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 RUSSELL: 
 
 A TALE OE THE REIGN OP CHARLES 11. 
 
 VOL. L
 
 RUSSELL: 
 
 A TALE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE KEIGN OF CHARLES II. 
 
 G. P. R. JAMBS, Esa., 
 
 ATJTHOK OF 
 
 "DARNLEY;" "THE GIPSY;" "THE SMUGGLER; 
 "THE CASTLE OF EHRENSTEIN," kc. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHTLL. 
 
 1847.
 
 London: 
 Printed by Stewart and Mitkray, 
 Old Bailey.
 
 I/- / 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 " To the blae-eyed maid of the cottage!" said 
 one. 
 
 "To the blue-eyed maid of the cottage!" 
 
 said another, and so said a third and a fourth. 
 
 These words were pronounced in a large 
 
 f room lined with richly carved, dark oak panel- 
 
 "^ling. One side presented three windows, with 
 
 ^^ narrow- paned lattices in lead and iron frames. 
 
 ^ In the centre was a sort of oriel, the glass- 
 
 , " work of which ended about four feet, or 
 
 - rather more, above the general level of the 
 
 -g VOL. I. . B '
 
 Z RUSSELL. 
 
 floor; but an ascent of tv/o steps conducted 
 any one, who ^vas inclined either to gaze out 
 upon tlie surrounding scene, or to sit, and 
 meditate or read upon the bench which ran 
 round the recess, to a higher flooring, above 
 which the window was raised not quite three 
 feet. 
 
 In the centre of the room was a large square 
 table, covered with plate and glass, rich viands, 
 and choice wines ; and at each side of that 
 table was seated a gentleman in the costume of 
 Charles the Second's reign, flaunting and glit- 
 tering in silks and gold. Each had a jDage 
 beside him, if possible, more gaily dressed 
 than his master. Merriment and revelry were 
 evidently the order of the day; and, indeed, 
 some excuse for excess might be found in the 
 habits of the time, and the youth of the par- 
 ties; for between the four who were there 
 seated, they could not make up the sum of a 
 hundred and ten years. 
 
 The gentleman who was placed at the side 
 of the table next to the door, was apparently
 
 RUSSELL. 6 
 
 tlie master of the house ; for he it was who 
 gave orders to three or four servants who 
 moved quietly about the room, and to an 
 elder man, who kept his place by a large buf- 
 fet loaded with jars of silver, and gilt dr hik- 
 ing cups, and basins richly chased. The other 
 three gentlemen, who were apparently his 
 guests, only addressed themselves to the pages, 
 who poured out the wine. 
 
 " To the blue-eyed maid of the cottage ! " 
 said the master of the house, raising high at 
 the same time a large glass mounted on a tali 
 stalk, and ornamented with flowers of gold. 
 
 Each of the guests drank the toast in the 
 same manner, as I have said before; and then 
 one of them exclaimed — " This is not so good 
 as the last flagon !^' 
 
 " It is that you have drunk too much of it," 
 replied another. 
 
 " Let him change it," said the master of the 
 house ; " the wines of the Garonne always 
 seem pricked after the second glass. Give him 
 Burgundy ; it never palls upon the palate." 
 
 2b
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 g " Everything palls on his palate, Alcester," 
 said one of the other gentlemen, looking across 
 the table towards him who had condemned his 
 entertainer's wine ; " he is an admirer of no- 
 thing, from the rose- coloured slippers of Maza- 
 rine, up to the lips of Stuart, and the stars of 
 Heaven." 
 
 ''You had better have put in the garters 
 too, Escrick," cried another young man from 
 the end of the table. 
 
 " I won't believe it, Escrick," said the young 
 Lord Alcester, the master of the house ; " no 
 man at six-and-twenty has had time in life to 
 exhaust its pleasures, and leave himself nothing 
 but disgust and dull satiety. Contradict him, 
 Beltingham, if you have got any spirit left in 
 
 you." 
 
 " Plenty of spirit," answered Sir Frederick 
 Beltingham, " but no contradiction, Alcester. 
 Besides, the noble lord is right. I know 
 nothing in life that gives me more than the 
 very slightest shade of pleasure : but do not 
 suppose for a moment that I regret it. This
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 is what I Lave been aiming at all my life. 
 From a very early period I looked upon 
 satiety as tlie great end and object of all philo- 
 sophy, or rather — for perhaps I use a wrong 
 expression — it is the true philosophical state 
 of the mind. The absence of desire and pas- 
 sion, that calm and even equipoise, where all 
 things moral and physical are perfectly indif- 
 ferent to us, and are merely regarded as sub- 
 jects for the exercise of reason, is the state or 
 condition which all philosophers have approved 
 and aimed at, and which eloquent Cicero has 
 ranked among the advantages which compen- 
 sate old age for the loss of powers. Satiety 
 for ever! Gentlemen, this is my toast, — 
 Here is to Satiety ! " 
 
 " iS'ay," cried Lord Alcester, " that toast I 
 will never drink. Give me pleasure, — ever 
 changing, ever new. May it never pall upon 
 my taste ; may it never weary ; may it never 
 fade; and, before it is exhausted, may I go out 
 like an extinguished taper ! " 
 
 " With a bad smell," said Lord Howard of
 
 b RUSSELL. 
 
 Escrlck. " But tell us something more, Al- 
 cester, of this diamond you have found in the 
 dark mine — of this blue- eyed maid of the 
 cottage. Is she so very lovely?" 
 
 Lord Alcester put his hand to his heart, 
 with a jesting affectation of sentiment, and 
 replied, — " She is divine ! Picture to your- 
 self, Escrick, a creature with a skin like ala- 
 baster, warmed by the rose, — Pygmalion's 
 statue just glowing into life; eyes large, soft, 
 and blue, with a long, sweeping fringe of jetty 
 lashes veiling their too much light ; small lips 
 of pouting coral, the upper in the shape of 
 Cupid's bow, the lower like a cherry ready to 
 be plucked; a forehead broad and fair, but 
 not too high, with, waving round it, curls of 
 nut-brown hair, dark in the deep recesses, 
 golden in the gleams ; a hand whose whiteness 
 and whose taper fingers would render Hamil- 
 ton envious ; a tiny foot, that would make a 
 fairy die of spleen." 
 
 "And a figure of some five feet two," cried 
 Beltingham, ''in a red bodice laced with black."
 
 RUSSELL. / 
 
 " I hope and trust," cried the gentleman at 
 the other end of the table, " that, for the glory 
 •of tlie picture, she is neither as fat as Rubens's 
 Plebe, nor thin as Ann Churchill, when first 
 she appeared in public." 
 
 " Oh, no," answered Lord Alcester ; " she 
 is at present perfect, Farleigh; no line that 
 sculptor ever dreamed of grace is wanting in 
 her form : and had the man of Greece but 
 seen her, he would have sought no other model 
 for Love's mother, and Beauty's queen." 
 
 " On my soul, a prize for a king ! " ex- 
 ciainied F'^rleio'h. 
 
 " Which a king shall not Iiave !" cried Lord 
 Alcester ; " for she is my prize, and I will keep 
 her." 
 
 "Faith! I will report unto his Majesty," 
 said Farleigli, laughing, "that you have made 
 booty, and not discharged the royal dues." 
 
 " Then you shalL taste twelve inches of cold 
 iron for your pains ;" answered Lord Alcester, 
 in the same tone. " There is honour amongst 
 thieves, Farleigh ; and we thieves of hearts
 
 8 RUSSELL. 
 
 must not be more dishonest than those who 
 cut purses." 
 
 "No, no, no!" cried they all; "fair play, 
 fair play, and the right of first discovery ! But 
 at all events you will let us have a peep into 
 Paradise." 
 
 "Not I!" cried Lord Alcester. "Why 
 should I render you all miserable for ever ? — 
 But the wine halts sadly ; and our meal too. 
 What comes next?" and he turned an inqui- 
 ring look to one of the men at the side-board. 
 
 " A touTte a la reine, my lord/' replied the 
 man. 
 
 " Good faith ! in this loyal household we 
 shall need a glass of w^hite wine to make that 
 go down," said the master of the mansion. 
 " Fill, boys, fill! His Majesty's good health 
 and pleasure !" 
 
 The pages filled the glasses to the brim, 
 and the meal proceeded towards its close in 
 light and somewhat wanton talk. When near 
 the end, however. Lord Howard of Escrick 
 drank to the health of his noble friend, add-
 
 RUSSELL. 9 
 
 ing, " Long may he live to enjoy his new 
 property, and see good neighbours flourish 
 round him ! " 
 
 " Good faith !" cried Lord Alcester, " I have 
 few enough at present; the only one of any 
 degree is my uncle Vi'pont, and he is so 
 gloomy and morose, that I would as soon so- 
 journ in a palace of ice as in his house." 
 
 " Ay, is the good lord gloomy?" asked Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham. " I remember him 
 gay enough, when I was a lad. He was 
 one of Shaftesbury's men, and got his 
 cousin's, Sir William Ellerton's, estates, when 
 he was implicated in the plot. So he had 
 every reason to be satisfied." 
 
 " He never seems satisfied now," answered 
 Lord Alcester ; " but when you visit him, 
 whether you be friend or foe, stranger or ac- 
 quaintance, he turns his dark eyes upon you, 
 from under those overhanging grey eyebrows 
 of his, as if he would cut your throat for 
 coming near him." 
 
 "They say he did cut Ellerton's throat,'
 
 10 RUSSELL. 
 
 replied Farleigli. " I recollect quite well 
 there were strange rumours at that time." 
 
 " Pshaw, nonsense ! " cried Lord Alcester, 
 impatiently. " Pray, remember he is my 
 uncle ; and we do not cut men's throats to 
 get their property." 
 
 " I never said he did," answered Farleigh. 
 "You are too hot, Alcester; Sir William was a 
 very likely man to quarrel with him for taking 
 his estates, and might get his throat cut for 
 his pains, without any reproach to your uncle. 
 But, on my life ! there is the sun going dov/n ; 
 and I think, on the best computation I can 
 make, we have four bottles more to drink 
 before we j^art." 
 
 " Hark!" cried Lord Alcester, laughing, 
 " on my life ! there is a trumpet at the gates — 
 are your swords all right, good friends? for 
 that seems a warlike summons. See what 
 it is, fellows ; and let me know." 
 
 Two of the servants instantly disappeared 
 from the room, and were absent for a minute 
 or two. On their return the eldest had a
 
 RUSSELL. 1 1 
 
 laugli only half suppressed upon his face, but 
 he bowed low and reverently, saying — " It is 
 a strange-looking man, my lord, with a beard 
 half down to his middle, and two Moorish 
 servants with silver rings upon their arms. 
 He speaks an odd sort of language, and calls 
 himself a professor of white magic. More- 
 over, he desired me to ask if your lordship be 
 inclined to see some curious experiments in 
 his art. I never saw anything like it." 
 
 " Why, w hat did he do ? " demanded Lord 
 Howard of Escrick. 
 
 " He bade one of his black fellows throw a 
 stone up to the moon, my lord," replied the 
 servant ; " and the man took up one as big as 
 my fist, gave himself a whirl round upon one 
 foot, and pitched it up into the sky. It w^ent 
 up, and up, and up, till I lost sight of it ; and 
 it had not fallen down a^ain when I came 
 away." 
 
 " Let us see him, let us see him," cried 
 Lord Alcester, eager for amusement of any 
 kind ; but Lord Howard replied, " I fear we
 
 12 RUSSELL. 
 
 shall not have time ; for Farleigh and I have 
 to ride some twenty miles to-night, and he 
 will never give up the flagon for the juggler.'* 
 
 " There is time for both," replied Lord Al- 
 cester ; " a moonlight ride will do you and 
 Farleigh good, cool your boiling blood, and 
 send you to London as prim as Puritans. 
 Take the man in, and give him and his blacks 
 a jug of wine. We will see him by-and-by 
 in the hall ; and hark ye — " 
 
 He whispered a few words in the servant's 
 ear, but repeated aloud, as the man bowed and 
 withdrew — " In the gallery, I say."
 
 RUSSELL, 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The large hall at Malwood was not less than 
 forty feet in span, and fully sixty in length, with 
 a high, vaulted roof, lined or ceiled with a thin 
 boarding of pale oak planks, laid side by side, 
 and supported by strong beams, which projected 
 from the walls at the distance of about twenty 
 feet from the ground, to sustain octagonal 
 uprights maintaining in their position other 
 cross beams above. The walls were of plain 
 stone, with five long windows on one side, 
 and two doors on the other; and the floor 
 was of broad grey slabs, except at one end, 
 where, underneath a gallery which crossed 
 the hall at the height of about ten feet, oak 
 had been substituted for stone. The gallery
 
 14 RUSSELL. 
 
 itself, with a sort of trellis-work of wood before 
 it, resembled much one of those to be seen in 
 tlie cbapel of a nunnery, where the staid 
 sisters conceal themselves from the world's 
 view during the public service ; and it led 
 from one suite of private apartments to an- 
 other in the two wings, the hall occupying a 
 portion of the main building. 
 
 In the midst of the pavement, just about 
 half an hour after sunset, was spread a large 
 table, covered, as the chronicle says, with a 
 fair white cloth ; and on that fair white cloth 
 appeared a number of curiously shaped arti- 
 cles, some highly ornamented, some perfectly 
 plain, which excited apparently great interest 
 in a group of male and female servants at 
 one end of the hall. Several candelabra, and 
 a large, antique lamp of many wicks, burning 
 with a peculiar blue flame, cast a ghastly light 
 over the table, and upon the countenances of 
 two swarthy men, dressed in oriental costume, 
 who stood at a distance from each other on 
 one side of the table. Each held a naked
 
 RUSSELL. 15 
 
 scymitar in his hand, and both remained per- 
 fectly motionless, like two black statues, in the 
 attitude of guards. 'Not even the eyes were 
 seen to move for several minutes ; and a dead 
 silence pervaded the whole hall, except when 
 the foot of some new comer, adding himself 
 to the little crowd of servants, broke the still- 
 ness for an instant. 
 
 At length a sound of persons speaking and 
 noisy mirth was heard, and the lord of the 
 mansion, with his three gay friends, entered and 
 moved towards some chairs placed for them at 
 the distance of a few feet from the table. The 
 strange sight presented by the hall, and the 
 solemn stillness, seemed to have some effect 
 upon them, for they suddenly became silent, and 
 gazed over the preparations for their amuse- 
 ment with apparent surprise and interest. But, 
 as they were taking their seats, each of the 
 guards stretched forth his scymitar over the 
 table, and immediately the sound of a trumpet 
 was heard, evidently blown in the very room 
 where they were ; but nevertheless, though
 
 16 RUSSELL. 
 
 all looked round, no one saw who winded the 
 blast. Instantly the door at the other end of 
 the hall opened, and a figure appeared which 
 attracted all eyes. It was that of a tall and 
 exceedingly powerful man, in the prime of life, 
 dressed in the costume of a period at least two 
 centuries antecedent; and the tight-fitting 
 hose and sleeves showed the athletic propor- 
 tions of his limbs to the greatest advantage. 
 His complexion was very brown, as if with 
 exposure to wind and sun ; and though the 
 forehead, eyes, and nose, were all fine, the 
 whole of the lower part of his face was con- 
 cealed in a long black beard, which descended 
 in curls almost to his waist. His hair had 
 also been suffered to grow to an unusual length, 
 and the jetty curls hung far over his shoulders. 
 Indeed, neither scissors nor razor seemed ever 
 to have touched hair or beard since he came 
 into the world, any more than those of the 
 Nazarite. 
 
 There was a slight, almost supercilious smile 
 upon his face as he advanced ; and all his move-
 
 RUSSELL. 17 
 
 ments were easy and graceful ; but lie saluted 
 no one; and, approaching the table, placed 
 himself between the two blacks, and gazed 
 calmly over the party before him. 
 
 " Men love to see things in but one light, 
 that which pleases them best," were the first 
 words he uttered. " I love to see under all;'^ 
 and passing his hand once or twice over the 
 lamp, the flame became alternately deep red, 
 bright orange, and pale yellow. 
 
 " Why, you all change colour ! " cried the 
 juggler ; " but thus it is that men view the 
 world, and believe everything to be an inherent 
 quality, which is but accidental." 
 
 *' Why you are preaching, good man," said 
 Lord Howard; "when we want to hear a 
 sermon, we will go to church." 
 
 " If you went oftener, you might do better," 
 answered the juggler. "I teach, but in an- 
 other manner; and you shall know more of 
 yourself before you go. But you must have a 
 cooler head first; for you have drunk too 
 much. The man who sits next you has drunk 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 RUSSELL. 
 
 more ; he next to liim less ; and the one on the 
 left has brains more easily moved with cold 
 thoughts than hot wine." 
 
 "Why, are you prophet as well as con- 
 jurer?" asked Farleigh, with a thickened 
 utterance. 
 
 "You shall see," replied the juggler ; " but 
 now to other matters. Which is the master 
 of the house ? " 
 
 " Here he sits," said Lord Alcester. 
 
 " Ah, noble lord ! " replied the juggler, " you 
 are descended from a long line of glorious 
 ancestors. Heaven send that you may keep 
 well their high name ! I see them all now 
 looking at you." 
 
 "Where?" cried Lord Alcester. "I see 
 them not." 
 
 "You shall soon see them," answered the 
 juggler; but they require to sniff fine odours 
 before they will appear to any other eyes 
 but mine ;" and turning to one of the blacks 
 who was with him, he spoke a few words, 
 some of v/hich seemed, to the ears of Lord
 
 RUSSELL. 19 
 
 Alcester, to be Italian, while the rest, though 
 soft and harmonious, were utterly unlike 
 those of an}^ tongue he had ever heard. The 
 Moor, however, instantly took from the table 
 a small silver chafing-dish, lighted the fuel 
 beneath it from the lamp, and then placed it 
 on the ground, near the wall in which were 
 the two doors. The juggler then extin- 
 guished the other lights, and advanced, after 
 having opened and closed several boxes on the 
 table and taken thence a quantity of different 
 kinds of powders, which he scattered broad 
 upon the fire in the chafing-dish. Large 
 clouds of smoke of exquisite fragrance in- 
 stantly began to roll over that side of the hall ; 
 and, retiring to the table again, the magician 
 rested his left hand upon a large vase, and 
 waving his right, exclaimed, " Appear ! " 
 
 All eyes were bent upon the rolling vapour ; 
 but what w^as the surprise of Lord Alcester 
 and his companions when they beheld figures 
 of the size of life, first flitting amidst the clouds 
 of smoke, and then marching on in solemn pro- 
 
 c 2
 
 20 RUSSELL. 
 
 cession ! Very various were the faces which were 
 seen, and equally so the costume in which 
 the personages showed themselves. The first 
 wore a hauberk of chain mail, and a hood of 
 the same, covering, apparently, a steel cap. 
 His face was turned away ; and he passed 
 slowly on, disappearing in the gloom at the 
 other end of the hall. A number of other 
 armed figures followed ; the hauberk gradually 
 giving place to plate armour ; but two or 
 three churchmen might be marked in the line, 
 distinguished from the rest by their robes. 
 
 Lord Howard of Escrick laughed, with 
 a somewhat broad jest, at the appearance 
 of Roman Catholic priests amongst his 
 friend's ancestors ; but the juggler suddenly 
 cried "Hush!" and the very next figure 
 that presented itself, — a richly dressed man in 
 the costume of Henry the Eighth's reign — 
 suddenly rushed forward towards Lord Alces- 
 ter, with his arm raised as if to strike him. 
 The young peer started up and laid his hand 
 upon his sword ; but the strong mellow voice
 
 RUSSELL. 21 
 
 of the juggler was heard exclamiing, "Back! 
 back !" and the figure instantly retreated, and 
 disappeared in the cloud. 
 
 " On my life ! this is very strange," cried 
 Lord Alcester. 
 
 " Mark, mark !" said the juggler ; "you are 
 coming near those whom you will know 
 better." And two or three more figures 
 swept past somewhat raj^idly. At length 
 there came an old man dressed in black velvet, 
 with a staiF in his hand, and the young lord 
 exclaimed, " My grandfather, as I live !" 
 
 " Look now," said the juggler; and a figure 
 was seen approaching from the right side, 
 dressed as a cavalier at the end of the reign of 
 Charles the First. Scarcely had he appeared, 
 however, when he seemed to throw his cloak 
 over the lower part of his face, and thus 
 passed on with his head bent as if in grief. 
 
 " My father ! " cried Lord Alcester. '' Why 
 does he hide his face ?" 
 
 " I know not," replied the juggler; " but it 
 is probable you do, noble lord."
 
 22 RUSSELL. 
 
 " How should I know?" demanded the 
 young peer. 
 
 " A father hides not his face from a son 
 without cause," answered the juggler. " But 
 these are grave matters; let us have gayer 
 ones." 
 
 At the same moment the two Moors lis^hted 
 the tapers in the candelabra again ; and the 
 juggler took a pack of cards from the table. 
 
 " You have often seen common conjurers," 
 he said, " do innumerable tricks with these 
 small bits of gilt and painted pasteboard ; and 
 you may have seen noble lords and honour- 
 able gentlemen play tricks with them also, as 
 easy and not so innocent. But that is all trash. 
 If you wish to see such as those, my slaves 
 here will play them for you. My mysteries 
 are deeper. Take them and examine them 
 well, and remark that there is no other pack 
 upon the table. But that all may be clearly 
 seen, I will first have some of these things 
 removed." He then again spoke a few words in 
 the same tongue as before to the two Moors, who
 
 RUSSELL. 23 
 
 carried away the greater part of the vases and 
 chests with which the table was strewed, leav- 
 ing only one or two small objects behind." 
 
 The juggler then handed the cards to Lord 
 Alcester, who examined them with his com- 
 panions, and having satisfied himself that 
 there was nothing unQSual about them, placed 
 them on the table again. 
 
 " Now," said the juggler, " know that 
 these cards have a magic quality of telling 
 men's characters. Let any one come forward 
 and choose a card, but let him take care to 
 draw a high one ; for as he draws, so must 
 we judge him. I have nought to do vv^ith it." 
 
 " You go, Farleigh," said Sir Frederick 
 Beltingham. 
 
 " If you will come after," replied Far- 
 lei2:h. 
 
 " Very well," said the other ; and with not 
 the steadiest step in the world, the young- 
 gentleman advanced and drew a card from the 
 pack in the hands of the juggler. It was the 
 two of spades, and the juggler exclaimed, with
 
 24 RUSSELL. 
 
 a laugh, " The lowest card in the pack ! But 
 that is because you are half drunk. Try 
 again^ and let us see what you are when you 
 are sober." 
 
 The young gentleman drew another; but 
 the change was only to the two of clubs. 
 
 "Well that is better," said the juggler. 
 '* Clubs are more soldier-like than spades. 
 ]Now, let us see what you will be in love as 
 well as war." 
 
 But the experiment did not succeed better 
 this time, and it was but the two of hearts he 
 drew. 
 
 " Once more," said the juggler ; but Far- 
 leigh sullenly refused, and withdrew, amidst 
 the laughter of his companions ; for most men 
 love more or less the ridicule that falls upon 
 their friends. 
 
 " Kow, Beltingham," said Farleigh, " it is 
 your turn;" and with an easy self-possessed 
 air, his companion advanced to the table, drew 
 a card, and held it up. 
 
 " A knave," said the juggler aloud ; " but
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 25 
 
 that may only mean a shrewd man. Try 
 again, noble sir." 
 
 It was again a knave. " The cards must 
 be mistaken," said the juggler. " Try once 
 more for certainty, and once more for luck." 
 
 Twice more did Sir Frederick Beltingham 
 draw a card, with his usual air of indifference ; 
 but each time with the same result. 
 
 " These cards are very obstinate in their 
 opinions," said the juggler, dryly. 
 
 " Well, it is better to be reckoned a knave 
 than a fool," said Beltingham, and retired to 
 his chair. 
 
 Lord Alcester then advanced, and first drew 
 the seven of diamonds, then the six of clubs, 
 then the eight of hearts, then the seven of 
 spades. 
 
 " How read you that?" said he, speaking to 
 the juggler. 
 
 " Nay, I know not," answered the other : 
 " it would seem very uncertain — sometimes a 
 little better, sometimes a little worse, and 
 always about the middle of the pack."
 
 26 RUSSELL. 
 
 " In media tutissimus^'' said Lord Alcester. 
 " Now, Escrick." But that nobleman refused 
 to draw, saying, in a low bitter voice, " If you, 
 gentlemen, choose to be insulted where you can 
 take no revenge, you must do as you please ; 
 I will not expose myself to it." 
 
 In the mean time the juggler had cast the 
 cards high in air, in a long stream like a 
 comet's tail, but caught them again as they 
 descended, without missing one, or even dis- 
 placing their position in the pack; he then 
 spoke a few words to his attendants once more, 
 and sat down on a chair, which had been 
 placed behind him, as if to take some repose. 
 
 " Is the farce over?" said Lord Escrick. 
 
 "No;" answered the juggler. "It is just 
 about to begin, and there will be an after- 
 piece. These two men will show some things 
 you do not often see, and I will show more 
 when they have done." 
 
 On the various tricks and tours de force 
 performed by the two Moors, I will not pause. 
 They v.ere wonderful and strange in those
 
 RUSSELL. 27 
 
 days; but are common enough in our own. 
 When they were done, the principal juggler 
 again advanced, and took a small round mirror 
 from the table, saying, " If any man would 
 see himself as he really is, let him come 
 hither and look at the Mirror of Truth." 
 
 " I will try it," said Lord Alcester ; " I have 
 often wished to know myself as I really am." 
 
 " Then you will remark, my lord," said the 
 juggler, " that the first image presented to 
 you will be that which you are in your hap- 
 23iest moments, for the man moved by passion is 
 not the same as the man calm and reasonable; 
 the second image is what you really are when 
 influenced by the evil which is in us all ; the 
 third, what you will become if you give way 
 to that influence." 
 
 As he spoke, he held up the glass before the 
 young peer, and Alcester beheld a fair reflection 
 of his own face, with the features somewhat 
 softened, and a gentle glow spread over the 
 whole. The juggler then waved the mirror 
 in the air and presented it to him once more,
 
 28 RUSSELL. 
 
 when, to his surprise, he saw a face which he 
 could not but recognise as his own, for it 
 turned as he turned, but the features were all 
 distorted ; the mouth drawn on one side, the 
 eyes out of place, and the cheeks seemed as 
 if working with strong passion. 
 
 " This is very strange indeed ! " he said ; 
 " may I take the mirror in my own hand 1 " 
 
 " Assuredly," replied the juggler, " but the 
 changes will only take place in mine. It now 
 represents the character who looks into it 
 when affected by his evil passions." 
 
 Lord Alcester took the mirror and examined 
 it all over. It seemed but a simple speculum 
 of nine or ten inches in diameter, set in a 
 thick silver frame with a back of the same 
 metal. While he was looking at it. Lord 
 Escrick's curiosity got the better of his resolu- 
 tion, and, taking a step or two forward, he 
 looked over his friend's shoulder; but it was 
 only to see a small part of Alcester's face 
 reflected from the mirror, and almost the 
 whole of his own, with a diabolical leer upon
 
 RUSSELL. 29 
 
 his countenance which made him chafe, the 
 more because the features, though grinning 
 and contorted, were still not to be mistaken. 
 An angry look came over his countenance, 
 which only rendered the reflection in the glass 
 more horrible; and he turned away muttering, 
 and resumed his seat. 
 
 " I can see no fraud," said Lord Alcester, 
 restoring the mirror. 
 
 *' Because there is none," replied the juggler. 
 "Will you see the third stage, my lord?" and 
 once more waving the mirror in the air, he 
 held it up before the peer's eyes. It presented 
 the face of an idiot, in which all resemblance 
 to the original was lost. 
 
 " You go and look, sceptical Beltingham," 
 said the master of the house ; and with a 
 sarcastic smile, the knight advanced and gazed 
 into the mirror as soon as the juggler ceased 
 moving it to and fro. 
 
 "A very good looking youth, upon my 
 honour!" exclaimed Sir Frederick, as he be- 
 held his own handsome features unchanged in
 
 30 RUSSELL. 
 
 the glass ; " But this is the fair side of things, 
 master juggler. Let me see the woj'st." 
 
 Again the m^irror was swung backwards 
 and forwards in the air; and when again 
 raised to the face of the spectator, it showed 
 him still his own countenance, but with a 
 squint which rendered it perfectly hideous. 
 
 "Bad enouo-h!" muttered Beltino^ham. 
 " Now the last stage, my good friend." 
 
 When he looked again, after a short pause, 
 he started back, for he thought that one of 
 the Moors must have been looking over his 
 shoulder. It was the face of a devil he be- 
 held, as the imagination of that age painted 
 the enemies of mankind. The juggler waved 
 the glass slowly again, and laid it down; but 
 Beltingham snatched it up, and gazed upon 
 the polished surface. The last image was 
 gone, and nought but his own features was 
 reflected, with an expression of surprise upon 
 them which he took care to banish speedily. 
 
 " 'Now, noble lords and gentlemen," said 
 the juggler, " my task is done. Place in this
 
 RUSSELL. 31 
 
 cup Trbatever you may tliink fit for my re- 
 ward, — no more, for I tell you that you will 
 never see it again." 
 
 " From me you slitill have nothing," an- 
 swered Lord Howard of Escrick ; " and you 
 may think yourself well treated to escape from 
 another sort of reward which you have really 
 merited. Come, Farleigh, our horses have 
 been at the gate this hour. Farewell, Al- 
 cester ! If you took my advice, you v\^ould set 
 that fellow in the stocks, with his two blacks 
 to keep him company. Farewell !" 
 
 "Fie, fie!" said Lord Alcester, taking out 
 his purse, as his two guests moved away ; 
 ** these two gentlemen are half drunk, and still 
 more angry; but I will make up for their 
 neglect," and he dropped some gold pieces 
 into the cup which the juggler held. To his sur- 
 prise, they made no sound ; and the juggler 
 reversing the cup, nothing fell upon the table. 
 
 " My lord ! " said the man, as if in surprise ; 
 but the young peer shook his head, v/ith a 
 laugh, saying, "Pooh, pooh ! I dropped five
 
 32 RUSSELL. 
 
 pieces in ; and if by your art you have con- 
 veyed them anywhere else, you must bring 
 them back again." 
 
 "Thanks for your generosity," said the jug- 
 gler. " Now, noble sir," and he held the cup 
 to Sir Frederick Beltingham. 
 
 The knight took out his purse; but paused, 
 saying, " I have a question to ask you first. I 
 will follow you in a moment, Alcester. I 
 would fain speak . with this learned Theban 
 alone, upon a point of science which he can 
 perhaps resolve." 
 
 " So be it," replied Alcester, with a laugh. 
 " Void the room there, fellows ! " and walking 
 away, he left his friend and the juggler standing 
 too;ether in the midst of the hall. The servants 
 made haste to obey their lord's command. The 
 juggler now speaking in pure Italian, bade his 
 Moorish followers clear the table, and go for- 
 ward on their way with the car, leaving his 
 horse at the gate for him to follow; and 
 Sir Frederick Beltingham remained perfectly 
 silent till the hall was empty.
 
 RUSSELL. 33 
 
 " 'Now, my good friend," he said, as soon as 
 that was the case, " I have a notion that you 
 know more of those things than other men. 
 Either you deal with the devil, or you have 
 good information from other sources, and take 
 much trouble to acquire it." 
 
 " I do know more than other men," an- 
 swered the juggler, gravely ; " but I neither 
 deal with the devil, nor take trouble to acquire 
 information." 
 
 " Well, it matters not to me," continued Bel- 
 tingham, "which way you get your intelligence. 
 I care not a straw whether it comes from the 
 devil, or a gossiping old housekeeper, who is 
 generally somewhat worse than the devil. It 
 is some information which I want, and which 
 you probably can give. If you do, I will 
 double for you the sum which my friend Al- 
 cester has bestowed." 
 
 " And do you believe in the existence of a 
 devil, young gentleman?" asked the juggler, 
 with very marked emphasis. 
 
 " Certainly ! " replied Beltingham, laugh- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 RUSSELL. 
 
 ing ; " it is the principal point of my faith. 
 All other things seem very vague and dubious 
 to me ; but there are things so tangible to the 
 ordinary faculties of man, that no demon- 
 stration of their existence is required ; and 
 amongst these is the fact that there is a devil, 
 and that he is always at work, — more espe- 
 cially in the court of our sovereign lord the 
 King." 
 
 "It is so," replied the juggler; "and he is 
 more often near yourself than you are aware of." 
 
 " Perhaps you would insinuate," said Bel- 
 tingham, in his calm, sneering tone, " that 
 such is the case at the present moment. But 
 pray limit your pretensions, my dear sir. 
 Consider what a dangerous thing it is for a 
 servant to personate his master. The devil is 
 a very important potentate, and does not 
 travel with a shovv^-box. His functions are 
 with great men in courts and camps; and I 
 should fancy he does not spend his leisure 
 hours in playing tricks for the amusement of 
 country gentlemen/*
 
 RUSSELL. 35 
 
 "His functions are with all men," replied 
 the juggler, " and at all times and places ; for 
 though not omnipresent, he is ubiquitous. 
 From Heaven he is excluded ; the rest of the 
 universe is his large dwelling-place. His 
 throne is man's heart; his crown jewelled 
 with man's passions; his sceptre, pride; his 
 footstool, vanity. I seek not to deceive you, — 
 you deceive yourself; for, like all sceptics, 
 you are grossly superstitious; and even now 
 do doubt that my knowledge is not derived 
 from the great enemy of your race. But I tell 
 you it is not. The knowledge I possess is 
 from sources within myself: no one informs me, 
 no one prompts me ; I know, and I speak what 
 I know. Even now, if I so willed it, I could 
 confirm your error, by telling you the secret 
 thoughts of your heart at this very moment." 
 
 " It would be a new joroof of your skill," 
 replied Beltingham, interrupting him, " I 
 should very much like to know what I am 
 thinking of; for I am seldom fully aware." 
 
 "You are thinking of a woman whom, partly 
 
 D 2
 
 36 RUSSELL. 
 
 from passion, partly from revenge, you would seek 
 to take from those with whom she now dwells," 
 replied the juggler, " to make her a toy for the 
 time, and then let her perish. You would ask 
 me for instructions how to accomplish your 
 ends; and while you sneer, you doubt; while 
 you deny, you half believe." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, most humbly," replied 
 Beltingham, putting his hand upon his heart, 
 and making an extravagantly low bow ; " you 
 must be the personage of whom we have lately 
 been talking ; none other could look into my 
 breast so clearly. But I trust your Imperial 
 Majesty will be good enough to his humble 
 subject and servant to give me some slight 
 indication of the abode of this fair creature ? 
 Pray, recollect that though I am a visitor, I 
 am not yet naturalized in your dominions, and 
 that you must give some little encouragement 
 to those whom you would bind to you for the 
 long for ever. I know that this rare beauty 
 is somewhere within a mile or two of this 
 house, and suspect that Alcester has fallen
 
 RUSSELL. 37 
 
 upon a treasure without knowing* half its 
 worth. He will afford one not even a hint, 
 however, of where she dwells." 
 
 *'' He is wise," said his companion : " neither 
 will I. Farewell! — Of me you will hear no 
 more ; and now retire ; for in a minute all 
 will be darkness." Thus saying, lie waved his 
 hand over the candelabra, and, without other 
 means, the lights went out in an instant, leaving 
 the liall in complete night.
 
 38 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 It is not death alone which treads with equal 
 foot the cottage and the palace. He has many 
 companions on his weary march, many a 
 harbinger and herald. Pain, sorrow, fear, 
 anxiety, and care, do what man will, unlock 
 the barred door and enter. The latch of the 
 low hut, the porter-guarded gate of princes, 
 all give way at the dread summons of those 
 comrades fell, and they come in to spoil the 
 treasury of life, ere their grim king arrives 
 and claims dominion over all. 
 
 Let us look at that cottage, reader, and see 
 what it contains. It seems the abode of peace 
 and tranquillity, as it rests in a nook of the 
 woods, with a warm sloping bank before it, and
 
 RUSSELL. 39 
 
 the stream rolling on within sight — almost within 
 hearing — and the rosy light of evening paint- 
 ing the white walls with the hue of joy. Yet 
 the old woman, seated by the door, weeps, and 
 often turns her overflowing eyes to that beau- 
 tiful young being plying the busy wheel near 
 the window — that creature of loveliness and 
 light, to whom a purple ray from the setting 
 sun comes softly through the lattice like a 
 messenger from heaven. Yet the girl's face 
 is calm, and high thoughts seem upon her 
 brow and in her eyes. She surely feels no 
 fears ; and though her look is grave, yet it is 
 not the look of sorrow. 
 
 " Fear not, fear not," she said, in answer to 
 something gone before ; " you make yourself 
 unhappy with dread of things that are not 
 dangerous." 
 
 " Ah, my bird, he comes too often," replied 
 the old woman ; " day after day, he darkens 
 that door with his proud shadow. Oh ! what 
 should I do if any ill were to befall you." 
 
 " Why, surely you do not doubt me," said
 
 40 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 tlie girl, raising the long fringes of her eyes 
 and gazing at her companion." 
 
 " Oh, no ;" cried the old woman. "I would 
 as soon doubt Heaven, my cliild. But lie is 
 rash and daring. He might use violence, if 
 thwarted." 
 
 "He dares not!" answered the girl; and 
 plied the wheel again. 
 
 The old woman remained silent for several 
 minutes, shaking her head with a grave and 
 doubting look. '' Ah, there is no telling, my 
 pretty bird !" she answered at length. " In 
 these times men dare anything. I have known 
 them take a child from a mother's side, and 
 carry her away to one of their houses and 
 keep her there for weeks and months as if 
 she were a slave." 
 
 " I v/ould find means to get out," said the 
 girl, " unless they put fetters on me. But I 
 have no fears. I dislike the man ; I would 
 rather he did not come; but yet I do not 
 think he is bad enough to do such acts as you 
 suppose. I can see very well that he is not
 
 RUSSELL. 41 
 
 one of those habitual losels of the court who 
 jiave lost all sense of right and wrong. He 
 takes their tone, and apes their manners, it is 
 true; but that is only an affectation for 
 fashion's sake. He may imitate their vices, 
 too, but not their crimes, I think." 
 
 " Vices soon lead to crimes," replied the old 
 woman ; " but you know best, my dear." 
 
 "Well," said the beautiful girl in return, 
 "I will tell you what I will do. If ever you 
 see him coming near, tell me, and I will run 
 the back way into the wood. I know every 
 walk and path, and can watch there till he is 
 gone. It was a luckless hour which brought 
 him hither," she continued ; " we have been 
 so peaceful and so quiet for the last two 
 years, that I was in hopes the storms were 
 passing away. The death of the old lord, his 
 grand-uncle, has been a loss to all the country, 
 but to none so much as us. Would he had 
 lived a little longer, poor old man ! or would 
 that this one had remained in London, which 
 is the place most "
 
 42 RUSSELL. 
 
 " There, there ! " cried the old woman ; " he 
 is coming up the stream." 
 
 The girl instantly rose — quickly, but yet 
 with a quiet grace seldom seen even in the 
 highest ranks. There was no flutter, no 
 rustle of her garments ; all seemed easy and 
 gentle even in her most rapid movements ; 
 and as she caught up a black wimple which 
 lay upon a stool near and cast it over her head, 
 the rounded arm, the taper fingers, all fell into 
 lines of beauty that well justified the de- 
 scription of her which Lord Alcester was at 
 that very moment giving to his loose friends 
 at his own table. She paused not to look in 
 the direction towards which the old woman's 
 eyes were turned, but passing through a small 
 door and the kitchen behind, ran lightly along 
 under a hedge-row which marked out the cot- 
 tage-garden, and gained the shelter of the wood. 
 
 In the mean while a single figure walked 
 slowly up the stream, with arms crossed upon 
 the chest, and head bent down till the feather 
 in the hat dropped almost over the eyes.
 
 RUSSELL. 43 
 
 There seemed to be sometliing deeply interest- 
 ing to him in the flow of those quiet waters 
 as they ran clear over their pebbly bed, show- 
 ing the many-coloured stones beneath, like 
 ^ewels in a crystal vase. Once or twice he 
 paused, as if to contemplate some more rapid 
 part of the current, or some deep pool, and 
 then he would raise his head for a moment ere 
 he walked on, give a glance at the sky, or 
 the scene around, bend down his eyes to the 
 river again, and proceed upon his way. 
 
 When he looked up, the countenance dis- 
 played was fine and striking, the features 
 beautifully cast, and somewhat small, except 
 the forehead and the chin, the former of which 
 was both broad and high, and the latter some- 
 what large and prominent — not perhaps to an 
 excess, but yet sufficiently so to give an ex- 
 pression of firmness and vigour to a face 
 which, in its general proportions, was almost 
 too delicate. The eyes, eyebrows, moustachoes, 
 and hair, were almost black, and the hue of 
 the skin was of a deep brown, slightly, but
 
 44 RUSSELL. 
 
 very slightly, warmed with red. In height 
 he was somewhat above five feet ten, and per- 
 fectly well shaped, though if anything too 
 thin. His dress, with the broad sword-belt 
 fringed with gold, crossing his chest from 
 the right shoulder, denoted him a person 
 of some consequence, but there was nothing- 
 like pretension in his air ; and as he walked 
 along he seemed thinking of aught else on 
 earth but himself. . 
 
 Not far from the cottage a little foot bridge 
 spanned the stream ; and a path led from it — 
 formed naturally by often passing feet — to the 
 door near which the old woman was sitting, 
 crossing, as it did so, a good horse-road, which 
 ran between a small town and a distant village. 
 Up this path, and towards the road and the 
 cottage, the young man turned when he came 
 to the bridge, without raising his eyes, for the 
 country seemed quite familiar to him. But 
 where the footpath crossed the road he lifted 
 his head, just as he was turning to the right, 
 and gazed straight into the cottage.
 
 RUSSELL. 45 
 
 The old woman's eyes were fixed upon him, 
 and a nervous twitching of the hand shewed 
 that the sight moved her apparently with 
 alarm : but when the stranger's face was 
 fully seen, her agitation became so great that 
 she broke the thread she was spinning, and 
 let the distaff fall. 
 
 The young man suddenly stopped, gazed at 
 her eagerly, and walked straight up to the 
 cottage-door. The old woman rose, and with 
 shaking limbs dropped a low curtsey. 
 
 " I have seen you before," he said, eagerly 
 — " surely I have seen you before ! Your 
 name is Martha Hennage, is it not ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir — yes, my lord," replied the old 
 woman, " my name is Martha." 
 
 " Why, you seem frightened, Martha," said 
 the young gentleman, extending his hand to 
 her : " Do you not know me ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; Lord Francis," she said. " I 
 know you fast enough." 
 
 " Then, why are you frightened ?" he asked. 
 " Ay, ay, I know, or at least I can guess ;
 
 46 RUSSELL. 
 
 but there is no cause for fear, Martha ; I 
 have had no share in what other people have 
 done." 
 
 " I am sure you have not, my lord : I al- 
 ways was sure," replied the old w^oman. 
 " But, dear me ! w^hen I think, it is very sad ; 
 and to see anything of the family puts me 
 quite in a tremble. The Lady Emmeline 
 passed me one day on the road ; she did not 
 see me — she was on horseback ; but I thought 
 I should have dropped." 
 
 The young gentleman had seated himself on 
 a stool near her, and leaning his head on his 
 hand, seemed buried in thought; but when 
 the old woman stopped, he said, in a sad tone, 
 " Poor Emmeline ! You little know, Martha, 
 how much she has suffered. Her happiness 
 has been destroyed by the very same events 
 which have brought ruin to your own people. 
 But you should feel no fear at seeing her — or 
 me either, indeed. Where is Lady EUerton ? 
 is she in Westminster V 
 
 '' Oh no, Lord Erancis ; she is in Paris,
 
 BUSSELL. 4/ 
 
 trying to move his Majesty by favour of the 
 King of France." 
 
 The young gentleman's lip curled slightly, 
 and he shook his head saying, " Vain, vain ! 
 The King, perhaps, she may move, as a 
 poplar leaf is moved by a breath of wind ; but 
 can she move the people of the country from 
 their madness, or another from his schemes ? 
 It is the worst quarter in which she could 
 apply. Is Gertrude with her ?'* 
 
 " I believe not, my lord. — No, my lord, she 
 is not ;" and the old woman again began to 
 tremble. 
 
 " Where is she ? " demanded the young 
 nobleman. 
 
 " I really cannot say ; I do not know just at 
 this moment," answered Martha Hennage, 
 with agitation but too apparent. 
 
 " Say rather that you are forbid to tell," 
 rejoined her visitor. 
 
 " Well, my lord, it is so," answered the old 
 woman, partly recovering her courage. "You 
 know I must do as I am bid."
 
 48 RUSSELL, 
 
 "You must," he answered. " But yet, my 
 good woman, I might be told with safety. 
 You should know, and Xady Ellerton should 
 know, that I would sooner lose my life than 
 do anything that could injure her." 
 
 " Yes, Lord Francis ; but her father thought 
 so of others as regarded himself," rejoined 
 Martha Hennage. " And you know " 
 
 "Hush, hush," cried the young nobleman, 
 " you will drive me mad ;" and rising from 
 the stool, he quitted the cottage and walked 
 down into the road. Then suddenly pausing, 
 he remained in thought for a minute or two, 
 turned back to the cottage door, and said, " I 
 will write to Lady Ellerton. Will a letter 
 addressed merely to Paris find her ?" 
 
 The old woman hesitated, but then replied, 
 "I believe it will, my lord;" and then the 
 fixed and searching look of the young man's 
 eyes brought the colour into her faded cheek. 
 He turned away again without a word, think- 
 ing she was purposely deceiving him ; but ere 
 he had taken five steps down the slope, with a
 
 RUSSELL. 49 
 
 sudden start he wheeled round, mounted the 
 little rise rapidly, and passing along under the 
 hedge-row, entered the wood. 
 
 While this had taken place at the cottage, 
 the beautiful girl who had left it but a few 
 minutes before, pursued her way through 
 some of the varied paths of the wood, gra- 
 dually mounting the hill upon the slope of 
 which it was planted. When she had gone a 
 couple of hundred yards from her home, she 
 slackened her pace, and then feeling in 
 security, sauntered quietly on, enjoying the 
 gleams of sunshine as the slanting rays poured 
 in here and there upon the mossy banks. 
 At the distance of about half a mile from the 
 cottage, she sat down upon the trunk of a 
 felled tree, and after gazing out for a minute 
 or two between two bushes which framed, as 
 it were, a fair landscape of the distant coun- 
 try, lighted with golden rays, the heart of 
 youth poured itself forth in song : — 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 50 RUSSELL. 
 
 Is there but one gleam in life, 
 
 One gleam of happy light? 
 Must clouds of care and storms of strife, 
 
 Endure till all is night ? 
 
 No, no, no ! There is joy in store. 
 
 Is every pleasure but a dream, 
 
 Whene'er we wake that flies ? 
 And earth's existence but a stream 
 
 Of dark realities? 
 
 No, no, no ! Love and hope are more» 
 
 Love shall last though thwarted now, 
 
 And glow in its own fire. 
 Hope shall raise her living brow, 
 
 When all things else expire. 
 
 Ay, ay, ay ! till grief itself is o'er. 
 
 She paused after the low notes, soft and 
 sweet as those of the nightingale bat more 
 subdued, had ended, and then rose up to 
 return, seeing the sun's verge touch the low 
 hills that bounded the prospect. But sud- 
 denly she heard a step close to her as if some 
 one had been waiting near and listening ; and 
 with some terror — though she was not by 
 nature fearful — she hurried down the path. 
 Alone, in the wood, with the sun setting, she
 
 RUSSELL. 51 
 
 might well feel some alarm ; but it grew 
 stronger when the quick step followed close. 
 She ran, and her heart beat fast, her breath 
 came quick ; but the pursuer ran too. A 
 hand clasped her arm, but gently — very gen- 
 tly ; and a voice, once most familiar and most 
 dear, cried, " Gertrude ! Gertrude ! Fly not 
 from me!" 
 
 She covered her eyes with her hands, and 
 sobbed ; but he drew her gently to him, and 
 cast his arms around her, holding her to his 
 heart with an impulse that could not be 
 resisted. She v/ept, and hid her eyes upon 
 his bosom ; but she uttered not a word ; and 
 with eager haste, which nearly defeated his 
 own object, he tried to soothe and calm her. 
 
 " Dearest, dearest Gertrude;" he said, "why 
 should you fly from me ? Why should you 
 seek to conceal yourself from one who loves 
 you more than life ? Hide yourself from 
 all others if you will, my Gertrude ; but not 
 from me with whom your secret, if it must 
 still be kept, shall be as safe as with yourself. 
 
 E 2 
 
 y, ^FiUL ua
 
 52 RUSSELL. 
 
 Nay, safer ; for I will watch over you and 
 guard you as I would a sister in peril." 
 
 " Oh, yes, Francis !" she cried, raising her 
 eyes with a timid glance to his face ; " you 
 must keep that secret as the most sacred 
 thing on earth. Promise me you will — that to 
 no one, not even to Emmeline, you will reveal 
 it ? Do you promise me ? If not, I must 
 fly and seek another home." 
 
 " Of course I promise," he replied. " Be 
 calm, my love — Not by the most remote hint 
 that I even know where you are concealed, 
 will I violate your confidence — not by a word 
 or look when you are named, my sweet, dear 
 cousin, will I betray my acquaintance with 
 your dwelling-place. Will that satisfy you, 
 my Gertrude ? If not, but tell me what will, 
 and I will promise all. — But you will not 
 doubt, dear girl, that I will keep my word. 
 Why did you fly from me, love ?" 
 
 " I knew not that it was you, Francis ;" she 
 answered, gazing at him with a faint, sorrow- 
 ful smile. " Perhaps if I had, I should not
 
 RUSSELL. 53 
 
 have had strength to fly ; and yet it would have 
 been my duty to do so, for I promised my mo- 
 ther to remain concealed from all of you. I 
 thought it was another. I never dreamed that 
 it was you, for I heard that you were far away." 
 
 " What other did you think it was?" asked 
 her lover, remarking something peculiar in her 
 tone. " Ko one has injured you — no one has 
 insulted you here ? " 
 
 " No, no," she answered ; " but he has been 
 thrice to the cottage since he came down, and 
 I wish to see bim no more ; for his words and 
 manner please me not. Good Martha saw 
 him coming up the stream, and I 2'an away 
 into the wood to avoid him : still he has never 
 done aught to give me cause of offence." 
 
 " But who is it, Gertrude?" said her com- 
 panion. " You do not name him." 
 
 " It is this young Lord Alcester," rephed the 
 fair girl; "he who has just succeeded to his 
 grandfather. While the good old lord was 
 living, we dwelt in peace. He never inquired 
 who inhabited the cottage. Retired altogether
 
 54 RUSSELL. 
 
 from this busy world, lie spent his later years in 
 preparing for another, by doing good in his own 
 neighbourhood, and all passed in order and tran- 
 quillity. But since his death, there has been 
 much revelling at Malwood Hall, drunken ser- 
 vants and followers quarrelling and wrangling 
 even to blows, at the very church door, and 
 riot and confusion all over the neighbourhood." 
 " So Alcester is down here," said her lover, 
 musing ; " I fear, sweet Gertrude, this will not 
 much longer be a place for you. Why is it, — 
 oh ! why is it, love, that I must not hope you 
 will make my dwelling your home ? that you 
 will not give me the best and strongest right 
 to protect and support you? — why did your 
 mother write to me that letter, thinking to put 
 an end to hopes for ever, which will never die 
 but with life, my Gertrude? She cannot — I 
 am sure she does not — believe that I have had 
 any share in the wrong done to you and yours ; 
 and yet she punishes me for a father's fault. 
 Still, dear one, I have rights which I will not 
 yield. The joy of calling you mine she may
 
 RUSSELL. OO 
 
 deny me ; but no power on earth shall prevent 
 me from protecting* and defending you. As 
 your cousin, as your once-promised husband, 
 I have a title to do that, and you must not 
 deny it to me." 
 
 " I "will not, Francis," answered Gertrude 
 Ellerton, after musing* for a few moments ; 
 "you have claims upon me, — oh yes! and I 
 will admit them as far as I dare. You will 
 not, I am sure, ask me to fulfil a promise made 
 under a sanction that is now withdrawn ; but 
 still you have strong claims under it, Francis; 
 claims to everlasting love, attachment, and 
 esteem ; and you shall protect me in case of 
 need ; you shall watch over me, if it can be 
 done without discovering my secret to others. 
 I see not how it can be, indeed ; for if you 
 come often hither, and I fear you will, Francis, 
 inquiries will soon rise up, which may be 23ain- 
 ful to you, and terrible to me in their conse- 
 quences." 
 
 " Fear not, dear love, fear not!" replied her 
 companion. " I will so frame my schemes that
 
 56 RUSSELL. 
 
 none but you shall know of my coming or 
 going. See you I must, my own sweet Ger- 
 trude ; but I will not hazard aught which can 
 betray your abode to others ; although I per- 
 ceive not, nor can conceive a motive, why it 
 should be concealed. Neither the harshness of 
 the law, nor the w^ild fanaticism of the vulgar 
 mob, nor the fierce policy of the firebrand 
 Shaftesbury, would affect a gentle girl like 
 you, even if his power were not passed away, 
 and the fury of the people abated." 
 
 " Oh, Francis ! ask me not questions that 
 I must not answer," said the lady; "let us 
 go back to the cottage, for it is growing 
 dark, and I will tell you all that I may 
 tell; but promise me, in return, to ask nothing 
 more." 
 
 " Nothing but what is needful for your 
 safety," answered her lover ; " but with Alcester 
 and his loose comrades near at hand, I shall 
 be uneasy till I have taken means to ensure 
 my Gertrude against insult and annoyance. 
 Injure her I think they dare not, or at least
 
 t 
 
 RUSSELL. 57 
 
 tliey would not dare, if they knew her rank 
 and station." 
 
 " There is no cause, Francis," replied Ger- 
 trude, " to make yourself anxious on that ac- 
 count. His presence may be an annoyance, it is 
 true ; but I do think as one demeans oneself to 
 others, so are they likely to demean themselves 
 in return ; and I will take care that he shall 
 have no pretext for one word that can be 
 offensive towards me. A simjrie Yes or No 
 has hitherto been all that he lias heard from 
 my lips, and he will hear little more." 
 
 The young nobleman held her hand in his, 
 and gazed at her with a doubtful smile. 
 "Alas! my Gertrude," he said, "you little 
 know how small ceremony is shown by the 
 nobles of a libertine court to the mere peasant 
 girl. Alcester, I believe, is not bad at heart ; 
 and, indeed, that he has not insulted you 
 already is some proof of it, as the world goes ; 
 but I must have better security for you than 
 his forbearance, or than any effect that cold 
 demeanor can produce on him, and such as
 
 t 
 58 RUSSELL. 
 
 he is. I will take care of that, however ; but 
 it will need thought and care to make your 
 security compatible with the concealment 
 you desire. Now let us into the cottage; and, 
 closing the door, enjoy one hour of sweet, un- 
 interrupted intercourse, as in other days." 
 
 The cottage door closed upon them ; the 
 rude boards which served as shutters to the 
 casement, were put up and fastened ; and for 
 nearly an hour Lord Francis Vipont, or Vire- 
 pont, as the naniie was written of old, sat 
 beside Gertrude Ellerton, talking over other 
 days, and hearing some detached portions of 
 one of those sad tales v/hich were common in 
 England at a period when two low and infa- 
 mous men, Gates and Bedlow, serving the 
 passions and designs of one higher but not 
 more worthy than themselves, in defiance of 
 law, reason, honesty, and truth, and armed 
 with nothing but the prejudices and the fury 
 of a fanatical party, brought many an honoured 
 and noble head low ; made the property of the 
 wealthy, and even the powerful a prey, and
 
 RUSSELL. 59 
 
 sported with the laws of the land and the 
 rights of Englishmen. Her father's name 
 Gertrude never mentioned ; but she told how 
 she and her mother had lived obscurely in 
 London, in poverty, and almost in want, after 
 the sequestration of their large hereditary pro- 
 perty, still striving to mitigate the rigor of 
 their adversaries, and save a portion, at least, 
 of the wealth which had once been theirs, till 
 at length the final blow was struck, the estates 
 declared confiscated to the crown, and made 
 over, not without corruption, to the father of 
 him who sat by her side. On the latter point 
 she touched lightly, out of tenderness to one 
 whose spirit she knew had burned to see his 
 own parent not only refuse to support a cousin 
 and a friend against a false accusation, but 
 take open part with his persecutors. She then 
 went on to tell him that her mother had gone 
 to France in the hope of employing some 
 influence which she possessed at the court of 
 Louis, as a means of working upon the mind 
 of the enthralled and pensioned King of
 
 60 RUSSELL, 
 
 England, to make some atonement to a family 
 whom he himself well knew to be innocent 
 of the crimes with which its head had been 
 charged. She had at first proposed to be ab- 
 sent but a few weeks, but weeks had grown 
 into months, and months into years in her 
 hopeless suit, and her daughter remained alone 
 in England, waiting her return, in a lone cot- 
 tage, as a peasant girl. 
 
 Such is a summary of the parts of her story 
 that she told ; and Francis had much to say, 
 also : how he had inquired, and searched, and 
 hoped, and at length despaired, but loved and 
 remained constant still. 
 
 The servants and the horses which he had 
 sent on when he dismounted to walk up 
 the stream, waited long for him at the place 
 where he had appointed them to meet him, 
 and the men began to feel some alarm. At 
 length, however, he appeared, sprang into 
 the saddle, and was riding homeward, when 
 some sounds peculiar and unpleasant met 
 his ear, coming from the neighbouring park.
 
 RUSSELL. 61 
 
 He stopped to listen, but lie heard no 
 more, and, spurring- on, overtook shortly 
 after a strange looking car, something like 
 a Roman chariot, with two men in it, whose 
 faces seemed in the semi-darkness to be 
 quite black. They were proceeding slowly 
 along the road; and, passing them at a 
 quick trot, he pursued his way.
 
 62 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 There are moments when the tumult even of 
 joyful thought becomes painful, when the 
 heart requires to stop and pant as if from a 
 race. Such was the case with Gertrude Eller- 
 ton after her lover had left her. She had 
 seen him whom she had not beheld for more 
 than three long years, whom she had loved so 
 dearly, whom she loved so dearly still. To do 
 so, she had violated no duty, she had broken 
 no promise ; she had nothing with which to 
 reproach herself in the pleasure that she felt. 
 The joy was pure as it was full ; but it vras 
 overpowering. She could scarcely believe that 
 it was true. She repeated over and over
 
 RUSSELL. 63 
 
 again, as if to assure herself of the reality, 
 *' He has been here ! He has been seated 
 beside me ! His hand has pressed mine, and 
 his arms have held me to his heart!" It 
 seemed a wild dream of delight ; and when the 
 door had closed behind him, she felt like one 
 waking from slumber, with all the objects of 
 busy life still dim, confused, and indistinct. 
 
 For several minutes she sat with lier hand 
 pressed upon her eyes, that she might still in 
 fancy enjoy the blessing of his presence, that 
 she might not see that he was gone, that she 
 might dwell upon the sweet thoughts he had 
 left her. He loved her still, as warmly, as 
 fervently as he had loved her in days of yore. 
 
 There was no change, no alteration; there 
 w^ere the same glov/ing words, the same tender 
 looks, the pressure of the hand, the kiss with 
 its ineffable endearment. It was too much 
 almost for thought. 
 
 Her old companion, who had been the 
 nurse of her young days, stood and gazed at 
 her with a smile of fond affection, but with a
 
 64 RUSSELL. 
 
 sad look, too ; and after a while she broke in 
 upon her thoughts, saying, " Ah, dear child ; 
 it has made you very happy to see him ; and it 
 would make me very happy too, for your sake, 
 if it were not for thinking what my lady will 
 say — then, if any harm should happen of it." 
 
 " Nonsense, nonsense, Martha," replied Ger- 
 trude. " What can my mother say, but that 
 God willed it ? Here we have remained two 
 long years undisturbed, and neither you nor I 
 could tell that he would pass here to-day. He 
 found me : I did not seek him ; and I know 
 my dear mother would not reproach me 
 for that which I could not help, although, 
 when he did come, it has given me joy I little 
 dreamed of when I went forth into the wood. 
 However, I will write to and tell her all 
 immediately, so that she may know the whole, 
 and direct me how to act." 
 
 " But suppose some harm happens first, my 
 bird," said the old nurse, with a doubtful shake 
 of the head. 
 
 " What harm can happen, Martha ?" asked
 
 RUSSELL, 65 
 
 the lady. " Did you not hear him promise 
 that he would tell no one ; and ^yas the word 
 of Francis Vipont ever broken ? " 
 
 "No, I know he is a good young man," 
 replied Martha ; " but all young men are 
 thoughtless." 
 
 " But he is not," answered Gertrude, boldly ; 
 "he is as wise and prudent as he is good and true. 
 If I would place my whole happiness for life in 
 his hands, surely I may trust him in such a thing 
 as this — but I will go write to my mother." 
 
 She had scarcely risen from her seat, how- 
 ever, when the latch of the door suddenly 
 rose, and some one pushed hard, and then 
 knocked on finding it locked. 
 
 " Who can it be ?" said Gertrude, in a low 
 tone ; " ask, Marth, ask. I will run into the 
 other room ; for I will see that man from the 
 hall no more." 
 
 " Who is it that knocks at this late hour ?" 
 said Martha, approaching the door and speak- 
 ing through it. 
 
 " Let me in, for Heaven's sake ! " answered 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 RUSSELL. 
 
 a voice from without ; " I have been "badly 
 wounded by a number of ruffians, and I must 
 staunch the blood which is draining my life 
 away." 
 
 " Ay, but you may be a cheat," said Martha, 
 *' and wish to get in to rob us." 
 
 ** I am no cheat," replied a voice, faintly ; 
 " nor robber either. In Christian charity let 
 me in, and help me — look from the window 
 and you will see." 
 
 "Let him in, Martha, let him in," cried 
 Gertrude, advancing from the room behind ; 
 " we must give help, if we would hope for it.'* 
 
 *' Nay, but dear lady," said the old woman ; 
 " suppose" ■ 
 
 " I will run the risk," answered Gertrude ; 
 and with her own hands she drew back the 
 bolt, and unlocked the door. 
 
 The moment that it was open, a man who 
 stood without, apparently of three or four and 
 thirty years of age, threw off a horse's bridle 
 which was over his arm, and with a slow step 
 entered the cottage. He was covered with a
 
 RUSSELL. 67 
 
 wrapping cloak wliich concealed his dress, 
 but the long glossy black beard and hair 
 falling in curls over his shoulders, seemed to 
 show that he was not a native of the land ; 
 and both Martha and Gertrude drew a step 
 back and gazed at him with some surprise. 
 
 " Thanks, thanks," he said, seating himself 
 in the old woman's chair near the door. " I 
 am not badly hurt, if I can stop the bleeding 
 of the wound." 
 
 " Where is it," cried Gertrude, approaching ; 
 for she saw clearly by the bloody print of 
 his footsteps on the floor that the tale of his 
 being wounded was but too true. " Here, 
 bring the light, Martha." 
 
 " First close the door and bolt it," said the 
 juggler ; " I have put them to flight, but they 
 may return. The wound is here, fair crea- 
 ture ;" he continued, raising his eyes to Ger- 
 trude's face, and throwing off his cloak, while 
 the old woman fastened carefully the door: 
 "here, close by the right arm. The sword 
 has cut some large vessel. Look and tell me, 
 
 V 2
 
 68 RUSSELL. 
 
 whether the blood flows forth in an even 
 stream, or with a sharp pulse." 
 
 " Let me undo your vest," said Gertrude, 
 untying the loops with eager and trembling 
 hands, and throwing back his gory shirt col- 
 lar. " With an even stream," she added, 
 when his broad chest was exposed, " but strong 
 and dark." 
 
 " Then there is no great harm done," said 
 the juggler. " Have you a 'kerchief, bright 
 creature ? " . 
 
 " Yes ; here, here," said Gertrude, taking- 
 one from the table. 
 
 " Now, tie it tight round my arm, as near 
 the shoulder as may be," continued the jug- 
 gler. " Tight — tighter— tighter still. — There, 
 do you see ? the blood stops instantly." 
 
 "I have some vulnerary balm," said old 
 Martha, " prepared by my dear lady's own 
 hands: a sovereign remedy for all cuts and 
 wounds." 
 
 " Three strips of plain waxen plaster were 
 far better," said the juggler.
 
 RUSSELL. 69 
 
 " That you can have too," rejoined the old 
 nurse ; " I always have some ready, in case 
 the dear child should cut her hand." 
 
 "Prudent precaution/' said the juggler; 
 " but fetch it quick, good dame, for the 
 wound still bleeds a little, and this tight 
 'kerchief numbs my arm." 
 
 The old woman ran into the other room, 
 and when she returned, the juggler looked up 
 to Gertrude, with a smile, saying, " Now, if 
 those fair fingers would close those gaping 
 lips, which in ten minutes more might have let 
 out my life's last drop, while the good dame 
 cuts some strips and holds them to the candle 
 till they are soft, you will have performed a 
 cure worthy of a surgeon of renown." 
 
 " Had I not better pour some balm on first ?'* 
 said Martha, with the bottle in her hand. 
 
 " No, no," answered the juggler ; " the blood 
 is the best balm ; for it is of nature's own pre- 
 paring." 
 
 The old woman seemed a little mortified; 
 but, nevertheless the strips of plaster were
 
 70 BUSSELL. 
 
 soon cut and warmed, and with them the lips 
 of the wound drawn close together and fas- 
 tened, with a covering over all. 
 
 "Now slacken the 'kerchief a little," said 
 the juggler, — "a very little, that we may- 
 make sure the blood flows in its own channel 
 again, and does not leap forth like a school- 
 boy at his play hour. — There, that will do ; — 
 methinks it is quite stopped.'' 
 
 *' It would seem so," answered Gertrude ; 
 " but yet I should fear that any movement of 
 your arm would make it break out again." 
 
 " Nay, I will fight no more to-night, if I can 
 help it," was the juggler's reply. " The 23iti- 
 ful villains ! to set six or seven of them upon 
 a single man ! " 
 
 " But what became of them ? " asked Ger- 
 trude ; " and how did you escape ? " 
 
 " Two of them were in the river when I left 
 them," answered the juggler ; " one I think 
 will not use his right hand again for fifty 
 years at least ; and another has a cut across 
 his nose and cheek, by which you will be able
 
 RUSSELL. 71 
 
 to know Lord Howard of Escrick to tlie end 
 of his days." 
 
 " Lord Howard I " exclaimed Gertrude, 
 " and did a nobleman really do so base an 
 act?" 
 
 "Ay," said the juggler, ''noble men will 
 often do very ignoble acts — especially the 
 slaves and sycoj^hants of a court. The way it 
 happened, as well as I can divine, was simply 
 this. He ordered his lackeys to beat me with 
 their whips; and finding that four v^ere not 
 enough for that, and that two of his men were 
 down, he and his friend charged me with their 
 swords." 
 
 ''But what was the offence?" asked Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 " The greatest offence of all, to a great man 
 or a courtier," answered the juggler. *' Truth, 
 bright creature ! It is the touchstone to judge 
 men's qualities by ; I always try it upon new 
 acquaintances, and I will essay it with you 
 before I go." 
 " I fear it not," answered Gertrude, with a
 
 72 RUSSELL. 
 
 laugh. " To be told the truth can never do us 
 harm." 
 
 " And yet it may be fearful to hear," re- 
 joined the juggler. 
 
 " Not to me," said Gertrude. 
 
 " Well, then, slacken the 'kerchief a little 
 more," cried the juggler, " and bend down 
 your ear." 
 
 Gertrude did so ; and, as soon as she had 
 loosened the handkerchief and fastened it 
 again, her strange guest whispered a word or 
 two which caused her to start back with an ex- 
 clamation of surprise, and a cheek suddenly pale. 
 
 *' What said you, sir?" she exclaimed. 
 
 The juggler put a finger of his left hand to 
 his lips, and replied, " I told you truth, fair 
 lady. No masquerade can blind my eyes, 
 Gertrude Ellerton." 
 
 "Gracious mercy!" cried old Martha. 
 *' What manner of man are you?" But the 
 juggler made no reply, for he was sitting with 
 his eyes bent down upon the floor in deep 
 thought. 

 
 RUSSELL. 73 
 
 Gertrude and the old woman stood and 
 gazed at him : the one with a look of intense 
 inquiry ; the other with the mere expression of 
 wonder ; but at length the young lady laid 
 her fair hand gently on his arm and said, 
 " Will you not tell me more ? You who know 
 so much, can go farther still.'* 
 
 " I can and will," replied the juggler, " for 
 it is necessary. At the present moment, in- 
 deed, I know not well how to act. It is nearly 
 six miles to the neighbouring town. If I 
 mount and ride away, this wound, with the 
 slight stress upon it may break forth again, 
 and yet there are those who expect me, and 
 will wonder at my absence, if I stay." 
 
 " Oh, good sooth ! you cannot stay here," 
 cried Martha, warmly. " We cannot have a 
 man abiding in our cottage all night, master. 
 That were unseemly." 
 
 The juggler laughed. " By my faith ! good 
 woman," he said, "your reputation would be 
 in sad peril to keep me, and your strength 
 would be more than it seems to send me forth.
 
 74 RUSSELL. 
 
 if I were pleased to stay. Methinks, however, 
 what may befit your lady may befit you ; and I 
 have a word or two for her private ear, after 
 which she shall herself decide. Pr'ythee, give 
 us a little room. This chamber is somewhat 
 close for three." 
 
 " Go, good Martha, go," said Gertrude, 
 " light the lamp, and take it into the other 
 room. There is some metheglin and some 
 barley bread. Let us have it presently. This 
 gentleman has need of refreshment." 
 
 " Metheglin and bread!" said the juggler, 
 musing — " but poor food for such as you, 
 sweet lady; but still many a noble lip has 
 tasted worse, and I shall be thankful for both 
 meat and drink." 
 
 While he was speaking, old Martha lifted 
 the lamp and withdrew, muttering, ** Well, 
 bird, well ! But I do think old heads should 
 cool young counsels." 
 
 Gertrude heeded her not; and remained 
 alone with the juggler, till her good nurse's 
 patience being exhausted, she re-entered un-
 
 RUSSELL. 75 
 
 called for, bearing the viands for which she 
 had been sent. 
 
 " Then I will remain," said the visitor, as the 
 old woman entered. " Doubtless my people will 
 comfort themselves, and wait till I come ; for 
 they have gold in their pockets, and will fare 
 well. ' Good cheer maketh men forget old 
 friends,' says a country proverb ; and my course 
 is so often erratic, that they will not fancy 
 me dead or lost if I remain absent from them 
 one night. Put yourself to no trouble for me, 
 however, dear lady, for this chair is bed 
 enough for one night ; and I have often slept 
 on worse." 
 
 " ISo, but you are wounded," said Gertrude; 
 " it will be easily managed to lodge you 
 better. In that little room behind — the kit- 
 chen of my palace — there is a bed where my 
 good Martha sleeps. For this night she shall 
 sleep with me, if she does not mind ; and you 
 shall have repose to let your wound close 
 quietly." 
 
 " Oh, I mind not, my bird," answered the
 
 76 
 
 BUSSELL, 
 
 old woman to the part of Gertrude's speech 
 that referred to her. " It is not the first time 
 you have slept with me, God wot ! Many a 
 time you have lain upon my arm when you 
 were not much more than two spans long ; 
 but what I do not like, is to have a strange 
 man in the house all night — with such a 
 beard, too." 
 
 " The beard will not hurt you, good dame," 
 said the juggler ; " and to me it does much 
 good. I thought not, when I nursed my bud- 
 ding moustachioes as a raw lad, that they would 
 ever prove so serviceable to their master ; and 
 as to having a man in the house, he might, 
 perchance, prove a more useful piece of furni- 
 ture than a wooden horse. This lady has 
 tended me kindly — I owe her much ; and 
 Christian charity goes never unrewarded. 
 But I can be grateful, too ; and I vow before 
 Heaven that I will not rest satisfied till I 
 have done her some good service. You 
 laugh, good dame," he continued, advancing 
 to the table, and taking up the barley bread
 
 RUSSELL. 77 
 
 in his hand. " You laugh, as if you thought I 
 should never have power to serve her. But 
 mark me, I am no ordinary man, and I will 
 find some occasion to aid, protect, or befriend 
 her, as sure as you put a golden guinea in the 
 heart of this barley loaf." 
 
 " I put one ! Lord 'a mercy ! the man's 
 mad ! " cried the old woman. " I have not 
 seen one for this month, and shall not till 
 the grocer at Wincombe sends us our little pit- 
 tance, from my lady, on Saturday night next.'* 
 
 " Do you dare to tell me," said the juggler, 
 gravely, " that when you kneaded the dough 
 you did not slip a guinea in? Well, your 
 lady shall be the judge. Take the knife 
 yourself, and cut the loaf across and across. 
 Mind you make it an exact cross, and you will 
 see whether I be a true man or not." 
 
 Old Martha snatched the bread sharply 
 from his hand, and cut it partly through ; but 
 when a little beyond the middle, the edge of 
 the knife struck against something hard, and 
 she began to shake.
 
 78 RUSSELL. 
 
 " Cut from the other side," said the juggler ; 
 and when she did so the loaf fell in two, ex- 
 posing a gold piece imbedded in the crumb. 
 Poor Martha remained for a minute gazing in 
 silent amazement at the two halves of the 
 loaf, which she continued to hold apart in her 
 trembling hands, while Gertrude watched her, 
 smiling. 
 
 " It is fairy gold ! " she cried at length, 
 dropping the bread upon the table. 
 
 "It is a good sound guinea, coined in the 
 blessed Martyr's reign," replied the juggler. 
 " Take your money, my good woman, and 
 give me some bread." 
 
 " It is not mine, sir," replied Martha, with a 
 reverent tone. " How it got in I cannot 
 tell." 
 
 " Yes, it is yours," answered the juggler ; 
 " trouble yourself not as to how it came there : 
 but for the future, remember men with long 
 beards can do more than other men, though 
 they cannot bear hunger and thirst; and I 
 suffer both.''
 
 RUSSELL. 79 
 
 Gertrude sat down to the table, and gave 
 him the bread and the metheglin mingled 
 with water, for he would not taste it plain ; 
 and, after remaining almost silent for a 
 quarter of an hour, the juggler took some of 
 the fragments of the bread, and going to the 
 door, opened it, and whistled. A horse's 
 head, beautiful in shape, and with a fiery 
 eye, was instantly thrust in, searching in 
 his hand for food. When it had eaten the 
 bread, he loosened the saddle-girths, patted 
 it kindly, then spoke to it in a strange 
 tongue, and immediately the beast cantered 
 off, the sound of its steps tending to the wood 
 above. 
 
 " It is strange," said the juggler, turning 
 into the cottage again, and bolting the door, 
 " in what occupation a busy mind will find 
 employment when deprived of its accustomed 
 objects. In teaching that fine beast to under- 
 stand me almost like a child, I have solaced 
 many a weary hour — but I will not detain 
 you from your rest, dear lady. It were
 
 80 RUSSELL. 
 
 well, my good Martha, if that blood upon 
 the floor were washed away ere morning. 
 As for that without, it will rain hard be- 
 fore morning, and all will be clear. Would 
 to God that all blood unnecessarily shed 
 could be so easily effaced I Good-night, Ger- 
 trude." 
 
 Old Martha lighted him to the room beyond, 
 and then returned, eager to ask questions ; 
 but Gertrude had already ascended the little 
 wooden stairs which led direct from the front- 
 room of the cottage to her chamber above. 
 The good old nurse seemed inclined to fol- 
 low, but two matters detained her below for a 
 few minutes. First, she washed carefully out 
 all marks of blood from the floor, and from 
 the wooden chair on which the juggler had 
 at first been seated ; and she then looked wist- 
 fully at the guinea, which still lay upon the 
 table. She had many doubts about it; but 
 she thought there could be no harm in exa- 
 mining it more closely, and she took it up* 
 It looked bright and shining, and felt heavy.
 
 RUSSELL. 81 
 
 and yet pleasant in the hand. The gumea 
 found its way into the large pocket at her side ; 
 and then she slowly mounted the stairs, after 
 seeing that the door was quite secure. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 82 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 It had rained liard from midnight till towards 
 four o'clock in the morning. It was not an 
 ordinary rain, for it came without one indica- 
 tion of an approaching alteration of weather 
 apparent to any but eyes accustomed to watch 
 the most minute signs of meteoric change. 
 The sun had set in splendour ; the faint clouds 
 which crossed the sky here and there hardly 
 hid a ray of his departing light ; the gold pre- 
 dominated over the purple ; no watery beams 
 tinged the zenith with red ; and the wind at 
 even-close was to the north. Towards eleven, 
 however, the breeze shifted to the south-west.
 
 RUSSELL. 83 
 
 and began to sigh and sob like a hysterical 
 girl, and thick and fast the soft masses of 
 vapour rolled up, hiding the moon and stars. 
 Then began to fall thin, small drops, the 
 advance-guard of the storm, and the blast 
 shrieked amongst the trees as if tormented by 
 the watery demons that rode it through the 
 world. Down, sweeping and pattering, and 
 hissing on the parched ground then fell the 
 torrents of rain, beating loudly at doors and 
 casements for entrance, and bubbling on the 
 surface of the agitated stream. From the hill- 
 side poured forth torrents loaded with leaves 
 torn off by the ruthless storm ; and on every 
 flat meadow or even piece of road, large pools 
 were formed, before the thirsty earth could 
 drink up the moisture for which it had longed 
 for weeks. Still the wind howled in fierce 
 and sudden gusts, sinking down and then 
 starting up again in fury, like a newly-caged 
 wild beast; and Gertrude, as she lay and 
 listened to the tempest, thought of the wan- 
 derer without a home^ the houseless beggar, 
 
 G 2
 
 B4 RUSSELL. 
 
 the child of want and woe. and raised to hea- 
 ven for others the voice which in dire distress 
 had ofte-^ pleaded for herself and those she 
 loved. She might feel that — even impoverished 
 and deprived as was her house, fallen from high 
 estate, and deprived of long accustomed wealth 
 — many comforts and blessings were still left 
 to her and hers, but she could not enjoy them 
 when she thought of how many suffered even 
 then. Towards two in the morning, however, 
 there came a lull : the gusts of wind grew 
 more gentle — softened down — subsided; and 
 nought was heard but the low murmured 
 falling of the rain, and the musical dropping 
 of the eaves. Slumber stole over the sweet 
 girl's eyes again, and she dreamed of him she 
 loved, and was happy. 
 
 At four the rain ceased, and shortly after 
 the sky grew grey ; light mottled clouds flecked 
 the wide expanse overhead ; and soon, catch- 
 ing the early rays of the yet hidden sun, they 
 glowed in the rose-coloured light, like the plum- 
 age on the brcast of some strange beautiful bird.
 
 RUSSELL. 85 
 
 The vapour ascended lightly and fast, and by 
 the time that the sun began to pour the full 
 tide of golden splendour down the valley, not 
 a trace of storm was to be seen on high. 
 
 Not so on the earth. There, vestiges of the 
 tempest were found everywhere ; in the turbid 
 and rushing stream, lately so limpid and soft — 
 in the scattered leaves and fragments of broken 
 boughs — on the hill-side channelled by water 
 courses and strewed by washed-down sand. 
 The grass, too, almost white with the load of 
 drops, as if a hoar-frost had fallen upon it, 
 showed how the rain had come down, first 
 heavy and large, then soft and thick ; and the 
 still-dropping trees told that the clouds had not 
 long passed away. 
 
 As the morning advanced, a new change 
 came over the scene. The sun gained power ; 
 the trees ceased to drop ; the river worked 
 itself clear ; all seemed bright and fresh, 
 though the abundant moisture, rising in a 
 thin vapour, brought a filmy veil over the 
 lower valleys, softening all the features of the
 
 86 RUSSELL. 
 
 landscape. The birds, too, broke out in song, 
 and the whole world was musical. 
 
 It was not much after six when, with a slow 
 and sauntering step, Robert Lord Alcester 
 approached the cottage inhabited by Gertrude 
 Ellerton, and tried the door. It was close 
 fastened, however, and he walked away ; but 
 he went not far. Seating himself on the rail- 
 ing of the little bridge, he waited for the 
 rising of the cottagers ; and his fancy painted 
 Gertrude in her morning beauty, fresh from 
 the reviving power of sleep. For a moment 
 or two he would gaze into the water as 
 it hurried past, but ever and anon he raised 
 his eyes to the cottage to catch the first sight 
 of her for whom he felt a growing passion. 
 He heard the window of the upper room open, 
 and looked up ; but he saw not Gertrude, for 
 it was closed again immediately. He waited 
 a little longer with some impatience for the 
 opening of the lower window and the door, but 
 they remained shut, and walking up at length, 
 he lifted the latch and knocked for admission.
 
 RUSSELL. 87 
 
 "Who is there?" demanded the voice of 
 old Martha Hennage. 
 
 *' It is I, Lord Alcester," answered the younj^ 
 nobleman. 
 
 " Well, lord or no lord, you cannot come 
 in at present," was the reply ; and with pride 
 somewhat offended, he paused by the door, 
 saying to himself — " I will get in, at all 
 events." 
 
 He heard persons moving, and voices speak- 
 ing low within ; and he began to think that 
 he was not so favoured a visitor as he wished 
 to be. Then his impatience mastered him 
 again, and he knocked once more, saying, 
 " Open the door, good woman ; I wish to 
 speak with you." 
 
 " Wait a minute, then, my good lord," said 
 Martha, slowly taking down the rude shutter 
 from the lattice ; " you come mighty early of 
 a morning!" and with tardy steps, and long 
 delay, she at length approached the door and 
 opened it. 
 
 When the peer entered, he saw before him 
 the lovely form of Gertrude taking her spin-
 
 88 RUSSELL. 
 
 ning-wheel from tlie window, as if about to 
 begin her daily task; but his first feeling of 
 irritation found voice, and he turned somewhat 
 haughtily to Martha, saying, — "You were 
 very slow in giving me admission." 
 
 "I never yet did hear," answered the old 
 dame, boldly, " that I was bound to open my 
 own cottage-door to any one, be hte lord or 
 simple man, a minute before it suits me." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said Lord Alcester, with a laugh, 
 *' you have grown sour with time, good dame. 
 Here are sweeter looks, and, I trust, sweeter 
 words. How goes it with you, pretty mistress 
 Alice?" 
 
 " Well, sir, I thank you," replied Gertrude, 
 seating herself, and taking the thread in her 
 hand. 
 
 " Nay, leave that dull work, and take a 
 better task in hand." 
 
 "I know no better task, my lord," said 
 Gertrude, coldly, "than doing what is my duty 
 to do." 
 
 " But a poor duty," said the peer, approach- 
 ing and sitting down beside her. "A plea-
 
 RUSSELL. 89 
 
 santer task, metliinks, would be to come forth 
 and take a walk with me this bright morning. 
 The world has put on smiles, after the tears of 
 last night ; as a lovely creature like yourself, 
 after pouting at her lover's freedom, laughs 
 gay forgiveness at him from her radiant eyes." 
 "My lord, you are a gentleman of high 
 estate," said Gertrude, in the same tone she 
 had before used ; " I a poor girl of very hum- 
 ble degree. It befits not you to take walks 
 with me, and still less me to walk with 
 
 you.'* 
 
 " Love levels all degrees,'' said Lord Alces- 
 ter, gazing at her tenderly. 
 
 " It must be mutual love, then," answered 
 Gertrude, " which is not the case here." 
 
 " Oh, let me try to make it so," said Lord 
 Alcester ; " for no woman whom I ever beheld 
 have I felt what I feel for you." But the 
 peer was interrupted suddenly. 
 
 '*What, not for Henrietta Compton?" said 
 a shrill voice, apparently speaking in at the 
 window, and ending with a low laugh.
 
 90 RUSSELL. 
 
 Lord Alcester instantly started on his feet 
 and darted to the casement ; but all was clear 
 before the house ; the grassy slope, the stream, 
 the meadow by its side, the cross road and the 
 path, were all before him, but no human form 
 was to be seen. *'It is strange," he said, 
 returning ; " I thought I heard some one 
 speak." 
 
 " Perhaps your own conscience, my good 
 lord," replied old Martha ; " for I am sure a 
 man's conscience ought to sting him when he 
 comes labouring to mislead and ruin an inno- 
 cent girl like my poor grandchild." 
 
 *' Mislead and ruin her ! " cried the noble- 
 man, " I would sooner ruin myself! I seek 
 to lead her to happiness and splendour; to 
 make her the queen of my heart, and the 
 mistress of my household and my fortune. 
 What though a mere form — an idle ceremony 
 be wanting, I will bind myself to her by all 
 vows that it is possible for me to take, and be 
 constant to her through life." 
 
 " As constant as you have been to others,"
 
 RUSSELL. 91 
 
 said the same voice which had before spoken ; 
 seeming this time to come from the door. 
 
 Lord Alcester darted out and walked with 
 hasty steps round the cottage. He could see 
 nobody, however, and he returned irritable 
 and gloomy, 
 
 "Is there any one in that room?" he de- 
 manded, pointing with a quick gesture to the 
 opposite door. 
 
 " No !" answered the woman, boldly ; " but 
 I should think it was little business of yours if 
 there were." 
 
 " I will see, at all events," replied Lord 
 Alcester; and striding to the door, he threw 
 it open. The room seemed perfectly vacant 
 of any human thing ; and returning to Ger- 
 trude's side, he sat and mused sternly for a 
 minute, and then resumed the topic of his love, 
 saying, " I offer you, dear girl, all I have to 
 give — wealth, pleasure, a heart that loves you 
 with unceasing devotion and affection." 
 
 " With dishonour and shame ! " answered 
 Gertrude ; " but, my lord, it is in vain — "
 
 92 RUSSELL. 
 
 "Hush! hush! — hear me out!'* cried Lord 
 Alcester. " How many a girl of far higher 
 station than yourself would rejoice at the bare 
 prospect of what I now propose? If I wed 
 you not at the altar, you shall have my most 
 solemn vows, and a bond under my hand for 
 a dower which might befit any lady in the 
 land; you shall have wherewithal to enrich 
 this good old dame, and spare her all labour 
 and anxiety for ever; and you shall possess 
 my whole heart and affections, and rule my 
 conduct as a queen. Why do you smile so 
 scornfully?" 
 
 " Because, my lord, as I told you, it is all in 
 vain," answered Gertrude. 
 
 "In vain I — why so?" cried Lord Alcester, 
 trying to take her hand, and pressing closer to 
 her side. 
 
 Gertrude rose and drew back, giving him a 
 look of indignant contempt. " You force me 
 to speak harsh words,'* she said; "it is not 
 only in vain, but worse than in vain ; — it is 
 insulting ; and I see I must speak plainly,
 
 RUSSELL. 93 
 
 that I may not subject myself to farther of- 
 fence. Understand, then, Lord Alcester, that 
 even were not your proposals odious and 
 degrading, you yourself are personally dis- 
 agreeable to me. Did you offer me your 
 hand, poor and humble as I am, I would 
 reject it ; with less scorn perhaps, but as 
 much firmness as I reject the base offer you 
 make." 
 
 Lord Alcester had risen also, and her look 
 and manner stung him even more than her 
 words. Love and anger, however, are per- 
 fectly compatible ; and her exceeding beauty, 
 heightened by the flushed cheek and spark- 
 ling eye, seemed to increase the passion which 
 he felt, even while she repelled him. The 
 desire to punish what he called her insolence, 
 did not at all shake his determination to pos- 
 sess her by any means, or at any price ; and the 
 knowledge, too, that in conversation with his 
 libertine companions he had boasted she should 
 be his, drove him resolutely on his course. 
 
 "So, so, proud beauty!" he exclaimed, "you 
 have well learned the value of your charips, it
 
 94 RUSSELL. 
 
 seems. I have heard you to an end, now hear 
 me. You shall be mine ! I will find means 
 to bow that haughty spirit, and show you that 
 my station is not to be scorned and insulted 
 by a cottage girl, however fair she may be. 
 Willing or unwilling, I tell you, you shall be 
 mine ; and you shall think yourself happy if 
 by any skill you can retain that love which 
 you now contemn. Come up to Malwood 
 Hall at five o'clock this evening." 
 
 " I certainly will not," replied Gertrude. 
 
 "Then I will come and take you," said 
 Lord Alcester ; " and do not think to escape 
 me ; for every avenue to your dwelling shall 
 be so guarded that flight will be impossible. 
 I give you till five to make up your mind : 
 to soften your tone, and to bend your proud 
 spirit. But if you are not at Malwood Hall 
 by that hour, I repeat, I will come and take 
 you; and at the same time, I will find and 
 punish your excellent prompter without, if he 
 be upon my lands, be you assured." 
 
 " I do not believe you, my lord," replied 
 Gertrude, with a pale cheek ; "I do not
 
 RUSSELL. 95 
 
 believe you would violate the laws of the 
 land." 
 
 " I will violate no laws," said Lord Alcester, 
 with a meaning smile; "you shall have no 
 hold upon me there, lady, for aught that I do. 
 You are upon my estate liere, as a tenant, pay- 
 ing no rent, and have been so for two or three 
 years, I understand. This must be inquired 
 into ; and, until it is, you sojourn safely at 
 Malwood Hall." 
 
 "What you say is not true, you bad lord I" 
 cried Martha. "This is not your estate; 
 neither this cottage, nor the ground on which 
 it stands, nor the garden, nor the green sward 
 before the door. I hold them of better people 
 than you." 
 
 *' It is possible it may be so," said Lord 
 Alcester, assuming a cold and indifferent tone ; 
 *' but all that must be proved in law ; and 
 until it is, I shall keep this pretty bird as a sort 
 of hostage, to insure that I am not wronged. 
 Before this fair suit between us is decided, 
 methinks I shall have time to tame the wild.
 
 96 RUSSELL. 
 
 flattering thing. Think better of it, Alice, — 
 think better of it," he added, approaching 
 nearer to her, and speaking in a low voice ; 
 " cast not away the heart that loves you ; 
 drive me not to do things abhorrent to myself; 
 but ever remember that I swear before Heaven 
 and earth you shall be mine, and you cannot, 
 and shall not escape me." 
 
 " A strange way of winning love, indeed ! " 
 said Gertrude, turning away, 
 
 "You leave me no other," replied Lord 
 Alcester. " Did you not treat all kind words, 
 all soft persuasions, all generous offers, with, 
 scorn? What other way was left me to try 
 but this ? " 
 
 " True," she answered ; " whatever way you 
 tried would be equally tried in vain ; and so will 
 you find this. Lord Alcester. You may wrong 
 me ; you may keep me as a prisoner ; but you 
 cannot make me your slave. The moment I 
 am free I will have justice; and in the mean 
 while, you only pile upon your own head more 
 hatred and more contempt."
 
 RUSSELL. 97 
 
 " Ha, ha, ha !" cried the peer, with a forced 
 laugh ; " we shall see, my pretty mistress ! " 
 and, turning from her, he quitted the cottage. 
 
 The moment he was gone, Gertrude ran and 
 closed the door, bolted and locked it. The 
 lattice also was shut by the old nurse ; and then 
 they both hurried together into the room be- 
 hind, and with a key, produced by Martha 
 from beneath the bed, opened the door through 
 which Gertrude had passed the day before 
 into the w^ood. Between it and the similar one 
 which led into the garden, was a space of 
 about three feet, and from this place of con- 
 cealment came forth the juggler, wdth a faint 
 smile upon his countenance. 
 
 " You have heard," said Gertrude, laying 
 her hand confidingly, almost affectionately, 
 upon his arm, — " you have heard all ! " 
 
 " I have, dear lady," he answered. " He is 
 worse than I thought him ; and depend upon 
 it, he will keep his word. Men are ashamed 
 of being virtuous ; seldom, if ever, of being 
 vicious; and for fear a, licentious comrade 
 
 VOL. I. H ,
 
 98 RUSSELL. 
 
 should langli, this weak youth will risk even 
 a crime to gain his object." 
 
 " But v/liat can I do ? " exclaimed Gertrude, 
 with grief and anxiety on her face and tone. 
 
 " Oh, fear not, — fear not ! " answered the 
 juggler ; " we will frustrate him, dear lady. 
 It is well, indeed, that I remained the night." 
 
 " Ay, that it is ! " cried old Martha, who 
 now, in terror and distress, was glad to lean 
 upon anything for support. "I never thought 
 to see the day when my dear young lady would 
 be insulted and threatened before my face ; — a 
 wretched, profligate fellow ! " 
 
 "But how can we frustrate him?" asked 
 Gertrude, almost at the same moment, still gaz- 
 ing in the juggler's face. " I see no means. I 
 am at his mercy. How can I even fly, if he 
 surrounds the house with his servants? And 
 if I could fly, I have no money to carry me 
 awa3^ — Yet I would sooner beg my bread 
 from town to town, than be carried up to that 
 hateful house." 
 
 "Be not afraid!" said the juggler, "Fly
 
 RUSSELL. 99 
 
 indeed you must ; but you shall pass his 
 people, — ay, or himself either — uninjured 
 and unknown. I think, Gertrude, after our 
 words of last night, you will not fear to trust 
 me, — I will not say as a father, for I am too 
 young for such a title, — but as a brother, much, 
 older, and alas! far more experienced. You 
 must go with me : — not now, not at once ! but 
 I will come back to protect and watch over 
 you in a few hours. Then be prepared to go ; 
 and before that time, I shall have thought of 
 some asylum for you where you can be at 
 peace; for you must not share my roaming 
 life a moment more than needful." 
 
 " But you told me " said Gertrude, and 
 
 then paused. 
 
 " True," replied the juggler : " but we have 
 not time to seek advice from that quarter 
 where there is a better right to give it. We 
 must, however, as soon as may be, give intel- 
 ligence of whatever change we make. Only 
 one thing is certain: here you must, and 
 ought not to stay longer; and any other in- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 RUSSELL. 
 
 convenience — ay, clanger, even, is better than 
 the risk you run here." 
 
 " It is," said she, musing ; "it is; and yet — " 
 
 The juggler gazed at her with a look of 
 grave inquiry. " You hold back something 
 from me, lady," he replied. " Give me your 
 confidence, Gertrude; for so far, at least, I 
 merit it, that if to lay down my life in your ser- 
 vice were required of me, I should not hesitate. 
 Give me your confidence then, fully." 
 
 "I will," answered Gertrude, "I will. 
 You know that there is one very dear to me, 
 one who must ever remain so." 
 
 "What, Francis Vipont?" said the juggler; 
 " none can better deserve to be dear. What of 
 him, Gertrude?" 
 
 " Yesterday, by mere accident, he discovered 
 my abode," replied the lady. 
 
 "I had nought to do with it!" cried Martha. 
 "The dear child fled into the vrood, just at 
 eventide, to get cut of the way of this bad man 
 who has been here to-day, because I thought 
 I saw him coming; but. that was a mistake;
 
 RUSSELL. 101 
 
 for it was Lord Francis. But I would tell him 
 nothing. After that, he met her amongst the 
 trees, and came back with her; but I had 
 nought to do with it." 
 
 " Nay, there is no harm done," said the 
 juggler ; " you might trust to him as you would 
 to your own father. Poor Gertrude ! you were 
 joyful to see him again, I will warrant." 
 
 " I was indeed !" replied the beautiful girl. 
 
 "And he?" said the juggler. 
 
 " Seemed as happy to see me," answered 
 Gertrude. " Some words I let drop, raised 
 his suspicions of this Lord Alcester, who 
 is his first cousin, as you know; and he pro- 
 mised he would take measures to protect 
 me, without revealing to any one that I am 
 here; especially not to his father; for you 
 know he is the object of my dear mother's 
 greatest dread. I doubt not Francis will be 
 over here early to-day." 
 
 "The distance is considerable," said the 
 juggler; "but if he comes, you must tell him 
 all."
 
 102 RUSSELL. 
 
 " I shall fear to do so," answered the lady ; 
 " lest I provoke a quarrel between him and 
 the other." 
 
 "True!" was the reply. "But yet," the 
 juggler continued, after a moment's pause, 
 " you ought not to conceal the motives of your 
 going from him. Between you and him there 
 should never rise up a shade of doubt or sus- 
 picion ; but you can show him, Gertrude, that 
 any explanation between him and his cousin, 
 Alcester, must inevitably lead to the betrayal 
 of your secret. That, his own sense of honour 
 will prevent him even from risking. Tell him 
 all, Gertrude, if he comes in time ; if not, we 
 must give him intimation as soon as you are in 
 some degree secured against further insult. 
 But at all events be prepared when I come, 
 which will be within four hours." 
 
 " And what is to become of me?" asked old 
 Martha ; " am I to go too ?" 
 
 " No, you must remain," replied the juggler, 
 with a smile, " and endure, for a season, the 
 wrath of this noble lord; but I doubt not.
 
 RUSSELL. 103 
 
 when he finds that the object of his pursuit 
 has escaped him, his indignation will not fall 
 very heavily on you." 
 
 " I do not know," said the old woman, with 
 a very apprehensive shake of the head : " he 
 is a terrible man ; and besides, I promised my 
 dear lady never to leave the sweet child till 
 she came back. Ay, well-a-day ! she thought 
 to be back in two months, and it is now more 
 than two years." 
 
 " It is the hope delayed, which maketh the 
 heart sick, that has kept her," the juggler an- 
 swered. " I am not fond of promise breaking-, 
 my good, dame; but all promises are made under 
 the condition that it is possible to keep them. In 
 this instance, your young lady must away, and 
 for 3^ou to go with her is impossible, for where 
 one might pass, two could not ; but so far as 
 this, you shall keep your word. As soon as 
 may be you shall follow her ; — this very night, 
 if they will let you pass. We must take care, 
 however, that they do not track us by your 
 course. You mentioned a man at Wiucombe
 
 104 RUSSELL. 
 
 who sends you money monthly, the savings of 
 poor Lady Ellerton from the pension allowed 
 her by the French court. Come to his house 
 as soon as you can find means, and you shall 
 have information there as to our abode. — Sta}", 
 you may want money for your journey. I am 
 a rich man, God wot ! Here are two more 
 guineas for you." 
 
 " I do not know whether to take them or 
 not," said the old woman ; " I fear they are 
 not rightly come by, sir. I mean no offence ; 
 but I did not like those voices this mornino^ at 
 all. You could not be in the cupboard and 
 before the window at the same time ; and so it 
 must have been somebody else's voice : and I 
 should like to know v/hose it was." 
 
 *' It was the voice of a good friend of yours 
 and of your lady's," replied the juggler; "who 
 if that young lord had gone much farther, as 
 there was some fear, would have cast him 
 from the cottage door like carrion. So take 
 the money and fear not; — it was honestly 
 obtained, without the intervention of the devil
 
 RUSSELL. 105 
 
 in any shape, which is more than most men 
 can say of their wealth. — And now, dear lady, 
 I will bid you farewell. My wound, thanks to 
 your gentle care, though somewhat stiff and 
 bad, as needs must be, is in a fair way to heal ; 
 and in a day or two I shall look upon this 
 blood-letting as a good service done by a 
 rough surgeon. I go straight hence to Win- 
 combe, where my men are waiting. Should 
 aught go wrong, let me hear there, and you 
 shall soon have deliverance ; but I shall be 
 back ere four hours are over.*' 
 
 *• Had I not better keejj the doors tight 
 shut till your return?" asked Gertrude. 
 
 " No, I think not," replied the juggler ; " I 
 would seem busy with my ordinary occupa- 
 tions, as if you treated his threats as idle 
 brags. So will he be less upon his guard 
 against your escape. But I will crave, before 
 I go, one-half of that good brown loaf to feed 
 my poor barb, who has been munching wet 
 grass all night. It is a good beast, and loves 
 to be fed by his master's hand."
 
 106 RUSSELL. 
 
 Cutting the bread into tbin slices, the jug- 
 gler opened the back door of the house and 
 whistled, as one would for a dog. At first all 
 was still ; but at the third call, some lightly 
 trotting feet were heard ; and down from the 
 wood, with head erect, and glistening eye, 
 came the beautiful grey barb, snuffing the air 
 with its wide nostrils, till making a circuit 
 by the hedge-row it approached, and thrust its 
 mouth into its master's hand. 
 
 Gertrude stood by and watched with plea- 
 sure ; but still there was a thoughtful air about 
 her ; and at length she raised her eyes to her 
 strange visitor's face, saying, " You think, then, 
 there is no choice for me but to fly. I only 
 ask, because I promised my mdther to remain 
 here ; and I would fain feel sure that absolute 
 necessity drives me forth." 
 
 "This man's conduct were enough, sweet 
 lady," replied the juggler, tightening the 
 saddle-girths ; " but if you seek a further 
 reason still, I will give you one : — Sir Frede- 
 rick Beltingham is at Malwood Hall."
 
 RUSSELL. 107 
 
 Gertrude turned very pale, and exclaimed, 
 "Then Heaven help us !'' 
 
 "He is here; and knows, by some means, 
 that you are near," replied the juggler. " I 
 need say no more, I think. Had not mis- 
 chance brought me to your door last night, I 
 should have been with you early this morning, 
 to warn j^ou and protect you. Farew^ell, then, 
 for a time; but fear not, — no harm shall 
 happen." Thus saying, he mounted his horse 
 and rode quickly away.
 
 108 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The fine old mansion called Malwood Hall 
 was very quiet and silent at the moment when 
 its lord when forth to visit the cottage in- 
 habited by Gertrude EUerton. Most of the ser- 
 vants had been brought from London ; for on 
 succeeding to the title and estates of his grand 
 uncle. Lord Alcester had not thought fit to 
 retain many of the old domestics of the family. 
 Some few indeed remained ; and they were up 
 and at their labours before he rose ; but the 
 rest, accustomed to the negligence and irre- 
 gularity always generated in the households of 
 a great city, had not troubled themselves since 
 their coming to the hall, to quit their comfort-
 
 RUSSELL. 109 
 
 able beds till many an hour after the summer 
 sun had risen. 
 
 Lord Alcester had not even summoned his 
 own peculiar valet, though the intimate con- 
 nection between France and England at that 
 time had rendered an appendage of the sort 
 as indispensable at the dressing table of 
 English gentleman, as the soap or the eau 
 d'arquehusade. But he did not wish his going 
 forth or his coming in to be remarked by any 
 one, and more especially, not to be noticed by 
 the guest who had accompanied him from 
 London. It generally happens, however, that 
 those from whom we most wish to con- 
 ceal our actions, are those who first dis- 
 cover them. So it was, at least in this in- 
 stance. Sir Frederick Beltingham was up, 
 dressed, and at his window, when the peer 
 went forth, and like young Norval, " he 
 marked the way he took." But the guest did 
 not pursue the investigation of his host's move- 
 ments any further, in person. His own valet 
 stood by the table re-arranging the various
 
 110 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 articles of the toilet : a quiet, little, noiseless 
 man, serviceable in many things. 
 
 " Preston," said the knight, " come hither." 
 
 The man was at his side in a moment, with- 
 out a word. " Look there," said his master, 
 pointing through the window to the receding 
 form of Lord Alcester, " follow him without 
 his seeing you : mark where he goes to : return 
 as soon as you see him returning, and when 
 you are back, ring that bell, and he pointed to 
 one that stood upon the table." 
 
 " Yes, Sir Frederick," replied the man, and 
 it was all he said. 
 
 " Do you know when Mistress Compton 
 rises ?" asked his master, as he was retiring. 
 
 " She sleeps little, sir," replied the man. 
 " She is already up. I saw her in the gallery 
 walking to and fro." 
 
 He paused a single instant ; but his master 
 added nothing more, and the man retired. 
 
 Sir Frederick Beltingham waited only long 
 enough to allow his valet time to descend the 
 stairs, ere he himself quitted the room, and
 
 RUSSELL. 1 1 1 
 
 took his way along the corridor and through 
 the monastic looking gallery which crossed the 
 great hall. It opened, in the other wing, into 
 a wider gallery, one side of which was enriched 
 by fine pictures from the hands of Vandyke 
 and Rubens. At the further end was a lady 
 in what was then justly named a night dress ; 
 for at that period there was in reality a toilet 
 for the night; though afterwards, be it re- 
 marked, the so called night dress was merely 
 the first dress which a lady put on in the 
 morning. Her back w as turned towards him, 
 and she seemed busy with her own thoughts ; 
 for her head was bent and her eye fixed upon 
 the floor. She heard not his approach till he 
 was close to her ; and then with a quick start 
 she turned her head and gazed at the intruder 
 upon her solitary reveries. She was very beauti- 
 fuljbut evidently care-worn : all the features were 
 fine ; and the expression of her face, especially 
 of the large dark eyes, was noble and sweet, 
 but very sad. A look of much surprise came 
 over her countenance, and a crimson glow
 
 112 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 rose in her pale cheek when she saw Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham : and well it might be 
 so ; for with studious care, partly from feelings 
 in her own breast, partly from the commands 
 of Lord Alcester, she dwelt in his house 
 almost as if she were not there. None of his 
 guests ever beheld her, except by some ex- 
 traordinary accident; the short walk in the 
 grey of the morning or after the sun had gone 
 down was her only taste of free air ; her own 
 apartments were her abode during the whole 
 day ; and there, no one but one of the servants 
 ever ventured to present himself, except when 
 Lord Alcester himself took his meals in the 
 little hall appropriated to her use. With care 
 and shrinking timidity she strove to hide her- 
 self and her unhappy position from every eye, 
 and in sadness and solitude passed her hours 
 except when with forced gaiety she strove to 
 retain the waning affection of her betrayer. 
 Sir Frederick Beltingham she had seen more 
 than once before ; first, in the days of her 
 innocence, and once shortly after she had fled
 
 RUSSELL. 113 
 
 from her mother's house with Lord Alcester ; 
 but from that time forth she had never beheld 
 him, although she knew that he was often in 
 the same house with lierself. Perhaps there 
 were few of all the guests who came and went 
 whom she would have less desired to see ; for 
 she disliked and dreaded him ; and fancifully 
 attributed to his counsels the breach of all her 
 seducer's solemn promises to herself. When- 
 ever Beltingham was there, it seemed to her 
 that Lord Alcester became more cold and 
 loveless : it might be imaginary, but still she 
 thought she saw a sharper manner, another 
 gloomy shade over the warm and glowing love 
 which he had once expressed and felt. Belt- 
 ingham's sudden appearance, then, filled her 
 both with painful memories and anticipations 
 of evil. She was a lady, however, by birth, by 
 education, and by feeling ; and she received 
 him courteously, though somewhat coldly. 
 
 " I have much wished to speak with you 
 for some time, Mistress Compton," said Bel- 
 tingham, with a soft and somewhat sad look ; 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 RUSSELL. 
 
 " and hearing from my servant, that you were 
 in the gallery, I thought I would intrude upon 
 you, as no other opportunity might occur 
 during my stay." 
 
 " You are welcome, Sir Frederick," answered 
 the lady, " what may your commands be ?" 
 
 " It has deeply grieved me," said the knight, 
 *' to find that my friend Alcester has not treated 
 you as he ought to have done." 
 
 " I make no complaint, sir," re|)lied the 
 lady, " and were I to complain, it should be to 
 himself not to others. In a word. Sir Frede- 
 rick Beltingham, I look upon Lord Alcester 
 as my husband, and shall ever do so. I shall 
 act towards him as his wife, however he may 
 act towards me ; and it is not a wife's duty to 
 complain to strangers of a husband's conduct." 
 
 " Ay, that is the very point," said Belting- 
 ham, "what I blamed was, that he did not 
 make you his wife — as he promised, I think." 
 
 He put the proposition somewhat doubt- 
 ingly : at least so his tone implied ; and the 
 lady clasped her hands with a look of anguish.
 
 RUSSELL. 115 
 
 saying, " Indeed lie did. He j^romised : he 
 called Heaven to witness, that if I would fly 
 with him he would wed me immediately. He 
 was then, as you know, Sir Frederick, a poor 
 private gentleman, in no way above my own 
 degree. So far from it, that my mother op- 
 posed even my marriage with him ; and this 
 gave excuse for the scheme he suggested, and 
 which has proved my ruin. I fancied when I 
 stole forth to join him, that I was going from 
 my mother's house to the altar ; but when 
 once I was in his power — left entirely at his 
 mercy, delay followed delay, and pretext pre- 
 text, till at length the mask has been thrown 
 off, and there is no longer any mention of 
 doing me justice." 
 
 " He would do it still," said Sir Frederick 
 Beltingham ; " for you must have observed, 
 dear lady, that Alcester is not unkind or bad 
 at heart — he would do it still, I say, if this 
 other entanglement into which he is likely to 
 fall, could be prevented." 
 
 "What other entanglement?" cried the 
 
 I 2
 
 116 RUSSELL. 
 
 young lady, turning very pale ; " I know not 
 what you mean, sir." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Sir Frederick, "has no 
 rumour reached your ear ? I thought such a 
 secret would creep through a mouse-hole — 
 and there must be plenty in this old place — to 
 arrive at the person most interested in hearing 
 it. Has no one mentioned to you the fixir 
 blue-eyed cottage girl, his new passion ? " 
 
 He knew that all his words were daggers 
 to the unhappy lady's heart ; but he did not 
 scruple to use them. 
 
 Henrietta Compton sank down on one of 
 the seats below the pictures, and pressed her 
 handkerchief on her eyes, weeping bitterly. 
 
 " Be not so grieved," said Beltingham, " the 
 mischief is not yet done, and may j)erchance 
 be averted. From some words he let fall last 
 night, I imagine he has met more resistance 
 than he expected. He is a creature of im- 
 pulse, as you well know ; and when passion is 
 strong upon him, he will promise anything, 
 vow anything, do anything, to obtain his ob-
 
 RUSSEIrL. 117 
 
 ject. He boasted yesterday that she should be 
 
 in this house to-day before sunset" 
 
 / "In this house ! " cried the lady, starting up, 
 and gazing- at him with her hands clasped : 
 " In this house ! " 
 
 " Ay, even so," answered Beltingham : " but 
 as I have said, it may be averted, if you will 
 help me." 
 
 It was an imprudent expression that he em- 
 ployed ; for to any very clear and quick sight 
 it would have shown that the person whom he 
 wished to serve was himself, not her. But the 
 lady was blinded by agitation and distress ; 
 and she remarked it not at the moment, 
 though it recurred to her memory afterwards. 
 " How, how?" she exclaimed eagerly. 
 
 "Easily enough," replied Beltingham. 
 " Doubtless, to remove all scruples, he will 
 in this instance, as before, promise marriage. 
 Now if you can show her that he has already 
 done so to you" 
 
 "I have got his letter," cried Henrietta, 
 "the letter in which he proposed my flight.
 
 118 RUSSELL. 
 
 He says, — I remember the words as well as if 
 they were all written in fire upon my heart — 
 * We will be married instantly, to satisfy all ; 
 but from the moment that you quit your 
 mother's house, you are my wife, and I am 
 your husband.' And he added, ' Will this not 
 calm your fears, Henrietta?' — Oh, God ! Oh, 
 God ! and he has forgotten all this !" 
 
 "Why, it is a contract!" exclaimed Bel- 
 tingham ; "the church would hold it as a valid 
 marriage, being by the consent of both, and no 
 lawful impediment. But show her this, dear 
 lady ; and, as she is a good and virtuous girl, 
 she will see he is making promises he cannot 
 keep. We must guard her, however, against 
 violence," he continued, apparently with 
 thoughtful consideration, although in reality 
 he was touching upon the point most maturely 
 weighed beforehand. 
 
 "But how am I to show her this letter?" 
 asked Henrietta Compton ; " how am I to 
 warn her 1 Cannot you do so yourself? " 
 
 " No," answered Beltingham. "You would
 
 RUSSELL. 119 
 
 not, of course, trust such a valuiible document 
 from your hands ; and I have no other proof. 
 Besides, it would embroil me with Alcester ; 
 and a man of seven and twenty is not the fit 
 person to meddle in such an affair. All I can 
 do is to provide for her safety ; and even that 
 I must no" do in person, for fear of miscon- 
 structions. But I have an old and faithful 
 servant witk ne, somewhat advanced in years ; 
 he could escoi't her safely to her friends in a 
 distant part of the country, while I remained 
 here." 
 
 " Surely he would never use any force to 
 bring her hither!" exclaimed the lady. 
 
 "You are mistaken," answered Beltingham; 
 " he boasted that she should be in this house 
 before night ; and if by any means within the 
 wide range of possibility, he can make his boast 
 good, he will do it, let the result be what it 
 may. There is but one way, lady, to avert all 
 that is likely to happen : during the breakfast 
 hour you must go down to the cottage where 
 she lives."
 
 120 RUSSELL. 
 
 ** And where is that?" asked Henrietta. 
 
 " At this moment I know not," replied the 
 knight ; " but you shall be informed vvithin an 
 hour; I will send you word by your own 
 woman, or write the description of the place 
 on a small slip of paper. You will under- 
 stand what it means. Then go down to the 
 place named, and let her know the whole. If 
 you find her bent on her own destruction, and 
 not to be warned, we cannot help it; but if, 
 on the contrary, as I fully believ^e, you discover 
 that she is terrified at her danger, and anxious 
 to fly, let her know that at the little wooden 
 gate of the park, she will meet an old and 
 respectable man, who will give her the word 
 ' Henrietta,' and conduct her to a place of 
 security. I will remain here and occupy Al- 
 cester in the mean while. Methinks the 
 scheme cannot fail." 
 
 "Let me think!" said Henrietta Compton, 
 " let me think ! " and she walked to one of the 
 windows and gazed out. Her brain was troubled 
 with many thoughts ; and she pressed her hand
 
 RUSSELL. 121 
 
 upon her brow. Her heart was a battle-field 
 for many emotions, and the struggle, for some 
 time, was intense. At length she turned to- 
 wards Sir Frederick Beltingham, and said, 
 " No, sir, no ! — I will not do this ! — If I were 
 his wife I would not, — much less as I am ! I 
 have done wrong to hear all this ; for I have 
 no title to spy into his actions. Hear me to 
 the close ! Nevertheless, I feel for a fellow- 
 creature like myself. I would not have an- 
 other woman know misery like mine. I will 
 write to this girl, and give her warning. If 
 she take it, well. If she be brought up hither 
 against her will, I will take care that she is not 
 long detained. There is yet some energy in 
 my nature, though it has been sadly cowed ; 
 and I will exert it to save another, though it is 
 too late to exert it for myself. But I will not 
 live in Lord Alcester's house, to contrive 
 schemes against his schemes." 
 
 As she spoke, a small bell was heard to 
 ring, and Sir Frederick Beltingham demanded, 
 in a hurried manner, and with an angry
 
 122 RUSSELL. 
 
 look, — "Is this your last determination, 
 madam ?" 
 
 " It is," she answered. 
 
 "Very well, then," he rejoined, with a bitter 
 sneer, " you will soon be one of a harem ! I 
 wish you joy of your sultanaship!" 
 
 " The fiend ! " said the lady to herself, as he 
 turned on his heel and left her ; " he has some 
 dark plot under this ; that is clear enough. 
 God frustrate his wicked devices!" And, 
 retiring to her own chamber, she sat down to 
 write.
 
 RUSSELL. 123 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 It is perfectly inconceivable the mass of 
 corrupt scheming which was to be found in 
 England during the reign of the second 
 Charles. It was not alone in the court or 
 the cabinet, or the courts of law, or the houses 
 of Parliament, but in every mansion, and in 
 almost every family in the land. The objects 
 were all different, perhaps, but the means the 
 same. Every one w^as plotting to gain some 
 end — power, gold, station, love, honour, fame 
 — and all by tortuous paths, by cunning, 
 trick, artifice, knavery, violence; but rarely 
 violence where corruption would do. There 
 was no shame ; for, from the king to the link-
 
 124 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 boy, every one knew his neighbour to be a 
 rogue, and there was no such thing as morals 
 in the back parlour to shame the vice in the 
 state drawing-room. The records of most 
 private families of the period show that this 
 was the case ; but, of course, there were some 
 exceptions. One or two honest statesmen are 
 recorded, and such things as patriots were 
 found with a lantern ; but most of them, it 
 must be said, expiated their eccentricity on a 
 scaffold. There were also some private indi- 
 viduals who thought straightforward truth 
 was best, and some families in which sincerity 
 was the rule. 
 
 From some of the most common scenes of 
 the day, as exhibited at Malwood Hall and in 
 its neighbourhood, I turn to another house of 
 a character totally different, and not less so, 
 indeed, in point of its inhabitants than of its 
 architecture. The distance between the two 
 places was about eighteen miles : easily tra- 
 velled in imagination, reader, but less easily, 
 in those days at least, over the high road.
 
 RUSSELL. 125 
 
 The country rose gradually from Malwood, 
 and the road wound through hill and dale, 
 through wood and pasture, till at length, in 
 passing over a gentle ridge, a fine old castel- 
 lated building, with some trees hiding the base 
 of two of the towers, was seen standing out upon 
 the hills at about two miles distance. It had 
 been built in the time of Edward the Fifth ; but 
 had been attacked and taken more than once 
 during the wars of the Great Rebellion, and 
 suffered considerably from cannon-shot, and 
 an attempt to blow up one of the principal 
 towers. As soon as the family of Stuart was 
 once more seated on the throne of England, 
 however, and the lassitude which succeeds 
 great convulsions had paralyzed the war spirit 
 in the land, the proprietor had devoted a con- 
 siderable portion of the remains of his large 
 estates to restore, improve, and modernize 
 EUerton Castle, and he had succeeded in ren- 
 dering it one, not only of the most splendid, 
 but of the most convenient mansions possessed 
 by the country gentlemen of England.
 
 126 RUSSELL. 
 
 Since then it had passed into other hands, 
 and now, in what was then called the ladies' 
 withdrawing-room, at an early hour of the day 
 of which I have lately been speaking, were to 
 he seen two persons, very different in character 
 and in mind from those to which the de- 
 scription given above of English society at 
 this period, would apply. 
 
 Seated at a table with several papers before 
 her, from which she had been copying some 
 passages, was a lady of perhaps three and 
 twenty years of age. Her features were not 
 altogether regular ; but there was a charm 
 in the expression, a brightness, a frank- 
 ness, a winning truthfulness of look, which 
 was more than beautiful. Her form, too, was 
 perfect, and though the comj^lexion was brown, 
 yet it was clear, and warmed with the hue of 
 health. By her side, and looking over her 
 shoulder, was one we have seen before, and 
 therefore, I need not describe him farther. 
 
 Francis Vipont, or Virepont, leaned one hand 
 upon the table, and pointed to a part of the
 
 RUSSELL. 127 
 
 page before his sister, saying, " Do not write 
 that, Emiueline It is not true, and falsehood 
 in verse is a corpse decked with flowers. Oh, 
 what a thing is truth, my dear sister!" 
 
 " A jewel rarely found," answered the Lady 
 Emmeline, '* yet not valuable for that alone, 
 Francis. I think, Francis, that in art as well 
 as morals, truth is the great foundation of all 
 excellence. We may add ornaments, but the 
 ornaments must themselves be true, and the 
 disposition of them according to the inherent 
 truth of nature. It is all the same with the 
 poem, the statue, the painting: they are the 
 expression of truths. The fiction, the imagi- 
 nation is in the arrangement and in the selec- 
 tion. How any figure shocks the mind in 
 poetry that has not truth as its basis ; how 
 any combination of colours that were never 
 seen combined in nature offends the eye — but 
 you are buried in thought, Francis, and 
 while I am talking of art you are meditating 
 graver things. Whither is your mind wan- 
 dering?"
 
 128 RUSSELL. 
 
 " From the subject far away," said Lord 
 Francis, " but not from the spot, dear Emme- 
 line. I was thinking, my sweet sister, how we 
 ever came here ; not by truth, Emmely, I fear. 
 I feel it every moment I stay, under this roof. 
 It pains me, sweet sister, — it disturbs my 
 rest." 
 
 The lady Emmeline shook her head, sadly, 
 and said ; " I cannot help thinking, Francis, 
 that it disturbs the rest of another as well as 
 of ourselves. Did you not remark a strange 
 difference when you returned, after so long an 
 absence ? " 
 
 " I did, indeed," replied her brother ; " but 
 yet I cannot think that such feelings as we 
 experience can be the cause, otherwise the 
 remedy would be very easy, — to restore that 
 which we wrongly possess." 
 
 "I fear that is not possible, Francis," an- 
 swered his sister: "the same reason that my 
 father gave for accepting the estates at first 
 must still hold good. They would have been 
 given to another ; and even now, if we were to
 
 RUSSELL. 129 
 
 restore them, they could not be held by one 
 attainted of high treason." 
 
 " Accepted ! " said Lord Francis, with a 
 sig'h, and a mournfid shake of the head ; " that 
 is a gentle word, Emmeline ; but we must not 
 talk of such things, dear sister, where a father 
 is concerned ; yet let me say, that were the 
 wish to make restitution — were the excuse 
 valid, indeed — the rents of the estate might be 
 received and transmitted to the just owner, 
 until time, and the change of circumstances, 
 and the subsidence of party virulence and 
 popular error, might enable Sir William Eller- 
 ton to return in safety and prove his innocence 
 of the false charges preferred against him. 
 iS'ow let us speak no more on this, Emmeline. 
 I know what my own conduct would be. I 
 know what it will be if God gives me the 
 power of doing right where gross wrong has 
 been committed." 
 
 " I think, Francis, you do not know rightly 
 all the circumstances," said his sister. " I 
 know them, alas ! too well ;" and a very grave 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 RUSSELL. 
 
 shade fell over lier countenance. " You were 
 absent in France, but I was here in England ; 
 heard all, and saw much. The apparent tools 
 of the party were Oats and Bedlow ; but there 
 was another, who, for purposes of his own — I 
 do not well know what — confirmed, by faint 
 denials and suspicious attempts to excuse and 
 apologize, the charges which two miserable 
 ruffians brought against Sir William Ellerton, 
 — I mean Sir Frederick Beltingham. When 
 examined by the committee, he acknowledged, 
 with affected hesitation, that he had heard our 
 poor cousin use some strange discourse. He 
 did not think that it was treasonable, he said ; 
 and he declared that Sir William had drunk too 
 much wine when he so spoke. Now, you know, 
 Francis, he rarely drank aught but water." 
 
 " And what could be the villain's motive?'* 
 inquired her brother. 
 
 " I strongly suspect," answered Emmeline, 
 " that it somehow affected our sweet Gertrude ; 
 for in my own distress of mind, and not know- 
 ing how deeply Sir William Ellerton was
 
 RUSSELL. 131 
 
 involved, I Imrried over to beseech liiin to 
 assist poor Henry in his escape. It was but 
 half an hour before they fled themselves, and 
 Sir William was already gone ; but Gertrude 
 came down in haste to see me, and gave me 
 the letter for you, which I sent immediately. 
 Then it was I first learnt their own state ; and 
 I remember well she put her two fair hands 
 upon my own, and said, ' I knew it would be 
 so, Emmeline, when that dark, fiend-like man 
 went away, muttering vengeance, because my 
 father resented an insult offered to his child : I, 
 who knew him better than the rest, was very sure 
 thathewouldhavethatvengeance.* Ishall never 
 forget that dear girl's kindness in the midst of 
 her own distress, and how she soothed me with 
 assurances of Henry's safety, telling me that 
 her father, at the risk of his own life, had 
 already ensured Henry Maldon's escape, and 
 that he whom I loved, was, by that time, safe 
 across the sea. She little knew, poor girl, 
 how treacherous that sea can be ; and I little 
 dreamt it either."
 
 132 RUSSELL. 
 
 Emmeline wept, and her brother soothed 
 her gently. After a moment or two, however, 
 he turned her mind back to the subject on 
 which she had first begun to speak, saying, 
 " Then you really think, Emmeline, that my 
 father had no share in pointing suspicion 
 towards Sir William Ellerton ? I know that 
 Lady Ellerton is fully convinced he had, and 
 in fact that he was the prime mover in the 
 whole. The friend of Shaftesbury, he knew all 
 that passed ; and he reaped a rich harvest, too, 
 from his cousin's ruin. What was it to him to 
 give fifty thousand pounds to the crown, and to 
 receive such an estate as this ? Oh, my dear 
 sister, such things do not take place without 
 some previous understanding." 
 
 " I trust, I hope that it was not so," 
 answered the lady. " Pie declared loudly — I 
 have heard him myself — that he did it to save 
 the estate for his cousin ; and I have reason to 
 believe that he even interceded strongly for 
 Sir William with the crown." 
 
 " God grant it!" said the young man, with
 
 RUSSELL. 133 
 
 evident doubt still resting* on his mind ; " God 
 grant it, Emmeline ! But 1 must away, dear 
 sister ; for I have business over at Malwood." 
 
 "Will you not stay for breakfast?" asked 
 his sister. 
 
 " HSo ; I will breakfast there," answered 
 Lord Francis ; but as he spoke, the door was 
 opened, and a gentleman, habited in black, 
 entered with a slow and stately step. He was 
 a tall, thin man, far past the middle age. His 
 countenance was dark, but handsome, although 
 the expression was sinister and unpleasant. 
 The deep-set eyes, quick and bright, were 
 overhung by enormous bushes of grey eye- 
 brows; and the firm compressed lips were 
 only distinguished from the rest of the face by 
 a very faint, fine line of red in a countenance 
 almost colourless. The hand was meagre and 
 bony, — the hand of age ; but yet his step was 
 firm and strong, though somewhat slow. In 
 person, he was well formed, holding him- 
 self still very much upright; and there was 
 an air of dio:nitv about him which would have
 
 134 RUSSELL. 
 
 been very impressive, if it bad not been joined 
 with a dark and gloomy look, as if there was a 
 heart ill at ease below. 
 
 On entering the room, no smile came upon 
 his lip to see his children ; but, without the 
 slightest movement of his head, his eye rolled 
 from the one to the other, as if inquiring, 
 ' What have you two been conversing upon?' 
 Advancing slowly to a table, the Earl of Vire- 
 pont had laid down some papers which he 
 held in his hand, and though he returned his 
 daughter's embrace when she advanced to wish 
 him good-morning, he took no notice of his 
 son, till Lord Prancis, as he was generally 
 called, addressed him, expressing a hope that 
 he had slept well. 
 
 " What makes you think I have slept ill?" 
 asked the Earl, abruptly. 
 
 " You complained yesterday of want of rest, 
 my lord," replied his son. " I should have 
 said I hoped you had slept better." 
 
 " I seldom sleep well, son," answered the Earl; 
 " but why have you your hat in your hand?"
 
 RUSSELL. 135 
 
 " I was about to ride over to Mai wood, my 
 lord," replied Lord Francis, " to breakfast 
 there." 
 
 " You are now very rarely in your father's 
 house," said the Earl, gloomily. "I fear, in 
 the present instance, I must request your stay 
 till after breakfast ; for there is business to be 
 spoken of, and I shall need your presence. I 
 thought your cousin, my Lord of Alcester, had 
 returned to London." 
 
 " No, my lord, he is still at Malwood," 
 replied the young nobleman. 
 
 "Strange! he has not been here for more 
 than a week," said his father. " Have you 
 seen him since you returned from Spain?" 
 
 " No, I have not," answered the son ; " but 
 I was informed yesterday that he is still at 
 Mai wood." 
 
 The Earl made no reply, and Lord Francis 
 gave his hat to a servant who entered, bringing 
 in a small glass of some cordial for the Earl. It 
 seemed to the young nobleman, in his impatience 
 to depart, that breakfast was delayed far longer
 
 136 RUSSELL. 
 
 than usual ; and so, perhaps, It was ; but it was 
 served at length, and after nearly three-quar- 
 ters of an hour spent at the meal, and that 
 well nigh in silence, the Earl rose, and was 
 quitting the room, when his son reminded him 
 that he had desired to speak of matters of 
 business. 
 
 "Ay, true !" said the Earl ; "come with me 
 into my book-room ;" and leading the way, he 
 proceeded to his library; and there ceremo- 
 niously invited his son to be seated, after he had 
 taken a chair. He himself then leaned his head 
 on his hand, and meditated for a moment or two. 
 
 " I have been considering for some timxe,'* 
 he said at length, " of a suitable match for 
 your sister, sir. You are well aware that I 
 had arranged she should marry Sir Henry 
 Maldon, then heir to his grandfather, the late 
 Lord Alcester. That arrangement, however, 
 w^as fortunately terminated by his death at sea. 
 I say fortunately, not from any feelings of ill- 
 will towards the young gentleman himself, 
 but because his life might have proved ex-
 
 RUSSELL, 137 
 
 ceedingly inconvenient, after he had thought 
 lit to mingle in the horrible plot and con- 
 spiracy detected four years ago; and in his 
 case, as I explained to you in regard to your 
 own unfortunate engagement, no member of a 
 family over which hung such a charge should 
 ever have entered into mine. Out of consider- 
 ation for Emmeline's feelings, — though, as she 
 was but eighteen at the time, they cannot have 
 been very deeply affected — I have not pressed 
 her to any new engagement. Four years have 
 now passed, and the matter is, of course, for- 
 gotten." 
 
 " I think not, my lord," replied his son ; '*I 
 feel sure that it is as strong upon Emmeline's 
 mind as ever." 
 
 " Then it is time she should forget it," an- 
 swered his father, sternly, " and the best 
 means of obtaining that object is to unite her 
 to another. In a word, sir, it is my deter- 
 mination to propose to your cousin, Lord Al- 
 oester, a still closer alliance between the two 
 families, by which the plan originally proposed 
 will be carried out ; the two houses of Vire-
 
 138 RUSSELL. 
 
 pont and Maldon will be united, and the 
 whole county from Wyncombe to Woodces- 
 ter will be in the possession of one or the 
 other." 
 
 "You hardly know, my lord, I think," 
 said Francis Vipont, " the general character of 
 the man to whom you propose to give my 
 sister. I am sure that what you seek is her 
 happiness in such an arrangement, but Al- 
 cester, I am sorry to say, is notorious for his 
 libertine habits ; the companion and friend of 
 all the most licentious persons of a licentious 
 court, and known himself as one of the most 
 debauched amongst them." 
 
 " Errors of youth, errors of youth !" replied 
 the Earl, waving his hand. " With a lady and 
 a virtuous woman for his wife, all such evil 
 practices will be cast aside, like the slough 
 of a snake in the sunshine." 
 
 " And the reptile remain unchanged," mut- 
 tered Francis to himself. 
 
 " All that you have to do," continued the 
 Earl, " is to bear a message from me to your
 
 RUSSELL. 139 
 
 cousin, Lord Alcester, opening the negociation 
 for the alliance I speak of." 
 
 " You must excuse me, my lord," replied his 
 son, in a firm but respectful tone. " You are 
 Emmeline's father, and act as you think fit ; 
 but I am her brother, and love her too dearly 
 to take any part whatsoever in bringing about 
 a marriage which, in the first place, will be 
 repugnant, I know, to all her feelings; and 
 which, in the second place, would, I do believe, 
 render her wretched, from the character of the 
 person selected." 
 
 The Earl of Virepont suffered no anger to 
 appear in countenance or manner. " You 
 refuse, then," he said ; " you refuse ? Take 
 care, young man ! " 
 
 " I regret exceedingly to be obliged to de- 
 cline," answered his son ; " but, whatever be 
 the consequences, I cannot do it." 
 
 " I have done, sir ; you may retire," replied 
 the Earl, gravely. 
 
 " I feel perfectly convinced, my lord,*' said 
 Francis Vipont, in a tone of deprecation, " that
 
 140 RUSSELL. 
 
 you are not, you cannot be aware of all the 
 circumstances. I Avill not speak of Emmeline's 
 attachment to poor Henry Maldon, of its im- 
 perishable nature, of the regret for his loss 
 which she still feels, and of the resolution 
 which I know she entertains of never marry- 
 ing. That might offend you, for you cer- 
 tainly have a right to rule your own family as 
 you think fit. But from regard for my sister, 
 I must make you aware of the circumstances. 
 Not much more than a year ago Alcester 
 carried off poor Henrietta Compton : the 
 daughter of a lady of good family, though 
 small fortune. There is no doubt that it was 
 done upon the pretence of immediate mar- 
 riage, and some people assert that there is 
 even a contract between them. She is down 
 here with him at Malwood, I find, even now ; 
 and yet it is notorious that he is pursuing his 
 libertine amours in every different direction. 
 Surely, my lord, this is not a man whom you 
 would choose for my sister's husband, whom 
 you would select to replace, in her affections
 
 RUSSELL. 141 
 
 one of the bravest and noblest of liuman 
 beings. In regard to this pretended plot, 
 whicli there is hai'dly a man in England now 
 believes to have been any plot at all, I take 
 upon me to affirm that the charge both against 
 Maldon and Sir William Ellerton was as false 
 as it might be expected to be from the two per- 
 jured villains who made it, and the worse but 
 more artful villain who supported it. Emme- 
 line, depend upon it, will never suffer the belief 
 that Henry had a share in any treason, to 
 sap her affection for him, or to blot out his 
 memory from her heart." 
 
 The young gentleman spoke warmly, but 
 with every demonstration of respect ; and his 
 father listened to him in profound silence, with 
 his eyes bent unmoved on the table. The 
 only sign of emotion was the varying colour in 
 his cheek, which once or twice flushed, and 
 then resumed its pallid hue again. When 
 Lord Francis had done, the Earl raised his 
 eyes and slightly bowed his head, saying, 
 coldly, " You may retire."
 
 142 RUSSELL. 
 
 The young man took a few steps towards 
 the door; but before he reached it, he was 
 stopped by his father's voice saying, " Stay yet 
 one moment. You affect to disbelieve the ex- 
 istence of Popish plot in these realms, and 
 assert in a very bold tone the innocence of two 
 men who were particularly dear to you : the one, 
 a young gentleman who is dead and might be 
 misled ; the other, an ekler and experienced 
 man who sought to take your father's life. 
 Of that last fact, sir, there can be no doubt. 
 It may be a claim to your gratitude and re- 
 gard ; and it is a claim to my everlasting re- 
 membrance of him. That, however, is no mat- 
 ter : you have long ago heard my opinions and 
 my commands on all subjects connected with 
 him, except in regard to the imprudence which 
 you have displayed to-day. I have but called 
 you back to warn you not to utter such rash 
 opinions in public, or you may find your way 
 to the Tower. Rest satisfied with bringing 
 them forward to insult me here, and to affect 
 my title to one-half of my j^roperty, but do
 
 RUSSELL. 143 
 
 not publish in the ears of men who might 
 report it, that you believe the deliberate judg- 
 ment of many courts of justice, the assertions 
 of numerous parliamentary committees, and 
 the sentences, after due examination, of the 
 house of peers to be falsehood, fabrication, and 
 injustice. It is not probable that such a gross 
 offence would be passed over. Courts and 
 parliaments know how to vindicate themselves; 
 and I do not wish to see that done at the ex- 
 pense of my only son. Now, leave me, for I 
 have business." 
 
 Francis Vipont turned away with a heavy 
 heart, sad for his sister Emmeline, sad for him- 
 self, and even for his father ; for that father, 
 within the last four years, had become an al- 
 tered man. Though never cheerful, he had 
 been calm and equable in temper, and though 
 not easily turned from his purposes, yet neither 
 stern nor harsh. He had never been what is 
 called frank, but he could bear frankness in 
 others; and he piqued himself upon going- 
 straight forward to his object without follow-
 
 144 RUSSELL. 
 
 ing the tortuous paths of courts. There was a " 
 great change : and Francis felt that the cause 
 for that change must be a sorrowful one.
 
 RUSSELL. 145 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Impatient at the delay wliich had taken 
 place, with a flowing rein, and an easy- 
 seat, Lord Francis Vipont rode rapidly away 
 towards Mai wood Hall. Although his was 
 a thoughtful — one might almost say imagi- 
 native — disposition, the eagerness with which 
 he hurried on prevented reflection. But while 
 he gallops on his way towards the foot of 
 yonder blue hills, which must surely retard 
 his progress for a time, I may as well write a 
 few words upon the characters already intro- 
 duced, and the events which had preceded the 
 opening of this tale. Every reader of English 
 history is acquainted, more or less generally, 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 RUSSELL. 
 
 with that dark and horrible period in the reign 
 of Charles the Second, when, from the smallest 
 possible beginning, and from a scheme of deceit 
 and treachery probably insignificant in the 
 commencement, a sort of epidemic madness 
 was communicated to at least two-thirds of the 
 English people, driving them to acts of insane 
 fury, almost without a parallel in history. 
 
 A stranger warned the king of England, 
 whilst walking in the park, that some myste- 
 rious danger menaced him ; an infamous and 
 disgusting man, named Titus Gates, w^ithout 
 character, means, or abilities, coarse in his 
 manners, vulgar in his language, disgusting in 
 person, and degraded in his mind, was found 
 to declare that the apprehended danger lay in 
 a plot of the Papists to destroy the monarch, 
 overthrow the constitution, and restore the 
 predominance of the Roman Catholic religion 
 in England. The whole story was incredible ; 
 improbability was marked in every part of it, 
 and impossibility was apparent in many. 
 ^Nevertheless, whether the charge against the
 
 RUSSELL. 147 
 
 Papists originated with statesmen, or was 
 simply the device of a needy swindler, some 
 • men of noble birth, and high in office, seized 
 upon it as a happy means of promoting 
 their own dark schemes. Gates found his 
 first meagre sketch so successful, that he 
 proceeded to enlarge and embellish it, till that 
 which was absurd became monstrous. Nothing, 
 however, is incredible to the credulity of party 
 passion ; and as long as the fever of the public 
 mind could be kept up, the delirium of the 
 multitude continued in full force. This was 
 only to be done by the frequent administration 
 of new stimulants, and day by day fresh 
 accusations were brought forward, involving 
 many of the noblest and best in the land in a 
 pretended conspiracy, which had no existence 
 except in the imagination of the perjured and 
 sanguinary denouncer. It was easy to extend 
 his accusations from one class to another ; and 
 consequently, wlien the field of the Papists 
 was exhausted, a multitude of Protestants 
 were assailed, either as persons who sought to 
 
 L 2 .
 
 148 RUSSELL. 
 
 smother the plot, as the beastly accuser called 
 it, or as concealed Papists, who had obtained 
 a dispensation from Rome for outwardly con- 
 forming to the Church of England. Amongst 
 the former, were all who expressed a doubt of 
 the truth of the witnesses, and the reality of 
 the conspiracy ; and the latter class comprised 
 a number of persons of wealth and influence, 
 whose property was an object of cupidity, or 
 whose ruin was necessary to the gratification 
 of political or private enmity. 
 
 No man's life or reputation was safe ; and fear, 
 that most infectious of diseases, came to finish 
 what fury had begun. Men's terrors at the very 
 chance of accusation induced them to assert that 
 to be true which they knew to be false, and to aid 
 the attempt to prove that which was palpably 
 impossible. The madness seized on the House 
 of Commons, and the most frightful and out- 
 rageous acts of tyranny and injustice were 
 perpetrated by a body of men elected to de- 
 fend the liberties and uphold the rights of 
 Enghshmen. The terror seized upon the
 
 RUSSELL. 149 
 
 courts of law, and changed the sword of 
 justice into the knife of the assassin. The 
 judges dared not maintain the simplest rules 
 of evidence. Scroggs, the chief justice, 
 showed himself zealous in condemnation, and 
 partial in the administration of the law. 
 Truby, the recorder, aided in the work of 
 death and confiscation ; and the other judges 
 did not venture to vindicate the purity of the 
 sanctuary, under the apprehension of being 
 included in an accusation which spared not 
 the highest or most virtuous. Evident perjury 
 was received as direct evidence, against which 
 nothing but positive testimony could be of any 
 avail ; and a passionate and prejudiced jury 
 required, not that the accuser should prove his 
 charge to be true, but that the accused should 
 prove his guilt to be impossible. The Queen 
 herself was accused at the bar of the House of 
 Commons ; and, to use the words of a writer 
 of that day, " Nothing ordinary or moderate 
 was to be heard in people's communication ; 
 but every debate and action was high flown
 
 150 RUSSELL. 
 
 and tumultuous. All freedom of speech was 
 taken away ; and not to believe the plot, was 
 worse than being Turk, Jew, or infidel." 
 
 In the midst of these events, Sir Edmondbury 
 Godfrey, the justice before whom Gates made 
 his first deposition, was found murdered ; and 
 this circumstance — although it is probable that 
 he destroyed himself — was received as full 
 confirmation of the charges against Papists 
 and their supporters. Gates himself, the infa- 
 mous and the low, w^as lodged in Whitehall, 
 and received a pension, enormous for those 
 times ; w^hile imprisonment and death awaited 
 all on whom his venom fell, who could be 
 found, and confiscation, in many instances, 
 followed those who fled for safety to another 
 land. 
 
 Charles, the clear-sighted and the witty, 
 though the unprincipled and the weak, saw 
 the falsehood of the charges, the baseness of 
 the accusers, and the criminality of the mo- 
 tives; yet let all things take their course, 
 except in the case of the Queen, for whose
 
 RUSSELL. 151 
 
 protection he thought fit to exert his authority : 
 perhaps the only conscientious act of his whole 
 life; and the court continued in revelry and 
 amusement, in the midst of scenes of blood and 
 massacre ; as frantic merriment and unbounded 
 licentiousness are sometimes known to reign in 
 the midst of the most deadly pestilence. 
 
 Such was the state of Enoland about four 
 years before the period at which I have thought 
 fit to open this history ; and at that time, three 
 families of great distinction, some members of 
 which I have already introduced to the reader, 
 were living in harmony and afiection, already 
 united by the bonds of kindred and friend- 
 ship, and looking forward to still closer ties. 
 
 The family of Sir William Ellerton, then 
 inhabitini]^ Ellerton Castle during^ the <2:reater 
 part of the year, consisted of but three 
 members, the father, the mother, and one 
 daughter, heiress of large estates, which, 
 notwithstanding her youth, for she was not 
 then seventeen, caused the hand of Gertrude 
 Ellerton to be sought by more than one
 
 152 RUSSELL. 
 
 noble house. Sir William Ellerton, himself, 
 was a man no way ambitious. A minor during 
 the agitated period of the civil war, he had 
 escaped confiscation ; and though, at the Res- 
 toration, a peerage was offered to him, when 
 rewards were withheld by Government, as 
 usual, from most of those who had really dis- 
 tinguished themselves in the royal cause, he 
 respectfully declined the honour, and remained 
 Sir William Ellerton still. 
 
 Much surprise was excited by Sir William 
 treating very coldly the numerous proposals of 
 alliance which were made to him when his 
 daughter arrived at womanhood. But the 
 baronet's reply was invariably that he would 
 not control Gertrude's choice. He said, she 
 was too young to marry yet, but she should 
 make her own selection ; and he only claimed 
 the right of veto, though he added, not unwisely, 
 that he would endeavour to render the exercise 
 thereof unnecessary, by excluding from her 
 society those to whom he should most strongly 
 object. One father, of rank, wealth, and power.
 
 RUSSELL. 153 
 
 urged upon him somewhat too strongly the ex- 
 pediency of choosing a husband for his child 
 upon the ordinary principles of the day, when 
 station and riches were the two great con- 
 siderations. But Sir William replied, with 
 proud humility, that if Gertrude chose the 
 parson of the parish she should have him ; and 
 that case was soon decided by the aspirant son 
 being married to the daughter of the then Lord 
 Mayor. Gertrude herself, ere long, decided all 
 others; for the son of her father's second cousin, 
 the Earl of Virepont, the playfellow of her 
 youth, was a constant guest at her father's 
 house, and his sister Emmeline, though some- 
 what older than herself, the dearest friend she 
 had, except her own mother. 
 
 There was no sudden burst of passion be- 
 tween herself and Francis Vipont ; it was affec- 
 tion, which had grown with their growth and 
 strengthened with their strength ; and one day, 
 when Sir William Ellerton entered the little 
 sitting room which Gertrude had made her 
 own, he found her with her eyes full of pleasant
 
 154 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 tears, and her hand in Francis Vipont's. The 
 young nobleman did not drop it, nor did he 
 show the least embarrassment ; but leading the 
 blushing girl towards her father, he simply and 
 frankly said, " Sir William, will you give me 
 this dear hand?" 
 
 Sir William Ellerton offered no opposition ; 
 but, according to a very common custom of 
 fathers in all ages, from the time of the 
 Patriarch Jacob to our own days, he required 
 his young cousin to. wait. He did not, indeed, 
 extend the term of apprenticeshij) so long as 
 Laban did to Israel, but he exacted what was 
 perhaps a harder servitude than that of Jacob ; 
 for he made the young lord promise to travel 
 for two years ; and perhaps Gertrude Ellerton 
 and Francis Vipont thought so long a separa- 
 tion a very painful condition. A month was 
 spent in much happiness, however, before the 
 young lord departed; but almost from the 
 hour he quitted the shores of England, sorrow 
 and misfortune fell upon the house of her he 
 loved.
 
 RUSSELL. 155 
 
 A few words must be said before I proceed 
 further, of the family into which Gertrude was 
 to enter on her lover's return from foreign 
 lands. The Earl of Virepont was, undoubt- 
 edly, an ambitious man. His own estates were 
 but a fragment of the former vast possessions 
 of his race, and there was a strong predomi- 
 nant desire, amounting almost to a passion 
 in his breast, to restore the ancient splendour 
 of his house. The union of his son to Ger- 
 trude Ellerton was, of course, in these circum- 
 stances, an object greatly to be desired ; and 
 he not only gave his willing approval, but 
 remonstrated somewhat warmly with her 
 father on the proposed delay. 
 
 Sir William, however, was firm, urging the 
 extreme youth of both parties, and the Earl was 
 forced to acquiesce. His ambition seemed des- 
 tined to be fully gratified in the marriage of both 
 his children ; for shortly before his son's engage- 
 ment to Gertrude, the grandson and heir of 
 the old Lord Alcester sought the hand of his 
 daughter Erameline ; and, although the Earl
 
 156 RUSSELL. 
 
 saw some objections which might have been fatal 
 to the lover's suit, had not a very considerable 
 fortune been already in the young gentle- 
 man's possession, and great wealth and high 
 rank in expectation. Henry Maldon was ac- 
 cepted as the future husband of Emmeline 
 Vipont, and busy preparations were already in 
 progress for this marriage, when the pre- 
 tended discovery of the Papist plot cast all 
 England into confusion. The objections of 
 the Earl, the only drawback to the gratifi- 
 cation which he felt at the alliance about to 
 take place, were, indeed, serious ; for he him- 
 self, though conforming to the church of 
 England, had a strong leaning to pure Cal- 
 vinism, while Henry Maldon was known to be 
 attached to the high church, and was looked 
 upon by the Presbyterian party in the king- 
 dom, almost as a Papist. Such, indeed, was 
 not at all the truth, although the suspicion 
 was not without some plausible grounds ; for 
 his father — then the second son of the Earl of 
 Alcester — had visited Spain shortly after the
 
 RUSSELL. 157 
 
 romantic expedition of Prince Charles and 
 Buckingham, and had wooed and won a Spa- 
 nish lady of high rank and large fortune, with 
 whom he had returned to England, and lived, 
 till her death, in great happiness. It was 
 well known to the old Lord Alcester himself, 
 and to the whole family, that the lady had 
 embraced the Protestant faith after she had 
 resided three or four years in England ; but 
 the fact was concealed as far as possible, lest 
 her relatives in Spain should make her con- 
 version a pretext for seizing her property in 
 that country, although it had been secured to 
 herself and her children by all the means 
 which the ingenuity of Spanish lawyers 
 could devise. Still, however, the story was 
 credited, that she had brought up her son in 
 the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church ; 
 and although the Earl of Virepont was well 
 aware that this charge was false, yet his dislike 
 to the high church party was little less than 
 that which he entertained towards the Papists. 
 The wealth and prospects of his young cousin.
 
 158 RUSSELL. 
 
 however, who had by this time succeeded to 
 the property of his father and his mother, and 
 who, by the death of his nncle, and the age 
 of his grandfather, was almost certain of be- 
 coming Lord Alcester ere many years had 
 passed, were too much for religious scruples 
 with an ambitious man, and his proposals to 
 Emmeline were accepted without hesitation. 
 
 To Emmeline herself, if the truth must be 
 told, he had long been very dear ; for there 
 was something in liis bold, free, resolute cha- 
 racter peculiarly pleasing to her. To say that 
 he was wild and rash, would be to give a very 
 false impression of his conduct. It was, per- 
 haps, eccentric, or at least appeared so in the 
 eyes of Englishmen; for the warm blood of 
 his mother prompted continually bold enter- 
 prises; and totally unconscious of fear, he 
 hurried into any adventure for which a good 
 motive could be shown, either with no thought 
 of the consequences, or with full confidence 
 that his own powers of mind and body would 
 carry him through in triumj)h. Witty, gay.
 
 RUSSELL. 159 
 
 learned, brave, expert in every exercise, and yet 
 breathing honour and liigh feeling in every 
 word, it is not wonderful that he won the deepest 
 and most enthusiastic attachment on the part of 
 a being such as Emmehne Yipont. But her 
 dreams, like those of her brother and Gertrude, 
 were soon to be rudely dispelled. 
 
 Both families were in London ; and the Earl 
 of Virepont affected to be exceedingly busy in 
 preparations for his daughter's marriage ; but 
 his frequent private communications with the 
 notorious Shaftesbury, raised a suspicion in 
 many persons that political intrigue occupied 
 more of his thoughts than his domestic ar- 
 rangements. The intimacy between that great 
 bad statesman and his relation did not escape 
 the attention of Sir William Ellerton, and 
 was by no means pleasing to him ; for Shaftes- 
 bury had always been inimical to Gertrude's 
 father, and had even endeavoured to deprive 
 him of a partof his estates on account of some 
 pretended rights of the crown. In the attempt 
 he had been frustrated, but Shaftesbury did not
 
 160 RUSSELL. 
 
 easily forgive, and he lost no opportunity of 
 marking his dislike. Erameline was very 
 happy, however; and nearly a month had 
 passed in the peaceful enjoyment of that bright 
 treasure, hope, when the first disclosure was 
 made of the pretended Popish plot. Henry 
 Maldon laughed, and treated it as a wild 
 chimera; and Sir William Ellerton regarded 
 it merely as a. political trick to carry Shaftes- 
 bury's measures easily through the Commons. 
 At this time Sir Frederick Beltingham 
 was a frequent visitor at the house of 
 Gertrude's father. Sir William Ellerton did 
 not think it any longer necessary to exclude 
 from his daughter's society all those persons 
 whom he judged unfitted to become her hus- 
 band. Her heart was given, her faith plighted, 
 and, in these altered circumstances, his doors 
 were thrown open to numerous members of 
 the court who previously had sought vainly 
 for admission. Sir Frederick Beltingham, 
 however, was not a man to be startled by 
 difficulties, and Gertrude's exceeding beauty
 
 RUSSELL. 161 
 
 roused the strong passions which he so stu- 
 diously concealed, -while the prospect of the 
 great wealth to which she was heiress, awaken- 
 ed another demon, not less powerful, in his 
 lieart. He went boldly forward, with capti- 
 vating and insinuating manners, subtle elo- 
 quence, and total want of principle, endea- 
 vouring, whenever he had an opportunity, to 
 corrupt her mind and change her moral and 
 religious views, resolving in the end to dare 
 some bold stroke which would render the 
 breach of her eno-ao^ements with Lord Francis 
 Virepont, and her marriage with himself, ex- 
 pedient. Such a course was by no means 
 without example in those days ; and for 
 about a fortnight, Gertrude's utter innocence 
 betrayed her ear to his discourse. She 
 listened to his wit, amused; of his insinua- 
 tions and half- veiled sneers at virtue and con- 
 stancy, she did not understand one word. 
 Suddenly, however, a new light broke upon 
 her ; he spoke more plainly, and Gertrude 
 would not suffer him to detain her attention a 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 RUSSELL. 
 
 moment afterwards. He was mortified ; and 
 he resolved to succeed by any means. He 
 watched his opportunity when Lady Ellerton 
 was out and when he believed Sir William to 
 be absent in the country; and with servants, and 
 a carriage in waiting, he entered the house, 
 the gates of which, as was very usual with 
 great mansions at the time, stood open. Fur- 
 nished with good information, he found his 
 way by the back entrance to the room where 
 Gertrude was sitting ; and not more than two 
 or three minutes had passed ere Sir William 
 Ellerton, reading in a neighbouring chamber, 
 heard his daughter's voice raised high, as if 
 in anger. Entering in haste, he beheld Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham, with a tight grasp on 
 both her wrists. 
 
 Sir William was unarmed ; but, brave as a 
 lion and still in his full vigour, Gertrude's 
 father sprang on him who had insulted her, 
 and spurned him from his house like an intru- 
 sive cur. The villain muttered threats of ven- 
 geance as he went; but the vengeance he
 
 RUSSELL. 163 
 
 sought was not that which Sir William Ellerton 
 expected. The latter looked in vain for a car- 
 tel ; and in two or three days afterwards, all 
 thought of these events was banished from his 
 own mind and his daughter's, by sympathy for 
 Emmeline, and anxiety for Henry Maldon. 
 
 The dark and dreadful scenes which were to 
 be enacted had already commenced in the 
 capital. Blood had been, two or three times, 
 shed upon the scajffold : the refusal of justice 
 and fair dealing to every accused person had 
 become apparent to all, and information was 
 secretly conveyed to Henry Maldon that 
 Gates had made a deposition against him. At 
 first, he was inclined to treat the charge with 
 contempt ; but it so happened that a son of his 
 late father's steward was clerk to the justice 
 before whom the deposition was made ; and 
 breaking in upon him while conversing with 
 Emmeline, the young man showed him, not 
 only that already five persons had suffered upon 
 evidence not half so conclusive as that which 
 could be brought against himself, but that the 
 
 m2
 
 164 RUSSELL. 
 
 prisoners had been secretly subjected to tlie 
 torture in prison. He informed him, more- 
 over, that his house in the country had been 
 searched, and that letters to his mother from 
 the Papal Nuncio in Madrid had been found, 
 exhorting her both to bring up her son in the 
 strict Catholic faith and use her utmost efforts 
 for its re-establishment in England. 
 
 The danger was now but too evident. To 
 stay, was to encounter death, and, probably,'tor- 
 ture ; and Henry Maldon consented to fly, in 
 the hope that the madness of the people would 
 soon pass away, and order and justice be re- 
 established. For three days he lay concealed 
 in the house of Sir William Ellerton, waiting 
 for the means of flight ; but at length a small 
 vessel was found in the Thames ; and the mas- 
 ter, who could be depended upon, consented 
 for a large sum to carry the fugitive over to the 
 coast of Holland. Sir William Ellerton him- 
 self, in disguise, negociated the whole ; and the 
 last time he saw the master of tTie vessel on the 
 business, he inquired, in a seemingly careless 
 manner, if he would on the same terms receive
 
 RUSSELL. 165 
 
 a second passenger. The skipper, however, at 
 once and peremptorily refused, saying that the 
 only place of concealment on board, was one 
 in which he was accustomed to bring over pro- 
 hibited goods of small bulk. In it one per- 
 son could lie hid till the ship was out of the 
 Thames, he said, but it would not hold two, 
 and he would not risk taking another under 
 any disguise. 
 
 Sir William Ellerton's question was not 
 without an object ; for he had learned by this 
 time that his own name was upon the list of 
 those accused, and that his arrest, which had 
 been delayed by the confusion which pervaded 
 all things in the capital, would take place on 
 the following day. He hurried his friend down 
 to the ship, however, during the night, saw 
 him safely on board, and then at length told 
 him that he would join him in a few days, if he 
 retained life and liberty. Maldon pressed him 
 to fly at once with him; but Sir William affected 
 business at his own house before he could make 
 the attempt ; and Emmeline's lover would have
 
 166 
 
 RUSSELL. 
 
 remained in ignorance of his friend's kindness^ 
 to the hour of his death, if the master of the 
 vessel had not interfered to show him that it 
 was impossible more than one could go. Sir 
 William waited to hear no remonstrance, but 
 returned in haste to his house ; and his gene- 
 rous devotion nearly cost his own life ; for 
 the officers sent to apprehend him were* 
 actually in his library, when he escaped by a 
 door which led into Chancery Lane. He 
 remained at a sea-port in England for nearly 
 a week before he could find an opportunity of 
 passing the Channel ; and there the sad news 
 reached him, that the Rose, for so was called 
 the vessel which had carried away poor Heniy 
 Maldon, had been wrecked between London 
 and the Scheldt, and that every soul on board 
 had perished. 
 
 His own escape was effected with the greatest 
 difficulty ; for by this time the feverish frenzy of 
 the time affected the whole state, and warrants, 
 officers, pursuivants, and Serjeants were flying 
 about the country in all directions. Every vessel
 
 RUSSELL. 167 
 
 which left the ports of England for France or 
 Flanders, was searched before it was permitted 
 to depart ; and at length Sir William Ellerton 
 was obliged to take a passage in a schooner 
 bound for the Tagus. From Lisbon he made 
 his way to Paris, where he was joined by his 
 wife and daughter ; but he soon found that the 
 enmity of Shaftesbury, and, he had reason to 
 believe, the cunning cupidity of a near rela- 
 tion, had found means, by a base perversion of 
 law, to assail him in his property, now that liis 
 person was placed beyond their reach. His 
 estates were, in the first instance, sequestrated ; 
 and after anxious consultations, it was deter- 
 mined that Lady Ellerton and Gertrude should 
 return to London and endeavour, by using the 
 interest of friends and relations, to obtain that 
 justice which they could not hope for from a 
 conscientious sense of right. But Lady Eller- 
 ton soon learned that her husband's cousin, the 
 Earl of Virepont, was labouring skilfully, and 
 apparently with every prospect of success, 
 to obtain a grant of the Ellerton property, in.
 
 168 RUSSELL. 
 
 case of confiscation ; and officious friends, who 
 only served her by affording painful intelli- 
 gence, took care she should hear that the Earl 
 was pressing for extreme measures, and offering 
 a high price — to be paid immediately to a 
 needy court — for the possession of his kinsman's 
 lands. She wrote instantly to her husband ; and 
 without delay, Sir William Ellerton hastened 
 back to England, under an assumed name. 
 
 Then came a story which has never been made 
 clear, and probably never will be ; but it is cer- 
 tain that Sir William met the Earl alone in El- 
 lerton Park, that swords were drawn and blood 
 was shed, and that the baronet disappeared, 
 while Lord Virepont remained slightly wounded, 
 to see the confiscation of the estates completed, 
 and the grant made out in his own favour. 
 
 The rest of the fate of all parties, up to the 
 period when this tale begins, has been suffi- 
 ciently shown already for the information of 
 the reader; and I shall now return to follow 
 Lord Francis Vipont up the slope of those 
 hills at the foot of wliich he has just arrived.
 
 RUSSELL. 169 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The cloudy morning, gradually becoming 
 bright and beautiful, has served as a figure of 
 a thousand things. It has often consoled the 
 baffled expectations of youth; it has often 
 given hope to the wrung heart of parental 
 disappointment. It is recorded that, happily 
 turned by a criminal in a very simple little 
 distich, it saved his neck from the halter, at a 
 period of our legislative history vrhen that 
 same halter was almost as frequently found 
 round a human as an equine neck. The cir- 
 cumstances, as they are told, are these : — a 
 youth of the name of Lowry — which means 
 in the north, cloudy — happened to take a
 
 170 
 
 RUSSELI* 
 
 fancy for some small article wliich was not his, 
 and appropriated it in a manner which ren- 
 dered his crime capital. He was one of the 
 unfortunate, which, in the scape-grace inter- 
 pretation of the word, means a man that is 
 caught in his peccadilloes ; and he was brought 
 to trial. Not only was the offence proved, 
 but it was also proved that the youth was very 
 much given to various improper habits ; in 
 short, that he was a bad character. It seemed 
 to be the opinion of the lawyers employed to 
 prosecute, that his youth was rather an unfa- 
 vourable feature in his case, and that, with 
 one who had begun life so badly, the sooner 
 he was out of the world the better. The judge 
 summed up in the same sense; but just when 
 the jury were about to deliberate, the culprit 
 turned the lawyers' point of aggravation into 
 a defence, and exclaimed — 
 
 " Although my name be Lowry, oh, cast me not away ! 
 For many a low'ry morning turns out a fine day." 
 
 The jury resolved to give him a chance of 
 such being the result in his own case, and
 
 RUSSELL. 171 
 
 with the liberal construction of their oath, 
 which we see every day in cases of duelling, 
 acquitted the prisoner. 
 
 Although the illustration is, as I have said, 
 somewhat hackneyed, nevertheless I apply it 
 to the feelings of Francis Vipont as he rode 
 along. At first, the scene he had lately gone 
 through with his father, and the struggle which 
 he knew must soon take place between Em- 
 meline's sense of duty and her feelings, ren- 
 dered him very gloomy. His sky was over- 
 clouded; the heavens seemed to frown upon 
 him ; and the whole prospect looked grey and 
 sad ; but he thought of Gertrude Ellerton, and 
 the belief that he should soon see her again, 
 made the golden line upon the horizon's edge, 
 whence very soon spread a flood of beams, 
 dissipating the mists and vapours, and leaving 
 the sky of the heart all bright and sunshiny. 
 He loved, reader, as the young heart loves, — 
 with the intensity which blends all objects with 
 its passion, penetrating them with the divine 
 essence, and giving a soul-like vitality to things
 
 172 RUSSELL. 
 
 of clay. And the dream of the coming meeting 
 was very bright. He remembered a thousand 
 things which he would have wished to say, and 
 had forgotten when last they met, — a thousand 
 questions he should have asked. He thought 
 he would ask them now ; and fancy pictured 
 Gertrude's looks as she answered; the star- 
 like eyes beaming upon him, the warm lips of 
 the small mouth trembling with the music of 
 her own voice, the pearly teeth seen within 
 their coral casket as she spoke, the nymph- 
 like bosom heaving with the breath of love ; 
 and then the dear, pure, high spirit, springing 
 to meet his, in the full outpouring confidence 
 of single-hearted affection. Oh, it was indeed 
 a sweet vision ! and it carried him up lightly 
 to the top of the hills. 
 
 Over the ridge there was a little valley 
 filled with corn-fields, and a wood of some ten 
 or twelve acres in extent, with a lone house 
 often used by travellers as a place of refresh- 
 ment, where they gave their tired horses a 
 mouthful of hay and water, and cooled the
 
 RUSSELL. 173 
 
 journey-parclied mouth with a draught of as 
 good ale as any in the country. As soon as 
 the wood and the house were in sight, Francis 
 Vipont fixed his eyes upon it keenly, and 
 for a moment or two seemed somewhat 
 anxious ; but when he turned the angle of the 
 copse, and saw several horses fastened to the 
 hooks which adorned the face of the house, he 
 appeared better satisfied ; a smile came upon 
 his face, and he said aloud, " Ah ! I thought 
 Dick would not fail me." 
 
 With the advantage of the ground he had 
 quickened his pace, and in another minute he 
 w^as before the door. A look of doubt came 
 over his face ; for, of the seven horses which 
 were there assembled, four were not only very 
 fine ones, for all were good, but their sleek 
 coats and pampered air — even without the 
 appearance of servants in the household dress 
 of some noble family, of whom two were seen 
 close by — would have proved them to be well 
 fed and little laboured citizens. The other 
 horses were strong handsome beasts enough.
 
 174 EUSSELL. 
 
 but with more bone than blood, and with a 
 look not of bad treatment or rough usage, but 
 of plentiful exercise and hardy exposure. 
 
 The young nobleman, however, dismounted, 
 and casting the bridle over a hook, went into 
 the house from which no one had as yet come 
 forth to receive him. On entering a little par- 
 lour to the right, he saw two men sound 
 asleep upon the benches, with a large jug of 
 ale standing hard by. Waking one of the 
 sleepers with some difficulty, Lord Francis 
 demanded in a low tone, "Where is Dick 
 Myrtle?" 
 
 " Devil carry me if I know, my lord ! " 
 cried the man looking round ; " he was here a 
 minute ago ; I '11 go and fetch him." 
 
 " No, no," replied Lord Francis ; " stay here 
 and wake your companion. I will seek for 
 Dick myself." 
 
 Thus saying, he left the room, and entered 
 another opposite. It contained two persons, 
 one of whom, the object of his search, was 
 looking out of the window which commanded a
 
 RUSSELL. 175 
 
 view of the continuation of the road by which 
 the young nobleman had come thither, while 
 the other was walking up and down the room 
 with a slow step and a thoughtful air. The 
 latter was a man considerably past the prime 
 of life, with an enormous flowing wig under the 
 laced hat which he had not thought fit to re- 
 move ; but his step was firm ; and his appear- 
 ance by no means indicated any diminution o 
 corporeal powers. He seemed waiting till his 
 horses had obtained some refreshment ; and 
 with that peculiar sort of self-involved busi- 
 ness air, which is found more or less in every 
 Englishman, and is always set down by 
 strangers to the score of pride, he was pur- 
 suing his walk and his meditations, without 
 taking the slightest notice of the other tenant 
 of the same chamber. 
 
 ■ Nevertheless, the man who was standing 
 near the window was worthy of some attention 
 to those who have eyes for the perfection of 
 the human form. At first sight, he did not 
 appear either very tall or remarkably powerfulj
 
 176 RUSSELL. 
 
 for the proportions were so good, and the 
 disposition of the limbs so just, that his 
 strength lay concealed in his symmetry. When 
 one stood by him, however, it was found that 
 he could not be less in height than six feet and 
 an inch ; and on closer examination, the depth 
 and width of the chest, with the thin flank and 
 long but rounded thighs and legs, and the 
 swelling muscles of the shoulders and arms 
 became apparent. He was dressed in a mixed 
 costume, blending that of the small farmer 
 with that of the sportsman, though the strict- 
 ness with which game was preserved under 
 the old manorial system of England, in most 
 instances, prevented the middle classes from 
 indulging in the tastes of Esau. Nevertheless, 
 in some cases, especially during the civil wars, 
 the rights of the lord of the manor had been 
 neglected or altogether lost, and the possessor 
 of the soil, as is most just, had become by 
 custom the proprietor of the game it nourished. 
 The gun also, both in England and in France, 
 had generally superseded the use of the cross-
 
 RUSSELL. 177 
 
 bow, though the latter was still used in many 
 places for killing* deer ; and lead cut into small 
 pieces, if not actually what we call small shot 
 (of which I have some doubt), was employed 
 to bring down the bird upon the wing. Over 
 a tight-fitting coat of a greenish-brown colour, 
 Dick Myrtle carried a sort of baldrick or 
 cross-belt, to which was suspended a powder 
 horn and an anomalous sort of pouch ; and as 
 he called himself gentleman also, he had added 
 to these accoutrements, a sword well propor- 
 tioned to the hand for which it was intended. 
 He had on a pair of loose leather breeches and 
 large riding boots ; and his hat, unlike those in 
 fashion at the time, had still a tendency to the 
 steeple shape so much esteemed by the Puri- 
 tans, who could love steeples nowhere but 
 upon their own heads. It is probable, indeed, 
 that Dick's affection for this exploded mode, 
 was more regulated by the convenience which 
 that particular form of hat afforded for the 
 arrangement of the various artificial flies and 
 fishing lines which were generally fixed upon 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 HUSSELL. 
 
 and twisted round his beaver, than by any fond- 
 ness for the Puritans, or attachment to the cos- 
 tume of his ancestors; but, nevertheless, so it 
 was, that, though a steeple crowned hat was by 
 this time difficult to procure, the hatter of the 
 neighbouring town took care to have one down 
 from London once a year for the service of 
 jVIr. Myrtle. No more frequent renewal ever 
 took place in the head gear of Dick Myrtle ; 
 for though, to say truth, numerous falls, 
 knocks, and ill treatment of various kinds 
 seriously affected the beloved form before the 
 twelvemonth w^as out, he continued to wear the 
 friend of last year with fond affection till the 
 month of March returned, and it became expe- 
 dient to make a completely new arrangement 
 of the flies and fishing lines ; for even when the 
 season of angling was over, he could not make 
 up his mind to remove the beloved implements. 
 Such was the person, and so adorned, to- 
 wards whom Lord Francis Vipont advanced 
 at once, after having given a marking glance 
 towards the other occupant of the same cham-
 
 RUSSELL. 179 
 
 ber. Dick Myrtle, however, did not hear his 
 foot till the young lord's hand was laid upon 
 his shoulder, and then he turned quickly 
 round, but without any exclamation, looking 
 with a peculiar expression at the elderly gen- 
 tleman who was perambulating the room, as a 
 hint to Lord Francis that they were not with- 
 out witnesses. 
 
 " I have been w^aiting these two hours," he 
 said, without adding any title or naiiie to his 
 address ; " and I was just then calculating 
 whether I should ride off or remain." 
 
 " I have been unfortunately detained, Dick," 
 answered Lord Francis ; " but come out and 
 w^e will speak farther." 
 
 " One moment, young gentleman," said the 
 elderly cavalier aloud, as they were quitting the 
 room ; " may I request to know your name ?" 
 
 Lord Francis turned towards him in some 
 surprise, " These are not times, sir," he replied, 
 " when one furnishes every stranger with such 
 information ; and though, from your appear- 
 ance, I doubt not I should be giving my name 
 
 N 2
 
 180 RUSSELL. 
 
 to the ears of a man of quality and distinction, 
 yet I must decline to do so, unless I am 
 apprised of the motives of your curiosity." 
 
 " What you have said is enough, sir," re- 
 joined the old gentleman ; " you have given me 
 the information I require without knowing it. 
 If you had been the person I want, or rather 
 who wants me, you would not have asked my 
 motive. I beg your pardon for detaining you. 
 Good-morning. 
 
 The young nobleman bowed his head and 
 withdrew, followed by Dick Myrtle, and the 
 first question the former addressed to the lat- 
 ter was, " Do you know, Dick, who is that 
 whom we have just left?" 
 
 " Not I," replied Dick ; *' he came in some 
 live minutes ago, glanced at me very sharply, 
 then shook his head as if he did not half like my 
 looks, then got a little closer to me, just as a 
 trout does to a fly not quite in season, then 
 shook his head again, and began to strut about 
 like a hen partridge before her covey, when she 
 knows a fowler is not far off. He is here with
 
 RUSSELL. 181 
 
 a purpose, be sure, my lord ; but be cautious, 
 be cautious in all things ; that is the right 
 policy, whether we be angling for a shy fish 
 or dealing with a strange man, always do the 
 work delicately." 
 
 " I know you are discretion itself, Dick," 
 answered the young nobleman ; " and that is 
 the reason why I have desired to see you rather 
 than any other man within fifty miles. As to 
 this gentleman, he is evidently a man of high 
 rank, and he is very soon satisfied, as you see. 
 He excites my curiosity a little ; but I have 
 nothing to fear from his." 
 
 " I cannot tell that," said Dick Myrtle ; " but 
 whichever way you are going to lead when 
 you go hence, I would advise you to dodge 
 him a little. Take just the contrary road and 
 cut round ; for be sure he will watch you." 
 
 " I think not," replied Lord Francis ; " but 
 at all events, we have not time for such 
 manoeuvres, for I am later than I intended or 
 wished. You were out last night as I passed 
 back ; and I must tell you what I want as we
 
 182 RUSSELL. 
 
 go ; for I know I can count upon you, Dick, at 
 a moment of need, and to say truth, such a 
 moment is here now. Who are the men you 
 have got with you ? I know their faces, but 
 do not recollect their names or characters." 
 
 " Trust-worthy fellows," answered Dick 
 Myrtle. " One is, Spilman, the miller's son, as 
 good a hand at quarter-staff as Little John. 
 The other, they call dull Johnny Green, be- 
 cause he never says a word that he can help ; 
 but he is less dull than they think, and all the 
 better for not talking." 
 
 " Assuredly," said Lord Francis ; " but let 
 them mount and come a little behind us ; 
 I will ride on with you." 
 
 The men were soon in the saddle ; and the 
 young nobleman and his companion, trotting on 
 before, were soon in full conversation about 
 the plans which Francis Vipont had formed. 
 He found it somewhat difficult, it is true, to 
 explain his object without betraying Gertrude's 
 secret, and brought some imputations upon 
 himself which he did not covet.
 
 RUSSELL. 183 
 
 " Ha, ha ! my good lord," cried Dick Myrtle, 
 after the young nobleman had informed him 
 that he wished him and his companions to 
 keep watch, two and tw^o by turns, over a 
 cottage girl, and give her protection at any 
 time when she might need it ; " this is some- 
 thing new, to hear of your taking care of cottage 
 girls. If it had been Sir Harry Farleigh or 
 Lord Escrick, or the young Lord Alcester, I 
 could have understood the matter, for they fly 
 at all game from the heron to the sparrow; 
 but for you, my noble lord, this is a new 
 tale." 
 
 "By no means, Dick," replied the young 
 nobleman ; " it is, on my honour, of a piece with 
 all the rest of my life. You know me well, 
 my good fellow ; have known me from boy- 
 hood ; and I do not think you will doubt me, 
 when I say that my interest in this young 
 person is as pure and honest as any that 
 ever man felt for woman. I will not deny 
 indeed, that there is something which I must 
 conceal even from you, as to the motives which
 
 184 RUSSELL. 
 
 induce me to take such part in all that con- 
 cerns her. One day, however, I will tell you 
 all, and if you do not then find that I am 
 acting towards her with honour, and only as I 
 am bound to do, you shall call me villain with- 
 out my venturing to resent it." 
 
 " I am glad of it, Lord Francis," said his 
 companion ; " for I should not like to refuse 
 you anything ; and yet I am too much of the 
 yeoman, or rather too little of the gentleman, 
 to like to see high lords and nobles using the 
 lower classes of their countrymen only as 
 objects of sport or pleasure. Your lord of the 
 present day looks upon the poor country girl 
 but as a baser kind of game, — a laj^wing to be 
 aimed at when woodcocks are out of season ; 
 and I would not, even for you, my lord, take 
 part in such foul sport." 
 
 "My object, Dick, is to guard her from 
 such attempts," replied the nobleman; "not 
 to make them myself. She is as pure and 
 good as the noblest dame in all the land ; and, 
 from motives of my own, but just and righteous
 
 RUSSELL. 185 
 
 ones, I will punish the man who injures or 
 offends her, as if he insulted my own sister. But 
 I would shield her from the aim of bad men, 
 and it is, therefore, that I ask your aid ; for I 
 must be seen in the matter as little as possible 
 myself; and I think that I do not reckon 
 upon you amiss when I ask you, for three days, 
 till I can arrange other plans, to watch over 
 her as you would over your own child." 
 
 "Well, well! under those circumstances, I am 
 quite willing," answered Dick Myrtle. " I 
 can trust to your word, I know, Lord Francis; 
 and you can trust to my wit where contrivance 
 is required ; for I have had a long apprentice- 
 ship in watching and circumventing one beast 
 or another ; and, after all, a man is but a two- 
 legged sort of beast, not quite as shrewd as a 
 fox, nor quite so persevering as a weasel ; and 
 whoever it is you are afraid of for the poor 
 girl, I think I and those two fellows behind 
 us will contrive to match him, if he have not 
 the devil himself to help. But now you must 
 tell me all that is needful; for without a
 
 1 86 RUSSELL. 
 
 good deal more knowledge, I shall make some 
 blunder." 
 
 It was not without some consideration 
 that his companion replied ; for the expla- 
 nations were not easy to give. When he did 
 begin, however, he met with great assistance 
 from Dick Myrtle's rapid powers of compre- 
 hension, and no less rapid capability of sche- 
 ming. As soon as the latter heard where the 
 cottage was situated, and who was the person 
 whose pursuit was apprehended, he exclaimed — 
 
 " Oh, we will soon manage that young hag- 
 gard ! He 's a bold bird, but unreclaimed. 
 Let me see: that cottage, and the patch of 
 wood behind, and the bit of stream in front, all 
 belong to Ellerton, though they are touching 
 the Malwood grounds. I know it well ; for in 
 Sir Harry's time, poor man! there was a 
 notion of swapping that patch for some of the 
 Malwood land on this side, so as to leave the 
 old lord's ground in a ring, and I was asked 
 to judge the value. Well, I have as much 
 right there as any of the people from the
 
 RUSSELL. 187 
 
 house ; and if you will but give me a word or 
 two of authority, as I will tell you, under 
 your hand, I shall have a better right still. I 
 will so fish the stream and watch the game 
 for you, that there shall be an eye upon the 
 cottage from morning light till sun-down, and 
 from evening close till dawn." 
 
 " That will I do willingly enough," replied 
 Lord Francis ; " and I can do it, too, with full 
 power; for my father has made over to me all 
 rights of park and chase, forestry and stream, 
 with whatever thereunto belongs." 
 
 " Then we will keep all poachers off the 
 manor!" cried Dick Myrtle; "but we had 
 better make straight for Wincombe, and there 
 draw up the thing rightly. We shall hardly 
 get ink and paper nearer." 
 
 " Oh, yes," replied Lord Francis ; " at the 
 little inn by Newtown, we shall find all we 
 want. The landlord is a clerk; and Wincombe 
 is too far wide." 
 
 "True, true!" said Dick; "I forgot wise 
 Master Barnacle, mine host of the Goose in
 
 188 RUSSELL. 
 
 Spectacles. We should find parchment there, 
 I warrant, were it wanted; but good paper 
 will do. We will send on the two fellows, 
 before, to wait for us near the bridge, and I 
 will whisper a word in the ear of dull Johnny, 
 which will be worth a dozen in that of a 
 brighter man." 
 
 After about a quarter of an hour's hard 
 riding, they reached the entrance of the little 
 village of IN'ewtown, and its small country inn, 
 on the front of which was painted by a rude 
 hand, the grotesque image of a goose with a 
 large pair of spectacles on its bill, while under- 
 neath appeared a very long inscription, pur- 
 porting that all sorts of accommodation for man 
 and beast were there afforded by Joseph Bar- 
 nacle. The two men, who had hitherto followed, 
 were now sent on ; and Lord Francis and 
 Dick Myrtle, not anxious to court obser- 
 vation, gave their horses to the stable-boy, and 
 hurried in to the hospitable door, on seeing a 
 party of several people coming up the road at 
 a rapid rate. Their demand for writing mate-
 
 RUSSELL. 189 
 
 rials, then not usually to be found in small 
 houses of entertainment, was proudly complied 
 with by Master Barnacle ; and having received 
 an injunction not to let any one into the room 
 where his two guests wei seated, he left 
 them to attend to another company which had 
 just come up. 
 
 " Look here, my lord, look here ! " crie^ 
 Dick Myrtle, as Lord Francis sat rapidly 
 writing a warrant for his companion to sport 
 upon such of the lands of the Ellerton estate 
 as lay on the other side of the Malwood 
 property, and to warn off, or seize and bring- 
 to justice, all persons found trespassing upon 
 the same ; " here are half a dozen black 
 fellows on horseback ; and they are bringing 
 out of the yard a car like a cockle-shell, all 
 gilt and bedizzened. On my life, I never saw 
 such a curious set of devils ; and they have got 
 something amongst them, wrapped up in a 
 white sheet, just like my poor old mother, 
 when she ran out, the night the house was 
 burned down."
 
 190 RUSSELL. 
 
 " Some of tlie jugglers for the fair, I sup- 
 pose," said the young nobleman ; " you had 
 better come from the windows, Dick, or we shall 
 have them imj^ortuning us to see their tricks." 
 
 "They are the smartest jugglers I ever saw," 
 answered Dick Myrtle ; " why, the blacks 
 have got rings upon their arms just like solid 
 
 " Tinsel, tinsel," said Lord Francis, writing. 
 
 " Well, there is no fear of their coming in 
 upon us," rejoined his companion ; " for they are 
 off like a wild pigeon just started. I dare say 
 the constables are after them for rogues and 
 vagabonds." 
 
 " 'Not unlikely," replied the young noble- 
 man, finishing the paper; "but there are your 
 full powers, Dick ; and now let us on as fast as 
 we can go, though I suppose we must make 
 Master Barnacle draw a cork, if but for the 
 honour of the house." 
 
 Their horses were soon brought round and 
 mounted, and the distance between the little 
 inn and the cottage where Francis Vipont
 
 RUSSELL. 191 
 
 had left Gertrude on the preceding evening, 
 was passed in about three quarters of an hour. 
 That part of the journey was nearly without 
 incident; for although the two horsemen at 
 the turn of the road from Wincombe to Mal- 
 wood perceived two servants standing talking 
 together, who eyed the passers by attentively, 
 no offer was made to impede their progress ; 
 and they soon after saw their own comrades, 
 dismounted from their horses, and standing 
 near the little wooden bridge. By Lord 
 Francis's directions, Dick Myrtle and young 
 Spilman, the miller's son, went up into the 
 wood, while dull Johnny Green, as he was 
 called, remained by the stream, and the young 
 nobleman alone approached the cottage. He 
 lifted the latch at once, and went in ; but 
 there was no one in the outer room : the inner 
 was also vacant, and the lover's heart sank. 
 Where could Gertrude be? There was one 
 more chamber to be examined ; but before he 
 mounted the stairs, he called from below, and 
 receiving no answer, went up.
 
 192 RUSSELL. 
 
 The small but neat room above was 
 untenanted ; and, descending again, the young 
 nobleman looked round, with anxious appre- 
 hension, for some indication of the fate of 
 her he loved. The first thing his eyes fell 
 upon was a large bundle of straw, tied 
 curiously, in such a way as to resemble, in 
 some degree, the human figure ; but he 
 stopped not to examine it, for on a little 
 sort of fixed table, very common in cottages, 
 which ran along the farther side of the 
 room under the shelves, he perceived two 
 folded papers. One was sealed, the other 
 not ; but both were w^ithout address ; and 
 hoping that they might afford some infor- 
 mation, he opened the unsealed billet, and 
 read the few words it contained. 
 
 ^' I am forced to fly, dear Francis," so the 
 writing ran ; " there was danger at hand, and 
 I dared not wait even to see you. You shall 
 hear of me soon, whenever I am in safety." 
 
 Lord Francis Vipont asked himself, what 
 was the danger from which Gertrude had
 
 RUSSELL. 193 
 
 fled ? and his thoughts instantly turned to 
 Lord Alcester. There was a burning-, angry 
 feeling at his heart, and his hand, without his 
 knowing it, grasped the hilt of his sword. A 
 moment's reflection, however, showed him that 
 to seek revenge would be worse than vain ; 
 and he opened the other letter in the hope of 
 finding farther intelligence. 
 
 This was a much longer epistle, and written in 
 a different hand. The words it contained were as 
 follows : — " Whoever you are — which I know 
 not — I write with those feelings which a woman 
 never loses towards her own sex, to warn you 
 against a man who would deceive you, as he 
 has deceived me. I trust, and will believe, 
 that you are virtuous as yet, and I hope, happy 
 as innocent. I wish that you may preserve 
 that happiness, but be assured you cannot 
 do so if you listen to the seductions of a man 
 who promises much, to perform nothing. He 
 may vow that he will marry you : believe him 
 not, for he made the same vow to me. He 
 may give you that promise in writing, and 
 
 VOL. I. o ,
 
 194 RUSSELL. 
 
 swear by everything which should be sacred, 
 that he will wed you immediately, if you will 
 quit the protection of your friends : he may 
 declare, with every semblance of truth, that he 
 will love you till the last hour of his life. He 
 did all this to me. I have his letter before me 
 now, — an actual contract, I am assured, — his 
 vows, his asseverations, are still in my ears. 
 He has fulfilled no promise ; he has destroyed 
 my peace, blighted my fame, wrung my heart, 
 and now neglects me. So will it be with 
 you. Do not delude yourself: the moment 
 you yield, the only hold you have upon his 
 affection is gone. I write, believing you are 
 virtuous and good, and I bid yon, for your 
 own happiness, fly him as you would the 
 pestilence, if you have the means of flight. If 
 you have not, and still resisting are brought 
 up here by force, you will find one who will 
 aid, support, and deliver you, in 
 
 "Henrietta Compton." 
 
 The young nobleman gazed at the letter for 
 
 a moment or two, murmuring, " Poor thing ! '' 
 
 but the next instant his thoughts turned to
 
 KUSSELL. 195 
 
 Gertrude again, and many a painful question 
 suggested itself to his mind : a\ hither had she 
 gone ? had she been able to effect her escape 
 in safety ? how could she, alone, aided only 
 by an old and feeble woman, fly to any dis- 
 tance without danger, fatigue, and every sort 
 of inconvenience." 
 
 He looked at the first note again. It was 
 certainly Gertrude's handwriting ; but, still, 
 love is ever apprehensive for the object of 
 affection, and the heart which fears least for 
 itself, is often the most timid for those it loves. 
 He asked himself, if, even in the attempt to fly, 
 she might not have fallen into the hands of 
 Lord Alcester, and his spirit took fire at the 
 thought of Gertrude, his Gertrude, being sub- 
 jected to insult by his cousin and his cousin's 
 loose associates. He resolved to satisfy himself 
 that she was at least safe from that distress ere 
 he left Malwood ; and quitting the cottage, he 
 rejoined his companions of the way, to consult 
 with Dick Myrtle as to what it was best to do 
 in the existing circumstances. 
 
 o 2
 
 196 RUSSELL 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 To the man of impulse, what a valuable thing 
 is five minutes of calm consideration ! What 
 crimes would they often spare him, if they 
 could be always obtained ! what follies would it 
 prevent him from committing! I must now 
 return to Lord Alcester. IS'ot above two 
 minutes were allowed him after he quitted the 
 cottage, on the morning of which I have just 
 been speaking, before he had an opportunity of 
 acting under the movement of passion. About 
 five hundred paces from the door, he met his 
 chief groom of the chambers, sauntering out 
 to cure a headache, diligently prepared the 
 night before. The man stopped and uncovered 
 his head; and his lord, calling him, directed him
 
 RUSSELL. 197 
 
 at once to send down parties of men upon each 
 of the three roads which led to the cottage. 
 
 Lord Alcester, at the time, thought he 
 show'ed some delicacy in ordering that they 
 should be kept out of sight of the windows as 
 far as might be ; but as he walked on towards 
 his own mansion, entered the park, and strolled 
 slowly along under the fine old trees, the calm 
 shadow, the tranquil aspect of the woods and 
 lawns, the peaceful solitude, seemed to fall 
 softening upon his spirit. He fell into a fit 
 of thought : he asked himself, if he were acting 
 well and wisely. Where would this end? he 
 inquired : to what might it not lead ? He 
 doubted himself — he knew that passion, with 
 opportunity before him, might hurry him on 
 to acts, of which he felt the shame before 
 hand. To seduce, to delude, to vow, and to 
 forswear, might, according to man's code of 
 honour, at least, in those days, be a very 
 venial sin against a cottage girl; but to use 
 intimidation — violence perhaps, was greatly 
 different. Was it the act of a gentleman, of a
 
 198 RUSSELL. 
 
 man, or a mere brute ? He hesitated in his 
 purpose : he half regretted what he had al- 
 ready done. Had he left himself a means of 
 escape without encountering a scoff, had there 
 been any one to support, to invigorate him, the 
 question "Shall I go on?" would have been 
 soon answered. But false shame, the most 
 powerful engine of the devil upon weak minds, 
 was still against him ; and, at the same time, 
 passion, strong, fiery, pampered by indulgence, 
 made his spirit revolt at the thought of yield- 
 ing a jDrize of beauty and grace such as he had 
 never beheld before. 
 
 With these wavering thoughts and resolu- 
 tions, changing like autumn clouds, he reached 
 the gate of Malwood House, and went in. He 
 did not enter at once the eating-room, as it 
 was then appropriately termed ; but walked 
 up the broad stairs towards his own apart- 
 ments. In the gallery, however, he saw a 
 figure coming towards him, the sight of which 
 would at one time have made his heart beat 
 with joy. Even now, as Henrietta Compton
 
 RUSSELL. 199 
 
 approaclied, passing from window to window, 
 now in light, now in shadow, with an easy 
 gliding motion, the knee just bent, and the 
 foot retired only sufficient to carry her quietly 
 forward, he thought her very pretty and very 
 graceful ; and the contrast between her gentle 
 tenderness and the undisguised dislike which 
 he had seen on the fair face of Gertrude, 
 revived in a degree the old feelings of affec- 
 tion in his heart. Could he not be happy, 
 he asked himself, in the love of that fair and 
 affectionate being ? He held out his hand to 
 her as she came near, and asked in a tone of 
 more kindness than he had often used of late, 
 " Well, Henrietta, how are you this morning, 
 love ?" 
 
 But as the lady approached and gave her 
 hand, he saw that her face was very grave. 
 There were no tears in her eyes, but there 
 were traces of them ; and the feelings of Lord 
 Alcester were changed in a moment. 
 
 When a man says that he hates " a scene," 
 it means, simply, that his selfishness is intense,
 
 200 RUSSELL. 
 
 timid, and irritable ; and the noble lord was 
 one of those who liked, as little as any man, 
 remonstrances or reproaches, loud or tacit, 
 however well they might be deserved. They 
 were an offence to him, and on this occasion 
 of all others, when he perceived they were 
 coming, he was inclined to make his escape as 
 fast as possible. Poor Henrietta Compton 
 had learned this by sad experience, and she 
 knew that the condition of her retaining any 
 hold of him at all, of obtaining his society, 
 and not incurring his anger, was to be silent 
 in regard to her own wrongs, and seem to feel 
 them as little as possible. At present, how- 
 ever, a higher purpose moved her ; and she 
 retained his hand in hers, saying, " Alcester, 
 I wish to speak to you." 
 
 " Well, what is it?" he demanded, sharply. 
 "I am in haste, and cannot attend to long 
 stories now." 
 
 " Mine shall be a very short one," she 
 answered. " I find you are'engaged in a new 
 pursuit, Alcester ; that there is another butter-
 
 RUSSELL. 201 
 
 fly whom you are now chasing; another innocent 
 and hapj^y girl whom you would make guilty 
 and wretched like myself. Of my own love, 
 of my own weakness, and my own wrongs, 
 I am not now going to speak. I will utter 
 not one reproach, so do not turn away ; but 
 oh, Alcester, for your own sake, forbear. Load 
 not your conscience with so many crimes ; 
 bring not so much shame upon your own 
 name. If not for her sake who has loved you 
 more than life, still for your own sake, for your 
 own honour, for your own credit, for your 
 own future peace, forbear. There are at the 
 court, in the city, in the country, hundredSj( 
 I might say thousands, too ready, too willing, 
 to be the objects of your passion, brief, 
 momentary, as I know it will be. They will 
 have no remorse, no anguish of heart from 
 reproach of conscience, or from blighted affec- 
 tion. Seek therefore pleasure, and you shall 
 never hear a reproach from my lips. You 
 shall see no jealousy; you shall never know 
 the pangs which, perhaps, I may feel. But
 
 202 RUSSELL. 
 
 spare innocence ; let it not be your evil fame, 
 that nothing pure could be near you without 
 becoming corrupted." 
 
 " Pshaw !" cried Lord Alcester, withdrawing 
 his hand forcibly ; " this is all cant and trash. 
 You are misinformed, Henrietta, and have 
 read me a sermon on a wrong text. Upon 
 my life ! you will wear out my patience if you 
 go on in this way : nothing but sullenness 
 and tears from morning till night — a humour 
 fit to tire out the. love of any man — taking 
 your meals in your own rooms, refusing all 
 society, as if you wished to make all the world 
 believe that I kept you like a prisoner in a 
 dungeon, or a bird in a cage." 
 
 " Grave charges, indeed, Alcester ! " replied 
 Henrietta Compton, "but are they just, my 
 lord ? When have I wept in your presence ? 
 when have I showed sullenness or disobedience 
 to your commands ?" 
 
 " If not in my presence," answered Lord 
 Alcester, in a tone of afiected gaiety, " you 
 take care I shall know you weep in my
 
 RUSSELL. 203 
 
 absence, and those bright eyes, Henrietta, do 
 not look the better for tears." 
 
 " I may weep my own faults, if I may not 
 weep yours," replied the lady ; " and as to the 
 rest, Alcester, you cannot, I should think, 
 either expect or wish me to come down and 
 show myself as your concubine amongst your 
 loose companions — But I have done. I have 
 warned you, I have besought you, not for my 
 sake, but for your own : I know what it is 
 to feel that one has been deceived, I know 
 what it is to be conscious of guilt, I know 
 what the pangs are which a woman, betrayed 
 and fallen, must ever feel ; and I am sure that 
 the man who produces them must be guilty 
 in the sight of God for the havoc he has 
 made in a happy heart. I am sure that, 
 sooner or later, if he persists in the same 
 course, punishment will overtake him from 
 on high, and shame will follow him even 
 amongst men — but I have done;" and she 
 turned towards her own chamber. 
 
 "High time," said Lord Alcester, with an
 
 204 RUSSELL. 
 
 angry look ; " on my life ! this must be brought 
 to an end ;" and striding on, he entered his 
 dressing-room, and cast himself down in a seat. 
 During nearly a quarter of an hour, the young 
 nobleman remained in thought ; and it would 
 be difficult to follow all the confused and 
 intricate lines which his mind pursued. A 
 few words broke from his lips, however, which 
 showed that in his meditations, the appeal 
 which Henrietta had just made to him con- 
 nected itself with some of the events of the 
 night before. 
 
 " I do believe she loves me," he said ; and 
 then, again, he remained in thought for 
 several minutes. " Pshaw, it was a mere 
 juggle," he continued, *' the fellow must have 
 had hints from the servants. He followed 
 them wonderfully well, however, and he had 
 no time for much preparation. It is very 
 strange. Yet it must have been a juggle; and 
 Escrick, perhaps, was right. He should have 
 been punished for playing off such tricks. I 
 must go, however, and quiet Henrietta, or she
 
 RUSSELL. 205 
 
 will cry all day ; but a kiss will put all that 
 to rights. I wish she would be as gay as she 
 used to be. There was some pleasure in her 
 society then ; " and proceeding to the poor girl's 
 room, he threw his arms around her, kissed 
 her tenderly, told her that somebody had 
 deceived her regarding his pursuits, and that 
 she made herself unhappy for nothing. 
 
 Hurrying thence, Lord Alcester descended 
 to the large hall w^here we first found him. 
 The table was laid with two covers, and all the 
 preparations for the substantial meal which was 
 called breakfast in those days were complete. 
 In the oriel window, with his feet stretched out 
 and crossed, his head leaning on his hand, and 
 his eyes bent with a listless expression on the 
 distant prospect, sat Sir Frederick Belting- 
 ham. The whole attitude was studied in its 
 apparent negligence, but so well had he dis- 
 ciplined art to represent nature, that few eyes 
 could have discovered that the seeming indif- 
 ference was assumed. 
 
 When Lord Alcester entered, he turned his
 
 206 RUSSELL. 
 
 head langaidly towards him, saying, " On my 
 life, Alcester, you must be possessed by a 
 perturbed spirit to wander out so early in a 
 morning. I watched you sauntering back 
 from the park looking miserably Corydonish. 
 I expected every moment to see you sit down 
 under a tree and play upon a pipe. Is it love, 
 my noble friend, that moves you thus early 
 and late, like a hare in March or a cat at 
 midsummer? — But tell me all about it, while 
 we feed ; for I am famished ; and hunger is 
 the only appetite which has any rule over me." 
 
 " Well, come then," said Lord Alcester, 
 sitting down to the table ; " I am hungry, too." 
 
 " Then it cannot be love," said Beltingham, 
 moving forward, and taking his seat ; " for I 
 have heard that those two prime passions of 
 human nature, love and hunger, cannot exist 
 together in the same stomach." 
 
 " I do not know," replied the peer, abruptly, 
 and pursued his breakfast. 
 
 When the meal was at its conclusion, and 
 the servants had withdrawn, Beltingham re-
 
 RUSSELL. 207 
 
 turned to the subject of his friend's early walk, 
 saying, " In good truth, Alcester, I envy you, 
 to be moved out of your bed in the morning by 
 any passion, feeling, or desire, but pure weari- 
 ness of rest. AVell, what says the blue-eyed 
 girl of the cottage ? for doubtless she is the 
 object of your matutinal sighs.'' 
 
 " Why, she says nothing that is very 
 pleasant," replied Lord Alcester, somewhat 
 gloomily, but yet with an affectation of care- 
 lessness ; " the truth is, Beltingham, she has 
 got her head filled full of puritanical conceits 
 of virtue and religion, et cetera. She is so 
 bastioned in with bibles, and flanked in with 
 psalm-books, that the little fortress will take 
 a long siege to reduce it, I fear." 
 
 " Then take it by storm," said Sir Frederick, 
 briefly ; " that is the best plan." 
 
 " I do not know," replied his host. " I 
 hate trouble in such pursuits ; and am half 
 inclined to hate any one who gives me that 
 trouble. Bis dat qui cito dat; and I have a 
 great mind to give it all up."
 
 208 RUSSELL. 
 
 Beltlngham mused for a moment, calculat- 
 ing what would best suit his own views. For 
 an instant he thought of encouraging this 
 despondency; but he knew human nature too 
 well not to be aware that the very thought 
 of another succeeding when he failed, would 
 instantly raise up a spirit of watchful rivalry 
 in Lord Alcester which would be a great 
 impediment; and he rejected the idea as 
 soon as formed, trusting that if Gertrude were 
 once in the same house with himself, he should 
 have no great difficulty in removing her from 
 it, and getting her entirely into his own power ; 
 especially as any plausible offer of escape 
 would undoubtedly be eagerly seized by her. 
 After a silent pause then for about a minute, 
 he said, with a smile, " How Escrick and 
 Parleigh will laugh when they find she has 
 foiled you ! " 
 
 " They had better not laugh too loud," an- 
 swered Lord Alcester, sharply. 
 
 " What, you would cut their throats," re- 
 plied Beltingham. " Depend upon it, Alces-
 
 RUSSELL. 209 
 
 ter, that they will have plenty of seconds in 
 the laughter, if not in the duels. No, no ; any 
 heat would but make the ridicule worse. No, 
 if I were you, I would not let them have 
 occasion. You vowed that she would be in 
 this house to-day, and that she should stay 
 here four-and-twenty hours. I would make 
 her do that, at least, and bring* her bibles with 
 her. 
 
 "** I think I shall, to punish her for her 
 impertinence," said the peer ; " indeed, I told 
 her so ; but I left her five or six hours to 
 think over it, and consider whether she would 
 come willingly." 
 
 Sir Frederick Beltingham saw the proba- 
 bility of all his schemes being frustrated even 
 by his own act. If Henrietta had time to send 
 her warning as he himself had suggested, such 
 intimations as she might afford, together with 
 the somewhat rash hints of his intentions which 
 Lord Alcester had just admitted having given, 
 would, he thought, beyond all doubt, induce 
 Gertrude to secure herself from farther mo- 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 RUSSELL. 
 
 lestatlon by instant fliglit, before he had time 
 even to lay out his plans. 
 
 " You left her five or six hours to consider !'^ 
 exclaimed the knight ; " say, to run away, 
 Alcester. Well, that is one excellent mode of 
 getting over your boast. If she be gone you 
 know not whither, of course the fulfilment is 
 impossible. A man cannot move mountains, 
 nor always bring back wandering wenches ;" 
 and he laughed low and clear. 
 
 Lord Alcester was not so angry as if the 
 charge had been well founded. "You are 
 mistaken, Beltingham," he replied ; " I have 
 taken care she shall not escape. I have placed 
 two stout men on each of the three roads, with 
 orders to stop her, and turn her back if she 
 appears on either of them." 
 
 " Oh, unskilled in woman's wit!" cried 
 [Beltingham ; " do you not know that women 
 are witches when they have an object to gain, 
 and will ride through the air on a broomstick. 
 I will bet anything you like, five to one — seven 
 to one, that as soon as she can put up in a 
 small bundle, artificially tied at the corners,.
 
 RUSSELL. 211 
 
 one kirtle, one bodice, and pair of mittens, to 
 appear on Sunday next at the conventicle, slie 
 will pass through all your well-instructed guards, 
 as if she were invisible. Nay, perhaps she is 
 gone already. Send down and see, Alcester; and 
 give your man a hint, if he finds her now, to 
 bring her tenderly up by the arm, for he will 
 not find her an hour hence ; or shall I be the 
 messenger?" 
 
 "Oh, no," answ^ered the peer, with a sar- 
 castic smile ; " we will send one less worthy ; " 
 and ringing the hand-bell, he gave the orders 
 which his companion prompted. 
 
 Sir Frederick Beltingham walked to the win- 
 dow, while his companion spoke to the servant ; 
 for he had learnt caution early, by more than 
 one severe rebuff, without, however, losing any 
 of his daring; and it was not his policy at pre- 
 sent, to allow even the servants to see that he 
 took part in the schemes that were going on. 
 Lord Alcester, as soon as his commands were 
 issued, seated himself thoughtfully at the table 
 again, and Sir Frederick Beltingham remained, 
 
 p 2
 
 212 RUSSELL. 
 
 gazing forth from the casement. But the 
 servant had not quitted the room five minutes, 
 when Beltingham turned his head, and said, 
 in an indifferent tone, " Here is one of your 
 fellows coming up across the park in great 
 haste, Alcester." 
 
 The young nobleman sprang to the window, 
 and gazed out; and as the man approached 
 the house he beckoned him to the window, 
 speaking somewhat sharply, and demanding 
 why he had quitted his post, 
 
 " Please you, my lord," said the man, *' Jones 
 sent me up to tell you that the conjurer fellow, 
 who was here last night, has gone across the 
 east side of the park with four of his blacks, 
 instead of two, and they have done a deal of 
 mischief, so that all the deer will be out, if 
 people don't mind." 
 
 Lord Alcester's face flushed with anger. 
 " What were the keepers about?" he ex- 
 claimed. " Why did you not stop him your- 
 selves? Which way did he come?" 
 
 Of these three questions, the man chose the
 
 RUSSELL. 213 
 
 last for an answer, saying, " He seemed to 
 come straight from Wincombe, my lord. We 
 saw him riding along the road with what 
 looked like an old woman, in a white sheet, in 
 the middle of the blacks. Jones says he is 
 sure it is a witch. We did not see them for 
 a minute or two, after they got under the 
 hill and amongst the trees, for our orders 
 were to keep out of sight of the cottage : but 
 when I found they did not show themselves 
 again so fast as might be, 1 thought I might as 
 well go down to the meadow and take a look ; 
 and there I saw them all gathered together 
 round the cottage-door, and the old woman just 
 getting upon her horse again. After that they 
 came dashing past, within fifty yards of us, and 
 straight at the park paling. The conjurer fellow 
 went over at once, as if he had been fox 
 hunting, but the blacks did not seem to like 
 that, and pulled out their long crooked swords. 
 Down came the paling in a minute, and away 
 they all went across the park like devils." 
 Lord Alcester swore a furious oath, and
 
 214 RUSSELL. 
 
 vowed by all that lie held sacred, lie would 
 punish the offenders before nightfal; but Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham, with his cool prudence 
 somewhat forgotten, and a good deal more 
 eagerness than he usually displayed, ques- 
 tioned the man as to whether he was sure that 
 the people had gone into the cottage, and 
 where the cottage itself lay. 
 
 " Pooh, pooh !" cried Lord Alcester, "this is 
 trifling." 
 
 " Not so much as you think," replied the 
 knight ; " I will take you any odds you like 
 that the girl is gone, and that this juggler has 
 contrived to conjure her away." 
 
 " That we shall soon know," said Lord Al- 
 cester, with anger and impatience in his tone. 
 And turning to the man, he added — " Away 
 to the stables ; have out all the horses in an 
 instant ; bid all the men you can find, arm and 
 mount, and come round upon the terrace." 
 
 " All ! my lord?" said the man, with some 
 surprise. 
 
 "Ay, all! — every one! — pages and all!"
 
 RUSSELL. 215 
 
 cried his master. " We are not in time of 
 war — my house will defend itself. You will 
 go with us, Beltingham, will you not?" 
 
 " Oh, certainly," answered the knight. " I 
 will go and tell my people to get ready. As we 
 have to deal with the devil, it seems, the 
 more there are to meet him the better." 
 Walking away with a sneering smile on his 
 lips. Sir Frederick Beltingham retired to his 
 own room, and laughed. He soon grew more 
 serious, however, and muttered between his 
 teeth, " Alcester is a fool. By his neglect he 
 has spoiled my plan altogether. — Perhaps we 
 may catch her after all," he continued, after 
 some thought ; " and once in my hands, witli 
 the information I possess, she is mine ; unless, 
 indeed, she be like a young pelican poult, 
 which feeds upon a parent's blood. She won't 
 do that — she won't do that." 
 
 Thus saying, he drew on a large pair of 
 riding-boots, called his chief servant from the 
 neighbouring room, and gave orders that he 
 himself, the page, and two grooms whom he
 
 216 RUSSELL. 
 
 had brought with him to Malwood, should 
 instantly prepare to ride with him on an expe- 
 dition. Having done this, and given a minute 
 or two to thought, he descended once more 
 to the dining-hall, where he there found his 
 companion. Lord Alcester, walking up and 
 down with an irritable look. 
 
 " It is as you say," cried the peer, as soon 
 as he entered. " The girl is gone ; the cot- 
 tage empty ; and these lazy fools are keeping 
 me so long for the. horses, that the roving 
 vagabond who has carried her off will be half 
 across the country before I am in the saddle 
 — not that I care for the girl — a light hypo- 
 critical wanton, to fly with a fellow she can 
 hardly know ! " 
 
 " It is all the black beard, depend upon it," 
 said Beltingham, in his usual tone of badi- 
 nage ; " and a stupendous beard it is. I was 
 one time minded to think that he had bor- 
 rowed it from his horse's tail, till I looked to 
 the bottom of things ; but getting nearer him 
 before he went, I had the pleasure of seeing
 
 RUSSELL. 217 
 
 the stems growing out of their own ground, 
 near his mouth, like bulrushes by the side of 
 a pond. A marvellous effect has such a beard 
 on most female hearts — I would adopt it my- 
 self, but that my decoration is somewhat foxy. 
 Come, Alcester, you are growing impatient ; 
 let us go to the stables ourselves and mount 
 there, it will save a few minutes, at all events." 
 
 Lord Alcester readily complied ; but the 
 scene of confusion and bustle presented by the 
 stable-yard was not to be brought into order 
 even by his presence for some time, and about 
 a quarter of an hour elapsed before the whole 
 party were mounted and on their way. 
 
 Lord Alcester was riding straight towards 
 the park gates ; but Sir Frederick Beltingham 
 suggested that it would be better to follow the 
 course of the enclosure till they reached the 
 spot where the fugitives had passed out. 
 
 " Where they can go, we can go," he said ; 
 *' and we shall come at once upon the tracks of 
 their horses." 
 
 This method of proceeding was adopted
 
 218 RUSSELL. 
 
 and at the distance of about a mile from the 
 house, a breach was found in the paling of 
 nearly twenty yards in width, in a sandy lane, on 
 the other side of which the prints of numer- 
 ous horses' feet were to be seen. Lord Alces- 
 ter rode on furiously in the direction which they 
 took ; but Sir Frederick Beltingham paused, 
 dismounted, and examined the traces with great 
 care and attention. He then sprang into the 
 saddle again, and galloped after his friend. 
 
 From Malwood Park, along a narrow coun- 
 try road, and then to the left, through a long 
 shady lane, the marks of hoofs led the pursu- 
 ing party to a common, where the track was 
 lost and found more than once. At length 
 the traces were perceived again, entering the 
 high road ; and about a mile farther appeared 
 the very significant sign of the Goose in Spec- 
 tacles. Every sort of information was afforded 
 to his noble neighbour. Lord Alcester, by the 
 learned master, Joseph Barnacle, who was 
 not only inclined to tell all he knew, but all 
 that he imagined also. From him it was
 
 RUSSELL. 219 
 
 discovered that, about eight o'clock that morn- 
 ing, some men, black and "svhite, had arrived 
 with a curious-looking car, like a gilt cockle- 
 shell, that only two of the party could speak 
 English, and that those who could showed 
 great abstinence in the use of that powerful 
 tongue. They had remained there for some 
 hours, the host said, till, about three-quarters 
 of an hour before the noble lord's coming, 
 they were joined by six other persons, five 
 men and one who seemed to be a woman, 
 wrapped up in a large white sort of cloak, on 
 which Master Barnacle bestowed the name of 
 a Caimakan. Nobody saw the woman's face, 
 he said — from which he concluded that she 
 must be an eastern princess in disguise, — and 
 the whole party set out again immediately 
 after the man with the black beard had be- 
 stowed upon each of the last arrived horses a 
 couple of quarts of strong ale, which proved 
 to the landlord's conviction that he must be a 
 follower of Mahomet ; for who but an infidel, 
 he asked, would give Christian drink to brute
 
 220 RUSSELL. 
 
 beasts ? As far as the road lay in sight, he 
 assured Lord Alcester that the party had 
 followed it ; but what became of them after, he 
 could not say ; neither could any of his ser- 
 vants give further information, for they were 
 of a somewhat boorish kind ; and though the 
 maids had been wonderfully alarmed at the 
 sight of so many blacks, they did not, as 
 women generally do, look after what had 
 frightened them. 
 
 With this scanty intelligence, the pursuing 
 party rode on; but the roads of those days 
 were much more favourable to the young 
 nobleman's enterprise than those of the present 
 time would have been. In the first place, 
 they were sandy, retaining long the print of 
 whatever passed over them ; and in the next, 
 they were comparatively but little frequented, 
 so that there was no great confusion of traces. 
 The wheels of the car had left long ruts, unlike 
 any other marks ; and thus assisted. Lord Al- 
 cester and Beltingham followed the track for 
 two miles along the high road, and then for
 
 RUSSELL. 221 
 
 two miles more upon a by-way, which at 
 length divided into two as it rose over the hills. 
 
 Here, however, a difficulty occurred ; for at 
 the bifurcation of the road, it was evident that 
 the party which they w^ere chasing- had divided. 
 The car and a number of horses had taken the 
 right-hand path; and prints of the feet of four 
 distinct horses appeared upon the left. Lord 
 Alcester at once decided upon the right hand. 
 The men were certain, he said, to put the girl 
 into the car; and besides. Master Barnacle had 
 informed him that in it the eastern princess 
 had quitted his inn-yard, so that there was no 
 doubt, the young nobleman affirmed, that she 
 would be found to the right, and the juggler 
 with her. 
 
 " I do not doubt it, Alcester," answered Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham ; " but it is as well to 
 make sure of both. I, my three servants, and 
 the page, will take to the left, while you ride 
 on the other way. We shall have only four 
 persons to cope with, if we overtake them ; 
 and you have plenty wuth you."
 
 222 RUSSELL. 
 
 " Oh, plenty, plenty!" said Lord Alcester; 
 " but where shall we meet ? for it may be late 
 ere we have done. Say the sceptre at lUington ; 
 do you know it?" 
 
 " I will find it easily ;" answered Beltingham. 
 " Good luck attend you!" and he rode away. 
 As soon, however, as he was out of sight of 
 the otlier party, he halted, and once more 
 dismounted to examine the traces. There was 
 one set of hoof-marks much less and more 
 delicately shaped than the others, and one 
 rather larger, but of a peculiar form, which I 
 need not pause to describe ; and, mounting 
 again. Sir Frederick pursued his way at even 
 a more furious pace than before, with very 
 little consideration for his horse's wind, till 
 reaching the top of the first line of wavy 
 bills, he paused and gazed, scanning every 
 road and path which seemed to lead onward.
 
 RUSSELL. 223 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The cottage inhabited by Gertrude Ellerton 
 had remained undisturbed for an hour after the 
 juggler had left it. The apprehensions which 
 Lord Alcester's visit and threats had caused, 
 began to die away in a heart naturally coura- 
 geous ; and the fair girl even doubted whether 
 his menaces were not idle words uttered with- 
 out any intention of fulfilment. She hoped 
 that she should not be called upon to execute 
 her plan of flight before Francis de Vipont re- 
 turned, and that she might be able^to consult 
 him as to its necessity. Her only anxiety was 
 lest what she felt herself bound to tell him might 
 produce a dangerous dispute between himfand
 
 224 RUSSELL. 
 
 his relation. This renewed feeling of security, 
 however, was not destined to last long. At the 
 end of an hour, old dame Hennage went down 
 to the stream to procure water for their plain 
 morning meal, and returned to the cottage 
 trembling with fear, after a few minutes' 
 absence, to tell Gertrude that she had seen 
 two parties of men watching the road on either 
 hand. " Run up, my bird, run up," cried the 
 old woman, " and see out of your window if 
 thevB is any one on the path through the wood. 
 A mouse could not get out by the front door 
 without being seen in a minute, for the men 
 on the left there look down upon the bridge 
 also!" 
 
 Gertrude hurried to her chamber, and from 
 a lattice which opened towards the garden saw 
 two servants lolling listlessly under the trees. 
 The cottage, in fact, was in a state of regular 
 blockade; and for an instant Gertrude felt 
 sick at heart with the apprehension of renewed 
 dangers and difficulties, of which she could not 
 see a probable termination. It is sad when,
 
 RUSSELL, 225 
 
 after the experience of many of the world's 
 ills, we have enjoyed a short period of peaceful 
 sunshine, and have hoped that still brighter 
 days may come, to see the clouds gather 
 again upon the horizon, and the distant 
 thunder begin to roar. 
 
 The mind of Gertrude Ellerton was not easily 
 to be depressed, however ; and after a confused 
 sensation of alarm and grief had subsided, she 
 made hasty preparations for departure, gaining 
 confidence herself from the confident tone in 
 which the juggler had spoken of her escape. 
 She recollected that although Lord Alcester's 
 men might venture to stop her if she were to 
 try to pass them, it was not likely they would 
 dare to forbid to others the passage of a public 
 road ; and she trusted that long ere the hour 
 which Lord Alcester had named for taking her 
 forcibly from her place of refuge, either her 
 lover, or he who had promised to protect her 
 in her flight, would arrive. 
 
 Her expectations were fulfilled sooner than 
 she had anticipated ; for ere she had concluded 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 RUSSELL. 
 
 tlie brief note which she thought it but right to 
 leave for Francis de Vipont, in case of her 
 being called upon to fly before he came, the 
 sound of several horses' feet could be heard 
 beating the road ; and, running to the window, 
 she beheld five strangely clothed cavaliers stop 
 at the door of the cottage. But the sight of 
 the horseman at their head removed aill fear ; 
 and knowing that the moment of departure was 
 come, she hurried back to write the last few 
 words, while old Martha Hennage cautiously 
 opened the door, and drew back with a low 
 cry of surprise and alarm, as she saw two black 
 men in Oriental costume lift what appeared a 
 decrepit woman from a jennet, and carry her 
 towards the cottage. 
 
 " Quick, Gertrude, quick! " cried the jug- 
 gler, coming in with a hasty step. " !N^ot a 
 moment is to be lost. There are parties 
 watching on the road, and if they unite, we 
 may have to shed blood, which I would fain 
 avoid." 
 
 Gertrude folded her note and rose, saying,
 
 RUSSELL. 227 
 
 "I am ready: but who, in the name of Heaven, 
 is this ? Surely it is a puppet ! " 
 
 "Your representative, dear lady," replied 
 the juggler, with a smile, "whose place and 
 clothing you must now take. Here, put on 
 this turban, and wrap the caftan round you. 
 The mask, one of my slaves shall put in his 
 wallet; then nothing remains but a heap of 
 straw. How many a bright lady, stripped of 
 her gay clothing, and false face, would be 
 little better ! But come, Gertrude ; and you, 
 good dame, remember that if questioned, you 
 must give no information of any kind. Fear 
 not their threats, for they dare not harm you. 
 Come, sweet child, come!" 
 
 Gertrude was ready in a moment : the turban 
 was placed upon her head; a long, shroud- 
 like robe cast over her head and shoulders, 
 and brought round over her face so as to leave 
 nothing but the beautiful eyes uncovered. 
 So long, indeed, was the robe, that it was 
 with difficulty she walked to the side of the 
 horse, on the back of which one of the black 
 
 Q 2
 
 ^^8 RUSSELL, 
 
 2nen placed her; while the juggler assisted 
 with his left hand, saying, " I must spare my 
 sight arm, Gertrude, lest my wound should 
 %«Gome troublesome before it is necessary to 
 draw the sword." 
 
 •" God forbid that it should become necessary 
 at ali !" replied the lady ; and her companion 
 IjfaTing given some orders in a language which 
 sfce did not understand, the horses were put in 
 saotion, and swept round within sight of two 
 ^ Lord Alcester's servants, who stood staring 
 ^ them in stupid astonishment. 
 
 As the man afterwards described to his 
 lord, the juggler pushed his horse at the park 
 paling, and cleared it in an instant ; the black 
 azuen drew their scimitars, on orders apparently 
 previously given : the top rail of the fence was 
 cut through at a blow, and the paling pushed 
 <d^wa without difficulty. On dashed the jug- 
 <gler again, as soon as Gertrude was by his 
 <m<^e, through the brown woods, and over the 
 ■slky savanahs of the park, the long, dry, 
 jeHow grass of which was waving in the
 
 RUSSELL. 22S: 
 
 morning wind like a rippled sea. Theie 
 seemed to be a burst of joyous satisfaction k? 
 the daring power with which the tall, strcm^ 
 man gallopped on, unopposed, across the 
 whole breadth of Lord Alcester's park. Hss 
 whole chest seemed to expand, and his nostrils 
 extended themselves like those of the horse he 
 bestrode, while with his head high, his frgare 
 erect, and a light hand upon the rein, be led 
 the way straight towards the opposite side €# 
 the enclosure. 
 
 " Ha, ha !" he exclaimed, with a triumphant 
 smile, looking towards Gertrude, " here I ride 
 as free as a king. Let them tremble -wixo 
 sit in the wrong places. Better days are 
 coming." 
 
 " God grant it!" cried Gertrude; " stud iii" 
 truth, once more galloping along on a horse's 
 back, I feel as if old times were retummg; 
 indeed." 
 
 " They will, they will," answered the jug-- 
 gler ; " yet we must not be rash in our ecoa- 
 fidence ; as long as Danby and the lords are
 
 230 RUSSELL. 
 
 in the Tower, your father's situation will be 
 extremely perilous." 
 
 The next moment they reached the park 
 paling again ; and a broad breach was made 
 in it as before. Then riding oil at full speed, 
 they never drew a rein till they came within 
 sight of the little inn which Lord Francis 
 Vipont had entered a few moments before 
 they reached it. Little did Gertrude know 
 who was so near her ; and after a very brief 
 delay, she was placed in the car, and the whole 
 party set out again towards the hills. 
 
 In truth, the fair girl, though closely 
 wrapped from every eye, could hardly per- 
 suade herself that she would not be seen and 
 recognised in the tawdry vehicle that bore her ; 
 but when she expressed a wish to ride in prefer- 
 ence, the juggler replied, in a low tone, " You 
 shall, dear Gertrude, in a few minutes; but 
 we must employ all means to deceive them.'* 
 
 As soon as they had quitted the high road, 
 Gertrude mounted the jennet again, and some- 
 what slackening their pace, tbey climbed the
 
 RUSSELL. 231 
 
 first rises of the upland till they reached the 
 bifurcation of the road. There, a wide view 
 was to be obtained over the country below, and 
 the jugg'ler paused, and turning round, gazed 
 over hill and plain, corn-field and meadow, as 
 they stretched out beneath his eye, all spark- 
 ling in the sunshine. 
 
 " Look there," he said at length, pointing to 
 a spot some four miles distant, "that foolish lad 
 is following. He has got tidings quickly, and 
 has pursued the track not amiss, sweet lady." 
 
 " Oh, let us on fast," answered Gertrude, 
 whose eye rested on a moving body, which, 
 though the distance rendered it somewhat in- 
 distinct, was not to be mistaken for anything 
 but a numerous party of horsemen. 
 
 " And are you afraid, Gertrude ? " said the 
 juggler ; " those courtly apes below, and their 
 troop of mercenaries, would be caught in a 
 less pleasant feat than they dream of, were their 
 efforts to reach us to prove successful. There 
 are sharp things in those sheaths, Gertrude ; 
 but though probably there is not a gourd
 
 232 RUSSELL, 
 
 growing between Lambeth and the Land's-end, 
 which has less brains in it than the skull 
 of any man there present, I should be sorry 
 to see the heads dropping off like apples in a 
 storm, as has sometimes been the case in 
 Africa." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " cried Gertrude ; " I 
 beseech you do not speak of such horrors if 
 you would have me retain any courage at all. 
 Let us on and avoid them." 
 
 " So be it, then/' cried the juggler ; " but the 
 first thing is to deceive them as to our course. 
 Here we will separate," he continued, address- 
 ing one of the two white men who were with 
 him ; " I will take three of the Moors with 
 me. You go on with the rest to Illington, 
 Ralph. You will find the fair just beginning ; 
 make everything ready against I come, as I 
 told you ; and hark, a word in your ear." 
 
 Dismounting from his horse, the man ap- 
 proached his master, and the juggler gave him 
 some orders in a low voice, adding aloud, at 
 the end, " Let her be decent, if you could get
 
 RUSSELL, 233 
 
 such a one, and promise her good payment and 
 two guineas to her master, if he consents. 
 Now away, and make haste : for these people 
 must not overtake you till you are in the 
 fair." 
 
 He then called three of the black men from 
 the rest and rode rapidly forward on the left 
 hand road. Only once he halted to breathe the 
 horses, and look behind; but nothing was 
 now to be seen, as far as the eye could reach ; 
 and resuming their course, the little party 
 wound on through the paths and lanes which 
 had been pursued by Lord Francis Vipont, 
 somewhat less than an hour before. At 
 length the solitary house, and the little wood 
 in the bosom of the hills, came in sight, and 
 turning to Gertrude, the j uggler said, " I must 
 pause here for a short time, but we are a full 
 hour before them." 
 
 "There are several horses already at the 
 door," said Gertrude, gazing anxiously ^for- 
 ward. 
 
 " I know it," replied the' juggler ; " I trust
 
 234 RUSSELL. 
 
 to find friends there, and also to hear that a 
 place of security is prepared for you." 
 
 " There is Ellerton," observed the lady, 
 looking up to where, over the edge of the 
 hill, the castle appeared towering amongst the 
 distant woods ; '* I never thought to see its 
 walls again." 
 
 " Nevertheless, I trust the day will yet 
 come," said the juggler, laying his hand 
 kindly upon hers, " when Gertrude will be 
 the lady of the castle." 
 
 Gertrude shook her head sadly, but merely 
 answered, " Are we not passing too near ? If 
 we were to meet the Earl, my mother would 
 blame me, I am sure." 
 
 " Poor child," said the juggler, " you fancy 
 every one must know who is beneath this 
 disguise as well as you do. Veiled as you are 
 now, I would lead you to-morrow through 
 the Earl's halls, and pass you on liim for a 
 Mauritanian princess. I am much minded to 
 go there myself," this night, and mock him 
 with some quaint shows."
 
 RUSSELL. 235 
 
 " Oh, be cautious, be cautious," cried Ger- 
 trude, in a tone of alarm ; but the juggler only 
 laughed, and the next moment they reached 
 the door of the little inn. 
 
 Instantly a man came forth, and, while the 
 blacks sat motionless on their horses, took the 
 juggler's bridle, hat in hand. The person ta 
 whom he rendered this attention, sprang lightly 
 to the ground, and the landlord of the inn, for 
 he it was, took his hand and kissed it, with 
 tears in his eyes, murmuring, "This is a joyful 
 day indeed ! " 
 
 " To me it is so,'* answered the juggler, 
 " and to you, I am sure, Wellstead." Then 
 dropping his voice, he asked some questions 
 in a whisper, and the man replied — " Yes, 
 sir,, he has been waiting, for two hours ; these 
 are his horses under the tree. He was going- 
 away about half an hour ago, but I ventured 
 to tell him that I was sure the person he 
 waited for would come." 
 
 ''And my messenger arrived?" said the 
 juggler.
 
 236 RUSSELL. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and I have done my best," an- 
 swered the landlord. *' There is the cottage 
 where my poor mother lived, and where my 
 sister is now living. It has three or four 
 rooms, and is quite safe ; for it is off the road, 
 and the Earl never passes this way, for he has 
 given up riding on horseback. Lord Francis 
 does sometimes. He did this morning ; but 
 it is seldom." 
 
 The juggler gave a gay look, and kindly 
 smiled to Gertrude Ellerton, and assisted her 
 from her horse, saying, "Go up with this 
 good man to one of the upper rooms. He is 
 an old friend of mine, and will protect any 
 one in whom I take interest. I will join you 
 in two or three minutes." Then speaking to 
 his Moors, he again gave them some direc- 
 tions in the language he always used to them ; 
 upon which, taking his horse, and that which 
 had borne Gertrude, he rode round slowly 
 to the back of the house, and disappeared. 
 
 " Set a watch, Wellstead," said the juggler, 
 as the landlord was leading Gertrude into the
 
 RUSSELL. 237 
 
 house, " and let me know instantly if any one 
 is seen coming up the hills." 
 
 " I will watch myself, sir," said the land- 
 lord ; and making a sign for him and Ger- 
 trude to pass on first, the juggler turned into 
 the room on the left of the passage. 
 
 Seated near a table at the farther side of the 
 room, with some roast beef and a flagon of 
 strong beer before him, was the same stout old 
 man who had been found there some time be- 
 fore by Lord Francis Vipont. The moment 
 the other entered he rose and gazed at him 
 with an inquiring look, which gradually as- 
 sumed the expression of surprise. For several 
 moments they both kept silence ; but then the 
 juggler asked, " Do you not know me, my 
 lord?" 
 
 " The devil !'* cried the other. " Upon my 
 life, you are an impudent fellow. You said 
 you would send some one, otherwise I should 
 certainly have written to tell you not to come ; 
 for the sharp axe has scarcely forgotten its 
 trade yet. In the name of all the fiends!
 
 238 RUSSELL. 
 
 rash 3^oung man, what tempted you to run 
 such a risk ? " at the same time he held 
 out his hand to his visitor, and shook his 
 warmly. 
 
 " I will tell you what tempted me, my noble 
 lord," replied the juggler : " first, confidence 
 in your good-will and kindness; secondly, 
 confidence in your power and influence ; and, 
 thirdly, weariness of the life I have been 
 leading, together with some longing to see old 
 friends, and to help those who have been kind 
 to me. This last notion is so strong, that 
 even if you have failed in the efforts you pro- 
 mised to make — and Ormond's promise is as 
 good as his bond — I believe I shall remain 
 and take my chance ; for I am engaged in 
 some matters of friendship I will not quit — so 
 that some days I must stay, if death itself be 
 the consequence." 
 
 The old nobleman gazed at him for a 
 minute or two, and then burst into a laugh. 
 *' Upon my life ! " he said, " I think you might 
 stay at all events ; for that furious beard and
 
 RUSSELL. 239 
 
 madman's dress are as good as an act of 
 oblivion. But you may shave your chin, lad, 
 and put on Christian apparel when you like. 
 Here are the papers sealed up to send to you : 
 first, a reversal of the outlawry — " 
 
 " But there was none," replied the juggler ; 
 " if you recollect that was avoided.'* 
 
 " I know, I know," cried the other, inter- 
 rupting him ; " but I have made all sure. 
 There is no knowing in these days what tricks 
 the law will play. If we said there was no 
 outlawry, Jefi*ries or North might say then 
 there ought to have been one ; and if we said 
 there was no conviction, they would perhaps 
 declare that the King could not pardon any 
 but proved crimes ; and if we said there was 
 no prosecution, they might require one to take 
 place, that you might cast yourself upon the 
 royal mercy. So I had Wilson, a shrewd 
 lawyer, when I found Majesty in a complying 
 mood and Hallifax away, and we had a rever- 
 sal of the outlawry which did not exist, and a 
 nolle prosequi, I think they call it, entered at
 
 240 RUSSELL. 
 
 the tail of the depositions, and a free pardon 
 under the sign manual. We had hard work 
 to carry it all through ; but the Duke helped 
 kindly, on account of your grandmother ; and 
 Secretary Jenkins was very civil ; and Sey- 
 mour did not appear. But there is one crime 
 which is not included in the pardon, you out- 
 rageous youth. You have kept me waiting 
 at least two hours, and forced me to eat the 
 toughest beef on this side Calais, just to pass 
 the time." 
 
 " Give me your pardon too, then, my good 
 lord," replied the juggler ; *'but the truth is, 
 I have been detained by many things. I was 
 set upon last night by several ruffians, — for 
 they deserve no other name; and smartly 
 wounded. I found shelter in a cottage where 
 a poor girl tended me, who, as I afterwards 
 discovered, was suffering shameful persecution 
 from some of the same party who had hurt 
 me. Her I had to deliver this morning, and 
 this is excuse enough for the chivalrous 
 Ormond. But thanks, deep, heartfelt thanks
 
 RUSSELL. 241 
 
 are now due to my generous friend and my 
 poor father's dear comrade in arms." 
 
 " There, there," said the old nobleman ; " no 
 more of that. I have not time to hear such 
 nonsense, and if you have aught else to say 
 to me on more reasonable subjects, you must 
 come to London ; for I must away at once, 
 otherwise they will think me plotting." 
 
 " But about Sir William Ellerton," said the 
 juggler, as the Duke gathered up his large 
 buckskin gloves, and looked round for his hat 
 and sword. 
 
 "Useless at present," said the Duke; "we 
 can do but little there at best. The estates 
 you know, have been granted away, so they 
 are gone for ever. Then for the reversal we 
 must wait a while. You must make other 
 interest, my friend, though I will do what I 
 can ; but the black and the white worm, as the 
 allegory has it, which are always gnawing the 
 root of the tree of life, have done a good deal 
 against me, though when those worms — day 
 and night, I mean— will have dried up the sap, 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 RUSSELL. 
 
 I cannot tell. But fare-you-well, lad, and shave 
 your cliin as soon as may be. — Ho ! landlord, 
 my horses ! Bid them bustle there." 
 
 "This is a case I am deeply interested in,'* 
 said the juggler, detaining him ; " if you can 
 do nought yourself, my good lord, at least 
 give me some advice how I may best move 
 the King on behalf of my noble friend." 
 
 "Give the Duchess of Portsmouth ten 
 thousand pounds," replied the Duke, ab- 
 ruptly ; " but no, I do but jest ; he will sport 
 with justice, but will not sell it. You must 
 try Hallifax or Sunderland — but come to 
 London — come to London, and we will speak 
 further." Thus saying, he moved to the door, 
 leaving the juggler standing with a sealed 
 packet in his hand.
 
 RUSSELL. 2^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 There is something certainly in true Ibve ikat 
 is very ennobling. Man wrapt up in his sel- 
 fishness seldom feels any emotion with whkriE 
 the thought of his personal convenience, plea- 
 sure or advantage, does not in some degree 
 mingle. Alas, that it should be sol hist. 
 nevertheless, from the hero to the knife-: 
 grinder, such is almost universally the case^ 
 and he who analyzes his own emotions, &r 
 scrutinizes the conduct of others, will find a little 
 drop of selfishness constantly stealing int® tke 
 stream of thought and action, and in propor- 
 tion to its amount leaving it pure and brJgM^ 
 or rendering it foul and turbid. Loye — i. 
 
 R 1
 
 244 RUSSELL. 
 
 speak of real love, for as the gilding* on a piece 
 of base metal makes it to the eye like pure 
 gold, so the name of love covers in this world 
 many of the basest passions of our nature — 
 love is the feeling which perhaps has the least 
 alloy of selfishness. How much more terrible is 
 the apprehension which we feel for the danger 
 of those we love, than any which we can expe- 
 rience for ourselves ! The heart that never 
 throbbed with a quicker j^ulse at the sight of 
 danger or the approach of death, will flutter 
 like a chained bird if either danger or death 
 come near the object of affection ; and not the 
 utmost longing of our nature for any advan- 
 tage or delight can match the eager desire of 
 the heart for the safety, the welfare, the hap- 
 piness of the beloved. 
 
 I will not describe the feelings with which 
 Lord Francis Vipont rode along the path, from 
 the cottage where he had expected to find 
 Gertrude, to Malwood House. He had deter- 
 mined to ascertain for himself that she had 
 not been intercepted in her flight, and the
 
 RUSSELL. 245 
 
 very idea made his heart barn with feelings of 
 anger which it required a struggle with him- 
 self to suppress. Nor was the distance so great 
 as to allow his feelings time to cool. It is 
 very probable that, had he met Lord Alcester 
 at that moment, a dispute would have ensued 
 which could only have ended in bloodshed; 
 but such was not destined to be the case. 
 
 At the distance of about a cou23le of hun- 
 dred yards from the terrace on which the 
 house stood, was a group of four or five old 
 elms, wide in the branches, seamed in the bark, 
 and feathered, if one may so call it, with green 
 stunted twigs issuing out of the trunk, from 
 the root to the first large limbs. Underneath 
 these he left his three companions, and, giving 
 his horse to one of them to hold, advanced 
 alone to the princijjal entrance of the house. 
 
 The rope of a large bell hung dangling on 
 the right, and pulling it with some of the 
 impatience which was in his heart, he made 
 the old hall echo with the sound. Nobody 
 came, however, in answer to his loud appeal ;
 
 ."246 RUSSELL. 
 
 and after waiting for little more than a minute, 
 XiOrd Francis, certain that the bell must have 
 heeu heard by some of the servants unless they 
 w&re all very eagerly employed, pushed the 
 ■door open and went in. All was silent, and 
 thfi house seemed deserted. In many old 
 Iiuildings of that period the great doors opened 
 at once into the hall; but such was not the 
 jcase here, and the chief entrance — a little 
 helow the general level of the ground-floor 
 — ^^displayed, as soon as the door was thrown 
 back, three stone steps, leading to a long and 
 !SkQt ^ery broad passage, with the foot of the 
 grs2± staircase appearing about ten yards in 
 advance, and several door ways beyond. A 
 3%ht from a window on the stairs fell across 
 l3je pavement, and served to dispel a part of 
 the obscurity, but still the passage was very 
 (dark. Lord Francis, however, knew the house 
 from infancy, and walked on, thinking it some- 
 what strange that not one of all the many 
 servants had appeared, and somewhat doubting 
 tha occupation in which he might find them
 
 RUSSELL, 247 
 
 engaged. He first opened a door on the left 
 where, in the days of the old Earl, a porter, 
 or a porter's lad, was invariably to be found ; 
 but the room was vacant, and quickening his 
 pace, he turned to the right into the great 
 hall. At the moment when he first set foot 
 in it, there was no one there ; but the next 
 instant a door at the farther end opened sud- 
 denly ; and a graceful figure, with a veil 
 thrown back from the head, appeared ap- 
 proaching with eyes raised towards him, and a 
 look of sad inquiry on the face, over which the 
 many-coloured light that streamed through a 
 stained glass window cast a strange unearthly 
 kind of gleam. 
 
 It was long since Lord Francis had seen 
 Henrietta Compton ; and, when last he beheld 
 her, she had been in the first fresh bloom of 
 youthful beauty, with the rose unworn by the 
 canker-worm of care, the lily unseared by the 
 hot blast of remorse. He could hardly believe 
 that the pale lady before him, with the dark, 
 melancholy eyes, was the gay, joyous Hen-
 
 248 RUSSELL. 
 
 rietta Comi3ton. There were tlie same fine- 
 cut features, however, the same graceful, easy 
 movement of the beautiful Ihnbs; and, ad- 
 vancing to meet her, he instinctively held out 
 liis hand as to an old friend, although he had 
 never had more than a mere passing acquain- 
 tance with the fair unhappy girl. 
 
 Henrietta did not take it, however ; but, 
 with a low inclination of the head, and a cheek 
 which had become crimson, she said, " Lord 
 Francis de Vipont, I believe ? — You have 
 brought me bad tidings ?" 
 
 " No, indeed," answered Francis ; " I come 
 to seek tidings, dear lady, not to give them. 
 Is my cousin Alcester in the house? I can 
 find no servant to inquire." 
 
 " He has taken them all with him," replied 
 the lady ; " leaving no one but myself and some 
 women here. I found the place as if deserted 
 when I returned a few minutes ago." 
 
 "Then he has gone in pursuit," said the 
 young nobleman, thoughtfully. " Dear lady, 
 I must have information ; and you can give it.
 
 RUSSELL. 249 
 
 I know ; for I found a letter signed by you in 
 the cottage : and I thank you for that letter to 
 one innocent and good, for whom I feel the 
 deepest interest. Whither has she gone ? — for 
 fled she certainly has, to escape one who has 
 wronged you and insulted her. I beseech you 
 tell me ; for she must and shall have protec- 
 tion." 
 
 Henrietta Compton gazed at him stedfastly 
 and sadly for a moment. " You too," she said 
 at length — " you too ! Are women, then, but 
 as hares, as deer, or any other beast of the 
 chase, to be hunted down and pursued by 
 every man who sets eyes upon them ? Oh ! 
 my lord, I had thought better of you than this. 
 — Deny it not. What have you to do with a 
 cottage girl ? — What interest should a man in 
 your station take in a poor thing like this ? — 
 What means all this agitation — all this eager- 
 ness ? Fie upon it ! — fie upon it ! — I wonder 
 if men believe that God can see and punish." 
 
 " Lady, you do me wrong," said Lord Fran- 
 cis Vipont ; " I am not the villain you suppose
 
 250 RUSSELL. 
 
 me. I own boldly and at once that I am 
 eager, that I am agitated, that I do take as 
 deep interest in this cottage girl as man can 
 take in woman ; and yet I call Heaven to 
 witness that there is not in my heart towards 
 her one feeling that is not pure, and true, and 
 honest. Each man may have his secrets, and 
 most men have some ; but you will find, ere 
 long, that in what I now say, I speak the 
 simple truth." 
 
 *' I know not how that can be," said Hen- 
 rietta, thoughtfully. " Do you mean, my lord, 
 that you would marry her 1 " 
 
 " Ay, whenever she will marry me," an- 
 swered the young nobleman, with a smile. 
 " But, I beseech you, tell me what course they 
 have taken. They cannot have gone far; and 
 more depends upon her having immediate aid 
 and support than you imagine." 
 
 " I will trust you," said Henrietta ; " al- 
 though, after all I know and have under- 
 gone, I believe it is folly to trust any man, 
 either in the greatest or in the least of
 
 RUSSELL. 251 
 
 things. Yet you have always borne a high 
 name. Do you pledge your honour and your 
 faith?" 
 
 " I do," answered Lord Francis. " I assure 
 you, by all that is most sacred, that not pas- 
 sion, nor opportunity, nor even thoughtless 
 love, would induce me to wrong her by a 
 word. What can I say more ?" 
 
 " I will tell you all I know then," answered 
 Henrietta, " and you must pick intelligence 
 from it as you may. A villain gave me the 
 information of her being here, and of Lord 
 Alcester's pursuit. I knew him to be a villain ; 
 but as I saw he had objects of his own to 
 answer by telling me, I believed him, though 
 a more poisonous serpent never lived." 
 
 " Sir Frederick Beltingham?" said the young 
 nobleman, gazing in her face. 
 
 Henrietta bowed her head slowly, in token 
 of assent ; and then continued, " I resolved 
 she should have warning ; and as soon as 
 as I knew they had sat down to the morning 
 meal, I gathered from my woman, whither it
 
 252 BUSSELIi. 
 
 was that Lord Alcester's steps so often tended. 
 I then wrote those hasty lines, which you seem 
 to have read, and hurried down to the cottage 
 through the woods, finding that he had set 
 spies or guards on all the usual roads. When 
 not far from the place, I heard the sound of 
 horses' feet beating sharply the soft turf of the 
 park ; and hidden behind a tree, I saw sweep- 
 ing past me, and taking an easterly direction, 
 a strange cavalcade, apparently of Moors, 
 mounted on slight but beautiful horses, as 
 light-footed as deer. In the midst was a 
 shrouded figure on a woman's saddle, and at 
 then- head a tall and powerful man, of whom 
 more hereafter. As soon as they were gone, 
 I hurried down to the cottage, and found it 
 vacant; but I left the letter I had written, 
 not comprehending that she had already fled. 
 "When I returned, however, I not only found 
 that such was the case, but that Lord Alcester 
 had already set out in pursuit, with every man 
 and boy that could bestride a horse." 
 
 ** They must be followed at once," exclaimed
 
 RUSSELL. 253 
 
 Lord Francis, with his cheek glowing^ and lip 
 quivering. 
 
 " Yet stay and hear me out," said the lady ; 
 " for as yet you know not why, in my own 
 mind, I connect the flight of the poor girl with 
 that same party of Moors." 
 
 " It was not her whom you saw," replied Lord 
 Francis, " she has fled on foot, depend upon it.'* 
 
 " You are too quick," answered the lady ; 
 " the man at their head came hither last night 
 as a juggler, with two of those black slaves. 
 I saw and heard the whole from the gallery 
 yonder. He did very wonderful things, made 
 a whole line of spectres cross the wall, and last 
 of all, Lord Alcester's own father, whom I 
 remember well, with an air and attitude of 
 stern displeasure, as if reproving his son's 
 deeds. He shewed them other things, and 
 told them many a bitter truth, which did not 
 please them well; but from all I saw and 
 gathered, I am convinced that, by some 
 means, human or super-human, that man has 
 a deep and thorough knowledge of all that
 
 254 RDSSELL. 
 
 has been taking place here, and sought to 
 warn Lord Alcester against pursuing any- 
 farther the reckless course of evil he has 
 hitherto trod. Who the woman was in the 
 midst of the troop this morning, I cannot 
 say; for neither face nor figure could be 
 seen ; but she sat her horse well and grace- 
 fully. It was just the hour at which the girl 
 fled this morning; all the roads from the 
 cottage were watched, so that she could not 
 pass on foot ; and I find, from the rumour 
 amongst the women, that the blacks threw 
 down the paling of the park, and it is in 
 their pursuit Lord Alcester is gone. Now, 
 I have told you all, and you can leave me 
 to my loneliness and sorrow." 
 
 " I must leave you, I fear, dear lady," said 
 Lord Francis, in a kindly tone, taking her 
 unresisting hand ; "but yet, believe me, Mrs. 
 Compton, I grieve for you much. I know 
 you have been deeply, sadly wronged ; and 
 though I see not how I can aid you, yet 
 should you ever need assistance, kindness, or
 
 RUSSELL. 255 
 
 protection, you shall find me ready and willing 
 to give it, upon my honour." 
 
 "Do I not need it now?" said Henrietta 
 Compton. " Do I not need advice, consolation, 
 support?" 
 
 " Were I to give advice," said Lord Francis, 
 " I fear that you might think me harsh and 
 unkind, even when I sought but your own 
 happiness. Oh, dear lady, if I have judged 
 you right, you can never have known peace 
 since you quitted your own true home, since 
 you linked yourself to one who has not proved 
 himself worthy of your love and confidence ; 
 and never will your heart feel rest till you 
 have left him." 
 
 ' " Left him ! " said Henrietta, bitterly, " to go 
 whither, my good lord ? What home have I 
 now? What place of refuge? Who will 
 open their arms to receive the outcast ? What 
 lips will smile on her return? Who would 
 even give me food, or raiment, or shelter? 
 Has he not put a bar between me and kindred 
 affection for ever? Has he left me friend, or
 
 256 EUSSELL. 
 
 home, or support, or trust? He has taken 
 from me all but what depends upon himself, 
 and denied much of that which he could give, 
 and promised. I was no light wanton, no 
 artful coquette, I sought not to win or to 
 ensnare him. He sought me, wooed long, and 
 won at length the love and trust he sought. 
 Then vowed, but to break his vows, and now 
 — oh, God, what does he now?" 
 
 " Protection and support you shall have," 
 said Lord Francis ; " ay, and kindness too, if 
 you will but break this fatal bond. My 
 sister" 
 
 "No, no !" cried Henrietta vehemently, "that 
 cannot be. The noble and the pure would scorn 
 me. It cannot be, my lord. I am his slave in 
 his opinion. In my own — ay, and in God's 
 sight, I am his wife. I have none to cling to 
 but him ; I have none to hope from but him. 
 I will never leave him with life and my own 
 will. Fare-you-well ! God speed you on 
 your way ! I do believe you are too wise and 
 good to spill blood, even in your haste ; and I
 
 RUSSELL. 257 
 
 do not judge it wrong, to prevent greater evil 
 than has already been committed, by telling 
 you all I know. If I have erred, God 
 forgive me! Farewell!" and, turning away, she 
 quitted the hall. 
 
 Lord Francis Vipont gazed after her sadly 
 for a moment, and then hastened out to rejoin 
 those whom he had left waiting for him in the 
 park. But little consultation was'necessary in 
 order to decide their movements ; and following 
 nearly the same course as Lord Alcester, they 
 soon came upon his track. The large party 
 which accompanied him had attracted attention 
 all along the roads he had followed, and plentiful 
 information was obtained, now from a country- 
 man, now from the host of the Goose-in-Spec- 
 tacles, now from a cottager near the spot 
 where he had turned from the high road. At 
 length. Lord Francis Vipont found himself at 
 the spot where the by-way divided into two. 
 But the number of hoof-marks upon the right- 
 hand path decided his movements, and he pur- 
 sued it till the steeple and houses of Illington, 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 RUSSELL. 
 
 with the old trees sweeping round the little 
 town, came in sight ; and, to his satisfaction, 
 he found, from some of the peasantry returning 
 from the fair, that a gentleman and a numher 
 of servants had just ridden in before him. To 
 the question whether there was a lady in the 
 company, the answer was "No;" and so 
 far satisfied, he went on without slacken- 
 ing his speed, till he reached the market- 
 place. 
 
 The scene which presented itself was a gay 
 and busy one. Fairs in the days of Charles II. 
 were very different from those which are seen in 
 England at present; and the original objects 
 which first brought numbers of men together at 
 certain places and at certain seasons were not al- 
 together forgotten. Trafiic was still held in view ; 
 and, to the country fair, not only itinerant mer- 
 chants brought their goods for sale, but the 
 shopkeepers of neighbouring towns (sometimes 
 at the distance of twenty or thirty miles) sent 
 large packages of their various wares on pack- 
 horses, or in waggons. There the farmer's wife
 
 RUSSELL. 259 
 
 and daughters supplied themselves with ribbons 
 and finery; there the thrifty housewife pur- 
 chased her stock of woollen goods, or supplied 
 any deficiency which the idleness of maids, or 
 the failure of her crop of flax, might have left 
 in her store of linen. There servants sought 
 places, and masters, servants ; and horses and 
 cattle — ranged generally on the outside of the 
 mart — with sometimes also both pigs and sheep, 
 added to the confusion, noise, and dirt of the 
 whole scene. To the fair, also, the quack 
 doctor and wandering tooth-drawer brought 
 their impudence, their eloquence, and their 
 skill ; and there, too, the conjurer, the juggler, 
 the exhibitor of monsters of all kinds, and the 
 professional merry- Andrew, found the means 
 of conveying the money of the simple and the 
 marvel-loving into their own pouches. 
 
 It was over such a scene as this, that the 
 eyes of Lord Francis de Vipont wandered, as 
 he pulled up his horse at the highest point of 
 the market-place, immediately in front of the 
 town-house. On his right were a group of 
 
 s 2
 
 260 RUSSELL. 
 
 lads and lasses in their holiday attire, with 
 knots of ribbon in their breasts and button- 
 holes. On the left was a doctor mounted on a 
 cart, and holding out a vial of brown liquid in 
 his hand, which he pronounced, with awful 
 asseverations, to be a sovereign cure for 
 wounds, bruises, sprains, gout and consump- 
 tion, dropsy and cholic, the stone and apo- 
 plexy, palsy and catarrh. Hardly an ill that 
 flesh is heir to was not enumerated in the list 
 of those for which his elixir was an infallible 
 remedy ; and many a peasant who had quietly 
 borne his portion of infirmities for the last six 
 months, and might have borne them for six 
 years longer with no great risk, now hurried 
 up to secure a few drops of the precious balm, 
 which the proprietor assured him was worth a 
 guinea a drop, though he humanely sold it for 
 a groat a vialful, out of pure philanthropy. 
 
 Further on, a rustic was struggling under 
 the agonizing forceps of a stout short man, 
 who held his head between his knees as in a 
 vice, till he had torn a monstrous grinder from
 
 RUSSELL. 261 
 
 his bleeding jaws ; and a jack-pudding near 
 him, upon a painted stage, was making the poor 
 patient food for merriment to a little congre- 
 gation assembled before his booth. All around 
 were stalls and tents with linens, woollens, 
 coarse cotton stuffs, ribbons, toys, gingerbread, 
 meat pies, and comfits ; while a rear-guard of 
 pigs and horses, sheep, geese, and oxen, were 
 seen stretching far away down into the High- 
 street. But one object seemed to afford greater 
 attraction than any in the fair, and on it too 
 the young nobleman's eyes were instantly fixed. 
 [N'early in the centre of the market-place, and 
 not far from a stone cross, a small space of 
 ground was parted off from the rest by a stout 
 railing ; and, in the midst, appeared a splendid 
 gilt car, raising above the multitude which sur- 
 rounded, two human figures. The horses had 
 been taken out of the car to give it greater 
 space, and at each of the corners of the enclo- 
 sure stood a Moor, dressed in rich oriental cos- 
 tume, and bearing a naked scimitar in his hand. 
 The fiffures in the car itself were those of a
 
 262 RUSSELL. 
 
 female closely veiled, and wrapped from head 
 to foot in a loose white woollen shroud; and a 
 man, fully six feet in height, with an enormous 
 black beard, and immense quantity of coal- 
 black hair, escaping in rich curls from beneath 
 a tall-pointed Persian cap. Over his shoulders 
 was cast a loose robe of green and gold, and in 
 his hand he bore a polished wand, apparently 
 of ivory. 
 
 *' That is the fellow whom I saw at the 
 inn two or three hours ago, my lord," said 
 Dick Myrtle, " with his blackamores and the 
 woman." 
 
 Francis de Vipont made no reply ; for his 
 eyes were by this time attracted to other 
 objects, which soon caught the sight of his 
 comj)anion also. 
 
 " There goes Lord Alcester and his people," 
 continued Dick ; " he is making his way up to 
 the car as hard as he can push; and look 
 there, my lord, that fellow on his right hand is 
 the Illington constable. I know him well, a 
 cowardly vermin; see how he is shouldering
 
 RUSSELL. 263 
 
 the folks ont of the great man's way. If any of 
 them were to turn and put a fist in his face, he 
 would scud like a hare new started from her 
 form." 
 
 But still Lord Francis was silent : something 
 seemed to move him a good deal, and his cheek 
 turned a little pale, as if with strong emotion. 
 At length he said, in a low tone, " We must be 
 there too, Dick. — Here, lad! — you Giles 
 there," he continued, raising his voice, and 
 speaking to a youth from his father's estates, 
 *' bring one of your comrades, and take our 
 horses round to the Beagle. Then come after 
 me with any young fellows from our parish 
 that you can find." 
 
 " In a minute, my lord," replied the person 
 to whom he spoke; and Lord Francis springing 
 to the ground, threw him the rein, brought his 
 sword a little further forward, and hurried on 
 into the fair, followed by Dick Myrtle and their 
 two companions. Though making his way as 
 fast as he could through the crowd, yet the 
 young nobleman forgot not his courtesy, beg-
 
 264 RUSSELL. 
 
 ging pardon of one wliom lie put aside, and 
 craving room to pass of another, though he still 
 kept his eyes fixed upon Lord Alcester and his 
 servants, who were rudely struggling on where 
 the press around the juggler's car was thickest. 
 
 He was still about fifty paces behind the 
 party he was following, when a number of 
 voices in front cried, "Too bad! too bad!" 
 and Dick Myrtle exclaimed aloud, " He has 
 hit the girl with his stafi^. May I never shoot 
 another shot if I do not lick you, master con- 
 stable, before the day is over." 
 
 But the officer was too far ofi* to hear the 
 threat, and the task of vengeance was taken up 
 by another ; for a stout country youth, stand- 
 ing beside the girl who had been ill-treated, 
 struck the constable a blow between the eyes, 
 which made him reel back amongst the 
 crowd. 
 
 "Well done, Will!" cried half a dozen 
 voices ; and it is probable that the constable 
 would have sulGfered severely, had not Lord 
 Alcester, whose object was not to embroil him-
 
 RUSSELL. 265 
 
 self with the people, acted with more prudence 
 than he usually displayed. 
 
 " You should not have struck the girl," he 
 said, turning to the constable, who slunk 
 behind. " There, my friends, there, do not 
 touch him any more — he has been punished 
 enough ; but let me pass." 
 
 " I do not see what business you have to 
 push us out of our places," replied a sturdy 
 yeoman, " I stand here. Go on, master 
 juggler." 
 
 " I must pass in the king's name," said Lord 
 Alcester. " I come to apprehend that impos- 
 ter, and I command you to assist in executing 
 the law." 
 
 " Let him pass, let him pass," exclaimed the 
 rich full voice of the juggler. " His lordship 
 wants to see some specimens of my art, and to 
 hear some of the secrets of nature. Let him 
 pass, and do not be afraid that he will interrupt 
 your pastime ! He will only add to it." 
 
 The calm and contemptuous tone in which 
 the juggler spoke, made the blood rush up into
 
 266 RUSSELL. 
 
 the young peer's face; and, pushing forward, he 
 came close to the barrier, when the voice of the 
 juggler exclaimed in a tone of command, 
 "Stand there!" 
 
 " No, I will not," answered Lord Alcester ; 
 " for you shall /answer for your offences, if not 
 for your foolery, and instantly." 
 
 " Then I will make you," replied the jug- 
 gler ; and taking a step forward upon what 
 seemed a crystal footstool in front of the ear, 
 while one of his attendants jumped up hastily 
 behind, he presented the point of his wand to 
 the peer's breast, and instantly the young 
 nobleman staggered back, with the feeling as 
 if some one had struck him a numbing blow 
 on the breast. 
 
 " Villain !" cried Lord Alcester, " villain!" 
 
 " Why, what is the matter?" demanded the 
 juggler. " Witness, all men, that I touched 
 him not ! This lord's conscience must be 
 very bad, that he cannot stand a moment 
 before The wand of Truth." 
 
 "You have hurt me, villain!" cried the
 
 BUSSELL. 267 
 
 peer, tearing open his vest and sliirt ; but not 
 the slightest appearance of any injury was 
 perceptible ; and a loud laugh from the people 
 added to the rage and mortification of the 
 astonished nobleman. The juggler did not 
 give him time to recover from his surprise, 
 however ; but taking the veiled figure beside 
 him by the hand, he led her forward in the 
 car, saying, " Stand forth, priestess of nature, 
 and tell the Englishmen around the truth of 
 the quarrel between this lord and me." 
 
 By this time Lord Francis de Vipont, with 
 his companions, had reached a spot within a 
 few yards of Lord Alcester ; and he turned his 
 eyes eagerly upon the girl, as with a slow 
 hand she threw back the sort of shroud that 
 covered her, and let it fall into the bottom of 
 the car. He was not much surprised — for 
 the eye of true love is not easily deceived — 
 when he beheld a face and form, pretty enough 
 indeed, but very different from those of Ger- 
 trude Ellerton, and a dress covered with all 
 the gewgaw ornaments of a strolling actress.
 
 268 RUSSELL. 
 
 Lord Alcester's astonishment, on the contrary, 
 was very visible ; for he had not doubted for 
 one moment that Gertrude was before him ; 
 and his anger and mortification were equal to 
 his surprise. 
 
 " Now, tell the people," cried the juggler, 
 "why Viscount Alcester has followed me from 
 Malwood hither!" 
 
 " Because last night you told him truths he 
 loved not," answered the girl, with a theatrical 
 gesture ; " and because this morning you 
 threw down the fences of his park." 
 
 A merry and well-satisfied laugh broke 
 from the people round, for there was some- 
 thing very pleasant to them in the idea of any 
 invasion of the privileges of the higher orders. 
 
 " Ay, that is what old Noll used to do," 
 said one to another ; " he disparked many a 
 park." 
 
 " Had I right to do what I did?" cried the 
 juggler aloud, addressing the girl. 
 
 " You had," was her reply. 
 
 " Give me one reason why?" said the jug-
 
 RUSSELL. 269 
 
 gler ; " for there be many, but one will 
 suflfice." 
 
 " You had a right," answered the girl, 
 " because he obstructed the king's highway 
 with parties of men, and there was no other 
 road you could pass, without risk of blood- 
 shed, but through his park." 
 
 " You are a liar ! " cried Lord Alcester 
 aloud ; " I never told the men to stor. Mm'' 
 
 "Then who did you tell them to stop?'* 
 demanded the juggler. 
 
 The peer was silent ; and the people cried, 
 " Ha, ha ! He will not tell." 
 
 With frowning brow and burning cheek, 
 Lord Alcester turned to one of his servants, 
 and whispered a few words in his ear. The 
 man departed instantly ; and, folding his arms 
 upon his chest, Lord Alcester remained gaz- 
 ing at the juggler, without uttering another 
 word. 
 
 Drawing the large cloak round her again, 
 and casting the hood over her forehead, the 
 girl drew back a step ; and taking no farther
 
 270 RUSSELL. 
 
 notice of the young nobleman, but by a few- 
 words, apparently of direction to his atten- 
 dants, the juggler resumed the task of amus- 
 ing the people with manifold exhibitions of 
 skill, in which the resources of physical 
 science were brought much more into play 
 than was ordinary at that time. The crowd 
 was enchanted and surprised, a little doubt- 
 ful, perhaps, as to whether some, supernatural 
 agency was not at work, but not a whit the 
 less delighted on that account. 
 
 When about ten minutes had elapsed, how- 
 ever, from the other side of the crowd, there 
 was heard a cry of " Make room for the 
 Mayor and magistrates ! — Room for the wor- 
 shipful Mayor !" and, bustling along through 
 the midst of the people, came two or three of 
 the civic authorities, followed by several officers 
 of the peace. The whole of this party ad- 
 vanced straight towards Lord Alcester, before 
 whom the Mayor bowed to the very ground ; 
 and while Lord Francis de Vipont spoke 
 eagerly and quickly with his companion, Dick
 
 RUSSELL, 271 
 
 Myrtle, the Viscount laid a formal charge 
 against the juggler for trespassing upon his 
 park, and breaking down the palings thereof. 
 
 " I demand his immediate apprehension," 
 said Lord Alcester, in conclusion, " that the 
 case may be inquired into before the magis- 
 trates at once, and that he be committed to take 
 his trial according to due form of law." 
 
 The worshipful Mayor said something about 
 a warrant ; but the Viscount was for no delay ; 
 and he exclaimed impatiently, " ISTo warrant is 
 necessary. He comes clearly under the class 
 of rogues and vagabonds, and may be taken 
 into custody at once as such." 
 
 " He has a licence," said the Mayor : " we 
 granted it this morning for the three days of 
 the fair." 
 
 Lord Alcester bit his lip, but he was re- 
 iterating the charge of trespass, v/hen, to the 
 surprise of all, and of none more than the 
 juggler himself, Dick Myrtle pushed his way 
 through the crowd, and addressed the Mayor, 
 saying, " I will be his bail, Master Mayor,
 
 272 RUSSELL. 
 
 Your worship knows me well. The offence is 
 not a great one ; and I am good, methinks, for 
 any security that may be required. I will go 
 up with you to the hall, and sign the bond 
 with you directly, for it is a pity that the good 
 people should be stopped in their amusement." 
 
 " Hurrah for Dick Myrtle !" cried the mob; 
 " Hurrah for honest Dick !" 
 
 " We must have two securities," said the 
 Mayor ; and, raising his voice, he added, 
 addressing the juggler, "Have you any other 
 bail ready, my friend ?" 
 
 " I will be his bail," said an elderly man, 
 plainly dressed, and bearing on his legs a large 
 pair of riding-boots, who had been leaning for 
 some time on the other side of the railing. 
 " I believe the man is mad ; but that does not 
 matter : I will be his bail." 
 
 " May I crave your name, sir ? " said the 
 Mayor, looking at him through his spectacles. 
 " You are not known here, I think. I know 
 most men's names hereabout ; but I cannot say 
 I know yours."
 
 RUSSELL. 273 
 
 "The Duke of Ormond," said tlie elderly 
 man. " Come along, Mr. Mayor ; I have 
 seen tomfoolery enough for one day of my 
 life, and I must go ; but if I may give this 
 young gentleman some advice, he will get 
 home to his own house, and keep himself 
 quiet ; for I suspect he is pickling a rod for 
 his own back, without knowing it." 
 
 "What do you mean, my lord Duke?'* 
 exclaimed Lord Alcester, turning sharply 
 towards him ; " I do not understand you." 
 
 " You will find out some day soon," said the 
 Duke, with a significant nod of the head; and, 
 without waiting for farther discourse, he led 
 the way towards the town-house, followed by 
 the Mayor and his party. 
 
 Lord Alcester paused for a single instant, 
 and there was a bitter struggle between rage 
 and prudence. He would fain have taken that 
 vengeance on the spot, with his own hand, 
 which the law would not grant him ; but to 
 shed blood in a public fair was no slight 
 ofience, and his adversary was not likely to be 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 RUSSELL. 
 
 unassisted. His black followers or companions 
 were formidable-looking personages; the as- 
 pect of the crowd was menacing; and although 
 in those days acts of the most daring violence 
 were of every-day occurrence, the young noble- 
 man was for the time overawed, and slowly fol- 
 lowed the Mayor with his servants. He might 
 have another motive also for forbearance. It 
 appeared clear to him, that he had been entirely 
 deceived in supposing that the cottage girl 
 whom he w as pursuing had been aided in her 
 flight by the juggler; and disappointment but 
 added to the eagerness which he had pre- 
 viously felt. His resolution was speedily 
 taken to return with all speed to Mai wood, 
 and never to cease inquiries till he had dis- 
 covered Gertrude's retreat. He was turned 
 from his purpose for a time, however, by a 
 servant on horseback, who met him just by 
 the town-house, and placed a letter in his 
 hands, saying," From the Earl of Virepont, my 
 lord. I have been to Malwood, and thence 
 followed your lordship hither, for I was to 
 bring back an answer."
 
 RUSSELL. 275 
 
 Lord Alcester tore open the letter and read. 
 "Tell your lord, with my best thanks," he 
 said, " that I will be at Ellerton Castle al- 
 most as soon as you are. Explain where you 
 found me, and that I had no means of writ- 
 ing at hand." 
 
 The servant received a reward and departed ; 
 but the young nobleman paused several 
 minutes in deep thought ere he proceeded to 
 fulfil liis promise of following to Ellerton. At 
 length he seemed to take his resolution, 
 ordered his horses to be brought up, entered 
 the town-house for a few minutes, and then 
 mounted and rode away. 
 
 Before the viscount quitted the town, how- 
 ever, Lord Francis de Vipont was far upon his 
 way towards his father's house. The Earl was 
 out when he reached the gates ; and he hurried 
 at once to his sister's room. The appearance of 
 haste and agitation in his whole manner some- 
 what alarmed the Lady Emmeline; but it was 
 on her brother's account she feared, not on her 
 own ; and when, in brief but kindly words, 
 
 T 2
 
 276 RUSSELL. 
 
 he informed her of the conversation which had 
 taken place between himself and their father, 
 Emmeline felt rather relief than sorrow. 
 
 " I feared, dear Francis," she said, with a 
 faint smile, " that something had gone wrong 
 with you. Give yourself no uneasiness on my 
 account, dear brother. You have enough to 
 pain you without thought for Emmeline." 
 
 " I must ever have thought for her," replied 
 Lord Francis ; " and you must promise me, dear 
 girl, most solemnly, if you would have me 
 know peace, that no inducement, no per- 
 suasion, no threats, if it should come to that, 
 will ever induce you to give your hand to 
 Alcester. He is totally unworthy of you. 
 Read that letter, from one whom he has basely 
 injured to one whom he is seeking to injure, 
 and then judge of him as he deserves, Emme- 
 line." 
 
 " Give you a promise not to wed him I " said 
 the lady, with a melancholy smile ; " do you 
 think it possible, Francis ? But I give you that 
 unnecessary promise, as you ask it, and assure
 
 RUSSELL. 277 
 
 you, that could they inflict death as the penalty 
 of refusal, it would have no effect. But I fear 
 nothing ; the first word said to myself on the 
 subject shall end all. — But you seem in haste, 
 Francis. It is growing late : are you going 
 forth again ?" 
 
 " Instantly, dearest," he replied ; " but you 
 must ask me no questions, sister mine. I 
 trust that ere long I shall be able to explain 
 my wanderings, which for a few days may seem 
 strange: I came back but to see you and to 
 seek a fresh horse, and now I must away
 
 278 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 With the door fast locked, and the windows 
 all closed, good Dame Hennage sat in the 
 cottage which Gertrude had quitted in the 
 morning*. The sun had sunk below the hori- 
 zon nearly an hour : no moon had yet risen, 
 and by her solitary candle the old woman 
 strove to amuse the time in spinning, though 
 her hand trembled with fear rather than age ; 
 and every breath of wind that shook the case- 
 ment or sighed in the chimney, rendered her 
 terror greater. She had quitted the cottage 
 to escape the vengeance of Lord Alcester, as 
 soon as she found that one party of his men, 
 at least, had been withdrawn ; and she had
 
 RUSSELL. 279 
 
 wandered about till sunset without food, form- 
 ing plans as to what she should say if she were 
 carried up to the peer's house to give an 
 account of her young mistress's evasion. On 
 her return, she found the cottage as she had 
 left it in every respect but one. The note 
 which Gertrude had left for Lord Francis de 
 Vipont was gone, and the poor woman drew 
 thence the satisfactory conclusion that tho 
 young nobleman had visited the place in her 
 absence, and had been made aware of Ger- 
 trude's danger and flight. Still, notwithstand- 
 ing the quiet and undisturbed appearance of 
 all things in the cottage, she could not con- 
 quer her terrors, and even a hearty meal and 
 a horn cup full of metheglin failed to reassure 
 her, though a thousand times she repeated to 
 herself, " They will never hurt an old woman 
 like me." 
 
 Just about the time I have stated, however, 
 her alarm was increased by some one lifting 
 the latch, and pushing the door. At first she 
 sat in mute dismay ; but the moment after the
 
 280 RUSSELL. 
 
 door was shaken with a strong hand, and a 
 man's voice said, in a low tone, " Let me in, 
 good dame ; let me in quick." 
 
 " No, indeed," answered old Martha, at 
 length, in a loud key ; " I am a lone woman, 
 and will open the door to no one. Go about 
 your business, whoever you are ; and if youwant 
 anything, come before curfew another time." 
 
 " But I must and will come in to-night,'* 
 said the voice. " I have something of 'im- 
 portance to say." 
 
 " Then you must say it through the door," 
 replied the old woman, stoutly; *'your voice 
 will get through faster than yourself, I can 
 tell you." 
 
 " The woman 's a fool," said the man without, 
 impatiently ; " put down your ear to the key- 
 hole, and I will say a word which will make 
 you open the door speedily." 
 
 " I don't think there *s such a word in the 
 Dutch," replied Martha ; " but you may try 
 if you like, master. My ear is at the key- 
 hole, so speak away."
 
 RUSSELL. 281 
 
 " I come from Sir William EUerton," said 
 the man, in a still lower tone than he had 
 hitherto used ; " now will yon let me in?'* 
 
 " I think your tongue is mighty like Lord 
 Alcester's," answered Martha, still doubtful. 
 
 "Like whose?" demanded the stranger, in 
 a tone of surprise ; " what is it you are afraid 
 of? If you have any cause to fear this lord 
 you mention, you can soon satisfy yourself I 
 am not he, by opening the lattice.'* 
 
 " That is true, too," answered Martha ; and 
 cautiously unfastening the window, she gazed 
 out, kee^^ing the candle within shelter of the 
 wall, lest the wind should extinguish it. 
 
 At the same time the stranger moved 
 forward, so that the light fell full upon him ; 
 and Martha beheld a very good-looking man, 
 of perhaps six-and-twenty years of age, with 
 his hair, hat, and dress dirty, as if with a 
 long journey on horseback. His head was 
 nearly on a level with that of the old woman, 
 and putting his hands upon the window sill, 
 he said in a whisper, " I must see Mrs. Ger-
 
 282 RUSSELL. 
 
 trude directly. Go up and tell her, I have 
 a message from her father, who has come 
 over, and lies concealed at Southampton, ill 
 in mind and body." 
 
 " Lack-a-day ! " cried Martha, " that is un- 
 lucky." 
 
 "It is, indeed," answered the stranger; "for 
 Heaven only knows when he will be able to 
 move, and the messengers are looking for him 
 everywhere." 
 
 "Ay, that is unlucky too," said Martha; 
 "but that's not the bad luck I was talking^ 
 of. Mrs. Gertrude, poor lamb, is not here. 
 She was obliged to run away this morning, 
 to get safe from that runagate scapegrace, 
 Lord Alcester. But stay a minute, and I'll 
 let you in, sir, for I see you know all about 
 us." 
 
 "Most unfortunate, indeed," replied the 
 other, in a tone of great consternation ; " why, 
 I was charged to bring her to Southampton 
 with all speed. Do you know where she is?" 
 
 "Stay a bit, and I will tell you all about
 
 RUSSELL. 283 
 
 it," said Martha Hennage, hastening to the 
 door. 
 
 The stranger entered as soon as it was 
 opened, and threw himself down upon the 
 nearest settle, as if worn out with fatigue. 
 " So I have posted all this way for nothing," 
 he said ; " but tell me, at all events, where 
 your young lady is, and if it be at all within 
 reach I will go on this very night." 
 
 " That is just what I cannot tell," replied 
 Martha ; " for I do not know myself, nor did 
 she know, pretty bird, when she took wing ; 
 but I'll tell you how it all happened;" and 
 with the minute detail of age, she gave the 
 stranger a long narrative of all that had oc- 
 curred during the last two days. 
 
 He listened very attentively, called Lord 
 Alcester's conduct infamous, declared that if 
 it were not for betraying the whole secret, 
 he would go up to his house and bring him 
 instantly to account, and in the end said, in 
 a gloomy tone, "Of course, she took all her 
 father's and mother's letters with her, which
 
 284 RUSSELL. 
 
 is more unfortunate than all; for I was 
 directed by poor Sir William to see that they 
 were burnt instantly before we set out for 
 Southampton. He fears that if they were 
 found, much mischief might ensue. But 
 perhaps she has burned them already?" 
 
 " No, that she has not," replied the old 
 nurse ; " they have been her only comfort, 
 poor thing ; and many 's the hour that she 
 would pore over them. She kept them like 
 the apple of her eye." 
 
 " It is a most dangerous habit, in these ter- 
 rible times, to keep any letters at all," answered 
 the stranger ; "but it cannot be helped now. 
 All I trust is, that they may not be found 
 upon her ; for it might lead to her death, and 
 yours too, my good woman, if it were discovered 
 that you were a party to her receiving them. 
 These are dark days, indeed." 
 
 "Alas, that they are!" replied Martha; 
 ** but as to their being found upon her, there 's 
 no chance of that ; for she was in such a 
 hurry, she did not think to take them ; and I
 
 RUSSELL. 285 
 
 will burn them all this very night, as it is Sir 
 William's order. They are all up stairs in 
 the window seat chest." 
 
 " Burn them directly," cried the stranger, 
 eagerly ; " they cannot be destroyed too soon. 
 Bring them down at once, and we will con- 
 sume them one by one. It may save both 
 her and yourself from destruction." 
 
 " How lucky that this bad lordling did not 
 search the house and find them," rejoined 
 Martha, moving towards the foot of the stair- 
 case. 
 
 "You Avould have been in gaol by this time, 
 if he had," replied the stranger, and the old 
 woman hurried her pace considerably at the 
 intimation. Some doubts as to whether she 
 was doing right, seized her when she had 
 got the letters out of the large chest, which 
 formed a sort of seat in the window of the 
 up-stairs room; but she had heard of many 
 persons having suffered death in consequence 
 of words written in letters imprudently pre- 
 served, and apprehension overcame all scruples.
 
 286 RUSSELL. 
 
 She carried the letters, some eight or ten in 
 number, down to the room below, and found 
 the stranger carefully locking the door and 
 shutting the casement. 
 
 " Now, dame," he cried, " let us destroy 
 them all at once. Have you fire in that room 
 behind ? " 
 
 " No, sir, but I'll make some in a minute," 
 replied the old woman. 
 
 " Quick, then," said the stranger ; " I will 
 tear them into small pieces in the mean time," 
 and he took the bundle from her hand. 
 
 Martha opened the kitchen-door ; but then 
 a bright thought struck her ; and she turned 
 round, saying, " Why, I need not make a fire. 
 We can put them down on the hearth, and set 
 a light to them with the candle." 
 
 " True, true," replied the other, readily ; 
 *' there they are. I will see it done before I 
 go ;" and he gave her the letters back again. 
 But one had already been abstracted from the 
 number. 
 
 The old woman carried them carefully to
 
 RUSSELL. 287 
 
 the kitchen fire-place, and laid them in a heap 
 on the hearth, then lighted one at the candle 
 and threw it amongst the rest. The dry paper 
 caught readily, the flame flew from sheet to 
 sheet, one after the other, the stored testi- 
 monies of parental love were consumed; and 
 when Martha turned round, she saw the 
 stranger gazing at the fading embers with 
 a smile. She did not half like his look ; but 
 as soon as all was done, he bade her good- 
 night somewhat abruptly, and quitted the 
 cottage. 
 
 " It is strange," thought the old woman, " that 
 he did not ask more about the man with his 
 blackamoors, and about Lord Francis;" but 
 it was too late then to think of all that was 
 suspicious in his demeanor, and locking the 
 door after him, she retired to bed.
 
 288 RUSSELL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 To the prosperous and the light-hearted ; to 
 those who feed upon the luscious fruits of 
 earth, almost everything that is new is plea- 
 sant ; for enjoyment is too sweet not to pall 
 soon upon the taste, and change of object must 
 be had to give it zest. Those who know not 
 misfortune, too, have no terror at change ; for 
 though nature inspires us with hope as the 
 companion of desire, it is only experience that 
 teaches fear. To the unfortunate, and those 
 well acquainted with adversity ; to the drinkers 
 of the bitter waters, every change has its ap- 
 prehension or its pang. We grow accustomed 
 to our lot, whatever it is, and learn to bear it ;
 
 RUSSELL. 289 
 
 but when the actual state must be given up for 
 another, experienced in sorrows, we see in the 
 new condition but some fresh cause for dread. 
 
 With Gertrude Ellerton, the first effect of 
 novelty had passed away when I shall again 
 bring her before my reader's eyes, and she had 
 become reconciled to her new abode and its 
 other inhabitants. 
 
 About eighteen hours had gone by since we 
 left her at the little solitary inn amongst the 
 hills ; and now she was the tenant of a small 
 house of two stories, in the nearest hamlet, or 
 rather, I should have said, at the end of the 
 nearest hamlet, for it was detached from the 
 other cottages by a garden and a field. The 
 other inhabitants of the same building were the 
 sister of the landlord of the inn, and a servant 
 girl, of about fourteen years of age. The 
 mistress counted just three times that number of 
 years, and was still a maiden. Her features 
 were rough and harsh, her form ungainly ; and 
 love, so often caught by the eye, had never 
 fluttered round her ; nor had Hymen ever pre- 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 290 RUSSELL. 
 
 pared his altar for her worship, although she 
 possessed some of those attractions of purse 
 which often supply charms where nature has 
 denied them. She was well to do for her 
 station ; but yet had never heard the words 
 but rarely unpleasant to female ears. Never- 
 theless she was not the least soured by this 
 neglect. Nature, as not unfrequently happens, 
 had compensated for a rude form, by a gentle 
 heart, a kindly disposition, and a fine under- 
 standing. Her voice, too, was very sweet ; 
 and though she was quick and somewhat 
 rough in manner, yet that soft voice seemed 
 to be given as the exponent of the qualities 
 within, and few persons ever fancied long 
 that Betty Wellstead was a harsh or unkind 
 person. 
 
 Gertrude understood her speedily, and 
 though the good lady herself at first mar- 
 velled a little at her guest's situation, and said 
 to herself, " She is a great deal too pretty to 
 go about the country with men," she had 
 soon formed an estimate of her character, if
 
 RUSSELL. 291 
 
 not of her circumstances, which was not very 
 wide of the truth. She asked no questions- 
 she was not in the least troublesome — although 
 from time to time she would come in to see if 
 the young lady wanted anything, and would 
 gaze at her, with a look of tender compassion 
 on her harsh features, like an angel looking 
 through a mask. 
 
 Gertrude, as I have said, comprehended her 
 character readily, and was very well pleased 
 to be the inmate of her house; but still she 
 thought it better, in the circumstances which 
 surrounded her, to be as much alone as pos- 
 sible; and she remained in her own chamber the 
 whole day, except once when she came down 
 to speak to John Wellstead of the inn, for the 
 purpose of sending intimation to her old 
 nurse of her safety and her abode, and of ful- 
 filling her word to Francis de Vipont, who, 
 she knew, would be anxious and alarmed till 
 he heard. The worthy landlord undertook, 
 without any difficulty, to send an intimation to 
 Dame Hennage that she would receive certain 
 
 V 2
 
 292 RUSSELL. 
 
 intelligence which she wished for, if she would 
 apply at his house ; and, at the same time, he 
 charged himself with a brief note to Lord 
 Francis, which he promised to deliver secretly. 
 
 Some four hours had elapsed after his de- 
 parture, and night had succeeded to day, 
 when, as Gertrude was seated alone in her 
 own chamber, reading a book which had been 
 lent her by the mistress of the house, Betty 
 Wellstead herself appeared, with a slow step 
 and a thoughtful look. 
 
 "There is a man below,** she said, "who 
 desires to speak with the young lady lodging 
 at my house. Now it must be you, he means, 
 my dear ; for the girl, though young, is not a 
 lady : I am neither young nor a lady ; but 
 you are both, that is clear enough, notwith- 
 standing the red boddice and grey petticoat." 
 
 " He cannot want me," answered Gertrude 
 in alarm; "what is he likeT* 
 
 " He is an elderly man, like a servant, 
 though he wears no lord^s colours," answered 
 the other. " He is a quiet, respectable-
 
 RUSSELL. 293 
 
 looking man ; and I almost, fancy lie must 
 come from the castle." 
 
 "What shall I do?" mnrmm^ed Gertrude, 
 speaking to herself. " Ask liim, my good 
 AYoman, who sent him. I can see no one, 
 miless I know whence they come, and what 
 they seek." 
 
 " He w^ould not tell his business," answered 
 Betty Wellstead; "but perhaps he will be 
 more communicative when he finds he cannot 
 see you without speaking out." Thus saying, 
 she left the room, and was absent several 
 minutes ; when she returned, how ever, her 
 face wore a better satisfied look : " He tells me, 
 lady," she said, " that he comes last from some 
 one whom he calls Goody Hennage ; but that 
 lie is sent by your father, from whom he has a 
 letter for you." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Gertrude, with a look of 
 surprise and pleasure ; " then I must see him 
 directly." 
 
 "That is right!— that is right!*' said the 
 good woman ; " I almost fancied, poor thing !
 
 294 RUSSELL. 
 
 that you might not like to hear from home. 
 But I will send him up to you in a minute." 
 
 While she was gone, Gertrude watched the 
 door eagerly, hearing a slow step mounting the 
 stairs; but when her visitor entered, after 
 knocking for permission, his face was perfectly 
 strange to her. He was, however, as he had been 
 described, a calm, sedate-looking, well-man- 
 nered, elderly man, respectably but not richly 
 clothed ; and he approached Gertrude with an 
 air of deference, which clearly showed he knew 
 whom he v/as addressing. 
 
 " Mistress Gertrude Ellerton ?" he said, after 
 closing the door behind him ; " I cannot be 
 mistaken, for you are so like my lady." 
 
 "The same," answered Gertrude, eagerly. 
 " You have a letter from my father, they tell 
 
 me 
 
 " Yes, madam, I have," he answered, feeling 
 in one of his large pockets. " I have had 
 great difficulty in finding you, and have been 
 too long about it, I fear ; but I trust you will 
 find Sir William no worse."
 
 RUSSELL. 295 
 
 "Worse ! Is he ill, then?" cried Gertrude, 
 her cheek turning pale. 
 
 " Very ill, lady, when I left him," replied 
 the man, producing* a letter wrapped up in a 
 piece of leather. " He will wonder what is 
 become of me; for I have now been nearly 
 two days away, though the distance is but 
 twenty miles; but Dame Hennage could 
 tell me nothing about you yesterday, only 
 that " 
 
 But Gertrude did not hear the conclusion 
 of the sentence ; for she had taken the letter 
 from his hand, had torn it open, and was 
 reading it attentively. 
 
 " Dear daughter," so the letter went ; " I 
 have come thus far to see you, and probably to 
 take you with me to a distant land; but fatigue 
 and grief have done their work with me, and I 
 can go no further. I am sick in this small inn, 
 and send these lines by one whom you can 
 fully trust. Come to me, my dear child. I 
 think the sight of your sweet face will cure me 
 of this ailment ; but whether it do or not, I
 
 296 RUSSELL. 
 
 must see you and hold you to my heart once 
 
 more. 
 
 " Your loving father, 
 
 " William Ellerton." 
 
 Then came a postscript to the following 
 effect : " Make no delay, my child, as you love 
 me. Beacher, who bears this, will get a car- 
 riage of some kind for you, if he can find one 
 in the country; if not, come on horseback. 
 Tou used to ride well once, my Gertrude." 
 
 Gertrude put her hand to her eyes and wiped 
 away some tears, " I trust he is not very ill," 
 she said ; " his handwriting is strong and 
 clear." 
 
 " It cost him long to write it, madam," said 
 the servant ; " you may see he took pains." 
 ! " Yes, I see," she answered ; " the letters are 
 not so bold and free as they used to be. I 
 must go directly. Where can we find horses, 
 I wonder?" 
 
 *' Why, madam, I got a coach at Illington, 
 as I came along from Malwood," the man 
 replied : " for I felt sure you would come as
 
 RUSSELL. 297 
 
 soon as you heard. It is down in the village 
 below; for I had trouble to find the house, and 
 had to seek the way on foot." 
 
 " Then get it to the door," said Gertrude ; 
 *' by that time I shall be ready." 
 
 The man bowed low, and retired; and at 
 the end of about five minutes, while she was 
 explaining to the good landlady the necessity 
 of her immediate departure, the grating sound 
 of the heavy wheels of those days was heard 
 before the house. 
 
 "Go, my dear, go at once!" said Betty 
 Wellstead ; " but tell me y\^hither you are 
 going, that I may let those know who care 
 for you." 
 
 " I did not remark the name of the place," 
 said Gertrude ; and drawing the letter from 
 her bosom, she looked at the date. *' Amble- 
 combe," she said ; " yes, it is Amblecombe. 
 Where is that ? — I do not know it." 
 
 " It is about eighteen miles hence," said 
 Betty Wellstead. " Amblecombe ! — you say 
 your father is lying ill at an inn ? I did not
 
 298 RUSSELL. 
 
 know there was one there. Are you sure of 
 the handwriting?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, quite," answered Gertrude. " The 
 letters are rather stiff, but he was ill when he 
 wrote, and the letters are all formed as he 
 forms them. The E, I could vouch for any- 
 where." 
 
 As she spoke the servant entered the house 
 again, with his slow quiet step, and took from 
 Gertrude's hand the little packet she had 
 made up of things the most needful. But 
 Betty Wellstead did not yet seem satisfied, and 
 turning to the man, she asked, " Is there an 
 inn at Amblecombe ? — I never heard of one." 
 
 " Oh, yes, there is, my good woman," he an- 
 swered somewhat sharply. " Now, madam, 
 the carriage is here, and I fear we shall be 
 late, for it is already past eight, and the roads 
 are very heavy." 
 
 " I am ready," answered Gertrude; and 
 bidding farewell to her kind-hearted enter- 
 tainer, she passed through the little garden to 
 the public road. A large heavy coach was
 
 RUSSELL. 299 
 
 standing close to the garden-gate, with a small 
 seat in front, only big enough for the driver. 
 The servant placed her in the carriage, and 
 then, with many apologies for coming into the 
 same vehicle with herself, took his seat oppo- 
 site to her, saying that he would get a horse 
 at the first town through which they passed. 
 
 " That is quite unnecessary," answered Ger- 
 trude ; " tell me how all this has happened. 
 I wish much to hear more about my father. 
 It was but the day before yesterday that I 
 heard, by accident, of his arrival in England." 
 
 " Then his last letter must have miscarried," 
 said the man, " for I know he wrote;" and 
 he proceeded to give a long and minute ac- 
 count of a stormy and tedious passage from 
 the town of St. Malo to the Southampton 
 Water. He said, that crew and passengers, 
 for two whole nights, had remained upon the 
 deck in peril every moment of sinking in the 
 ship; and when they at length reached the 
 port, every man was so completely exhausted 
 as hardly to be able to stand. Sir William
 
 300 RUSSELL. 
 
 Ellerton, he continued, was somewhat unwell 
 when he quitted France, and fatigue liad ren- 
 dered him so much worse, that he would cer- 
 tainly have paused to take several, days' repose 
 at Southampton, had it not most unfortunately 
 happened that, in going from the port to a 
 small inn where he intended to lie concealed, 
 he met a gentleman from London, whom he 
 believed to be his enemy, and who seemed to 
 see and recoo-nise him, Nothing: remained 
 but to proceed at once ; and horses were pro- 
 cured, with which Sir William Ellerton at- 
 tempted to cross the country to see his 
 daughter, but became worse as he proceeded, 
 till at length, on arriving at Amblecombe, he 
 was forced to abandon the attempt and take 
 to his bed. 
 
 Every circumstance was so probable, and so 
 naturally told, that if good Mistress Well- 
 stead's momentary doubts had created a sus- 
 picion in Gertrude's mind, it would have 
 vanished as soon as she heard the man's nar- 
 rative. Terror and grief she certainly felt at
 
 RUSSELL. 301 
 
 the account of her father's state; but she 
 thanked God that she was so near to tend and 
 comfort him. In the darkness of the night 
 she could weep unobserved, and from time to 
 time she broke the silence, (which the servant 
 maintained respectfully after he had finished 
 his history,) to ask questions regarding all that 
 had befallen her father and her mother since 
 she had seen them. To some of these she 
 received satisfactory answers ; but as to other 
 events, the man frankly replied that he 
 could give no information, as he had only 
 entered the service of Sir William a year 
 before, and had, during that time, been twice 
 to England on business of importance. 
 
 Expectation ever makes the way seem long ; 
 and in Gertrude's case, deep anxiety, darkness, 
 and heavy, ill-made roads, might well add to 
 the tediousness of the journey. She was 
 somewhat surprised, then, when at the end of 
 not more than two hours the carrriage stopped 
 before a house at the road-side, and the man 
 said, " We have arrived, madam."
 
 302 RUSSELL. 
 
 The moon was just rising over the low 
 ground, with a thin film of clouds across her 
 disk; but the light was sufficient to show 
 Gertrude that the house stood detached from 
 all others, though at some distance there 
 appeared to be a small town. 
 
 "Is this Amblecombe, then?" she asked; 
 " I thought you said it was eighteen or twenty- 
 miles distant; and we cannot have come so 
 far in this time." 
 
 "It is twenty miles from Mai wood, madam," 
 said the man, "but a good deal nearer the 
 Oak Tree Inn, where I obtained tidings of you, 
 and the man, I suppose, has taken the shortest 
 cut. But this is Amblecombe ; and that room 
 where you see a light burning in the window, 
 is where Sir William is. Let me assist you to 
 alight ; this step is very bad. Take care of 
 that rut, madam. This way, if you please. 
 These people shut their doors early; but I 
 think it is later than you suppose. I had 
 better go up first and just break to my master 
 that you are here. Perhaps lie may be sleeping."
 
 RUSSELL. 303 
 
 " My foot will not wake him," said Gertrude; 
 *' I will go up at once." 
 
 " As you please, madam," said the servant ; 
 "but I think any surprise might do harm. 
 He is very weak, and I have been so much 
 longer than he expected." 
 
 *' Well, perhaps you are right," said the 
 young lady ; " but do not be long." 
 
 " Not five minutes," said the servant, enter- 
 ing the house and taking a lamp from a man 
 in a white night-cap and apron. " This way, 
 madam : there is a room vacant here," and he 
 led the way along a narrow passage to a door 
 upon the left. It opened into a small chamber, 
 with a table and a few chairs, and the servant, 
 after setting down the lamp, drew forward a 
 seat and retired, closing the door behind 
 him. 
 
 Gertrude remained standing by the table, 
 with her heart beating ; but her attention was 
 soon drawn towards the neighbouring room 
 by the sounds of many voices speaking in loud 
 and noisy tones within.
 
 304 RUSSELL. 
 
 " Alas ! that my father should be exposed to 
 such noise and disturbance in his sickness!" 
 she thought. " Sleep ! — how can he sleep with 
 such sounds going on under his very chamber ? 
 I wonder if no quiet cottage could be found 
 near, to which he could be removed without 
 injury." 
 
 Some of the tongues grew louder as she 
 thus meditated, and she heard one voice say 
 distinctly, "No, my lord, that cannot be. 
 Lord William, I know, will never consent 
 to it; and therefore there is no use of pro- 
 posing it." 
 
 " But Sir John ! Sir John ! " said another 
 tongue ; and then the voices dropped into a 
 lower tone, and Gertrude heard nothing more 
 distinctly. 
 
 " This servant is long," she thought ; " can 
 my father be worse? Good Heaven! can he 
 be dead?" and she sprang towards the door; 
 but as she was about to open it, there was a 
 sound of numerous feet walking along the 
 passage, as if the party in the next room were
 
 RUSSELL, 305 
 
 just separating, and she paused to let them 
 pass out. They went slowly, talking as they 
 went, and two or three stopped apparently at 
 the house door to hold further conversation. 
 At length, however, all was still, save a noise 
 of horses' feet, which grew fainter each mo- 
 ment. 
 
 "There is something strange in all this," 
 thought Gertrude ; and she might have medi- 
 tated longer on the subject, but her mind 
 was too busy mth her father's state to be easily 
 withdrawn from that theme; and lifting the 
 latch, she tried to open the door. 
 
 It was locked, and she found herself a pri- 
 soner. The poor girl's heart beat as if it 
 would have burst the lacings of her bodice ; 
 but after a moment she strove to recover 
 courage and presence of mind. " Perhaps 
 he may have fastened it to prevent any of those 
 strangers from intruding," she said ; but still 
 the thought recurred, — could she have been 
 deceived ? Was it possible that Lord Alcester, 
 frustrated in his first attempt, had now had 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 RUSSELL. 
 
 recourse to a base artifice to entrap her ? " But 
 no," she answered immediately, " the letter 
 was in my father's own hand." 
 
 No one, she thought, and certainly not Lord 
 Alcester, was sufficiently well acquainted with 
 his writing to imitate it so exactly. She must be 
 frightening herself without cause. The door 
 was either locked to keep the strangers out, or 
 some one of them had turned the key in idleness 
 as he passed. But then she took the letter from 
 her bosom again, and held it to the lamp, and 
 as she did so she trembled. Defects appeared 
 which she had not previously remarked ; the 
 imitation was very good, but it was not perfect ; 
 the want of freedom in the hand struck her 
 more and more ; and gradually the conviction 
 forced itself upon her, that she had been 
 cheated by a forgery. What should she do ? — 
 How could she act ? Flight was impossible : — 
 there was no other door in the room but the 
 one by which she had entered. She looked 
 at the window, and it was barred with iron 
 from the top to the bottom.
 
 RUSSELL. 307 
 
 Still no one came ; and as she sat and wept 
 one source of consolation rose up for her in 
 the midst of her sorrow : " At least," she 
 thought, " my heart is relieved of fears for 
 my father. If the letter is a forgery, — and 
 that it is too surely, — the tale of his sickness is 
 a falsehood. They dare not, surely, ill use me ; 
 but at all events, I will give them no encou- 
 ragement to do so, by showing this weakness. 
 I will assume courage, if I have it not ; but I 
 shall have it, too, in the moment of need. 
 God will give it to me ; and in His mercy and 
 strength I will trust." 
 
 She wiped the tears from her eyes, and lis- 
 tened ; for she thought she heard steps, but 
 they came not near the door ; and then saying 
 to herself, " Perhaps I can make some of the 
 people of the house hear. They surely cannot 
 all be in league with this base young man. 
 They will fear the law he so daringly vio- 
 lates — at least, some of them will ; and if 
 there be but one on my side, that is some 
 protection." Thus thinking, she approached
 
 308 RUSSELL. 
 
 the door again, and shook it violently, calling 
 aloud, " Unlock the door ! How dare any one 
 keep me here?" 
 
 " Be still ! be still ! " said a voice from the 
 outside, speaking in a low tone ; " there are 
 persons in the house who must not know of 
 your being here. You will be the cause of 
 your own and your father's ruin." 
 
 " I am not to be deceived any more," said 
 Gertrude aloud. " Open the door directly, or 
 I will alarm the whole house. If it be as you 
 say, open the door and give me the key ; 
 I will not be detained in a locked room 
 against my will. In one minute more I 
 will shriek till every one in the house hears 
 me!" 
 
 " Shriek, then, foolish girl, and ruin your- 
 self and others," said the voice ; and the next 
 moment she heard steps walking away. There 
 was something in the tone and manner which 
 showed her clearly that her fears were not 
 groundless, and without hesitation she raised 
 her voice and cried for help ; but as she did
 
 RUSSELL. 309 
 
 SO some one witboat began to sing aloud; 
 and another tongue joined in with peals of 
 laughter and loud oaths. If any persons heard 
 her cries they came not to her deliverance; 
 and, at length, exhausted with terror and 
 exertion, she sat down and wept once more. 
 A few moments after, she again heard the 
 sound of horses' feet ; but these, as before, 
 seemed to be quitting the house, not ap- 
 proaching it ; and then there was a silence of 
 several minutes. Then a footstep in a different 
 part of the house, apparently almost over 
 head, was heard, and thinking that the 
 struggle was coming, Gertrude dried her 
 eyes again, and tried to nerve her heart ; but 
 she was destined to remain still longer in 
 suspense, for the steps ceased, and all re- 
 mained quite quiet for half an hour. She was 
 weary and exhausted, but yet she watched 
 without a drooping eyelid or a drowsy ear, 
 till at length voices whispering near the door 
 of the room caught her attention, and she 
 listened eagerly. " No, no," said one ; " wait
 
 310 RUSSELL. 
 
 at the end of the passage, and put two men 
 between you and the stairs. Do not come till 
 I call; but have everything ready." 
 
 The latch of the door moved slightly, and 
 Gertrude gazed forward, seated by the table ; 
 but the speaker without remained for a mo- 
 ment or two to add a few words more ; and 
 then the key was turned in the lock. The 
 door opened slowly ; and the poor girl expected 
 to behold the face of Lord Alcester. That 
 sight would have been a relief, when Sir 
 Frederick Beltingham stood before her. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 London : Printed by Stewart and Mubray, Old Bailey.
 
 
 i 
 
 r
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
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 3 0112 049064220