| Show ami jm i by E MAN copyright 1804 by LUCAS LINCOLN CO CHAPTER XIII an intern ew w th the king A door opened and a courtier ft as bete noire sir raoul dwight ame from the anteroom into which I 1 was waiting to be admitted it evident that his majesty s miss had not retained him court so long as he bad 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 7 I 1 asked fore god kill you 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 leen about I 1 doubt not but that I 1 should have felt it between my shoulders 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 be 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 ita 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 re and why does quentin waters son of lord waters dare venture into londona he questioned imperatively why I 1 have ventured into london and seek this interview Is a ell I 1 am come upon my father s affairs I 1 managed to stammer I 1 see sarcasm rang in his voice meanwhile ou spend your time threatening a fair subject of mine with a meaningless piece of paper profitable business indeed he sneered evidently sir faoul dwight had not bad the ear of the king for naught not so I 1 replied you sir have treen misinformed I 1 threaten no lady say you soa he retorted then where Is this paper I 1 have heard so much about the court Is wearied to death 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 I 1 have 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 came 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 ayea waiting while he fingered the long coat of one ot his pets once he tapped his foot impatiently at the mans delay I 1 watched the fellow with more interest than the case demanded 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 had him his day was done the man held out bis 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 man s word goes for naught in king charles court but your majesty it 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 lord waters of long haut and was master of the bed chamber charles I 1 the king frowned and I 1 thought it best to get to the very gist of what I 1 had to tell at once without any acing the two beings he held dearest in life were his majesty ng charles I 1 and hia young wife one nightie nigh tIt was the night of the of january 1639 being stationed in an anteroom by the express command of the king a page came to ilm alm saying A mes sage from the king thinking it only an ordinary missive pertaining to the business on hand he took 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 acure ly hidden in its jeweled recep tude 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 interest inte iest when be saw it had his deceased fathers sig net attached to it A love lettera he ed I 1 nodded read it sire I 1 begged A forgery cleverly done and signed with the kings signet he ejaculated when he had finished who would have A forgery as ou 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 longhi 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 banded 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 fellows 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 so he sa d this is the redoubtable quent n waters nhat be feared it was intended for 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 1 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 be cried impatiently but why did he not see the king and have the note authenticated 7 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 methinks to join that aa assin 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 pris oner some months ere he was how soa 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 tool it with a shaking hand his not a doubt of it he abis 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 waters obtain this he said cuttingly I 1 told you sire I 1 replied with dignity he paced the floor with a more hur ned 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 j he was much changed sire I 1 said and affected the puritanical style was also dark and he wished to I 1 what strange creatures men are soliloquized his majesty I 1 would have you know sire 1 cout aud that after that the old tor his king returned to lord waters he resigned from crom s army and went to his estate ao 10 L ng haut there he obtained a dierce from his wife and after alv ing n retirement married my mother ft ho died in childbirth during the years of my minority the thought that he might have wronged the king and his first wife cover left him it mide him what he has been ever since a miserably s ck man owing to ahli condition he was not able to come himself so he sent me to lay the mat ter before our majesty and plead for forgiveness forgive ress I 1 had finished and I 1 knelt before him fore god ou shall hae it he cried as he motioned me to rise but it seems to me that tia to lady dwight you should go as your fathers em to plead for forgiveness lady dwight I 1 exclaimed I 1 was too astonished to ay iy more she is your father S divorced wife he explained my 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 questioned fiercely your half brother he answered born in france six months your father left in such importunate haste my god I 1 cried and they talk about instinct I 1 had not th 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 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 to night before I 1 sleep had the lady been in town she would have had it before this been in town he began ah yes so you shall gladden raoul dwight s heart he but now went from here with a hanging head be cause I 1 would promise him nothing his majesty yawned and then dis missed me to be continued |
