scarcely keep her 
 countenance. Such a high-flown compliment was ex- 
 tremely unlike Lord Tottenham. 
 
 " You shame us both, my lord," Mr. Brownker 
 said, smiling. " Yet there is one point in common be- 
 tween King William's court and this. Men get their 
 just deserts." 
 
 " Doubtless that is your opinion," rejoined the earl 
 demurely. " The gossips say Mr. Brownker pays 
 homage assiduously at both, and not without success." 
 
 It was a random shaft, and not in the best taste, 
 but it went home to the feather, which was all my 
 lord desired. He was fighting for his life, with his 
 eye on Hugh's set face. 
 
 " Your gossips, my lord," Isabel retorted with 
 spirit, " are wondrous witty at my expense, but they 
 should tell the truth." 
 
 Lord Tottenham laughed, but did not trouble him- 
 self to reply. He had heard a well-remembered step 
 in the hall, and knew that help had come. The words 
 were scarcely out of Isabel's mouth when a servant 
 threw open the door, and the mistress of the house 
 entered at last. 
 
 Sarah, Countess of Marlborough, was in her thirty- 
 second year; but her brilliant complexion, her vivaci- 
 ty, and small delicate features gave her the appearance 
 of a girl of five-and-twenty. She was a great beauty, 
 and far handsomer, Hugh thought, than any of her 
 portraits. No picture, indeed, has done her justice, 
 for her personality was so potent in everything she 
 said, and looked, and did, that not even the greatest 
 
 54
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 master could have painted that face as her friends knew 
 it. A great beauty, yet one quality was lacking. No 
 trace of gentleness was in her face. It was dazzling, 
 polished, hard, as a cut diamond. 
 
 " My Lord Tottenham," she said in clear, rapid 
 tones, with a peculiarly curt articulation, "a welcome to 
 Hollywell. Mr. Brownker, you need none. This gen- 
 tleman, Mr. Hugh Montgomery, shall receive one 
 when I know him better. And now, my lord, to what 
 do we owe the honour of your visit, pray ? " 
 
 The words all came in a breath, as the gentlemen 
 made their obeisance. An unconventional greeting 
 enough, but highly characteristic. Sarah, Countess of 
 Marlborough, usually said, without equivocation or 
 disguise, exactly what she meant. 
 
 Lord Tottenham bowed low to hide a smile. 
 
 " My lord, your husband, madam, was good enough 
 to ask me to ride down at any time, and since he did me 
 such an honour " 
 
 " Honour ! Your pardon, my lord, that is not the 
 word to use. Honour ? Why, my husband, for daring 
 to speak truth to his Majesty the King about his 
 agents I beg Mr. Brownker's pardon, I mean the 
 Dutch-Englishmen who came with him from Holland, 
 and are eating up our country like a swarm of rats 
 has been dismissed from office. There is an end of 
 honour for the Earl of Marlborough." 
 
 " The Earl of Marlborough's favour, madam," re- 
 ioined Lord Tottenham, " must always be an honour 
 to his friends." 
 
 The countess's face brightened. " Thank you, my 
 lord, for that. It smacks of old times to hear such 
 words from you. Now introduce to me this young 
 friend of yours. A soldier, as I hear, and perhaps an- 
 other honest man." 
 
 55
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Her ladyship was eying Hugh keenly all this time 
 to his manifest discomposure. 
 
 " A friend of my lord's," Lord Tottenham said, 
 " as he proved himself not so very long ago." 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed the countess, " then he is the 
 gentleman But I must not betray him. I like your 
 appearance, sir, and am sorry, truly sorry, you should 
 be so wanting in wisdom of the world as you were last 
 night." 
 
 Hugh gave a violent start, but he had yet to learn 
 the Lady Sarah's little ways. The countess went on 
 without a pause. 
 
 " A man who dares to defend the reputation of a 
 fallen minister, sir, is foolish beyond sense. But a man 
 who lays his life down for Lord Marlborough's good 
 name " Her voice softened now into an exquisite 
 graciousness, and she made Hugh a curtsey such as 
 only the Sovereign had ever received from her. " Mr. 
 Montgomery, such a man, though he had been the 
 poorest soldier in the army, shall be more honoured 
 in this house than if he bore the proudest name in 
 England." 
 
 " Gad, my boy ! " cried Lord Tottenham, " not a 
 man but would envy you for this." 
 
 " My lord, my lord ! " cried the countess, her tone 
 now one of stinging sarcasm. " You make a sad mis- 
 take. One man, at least, scorns Mr. Montgomery's 
 simplicity with all his soul. Mr. Brownker here has 
 been all things, and done all things, but I am sure he 
 never was unwise." 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed. 
 
 " If your ladyship commends me, then my conduct 
 must be without reproach." 
 
 " Yet my Lord of Tottenham looks sceptical. I beg 
 you prove me right, sir, and before this company say 
 
 56
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 what you think of a man who, last night, at the St. 
 James's Club, threw back with violence in some 
 slanderer's teeth an insult 'gainst John, Earl of Marl- 
 borough. By what name should such conduct be dis- 
 tinguished, pray ? " 
 
 Her ladyship smiled most sweetly as she spoke, and 
 wound an affectionate arm round Isabel's waist, her 
 golden head against the girl's dark one a picture for 
 a Raphael. Hugh watched Isabel anxiously, and saw 
 a look of growing wonder in it. He breathed more 
 freely. She, at least, had not heard about last night. 
 Mr. Brownker, as usual, was imperturbable. 
 
 " Your ladyship honours my judgment too highly. 
 The wisdom, or otherwise, of such an act as you de- 
 scribe depends on circumstances which you have not 
 thought worthy of mention. But in my poor opinion, 
 as such gallantry, or hardihood, could do your lord no 
 good, and might be most inconvenient to the speaker, 
 I should, in the words of the play " Mr. Brownker 
 made Hugh the politest of bows " ' write him down 
 an ass/ " 
 
 At this Lady Marlborough gave a laugh, but there 
 was something in Hugh's face, though he was smiling 
 too, that made her ladyship pause. 
 
 " Isabel," she cried sharply, " what aileth Charley 
 boy? I found him in a pretty taking a minute since. 
 Sally said he had been startled. I promised to box her 
 ears soundly if I heard there was anything amiss." 
 
 " Alas ! " said Mr. Brownker mournfully, " my 
 ears, not Sally's, deserve punishment. Charley cried 
 when I came in, as if I had been the ogre of the 
 legend." 
 
 Lady Marlborough's eyes danced with mischief. 
 She made him an elaborate mock curtsey. 
 
 "Your pardon, sir. In cultivating insight into 
 57
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 character in my children, I forgot to teach them to 
 conceal their wit." 
 
 Mr. Brownker shrugged his shoulders. " Most 
 children, madam, I have noticed, imitate their elders." 
 
 " On my word, then, Isabel," exclaimed the coun- 
 tess, " you must have a care. But, sir, I pray you 
 out of your abundant wisdom answer me another 
 question. Why is it that while this maid Isabel 
 hath, I believe, whipped, and coaxed, and prayed 
 Charley on her knees to love you, yet he still cries 
 at your name, and flies your presence as if it were the 
 plague ? " 
 
 Mr. Brownker made her a low obeisance. 
 
 " Because, Charley, madam, is your ladyship's 
 son." 
 
 " A truth, a very truth," cried the countess with a 
 laugh as gleeful as a girl's. " My life, sir, have a care, 
 or your wit will make us friends." 
 
 " The dearest ambition of my life," Mr. Brownker 
 said calmly. But her ladyship frowned and tapped the 
 floor impatiently with her foot. 
 
 " I ask no man to foreswear himself, even for a 
 jest." 
 
 " I can assure you, madam, I do not jest." 
 
 " Nor yet deceive any one." Hugh spoke quietly, 
 but the words came like the first crack of thunder in a 
 darkening sky. He had held himself in by main force 
 so long as he was the subject of their talk, but Lord 
 Tottenham saw that the elements would soon be let 
 loose. The position was nearly desperate, for at 
 Hugh's words, Lady Marlborough glanced from one 
 gentleman to the other with a smile of mischievous 
 anticipation. 
 
 Mr. Brownker's manner was urbanity itself. 
 
 " Indeed, I trust not," he said. " It is surely too 
 58
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 early in the day for the brain of any gentleman to be 
 confused." 
 
 " That is a strange remark," said the countess with 
 the most innocent air in the world. " Pray be more 
 particular. Confused? What mean you by con- 
 fused?" 
 
 " The word contains a riddle, madam, which Mr. 
 Montgomery can read you." 
 
 She turned wickedly to Hugh. 
 
 " Read it, sir, at once." 
 
 Hugh was white with passion, but he kept still, 
 and his lip curled. 
 
 " I cannot, your ladyship. The answer is not to be 
 given in speech." 
 
 " Nay, but I will have the answer. Is it in verse ? " 
 
 " In the point of a sword, your ladyship." 
 
 " Enough, enough ! " cried Lord Tottenham. " Be 
 silent both of you ! " He laid a heavy hand on Hugh's 
 shoulder. " Faith," he said more lightly, " you youn- 
 kers are like dogs in summer weather. You cannot 
 meet but must be at one another's throats. This dis- 
 pute must end." 
 
 " Hoity, toity, my lord ! " cried the countess. "You 
 take too much upon yourself. In this house free 
 speech is as welcome as fresh air. Sakes ! that a gen- 
 tleman, now, a plain gentleman, should thus beard 
 King William's agent. How I would that his master 
 were by to hear it ! So these gallants have quarrelled. 
 Was it last night at the St. James's, I wonder ? Master 
 Montgomery, I shall now require you to give us a 
 true and particular account of all that passed last 
 night." 
 
 At these terrible words even Mr. Brownker looked 
 startled. Hugh recoiled. 
 
 " Heaven forbid, madam," he exclaimed. 
 5 59
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " But I insist," she cried. " I am accustomed to 
 obedience." 
 
 " That is impossible." 
 
 " Impossible ? I do not know the word. Come, 
 then, I will describe what I've been told. It is indeed 
 a very interesting story, Isabel." Her ladyship paused 
 to enjoy the consternation seen on every face. Wheth- 
 er she would have carried out her threat it is hard to 
 say, but at this moment a gentleman, dressed in a 
 plain country-made suit of gray cloth, came into the 
 room, and Lord Tottenham uttered an exclamation of 
 relief. 
 
 " Marlborough ! On my soul, Jack, I was never so 
 pleased to see you in my life." 
 
 " Not more than I, Ned, to find you here." And 
 they shook hands heartily. 
 
 A striking contrast were the two friends. Lord 
 Tottenham, broad-faced, deep-voiced, and burly, stood 
 forth as a typical Englishman of his time. Something 
 coarse and common-place in word and thought, yet 
 true and open-natured. Prejudiced and narrow in his 
 views, but with no doubts or scruples about life or poli- 
 tics. Ready to fight for his King and his religion with- 
 out inquiring too closely where he might be led. Marl- 
 borough, how different ! A man of lighter build than 
 Tottenham, yet appearing taller by reason of his stately 
 carriage. His complexion pale, his features fine rather 
 than massive, but moulded with such symmetry that 
 they formed a remarkable combination of beauty and 
 of strength. A close study of the face revealed that 
 the eyes, though set wide apart, were a thought too 
 narrow for their length ; while the mouth, of great 
 sweetness when he smiled, was habitually set in an un- 
 changing curve. This gave a curious stillness and 
 immovability to the whole face, a quality which made 
 
 60
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 his best friends, as well as his bitterest enemies, say it 
 was a mask. Yet, when the lips moved and the eyes lit 
 up, what charm there was all that indescribable fas- 
 cination of a disposition that, with all its faults, was 
 ever thoughtful and considerate of others, and on oc- 
 casion could be deeply sympathetic. Lord Marl- 
 borough had as few friends and as many enemies as 
 fell to the lot of most public men of his day ; but when 
 men loved him or believed in him, his power over them 
 was absolute. 
 
 He was, above all things, a born peacemaker, this 
 great soldier, and at his coming now the flames of 
 discord fanned by the countess died down to smoul- 
 dering embers. Few men or women quarrelled openly 
 in the presence of Lord Marlborough. 
 
 Hugh, indeed, forgot for the time being that such 
 a person as Karl Brownker lived. He felt as a lover 
 feels when seeing his betrothed after a long absence. 
 His heart leaped with joy. He was face to face at last 
 with the man he had worshipped for two years. 
 
 Standing motionless and erect for he was a sol- 
 dier still he waited until Marlborough had given Mr. 
 Brownker a friendly greeting, until Lord Tottenham 
 had mentioned his own name and said something in an 
 undertone, and he saw the beautiful eyes turn in his 
 direction, and the still face break into a cordial, win- 
 ning smile. 
 
 " Not a word, my lord," Marlborough said. " Mr. 
 Montgomery and I need no introduction." Then, ex- 
 tending his hand : " Welcome, comrade, to our quar- 
 ters, and may you find more ease, and, of a surety, 
 more food, than when last we met before Kinsale." 
 
 Hugh took the hand respectfully, but the kindly 
 words had put him perfectly at ease. 
 
 " Where your lordship is in command," he an- 
 61
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 swered, " no soldier takes thought of what he gets to 
 eat." 
 
 Marlborough looked pleased. He was very sen- 
 sitive to praise. Leaning familiarly on Hugh's shoul- 
 der he turned to the countess. 
 
 " Your ladyship loves stories that are true. Here 
 is one worth hearing. At the siege of Cork the Popish 
 garrison made a sortie, and fell upon a regiment of 
 ours. They were all brave men, but were taken by sur- 
 prise, and fell back in confusion. In that regiment was 
 a certain company that had its captain shot and its lieu- 
 tenant wounded, and yet, in spite of all, gave not a 
 foot. So stubbornly, indeed, did it hold together, 
 thanks to the junior officer, that the regiment recov- 
 ered its formation and beat back the enemy to the very 
 gates. The man, my lady, to whom all this was due 
 was Mr. Hugh Montgomery. I thank him now, in 
 the King's name and my own." 
 
 ' T was well done," said her ladyship graciously, 
 " though by what I hear through a messenger from 
 town this morning, I am not surprised." 
 
 " Strange," muttered Mr. Brownker to Isabel ; 
 " all this happened nigh three months ago, yet has not 
 been spoken of until to-day. But these things are re- 
 membered of a man only when he has a fortune." 
 
 He spoke in a low tone, but Lady Marlborough, 
 who had remarkable good ears, heard the last words. 
 
 " A fortune ! " she said over her shoulder ; " indeed 
 that can do little for a man with enemies. No fortune 
 will save Mr. Montgomery, when, for his brave de- 
 fence of my Lord Marlborough's good name, he is 
 thrust through the heart to-morrow morning by your 
 steel." 
 
 The words caused the sensation they were meant 
 to do. Mr. Brownker's face became livid with sup- 
 
 62
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 pressed anger. Hugh could have sunk into the 
 ground. Isabel turned white as a sheet, and even Lord 
 Tottenham's ready speech failed him. Only her lady- 
 ship, glancing from face to face, remained smilingly 
 at ease. The silence was broken by Marlborough 
 himself. 
 
 " Mr. Brownker, a report from town, to which her 
 ladyship has given words, has reached me, coupling 
 your name with Mr. Montgomery's and placing mine 
 between. I call on you to say before us all that the 
 tale is false." 
 
 " I have the honour of answering your lordship in 
 the negative." 
 
 Marlborough slowly glanced from Mr. Brownker 
 to Isabel. 
 
 " Then the matter must be arranged, or you enter 
 not my doors again." 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed. 
 
 " In that case I have no alternative. Mr. Mont- 
 gomery escapes." 
 
 " If Mr. Brownker," Hugh retorted, " makes such 
 apology to you, my lord, as I dictate, I will release 
 him." 
 
 Marlborough smiled good-humouredly. 
 
 " Then a treaty shall be signed and sealed between 
 you. That apology we will consider made. While as 
 for Mr. Montgomery's reputation, I give him my word 
 that any man who breathes upon it shall have the lie 
 from me. Gentlemen, you parted last night in heat, 
 but you meet as friends in this house, and must not 
 part again until you have clasped hands. My Lord 
 Tottenham and I will stand sponsors for your honour. 
 I beg you both to lay me under this obligation." 
 
 He laid his right hand on Hugh's shoulder and his 
 left on Mr. Brownker's, and smiled into both faces. 
 
 63
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hugh was overcome at once. 
 
 " Your lordship conquers all," he said huskily. 
 " Here is my hand." 
 
 But Mr. Brownker did not move an inch. 
 
 " Your lordship is not aware," he said, " that I was 
 struck before a company." 
 
 Marlborough frowned. 
 
 " I knew not that. Mr. Montgomery, an apology 
 is due " 
 
 Hugh raised his head. 
 
 " I do not apologise, my lord, to a man who called 
 you traitor." 
 
 At these words Isabel gave a convulsive start. Mr. 
 Brownker showed his teeth. 
 
 " You distort my words," he said. " I only told 
 you that was said." 
 
 " You affirmed the slander to be a fact." 
 
 " You dared me to repeat it, so I had no alterna- 
 tive. The Earl of Marlborough knows that, in my 
 opinion, he is a noble and distinguished gentleman." 
 
 " Then you lied," cried Hugh fiercely. 
 
 Marlborough raised his hand. 
 
 " Silence ! " he said sternly. Then, with a sigh : 
 " This dispute is beyond my mending. You must 
 meet, gentlemen ; but I trust when you have lost a little 
 blood, there will be a better understanding on both 
 sides." 
 
 " Indeed, my lord," said Mr. Brownker, with a 
 most amiable expression in his fathomless blue eyes, 
 and every trace of resentment gone from his face, " if 
 we do not to-morrow understand each other beyond all 
 cavil, I assure your lordship the fault shall not be 
 mine." 
 
 64
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LORD TOTTENHAM and Hugh left Hollywell House 
 early in the afternoon. Marlborough and the coun- 
 tess came out to see them mount, and her ladyship was 
 good enough to invite Hugh to ride down to see them 
 whenever he felt inclined. This flattered Hugh be- 
 yond measure. Yet he was not in good spirits. 
 
 Though constitutionally fearless, and able to face 
 death as coolly as he would eat his dinner, the thought 
 of crossing swords with a man in cold blood was new 
 to Hugh's experience, and extremely unpleasant. In 
 the excitement of the moment last night he had wel- 
 comed it, and the distractions of the day had kept all 
 quiet reflection at arm's length. But now that these 
 were all over, and the fatigue of the long ride was be- 
 ginning to make itself felt, it was a different matter, 
 and to Hugh's infinite disgust he found himself spec- 
 ulating sombrely upon the reputed skill of his oppo- 
 nent and Lord Tottenham's drastic criticism upon his 
 own deficiencies of fence. Presently, however, another 
 subject took possession of his mind and drove out all 
 thoughts of himself. 
 
 Isabel Fretchville had called him a friend in need. 
 The sense in which she used the term was retrospec- 
 tive, but it had occurred to Hugh that if he would hon- 
 estly deserve the name, he must do more more than 
 she dreamed. 
 
 Isabel was clearly a dependent in the Marlborough 
 65
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 household, and though a relative of Lady Sarah's, she 
 worked, as other servants worked, for wages. In the 
 eyes of the world, therefore, and of men of the world, 
 she sat below the salt. Her dignity and spirit had won 
 Lord Tottenham's respect, it was true, and, with the 
 friendship of the Marlboroughs, would preserve her 
 always from open insult, but there was another and 
 more insidious danger, and when Hugh saw Karl 
 Brownker press her hand and look tenderly into her 
 eyes he felt convinced that a pitfall was yawning at her 
 feet. Lord Tottenham, he perceived, was of the same 
 opinion, but he knew, without asking the question, that 
 though the earl would be sorry for the girl, he would 
 never actively interfere. It was the creed of the day 
 that women who allowed men to pay them attentions 
 which could not be seriously meant, except in the worst 
 possible sense, had only themselves to thank if there 
 were a catastrophe. 
 
 With Hugh it was different. The struggle with 
 the brute who had assaulted Isabel had enlisted in her 
 behalf his hot blood and lusty manhood. Then the 
 spirit of the girl, and her appeal for his sympathy, 
 even more than her beauty and charm, had captivated 
 his fancy; the loneliness of her position roused his 
 chivalry. Alone with his thoughts now Lord Totten- 
 ham, for once, being in a silent mood the desire and 
 determination to serve her, and protect her, took com- 
 plete possession of Hugh's mind, and he laughed to 
 scorn his fears of Karl Brownker's skill. If a man 
 fighting for a woman's honour could not overcome a 
 cold-blooded rake, defending his wretched life, it was a 
 pity indeed ! Hugh felt strong enough to kill a dozen 
 Brownkers. All at once, in the very midst of his ex- 
 citement, a sudden thought came, and chilled him. 
 Supposing Isabel loved this man? It might, indeed, 
 
 66
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 be argued that there was additional need, in that case, 
 for short shrift if she were to be saved from dishonour. 
 But Isabel was not a weak-minded, ignorant girl. She 
 had character and a strong will. If she loved, the man 
 must have given proofs that he was an honest wooer. 
 This seemed unlikely, but it was possible ; and the bare 
 chance of it brought Hugh's castle-building tumbling 
 about his ears. At this point, however, Lord Totten- 
 ham uttered an exclamation, and Hugh's reflections 
 came to an end. 
 
 " Upon my life," cried his lordship, " I'm disap- 
 pointed in that little minx, Isabel. She is as cold and 
 unfeeling as a china doll." 
 
 Hugh stiffened visibly in his saddle. 
 
 " In what manner has the Mistress Isabel incurred 
 your lordship's displeasure ? " 
 
 "In what manner?" quoth the earl shortly. "In 
 every manner that a woman can. She has set you two 
 younkers by the ears, when you should have been ma- 
 king friends ; and she held her peace and stared stonily 
 before her when she might have aided me to calm the 
 storm which her pretty face set raging." 
 
 " I take you not there, my lord,'"' Hugh rejoined in 
 the same icy tone as before, and which gave the cho- 
 leric earl the strongest possible desire to knock him 
 off his horse. " The storm began last night, and " 
 
 " And and and" sputtered his lordship, " was 
 begun by Mr. Brownker; forced on by Mr. Brown- 
 ker, hatched from the beginning by Mr. Brownker, 
 conceived, planned, and deliberately brought to a con- 
 clusion by Brownker. You knocked him down, d'ye 
 say? Well, you did, and that was not his plan. But 
 in all the rest you acted as his puppet. He desired to 
 quarrel with you, and to kill you; he had that deter- 
 mination before he saw your face. All for a woman's 
 
 6?
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 sake. Does your high mightiness's wooden head take 
 in the situation now ? " 
 
 Hugh's face became very white, and he spoke with 
 difficulty. " You mean that this man, fearing I might 
 be his rival with the Mistress Isabel, came to my board 
 last night with a deliberate intent to drag me to a 
 duel?" 
 
 " Just that is my meaning," snapped my lord. 
 " Marlborough spoke of you, it seems, some days since, 
 and Brownker found you had been invited here. A 
 curse, I say, on women on all women ! " 
 
 " Nay, sir," cried Hugh with spirit, " I think your 
 lordship should say men." 
 
 " Pish ! Men are fools, if you choose. Two fools, 
 at least, are riding side by side this moment. But 'tis 
 a woman fooled them. This confounded little 
 slut " 
 
 " My lord, do not use that term." 
 
 Lord Tottenham looked round, pulling his horse 
 so sharply that he nearly brought him on his haunches. 
 It was many years since any man had addressed him in 
 such fashion, and none had done it twice. Yet he was 
 not angry. He peered into Hugh's blazing eyes and 
 flushed face with a provoking calmness. 
 
 " Bad bad," he muttered, half to himself. 
 " Worse than I could have conceived." 
 
 Hugh breathed hard. " Mistress Isabel deserves 
 respect, my lord, and shall receive it in my presence." 
 
 Lord Tottenham sighed deeply. 
 
 " Good Gad, and it hath come to this ! Why, boy, 
 that fellow holds this silly maid in the very hollow of 
 his hand." 
 
 " Until to-morrow," Hugh said hoarsely. " Only 
 till to-morrow." 
 
 Lord Tottenham bowed his head. 
 68
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " The Lord forgive me may the Lord forgive 
 me," he groaned. " I have indeed done wrong." 
 
 Then he raised himself in his saddle and looked 
 round the dreary wintry landscape with a shudder, and 
 began talking to himself. 
 
 " All is the very same as when your father and I 
 rode to his death twenty years ago. Truly a curse hath 
 been laid upon you Montgomerys, father and son, 
 brother and sister, mother and child. Your Uncle 
 Dan was struck with an apoplexy in his prime ; your 
 aunt, the Lady Susan, is like to come to the block for 
 treason, a crazy Jacobite. Her daughter is worse, far 
 worse; your mother, the best of all, was killed by a 
 cruel disease at forty years of age ; your father pinked 
 at thirty by Lord Casterton ; and now you, at twenty- 
 one oh, my God ! " 
 
 He groaned again and went on drearily : " It was 
 just such a day as this I rode with Ralf from Thatch- 
 ford after he had parted from your mother. He spoke 
 of you. The words come back to me as if I heard them 
 now. ' Ned,' he cried in that quick way of his you 
 have it, with the very turn he used to give his head 
 like a horse straining on the bit ' Ned,' says he, ' the 
 boy ! ' Then he was silent a full minute. ' He will be 
 your son,' he went on. ' She will make him that. For 
 God's sake, keep him from all women until he is a man. 
 They ruined me when I was seventeen, and so, when 
 I saw Margaret at last, and loved her, it was all too 
 late. When he loves, as a man loves, see that it is not 
 too late.' " 
 
 Lord Tottenham rubbed his eyes with his gloved 
 hand. 
 
 " They were the words of a dying man, and true. 
 This woman, the first you have known you love as 
 a young bird loves the first ray of sunlight that warms 
 
 69
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 his wings and for your love you'll die, and I am the 
 cause of it." 
 
 " With respect, my lord," Hugh replied steadily, 
 " you are not the cause of it at all. What I have done 
 has been of my own free will. You led me to her pres- 
 ence, true, and thereby saved her from mishap un- 
 speakable. That is not a curse. As for to-morrow, 
 wait till to-morrow comes." He drew a deep breath 
 of fresh air into his lungs, tossed back his head, and 
 smiled. " I have no fears. I am trying to do the right. 
 Harm will not come of that. At least, this is my be- 
 lief." 
 
 But Lord Tottenham sighed and shrugged his 
 shoulders doubtfully. Then all at once he straight- 
 ened himself in the saddle and pointed to the west. 
 
 " See, lad ! d'ye see that ? " he cried. " The sun is 
 breaking from the clouds to shine on us before he sinks 
 to rest. Gad! how different all things look below. 
 The world is changed. An omen, as I live. You are 
 right, and shame me." He doffed his hat reverently. 
 " Nay, nay ; men may prate when they should pray, 
 and fight when they should kneel, but above them is a 
 Power that holds the scales. God, not the devil, rules 
 the world." 
 
 70
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IN a far away corner of the grounds of Hollywell 
 House, beyond the lawn, the flower garden, the or- 
 chard, and the bowling green beyond, indeed, all 
 parts frequented for any purpose whatever by mem- 
 bers of the household, was a spot called the Nun's 
 Walk. It was a gravelled path, moss-grown and neg- 
 lected, running between tall arbor-vitse hedges for 
 some fifty yards. At the upper end was the garden 
 wall; at the lower end a tangled impassable wood. 
 There was a door in the garden wall, the entrance to 
 the walk, but no servant on the place could have been 
 induced to open that door, for it was said that the ghost 
 of a murdered nun stood behind it day and night. No 
 one knew who had murdered her, or why ; or how a 
 nun ever became an inhabitant of this strange little 
 blind alley which had once been an avenue between 
 two gardens since destroyed. But there was the tradi- 
 tion, and as the walk was of no value to the present 
 owner of Hollywell House it was not worth any one's 
 while to disprove the statement, or exorcise the ghost. 
 
 A still, eerie spot. On either side of the hedges a 
 wood had grown up and become so dense from neglect 
 that on the stormiest days scarcely a leaf stirred in the 
 walk. No sound ever broke the silence there except 
 the coo of the wood-pigeon in its season, the rustling 
 tread of small wild creatures, or the drip, drip of the 
 rain in wet weather. 
 
 71
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 But the Nun's Walk, for all its solitariness or 
 rather because of it had an inhabitant besides the 
 ghost. Since Isabel Fretchville came to Hollywell 
 two years ago, she had taken refuge here in her brief 
 hours of leisure from the cares and problems of her 
 busy life. In bygone days some former owner of 
 Hollywell had cut down a tree and fashioned the trunk 
 into a rude rustic seat. On this Isabel would sit, in 
 summer weather, dreaming day dreams, listening to 
 the movement of the woodland life about her, resting 
 and refreshing an overworked body and mind. No 
 one disturbed her. No one, indeed, except the Marl- 
 boroughs, knew where she went, so that the Walk be- 
 came to her as a private apartment a sanctuary at the 
 door of which she left the world behind. 
 
 Three months before Karl Brownker had met 
 Hugh Montgomery he had paid his first visit to Holly- 
 well House. He came ostensibly to discuss questions 
 of army reform privately with the earl by command 
 of the King, in reality to lay the foundation for sys- 
 tematic espionage of the Marlborough household. In 
 pursuit of this high business of the state he was inev- 
 itably brought into close contact with Isabel. He saw 
 her the first night in evening dress in all the freshness 
 and roundness of her youth. He saw her the next day 
 at work, shrewd, concentrated, authoritative, mistress 
 of herself and of her men, supreme in her department, 
 holding her own there even against the countess. 
 Lastly, having discovered her retreat, he presented 
 himself on the third day in the Nun's Walk, and con- 
 trived before the end of a week to make himself com- 
 pletely at home there. 
 
 The gentle art of angling for women had, with 
 fencing, been the pursuits of Karl Brownker's leisure 
 hours since he was sixteen years old. He had been a 
 
 72
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 successful fisherman so much so that he was begin- 
 ning to get tired of it, and had seriously thought of 
 marriage, or at least of looking out for a lady with the 
 necessary money and rank to make the yoke endurable. 
 His own position was onerous and important enough, 
 but was scarcely as lucrative as he could wish. Wil- 
 liam was a good master, but not a generous one. Karl, 
 who knew his master's secrets, and could count upon 
 his countenance and support against all comers, ex- 
 pected no liberality. His salary, as he knew, had to 
 come out of William's privy purse, which was none 
 too large for his Majesty's needs. Marriage on a 
 sound financial basis with some English lady of high 
 degree would be a wise and politic move. It would 
 strengthen his position with the Government, and en- 
 able him to be independent of the King. In the midst 
 of all this, however, came his meeting with Isabel. 
 
 Three months is not a long time, but many a heart 
 has been won or lost in less. Karl and Isabel soon be- 
 came friends, and as in those days young men and 
 maids were allowed full liberty to pursue friendships 
 or other attachments, and break them, without exciting 
 remark so long as ordinary proprieties were preserved, 
 they saw as much of each other as they wished to do, 
 and saw each other alone. 
 
 Lord Tottenham and Hugh left Hollywell House at 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, and at four Isabel, seat- 
 ed on the fallen tree, was digging the end of a stout 
 walking-stick, shod with a tiny hoe, impatiently into 
 the gravel and waiting for Mr. Brownker. He came 
 with the air of a man in haste. 
 
 "As I live, dear," he said in a low tone, seating 
 himself beside her, " I thought my lord would never let 
 me go." 
 
 Isabel looked up with a frown of anxiety. 
 73
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " He is troubled and perplexed about public af- 
 fairs." 
 
 " He may well be troubled, being in the posture of 
 a climber who has essayed to scale a height and finds 
 himself where he dare not proceed, and yet knows not 
 how to draw back." 
 
 " Lord Marlborough," was the quick re joiner, 
 " can climb safely where other men would fall. I have 
 no fears for him." 
 
 " You know not his position." 
 
 " I know that he has a good friend at court," and 
 she looked at him significantly. 
 
 " One friend," rejoined Mr. Brownker compla- 
 cently he had just succeeded in bribing two of Lord 
 Marlborough's servants to betray all their master's 
 secrets to him " one friend, perhaps, but many en- 
 emies. Yet, a pardon ; we do not meet to-day to talk 
 about my Lord of Marlborough." 
 
 " I ask you to save him according to your promise, 
 Karl, and our friendship." 
 
 " And I ask you, dear one, to cease calling me a 
 friend." 
 
 He took Her hand and raised it to his lips. She did 
 not draw it away, but as he would have slipped his 
 other hand about her waist she straightened her arm 
 and held him at a distance. 
 
 " Friendship, Karl, is all I have to give." 
 
 His hand dropped to his side and he rose, with a 
 formal bow. 
 
 " Then I beg to take my leave." 
 
 She rose also, making no answer, but brushing 
 from her skirt some shreds of moss. Then she slowly 
 turned and looked him in the face. 
 
 "You wish to go?" 
 
 " My presence is an offence to you." 
 74
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 She frowned at him. " You know it is not ; why 
 not tell the truth ? " 
 
 Brownker laughed pleasantly. One of Isabel's pe- 
 culiar charms in his eyes was her fearlessness. He 
 who for three years had been the dread of every Jacob- 
 ite in England, and could make even the lords of the 
 Privy Council quail before his biting tongue, was no 
 more feared by this slight girl than if he had been 
 a fly. 
 
 " The truth, my dear, is this : we have been parted 
 full two weeks, yet no sooner do I take your hand than 
 I am thrust aside. Now, do I offend or do I not ? If 
 not " He drew nearer to her. 
 
 " You ask me for more than I can give," she said, 
 still at arm's length. " There is no question of 
 offence." 
 
 " Ay, ay ; you will let me love you, then ? " He 
 spoke half tenderly, yet with a steady undercurrent 
 of passion in his voice. " Hunger for you, burn my 
 heart out for you, and yet I must not so much as snatch 
 a kiss or hold you for one brief moment in my arms ? " 
 
 Isabel gave a little shiver. 
 
 " Certainly you must not. It is strange that you 
 ask, knowing I have no feeling nor desire for such ca- 
 resses. Why do you ask it, Karl ? " 
 
 He looked at her fixedly a moment without answer- 
 ing. It was not the first time she had asked him such 
 a question. Had any other woman he had known done 
 so, his answer would have been sharp, conclusive, and 
 to the point, for his creed concerning women admitted 
 coquetry alone as a reason for such playing with fire. 
 But Isabel was in earnest. Her question came in a 
 precise and somewhat severe tone. She was still 
 frowning slightly. Karl Brownker, accomplished in 
 all the galanteries of the most select court circles, stood 
 6 75
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 now, before this country miss, upon his trial. The po- 
 sition was, he knew, ridiculous. Yet he was so far 
 from resenting it, that his only thought for the mo- 
 ment was how to retrace the step he had just taken. 
 
 "Why do I ask it?" he said slowly, "because I 
 am aweary of giving all, Isabel, and receiving nothing, 
 because this compact of ours " 
 
 She stopped him with a gesture. 
 
 " Nothing, you say. Then my friendship is 
 nothing ? " 
 
 She spoke quietly and judicially, but not without 
 feeling. He caught both her hands and held them 
 tightly. 
 
 " I have not said that ; and if I felt it, child, I 
 should not be here to-day." 
 
 " Then you doubt my friendship ? I pray you let 
 me go ; you hurt my hands." 
 
 He kissed them, and obeyed. 
 
 " There is my answer, most exacting miss. But 
 think you a lover will place cold friendship against 
 the longing of his soul ? " 
 
 Isabel looked at him wistfully. 
 
 " If I were only sure," she began, then paused. 
 
 He drew a sharp, deep breath. 
 
 " You doubt my love, Isabel. You are very igno- 
 rant of men." 
 
 " That is a truth," she replied calmly. " Though I 
 have seen many, I have in reality known but one, and 
 sometimes I am not sure that I know him." 
 
 " If you would but give him opportunity, and test 
 his love, you would not say that." 
 
 Her eyes brightened. 
 
 " Opportunity test good words. Nay, not that 
 again." He had seized her hands. " Let be, sir, or I 
 go about my business." 
 
 76
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He dropped her hands with a shrug. 
 
 " A test," she went on in a thoughtful tone. " I 
 have it in my mind to give you one." 
 
 He made her a very graceful bow. 
 
 " To gain your love, my dearest mistress, there is 
 no test I'd flinch from." 
 
 Her brow clouded again. 
 
 " Stay. You would make a bargain ? That is dif- 
 ferent. If I should promise this or that because you 
 do such and such a thing, I am but requiring serv- 
 ice for which I pay you wages. That is no test of 
 love." 
 
 " A man who endures a test should rise in value by 
 it, else what is the value of a test at all ? " 
 
 " That I admit, if he makes no bargain." 
 
 " I make no bargain." 
 
 " Then, sir, you shall have your opportunity." 
 
 " Your majesty has only to command." 
 
 She laughed a happy, joyous little laugh, which 
 pleased Mr. Brownker. All severity had vanished 
 from her face. She looked a very woman now, a sweet 
 and dainty woman. He longed to take her in his arms 
 and kiss away all hesitations and reserves. 
 
 " You will then, sir, spare the life of Mr. Hugh 
 Montgomery to-morrow, and become his friend." 
 
 There was a profound silence. After one sharp 
 breath of surprise, Mr. Brownker turned away and 
 began pushing hither and thither with the end of his 
 cane a half-frozen field-mouse, which was hopping fee- 
 bly across the path. Isabel watched him. 
 
 " You do not like this test." 
 
 He made no answer, but suddenly struck the field- 
 mouse on the head. 
 
 Isabel gave a cry of anger and pity, and picked up 
 the little creature dead. 
 
 77
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " It harmed you not," she said in a choking voice. 
 " A helpless mouse ! " 
 
 " It was in my way," he said. 
 
 She smoothed the ruffled fur, and gently placed 
 the body beneath the hedge. 
 
 " You kill all things in your way." 
 
 She spoke quietly, but he saw that her face was 
 drawn, and the hand which held her dress a-tremble. 
 He picked up two stones and brought them forcibly 
 together. One was chipped by the shock, the other 
 was broken to pieces. He held it out. 
 
 " Which of us do you wish to see like this ? " 
 
 " Neither." 
 
 " Psha ! one must break." 
 
 " That rests with you." 
 
 " I, the weaker, smaller man ? " 
 
 " Ay, you, the duellist. Must I instruct Master 
 Brownker in his trade ? " 
 
 Her face was scornful now. He moved his feet im- 
 patiently, yet could not take his eyes away from hers. 
 
 " If I am to spare him, I must know the reason 
 why." 
 
 " He has done nothing to deserve death." 
 
 " A woman's reason." 
 
 " His life is precious to his friends." 
 
 " Mistress Isabel, to wit." 
 
 She nodded. " Yes, for he did me a great service. 
 I should grieve much were he to die." 
 
 He bowed, while an icy smile played round his lips 
 a moment and then left them stern and hard. 
 
 " Of course you like not that," she went on. " I 
 should have lied and said he was more indifferent to 
 me than that mouse ! And this is what men mean by 
 love. Save me from it ! Trouble yourself not with a 
 denial I read your resolution in your face." 
 
 78
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 - " I am glad," he said politely, " that you read my 
 face." 
 
 She was trembling with strong feeling, her eyes 
 were wet with tears. " Yet I had thought you were 
 a friend, Karl." 
 
 " Pardon ; I never did pretend to be your 
 friend." 
 
 " A lover, then," she said sharply, " has less devo- 
 tion than a friend. It is well to know." 
 
 " If Mr. Montgomery were your friend and not 
 your lover, he should command my life." 
 
 " He my lover ? You are beyond all patience, 
 Karl." 
 
 " A very gallant lover, madam, with a fortune and 
 the favour of your friends." 
 
 " I care nothing for him." 
 
 " He cares the world for you." 
 
 She shook her head with impatient incredulity, 
 then paused as if a sudden thought had struck 
 her. 
 
 "Well, if that be true, what then? Is that a sin 
 deserving death ? " 
 
 " It is unfortunate for him." 
 
 " This, then, is the measure of your love to kill 
 in cold blood a fellow-creature because he has been 
 unfortunate enough to follow your example. Indeed, 
 sir, you may take your leave, and welcome." 
 
 " I would but prove my love." 
 
 " By murder." 
 
 " You are unjust, Isabel, and insult me cruelly." 
 He spoke no more with calm assurance. The words 
 came hoarsely, brokenly. Isabel saw that he was in 
 earnest, and listened in spite of herself. " A man 
 who takes from another a paltry jewel or other prop- 
 erty is hanged justly by law. Shall a thief that tries 
 
 79
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 to steal what is more precious than any jewel es- 
 cape ? " 
 
 " I am no man's property ! " 
 
 " One day, please God " 
 
 " But wait, sir. That day has not come." 
 
 Mr. Brownker ground his teeth, but Isabel faced 
 him steadily, though with less anger than before. 
 
 " There lies the point, Karl. I will not be treated 
 as a piece of goods." 
 
 " You need protection." 
 
 " That may be, but I am thinking that it should be 
 from Mr. Brownker not the ward of the Earl of Tot- 
 tenham." 
 
 He bit his lip. It might be fancy, but he thought 
 he read shrewd warning in those words. 
 
 " You have known Mr. Montgomery one day," he 
 remarked after a moment's pause. " A short time to 
 pass judgment on a man." 
 
 " Not when he carries his nature in his face." 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed gravely. 
 
 " Then indeed I must go home." He was very 
 quiet now. All anger and bitterness had left his face. 
 Isabel could not read its expression. 
 
 " Stay ! " she said impulsively. " You are griev- 
 ously at fault." 
 
 He bowed again and waited, but made no move- 
 ment towards her. 
 
 " I do not, cannot, possibly, express myself 
 aright," she went on hurriedly, " but I mean this : that 
 gentleman, no doubt, hath faults. Indeed, I do not 
 know him, but I am sure of this he loves children 
 and all helpless things. Though rude and hasty in his 
 anger, if he did injustice to a man and knew it he 
 would ask his pardon. That is why I like him, and 
 would have you like him too." 
 
 80
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Mr. Brownker coughed. " And I, you think, am 
 merciless. My nature is to kill." 
 
 He spoke sardonically, coldly; but Isabel thought 
 she detected a very slight tremour in his voice. 
 
 " Yes," she said slowly, " you have proved it." 
 
 81
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE morning broke raw, damp, and miserable. 
 There had been a thaw in the night ; it was now threat- 
 ening rain, and two gentlemen, who had ridden down 
 to the most exposed part of a far-away stretch of 
 grass and wasteland called the Hampstead fields, 
 cursed the weather, the occasion that had dragged 
 them from their beds, and the universe in general, 
 with great vigour and impartiality. They were doc- 
 tors, and each carried in his hand a long black bag 
 containing bandages and a fine and various selection 
 of instruments. But though they anathematized crea- 
 tion as became professional men who were obliged to 
 watch a surgical operation performed by amateurs, 
 they would not have missed the sight for the world. 
 
 There are duels and duels. Even in the seven- 
 teenth century the number of serious " affairs " was 
 comparatively small, usually it did not do to kill your 
 man. If he were of rank or position, a hasty de- 
 parture to the Continent was necessary, with much 
 undesirable notoriety and a heavy outlay of money be- 
 fore the matter could be forgotten ; while even if the 
 victim were a person of no importance, ten to one but 
 he had relatives or friends bearing a most inconvenient 
 grudge against the arbitrament of the sword, and apt 
 to seek out mean ways of revenge. Therefore, it 
 was safer and much less troublesome to " wing," and 
 not pink, your man. But there were other duels, when 
 
 82
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 through some bitter personal feud or rivalry the world 
 had of a sudden became too small to hold two men. 
 
 Such a duel these surgeons, who were both men 
 closely connected with the fashionable world, knew 
 was to be fought to-day. 
 
 " Well matched, eh ? " remarked one, stamping his 
 feet to warm them and looking earnestly to the south 
 along the road to town a lonely, muddy lane then, 
 now the teeming thoroughfare of Chalk Farm Road. 
 " A pretty equal match, they say." 
 
 He spoke gently, and rubbed his hands with a 
 purring gesture. He was a round, apple-faced little 
 man with an obsequious manner and a ready smile. 
 
 " No match at all," rejoined his companion curtly 
 a solemn, dry-faced gentleman with keen eyes. 
 " My man stands not a chance against yours." 
 
 " Dear, dear," said the first in a distressed tone. 
 " Poor fellow, poor fellow ! I hoped this time we 
 might be entertained." 
 
 " Karl Brownker seldom amuses any one but him- 
 self." And the speaker chuckled grimly. 
 
 " No, he hath no humour in these matters," was the 
 pensive answer. " No playfulness at all. He bides 
 his time, receiving not a scratch, and then strikes 
 once, and all is over. I like a man such as my Lord 
 Casterton used to be, who'd draw blood for blood's 
 sake. I attended when he was killed by my Lord of 
 Tottenham, and I assure ye it was a rare sight. The 
 lungs were pierced and an artery divided by the one 
 thrust, so that the blood streamed like a torrent." 
 
 " Hold ! " interrupted his companion gruffly. 
 " Here they come. Mark ye their faces ! I may be 
 mistaken, but I think that though my patient will be 
 pinked for sure, you will not be disappointed of a little 
 humour." 
 
 83
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " The Lord grant you are right," the other said 
 with an engaging smile. " It goes against a man's 
 conscience to be feed for doing nothing. I ofttimes 
 wonder Brownker brings a surgeon on the field at 
 all." 
 
 " It is the man's tenderness of conscience," was the 
 grim reply. " He loves his enemies, and gives them 
 every care when they are dead." 
 
 The principals now rode up with their seconds, 
 and were received by the doctors with low bows. No 
 words were spoken; and while the grooms led the 
 horses away a short distance Hugh and Mr. Brownker 
 divested themselves of their coats and waistcoats, while 
 Lord Tottenham and Mr. Brownker's second chose 
 the ground and measured it. 
 
 All this was done with the greatest despatch, lest 
 by any untoward chance there should be an interrup- 
 tion by the officers of the law. 
 
 The sun was rising as the combatants took their 
 places in loose white linen shirts and gartered hose. 
 
 They saluted each other and stood motionless 
 until Lord Tottenham gave the signal. Then they 
 stepped into position ; exchanged thrusts of courtesy, 
 and the fight began. Hugh, following the advice ear- 
 nestly pressed upon him by his second, made the at- 
 tack an attack, Lord Tottenham quickly perceived, 
 more formidable than Mr. Brownker anticipated, for 
 Hugh's thrusts were well and steadily delivered, and his 
 guard was of iron. Mr. Brownker's agility alone saved 
 him from dire mishap. Two, three, four minutes 
 passed, and still Hugh's attack continued unabated, 
 while Mr. Brownker's quickness seemed taxed to the 
 utmost to keep himself from harm, and such thrusts as 
 he made in return were parried with ease. A spot of 
 red appeared on his left shoulder. Hugh had drawn 
 
 84
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 blood, and at the same moment Mr. Brownker gave 
 ground a full two feet. But Lord Tottenham started 
 nervously at this. It was an obvious stratagem, likely 
 to prove fatal to Hugh's hot blood. He advanced, 
 however, cautiously, and gave no chance, and Lord 
 Tottenham breathed again. Great drops of perspira- 
 tion stood on his lordship's brow. Had he been fight- 
 ing himself, he would not have felt a greater strain 
 on nerve and muscle. Yet the sensation uppermost in 
 his mind was that of wonder and surprise. In his 
 wildest moments of hope he had not dreamed Hugh 
 would fence so well. His activity was great, his cool- 
 ness perfect. Though there was no finish or grace 
 about his style, and, compared with Karl Brownker, 
 he was as a young lion facing a leopard, yet the lion's 
 limbs were long and lithe, and his wrist was of steel. 
 The fight was fiercer now, as it always must be after 
 blood is drawn. The veins stood out on Hugh's fore- 
 head, his eyes glistened. Inch by inch he pressed his 
 opponent back, and even the doctors held their breath. 
 A lunge at the breast, another, and Mr. Brownker had 
 the narrowest escape. Blood trickled from Hugh's 
 under lip, where he was biting it, and Lord Tottenham 
 looked grave. A third thrust, and a very deadly one. 
 Mr. Brownker seemed to invite this, and it passed clean 
 through his shirt, tearing a deep hole in the linen. 
 But he was not touched, and before Hugh could re- 
 cover himself, before Lord Tottenham could utter the 
 cry of dismay that was in his throat, the point of Mr. 
 Brownker's steel was buried in Hugh's arm above the 
 elbow. The limb stiffened instantly and Hugh's sword 
 dropped to the ground, while Lord Tottenham sprang 
 forward and Mr. Brownker lowered his weapon. But 
 before the seconds could come between them, Hugh 
 had caught up his foil with the left hand. 
 
 85
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Hold, sir ! " cried Lord Tottenham furiously. 
 " You are disabled. The fight must cease." 
 
 " With Mr. Brownker's favour, it has only just 
 begun." 
 
 " Oh, that is as you please," was the polite answer, 
 with a slightest suspicion of a sneer at the end of it. 
 
 " I say it is a mere trifle," Hugh said in a dogged 
 tone, as Lord Tottenham called the surgeons, " and 
 my left hand is stronger than my right." 
 
 The doctors pronounced the wound severe, but not 
 such as to incapacitate Hugh, if he could fence left- 
 handed. Lord Tottenham appealed to Mr. Brownker. 
 
 " You will refuse to fight a man you have disarmed. 
 It is murder." 
 
 Mr. Brownker shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " I cannot refuse, my lord, to give this young gen- 
 tleman satisfaction if he desires it, but I will meet him 
 on equal ground." 
 
 So saying, he took his foil in his left hand, and feel- 
 ing the point with a finger of his right, resumed his 
 position. There was nothing more to be said. The 
 surgeon swiftly bandaged Hugh's arm to stop the 
 bleeding, and the men faced one another again, left- 
 handed. 
 
 " On guard ! " 
 
 The signal came from Mr. Brownker's second, for 
 Lord Tottenham could not speak. He was suffering 
 tortures. His hopes had risen high. For one mo- 
 ment, even, he had thought Brownker might be over- 
 powered, and he was bitterly disappointed when 
 Hugh's sword fell ; but it was a great relief to know 
 that a fair and gallant fight had been fought out 
 without dishonour or disaster. Now, after all, the 
 worst had happened. With a devilish cunning Brown- 
 ker had contrived that an opportunity should be pro- 
 
 86
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 vided for the fight to cease, but of such a nature that 
 Hugh would rather die than take it. Had he pinked 
 Hugh in the first instance, ugly things might have been 
 said Lord Tottenham would have taken care of that. 
 But he had disarmed him, then was ready to desist if 
 asked ; and finally took his foil in his left hand and thus 
 stifled at once the imputation cast in his teeth by Lord 
 Tottenham that he was taking advantage of a wounded 
 man. 
 
 What now? To an ignorant observer it would 
 have seemed as if the men were tired or had cooled 
 down. But Lord Tottenham's heart sank as he watched 
 Hugh's face. It was wan and haggard. Clearly he 
 felt himself that there was no hope ; that he was before 
 a master of fence against whose skill and knowledge 
 his own strength and nerve were useless. Yet he was 
 fighting with a desperate coolness of the man who, 
 while expecting death, is determined not to die alone. 
 He ventured no more rash lunges, but he made the 
 most of his length of arm and superior height, and 
 waited and kept still. He was now an antagonist no 
 man could afford to despise, and the doctors, who had 
 feared when he was disarmed to see a swift and easy 
 victory for Brownker, coughed and smiled. It was the 
 most satisfactory encounter they had seen for years. 
 
 Several minutes passed, and neither combatant had 
 gained advantage. In vain did Mr. Brownker leave 
 himself open to attack, exposing his shoulder, his 
 head, even his breast, in a most tempting manner. 
 Hugh, having once tasted the fruits of that marvellous 
 agility of his, was no more to be drawn. At length 
 Mr. Brownker, feeling this, changed his tactics, and 
 by almost imperceptible degrees he took the offensive. 
 His thrusts, light and swift as the dart of a cobra's 
 head, now pressed upon Hugh's guard, and with the 
 
 87
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 least amount of apparent effort or movement, he drew 
 closer closer while the perspiration streamed from 
 Hugh's brow and his breath came heavily. He felt 
 that the end was near now, and that the moment had 
 come for one supreme effort. He gave no warn- 
 ing this time. A thrust of Mr. Brownker's came in, 
 struck his adversary's right shoulder and tore it cruelly. 
 Hugh, taking no notice of it, stepped forward steadily 
 and aimed a full and deadly thrust at the breast. 
 If the play of Mr. Brownker's foil had been like 
 the cobra's stroke, this of Hugh's might be com- 
 pared to a tiger's spring. It was all or nothing now, 
 and he knew it. Careless of defence, he lunged with 
 what force and weight there was in him, and in all 
 Mr. Brownker's experience he was never quite so near 
 to death. Even his agility could not save him, for 
 they were too close, and had he been obliged to trust 
 to that alone he would have died. But bodily quick- 
 ness is only part of a duellist's equipment. While 
 Hugh's nerves were strained almost to bursting, 
 Brownker's were steady and as cold as ice. He met 
 the thrust now as coolly as if a man had knocked 
 against him in the street, only slightly changing his 
 position, and the foil grazed his side and passed along 
 his back. The next instant, with a lightning turn of 
 the wrist, Brownker had thrust full at Hugh's breast, 
 the point of his weapon entering an inch below the 
 heart. Hugh's face turned deathly white. He stag- 
 gered and then fell fainting into Lord Tottenham's 
 arms. 
 
 " My boy ! My own lad ! " groaned the earl in a 
 choking voice as he sprang forward. " Oh, my God ! 
 my God 1 " 
 
 He was shaking with emotion, and his hands 
 trembled so that he could hardly tear away the linen 
 
 88
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 to find the wound. He did so, however, before the sur- 
 geon reached the spot, examined it closely, and then 
 turned slowly round with a face of utter bewilderment. 
 
 " May the Lord save us ! " he cried thickly. " The 
 thing is a mere scratch. It doth not even bleed." 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed. 
 
 " That was more than I intended," he said coldly. 
 " I did not mean to cut the skin." 
 
 He handed his foil to his second, while his surgeon 
 stripped his right shoulder, which was bleeding fast. 
 But now Hugh, whose faintness had been caused by 
 nervous overstrain, came fully to himself. He had 
 heard Brownker's words, comprehended what had 
 happened, and could have died of shame. In every 
 face except Lord Tottenham's he thought he saw con- 
 tempt and derision. While Lord Tottenham, whose 
 honest eyes were full of tears, muttered incoherent 
 words of thankfulness, he ground his teeth, and when 
 his surgeon would have led him away he thrust him 
 aside and walked across to Brownker. Hugh was a 
 ghastly sight. Blood had soaked through* the bandage 
 and streamed down his right arm, staining his shirt in 
 great blotches. His left wrist had been gashed severe- 
 ly, and his face was covered with sweat and grime. 
 He was unconscious of his hurts, however, uncon- 
 scious of everything except that he would have been 
 lying cold and pulseless on the grass but for the indul- 
 gence of the man he had tried with all his strength to 
 kill. 
 
 " Sir," he said, standing before his former enemy, 
 a dozen feelings tugging at his heart, " what reason 
 had you to hold your hand ? Why did you not thrust 
 home?" 
 
 Mr. Brownker, who was in the busy fingers of his 
 surgeon, turned slowly round. 
 
 89
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Why should my reason, if I have one, interest 
 you ? " 
 
 " Because I cannot rest until I know it. You have 
 never spared a man before, and I would have struck 
 you dead. There, you have the truth." 
 
 Mr. Brownker nodded. 
 
 " Ay, that is certainly the truth. If you take les- 
 sons you will kill me the next time." 
 
 " I kill the man who has spared my life ! " 
 
 Mr. Brownker shrugged his shoulders, and then 
 winced with the pain the familiar gesture gave him. 
 
 " Pish ! If I am a fool to-day, why should you 
 be a fool another time ? " 
 
 He smiled sardonically, and then their eyes met. 
 
 It was a supreme moment in their lives, though 
 neither guessed it. While he spoke, Brownker was 
 thinking that he was very tired and hungry, and that 
 Hugh was a bore ; Hugh, that he would give a thou- 
 sand pounds to turn his back upon this man and never 
 see him again. And yet when their eyes met a sudden 
 thought flashed into the mind of each at the same mo- 
 ment. 
 
 Hugh was the first to speak. 
 
 " Sir, I have misjudged you. Can you forgive me 
 now?" 
 
 And Brownker, who by reputation was the coldest- 
 hearted and most self-centred man in King William's 
 household where there were few who knew what 
 natural feeling meant except the feelings of the brute 
 Brownker at these words grasped Hugh's unwound- 
 ed hand. 
 
 " Forgive an enemy ? Nay, that I could not do. 
 But I might try, as an experiment, what it is like 
 to be friends." 
 
 90
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A FULL and particular account of the duel was sent 
 by Lord Tottenham to Hollywell House the following 
 day, and Marlborough read it aloud to his wife and 
 Isabel. At the end Lady Sarah threw up her hands 
 in amazement. 
 
 " Sakes ! Brownker spared him ! It must have 
 been by William's wish. Karl Brownker would never 
 spare a life unless he had been bidden." 
 
 " Indeed, my dear soul," Marlborough said, look- 
 ing at Isabel's flushed face, " I am much of your opin- 
 ion ; but it was not the King he talked with last even- 
 ing in the Nun's Walk." 
 
 The countess laughed. 
 
 " I should have remembered. But what is this, 
 what is this, then ? That man does naught for naught. 
 Child " she frowned anxiously " tell my lord and 
 me, this instant, what reward you promised Master 
 Brownker if he showed mercy?" 
 
 " My friendship, madam." 
 
 " Friendship, indeed ! Try no such bite on me, you 
 hussy. He has had that for long enough, with all 
 its privileges." 
 
 " The privilege has been respected." 
 
 " That I believe, because you say it. But I will not 
 believe he has failed to make a bargain for advance." 
 
 " No. The understanding was clear as words could 
 make it." 
 
 7 91
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Words ha, ha ! A woman who thinks to hold 
 Karl Brownker by his word is a fool." 
 
 " I am fool enough," Isabel said coolly, rising and 
 putting away her work, for it was her bedtime eight 
 o'clock " to set more store by Mr. Brownker's word 
 than your ladyship does." 
 
 " Then you are an impudent minx," the countess 
 rejoined, pinching her ear, " and a greater fool than 
 ever I imagined. But, in seriousness, mind where you 
 tread. I have said a dozen times this man pursues 
 you as a weasel hunts a rat. I call him weasel for he 
 never trips himself in anything by overhaste; yet is 
 ever at heel drawing nearer, nearer. My lord shakes 
 his head, but I know that I am right; and mark me, 
 whatever you may say, or think, or do, that knave, by 
 sparing the life of Master Hugh Montgomery, is 
 nearer his desires than he has been since first his black 
 shadow crossed our threshold. To bed, and dream of 
 rats!" 
 
 Isabel made a low courtesy. 
 
 "Your ladyship shall be obeyed. It's good luck, 
 they say, to dream of rats." 
 
 " Impudence ! " Lady Sarah cried, slapping the girl 
 on both cheeks with pretence of great violence. " On 
 my honour, if you do not mend your ways you shall 
 pack. Begone, and a plague on you ; and if Karl 
 Brownker suits not your fancy, call up the other gen- 
 tleman." 
 
 Isabel retired obediently to the door; but as she 
 curtsied to Marlborough, who had opened it for her, 
 she said over her shoulder with a mischievous face: 
 
 " Alack, madam, but then they might fight again, 
 and over me ! " 
 
 Then she fled, pursued by a last word from her 
 ladyship, which need not be written down. But Isabel 
 
 92
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 cared little for Lady Sarah's sharp words. They un- 
 derstood each other. Isabel knew her mistress well, 
 and loved and served her faithfully. 
 
 All that was good and hopeful in Isabel's life she 
 owed to the Countess of Marlborough, from the day r 
 the never-to-be-forgotten day when Lady Sarah paid 
 a flying visit to a farm owned by Isabel's father, a 
 poor squire, and saw a long-limbed girl of sixteen 
 years old standing on a haystack ricking hay, and not 
 only working herself with immense energy and muscu- 
 lar activity, but making all the farm hands round her 
 work with a briskness rarely to be seen. This sight 
 made so deep an impression upon the countess that she 
 had carried off Isabel that very night, and had not 
 parted with her since. 
 
 Isabel's father was Lady Sarah's cousin, but there 
 was no love lost between them, which, indeed, was part- 
 ly why her ladyship took his daughter from him. He 
 was a sour, ill-natured man, and had married a wife of 
 feeble constitution who had died when Isabel was a child. 
 There were no other children, and the squire had taken 
 much to drink. His house, therefore, was no place 
 for a young girl growing fast into a beautiful woman- 
 hood. Lady Sarah did many a charitable act in her 
 life, for, with all her hardness, she liked helping oth- 
 ers, but never one that had more important conse- 
 quences for herself than that adoption of Isabel Fretch- 
 ville. In the Marlborough household, the girl's native 
 energy, and the training she had received in her 
 father's house, together with an innate love of children, 
 made her an invaluable servant companion, mother's 
 help, and housekeeper. She began by being all these 
 things in turn and sometimes all at once. Finally, 
 Marlborough's steward dying suddenly one day, the 
 girl applied for the post, went on to the estate, and did 
 
 93
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 so well that she was allowed to take the situation. Per- 
 haps the fact that only half the wages were paid to 
 her which would have been given to a man had some- 
 thing to do with Marlborough's strange choice of a 
 manager; but it was that manager's ability and 
 quickness in learning which enabled her to keep the 
 place. 
 
 It was a curious position for any woman to be in in 
 those days, and was possible only in such a household 
 as the Countess of Marlborough's. But Lady Sarah, 
 though tyrannical to a degree, always encouraged 
 women who could hold their own, even while she 
 would periodically abuse them ; and Isabel, besides her 
 other qualities, possessed that of a good temper, and, 
 taking example by my lord himself, she pursued her 
 way evenly and steadily, and with her patience weath- 
 ered all the storms with her mistress, and, as a reward, 
 was allowed an even greater freedom of action in her 
 own private affairs than was customary at that time, 
 though the lack of control in all households brought 
 up under the court of Charles II. still generally pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 One of the consequences of this freedom was the 
 friendship with Karl Brownker. Though Lady Sarah 
 was far too shrewd a woman of the world to fail to 
 perceive the object of his attentions to her husband's 
 paid servant and her own poor relation, she never 
 interfered. She had given Isabel warning the first 
 day a warning which she repeated whenever Karl 
 Brownker's name was mentioned but beyond that 
 she did nothing, and let him come and go as he chose. 
 It was her creed that a woman who cannot take care 
 of herself in such matters deserves what she gets. In 
 her own young days, passed in the court of Charles 
 II., Lady Sarah had been pursued by numbers of 
 
 94
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 evil-minded men, yet had escaped without a scar. Isa- 
 bel, she thought, could do the same. 
 
 Accustomed to the girl's spirit and fearlessness, she 
 credited her with far greater knowledge of the world 
 than she really possessed, for Isabel had not been 
 brought up in fashionable society after the blessed 
 Restoration, but had breathed all her life the fresh, 
 pure air of the country. She was lonely, very lonely, 
 and in her heart of hearts, growing with her woman- 
 hood, was a vague but irrepressible yearning for the 
 friendship of men. 
 
 The roots of the plant had been struck in rich 
 ground, the plant itself had grown quickly and was 
 strong and full of life and vigour, and now the flower 
 was in bud, ready to burst into bloom when it felt the 
 heat of the sun. 
 
 95
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A WEEK had passed since the duel, nine days since 
 Marlborough had been dismissed from court by the 
 King. In London all was unrest. Men of every shade 
 of politics were uneasy at this act of the King's. The 
 courtiers, of course, and the bulk of the great Whig 
 party, declared it was a righteous act, and that, if all 
 were known, Marlborough deserved not only dismissal, 
 but imprisonment and attainder. Public men did not 
 mince their words in the seventeenth century. 
 
 Most of the Tories, on the other hand, were either 
 furious or frightened, as their several positions dic- 
 tated. But whatever might be their private feelings, 
 they were too weak even to protest in public ; while so 
 afraid were they of being accused in a like manner and 
 becoming marked as hostile to the King that scarcely 
 one of them expressed a word of sympathy with their 
 former comrade. Wherever Marlborough went he 
 met with cold looks and averted eyes. Lord Totten- 
 ham, and a few intimates alone, grasped his hand as 
 of old, and even these mostly did so where they could 
 not be perceived by their friends. 
 
 But through all this turmoil, hearing whispers on 
 every side that he might be at any moment apprehend- 
 ed by the King's messengers and thrown into the 
 Tower, knowing that spies watched him when he 
 walked abroad and filled his house in the country and 
 in town, Marlborough went his way serene and smil- 
 
 96
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ing, answering cold greetings with dignified reserve, 
 treating all innuendoes with contempt, preserving in 
 private and in public, to his wife as much as towards 
 his enemies, an unruffled countenance. His attitude 
 was that of respectful surprise and reproach that he 
 who had done so much and served his King so well 
 should be treated so scurvily now ; but he never failed 
 to intimate that time must justify all that he had done 
 and bring him into favour, and that through ill report 
 as through good report he was ready at any moment 
 to draw his sword, and give his life for the King and 
 Queen to whom he had sworn allegiance on their coro- 
 nation day. 
 
 What thoughts lay in his mind behind the unchang- 
 ing calm of his firm, still face no one knew. 
 
 It was a bright, sunny afternoon in the first week 
 in February one of those afternoons that seem to 
 breathe the coming spring. A bird twittered here and 
 there in the trees and hedges of Hollywell; fresh 
 blades of grass were springing on the long stretch of 
 lawn before the house, and the earliest flowers were 
 boldly showing their heads, taking no thought of the 
 bitter blasts and nipping frosts to come in the near 
 future. February and March had to run their course 
 and spring was far away, but the sun shone; the air 
 was soft and mild, and birds and flowers and men 
 basked in its warmth and let the future take care of 
 itself. 
 
 On the lawn, which sloped gently to the hedge that 
 divided the Hollywell estate from the road, Marl- 
 borough and his wife were pacing up and down in 
 quiet talk. Marlborough had returned from London 
 the day before, and they had been discussing the news 
 of the town. Public business, however, had not been 
 Marlborough's sole occupation. He had seen Lord 
 
 97
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Tottenham on private matters, and had just now in- 
 formed his wife what those matters were. 
 
 " My word ! a great match for the child," Lady 
 Sarah was saying with a smile that, for a moment, 
 softened into loveliness the hard beauty of her face. 
 " Sure, John, it is a really noble match. Ten thousand 
 pounds a year and Ned Tottenham's money when he 
 dies. Surely my puss was born with a golden spoon." 
 
 Marlborough made no answer, but took a pinch of 
 snuff with a thoughtful face. The countess looked up 
 quickly. 
 
 " You do not approve. Your reasons ? " 
 
 " Fie, fie, my dear heart," he said deprecatingly. 
 " Think you I would bar Isabel from such a stroke o'f 
 fortune ? It is a royal match." 
 
 " Nevertheless, it meets not with my Lord of Marl- 
 borough's approval. Your mind, and all your mind, 
 or never say again you love me, sir." 
 
 Marlborough raised her hand to his lips. " Dearest 
 soul of mine, I would die rather than keep a thought 
 from you. I cannot conceive a better marriage for 
 Isabel in respect of money ; but Hugh Montgomery is 
 not the only man she knows, and for our own sakes, at 
 least, we should not be too hasty in giving a consent." 
 
 " All of which means that Karl Brownker holds a 
 lien on the Earl of Marlborough. Chut ! I have seen 
 you growing towards him all this month past, and have 
 sickened at the sight." 
 
 They were strolling now down the drive, and 
 Lady Sarah picking up a tough green branch of oak, 
 bent and broke it into pieces with her strong white 
 fingers. 
 
 " Brownker ! " she went on, Marlborough remain- 
 ing silent. " What is this Brownker ? The bastard 
 brat of one of William's Dutch intimates by some 
 
 98
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 abandoned Englishwoman. He was put to school in 
 France among the Jesuits, brought up later among all 
 the villainies of our Dutchman's court, polished later 
 still by the vices of our own when William came here 
 first, and then, returning to that Hague hog's pen, he 
 became the finished rogue, the very Satan of a fellow, 
 that we know to-day ; and so this thing, my lord, you'd 
 unite with Isabel ! " 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " Marlborough exclaimed. " I 
 would sooner put her in her grave. But dearest, 
 though you are an admirable artist, one stroke is want- 
 ing to complete your picture the stroke that will ex- 
 plain my motive well." 
 
 " I know of none to his credit." 
 
 " He is private counsellor and a devoted friend of 
 his Majesty the King." 
 
 " You call him King," cried Sarah, clinching her 
 teeth, " I call him a low Dutch hog ; and this man 
 scavenger of the garbage he feeds on lies ! " 
 
 " And the King's enemies, my dear, are Brown- 
 ker's, and Brownker's the King's." 
 
 But Lady Sarah was in a passion. " I would not 
 sacrifice Isabel's honour for the favour of a score of 
 kings." 
 
 Marlborough flushed, and for once in his life spoke 
 almost sharply to his wife. " Her honour, madam ! 
 It is as dear to me as your own. I had no such 
 thought." 
 
 " Well, and if he propose marriage," she rejoined, 
 " and by force or wile should compass it against your 
 will?" 
 
 " Then, my sweet," Marlborough said slowly, with 
 a face of steel, " our gracious King would lose his 
 scavenger." 
 
 " You would kill the man ! " she cried eagerly. 
 99
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Then her face changed. " No, no ! I will not have you 
 risk your life on such a one." 
 
 Marlborough smiled and pressed her hand. 
 " There would be no risk for me. He has a pretty 
 style, but we were taught to fence." 
 
 Lady Sarah gave an impatient sigh. " Then if 
 you would kill him, I do not take your meaning in the 
 least." 
 
 " I would kill him, I say, before he should harm 
 our daughter. But at the present for my own purpose 
 I would play with him." 
 
 " He will play with you, if you are not careful." 
 
 " Listen," Marlborough continued without noticing 
 the remark. " The King has dismissed me, dearest 
 kicked me from his door like a dog. Why?" 
 
 " Why ? " she cried, stamping in her rage, " why ? 
 Because the black abortion of a Dutch usurper hath 
 spite upon his tongue always, and jealousy in his 
 heart." 
 
 " And knowledge," Marlborough added softly. 
 
 The countess became suddenly still. 
 
 " Knowledge ? " she said breathlessly, " knowledge 
 of what?" 
 
 Marlborough looked round. They were on the 
 drive now, near some stumps of laurel and rhododen- 
 dron bushes. Before replying he put his arm through 
 his wife's and drew her on to the lawn again, away 
 from all places where a listener might be concealed. 
 
 " Tell me," Sarah cried, " all you know and mean." 
 
 " My soul, there are certain vile persons who pre- 
 tend to have a commission from King James to ap- 
 proach all who might, in his Majesty's opinion, aid 
 him to gain the throne. They entice a man to commit 
 himself, and then, for money, they betray him to the 
 agents of King William." 
 
 100
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " A man of this kind has been to you ? " 
 
 " He has been to all to Sunderland and Shrews- 
 bury, Godolphin, even to Devonshire. He was an im- 
 pudent fellow, and produced papers that were most 
 convincing." 
 
 " What said you to him ? Tell me every word." 
 
 Marlborough smiled. " I inquired after King 
 James's health." 
 
 "No more?" 
 
 " My heart, think you I would say more to such 
 a one as Robert Young ? " 
 
 Lady Sarah started. 
 
 " That man a Jacobite agent ? " 
 
 " Nay, a spy, my love, in Karl Brownker's pay." 
 
 " But you made him chaplain to the men. Why, 
 you even let him dine once at our table." 
 
 Marlborough laughed. 
 
 " By the first expedient I discovered that he was 
 no clergyman, and by the second that he had no man- 
 ners." 
 
 " The insult to Isabel, then, was planned." 
 
 " Not the very least. Brownker made use of a bad 
 tool, which he will now put upon the grindstone. I 
 should not like to be Robert Young." 
 
 " I would serve Karl Brownker worse." 
 
 " I shall, perhaps, one day," Marlborough said soft- 
 ly. " But for the time I have against me two men 
 whose match for villainy and determination it would 
 be hard to find." 
 
 " Who would believe the word of such a one as 
 Young?" 
 
 " It is not his word I fear, it is his wit. That rogue 
 has uncommon wit. There is but one way to meet him. 
 So long as my name is under cloud at court, we must 
 not make an enemy of Brownker, and, more, we must, 
 
 101
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 by restraint of Hugh Montgomery even to the point 
 of discouraging his visits to this house, allow your 
 scavenger to think we are leaving Isabel unguarded. 
 He will attempt no violence, that is not his way; and 
 if I do not mistake, that child has already partly gauged 
 with her keen woman's -instinct the nature of the man. 
 Now tell me your will, and whether you do not think 
 with me that, for the present, we must put Ned Tot- 
 tenham off." 
 
 A silence of some minutes followed. Lady Marl- 
 borough, though hasty and impulsive in small matters, 
 thought out great questions thoroughly before she 
 committed herself to an opinion on them, and few 
 men could take a wider, surer grasp of facts than 
 Marlborough's wife where the safety of her husband 
 was in question. Presently she said in a cold, deter- 
 mined tone : 
 
 "If Brownker is to be thoroughly deceived, Hugh 
 Montgomery must be put to the wall." 
 
 Marlborough shook his head. 
 
 " That is not possible." 
 
 " Nothing less will prevent Brownker from plan- 
 ning your ruin. He will make the most of your dis- 
 grace, which, like enough, is owing to his vile tongue. 
 He will work with this and that until in some man- 
 ner he gets you in his power. The child, you say, 
 has spirit. Ay, and there in particular lies danger. 
 Brownker is one to prize that most which eludes or 
 defies him. Already his fancy for the child has be- 
 come a passion, or he'd not have spared his rival." 
 
 " True enough ; but it was such folly that it shows 
 desire has nearly turned his brain. There lies our op- 
 portunity. But we must not make an enemy of Mont- 
 gomery." 
 
 " Pooh ! he does not count with me," Sarah said 
 1 02
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 carelessly. " His regard for you is too tender, his na- 
 ture too straightforward and simple for any disap- 
 pointment to make him dangerous. I say, cut him off, 
 and let Karl Brownker think it is to favour his designs. 
 Then play with Brownker, now hot, now cold, until 
 some chance lifts you into favour or until William 
 dies Lord grant the consumption in his face may kill 
 him soon ! then crush the man as you would crush a 
 fly. That is the only way." 
 
 But Marlborough shook his head a second time. 
 
 " I cannot dismiss Montgomery so summarily. He 
 is a right good lad." 
 
 " Hoity toity ! " exclaimed Lady Sarah impatient- 
 ly. " There are scores as good as he. On my word, 
 he irks me now; a very gadfly of a fellow, proposing 
 marriage when he has seen the girl but once. Sakes ! 
 a red-hot blade a very rake-hell ! When I meet him 
 next I will, I warrant, cool off his ardours." 
 
 The sound of hoofs in the road, the clash of an 
 opening gate, and up the drive came a horseman, who 
 when he saw the earl and countess raised his hat. It 
 was Hugh himself. 
 
 Marlborough looked at his wife and smiled. Her 
 ladyship did not smile. 
 
 Poor Hugh! he believed his troubles were all over 
 now. Such confidence had he in the welcome they 
 would give him that for the moment he forgot the 
 pain of his half-healed wounds, the aching of his 
 wearied limbs, the weight of his burning, throbbing 
 brow. 
 
 In defiance of the doctor, Lord Tottenham, and his 
 own common sense, he had ventured on this journey 
 when he should have been in bed. Six days he had 
 been there, for the wound in his right arm had become 
 inflamed and given trouble six days and six nights, 
 
 103
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 all of which he had spent thinking and dreaming of 
 Isabel. 
 
 He had fallen in love as only a man under twenty- 
 one, who for the first time sees his ideal woman, can 
 fall in love. Every moment of the day he thought of 
 Isabel; every hour of the night in the fitful slumber 
 his wounds allowed him he dreamed of Isabel. He 
 babbled of her to himself, he talked of her eternally 
 to Lord Tottenham, until the earl in desperation went 
 to Marlborough. With curious lack of judgment he 
 told Hugh he was going, and when he returned with 
 an evasive, unsatisfactory reply, Hugh's cup was full. 
 He said little, to Lord Tottenham's unspeakable relief, 
 but the next day he horrified the earl by announcing 
 his intended journey, and the day after he left his bed 
 for the saddle, and rode twenty miles. By the time he 
 reached St. Albans he was in a raging fever, and when 
 at last his horse paced up the drive of Hollywell House 
 he was trembling with weakness and aching in every 
 limb. Revived by the sight of the Marlboroughs, how- 
 ever, he made his bow with a composed face. 
 
 " I have taken your ladyship at your word," he 
 said, wondering why his voice sounded so hoarse and 
 weak, as if it were another person's. "I trust that 
 my visit is not ill-timed." 
 
 Lady Sarah received his salutation with a very 
 slight inclination of the head. 
 
 " Why, indeed, sir, since you ask the question, 
 truth to say it is," she replied with the smoothness of 
 an icicle. " But, pray, have some refreshment on 
 your journey. And then, if your horse is weary, there 
 is an inn two miles along the road." 
 
 Hugh sat still and stared at her as one stunned. 
 Then the blood rushed to his temples, and he made a 
 deep obeisance. 
 
 104
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " There was only one refreshment I craved as the 
 reward of my journey, and that was your ladyship's 
 welcome. Since I am denied it I will return to Lon- 
 don." 
 
 He struck his horse with his spur and wheeled 
 about. But the animal being tired and hungry was not 
 at all to his master's mind, and resisted restively. 
 Meanwhile Sarah, pleased at Hugh's spirit, exclaimed 
 more good-humouredly : 
 
 " Nay, be riot so cruel to your horse. Dismount, 
 sir, for his sake if not for ours, and let the poor beast 
 have a mash." 
 
 Hugh tightened the rein. 
 
 " My horse thanks your ladyship, but he has earned 
 no favour from you by carrying me here. Your serv- 
 ant, my lord, and I will never never " 
 
 He could not find the right word. His horse 
 seemed all at once to have lost its balance, then to 
 plunge into some great sea. There was a rushing in 
 his eyes and a deadly sickness in his throat, and he 
 lost all consciousness. When he came to himself he 
 was on the grass, his head supported upon some one's 
 knee. A hand was loosening his collar, and a cool 
 breath of air was playing upon his forehead. But the 
 comfort of this was broken by the sound of a hard, 
 unsympathetic voice. 
 
 " Stuff and nonsense ! " the countess said. " The 
 man is only giddy with a little weariness. There is 
 no need for fuss." 
 
 " There is need for every care," a voice answered 
 Marlborough's. " He must not suffer through neglect 
 of ours. Pray, to the house, and order a bed to be 
 prepared at once, and find Isabel she has some gift in 
 nursing then send for a doctor instantly. Do not 
 delay a moment. James and I will bring him in." 
 
 105
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hugh now felt himself grasped firmly round the 
 shoulders and knew that he was in Marlborough's 
 arms. The giddiness returned and he lost con- 
 sciousness again, but there was a happy smile upon his 
 lips. 
 
 106
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 HUGH was very ill. The over-exertion of the ride 
 from London inflamed his half-healed wounds; fever 
 came on, and had not his constitution been of iron, 
 and the doctor who attended him an exceptionally 
 clever one, his impatience to see Isabel would have 
 cost him his life. Lady Marlborough was responsible 
 for the choice of a doctor. Her ladyship, thinking 
 more of economy than of her visitor, sent for the 
 cheapest practitioner she knew, with the result, luckily 
 enough for Hugh, that one of the best physicians who 
 failed to make his profession pay through a bad tem- 
 per, and an atrocious habit of telling the truth unvar- 
 nished, took Hugh's case in hand. 
 
 Dr. James Burtnup was a short, bandy-legged man 
 with near-sighted eyes, a turn-up nose, and a great 
 mane of harsh red hair. A disputatious, ungovernable 
 man in general society, in the sick-room he never 
 spoke at all, except to give curt orders to patient or 
 nurse. Watchful, sphinx-like, he was full of resources 
 when his patient grew worse, circumventing disease 
 in the most unexpected ways, and sometimes, even in 
 the worst cases, gaining the victory at the last mo- 
 ment by his obstinacy in refusing to give up hope until 
 the pulse was still. 
 
 In Hugh's case he reversed all the customary treat- 
 ment of his day by refusing to bleed his patient at all, 
 though he was delirious. The Lady Sarah was so 
 8 107
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 shocked that she threatened to turn him out neck and 
 crop, and would have done it had not Isabel and the 
 earl combined and kept her out of the sick-room alto- 
 gether. Isabel and Doctor Burtnup were great allies, 
 and Burtnup, making the most of his victory over the 
 countess, who, not being allowed her own way washed 
 her hands of the whole business, coolly installed Isa- 
 bel as nurse and cook for the invalid. 
 
 The doctor himself was nurse-in-chief. He had 
 few patients, and Hugh's condition was critical; so 
 by the earl's invitation, prompted by Isabel, he took 
 up his abode at Hollywell House and ruled it, so far 
 as his patient was concerned, with a rod of iron. 
 
 Before many days had passed, an exodus took place 
 from Hollywell. The Princess Anne, just then in deli- 
 cate health, had sent post-haste for her " dear Mrs. 
 Freeman," and Lady Sarah was obliged to depart 
 forthwith to town. Marlborough followed on political 
 business as soon as Hugh was out of danger, and thus, 
 after all her ladyship's resolutions, the young people 
 were brought together, and Hugh from the gates of 
 death passed into a state of felicity and happiness 
 which repaid him a thousand-fold for all that he had 
 suffered. 
 
 The fever abated in a few days, but it left Hugh 
 very weak, and Dr. Burtnup sternly ordered him not 
 to go out, nor to move hand or foot without his per- 
 mission, declaring that if he violated any direction 
 whatsoever he would be an ingrate, a monster of in- 
 gratitude. Dr. Burtnup, if he did save a man's life, 
 spared no pains to inform him of the fact. But it is 
 to be feared that there were wheels within wheels 
 here. Hugh, of course, was as guileless as all lovers 
 are where every moment spent in their mistress's sight 
 is worth a fortune. He was so touched at his doctor's 
 
 108
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 solicitude that whereas when desperately ill he had 
 feed him at the rate of five guineas a week, now that 
 he was convalescent he offered him double the amount 
 to continue a merely intermittent supervision, which, 
 as it happened, included a bulletin to London when 
 Lady Sarah sent to inquire. Dr. Burtnup, for his 
 part, pocketed the fee, and bullied his patient to his 
 heart's content, at the same time contriving that the 
 patient's particular desires should be gratified as much 
 as possible. 
 
 A month passed in this manner, and the servants 
 and other members of the Hollywell household, who 
 had not expected when Hugh was brought in against 
 the will of her ladyship that he would stay a week, 
 now began to wonder whether he would ever go away. 
 Not that any of them wished it. Love has various 
 effects on different temperaments. On Hugh's, at 
 least in the present stage of affairs, it made him more 
 friendly, more generous, more anxious to be friends 
 with all the world than he had ever been, and the 
 humblest servant in the house received some sub- 
 stantial token of his regard. As for the children, they 
 worshipped him one and all. 
 
 In the mornings, when Isabel was on her rounds 
 about the estate, he gathered the family round him 
 and played games without end. Later, when he was 
 better, and on some pretext or other contrived to be 
 with Isabel, or to serve her, all day long, he still gave 
 himself up to the children for an hour before their bed- 
 time. Then there was blindman's-buff and hide-and- 
 seek, and sometimes a dance when Madam Carring- 
 ton, Marlborough's cousin, played for them. Isabel 
 at first was not present at these entertainments, but the 
 children, artfully prompted by Hugh, raised so vigor- 
 ous a protest that she had to come, and so infectious 
 
 109
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 was the frolic of the hour that she soon joined in it 
 heart and soul, and more than once danced a minuet 
 with Hugh. 
 
 Children are observant creatures, and Hugh was as 
 transparent a lover as ever lived ; and it presently be- 
 came evident that they guessed much. Yet they were 
 discreet. The enfant terrible is not half so gruesome a 
 creature as he is painted, when he loves his victim. 
 They watched, they saw, and they rejoiced but they 
 did not tell. Hugh scarcely perceived that he was 
 found out, and Isabel, though more clear-sighted, 
 blamed the servants for putting foolish notions into 
 the little heads and took it as a joke. But with the 
 children it was no joke. Even Charley, the two- 
 year-old, caught the infection. When after games he 
 rested on Hugh's knee he would never be content 
 until Isabel sat beside him, and then would beam 
 upon them like a small Cupid crowned with golden 
 hair. 
 
 This state of things ended suddenly. One morn- 
 ing at breakfast a letter arrived from Lord Totten- 
 ham informing Hugh that he had just seen the coun- 
 tess, and that unless Hugh returned at once conse- 
 quences too awful to write about would ensue. Hugh 
 was in a mood to defy the countess and everybody on 
 earth, for he was hopeful that day. But he refrained, 
 for Lord Tottenham's sake, and presently confounded 
 the family by announcing that he must return to 
 London. 
 
 The intelligence was received with shrill protests 
 from the older children, by Charley with woeful howls, 
 by Madam Carrington with polite regrets, and by Isa- 
 bel in silence. Hugh, while he pacified Charley with 
 an immense lump of sugar, watched her face furtively 
 and felt chilled and disappointed. It was serious 
 
 no
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 enough, but there was no reflection in it of the pain 
 which he knew was in his own. 
 
 Hugh was very sore at this. Not that he could 
 have put his finger upon a single definite occasion on 
 which Isabel had granted him any particular favour, 
 but as a whole she had treated him with a confidence 
 and, apparently, a real pleasure in his company, which, 
 seeming to grow closer as the days went on, had 
 warmed his spirit into a steady glow of hope. And 
 now to be ready to part with him without even a word 
 of sorrow ! Why, a mere friend would do more than 
 that. 
 
 They separated immediately after breakfast, Hugh 
 to ride for the last time a colt he was breaking in for 
 Isabel, Isabel to her work. Lord Marlborough's stew- 
 ard, however, did not find work come at all easily this 
 morning, and after some vain efforts turned and fled* 
 from her men to take refuge in the Nun's Walk. 
 
 Isabel, also, had received a letter. It was from 
 Karl Brownker to say that, having Lady Marlbor- 
 ough's kind permission, he was coming down to spend 
 a few days at Hollywell House. 
 
 This letter, together with something in Hugh's face 
 when he said that he was going away, made work im- 
 possible for Isabel to-day 
 
 Isabel had never before seriously considered the 
 possibility of falling in love with any one. Karl 
 Brownker she had liked and liked still, but he had 
 made no impression upon her heart. Hugh Montgom- 
 ery she liked much better than Karl, and during the 
 days when he lay dangerously ill, she had thought so 
 much about him, and so earnestly hoped for his recov- 
 ery, that more than once she asked herself whether it 
 were possible she might some time care for him more 
 than as a friend, but without finding any satisfactory 
 
 in
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 answer to the question. When he became convalescent 
 she told herself she must be careful, and for a little 
 while she was careful. But this did not last. Accus- 
 tomed to Karl Brownker's way, which was to be 
 pointedly indifferent to every one but herself, her sus- 
 picions were disarmed by Hugh's attentions to the chil- 
 dren and his genuine enjoyment of the family life. 
 She had honestly believed it was this which kept him 
 with them after he had recovered from his wounds. 
 
 But this morning her eyes had been opened by the 
 look upon his face and the tone of his voice when he 
 said that he must go away. He loved her after all; 
 he must have loved her from the first. What had she 
 done? What did she feel herself? 
 
 The garden gate clicked, and Isabel, rousing from 
 her thoughts with a most undignified start, turned to 
 see Hugh approaching her. He was pale, and avoided 
 her eyes as he came towards her; but his lips were 
 resolutely set, and a sure instinct told Isabel that the 
 moment had arrived when she must tie a knot or cut 
 her friendship with this man to pieces. 
 
 An absurd desire to run away seized her, and de- 
 prived her of the power of speech ; and Hugh, who in 
 a few stiff words had asked her if she could spare him 
 a few moments, received for reply a curt nod, which 
 in the condition he was in at the moment chilled him 
 like iced water. 
 
 Without a word they strolled up and down the 
 Nun's Walk for several minutes. Hugh had prepared 
 a speech for the occasion full of grace and eloquence, 
 but so far from being able to deliver it he found him- 
 self attacked by a craven dread of speaking at all. Be- 
 fore long, however, a reaction set in. Hope he had 
 none, but though she might scoff, be angry, or simply 
 give him a cold refusal, he must and would know. 
 
 112
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "Isabel!" 
 
 He had never called her by her bare Christian name 
 before, and the sound of it struck upon her thoughts 
 like the sudden clang of some deep-toned bell upon the 
 ear on a still night. 
 
 " Isabel ! " He caught the breath that had failed 
 him once and made it do its duty by main force. " I 
 cannot go away without asking you a question. I love 
 you. Can you do you care the least for me ? " 
 
 Roughly, jerkily were the words spoken, without 
 grace or even manners, as manners went in those days ; 
 but they were eloquent enough to Isabel of the speak- 
 er's meaning. She looked up at him with a troubled 
 face. 
 
 " I do not know." There was a curious appeal in 
 the words, which if Hugh had been older would have 
 warned him that he was on difficult ground. As it was 
 they raised him to a pinnacle of hope. 
 
 " But that means you care," he cried, " my " 
 
 " Stop ! " she said decidedly. " I did not say that. 
 I said I did not know." 
 
 Hugh came to the ground with a bump. " You 
 care a little, and I may hope." 
 
 " I do not think you should. But we are great 
 friends, are we not?" She was speaking hurriedly 
 now, her eyes on the ground. " Why should we not 
 continue friends ? " 
 
 Hugh's hands clinched. 
 
 " Friends ! " he said rudely ; " that is impossible. 
 I love you. If you do not care, and can never care, we 
 ought not to meet again." 
 
 " But I could not bear to think we should never 
 meet again." 
 
 The words were out of her mouth almost before 
 she knew they were on her lips. Hugh's eyes flashed.
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " That sounds different. I am too hasty ; forgive 
 me. You see, I have loved you so from that first day. 
 Life was so dark without you that I could not stay even 
 to get my wounds healed, but must come hither to see 
 whether you had any thought of me ; and now I have 
 to go away again." 
 
 Isabel frowned and shook her head. 
 
 " You were foolish and wrong. You might have 
 killed yourself." 
 
 He smiled. 
 
 " It would have been your fault." 
 
 " Mine ! Oh, that is too bad." 
 
 She had become angry all at once, and his smile 
 vanished. 
 
 " I never said one word," she cried, " to lead you 
 to think that I thought anything." 
 
 Her vehemence puzzled him. 
 
 " Indeed, I meant nothing of that nature," he said 
 humbly. " I meant only that I loved you so, and that 
 life was of no worth without you. Isabel, my darling " 
 he caught her suddenly by both her hands " hear 
 me now. Since I came we have been every day to- 
 gether. You have been kind so kind and I thought 
 happy, too. Is this a lie or not? If it is I will go 
 away and never trouble you, though my heart is break- 
 ing. But if it is not Isabel, Isabel, if it is not " 
 
 He was drawing her towards him, tenderly, rever- 
 ently, yet with a strength Isabel could not resist. 
 What had come to her she knew not. She was indig- 
 nant at his precipitation, startled, unwilling, and yet 
 could not resist him. An overpowering weakness 
 seized her. Only by the greatest effort she managed 
 to say: 
 
 " Let me go ; do let me go ! " 
 
 It would have been a forlorn hope with most men. 
 114
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 But Hugh, though quivering all over with the joy of 
 possession, had not lost his self-control. Her words 
 stabbed him like a knife. 
 
 " Do you mean that ? " 
 
 "Yes!" 
 
 Her tone was firmer. He dropped her hands, and 
 Isabel drew back with a sigh of relief. 
 
 " Thank you," she said simply, " you are good." 
 
 But Hugh did not look good nor feel it. " I am 
 waiting to know," he muttered between his teeth, " if, 
 after all, it is a lie." 
 
 She gave a queer, helpless laugh. 
 
 " No, it is not a lie." 
 
 At this he would have taken her hands a second 
 time, but she put them behind her. 
 
 " Not that ; you must not do that again." 
 
 He stared at her in bewilderment. 
 
 " Yet you love me ? " 
 
 " Not as you love me." 
 
 He drew back with a stiff bow. 
 
 " I must then beg your pardon." 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " I should beg yours." 
 
 "Isabel!" 
 
 " No, I mean it. Oh, I can read what is in your 
 mind. Either I should bid you go away, or yield whol- 
 ly and and be your wife. Is not that your mind ? " 
 
 "If lam worthy?" 
 
 He was humble again, for hope was in his heart. 
 
 She nodded at him. 
 
 " You are more than worthy." 
 
 " Then, what ? You would know me better first ? " 
 
 She smiled a quaint little smile. 
 
 " I think I know you now." 
 
 He edged nearer to her.
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Then nothing lies between us." 
 
 She stepped back. 
 
 " But, indeed, there is a great deal." 
 
 " I have proved I love you, and you? " 
 
 " I I do not know." She sighed and sat down 
 upon the log seat and leaned her chin upon her hands 
 and stared at the ground. 
 
 " You may not understand," she went on, " but the 
 life I live has made me different from other women. 
 Do you understand ? " 
 
 She put the question abruptly, without looking up. 
 
 " I do not understand." 
 
 Hugh's voice was cool and deliberate. If Isabel 
 had seen his face she would have known that he was 
 making up his mind with characteristic impulsiveness 
 to a definite resolution. But she was not thinking of 
 him at the moment. 
 
 " I did not expect you would," she rejoined. " No 
 man would." 
 
 She was silent a moment, and then went on slowly : 
 
 " I do not want to marry. I love my work, and if 
 I married I must give it up. I love my independence 
 even more, and I conld not give up my independence 
 to be anybody's wife." 
 
 She spoke earnestly, even passionately ; but it was 
 to herself rather than to Hugh, and when he an- 
 swered her she started, being hardly conscious that 
 she had expressed her thought aloud. 
 
 " I understand now why you do not care." 
 
 His voice was steady and a little hard ; something 
 in its tone made her uneasy. " I beg you will forgive 
 me," he went on, " for my impertinence." 
 
 " You have not been impertinent." 
 
 " You have made me feel so, and have so well 
 answered me I have not another word to say." 
 
 116
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He raised his hat formally, and gave her a long, 
 steady look; then, before Isabel realized what he was 
 about, strode quickly away towards the house. 
 
 She rose and watched him as long as he was in 
 sight, but he did not turn his head or pause. When 
 the garden gate closed behind him she sat down again 
 upon the log. At first her face was very serious, but 
 gradually it brightened. A quaint smile lurked about 
 the corners of her lips, and when at last she left her 
 sanctuary at the sound of the dinner-bell there was a 
 soft radiance in her eye, in her cheeks a bright, warm 
 colour. She walked slowly though she was late, and 
 lifted the latch of the garden door with unusual gen- 
 tleness as if it were precious, closing it quietly behind 
 her. As a consequence, good Dr. Burtnup, who was 
 standing in the walk with his back to the gate, did not 
 hear her approach. 
 
 When Isabel saw him her eyes gleamed with 
 amusement, for the good man was busily counting 
 some money, and chuckling and muttering to himself. 
 
 " Five, ten a 4ad of discernment, on my faith. 
 Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five a gentleman, bred to the 
 bone to the bone, I say." 
 
 And then he saw Isabel's shadow in the grass and 
 started violently. Isabel's face wore the calmness of 
 unconscious innocence. 
 
 " I trust your patient will be in proper condition 
 for his ride to London." 
 
 The doctor frowned. He had stuffed his guineas 
 into his pocket, and now kept his hands there, stand- 
 ing with his feet apart and looking up sideways like 
 some bird about to peck. 
 
 " Madam, I pray there may be no relapse ; but I 
 won't answer for it." 
 
 Isabel stared at the little man. 
 117
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " You have changed your opinion, then." 
 
 " That I never do never unless, after death, by 
 an examination of the intestines " 
 
 " What can be your meaning ? You said the ride 
 to-morrow would be a benefit." 
 
 " To-morrow, yes ; to-day, no. And he has had no 
 dinner, madam. He refused his dinner. He called for 
 his horse and mounted, and is gone." 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery gone ? " 
 
 Isabel's face expressed such amazement that Dr. 
 Burtnup, who had been very angry with her, began to 
 hesitate. 
 
 "If you did not order him to go, it is my error, 
 but I " 
 
 " Indeed, you are in the greatest error." 
 
 Isabel fixed upon the doctor so withering a glare 
 that a severe chill ran down his back. 
 
 " And you, sir," she went on before he could speak, 
 " who have boasted of the implicit obedience of your 
 patient for these four weeks past, have allowed him, 
 though not fully recovered of his strength, to ride to 
 London dinnerless. If harm follows I fear your error 
 is like to cost you more than five-and-twenty pounds." 
 
 And with an air that would have done credit to the 
 countess in her haughtiest mood, Isabel swept past the 
 discomfited doctor into the house. 
 
 118
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 KARL BROWNKER recovered from the ill effects of 
 the duel much more quickly than Hugh, but constant 
 attendance on the King kept him so continuously oc- 
 cupied that the coach drive to St. Albans for Brown- 
 ker was extremely careful of himself the day after 
 Hugh returned to London was his first leisure time 
 and the first opportunity he had to review his private 
 affairs. 
 
 Brownker felt hopeful about Isabel. He was satis- 
 fied that her attitude towards Montgomery before the 
 duel had been purely friendly, and he reasoned that 
 though they had been together since, if it took Karl 
 Brownker three months to make much impression, it 
 would take so raw a youth as this more than four 
 weeks to supplant him. Karl, in fact, took the ground 
 men of his experience and condition usually take. Of 
 the many women he had wooed before he met Isabel 
 only one had rejected him, and she was at this present 
 moment completely in his power. He was confi- 
 dent that, sooner or later, his present campaign would 
 be as successful as the others. The only difference was 
 that no affair had ever interested him so much. The 
 rivalry of Hugh rather amused him than otherwise, 
 since he had discovered that the Marlboroughs, in 
 spite of Hugh's fortune, were not inclined to press him 
 on Isabel as a suitor. For Hugh himself, Brownker 
 felt a genuine liking. This would not indeed prevent 
 
 119
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 him from destroying Hugh's dearest hopes in any way 
 that might prove necessary, but his proposal of friend- 
 ship had been no mere form of empty words. 
 
 In such mood he arrived at St. Albans, but no 
 sooner did he see Isabel than that mood rapidly 
 changed. He perceived at her first greeting that 
 something was amiss, and all the evening after his ar- 
 rival, while they talked on indifferent subjects in the 
 presence of Marlborough's cousin, he noted a score of 
 little things. The result was a restless night. 
 
 The next morning at breakfast he suggested a 
 walk, and, somewhat to his surprise, his request was 
 readily granted. An hour later they were together 
 as of old in the Nun's Walk. Yet all was different 
 from what it used to be. The place seemed damp and 
 dark and dreary. The sky above was overcast, and a 
 bitter northwest wind was blowing beyond the trees. 
 Everything looked withered and decayed every- 
 thing but Isabel. Dressed in her farmer's coat and 
 thick woollen frock, she walked briskly, with cheeks 
 flushed perhaps by the wind, but certainly flushed 
 swinging her light hoe, her head erect, her face full 
 of vigour and brightness, the picture of health and 
 fresh, rosy youth. Neither the big felt hat, worn rather 
 rakishly to-day, though quite by accident Isabel's ac- 
 quaintance with her mirror being an intermittent one 
 nor the farmer's coat could conceal the beauty of her 
 face or the proportions of her slender figure. Brown- 
 ker thought he had never seen her look more attract- 
 ive; and as they took a turn up and down the 
 Walk, he drank in the beauty and the freshness of 
 her as some hungry spider from its hole looks upon a 
 fly sunning itself just without the web. Then he set 
 to work. 
 
 " Montgomery left you very suddenly, then," he 
 1 20
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 said, mentioning Hugh's name almost for the first 
 time. " I am sorry." 
 
 He did not look directly at Isabel, but he saw her 
 turn quickly and look at him. 
 
 " I am not sorry," she answered, and something 
 in her tone made him bite his lips. " I think it was 
 as well." 
 
 Brownker gave a quiet laugh. His face was per- 
 fectly composed, his voice under control. The cam- 
 paign had begun. 
 
 " You have not then heard that we are friends ? " 
 
 Isabel looked at him doubtfully. 
 
 " I have heard him say so." 
 
 " You may believe Mr. Montgomery's word. I as- 
 sure you I never knew a man more worthy of your 
 trust." 
 
 He spoke with conviction, and waited as if for her 
 to assent. But she did not. He slowly turned his 
 head and looked into her face. 
 
 " I repeat to you, Isabel, this man is worthy. Do 
 you doubt him ? " 
 
 " I never thought of doubting him ! " 
 
 The words were spoken coldly, almost impatiently. 
 
 For the second time Brownker bit his lip, and this 
 time he made it bleed ; but there was no change in his 
 voice or manner. 
 
 " I am glad," he said. " I feared I might have 
 prejudiced your mind against him a month ago." 
 
 He was looking at her intently, but she did not no- 
 tice it, for when she looked back his eyes were turned 
 away. 
 
 " You could not do that," Isabel replied in a curi- 
 ously quiet tone. " I knew Mr. Montgomery before 
 you spoke of him, and I have known him much better 
 since, Karl." 
 
 121
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 The word came like an exclamation, for she stopped 
 in her walk. 
 
 " Karl, do you remember what we said when we 
 were last together here ? " 
 
 " I remember all we said." 
 
 " I told you that you were my friend, and you said 
 you could not be my friend." 
 
 Her face was scarlet now, but full of determina- 
 tion. She spoke fast and earnestly. 
 
 " And then I replied to you that I " 
 
 " Would put me to the test." 
 
 " I did not mean that." 
 
 " But I mean it. I stood the test." 
 
 He spoke firmly, though with a smile. Isabel's 
 face grew pained and sorrowful. 
 
 " You did, Karl, nobly," she said in a low voice. 
 
 She had turned away, and did not see an ugly 
 gleam which, shooting through his eyes like a flash of 
 electricity, left them dull and dead. 
 
 " If you can say as much," he said very softly, " I 
 am rewarded to the full." 
 
 " I say more," she cried, lifting her head. " Your 
 magnanimity has made me feel that I am unjust in 
 what I said. Indeed, I should have written to ask your 
 pardon but that I knew we should meet soon. I ask 
 your pardon now for saying that you were merciless." 
 
 " Pardon, Isabel ? Nay, it is I who should ask 
 pardon." 
 
 She looked at him in genuine surprise. 
 
 " I do not understand in the least." 
 
 He took her hand. At this movement she shrank 
 back, but he would not let her go. 
 
 " Nay, I am your friend," he said, grasping her 
 fingers so tightly that he hurt her. " That privilege 
 you gave me, and I will not yield it up. As a friend, 
 
 122
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 then, I ask pardon for slighting Hugh Montgomery, 
 and wish you both God-speed and happiness." 
 
 He spoke slowly and distinctly, the grip upon her 
 fingers tightening with every word until she could 
 have cried out with the pain, if his last words had not 
 made her unconscious of any pain. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 She was pale, angry, and her eyes met his unflinch- 
 ingly. But his face did not change a muscle. 
 
 " As the wife of Hugh Montgomery you will be 
 very happy." 
 
 " You have been strangely misinformed." 
 
 She spoke quite coolly, even contemptuously, but 
 her face crimsoned, nevertheless. He very slightly 
 shook his head and released her hand. 
 
 " I have my evidence first-hand." 
 
 " He told you ! " Isabel's eyes flashed fire. " He 
 dared to tell you this ? " 
 
 Brownker shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " Do not, I pray you, ask me to betray my 
 friend." 
 
 "It is a lie!" 
 
 " Nay, call it a mistake of mine," he said smoothly. 
 " But I crave pardon. It is no mistake. Your face 
 belies your words." 
 
 His voice was as soft and insinuating as the cooing 
 of a ring-dove. But Isabel was in no mood for such 
 treatment. Her face was white as marble and as hard. 
 Her eyes shone like cold steel. She dug her hoe into 
 the ground, and pulled it out and held it in both hands, 
 her head thrown back, her attitude that of defiance and 
 determination. 
 
 " If you disbelieve my word you are no friend of 
 mine. I have never given Mr. Montgomery the least 
 right to say that I would be his wife. He asked me, I 
 9 123
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 refused. That is the true account of it. If he has told 
 you " 
 
 " I have not seen him." Brownker spoke sharply 
 and decidedly. 
 
 Isabel looked at him in dumb amazement. 
 
 " But you said, I know you said " she began 
 brokenly. 
 
 " I said that I had my evidence first-hand, true ; but 
 I have not seen Montgomery. If he has told any one 
 he may have done he has not told me. Nay " as Is- 
 abel was about to speak again " I pray you, no ques- 
 tions. I will answer none, for what I was told was true." 
 
 Isabel gave a despairing laugh. 
 
 " Indeed, this is a pretty jest. I am to marry a 
 man I have refused to marry because somebody un- 
 known has said that I am going to marry him. My 
 faith, if the poor man had any hope in his mind when 
 he left me, which as he left me it is evident he had not, 
 that hope will like have gone now, so " 
 
 " No, it will not go." Brownker spoke abruptly, 
 sternly. " He will hold as close as any leech. If my 
 congratulations seem out of place it is only because 
 they are a little premature. This is a lovers' quarrel." 
 He sighed, and went on hurriedly : " Forgive me, I 
 am not myself. But my friend's victory is my defeat. 
 He has conquered, and will conquer, and I must go. 
 Ah, well! so much for the good word of the Earl of 
 Marlborough." 
 
 He turned as if to leave her, but under his eyelids 
 he watched the effect of his words like some gunner 
 who has fired a shot at long range. 
 
 " Wait ! " Isabel said sharply. " You have seen the 
 earl about me ? " 
 
 " Without his leave," Brownker answered, sigh- 
 ing, " do you think I could come here ? " 
 
 124
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "And the earl said what?" 
 
 Brownker considered. He had to decide what it 
 was likely that Marlborough would say. 
 
 " He would press no choice on you," he said at last, 
 " but did not think you would marry any man without 
 consent from him." 
 
 Isabel's face softened. 
 
 " Indeed, that is my lord in every word. And he 
 is right. He has been, with her ladyship, the best 
 friend that I have known ; the kindest master, the 
 wisest counsellor. No, I would marry no man in the 
 world of whom they disapproved." 
 
 Brownker's face sensibly brightened. 
 
 " A wise and most proper resolution. Then," 
 thoughtfully, " Mr. Montgomery had better pay his 
 suit to Marlborough." 
 
 " Neither Mr. Montgomery nor any other will have 
 a prospect of success if Lord Marlborough be not won. 
 But, Karl, this is all most foolish and absurd. Mr. 
 Montgomery, I tell you, has gone away. He is not 
 likely to return. Let us change the subject. I pray 
 you, change the subject now." 
 
 " With all alacrity. But tell me : if Montgomery 
 or another were to win such favour from Lord Marl- 
 borough that he should beseech you to consider such 
 a suit as worthy, I understand you would not spurn 
 the suit ? " 
 
 Isabel looked at him keenly. 
 
 " You are very curious about this. I am not going 
 to marry any one." 
 
 " Unless my lord commands." 
 
 " He would not do that." 
 
 " But if he did, should you defy and disobey him, 
 and refuse Montgomery?" 
 
 Isabel dropped her eyes. 
 125
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " There is nothing, even though it concerned my 
 happiness, I could refuse Lord Marlborough." 
 
 Brownker raised his head with a long, deep breath. 
 
 " It grows damp and very chill," he said ; " let us 
 go in." 
 
 126
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 KARL BROWNKER remained three days at Holly- 
 well. When he took leave he declared himself great- 
 ly refreshed by his visit, and he looked it. He 
 had eaten well and slept well after the first night, and 
 was apparently in the best of humours. Isabel en- 
 joyed the visit more than she had expected. Karl was 
 livelier and wittier than usual ; a most delightful com- 
 panion. Not once did he attempt to overstep the 
 bounds of friendship, or again allude to Hugh Mont- 
 gomery or any other equivocal subject. 
 
 Isabel herself was very kind to Brownker, with 
 the kindness a woman shows towards the man who was 
 once her dearest friend, but who through uncontrol- 
 lable circumstances has forever lost that place. 
 
 Karl felt this, and if the many women he had de- 
 serted could have known what the knowledge cost him 
 they would have rejoiced. But for that very reason 
 it hardened his resolution as the blows of a hammer 
 harden iron. Before this time the pursuit of Isabel 
 had been the occupation of his leisure hours, absorb- 
 ing enough then in all conscience, but always set aside 
 when he entered his office or the presence of the King. 
 From this day forth, until the end came, it was the 
 chief thought and purpose of his life. 
 
 Karl reached his house in St. James's late in the 
 afternoon, and, taking a hasty meal, set to work to 
 clear up the arrears of correspondence and other mat- 
 
 127
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ters which had accumulated in his absence. It was a 
 large house in a fashionable street and full of people, 
 yet Brownker was a bachelor. Who the other inhabi- 
 tants were, it is, perhaps, not well to inquire too 
 closely. All of them, men and women, had nearly 
 as many different ways of dressing and disguising 
 themselves as there are days in the year, and every 
 one of them, old or young, obeyed Karl Brownker's 
 nod. 
 
 Hour after hour Brownker worked. One after an- 
 other his intelligencers slipped into the room where 
 two clerks sat writing for dear life, made their reports, 
 received instructions, bowed, and retired. Brownker 
 loved his work, and gave himself to it heart and soul. 
 In his papers, which no one saw but his master, were 
 the secrets of the greatest families in England. Be- 
 tween dusk and dawn of every night in the year came 
 informers and intelligencers with wares of every de- 
 scription, from the man of quality bursting with an 
 important political plot, to the kitchen-wench dis- 
 charged from her place, and eager to take revenge 
 upon her mistress by disclosing some disgraceful fam- 
 ily secret. 
 
 Only the more important informations were dealt 
 with by Brownker in person. For the smaller matters 
 he had a staff of men specially trained by himself. His 
 house was known everywhere. No one with genuine 
 intelligence to give of the King's enemies left there 
 unrewarded. But woe to the unlucky wight who 
 thought to make capital out of false information. 
 Sooner or later Brownker always found him out, upon 
 which condign punishment followed, not the less pain- 
 ful and severe because it was usually inflicted without 
 the knowledge or assistance of the law. 
 
 The work went on until Brownker's clerks were 
 128
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 fainting with fatigue and want of food, and even 
 Brownker himself was weary. At last he touched a 
 bell, and presently a servant entered to announce that 
 supper was in readiness. Brownker turned to his 
 clerks. 
 
 " You will sleep here to-night," he said. " There 
 is a raging storm outside." 
 
 The clerks, who lived in the poorer quarters of the 
 town, and like most of their class dreaded a wetting 
 above all things, were extremely grateful. Brownker 
 received their thanks with a gracious smile. 
 
 " To-morrow," he said, " we will resume at seven 
 of the clock precisely, and continue without pause until 
 your work is done." 
 
 When alone in his private rooms, Brownker piled 
 up his plate with food, and then drew a letter from his 
 pocket and read it slowly while he munched. It was 
 a letter from Robert Young. 
 
 " The impudence of this knave," Brownker said 
 to himself, " is beyond belief. Surely there never lived 
 such a genius in roguery. But I must pay him first ! " 
 
 He read the letter twice, and then, leaving his sup- 
 per half eaten, began to walk slowly up and down the 
 room in deep thought. After a short interval he would 
 recollect that he was hungry, and sit down and eat. 
 But he soon forgot his food again and fell into the 
 abstraction of a man whose brain is working like the 
 hands of a clever craftsman creating, preparing, carv- 
 ing into shape some complete plan and scheme of 
 action. 
 
 He rang his bell at last, and signed to the servant 
 to clear the table. 
 
 " Chinnic," he said to the man, " you first brought 
 me Robert Young. Read this." And he tossed the 
 man the letter. 
 
 129
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Chinnic was a slight, tall, thin-faced valet, who 
 had been so many years with Brownker that he had 
 grown a good deal like him. The similarity between 
 them was strengthened by the fact that the valet wore 
 his master's cast-off clothes. 
 
 Chinnic perused the note with a wooden face, and 
 nodded. 
 
 " He will be here, sir." 
 
 " You take your oath ? " 
 
 " I know him." 
 
 Brownker frowned. 
 
 "Ah! so you said before. Yet, but for a chance, 
 he would have done mischief at St. Albans that could 
 not be repaired." 
 
 The man shrugged his shoulders exactly like his 
 master. 
 
 " I said I knew Young, sir. I did not say I knew 
 the Mistress Isabel." 
 
 Brownker did not answer. His brows were knit 
 in thought. 
 
 " Has he the skill in forging handwriting that he 
 pretends to ? " 
 
 " None like him ever lived for that, sir." 
 
 Again Brownker thought, while his servant stood 
 and waited. 
 
 " Then, my good Chinnic, we will try again. But 
 this time your person shall be hostage for his good 
 behaviour." 
 
 The man smiled sardonically. 
 
 " If he outwits your honour and me, I will stand to 
 any consequence you name." 
 
 " Then bring him here at six of the clock to-mor- 
 row morning, and call me half an hour before." 
 
 The man bowed and moved slowly to the door. 
 
 " Stay ! " Brownker said, and the man stopped. 
 130
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Is it true that the knave has letters such as he pre- 
 tends?" 
 
 " Ay but they are all counterfeits." 
 
 " Worth nothing." 
 
 " Your honour's pardon. Not the Lords of Marl- 
 borough and Salisbury themselves could say the wri- 
 ting was not theirs. It has been tried." 
 
 " Hum ! " Brownker stroked his chin. " If that be 
 true, let him not be late." 
 
 He undressed quickly, and was asleep almost as 
 soon as his head touched the pillow. As he drowsed 
 off he muttered : 
 
 " My Lord of Marlborough, you shall have one 
 more opportunity which this man shall provide an 
 invaluable rogue." 
 
 Chinnic was punctual to the minute the next morn- 
 ing, and Brownker rose briskly. 
 
 The bed-chamber opened out of the sitting-room, 
 and as Karl put the last touches to his toilet he heard 
 the sound of steps outside his door and the whisper 
 of voices. A moment later Chinnic entered to find his 
 master handling his rapier. 
 
 " Bring me the oil-stone," Brownker said without 
 looking round, " and then remove all things from here 
 which might be spoiled." 
 
 Chinnic brought the required articles, and Brown- 
 ker, turning up his sleeves, sharpened the point of his 
 rapier until it was as keen as a stiletto. Meanwhile 
 the active valet had swept all the ornaments and small 
 pieces of furniture into an inner room. 
 
 Brownker nodded approval. 
 
 " You will send him in, and, locking the door, 
 stand behind it until I give you word." 
 
 Chinnic's face relaxed into a gentle, happy smile. 
 
 " He will ask a hundred pounds, sir, before he
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 will render up the association he says he has discov- 
 ered." 
 
 " In ten minutes," Brownker rejoined, carelessly 
 feeling the point of his rapier, " he will render up 
 the universe if I require it, and pay me a hundred 
 pounds. Go ! " 
 
 The servant slipped out, while his master, locking 
 the door of the inner room and dropping the key in his 
 pocket, quietly sat down upon his bed, the rapier lying 
 concealed in the folds of the quilt beside him. 
 
 He had barely time to do this before Mr. Robert 
 Young made his appearance, saluting his host with a 
 bow and a patronizing wave of the hand. 
 
 " A greeting, sir. Faith, but this honour toucheth 
 my heart " looking slowly round the room. Then 
 he paused and coughed, having caught a glimpse 
 of the steel upon the bed " but I was sure, to a 
 plumb, that my past services and the facilities I could 
 offer for the discovery of great matters would blot 
 out and obliterate from your generous mind any re- 
 membrance of ahem ! slight indiscretions. The 
 flesh, good Master Brownker, even with the agents of 
 the King such as ourselves, is frail is frail ! " 
 
 He gave a low, impudent laugh, and rubbed his 
 great hands. Still in clergyman's dress, his favourite 
 disguise, with a clean, irreproachable white band over 
 his rusty black, Mr. Robert Young was, nevertheless, 
 a gruesome object. His figure was lank and awkward. 
 He had sloping shoulders and a very long neck, which, 
 when taken with his bright, ever-shifting, beady eyes, 
 an immense hooked nose, huge hands, and swarthy 
 complexion, gave him a strange resemblance to a 
 human vulture. The other features of his face were 
 coarse and large, and his lips full, pendulous, and 
 moist. 
 
 132
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 His movements, partly through nervousness, part- 
 ly through a constitutional irritability of tempera- 
 ment, were extremely restless, and added much to his 
 likeness to a bird of prey. 
 
 All the time the man was speaking Brownker 
 watched him in silence, neither by word nor gesture 
 acknowledging his greeting. Karl's face was dark and 
 impenetrable; his eyes fixed, dull, and expressionless 
 as a snake's. 
 
 " And now, most gracious sir," Mr. Young con- 
 cluded sharply, " I await commands." 
 
 His voice shook in spite of himself. The stony 
 gaze of the man, who, truth to tell, he feared more 
 than any other, the suspicious bareness of the room, 
 and that glitter of cold steel on the bed began to affect 
 his nerves very painfully, and dried up the stream of 
 his eloquence. 
 
 Yet for fully another minute Mr. Brownker neither 
 spoke nor moved. Then slowly, stealthily, he raised 
 the rapier-point. 
 
 " You are welcome," he said gravely. " The 
 juncture is most critical, and the time a very jealous 
 one." 
 
 While speaking he rose, inch by inch as it were, 
 from the bed, like a waking cobra loosening its coils. 
 The rapier was now clearly pointed in Mr. Robert 
 Young's direction. 
 
 Young laughed aloud and his manner changed. 
 The restlessness and uneasy movement of hands and 
 fingers ceased. He saw the danger that was com- 
 ing to him, and bracing himself to meet it, he stood 
 still and rigid, as watchful and as dangerous as his 
 host. 
 
 " Jealous and critical indeed, i' faith," he said. 
 " But his Majesty possessing subjects such as me, who 
 
 133
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 have, I do assure you on my honour, found out a 
 nest " 
 
 " His Majesty, sir, in my poor person, thanks you. 
 But, as it happens, he has found out you. Still now, 
 or I slit you ear to ear." 
 
 He stepped quickly forward, and with the point of 
 his rapier pricked Young in the cheek. The man 
 quivered all over and made a slight convulsive move- 
 ment with his fingers, but it was not from fear. His 
 face was horrible to look at, such ferocity and rage 
 were in it. His eyes were as green as a tiger's; his 
 nostrils widely distended, his lips parted in a grin which 
 showed every tooth to the gum. Yet he kept still, 
 while the blood from the cut inflicted by the foil 
 trickled down his cheek and stained the white bands 
 below. Another movement of Mr. Brownker's wrist 
 and the lobe of the left ear was pierced and slit to 
 ribbons. At this the man gnashed his teeth, jerked 
 back his head, and tried to grapple with his enemy; 
 but quick as thought Brownker slipped aside and stood 
 on guard. To close with him now would have been 
 to run upon a sword-point. Young saw this, and, 
 turning swiftly, seized the handle of the door and 
 shook it violently. But the lock would not yield, and, 
 receiving a wound from Brownker's rapier in the other 
 ear from behind, he turned again, and, reckless in his 
 pain, charged full at his tormentor. He might as 
 well have tried to catch an eel. His hands only closed 
 on steel which cut him severely and then slipped from 
 their grasp. If he came nearer, the deadly point 
 gleamed in his eyes, or touched his throat ominously. 
 After several vain attempts he fell groaning on the 
 bed, his hands, face, and neck covered with smarting 
 wounds. His spirit of resistance seemed broken now. 
 He crouched on the bed, breathing heavily. 
 
 134
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " What have I done ? " he whined. " I served you 
 faithfully ; secured information above price, and offer 
 more, and my reward is torture." 
 
 " The punishment a brute beast deserves." 
 
 " Deserves ! " he whimpered. " Why, my master, 
 my dear, gracious sir, what have I done to deserve 
 anything but thanks ? " 
 
 He rose from the bed, and staggered a step or two 
 towards Brownker with outstretched hands and an 
 expression of helpless bewilderment. 
 
 Brownker eyed him with a curling lip. 
 
 " Lie to me and I will flay you. All this, as you 
 know, is for your attempted outrage on the Mistress 
 Isabel Fretchville. I swore to have your blood drop 
 by drop, and now I am keeping my oath." 
 
 The man drew himself stiffly together, and pointed 
 a raised hand to heaven. 
 
 " May the Lord destroy my soul for ever if such 
 purpose ever came into my mind. May I rot in " 
 
 Brownker stamped his foot, and made a pass with 
 the rapier that caused the wretched creature to spring 
 backward. 
 
 " Another lie and I will cut your tongue out ! I say 
 I swore to bleed you as they bleed calves to death. 
 But I am inclined to show mercy now, if you make it 
 worth my while." 
 
 " I will swear," the man cried, " before my 
 Maker " 
 
 " And before the House of Lords " 
 
 Brownker spoke very quietly, but for the first 
 time he lowered his rapier. 
 
 " Before the King himself ! " Young said sol- 
 emnly. 
 
 " What do you know, then ? " 
 
 " That there is a damnable plot against the life of 
 135
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 her Majesty the Queen, concerted by the Earl of Marl- 
 borough and others." 
 
 " I shall want proof." 
 
 " I can procure perfect proof." 
 
 " Before you leave this room." 
 
 The man fumbled in his pockets, and pulled out a 
 large piece of folded paper. 
 
 " There is a true copy of an association signed by 
 the earl's own hand, my Lord the Bishop of Rochester, 
 my Lord of Salisbury." 
 
 Brownker took the paper, and began to read. The 
 man watched him with hungry eyes. He had taken 
 out a handkerchief and was stanching the wounds, 
 which, now that Brownker was preoccupied, it was evi- 
 dent did not trouble him so much as he had pretended. 
 Brownker read the document through to the end, then 
 shook his head. 
 
 " How can such a paper profit me ? " 
 
 " Did the Earl of Marlborough know your honour 
 knew of it, he would be as humble a servant of your 
 honour's as myself." 
 
 " And what if the original of this is a counter- 
 feitwhat then ? " 
 
 " What ! a counterfeit ? Why, I can swear " 
 
 " Silence ! " He advanced his rapier again, and the 
 man started back to the wall. " Once for all," Brown- 
 ker said slowly, " I know you, Robert Young. Listen 
 to me. I will put your precious paper to the test 
 and you. But if either plays me false not all the devils 
 from the pit shall keep you from my punishment and 
 my punishments are rare." 
 
 He cut the man again across the back of the hand, 
 and Young's teeth closed with a hiss. 
 
 " I say, listen," Brownker continued. " You will 
 write a note to the person who has the original of this 
 
 136
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 paper to bring it hither. When it is in my hand I 
 will release you, and pay you twenty pounds ; this, on 
 condition that the instant I require to see you, you 
 come at my bidding." 
 
 He lowered the point of his rapier as he spoke and 
 leant upon it with both hands. 
 
 Young sighed. He felt safe at last. Up to this mo- 
 ment he had not been sure that Brownker was not 
 playing with him. 
 
 " I am at your honour's full commands. But, in- 
 deed, it is impossible for any one to get that paper but 
 myself. It lies at this instant in a flower-pot in my 
 Lord Bishop of Rochester's house, at Bromley. Re- 
 lease me now, and it shall be in your hands by ten 
 o'clock to-night." 
 
 "Here?" 
 
 The man coughed. 
 
 " Ahem ! To tell truth and I dare not tell less 
 to your honour I am too well known in these parts. 
 If your honour could meet me eastwards in the city ? " 
 His voice became soft and purring, and he rubbed his 
 hands. " I am so afraid a messenger might take me on 
 a warrant and search me, and then 'twould all be blown 
 upon and the secret known to all." 
 
 While Young spoke Brownker observed him 
 with an expression that had something of approval 
 in it. 
 
 " I see you are careful in your work. Yet I should 
 be rash to part with you did I not know every haunt 
 and hole that you ever crawl to. Where shall we 
 meet ? " 
 
 " The ' Black Bull,' your honour, off Cheapside. 
 'Tis a convenient house." 
 
 " A damned, low, ruffianly house." 
 
 Young coughed again deprecatingly. 
 137
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Indeed, it is something rude ; and if your honour 
 is afraid to venture to the place " 
 
 " All places are the same to me," was the careless 
 reply. " I know the ' Black Bull.' At ten to-night." 
 He knocked at the door and Chinnic opened it. " At 
 ten to-night, Chinnic," he repeated, " I meet your 
 honest friend at the ' Black Bull,' off Cheapside. I 
 trust, Mr. Young, you have no trick in view." He 
 spoke with a gentle, winning courtesy. 
 
 Young looked genuinely astonished. 
 
 " I have not seen a man in all my life so bold as to 
 play one on your honour." 
 
 " Some have tried." 
 
 " I do not know any one, upon my word," and 
 he purred humbly with downcast eyes. 
 
 " That is possible, for they are all dead." 
 
 The man shuddered, or pretended to shudder. 
 
 " Has your honour done ? " 
 
 Brownker nodded, and in an instant Mr. Robert 
 Young had vanished, and could be heard swiftly de- 
 scending the stairs. 
 
 Chinnic looked at the door and then at his master. 
 
 " Sir your pardon. But do you venture alone to 
 that thieves' haunt ? " 
 
 Brownker thrust his rapier in its sheath. 
 
 " I do propose, certainly, to renew acquaintance 
 with Mr. Young alone at ten of the clock to-night. 
 About your business, Chinnic." 
 
 138
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AT three o'clock in the afternoon of the day of 
 Karl Brownker's interview with Mr. Robert Young, 
 two gentlemen were discussing a bottle of wine in a 
 private room at the St. James's Club. It was a meet- 
 ing by appointment made by the Earl of Tottenham 
 with Marlborough. 
 
 " Faith, Jack," his lordship was saying, " the fact 
 is, the boy is harder to hold than an unbroke colt. And 
 I sympathize, by Gad, I do! When I was young, 
 whether it was on business of my own or a matter of 
 the state, I never could abide suspense." 
 
 He tossed off a bumper of wine, and smacked his 
 lips while Marlborough raised his glass and sipped 
 a thimbleful. 
 
 " If all men were like you, Ned, how fast the world 
 would go ! But there are so few like you." 
 
 " Humph ! " grunted the other, " a polite Jack 
 Marlborough way of telling me to wait and be damned. 
 But see here, friend " Lord Tottenham brought his 
 hand down upon the table with a sounding thwack 
 " I cannot wait, nor can my boy, without a reason." 
 
 " There are many reasons," Marlborough began. 
 
 " Oh, I doubt it not, my lord," the other interposed 
 with extreme dryness. "A round dozen nay, a 
 score, if I chose to listen to them. I know you I 
 know you. A question in your hand is twisted this 
 way and turned that, until by the time you let it go, 
 10 139
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hey, presto ! it has become quite another question. 
 Now my question shall not be treated so. I shall want 
 a reason that will stand. Gad's life! Jack, is there a 
 squire's daughter in the land who should be allowed 
 to snap her fingers at ten thousand a year ? " 
 
 " She has, then, snapped her fingers ? " 
 
 " Pshaw ! I believe she'd drop into his arms if 
 you were to nod your head." 
 
 " My head might be in danger, Ned." Marlbor- 
 ough had taken up his glass again, but he laid it down 
 without touching it. Lord Tottenham's face fell, and 
 then his brows contracted. 
 
 " The truth is, my lord, you have a preference for 
 another man." 
 
 " There is another man." 
 
 " And that Karl Brownker. 'Fore Gad, when the 
 Earl of Marlborough can slight the ward of his oldest 
 friend to pander to a damned Dutch mongrel, the 
 times are in a sad confusion." 
 
 Marlborough drummed a devil's tattoo on the table 
 with the fingers of his right hand with an unchanging 
 face. 
 
 " Confusion yes. In all my life, and I have had 
 my share of life, I have never known such confusion 
 as at the present time. But you mistake me, Ned." 
 
 He rose from the table. His eyes were shining 
 now, and his voice was deep and impressive. 
 
 " Before I would let this King's agent do wrong 
 to Isabel, I would be drawn and quartered." 
 
 Lord Tottenham heaved a great sigh of relief. 
 
 " Forgive me, Jack," he cried impulsively, and held 
 out his hand. But Marlborough did not seem to 
 see it. 
 
 " You have touched me in a very tender spot. But 
 I must endure it. My tongue is tied." 
 
 140
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He spoke slowly and mournfully, with a dignity 
 that awed Lord Tottenham, who hastily drew back his 
 hand. 
 
 " If I have misjudged ye, Jack, and missed the 
 meaning of your words," he said humbly, " it is be- 
 cause my mind is but a narrow one and interested only 
 in one matter. Yet will I say one thing " he raised 
 his voice again a little " it does surprise me that a 
 man whose wife is dearest friend to a princess of the 
 blood who himself hath rendered well-known serv- 
 ices, and been rewarded in some measure should be 
 so tender with this Brownker, who would not thrust his 
 long nose twice within my doors without a danger of 
 having it tweaked off. 'Fore Gad! it doth surprise 
 us all that's flat." 
 
 Marlborough smiled smiled with an air of quiet, 
 unutterable scorn, which, though flavoured with 
 enough good-humoured pity to prevent it from being 
 offensive, was infinitely crushing, and made Lord Tot- 
 tenham feel as limp as a school-boy who had dared 
 to argue with his master. 
 
 " So the babble of the coffee-houses and the scan- 
 dal of the clubs has poisoned you, old friend. Well- 
 a-day, well-a-day ! " and he took out his snuff-box. 
 Yet his fingers were so numb that when he took a 
 pinch it dropped from them. Lord Tottenham 
 winced. 
 
 " Come, come, pick your words, Jack. Gad, I 
 said surprise; I did not say suspicion. If there are 
 rumours, whispers even threats and accusations 
 they come not from your friends." 
 
 " Yet my friends my oldest friends shun me in 
 public ; cross the road when I advance to meet them, 
 and would hire a coach to ride in all day long rather 
 than walk the length of half a street beside me. Come, 
 
 141
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Ned, you know what every one thinks and most peo- 
 ple say. Be not mealy-mouthed." 
 
 " If I did credit a half of what they say, Jack," 
 Lord Tottenham replied gruffly, " you would not, I 
 do assure you, find me mealy-mouthed." 
 
 Marlborough brushed away with a handkerchief 
 the snuff which had fallen on his waistcoat, and closed 
 the box before he spoke again. 
 
 " They call me traitor," he said lightly, " and say 
 that I am in league with James to cast William from 
 the throne. Is not that so ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I do not wonder at it, Ned." 
 
 " You don't wonder why ? " Lord Tottenham 
 spoke quickly, breathlessly. A careless observer 
 watching the two men would have taken him to be 
 the suspected man : Marlborough, the judge. 
 
 " Why ? Because after what, for my sorrow, I 
 ventured to say to my master's face, it is not wonder- 
 ful that his agents say this and even more behind my 
 back." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's eyes dilated. 
 
 " What you said ? Gad, Jack, you bearded Wil- 
 liam. Come tell me what you said." 
 
 Marlborough nodded ; but before he spoke he went 
 to the door and looked out into the passage. 
 
 " It will not have escaped your notice, Ned, that 
 there are a few an increasing few gentlemen, voy- 
 aging from Holland to this country." 
 
 " Oh, Gad take the blasted Dutchmen ! " 
 
 " All the services," Marlborough continued, " and 
 public offices have suffered by it. But the army most 
 of all. A soldier commanding an expedition risks life, 
 honour, reputation, and holds in his hands the lives and 
 honour of his men. In all armies but our own, the 
 
 142
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 man who bears the burden and gains victory, wins the 
 laurel. But with us, Englishmen serve and bleed and 
 die, while Dutchmen get the credit and the pelf. It was 
 this I told the King. I warned him humbly of the 
 risks he ran, and the injustice of it. His answer was 
 dismissal. It is the usual reward of a courtier who tells 
 the truth." 
 
 " It was cursed cruel," exclaimed Lord Tottenham. 
 Then he gave a laugh. 
 
 " Zooks ! but I'd give something to have seen his 
 face when you, the most smooth-tongued of them 
 all, dropped in your bullets of cold lead. It was a 
 right manly, noble piece of work. By Gad! Jack, 
 you deserve the thanks of all. But " he paused, 
 coughed, rubbed his head, and poured out another 
 glass of wine " but even yet I do not understand 
 it all." 
 
 " What don't you understand ? " 
 
 " This that men, notably Karl Brownker, should 
 dare to say in public you have corresponded with King 
 James." 
 
 " It is the business of the agent of the King," Marl- 
 borough replied coldly, " to blacken my reputation 
 everywhere." 
 
 Lord Tottenham bit his lip. 
 
 " And yours, it seems, to favour him at the expense 
 of your best friends. A strange thing, by my faith 1 
 Damned strange." 
 
 " A man who has for an enemy the King of Eng- 
 land, Ned, must do strange things." 
 
 Lord Tottenham grunted, and began to walk up 
 and down the room. 
 
 "You mean? oh, curse it! I see now what you 
 mean. Jack " He paused suddenly in front of Marl- 
 borough, who was leaning negligently against the 
 
 143
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 chimney-piece, watching his companion under his 
 eyelids. 
 
 " Jack, dost wish to hear words from my heart, 
 however rough, or no ? " 
 
 " So long as I hold your heart, Ned, I do not mind 
 rough words." 
 
 " Oh, I love you ! If you were to bolt to France 
 and fight for Louis I should love you still. For you 
 have a heart a warm heart. But there's a devilish 
 cold calculating brain a-top of it. That is why none 
 not even I can fathom your designs. But here's 
 my words : I know Karl Brownker. He has agents 
 of his own in every camp, spies in every house. Your 
 soul may be as white and spotless as as my boy's, 
 but this man I'll take an oath has a bolt within his 
 hand that, unless you round upon him, will crush you. 
 I feel it in the air, in the buzzing of men's tongues, 
 in the looks of all who know you. Good Gad ! Jack, 
 rouse and tear him down. Call upon this devil and 
 all the rest to prove their words or take them back at 
 the sword-point. Do this and quickly, or, upon your 
 soul, you'll break my heart." 
 
 His voice trembled at the end, his lined face worked 
 with emotion, he held out both his hands. Marlbor- 
 ough grasped them, and wrung them hard and smiled 
 affectionately. But for once even the winning smile 
 did not convince his friend, while the coldness of the 
 hands chilled him to the bone. 
 
 " At the right time, Ned, I will do all. But be- 
 lieve me or believe me not, that time has not come 
 yet." 
 
 Lord Tottenham groaned helplessly, and took up 
 his hat. 
 
 " Go your way, then, go your way. And I must 
 tell my boy what ? " 
 
 144
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " To wait. Not to despair, but wait." 
 
 " It is a hard thing to wait when one is young, 
 Jack, and in love." 
 
 " Yet there is a harder thing than that, Ned." Lord 
 Tottenham had reached the door. He turned, his hand 
 on the lock. " A man who waits for love to come to 
 him," Marlborough went on, " has hope in life. A 
 man who waits for hate to strike him down has but to 
 face despair." 
 
 " But you," exclaimed Lord Tottenham, " are in- 
 nocent. You have the right upon your side." 
 
 " All that is true, old friend." The reply came in 
 Maryborough's quietest tones. " But I am not the first 
 man wrongfully accused who has had to face despair." 
 
 145
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 WHEN Lord Tottenham left the room, Marlbor- 
 ough returned to the table, and sitting down rested his 
 head on his hands. All the calmness and the confi- 
 dence with which he faced his friend and the world had 
 vanished. His brow was furrowed with deep lines ; 
 his eyes cavernous, the lines of the whole face sharp 
 and haggard. It became all at once the face of a hunted 
 man. He took out a letter, glanced over it, and thrust 
 it in the fire. Then he consulted his watch, went to 
 the door, and, without opening it, listened intently. 
 Then turning sharply away, he paced up and down the 
 room. Of a sudden he paused, and walking slowly to 
 the table, sat down. As he did so, the door opened, 
 and a club servant entered. 
 
 " Mr. Brownker, my lord." 
 
 Marlborough rose smiling, and his visitor, with all 
 his keenness of perception, could not detect the slight- 
 est sign of care or anxiety in the earl's bland face. 
 
 " It is not often Mr. Brownker is behind his time." 
 
 " I owe your lordship an apology. But," with a 
 glance at the empty bottle and glasses the servant was 
 now removing, " you have, I see, been entertained." 
 
 " My Lord of Tottenham," and Marlborough took 
 snuff with steady fingers and stared at Mr. Brownker, 
 " came to converse on urgent private business touch- 
 ing his friend, Mr. Hugh Montgomery." 
 
 At this name Brownker's lips tightened involun- 
 146
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 tarily, and though he smiled, Marlborough saw the 
 movement he had expected to see. 
 
 " I trust Montgomery will succeed with your lord- 
 ship. He is my friend." 
 
 " Indeed ! Ah then the bood spilt a month ago 
 was not lost in vain." Marlborough spoke with a slight 
 but perceptible lift of the eye-brows. " You acted, sir, 
 in that affair as became a gentleman." 
 
 Brownker bowed, with a slight cough. " Your 
 lordship's kindness emboldens me to proceed at once 
 to my business." 
 
 " Business ! " Marlborough said with a sigh, seat- 
 ing himself and motioning his visitor to do the same. 
 " I recollect you said you had some business of mo- 
 ment. Let me hear it." 
 
 Brownker put down his cane and hat very slowly, 
 and leant upon the table. 
 
 " I have a message to you from his Majesty, the 
 King." 
 
 " In writing, or by word of mouth ? " 
 
 " By word of mouth." 
 
 Marlborough gave a slight but perceptible shrug 
 of the shoulders. " His Majesty honours me by the 
 messenger he sends, but I should have preferred a 
 letter." 
 
 " My words will be to your lordship's advantage 
 and " He hesitated, as if the right word were diffi- 
 cult to find. 
 
 " Oh, pray, sir, give me his Majesty's whole mes- 
 sage if you remember it." 
 
 Marlborough's tone was half scornful, half amused. 
 
 Brownker bowed. " And your lordship's safety." 
 
 " Faith, good sir, are you sure you do not mean 
 your own advantage ? " 
 
 " That," Mr. Brownker said blandly, " is as safe in 
 147
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 your lordship's hands as your honour in his Maj- 
 esty's." 
 
 " Or my name and reputation in your own, at the 
 St. James's Club, for instance.'" 
 
 Brownker laughed at this retort, and his laugh had 
 a genuine ring. 
 
 " A shrewd thrust, my lord, which I know not how 
 to parry. Sure, I must surrender at discretion. In 
 truth, I spoke spitefully that evening, for I was so set 
 upon forcing a meeting on my my friend, Montgom- 
 ery, I cared little what I said." 
 
 " In other words, you meant not what you said." 
 
 " I have come to-day to show your lordship what 
 I really mean." 
 
 He bent his head across the table and looked fixed- 
 ly at Marlborough. 
 
 " That is," he added respectfully, " if I have your 
 lordship's permission." 
 
 Marlborough crossed his legs, and composed him- 
 self as if to listen to a story. 
 
 " My full permission. It is so seldom that I or 
 any one have the honour of understanding what Mr. 
 Brownker really means." 
 
 Brownker bowed gravely as if acknowledging a 
 compliment. 
 
 " His Majesty has heard that your lordship's health 
 is not what it used to be when you were at court ; and 
 having a tenderness for the comfort of so loyal a sub- 
 ject as your lordship, he commends to you a sea- 
 voyage as a remedy." 
 
 Marlborough smiled. 
 
 " Pray inform his Majesty that I am always unwell 
 at sea." 
 
 " So convinced is the King that this would cure 
 your spleen," Brownker went on, " that in his name I 
 
 148
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 have chartered for your lordship a vessel, well-found 
 and seaworthy, which sails by to-morrow's tide." 
 
 There was a short pause. While Brownker was 
 speaking Marlborough had slightly changed his posi- 
 tion by folding his arms. He met Brownker's ques- 
 tioning glance with a face of iron. 
 
 " His Majesty's kindness is too great for me to ex- 
 press my gratitude in words." 
 
 " The King, my lord, asks only obedience." 
 
 " The destination of the vessel, pray ? " 
 
 " The nearest port on the French coast." 
 
 Another pause ; then Marlborough's lips stiffened 
 to a pale-blue rim of steel. 
 
 " My humble service to his Majesty, but such a 
 voyage would aggravate and not allay the distemper 
 which I suffer from." 
 
 " The climate of France is mild, and would, his 
 Majesty believes, prove grateful to your lordship." 
 
 " Truly, the air of England has been of late most 
 uninviting, harsh, and chill. But even so, I have no 
 wish to become a subject of the King of France." 
 
 " Would not that be preferable, my lord, to being 
 a prisoner at the pleasure of the King of England ? " 
 
 Marlborough smiled grimly. " His Majesty's lov- 
 ing care of his faithful subjects is well known ; but 
 such a condescension as that would require some little 
 explanation." 
 
 " It would be found in your lordship's corre- 
 spondence with King James." 
 
 Marlborough was silent a moment, then he an- 
 swered with a mournful air. 
 
 " I had not believed, if my own ears had not heard 
 it, that the imagination of your intelligencers would 
 have gone so far as this. Pray tell his Majesty that in 
 England for such accusations to have weight, even 
 
 149
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 against so insignificant a person as myself, they must 
 be proved." 
 
 " The proof is to be found in your lordship's own 
 handwriting." 
 
 Marlborough was silent. Not by voice or look did 
 he betray the least discomposure. But beneath the 
 mask his strong will kept intact, his heart was beating 
 like a hare's with the greyhounds at its throat. And 
 yet the nearer danger came the keener grew his per- 
 ceptions and the steadier his nerve. 
 
 " A precious crop of weeds," he said shortly, 
 "your diligence has raised." 
 
 Brownker nodded complacently. 
 
 " When I began, my lord, there was but a grain of 
 evidence, but now, like the mustard-seed of Scripture, 
 it has grown into a tree." 
 
 " One blow of an axe from a friendly hand, and the 
 whole would wither at the root." 
 
 " If your lordship has a friend who, for a price, 
 would strike this blow, I should advise your lordship to 
 lose not an hour in paying your friend his price." 
 
 Marlborough considered a moment, and then gave 
 a meaning smile. 
 
 " On my word, sir, my house would ever be open 
 to such a friend." 
 
 " And all within your house ? " 
 
 " Aye, providing he's a friend." 
 
 " In that case the ship may sail without your lord- 
 ship." 
 
 Marlborough looked as if he were relieved. 
 
 " My safety will be guaranteed ? " 
 
 "Byrne."' 
 
 A gleam shot through Marlborough's eyes. His 
 lips quivered convulsively. The colour which had 
 ebbed from his face until it was ashen-white came
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 slowly back. He rose from his chair, and stretched 
 himself as if he had been bound there and was now 
 released; then he turned smiling to his companion. 
 Brownker had also risen. He was grave and quiet, 
 but in his eyes, also, was a gleam of triumph. 
 
 " You have relieved my mind," Marlborough said 
 cordially, " and earned my warmest thanks." 
 
 Brownker took up his hat and cane. 
 
 " Your lordship's house and all within it are, I 
 understand, at the disposal of your friend ? " 
 
 Marlborough nodded with a cheerful air and a 
 gracious wave of the hand. 
 
 " Must you go ? " 
 
 Brownker bowed, and moved towards the door. 
 
 " Your lordship's servant." 
 
 He bowed low a second time, and was leaving the 
 room when Marlborough, who had been taking snuff, 
 looked up. 
 
 " A word to you, my friend." 
 
 Brownker turned and waited. 
 
 " You have a kindness, you said, for Master Hugh 
 Montgomery. You will then be interested to hear he 
 has proposed marriage to Mistress Isabel Fretchville, 
 and that if her ladyship agrees I intend to give my con- 
 sent to their immediate betrothal." 
 
 At these words Brownker stood as one turned to 
 stone. Then suddenly approaching Marlborough with 
 teeth exposed and eyes glaring like some animal at 
 bay, he hissed out : 
 
 " You play with me, my lord ; you dare to play 
 with me ! " 
 
 " I do assure you, my good sir," Marlborough an- 
 swered with cool politeness, " I have done that long 
 enough. I am in earnest now." 
 
 With a strong effort Brownker controlled himself.
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ** Your lordship, then, prefers the air of France, or 
 the confinement of the Tower, to Hollywell and the 
 fulfilment of your promise ? " 
 
 " My promise was that my house and all within 
 my house was at the disposal of my friend." 
 
 " The setting of the jewel is of no value to me 
 when the jewel I crave has been sold." 
 
 " You desire you crave to ruin Isabel ? " 
 
 " She is my friend, and I desire to pursue that 
 friendship as I choose." 
 
 " Which means, if you choose, betrayal. A pardon, 
 but that puts you out of court. No man who could 
 do that is a friend of mine." 
 
 " Your lordship is pleased to jest with me," Brown- 
 ker said very quietly, moving again to the door. " I 
 must leave you to the enjoyment of your wit. I have 
 an appointment with his Majesty. Have you any mes- 
 sage to return ? " 
 
 " When his Majesty sees fit to send me his com- 
 mands. At present, sir, I have only received yours. 
 And those with humble thanks I do decline." 
 
 " I am your lordship's servant." 
 
 " I am yours." 
 
 They bowed to each other, as men bow before a 
 duel to the death, and went their ways. 
 
 Marlborough went home to his town house smil- 
 ing all the way. 
 
 " A near escape. I could have sworn at first that 
 villain knew. For once I have done his little Majesty 
 a wrong. That fellow's lust is stronger than his wit. 
 The cloven hoof peeped out too soon." 
 
 152
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 HUGH arrived in London from St. Albans a little 
 stiff and sore, but otherwise none the worse for his 
 ride. Nor was he in very low spirits. He had been re- 
 fused, it was true, but if Isabel did not return his love, 
 at least there was good evidence that he stood first in 
 her regard, and the time might come when even her 
 work and independence might lose their charm. Not 
 that Hugh reasoned this out very clearly, or thought 
 the same thing for half an hour together. At one mo- 
 ment he was ready to swear that Isabel had no heart 
 and was laughing at his declaration; the next he 
 could have turned his horse and galloped back to 
 Hollywell, so certain was he there had been love-light 
 in her eyes. 
 
 He told Lord Tottenham all about it when he 
 reached London, but Lord Tottenham, though he lis- 
 tened patiently, v said little in the way of encourage- 
 ment. In his own mind he was sure the girl's heart 
 was won, and being fired by the enthusiasm and rap- 
 tures of his boy, and having behind his crust of rough 
 speech as soft a heart as any woman, he became as 
 determined an advocate as any lover could desire. But 
 he was afraid of Hugh's impatience, and most of all 
 was he afraid of the Countess of Marlborough. He 
 had met her during Hugh's stay at Hollywell, and the 
 fiery lady had used her tongue to such purpose, and 
 expended so sharp a fit of temper upon her old friend, 
 
 153
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 that the thought of the possibility of Hugh and her 
 ladyship meeting until something had been done to 
 mollify her wrath, was a constant nightmare to the 
 earl. The position upon Hugh's return became ex- 
 tremely difficult; for Hugh wanted to see her lady- 
 ship. He told Lord Tottenham some one must have 
 maligned him, and that an explanation would put all 
 right. Lord Tottenham, who knew her ladyship's 
 mind, shuddered at the bare idea, and finally went off, 
 as we have seen, to Marlborough. The interview over, 
 he was at his wits' end what to do or say. To 
 mention Brownker as the obstacle would mean, he 
 thought, another duel. Yet what excuse could he in- 
 vent? Just before he reached home, however, an idea 
 struck him, which he thought extremely brilliant. 
 
 He found Hugh walking up and down the library 
 like a lion in a cage, and with his hair tumbled all over 
 his face, he looked not unlike one. 
 
 " What news, my lord ? Does he consent or does 
 he not?" 
 
 " Pish, Hugh ! " cried the lord cheerfully ; " be not 
 in such haste. Come, come. Oddsbub! Are you a 
 man, or some boy-calf sighing for the moon? Gad's 
 life ! I say, pluck up, pluck up ! " 
 
 Hugh leant gloomily against the table, and gritted 
 his teeth. 
 
 " This means he does not consent. Then I'll go 
 to him myself to-morrow." 
 
 " You will go to-morrow to St. James's Palace ? 
 to the King?" 
 
 " Ay. My Lords of Nottingham and Sydney are 
 my friends, and one of them shall secure you a pri- 
 vate audience with his Majesty. Then if you play your 
 cards aright, sir, you will win everything. How does 
 that fit?" 
 
 154
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hugh looked at his friend in great bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 " The King, by to-day's Gazette, is sailing for 
 abroad within three days." 
 
 " You must go with him." 
 
 " Lord Marlborough said that ? " Hugh looked 
 intensely suspicious. 
 
 " It is my own suggestion " Lord Tottenham was 
 fully launched. " But Marlborough approves. Now, 
 let me unfold it to you." 
 
 He cast himself luxuriously into his elbow-chair 
 and watched Hugh's face. 
 
 " My Lord of Marlborough, Hugh, does not con- 
 sent, but neither does he refuse consent. His answer 
 was, ' Montgomery must wait ' his own words 
 ' Montgomery must wait.' You will ask why? " 
 
 Hugh nodded. 
 
 " I will tell you why." 
 
 His lordship coughed. It was more difficult to lie 
 to Hugh than he had thought it would be. " The boy 
 has such cursed honest eyes," he thought. 
 
 " The reason, lad, is politics. You know naught of 
 such things. But you know that Marlborough is out 
 of favour with the King you know the whispers and 
 the rumours. They are lies, you'll say, all blasted lies ; 
 but they stick with some, and I fear me they stick most 
 of all with his Majesty himself. Now, this is an oppor- 
 tunity for you. Marlborough, I find, can think of 
 nothing at this present but his fallen reputation, and 
 how to raise it. If you would gain favour with him 
 if you would make him your friend for life and win 
 the maid you love you must restore that reputation, 
 not by assaulting William's agents at the clubs, but by 
 taking service near the King's own person ; winning 
 his confidence, and then when the right moment 
 " 155
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 comes, telling him, as once you did tell me, the true 
 worth of his general." 
 
 Lord Tottenham stopped for breath. He was ex- 
 hausted with his exertions, but he was jubilant. For 
 Hugh had caught fire. 
 
 " By my faith, my lord, that fits my humour per- 
 fectly. After all, what have I done yet to be worthy 
 of such a one as Isabel? She served me, nursed me 
 like an angel back to health, and for this I ask from her 
 her life everything she has and is. No wonder she 
 should hesitate. In the old days no man called himself 
 a knight until by some great deed he had won his 
 spurs. I will win mine. But " and suddenly his face 
 fell "what can I do to serve his Majesty? I have 
 no wits like Brownker ; I have no position like your- 
 self. Not even a title to my name to conjure with." 
 
 Lord Tottenham laughed. 
 
 " Gad's life ! you have something more useful than 
 sharp wits ; something weightier than a title." 
 
 " I cannot catch you " 
 
 " Money, money, money ! Lend his most gracious 
 Majesty one year's income ten thousand pounds 
 begging as recompense some place in the household 
 which my friends will doubtless have in readiness, and 
 King William shall smile upon you, incline his ear 
 most readily to all you have to say, and if you are 
 discreet and bide your time, give attention even to a 
 prayer for Marlborough." 
 
 Lord Tottenham was now as excited as Hugh, and 
 as much in earnest. The notion of attaching Hugh to 
 the court had at first been a forlorn hope the best 
 to be expected of it a withdrawal of this hot-head from 
 the scene of action until Marlborough had disposed of 
 Brownker. But now, partly from the hold it took on 
 Hugh, partly from the natural tendency of such ideas 
 
 156
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 to grow like snowballs rolled down hill, the scheme 
 began to assume magnificent proportions. 
 
 They discussed it for two hours, and both being 
 sanguine people, vied with each other in prophesying 
 remarkable results. As a matter of fact Lord Totten- 
 ham, having lived mostly in the country for the past 
 twenty years, had almost as little knowledge as Hugh 
 himself of the functions and position of a junior mem- 
 ber of the King's household. All he knew was that 
 the King was always short of money ; that he had few 
 about his person as reliable as Hugh ; and that his 
 Majesty, with all his peculiarities, was one of the few 
 monarchs who appreciated to the full a faithful subject 
 and an honest man. The rest he left to his imagination 
 and to Hugh's. 
 
 At six o'clock Lord Tottenham had to go off to a 
 dinner given by an old friend, and Hugh was left alone. 
 He dined at Tottenham Place, and at eight o'clock set 
 out on foot to stroll home to his chambers in West- 
 minster. Lord Tottenham was to see the Secretary 
 of State this evening, and to let Hugh know betimes 
 the next morning where he was to meet him. 
 
 Hugh was in a restless state of mind and body. 
 The talk with Lord Tottenham had conjured up visions 
 of public service, and a possible career that fired his 
 soul. He had entered into possession of his fortune 
 intending to buy an estate and become a country gen- 
 tleman, for he was fond of horses and all outdoor pur- 
 suits. Then came love and Isabel, and life was changed 
 to him. Now came ambition. Love was mingled 
 with it. Distinction, the King's favour, service to the 
 country everything he valued chiefly as a means of 
 raising him in the eyes of the woman he loved. Yet 
 the work had a fascination of its own, and the Hugh 
 Montgomery who looked up at St. James's Palace and 
 
 157
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 wondered which of the many twinkling lights there 
 shone from the King's window, was a very different 
 person from the self-absorbed lover who had poured 
 his disappointments, hope, and despair into Lord Tot- 
 tenham's sympathetic ear two nights before. 
 
 He passed the palace slowly, and presently found 
 himself opposite the house where Brownker lived. 
 The clocks were striking nine and the street was dark 
 and deserted. A light flickered here and there in front 
 of some of the larger houses, but these only made the 
 blackness round about them more profound. 
 
 Slowly, almost against his will, Hugh approached 
 the house. He had nothing particular to say to Brown- 
 ker, but his mind was engrossed with one absorbing 
 interest and Brownker was Agent to the King. He 
 crossed the road; there was no mistaking the house 
 for it was brightly lighted, and men and women came 
 and went there at short intervals, some going in, some 
 coming out ; but all entering without hinderance, and 
 at the most only tapping with their fingers on the door 
 before it opened, as if they had pressed some spring. 
 The sight was interesting to Hugh, and for several 
 minutes he stood in the dark and watched the people, 
 speculating idly as to their profession in life by the 
 glimpse he got of their faces under the lamp. At length 
 he made up his mind to go in himself, and was about 
 to cross the road when two men, walking quickly in the 
 same direction, brushed past without seeing him ; and 
 as they passed, one of them laughed. Hugh started, 
 and then stood perfectly still. He had heard that 
 laugh before, and his hand instinctively grasped the 
 hilt of his rapier. Then he peered forward, taking 
 care, however, to be himself unseen. The men had 
 stopped a few paces off, and after a whisper one of 
 them a thin, wiry little creature darted up the steps 
 
 158
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 of Brownker's house and pulled furiously at the 
 bell. 
 
 " I want Master Brownker," Hugh heard him say, 
 panting out the words as if he had been running for 
 miles. " I have private business that admits of no de- 
 lay. Nay, no clerks," he cried in an imperative tone, 
 " nor secretaries. The Agent himself ! " The servant's 
 answer was inaudible, but the little man's rejoinders, 
 given in an acrid, high-pitched tone, were significant 
 enough. He wrung his hands. " What, what, what 
 out, you say not to be back till midnight ! Whither 
 has he gone? My coach is at the corner, and I will 
 follow hot-foot. His address then is it the St. James's 
 Club ? What, what you cannot tell me ? Devil take 
 it, but you must ! Hark ye, sirrah, he will lay you by 
 the heels if I should miss him by neglect of yours. 
 Give me directions, most particularly. But I will 
 aid you." The chink of money followed, and then a 
 conversation in whispers, at the end of which the door 
 closed sharply and the little man ran down the steps 
 and rejoined his companion. 
 
 All this time Hugh's thoughts were very busy. 
 When in the army he had undertaken more than one 
 perilous scouting expedition in the dark round the 
 enemy's lines. His faculties were always exceedingly 
 alert at night, and a suspicion seized him that there 
 was some great roguery afoot; therefore, while the 
 conversation proceeded at the door, Hugh surveyed 
 his position, and noticing that near the place where 
 the little man's friend was standing there was a passage 
 leading to the back gardens of the houses, a place 
 where a man might stand all night and never be per- 
 ceived, he crept softly up, and just as the door closed 
 slid within the shadow of the arch which covered the 
 entrance to the passage. 
 
 159
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "Well, then, my Bobbikin," exclaimed the little 
 man in a whisper which Hugh now heard perfectly, 
 " what say ? Did I not question him to rights ? 
 Brownker hath gone away alone, and though he told 
 none the exact place, it is well known he's going to 
 keep tryst with you." 
 
 The other laughed softly. " Then we'll hurry, 
 Lamb, as if the devil were behind us, 'stead of being 
 before. The boys must not think we intended to be 
 late. Wait my shoe-lace is untied." 
 
 He stooped to do it up, and Hugh's fingers tingled. 
 But he kept still and waited too. 
 
 " By my soul, Lamb," the man continued, tugging 
 at the lace, " I hardly dared to think that such a fox 
 would put his head into my noose. But, in his conceit, 
 he thinks no man dare lay hands on the King's Agent 
 ha, ha, ha!" 
 
 " And, truly, there's not many not many," piped 
 the little man timorously. " I trust indeed you'll kill 
 him, Bob. I would not meet that man alive for a thou- 
 sand pound in gold." 
 
 The other laughed as he rose from the ground. 
 
 " And I, Lamb, would give a thousand if I had it 
 rather than miss the opportunity of meeting him 
 alive. Rest easy. I will beat him to a jelly, Lambkin, 
 and then tear his throat in strips, my rat. I will, or 
 my name's not Robert Young." 
 
 160
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MASTER ROBERT YOUNG and his confederate, Ste- 
 phen Blackhead, who was known among his friends 
 as the Lamb, from the extreme timidity of his dis- 
 position, hurried eastward at so brisk a pace that 
 Hugh found it a difficult matter to keep up with 
 them without danger of discovery. Whither they were 
 bound, he had not an idea ; but he had heard enough 
 to understand that some villainy was about, which he 
 must prevent. He might have rung up Brownker's 
 servant, stated what he had overheard, and, finding out 
 the place Brownker was going to, follow armed in 
 force. But this would entail much loss of time, and 
 the rascals would be sure to keep a wary watch for 
 the police. If, as Hugh feared, Brownker had been 
 decoyed into some thieves' stronghold, there would 
 be no way of getting at him but to creep in with these 
 rogues. 
 
 So Hugh followed, walking swiftly yet circum- 
 spectly, keeping the men just in sight where it was 
 light, but following much more closely where it was 
 dark. He was in the best of spirits. Such an adven- 
 ture as this suited his restless mood to a nicety, and 
 he was particularly pleased at the thought of paying 
 in such a manner the debt he owed to Brownker. 
 
 The men were going citywards, and presently 
 plunged into a network of mean streets, dark, crooked, 
 and as full of dangers as an old well in India of snakes. 
 
 161
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Here and there they met people, men and women both, 
 some in doorways, some leaning out of window, some 
 rolling or slinking across the narrow way all of the 
 lowest criminal class. Hugh saw that at any moment 
 he might be stopped and questioned, attacked and 
 robbed. The position was critical, and had to be met 
 by a change of tactics. Noticing that Young ex- 
 changed a word with one or two as he went, and then 
 hurried on faster than before, Hugh quickened his 
 pace until he was only a few yards behind him. He 
 then turned up his coat-collar and pulled his hat 
 well down over his face, and, counterfeiting a 
 clumsy, rolling gait, adopted the role of a follower 
 of Young's, trusting that this gentleman would not 
 look round, or, if he did, would not recognise him. 
 In this way, at least, he was spared interference by 
 others. 
 
 Narrower and darker grew the streets ; full of foul- 
 ness now, above and below. The houses were high 
 and dilapidated, each one inhabited by a dozen families 
 or more, and each family accustomed to cast all its 
 refuse into space. Drains had not been dreamt of, 
 and where the open gutters were choked up, as they 
 usually were, a slum of the seventeenth century was 
 a fearsome thing. 
 
 At last the men came to a pause at the back of a 
 tall dark house. There was no light near, and the place 
 was lonely. Hugh crept on tip-toe close behind 
 them. A tap on a door, then two more taps. Hugh's 
 heart was beating like a hammer. How was he to 
 get in? 
 
 The door was opened, and the light of a lantern, 
 hung on a wall behind it, shone upon the face of a man 
 with a cocked pistol in his hand. 
 
 " Eh, you, Parson ? That's all well/' 
 162
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Young scowled. " Blasted oaf that you are," he 
 said harshly. " Is this the way you'd take a fox? " 
 
 The man grinned. 
 
 " Oons, master, he's in the gin." 
 
 Young chuckled himself, and then, seizing the man 
 with the lantern in his great hands, he twirled him 
 round like a top. 
 
 " Lead on, lead on, thou whelp of darkness ! This 
 is rare, rare, rare! I' faith, I'll make the fortunes of 
 ye all." 
 
 The man, nothing loath, climbed briskly up a nar- 
 row winding stair. Young followed, licking his lips 
 hungrily, and the street door behind them banged. 
 The stairs were of wood, and the heavy boots of the 
 men made so much noise that neither heard behind 
 them a gasp and faint groan, and the dull thud of a 
 falling body. 
 
 At the head of the stairs was another door which 
 opened into a long low room lit by two swinging lamps, 
 one at either end, and two candles that stood on a table 
 in the centre. On the table between the candles were 
 some papers, a hat, a pair of gloves, and a rapier, and 
 close by a heavy chair, screwed to the floor by iron 
 bolts. In this chair sat a man, gagged and bound. So 
 tightly was he pinioned that he could not even turn 
 his head, and only by his eyes, which moved slowly 
 from face to face, was it possible to tell that he was 
 still alive. 
 
 Five men were in the room, two putting some ar- 
 tistic finishing touches to the rope which held their 
 prisoner, the other three helping themselves freely 
 from a black bottle. None of them seemed to share 
 the jubilation of Robert Young. That figure in the 
 chair, bound as it was, still had the power to chill their 
 courage. Every one of them avoided the slowly mov- 
 
 163
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ing eyes, and though there were divers bruises on the 
 men's faces, the prisoner himself was neither bruised 
 nor cut. 
 
 Young was greeted with a general growl. 
 
 " His Reverence, at last ! We've milked the cow 
 and he conies to skim the cream. That is Parson ! " 
 
 " What ! " snarled Young, glaring round, " rogues, 
 jail-birds, halter-boys ! What's that? Cream 'tis you 
 have had the cream. I'll swear that a hundred pound 
 was in his pockets, and is now in yours. Who brought 
 the fox here ? Me ! Whose hand was bitten ? " hold- 
 ing up the one wounded by Brownker's rapier. 
 " Mine ! I went into his lair, you knaves, and risked 
 my life. Ay near lost it. For what ? Why, to bring 
 ye money, and to rid ye of your worst enemy. Another 
 word from you and I will set him free, and will set him 
 on ye muck-worms ! " 
 
 A rough laugh greeted this speech, and a man held 
 the bottle towards him. 
 
 " Here, Reverence, drink away your spleen, and 
 then to business. A pest on quarrelling until the fox 
 is dead." 
 
 Young took the bottle, drank, and smacked his 
 lips. He was gruesome to look upon. His face was 
 covered with patches of black plaster, and his head 
 wrapped round with a dirty-white bandage. 
 
 " Business then, bullies." He looked at his pris- 
 oner and rubbed his great hands. " Ho, ho ! " he said 
 in a croaking voice, " to you the profit, boys, and pelf, 
 but to me the brush ! Lambkin, look here ! What ! " 
 He turned his head sharply, for there was no response, 
 and the door behind him was closed, or almost closed. 
 
 " Satan ! the little rat has run ! " He laid a hand 
 on the lock. But there came another growl from the 
 men. 
 
 164
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " A pest on Blackhead ! He'll be at the Cross by 
 now. Say your grace, Parson, and to meat ! " 
 
 Young laughed, and turned back again; and no 
 one noticed that the door began to open slowly from 
 the outside. 
 
 " Meat ! " he cried, catching up the sheathed rapier. 
 " Ay, I'll slice a bit to grill. Nay, but the eyes come 
 first." 
 
 He felt the point of the sword with his finger, and 
 leaning one hand on the table, twisted it before the 
 face of his helpless victim, bringing it nearer and 
 nearer, until it was within a few inches of his eyes. 
 The men watched him fascinated, admiring. They 
 were the offscourings of the prison hulks. 
 
 " Surrender in the King's name ! " 
 
 The words came in a tone of sharp, military com- 
 mand, and two of the men who had served in the army 
 involuntarily drew stiffly to attention. The rest, even 
 Robert Young himself, cowered, and huddled together 
 like a flock of sheep when a leopard springs into the 
 pen. 
 
 In the open doorway stood Hugh, with drawn 
 sword. 
 
 " You are trapped," he said. " If any stir to run, 
 they will be shot down." 
 
 He spoke in as cool and stern a tone as if he had a 
 regiment behind him on the stairs instead of the sense- 
 less body of the unlucky Lamb. 
 
 " Loose that gentleman ! " 
 
 He pointed at the figure in the chair, and eager 
 hands made to tear away the bonds. But before they 
 were touched, Young gave a yelling laugh. 
 
 " A bite a bite, you fools ! This coxcomb is 
 alone." 
 
 Hugh coolly set his back against the door. 
 165
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Attention, men," he said, as if addressing some 
 one without the window. " When you see a face 
 fire!" 
 
 The thieves hesitated. Some drew their swords. 
 Some held back. But Young laughed loudly, and, 
 catching up the rapier he had dropped at Hugh's ap- 
 pearance, crept towards him on tip-toe. 
 
 " Come on, my bullies ! It is but two to play with 
 two instead of one." 
 
 He made a swift, fierce lunge, but it was smartly 
 parried, and he fell back heavily on a man behind him 
 to avoid the return. Hugh's back was against the wall. 
 His ruse had failed, and he braced himself for his last 
 fight. But at this moment there was a sharp click and 
 snap of steel ; two panels in the wall behind the chair 
 where the bound figure lay swung back, and a man 
 stepped into their midst, a cocked pistol in one hand 
 and a bare rapier in the other. There was a yell of 
 men in mortal terror, for the light of the candles on the 
 table shone upon the face of Karl Brownker. " Two 
 instead of one," he said, with a light, swift lunge, 
 and Robert Young fell gasping to the ground, thrust 
 through the ribs. 
 
 " On your knees, you ! " 
 
 He presented a cocked pistol at the men, and as if 
 mesmerized they obeyed him, numbed and nerveless 
 in their amazement and horror. Then he stamped his 
 foot, and from the place where he had been concealed 
 emerged half a dozen burly messengers, armed to the 
 teeth. 
 
 " Free Mr. Chinnic here," he said. " He will be a 
 trifle cramped. Bind these rogues securely." 
 
 He turned to Hugh. 
 
 " It was a bite, friend, after all. But none the less 
 I owe you thanks." 
 
 166
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 " ON my faith, Brownker, you are the deadliest 
 enemy a man could have. That poor devil, Young! 
 I swear I pity him." 
 
 " Wait until to-morrow." 
 
 " Why not to-day then ? " 
 
 " He will not die to-day." 
 
 Hugh stared, shrugged his shoulders, and went on 
 with his breakfast in silence. 
 
 They were in Brownker's sitting-room, the morn- 
 ing after their adventure. Brownker had insisted upon 
 carrying Hugh home with him the night before, and 
 Hugh had been nothing loath. The expressions of 
 gratitude which were dropped by Brownker the 
 more impressive because so deeply and quietly made 
 had warmed into strong life an idea which had 
 vaguely crossed Hugh's mind before the adventure. 
 
 Yet it was with mixed feelings that Hugh accepted 
 the hospitality of the man he had once so ardently de- 
 sired to kill. 
 
 " A wonderful good fortune," Hugh remarked, 
 with his mouth full, " that Chinnic so resembles you, 
 and that Young was absent at the hour of the appoint- 
 ment. Your man, clever as he is, would not have de- 
 ceived that fellow." 
 
 " I knew he would not come until the capture had 
 been made. The Parson is one of those who always 
 contrives that other fingers shall pull his chestnuts 
 
 167
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 from the fire. I had a trusty little spy within the house, 
 who discovered to me the space behind the panelling. 
 The messengers were let in an hour before. I joined 
 them on the arrival of Young's knaves, witnessed 
 everything, and was about to make my coup when 
 you saved me the trouble." 
 
 Hugh laughed. 
 
 " If I had known ! Yet I am still in a mist on one 
 point. You said last night that the paper Young was 
 to hand to you was of no importance. What, then, 
 was your motive for taking the trouble of planning so 
 stupendous a bite? Pardon, if I am impertinent." 
 
 " A man who has done what you have done must 
 go far before he can be impertinent." 
 
 " Pish ! I did just what you would do, or any man, 
 when he found danger attending on a friend. But as I 
 was going to say " 
 
 " Friend ! " Brownker exclaimed abruptly. " You 
 look on me as a friend ? " 
 
 He rose from the table and warmed his hands at the 
 fire, for it was a cold March morning. 
 
 Hugh followed, and rested his arms on the chim- 
 ney-piece. 
 
 " Why ask such a question after Hampstead ? " 
 
 " Because scores of men will swear friendship but 
 not one wishes to put it to a test." 
 
 Hugh looked up with a start and then turned away. 
 
 " You read my thoughts. Have no fears ; I will 
 not put your friendship to a test." 
 
 Brownker raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. 
 
 " You refuse to ask a favour from a man you nearly 
 died for? Faith, I could not have believed you would 
 so punish me." 
 
 Hugh flushed, for Brownker's voice was grave and 
 earnest. 
 
 168
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " You do not know what favour I was going to 
 ask." 
 
 " Until you ask it, I deny that your friendship is 
 worthy of the name." 
 
 " But if it were a test ? " 
 
 Brownker made a curious, wry face. 
 
 " Then it will not be the first I have withstood, 
 though I think the last was called an ' opportunity.' 
 Your mind ? " 
 
 Hugh cleared his throat. 
 
 " I had a wish to I am seeking an introduction to 
 the King." 
 
 Mr. Brownker nodded carelessly. 
 
 " In half an hour I have an audience with him. We 
 will go together. Now, what else ? " 
 
 But Hugh's breath was taken away. " See his 
 Majesty in half an hour ! " he faltered. " But but 
 my clothes ! " 
 
 Mr. Brownker gave a contemptuous sniff. 
 
 "Have you ever seen his Majesty's clothes? If 
 you would win William's favour, show no considera- 
 tion for your clothes." 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! " muttered Hugh devoutly. 
 Then his face grew troubled. " But I was to meet my 
 Lords Sydney and Nottingham at noon, to hear 
 whether they could arrange an audience." 
 
 " They can't," Brownker said shortly. " The King 
 will see no one except on private and most urgent 
 business before he goes to Holland. You may take 
 the word from me." 
 
 Hugh smiled. 
 
 " I have heard enough and seen enough to take 
 anything from you. But, I have a favour to ask his 
 Majesty." 
 
 " No one ever seeks an audience for anything but 
 , 169
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 favours, which is why his Majesty so heartily detests 
 audiences. But the favour shall be granted, if I can 
 compass it." 
 
 Hugh's eyes grew moist. 
 
 " Brownker, you are a friend indeed." 
 
 " Prove me first," was the rejoinder. " Well? " 
 
 " I want to serve his Majesty ; to gain his con- 
 fidence. I had thought of asking for a place some 
 small place in his household. I would pay highly 
 for it." 
 
 " And lose your money. Understand, the men of 
 William's household, unless they are Dutchmen, are 
 trusted less by William even than the members of his 
 Privy Council ; less than his ministers ; and less, 
 if that be possible, than my Lord of Tottenham's 
 friends, the Viscount Sydney and the Earl of Notting- 
 ham." 
 
 Hugh's eyes grew big with perplexity. 
 
 " If that is true, then the men who are at the King's 
 right hand are trusted least of all." 
 
 Brownker smiled, as one smiles at a prattling child. 
 
 " I do. assure you," he said, speaking very slowly, 
 his eyes fixed on Hugh's face, " not our noble friend, 
 the Earl of Marlborough himself, is suspected so 
 shrewdly by the King of treason as some of his present 
 ministers of state." 
 
 Hugh changed countenance. For an instant he 
 hung his head with knitted brow, then raised it with 
 the sudden look of a man resolved. 
 
 " Brownker, you have called my friendship into 
 question because I hesitated to ask from you this 
 favour. I will prove now I had good reason for my 
 diffidence. My object for seeking service with the 
 King is to get his ear and plead to him the cause of 
 Marlborough, and I do this Gad! you shall know 
 
 170
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 all before you aid me I do it to win favour with Isabel 
 Fretchville. Will you help me now ? " 
 
 Hugh's face was burning-, but he stood firmly be- 
 fore Brownker ready for irony, anger, surprise any- 
 thing but what he got. 
 
 Brownker's face showed no emotion whatever. 
 For a few moments he was silent, then answered in 
 his quietest tone : " I will help you." 
 
 Hugh looked at him in amazement; then his face 
 stiffened and his mouth set hard. 
 
 " I was told once somewhat concerning you and 
 Isabel, but I would kill a man who said it now. That is 
 not true ? " 
 
 " It is not true." Brownker's voice was cold and 
 clear as the drip of water in a mountain spring. " We 
 have been friends. No more." 
 
 Hugh drew a long breath like one relieved of a 
 heavy weight. 
 
 " Your pardon." 
 
 Their fingers met in a close grip. But Hugh no- 
 ticed and remembered afterward that Brownker's were 
 very cold. 
 
 A church-bell clanged outside. 
 
 Brownker laid a hand upon Hugh's arm, 
 
 " It is time to meet the King." 
 
 12
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE way through St. James's Palace to the King's 
 private apartment was devious and long, and at every 
 door and in every passage were soldiers. But there 
 was no delay. Each guard saluted, and all doors 
 opened at Karl Brownker's nod. In the anteroom 
 to the King's closet, however, they had to wait, 
 for some one was with the King. Here a gentle- 
 man came up to them, at sight of whom Brownker 
 whispered to Hugh, " Nottingham," and then bowed 
 low. 
 
 " Your lordship's humble servant." 
 
 The Secretary of State replied with a slight and 
 supercilious nod. " If this gentleman desires to see 
 the King, Brownker, he has come on a fruitless er- 
 rand." 
 
 " But if the King desires to see this gentleman, my 
 lord ? " Brownker said smoothly. 
 
 The earl's clever but ill-tempered face began to 
 twitch. 
 
 " I must tell you the King has desired he may not 
 be interrupted. So close is he, I myself cannot intro- 
 duce a gentleman I had promised my Lord Totten- 
 ham to present to-day." 
 
 "Was it one Mr. Hugh Montgomery, my lord?" 
 
 " You have the man's name." 
 
 " Let me introduce to your lordship the owner of 
 the name." 
 
 172
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Nottingham looked very much surprised, and 
 not best pleased. 
 
 " My congratulations, sir," he said stiffly as Hugh 
 bowed, " that you should have found a friend more 
 powerful, though not more willing than myself." 
 
 " Your lordship must forgive me," Hugh said with 
 a coolness that slightly surprised Brownker, " if, know- 
 ing you were engaged in high affairs of state, and 
 meeting Mr. Brownker unexpectedly, I ventured to 
 take my opportunity with him. It is vital to my in- 
 terests I should see the King to-day." 
 
 " Your interests, my young sir," the lord said 
 patronizingly, " will not be served by over-haste." 
 
 Karl coughed. " Your lordship, then, knows the 
 purpose of our audience ? " 
 
 " Your purpose, my good Brownker, is never far 
 to seek. A plot, or a pretended plot." 
 
 Brownker sighed. 
 
 " Your lordship is near the mark. For the matter 
 concerns a minister of state." 
 
 He spoke with deliberate impertinence. The 
 earl's lips tightened, though he strove to preserve a 
 contemptuous calm. " You choose a bad subject for 
 your mirth," he said, " when you try your wit on me." 
 
 " Your lordship ? Nay " Brownker raised his 
 eyebrows in mock dismay " at least, I trust not ; the 
 minister I mean lies under suspicion of high trea- 
 son." 
 
 " The devil take your insolence ! " Lord Notting- 
 ham had boiled over at last. " I will not be gibed by 
 you, sir, though you do sit in the pocket of the King." 
 
 " My lord my Lord of Nottingham " 
 
 The door of the King's chamber had opened, and 
 a little brown-faced man with keen eyes and a huge 
 nose, dressed in a claret-coloured suit that did not fit 
 
 173
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 him, and a peruke very much out of curl, stood there 
 watching them. 
 
 All uncovered with deep bows, and the Earl of 
 Nottingham became affected with a violent fit of 
 coughing. 
 
 " My Lord of Nottingham," the little man said, 
 when his lordship had recovered. " When my agent 
 comes to me upon important business, be good enough 
 to waste no words upon him. Karl, I am alone." 
 
 He turned away, and went back into his room with- 
 out waiting for a reply, leaving the door open. Brown- 
 ker, bowing profoundly to the discomfited earl, fol- 
 lowed, signing to Hugh to accompany him. 
 
 " A chill day," his Majesty said, coughing and shiv- 
 ering. " I woke this morning with catarrh. Ugh, 
 ugh even the weather disagrees with me in England." 
 
 He had walked to his writing-table and while 
 speaking covered with a quick movement some papers 
 there ; then, turning from it and clasping his hands 
 behind his back a favourite attitude of his he slowly 
 approached Hugh, taking no notice of Brownker. 
 
 " Master Hugh Montgomery, late of my Fusiliers. 
 What do you want, sir ? " 
 
 At this abrupt address Hugh gasped, then recov- 
 ered himself, and said bluntly : 
 
 " To serve your Majesty." 
 
 William grunted. 
 
 " That means a commission." Then with a quick 
 jerk of the head " Karl, what does he want? " 
 
 " Something more than a commission, sire. You 
 may remember the history of his family and for- 
 tunes " 
 
 " I remember this," the King said with another 
 grunt. " It was his father who laid violent hands upon 
 the person of King Charles for some trifling attention 
 
 J74
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 to his wife, and his mother's father who was bosom 
 friend of Cromwell's a worthy family mon Dieu! " 
 
 " An honest one, your Majesty," Hugh said boldly. 
 " God knows." 
 
 " He may know, sir," was the sharp reply, " but I 
 do not. Karl, explain it all." 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery, sire, is the best man I can find 
 in England to discover to you the true purpose and de- 
 signs of the Earl of Marlborough." 
 
 At this name William's bearing changed as a 
 hawk's when sailing over a field it sees its prey below. 
 
 " So ! " he snapped. " What is there of Marlbor- 
 ough ? What then ? " 
 
 " Only his lordship's signature, sire, has been put 
 to a paper which, if proved genuine, must send him to 
 the block condemned even by his warmest friends ; but 
 which, if a forgery " he raised his voice and looked 
 at Hugh whose face was scarlet with anger and aston- 
 ishment " I say, if a forgery, will go far to assure 
 your Majesty that the earl has been accused un- 
 justly. Mr. Montgomery, a devoted follower of 
 the earl, but at the same time a loyal subject to 
 yourself, and a friend of mine, offers to aid us to 
 unfold this mystery. Your Majesty could find no 
 better man." 
 
 The King glanced slowly at the faces of the young 
 men: at Brownker's cool and quiet, Hugh's flushed 
 and amazed. 
 
 " The paper, Karl." 
 
 Brownker took out a piece of folded parchment and 
 his Majesty took it to the window. 
 
 The room was very still as the King read this 
 paper. Hugh, breathless with excitement, was bewil- 
 dered and stunned by the strange turn of affairs. This 
 was the paper " of no importance," as Brownker had 
 
 175
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 called it the night before. Yet though startled, he was 
 confident of Brownker's good faith. Nothing less than 
 full investigation he saw clearly would satisfy the King 
 that Marlborough was innocent. A revulsion of feel- 
 ing now took place in Hugh's mind towards his Majes- 
 ty. No longer did he appear a person of mean stature, 
 and curt, uncivil manners. The impassive face now 
 became stern and terrible. The slight, bent figure 
 seemed to grow in height and dignity. His dark, pen- 
 etrating eyes, usually cold and slightly sinister, burned 
 with indignation, and from the whole face, pinched and 
 haggard with ill-health and a dyspeptic temperament, 
 shown out the kingly soul within, the intrepid, manly 
 heart, and glorified it. As Hugh met his glance, a 
 glance swift and eagle-like, he felt a curious shock. 
 He was no more in the presence of a man he might 
 love or hate like other men, but in the presence of 
 the King. 
 
 " My life on it, this signature is Marlborough's," 
 his Majesty said, handing the paper to Hugh. " You 
 know his hand, sir ? " 
 
 Hugh bowed. 
 
 " Then examine this writing, after which, Karl, you 
 must read aloud this ' Association.' " 
 
 Hugh took the parchment, and on the last page, in 
 fair unmistakable characters, with others, was Marl- 
 borough's name. 
 
 " Your judgment," the King said sharply. 
 
 Hugh forced himself to speak. 
 
 " Your Majesty is right." 
 
 " And yet, I'd swear, sir," the King rejoined, " you 
 still remain a follower of the Earl of Marlborough." 
 
 Hugh's eyes flashed. 
 
 " Your Majesty's words are neither just nor 
 true." 
 
 176
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 At this Brownker coughed significantly. But Wil- 
 liam chuckled. 
 
 " Ma foil I must mind my tongue, ah ? or be 
 shaken like King Charles. Nay " as Hugh would 
 have spoken " not a word. The dish is to my taste. 
 Let me believe I have for once met an honest English- 
 man. Karl, read the ' Association,' and read slowly. 
 I would no word may fall unheeded by Lord Marlbor- 
 ough's friend." 
 
 He had seated himself at the table, and leaning his 
 chin upon his hand, sat still and looked at Hugh under 
 his heavy brows. 
 
 " We, whose names are subscribed," Brownker 
 read, " solemnly promise in the presence of God to 
 contribute our utmost assistance towards King James's 
 recovery of his kingdom. That to this end we will 
 have ready to meet him, at his landing, 30,000 men, 
 well armed. That we will seize upon the person of the 
 Princess of Orange, dead or alive, and take care that 
 some strong garrisons should be forthwith delivered 
 into his hands, and furnish him with a considerable 
 sum of money for the support of his army. Dated 
 this 20th day of March, 1691." 
 
 Brownker paused, and Hugh gave a deep sigh. 
 
 "Your Majesty will allow me a question?" 
 
 " There is no question," snapped the King, " but 
 you may speak." 
 
 " The man who gave up this ' Association ' is an 
 abandoned rogue. How know we that it is not all a 
 counterfeit ? " 
 
 " Because you know it seems Lord Maryborough's 
 signature." 
 
 " Then the presence of the name is to be accepted 
 as proof of guilt." 
 
 " Stay your tongue, sir," cried the King peevishly. 
 177
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Were this accepted, as you call it, as a proof, my 
 lord would be in the Tower and your services not 
 needed." 
 
 Hugh bowed humbly. 
 
 " I crave pardon." 
 
 " Learn patience, sir. Mon Dieu! you are all im- 
 pulse. Now answer me this question. Serve you 
 Lord Marlborough, innocent or guilty, or will you 
 serve her Majesty ? Make up your mind at once ; ex- 
 press it openly." 
 
 Hugh bowed again. 
 
 " I serve her Majesty, and you, sire, with my 
 life." 
 
 William nodded. 
 
 " That is better, and Karl, here, trusts you, which 
 is best of all. But have you counted the whole cost ? " 
 
 " The whole cost, your Majesty." 
 
 " Then you may go upon the business. Karl, ar- 
 range your friend's proceedings. Fare you well, sir. 
 Be diligent and discreet. Fare you well." 
 
 The King waved his hand in dismissal. But Hugh 
 did not move. 
 
 " I have something I would crave from your 
 Majesty," he said, " in return." 
 
 " Ha, no Englishman serves his King for naught ! 
 No, no. Well, speak, sir." 
 
 " If it should be proved that after all this paper is 
 but counterfeit I ask that your Majesty will give me 
 in your own handwriting a few words stating that in 
 your belief my Lord of Marlborough is a loyal sub- 
 ject." 
 
 The King rubbed his chin slowly and shook his 
 head. 
 
 " That is more than I could do." 
 
 Hugh drew himself up. 
 178
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Then, I must beg your Majesty to find one who 
 will act sleuth-hound better than myself, for I will 
 not touch the trail." 
 
 The King smiled grimly. 
 
 " In other words, you had intended to serve Lord 
 Marlborough under pretence of serving me." 
 
 " If my lord is innocent, I might without harm 
 serve both." 
 
 The King looked at Brownker with a grimace. 
 " That does not satisfy, eh, Karl ? " 
 
 " Your Majesty will not be a loser by the service 
 of my friend even upon his own conditions." 
 
 William laughed dryly. 
 
 " Nay, then I need not hesitate. Prove my lord's 
 innocency, sir, and I will proclaim it." 
 
 Hugh moved to the door. 
 
 " I am your Majesty's most obedient servant," he 
 said earnestly. 
 
 " Until I refuse to do your bidding," muttered the 
 King as the door closed. " Mon Dieu! these English- 
 men. Karl, what is it all about ? " 
 
 He spoke in Dutch now, in the tone a man of busi- 
 ness uses to his confidential clerk. " This paper is 
 counterfeit, though the cunningest I have seen. 
 What!" 
 
 Brownker smiled. 
 
 " It is a means to an end, sire." 
 
 " Marlbor.ough's ruin. But how ? " 
 
 " By the simplicity of this Montgomery, and the 
 ingenuity of his cousin, the Lady Susan's daughter, 
 agent to James Stuart." 
 
 "But the forgery?" 
 
 " Is a first step. I am preparing a trap, and a bait 
 was necessary." 
 
 William took a sharp turn up and down the room. 
 179
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " My good friend," he said suddenly, " you are 
 much too confident. I know these Englishmen. They 
 are dull in wit, prejudiced and narrow in their minds. 
 But they are not, even when they happen to be honest, 
 one half so simple as they look." 
 
 180
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THERE was rejoicing and gladness in the mansion 
 of the Churchills. The children were rampaging all 
 over the house, the servants going about their work 
 with cheerful faces, and even the labourers and tenants 
 on the estate, a stolid race, wore the air of relief and 
 enjoyment of boys when they get an unexpected holi- 
 day. The Earl of Marlborough had returned to his 
 home and left the countess in London. 
 
 The earl was liked by his tenants, respected by 
 his servants, adored by his children. His lady was 
 feared by her children, cordially detested by the ten- 
 ants of the estate, and in the eyes of her servants was 
 a tyrant unspeakable. 
 
 Yet Marlborough was not a generous master. No 
 service was ever paid for by him a penny over its 
 market price, and not infrequently below it. But he 
 treated all kindly and considerately, and interfered with 
 no one's private affairs. The countess, on the con- 
 trary, had her finger in the pies of every person in her 
 house, and if anything happened to them without her 
 knowledge and approval, they rued it. Not seldom 
 this resulted in great practical advantages for her de- 
 pendents. Many an obscure lad or maid rose to place 
 and power through the keenly discerning eye of Sarah 
 Marlborough and the dominant will which swept 
 everything before it until the crash in 1710. But how 
 they hated her! Even her favourites hated her in- 
 
 181
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 deed, often her favourites most of all. Her violent tem- 
 per, which spared none until it had run its course, 
 and her restless, busy, managing soul, which never 
 could be still a moment or endure passivity in others, 
 but must be forever pushing all towards the particular 
 goal of her ambition for the time being these weak- 
 nesses spoilt all the virtues she possessed. Two persons 
 only, her husband and Isabel, endured patiently her 
 passions and her tempers, and appreciated all that lay 
 behind the determination to expose shams whenever 
 she met them, and her haughty denial to any rank or 
 power of the right to dictate principles of action and 
 govern the conscience even of the humblest person. 
 Tyrannical herself, yet Lady Marlborough fought to 
 the last against tyranny in others. Grasping and close 
 in money matters, and loving money desperately, she 
 could be generous in charitable gifts, and in all her offi- 
 cial business as Mistress of the Robes to Anne was 
 scrupulously accurate in her accounts. In an age 
 reeking with peculation, Lady Marlborough was never 
 seriously accused of misappropriating any of her mis- 
 tress's money. 
 
 None of these qualities, however, appealed to those 
 about her. To servants, dependents, and children she 
 was a scourge and an object of dread. When she had a 
 mind she could be charming, and her children then 
 timidly sunned themselves in her kindness, but all 
 looked on it as exceptional, as when stroking a tiger 
 through the bars of a cage, one keeps a sharp 
 watch for its claws. All was different when Marlbor- 
 ough ruled the house alone. Then with a smile and a 
 sigh Madam Carrington would shut up the lesson- 
 books and quietly take up her embroidery work and 
 retire within herself. The rule of the school-room was 
 over. Holidays were proclaimed, and the future leader 
 
 182
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 of the armies of Europe was overrun rough-shod by an 
 uproarious, undisciplined mob. 
 
 They climbed on his bed at dawn and serenaded 
 him with whistles and drums. They lay in wait all the 
 morning outside his library door where he was writ- 
 ing and seeing visitors, and the instant he appeared 
 alone they charged him in force and dragged him cap- 
 tive off to play. They chattered to him all through 
 his meals, and nothing but the authority of Isabel 
 enabled him to dine at night and drink his solitary 
 bottle of wine in peace. 
 
 Marlborough made little resistance. Perhaps the 
 knowledge of the iron curb put upon them all at other 
 times had something to do with this. 
 
 We see him on the lawn a few weeks after his inter- 
 view with Karl Brownker on a fine bright April after- 
 noon with Charley on his shoulder. A race was to be 
 run by the whole family, with Isabel at the winning- 
 post the earl's cane with her' own hat upon it 
 to proclaim the winner. She waved her handker- 
 chief as a signal, and away they all went with a shout 
 a merry crew. Charley was madly excited, and 
 mercilessly kicked his patient steed, who, though heav- 
 ily handicapped, came in first and secured the prize for 
 the marplot an immense sugar-plum, which, coming 
 from France, might have been seized by the King's 
 agent as an evidence of treasonable correspondence 
 with James if it had not happened to have been pre- 
 sented to the family by Karl Brownker himself. 
 
 " That younker grows heavier day by day," the 
 earl exclaimed to Isabel, as the nursery-bell rang and 
 the children scampered off to tea. " A pity you can- 
 not feed your calves on the same principle you nourish 
 Charley, and we should grow bullocks such as no one 
 ever saw." 
 
 183
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " If your lordship would purchase from my Lord 
 Godolphin those yearlings he offered me," Isabel said 
 demurely, " I would put them in the home pasture 
 and " 
 
 But Marlborough had stopped his ears with an ex- 
 clamation of horror. 
 
 " What, again ! Why did I mention calves ? An- 
 other word of it, farmer, and I take horse for London. 
 On my oath, you are a very leech for draining me of 
 money. Not a calf not a calf's tail." 
 
 " Then your lordship's beeves," Isabel said imper- 
 turbably, " will continue to fetch a less price than my 
 Lord Godolphin's, though our pasture is by far the 
 richer. If it should please you to spend only fifty 
 pounds " 
 
 " My child," Marlborough interposed in a very gen- 
 tle tone, but which quenched Isabel at once, " I have 
 now not fifty pounds to spend. Pray, change the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 Isabel put on her hat and prepared to return to the 
 fields, when he detained her. 
 
 " Nay, do not go away. Let us walk together where 
 we can be alone and unobserved. Take me to your 
 haunt." 
 
 Isabel led the way to the Nun's Walk, wondering 
 and curious. She had rather expected when my lord 
 arrived from London that he would say something to 
 her about Hugh Montgomery, for she was cer- 
 tain in her own mind that Hugh would go to him ; 
 but a week had passed, and the earl had made no 
 sign. 
 
 The evening was fine and clear, but there was still 
 some crispness and sharpness in the air. They walked 
 fast. 
 
 " The third year of your service, Farmer Isabel," 
 184
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Marlborough said as the garden gate closed behind 
 them. " The last of three very profitable years for the 
 estate." 
 
 Isabel coloured deeply with pleasure. She was 
 very sensitive to praise from him. 
 
 " I have tried," she said simply, " but so often 
 failed that I fear the result is a sorry one. Yet if it 
 satisfies you, my lord, I am content." 
 
 " I am satisfied," Marlborough said, placing her 
 hand on his arm and falling into step with her, " that 
 in all my life I never spent fifty pounds a year to better 
 purpose than on you. Alas that the time comes soon, 
 or has come, when all the money I possess would fail 
 to keep you steward of my estate ! " 
 
 He laid a finger on her hand as he spoke, and felt 
 it quiver. She said nothing for a few moments ; then 
 in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery has been to you, my lord." 
 
 Marlborough cleared his throat. 
 
 " Another gentleman was in my mind." 
 
 Isabel turned sharply, and met a look she could 
 not read kind, grave, penetrating. A chill dread 
 struck her. 
 
 " I know what your lordship thinks," she said in 
 a low voice. " But if my word has any weight per- 
 haps it has not, being a woman's I assure you I 
 thought of nothing but a mere friendship when I be- 
 came acquainted with Mr. Brownker." 
 
 Marlborough caressed the hand on his arm. 
 
 " My dear daughter Isabel, do you suppose I knew 
 so little as to suspect you of coquetry ? As soon would 
 I harbour jealous thoughts of my dearest Sarah. No, 
 my meaning was that the time has soon to come when 
 I shall be whistling for a steward, with two such fine 
 gentlemen courting you. Two, did I say? A pardon. 
 
 185
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 This Montgomery is but a raw stripling. I meant 
 one!" 
 
 He was still holding her hand. But it was now 
 rather the pressure of a doctor's fingers than the 
 caress of a friend. 
 
 Isabel, who carried her hoe in the other hand, 
 turned aside to uproot a weed. 
 
 " Your lordship will deem me rude, but it is in my 
 mind to say that I should not have thought you would 
 speak slightingly of Mr. Hugh Montgomery." 
 
 " Indeed, I do not," he replied tranquilly. " But 
 compared to Brownker he is raw and rude, and the 
 man of polish and wit whom you have known some 
 months must take preference to the youth. True, by a 
 chance, Hugh served you, and you repaid the service 
 by a word which saved his life, and after, nursed him 
 through his sickness. Such acquaintance has naturally 
 bred affection on both sides : on his the lover's, on 
 your own the sister's poor Montgomery ! " 
 
 He smiled, swung his cane slowly to and fro, and 
 watched her with half-closed eyes. Isabel had drawn 
 her hand from his arm and was now in the midst of a 
 clump of immense thistles, massacring one after an- 
 other. When the colony was reduced to a heap of 
 corpses, she rejoined him, smiling. 
 
 " Your lordship will forgive me. I could not pass 
 them by." 
 
 He pretended to shiver. 
 
 " You make me tremble, farmer, for your lov- 
 ers." 
 
 " Lovers ! I think your lordship has disposed of 
 both. The one, you say, is to be my brother. The 
 other I know to be my friend." 
 
 " Friendship is a first step sometimes " 
 
 " And the last, my lord, sometimes." 
 186
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Marlborough stopped swinging his cane, with a 
 short laugh, and Isabel looked up, puzzled. 
 
 " Your pardon, my lord ? " 
 
 " Nothing, Farmer Isabel. I was but a-laughing 
 at my own simplicity and the shallowness of my per- 
 ceptions." 
 
 Isabel flushed all over, but she tried to laugh too. 
 
 " Your perceptions are as deep, my lord, as any 
 man's or woman's nature goes. Pray what have you 
 perceived ? " 
 
 " That you whom I have treated as a child are in 
 reality a woman a woman of the world Mistress 
 Isabel Fretchville." He deepened his voice to a tone 
 of profound respect and made her a courtly bow. " I 
 crave your forgiveness and acknowledge, with all im- 
 aginable humbleness, that I have misjudged you." 
 
 Isabel interrupted him. " I cry your lordship 
 mercy, but I cannot endure this bitter kind of jesting. 
 How have I displeased you ? " 
 
 Her voice was full of keen reproach, and there were 
 tears in her eyes. Marlborough's face grew gentle 
 at once. 
 
 " Displeasure, child ! I am but displeased at my 
 own dulness concerning Mr. Hugh Montgomery, and 
 tender full apologies." 
 
 Isabel bit her lip, but did not lower her eyes. 
 
 " And why, my lord, should you apologize to me ? " 
 
 " Because I forgot that this young gentleman had 
 ten thousand pound a year." 
 
 Marlborough spoke coolly and cheerfully, but his 
 eyes were watchful. The colour in Isabel's face died 
 out. 
 
 " I can not fail to understand your lordship," she 
 said in a dry hard tone. " It is your belief then that 
 I shall marry Mr. Montgomery for his fortune." 
 13 187 

 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Maryborough raised his eyebrows. " Nay, my dear 
 Isabel, I go no such lengths as marriage; unless, in- 
 deed, without my knowledge you are betrothed al- 
 ready ; and that I do not believe." 
 
 " I thank your lordship for so much confidence." 
 
 " I have perfect confidence. Poor Brownker ! " 
 
 He muttered the last words aside, with a sigh. Isa- 
 bel's throat was dry and her eyes were smarting, but 
 there were no tears in them now. 
 
 " It is right you should know what passed, my 
 lord, between Mr. Montgomery and me." 
 
 " That is as you please, Isabel." 
 
 " You are my guardian, my lord." 
 
 " By your condescension I assume the title when I 
 think it is for your advantage, but I claim no authority 
 and have none." 
 
 " You have full authority," Isabel cried warmly. 
 " Even if I had yielded to Mr. Montgomery's impor- 
 tunity which I did not and had loved him as he 
 says that he loves me, I should have refused to 
 think of marriage until he had obtained your full con- 
 sent." 
 
 " Be careful, be careful," Marlborough said, smil- 
 ing deprecatingly. " You will say next, child, you are 
 willing to marry any man that I may recommend." 
 
 He had taken her hand again, and in his eyes there 
 was shrewd inquiry. Isabel looked up fearlessly. 
 
 " A man, my lord, commended by you, should be 
 everything that I could wish for in a husband when 
 I desire to marry. Without your approval I would 
 refuse an archangel." 
 
 Marlborough pressed her hand. 
 
 " I thank you, child," he said gravely. " I will con- 
 fess that I have been asked for my consent by two gen- 
 tlemen. I have not given it, wishing to see you first. 
 
 188
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Now I will ask this much of you that you grant no 
 further favour or encouragement to either until I am 
 able to send word which I think more worthy, and my 
 reasons. Is that too hard a measure ? " 
 
 " Indeed, no," Isabel said simply. " I trust you. 
 But there is no danger. Mr. Montgomery went away 
 of his own will. Karl, I dismissed." 
 
 There were steps in the garden quick, hasty 
 steps. The gate was flung open and one of the serv- 
 ants ran down the walk with a letter in his hand. 
 
 " A messenger has rid from London, my lord," the 
 man said breathlessly, " and should return with a re- 
 ply to-night." 
 
 Marlborough looked at the letter curiously, and 
 Isabel noticed that the direction on it was written in 
 a woman's hand. When it was torn open, several 
 closely written sheets appeared, at which the earl 
 sighed dolefully. 
 
 " Timothy, begone to the messenger and bid him 
 to the kitchen to refresh ; and see you his horse is 
 baited." Then as the man went off he added as if to 
 himself, " Mistress Montgomery has much to say. My 
 faith, I must peruse it at leisure in my library." He 
 stood a moment, however, and glanced down the 
 page, and Isabel saw that his hand tightened on the 
 paper. 
 
 " It is a summons to London," he said quietly. 
 " Be so good as to see that my things are all in or- 
 der. I must start to-night. Tell no one whither I 
 am gone." 
 
 Isabel sighed. 
 
 " So soon ! But, at least, the countess will rejoice." 
 
 Marlborough folded the letter up and looked at it 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " I shall not see the countess at least for a few 
 189
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 days. This business is political and secret. If any 
 letter comes from my dear soul or from the princess, 
 send it by messenger to the St. James's Club. Now I 
 must haste." 
 
 He strode off quickly to the house. 
 
 190
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE morning after Marlborough's summons to 
 London Karl Brownker dressed himself with peculiar 
 care. In most things a frugal person, he spent large 
 sums on dress. His attentions to the fair sex were part- 
 ly the cause of this, but had he never wooed a court 
 lady, he must have been always well attired. It was the 
 nature of the man to take pains to excel ; and to be 
 careful and particular in everything pertaining to his 
 person. His peruke, which he had adopted out of com- 
 pliment to his master, though most of the court gallants 
 still wore their own hair, was a masterpiece of its kind, 
 and suited to a nicety his sallow, cadaverous face, re- 
 moving much of the heaviness of his features. His 
 coat, cut by the best tailor in town, was of the latest 
 French fashion, and a great contrast to the large- 
 flapped, broad-skirted garments affected by the Dutch 
 noblemen and by William himself. This subject of 
 dress was the only one upon which the King and his 
 agent disagreed. 
 
 Karl breakfasted at seven, wrote letters, inter- 
 viewed three people on important business, and then 
 rang for his valet. It was now eight o'clock. 
 
 " I shall be out until noon, Chinnic. If Mr. Mont- 
 gomery calls in my absence, inform him I am about 
 his business, and will meet him at six of the clock at 
 the club. How is the Parson?" 
 
 " Out of danger, sir, and urgent in his prayers for 
 a visit from you." 
 
 191
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Brownker smiled. 
 
 " Tell him that this will come about sooner than he 
 wishes, but that first he must make more blood to 
 lose." 
 
 Chinnic grinned sympathetically. 
 
 " I have told him so until he gnaws his fingers to 
 the bone. You would not know the man. His hair is 
 turning white." 
 
 Brownker nodded approvingly. 
 
 " Keep the leeches on him another day or two. 
 Then I will see him." He drew on his gloves. " If 
 Lord Marlborough calls, remember I am with the 
 King." 
 
 Chinnic bowed, and his master leisurely went out. 
 A diminutive groom was at the door, holding with 
 great difficulty a powerful horse with a Roman nose 
 and a wicked eye. This horse Brownker mounted 
 lightly, the creature becoming obedient at once when 
 he felt his master's hand. 
 
 " Oons," panted the little groom to the footman 
 at the door. " See that ! There's witchcraft there. 
 This devil nigh tore my arms to pieces and now he'd 
 lap milk. 'Odds foot, I wish the brute was dead ! " 
 
 The footman smiled the superior smile of his race. 
 
 " Which brute ? " he said, and closed the door. 
 
 Mr. Brownker did not go to St. James's Palace. 
 He rode westward until the streets of St. James's gave 
 way to larger detached houses ; these to market gar- 
 dens, and these to open fields. The horse was fresh, 
 and the day was bright, but Brownker's face was 
 thoughtful and he rode slowly. He had begun a cam- 
 paign a few days ago, and launched himself into a life 
 or death encounter with the cleverest man in Eng- 
 land. He was confident of success, but he was far too 
 wide-awake not to count beforehand, and weigh can- 
 
 192
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 didly, all the dangers and difficulties which lay in the 
 path. 
 
 Marlborough's name, though not world-wide as 
 yet, was known in every European court, and in all 
 calculations made by William's enemies and William's 
 friends, Marlborough's personality counted for more 
 than that of any other. Brownker knew this, and, 
 what was more, he appreciated as few others did the 
 energy which lay behind Marlborough's quiet exte- 
 rior, and the swiftness of action of which his calm 
 brain was capable. All this, as his own plans devel- 
 oped, Karl knew that he would have to reckon with, 
 and he did not doubt that it would take all his strength 
 and wit to carry those plans through. Yet he was 
 confident, for he held trump cards. Not the least of 
 these was Hugh Montgomery, and to-day, as Karl 
 rode westward by the river, he began his musings by 
 considering how Hugh should be played. But that re- 
 flection did not hold him very long. The manipulation 
 of such a man as this was a bagatelle ; with his open 
 nature Hugh was like an instrument the notes of which 
 Brownker knew by heart. Of more importance by 
 far, and of greater difficulty, was the person whom he 
 was now on his way to see, and whose fingers must 
 be trained to perform not only upon Hugh but on 
 Marlborough as well. 
 
 Thinking of this, Karl reached his destination, the 
 village of Chelsea. At the principal inn there he dis- 
 mounted, and answering with a curt nod the obse- 
 quious salutation of the innkeeper, he refused refresh- 
 ment and walked briskly away on foot. Leaving the 
 road to Chiswick and Staines he turned to the right 
 up a country lane, which after many twists brought 
 him to a stone wall, moss-grown and very old, some 
 eight or nine feet high. Behind the wall were trees, 
 
 193
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 and a long, low house, of which the roof and chim- 
 neys were just visible a house which looked like some 
 old nunnery or monastery, so secluded and shut out 
 was it from the haunts of men. 
 
 A monastery, indeed, the place had once been. 
 It was known, even now, by the name of the Abbey 
 House, but though its inmates lived for good and suf- 
 ficient reasons a secluded life, the monasticism of the 
 place was but an outer shell which contained a kernel 
 of another kind. 
 
 At the door, studded with nails, and of severest as- 
 pect, Karl paused, and gave a sharp, powerful pull at 
 the bell. Far away came a hollow cling-clang followed 
 by the hoarse baying of mastiffs. An interval of si- 
 lence followed, which was too long for Brownker's 
 patience, and then a heavy, measured tread on the 
 other side of the door, and through a grating a pair 
 of eyes sharply inspected the caller. 
 
 " Open, Pat," Brownker said impatiently. " Would 
 you keep me here all day ? " 
 
 A clash of bolts, and the door swung back. 
 
 " Sure, your honour," answered a deep voice, " it's 
 the toimes the onaisy toimes that is inhospitable, not 
 me." 
 
 The speaker was an immensely big man, in a faded, 
 threadbare livery. He had a shock of stiff black hair, 
 and a broad humorous Irish face, which looked as if 
 Nature had intended, in the first instance, to have given 
 him a frank and open aspect, and then suddenly 
 changed her mind. For his eyes were small and 
 shifty. 
 
 "The lady Susan Montgomery at home?" 
 
 " Pinin' for a sight of ye indade ! " 
 
 "The Mistress Marie?" 
 
 " Waitin' like a flower for the sun, yer honour." 
 194
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 * 
 
 They were walking down a long covered stone pas- 
 sage which led from the outer door to the house. Half- 
 way Brownker touched the big servant with the end of 
 his riding-whip. 
 
 " The news ! " he said in a whisper. 
 
 " Not a ha'porth," was the reply. 
 
 " The news, I say, from France." Brownker spoke 
 slowly and distinctly. 
 
 The Irishman scratched his head with a puzzled air. 
 " Why, yes, there was a messenger came yesterday, 
 but not a word of interest could I wring from him, 
 bedad ! King James is eager, sez he, and King Louis 
 is not, sez he, and so the talk is big, and the doin's 
 nowt, sez he." 
 
 " I hear rumours that an invasion has been 
 planned ? " 
 
 Patrick smiled a childlike smile of admiration. 
 
 " Sure, if your honour says so it must be so. Ye're 
 always right. I have heard the same myself, now I 
 come to think." 
 
 " Well, then, sirrah ! " Brownker's face became 
 sharp and eager. 
 
 " Well, then, your honour," was the cheerful an- 
 swer. " Let us pray King James will soon be here ; 
 but, bedad, his Majesty the Lord protect him ! has 
 been invading England this two years past, and has 
 not landed yet." 
 
 Brownker looked at the Irishman stonily a mo- 
 ment, then turned away with a shrug which might 
 mean anything, and without waiting to be announced 
 strode up a flight of stone steps and tapped at a door 
 where a sharp, tremulous voice said " Enter," and he 
 vanished from Pat's view. 
 
 The big servant stood looking after him, and then 
 slowly and deliberately raised a huge fist and shook it. 
 
 195
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "A curse on ye, ye Protestant rat! Ye Dutch 
 grindstone ! Did ye think you'd twist it out of me 
 did ye? Nay, nay, if she tells she tells, but I'll be 
 drawn, and racked, and broken on the wheel before 
 I tell." 
 
 In the room above Brownker was kissing the hand 
 of a little old lady with bright bird-like eyes, dressed 
 in the fashion of half a century before and surrounded 
 by its reminiscences. Her hands sparkled with rings. 
 Her face was covered with paint and powder, and on 
 a velvet cushion near a fire, which made the room in- 
 tolerably close, lay a pair of fat King Charles spaniels. 
 
 Yet there was evidence in this room of desperate 
 poverty. The covers of the chairs, once handsome and 
 of great price, were dropping to pieces with age ; the 
 carpet was full of holes, and the very dress the old 
 lady wore had been turned and trimmed half a dozen 
 times, and was now approaching the last stage of dis- 
 solution. 
 
 Mr. Brownker bowed with an appearance of pro- 
 found respect. 
 
 " Your ladyship's most humble servant." 
 
 " My dear Karl," she said graciously, " I am 
 pleased to see ye. But the salute the salute." 
 
 He was looking round the room as if searching for 
 some one. At these words he turned to a portrait on 
 the wall and bowed low to it. 
 
 " God save his Majesty King James ! " he said sol- 
 emnly. 
 
 The old lady curtsied to the portrait herself, lower- 
 ing her eyes as if she were in the presence of royalty. 
 
 " May he soon enjoy his own again," she cried. 
 " Amen." 
 
 There was an earnestness in her voice and simple 
 'dignity in her manner which made the little ceremony, 
 
 196
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 evidently a custom of the house, impressive, in spite 
 of the fact that the portrait was a most detestable daub, 
 and that her ladyship's own face was highly rouged 
 and tinted after the manner of faded beauties of the 
 Restoration days. 
 
 " You are looking for Marie," she said sharply, as 
 his eyes again wandered around the room. " She will 
 be here when she can leave the kitchen. We must 
 cook to eat." 
 
 " The Mistress Montgomery's cooking," Brown- 
 ker said sweetly, " would tempt a king to eat." 
 
 The old lady gave a cackling laugh. 
 
 " 'Odds my life, young man, keep your compli- 
 ments until she comes. You'll need 'em all. She does 
 not like you, Karl." 
 
 " I rest on your ladyship's favour." 
 
 " And indeed you may, while you are true to his 
 most gracious Majesty. And why have you not 
 brought my nephew, Hugh Montgomery?" 
 
 She spoke sharply and eagerly. 
 
 " He will pay his respects on my next visit," 
 Brownker replied. 
 
 " 'Odds my life, is this his conversion to true loy- 
 alty ? But he has not recanted ! Do not tell me that." 
 
 "Alas ! dear Lady Susan, William has seen him. I 
 must be wary. Precipitation would ruin everything. 
 But I will bring my friend, and I trust with your in- 
 fluence and your fair daughter's " 
 
 He stopped speaking and bowed low. In the door- 
 way some one stood listening. She had come so quiet- 
 ly that Lady Susan Montgomery, who was a little deaf, 
 did not understand why Brownker paused. Then, see- 
 ing her daughter, she laughed coarsely. 
 
 " Chide him now, Marie, chide him soundly. He 
 has broken his word again, this loving friend of yours, 
 
 197
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 and come alone. 'Odds my life, I guess he's jealous 
 of poor Hugh. Confess, master, that Hugh is hand- 
 somer than you." 
 
 " Far handsomer," he sighed. 
 
 Her ladyship clapped her hands. 
 
 " Call me a witch then I'll not deny it. Ha, ha, 
 ha ! But I have found you out, old fox. You fear a 
 younger rival." 
 
 " Your ladyship shall now see an earnest of your 
 nephew's homage and my good intentions." He put 
 his hand to his breast, at which the Lady Susan's eyes 
 glistened and her breath came quickly. When he 
 took out a pocket-book, and from the book took a 
 sheet of paper, she cried feverishly : 
 
 " That is a bill of money ! Good nephew Hugh, a 
 rebel and heretic he may be, but a lad of feeling true 
 feeling and affection." 
 
 Brownker unfolded the bill very slowly. 
 
 " One hundred pounds, madam, which " 
 
 Lady Susan did not wait for further words, but 
 snatched hungrily at the bill. Another hand, however, 
 was before hers. 
 
 " You mistake, mother," said a deep contralto 
 voice, " it's for the King." 
 
 Marie Montgomery took the bill as she spoke, 
 and placed it in her dress. Her ladyship stamped her 
 foot with rage. 
 
 " You thief, you ingrate. You unnatural beast, you 
 give me the money. Karl, it is mine ; take it from 
 her. Use violence with her, do what you will to her, 
 but get me that money the money the money ! " 
 
 Her voice rose to a scream, while the girl stood 
 perfectly still, calm and contemptuous, and Brownker 
 observed both faces watchfully. 
 
 " I hold the money for his Majesty to save it from 
 198
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 being lost at ombre," the girl said in a cold, monoto- 
 nous voice. 
 
 " You lie, you ! " Lady Susan cried viciously. 
 " You hold it to spend on yourself, while your mother 
 goes beggared, starved, naked. Oh, that I were strong 
 enough to beat you wretch ! " 
 
 " Mother, control yourself at least before a 
 stranger." 
 
 " Stranger ! Ha, ha, ha ! Karl a stranger ! You 
 hussy, do you think I don't know that though you pre- 
 tend to my face to treat him like a queen, behind my 
 back you " 
 
 " Your ladyship must calm yourself." 
 
 Brownker spoke in a tone which admitted of no 
 contradiction. " The money is for King James," he 
 went on, " and Mistress Marie, as his Majesty's agent, 
 must keep it. But I have a private gift for you." 
 
 He took a purse and placed ten guineas in her hand. 
 
 " And now, dearest lady, I have matters of state 
 importance to discuss with your daughter. I beg you 
 will withdraw. I ask the favour in the martyr's name." 
 He bowed to another portrait on the wall, a portrait of 
 Charles I. 
 
 The Lady Susan's face, which had been forbidding 
 enough, changed its expression at once at the chink 
 of the money. 
 
 " In the name of that dear saint," she cried fervent- 
 ly, " you may ask me anything. I will leave you. But 
 you will come again and bring my nephew. Promise." 
 
 " I promise, on my honour, madam." 
 
 He had led her to the door. Now he kissed her 
 hand and laid his own upon his heart. 
 
 "You will trust me?" 
 
 " With my life," she said tremulously. " You hold 
 it, Karl, and hers, and all we have, within your hands. 
 
 199
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 We could not have lived but for your bounty and your 
 loyalty to our most gracious master. 'Odds my life, 
 I do trust you absolutely." She curtsied to him and 
 left the room. 
 
 Karl, with the impatient sigh of one who has lis- 
 tened to a sermon, shut the door and locked it. 
 
 " That was well done," he said in a light mocking 
 tone, " though it has cost ten guineas." 
 
 " The guineas are not yours." 
 
 " Indeed, no." 
 
 " My cousin's ? " 
 
 " And my friend." 
 
 " Your victim." 
 
 Brownker came slowly towards her, then sat down 
 upon a couch and leant back lazily. 
 
 " Why are you cross to-day ? " 
 
 " I am always cross now." 
 
 " You do not always receive a hundred pounds." 
 
 " That will not so much as pay my card debts." 
 
 " I wonder why," said Karl pensively, " ladies with 
 such slender means lose such large sums at cards." 
 
 " Why do men get drunk ? Why do you look at 
 me to-day with a devil's leer? Why has every one a 
 temptation he cannot resist? Worst of all, why does 
 the time come when we suddenly hate ourselves for 
 it, when we could kill ourselves with shame, when we 
 O God ! Karl, why did I ever let you come within 
 this house ? " She covered her face with her hands as 
 if to shut out the smile with which he was regarding 
 her. 
 
 Karl comfortably crossed his legs. 
 
 " Because I gave you what you needed, money ; 
 and her ladyship, your mother, money, together with 
 a pretended loyalty to a pretending king. My faith, 
 madam, you carry matters very high with your poor 
 
 200
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 mother. She would turn me out, did she deem me 
 a traitor to King James. But with you I have had 
 no need to pretend the least. So long as I had but 
 love to offer you, you scorned me, but since money 
 has glistened in my hand you have refused me noth- 
 ing." 
 
 " How well it becomes you to be my judge ! " 
 
 " As well as it becomes your complexion to be 
 angry, and that is marvellously. When next your por- 
 trait is attempted if you will take my advice get 
 angry before every sitting. The man will then paint 
 you a picture, and a very handsome one." 
 
 He laughed, showing all his teeth. Yet he meant 
 what he said. Standing there in the bright morning 
 light Marie Montgomery was a picture of form and 
 colour such as the greatest artist living might have 
 longed to paint. She had rich auburn hair, a com- 
 plexion pure and spotless ; gray eyes that languished, 
 shone, or flashed responsive to her mood, and a fig- 
 ure perfect in proportion, if a trifle full large, com- 
 manding the incarnation of sensuous grace and sym- 
 metry. 
 
 Her eyes were flashing now, her bosom heaving. 
 
 " You fiend ! " she hissed. " You devil ! Is it not 
 enough to bring me down to this, but you must taunt 
 and torture me as well ! " 
 
 Brownker raised his head from the indolent atti- 
 tude he had assumed with a look of genuine surprise. 
 
 " Since I have had the honour of your friendship, 
 madam, I have never known you despise a compli- 
 ment." 
 
 " A blow would be the lesser insult from such a 
 one as you." 
 
 Brownker looked at her fixedly a moment. Then 
 his manner changed. 
 
 201
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Come here ! " he said, pointing to the couch be- 
 side him. He spoke as a master speaks to a dog that 
 has been disobedient. 
 
 She did not move. 
 
 " Give me your hand." 
 
 She placed both behind her back. 
 
 He rose from the couch, as a cat rises to spring 
 upon a mouse. But at the motion Marie stepped back 
 and seized a bell-rope. 
 
 " Touch me, and Patrick shall throw you out of 
 window." 
 
 They looked at each other with parted lips, like 
 two animals. 
 
 " The reason for this madness ? " Brownker said at 
 last. " Quick, or it will be too late." 
 
 She gave a mocking laugh. 
 
 " What, you threaten a Montgomery! How stupid 
 you have grown ! Cousin Hugh taught you better 
 manners at the St. James's Club." 
 
 " Be careful," he replied in a whisper. " Your rea- 
 son, I say?" 
 
 " Can you not see ? I have grown tired of 
 you." 
 
 " I see I see all now." He turned away coolly 
 and took a pinch of snuff. 
 
 Marie's eyes became uneasy, and the hand which 
 grasped the bell-rope trembled ; but her mouth lost 
 nothing of its mockery and determination. 
 
 " What do you see, Sir Wizard. I will stake my 
 soul you are lying but tell me." 
 
 Brownker closed his snuff-box leisurely and sank 
 back again upon the couch. 
 
 " I see John, Earl of Marlborough." 
 
 At this name she shuddered as some creature shud- 
 ders when stabbed by the hunter's knife. 
 
 202
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "How know you that?" she whispered. "How 
 can you know ? " 
 
 " I did not know," he said pleasantly. " It was a 
 guess a key thrust into a strange lock ; but now, the 
 door is open." 
 
 14 203
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 ALL the defiance and aggressiveness in Marie's 
 bearing disappeared. 
 
 She dropped the bell-rope and covered her face 
 with her hands. But Brownker took no advantage of 
 this to approach nearer to her. 
 
 " Marlborough ! " he said in a thoughtful tone. 
 " So he is my successor ? " 
 
 Marie raised her head. 
 
 " Do not compare yourself to the Earl of Marlbor- 
 ough." 
 
 " I do not," he replied imperturbably. " I have 
 been faithful to one king while his lordship has sworn 
 fealty to two, and betrayed them both." 
 
 " Liar ! He gave up James only because of his 
 religion. William dismissed him." 
 
 " Yes," said Brownker, smiling. " He received val- 
 uable information from an agent of King James." 
 
 " I have never betrayed Lord Churchill by one 
 word." 
 
 " No," he said, " it was not you. And now, sit 
 here, beside me." 
 
 He pointed to the couch, as he had done once be- 
 fore, and this time she obeyed. But he gave her no 
 caress. Leaning forward, he simply looked steadily 
 into her eyes. The movement had a curious effect. 
 The muscles of her hands, which had been tightly 
 clinched, relaxed. The hot, angry colour in her face 
 
 204
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 died away, her whole figure drooped, until mentally 
 and physically she seemed to have lost all strength and 
 will. 
 
 " We will now talk," he said in a hard, even tone. 
 " You have loved my Lord of Marlborough some long 
 time." 
 
 " Since I was seventeen." 
 
 " You must have been very pretty at seventeen." 
 
 She gave a quick shake of the head. 
 
 " You mistake. He never loved me. It was his 
 brother, George Churchill." 
 
 "And George?" 
 
 " Would have betrayed me. He was a handsome 
 sailor I a tall, forward girl, just out of convent. My 
 mother well, you know my mother. Even then it 
 was cards, cards, cards, from night till morning, from 
 morning until night, and my father was abroad. I 
 had no one to protect me, teach, or tell me anything. 
 I never had, and so I should have fallen like a half- 
 fledged sparrow from a nest, but for my dear lord." 
 
 " Tell me what he did." 
 
 " What did he not ? Yet it was his wife who dis- 
 covered what was in the wind. I owe her that, at least. 
 She has sharp eyes, and never loved his brother. She 
 told my lord, and the day when George and I were 
 to have run away together, I found at the trysting- 
 place his brother. I was angry, mad. You know 
 a little of my temper. I raged like any fiend at him. 
 But by degrees he calmed me, and with his courtesy 
 and wisdom, and above all, his dignity and gentleness, 
 he brought me to myself, roused in me the woman- 
 hood which had not then been poisoned by the world, 
 and poverty, and you and saved me from myself. Af- 
 terward, to stop all scandal, for the world had talked, 
 my lady asked me to stay with them ; and though, at 
 
 205
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 last, she came almost to blows with me, yet she was 
 kind in her own way, and he I do not believe since 
 the world began, a truer gentleman has lived than 
 Marlborough. I loved him for it from my soul I 
 love him still. And now, and now " her voice broke 
 " in your hands I am to be the means of luring him 
 to ruin death. But I will not, I will not, though you 
 kill me. I will not." 
 
 Her voice rose in intensity with every word, and 
 she crouched no longer. Brownker swiftly laid his 
 hand upon her wrist. 
 
 " You will do my bidding, as you have always done. 
 But I do not wish Marlborough's ruin, so you will 
 do it willingly. Indeed, after what you say, I shall but 
 dread that you will be too impatient for the end." 
 
 She shook herself free, passionately. " Your end 
 for him is the Tower the block." 
 
 " Ay, all that, if he will not fly to France with you." 
 
 Marie's eyes opened to the fullest width; a dark 
 spot of colour flashed into both her cheeks, and her 
 teeth closed. 
 
 " You do not mean that. You are playing with 
 me?" 
 
 He smiled gently. 
 
 " Do I ever play with fire ? I am in earnest, on 
 my word." 
 
 " That was why you made me write to him ? " she 
 cried eagerly. " Oh, you are deep, deep ! But " 
 with a catch of the breath " I do not believe you^ 
 word. When did you keep your word to a woman? 
 You will make a decoy of me ; use me to your ends, 
 and then " 
 
 Brownker held up one finger and frowned. 
 
 " Quiet ! How you waste time ! Of course I have 
 my ends to serve. Marlborough in England foments 
 
 206
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 treason and disturbance. In France he will be harm- 
 less. In France they talk and strut and threaten, but 
 they do not act; in England they say little, but are 
 never still. William has discovered a plot that would 
 throw Marlborough in the Tower to-day, but he would 
 rather put him beyond sea. Knowing what I knew, 
 or guessed, I dictated your letter to my lord. At least 
 you are one of James's agents. Bring me his reply." 
 
 He pointed to a faded, well-used little escritoire 
 behind her. For one instant she hesitated. The col- 
 our in her cheeks grew darker. Her hands were so 
 tightly clinched that blue veins showed through the 
 white skin. Her eyes, half-closed, shone now from 
 under their long lashes with a curious gleam. But it 
 was only for a moment. Slowly, under the look he 
 gave her in return, her head drooped and her hands 
 relaxed as they had done before. Yet this time after 
 she had turned away there was a smile upon her lips. 
 Without a word, she rose and unlocked the cabinet 
 and brought the letter. Brownker read it quickly. 
 
 " The day after to-morrow. He wastes no time." 
 
 " Your instructions, pray." 
 
 " I have none." 
 
 She lowered her eyes. 
 
 " I am to act on my own discretion ? " 
 
 He had returned the letter to her, and she was now 
 caressing it as it were something human. 
 
 Brownker gave a sudden harsh laugh. 
 
 " The Lord forbid ! " 
 
 She set her teeth. 
 
 "You think I have none?" 
 
 He smiled, with an expressive shrug. 
 
 " I am, then, to persuade him," she said slowly, 
 " that it is to his interest to leave England ? " 
 
 " You are to offep him such proof in writing, and 
 207
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 by word of mouth, that he will then and there decide 
 to sail with you to France." 
 
 " This may be impossible." 
 
 " In that case," Brownker rose with a polite bow, 
 " I will see another lady with whom my Lord Marl- 
 borough is acquainted." 
 
 " Tell me what to do," she said quietly. " I will 
 do anything you wish." 
 
 A curious change had come over her now. Her 
 nervous tension had gone, and with it all appearance 
 of dread and subservience to him. Her voice was 
 practical in tone, and business-like. Brownker ob- 
 served her approvingly. 
 
 " I wish you to exercise your wit, and bind up 
 your sentiment. Marlborough has no sentiment. He 
 likes a pretty woman, but he loves his own skin better. 
 You have authority from St. Germains. Use it freely. 
 That is what will tell." 
 
 "All this has been done, but he will not stir a foot 
 towards France." 
 
 Brownker frowned, and seemed to fall into deep 
 thought. Marie watched him under her eye-lashes. 
 
 " Suppose," he said slowly, " Marlborough re- 
 ceived a letter in James's hand, confirming the mes- 
 sage you were told to give by word of mouth how 
 then?" 
 
 Marie shook her head. 
 
 " He knows the King's writing as he knows his 
 own." 
 
 " Leave that to me. I say, if he saw a letter signed 
 and sealed what then ? " 
 
 " It must convince him." 
 
 " Then he shall have it. Not to-morrow, but within 
 a week. Tell him it is coming. Rouse his curiosity 
 and desire. Above all, make him feel James leans on 
 
 208
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 him, and has the power, or will have, to fulfil his 
 promises." 
 
 A curious smile played about Marie's lips. 
 
 " I will do that." 
 
 He took up his hat and whip, eying her medita- 
 tively. 
 
 " Your discretion," he said, " has returned marvel- 
 lously soon." 
 
 " You have done that," she answered quickly. 
 " Be sure I will obey you in every word." 
 
 " Then you will help yourself to what you desire 
 most." And he went to the door. 
 
 " When shall I report ? " she asked, drooping her 
 eyes that he might not see the satisfaction in them 
 and the hope. 
 
 " To-morrow evening I am going to bring your 
 cousin here. I will tell you then." 
 
 "He knows?" 
 
 " He knows nothing, but that you are an agent from 
 St. Germains, and Marlborough in treaty with you. It 
 would be fatal if he knew too much." 
 
 " You wish me to be kind to Hugh ? " 
 
 Brownker smiled grimly. 
 
 " Madam, he is young and well-looking. He has 
 more money than he knows what to do with, and he 
 is fresh as grass. Do with him as you will, and spare 
 him not." 
 
 Marie smiled maliciously. 
 
 " A very gold-mine, then." 
 
 " Ay, for his heart is as soft as his purse is 
 long. Yet " Brownker pulled himself up, and 
 his voice changed " he is a man in spite of all a 
 man." 
 
 Marie, left alone, stood for some moments mo- 
 tionless, wrapped in thought; then she raised 
 
 209
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Maryborough's letter to her lips and kissed and 
 fondled it. 
 
 " It is very soon," she whispered, smiling. " A day, 
 a night, and then " 
 
 But her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 2IO
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 JUST before noon on the day after Karl Brownker's 
 visit to the Abbey House, Lady Susan Montgomery's 
 Irish servant, Patrick Egan, heard the door-bell ring, 
 and swore a round Irish oath. Pat was in a bad tem- 
 per. He had entertained some friends the night be- 
 fore, and drunk more wine than was good for him. 
 His mistress had not dared to speak to him this morn- 
 ing. He had now settled himself down to clean har- 
 ness, though there were a dozen more urgent things 
 that needed attention, and he resented this disturbance 
 of the bell. But there was no help for it. The bell 
 pealed a second time, and, slowly and crossly, Pat 
 answered it. He opened the door, and saw a gentle- 
 man very plainly dressed. 
 
 " The family's out," he growled. 
 
 The visitor, Lord Marlborough, did not appear in- 
 terested in this announcement. He was absorbed in a 
 careful inspection of the speaker. 
 
 " You are looking well, sergeant." 
 
 Patrick started violently. His knees trembled, and 
 his great round face fell. Then, with an effort, he 
 straightened himself against the door-post and gave a 
 military salute. 
 
 " Ye're humble sarvint, my lord. Sure, I didn't 
 see." 
 
 Marlborough entered the hall slowly, looking at 
 211
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 the man with an interest Patrick seemed to find over- 
 whelmingly embarrassing. 
 
 " No doubt," he rejoined. " We have both 
 changed." 
 
 Patrick saluted a second time like a monkey that 
 has learnt the trick. His teeth were chattering in his 
 head, and his red face had become a ghastly yellow. 
 
 " And, sure, whin I did see your honour it was 
 always at a distance." 
 
 Marlborough held up his finger, and Pat stopped 
 as if he had been pricked with a rapier. 
 
 " Five years ago this month, Sergeant Murphy, I 
 sentenced you to death by hanging as a spy." 
 
 The man tried to speak, to tell a lie his quick wit 
 had invented, but under Marlborough's eye he could 
 not. 
 
 " You escaped," the earl went on, " by bribing two 
 men. Those men were shot." 
 
 He paused a moment, and Patrick's face grew paler 
 and more ghastly still. 
 
 " If I inform the justices " 
 
 The man clasped his hands in an agony. " For 
 the sake av God " Then he stopped suddenly, for on 
 the stairs within the house he heard a quick, light step. 
 
 " Pat ! " cried Marie's voice sharply, " why do you 
 gossip there so long? " 
 
 Then she came out into the hall, saw who it was, 
 and blushed like a rose. 
 
 " Your lordship's pardon. I thought my servant 
 was talking to a friend." 
 
 Marlborough smiled pleasantly at Pat, who shud- 
 dered. 
 
 " My dear madam, we are old acquaintances." 
 
 " That is a high honour for Patrick." 
 
 " He deserved a higher one." Marlborough was 
 212
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 now looking at the man steadily. " But he served his 
 King without reward, even as I have done, and now, 
 like good comrades, we may, perhaps, serve each 
 other." 
 
 The man caught his breath. 
 
 " Holy Mother of Heaven ! " he cried. " Your 
 lordship may count upon my life then." 
 
 " I thank you, friend," was the quiet reply, and 
 Marlborough followed Marie upstairs. 
 
 " It is plain," Marie said, ushering him into the 
 room above, " that Pat, like myself, is in your lord- 
 ship's debt. I shall make him tell me all about it." 
 
 Marlborough smiled. 
 
 " He will not tell the truth. The Lady Susan, I 
 trust, is in good health ? " 
 
 He was wondering within himself whether she 
 would come in, and was thankful beyond words when 
 Marie replied that she was out for the day. There was, 
 perhaps, some truth in a story told at the clubs, that 
 Lady Susan had once even asked Marlborough to lend 
 her money. 
 
 " I desired to see you, my lord," Marie was saying, 
 " as my letter told, on business, and it was necessary 
 we should be alone." 
 
 An excitement and nervous tension were growing 
 upon her that made her almost breathless. But she 
 fought them down. She would need all her nerve and 
 wit for the task before her. 
 
 Marlborough saw her agitation, and laid it to an- 
 other cause. 
 
 " I have come to you," he said with great gentle- 
 ness, " on state business. But if you have any matter 
 any business of your own to speak of, tell me that 
 first. Rest assured that I will do anything to aid you 
 that lies within my power." 
 
 213
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Marie's nervousness died a natural death. 
 
 " You mistake me, my lord," she said. " This time 
 the tables shall be turned. The lion once saved the 
 mouse, and now the mouse must help the lion." 
 
 He bowed, and she saw his face grow perceptibly 
 graver and colder. 
 
 " Pray read this," she said, in a cool, business-like 
 tone, handing him a paper. " I think your lordship 
 knows the hand." 
 
 Marlborough bowed, and read : 
 
 " To all whom it may concern, greeting. We do 
 hereby declare that our trusty, well-beloved Mrs. 
 Marie Montgomery hath our authority to treat with 
 all persons whom God hath inclined to renew their 
 allegiance to their lawful Sovereign. 
 
 " Witness our hand and seal. 
 
 "JAMES R. 
 
 "March, 1691." 
 
 " His Majesty, I trust," Marlborough said, hand- 
 ing back the paper with a bow, " enjoys good health ? " 
 
 Marie smiled significantly. 
 
 " His Majesty, my lord, has not been in such good 
 health or in such spirits since he left England as he 
 is to-day." 
 
 " Good news, indeed," Marlborough replied. But 
 neither his tone nor his face conveyed enthusiasm. 
 Marie, however, was now as cool, outwardly, as her 
 visitor. 
 
 " He has good reason to be well, for his affairs are 
 in such posture " She paused abruptly as if she had 
 intended to say a great deal and then thought better 
 of it, continuing in a different tone, " But I must de- 
 liver his Majesty's message to your lordship. * Tell 
 
 214
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Marlborough,' the King said, ' that his late ex- 
 pressions of loyalty, and remorse for past actions, have 
 touched me to the heart, and give me full confidence 
 in his good faith. Assure him that very soon I shall 
 have the power to reward all good subjects and to 
 punish traitors.' Those, my lord, were the King's 
 own words to me." 
 
 " A most gracious message ! " Marlborough cried, 
 with apparent feeling. " May we all get our deserts 
 and his Majesty his reward. But is this all? I under- 
 stood by your letter that some service was desired of 
 me." 
 
 Marie laughed. 
 
 " Your lordship should know his Majesty too well 
 to doubt it. But his commands will come in writing." 
 
 " In whose hand, dear madam ? " 
 
 There was the ghost of a cynical smile on Marlbor- 
 ough's face, and Marie's cheeks flamed. 
 
 " His Majesty's own," she said unsteadily. " At 
 least " She stopped herself. " I was told the matter 
 was of such importance and such secrecy that he would 
 trust no other." 
 
 She had regained her confidence again, and looked 
 him frankly in the face. He bowed gravely. 
 
 " But the purport, now, of these commands. If 
 you will be so good, tell me. I would not, if it can be 
 helped, keep his Majesty waiting for my answer." 
 
 " Alas ! my lord," she said, shaking her head 
 with a touch of petulance more convincing than any 
 earnestness, " I would not, if I were you, set much 
 store by any words of mine. They can indeed use a 
 woman at St. Germains, and give her the hardest and 
 most troublesome of tasks, but the secrets and full 
 meaning of their enterprises they keep from her if 
 they can." 
 
 215
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " And if they cannot ? " He smiled down upon her 
 archly, and then, with a manner which was at once dig- 
 nified and entreating, took her hand. 
 
 " Sweet friend," he said in a low voice, full of feel- 
 ing, " the lion is in the net, and prays the mouse to 
 set him free." 
 
 Marie's heart beat fast. Such an advance on his 
 part was more than she had dared to hope for. But she 
 did not lose her presence of mind. 
 
 " I am ready to serve you," she said tremulous- 
 ly, " willing beyond what I can express. It has been 
 the dream of my life since we first met. But I 
 feel so helpless I am but a woman, and a weak 
 one." 
 
 He pressed the hand he held and smiled at 
 her. 
 
 " Weak women are not chosen for such work as 
 yours, and if you are my friend " 
 
 " You will believe that," she cried with sudden pas- 
 sion, " in spite of what any one may say, you will be- 
 lieve in me, my lord ? " 
 
 The last words came softly and tenderly, and she 
 drew nearer to him with a slight caressing movement. 
 He took both her hands. 
 
 " I believe in you." 
 
 She sighed with happiness and a longing that he 
 would do more than hold her hands. But he gently let 
 them go now, and motioning her to a chair, sat down 
 beside her. 
 
 "The King's commands, my friend?" 
 
 " I must not tell you much," she said hesitatingly. 
 " But I may say it is his intention to offer you 
 command of all the army, a dukedom, and a great 
 estate." 
 
 " But my service," Marlborough said, with a touch 
 216
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 of impatience. " The wherewithal I am to give. Par- 
 don, dear madam, but in the King's circumstances 
 that concerns me more than the reward." 
 
 " He will ask for a proof of your loyalty." 
 
 Marlborough raised his eyebrows. 
 
 " I have given proof." 
 
 " In words," she rejoined quickly. " But this must 
 be an act that will convince all Europe whom your 
 lordship owns as king." 
 
 Marlborough's face hardened. 
 
 " And bring my family to ruin, myself to exile or 
 Tower Hill. His Majesty asks too much." 
 
 " He has much to offer." 
 
 " In words " 
 
 " No, no, no." Her voice was low and broken. 
 " The time has passed for words. But I may not say 
 more I should not say so much. Yet when the letter 
 comes, I may say all. Until then, trust me believe 
 me, when I say the moment is coming very soon when 
 you will either be a convicted traitor or the first man 
 in England." 
 
 She had risen in her excitement, and stood before 
 him with her beautiful head thrown back, and her eyes 
 flashing into his. 
 
 Marlborough was stirred. Vague whispers had 
 already reached him that a storm was brewing in 
 France. Nothing was certain, nothing was definite, 
 but Marie Montgomery's words, and more especially 
 her bearing, confirmed these rumours beyond a 
 doubt. 
 
 He rose, also, and gazed steadily and calmly back 
 at her flushed cheeks and trembling lips. 
 
 " My friend, be sure of this. When the moment 
 comes of which you speak I shall not be backward. 
 But until it comes, I must keep still. This is not luke- 
 
 217
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 warmness, it is necessity. I trust you, as a friend, to 
 tell my master so." 
 
 " I will, indeed," she said. Then, as he took up 
 his hat, " You will come again ? " 
 
 " On the instant when the letter comes. But until 
 then I must, for my own safety and yours, avoid this 
 house." 
 
 She extended her hand. He took it, bent his head, 
 and kissed it. 
 
 " You have not told me yet about yourself," he 
 said. " When I come next, you will ? " 
 
 She pressed her hand to her heart, as if she felt 
 a sudden pain there. 
 
 " Oh, yes. When you come next." 
 
 He closed the door carefully as he went out, and 
 stood a moment in the passage and passed his hand 
 over his forehead. It was damp with perspiration. 
 At the bottom of the stairs he found Patrick Egan, 
 who with a face of wood gave a military salute, 
 and ushered him in silence to the front door. 
 Just before they reached it, however, he paused, 
 looked cautiously round, and leant forward to whis- 
 per: 
 
 " My lord." 
 
 "Ay?" 
 
 Marlborough spoke in his most tranquil tone. 
 
 Pat looked round again, and brought his great face 
 very near to Marlborough's. 
 
 " I swore to serve ye. If I do, your lordship will 
 not do me harm ? " 
 
 " That was my bargain. Well ? " 
 
 " Well, an' this. Ye've talked a deal with the young 
 mistress. Now, did she speak of a person, any person 
 in particular ? " 
 
 " The King." 
 
 218
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Oh, the King be I mean, the Holy Mother pro- 
 tect the dear soul. None else ? " 
 
 " No one." 
 
 " Then " he sighed and frowned heavily " then 
 't is of no consequence." And he proceeded hastily 
 to unlatch the door. Marlborough placed his foot 
 against it. 
 
 " Tell me whom you meant." 
 
 " Why, sure, your lordship would not know the 
 name. T is such a cursed ugly name." 
 
 " The name, I say." 
 
 They looked at one another, and Pat winced. 
 
 " Your lordship will never tell " 
 
 " The name ! " 
 
 " Karl Brownker." 
 
 He looked with cunning inquiry into Marlbor- 
 ough's face as he said it, but the face was without ex- 
 pression of any kind. 
 
 " He has been here often ? " 
 
 " He's always here the devil take him ! " 
 
 " He knows your secret ? " 
 
 Pat clinched his great fist. 
 
 " If he did not, there'd be one sowl more on the 
 devil's pitchfork before he'd come within the door." 
 
 "They trust him here?" 
 
 " The Lord knows. They are in his power." 
 
 Marlborough adjusted his hat with care. 
 
 " Are they ? " he said very quietly. 
 
 Patrick began to look nervous. " Sure then, an* 
 I hope he is not a friend of your lordship's ? " 
 
 Marlborough smiled, and opened the door. 
 
 " I know him," was all he said, and with a nod 
 he walked thoughtfully away. 
 
 219
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 HUGH left the presence of the King to keep his 
 appointment with Lord Tottenham. He found that 
 nobleman alone, in a very bad temper. 
 
 " A pest take these ministers of state ! " he cried, as 
 Hugh entered. " Either my Lords Sydney and Not- 
 tingham last night lied to me most grossly and deliber- 
 ately, or else they dare not speak to their master. In 
 either case they should be dismissed from office 
 Gad's life, they should." 
 
 " My lords have offended you ? " Hugh said with 
 seeming innocence. 
 
 " Offended ! Zounds ! my lad, they have disap- 
 pointed me. You should have been by this time with 
 the King, if they had kept their words." 
 
 " I have but this moment left his Majesty." 
 
 Lord Tottenham expressed his surprise forcibly, 
 and when told of Hugh's adventure and his request to 
 Brownker to present him to the King, his face grew 
 graver still, and did not brighten when Hugh respect- 
 fully but firmly declined to say anything of the inter- 
 view with William, or of its result. 
 
 " So you are to serve the King in England," 
 Lord Tottenham said slowly, " and you gained the 
 favour through the word of the King's Agent ! That 
 means you are in a leash, which you'll never slip, mark 
 me, until you've caught a hare for them whoever, or 
 whatever, that hare may be." 
 
 220
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hugh smiled. 
 
 " Before a hare is coursed, my lord, the hound 
 must be unleashed. It is not then certain I shall 
 choose to catch the hare." 
 
 But Lord Tottenham made no retort ; he was con- 
 sidering something deeply. After a minute or two, he 
 held out his hand. 
 
 " I bid ye good-bye, my boy," he said very briefly, 
 " and wish you God-speed." 
 
 Hugh held the hand fast in both his own. 
 
 " I have angered you by doing this " 
 
 But Lord Tottenham stopped him with a cheery 
 laugh, a trifle forced. 
 
 " Zooks ! How could this be, when you will not 
 tell me what it is that you have done. Nay, nay, lad," 
 he continued kindly, " never think that. I am a man 
 not a jealous woman ; and if an old cock thinks he can 
 crow best, and sneers at the cockerel, and if I who had 
 my plans think slightingly of yours, mayhap I am 
 mistaken. At least, I'll spoil no sport. Go on, and 
 prosper, and if misfortune comes, or doubt racks ye, 
 for Gad's sake come to me. I am in town, and shall 
 be for awhile. And and why, damme, Hugh, if we 
 were at daggers drawn which we are not d'ye think 
 anything you could say, or do, 'ud bring me to forget 
 that you're your mother's son ? " 
 
 And so saying, the earl wrung Hugh's hand again, 
 and marched out of the room. 
 
 Hugh looked after him with moist eyes. He was 
 not, however, much affected by his old friend's proph- 
 ecy. He believed in Brownker now, and above all, he 
 believed in the King. There was something in Wil- 
 liam's personality which attracted Hugh strongly the 
 simplicity and directness of his Majesty's speech; his 
 contempt of smooth phrases ; his evident liking for out- 
 
 221
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 spokenness. That with all this his Majesty might not 
 himself follow the straight course he approved in his 
 subjects, did not occur to Hugh. He waited patiently 
 all day for Brownker to come to him or send. But 
 Brownker did not come. Twice Hugh called at 
 Brownker's house, but he was not at home. This made 
 Hugh uneasy, and when the next day he called for the 
 third time, it was in an explosive frame of mind. He 
 received the message left with Chinnic, and, control- 
 ling his impatience as well as he could, rode a horse he 
 had just bought until midday dinner, and then played 
 ombre until midnight, and amused himself by losing 
 two hundred pounds. 
 
 Karl arrived at the club punctually to the minute, 
 and they sat down to dine at six. The best dinner had 
 been ordered, and the finest wines, and Hugh, who had 
 been in the saddle all day, was both hungry and 
 thirsty. Yet, for all this, he was scarcely amiable, and 
 Brownker, talking lightly of general subjects while 
 they ate, saw that he had left his man in suspense too 
 long. 
 
 The dinner over, and the waiters gone, Karl filled 
 Hugh's glass. 
 
 " I have been delayed." 
 
 " I had given you up." 
 
 " You have not, my friend, much confidence in 
 me." 
 
 " I judge a man by his acts. And, on my life, 
 Brownker, when one is kept waiting hanging by a 
 string, without a word, for two whole days one loses 
 faith." 
 
 " And rightly so," Brownker said decisively. 
 " This should not have been. But William would 
 hardly let me from his sight, before he went to Hol- 
 land. He went to-day at noon, and now " he raised 
 
 222
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 his glass " I am Mr. Montgomery's humble servant 
 to command." 
 
 He drank Hugh's health with a flourish. Hugh 
 laughed. 
 
 " Then pray, most humble servant, instruct your 
 master what he is to do." 
 
 " We go to-night to your aunt's house," Brownker 
 said in a brief, business-like tone. " Information 
 reaches me that Marlborough has been seen there in 
 close consultation with your cousin Marie, who is an 
 agent and spy from the court of his ex-Majesty, King 
 James." 
 
 Hugh coughed dubiously. 
 
 " I have not seen my aunt since childhood. She 
 wrote to my mother when I joined the army that I 
 was never to show my face within her doors. She is 
 the maddest Jacobite." 
 
 " It will be my privilege to-night," Brownker said 
 pensively, " to lead an erring lamb back to the fold 
 you are the lamb." 
 
 Hugh stared. 
 
 " You you get access to this house ? " 
 
 " My good friend, I am a converted instrument of 
 evil. A viper whom William is nursing in his bosom 
 so Lady Susan thinks." 
 
 " I cannot play the hypocrite." 
 
 " Play what you will," Brownker said tolerantly, 
 " but gain your purpose, which must be a footing in 
 that house. Marlborough has made it a second home." 
 
 " There is a front door to every house, as well as 
 a back door." 
 
 " I have unlocked both for you, my friend." 
 
 Hugh sipped his wine without replying. It was 
 the best of wine, but at this moment Lord Tottenham's 
 words came into his mind and it tasted sour. 
 
 223
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I am ungrateful," he said at last, with an effort. 
 " You have done much for me. I shall need nothing, it 
 would seem, but to make use of eyes and ears. Yet I 
 cannot but feel bitter and uneasy. Gad, Brownker, 
 I would sooner strike Marlborough in the face with 
 my clenched fist than follow at his heels like this. A 
 wolf in a sheep's skin ! " 
 
 Brownker sipped his wine with an unruffled face. 
 
 " Your conscience," he said, " is marvellously 
 made. You would prefer to see your friend commit 
 a crime and be hanged for it rather than prevent the 
 crime, and by patient search and waiting save the 
 criminal." 
 
 Hugh's glass nearly dropped from his hand. 
 
 " What ! Save Marlborough if he is guilty ? This 
 is something new indeed ! " 
 
 Karl laughed an indulgent, pitying laugh. 
 
 " My dear Montgomery, your pardon if I say it, 
 but where has your mind been wandering since you 
 became a man? You have mind and good sense as 
 well as strength of arm William noticed that. Why, 
 then forgive me do you so seldom use it ? Did you, 
 in seriousness, intend to betray Marlborough to the 
 King, if you found him guilty ? " 
 
 He put it as a question, but received no answer. 
 Hugh was turning his wine glass round and round, 
 with a queer, hard look upon his face. 
 
 " If you were serious," Brownker continued, 
 " then I can only suppose you have changed your mind 
 concerning Isabel." 
 
 " I have not changed the least." 
 
 " But the man who brings Marlborough to justice 
 will be loathed by her." 
 
 " I must take the risk of that." 
 
 "Your faith in Marlborough being absolute?" 
 224
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He rose from the table, looked at himself in a mir- 
 ror. In this mirror he could also see Hugh's face. 
 Hugh glanced up at him with a frown. 
 
 " I have lost some faith of late." 
 
 " You will lose more yet." 
 
 " But at least I will be honest. If Maryborough 
 is guilty he must die." 
 
 " And Isabel ? " Brownker murmured. 
 
 " Isabel must approve the justice of the act or I 
 must lose her love." 
 
 " You expect too much of women." 
 
 " A woman expects too much of me," Hugh cried 
 hotly, " if she would have me screen a damnable 
 crime." 
 
 Brownker turned from the mirror and stroked his 
 upper lip. 
 
 " On my life, Montgomery, if you were Lord Pro- 
 tector of England, the tyranny of Cromwell and his 
 Ironsides would be mere mildness in comparison to 
 yours. A man must be honest a woman just Heav- 
 en forbid ! But come, we must to Chelsea. It is grow- 
 ing late." 
 
 They took horse from the club and were at the 
 Abbey House in an hour. Hugh was now in a gentler 
 mood. The fresh air and exercise had done him good. 
 Moreover, he was extremely curious to see his aunt 
 and cousin. He had no expectation of liking either of 
 them, for his mother piously abhorred Papists, and had 
 painted the Lady Susan in very black colours indeed. 
 Marie he had not heard of since she was a child. All 
 he knew of them was that they were very poor. It 
 was therefore an immense surprise to be ushered into 
 a drawing-room which, by candle-light, looked well- 
 furnished and imposing, and to be greeted by a stately 
 little old lady with the presence of a duchess. All this, 
 
 225
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 however, was nothing to the impression made upon 
 Hugh by Marie, dressed in a fashionable evening 
 gown trimmed with old family lace, the family jew- 
 els in her hair, her arms and neck and shoulders 
 dazzlingly white, her face all brightness and vivac- 
 ity such a vision of beauty as Hugh had seldom 
 seen. 
 
 " Welcome, good nephew," Lady Susan said, an- 
 swering his low bow with a stately courtesy. " But, 
 my God ! " she gave a little shriek " as I am a living 
 woman, you are your father's image ! Why have you 
 kept away from us so long? " 
 
 The question startled Hugh, as she meant it to do, 
 and before he could reply she went on harshly : " But 
 I know I know! Until very late you have been 
 ashamed rebel and heretic that you were! Come, 
 speak truth now. You can if you are a Montgomery 
 as they say you are." 
 
 There was a scarcely concealed sneer in the last 
 words which nettled Hugh intensely. 
 
 " Your ladyship makes a sad mistake. I have no 
 wish to be anything but a humble subject of our Sover- 
 eign, King William." 
 
 " What ! " Lady Susan showed all her teeth like a 
 dog. " You dare, sir, in my house " 
 
 " Mamma," said a firm cool voice at her elbow, 
 " pray introduce me to my cousin." 
 
 There was a direct design as well as dignity and 
 authority in Marie's tone. Hugh saw Lady Susan 
 look daggers at the girl, heard her sharp voice die 
 down to an angry mutter, and then forgot her alto- 
 gether. 
 
 " I have heard so much of my Cousin Hugh," she 
 said, " that I should have known him anywhere. Had 
 I not been a woman I should long ago have made an 
 
 226
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 invasion of his house. It is absurd we should not meet 
 because of a difference in our politics." 
 
 " How know you there is such difference ? " struck 
 in Brownker, nodding significantly at Lady Susan, 
 and bowing to the portrait on the wall. At this Hugh 
 saw a remarkable change come over Lady Susan. She 
 curtsied to the picture and cried brokenly, " The Lord 
 grant him soon a safe return." 
 
 " Amen," Mr. Brownker said piously aloud, whis- 
 pering to Hugh, " from Holland." 
 
 But Hugh felt a sudden pity for his deluded aunt. 
 However mistaken, she was in earnest and had the 
 courage of her faith. Following a sudden impulse, he 
 went up to her. 
 
 " I assure you, madam, I desire, from my soul, the 
 welfare of his Majesty," and this was true, in the sense 
 he meant it. 
 
 Lady Susan beamed on him. " Then I forgive you 
 all else, my dear. And you are welcome here. But 
 I would say a word to you softly softly in your 
 ear," and she laid her hand upon his arm. 
 
 Marie was speaking to Karl Brownker at the mo- 
 ment, and Lady Susan, under cover of this, whispered 
 the last words, and drew Hugh up to the portrait as if 
 pointing out its qualities. 
 
 " Nephew," she went on, and now her voice was a 
 woeful whine, " you are a rich man, and a generous 
 one, for you are a Montgomery. Help us ; we are in 
 bitter need of money." 
 
 Her voice was low and breathless, not above a 
 whisper, and he had to bend his head low to hear her 
 words. These shocked him. 
 
 " Tell me your need," he began, putting his hand in 
 his pocket. But she stopped him with a frantic ges- 
 ture. 
 
 227
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Don't, don't, or she will guess. She always 
 guesses everything, and then she'd stop it. She is so 
 proud. I am proud too, but I cannot starve, and I 
 like your face, child. I loved your father until your 
 mother but she was a good woman don't frown 
 don't mind my tongue. It is like an old rattle that 
 cannot stop itself. I have not tasted meat this week. I 
 am hungry. Turn this way, and seem to be looking 
 at the portrait; now take your money out. I need 
 only a little just a little. Oh, I am so poor! As I 
 am a living woman, there is not a penny in the house." 
 
 Her voice broke off in a low wail. Out came 
 Hugh's purse in a moment. 
 
 " Why, then, take this, aunt, though it is not much. 
 I had not an idea you were in such bitter want." 
 
 Her eyes glittered and her fingers closed upon the 
 gold. " Fifty pounds ! You are a jewel, my dear," she 
 cried. " Your father's very image before his wife 
 But now, see, they are watching us." She began to 
 speak aloud. " Indeed, nephew, it may be a coinci- 
 dence, but as I'm a living woman, you have a strong 
 likeness to our late most gracious Majesty King 
 Charles. Ha, ha, ha ! " She suddenly began to laugh. 
 " Why, I had forgot he was so well acquainted with 
 your parents. Sure, now, if right were right, and the 
 crown had gone to next of blood, my Mistress Marie 
 here might have flaunted it at court to-day as the first 
 cousin to a king he, he, he ! " 
 
 "What a jest, mamma?" Marie said, watching 
 Hugh's astonished and disgusted face. " It is rare, in- 
 deed, to hear you make a jest." 
 
 " Her ladyship's words," exclaimed Hugh, " are 
 quite beyond a jest. If my mother's name is to be so 
 treated in this house I leave it instantly." He bowed 
 low and made a motion towards the door. 
 
 228
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lady Susan tapped Hughcoquettishly with her fan. 
 
 " 'Odds my life, nephew, what a Montgomery you 
 are ! All on fire at one poor hasty word. La ! I will 
 crave forgiveness and make amplest amend. Your 
 mother was the soul of virtue. At least she should 
 have been ; she tolerated no one who was not." 
 
 She made him a low courtesy. Hugh was not mol- 
 lified in the least, and in his disgust proceeded to make 
 an excuse to take his leave when Marie, with an inter- 
 change of glances with Karl Brownker, said decidedly : 
 
 " Mamma, I need Hugh's counsel on a matter of the 
 utmost importance, and Karl here has a word to say to 
 you. Please you retire a little and leave Hugh alone 
 with me." 
 
 Lady Susan tossed her head, concealing in the folds 
 of her skirt the purse she had received from Hugh. 
 
 " Heyday ! Listen to this ; what are the girls com- 
 ing to ! But I mind it not with so discreet a daughter 
 and so virtuous a gentleman. Behave you, Sir neph- 
 ew, see that you behave ! But, of a truth, there's small 
 use in asking, seeing that you are both Montgomerys 
 together. I wash my hands of ye." 
 
 She leered and nodded at them like an old witch, 
 and then, taking Karl Brownker's arm, sidled off to the 
 door. " I will give you ten minutes, children," she 
 cried. " Only ten minutes, and do not let us find you 
 on our return sitting near together ; that would never 
 do. Why, there'd be a duel on it eh, Karl? He, he, 
 he! And a funeral in the morning from the garden 
 gate ! " 
 
 229
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 MARIE received her mother's parting words with 
 a laugh that jarred upon Hugh's nerves. 
 
 " Thank Heaven we are rid of them ! " 
 
 She swept across the room to the couch. " Come 
 here, Cousin Hugh, away from the door, and talk to 
 me." 
 
 Her manner was gracious but dictatorial. Hugh 
 was half amusecf, half indignant. 
 
 " Tell me why you have come here, please? " Her 
 tone was still imperious, but her eyes beseeched him. 
 
 Hugh looked at her and considered. He admired 
 her beauty, but he was not attracted by her manner. 
 
 " I have come with Mr. Brownker," he said, " and 
 for the same reason." 
 
 " That is not true." 
 
 " Your pardon, cousin." 
 
 " I say, sir, it is not true," she repeated. " I know, 
 if you do not, that Karl Brownker is here simply to 
 spy. Now, tell me your business." 
 
 " My fair cousin," Hugh replied sharply, " if you 
 think to pump me in this manner you are on a very 
 fruitless errand. I shall say not a word except in Mr. 
 Brownker's presence." 
 
 Her lip curled scornfully. " I would not believe 
 Karl Brownker on his oath." 
 
 " Yet but a minute since you and he were exchang- 
 230
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ing confidences. Upon my life you must think me a 
 very fool." 
 
 He made a movement to rise from the couch, but 
 quick as thought she laid a hand upon his, and held it. 
 
 " Your pardon your pardon ! " she cried broken- 
 ly. " Indeed, I hardly know what I am saying. I am 
 so distraught and desperate and miserable. Hugh " 
 she fell on her knees before him " save me, for the 
 Lord's sake, save me from that man ! " 
 
 She was sobbing now wildly ; her face was pale and 
 drawn, a picture of beauty in distress. 
 
 A lump rose in Hugh's throat and his face burned. 
 He raised the weeping girl from the ground and placed 
 her on the couch beside him ; and then, as she still 
 sobbed, tried awkwardly to soothe her. 
 
 " Cousin Marie, my dear cousin " he took her 
 hand " come, compose yourself. Deuce take her ! " 
 this to himself. " Come, stop to tell me your trouble. 
 If I can serve you, depend on it, I will. What has Karl 
 Brownker done ? " 
 
 He had taken her hand into both his own now, at 
 which her sobs quickly subsided and a very pretty 
 handkerchief which she had whipped out was now 
 thrust away, much as a workman throws down a tool 
 which has done its work. Then she edged away from 
 him a few inches, and her eyes, which were full of 
 gratitude and wonder, drooped bashfully behind those 
 long lashes ; but she allowed him to keep her hand. 
 
 " Pardon my weakness ! And we have known each 
 other only a few minutes. Yet we are cousins, dear 
 Hugh " here she pressed his hand. " Ever since the 
 day you struck down that coward whom no other 
 man dared even to dispute for his foul slander on the 
 Earl of Marlborough, I have been proud to think we 
 were related ; I have longed every day to meet you." 
 
 231
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 She pressed his hand again and flashed a glance of 
 admiration from her brilliant eyes which would have 
 turned the head of many an older man. But Hugh did 
 not feel it at the moment, for his mind was full of some- 
 thing else. 
 
 " I thank you," he said gravely. " But I am not 
 proud of that adventure ; nor is my friend to be called 
 a coward. You cannot know that at the duel after- 
 ward he spared my life." 
 
 "With what object?" she cried, with a touch of 
 her former tone. " My word, cousin, I do not wish to 
 think you are a fool, but one who trusts Karl Brown- 
 ker " 
 
 " Will not listen to an empty slander on his name, 
 cousin, even from a woman." 
 
 He dropped her hand, and his voice had a ring in 
 it which quelled her instantly. 
 
 " You are right, Hugh," she said humbly. " I 
 spoke of what I heard, not of what I knew ; that was 
 unjust. Indeed, since he is your friend " she sighed 
 drearily " I had best not tell you even what I know, 
 or I may lose you, the only person the only man in 
 all the world I have to trust." 
 
 Her voice became lower and lower until it dropped 
 to a whisper. Hugh was much touched, and he took 
 her hand again and pressed it. 
 
 " Nonsense," he said cheerfully. " Why, such as 
 you, Marie, must have a score of friends. But I am 
 your cousin, therefore more than friend. Come, tell 
 me all, my dear." 
 
 He drew her towards him as he might have ca- 
 ressed a child that had appealed for his protection. 
 But his face was flushed, for he felt the power of her 
 beauty through and through. Yet so far he was think- 
 ing of her, not of himself; thinking how forlorn and 
 
 232
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 lonely she seemed, and that they were of the same 
 blood. It was his duty as well as his inclination to be 
 her confidant, protector, and especial friend. 
 
 And Marie, while she sighed and thanked him with 
 a look as innocently surprised and grateful as if she 
 were a girl in her first teens, followed the workings of 
 his mind exactly. 
 
 " I cannot tell you all," she said in a low voice, slid- 
 ing a little nearer to him. " It would make you too 
 angry. I am afraid of you, Hugh." 
 
 That was admirably done, and when she sighed and 
 gave a little shiver he began to stroke her hair. 
 
 " Foolish little cousin, I am mild as milk." 
 
 " With those you love," she murmured ; " but if 
 you are offended, roused, you are a lion. Do you 
 think I have not heard ? " 
 
 He laughed consciously. " You hear great non- 
 sense. I am no more a lion than any other man. 
 Pish ! " 
 
 She looked into his face searchingly, bent her beau- 
 tiful head, and kissed his hand. 
 
 " Hugh, you are the bravest and the most modest 
 man I ever saw." 
 
 His face was scarlet now and she felt him tremble. 
 
 " Then you have seen few men," he said hoarsely. 
 " But come, pray tell me how I can assist you." The 
 situation was becoming more than he could bear, and 
 his voice was strained. Marie herself was flushed now, 
 and in her eyes was a gleam of mischief, which, with 
 the touch of her lips on his hand, caused a sudden 
 intensity of passion to spring up in Hugh. He began 
 to say to himself now that as his only relative she 
 was nearer than most cousins, and dearer. And yet, 
 even while he told himself this and believed it, and 
 allowed his arm, which seemed to move of its own voli- 
 
 233
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 tion, to slip about her waist, something- at the back of 
 his mind protested and held him still under some con- 
 trol. 
 
 " Now, tell me all," he said shortly. They were 
 very close together, and her eyes gleamed into his 
 her breath was on his face. 
 
 " I do not know that I should allow this," she mur- 
 mured, pillowing her head on his shoulder. Then 
 raising her lips invitingly, secure in her power, " Oh, 
 faithless ! pledged to Mistress Isabel Fretchville ! " 
 
 She was thinking dreamily what a fine strong man 
 he was, an altogether satisfactory man, and with half- 
 closed eyes was luxuriously awaiting the denial and the 
 kiss that would greet her words, when to her astonish- 
 ment she felt him stiffen, withdraw his arm, relinquish 
 her hand, and rise hastily to his feet. 
 
 " I thank you for that," he said in a low tone. Then, 
 after a momentary pause in which he seemed to think 
 deeply, " You must not, however, be under a mistake. 
 Mistress Fretchville and I are not pledged to each 
 other. I did offer all and would offer it again. But 
 she refused it." 
 
 " Then, on my soul, good Hugh," Marie ex- 
 claimed, scorn, annoyance, pique struggling for the 
 mastery in her voice, " I do not understand you 
 in the least. Not that I do not thank you, too, for 
 the lesson taught to me. My word, you degenerate ! 
 Poor fellow! poor little boy ugh, a pest on you! 
 Karl Brownker is worth a score of such a one ! " 
 
 She seized two cushions which had fallen from the 
 couch, and beat them into place with fury. Meanwhile 
 Hugh had been growing calmer as she became ex- 
 cited. He greeted her last words with a quiet laugh. 
 
 " So, so. This demon in a human shape then, from 
 whom I was to save you, is worth something after 
 
 234
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 all. Oh, cousin, cousin, you have betrayed yourself 
 indeed ! " 
 
 At these words, Marie's face became livid with pas- 
 sion and sudden bitter dread. 
 
 " You lie you lie ! " she cried, stamping her foot. 
 " And Brownker lies ! I am as proud as you, Sir 
 Hugh, with all your money and your virtue and ha, 
 ha, ha ! your constancy to the sweet Mistress Isabel. 
 If Brownker has dared to say that I that he and I 
 i have been familiar " 
 
 " Stop ! " Hugh's voice burst into the midst of 
 hers like the roar of a big gun into the snap of the 
 Maxims. " Think you that he or any man would 
 say that and live after ? Good Gad ! you must indeed 
 think meanly of me then." 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders, but grew quiet at 
 once, breathing more freely. 
 
 " I knew not what to think of what you said." 
 
 " I said you had betrayed yourself. I meant you 
 had shown clearly that your rage against Karl Brown- 
 ker was more than half pretence. I meant no more. 
 But now I shall require you to tell me much more 
 namely, the exact relationship between you and this 
 man what it has been, and is, and is to be." 
 
 Marie tossed her head. 
 
 " A likely thing ! My word ! Who are you, sir, to 
 be my confessor ? " 
 
 "Your only male relative, madam," he answered, 
 " and the head of the family. You refuse to tell me ? " 
 
 He paused for a reply, and she nodded curtly. 
 
 " Then Mr. Brownker shall." 
 
 Marie laughed. " He had to spare your life once, 
 little boy ! " 
 
 " And he is my friend," Hugh rejoined calmly. 
 " But if he were my brother, he should not bring 
 '6 235
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 our name into disgrace. Nay, nor, for his own sake, 
 shall he lie under the suspicion of tampering with your 
 honour." 
 
 He walked across the room to the door, but Marie 
 called him hurriedly by name, and he paused. 
 
 " Hugh, Hugh, you must not. I will do anything, 
 tell you anything, but do not go to him." 
 
 Hugh came slowly back again. " Well ? " 
 
 She laughed hysterically and pretended to shud- 
 der. 
 
 " If you stand so, cousin, I shall at once fall on my 
 knees, as before an executioner. You frighten me to 
 death. Come, sit you once more and I will be good 
 I will indeed be good." 
 
 He did not move. 
 
 " Oh, as you will," and she made a face at him. 
 " But the heroic pose of virtue does not become you 
 in the least." 
 
 " I am waiting." 
 
 " You may wait." 
 
 She began to laugh, then cried a little. In truth, 
 her nerves were considerably unhinged. 
 
 " I like to make men wait. You don't know wom- 
 en, Hugh. Oh, a fig for your Mistress Isabel! She 
 is a cunning baggage, I warrant me ; nay, do not look 
 so black, man, I mean it as a compliment. She loves 
 you all the while, I wager, but outside she's cold to 
 draw you on. She sees you're simple, so she plays the 
 prude. Chut ! We all do ; I did once with Brownker. 
 Lud ! How eager he became ! But I was a fool. I did 
 not know my God ! I did not know him." 
 
 " He was, then, once in love with you? " 
 
 Marie gave a defiant nod. 
 
 " And with a passion that such striplings as you, 
 sir, know naught about. But I would not have him. 
 
 236
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Pish! Brownker was not the only one then by half 
 a score." 
 
 " So, indeed, I should suppose." 
 
 " You do me no more than justice, then ; but that 
 that was long ago." 
 
 Her voice fell, and her handkerchief appeared again. 
 
 " I know I was too fond of company and play. 
 How could I be otherwise? But it did not last, for 
 when we lost our money and came here, all my fine 
 gentlemen deserted me but one." 
 
 She was a different person now. Her manner was 
 quiet, her voice had grown a little plaintive, and though 
 she held her handkerchief within her hands her eyes 
 were dry. 
 
 " Karl was faithful," she continued. " He was 
 more faithful in misfortune than when we were in 
 favour. He followed us, he waited on us ; found us the 
 house, provided for us, and now he is our master." 
 
 " That means what ? Tell me all." 
 
 Hugh's voice was sharp and fierce. Its tone made 
 Marie's eyes kindle again, yet she could not meet his 
 glance. 
 
 " Pish, cousin, how swift you are ! I mean but 
 this that I, who am an agent of his Majesty King 
 James, live with my mother on the bounty of King 
 William." 
 
 Hugh recoiled. 
 
 " A spy ! You a Montgomery are double trait- 
 or betraying for money William to St. Germains, 
 James to William. Oh, my God ! " 
 
 Marie looked at him with a calm, pitying smile. 
 
 " Poor boy ! I was afraid the news would be a 
 shock. My dear cousin, there is not a man of any con- 
 sideration in the land that is not doing the same, or a 
 woman either." 
 
 237
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He made no answer, nor did he look at her. His 
 teeth were set, his eyes were on the ground. 
 
 " I see," he said half to himself, half to her. " I see 
 his plan : this house is a trap ; your mother, with her 
 old-world loyalty, a bait ; and you " 
 
 He raised his head and looked her in the face. 
 
 " Is Karl Brownker the only gentleman that comes 
 to see you here ? " 
 
 He saw her start, he saw a rush of hot colour crowd 
 into her face, and before she could reply he added : 
 
 " The Earl of Marlborough, also, is a friend of 
 yours." 
 
 A change, swift and complete, both in bearing and 
 countenance, came over Marie now. She rose from 
 the couch and stood before him as erect and queenly 
 as he had seen her first. It is true her cheeks were 
 burning, and her eyes shone with a soft light, but there 
 was no confusion, no affectation, no fear. 
 
 " The earl," she said proudly, " has of a surety done 
 me the honour of consulting me upon a matter of 
 politics. What then?" 
 
 Hugh breathed heavily and clinched his hands. 
 
 " Politics ! " he cried. " Was it for politics alone 
 that he consulted you ? " 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders slightly, not moving 
 otherwise, and glared at him with a splendid scorn. 
 
 " I had heard, Cousin Hugh, that you were well 
 acquainted with the Earl of Marlborough. I begin to 
 doubt whether this can be true. Those who know his 
 lordship well know that he is the soul of honour and 
 of chivalry. It is this which makes his friendship so 
 great a privilege to me." 
 
 Hugh's face slowly cleared. 
 
 " Your pardon, cousin," he said gravely. " But 
 
 this politics " 
 
 238
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " Pooh ! " she said, drooping her eyes but watching 
 him behind the lashes. " A matter of business. I have 
 a letter from his Majesty King James directed to my 
 lord, and I sent to him to tell him so. He came con- 
 cerning it. When the blessed day arrives that this 
 Dutch William and his brood of Flemish rats are 
 swept into the sea, the Earl of Marlborough will be 
 his Majesty's right hand." 
 
 " This cannot be true." Hugh spoke slowly, pain- 
 fully. 
 
 " What, sir ! " cried Marie with well-simulated of- 
 fence. " You dare to doubt my word ! You want a 
 proof?" 
 
 " I will not doubt Lord Marlborough's loyalty with- 
 out a proof." 
 
 "His loyalty!" Marie retorted. "That shall be 
 proved to the hilt, cousin. You shall with your own 
 eyes see that he is an honoured, trusted servant of 
 King James." 
 
 She went to her escritoire and drew a paper from 
 it, a large, important-looking letter with the royal 
 seal. 
 
 " Read for yourself. I do not ask you to believe 
 my words." 
 
 Hugh seized it without ceremony, and when he 
 saw the writing gnawed his lip. It was in James's 
 hand, addressed to Marlborough. The letter was not 
 long, but it took Hugh some time to read it. When 
 he had finished he felt as if his heart were dead and 
 cold. Marlborough was found out condemned be- 
 yond redemption. He examined the letter, the seal, 
 the signature. Everything corresponded. There was 
 no doubt. He felt a touch upon his arm and found 
 Marie was standing close beside him. 
 
 "Well, what now?" Her voice was well con- 
 
 239
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 trolled, but there was a curious apprehension in her 
 eyes. " What think you ? " 
 
 " He is guilty." 
 
 " Guilty ! " she laughed shortly. 
 
 " Guilty of high treason." 
 
 " You mean to William." 
 
 " The King. There is only one." 
 
 She took the letter from him hastily. 
 
 " And what then shall you do about it what ? " 
 
 Hugh had opened his mouth to reply and Marie 
 bent her head to listen. But the door opened at this 
 moment and Hugh stopped himself. 
 
 " Do ? " Hugh said guardedly. " That depends on 
 many things. But my lord had better secure his per- 
 son from the agents of the King." 
 
 Marie smiled. 
 
 " In that we agree. Mamma, my cousin is a most 
 properly converted man." 
 
 240
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 IT was near the hour of noon on the fifth of May. 
 In the Abbey House, Chelsea, Marie Montgomery sat 
 writing by the window, alone in the place except for the 
 faithful Patrick, waiting for Marlborough. 
 
 A week had gone by since Hugh and Karl Brown- 
 ker had spent their evening there, the most anxious, 
 wearing week in Marie's life. Day and night she had 
 thought, planned, and worked. Scarcely twelve hours 
 would pass without the arrival of a messenger from 
 France, who brought instructions, received reports, 
 and then slipped away to other places. Nor were 
 messengers and intelligencers Marie's only visitors. 
 Men known in every European court to be the coun- 
 sellors of William called on her under assumed names 
 to receive and send messages to James. The atmos- 
 phere fairly reeked with intrigue, suspense, and ex- 
 citement. And in the centre of it all, holding the reins 
 firmly, moving among noblemen, knights, and com- 
 moners, as queen and mistress of the situation, was 
 Marie, in her element. 
 
 Late nights and laborious days seemed to leave no 
 mark upon her beauty, her spirits, or her energy. Every 
 evening she received her guests with the same vi- 
 vacity, tickled their ears with news and messages from 
 the King, dragged or coaxed from them promises of 
 assistance and sometimes even hard cash; and, with- 
 out betraying any definite particulars, made all under- 
 
 241
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 stand that a great crisis was at hand, and for those who 
 wished to save their necks from the anger of an in- 
 jured King, returning triumphant to his own, it was 
 now or never. 
 
 Lady Susan had departed for France with the 
 money she received from Hugh. Marie was to follow 
 at her own time. No one but herself, however, and 
 Karl Brownker, knew that this was to be with Marl- 
 borough. It was not even whispered that Marlbor- 
 ough came here. 
 
 The sun bathed her in its light as she sat at the win- 
 dow until she looked like some rosy goddess. Her 
 auburn hair shone like spun gold, and her face, pale 
 with late hours, had a touch of etherealness about it 
 that gave it more than ordinary charm. 
 
 When the time wanted five minutes to the hour she 
 rose and put her writing things away. 
 
 " He is never late," she said to herself, " and I 
 must prepare prepare." 
 
 Clang! the bell resounded hollow and sepulchral 
 through the empty house, followed by Patrick's heavy 
 footstep. Then came the murmur of voices, a tread 
 upon the stair, and Marlborough stood before her. 
 
 As they greeted each other Marie was shocked to 
 see severe traces of suffering and anxiety on his face. 
 It was as calm as usual, but thin and white and 
 worn. 
 
 "The letter has come?" 
 
 He spoke in a quiet tone, but with a slight 
 abruptness remarkable for him. No compliments, 
 no graceful courtesy. Only one brief, pointed ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Marie, falling at once into his mood, made no 
 reply, but opening her escritoire, took out the packet 
 she had shown to Hugh. As Marlborough opened it, 
 
 242
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 she sank into a chair oppressed by a sudden trembling 
 of the limbs. 
 
 A minute passed in a silence broken only by Marie's 
 quick breathing. Her hands were clutching the arms 
 of her chair; her eyes fixed upon his face. He read 
 the letter slowly through and looked at her. 
 
 " The King's Majesty," he said in a slow, measured 
 tone, " writes most graciously and to the purpose. 
 But the course he would urge on me to fly to him in 
 France is very desperate." 
 
 Marie's lips were almost colourless, and her face 
 was white as a sheet, but she answered readily enough. 
 
 " The juncture is desperate for the rebels." 
 
 " Wherefore, dear madam," and now his words 
 came with an increasing sternness. " A man whose 
 life is at the mercy of these rebels must think well 
 before he leaps." 
 
 He seemed to refer it as a question, but all she 
 could say was to repeat his words. 
 
 " Your lordship must think well." 
 
 Something filled her with a vague alarm. It was 
 not exactly the expression of his face, which was com- 
 posed; nor his voice, which was quiet and controlled; 
 and yet, in part, it was both, and she was frightened 
 frightened to death. 
 
 " I thank you," he went on, " but I need more aid 
 from you than that." He paused, and Marie counted 
 the beating of her heart. " I need the truth." 
 
 She was staring at him now like a person mesmer- 
 ized, her eyes slowly dilating. 
 
 " I will tell the truth." 
 
 He bowed and took snuff, watching her the while 
 not unkindly, but with a fixity and a penetration that 
 was almost hypnotism. 
 
 "This letter who wrote it?" 
 243
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 She sighed and her lips closed, then opened again 
 to speak. 
 
 " One Robert Young." 
 
 " Under the instruction of Karl Brownker, whom 
 you serve." 
 
 Her face quivered in an agony, but she did not 
 pause. 
 
 " Whom I have to serve." 
 
 " It is his intention I should publish to the world 
 that I am a follower of King James." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And he would banish me to France, that my fam- 
 ily and my estate might be at his master's mercy and 
 his own." 
 
 " No, no." 
 
 She spoke sharply, vehemently, and a slight tinge 
 of colour came into her face, as of a person recovering 
 consciousness. " You are to be seized when you reach 
 the coast, and thrown into the Tower." 
 
 " He gives you his confidence, you think ? " 
 
 " No more than suits his purpose. But I have set 
 spies on him, and found this out." 
 
 " What is your plan ? " 
 
 " To tell you all I know, my lord, and then to do 
 whatever you command." 
 
 Marie was herself again now. Colour, movement, 
 and animation had returned to her in fullest measure. 
 She was confident, full of vigour, yet charmingly sub- 
 missive and obedient, and her face and bearing bore 
 an impress of devotion to him few men could have 
 resisted. 
 
 Marlborough looked at her meditatively. 
 
 " Your plan, pray, in detail," he said, " if I may 
 make so bold." 
 
 His tone was chilly and doubtful. But Marie, with 
 244
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 her full vitality returned to her, was not in the least dis- 
 couraged or abashed. 
 
 " It is a simple one, easily carried out. You will go 
 to France before your enemies expect. I will mis- 
 lead them, never fear for that. In France the King 
 will receive your lordship open-armed, and in a short 
 space the shortest you will return here to be the 
 greatest man in England." 
 
 " King James," Marlborough said coldly, " has 
 much to do, I fear, before he can return to England." 
 
 " It is done, my lord." 
 
 Marlborough gave an impatient sigh. 
 
 " My good madam," he said, " such words may 
 mean something in St. Germains." 
 
 " St. Germains ! " she cried. " Nay, my lord, La 
 Hogue!" 
 
 This word, and the way the word was spoken, 
 arrested Maryborough's attention. His quiet manner 
 vanished and the penetrating intensity of glance which 
 had been in his eyes when he questioned her about 
 the bogus letter, came back. 
 
 " La Hogue is on the coast. If the King is at the 
 coast " 
 
 But Marie made a vehement demonstration of her 
 hands and he paused. She had turned away, biting 
 her fingers as if in some bitter doubt and indecision. 
 
 " Merciful God ! " she cried, wringing her hands. 
 " I have broken my vow and I swore upon the Cross. 
 We all did and none but me has so much as whis- 
 pered it. I am lost lost, body and soul. Holy Moth- 
 er, have mercy upon me have mercy ! " 
 
 She fell upon her knees before a crucifix placed in 
 a corner of the room a corner in which the dust and 
 cobwebs had gathered and sobbed unrestrainedly. 
 
 For the moment she forgot even Marlborough. 
 245
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 She was trying to pray, but her throat was too choked 
 and dry; and her eyes, through their scalding tears, 
 saw the old priest in the chapel at St. Germains as he 
 administered the oath of secrecy the day before she 
 left for England. The exiled King, whom she loved 
 after a fashion, had blessed her when she went away, 
 and from the bottom of her heart she had vowed 
 to keep inviolate the secret, which if kept until the 
 moment came for action would win him back his 
 crown, and to his followers the highest places in the 
 Ir.nd. 
 
 For some minutes Marie knelt sobbing, while 
 Marlborough, standing near her, thought swiftly. At 
 last he laid a gentle hand upon her shoulder. 
 
 " My child, you need not grieve. You have told 
 me nothing I did not know before." 
 
 She started and rose to her feet. 
 
 " You mean that you have heard " She paused. 
 
 " I mean," he replied, " that you must keep your 
 vow." 
 
 " How can you know ? Who can have told " 
 
 " Hush ! I will tell you what I know." He took 
 her hand and stroked it as he had once stroked Isabel's, 
 as a doctor holds his patient's pulse. 
 
 " King Louis has resolved to act at last, and will 
 strike now, while William is in Holland." 
 
 " Yes, yes." 
 
 " Yes," he went on, " and at La Hogue is an army 
 and the fleet ready." 
 
 " Twenty thousand men ! " she cried, containing 
 herself no longer. " Twenty thousand veteran soldiers ! 
 In England for William there are barely five thousand, 
 and these scattered." 
 
 Marlborough smiled wanly. 
 
 " King Louis has laid his plans well." His face 
 246
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 was perfectly calm, and his hand, firm, soft, caressing, 
 drew her nearer to him. 
 
 "You trust me, child?" 
 
 She nestled close until she brushed his shoulder 
 with her hair. 
 
 " With my honour and my life." 
 
 He started, but the movement was so slight she 
 did not notice it. She only saw that though his face 
 was white as marble, and as hard, there was a fever- 
 ish light in his eyes, and her heart beat fast and joy- 
 fully. 
 
 " Tell me, my child, when does the King come 
 over?" 
 
 " The moment that the wind blows from the west. 
 The fleet is equipped, the ships are full of men. But I 
 wonder " she paused and looked up with a searching 
 glance " I wonder still how you could have known." 
 
 He stooped and kissed her on the forehead, and her 
 heart glowed within her. Yet she noticed and remem- 
 bered afterward that his lips were cold. 
 
 " At least," he said, " it was not you that betrayed." 
 
 She gave a sudden happy laugh. 
 
 " I care not now the least what I betray to you." 
 
 He pressed her hand. 
 
 " Tell all then. King James wants me, though he 
 did not write a letter ? " 
 
 She became grave at once. 
 
 " Oh, have faith in me, my lord, now. I beseech 
 you keep faith. I will own it all. Karl Brownker 
 proposed the letter should be writ and I acquiesced to 
 humour him, never intending really to plant the hoax 
 on you. But when I saw the letter it was so wonder- 
 fully done, and so answered the purpose in my mind to 
 draw you. away to France, that I fell in with the 
 roguery. It was wrong, I own, most wrong, and I 
 
 247
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 shall be rightly served if you refuse to believe in me 
 again, but it was not done to betray you." 
 
 Marlborough smiled indulgently. 
 
 " We all must make mistakes. But I had been 
 warned. Then his Majesty has left no token? " 
 
 " Indeed," Marie cried, " I have a token not even 
 Robert Young could counterfeit." 
 
 She turned away, took something from her bosom, 
 and handed it to him. It was a little leathern bag. 
 Marlborough opened it and took out a plain ring with 
 a coat of arms, wrapped in a piece of dirty paper. On 
 the inner side of the paper were these words, scrawled 
 in a regular but shaky hand : 
 
 " For my Lord Churchill, from James." 
 
 Marie watched him and smiled proudly as he raised 
 the ring with reverence and kissed it. 
 
 " And now, my lord? " 
 
 " God save the King ! " he said and put the ring 
 away. Then he took her hand again. 
 
 " When do you wish that I should start ? " 
 
 " There is not a moment to be lost." 
 
 " To-morrow, then." He spoke as coolly, she 
 noticed, as if he were going to make a call upon a 
 friend. " I cannot arrange before." 
 
 " That will be soon enough, for I have told Brown- 
 ker the next day. Oh, I have plotted deep with him, 
 arranging down to the last point how we shall both 
 be caught together." 
 
 She laughed gleefully and laid her head against his 
 shoulder. Again Marlborough started, and this time 
 she felt it, and with a flaming face drew back. But he 
 held her hand like a vice. 
 
 " Give me full instructions," he said. 
 
 " Come here at dusk. I will have disguises ready. 
 Patrick, on whom we can thoroughly depend, will 
 
 248
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 see that horses are not wanting at all convenient stages 
 on the road, and there is a vessel at a port fifty good 
 miles from the one I have marked down for Mr. 
 Brownker." 
 
 " Then I may rest content," he said. " Now I must 
 take my leave." 
 
 " So soon ! " she cried. 
 
 " I have much to do before to-morrow." 
 
 " You will come early ? " 
 
 " Depend on me." 
 
 " Indeed, I do with all my soul. And you, my lord, 
 believe, now ? Tell me ! " 
 
 Her tone was almost prayerful in its urgency. For 
 answer he drew her towards him and kissed her again, 
 this time on the cheek. 
 
 " I believe wholly. Farewell." 
 
 A gust of wind blew against the window-pane. 
 Marie turned eagerly and clasped his hands. 
 
 " See you, see you ! The wind has changed to the 
 southwest. It blows from France." 
 
 But there was no reply. Her visitor had gone. 
 
 249
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 LORD TOTTENHAM was sitting in his library alone, 
 after his midday dinner, discussing a bottle of wine. 
 This was a time of day when his lordship was usu- 
 ally in the happiest of humours. But this afternoon 
 he was gloomy and depressed. He had been so, in- 
 deed, all the week, since Hugh stole the march upon 
 him, and with Brownker's help held audience with the 
 King. 
 
 Lord Tottenham was hurt ; he was also keenly sus- 
 picious of Brownker's intentions; finally, he had not 
 the smallest confidence in Hugh's discretion and judg- 
 ment. 
 
 " They will toss him hand to hand as boys toss 
 balls at play," he said to himself a dozen times, " and 
 lead him blindfold to a pit. If I but knew their object, 
 and could set Jack Marlborough on the trail ! Gad's 
 life ! we'd smoke 'em ! But I know nothing, and can 
 only wait wait wait ! A pest upon it ! " 
 
 On this particular afternoon his lordship was more 
 than usually out of humour, for he had invited Hugh 
 to dine with him, his invitation had been accepted, and 
 Hugh had not arrived. The earl had waited half an 
 hour, then ordered dinner up, and found it very little 
 to his taste. 
 
 He drank slowly a bottle of wine, and had just be- 
 gun another when he heard the bell ring sharply, and 
 the steps of his servant ushering a visitor upstairs. 
 
 250
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " The boy at last," he muttered, all his ill-humour 
 vanishing. " I knew he would not fail." 
 
 The door opened, and the butler appeared, pant- 
 ing. 
 
 " The Earl of Marlborough, my lord." 
 
 A twinge of disappointment passed over Lord Tot- 
 tenham's face, but when his friend came in he greeted 
 him cordially. 
 
 " You, Jack ! What good wind brings you here at 
 this hour?" 
 
 Marlborough shook hands in silence. When the 
 door closed behind the servant he answered : 
 
 " A west wind, Ned from France." 
 
 Lord Tottenham recoiled against the table. 
 
 " France ! Hell and damnation, what d'ye mean ? " 
 
 Marlborough's reply was to pour himself out, and 
 drink, a glass of wine. Lord Tottenham now perceived 
 that he was deadly pale, and that his clothes were 
 splashed with mud to the neck. 
 
 " There, sit ye, Jack," he said, quietly placing a 
 chair for him. " You are worn out. Sit and rest." 
 
 Marlborough emptied a second glass, and then 
 wiped his lips, with his usual nicety and deliberation. 
 
 " Neither you nor I, Ned, will rest to-night. If this 
 wind holds for four-and-thirty hours, James will be at 
 Plymouth with twenty thousand men." 
 
 Lord Tottenham gasped for breath, then gnashed 
 his teeth in his friend's face. 
 
 " By Gad, then, the babble of the clubs was true. 
 And you have come to laugh ! " 
 
 He raised his clenched hand as if to seize Marlbor- 
 ough's throat. It was caught and held with a grip of 
 iron. 
 
 " I came here, my lord, to advise you, as privy- 
 councillor to her Majesty, to go instantly to the Sec- 
 17 251
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 retary of State, and devise means for the protection of 
 the coast. They have not landed yet." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's hand fell to his side. 
 
 " I believe you, Jack," he said, slowly and heavily. 
 " I swear I thought on the instant you'd a regiment of 
 French cuirassiers, and had taken London by sur- 
 prise." 
 
 " Nay," Marlborough answered, smiling, " only 
 Ned Tottenham. But there is no time to lose." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's answer was to pull the bell-rope 
 till it broke. A servant appeared with a quickness 
 which suggested that he had been listening at the key- 
 hole. 
 
 " A horse within five minutes ! " he cried ; " you 
 hear ? Five minutes ! 'Tis life or death ! " 
 
 The man fled, and Lord Tottenham came back to 
 where Marlborough, standing by the fire-place, was 
 flicking his boot with a riding-whip. 
 
 " Zounds, Jack ! I should crave forgiveness." 
 
 " Tut, Ned ; what you have said to-day all London 
 will confirm to-morrow." 
 
 " Then all London will most damnably lie ! And, 
 by the Lord, I will declare at the Council, to the Sec- 
 retary and to the Queen, that you brought the news. 
 To-morrow you shall command the army." 
 
 Marlborough shook his head. " If you love me, 
 Ned, you will not breathe my name. Nay, you must 
 swear to it." 
 
 Lord Tottenham frowned. " If I must " 
 
 " You must." 
 
 " Then I will swear. But why I cannot see." 
 
 " Listen, old friend. A trap is laid for me. At any 
 moment I may be seized, accused of treason, and 
 thrown into the Tower. Now mark me well. If 
 this comes about you may, in private, tell her Majesty, 
 
 252
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 or the King, that I came here with this news to you. 
 Take note of time and circumstance, and make oath 
 upon it. But tell no one now. Indeed " he smiled 
 faintly " there is no one who'd believe it." 
 
 " Nay, there is one," Lord Tottenham exclaimed. 
 " My lad, Hugh." 
 
 Marlborough nodded. 
 
 " True, I had forgotten him, and his name reminds 
 me of another matter. A presentiment is with me that 
 you and I may not meet again, Ned. Remember this : 
 that girl, Isabel Fretchville, has no protector but my- 
 self and my dear wife. Her father is a drunken sot. 
 If my estate is confiscated, I commend her to your 
 care and guardianship. Take her to your house 
 marry her to your boy ; you will not find her stubborn, 
 I'll be sworn ! " 
 
 Lord Tottenham's eyes brightened, and a grim 
 smile lurked about the corners of his mouth. 
 
 " Karl Brownker, then, is not in favour." 
 
 Marlborough looked straight into his friend's 
 eyes. 
 
 " Karl Brownker, Ned, has laid this trap for me. 
 He has drawn, and thrown away the scabbard. Haste ! 
 There are the horses." 
 
 There was a clatter outside, and then the sound of 
 feet running upstairs, and Ben, Lord Tottenham's fa- 
 vourite groom, opening the door without knocking, 
 saluted with a stolid face. " All ready, my lord." 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his mouth when 
 some one entered behind him. 
 
 "Hugh!" exclaimed Lord Tottenham. "'Odds- 
 bub, boy, you have come in the very nick." 
 
 But at this Marlborough shook his head. 
 
 Hugh pressed Lord Tottenham's hand, and then, 
 turning to Marlborough, saluted him with a face so 
 
 253
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 grim and forbidding that a sudden suspicion seized 
 Lord Tottenham, and held him almost breathless. 
 
 " My Lord of Marlborough, Hugh," he said, watch- 
 ing Hugh's face keenly, " has brought good news. 
 You have his full permission to ride to St. Albans when 
 you will." 
 
 Hugh responded with a formal bow. 
 
 " My service to his lordship. But I wish a word 
 with you, my lord, before you leave the house." 
 
 Lord Tottenham shot a glance at Marlborough, 
 who nodded back. 
 
 " I am going, Ned," he said, " you will recollect 
 there is no time to lose." 
 
 He turned to leave the room, upon which Hugh 
 raised his hand as if he would have stopped him. He 
 dropped it instantly, on second thought, but Marl- 
 borough saw the gesture and turned back. 
 
 " Your groom, Ned, is needed below stairs." 
 
 Ben looked at his master and left the room. 
 
 " Montgomery, I know, is loyal," Marlborough 
 went on curtly. " I have pleasure in taking him into 
 our confidence. Sir, I have just informed my Lord 
 Tottenham that I have discovered this day that the 
 French fleet sails for England with twenty thousand 
 men at the first fair wind. You have come perhaps to 
 confirm my words." 
 
 Hugh stared from one to the other in utter bewil- 
 derment. 
 
 " Great heavens ! My lord, I know nothing of it." 
 
 " Then, Ned," Marlborough said, smiling, " they 
 have kept their secret fast and there is time. A good- 
 night, both." 
 
 He bowed and left the room. 
 
 Hugh turned upon Lord Tottenham. 
 
 " This news was brought by by the earl ? " 
 254
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Lord Tottenham was now dragging on his riding 
 boots. 
 
 " By no one else. Wherefore to Lord Marlbor- 
 ough we shall owe the safety of the country if it can 
 be saved. Ben ! " The groom came back. " In what 
 direction lays the wind ? " 
 
 " It has changed, my lord." 
 
 " The devil seize you," roared his master ; 
 " changed to what ? " 
 
 " It blows due east, my lord." 
 
 " God be praised ! Let it but hold so another day 
 and night, and with Marlborough at the coast in full 
 command They shall give him full command if I 
 can compass it " 
 
 " The Lord forbid ! " Hugh exclaimed passionately. 
 
 Lord Tottenham stared, then he stamped his foot. 
 
 " Ben, get you out. Now, lad," as the groom de- 
 parted, " there is something in your gizzard touching 
 Marlborough. Bring it out." 
 
 " I came to tell you. I have seen evidence that 
 proves beyond denial Marlborough to be in league 
 with James, planning the capture of the Queen." 
 
 Lord Tottenham's face became livid to the lips. 
 
 " Who stuffed you with such lies ? " 
 
 " It is no lie ! " Hugh said angrily ; " a paper set- 
 ting all this forth was shown me, signed by his name, 
 and I have since seen a letter writ by James to him 
 confirming all." 
 
 " What what what ! " groaned the other ; " you, 
 Margaret's child, have been playing spy! Oh, my 
 God, this is bitterest of all." 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, sir," Hugh cried, now fairly 
 beside himself, " take not that tone with me, or I shall 
 say what we shall neither afterward forgive. I have 
 been no spy, but have gained honestly certain knowl- 
 
 255
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 edge of the most damnable and cold-blooded plot that 
 ever was devised. I have this moment learned that 
 Marlborough has agreed to fly to France himself in 
 two days' time. What think you of that ? " 
 
 " You have heard this from whom ? " 
 
 " I know it to be truth." 
 
 " And I know that it's a lie ! " 
 
 " I wish it might be. But on my soul, I have proved 
 it truth." 
 
 " So you say, and may think. Ay, I'll believe you 
 honest, Hugh. But, harkee : there never lived a 
 greater dupe ; you are a pawn in another's game. I see 
 all now." 
 
 Lord Tottenham spoke with bitterness and pas- 
 sion. 
 
 " While you have been talking I have been think- 
 ing, boy. Now, tell me this. Who was it showed you 
 the letter signed by Marlborough ? Do I not know his 
 name ! Why, he is the most accursed villain in the 
 land. Do I not know him, I say ? " 
 
 Hugh smiled grimly. 
 
 " You know him well, my lord. It was his Majesty 
 the King." 
 
 256
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 MARLBOROUGH went from Lord Tottenham's di- 
 rect to his wife at the residence of the Princess Anne, 
 Berkeley House. He had not been seen there so far 
 since he had been in London, as it was essential that 
 his presence in town should not be publicly known; 
 but news had come to him, just before he started for 
 Chelsea, which sent him to the countess in hot haste 
 as soon as that business was over. 
 
 He found Berkeley House in a state of extraordi- 
 nary bustle and unrest. Servants were running up and 
 down and whispering to one another in the passages, 
 and three physicians who had been in attendance on 
 her Highness were standing in the hall in hot discus- 
 sion. Upon Marlborough's appearance they saluted 
 him respectfully, and would have called him into coun- 
 sel, but before the subject could be opened a servant 
 hurried up with word that he must go to the countess 
 instantly. He found the Lady Sarah in a small ante- 
 room leading to the apartments of the princess. She 
 was walking up and down, her beautiful hair di- 
 shevelled, her face scarlet with passion. 
 
 " They lied, then," she cried by way of greeting. 
 ' 'T was said you were in the Tower. Thank God it 
 was a lie ; I could not have borne another moment by 
 myself." 
 
 Marlborough went to her, smoothed back the gold- 
 
 257
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 en hair, and gave her a long, lingering kiss, with lips 
 that were not cold now. 
 
 " My dear heart my soul why do you listen to 
 such lies ? If I am seized, which may be any day, have 
 I not promised to send you word. Tell me what is 
 amiss here." 
 
 She straightened herself, and starting from him, 
 paced the room again. 
 
 " If I could get that woman's face within my fin- 
 gers I would tear the skin from it in strips." 
 
 " You mean ? " he coughed uneasily. 
 
 " Mean, my lord ! Have you grown stupid of a 
 sudden? Whom should I mean but Mary, wife to the 
 black pig, William ? But I must tell you " quieting 
 down a moment " how this woman has passed all 
 bounds of decency and sense in her hate for me, 
 though I have never harmed her by a word or 
 deed ! " 
 
 Marlborough sighed. 
 
 " I heard the guards had been withdrawn by order 
 of the Queen." 
 
 " And that was bad enough ! Anne, whose child 
 is heir, and who if that boy dies will be Queen 
 one day herself, must now live like any commoner, and 
 all because she is my friend. . . . But there is worse 
 since. Knowing the poor dear wishes above all things 
 for peace and quietness and the kindness of her friends, 
 this devilish woman has sent private word round the 
 court that all are forbid under the pain of their Ma- 
 jesty's most serious displeasure to call upon or in any 
 other wise to pay the least attention to the Princess 
 Anne." 
 
 Marlborough looked very grave. 
 
 " If the Queen pursues her purpose we must sub- 
 mit at last." 
 
 258
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 The countess turned upon him, her face in a glare 
 of concentrated passion. 
 
 "What! My lord?" she whispered. "What! 
 Submit! Hearken to this. Though this Mary, this 
 Pope in petticoats, plastered with texts outside, black 
 as the pit within, strips me of every penny I possess, 
 makes me go barefoot and in rags, she shall never force 
 me to submit. Anne may yield. Poor soul, she is 
 considering now, and we are to go into her presence 
 and hear what answer she will send her sister. But if 
 she does not, let Mary do her worst. I defy and scorn 
 her. I will trample on her, Queen of England though 
 she be, as long as we two live." 
 
 " The Queen, then," Marlborough said, as if he had 
 not heard the last words, " has written to the princess. 
 You did not tell me that." 
 
 " The most bitter, cruel letter that you ever saw. 
 Dismiss my Lady Marlborough the letter ran, in 
 effect or I will never see or speak to you again. Can 
 spite go further, even in a pious woman ? " 
 
 " The princess feels it deeply ? " 
 
 " Her heart is nigh broken. That accursed 
 
 "Hush, hush!" 
 
 Marlborough spoke now in a tone he rarely used 
 towards the Lady Sarah, and which many people be- 
 lieved he dared not use. 
 
 " Hush, I say. You know there are ears at every 
 door, and tongues to repeat every word at St. James's. 
 Besides, this is no time for passion. Our position is 
 most critical. I have news, vital news, to which we 
 must give thought calmly ; we shall be ruined if we 
 act in heat." 
 
 " Heat, my lord ? " Sarah said in a cool and injured 
 tone. " No one is heated that I know of, unless it is 
 
 259
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 yourself with your poor wife. I am as cold as water " 
 she gave a little laugh " after it has boiled. I defy 
 the Queen or any of her women to say that I have been 
 wanting in due respect or ever failed " she paused, 
 then continued in a louder tone " to perform the 
 duty of a loyal and a humble subject." 
 
 There were steps in the passage outside ; the door 
 opened, and a gentleman, attired in so tightly fitting a 
 suit of black silk that at any violence of movement 
 something disastrous must have happened to him, 
 bowed stiffly twice. 
 
 " May it please your ladyship, and you, my Lord 
 Marlborough, to attend her Royal Highness, who 
 commands me to say that your presence is desired, 
 and who sends " 
 
 " Lud save us, Sir Anthony ! " cried the countess, 
 catching up her train and sweeping past him, " but I 
 trust her Highness will not put into her business as 
 many words as you spin out of nothing, or we shall 
 be waiting on her all night long ! " 
 
 The gentleman in waiting bridled like an angry tur- 
 key-cock at this rudeness, but a certain expression in 
 the countess's face, as she looked at him with her 
 head on one side, caused him to think discretion the 
 better part of valour, and he silently led the way to the 
 princess's closet. 
 
 In a nobly furnished room two persons were await- 
 ing the Marlboroughs' arrival a lady reclining on a 
 couch, and a tall, stout gentleman in an arm-chair close 
 by. This gentleman, Anne's husband, Prince George 
 of Denmark, had a broad open face, dull, but frank and 
 good-natured. He was a man of no mark, sneered at 
 by James, despised by William, yet possessing one dis- 
 tinction which neither of these royal personages could 
 lay claim to. He was a true and faithful husband, and 
 
 260
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Anne, in her many bitter troubles, found comfort in 
 poor George. Though not attempting to enter upon 
 any independent action of his own, he never submitted 
 to dictation by the court where his wife was concerned, 
 and he supported her loyally in all her disputes with 
 William and Mary. 
 
 The Princess herself had a fat plain face pale now, 
 and drawn with suffering. There was no beauty in it, 
 but it was the face of a kindly, well-intentioned woman, 
 who did her best to do her duty, but frequently found 
 the world and her own friends too much for her. 
 
 Sir Anthony opened the door with a flourish, an- 
 nounced the Marlboroughs, and then hastily retired. 
 
 Prince George rose to bow awkwardly to Sarah, 
 and to shake hands with Marlborough. Anne raised 
 herself slightly on one elbow, and smiled her greeting. 
 
 " Tell them, George," she said tremulously, taking 
 Sarah's hand and placing it against her heart, while she 
 held one out to Marlborough, who kissed it as if it 
 were his Sovereign's. 
 
 " On my soul, I cannot put words to it just now." 
 
 " Her Highness," the prince said, speaking in curt, 
 broken English, " do say she love you so, that, though 
 people should threat to kill her, she will not part from 
 you unless you be afraid to stay." 
 
 " And he thinks the same, my dear," the princess 
 added. " George thinks just the same. No one, my 
 lord, shall take my dear Mrs. Freeman from her poor, 
 faithful Morley, except by her own wish or yours. 
 Now pray, both of you, let me know your minds. I 
 have made up mine." 
 
 They were kneeling before her now. Sarah, over- 
 come for once, was weeping, and, with a rare move- 
 ment of affection, caught her mistress's hand and 
 kissed it. 
 
 261
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 V 
 
 " We will stay with you, madam," she exclaimed, 
 " always ! " Then she paused. Her keen eyes scanned 
 her friend's gentle face and the poor dull one of the 
 prince, and she thought of the strong, cold will of the 
 Queen, with the support behind it of William's keen, 
 resourceful brain. Was it a fair match? What would 
 the end of such a struggle be to her mistress? And 
 the cause of it all was herself ! A revulsion of feeling 
 swept into her heart. 
 
 " No," she cried suddenly. " It is not right your 
 Highness should suffer so for me. My lord " she 
 looked back at her husband " tell the princess what 
 I mean what you said to me." 
 
 There was a hesitancy in her tone now ; already she 
 had begun to repent her generosity, but she would 
 not draw back. There was no hesitation in Marlbor- 
 ough's response. 
 
 " Madam, we love your service, and you know it, 
 but you do not know yet how much we love your- 
 self. Were we to think for an instant of standing 
 between you and her Majesty we should not be 
 worthy of a thought from you. Our gracious Queen, 
 your Sovereign and our own, commands that you 
 dismiss us. Pray, in your reply to her, think only 
 of your own happiness and peace. We shall never 
 change or falter in our love or service. Far or near, 
 in disgrace or in prosperity, we must ever be your 
 servants, your humble but devoted followers and 
 friends." 
 
 His voice failed a moment, and then he concluded : 
 " Nothing, I say, can change our hearts. Do with us 
 as you will." 
 
 All were weeping now, Prince George snuffling 
 loudest of all, like a bear with a cold. But at Marl- 
 borough's last words, Anne raised herself from the 
 
 262
 
 The King's Agent, 
 
 couch and sat erect. Her weakness had fallen from 
 her. 
 
 " My dears," she said, using the homely familiar 
 term she bestowed upon her intimates, but speaking in 
 a tone that was very strange to Lady Marlborough's 
 ears, " there is no more to say now I know your minds. 
 The Queen, my lord, in laying her commands on me 
 is pleased to ask me to obey her out of consideration 
 for her sisterly affection, but she should show that 
 affection if she wishes me to see it. I have writ her 
 a reply, and now I'll send it. We will never part, 
 my lord. While poor Mrs. Morley lives you shall have 
 her countenance, and share whatever fortune sends her 
 even as your dear wife will have her love." She held 
 out her hands to both, and, as they kissed them, added 
 with a quaint smile : " I am a poor friend now, my 
 dears, but some day I may not be quite so poor." 
 
 " And when that day comes," Maryborough ex- 
 claimed, " all we desire is that your Majesty may have 
 cause to say that we have been as faithful in our service 
 as you have been generous to your servants." 
 
 " Amen," echoed Lady Sarah through her tears. 
 "Amen." 
 
 263
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 ALL afternoon after Marlborough's departure and 
 most of the night Marie toiled to get everything in 
 readiness for the flitting. Papers were burnt, furni- 
 ture was packed away, and the few precious ornaments 
 and other unportable household goods she still pos- 
 sessed were buried in the garden. Everything was 
 done by noon of the next day, and then Marie had 
 nothing to do but brood and plan, hope and fear. This 
 was bad for her nerves, and Patrick, who cooked her a 
 dainty dinner, was dismayed to find she would touch 
 nothing. But Patrick was an old soldier. He put the 
 dish down upon the table and gave an emphatic snort 
 of indignation. 
 
 " So ye'll ruin all bekase the omelette is bad." 
 
 " The omelette looks very good," she said indif- 
 ferently. " I have no appetite." 
 
 He sighed deeply and began buttoning up his coat. 
 
 " 'Bade, then, there's no help for it," he said. " A 
 good afternoon, mistress." 
 
 Marie looked at him in astonishment. 
 
 " Where are you going? " 
 
 " Home, to ould Ireland," was the sepulchral reply. 
 " At least away from here as fast as me two feet will 
 carry me." 
 
 Marie frowned. " This is all a pretence to force 
 me to eat the thing." 
 
 " Pretence ! " he cried. " Little pretence is there in 
 264
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 it; as little as in your white face and tremblin' hands. 
 No sooner will ye be on the road, now, than ye'll dhrop 
 like wet paper, and we'll be took and hanged. Bedad, 
 but I'd not be hanged for an omelette nor yet for a 
 fanciful lady at all. So eat, or I'm off, mistress. Ye've 
 had nothing, to my knowledge, for four-and-twenty 
 hours. Oh, I'm in earnest just ! " 
 
 Marie smiled and held out her hand for the plate. 
 
 " Give it to me. Your arguments are irresistible." 
 
 " Arguments, now," Pat replied with a complacent 
 smile, " are like omelettes, ma'am. They take no time 
 to swallow if they are well made. I'll go feed the 
 horses." 
 
 Dusk came early, and before six the bell rang softly 
 and Patrick saluted Marlborough in the hall. 
 
 Marlborough looked at him attentively. 
 
 " You said once, sergeant, you would do me serv- 
 ice." 
 
 " To the hour of death, my lord." 
 
 " Then harkee : if by a mischance we separate to- 
 night, be you answerable for your mistress's security. 
 Guard her with your life." 
 
 The Irishman stared in surprise, and then grimly 
 saluted. 
 
 " When I was fightin' for King William an' prayin' 
 for King James, my lord, 'twas said your lordship 
 never axed your men to do what ye'd not do yourself. 
 'Bade, that was a mistake, I'm thinkin'. But be sure 
 of this, I'll not follow your example." 
 
 Having said which, Pat wheeled abruptly, and 
 walked off with great strides before Marlborough 
 could reply. 
 
 Marlborough found Marie in riding dress, with a 
 cloak and hood thrown over a chair in readiness. Her 
 face was bright and eager, and she came forward with 
 
 265
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 both hands out. He took them in his own, but instead 
 of kissing her, held her gently at arm's length. 
 
 " Sit down, my child, and let us talk." 
 
 She obeyed him, but all the colour fled from her 
 face. 
 
 " I am come according to my promise," he said in 
 his quietest tone. " But it is to tell you that I cannot 
 leave my home, not even for King James." 
 
 " You have thought better of it all ? " 
 
 She spoke as quietly as he, but in her face he de- 
 tected the vibration of a coming storm. 
 
 " I told you yesterday," he said with slow pre- 
 cision, " that a man in my position must look well be- 
 fore he leaps. I have looked now, and find I cannot 
 leap at all." 
 
 She sat still a moment, staring at him. All the 
 feverish intensity which the day before lay behind his 
 self-possession had disappeared as completely as if he 
 had never touched her hand with his finger-tips, never 
 called her friend, never drawn her head upon his 
 breast. 
 
 " Oh, you betrayer ! " 
 
 She hissed the words at him, springing from her 
 chair as though she would fly at his throat. " How 
 I hate and despise you ! You are meaner, and more 
 false, than any man I ever saw, and I have known some 
 liars!" 
 
 " Mistress Marie " 
 
 " Silence, or I shall forget my womanhood and 
 strike you ! Why, why did I let you fool me ? What 
 possessed me that I should be so mad ! I trusted 
 you. You, who have now betrayed all, I warrant, to 
 my worst enemies. Oh, that I could go really mad 
 and kill you where you stand! But I have not 
 strength." 
 
 266
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I pray you, madam, calm yourself," he said gently. 
 
 " Be silent ! " she cried, stamping her foot, " and 
 leave me." She pointed to the door. 
 
 " That is impossible ; you are in danger." 
 
 She laughed shrilly. 
 
 " Oh, my lord, my lord, you do me too great hon- 
 our. My danger! You mean your own." 
 
 " You do not in the least catch my meaning," he 
 said in a grave tone. " When you are yourself " 
 
 " A thousand thanks ; I am now returning to my- 
 self. Shall I call my servant? " 
 
 Marlborough's face now grew stern. 
 
 " Come, come, madam," he exclaimed in a tone so 
 commanding that Marie, though panting in her anger, 
 was compelled to listen at last. " This must end at 
 once. The step that you proposed would have been 
 madness, as much for you as for myself. But there is 
 another I can take, and you with me." 
 
 "With you?" 
 
 She stared at him spellbound. 
 
 " That is, if you choose to go with me," he said 
 coldly. 
 
 " Pray tell me," she cried, " tell me ; I never 
 dreamed I thought you were deserting me." 
 
 " No such thought came into my mind," he said 
 reproachfully. " What I wished to tell you, had I 
 been allowed, was that my wife, the countess, requests 
 the honour of your company at Berkeley House to- 
 night." 
 
 Marie leaned helplessly against a chair. 
 
 " Her ladyship ! " she ejaculated. " Berkeley 
 House merciful heavens ! " 
 
 " Our plan is this," Marlborough went on in a 
 matter-of-fact tone, totally ignoring the obvious agita- 
 tion of his companion, the alternate hope and fear, 
 18 267
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 joy and disappointment that passed in quick succession 
 over her face, and left it at the end almost as bewildered 
 as at the beginning. " You have prepared for a jour- 
 ney in good faith, but it is a hundred chances to one 
 that Brownker has smelt this out, and has everything 
 arranged to seize us on the way. To elude him we must 
 double on the track, and ride to London, not from it. 
 You shall enter Berkeley House by a door my wife will 
 open ; a chamber is prepared for you which no one 
 will go into but ourselves. There you will be safe, 
 concealed even from Brownker, until the moment 
 comes when he is harmless, and you can go to France 
 or where you will." 
 
 Marie clasped her hands. 
 
 "A perfect plan." 
 
 " You approve it ? " 
 
 " I place myself unreservedly at your disposal and 
 her ladyship's." 
 
 " The countess," Marlborough said gravely, " has 
 greatly taken to the notion, and will give you a warm 
 welcome. She bade me tell you that." 
 
 " I humbly thank her ladyship." 
 
 There was the ghost of a gleam in Marie's eyes 
 and a suspicious pursing of the lips. What else, she 
 wondered, had the countess told him? But this she 
 was not likely to know, which was as well, considering 
 that Lady Sarah's last words had been : " What must 
 be, must, and to save the house if James comes over I'd 
 take the devil in. But bear in mind, this slut stays 
 not a minute longer than the crisis lasts." 
 
 Marlborough took up Marie's cloak. 
 
 " Then I will give orders for the horses " 
 
 " Nay, my lord, I had forgotten. You must see 
 this first" 
 
 A sudden thought had struck her, and unlocking 
 268
 
 The King's Agent 
 i 
 
 her cabinet she took out a letter, the only one left 
 there. 
 
 " The original of this was shown to me for an evil 
 purpose, but I transcribed it faithfully to give to you. 
 This ' Association,' signed by your name, is in the 
 possession of Karl Brownker." 
 
 Marlborough ran his eye over the paper and 
 smiled. 
 
 " Who put this trash into your hands ? " 
 
 " Need your lordship ask ? Brownker." 
 
 " It is the most outrageous forgery ever devised, 
 and the most foolish. No man with a sane mind would 
 put his name to that." 
 
 " Your name is there, and others exact in their 
 similitude." 
 
 He turned over the page, and saw his name and 
 nodded. 
 
 " Master Robert Young," he said quietly. 
 
 " Ay, and he will attest to the genuineness of the 
 document before the House of Lords, and swear he 
 found it in a flower-pot in the house of my Lord 
 Bishop of Rochester in Bromley by Bow." 
 
 Marlborough stroked his chin. 
 
 " Karl Brownker is indeed an admirable contriver." 
 
 " He holds by means of this a warrant for your 
 apprehension." 
 
 " I should have heard of that before." His tone 
 was stern and reproachful. 
 
 " Believe me," she exclaimed. " I only knew this 
 morning of the warrant. Besides, he is too cunning to 
 arrest you in a common way. He would catch you in 
 flight as well. Then the cry of forgery, if raised by 
 your friends, will not be listened to." 
 
 Marlborough stood in deep thought. Then he held 
 the cloak towards her. 
 
 269
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " We must be gone. I see I shall have to travel 
 farther than Berkeley House to-night, or be concealed 
 there also. Come, my friend." 
 
 He threw the cloak over her shoulders and went to 
 a fire which was dying slowly in the grate, and burnt 
 the letter. His face was now serene and even cheerful. 
 
 " We will not wait for Patrick," he said, " but go 
 to help him." 
 
 They had not to go far. Before they reached the 
 door it flew open, and Patrick appeared with staring 
 eyes and pallid face. 
 
 " Run conceal yourselves Holy Mother of 
 Heaven ! we're all betrayed. The garden's full of sol- 
 diers. Hearken ! " 
 
 The thud of a musket-butt came against the back 
 door and a hoarse voice cried " Open." 
 
 Marie screamed in her dismay and clung to Marl- 
 borough, while Pat, with an old soldier's instinct in 
 the presence of an officer, stood ready to obey orders, 
 but without an idea of his own. Marlborough pressed 
 Marie's hand soothingly. His own bearing was that 
 of a man receiving visitors he had expected all along. 
 
 " Lock and bolt this door," he said to Patrick with 
 a nod. In an instant the door of the room, built of 
 solid oak, and of immense thickness and weight, was 
 closed and securely fastened. 
 
 " Now let us consider and feel our way. Shutters 
 to that window, Pat." 
 
 A light was gleaming on the panes already from a 
 lantern down below. As Pat sprang to the place and 
 bolted the shutter down, Marlborough stirred up the 
 fire, and taking from his ' pocket a piece of paper, 
 twisted it into a small torch and lit it. 
 
 " The Lady Susan, your mother, once told me that 
 a secret passage led from this chamber to the cellar, 
 
 270
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 and from thence to a wood beyond the road. Where 
 is the door ? " 
 
 Marie clasped her hands. 
 
 " Where was it where ? Somewhere in the east- 
 ern wall. Yes no I cannot tell now I cannot re- 
 member." 
 
 " The eastern wall," Maryborough said. " Then I 
 will find it, if they give me time." 
 
 Steps now were heard upon the stairs. The back 
 door had been broken open, the soldiers were in the 
 house. Crash ! A heavy blow against the parlour 
 door, which brought plaster from the ceiling, and 
 seemed to make the whole house shake, then another 
 and another. 
 
 But Marlborough paid not the slightest attention to 
 these sounds. While Marie, too terrified to speak or 
 move, stood fascinated in the centre of the room, and 
 Patrick, rolling curses from his chest, clutched an iron 
 bar which he had picked up on his way from the gar- 
 den, and stood near the door ready to strike down the 
 first man who showed his face, Marlborough coolly 
 searched and tapped with his knuckles the panels in the 
 wall. At last he came to one that sounded hollow, and 
 finding what he was searching for, he pressed a spring. 
 A door, formed of four panels, most delicately cut and 
 fitted, fell slowly back. 
 
 Splinters were now dropping from the door from 
 the heavy blows falling on it ceaselessly, while from 
 without the scrape of a ladder was heard at the win- 
 dow. Marlborough caught Marie by the hand. 
 
 " All is safe now. This leads, if I remember, to the 
 cellars, then beneath the road into a wood." 
 
 He put his arm about her and in another moment 
 she was in the passage behind the panelling. Marlbor- 
 ough touched Pat upon the shoulder and beckoned. 
 
 271
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 A minute later the door fell in, and the soldiers en- 
 tered an empty room. 
 
 Meanwhile the three, with great circumspection 
 and care, softly groped their way down a very narrow 
 winding stair. Marlborough went first, Marie next, 
 Pat bringing up the rear. The way seemed almost 
 endless. When the door at the bottom was reached 
 at last it took them some time to find the spring to 
 open it, for the darkness was intense, and rust had 
 gathered everywhere. Marlborough discovered the 
 place at last, and after several efforts the catch gave 
 way and the door yielded outward. Beyond was black 
 darkness. But Marlborough, feeling his way ' cau- 
 tiously, discovered that the door in the cellar wall was 
 only three feet from the ground. He slid down, took 
 Marie in his arms, and placed her beside him. Pat 
 was following, groaning with the cramp of having for 
 so long contracted his great body into so small a space, 
 when there was a sharp, ominous sound the scrape of 
 flint and steel, and then a spark, a flare of light ; a sharp 
 agonized shriek from Marie, the whistle of steel as 
 Marlborough drew his sword, and by the light of a 
 torch held high at the back of the cellar they saw two 
 soldiers presenting loaded muskets at their heads, and 
 nearer, with rapiers drawn, Karl Brownker and Hugh 
 Montgomery. 
 
 " My Lord of Marlborough," Karl said in clear, 
 resonant tones, " I arrest you for high treason in the 
 King's name." 
 
 272
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE torches shone upon a strange group in the cel- 
 lar of the Abbey House. In the background the faces 
 of the soldiers, William's guards, broad and stolid ; in 
 the centre of the room Karl and Hugh, vigilant and 
 stern ; before them Marie, her face tear-stained and 
 distorted with terror; Patrick, sullen and dangerous; 
 and lastly, Marlborough. 
 
 He stood in advance of Marie protectingly, his 
 rapier drawn, but the point to the ground. The full 
 light of the torch shone upon his face, and for a few 
 moments it was the only face Hugh saw. 
 
 Marlborough caught ; driven into their hands like 
 a rat from its hole, and surrounded now by every damn- 
 ing circumstance of guilt. Karl had triumphed indeed, 
 and Lord Tottenham must eat his words. As for 
 Marie, when Hugh glanced at her crouching and trem- 
 bling, his soul sickened within him. 
 
 He would gladly have turned away and left them ; 
 gone home and hidden his face in bitter, unutterable 
 shame. But now Marlborough spoke, and Hngh, gaz- 
 ing at him, and watching every movement, every 
 change in the expression of his face, down to the 
 quiver of an eyelid, forgot Marie; forgot, gradually, 
 all that he felt when the torch first shone upon the 
 prisoner, and at last stood fascinated, spellbound, al- 
 most ready again to believe that black was white. 
 
 Marlborough's face was not beautiful to look at, 
 273
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 grimed as it was with the dirt and dust of the stairway ; 
 his peruke full of cobwebs and tousled out of all de- 
 cency. But in his bearing there was something that 
 vividly recalled to Hugh the scene he had once de- 
 scribed to Lord Tottenham, the scene when at the bat- 
 tle of Walcourt the officers of the Prince of Waldeck's 
 army, and the prince himself, were distracted with an- 
 ticipation of disaster, and when Marlborough alone, 
 preserving perfect confidence until the moment came 
 to act, turned the enemy's flank, and wrested victory 
 from defeat. 
 
 As Marlborough looked then, in the midst of the 
 roar and confusion of battle, so he looked now with 
 his back against the cellar wall. 
 
 In answer to Brownker's demand for surrender he 
 courteously bowed, but made no movement of com- 
 pliance. 
 
 " A pardon, sir ; my sword, though always at the 
 service of the King, is not at yours. Pray your au- 
 thority in writing." 
 
 " Here is the warrant, signed by the Privy Council 
 and Secretaries of State." 
 
 Brownker spoke more respectfully, and handed the 
 warrant to his prisoner, who, thrusting his sword care- 
 lessly into the scabbard, beckoned to one of the sol- 
 diers. 
 
 " That torch, my man nearer so." 
 
 He read the warrant with a look of contemptuous 
 surprise. 
 
 " On what evidence do you base this astounding 
 charge ? " 
 
 " All will appear, my lord, in proper course. For 
 the present be pleased to place yourself under guid- 
 ance of the captain of the guard and deliver up your 
 sword to me." 
 
 274
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " You ! " Marlborough looked at him with su- 
 preme condescension. " Nay, my good friend, not 
 you." 
 
 " I must then use force. That would be regrettable, 
 my lord." 
 
 There was repressed irritation in Brownker's tone, 
 at which Marlborough became more and more delib- 
 erate. 
 
 " Regrettable indeed, for you, sir." His tone was 
 now one of the loftiest pity. " Unless, indeed, I have 
 made some strange blunder and his Majesty has hon- 
 oured his private agent with a commission in the 
 guards." 
 
 A grin, quickly suppressed, but obvious enough, 
 quivered a moment on the faces of the two soldiers, 
 and was broadly visible upon the countenance of the 
 captain of the guards himself, who had entered at that 
 instant, and for whose benefit the words had been said. 
 But Brownker made no outward sign of annoyance. 
 
 " Take your prisoner, captain," he said to the new- 
 comer, " and remember that your life will answer for 
 his safety." 
 
 The captain, an Englishman, glared at the speaker 
 haughtily. 
 
 " Gad 'a' mercy, Master Agent, teach me not my 
 business, pray. If, out of good nature, I let you play 
 your game, and hold the warrant, it was not for this. 
 Men, present arms to his lordship." Then, saluting 
 Marlborough himself, he said very respectfully : " It 
 is with sorrow, my lord, that I ask your sword. Lud 
 grant it may not be long before I draw my own at 
 your command." 
 
 Marlborough bowed gracefully in return and gave 
 up the weapon. 
 
 " At least, captain, a sword was never given into 
 
 275
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 better hands or to advance a better cause. God save 
 the King." 
 
 He raised his hat. 
 
 " As for my friend, good Master Brownker here " 
 he smiled, and took a pinch of snuff " he has fished 
 in such troubled waters that, on my faith, I am afraid 
 he will scarce get safe to land." 
 
 " The fish, I thank your lordship, has been landed." 
 
 " Say you so," Marlborough rejoined, raising his 
 eyebrows and turning to Hugh with a bow. " Then 
 that poor fish has my sincere commiseration." 
 
 The careless smile was still upon his lips, but Hugh 
 saw in the eyes that rested on his a moment a look of 
 deep significance and warning. Brownker saw this 
 also, and laughed suddenly to draw attention to him- 
 self. 
 
 " But your lordship is mistaken. The fish I. mean 
 is in this lady's net." He made Marie a mocking 
 salute. " She fished deep for you." 
 
 At this challenge Marie tried to smile as Marlbor- 
 ough had done, but her parted lips revealed teeth 
 closely set. 
 
 " A poor jest, badly turned," she said. 
 
 Marlborough bowed slightly to Brownker. 
 
 " By my faith, sir, but I believe you. Yet against 
 so fair an angler even the fish cannot cherish malice." 
 
 Marie drew in a sharp breath. 
 
 " You believe him ! You believe I was privy to all 
 this?" 
 
 Marlborough glanced slowly from her face to 
 Brownker's and back again, with the air of one pass- 
 ing judgment. He was the master of the situation and 
 he knew it. 
 
 " I not only believe, but I will prove it, madam." 
 Nothing could exceed the coldness of his tone. " Cap- 
 
 276
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "tain," turning to the officer, " have you received orders 
 to arrest this lady ? " 
 
 The captain chuckled. 
 
 " In my instructions, my lord, there was no men- 
 tion of a lady." 
 
 " Then she is free, I presume, to leave this place," 
 Marlborough said very slowly, fixing his eyes mean- 
 ingly on Marie's face, " while I must go to the Tower. 
 Indeed " he turned again to Brownker, and now 
 his face was full of honest indignation " I have leaned 
 upon a broken reed and have been shamefully de- 
 ceived." 
 
 Marie raised her head and advanced a few steps. 
 
 " I may go ? " she said to Brownker in a mechani- 
 cal tone. " I may depart ? " 
 
 Brownker gave a low, unpleasant laugh. 
 
 " After what his lordship says, I should, if I were 
 you, depart at once." 
 
 Marie looked him in the face. 
 
 " I thank you," she said simply, " for this, for all. 
 Pat, the horses. We have far to ride to-night." 
 
 She did not appear to notice Marlborough until 
 the soldiers stood aside from the door to let her pass. 
 Then she made him a deep courtesy, and with a gra- 
 cious inclination of the head to the captain of the guard, 
 who was beginning to look hungrily at her beauty, 
 she passed out, Patrick at her heels like a great watch- 
 dog. 
 
 The captain sighed, and muttered to himself, then 
 turned to Marlborough. 
 
 " Your lordship ready ? " 
 
 " One instant, friend." 
 
 He stepped suddenly forward and laid his hand 
 upon Hugh's shoulder. 
 
 " I have to ask of you, Mr. Montgomery, for the 
 277
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 sake of old comradeship, will you take the news of my 
 arrest to my dear wife ? " 
 
 He spoke frankly, cordially, yet with a subtle ac- 
 cent of reproach. 
 
 Hugh reddened furiously, but did not hesitate. " I 
 will do it, my lord," he said. 
 
 Marlborough looked at him a moment, then held 
 out his hand. 
 
 " My grateful thanks." 
 
 Hugh's heart beat heavily. A few moments ago 
 no power on earth would have induced him to touch 
 Marlborough's hand. Now, after one short breath of 
 surprise, he seized and wrung it hard. 
 
 " I thank you again," Marlborough repeated. 
 " You are a true friend. Captain, at your service." 
 
 A word of command, the tramp of heavy feet, and 
 Brownker and Hugh were alone with the soldier hold- 
 ing the torch. 
 
 " You did well," Karl said quietly as they went up 
 into the hall. " Much may be learned by seeing the 
 countess when she first hears the news. She will be 
 so beside herself with rage that like enough she will 
 betray something of importance. We will start at once 
 for Berkeley House." 
 
 They were in the hall by this time. Hugh turned 
 about at these words, and faced Brownker with a 
 strange expression in his eyes. 
 
 " You are under a mistake," he said. " I go 
 alone." 
 
 278
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 HUGH rode fast, and reached the neighbourhood of 
 Berkeley House in half an hour. As he drew near his 
 destination, however, his pace slackened until he 
 stopped altogether to consider. Finally, after a min- 
 ute of deep thought, he turned back and trotted briskly 
 up the drive of Tottenham Place. 
 
 The earl was at home, and Hugh found the place 
 in a bustle. Before he could go upstairs the old house 
 steward drew him timidly aside. 
 
 " Crave pardon, Mr. Hugh, but have ye heard the 
 French have landed and the Earl of Marlborough has 
 gone to command their army ? We'll be murdered in 
 our beds, belike, if that is true." 
 
 " It is a lie," Hugh said with decision. " There is 
 not a Frenchman this side the Channel, nor will there 
 be. The fleet will see to that." 
 
 "Thank God!" the man said fervently. "I had 
 forgot the fleet." 
 
 " Pray heaven," muttered Hugh, " the French 
 have done the same." 
 
 Lord Tottenham was sitting, booted and spurred, 
 eating a hasty meal. He signed to Hugh to join him, 
 and the servant opened another bottle of wine. Hugh 
 tried to eat while the man was in the room, but from 
 the moment they were alone he did not touch his plate 
 again. 
 
 " The news, boy." 
 
 279
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " We took him, escaping by a secret way." 
 
 "My God! Alone?" 
 
 " My cousin and her servant were with him. They 
 were dressed as for a long journey, and in the stable 
 were horses ready saddled." 
 
 Lord Tottenham swore loud and deep. 
 
 " Stay, my lord ! " Hugh cried sharply. " Do not 
 judge too soon." 
 
 The earl nearly dropped his knife and fork. 
 
 "You say that?" 
 
 Hugh pushed his plate away and walked restlessly 
 to the window and back again. 
 
 " I say it is the most accursed tangle and mystery in 
 the world. But I will tell you all that happened." 
 
 Lord Tottenham listened to the story with bent 
 brows and a face of unchanging sternness. 
 
 " The queerest twist in the whole skein," Hugh 
 said in conclusion, " is that as he stood there, caught 
 like any hare, self-condemned by the attempt at flight, 
 and in company with her, I felt such pity, and such 
 love for him that all the regard I had lost these many 
 days came back. He was like a noble stag at bay be- 
 fore the dogs, appealing, questioning dumbly, proudly, 
 Is this just? Is this fair play? My lord, I know not 
 why or wherefore there is no reason I can find for it 
 but on my life and soul I do believe now that Lord 
 Marlborough is a true man, and that I have been, what 
 you declared, the dupe and tool for some devilish de- 
 sign." 
 
 He sank into his chair, drank a glass of wine, and 
 scanned Lord Tottenham's face. To his surprise a 
 bitter, sarcastic smile curled about the lips of Lord 
 Marlborough's oldest friend. 
 
 " Then he has netted ye, as he has done so many. 
 Gadzooks, Hugh, you will have to find better proof 
 
 280
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 than this before you convince me now that there is a 
 tittle of innocency in him. His look, his manner? 
 Pish ! I have seen that look and manner. I know it 
 well. It is only seen, my lad, in its full perfection, 
 when he is in the worst of scrapes, and as guilty as the 
 devil. I don't say," the earl snapped sharply, " that he 
 is guilty now. All that I know of that affair I hear 
 from you, and you blow hot and cold alternately. But 
 I do say Jack has before now made those he has most 
 injured think him white as snow, and that this air of 
 his is a cloak that covers Lord knows what ! " 
 
 Hugh drummed his fingers on the table with an 
 absent air. 
 
 " Maybe, my lord. But for what it's worth, my 
 opinion is more proof is needed yet for any one to 
 say that Lord Marlborough is a guilty man." 
 
 Lord Tottenham looked at Hugh attentively. 
 
 " You are a strange lad. By Gad, you are and 
 once I thought you simple. I cannot plumb you now. 
 But what's to do ? " 
 
 Hugh had risen and taken up his hat. 
 
 " I have to ride to Berkeley House to tell the Lady 
 Sarah." 
 
 Lord Tottenham was pouring out some wine, but 
 at these words he put the decanter hastily down. 
 
 " The countess ! " he cried. " You had better far go 
 hang yourself." 
 
 Hugh smiled faintly. 
 
 " Afterward, my lord, perhaps I may. But I have 
 passed my word to do it, and called here upon my 
 road to know if you would help me to break the news." 
 
 The earl sprang from his chair as if he had been 
 stung. 
 
 " I tell Sarah that her man is in the Tower, and 
 and the circumstances of it ? Gadzooks, I would rather 
 
 281
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 enter on a boxing match with a prize strong man, or 
 buy a spavined horse, or fence Karl Brownker with a 
 wooden spoon." 
 
 He sat down with a shiver and tossed off a glass of 
 wine. 
 
 " Then I must bid you a good-night, my lord." 
 
 Lord Tottenham watched him a moment, sighed 
 heavily, emptied his glass, and rose. 
 
 " You are going now ? " 
 
 " They will soon be all abed else." 
 
 " Then, come. 'Oddsbub ! " he said roughly, as 
 Hugh would have protested. " You foolish boy, did 
 you suppose I should let ye face the tigress alone. Let 
 her tear me if she will ; I am tough. Besides, if you 
 went by yourself you would tell the naked truth, and 
 rather than Jack's wife should think he'd been philan- 
 dering I'd give my blood. Gad's life, if you knew that 
 woman's jealousy ! " 
 
 Hugh said no more. He had been sure, as a matter 
 of fact, that Lord Tottenham would come, and was 
 devoutly thankful. He had no relish for braving the 
 terrors of a jealous wife alone. 
 
 The servant at Berkeley House, a footman of im- 
 mense stature, promptly denied them admittance when 
 Lord Tottenham inquired for the Countess Marlbor- 
 ough. She was playing hazard, he said, with the prin- 
 cess, and none might disturb her. He would, how- 
 ever, take a message. 
 
 " Take a devil ! " cried Lord Tottenham, trying to 
 push past. " Point me the way, sirrah. I'll announce 
 myself. Is it the blue chamber ? " 
 
 " Nay, my lord ! " cried the man, blocking up the 
 hall. " My orders is particular." 
 
 " Damn your orders, fool ! " And seizing the as- 
 tounded flunkey by the collar the excited nobleman 
 
 282
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 \ 
 
 shook him violently. The man, who could have taken 
 up his lordship, burly as he was, in one hand, endured 
 the assault with stolid patience. But when all was 
 done he still blocked up the hall. Meantime Hugh had 
 caught his eye, and abstracted a gold coin from his 
 pocket. 
 
 " You have done your duty," he remarked, " and 
 shall be held blameless, on my honour." 
 
 The man sighed and took the coin. 
 
 " As your lordship forced me from the doors with 
 violence," he said meekly, " there is no help for it. 
 The fifth, sir, on the left." 
 
 He whispered the last words in Hugh's ear and 
 stood aside. 
 
 Lord Tottenham mopped his forehead. " Gad, 
 what a haystack ! " he said, hurrying on. " Yet sharp, 
 withal. He took my meaning perfectly." 
 
 Hugh thought that this was fortunate for his lord- 
 ship's bones, but he did not say so. 
 
 They reached the door indicated, and Lord Totten- 
 ham knocked sharply. There was no response. They 
 looked at each other for a moment. Then Lord Tot- 
 tenham, who was several shades paler than usual, 
 grimly set his teeth. 
 
 " We must see her with the princess, and at once." 
 
 And, opening the door, he led the way, and Hugh 
 found himself in the presence of royalty for the sec- 
 ond time. 
 
 The room was occupied by the princess and Lady 
 Sarah, playing cards, and by Prince George snoring 
 in an arm-chair. Neither of the ladies took any notice 
 of the intruders, so intent were they upon their game. 
 The princess lay on her couch, the countess sat on a 
 low chair opposite, the card-table between them. 
 Cards was the one taste they had in common. As to 
 19 283
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 the winnings, the Lady Sarah often said that in all 
 games of hazard she had wonderful good fortune, and 
 this, in the games she played with Anne, was strictly 
 true. 
 
 Lord Tottenham coughed vigorously. 
 
 " Your Highness," he said with a low bow, speak- 
 ing hurriedly, " I make no apology for this graceless 
 interruption. I know that with your Highness the 
 welfare of your friends come before all etiquette. The 
 Earl of Marlborough, madam, has this evening been 
 seized and thrown into the Tower." 
 
 A flutter of cards, a jingle of coins, and a crash. 
 Lady Sarah, springing to her feet, had upset the table, 
 and sent everything upon it flying far and wide. 
 
 " Oh dear, my lord ! " cried the princess helplessly. 
 " Oh dear, dear. This is bitter news. May Heaven 
 protect the poor man " adding to herself " and my 
 hand the best this evening ! Oh dear, oh dear ! " 
 
 But she was sincerely grieved, and the tears 
 coursed down her cheeks. 
 
 Lady Sarah stood upright and rigid, and between 
 her parted lips Hugh could see the white strong teeth. 
 
 " My lord in the Tower? " she said slowly. " That 
 must have been ordered by the Queen's Privy Council, 
 of which my Lord Tottenham is a distinguished mem- 
 ber." 
 
 " Had I been there," he answered shortly, " this 
 would not have been done ; your ladyship knows that." 
 
 " Then if it is not the Council " 
 
 " It is at the instance of Karl Brownker, whom 
 your ladyship has so often invited to your house." 
 
 He had been driven beyond prudence by her taunt, 
 and lashed out regardlessly. But Lady Sarah scarcely 
 noticed his retort. 
 
 " Brownker," she said. " Ay, the man whom this 
 284
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 gentleman," turning suddenly on Hugh, "has lately 
 called his friend." 
 
 This was a flank attack with a vengeance, but Lord 
 Tottenham was equal to it. 
 
 " Mr. Montgomery, madam, has come here by my 
 lord's particular desire to break this news to you. I 
 have come with him to aid you to obtain an order from 
 the Secretary of State for a permit to visit the Tower." 
 
 The countess stopped him with a quick imperious 
 gesture. 
 
 " Indeed, I will ask no favour of my Lords of Not- 
 tingham or Sydney, who signed the warrant for my 
 husband's apprehension nor of any man who admits 
 an intimacy with such villains." 
 
 " Then Gad's life, madam," thundered the earl, los- 
 ing all patience, " what will you do ? With your 
 lord in prison, it is a strange time to cast insult in the 
 face of his best friends." 
 
 " A true friend, my lord," rejoined the countess 
 sharply, " would have been at work to release my hus- 
 band, rather than wait upon his wife to offer what she 
 can be a-doing for herself. Give me proof that you 
 have ventured anything to save the earl from this, and 
 I will kiss your hand. But you have done nothing 
 nothing. While this soldier here, who once professed 
 so much regard for my lord, has been in close league 
 with his bitterest enemy." 
 
 " Your ladyship wrongs him," cried Lord Totten- 
 ham. " I will not have it said " 
 
 Lady Sarah stared at him haughtily. 
 
 " You will not what ? My life ! if I had time I 
 would so deal with both of ye ; but I want your news. 
 Now, sir soldier, tell me quickly, and her Highness 
 here, on what pretence was my Lord Marlborough ar- 
 rested? Speak out, unless you be afraid of women." 
 
 285
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " My lord is accused of treason," Hugh said in a 
 low voice. " A paper has been found with his name 
 upon it, threatening the person of her Majesty the 
 Queen." 
 
 " In which paper Master Hugh Montgomery be- 
 lieves as in the Gospel." 
 
 She hissed the words out between her teeth. Hugh 
 realized now, with an internal shudder, the full sig- 
 nificance of Lord Tottenham's warning. 
 
 " I believe nothing," he replied, " until it is well 
 proved. I trust with all my soul to see this Associa- 
 tion shown to be a forgery." 
 
 " But until we prove it so, my husband in your 
 mind is convicted of the crime ? " 
 
 Hugh's blood began to rise. 
 
 " I have not said that, madam, nor do I think it." 
 
 " Tell me what you think." 
 
 " I must be excused of that." 
 
 " But I will not excuse you. What ! " she 
 stamped her foot again, and her face became convulsed 
 with rage " you, who have pretended the devotion to 
 my husband men give only their dearest friends ; who 
 have made free with his house and all within his house, 
 now dare to mouth before my face the foul and cursed 
 lies invented by his enemies, and then, forsooth, beg to 
 be excused! False-tongued, shallow-hearted, tool of 
 villains cleverer than yourself. You are a very Judas, 
 and if this house were mine I'd have you thrown into 
 the street. Viperous cur! Out of my sight, or I do 
 you mischief out of my sight ! " 
 
 Her voice rose to a shriek, her fingers twitched, her 
 eyes were glaring, and her teeth bared. Lord Tot- 
 tenham, who knew her well, thought Hugh in physical 
 danger, and tried to step between them. But if the 
 tiger was roused in Lady Sarah by the danger to her 
 
 286
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 husband and her suspicions of every one connected with 
 the King, the lion was roused in Hugh by her injustice. 
 He faced her resolutely, and then bowed low to Anne. 
 
 " Your Highness, this is your house. Must I leave 
 it without a word in my defence ? " 
 
 " Begone ! " screamed the countess before Anne 
 could reply, " you have hunted my husband to his 
 death ; I'll swear it. Dog ! " 
 
 " My dear my dear ! " 
 
 Anne's voice was mild as the cooing of a dove, but 
 it seemed to rouse the countess to fresh passion. 
 
 " What ! Your Highness takes his part, then ? " 
 
 " I wish to say, my dear," the princess said, more 
 mildly than before, " that the young man must not go 
 until " 
 
 " Then, madam, I will pack myself." 
 
 " I am sure, my dear," remonstrated Anne, " you 
 misjudge this gentleman." 
 
 The countess now looked so dangerous that good 
 Prince George, who never trusted her, opposed his 
 great bulky person between the fury and his wife. 
 But Anne, though a timid woman naturally, had been 
 touched by Hugh's appeal. She had heard of him as a 
 brave man and as an ardent lover of Isabel, a favourite 
 of hers. Lastly, her obstinacy was now aroused. 
 
 " My dear," she said, with mild persistence, " the 
 young man must not go until he has been heard in his 
 own defence." 
 
 " He shall not speak in my presence. He shall 
 never enter my house again," the countess cried. " By 
 our friendship, madam, and my faithful service, and 
 your love for me, send him a-packing now." 
 
 There was appeal in her voice at last. If it had been 
 there earlier Hugh might have lost a powerful friend, 
 but it was too late. Anne's mind was set. 
 
 287
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I say he must be heard, my dear, in his own de- 
 fence." 
 
 " Then you may listen to him, madam, alone," the 
 countess cried, " while I endeavour what my lord's 
 friends daren't attempt. Lord Tottenham, lend me 
 your chair and take me this instant to Lord Notting- 
 ham's." 
 
 Lord Tottenham bowed and offered his arm. Anne 
 gave a little sigh of relief. 
 
 " God-speed to you, my dear, but be not too long 
 away." 
 
 " Lord 'a' mercy, madam," cried her ladyship tart- 
 ly. " I know not when I shall be back, but for sure you 
 cannot miss me, when I leave behind so gallant and 
 so personable a substitute. La ! He'd be here long 
 enough if the prince would let him." 
 
 And with a coarse laugh she laid her hand on Lord 
 Tottenham's arm and hurried away. 
 
 " Quite a she-devil," observed Prince George. 
 " Oh, a very devil." 
 
 The princess patted him on the arm in a motherly 
 way. 
 
 " Quiet, George, quiet. Learn politer English be- 
 fore you try to speak it. It is but Sarah's way. 
 Now, sir," to Hugh, " you must go. Nay " as Hugh 
 would have spoken " pray, not a word. I am con- 
 vinced you are a true friend to my Lord Marlborough, 
 whom God protect, the poor man ! Stay, I would ask 
 you something. Isabel Fretchville, my lord's lady 
 steward, is a sweet witch of a maid. On your hon- 
 our as a gentleman, do you still hanker after her for 
 wife?" 
 
 This artless inquiry much astonished Hugh, but he 
 had presence of mind enough not to shirk it. 
 
 " It is my dearest wish, your Highness, though, in- 
 288
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 deed " he sighed as he thought of Maryborough in 
 the Tower and her ladyship estranged " indeed, I 
 have small chance now." 
 
 " Chut, sir," cried the princess, her face brighten- 
 ing in her interest and enjoyment of a sentimental situ- 
 ation. " If the maid is willing, your courage, an' you 
 have it, should do all the rest." 
 
 Hugh kept a watchful eye upon the princess. 
 
 " Your Highness has not heard, perhaps, that I 
 spoke once, and then she was not willing." 
 
 Anne smiled very knowingly, and beckoned with 
 a fat forefinger. 
 
 " A word in your ear, young man. Speak to her 
 again, or, if you do not speak, at least lose no time in 
 seeing her and letting her see you, and that your mind 
 has not changed. I may not tell you more, and my 
 dear Mrs. Freeman would choke with rage that I have 
 said this much. But I know what I know. No thanks. 
 Be off, sir, and be a man." 
 
 She gave Hugh her hand to kiss, and then dis- 
 missed him. 
 
 When he had gone the princess leaned back on the 
 couch wearily and took her husband's hand. He knelt 
 by the couch and put his arm about her, and she rested 
 her head upon his shoulder. 
 
 " That is a brave young man, George, and honest." 
 
 " I likes him." 
 
 " I have wished a many times," Anne went on, 
 " that I might find a way of paying Isabel for her good 
 care of baby. You mind when he was ill how devot- 
 edly she nursed him? " 
 
 " I minds well." 
 
 " My dear, I have paid her now." 
 
 George gave a doubtful grunt. 
 
 " But the countess will be very mad." 
 289
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I shall have my way, George. I always have my 
 way when I am sure. And now I am quite sure." 
 Her eyes filled with tears, and, drawing his face down 
 to hers, she kissed him. " My dear, your poor Anne 
 has all the troubles in the world to bear, but she can 
 bear them, for she is blessed with a husband she can 
 trust. That is God's best gift to any woman. Sarah 
 may rage her fill, but Isabel shall have the man she 
 loves, for baby's sake." 
 
 290
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 HUGH left Berkeley House a new man. He had 
 gone there weighed down in mind and body by the 
 calamity of Marlborough's arrest, and the dark uncer- 
 tainty beyond it. He went away to his own house at 
 Westminster treading on air. He was beloved ! 
 
 Hugh was not an imaginative person, and when his 
 feelings were too many for him they found expression 
 in hard physical exercise. Therefore he rode home at 
 the fastest pace the darkness of the way allowed, and 
 burst into his house with a rush. His mind was full of 
 the inspiriting recollection that he had just added to his 
 possessions one of the finest horses money could buy, 
 and the calculation that if he started at dawn to St. 
 Albans he could arrive at Hollywell House soon after 
 breakfast. But a servant now intercepted him with 
 some intelligence, and the world changed again Karl 
 Brownker was waiting for him upstairs. Hugh felt 
 like some horse which, having been let loose upon 
 turf, is suddenly checked by a jaw-breaking bit and 
 thrown on its haunches. With difficulty he restrained 
 an expression of something worse than annoyance. 
 But he pulled himself together, and after a moment's 
 thought ordered supper to be spread and two bottles 
 of wine uncorked. 
 
 He met Brownker with as much cordiality as he 
 could manufacture at such short notice, and entered 
 into an account of his visit to the Lady Sarah. It was 
 
 291
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 a true account, so far as it went, but then it did not 
 go far. Lord Tottenham's presence was not men- 
 tioned, nor Lady Sarah's hurried departure to the Sec- 
 retary of State, least of all the private words with the 
 Princess Anne. This made the story very short, but 
 Karl thanked Hugh cordially for his information, and 
 neither by glance nor word betrayed the fact that hav- 
 ing come from Berkeley House himself by a much 
 shorter way than Hugh, after a conversation with a 
 trusty servant there, he knew most of it before, in- 
 cluding that which Hugh had left out. 
 
 Karl stayed to supper, and did fullest justice to it, 
 and for some time studiously avoided the least mention 
 of Marlborough. All this time Hugh's thoughts were 
 very busy about his guest. What had he come about 
 to-night? More, surely, than to hear news of Lady 
 Marlborough. There was observable in his manner a 
 frankness and cordiality which Hugh, whose suspicions 
 had been seriously aroused lately as to the good faith 
 of the King's Agent in any part of the transaction con- 
 cerning Marlborough, viewed with extreme distrust. 
 But, for once, Hugh did not express this feeling out- 
 wardly, at least at first. He had determined, as soon 
 as he heard of Brownker's arrival, to adopt so far as 
 in him lay the man's own weapons. Meanwhile, 
 Mr. Brownker seemed to enjoy his fare and his com- 
 pany, and the second bottle of wine was half gone 
 before, breaking a pause in a conversation about the 
 threatened invasion from France, he suddenly leaned 
 across the table with a curious smile, and raised his 
 glass. 
 
 " A toast, Montgomery, in bumpers. Our friend- 
 ship may it last till death." 
 
 This move, as Brownker intended, broke down all 
 Hugh's diplomatic reserve. 
 
 292
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " No," he said shortly. " I cannot ; that would be 
 drinking to a lie." 
 
 Brownker coolly held up his glass to the light. 
 
 "You think our friendship, then, a lie?" 
 
 " It is not worth the name now." 
 
 " There I differ with you," and bowing, he drained 
 his glass. " Pray, more," holding it out. " I thank 
 you. Your wine, like your honesty, friend, has not its 
 fellow in the town." 
 
 Hugh filled up the glass in silence. 
 
 " Come, now," Brownker said cheerfully, his face 
 all smiles and good-humour. " This will never do. 
 Let me tell you your thoughts, man. ' This Brown- 
 ker,' say you to yourself, ' is a most pestilent person, 
 and I am weary of him. He has made use of me for 
 his ends, while pretending the advancement of my 
 own. He brought me to the King as if to give me 
 opportunity, then found one for himself. Last of all 
 and worst pretending zeal for justice, he has drawn 
 Marlborough into a snare by a woman's wile, and will 
 now undo him by fair means or foul.' Is that not a 
 true interpretation of your thoughts ? " 
 
 " You interpret very well," Hugh said grimly, " if 
 I must speak the truth." 
 
 " You must," Brownker said with a laugh, " and 
 so, for once, must I." 
 
 He became grave now, and had he been any other 
 man Hugh would have said he was in earnest. 
 
 " I am what you suppose," he said, " in some re- 
 spects. I have used you, and for a purpose, and I have 
 come here to confess to it. But my purpose is not 
 Marlborough's destruction and has never been." He 
 paused to sip his wine and the earnestness in his face 
 deepened. " My purpose, Montgomery, is to marry 
 Isabel Fretchville myself." 
 
 293
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Hugh gave a start, but immediately recovered 
 himself. 
 
 " Then what you said before we saw the King " 
 
 " That was a lie deliberately told. This the truth 
 deliberately told." 
 
 " But with the same purpose to deceive me." 
 
 " I am, I say, telling the truth." 
 
 " You expect me to believe you ? " 
 
 " Yes, because, if you think a little, you 
 must see I could have no motive in inventing such 
 a lie." 
 
 " I have yet to discover what your motive is." 
 
 " It is not far to seek, friend." 
 
 " Friend ! " Hugh exclaimed between his teeth. 
 " How you make a mock of truth at every turn ! " 
 
 Brownker smiled an amused smile. " Recollect I 
 said only till death." 
 
 Hugh's face became rigid and colourless. 
 
 " What ! " he said slowly. " It is, then, to be the 
 Hampstead fields again ? " 
 
 " If it is your wish. It is not mine." 
 
 " You lie ! " cried Hugh fiercely. " Why, it is the 
 shortest way, the easiest, and the surest for your pur- 
 pose." 
 
 Brownker stifled a yawn. 
 
 " My dear Montgomery, I prophesied once that 
 with a little practice and instruction you could kill me. 
 You have since practised, and you have been well 
 taught. I should have no advantage now. For that 
 reason, if you insist, I cannot refuse to meet you, but, 
 as the choice of weapons would thus lie with me, I 
 warn you I shall choose small swords blunted at the 
 point." 
 
 He spoke as if the matter bored him exceedingly, 
 but Hugh, whose faculties were keenly alert this even- 
 
 294
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ing, detected something beneath this indifference, 
 something which gave him a curious shock. 
 
 " You mean, then," he said in a lower tone, " that 
 you will not fight me to the death ? " 
 
 Brownker shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " I have a reputation to uphold for mendacity, it 
 seems, so I leave you to decide." 
 
 The table creaked and shook, and the glasses on it 
 trembled. Hugh had risen, and now stood close by his 
 guest's chair. 
 
 " Brownker, I will have the truth of this, and your 
 full meaning. You say you would marry Isabel ? " 
 
 " If my wit can manage it." 
 
 " It has always been your purpose ? " 
 
 Brownker paused a moment. 
 
 " It has been my purpose since I first knew you." 
 
 " You are a man who has fought a dozen duels for 
 women, and have always killed your enemy." 
 
 " I have had that good fortune now and then." 
 
 " Then why, in God's name, did you not kill me 
 when you had me in your power ? " 
 
 There was a long silence before Brownker replied. 
 
 " It would not have been to my advantage then," 
 he said at last very coldly. " Since " he paused, meet- 
 ing Hugh's eager eyes with a long, steady glance " it 
 happens that my mind is changed in certain ways. If 
 to kill you meant even that I should wed her within 
 four-and-twenty hours, it is no mock at truth to say I 
 should decline the honour of her hand." 
 
 Another silence lasting half a minute and Hugh 
 heaved a deep sigh. 
 
 " I have misjudged again," he said thickly. " 'Fore 
 God, Brownker, I have done you wrong." 
 
 He held out his hand, and the other gripped it. 
 
 " No man but you would say that," was the reply 
 295
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 in a low tone. " Gad, Montgomery " he dropped the 
 hand and turned away with a queer, dry laugh " why 
 is it that, in spite of all our differences, though we have 
 hated, fought, and lied against each other, and shall 
 again, yet we clasp hands. I spoke the truth when I 
 said that we were friends." 
 
 " You spoke the truth." But the words were 
 spoken in a troubled tone. 
 
 Karl noticed it. " But you ask why ? I will tell 
 you, friend. This is the last time we shall meet in pri- 
 vate until she takes one of us for better or for worse. 
 To-morrow you go to Holland to convey despatches to 
 the King, and plead for Maryborough's life." 
 
 He paused to smile as Hugh's face suddenly fell. 
 
 " I mean to-morrow night," he added. " Such a 
 rider as yourself can do a journey to St. Albans and re- 
 turn within eight hours. Time enough for you to be be- 
 trothed, if she is willing, in between. Pish ! " as Hugh 
 uttered an exclamation of amazement. " Have I made 
 intelligencing my especial business for so many years 
 to be hoodwinked by you when more than my life de- 
 pends on it? I know all that passed to-night, and all 
 you intend doing to-morrow." 
 
 " Then you are the very devil, Karl." Hugh smiled 
 as he called him by name, and they both laughed. 
 
 " You honour my poor wit too much, I fear. But 
 that is to be seen. I cannot prevent your journey to 
 St. Albans, nor the appeal to William. All I can do 
 is to use them, if I may, to help myself, unless, in- 
 deed, you prefer that I should go to Holland in your 
 place." 
 
 Hugh's face changed at once. 
 
 " God forbid ! " he cried, then stopped. " Stay, I 
 am sorry " 
 
 Brownker took snuff. 
 
 296
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " My friend, we understand each other." 
 
 " I do not know that yet." 
 
 Brownker took up his hat and sword. " You will 
 when you have thought it out, and I will go now to 
 give you opportunity. We meet to-morrow night, 
 then, at my house. The despatches for the King will 
 be open for your reading, and you will have audience 
 with him when and where you please. He is easier to 
 see in Holland than in London, and he likes you I 
 will tell you that. Further, you are to see Isabel first, 
 and if the words of the princess have any truth in them 
 you should see her to some purpose. Is all this clear ? 
 Are the cards upon the table? Or have you still a 
 question you would ask ? " 
 
 " A dozen questions," Hugh said bluntly. " You 
 have shown me cards, ay, but what others are there in 
 your hand " 
 
 "Hold, hold!" Brownker exclaimed. "That is 
 enough. Why have I opened my mouth ? " His man- 
 ner changed. The smile left his face left it cold and 
 stern. " Because this struggle that is now to come be- 
 tween us shall be in the open, Hugh. The thought that 
 I would tell you this came to me in the cellar yonder, 
 when Marlborough cast his net about your shoulders 
 and drew you from me. I have scorned you as a fool. 
 I do not now. You are a man worth winning, friend. 
 But our hearts' desire lies in this girl, so we must plan 
 to trip each other up. Yet, for the sake of that friend- 
 ship which will last through all I have spoken now, 
 remember, I do not desire Marlborough's death, but 
 Isabel to wife. Now I must go." 
 
 He took a quick step forward, and they gripped 
 hands again. 
 
 " A good ride to you, my friend." 
 
 He spoke in the old tone, cynical and dry. " And a 
 297
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 kind reception! But meet me at eight of the clock 
 equipped for Holland." 
 
 He went out and closed the door carefully after 
 himself. On the stair Hugh's servants watched him 
 narrowly, and as the hall door closed they shook their 
 heads and agreed when they compared notes that a 
 face more sinister than this Agent's they had never 
 seen. 
 
 298
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 HUGH was tired out after the labour and excitement 
 of the day, but instead of going to bed upon Brown- 
 ker's departure, he paced his room until the can- 
 dles grew low in their sockets, and it was past mid- 
 night. 
 
 The idea of going to The Hague with the news 
 of Marlborough's arrest and personally pleading for 
 Marlborough's life had not occurred to him until 
 Brownker suggested it, but once in his mind the no- 
 tion refused to go. In vain did he rack his brain to 
 discover a reason why he should not leave England. 
 There was none except the possibility that Karl would 
 make use of his rival's absence to force his own suit 
 upon Isabel. But this could be easily prevented by a 
 word to Lord Tottenham. Besides which, Hugh did 
 not believe in such a possibility. The air was clear 
 now, the challenge thrown down. Poor Brownker! 
 Hugh, flushed with the hope given him by Anne, could 
 afford to pity his rival. Yet he was deadly, and was 
 fighting for his life. Hugh's nerves were on edge with 
 overfatigue, his brain throbbing. Grim forebodings 
 began to chill him to the soul. He must go to William, 
 then, but what plea was he to make for Marlbor- 
 ough ? Lord Tottenham might swear that he had first 
 heard news of the invasion from the earl, and that by 
 this warning Marlborough had saved the country, but 
 this would avail little against the Association with Marl- 
 20 299
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 borough's name upon it, and the letter to him signed 
 by James. 
 
 In fact, was not Marlborough really guilty, after 
 all? And if so, what was to be said to Isabel, who 
 would believe to her dying day that Marlborough was 
 innocent? This problem depressed Hugh more than 
 any other yet. But he must do his best, in any case. 
 Plead for a full and open trial for Marlborough, beg 
 for time to test every shred of evidence, and, if possi- 
 ble, persuade the King that it was a woman, not high 
 treason, that was at the bottom of it all. 
 
 Having arrived at this conclusion, Hugh made up 
 his mind to go to bed, and had stooped to extinguish 
 the candles when he heard the violent ringing of a bell. 
 Such a sound at the dead of night is always ominous. 
 In Hugh's present condition of nerves it brought him 
 to the door and out into the passage in a moment. 
 There he heard his servant unbarring the hall door, 
 and going downstairs, found him holding a candle, 
 under the light of which was Marie's face, pale, eager, 
 imperative. 
 
 " I will not be denied," she was saying. " I am Mr. 
 Montgomery's cousin." 
 
 This statement was not at all convincing to Pirn, 
 the butler, an old soldier in Hugh's company, but hear- 
 ing his master behind him he stood stiffly aside, upon 
 which Marie swept in like a whirlwind. 
 
 " I have come on a matter, Hugh," she cried, " that 
 admits of no delay. I am on my way to France." 
 
 Hugh bowed, without pretence of welcome. 
 
 " To-morrow morning " he began. 
 
 " I shall be at Dover. You must take me in to- 
 night, and give me food, and listen to me. Quick, tell 
 your man. Ah, there is Patrick. Pat, close the door." 
 
 At her word the door was slammed with a mighty 
 300
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 bang, and Patrick, looking truly enormous in a huge 
 riding-coat with a heavy cape, placed his back against 
 it with a nod which made Pirn tingle all over. Hugh's 
 face darkened, and with a smothered exclamation he 
 w.as about to give Pirn an order which would have had 
 serious results when Marie laid both hands upon his 
 arm. 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, help me, Hugh for Isabel's 
 sake, listen to what I have to say." 
 
 The name made him pause. Then he shook his 
 head. " I will not listen here," he said. " I will not 
 have you within my house five minutes. Go back to 
 Chelsea, and at the earliest hour you please after day- 
 light I am at your service." 
 
 Marie stamped her foot. 
 
 " You fool ! What ! you will ruin yourself and 
 bring misery upon all you love for the sake of a punc- 
 tilio, a prudish, craven fear of what the world may say 
 and you call yourself a man ? " 
 
 There were now steps outside and the tramp of feet 
 in the road. At this sound Marie shrank up to Hugh 
 with terror in her eyes. 
 
 " I have been followed, pursued. Hugh, protect 
 me hide me away somewhere. You will not give 
 me up." 
 
 A violent knocking at the door. Hugh pointed up 
 the stairs. 
 
 " Go to the first landing. No one will follow." She 
 obeyed swiftly. " You, sirrah," Hugh added to Pat, 
 " follow your mistress." Then, as the man gave a long- 
 ing glance at the door and clenched his fists, " Nay, 
 friend, get you out of sight, for they will recognise 
 you. Pim, open when I give word, but not before." 
 
 On the wall were hanging two heavy cavalry 
 swords. These Hugh took down, giving one to his 
 
 301
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 servant and feeling the edge of the other himself. 
 Meanwhile the knocking continued without intermis- 
 sion, and brought all the servants from their beds. At 
 sight of the swords the women screamed and ran away, 
 while the men, scarcely less frightened, hung about the 
 hall sheepishly in corners. Hugh made a sign to Pirn, 
 the door was opened wide, and in walked Lord Tot- 
 tenham. 
 
 At sight of the bare steel and the grim faces his 
 lordship stared in open-mouthed surprise. Then he 
 burst out laughing. 
 
 " By Gad, do ye take me for the French ? " 
 
 " Not quite, my lord," Hugh answered, joining in 
 the laugh. " But I thought you were an enemy." 
 
 All was bustle now, and whispering and smothered 
 laughter in the servants' quarter, for my lord had come 
 in his chair with an escort. Hugh ordered suitable 
 refreshment for the men and took the earl upstairs. 
 Nevertheless Hugh was very much put out at this in- 
 vasion. 
 
 " I have a visitor," he said abruptly, making no 
 reply to a few words from my lord explaining his rea- 
 son for making a call at such an hour. " My cousin." 
 
 He had no time to say more, for Marie herself ap- 
 peared in the doorway. She had thrown off her cloak, 
 hat, and gloves. Her hair was dishevelled with riding, 
 her face flushed with excitement, in consequence of 
 which she looked prettier than usual and particularly 
 mischievous. Lord Tottenham at this vision in a 
 bachelor's quarters bowed with a wicked smile. 
 
 " Gad's life, I could sink with confusion," he cried, 
 " to intrude upon a friend at such a time. No wonder 
 swords were out of sheath, and your face murderous, 
 Hugh. 'Oddsbub, I will depart this instant ho, ho, 
 ho!" 
 
 302
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He had been laughing internally from the first 
 glimpse of Marie's face, but had maintained a decent 
 appearance of gravity while speaking; now he broke 
 down and burst out into a long guffaw. Hugh was 
 highly annoyed, for he foresaw an unending series of 
 broad jests at his expense. Moreover, inevitably as the 
 incident had come about, it was not very easy to ex- 
 plain ; yet he could not help joining in the laugh against 
 himself, while Marie, shooting coquettish glances at 
 the earl, seemed the merriest of all. Yet she spoke 
 first. 
 
 " This cousin of mine, my lord," she said, " is so 
 brave that he risks not only life for my protection, but 
 a most precious reputation." 
 
 She spoke bitterly, for with a true instinct she di- 
 vined all that Hugh thought of her and hated him for 
 it. The earl laughed again. 
 
 " Reputation ! Ton my life, my fair mistress, he 
 has none, not a shred. Gad, I can assure you there's 
 not a man in town that is a greater prude. But your 
 friendship I beg pardon, cousinship, I think you 
 called it has broke the spell once and for all. Ha, 
 ha, ha!" 
 
 At this speech Hugh's lips tightened. The matter 
 had ceased to be a joke. 
 
 " I did not know, my lord, that you would need 
 an introduction to this lady," he said stiffly. " Mis- 
 tress Marie Montgomery is the only child of my 
 father's brother Sir Charles. I thought that you had 
 met." 
 
 At Marie's name Lord Tottenham's manner under- 
 went a remarkable change. 
 
 " Indeed, we have not met," he made a stiff, formal 
 obeisance. " I am your servant, madam." 
 
 His eyes were cold now. He gave Marie a keen 
 303
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 glance which she found it hard to meet. Her colour 
 rose, and she turned haughtily to Hugh. 
 
 " His lordship has doubtless come to see you 
 upon business. Perhaps he will allow me to do 
 mine first, as I have to start withL. two hours for 
 France." 
 
 Lord Tottenham bit his lip, and with another bow 
 was about to leave the room, when he was arrested by_ 
 Hugh's answer : 
 
 " If your business concerns the Earl of Marlbor- 
 ough, as I think it does, it must be done in my lord's 
 presence." 
 
 Marie nervously twisted her fingers. 
 
 " I prefer I insist, that we shall be alone." 
 
 " His lordship is the earl's nearest friend." 
 
 " Do not forget," Lord Tottenham said dryly, " I 
 am his wife's as well." 
 
 Marie writhed under the glance he gave her, but 
 she met it bravely. 
 
 " I have naught to say," she said defiantly, " think 
 what you please, that could not be said before her lady- 
 ship herself." 
 
 " In that case, my dear madam," he rejoined in a 
 gentler tone, " there is nothing you need fear. Come, 
 come, you may trust me, on my honour." 
 
 He spoke in a kindly, reassuring tone. 
 
 " Take counsel with us both. The truth is I love 
 Lord Marlborough, and I believed you had tempted 
 him to treason. I may be unjust." 
 
 " You are bitterly, horribly unjust." 
 
 " Prove that, and help my boy here to save his 
 life, and then ask what you will of Ned Tottenham. 
 Gad's life, madam, if you have an ounce of regard 
 for that poor friend of mine who once befriended you, 
 you will not look askance at me." 
 
 304
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Her eyes became dim with tears. " I would give 
 my life for his," she cried, " and my life's blood, drop 
 by drop. This is the reason why I am here now." 
 
 The words came as if wrung out by a force she 
 could not resist ; then she broke down, buried her face 
 in her hands, and sobbed aloud. 
 
 Lord Tottenham made a quick sign to Hugh to 
 leave the room and pointed to the candles, the last of 
 which was just burning itself out. When Hugh came 
 back bringing fresh lights himself he found Marie fully 
 recovered, and talking fast and eagerly. At Hugh's 
 entrance Lord Tottenham interrupted her. 
 
 " That is what I want, just what I want," he said. 
 " But it must be writ down and signed. Hugh, fetch 
 pen and paper. You must be my secretary now, and 
 write this statement, which shall be laid before the 
 House of Lords." 
 
 Marie began to look frightened. 
 
 " I dare not go before the House of Lords. I 
 should surely die of fright." 
 
 Lord Tottenham did not appear to hear her. He 
 was examining the point of the quill pen Hugh had laid 
 on the table. 
 
 " The House of Lords," he repeated absently. 
 " Ay, and at notice of your attendance there, dear 
 madam, it will for sure be full to overflowing." 
 
 Marie raised her head, and instinctively smoothed 
 back her hair. 
 
 " All to see and hear a poor girl speak against the 
 Agent of the King. Surely not." 
 
 " A woman who is brave enough to face Karl 
 Brownker," Lord Tottenham went on in the same 
 absent tone, " will attract and win the hearts of every 
 man at Westminster. But if you are afraid " 
 
 Marie laughed and shook her head. 
 305
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I am not the least afraid. I am ready to begin, 
 my lord." 
 
 Hugh had collected writing materials, and seated 
 himself obedient to the earl's instructions. But his 
 face, Lord Tottenham perceived, expressed doubts and 
 questions which should be set at rest. 
 
 " The fact is, Mr. Secretary," he said in a cheerful 
 tone, " while you obtained your candles I obtained 
 your fair cousin's confidence. You know that I have 
 been certain from the first my Lord Marlborough was 
 the victim of a plot. That plot our madam here will 
 now unfold, and you must write it down. It is what 
 the lawyers call a deposition, and as such will go be- 
 fore the House of Lords ay, and the Queen herself. 
 I am a justice of the peace, and can make the paper 
 legal evidence ; and our mistress being your cousin " 
 here Lord Tottenham's cheerfulness was such that he 
 even paused to chuckle " or at least so she leads us to 
 believe, cannot but speak the truth, and further, she 
 will take oath upon it all. Madam, we are ready. Pray 
 begin." 
 
 306
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 MARIE'S statement was delivered, signed, and 
 sealed in two hours. All that pertained to the secret in- 
 structions of Karl Brownker, to the decoying of Marl- 
 borough to Chelsea, the production of the forged docu- 
 ments the Association and the letter from James 
 to Marlborough was put down, and sworn to, to- 
 gether with a reasonably truthful account of Marlbor- 
 ough's last visit to herself and his rejection of the pro- 
 posal to go to France. 
 
 It was a telling and circumstantial story, and Lord 
 Tottenham, ever sanguine, was confident that with 
 proper manipulation he could knock the bottom out of 
 any evidence Brownker could produce. 
 
 The servants were then roused up, and Marie was 
 sent home to Chelsea under a strong escort, with writ- 
 ten orders from Lord Tottenham, in his capacity of a 
 justice of the peace, to appear before the Secretary of 
 State next day. This would prevent any danger of 
 Brownker attempting by illegal method or intimida- 
 tion to get possession of her person, and stifle her evi- 
 dence. 
 
 " What I cannot understand," his lordship said, as 
 he sat down with Hugh to eat the remains of the last 
 night's supper, for sleep was out of the question, " is 
 the motive of this accursed villain for hunting Marl- 
 borough into such a hole. It must be that William has 
 such devilish spite against Jack that he will stick at 
 
 307
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 nothing, and that Brownker is promised some particu- 
 lar bounty if he compasses the deed. Yet that is not 
 like William, nor, to give him justice, your old enemy. 
 No ! " and the earl thumped the table, in his earnest- 
 ness, until the glasses rang. " No, by Gad ! There is 
 something behind it all. We have not plumbed him 
 yet." 
 
 Hugh said nothing. He knew the answer to the 
 question, but felt it better not to give it at least until 
 he had seen Isabel, of whom his mind was full. After 
 consideration, however, he told the earl of his pro- 
 posed expedition to St. Albans. Lord Tottenham 
 grumbled. 
 
 " Business should come first. If you delay your 
 journey to William but one day," he said, " by 
 Gad, you may find Brownker has struck first, and 
 the King's mind closed against any argument or rea- 
 son." 
 
 " But I am to convey a full report, which is open 
 for my perusal, and to which I can make additions." 
 
 " Pish ! How about the private report, which you 
 will not peruse? It is my thought you should reach 
 William before he can get that. But maybe 'tis all 
 the same, and who can blame a man for going to his 
 maid ; not I, i' faith ! What ! your horse is ready 
 now ? " 
 
 They heard it on the pavement beneath the win- 
 dow, and Hugh rose, though his breakfast was not half 
 eaten. 
 
 " I shall be back to-night," he said. " You will see 
 Brownker, my lord, touching my cousin? " 
 
 Lord Tottenham laughed. 
 
 " Oh, ay. I will see him. But mark me, his nose 
 will be on the scent, no matter what I say. You fear 
 that?" 
 
 308
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I fear nothing," Hugh said, wringing the earl's 
 hand, " if what her Highness said proves true." 
 
 He swung off down the stairs, and was upon his 
 horse almost before Lord Tottenham had time to 
 draw up the window-blind. A wave of the hand, and 
 with a mighty clatter of hoofs on the stones, Hugh's 
 impatient horse swept round the corner, and Lord Tot- 
 tenham, with a smile and a sigh, sat down again and 
 finished his breakfast. 
 
 He had not told Hugh of his adventures last night. 
 How he had found the Secretary of State obdurate to 
 every plea to grant Lady Sarah permission to see her 
 husband, which had sent that unfortunate lady back 
 to Berkeley House frantic with rage and anxiety; 
 how, after her departure, Lord Nottingham said that 
 he had received the strictest orders from the Queen 
 herself to admit no one to the Tower, and until this 
 instruction was countermanded could issue no permit 
 at all ; how the whole country was in a panic over the 
 invasion, and popular feeling ran so high that if Marl- 
 borough were tried immediately he would have a very 
 slender chance of escaping with his life. All this Lord 
 Tottenham had intended to tell Hugh when he invaded 
 him so unexpectedly, but Marie's presence had turned 
 his thoughts and ideas, and there had been hardly time 
 since. While his lordship finished his breakfast, how- 
 ever, he ran over in his mind all his experiences cal- 
 culated the chances and weighed the pros and cons. 
 As a result, when he went out he bent his steps, not to 
 Brownker's house, nor to the Secretary's, but to St. 
 James's Palace, and arriving there, sent an urgent ap- 
 peal to be allowed a few minutes' private audience with 
 her Majesty the Queen. This was granted, and when 
 he made his bow in the royal closet he held Marie's 
 statement open in his hand. 
 
 309
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Meanwhile Hugh pursued his way to St. Albans. 
 He rode at such a pace that the country people thought 
 the French had landed, and consternation spread far 
 and wide. At Elstree, where he stopped for a few min- 
 utes to rest his horse and refresh himself, he was be- 
 sieged by eager questions and the wildest statements. 
 The fleet had been destroyed, James had arrived at 
 Plymouth, Queen Mary was flying for her life, and last 
 and worst, to Hugh's ears the people declared that 
 Marlborough was at the bottom of it all. They knew, 
 Hugh discovered, that he was now in the Tower, and 
 though no one had the least evidence to produce in 
 support of his opinion, the impression seemed to exist 
 everywhere that he should be beheaded out of hand. 
 Hugh lost patience at last, and so vigorously pooh- 
 poohed the danger, and defended Marlborough's 
 name, that the perplexed and frightened people began 
 to suspect him of being a Jacobite himself. But no 
 one actively interfered with his movements, and he was 
 presently alone again on the St. Albans road. He rode 
 faster now. What if these rumours had reached St. 
 Albans, and Isabel, alone at Hollywell, believed them ! 
 The thought maddened Hugh. He drove in the spur 
 and flew. 
 
 Hollywell House looked dull and deserted. It was 
 noon, but no children were playing on the lawn or 
 frolicking about the drive. A bright and beautiful May 
 day, yet the windows were all closed, and over many 
 the blinds were drawn. A new fear seized Hugh. 
 The place had been deserted. He leaped from his 
 sweating horse, and rang the great bell furiously. 
 The summons was quickly answered, and the servant 
 started with surprise at what he saw. Hugh was 
 splashed with mud from head to foot, his face was hag- 
 gard and wan. 
 
 310
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 "Mistress Fretchville, John " Then he 
 
 paused, for the man laid a ringer on his lips. 
 
 " Speak soft, sir, he is asleep ! " 
 
 " Who ? What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Master Charley. You have heard ? " 
 
 " Not a word." 
 
 " Why, he sickened with a fever, nigh a week ago, 
 and they've give him up, all but the Mistress Isabel 
 she gives nothing up, God bless her. But he's a-dying 
 sure." 
 
 Hugh was in the hall now, the door shut behind 
 him. In five minutes he knew all that had happened. 
 There had been sickness in the village some obscure 
 form of malignant fever and just as Isabel had made 
 arrangements to remove all the children Charley was 
 stricken with it. The rest, with Madam Carrington 
 and all the maids, were gone to Lord Godolphin's. Isa- 
 bel herself, giving up all her work, had taken sole 
 charge of the boy. No one had seen him but herself 
 and the doctor, and this servant, John Biggs, an old 
 retainer. He told Hugh that Isabel had scarcely tasted 
 food, and not slept at all. 
 
 " The little one cries so," the old man said, tears 
 trickling down his own cheeks. " Always a-cryin', and 
 when the doctor's there he screams till I can hardly 
 hold myself." 
 
 " Doctor Burtnup is the best," Hugh began, when 
 he saw a curious expression on the butler's face. 
 
 " But it ain't Burtnup, sir, it's Sir John Horniman, 
 the great physician, and he he's different. Mistress 
 Isabel fair loathes him." 
 
 The mention of her name drew Hugh's thoughts 
 into another channel. 
 
 " I must see her, Biggs. Tell her I am here." 
 
 The man shook his head. " She'll not come till
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 after Sir John has called. The boy is crying now 
 listen!" 
 
 He pointed up the stairs, and Hugh heard a broken 
 wail that cut him to the heart, but his purpose held. 
 
 " It will be but for a moment. Go to her, and say 
 ay, you must say it the earl is in danger of his life." 
 
 The butler started. " God 'a' mercy ! What's to 
 do, sir?" 
 
 But Hugh, burning with impatience, and the irrita- 
 tion of being in a situation that crushed at a blow all 
 his hopes and anticipations, could not endure further 
 questions. 
 
 " Obey me, man, and go. I will see her, though I 
 storm the sick-room." 
 
 The man gave a deep sigh, and then trotted obedi- 
 ently away. He was bursting with curiosity, but there 
 was something in Hugh's face that would not be de- 
 nied. Hugh paced the hall. In a few moments he 
 heard a well-remembered step upon the stair. How 
 pale she looked, and sorrowful, and yet more beautiful 
 than he had ever seen her, for in her eyes, heavy and 
 weary as they were, there was an eager longing. They 
 clasped hands, and a dep sense of peace entered 
 Hugh's heart. In her distress and bitter sorrow she 
 turned to him. 
 
 " You were good to come," she said. " But how 
 hard you have ridden ! Biggs, bring wine and any- 
 thing there is into the library at once. Come there, 
 and tell me tell me all." 
 
 They went there, and though Hugh resigned her 
 hand before the servant, no sooner were they alone 
 than he claimed it again and held it fast between his 
 own. 
 
 " He is in prison ? " she said. 
 
 " For the time, but we shall presently deliver him. 
 312
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Be sure of that. I am going to Holland, to the King. 
 Lord Tottenham will raise every interest here. Have 
 no fears of the result." He believed this while he 
 spoke. 
 
 She smiled the first smile, if he had known it, that 
 had been there for many weary weeks. 
 
 " I have no fears." 
 
 " But Charley, how is he? " 
 
 " So ill." The words came in a whisper, and her 
 eyes filled with tears. " The doctor says that he must 
 die." 
 
 " You believe this doctor ? " 
 
 " He is a brute." She spoke with a slow emphasis 
 that made Hugh start. 
 
 " Why do you have him ? " 
 
 She gave a bitter sigh. " Because Charley is not 
 my child, and Sir John Horniman is directly chosen 
 by her ladyship, and my poor Burtnup forbid the 
 house. Hugh, I could kill that man." She gritted her 
 teeth. " I thought I should have done so the other 
 day." 
 
 " Tell me all about it, Isabel." 
 
 He held her hand closely, and this brought them 
 very near together. But it was Isabel's fault. Without 
 thinking of it she had called him by his name ; nor did 
 she draw away from him now, as she ought to have 
 done. 
 
 " He is careless, rude, cruel, heartless. He would 
 make the boy swallow his medicines and be bled 
 by threats and violence, and takes a pleasure in his 
 cries." 
 
 " What ! he bleeds so young a child ! " 
 
 " Each day. You will not know the manikin, he 
 is so thin and white. I protested, prayed, beseeched 
 against such treatment, then at last threw the leeches 
 
 313
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 out of window. He slunk away that day. Then sent 
 express to town, and next morning it was yesterday 
 came a letter from her ladyship which I dare not dis- 
 obey. The man has not come, but he sent word he 
 would be here this morning. Hark! There is his 
 coach. Oh, if my lord were here! I sent privily to 
 him, but what you say explains it all. He has heard 
 nothing, and now he will hear nothing, except that 
 his best-loved child is dead is dead." 
 
 She was sobbing now, the deep-drawn, heavy sobs 
 of one overwrought and overdone with sleepless 
 nights and hard work, and bitter anxiety borne all 
 alone. Hugh's heart was nearly bursting, yet his face, 
 as he stooped over her, and without word or question 
 took her in his arms and kissed her, was white and 
 rigid. 
 
 " Isabel ! Will you trust me to stand in my lord's 
 stead?" 
 
 She stopped crying, and raised her face wonder- 
 ingly, doubtfully, and Hugh saw with a curious thrill 
 that in the tense preoccupation of her thoughts she 
 was apparently unconscious of all that he had done. 
 
 " What shall you do, then ? What can you do ? " 
 
 " All that needs doing. Take me to the manikin 
 and see." 
 
 She smiled, with the content of one who has sud- 
 denly found rest and strength, and as the crushing of 
 the gravel outside announced the arrival of the doctor 
 she led the way into the hall. Biggs was just about to 
 undo the door. 
 
 " Hold, man," Hugh said, and in his tone, though 
 quiet enough, there was a ring that took away the wor- 
 thy servant's breath. " Do not open. Send to the 
 stable first. Bid two men saddle and with a spare 
 horse ride top speed to Dr. Burtnup. If he is not there 
 
 3H
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 let them follow till they find him. If he comes within 
 an hour they will earn five pounds apiece." 
 
 The old man gasped. 
 
 " But but, my lady, sir, she said " 
 
 Hugh stamped his foot. 
 
 " Obey, I tell you. And leave me to deal with her 
 ladyship. Off instantly ! " 
 
 The old servant waited no longer, but vanished, 
 chuckling to himself, while Hugh followed Isabel up- 
 stairs, and entered the sick-room. A tousled little 
 head lay upon the pillow, and a wasted, frightened 
 little face, which at sight of Hugh changed and bright- 
 ened into a weak, trembling smile. Then a pair of 
 tiny arms held out to him, and a faint voice crying: 
 
 " Hugh, Hugh ; oh, my daddie-Hugh. Poor 
 Manny is so sick, poor Manny very sick." 
 
 What happened for the next minute Hugh never 
 told any one. He threw himself on his knees by the 
 bed, drew the child's head on his shoulder, and kissed 
 the white hot lips until Charley drew away with big 
 astonished eyes. 
 
 " You cry too ? Why, daddie-Hugh, has big ugly 
 man hurted you ? " 
 
 A heavy step now sounded outside the door, and 
 Charley, with a cry of terror, clung desperately to Hugh. 
 
 " Send him away," he screamed. " Oh, don't let 
 him touch Manny. Don't ! don't ! " 
 
 The door opened, and a stout, severely dressed 
 gentleman, with a gold-headed cane, a coarse-grained 
 face, and a luscious flavour about his person of strong 
 liquors, stalked pompously in. 
 
 " How is this, madam ? " he exclaimed in a hoarse, 
 pursy tone. " Your servants need reminding of their 
 duty ; they kept me waiting two minutes at the door.'* 
 
 He puffed out his cheeks and paused for the ex- 
 21 315
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 pected apology. But Isabel made no answer, and the 
 doctor became aware that some one else was in the 
 room. 
 
 Hugh rose to his full height and bowed. " Sir John 
 Horniman ? " 
 
 The doctor snorted. 
 
 " Who are you, sir ? " 
 
 " A friend of the Earl of Marlborough. By your 
 leave, a word with you in the hall." He passed the 
 doctor and threw the door open to its fullest width. Sir 
 John's red face became purple, and his eyes, which 
 were small, ferrety, and sunken, gleamed spitefully. 
 
 " Presently, presently," he replied ; " but you must 
 wait, sir, until I have done my business here." And 
 he turned to the bed. But Hugh, leaving the door 
 open, quietly interposed himself between the doctor 
 and his patient. 
 
 " Your business here has ended, Sir John. I speak 
 in my Lord Marlborough's name. I will explain out- 
 side." 
 
 Hugh's voice was quite under control, but Isabel 
 saw in his eyes the look she remembered long ago on 
 a certain morning in the ten-acre field, and she held 
 her breath. A feverish joy filled her heart, and her 
 eyes sparkled. As for Dr. Horniman, he could hard- 
 ly believe his ears. He, the leading doctor in Hert- 
 fordshire, to be bearded on his own ground, and 
 summarily told to cease from his attendance upon a 
 patient especially a patient who, by judicious manip- 
 ulation, would yield him a hundred pounds in fees, un- 
 less it died too soon, and of that the doctor was not 
 much afraid and by a youth ! The act was monstrous 
 ridiculous. 
 
 " Zounds, young fellow," he snorted. " Your im- 
 pudence passes belief. What ! At your bidding I am 
 
 316
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 to forsake this poor child lying at the point of death, 
 and with my lady's gracious letter in my pocket. My 
 lord himself should not dismiss me. Besides, this is 
 a conspiracy ; I see young madam smiling. 'Odds my 
 life, you coxcomb, begone, or I shall do you a mis- 
 chief. By Gad, I will kick you downstairs ! " 
 
 His words came in explosive jerks, and, raising his 
 cane, he shook it threateningly at Hugh. The next in- 
 stant it was flying through the open door, and before 
 its owner could gather breath for an oath, much less 
 resist, he found himself seized firmly by collar and 
 wristband, and with irresistible force expelled into the 
 passage, and the door closed behind him. Hugh now 
 released him and bowed with grim politeness. 
 
 " Your coach, Sir John," he said, " is waiting at the 
 door." 
 
 " A plague on you, villain ! " bawled the infuriated 
 physician. " Your life shall answer for this outrage 
 your life ! " 
 
 " It is at your service now." And Hugh laid his 
 hand on his sword with a bland smile. Sir John Horni- 
 man fell back helplessly against the banisters. 
 
 " Murder ! " he gasped. " Help ! " 
 
 Hugh pointed to the door. 
 
 " Silence ! " he thundered. " Down those stairs ! " 
 He advanced a step with raised hand as he spoke, 
 but the doctor did not wait for him. With an agility 
 admirable to behold in one so corpulent, he obeyed 
 without a word, whipping down two stairs at a time, 
 and, snatching his cane from Biggs, who handed it to 
 him with a profound bow, he fled as fast as his feet 
 would carry him to the coach. Once safely there he 
 thrust his head out and showed his teeth. 
 
 " Your name, villain ! " he bawled. 
 
 " Hugh Montgomery, late of his Majesty's Fusi- 
 
 317
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 leers. My friend shall call at once. Let us say in two 
 hours' time, as I leave for town to-night. Will you 
 name the weapons now ? " 
 
 Nothing could exceed the suavity of Hugh's man- 
 ner. He had not been associated with Karl Brownker 
 for nothing. The doctor paled to the lips. 
 
 " I will have the law, the protection of the law, 
 against you ; your fellow shall be locked up." 
 
 " Nay, then, take courage, doctor," Hugh replied, 
 raising his voice so that every one of the crowd of 
 grinning servants, now assembled round about, should 
 hear him. " He shall not trouble you. But listen, 
 please you, to this: If your patient dies which God 
 forbid you shall be hanged for slow murder though 
 it cost me fifty thousand pounds. And take notice that 
 if you show your face within these gates again, the 
 men have orders to loose all the dogs, and whip you 
 into town. I am your servant, Sir John Horniman ! " 
 
 He made a sign to the coachman, who, not at all 
 liking the look of affairs, whipped up his horses with- 
 out waiting for orders, and dashed down the drive amid 
 a universal howl of derision from the delighted gar- 
 deners and grooms. 
 
 Hugh had a very short time to stay at Hollywell 
 after the departure of Sir John Horniman, and no op- 
 portunity at all to say what he had intended to say 
 when he left London. Scarcely had he returned to the 
 sick-room and helped to quiet Charley, who was so 
 much excited at the discomfiture of his enemy that 
 he was in high fever, than Dr. Burtnup was announced, 
 and all was tension and anxiety. The little doctor's 
 diagnosis was soon over. He pronounced Charley to 
 be at the crisis of his malady, and though he thought 
 little of the fever in itself, the lack of stamina induced 
 by wrong treatment formed a serious danger, for the
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 loss of blood had lowered the vitality almost to van- 
 ishing point. He gave his orders with his usual de- 
 cision, orders Isabel had to carry out. When she had 
 left the room, Burtnup nodded at Hugh. 
 
 " If he lives you've saved him. That man would 
 kill an ox." 
 
 " It will be the last patient he will ever kill," Hugh 
 said between his teeth. 
 
 " Bah ! " cried Burtnup with a comical face. " You 
 are inhuman. It is the way such men as Horniman 
 exist and a practitioner must live. But you have no 
 professional instinct ; you are a soldier and kill to or- 
 der. Now be off with ye. Nay, you may rest content. 
 I will save him if it is only to preserve Horniman in 
 pickle as an ornament to my profession, on a shelf. 
 Go, and don't come here again. This boy, if he is to 
 live the night, must forget he ever saw you ! " 
 
 Hugh obeyed and ordered his horse, then sent for 
 Isabel with a curious sinking of the heart. When 
 would they meet again, and what might happen in 
 between? He had saved the son, they said, but if 
 the father died ? 
 
 Isabel came soon from the kitchen, her face ex- 
 tremely flushed. There was a change in her manner, 
 too a nervousness, a reserve, slight and indefin- 
 able, but felt at once by Hugh. In her hand was a 
 letter. 
 
 " Pray give this, or have it conveyed to my lord," 
 she said hurriedly. " He must have it. Else, if any- 
 thing should happen, he would break his heart. Be- 
 sides, whatever her ladyship may think and say, he, at 
 least, shall know the truth." 
 
 Hugh took the letter, and then such a dryness came 
 into his throat he could scarcely speak. 
 
 " Good-bye to you." 
 
 319
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He took her hand, and felt it tremble in his grasp, 
 yet her face looked cold and white. 
 
 " I cannot tell you," she began, then paused. Her 
 voice was unsteady too. " I can in no way thank you 
 now for this." 
 
 A light broke on him, and he smiled. " Not now," 
 he said softly. " No, but next time, Isabel next 
 time." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " God keep you, dear." 
 
 Her hand was still in his. He raised it to his lips. 
 
 " God keep you, Hugh." Her eyes had drooped, 
 but when he let go her hand she looked up into his 
 face. 
 
 " You will not be away too long ? " 
 
 " I must see the King." 
 
 " Ah." He heard her sigh. " I forgot. You have 
 to cross the sea. But it is to save his life." 
 
 " Please God I do it," Hugh muttered. 
 
 " You will," she said brightly, " or there is no one 
 in the world who will." 
 
 And with these words echoing in his ears, he rode 
 back to town. 
 
 320
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 IN a room with many corners, narrow windows, 
 and scant furniture of the simplest kind, sat the Earl 
 of Marlborough writing letters. He was sitting at a 
 table, on which lay a little pile of sealed envelopes di- 
 rected to ministers, noblemen, and members of the 
 House of Commons to every one, in fact, who might 
 raise a hand to help him, or use influence on his behalf. 
 He had written swiftly, easily, as a merchant writes 
 letters of business or a modern editor his daily " lead- 
 er." Composition of this kind, though he hated all 
 writing, was little effort to Marlborough. Some men 
 might have found it a difficult business to explain or 
 excuse, much more to justify the circumstances of his 
 capture and all that he knew could be brought against 
 him. 
 
 But Marlborough knew his men. He was appeal- 
 ing to friends and enemies alike he wrote to more 
 than one enemy to the motives which without excep- 
 tion ruled the statesmen of his time self-interest, 
 pride of place, greed, and most of all, fear. To the 
 Queen alone did Marlborough trouble himself to give 
 specific denial and explanations. The Queen and her 
 husband were the only people whom he conceived 
 would have a personal interest in his destruction. Her 
 ministers even those who hated him, such as Notting- 
 ham and Sydney with James possibly on his way to 
 England and William far away, must hesitate before 
 
 321
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 proceeding to extremities, unless a popular tumult 
 forced their hands; and even a popular tumult might 
 be kept in check by men who felt that their own safety 
 required it. So he wrote on calmly and confidently. 
 
 A time came, however, when his pen faltered 
 when he would write a word only to erase it a sen- 
 tence and destroy the sheet when, in short, he was 
 writing to his wife. This hesitation came from no 
 guilty feeling touching his own conduct. His atten- 
 tions to Marie Montgomery had been paid for a pur- 
 pose that had no tinge of passion in it. He had used 
 her as he would use a horse in battle. While she could 
 help him on his way he treated her kindly, but when 
 she failed he dropped the reins and went his way, and 
 had forgot even her existence ; but that he knew Sarah 
 would not forget, and should evil tongues bear exag- 
 gerated accounts of what had really passed, would not 
 forgive. 
 
 This fear troubled him more than all the rest 
 more than dread of what the King might know or what 
 the Queen might do. Dearer than life itself was his 
 wife's love and confidence, and no one knew better 
 than himself how hard it had been to keep, nor, once 
 stricken, how impossible it would be to bring it back 
 to life again. 
 
 The creak and scrape of bolts and the opening of a 
 heavy door. He was to have a visitor. At the sound 
 Marlborough thrust the half-written letter away and 
 rose, calm and self-controlled, to meet Karl Brownker. 
 
 A civil greeting passed between them. Karl's man- 
 ner was deferential, Marlborough's the pink of cour- 
 tesy. 
 
 " Nay, I thank you," Marlborough said in answer 
 to an inquiry after his comfort. " I have wanted noth- 
 ing but society, and now I have the best." 
 
 322
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 He took out his snuff-box and politely offered it 
 to Brownker, who, bowing, took a pinch. Then, as 
 the jailer who had ushered him in departed, his man- 
 ner changed. 
 
 " My lord," he said curtly, " we know each other." 
 
 " Indeed," Marlborough replied, taking snuff him- 
 self, and with smiling eyes noting that Brownker's hand 
 was shaking, " we have been acquainted a long while, 
 but you have some business " and now his tone was 
 as curt as his visitor's. " Let me hear it." 
 
 Brownker crossed the room and looked out of the 
 window, went to the door as if to listen, and then, 
 coming slowly back, leaned easily against the table. 
 He was, in truth, very nervous. After this breathing 
 space, however, his hand was steady, his voice clear 
 and hard. By his eyes alone bright, intense could 
 Marlborough tell that a matter was to be discussed as 
 important to his visitor as to himself. 
 
 " My business, my lord," Karl said, " is a grate- 
 ful one. I have come to see whether it is possible 
 to clear your lordship's honour, and to save your 
 life." 
 
 Marlborough closed his snuff-box with a snap, and 
 dropped it into his pocket. 
 
 " My honour, sir, is in no danger, and my life is 
 in God's hands." 
 
 " None the less, my lord, it is hanging by a hair." 
 
 " That I cannot tell." 
 
 " Your enemies are triumphant, your friends in de- 
 spair." 
 
 " I have not seen my friends." 
 
 "A bad sign, for you have been here four-and- 
 twenty hours, and my Lord of Tottenham is a friend of 
 my Lords Nottingham and Sydney." 
 
 Marlborough shrugged his shoulders. 
 323
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " I have entire confidence in the Earl of Totten- 
 ham." 
 
 " A pardon, my lord," Brownker interposed, " but 
 has the earl confidence in your lordship? I mean no 
 insult." 
 
 Marlborough bowed indifferently. His face, which 
 had hitherto worn an amused expression, now became 
 cold and impassive, and the lips set into that immov- 
 able curve behind which might rage every passion 
 known to man, but which would not betray one. 
 
 " You will be good enough, perhaps, to explain 
 your meaning." 
 
 " In fewest words. I am on my way to see the 
 Queen, my lord, and shall be closely questioned by 
 the ladies of the court, one of whom is a friend of the 
 Countess of Marlborough. She will repeat, with due 
 embellishments it is her nature every word I choose 
 to say. If I tell the truth, this will place your lord- 
 ship's reputation in great peril. Then touching the 
 other point your life. The Association to destroy the 
 Queen and signed by you is now in the hands of your 
 bitterest enemies. If proven in any colourable way to 
 be your work, attainder must follow. I trust I do not 
 weary you." 
 
 He paused, waiting as a cat waits for a mouse to 
 move under its paw. But the mouse made no move- 
 ment. 
 
 " Nay," Marlborough said. " I have a liking for 
 a tale when the story-teller has so much imagination. 
 Pray proceed." 
 
 " Your lordship," Mr. Brownker continued, smil- 
 ing, " well appreciates the position, I can see. It is an 
 unhappy one, for Mistress Montgomery is notorious, 
 and the noblemen and my lord the bishop whose names 
 are attached with yours to this Association are all 
 
 324
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 marked men. I fear, indeed, that your condition is 
 almost past a remedy. If you think me wrong, correct 
 me. I am here to tell the truth ; I do not wish by a 
 word to give you causeless pain." 
 
 His voice became low and gentle now, and he 
 waited with an air of respectful sympathy for Marlbor- 
 ough's reply. 
 
 " Sir," the earl answered bitingly, " though your 
 mouth were stuffed with lies I could prove none any 
 more than a man bound by the arms can return a fen- 
 cer's thrust. To the purpose, please you, that lies 
 behind this. Suppose all you have said is truth, 
 what then? What though on words wrung from a 
 poor soul ruined long ago by you, and a forged letter 
 written by another of your creatures I am to be 
 crushed what then ? " 
 
 " But this : I would ascertain if you are disposed to 
 pay for honour, liberty, and life a ransom which will 
 cost you nothing." 
 
 " Name the ransom, though I guess it." 
 
 " Such help and countenance, my lord, as will gain 
 for me Isabel Fretchville in marriage." He spoke 
 simply now, and with an earnestness of tone that ar- 
 rested his listener's attention. 
 
 But Marlborough did not show it. He only leaned 
 back in his chair with a sceptical smile. 
 
 " Marriage ! It is marvellous that you should try 
 so obvious a bite on me." 
 
 " If your lordship doubts my intentions " 
 
 "A pardon. Mr. Karl Brownker's intentions to- 
 wards those ladies whom he favours with his admira- 
 tion are beyond all doubt." 
 
 Karl bowed gravely. 
 
 " A natural retort, my lord. But for once you are 
 mistaken."
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 The scepticism in Marlborough's face deepened, 
 but his eyes became alert and watchful. He tapped 
 his teeth with his snuff-box. 
 
 " Let us call it marriage then," he said lightly. 
 " There are indeed times when that ceremony is a con- 
 venience." 
 
 Brownker bit his lip till the blood came. For the 
 first time in his life he found himself losing his temper 
 in a fencing match of words. For the first time his self- 
 control, hitherto as invulnerable as Marlborough's, be- 
 gan to weaken. A dark flush now overspread his face, 
 and though he held himself in with iron self-restraint, 
 he showed Marlborough what was passing in his mind 
 as clearly as if he had been Hugh himself. 
 
 " I do not look on marriage in this light, my lord," 
 he said, " else I had been married when a younger 
 man. You need not smile; I claim no virtue for it. 
 My life has been without a scruple not unlike your 
 own, my lord, before the countess won you from your- 
 self and made you what you are." 
 
 It was a chance thrust this the inspiration of a 
 desperate man. But no sooner had it passed Brown- 
 ker's lips than he saw it had taken effect. 
 
 Marlborough's face was white as death, beads of 
 perspiration stood upon his brow, and his voice be- 
 came hoarse with passion. 
 
 " Have done," he panted ; " you touch on danger- 
 ous ground." 
 
 " But ground common to us both," Brownker re- 
 joined quickly. " I swear upon my honour that I 
 have no more doubt of your fidelity to her ladyship 
 than you need have in my loyalty to Isabel. And 
 therein lies the point. Most people deny that mar- 
 riage can reform. You have proved the contrary. I 
 speak in all humility but why should not I ? As God 
 
 326
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 is my witness, it is my determination that if Isabel be- 
 comes my wife I will never cast a glance again at any 
 other woman." 
 
 Brownker was leaning forward and his hand trem- 
 bled, but it was not through nervousness this time. 
 Marlborough watched him fixedly. His face was calm 
 again. 
 
 " You have not been to Hollywell of late," he said. 
 
 " It would be useless without your lordship's coun- 
 tenance." 
 
 " You know, then, that she has no tenderness for 
 you?" 
 
 " A friendship " 
 
 " Pish ! She is in love devotedly and deeply 
 with another man." 
 
 Brownker smiled as a man under torture smiles at 
 his executioner. 
 
 " I knew that, my lord, two months ago." 
 
 " Two months ? " said Marlborough reflectively. 
 " Two months ago you tried to persuade me to sail for 
 France." 
 
 " Your lordship's memory is exact." 
 
 " And, since an ' Association ' has been discovered 
 by you with my signature, and I have been asked to go 
 to France again." 
 
 " The interest of another person lay in that course." 
 
 " The hand behind was yours. And now you have 
 me in the Tower." 
 
 " Only at your lordship's pleasure." 
 
 " Or your own which ? " 
 
 Brownker smiled. He was cool again, and there- 
 fore dangerous. 
 
 " I have been concerned to cause your lordship so 
 much inconvenience," he said. " But no stake less 
 heavy than your life will win me Isabel." 
 
 327
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " And if that fails to win her? " 
 
 " It is my risk, not your lordship's. Within two 
 weeks, whether I marry her or no, if you will grant 
 me the boon I seek, you shall leave this place without a 
 stain upon your reputation. William shall be your 
 friend, your family receive you back with open arms, 
 and the country acclaim you as a man unjustly treated 
 by some cowardly rival. My lord " he was all anima- 
 tion now " I go further. Should I succeed, there is 
 no service you can ask that I would not render you. 
 The King is pleased to give me his confidence. There 
 is no reason why, with time, you should not soon re- 
 turn to favour. I have no love for Dutchmen, least of 
 all Dutch soldiers. I would see you in your rightful 
 place as commander-in-chief, when as husband of your 
 ward I shall be your friend and servant for my life." 
 
 He folded his arms tightly at the end and waited for 
 Marlborough to speak. 
 
 With one elbow resting on the table and his chin 
 upon his hand, his legs crossed easily, his eyes on the 
 ground, Marlborough considered his reply. The con- 
 trast between the men was striking enough. Brown- 
 ker, though perfectly still, was like a steel spring bent 
 almost to breaking point ; Marlborough, steel of a 
 temper which seemed to feel no strain. At last, un- 
 crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair, he said 
 in the quietest of tones : 
 
 " This boon, now ; describe it in particular terms." 
 
 " A letter from your lordship to Isabel. You will 
 tell her that your position is desperate ; that you find 
 I alone can extricate you. You will entreat her as 
 she loves you, the countess, and your children, to 
 use any influence she has with me, so that I may 
 save your life and your family from utter ruin. That 
 is all, my lord. Yet, stay ; I had forgot." He cleared 
 
 328
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 his throat, paused, and then went on in a harder tone. 
 " It will be necessary you should add that Hugh Mont- 
 gomery has turned against you. You must mention 
 the trap laid by him for your undoing: how that he 
 knew of the plot against you, but gave no warning, 
 and that because of this you forbid him ever to go into 
 your house again." 
 
 Marlborough gave an exclamation of disgust. 
 
 " You would have me ruin the chances of an hon- 
 est man by a pack of lies." 
 
 " These are no lies," Brownker answered calmly. 
 " Recall the night before you were brought here, when 
 you met him at Lord Tottenham's ; did you not see that 
 he had turned against you ? " 
 
 He paused as if for reply, but Marlborough said 
 nothing. " Further, you saw him, I think, at the Ab- 
 bey House waiting for you and his fair cousin with his 
 sword drawn." 
 
 He stopped again, but still Marlborough did not 
 speak. 
 
 " Lastly, my lord, though indeed it is a pain to me 
 to say it " he cleared his throat a second time, and 
 Marlborough, flashing a look at him, saw that his face 
 was pale and his lips twitching strangely " and last, I 
 say, when after her ladyship had questioned him about 
 you, she fell into such a passion that they feared for 
 her reason. Since then she has been very sick." 
 
 He said these words very slowly, dropping them 
 one by one, as a careful marksman drops his shot 
 to kill. Then he paused, and waited. He had done 
 his worst. Suddenly he sprang forward. " My lord, 
 you are ill." 
 
 The figure in the chair had swayed to one side and 
 would have fallen if Brownker had not caught it in his 
 arms. 
 
 329
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " A little water," was the faint answer. " I am sub- 
 ject to a giddiness at times from a fever I had once. 
 I thank you." 
 
 There was water on the table and Brownker put it 
 to Marlborough's lips, sprinkled some on His fore- 
 head, and loosened his cravat. 
 
 All was over in a moment, and in a minute or two 
 Marlborough was courteously thanking his visitor, 
 standing firmly on his feet, and refolding his neck- 
 cloth. 
 
 " Now, sir," he said in a quiet, business-like tone, 
 " to the matter in hand." 
 
 He sat down, took up a pen, and without hesita- 
 tion began to write. 
 
 Brownker went to the window. A curious feeling 
 of oppression had seized him also. The room seemed 
 stifling. He longed to be outside. The window faced 
 south-westward ; below it ran the river, covered with 
 busy life ; beyond this the bank with wharves, and here 
 and there scattered houses ; near these were gardens 
 and beyond green fields and the spire of a country 
 church under the light of a sun drawing near its set- 
 ting. 
 
 Brownker's face softened as he gazed, and the op- 
 pression passed away. If he succeeded, and of this he 
 had small doubt now, there would be happiness and 
 peace for him a new life and success for those she 
 loved. Yet there was Hugh! A pang a sharp, 
 strong pain tugged at his heart. But, after all, Hugh 
 was young and rich ; he would soon forget. Pooh ! did 
 he not owe his very life to the strength of this love 
 which only claimed its own? 
 
 The pen stopped scratching, and Brownker's 
 thoughts flew back to the act of the moment. 
 
 " Read it," Marlborough said laconically. 
 330
 
 The King's Agent ' 
 
 Brownker read, and his face brightened. 
 
 " I cannot be too grateful, my lord ; you have only 
 to give me your commands." 
 
 " You go at once to Hollywell ? " 
 
 " When I have lodged a statement with Lord Syd- 
 ney which will admit all your friends and the first 
 her ladyship." 
 
 A knock came at the door and the jailer thrust in 
 his head and hand. 
 
 " A letter for my lord." 
 
 Brownker went quickly forward and took it from 
 the man, closely studying the seal. 
 
 "From the Secretary any answer wanted?" 
 
 " None, sir." 
 
 " Then retire. His lordship has the letter," and 
 Brownker handed it to Marlborough. 
 
 " Your pardon, my lord," he said as the jailer dis- 
 appeared, " but I have to keep up an appearance of 
 suspicion." 
 
 He was about to take up the note to Isabel when 
 Marlborough laid his hand on it. 
 
 " I have not signed it yet." 
 
 Brownker bit his lip. 
 
 " I am in some haste, my lord, therefore " 
 
 But he saw Marlborough was not listening. He 
 had torn open the cover of his letter with the Secre- 
 tary's official seal upon it, and opened a letter in- 
 side, inclosed in an envelope which had not an official 
 seal. Brownker had good eyes, and, approaching a 
 little nearer, he recognised the handwriting to be 
 Isabel's. 
 
 Marlborough read the letter swiftly, and Brownker, 
 watching his eyes, saw the tears gather there. 
 
 " Bad news, my lord, from Hollywell ? " 
 
 " My boy," Marlborough said tremulously, " the 
 
 22 331
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 youngest, Charley. Sick nigh to death, and a damned 
 doctor. Thank God ! " 
 
 He had forgotten his companion for the moment. 
 His mind, his whole soul was far away at home. He 
 saw the little wistful face, as Isabel described it; he 
 heard the longing cry of " Daddie," which could never 
 find response. Her account, short but pungent, of Sir 
 John Horniman, made him, cool soldier though he 
 was, gasp with blind rage. Then the story of Hugh's 
 coming, told briefly too, but with all the eloquence 
 and force a woman's pen could give this almost un- 
 manned him. 
 
 " Thank God ! " he cried again. " And under him, 
 Montgomery. He has saved the baby's life. God 
 bless him ! " 
 
 He paused, for his eyes rested upon Brownker's 
 face, and noted that it grew pinched of a sudden, hag- 
 gard, shrunken. 
 
 " This letter of mine," Marlborough said, all his 
 old coolness returned to him, and not a trace of emo- 
 tion visible now in face or manner, " which I have not 
 signed, I will, with your permission, read again." 
 
 He read it very slowly, while the room was still, 
 and outside the sun set in a bank of clouds and a dark- 
 ening sky. 
 
 When Marlborough stopped reading and looked 
 up Brownker leaned forward. 
 
 " Here is the pen, my lord." 
 
 They looked at one another, and Marlborough laid 
 the pen on the table and smiled. 
 
 " I thank you, but, as it happens, circumstances 
 have changed, and this letter is waste paper." 
 
 Still smiling he tore it in half, and then across 
 again, and then screwing it into a ball, tossed it out 
 of the window into the river below. 
 
 332
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 All this time Brownker stood motionless, out- 
 wardly unmoved. When Marlborough returned from 
 the window, he said in a cold, indifferent tone : 
 
 " These circumstances have changed your lord- 
 ship's mind ? " 
 
 " I know my mind, once and for all." 
 
 Brownker bowed, reached over the table, and 
 pouring himself out a little water drank it slowly. 
 
 " I should like to say one word, my lord " 
 
 Marlborough made a polite but emphatic gesture 
 of dissent. 
 
 " No," he said quietly. " Do not so waste your 
 time. I would part with you courteously if I may, but 
 this Hugh Montgomery is my friend." 
 
 Brownker winced as if he had received a rapier- 
 thrust beneath the heart, and without a word moved 
 to the door, or rather stumbled thither. But when his 
 hand was on the lock he seemed to recover himself. 
 
 " I wish your lordship well," he said in a low voice. 
 " An order of admission shall presently be placed at 
 the disposal of the countess, if she will use it. But I 
 fear, I am very much inclined to think, that she will 
 tear it up." 
 
 The door swung back and he went out. Marlbor- 
 ough was alone. 
 
 The sun had set, and the bank of clouds gathered 
 ominously upon the horizon line, but the rest of the 
 sky was clear, and there was a lurid afterglow above the 
 clouds which penetrated the narrow window of the cell 
 and shone upon the figure of a man kneeling in prayer, 
 his face buried in his hands. 
 
 333
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 AGAIN came the clatter of bolts and bars, but this 
 time the door opened to admit the burly figure of 
 Lord Tottenham. He caught Marlborough by both 
 hands. 
 
 " Gad's life, Jack, I have had a chase after ye first 
 this Secretary, then that Secretary, then the Council, 
 and at last the Queen. But from her, God bless her 
 good kind heart, I got the permit that has brought me 
 here. If you are glad to see me, man, lay it to the 
 credit of the Queen." 
 
 " I am glad to see you, Ned." 
 
 " But damme," Lord Tottenham cried, turning 
 Marlborough to the light, " you are peaked, Jack. 
 Why don't they bring a light ? You are a ghost faith ! 
 'Oddzooks, man, we'll storm the Tower; we'll burn 
 London. Gad! we'll get James over, if nothing less 
 will do, before they shall crush you; and harkee! I 
 have news." 
 
 He sat himself down in a chair, which mournfully 
 creaked under the weight of him. " A deposition, 
 signed and sworn to to which a dozen witnesses can 
 testify has been made to me, which will prove that 
 black devil Brownker to be the engineer of the whole 
 business, for some purpose of his own. What think 
 you of that, my lord ? " 
 
 Marlborough smiled wanly. It was as well that 
 the light was dim, else Lord Tottenham would have 
 
 334
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 been shocked at the ghastly pallor of his old friend's 
 face. 
 
 " Good, Ned. But who is mad enough to cross 
 swords with the King's Agent for me?" 
 
 Lord Tottenham chuckled again. He could not 
 help it for the life of him, though at heart he was 
 sad enough. 
 
 " Why, 't is a woman, Jack ; who but a woman ? 
 Need I say more ? " 
 
 There was a short silence. Marlborough had 
 made no answer, but sat still, his back to the win- 
 dow, his face invisible. Lord Tottenham soon 
 found this too much for his nerves, and burst into 
 a laugh. 
 
 " Gad's my life, Jack, but you should have seen 
 my boy's face when he met me in the hall, with the 
 pretty baggage there in his rooms, alone. I could 
 write a play on it The Puritan Discovered, or some 
 such thing. She had just run in, pretending she was 
 chased, and I, all unknowing, knocked briskly at the 
 door. On which Hugh, ablaze with chivalry, receives 
 me at the point of sword. Then, when I go in, tells 
 me that his cousin is a-visiting. Lord, I thought I 
 should have killed myself with laughing. Truth, we 
 all laughed, even the Puritan himself at last. But, 
 seriously, it was a most fortunate circumstance for 
 you." 
 
 " These cousins," Marlborough said in a curt tone, 
 " bear much affection for each other ? " 
 
 " None," Lord Tottenham replied shortly ; " none 
 at all. She came to him perforce. She consented to 
 come forward as a witness at my solicitation, much 
 against her will, while he, but for my coming, would 
 have turned her from his door." 
 
 " Then why came she? " 
 335
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Marlborough spoke in a tone of wondering indif- 
 ference. Lord Tottenham flushed. 
 
 " Why ? To save your life. There's no mincing 
 matters here. She loves you, Jack, as only women 
 love some men. Brownker has great power with 
 her. He knows her whole history a pest on him ! 
 he's had a share in it. He has terrified her, crushed 
 her, held her in a vice ; ay, and she fears him still, yet 
 will she stand in public, give him the lie before the 
 Lords, and have her reputation torn to shreds, to save 
 your life. Gad ! I told her you should know it all, and 
 now you do. Under God's providence, your gratitude, 
 if you escape from this, as please the Lord you will, 
 is due to Marie Montgomery the Jacobite, and after 
 that to my lad Hugh." 
 
 " Tell me what he has done." 
 
 " 'Slife, what has he not ? He has put power in my 
 hands to spend money, his own money, up to twenty 
 thousand pounds. He has gone to Holland to beard 
 William in his den; and last but not the least he 
 dared to face your wife, and in the presence of the 
 Princess Anne, to tell her the news of your arrest." 
 
 A cold sweat broke over Marlborough. He tried 
 to speak, but his tongue was tied. He could not ask 
 the question that was on his lips. Lord Tottenham, 
 whose thoughts ran in quite a different channel, lost 
 all patience with him. 
 
 " Well, then, Jack ? Well ? Curse it all, can you 
 not find a word for this ? Is it so common, such serv- 
 ice as he gives? " 
 
 " I have paid him for it with my best." 
 
 Lord Tottenham started and peered into the dusk 
 of the prison cell to make out his friend's face. For the 
 words came hoarsely, and were so utterly unlike any- 
 thing he had ever heard Marlborough say in all the 
 
 336
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 years he had known him. But the kindly gloom hid 
 the prisoner completely. Marlborough rose and took 
 his friend's hand. 
 
 " You must leave me, Ned. I am a-weary and my 
 brain is sick with the shock of all this trouble. Come 
 to-morrow and we will lay our plans. Forgive me if 
 I seem ungrateful ; it is not so. But I am tired tired 
 out. Farewell, old friend." 
 
 He had led Lord Tottenham to the door. 
 
 " You are ill, Jack. I hardly like to leave ye." 
 
 " I need sleep ; no more. To-morrow, Ned, as 
 early as they will let you in." 
 
 So he dismissed his friend and was alone alone in 
 the gathering darkness with the ghastly dread which 
 now stared him in the face as certainty the conviction 
 that his wife would never take his hand again. 
 
 He sat down heavily and rested his arms on the 
 table, his head upon his hands. The risk to life, the 
 political extinction, the personal disgrace, all the mis- 
 fortunes which he would endure as a public man, were 
 nothing to Marlborough now. They were blotted out 
 from his horizon by the agonizing thought of the bit- 
 ter parting from his wife. They had been so happy, 
 the trust between them perfect always. Until this 
 moment he had not fully realized what it would be like 
 to be treated as a stranger by her nay, as an enemy, 
 for Sarah must either love or hate. But he realized it 
 now, and drank his cup to the dregs. If Lord Totten- 
 ham, stanch Ned Tottenham, could say as much of 
 Marie, what would the world say, and Sarah, always 
 sensitive, why, she would be goaded into madness. 
 
 Lower and lower drooped his head upon the table 
 which presently began to shake from his deep sobs. 
 
 A little later he grew calm and began to pray again. 
 It was a grim prayer this time, beseeching God out of 
 
 337
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 his great mercy so to aid the enemy that they might 
 bring him to an execution. 
 
 Death, and that as soon as might be, was all he 
 longed for now. 
 
 The room grew darker, and still Marlborough sat, 
 his head buried in his hands. The door opened, but 
 he did not hear it. Utterly exhausted, he had fallen 
 fast asleep. A jailer came in, placed a candle on the 
 table, and stood aside from the door to let some one 
 enter, then went out hastily, closed and bolted it. The 
 person who had entered stood still until the bolts were 
 drawn, then went quietly to the table, and grasped the 
 prisoner's arm. He woke, blinked in the light, and 
 then sat speechless. Close to him was the face that but 
 this moment haunted his dreams. Not as he had seen 
 it thre stern, cold, forbidding but shining with ten- 
 derness and love. For another instant he feared it was 
 still a dream, but now warm arms stole about his neck 
 and held him in a close embrace. 
 
 " John, dearest," whispered a voice. " Look up ; 
 we are together now. All will be well must be well. 
 They will not they shall not dare to touch my hus- 
 band." 
 
 338
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 A HOT, dry morning in June, six weeks after Marl- 
 borough had been thrown into the Tower. 
 
 At Karl Brownker's house in St. James's the serv- 
 ants moved slowly and wearily about their work. 
 Every face was tired and discontented, bearing witness 
 to some prolonged strain of labour and anxiety. They 
 had been worked nearly to death. 
 
 Karl, as town men often did in those days, was 
 breakfasting in bed, and his face, though keener and 
 more alive than usual as he ran through a mountainous 
 pile of correspondence with his secretary, bore deeper 
 traces of fatigue than any of his household. It had 
 grown thin, hollow, and yellow as parchment, with a 
 curious transparency seen usually after a long illness. 
 Yet he was not ill physically. His appetite was good, 
 his sleep at night such sleep as he had time for 
 sound and dreamless. 
 
 " Now leave me, Porter," he said, settling himself 
 easily back on to his pillows. " Tell Chinnic the horse 
 must be here in half an hour. Send Young in, and so 
 a farewell to you." 
 
 The secretary rose and bowed, collected his papers, 
 and was going out when Brownker called him back. 
 
 " You have something, I see, to ask me," he said. 
 " Ask it." 
 
 The man coughed nervously. He was a white- 
 faced, undersized creature, with a fine forehead and a 
 
 339
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 receding chin, a face bearing in every line of it the 
 weakness of the drudge toiling at a pittance for an- 
 other stronger than himself faithful as a dog and re- 
 ceiving little more reward than one. 
 
 " Why, indeed, sir I had a word but, truly, I am 
 not bold enough I could not trouble you." 
 
 " And why not, if I ask you ? " 
 
 " Because, indeed " the man caught his breath. 
 " Why, because it is a favour, sir." He said the last 
 word in a frightened whisper. 
 
 Brownker smiled cynically. 
 
 " Favours asked by servants do annoy me, as a 
 rule," he said. " But on this day, as it happens, not. 
 You are in trouble at home ? " 
 
 The man gasped. 
 
 "You knew, sir?" 
 
 Brownker frowned. " Your wife is sick for want 
 of food, your children badly clad, and your rent be- 
 hind, because the tenants in your house were Jacob- 
 ites and left you without payment." 
 
 " Lord have mercy ! " the poor wretch cried, clasp- 
 ing his hands. " And I thought it was all secret. I 
 am ruined, sure." His hands dropped to his sides and 
 his face became callous in its hopelessness. 
 
 " It is all true," Brownker said dryly. 
 
 " I deny naught," was the answer. " Yet I am no 
 traitor." 
 
 " You are a fool, a graceless fool," said his mas- 
 ter impatiently. " And you leave my service this 
 day." 
 
 The man shivered and shuffled away miserably to 
 the door. Brownker looked at him a moment, as if 
 enjoying his pain, and then, thrusting his hand beneath 
 his pillow, took from it a bag of money and a letter. 
 " So great a fool," he repeated, " that though you have 
 
 340
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 worked for me by night and day for a pittance of fifty 
 pound a year, yet you dare not ask a favour at the 
 end. Take this, and this. Read the note before you 
 
 go." 
 
 The man obeyed mechanically. It was a letter to 
 the Secretary of State requesting him to give the 
 bearer a post then vacant in his office worth two hun- 
 dred pounds a year. 
 
 In the bag was a hundred guineas. 
 
 At this gift from one who had never been known 
 to do a generous act the poor creature's lips quivered ; 
 he reeled against the table, and dropped the bag upon 
 the floor. 
 
 " For me ? All this from you ! But no, no, it 
 is some mockery I beg your honour's pardon some 
 small jest." 
 
 But Brownker, who was looking over another 
 paper, with names and figures in it, did not appear to 
 hear the words. 
 
 " Take this with you also," he said, " and pay all 
 the men and women in the house as here directed 
 double wages. You will find the money in the usual 
 place. Take a receipt from each. And now, be off, 
 and send me Robert Young." 
 
 He leaned back wearily and closed his eyes, but 
 opened them when he found the secretary on his knees 
 at the bed kissing his hand. 
 
 " May the Lord bless you, sir ! " he cried brokenly. 
 " You have saved my life, and the wife's and all. The 
 Lord bless you for your goodness ! " 
 
 Brownker started and then pushed him away, 
 though gently. 
 
 " Pish pish ! Go, will you, and follow my direc- 
 tions. Go." 
 
 The man obeyed slowly, but his eyes streamed with 
 341
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 tears and his lips muttered words of thankfulness as 
 he made his bow at the door. 
 
 When alone, Karl took up a hand mirror and looked 
 at his face in it with a curious smile. 
 
 " So the Ethiopian has changed his skin, the leop- 
 ard his spots all for a dozen words in a woman's 
 hand." He sighed and took a letter up and read it for 
 the twelfth time. The smile died away and left the 
 face white and worn. " God knows," he added softly. 
 " But I shall know to-day." 
 
 There was a light step at the door and a knock, and 
 a man entered, bowed respectfully, and stood as if wait- 
 ing for instructions. 
 
 It was Robert Young. 
 
 There was a marked difference in the appearance 
 of " the Parson " from the time he had entered this 
 chamber to encounter Brownker's rapier the differ- 
 ence to be seen in a wild beast that has become sleek 
 and well-fed in captivity. But he was a wild beast 
 still. Above the cheeks, now round and pink with 
 good living, above the fat, double chin, were the 
 same vulture-like eyes, and cruel, sensual lips, the same 
 cunning and wickedness, the same self-confidence, 
 though controlled and carefully kept within bounds. 
 He wore the air, indeed, of a confidential man before 
 a master whom he held in awe, but of whose favour 
 he was well assured. 
 
 " The news, man," Karl said. He was himself 
 again now alert, erect, keen as a rapier-point. 
 
 " The worst, your honour." 
 
 " Ah ! " Brownker said coolly, for Young had 
 paused. 
 
 " Master Montgomery," the man went on, " is back 
 in England. He landed at dawn and will compass the 
 Earl of Marlborough's release by noon." 
 
 342
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Brownker yawned lazily. 
 
 " Noon ? By noon I shall be at St. Albans. Your 
 last letter has been writ." 
 
 Young, who held a paper in his hand, bowed and 
 presented it. Karl read it carefully. 
 
 " Fair fair, but his Majesty is not so careful in his 
 lettering as this. The W of William is too finely 
 shaped. There should be some smears and dirty finger 
 marks. But it will pass. More news ? " 
 
 " Ay," Young said gruffly, obviously offended at 
 the criticism on his skill. " The messenger from Marl- 
 borough has tricked us, after all, and returned to Lon- 
 don. He reached the Tower last night, and now my 
 lord knows your play." 
 
 Brownker's lips tightened, and Young, with a ma- 
 licious smile, saw his face pale. But there was no 
 change in his manner. 
 
 " Go your ways, then. Porter will pay you. Send 
 me Chinnic on your way downstairs." 
 
 " There are no further letters ? " 
 
 " None," and Brownker stretched himself. " The 
 time has passed for letters." 
 
 The man lingered, twisting his hands with a leer in 
 his eyes. 
 
 " A few urgent lines to my lord even now in her 
 ladyship's hand would cause delay." 
 
 Brownker's lip curled. " If Marlborough knows, 
 there will be no delay. Begone, will you ! " He leaped 
 out of bed and Young retreated expeditiously. 
 
 In ten minutes Karl was dressed for a journey; 
 in two more he had mounted his horse and was lei- 
 surely passing through St. James's. In half an hour 
 he was at full gallop away on the St. Albans road. 
 
 During the six weeks after Marlborough had been 
 thrown into the Tower, Brownker had worked as he 
 
 343
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 had never worked before in a life that had known 
 but little play. 
 
 Truly, indeed, had the Lady Sarah gauged the man 
 when she told her husband once that he was one who 
 would pursue a quest with greater obstinacy the harder 
 and more difficult it became. 
 
 Six weeks, in which Hugh strove in Holland for 
 Maryborough's life with the King, and Lord Totten- 
 ham and the Lady Sarah in London strained every 
 nerve with the House of Lords; while at Holly well 
 Isabel worked and brooded alone. Hugh had given 
 Lord Tottenham no warning about Brownker. After 
 his visit to Hollywell he feared nothing. 
 
 So the course had been clear for Karl and Robert 
 Young. The postmistress of St. Albans was a friend 
 of Young's, and from the day Marlborough went to 
 the Tower every mail passed through Young's hands. 
 Correspondence between the Marlboroughs and Isabel 
 therefore flourished, but it was controlled by another 
 hand. Robert Young's heart was in his work for it 
 was to ruin Hugh. He had never forged so well. In 
 a week Karl was at Hollywell House. 
 
 He became Isabel's adviser now, and saw her 
 nearly every day. She consulted him on everything, 
 leaned upon his keen wits and quiet strength. He 
 learned to know her mind and thoughts, and inter- 
 preted them skilfully on paper. In every letter from 
 town his name was mentioned Hugh's never, except 
 in such a way as to give her vague pain and surprise. 
 It was Brownker, Marlborough wrote, who was his 
 only friend. Brownker, declared her ladyship, was 
 now, she found, an honest man, the man beyond all 
 others who could save the earl's life if it could be saved. 
 
 Mr. Robert Young was kept very busy writing in 
 those days. 
 
 344
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Yet Karl, though he won from Isabel gradually 
 such favour as he had never won before, though he 
 had discovered early in the day that she was not be- 
 trothed to Hugh, soon found that there was no way 
 of casting out his rival by fair means, for Isabel, it was 
 plain, loved Hugh with her whole heart. For a time 
 he tried to disguise this from himself, and to leave 
 Hugh on one side. But gradually, as this became im- 
 possible, his scruples died away, and after one fierce 
 struggle with himself he stopped at nothing. Post by 
 post in the letters from London now came insinua- 
 tions and innuendoes against Hugh. At first these 
 made Isabel very indignant, at which Karl never failed 
 to .sympathize with her and praise his rival. But as 
 time went on he became colder in his praise, and at 
 last the day came when he abruptly refused to mention 
 Hugh's name. He took this stand five weeks after 
 Hugh's departure to Holland. Isabel was much hurt 
 and offended, yet he could see she was perplexed. He 
 then left her, and promised to investigate the matter 
 and come once again. Then, playing a last card, he 
 said that Marlborough's life was in the King's hands, 
 and that in a few days it would be proved beyond all 
 doubt whether Hugh was really trying to save Marl- 
 borough or whether, as had been hinted, he was in 
 secret league against him. The cause for Hugh's 
 treachery Brownker refused to betray, at which Isabel 
 had laughed scornfully. Yet she saw by Karl's face 
 that he knew of some cause, and his reticence, as he 
 had calculated, tortured her more than any accusation. 
 
 He arrived at Hollywell this day a week afterward 
 before noon, and after slight refreshment drew her 
 away to the Nun's Walk. He made no pretence of 
 coolness now. Weary with his ride, his voice was 
 hoarse and agitated, his eyes, more cavernous than 
 
 345
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ever, glowed with a curious excitement that fright- 
 ened Isabel. 
 
 " You have ridden madly, Karl." 
 
 He laughed mirthlessly. 
 
 " I have killed one horse and lamed a second. But 
 I had cause." 
 
 He watched her with suspicious keenness, wonder- 
 ing whether any rumours, in spite of all his care 
 though every letter had been abstracted and every road 
 was watched had reached her that Marlborough was 
 to be released to-day. A glance at her face satisfied 
 him. It was very pale, and so sad that had he been 
 less in stress his very love would have made him pity 
 her. As it was it only set his mind at ease. He saw 
 she was in fear, not hope. 
 
 " Tell me the cause." 
 
 He dropped his eyes suddenly as if abashed, and 
 turned away. 
 
 " I have come to do that," he said bluntly, almost 
 roughly. " But I can hardly shape the words." 
 
 " Marlborough is dead ? " 
 
 " Not yet." 
 
 "Condemned?" 
 
 " Condemned." 
 
 He turned and looked at her, and his heart smote 
 him all at once. 
 
 " Bear up, dear," he said tenderly ; " there is hope 
 yet." 
 
 Her face was ghastly, and her breath came in deep 
 sobs. 
 
 " What hope ? " she whispered. 
 
 "The King has sent me a private word. I had 
 meant to say that first." 
 
 " And he tells you " 
 
 Karl slowly drew out the note which Young had 
 346
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 written, unfolded it, and read aloud, " ' Montgomery 
 has played ' " Then he pulled himself up. " Pish ! 
 that is not it. Here is what I meant : ' You must come 
 at once. The execution cannot be delayed longer than 
 a week. William R.' " 
 
 " You are going ? " 
 
 " This afternoon." 
 
 Her lips were dry and parched in her suspense. A 
 terrible nameless dread had come upon her. Brown- 
 ker's trap had been well laid. She held out her hand 
 for the letter. 
 
 " Let me read it all." 
 
 He shrank back. " My God, no ! not for Marlbor- 
 ough's life ! " 
 
 Her eyes blazed. " You are keeping something 
 from me. The letter, I say." 
 
 He gnawed his lips, as if in bitter indecision. Then, 
 turning away, he made a movement towards the house. 
 
 " I will go and do my best alone." 
 
 All at once he turned back and faced her. 
 
 " Isabel, love you Maryborough's life and honour 
 more than all else ? Be careful what you answer." 
 
 " I must see that letter first." 
 
 He sighed, and slowly placed it in her hands. 
 
 " You must know some time. Why not now? " 
 
 The note was written in French, and Isabel had 
 some difficulty in reading it; but she had taught her- 
 self enough since she had been with the Marlboroughs 
 to gather the meaning of the words. When she had 
 spelt it through twice she looked up and gave it back. 
 
 " Then I was wrong," she said simply. " He has 
 played us false." 
 
 She spoke so quietly that, for a moment, Karl's 
 heart gave a leap. Had her love for Hugh died ? Then 
 it sank again, as he detected behind her calmness an 
 2 3 347
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 agony so intense that he made a quick movement to- 
 wards her, thinking she was going to swoon. She 
 waved him aside. 
 
 " I am quite well. Do not touch me." 
 
 " You should not have known." 
 
 " Read it aloud to me in English. I wish to be quite 
 sure. Read." 
 
 Her voice was still without a tremor, but it was 
 low and strained. 
 
 He took the letter in silence and obeyed, awed by 
 a woman for the first time in all his life. 
 
 " ' Montgomery has played his trump card/ " he 
 read, " ' and presented a petition from the Lords pray- 
 ing for Marlborough's death. You must come at once. 
 The execution cannot be delayed longer than a week. 
 
 " ' William R.' " 
 
 " Tell me the cause for his treachery." 
 
 Brownker's teeth shut like a trap. After all, she 
 thought more of Hugh than of Marlborough. 
 
 " I will not tell you." 
 
 " You must." 
 
 They looked at each other and his eyes fell before 
 hers. 
 
 " It is jealousy." 
 
 " Jealousy of my lord ? " 
 
 Brownker coughed and his face hardened into 
 stone. He knew that he was fighting for his life. 
 
 " My lord was arrested in the house of Lady Susan 
 Montgomery." 
 
 " I know that." 
 
 " He was found in company with her ladyship's 
 daughter Marie." 
 
 ''Hugh's cousin?" 
 
 348
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " And an agent of King James." 
 
 " I do not see " 
 
 " This lady is the cause of all the trouble. She 
 decoyed Marlborough to London." Isabel gave a 
 sudden start. " She won Hugh over. She deceived 
 even me awhile. But I discovered her, for I cared 
 not for her charms." He said the words with a su- 
 preme contempt. 
 
 " I have heard," Isabel said slowly, " that she is 
 very beautiful." 
 
 " I know but one more beautiful. We must not 
 blame Hugh overmuch." 
 
 " You said both were entrapped," she said quickly. 
 
 " My lord's interest was political. Her mouth was 
 stuffed with specious promises from James." 
 
 " What ! My lord has been treasonable then." 
 
 " Nay, only indiscreet. But the girl was infatuated 
 with him. When she found that he was injured she 
 cast away all thought of Hugh. Hence this madness of 
 his, and pretended mission to the King and William's 
 letter. Now you will understand." 
 
 He had struck the blow and driven the nail to 
 the head. But he was hardened now, and careless 
 how he wounded her. The very quietness of her 
 manner irritated him. Isabel did not answer, did 
 not move, but stood before him like a piece of marble. 
 At last, with a quick impatient sigh, she roused her- 
 self. 
 
 " My lord must not die," she said slowly. " What 
 is your plan ? " 
 
 He was taken aback for a moment. It was as if she 
 read his thoughts. Then he smiled at the notion, for 
 she was not even looking at him. 
 
 "There is one way to save him, but that almost 
 impossible." 
 
 349
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 She turned her face slightly and looked him in the 
 eyes. 
 
 " Tell me." 
 
 " I must know first what you think of me." 
 
 His voice was full of feeling now, tremulous, pas- 
 sionate. A puzzled look came into her face. 
 
 " What I think ! I ? What have I to do with it ? " 
 
 " His life rests in your hands." 
 
 She looked more perplexed than ever. 
 
 " I do not understand the least." 
 
 " William delays the execution until he sees me. 
 This means that though the Lords clamour for my 
 lord's death, William would save him if he could. He 
 has a tender heart, though few know it. If a woman, 
 with claim to his regard, pleaded for Maryborough's 
 life, he would be as wax in her hands." 
 
 " You would have me plead ? " 
 
 " It is the only way." 
 
 " But his Majesty does not know me." 
 
 " He might, if you willed it so." 
 
 She looked at him blankly. He had stepped for- 
 ward and taken both her hands with feverish fingers. 
 A light began to dawn at last upon her mind. 
 
 " You would have me go with you ? " 
 
 " The King," Brownker said thickly, " would spare 
 Marlborough's life, and more, if he were entreated by 
 my wife." 
 
 She drew her hands away with a shudder. 
 
 " That is your plan ? " 
 
 " You forced me to disclose it." 
 
 " It is impossible." 
 
 " My own word." 
 
 He did not move or try to claim her now. Yet 
 he did not retreat. Instinctively he felt that he must 
 wait. 
 
 350
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " This, then, was the meaning of those later letters 
 of my lord's." 
 
 " He has given his full countenance, her ladyship 
 even more." 
 
 " You never told me so." 
 
 " I did not dare nay, nor wish. I would marry 
 no woman by another's word. By your own will you 
 take me, Isabel, by your own free will, or I go away." 
 
 " My will," she murmured. " My own will. Why, 
 I do not love you ; I have never loved you." 
 
 " That may come." 
 
 " I have loved some one else." 
 
 " That was why I spared his life in the Hampstead 
 fields." 
 
 She started. " You knew even then ? " 
 
 " I have always known. And if he stands first " 
 
 She held up her hand. " He is a traitor now." She 
 said the words between her teeth. " He has betrayed 
 my lord." 
 
 " He was sorely tempted," was the cool rejoinder. 
 
 " I pray you mention not his name again." 
 
 Brownker looked at the sky. 
 
 " In two hours," he began, then paused, and gave a 
 short, sharp sigh. " I must go now. Farewell." 
 
 "You goto Holland?" 
 
 " To London, to tell all Marlborough's friends and 
 Marlborough himself that it is hopeless. They will be 
 surprised. But I am not surprised." 
 
 She made no reply. He lifted his hat and turned 
 slowly on his heel. 
 
 "Stay!" 
 
 He stood still, waiting. 
 
 " Give me time to think." 
 
 He bored a hole in the ground with his rapier- 
 sheath.
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " There are but two hours for everything. I can 
 give you only one." 
 " One hour, then." 
 
 " Even at this I must make arrangements." 
 " Do what you will, but let me think alone." 
 Her voice was scarcely more than a whisper now. 
 Karl's heart swelled within him. Hope shining there 
 had softened it. How he longed to take her in his 
 arms and comfort her ; and yet he did not even dare to 
 touch her hands. 
 
 " You shall have all the time that I can spare," he 
 said, " but it cannot be longer than an hour." And 
 then with averted face and drooping head he went hur- 
 riedly away. 
 
 352
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 THE rooks cawed sleepily among the elms at Hol- 
 lywell; the insects buzzed busily in the hot, still air. 
 The cattle dozed in the fields, or stood knee-deep in 
 cool waters. All nature drowsed, while the hearts of 
 men and women ached and bled. 
 
 The hour passed and then Karl with rapid step 
 walked into Hollywell House, and following the direc- 
 tion of a servant, found Isabel in the drawing-room. A 
 glance told him her decision, for she was in a travel- 
 ling dress. As he came in she turned from the win- 
 dow to meet him, and at sight of her face he paused, 
 and his mouth grew dry. In all his life he had never 
 seen a face in such despair, yet in expression it was 
 brave, and calm, and strong. 
 
 " I wish to ask you something, Karl." Even her 
 voice was under absolute control. 
 
 He bowed in silence and stood still, not even seek- 
 ing her hands ; yet he knew that she was won. 
 
 " Is this the only way?" she went on. " Tell me 
 the truth upon your honour, on your soul, and by 
 your love for me." 
 
 It was well he had not touched her hand, for his 
 own trembled strangely now. He had come hither 
 panting in his impatience, hot with desire, and con- 
 scious above all that as the hounds were on his trail 
 there must not be a moment of delay. Yet at her words 
 this was forgotten, and for the moment his own feel- 
 
 353
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 ings fell into the second place. He thought of another, 
 not himself, and the tone in which he answered sound- 
 ed curiously hollow. 
 
 " The only way, Isabel." 
 
 " You will wonder why I asked after all the letters 
 I have seen," she said. " It is because since you left 
 me I have been thinking." 
 
 She paused, and he waited with tightening lips. 
 Had she outwitted him ? Was she possessed of second 
 sight? But a glance at her face reassured him. It 
 bore no sign of anger or distrust only deep, unutter- 
 able sadness. 
 
 " I know now that this this calamity has been to 
 you an opportunity. My lord's distress and danger, 
 the treason of his friend, this letter from the King, 
 all have served your turn. Do not deny it " as he 
 would have spoken " I know that what I say is true." 
 
 " It is quite true," he said simply. 
 
 " And thus," she said in the same dreary tone, " this 
 misery and wickedness have been to you but stepping- 
 stones. Karl, Karl, the mockery of it. Do you not 
 see yourself what a ghastly mockery it is ? " 
 
 " It is no mockery to me," he said doggedly. " Nor 
 will it be to Marlborough unless I am dismissed by 
 you." 
 
 She sighed slowly and heavily. 
 
 " I shall not dismiss you. So I suppose we shall be 
 man and wife. But before I stand with you before the 
 altar you shall know all the truth all." 
 
 She drew herself unconsciously erect now, and for 
 all her white despair, looked more queenly than he 
 had ever seen her. 
 
 " I loved Hugh Montgomery," she said. " Once 
 he asked me to be his wife, but I did not know myself 
 and I refused him. Had he asked me a second time we 
 
 354
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 should now be betrothed to each other. But he went 
 from me in silence. And now my dear lord is in danger 
 of his life. If he dies the countess will lose her reason, 
 and this house be ruined. You can save them you 
 alone. For their sake, and my Charley's sake, I will 
 marry you. But you must understand me perfectly. 
 Were not a life so precious as my lord's at stake, I 
 would die rather than touch your hand. But it is his 
 life against my miserable, worthless self, and his life 
 comes first, so I will be your wife. Yet if I pay for 
 his life with mine, you will pay too with yours. Do 
 you know that ? Can you realize what a wife must be 
 who has but one hour ago loved another with all her 
 heart and soul. Who never never has loved you and 
 never will. I will be faithful. The vows I take, those 
 will I keep. But what can life be worth to any man 
 with such a weight about his neck? Think you well, 
 oh, think you well, before you do this thing ! " 
 
 Her voice fell lower through sheer exhaustion, for 
 she was deadly tired, and now she sank upon a chair. 
 
 Karl drew a long breath. He felt stiff and queer 
 in brain and limb, much as a man falling suddenly from 
 a great height, though no bones are broken, feels 
 jarred all over with the shock. Her words and their 
 full meaning rang changes in his brain. Her voice 
 when she mentioned Hugh was like the cry of a lost 
 soul the moan of a mother mourning her first-born. 
 He heard nothing else distinctly. That, and all it sig- 
 nified, filled heart and soul. Looking at her as she sat 
 huddled before him, with pale and lifeless face, he 
 thought of the future and of the past. Already she 
 looked ten years older since the day they had first met. 
 Youth and its happiness had gone from her ; she was as 
 one widowed, and by him. They would marry, go to 
 Holland, and not return to England for a length of 
 
 355
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 time. William, with grim humour, would, for his sake, 
 play the game. So for many months, even years, per- 
 haps, Isabel would never know how she had been 
 duped. But one day it must come out, and then 
 
 He walked to the window. Isabel at this move- 
 ment smoothed out her skirts and rose. She had not 
 expected that he would reply. It was not his way, 
 she knew, when his mind was set to waste his breath 
 in words. And his face, through all the whirlwind of 
 emotion passing over him, had only become harder 
 and more sternly set. 
 
 " Let us go." 
 
 She stood waiting for him, but he did not turn at 
 once. When he did at last, she started. 
 
 " Karl, you look like death ! " 
 
 He shook his head. " I am ready, Isabel ; quite 
 ready now." 
 
 He held out his hands. She put hers into them 
 frankly, as she had always done. He kissed her on the 
 lips. 
 
 " For the first time," he whispered. 
 
 She shivered at his touch, but with an effort con- 
 trolled herself. 
 
 " Pray, let me go. I have to say good-bye to Char- 
 ley. Let me go, Karl, for that." 
 
 But he held her fast. A strange intensity was in his 
 face, and his hands were burning. 
 
 " In one moment I will let you go." 
 
 He kissed her again hungrily, and then held her at 
 arm's length. 
 
 " Once on a time, Isabel, you put me to a test." 
 
 " Do not talk of that." 
 
 " I must, for I have now to put you to a test." 
 And he gave a grim, joyless laugh. " Hugh Mont- 
 gomery " he spoke in a cool, steady tone " is not in 
 
 356
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 Holland, but hastening hither to you on the road from 
 town." 
 
 She quivered all over. " You are mocking me," 
 she cried. 
 
 " Nay," he replied, " I mock myself." 
 
 " I cannot bear this." 
 
 " You have not heard it yet." 
 
 " I can well guess what is coming." 
 
 " Be still. He is on his way to save you from an 
 enemy myself." 
 
 She was silent now, gazing with dilated eyes and 
 parted lips, and he saw her bosom heave. But there 
 was no animation in her face, only dull wonder and 
 surprise. 
 
 " Myself," he repeated. " But he comes too late." 
 
 The grim smile was still upon his lips. She sighed 
 in her bewilderment. 
 
 " What can you mean ? " 
 
 " I will tell you." He paused a moment, then con- 
 tinued coldly, " I mean that I have no pleasure any 
 longer in a lie." 
 
 "Lie! What lie?" 
 
 She was rousing now; a faint tinge of colour 
 showed itself upon her face, and her eyes sought his 
 with an intensity of longing which smote him like a 
 blow. 
 
 " You have been deceived," he said shortly. " The 
 Earl of Marlborough has left the Tower, released by 
 an order from the King, obtained by Hugh." 
 
 She gave a sudden cry, and reeled, and would have 
 fallen, but he caught her in his arms. Once again he 
 pressed his lips upon her face. 
 
 " For the last time," he muttered. " Oh, my God, 
 my God ! " Then he let her go. 
 
 She had recovered herself, and now stood erect. 
 357
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 " If this is true, then all that you have said '* 
 
 He nodded. " Yes all." 
 
 He expected her to recoil from him with horror, 
 but her eyes filled with tears like a child's. 
 
 " Karl Karl, how could you treat me so? " 
 
 There was no anger in her tone, nothing but keen 
 reproach and wonder. He winced, as if she had struck 
 him. But before he could answer, she had thought 
 again of Hugh. 
 
 " Oh, the wrong we have done him ! I shall never 
 dare look him in the face again." 
 
 He smiled his old, sardonic smile. 
 
 " You will soon be put to the ordeal. They are be- 
 fore their time. Hark ! " 
 
 She caught her breath, and went to the open win- 
 dow. Far away from the high road to the south came 
 the sound of galloping hoofs. This was reality indeed. 
 And Karl, watching her, saw her face and bearing 
 change as if by magic. Once again she was the Isabel 
 he knew in all her youth and beauty. Life and colour 
 had returned to her; her eager breath came in deep 
 sighs ; her eyes shone softly. She was transformed. 
 All at once she turned and looked at him. 
 
 " You must not be found here. You know what 
 Hugh is ; there will be violence." 
 
 "And if so, what matter? They will be two or 
 three to one, and I shall not " he shrugged his shoul- 
 ders " I shall not make a great resistance. I am too 
 tired." 
 
 She looked at him a moment, as if she would read 
 his soul. Then, going to him, she touched his arm. 
 
 " You will go at once," she said decidedly. 
 
 He shivered and drew away. 
 
 " My life," he muttered, " is not now to be valued 
 at a groat." 
 
 358
 
 The, King's Agent 
 
 She flushed to the temples, and lightly laid both her 
 hands upon his. 
 
 " That room leads to a private sitting-room of mine, 
 in which the window looks upon the stable yard. Your 
 horse is there ; I saw it five minutes back. A private 
 road runs to the left and will take you to St. Albans. 
 Once there you will be safe. Go, Karl, go for my 
 sake go ! " 
 
 They looked into each other's eyes, then slowly, 
 tremulously, he took her hands and kissed them both. 
 
 " For your sake, Isabel." 
 
 And he was gone. 
 
 A group of people was gathered in the drawing- 
 room, or rather two groups. For in a big chair sat 
 Marlborough, Charley upon his knee, the most con- 
 tented urchin in the land, while at some little distance, 
 a discreet distance, were sitting Hugh and Isabel close 
 together, hand in hand. Between the couples paced 
 Lord Tottenham talking and laughing loudly, and 
 sipping now and then from a huge goblet of old wine. 
 
 " Gad's life, Jack," he was saying, " contradict me 
 if ye please, and Hugh there, let him finger his long 
 rapier, but I do declare that our Lady Isabel is right. 
 Karl Brownker had not a notion we would come so 
 soon. It was his heart misgave him. 'Oddsbub, sir, 
 villain as he is, or was, that man when he saw what he 
 had done he felt pity and remorse, and so stopped in 
 his stride, and turned the other way. Gad's my life, 
 Jack, that's the truth, I say. We have never, I will 
 swear it, plumbed him, and never shall." 
 
 " I do not argue, Ned," Marlborough replied, 
 stroking Charley's golden curls. " He has escaped, 
 and that suffices. Only I must add that if ever he 
 dares show his face in England there will be one man 
 
 359
 
 The King's Agent 
 
 the less in William's household, and one more soul 
 elsewhere." 
 
 At these words Isabel glanced up at Hugh. He 
 smiled, and raised her hand to his lips. 
 
 " My dearest," he whispered under cover of some 
 laughing words from Lord Tottenham to Charley, " be 
 under no anxiety. If he is ever at a risk, trust me to 
 save him from it, and this not for your sake or for his, 
 but for my own. After all, he was my friend." 
 
 (i) 
 
 THE END 
 
 360
 
 BOOKS BY SIR GILBERT PARKER. 
 
 Donovan Pasha, and Some People of Egypt. 
 
 Illustrated. Colored Frontispiece. $1.50. 
 Donovan Pasha is supposed to be in the service of the Khedive of Egypt, 
 in a confidential capacity, at a time when the throne is tottering, where, by 
 his skilful diplomacy, he continually meets Oriental cunning with European 
 wit. From the principal character to the least significant the action is 
 stirring and dramatic, and the incidents possess the inherent quality of pos- 
 sibility. 
 
 The Seats of the Mighty. 
 
 Being the Memoirs of Captain Robert Moray, some- 
 lime an Officer in the Virginia Regiment, and afterwards 
 of Amherst's Regiment. Illustrated. $1.50. 
 
 "Another historical romance of the vividness and intensity of 'The 
 Seats of the Mighty' has never come from the pen of an American. From 
 the first chapter to the last word interest in the book never wanes ; one finds 
 it difficult to interrupt the narrative with breathing space. It whirls with 
 excitement and strange adventure." Chicago Record. 
 
 The Trail of the Sword. $1.25. 
 
 " Mr. Parker here adds to a reputation already wide, and anew demon- 
 strates his power of pictorial portrayal and of strong dramatic situation and 
 climax." Philadelphia Bulletin, 
 
 The Trespasser. $1.25. 
 
 11 Interest, pith, force, and charm Mr. Parker's new story possesses all 
 these qualities. . . . Almost bare of synthetical decoration, his paragraphs 
 are stirring because they are real. We read at times as we have read the 
 great masters of romance breathlessly." The Critic. 
 
 The Translation of a Savage. $1.25. 
 
 " A book which no one will be satisfied to put down until the end has 
 been matter of certainty and assurance." The Nation. 
 
 Mrs. Falchion. $1.25. 
 
 "A well-knit story, told in an exceedingly interesting way, and holding 
 the reader's attention to the end. " 
 
 The Pomp of the Lavilettes. i6mo. Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 " Its sincerity and rugged force will commend it to those who love and 
 seek strong work in fiction." The Critic. 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
 
 NOVELS BY HALL CAINE. 
 
 Uniform Edition. Each, J2mo, cloth. 
 
 The Eternal City. $1.50. 
 
 " One of the very strongest productions in fiction that the present age has been 
 privileged to enjoy." Philadelphia. Item. 
 
 " The novel is wonderful in its power, its wealth of dramatic incident, and its rich- 
 ness of diction." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 
 
 " A powerful novel, inspired by a lofty conception, and carried out with unusual 
 force. It is the greatest thing that Hall Caine has ever attempted." BrooklynEagle. 
 
 The Christian. $1.50. 
 
 " A book of wonderful power and force." Brooklyn Eagle. 
 
 " Its strength grasps you at the beginning and holds you to the end. There is in it 
 something of the fervor of true prophecy." Chicago Journal. 
 
 " The public is hardly prepared for so remarkable a performance as ' The Chris- 
 fc'an.' ... A permanent addition to English literature. . . . Above and beyond any 
 popularity that is merely temporary." Boston Herald. 
 
 The Manxman. $1.50. 
 
 " May easily challenge comparison with the best novels of the latter part of the 
 cvntury." San Francisco Call. 
 
 " Hall Caine has the art of being human and humane, and his characters have the 
 strength of elemental things. In ' The Manxman ' he handles large human questions 
 the questions of lawful and lawless love." New York Commercial Advertiser, 
 
 The Deemster. $1.50. 
 
 New copyright edition, revised by the author. 
 
 " Hall Caine has already given us some very strong and fine work, and ' The 
 I'eemster* is a story of unusual power. . . . Certain passages and chapters have nn 
 intensely dramatic grasp, and hold the fascinated reader with a force rarely excited 
 nowadays in literature." The Critic. 
 
 The Bondman. $1.50. 
 
 New copyright edition, revised by the author, 
 
 " A story of Iceland and Icelanders at an early era. Our author throws a charm 
 about the homes and people he describes which will win the interest and care of every 
 reader. Their simple lives and legends, which shaped and directed them, take tl.e 
 reader clear away from the sensational and feverish and unhealthy romance and give 
 the mind a rest." Chicago Inttr-Ocean. 
 
 The Scapegoat. $1.50. 
 
 Neva copyright edition, revised by the author. 
 
 Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon. $1.00. 
 The Little Manx Nation. $1.00. 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
 
 A 000125 
 
 357