Show THE LIONS WHELP A story of cromwell s time BY AMELIA E BARR author ol 01 the bow of aranjo ribbon I 1 thou and the other one the maid of maiden lane etc coper 1901 by dodd mead company all eats reserved CHAPTER evl cont aued for matilaa had concealed every fault and every unkindness by her prompt action in the matter of lord neville and jane had been loving and praising her for it until the sweet ness of their first affection was between them and matilda enjoyed praise she liked the appreciation of her kind deed and was not therefore disposed to make light or little of hat she had done ar of its results and pray how comes my lord on towards recovery 7 slowly life was nearly gone body and mind were at death s door but he can walk a little now and in two or three weeks we are going away far away are going to my brothers in the massachusetts col on you will come backa I 1 think it Is unlikely father feels a change approaching the protector s health is failing rapidly he is ding matilda if he diesa father will leave angland as soon as cromwell Is in his grave camlin will keep old swaffham ham fair for cym lin will never leave england while are in it and you can bear to talk of leav ing england in that calm way with out tears and without regrets jane it Is shameful it is realty wicked dear matilda do not be angry at me because I 1 had to do what I 1 had to do I 1 was married to cludy three days after he came home we all thought he was going to die and he wished me to be his wife now did I 1 cot do right to marry him when and bow he yes she answered but her face and voice showed her to be painfully affected jane I 1 cannot bear to loss you I 1 shall have no one to love me no one to quarrel with she added lou will hae camlin Is camlin he Is not you I 1 will say no more W hen a woman Is married all Is over then jane rose to go and matilda tied her bonnet strings and straighten ed out her ribbons and her gloves doing these trifling services with a long absent tenderness that filled janes heart with pleasure good bye dear she said with a kiss I 1 ill come as often as I 1 can very kind 0 you lady neville answered matilda with a curtsy and a tearful mockery very 1 md indeed but will your ladyship consider then she broke down and threw her arms round jane and called her a dear sweet little baggage and bade her give cluny some messages of hope and congratulation and so part ed with her in a strange access of at but tn e has these moods of the individual and would not be true without them jane walked home through the city and its busy turmoil struck her as never before what a vain show it was A passing show constantly changing and suddenly there was the galloping 0 horsemen and the crowd stood still and drew a little aside while cromwell at the head ot his guards rode at an easy canter down the street every man bared his bead as the grand soldierly figure passed cy he saw jane and a swift smile chased away for a moment the sorrowful gravity of his face but he left bernd him a penetrating atmos phere of coming calamity his florl ous life was closing like a brilliant sun setting in a stormy sky the fifteenth of may had been bet tor his assassination cromwell knew all the secret plans of this conspiracy knew eiery member of it and on the afternoon when jane swaffham ham saw him passing up I 1 ondon streets so stern and scornful he had just order ed the arrest of one hundred of them jane heard constantly of these events but her heart had closer inter ests the ship which was to carry cluny and herself to america was lying at the wharf nearly ready for sea there were to be DO other pas cluny and jane alone were to find in its black ribbed cabin their home for many necks perhaps months A recent experience had proven the necessity for this exalus ion of strange elements early in june israel had taken cluny to bid farewell to lilg old general and the meeting had tried both men severely at its close cromwell went to a desk and wrote a few lines to the officials of the massachusetts colony in them commending lord neville to their 1 and care his hands trem bled those large strong hands trem bled as he gave the letter to cluny then he kissed him once more and with a farewell that was a blessing be turned away beeping h it Is another friend gone he said mournfully to his own heart lover and friend are put far from me and mine acquaint nee into darkness cluny was so much troubled and affected by this visit that israel thought it well to take him to see the ship which was to carry him to the solitudes of the great waters and the safety of the new horld he was am patient to be gone but there were et a number of small interests to be attended to for they were to carry with them a great deal of material nee esary to ane building and furnishing 01 their future home avery day re sealed some new want not before thought of so that it was nearing the erd of june when at last all was de clard finished and ready then jane hastened home re solving to see matilda on the follow ing day but when she reached sandys house mrs im met her with a letter in her hand lady jevery s you to come to matilda who is in great trouble she sa d so jane went to her friend with her also she found the grief death brings stephen Is slain were her first words she could hardly utter them but jane knew how to comfort ma tilda she could tall to her as she could not to the ladles of cromwell s household how was stephen she ed in a duel no thank god he fell as he him self could have wished fighting the enemies of his 1 ing he was with conde and the dul es of lork and gloucester before dunkirk and was killed w hile meeting the rush of those terrible ironsides Iro caboy wrote me that he said mothe joyfully with his last breath poor stephen oh indeed tery well to cry poor stephen when be Is beyond our pity you might have pitied him when he was alive that would have been something to the purpose all his short unhappy life has been one constant battle with puritans and pov erty oh 1 ow I 1 1 ate thoe stuarts I 1 am than f to see you can weep for him jane I 1 think you ought god knows he loved you well and most athani lessly and he is the last the last de wick root and branch the de wick tree has perished I 1 wish I 1 could die also and camlin matildaa 7 I 1 shall marry camlin at the prop er time you may hav sons and daughters I 1 hope cot I 1 pray not I 1 have had sorrow enough my father ard his three sons are a good ending for the bouse it was built with the sword and it as been destroyed by the sword no jane the 1 re of de wick la ali shed camlin and I 1 will be the last earl and countess de wick and prince Kupert 1 Is a dream from which I 1 have awakened but he may stil be dreaming rupert has many faults but he is a man of honor my marriage to camlin will be a barrier sacred to both of us our can hold itself above endearments you need not fear for camlin matilda de hicl will honor her husband whether she obeis him or not camlin Is formed for power and splendor and he will stand near the throne if there be a throne of that who now doubts crom well is falling sick and you may feel god save the king in the air if you had married stephen he would have been alive to join in the cry I 1 could weep at your obstinacy jane let it pass dear I 1 was suckled on puritan milk stephen and I 1 never could have been one my fate was to go to the new world stephen has escaped this sorrow til world and oh then I 1 would he were here th s sorrowful world with stephen in it was a better world than it is with out him jane jane how he loyed you and I 1 loved him as a companion friend brother if you will when you lay his body in de hicl cast a tear and a flower on his coffin for me god give him peace at length their farewell came the last between them were soft and whispered and only those sad loving monosyllables which are more eloquent than the most fervid protestation s and so they parted forever in this life the next afternoon jane and cl my rode london streets for the last time on the ship they found jane s father doctor verity and sir thoras bever jever there were no tears at this parting nor adv signs of sor row ev ery one beeme 1 resolved to regard it as a happi and hopeful event for though not spoken of there a farm belief and promise ol 01 a meeting again in the future not very far off israel held his little daughter to his heart and then laid her hand in cluny a without a word the charge was understood when me last few minutes came and the men were trooping to the anchor doc tor verity raised his hands and the three or four in the dim small cabin knelt around him and so their farewell was a prayer and their parting a blessing israel and doctor verity walked away together and tor a mile neither of them spoke a word As they came near to sandy s howe er israel said it is a short farewell john it wil be my turn next I 1 shall go when you go to the massachusetts Colony 7 les I 1 am ready to go when the time comes it Is not far off A few months at the longest he is very illa the foundas ons of his life are en for he lives not in his power or his fame or even in the work set him to do no no oliver lives in his feelings they are at the bottom of his nature all else is super ture and fairfax as well as lambert ard others think they can fill great oliver s place no man can for that very reason when he departs I 1 will away from england I 1 have no heart for another civil war I 1 will draw sword under no less a gen eral than oliver good night john good night israel have you told marthaa not yet she will fret every day till the change comes why should we have a hundred frets when a dozen may doa but when israel went into marthas presence something made him change his mind the mother had been weep ing and began to weep afresh when she saw her husband he anticipated her sorrowful questions and with an assumption of cheerfulness told her how happy and hopeful jane and cluny seemed to be it did not feel like a parting at all martha he sold and indeed there was no need for any such feeling we are going ourselves very soon now the words were spoken and could not be recalled and he stood in a moment ready to face the storm they might raise martha looked at her husband with speechless wonder and distress and he was more moved by this attitude than by her usual garru lous anger he sat down by her side and took her hand saying to be continued |