"Sir," he said, "can you give me any a.s.surance?... I am terrified." And indeed he looked it; so I supposed that he thought that the attempt was indeed to be made to-day. I determined on a bold stroke.
"My man!" I said. "If you will tell me your name, and then begone at once, back to town, I will tell you something that will be of service to you. If not--" and I broke off.
He looked at me piteously. I think my air frightened him. He drew back a little from the house, though we were in a place where we could not be seen from the windows.
"My name is Keeling, sir. You will not betray me? What is it, sir?"
"Well," said I, "I can give you an a.s.surance that what you fear will not take place. There is not a man here beyond myself and Mr. Rumbald and old Alick. Now begone at once. Stay; where do you live?"
He shook his head. A little colour had come back to his face again at the news.
"No, sir; that was not in the bargain. I will begone, sir, as you said; and thank you, sir."
He slipped back again very quickly, and was vanished. I suppose that he had ridden down in some cart all night, and that he went back in the same way, for I saw no more of him.
Well; I had gained two little points--I had kept him from Mr. Rumbald, which was one--(for I did not want my host to consult with any if I could help it)--and I had learned what perhaps was his name. This, however, I would test for myself presently.
At noon we dined; and having observed no difference in my host"s manner, that might shew that he had any idea I had met with anyone, I made two remarks.
"I talked with a fellow at the gate this morning," I said; "he seemed to know nothing of the King"s coming."
Rumbald jerked his head impatiently; and I perceived that we had not been seen. Presently I said:
"Who was that pale-looking fellow who wished to speak with you yesterday, Mr. Rumbald, at the _Mitre?_"
He looked sharply at me for an instant.
"His name is Thompson," said he. "He is one of my malting-men."
Then I knew that he had lied. A man does not invent the name of Keeling, but very easily the name of Thompson. So I saw that Rumbald had not yet lost all discretion; and indeed, for all his talk, he had hardly spoken a name that I could get hold of.
After a while I ventured on another sentence which suited my purpose, and at the same time confirmed him in his own view.
"If by any chance His Majesty should not come to-day--will it be done, do you think, to-morrow? Shall you wait till he does come?"
He shook his head and lied again very promptly.
"If it is not done to-day, it will never be done."
Looking back on the affair now, I truly do wonder at the adroitness with which we both talked. There was scarcely a slip on either side, though we were at cross-purposes if ever men were. But I suppose that in both of us there was a very great tension of mind--as of men walking on the edge of a precipice; and it was the knowledge of that which saved us both. After dinner I said I would walk again out of doors; and he thought it was mere affectation, since I must know by now that His Majesty was not coming.
"Well," I said, "if by any mischance His Majesty doth not come to-day, I will get back to town."
He looked at me; but he kept any kind of irony out of his face.
"You had best do that," he said.
Now it must have been forty miles from Newmarket to the Rye; and I had calculated that His Majesty would not start till nine o"clock at the earliest. He would have four horses and would change them at least three times; but they would not be able to go out of a trot for most of the way, so that I need not look for any news of him till three o"clock at the earliest. From then till five o"clock would be the time. If he were not come by five, or at the very latest half-past, I should know that my design had miscarried.
It is very difficult for me to describe at all the state I was in--all the more as I dared not shew it. It was not merely that my Sovereign was at stake, but a great deal more than that. My religion too was in some peril, for if, by any mischance things should not go as I expected; if, as certainly occurred to my mind as one possibility in ten, I had completely mistaken Rumbald, and he had spoken the truth for once--it was not the King only who would perish, but the Catholic heir also, and then good-bye to all our hopes. Yet, I declare that even this did not affect me so much as the thought that it was the man whom I had learned to love that was in peril--to love, in spite of his selfishness and his indolence and his sins. It was all but an intolerable thought to me that that melancholy fiery man who had so scolded me--whom, to tell the truth, I had scolded back--that this man might, even in imagination, be mixed up with the horror of the firing of guns and the plunging of the wounded horses--should himself be shot at and murdered, there in the lonely Hertfordshire lane.
At about three o"clock I could bear it no more. G.o.d knows how many prayers I had said; for I think I prayed all the time, as even careless men will do at such crises. There was the grim house behind me, the leafless trees overhead, the lane stretching up northwards beyond the gate. All was very silent, except for the barking of a dog now and again. It was a very solitary place--the very place for a murder; there were no meadows near us, where men might be working, but only the deep woods. It was a clearish kind of day, with clouds in the west.
At about three o"clock then I went to the stables to see my horse. These were behind the house. There was no one about, and no other horse in the stables but Rumbald"s own black mare that had carried him yesterday.
It came to me as I looked at my horse that no harm would be done if I put the saddle on him. Rumbald would but think me a little foolish for so confessing in action that I knew the King would not come; and for myself it would be some relief to my feelings to know that if by any mischance I did hear the sound of shots, I could at least ride up and do my best, though I knew it would be too late.
I saddled my horse then, and put on the bridle, as quickly as I could.
Then, again, I thought there would be no harm done if I led him out to the gate and fastened him there. I looked out of the stable door, but there was no one in sight. So I led my horse out, as quietly as I could, yet openly, and brought him round past the front of the house and so towards the gate. I thought nothing of my valise; for at that time I intended no more than what I had said. I was uneasy, and had no determined plans. I would tell Rumbald, if he came out, that I was but holding myself ready to ride out if I were needed.
Then, as I came past the front of the house, I heard, very distinctly in the still air, the tramp of horses far away on the hill to the north; and I knew enough of that sound to tell me that there were at least eight or nine coming, and coming fast.
Now it might have been the coach of anyone coming that way. The races were at Newmarket, and plenty went to and fro, though it is true that none had come this way all day. Yet at that sound my heart leapt up, both in excitement and terror. What if I had made any mistake, and enticed the King to his death? Well, it would be my death too--but I swear I did not think of that! All I know is that I broke into a run, and the horse into a trot after me; and as I reached the gate heard Rumbald run out of the house behind me.
I paid him no attention at all, though I heard his breathing at my shoulder. I was listening for the tramp and rattle of the hoofs again, for the sound had died away in a hollow of the road I suppose. Then again they rang out; and I thought they must be coming very near the place he had told me of; and I turned and looked at him; but I think he did not see me. He too was staring out, his face gone pale under its ruddiness, listening for what very well might be the end of all his hopes.
Then the distant hoofs grew m.u.f.fled once more, though not altogether; and, at that, Rumbald ran out into the road as he was, bareheaded; and I saw that he carried a cleaver in his hand, caught up, I suppose, at random; for it was of no use to him.
Then, loud and clear not a hundred yards away I heard the rattle and roar of a coach coming down the hill and the tramp of the hoofs.
"Back, you fool," I screamed, "back!" for I dared not pull my horse out into the road. "Throw it away!"
He turned on me with the face of a devil. Though he must have seen the liveries and the guardsmen from where he stood, I think not even yet did he take in how he had been deceived; but that he began to suspect it, I have no doubt.
He came back at my cry, as if unwillingly, and stood by my side; but never a word did he say: and together we waited.
Then, past the gate on the left, over the hedge, I caught a flash of colour, and another, come and gone again; and then the gleam of a coach-roof; and, though I had no certainty from my senses, I was as sure it was the King, as if I had seen him.
So we waited still. I drew up in my hands my horse"s bridle, not knowing what I did, and moved round to where I could mount, if there were any road; and, as I did it, past the gate, full in view there swept at a gallop, first three guards riding abreast, a brave blaze of colour in the dusky lane; then the four grey horses, with their postilions cracking their whips; then the coach; and, as this pa.s.sed, as plain as a picture I saw the King lean forward and look--his great hat and periwig thrust forward--and behind him another man. Then the coach was gone; and two more guards flew by and were gone too.
I lost my head completely for the single time, I think, in all this affair; now that I knew that the King was safe. There, standing where I was, I lifted my hat, and shouted with my full voice:
"G.o.d save the King!"
I turned as I shouted; and, as the last word left my lips, I saw Rumbald, his face afire with anger, coming at me, round my horse from behind, with the cleaver upraised. If he had not been near mad with disappointment, he would have struck at my horse; but he was too intent on me for that.
I leapt forward, for I had no time to do anything else, dragging my horse"s haunches forward again and round; and with the next movement I was across my saddle, all-asprawl, as my horse started and plunged. I was ten yards away before the man could do anything, and struggling to my seat; but, as I rose and gripped the reins, something flew over my head, scarce missing it by six inches; and I saw the blade of the cleaver flash into the ditch beyond.
At that, I turned and lifted my hat, reining in my horse; for I was as mad with success as the other man with failure.
"G.o.d save the King!" I cried again. "Ah! Mr. Rumbald, if only you had learned to speak the truth!"
Then I put in my spurs and was gone, hearing before me, the hollow tramp and rumble of the great coach in front, as the King"s party went across the bridge.