Show ajaj y by MILLICENT E malin 1904 LUCAS LINCOLN CO CHAPTER XIII an intern ew w th the ring A door opened and a courtier it was my bete noire sir raoul dwight ame from the anteroom into which I 1 was waiting to be admitted it was evident that his majesty s mission had not retained him from court so dicag as he had ant A frown was on his brow and his head hung he would have passed me had not my deep look forced his eyes the frown broadened and a curse burst from his sullen mouth his hand slid to his sword will not to morrow be time enough cousin raoul I 1 asked fore god kill ou then he growled venomously at your service I 1 said my name being called I 1 turned my back upon him and walked to the room where I 1 was to have my inter view with king charles II 11 had raoul dwight a knife then and no one 1 een about I 1 doubt not but that I 1 should have felt it between my shoulder dei s his majesty sat surrounded by his dogs pulling the ears of one slapping another over the nose with bis lace kerchief chiding yet another who would be too fond doing thus he kept me standing inwardly chafing at the delay at last tired of this play he con descended to speak before doing so however he gave the dog nearest him a vicious twist of the ear which sent him yelping back of his masters chair so he said so this is the re doubtable quentin waters son of that renegade lord waters of long haut Is if he looked at me long with a heavy frown on his thin face not an aus niclous opening certainly yes I 1 affirmed I 1 am quentin waters at your command s re and why does quentin waters son of lord waters dare venture into london he questioned imperatively why I 1 have ventured into london and seek this interview Is well I 1 am come upon my father s affairs I 1 managed to stammer I 1 see sarcasm rang tn his voice meanwhile you spend your time threatening fair subject of mine with a meaningless piece of paper so he sa d this is the redoubtable quentin waters business indeed he sneered evidently sir raoul dwight had not bad the ear of the king tor naught not so I 1 replied you sir have been misinformed I 1 threaten no lady say you soa he retorted then where Is this paper I 1 have heard much about the court Is wearied to deah with the various stories afloat concerning it I 1 would see it it it Is the promise of marriage won from the lady s father you mean it not in my possession I 1 said promise of marriage he repeated toot it Is nothing I 1 can do away with it as easily as I 1 can squash this fly he raised his hand and brought it down upon he supposed that trouble some insect buzzing about so late in the season when he raised his hand there was nothing under it the fly had flown to the wall it is not always so easy to squash even so mean a thing as a fly I 1 murmured think soa he questioned he rang a bell one of his guards oame at its summons there Is a fly on the wall to the right kill it he commanded the man proceeded upon the chase it required some effort his majesty leaned back with half closed eyes waiting while he fingered the long coat of one ot his pets once he tapped his toot impatiently at the man s delay I 1 watched the fellow with more interest than the case de banded and had I 1 been in any other presence than the kings I 1 should have laughed at his frantic move ments and the cleverness of that small insect at last he bad him his day was done the man held out his hand to his majesty and in his palm lay the crushed fly it Is done your majesty he said the king commanded him to leave the room and again resumed his play I 1 see I 1 said after a pause A mans word goes for naught in king charles court but your majesty if I 1 have your permission I 1 will tell you my reason or rather my mission in london he nodded having successfully demonstrated his object lesson he was in a good humor my father you already know Is ilerd waters of long haut and was master of the bed chamber to charles I 1 the king frowned and I 1 thought it best to get to the very gist ot what I 1 had to tell at once without any ac ng the two beings he held dearest in life were his majesty king charida I 1 and his oung wife one night 1 was the night of the of january 1639 being stationed in an anteroom b the express command of the king a page came to him saying A mes aage from the king ing it only an ordinary missive pertain ng to the business on hand he tool it from him opened and read it here is the paper I 1 took from a jeweled locket I 1 wore fastened to my waistcoat by a rosette 0 ribbons the paper I 1 had received from my father I 1 had 1 ept it secure ly hidden in its jeweled receptacle I 1 did not intend it should be stolen from me a second time the king took it daintily rather disdaining that old slip of paper he opened it with a bored look that look turned to animated intel est when he saw it had his deceased father s sig net attached to it A love lettera he asked I 1 nodded read it sire I 1 begged A forgery cleverly done and signed with the king s signet he ejaculated when he had finished who would have A forgery as you say I 1 said and so lord waters my father in his later years came to think but not at the time the artlessness of the page young kenneth son of old sir longval e he Is dead so nothing can be proved and the king knowing he was on duty out of the way all tended at the time to lend confirmation to the deed lord waters questioned the page he told him that he had made a mistake and handed him an other note which proved to be merely a message from the king sending him upon a mission that should take him from the court for a few days As he was delivering a cutting reproof to the careless page before letting him go he saw something in the fellow s face that made him stop and ask him to whom he was to deliver the other noted the page stammered and ap feared so confused that lord waters was determined to be answered his hand was not light and he soon knew what he feared it was intended tor lady waters the page confessed you see sire the name in the note Is elaine it was her name ah the king said I 1 should have been hard to please indeed if I 1 had not been satisfied with the king s change of manner crazed he left the court without seeing either the king or his wife a matter of history how he joined cromwell forsaking the king yes he cried impatiently but why did he not see the king and have the note authenticated 9 why act like a jealous fools yes I 1 said he was too sensitive I 1 think he had great provocation it it were true he said but not enough me s to join that assassin s army and give him service and good ice too he finished bitterly not so good perhaps as cromwell would have wished however I 1 ha to say else the war had been sooner ended and his majesty a ans oner some months ere he was how he asked after the battle of marsden lord waters had the honor of taking his majesty a prisoner I 1 said noa an improbable tale he cried I 1 have proofs I 1 retorted I 1 held out to him the tiny brooch he took it with a shaking hand his not a doubt of it he whis the martyred king s he got up and paced the floor look ing at the jewel in his palm yes as a child I 1 have seen him wear it he murmured by what machinations did lord wafers obtain this he said cuttingly I 1 told you sire I 1 replied with dignity he paced the floor with a more hur ried tread while he frowned and knit his brow in deep thought he said now I 1 remember having heard that after the battle of marsden being sep abated from his guards he had been captured by a man serving on the other side but when the man found that it was the king he held he had released him even given him safe conduct to his men so that he should not be retaken it was told me by general lauderdale to whom my father had related the incident strange the king my father did not recognize so familiar a man at court as lord waters he was much changed sire I 1 said and affected the puritanical style was also dark and he d to be what creatures men are sol loqui zed his majesty I 1 would have ou know sire 1 i cout id that after that the old tor his ring returned to lord waters he resigned from crom 11 ll s army and went to his estate in L ng haut there he obtained a from his wife and after alv ing n retirement married my mother who died in childbirth during the years of my minority the thought that he might have wronged the king and his first wife never left him it mire him what he has been ever since a m s ck man owing to ma condition he was not able to come himself so he sent me to lay pie mat ter before our majesty and plead tor forgiveness I 1 had finished and I 1 knelt before him lore god you shall have it he cried as he pd me to rise but it seems to me that to I 1 ady dwight you should go as ir father emissary emis siry to plead for forgiveness lady dwight I 1 exclaimed I 1 was too astonished to ay more she Is your father divorced wife he explained M father s wife I 1 repeated even so he affirmed none too pa light dawned upon me and I 1 under stood my lady s fainting fit she too was overcome by circumstances and sir raoul I 1 ques tinned fiercely your halt brother he answered born in france six months ater your father left in such importunate haste my god I 1 cried and they talk about instinct I 1 had not the least in nate feeling toward him why we were ever as cat and dog whenever we came in sight of one another even brothers will quarrel over a woman he smiled there need be no more quarreling upon that score I 1 replied he Is welcome to the lady that is good ho enjoined you will return the paper at once to lady felton and renounce all claim to her hand certainly I 1 replied I 1 never in tended to keep her to it I 1 will get the paper from the person who has it and make her a present of it tonight to night before I 1 sleep had the lady been in town she would have had it before this been in towne he began ah yes so you shall gladden raoul dwight s heart he but now went from here with a hanging head because I 1 would promise him nothing his majesty yawned and then dis missed me to be continued |