Show V i J qt THE THE a f LION ajla U 9 WHELP A story of cromwell s time BY AMELIA author of 0 the bow dow of og ribbon I 1 I 1 thou thoi and the other one the maid mold of maiden lane etc coper fht 1901 by dodd mead company all r reserved CHAPTER hlll continued then he turned to matilda and led her to a sofa and comforted her and the men servants came and took away the dead body and laid it as anthony wished on his old masters master s bed and in the great salon now cleared of 0 its offending vis tors sat sa E comforting matilda and finally ques cloned her in a way that compelled her to rely in some measure upon him stephen was here yesterday he asked part of the day lie ile left here at i tour four in fie the afternoon yet the mail rider under oath swore this morning that it was ste phen who robbed the mail she lat lagged glied queerly but it if it w was as not stephen who was it he insisted and he 1001 ed with such a steady confident gaze into ma ala gildas face that she crimsoned to he finger fingertips tips she could not meet his 1 eyes and she could not speak I 1 wonder who played at being se ste phen de wick he said gently and the silence between them was so sen that neither accusation nor con less ess on was w as necessary necess arv I 1 I 1 wish that you had trusted me you might have done so and you know now it after anthony was mas buried his will was read he left everything he hessed to the lady matilda de wick and no one offered a word words 0 of d sir thomas seemed unusually depressed and his lady asked him it if he was in any way may dissatisfied 7 9 no he answered it is the death pt f the young lord neville that gives ane e contant regret Is he dead P alas alas such a aappo appy handsome yo ith it is inbred ibid ble said lady tady jevery I 1 thought he be had run away to the Amerl cas with your gold and my ray aunts s jewels said matilda r I 1 wronged him lim I 1 wronged him grievously answered sir thomas that tha wretch of a woman at the hague never paid him a farthing never even saw him she intended to rob me and slay him for a thousand pounds but under question of the law she confessed her crime I 1 what do you think has happened to him I 1 I 1 think robbery and murder some one has known or suspected that he had treasure with him he has been followed and assassinated or he has bought fought and been I 1 billed and little jane swaffham ham tam Is slowly dying of grief and auel suspense she loves him add chev were betrothed there was wag a sh short ort silence and then matilda atilda said many brave young have gone out from home and fiends these past years and never ome back Is nevilles neville s life worth nore ore than my brothers life than thousands hou sands of other lives I 1 trow not but in the privacy of her room ste obe not preserve this temper I 1 yonder wonder it if rupert slew him she mut ered and anon he would it no wrong only apiece of good luck H might also be jealous of cluny spoke often of the youths beauty did that out of simple mischief it t rupert Is touchy sometimes cruel always eager tor for gold poor jane lanei CHAPTER XIV A lit r n further on the sett lenic t of the affairs of an jhony hony lynn occupied sir thomas puch uch longer than he expected and the autumn dumn found the family still at de do ivick ick stephen had escaped as had ilso iso bis his companion conspirators ma ala on and blythe and matilda could not iut ut compliment herself a little on her hare in securing their safety towards the middle of september ir thomas roused himself from his ito among flowers and shrubs and aid he must go bad baci to london he ad a sudden desire for his bis wharf and is office and the bearded outlandish ien that he would meet there and 3 i the ladles also wished to return to ondon the beautiful home quickly at on an air of desertion boxes ut 4 a 1 tere I 1 the hall they were only waiting until the september rainstorm rain storm should pass away and the roads become fit for travel at this unsettled time and in a driving shower camlin and doctor venity were seen gallop ng up the avenue one ore evening every one was glad at the prospect of news and corn com pany sir thomas so much so that he went to the door to meet the doctor nobody could be more welcome he said and pray what good fortune brings you herec I 1 come to put my two nephews in huntingdon grammar school I 1 want them to sit where cromwell sat he answered ah ali this great cromwell Cromwel lf said lady jevery but if he has the wily mazarin at his dip disposal osal why can he not find out something about that poor lord neville Ne villel has col ayrton re turned or Is he alao 1 missing he ile return returned eq some time ago he discovered nothing of importance then I 1 suppose we shall see no of lord seville neville I 1 am very sor ry he was a good youth and he loved jane swaffham ham very honestly A wee after this evening the jev erys were in their own bouse house and ma tild aad sent word to jane swaffham ham chaff chashe she wanted wd to see her she opened her heart on various subjects tane jane more espee ally on anthony lynn lynns s dramatic life and death and the money and land he had left her of course she caid laid it is only tern tem horary when the king comes home stephen will be earl de wick and I 1 shall willingly resign all to him in the meantime I 1 intend to carry out anthony s plans tor for the improvement of the estate when this subject had been tailed well over jane named cautiously the lover in france much to her sur prise matilda seemed pleased to en large on the topic she spoke herself of prince rupert and of the poverty and suffering charles court were en I 1 i 1 kissed the rosy little brat during and she regretted with many strong expressions rupert s presence there all he makes Is swallowed up in the bottomless stuart pit she said evenmo even my youth and beauty have gone the same hopeless road there was a queer story about stephen robbing the mail and tearing up the three warrants for the arrest of blythe and mason and himself said jane did in ox i believe that janea the mail was mas robbed the war rants were never found stephen has a daredevil temper at times when did you hear from hima I 1 hear from him very often now jane tor for it is the old old story money money money but I 1 am not going to strip de hicl a second time for them then drawing jane close to her and taking her hand she said with an impulsive tenderness jane dear jane I 1 do not wish to open a wound afresh but I 1 am sorry for you I 1 am indeed how can you bear it ita I 1 have cast over it the balm ot of prayer I 1 have shut it up in my heart and given my heart to god I 1 have said to god do as thou wilt with me I 1 am content and I 1 have found light in sorrow brighter than all the flaring lights of joy then you believe nim him to be dead yes there is no help against such a conclusion and yet mat ida there co cofler nes to me sometimes such an in penetrating sense of his presence pr sence that I 1 must believe he is not fai away and her confident hearts still fervor her tremulous smile her ees ekes like clear water full of the sky shy affected matilda with the same ampre heading and there was such a haunt ins sweetness about the chastened girl that matilda looked round wan derin gly it was as it if there were freshly gathered violets in the room she remained silent and jane atte a few minutes pause said I 1 must go home now and rest a little tc morrow I 1 am bid to hampton court and you will come and tell me all about your visit the world turned upside down la Is an entertaining spec tacio ann charges tire market worn wom N f T an in one place and el zabeth crom well in another the Crom mells are my friends matilda and I 1 will assure you that hampton court never saw a more worthy queen than elizabeth crom w ell I 1 have a saucy tongue jane do not mind when it backbites there is no one like you I 1 love you well these words with clasped hands and kisses between the two girls then matilda s face became troubled and she sat down alone with her brows drawn together and her hands tightly clasped did kupert rupert kill Neville 9 she ask ed herself oh me I 1 do fear it he lied to me then of course he lied but that was no new thing for him to do what snail I 1 doa ane went over and over this train of thought and ended always filth with the same lute anxious question what shall I 1 doa the next day jane went to hampton court she was conducted to an apartment in one of the suites for merly occupied by queen henrietta maria As she dressed herself she thought of the great men and women who had lived and loved and joyed and sorrowed under the ancient roof of wolsey s splendid palace in a brill antly lighted room mr and mrs claypole 11 and mr air and mrs rich ard cromwell and doctor john owen and mr milton and dr verity wert grouped around her highness the pro s handsome wife she sat at ai the protectors right hand and jane swaffham ham sat at his left he was in an unusually happy mood and doctor owen remarking it t ad miral blake said they had bees been mobbed mobbed by women and the protector had the best of it and that m was as a thing to pleasure any man then mrs cromwell laughed and said your highness must tell us all now or we shall be very discontented where were you to meet a mob ol 01 women n we were in london streets some where near the waterside blake was with me and blake Is going to ports mouth to take command of an elpe where toa asked mrs claypole Claypo Ie well elizabeth that is prec pree ael el the question this mob of women want ed me to answer you are as bad ai AS they were but they had some ex cuse pray what excuse sir that I 1 hav law not nota they were the wives of the sailor men going with our admiral on hia his expedition and they got all around me they did indeed and one handsom 4 woman with a little lad in her arms she told me to look well at him be cause he was called oliver after me took hold of my bridle and said you wont trample me down general for the lad s sake and Us but natural tor for us to want to know where you are sending our husbands come general tell us wives and mothers where the ships are going to toa and there was robert blake laughing and thinking it fine sport but I 1 stood up in my stirrups and called out as loud as I 1 could vv women omen can you be quiet for one minute they said aye to be sure we can if ifould ou 11 speak out general then I 1 said to them you want to I 1 now where the ships and your men are going listen to me met the ambassadors of france and spain would each of them give a million pounds to know that do you under stand and for a moment there was a dead silence then a shout of comprehension and laughter and the woman at my bridle lifted the boy oliver to me and I 1 took him in my arms and kissed the rosy little brat and then another shout and tle I 1 mother said general you be right wel come to my hare share s of the secret and mine and mine minei and d mine they all shouted and the voices of those women went to my heart and brain bral n like wine they did that they ma made do me glad I 1 believe I 1 shouted with them to be continued |