Show THE LIONS WHELP A story af cromwell s time BY AMELIA E BARR ainther of the bow of franf ribbon I 1 thou end the other on th maid of maiden lane etc coper 1001 by dodd atad company all r reserved CHAPTER XV the fate of lord cluny neville on tides of glory england was borne the next three years to a na honor and strength which had never before been dreamed of never in her whole history had the govern ment been at once so thorough and so penetrated with a desire for honesty and capacity for the first time the sense of social duty to the state took the place of the old spirit of loyalty to the sovereign for the first time aind only time in the history of eu rope morality and religion were the insisted on by a court I 1 in the meantime spain was help ing charles with money which was spent in plots to assassinate the pro ector the effect of this was sev eral petitions and addresses offered n parliament begging cromwell to itsume the ancient office of king it only for the settlement of the nation ie was quite strong enough to have aken it and there was nothing un manly either in his desire for the crown or in his revisal of it one thing he knew well that the title of ting would take all meaning out of he puritan revolution and he could not so break with his own past with ils own spiritual life and with the godly men who had so faithfully tol bowed and so fully trusted him why should be fret himself about a mere worda all real power was in Us hands the army and the navy the churches and the universities the reform and administration of the law and government of scotland and of ireland abroad the war with all its details the alliance with sweden with france with the protestant princes of germany the protestant protectorate extending as tar as transylvania the planting of the west indies the settlement of the american colonies and their defense against their rivals the french all these subjects were cromwell daily cares to be a king Is not in my cominis lion he said to doctor verity it squares not with my call or my con science I 1 will not tadge with the again no not lor an hour these three years were full of glory and romance and the poorest family in england lived through an epic of roch national grandeur as few gen era tlona have witnessed yet amid t all the simple domestic lives 0 men and women went calmly on and birth marriage and death made rich barren their homes jane swaffham ham lad long bebej able to think of cluny not as in a bloody grave but as thu bons ol 01 god among the hosts heaven and this consola alon accepted she had begun to study latin and mathematics with doctor and to give her love and her pervice to all life during this interval bad been cramped and saddened by the inheritance from her previous rears really loving she could not disentangle the many threads binding her to the old anfor passion or having become wealthy the stuarts would not resign their claim upon her thus she was compelled often against her will to pe aware of plots tor the lion of cromwell plots which shock ed her moral sense and which gener ally seemed to her intelligence exceed angly foolish and 1 she loved but she feared to barrry him she feared the reproach es of rupert who though he made no effort to consummate their long en ga gement was furiously indignant if spoke of ending it then also E had tears connected with en very oung he had begun to ave money in order tp make himself h possible suitor for matildaa Mat ildas hand fa the irish campaign 1 e had been exceedingly fortunate he had bought nd sold estates and exchanged pris aaers tor specie and in other ways so manipulated his chances that in every ease they had left behind a golden residuum jane had told matilda two years previously that camlin was richer than his father and she might have said more than this and been within the truth but in this rapid accumulation ot wealth had developed the love of wealth matilda knew that it ehe would carry out her intention of making over de wick house and land to stephen it mist be done before she married camlin yet it she sur rendered it to stephen under pres ent circumstances everything would eg in some way or other to the k beggarly stuart court vas fretfully thinking over this n Us relation to a new plot fc imell when jm swaffham ham visited her one morning in february of 1658 jane s smiling serenity aggravated her restless tern per does nothing on earth eer give you an unhappy thought janea she asked yo i look as it ou dwelt in paradise I 1 ony have to tell you there is another plot I 1 have nothing to do it some one ou know may be in danger stephen is at cologne it you are thinking of stephen thank you I 1 will write and tell him to keep good hope in his heart that jane remembers him dear matilda do not make mock of my kindness the protector s patience is worn out with this foolish animosity he is generous and mer alful to no purpose 1 myself think it Is high time he ceased to warn and begin to punish my dear sweet jane the crom wells are in their kingdom now I 1 do not pretend to keep foot with them and I 1 have troubles of my own pray god they be not too many for me it was evident matilda was not in an amiable mood and jane having said the few words that brought her to jefery house that morning left her frield she went away with a brou trou bled look and matilda watched the change and smiled to herself at it I 1 am quite content to have her made a little unhappy she thought on my honor jane looks younger and pret tier than when neville was alive and worrying her lovers die and hus bands die and Us a common calam ity and better people than jane have endured it I 1 will go now to my aunt s parlor she found there an ac whom had had known in paris the countess genais I 1 have but now sent a messenger tor you matilda said lady jevery the countess desired greatly to see you then the conversation became reminiscent and the new plot was not named and matilda began to be to be a king ie not in my commiss ion bored suddenly however her inter est was raised to the highest pitch tor the countess touching a bracelet which lady jevery wore said I 1 must tell you a strange thing I 1 was lately at a dinner where the niece of his eminence cardinal mazarin sat at my side and she wore a neck lace and brooch and one bracelet precisely like the bracelet you are now wearing I 1 cannot help noticing the circumstance because the jewelry is so exceedingly exee singular and beautiful yes replied lady jevery and what ou say Is also very curious for I 1 once possessed a necklace brooch and two bracelets like the one I 1 am now wearing all the pieces were lost excepting this bracelet but howa let me inquire where were they lost somewhere near paris I 1 had in trusted them to a friend who has never since been heard of but the bracelet you are wearing 9 this Is so singular you will please pardon this bracelet said lady jevery was more fortunate some of the gems were loose and I 1 sent it to my jeweler tor repair just before we left for paris he was to forward it to me it he found a safe messenger luckily he kept it until I 1 returned to london but this is most strange most strange most strange and most suspicious said matilda indignantly I 1 should say it was evidence that lord neville was couri ered and that bis eminence bought jewelry foi hortense mancial in some irregular way if I 1 lady jevery I 1 would insist on knowing from whom oh ou do mal e one areat mis tal e I 1 do assure you mademoiselle mancini is impeccable you must rest content that the jewels came into her possession in the most correct manner barab listening to these words matella curtsied and abruptly left the room all now seemed plain to her intelligence rupi rt had lied to her he had slain and robbed neville and the jewels had been sold to bayarin A sudden passion of pity for the handsome soung lord over her it was too mean too savagely cruel for anything she almost sobbed men who can do such things are not fit to be loved by women they are brutes I 1 will write to rupert at once I 1 must know the truth of this matter if such a crime has been committed there is no king or prince er priest on erth to absolve it aad I 1 shall wash hands forever of the stuarts ahe did not wa t for any second or more prudent thoughts she wrote ruper that hour a letter every word of which was flame and tears when it was finished she sent a man with it on the instant to catch the dover mail packet and all this was accod before she had any opportune opp ity to talk over the affair with her uncle when she did so he regretted her precipitancy and refused to move in the matter at all it would be the height of imprudence he said the young man is dead and gone and we cannot bring him back though eng land went to war with fra e on that quarrel the protector la ill worn out with sorrow and anxiety and it one of his old attacks should seize him at this time it would have the mastery and when cromwell dies there is no question of what will happen the nation will give charles the second a trial then matilda when charles comes back prince ru pert comes with him we may need the of prince rupert to save ourselves no one can tell how this reputedly good natured charle a ill act when his hands are able to serve his will I 1 will not then make an enemy of so powerful a man as prince rupert is like to be it was rarely sir thomas spoke with such decision and matilda was much impressed by his words they made her hesitate sull more about her marriage with camlin during the first hours of her dis cobery matilda had wondered it she ought to tell jane what proof of cluny s death had come to them for in her heart she scoffed at the idea of cluny returning to paris to sell the jewels but jane did not visit her for some time and she was daily ex pecking an answer from prince ru pert this letter might be of great importance one way or another and she resolved to wait for it it came more rapidly than she had anticipated and its contents temporarily fanned to a feeble flame her dying illusions con berning her first lover in this letter rupert on his honor reiterated his first statement he declared that he left neville in health and safety hav ing at the last moment urged upon him his own swift barb which offer neville refused he said he should seek mademoiselle s presence until he saw her wearing the jewels and then make question concerning them and it not satisfied go at once to her uncle mazarin he was sure it was now only a few weeks ere the truth would be discovered these promises were blended with his usual protestations of undying devotion and matilda was pleased though she was not satisfied for to letter there was a postscript and in that postscript one word which sent the blood to her heart cold with terror P S it may be the basille and not the grave which holds the neville secret to be continued |