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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 mrrwm
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS; 
 
 A TALE OF THE TROUBLES 
 IN 164—. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIOT WARBURTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS," 
 AND " MEMOIRS OF PRINCE RUPERT AND THE CAVALIERS. 
 
 " Fight on, thou brave true heart, and falter not, through dark 
 fortune and through bright. The cause thou tightest for, so far as 
 it is true — no farther, yet precisely so far — is very sure of victory ; 
 the falsehood of it alone will be abolished, as it ought to be." 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 1850.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Schulze & Co., 13, Poland Street.
 
 1) ' 
 
 THE REV. WALTER HALLIDAY. 
 
 OF GJLEXTHORNE, 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 WITH CORDIAL ESTEEM 
 
 INSCRIBED.
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/reginaldhastings01warb
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The last few years have been very fruitful 
 in the discovery of old Manuscripts, especially 
 of such as are calculated to throw new 
 light and interest on the important period 
 of our Civil War. It has lately been my 
 fortune to pass much time in the examina- 
 tion of this unprinted literature ; and I feel 
 a great interest, perhaps a prejudice, in favour 
 of such unstudied compositions. The frank 
 and manly, yet tender spirit that many of 
 them breathe, the genuine feeling that they 
 reveal, and the stirring incidents that they 
 so naturally relate, attracted me. I was 
 tempted, before laying them aside for graver 
 studies, to endeavour to imitate them, or rather 
 to present their meaning and information in 
 a collective and continuous form. How little 
 justice I have rendered to their merit or to
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 my own design, the sternest critic cannot point 
 out more plainly than I myself am ready to 
 admit. I still venture to hope, however, that 
 I have left enough of their genuine spirit, 
 unimpaired, to afford some interest. 
 
 Without attempting to confound the Author 
 and the Editor, I can honestly affirm that the 
 latter has not put into the mouth of the 
 former a single sentiment, and scarcely an 
 adventure, that may not be found in the 
 Manuscripts relating to the great Civil War. 
 The Autobiographer (of whom I must hence- 
 forth speak in the second person), has spoken 
 for himself truly, if no otherwise commend- 
 ably. 
 
 One fault (or merit, as the case may be) 
 of an Autobiography, is, that it necessarily 
 leaves its chief moral deductions to the 
 Reader : the Biographer may make his per- 
 sonages a text for inculcating high and pure 
 and noble principles, whether by the example 
 or the warning of his hero : the Autobio- 
 grapher can, from the nature of his case, 
 only furnish forth his own adventures and 
 experience, for such deductions as the wisdom 
 or the ingenuity of the Reader may distil from 
 them. The same argument of course applies
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 to fictitious autobiography. In both cases, the 
 utility and success of the work must depend 
 mainly on the Reader, as the prosperity of a 
 jest in the ear of the hearer. 
 
 To return to my Cavalier. His Memoirs, 
 or Confessions as they should perhaps be called, 
 appear to have been composed with a two- 
 fold object ; namely ; in the hope of illustrating 
 the social life of the period of which he treats ; 
 and of rendering more familiar its leading 
 characters : not only such heroic characters as 
 inspire emulation, but also such as may deter 
 from future evil, by showing of what base 
 matter that evil was composed. Nevertheless 
 the Cavalier's narrative in the main is simply 
 the story of his own life, such as it was then, 
 such as it might be now ; and if it possess no 
 moral, we can only say that he lived in vain. 
 I do not fear that the antiquity of his ex- 
 perience will prove prejudical to his interest ; 
 for the passions — as immortal as the spirit 
 of which they are the features — are un- 
 changeable by time and almost by cir- 
 cumstances : nay, if anything, the religion 
 and the chivalry, and the love and hatred of 
 other days, affect us more, as they stand out
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in bolder relief from the familiar circumstances 
 of our own. 
 
 It is unnecessary to observe, that the 
 Autobiographer writes under a feigned name; 
 in the reign of Charles II., in which his 
 tale concludes, it was by no means satis- 
 factory to look back upon any public career 
 in the preceding reign. Those, however, who 
 are acquainted with the characters of the 
 Wentworth, the Godolphin, and the Sunder- 
 land of that time, will easily find parallels 
 for the characters and adventures of Reginald 
 and Hugo Hastings. They will not be sur- 
 prised to find Cavaliers sometimes conversing 
 without oaths, and Puritans (as I hope) 
 applying texts without profanity : the absence 
 of such accustomed seasoning may tell against 
 " dramatic relish," but will not be universally 
 condemned. 
 
 To apologize for other and greater faults 
 would be endless and importunate; I prefer 
 to trust my Cavalier and his Confessions, unde- 
 fended, to the Reader's generous indulgence. 
 
 MARCH 20, 1850.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 These walls do not a prisone make. 
 
 Nor iron bars a cage ; 
 Minds innocent and quiet take 
 
 This for a hermitage. 
 
 LOVELACE. 
 
 I am a prisoner, closely guarded and con- 
 fined, suddenly secluded from the most stirring 
 strife that ever kindled in the heart of a great 
 people. Three days ago I was free, and fighting 
 with all the energy of mingled hope and des- 
 peration ; now faint in frame and spirit, I am 
 hidden away in a dungeon's obscurity, con- 
 demned perhaps for years to silent and helpless 
 inactivity. 
 
 For the first few days of my captivity I 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 scarcely found it irksome ; the scenes of 
 thrilling and ceaseless interest I had so long 
 lived in, seemed to be re-enacted in imagi- 
 nation ; I chewed the cud of a glutted 
 memory, and was unconscious of any void in 
 its supply. At length returning hunger of 
 action seized me, my wounds had ceased to 
 torture, my blood had supplied its loss, and 
 bounded in my veins once more. I sprang 
 from my pallet and gazed eagerly upon the 
 rising sun : he soon passed beyond the narrow 
 rift of daylight visible between my barred 
 window and the battlements : that little glimpse 
 of the infinite sky only served to render my 
 confinement more dismal, from its contrast 
 with my tomb-like cell. 
 
 The first sense of imprisonment is appalling, 
 and scarcely to be imagined by those to whom 
 freedom seems as natural as life itself. The 
 mass of iron and stone that surrounds you 
 strikes cold upon the eye ; the solemn silence 
 of the crowded, but sternly-guarded prison, 
 oppresses the ear, and a sense of utter 
 helplessness weighs down the heart. # # # 
 
 The first day of restored consciousness ap-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 3 
 
 peared to me to contain an age of suffering and 
 painful thought. I vainly strove to fix my 
 attention on some actual object ; my eyes 
 soon lost sight of it, and strayed away to 
 gaze on those imaginary scenes that recalled 
 my uselessness — my misery of inaction. The 
 thought of escape naturally seized me, but it 
 was only for a moment ; the little cell in 
 which I was confined had set all the inspirations 
 of courage and despair at defiance for six 
 centuries. It had been a dungeon since the 
 time of the Conqueror, and was about eighteen 
 feet square ; the walls composed of huge 
 stones, cemented by tough old mortar that 
 was harder still. The only window con- 
 sisted of four dim panes, deeply set in a 
 massive wall, with iron bars, whose deep, 
 dark rust proved their long service and 
 trustworthiness ; this window opened upon a 
 narrow battlemented terrace, patrolled by a 
 sentinel, whose shadow alone was perceptible 
 as it approached and retired, ghost-like ; — his 
 bodily presence, enemy as he was, would have 
 been a relief to me. 
 
 Gradually my very soul seemed to share in 
 
 B 2
 
 4 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the narrowness of my cell, and to shrink 
 within its limits : my senses, concentrated on 
 such few objects, became more observant of 
 those few, which dilated in the same proportion. 
 I gradually detected faint sounds and sights 
 in the apparent blank and silence that sur- 
 rounded me ; I could hear the rustle of the 
 sentry's weather-beaten doublet, and the trail 
 of his pike along the leads of the castle. Once 
 or twice, too, I thought I heard something 
 stirring under the stony floor, but that must 
 be imagination. I approach the window to 
 catch a breath of fresh air through a broken 
 pane, and I perceive some scratches on the 
 glass that appear to me like letters. They 
 have been cut with a keen diamond, but if 
 they have any meaning it is undecipherable, 
 and yet — 
 
 I had written thus far when the gaoler 
 entered with my dinner, and at once changed 
 the current of my thoughts. Nothing breaks 
 into the reveries of a young fasting man like 
 the smell of food ; and it was not only the 
 savoury fames of a venison steak, but the 
 presence of a fellow-creature, that turned my
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 5 
 
 thoughts into a more cheerful channel. The 
 turnkey was a short, stout, bow-legged varlet, 
 with broad stooping shoulders, and a neck 
 that might puzzle the hangman to discover, 
 through the tangles of his lank red hair and 
 grizzly beard. A certain stamp of men seems 
 to be produced by nature to fill certain situ- 
 ations, and this man had evidently found his 
 destined place ; his small malevolent eyes 
 appeared just adapted to scrutinize a dungeon, 
 and to examine fetters ; his mouth was full 
 of bitterness, and there was room for a good 
 deal of it within his huge jaws and wolfish 
 teeth; a greyish sandy beard bristled on his 
 pointed chin, and reached half way up his 
 face. Yet was his presence heartily welcome 
 to me, independently of his savoury mission ; 
 he was the only fellow- creature I was destined 
 to see for many a day, and I would have liked 
 him if I could. 
 
 He laid a coarse white napkin on the window 
 recess, and I observed him adding the different 
 accessories of my meal with interest, but in 
 silence. At length, he reluctantly crowned his 
 labours by placing a flask of wine near the
 
 6 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 pewter dish, and then expressed by an impatient 
 gesture, that he was waiting to remove the 
 remnants of my dinner. 
 
 " You've wine from the governor's own cellar 
 to-day," said he, as I proceeded to act upon 
 his implied suggestion ; " it's good Rhenish, 
 and fitter for honest men than for the like of 
 ye, rantipoling Cavaliers, limbs of Satan, as ye 
 are. It's little of such comfort I thought 
 thou'dst be wanting in this world, when thou 
 wast brought in here, stiff and bloody, some 
 days syne ; I thought our musketeers had been 
 saved a job." 
 
 I was too well pleased to hear the sound 
 of the human voice to be critical as to its 
 purport, and I applied myself to my flask and 
 platter with a soldier's appetite, while my 
 attendant continued in almost inarticulate growls 
 to vent his spleen. 
 
 " Ay, swill away ! Never have we a swagger- 
 ing and half starved Cavalier, but has the thirst 
 of Dives, as if he was already in a place of 
 torment." 
 
 " Here, my friend," said I, " you seem to 
 want a drop to cool your own tongue, and
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 7 
 
 when you've done so, please to tell me for what, 
 or to whom, I am indebted for this good 
 fare." 
 
 The turnkey emptied the horn of wine 
 without ceremony, and replied that it was by 
 the Governor's orders that I was so indulged ; 
 " but," added he, " doant thou be set up for 
 that matter; for the man, Aubrey, that lay 
 in that bed before you was cockered up in 
 the same manner, and four days ago he was 
 led out and shot like a dog — yea, with the 
 good liquor yet in his mouth, and wasted. 
 But I've no business to be here talking to a 
 wine-bibbing son of Belial, as thou art. There 
 be pens and ink, and paper, and candles, and 
 profane books, and I must e'en wait on thee 
 before sunset with more meat, and receive 
 thy orders." 
 
 So saying, he collected his cups and platters 
 and departed, leaving me with a plentiful 
 supply of the important matters he had named. 
 Provided with these great and responsible 
 instruments, my mind became more restless 
 than ever ; small physical privations occupy 
 the attention far more than we care to admit
 
 8 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 into rivalry with sentimental sorrow, and when 
 I found myself with a well-satisfied appetite, 
 I felt more than ever the necessity of some 
 occupation to divert sad thoughts. There lay the 
 best implements for solitary labour, if I could 
 use them aright — pen and paper — yea, the very 
 means of immortality ! I thought of the great 
 and gallant Raleigh, of Galileo, of Tasso, of our 
 own Lovelace, and felt how glorious a matter 
 imprisonment might be made. 
 
 " But not for me," I mournfully thought, 
 as I paced up and down my narrow cell ; 
 " science, philosophy, or poetry, may well 
 glorify the bondage of those whom they inspire ; 
 but from a rough, idle, soldier like myself, 
 whose head and heart are full of all that he has 
 undergone — that he is still undergoing — what 
 material can be obtained to enlighten, or even 
 amuse the world. 
 
 " Nevertheless," I resumed (still keeping my 
 eyes fixed on the momentous pen, which at 
 length I grasped more nervously than when 
 I first drew my maiden sword for war) " what 
 I have undergone, thousands of my countrymen 
 have, at least, in part, experienced ; and thou-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 9 
 
 sands to come will wish to know what an 
 Englishman has felt and done in times like 
 these ; what errors he has fallen into, and 
 hy what actions he has endeavoured to redeem 
 those errors. 
 
 Again, a doubt came over me, and I laid 
 down that tempting pen. To whom am I 
 about to unveil the secrets of my heart — the 
 secrets of my friends ? 
 
 Who will be the readers and the critics of 
 what I am about to record ? 
 
 Will even those who have known me find 
 interest in the re-awakened memories of scenes 
 that we have shared ? Will those, to whom the 
 winter is but a name, bestow their sympathies 
 upon my joys and sorrows, for the sake of joys 
 and sorrows of their own which my narration 
 may recal ? 
 
 It may be that the former are grown too old, 
 or cold, or changed, and that the latter will be 
 too little touched by the strangeness of my 
 story to lend to it a willing ear. Nevertheless, 
 I long to unburden my memory of its load as 
 the sick in soul to a confessor, or the ill in 
 health to a physician. Written by my own hand,
 
 10 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 my biography shall relate only to the dead; 
 before any stranger shall read these lines, their 
 author will be unconscious of the blessing of his 
 sympathy, or the insult of his sneer. For this 
 reason, I can, — yea, and will write to the world as 
 freely, as fully, and as truly, as if I were pouring 
 my confessions in the friendliest ear. 
 
 With these thoughts, I once more grasped my 
 pen, and vehemently and hastily wrote down the 
 above — the first words that presented themselves ; 
 fearing, if I paused to reconsider them, that 
 such a commencement would shame me from 
 continuance. As a young bird prepares for 
 flight, I fluttered through these sentences, and 
 then determined to trust myself for good or ill 
 upon a longer flight ; yea, even if my grey 
 goose- quill should prove but an Icarian 
 wing. 
 
 Here, then, is the history of my young life as 
 far as it has gone ; it may prove to be but a 
 fragment and a brief one. 
 
 I am the eldest son of Reginald, Lord 
 Hastings of Beaumanoir. His ancestors had 
 shared in the dangers and rewards of the 
 Norman Conquest, and for centuries since, had
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 11 
 
 rendered good and knightly service for the lands 
 bestowed by the Conqueror. If, at any time, 
 their title deeds had failed, the loss might have 
 been supplied from their country's history, with 
 which their names were interwoven. In the 
 wars of Ireland, of the Holy Land, of France, 
 and of the Roses, their blood had been pro- 
 fusely shed, and the present unhappy times 
 found my father still ready to stand or fall by 
 the banner of his King. Yet his was no blind, 
 unreasoning obedience, that abandoned the 
 right of private judgment. In his youth, he had 
 been persecuted by King James for espousing 
 the cause of Raleigh ; in his age he had fallen 
 under the displeasure of King Charles for a 
 quarrel with Buckingham, and resistance to that 
 Duke's successors in the ministry. It was only 
 the danger of the Crown that brought him to 
 its assistance, and re-awakened, as it were, a 
 grateful memory, that he and his fathers owed 
 to it their cherished home and their broad 
 lands. In his chivalrous code of honour, the 
 lapse of time had not weakened the obligation ; 
 he still enjoyed the reward of his ancestors' 
 loyalty, and he conceived that he still owed
 
 1 2 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 feudal and loyal gratitude for that posses- 
 sion. 
 
 This fidelity of my father's to the King was 
 imitated by that of our tenants to himself. 
 They had, for the most part, descended from 
 the tenants of our forefathers, through lines as 
 ancient as their own. Though leases were 
 unknown to our rent-rolls, the same names 
 were to be found in each farm-house through 
 successive centuries : our people had changed 
 from Saxon serfs to British yeomen, without 
 ever having changed their fealty to our house. 
 In the village, indeed, it was whispered, that 
 the newly-popular principles had gained some 
 ground, but many of the inhabitants there were 
 strangers ; trade and its votaries being far more 
 liable to change and innovation than agriculture, 
 to which they are for the most part opposed in 
 principle if not in interest. This village stood 
 upon the sea-shore, about half-a-mile from The 
 Manor, as our old house was familiarly called. 
 Our park gates opened on a large bowling- 
 green which stood in the very heart of the little 
 town. A tall May-pole occupied its centre, 
 surrounded by some forty or fifty houses and
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 13 
 
 cottages, each with its gaily- painted sign-board ; 
 or little garden and trellised arbour, if it appro- 
 priated to no public calling. 
 
 For the Manor itself, it was a house of great 
 extent and very varied architecture. Originally 
 a hunting-lodge of Earl Godwins, it stood on a 
 gentle eminence in an extensive Chase, or forest, 
 well opened into glades and meadows. The 
 Saxon palace had been fortified with Norman 
 towers, and surrounded by a graff, or moat, in 
 the reign of Rufus. A royal visit from Queen 
 Elizabeth had superinduced the addition of a 
 banqueting-hall with other apartments ; and my 
 grandfather, in the reign of King James, had 
 yet further added to the confusion of all archi- 
 tectural rule, by an endeavour to blend the 
 various discrepancies of his house into one 
 uniform style. 
 
 The pride of this quaint, but venerable man- 
 sion was the entrance hall, some eighty feet 
 in length, and in height, up to the cedar rafters, 
 perhaps half as much. The carved oak with 
 which it was panelled was invisible to my young 
 eyes, though I might have seen.it naked enough 
 afterwards : in the days of peace it was covered
 
 14 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 over with armour, and weapons of every age, 
 from that of Alfred downwards. Its arrange- 
 ment was very perfect as to time; for each 
 helmet, morion, hauberk, or haquetin, hung 
 upon the spot where its last wearer had placed 
 it. This armoury was my father's pride ; my 
 brother and I learnt the history of our country, 
 and of our ancestors, from the battered shields 
 of Hastings, Acre, Flodden-Field, Cressy, Poic- 
 tiers, and Agincourt, as from so many medals. — 
 Alas ! for the day that scattered those trophies 
 widely over England ! Alas ! for the gallant 
 yeomen friends, who left that harness only with 
 their lives, on EdgehiU, Newbury, and Chalgrove 
 Field ! 
 
 At the upper end of the old hall was a 
 dais, on which a table stood crosswise under a 
 huge painted window, which I fear had been 
 sacrilegiously obtained in bluff King Harry's 
 time. Well I remember the awe with which 
 I used to look upon my father, as he sat en- 
 throned at that table on the King's birthday, 
 with his neighbours assembled round him, and 
 his farmers seated at the long tables that ran 
 from end to end of the great halL Opposite
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 15 
 
 the doorway yawned a huge fire-place, over- 
 arched by a high mantel-piece, elaborately 
 carved and surmounted by a gallery, in which 
 my mother and her fair guests used to 
 appear on occasions of high solemnity, when 
 the hall below was filled with retainers that 
 would have died to serve her. 
 
 The rest of the old house within, was like 
 most others of its kind : a labyrinth of galleries 
 and staircases, and almost forgotten rooms, with 
 which none but the oldest servants professed 
 acquaintance. Without, behind the house, was 
 a large court-yard, with stables for a troop of 
 horse, and a smithy, still called the armourer's 
 forge. There, also, were barns and granaries, 
 and all the appurtenances of a country-house, 
 that boasted to want nothing beyond its own 
 power to supply. There were gardens too, 
 and fish-ponds surmounted by a heronry, and 
 all the various excrescences supposed necessary 
 or comfortable, that gather round old family 
 places, where each son preserves, with pious 
 and hereditary care, the things that his dead 
 father cared for. 
 
 There is a venerableness and mystery attached
 
 16 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 to old ancestral houses such as these, that power- 
 fully impresses the imagination. The various 
 human experiences that those grey walls have 
 sheltered; the bright faces that have looked 
 out through those narrow windows ; the grim 
 sentries that have patrolled those battlemented 
 towers ; the voices of joy and mourning, of 
 anger, of comfort, of desolation, of despair, 
 that have sounded through those halls ; the 
 bridal trains and funeral processions that have 
 passed through those wide doors ; the startling 
 news, now almost forgotten history, that was 
 told round those large tire-places ; the venerable 
 forms that have reposed in that old arm-chair, 
 the merry children that have been hushed to 
 sleep in that old-fashioned cradle ; all, within 
 and without, may now be wholly changed, 
 yet each has left its character impressed upon 
 the ancient home of an ancient race. 
 
 AH this is altered now, they tell me. It is 
 many a day since I have seen my birth-place ; 
 besieging artillery and ruthless pillage since 
 then have done their utmost to obliterate all 
 marks of what that home was once. I am 
 thankful that I have been spared that sight,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 17 
 
 and that I can still picture to myself the old Manor 
 in all its hospitable pride, when passers-by would 
 exclaim as they pointed .to it : " There lives an 
 English gentleman of the good old time I" 
 
 Such, indeed, was my father. He stood among 
 the first of that almost unnoticed class of country 
 gentlemen, who form the principal strength and 
 real power of the state. I mean unnoticed in 
 public life only, for in the wide circle of his own 
 neighbourhood, he possessed an honoured name 
 and moral influence that kings might envy. To 
 him, as a common centre, converged all the 
 petitions, applications, and appeals of the sur- 
 rounding country ; to his justice, his counsel, or 
 his generosity — the wronged, the embarrassed, 
 and the poor, with confidence appealed; and 
 by his opinions, ever frankly and fearlessly ex- 
 pressed, the public opinion of his neighbour- 
 hood was influenced, if not wholly formed. 
 
 He possessed not only the confidence, but the 
 love of all his neighbours. There was something 
 genial and generous in his manner that seemed 
 infectious, — the cold and cautious warmed be- 
 neath its influence, the timid were encouraged, 
 and the poor felt the presence of a friend. 
 
 vol. i. c
 
 18 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 Though he had been in his time a courtier, 
 a soldier, and a traveller, yet my father was 
 passionately fond of the country — its labours, 
 its sports, and all the various interests that it 
 yields to those who cultivate them. He had 
 married the daughter of a noble courtier, but 
 her tastes had become so merged in his, that 
 neither of them ever sent a thought in search of 
 pleasure or amusement beyond the limits of 
 their happy home. 
 
 I must not, in speaking of that home, pass on 
 without a tribute to the character of my mother, 
 who rendered it a cherished sanctuary. She was of 
 so excellent a nature that I have always re- 
 spected woman for her sake, whatever my after- 
 experience of women may have been. For her 
 sake, I have always met with scorn the fashion- 
 able sneers against married life, and been able to 
 believe that it was in mercy God gave the first 
 man a wife, notwithstanding the result. Yes, 
 blessed be she — whether of Eden, or of this poor 
 penal earth — who fulfils her mission to her 
 husband ! who soothes his sorrows, extenuates 
 his failings, brightens his bright hours, and irra- 
 fiiates his darkness ! No jealous vanity, no morbid
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 19 
 
 pride ever stains the pure motives of her minis- 
 try ; — her noble and self-sacrificing thought and 
 thoughtfulness is ever of him whom God hath 
 given her — of what will wound, of what will 
 soothe, of what will comfort him — the father 
 of her children, the sharer of her destiny. 
 
 Happy, thrice happy, through all his mortal 
 misery is he who can fold such a woman to his 
 grateful heart. Her gentleness subdues, her 
 meekness softens him; her patient endurance 
 conquers more than the stormiest eloquence : her 
 presence can enable her husband to cherish life, 
 and yet to smile upon the death that spares him 
 the anguish of outliving her. So thought my 
 father, justly ; but his wife was not destined to 
 survive him. She had long been delicate, though 
 her illness wore that beautiful and delusive 
 beauty, that so often in our climate only 
 decks the victim for the tomb. But her spirits 
 rose with her decay, and she was happy — happy 
 in her stainless conscience, happy in all around 
 her, and most of all, happy in her merry little 
 child of some two years old, who was her 
 almost constant companion. 
 
 If I thus linger on my native threshold, I 
 
 c 2
 
 20 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 may be excused, for my after-life presents far 
 different events. From the recollection of these 
 last, I often seek refuge in childish memories ; 
 they are always welcome. I am still happy in 
 that home I have described, though for me it 
 now exists only in imagination.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sweet in manner, fair in favour, 
 Mild in temper, fierce in fight, 
 
 Warrior nobler, gentler, braver, 
 Never shall behold the light. 
 
 My second brother, Hugo, was scarcely 
 seventeen when my story commences. In spite 
 of all their efforts to conceal it, he was the 
 favourite of both our parents. I never grudged 
 — I scarcely envied him that priceless dis- 
 tinction. Nor could I wonder at it ; he was so 
 gentle and generous, so brave, and good, and 
 true. I was too proud of his genius and ac- 
 quirements to feel jealous of the comparative 
 shade in which they placed me. There was a 
 strong contrast between us too, which served to 
 destroy any thought of rivalry. We were both
 
 22 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 impetuous, but Hugo was more yielding and 
 somewhat fickle in his pursuits ; I was more 
 thoughtful and determined, and generally took 
 up a common object where he had left it off. 
 He was imaginative and fond of poetry ; I was 
 but little of a book-man. His spirits were 
 inexhaustible, and there was a note of exulta- 
 tion in his joyous laughter that thrilled like a 
 trumpet in my ear : yet his tears were almost as 
 ready as his smiles, and his large bright eyes 
 would fill, not only at the recital of any tale of 
 sorrow, but of any noble trait of character, or 
 gallant action. 
 
 Even the higher sources of pleasure, all 
 exquisite sensations of mental enjoyment, pro- 
 duced the same effect on his finely-sensitive 
 organization. Nevertheless, he was no whining 
 sentimentalist, or vain, pensive dreamer. His 
 instinct was to be ever in advance of all his 
 comrades, whether as a student, a sportsman, or 
 a soldier ; yet his nobler nature shrank from 
 every triumph that his genius or his daring 
 won at the expense of others, and his self- 
 sacrifice in abandoning his well-won prizes often 
 passed for indifference or inconsistency.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 23 
 
 I well remember when he was about to leave 
 school, the eagerness with which he looked 
 forward to the first place and prize in the 
 concluding examination. I had then been 
 entered at the University, and was admitted to 
 occupy the strangers' bench together with my 
 father and others who were interested. I think 
 I see Hugo before me now, almost motionless 
 at his absorbing task ; so calm, indeed, that but 
 for the perspiration that sometimes glistened on 
 his broad white forehead, a looker-on might 
 have supposed his mind to be as passive as his 
 frame. In quick succession he mastered all 
 his trials, and towards the close of the exami- 
 nation but one competitor remained ; a boy of 
 patient and untiring industry, the son of our 
 village curate. The prize of the day had been 
 a life-long object of ambition to him and to a 
 father who had been his only tutor ; for many a 
 year the poor churchman had toiled to qualify 
 his child for an honour that secured to him not 
 only distinction but independence. The trial 
 had hitherto proved how ably, as well as 
 earnestly, the effort had been made, for his son 
 had obtained equal marks with my far more
 
 24 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 gifted brother. One subject alone remained to 
 decide the victory between the two young rivals. 
 Hugo carried away by the spirit of emulation, 
 was unconscious of everything but his ap- 
 proaching triumph ; a glance at the papers was 
 sufficient to assure him ; he raised his eyes to 
 where we sat ; they met my father's gaze, and, 
 in a moment, communicated this proud confi- 
 dence. But at the same moment, Hugo 
 observed the poor curate's anxious eyes making 
 the same inquiries of his son's countenance ; 
 they read no hope in the boy's embarrassed and 
 careworn aspect. Hugo could see the old man's 
 colour mount to his forehead, and then leave it 
 deadly pale ; his form was bent downward, and 
 his long lean fingers convulsively twined in one 
 another. 
 
 To be brief, the Examiner approached ; the 
 curate's son faltered through a few imperfect 
 answers and was silent. Then came Hugo's 
 turn. I was accustomed to read his thoughts 
 in his transparent countenance, and I was not 
 surprised to see a shade of generous sorrow for a 
 moment struggling with a bright unconscious 
 smile. He answered the first question as I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 25 
 
 expected, promptly and lucidly, but then he 
 became embarrassed, faltering and — silent. 
 Finally, and with evident reluctance, the 
 Examiner pronounced him beaten, and the next 
 moment, forgetful of all ceremony, the curate 
 clasped his son to his sobbing, but exulting 
 heart. 
 
 At first my father's face flushed with bitter, 
 if not angry disappointment ; but he soon 
 read something in Hugo's look that changed 
 his mood. " I see it all, my generous boy," he 
 whispered, as he pressed the young scholar's 
 hand ; " I see it all, and I thank you from 
 my soul for the decision that you made ; one 
 such victory over yourself is worth a thousand 
 over others." Hugo returned the pressure of his 
 father's hand, but, from that time forth, no 
 word or sign escaped him that could tarnish his 
 young rival's triumph. 
 
 I select this circumstance from a thousand 
 others equally characteristic of my brother, 
 rather because it recalls a happy period of 
 our lives, than because it is remarkable in 
 itself. During the autumn following this
 
 26 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 examination — three years before the war broke 
 out — Hugo and I were both at home. Every 
 life, as well as every nation, seems to have its 
 Augustan era — and this was ours. Everything 
 seemed to prosper with us, and to promise a 
 long continuance of happiness. My mother's 
 health, that had long been delicate, now seemed 
 to rally ; the King appeared inclined to wiser 
 councils, and had consented to call a Parlia- 
 ment ; the harvest promised an abundant yield, 
 and the nation's pulse beat prosperously high. 
 Then was my father a proud as well as a 
 happy man, with his two sons, whose only 
 rivalry was displayed in pleasing him. The 
 danger that he had long apprehended for the 
 throne appeared averted ; he had sanguine 
 hopes of the new Parliament, to which he had 
 succeeded in returning his best friend as member 
 for the county. 
 
 I must confess, however, that few of these 
 higher considerations had much weight with 
 Hugo and myself in those days. We were in 
 the glorious morning of life, whose sunshine 
 turns every object into gold ; what imagination
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 27 
 
 painted, hope strove to realize, and made 
 amends for every failure by raising new illusions. 
 Independently, too, of all the pleasures that 
 are common to every young and healthy boy, 
 we had almost every indulgence that could 
 render our lives a holiday. My father, as fond 
 of field-sports as ourselves, took pleasure in 
 providing us with the best horses, the keenest 
 falcons, the staunchest hounds, the steadiest 
 dogs. As an old soldier, he took pride in 
 seeing us the surest shots, the best fencers, 
 and the boldest riders in all the country's side. 
 He was a zealous supporter of village sports, 
 moreover, and all neighbourly meetings, and 
 we thus became early acquainted with all our 
 countryfolk. Among these there were few who 
 belonged to our own station in life, but those 
 two who alone possessed deep interest for us 
 would have concentrated our affection if the 
 world had been their rivals. 
 
 Our nearest neighbour was Sir Janus 
 Demiroy, one of King James's newly-invented 
 baronets, the purchase of whose titles an old 
 knight pronounced to be " the very simony of 
 honour." The father of Sir Janus, a wealthy
 
 28 REGINALD HASTINGS 
 
 goldsmith of London, had purchased a large 
 property, only separated from ours by a river 
 that opened on the sea. The residence of the 
 Demiroys was scarcely half-a-mile from Beau- 
 manoir at low tide, when the boundary river 
 could be crossed by means of stepping-stones. 
 This residence was very characteristic of its 
 owner, the nearest desire of whose heart was 
 to be on good terms with both King and 
 Demagogue. It had changed its name with 
 its appearance, and was now called Castle 
 Bifrons, in place of the good old Elizabethan 
 manor-house of Saxonbury. 
 
 Sir Janus had begun to build during the 
 palmy and unquestioned days of royalty, and 
 Inigo Jones had been encouraged to lavish on 
 the southern front the most graceful and noble 
 resources of his art ; loyal emblems were pro- 
 fusely distributed among the decorations, 
 nourishing round the family crest, a chameleon. 
 A broad terrace, spreading to the sun, gave the 
 mansion a very courtly air : two long strips of a 
 very gay garden ran along beneath this terrace, 
 and were flanked by plantations of thick laurel. 
 Over this favoured space, flocks of pigeons were
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 29 
 
 constantly careering, and pompous peacocks 
 strutted below as if it was their own domain. 
 
 The northern front, however, of Castle Bifrons 
 had been completed after the new power of the 
 Puritans had displayed itself, and no contrast 
 could be stronger than that exhibited between 
 this recent building and the former one. It 
 consisted indeed of nothing but a flat brick 
 face, parsimoniously pierced with narrow win- 
 dows, not an ornament, not even a mullion, 
 could be there detected. In front of it was a 
 square space of close-cropped turf, surrounded, as 
 by a wall, with tall stiff dark trees ; and varied 
 only by formal gravel walks. The sun never 
 shone upon the high and narrow hall door that 
 opened out upon these solemn precincts, and 
 there was never seen a living thing that could 
 regret his absence. No bird was ever known 
 to sing, or grasshopper to chirp there : some 
 dismal old rooks, with a few pensive owls and 
 bats, were the only creatures that voluntarily 
 addicted themselves to what Sir Janus con- 
 sidered the true Puritanical taste in architec- 
 ture and landscape gardening. 
 
 Sir Janus would fain have passed his life in
 
 30 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 peace and quietness in some central apartment, 
 standing neutral between these two discordant 
 aspects of his mansion. But in his anxiety to 
 avoid giving offence to either party, he found 
 himself encumbered with many difficulties. 
 His Cavalier acquaintances were necessarily 
 welcomed for the sake of old times that 
 might return ; the Puritan for the sake of 
 new times that might continue. When the 
 former arrived, they were directed by the lodge- 
 keeper to take the southern approach; when 
 the latter appeared, they were requested to 
 take the northern. At the south front, Lady 
 Demiroy arrayed in rich taffeta and starched 
 lace was waiting to do the honours of the 
 castle ; at the north, Sir Janus, dressed in drab 
 garments of the plainest form, received his 
 guests meekly as one who desired to be all 
 things unto all men. That desirable object 
 was becoming daily more difficult, however ; so 
 that the Baronet had at length relieved himself 
 a little by leaning towards the Puritans. He 
 felt safer in doing so, as he was married to the 
 sister of a zealous royalist ; and this clever lady 
 made the most of her brother's politics in the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 31 
 
 presence of the King's supporters, though always 
 (theoretically) open to conviction when any 
 important Puritan attempted her conversion. 
 Her Ladyship had, in short, adopted the politics 
 of Sir Janus, and the household only seemed to 
 he divided against itself in order that it might 
 stand, whatever were the storms of the state. 
 
 This well-suited couple, so wise in their 
 generation, had but two children, and these 
 were fortunately daughters. A son might, 
 perhaps, by some bias of his own, have 
 inconvenienced the family politics, and destroyed 
 the trim of the vessel which the parents 
 laboured so assiduously to preserve. But 
 daughters had no right to exercise independent 
 opinions, even if they possessed any.
 
 32 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 One came with light and laughing air, 
 And cheeke like opening blossome ; 
 
 Bright gemmes were twined amid her haire, 
 And glittered on her bosome ; 
 
 And gold and costlie Jewells deck 
 
 Her round white arms and snowy neck, 
 
 And pride and joy are in her eye, 
 
 And mortalls bowed as she past bye. 
 
 Another came ; o'er her milde face 
 
 A pensive shade wa s stealing, 
 Yet there no grief of earth wee trace, 
 
 But that deep holie feeling 
 That mourns the harte should ever straye 
 From the pure fount of truth awaye, 
 And hope and faith were in her eye, 
 And angells bowed as she passed bye. 
 
 Zillah and Phoebe Demiroy were just emerg- 
 ing from woman's brief childhood at the time
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 33 
 
 of which I speak. They had slept in the same 
 cradle, been lulled to sleep by the same songs, 
 played the same plays under the shadow of 
 the same old trees, yet were they different as 
 night from morning. Every hour in develop- 
 ing the features of the mind and body, rendered 
 the increasing contrast between them more 
 striking. Zillah had all the deep and solemn 
 beauty of the former ; Phoebe, all the hopeful 
 bloom and joyous brightness of the latter. My 
 brother and I had grown up in almost daily 
 intercourse with these fair girls. Without linger- 
 ing on our childhood's experiences, I shall only 
 say that when our ripening years gave form and 
 strength to our passions, we loved our young 
 companions with an entire affection. If I dare 
 speak for them, I should say that they then 
 felt almost as much for us. They had found 
 in us, in our anxious services, in our proud 
 protection, all the requirements of brothers ; and 
 we were indebted to them for the social refine- 
 ment and instinct of courtesy that usually sisters 
 alone can teach, or unconsciously inspire. The 
 progress of my affection would be as difficult to 
 trace as the ripening of the bud through blos- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 som and flower to the tempting fruit. But 
 ever, as that fruit became more exquisitely de- 
 sirable, it seemed also to become more distant 
 and unattainable : it is the nature of enthusi- 
 astic youth to stand in awe of imaginary diffi- 
 culties, while those that are real, it proudly 
 tramples under foot and scorns. Thus there 
 was nothing in my position with respect to 
 Zillah, but Zillah's self that was likely to prove 
 an obstacle to my highest hopes, and I no 
 more doubted her love than I did mine own. 
 
 Nevertheless, there was something in her 
 look and manner that struck me — almost with 
 awe. Even in childhood, her aspect had always 
 worn a certain mournful expression that seemed 
 to plead for sympathy with her imaginary 
 sorrow. As she grew older, whether some real 
 sorrow, or the mystic and religious studies to 
 which she was then devoted, had increased her 
 melancholy ; she became daily more thoughtful 
 and retired, and even Phoebe complained that 
 she w r as changed. I often then wished that 
 I could have assumed Hugo's pensive and ima- 
 ginative character, as being more consonant to 
 hers, but perhaps I was mistaken. When the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 35 
 
 merry and bright-minded Phoebe gave that pre- 
 ference to my thoughtful and poetical brother, 
 which her more imaginative sister gave to me, 
 perhaps each found a truer sympathy than the 
 superficial eye of strangers could detect. 
 
 I was full of faults and errors, which an 
 impetuous character, and too unrestrained an 
 education had made rampant over some honest 
 but humble qualities of good. Zillah seemed to 
 feel that she had a mission to convert and en- 
 noble my rugged nature, and in our early years 
 she strove to read, and watched earnestly over 
 my wayward heart ; when it became her own, 
 she perhaps shrank from the difficulty of what 
 was then self-knowledge. 
 
 At all events, she gradually estranged herself 
 from an intimacy which to me seemed as neces- 
 sary as the air I breathed. When I was in her 
 company, she no longer extended to me the 
 timid but affectionate confidence that I had 
 shared so long. Ensconced behind her em- 
 broidered frame, or apparently studying some 
 gloomy volume of Genevese binding, she only- 
 spoke to me from time to time as to a mere 
 
 visitor, and then relapsed into silence. The sole 
 
 d 2
 
 36 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 indemnification, if I can call it so, that I received 
 for this sad change was, that it seemed to be 
 accompanied by a sense of self-sacrifice. Calm 
 and motionless as she sat, my eager eye could 
 detect the throbbing of her heart when I ap- 
 proached her, and when some chance expression 
 or sudden exclamation induced her for a mo- 
 ment to raise her eyes, their glorious light was 
 often half quenched in tears. 
 
 I was no sentimentalist then, whatever I may 
 be now. If anything of that nature is discover- 
 able in my story, it has been acquired in scenes 
 where most men lose any that they once pos- 
 sessed ; in wars and trials, and suffering and 
 sorrows, that have inspired me with some doubt 
 as to what is truly real or ideal in this world of 
 strange illusions. I was no sentimentalist, at 
 all events, at the time I write of, but a down- 
 right, wilful, impetuous boy, to whom it seemed 
 that all things must perforce yield, as my 
 horses and even my schoolfellows had done ; 
 nay, even the stormy sea that foamed along our 
 iron bound coast had failed to conquer me, and 
 in more than one stout struggle for my life had 
 been compelled to bear me safely to the shore.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 37 
 
 With my boyish love had grown up a fierce 
 ambition to win a. name and fame by any 
 means, that could render me worthy of her, 
 a girl of sixteen, before whom her aspiring 
 knight now stood shame-faced, and embarrassed 
 by her embarrassment. 
 
 Each time that I left Zillah's presence, I 
 resolved to ask for an explanation the next time 
 that she was alone ; but that was seldom now. 
 I did not indeed feel restraint from the presence 
 of Hugo and Phcebe, who were generally 
 seated together in some deep set window niche ; 
 and there the merry maiden would sometimes 
 be won to momentary silence by some of his 
 strange stories ; or the sound of his voice 
 would be broken into fragments by her laughter ; 
 or some poem, as rapidly as uttered, would be 
 travestied by her in whose praises it had been 
 carefully composed. But such company as these 
 happy creatures afforded, seemed no longer to 
 suffice to Zillah. If her mother was not pre- 
 sent, either her Ladyship's chaplain, or the dark- 
 browed Puritan, who filled the same (honorary) 
 office for Sir Janus — was surely there. Some- 
 times, however, I must confess that one or all 
 of these were sufficiently distant to afford a
 
 38 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 temporary privacy ; but then ZiHah's quick 
 perception anticipated my intention, and by 
 some quiet but ingenious words, and still 
 more by a look of irresistible appeal, she would 
 again defeat my boyish resolution. 
 
 One pure taste of happiness in her love I 
 experienced, and that was about a year before 
 my story formally opens. We had merged so 
 imperceptibly from childhood into youth, that 
 no restriction upon our intimacy had even sug- 
 gested itself. Our leisure hours were still passed 
 together ; and, hawking or hunting, or strolling 
 by the sea- shore, the delicate, but noble form 
 of Zillah could seldom be seen unattended by 
 a tall, strong, active stripling, whose earnest 
 eyes watched every glance of hers, whose eager 
 ears drank in the sound of every word she 
 uttered. Yes ! those were supremely happy 
 days, in which I wandered by my Zillah's side, 
 brightened with the glorious dawn of youth, and 
 love, and hope; and listening with smiling 
 incredulity to her grave warnings, that this was 
 a world of trial, not of indulgence or reward. 
 
 " And if storms should close over the sum- 
 mer of our life," I said to her one evening, 
 as we wandered by the sea-shore, " they will
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 39 
 
 but ennoble and dignify our career, when bravely 
 borne. One short hour ago, yon sea was calm 
 as thy heart, shining and azure as thine eyes ; 
 now that the sudden gale has changed it into a 
 passion of foam and purple, it is grander and 
 more glorious, if less lovely than before.' ' 
 
 " And behold the consequence !" cried Zillah, 
 clasping her hands in dread, but still clinging to 
 her argument. 
 
 As she spoke, I saw a tall ship unmanageably 
 flying before the wind, her torn sails streamed 
 wildly in the blast; and then, soon after, she 
 became visible above the waves, she struck upon 
 the sands. The wind, blowing right on shore 
 brought to our ears the hoarse commands of 
 the stout captain, the shrieks of women, the 
 confused and struggling sounds of hardy men 
 struggling for their lives. Two boats were 
 hastily lowered, filled with living beings, and 
 almost instantly overwhelmed. Still the waves 
 ran higher, and seemed more ravenous for their 
 prey as the good ship stood at bay, and bravely, 
 for awhile, resisted every wave. At length 
 there was a momentary lull, and then a wilder 
 gush of wind and waters. The sea foamed
 
 40 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 high over the tall spars, and as it swept along 
 left not a trace behind it. 
 
 "When the ship first burst on our view so 
 suddenly, I stood rivetted by surprise, and still 
 more by the pressure of Zillah's hand upon my 
 arm. But I soon flung off my cloak, and 
 rushed to a small boat that lay sheltered in 
 a creek of calm water within the promontory. 
 Hugo then came up and eagerly assisted me, 
 but I would not permit him to venture with me 
 into such a surf: brave as a lion in all other 
 circumstances, he had always had a horror of 
 the sea, and had never learned to swim : it was 
 my favourite recreation, and the waves had 
 been my choice playmates almost from infancy. 
 By the time we had got the boat ready, pieces 
 of the ship and more than one lifeless and 
 mangled form had been dashed in upon the 
 shore adjoining to where the little boat still lay, 
 scarcely rocked by the eddy of the waters that 
 raged so fiercely a few yards off. As I was 
 about to leap from the shore, Zillah, for a 
 moment, held me back, but quickly recovering 
 herself, exclaimed, 
 
 "Then go ! you would never forgive me if I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 41 
 
 stayed you. May He — " the rest of her voice 
 was drowned by the wind that now roared 
 wildly; the waves foamed high and redly in 
 the sun's last rays, and a ghastly and bruised 
 body came rolling into the calm water as if 
 to rest — " I may soon lie like that !" was a 
 thought that rushed through my mind, and 
 through Zillah's too, I thought, for as I pressed 
 her to my heart, I could feel hers beating wildly, 
 and she scarcely strove to free herself from my 
 ecstatic embrace: then she shrank back, and 
 I leaped on board the boat, nerved with super- 
 natural strength, and shoved away. Away ! 
 among the breakers, and the little craft raised 
 its bows to meet and mount an overwhelming 
 wave ; with a strong sweep of the oars I urged 
 her over, or rather through the curling surge, 
 and shot down the slope of waters beyond ; the 
 next wave nearly turned the boat over, and the 
 third fairly swamped her. 
 
 I was defeated in my hopes of reaching the 
 wreck, but I saw near me a young figure 
 striking out bravely, though evidently failing 
 fast — another languid struggle, and he sank, 
 swept beneath the horrible waves by the under- 
 tow. I plunged from the light I scarce hoped
 
 42 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 to see again, and caught the now lifeless form ; 
 then rose upon a breaking wave, and struck 
 out desperately for the shore. Again, and 
 again, I was dragged back by the resistless force 
 of the surf, and almost drowned by the boiling 
 spray ; but the thought that Zillah was looking 
 on, that Zillah was there to welcome me, nerved 
 me for every fresh attempt — and at length I 
 conquered — one long sweeping wave bore me 
 onward on its crest, and then dashed me with 
 my prize upon the beach. Stunned by the 
 shock, I could yet feel myself dragged backwards 
 by the returning stream as I lost all power to 
 resist it. But Hugo, though he could not 
 swim, rushed into the water, and seized me; I 
 was saved, and my prize, in whose hair my 
 grasp had fastened with drowning tenacity, was 
 also rescued from destruction. 
 
 By this time numbers of people had arrived 
 from the village; they did what they could 
 to be of service to the crew of the lost ship ; but 
 their care was vain. For hours and days corpse 
 after corpse continued to be washed upon the 
 coast, but mine was the only stranger saved 
 alive. 
 
 Meanwhile, I had lain with my unconscious
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 43 
 
 head on Zillah's knee, while she chafed my tem- 
 ples with her delicate hands : the first conscious- 
 ness of returning life I felt was that of her soft 
 warm tears upon my cheek. I would not 
 waken from that happy trance, until I saw poor 
 Hugo's face bent over mine in agonized sus- 
 pense, and then I started up, and in a few 
 minutes was myself again. But Zillah and 
 Phoebe (who was there too) were hastened 
 away by fears of alarming the castle, for it 
 was now late : as Zillah turned away, her 
 parting glance stirred my heart with the almost 
 only proud pleasure it was destined to receive. 
 
 Although much bruised, the poor fellow I 
 had dragged ashore was little injured, and after 
 a night's rest was able to render an account of 
 himself. He was an orphan, he believed ; born, 
 as well as he knew, in Ireland ; of his parents 
 he knew almost nothing, but he maintained that 
 his father had been some Irish king. He him- 
 self had been lost or stolen when an infant, and 
 brought up by pirates, whose vessel some years 
 after had been captured by a royal frigate. The 
 pirates had been all hanged or transported to 
 the settlements, and Bryan, as my protege 
 called himself, had been adopted by the captain
 
 44 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 of the ship that took the pirates. He had 
 followed his new friend ashore, been educated as 
 one of his family, and, with the exception of an 
 Irish accent and style of expression, he might, at 
 this time, have passed for a most intelligent 
 English school-boy. His friend, the captain, 
 dying, he was cast upon the world, and had 
 entered the ill-fated ship as a passenger, to work 
 his way from Hull to the new settlements in 
 America. For the first day they had had fine 
 weather ; the next, whilst running along the 
 coast, under a press of sail, they had been 
 overtaken by the sudden storm, capsized, driven 
 ashore, and Bryan remained the only survivor 
 out of a crew of twenty sailors, besides many 
 passengers. 
 
 For the first few days after his deliverance, 
 the poor boy seemed appalled and saddened by 
 the scenes he had witnessed, but his buoyant 
 spirit soon rose above all care, and when he 
 found himself instslled as my page, his delight 
 knew no bounds, and he swore by some comical 
 oath that " the storm was one of the best friends 
 he had." From that time forward he was the 
 most faithful follower that ever served for 
 gratitude. Whatever were my pursuits, ha
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 45 
 
 adapted himself to them with wonderful versa- 
 tility, and on the mountain, hy the stream, in 
 the hall, or by the covert, he was ever at my 
 side, with a watchfulness that nothing could 
 escape, and an activity that no exertion could 
 fatigue. 
 
 And, meanwhile, where was Zillah ? The 
 day after the shipwreck, she had left the Castle 
 to visit Colonel Hutchinson's family in Not- 
 tinghamshire, and I soon afterwards went to 
 London on business of my father's. For some 
 reason, he never went thither himself. When 
 I returned home, Zillah was also returned to 
 the castle, but her absence had wrought in 
 her a further change. She had become more 
 thoughtful than ever, and whether it was some 
 maidenly fancy of having shown too deep an 
 interest in my escape, or that some other sub- 
 ject now occupied her thoughts, I know not. 
 She had been always unlike other girls of her 
 age: — was that provoking, yet interesting origin- 
 ality to increase with her years !
 
 46 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Methought the billows spoke and told me of it : 
 The winds did sing it to me. 
 
 SHAKESPERE. 
 
 One memorable day — the last of my bright, 
 joyous, thoughtless youth — I went with Hug 
 to the castle to take my leave, previous to an 
 absence of some months ; the next morning, I 
 was to return to the University. A bright 
 and beautiful day it was. Autumnal tints were 
 already scattered among the woods on the 
 promontory. The river sparkled brightly 
 among the green meadows, and the sands, left 
 naked by the tide, shone like embossed gold. 
 Owing to the steepness of the valley that 
 divides our grounds from those of the castle, 
 the easiest way to the latter lay along the 
 sands, over which a dry passage was afforded
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 47 
 
 by a long line of massive stepping-stones, 
 through which the river flowed. This passage 
 was only interrupted at high tide, but that 
 tide came in so suddenly (as at the neigh- 
 bouring "Wash" of Lincoln) that no human 
 step could evade it if once overtaken. There 
 was, however, but little use made of the 
 passage, and its danger was only traditionary ; 
 the last accident having happened a long while 
 ago. 
 
 Thither we now bent our steps. My mother 
 and her little child had accompanied us as 
 far as her strength permitted, and when she 
 left us to return, Hugo begged hard to have 
 his little playfellow to take with him. I have 
 already noticed the delight he took in the 
 company of this child, who returned all his 
 affection in his own silent little way, and now 
 eagerly extended his arms to be taken up. My 
 mother reluctantly assented to Hugo's wish, 
 and he bore off his prize in triumph, enter- 
 taining him with snatches of old songs, to 
 which his charge kept time with his hands, and 
 uttered every now and then shrill musical cries 
 of pleasure.
 
 48 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 So we went buoyantly along. For the 
 twentieth time, I was determined to have an 
 explanation with Zillah, which, when I re- 
 called all the scenes of our sweet childhood, 
 I could not doubt would prove all that J 
 desired. I was on the point of leaving 
 her and home ; but youthful hope and aspiration 
 made the prospect of a new career delightful, 
 and bore me forward to the hope of a happy 
 meeting soon. Even if I had been inclined 
 to despondency, however, the merry laughter of 
 the child, and Hugo's exuberant spirit would 
 have forced me to be cheerful. There was no 
 happier brotherhood in merry England on that 
 fine morning. 
 
 As we passed the stepping-stones, Hugo 
 walked some paces on the dry sands to col- 
 lect shells for his little playfellow, and I 
 believe he would have stayed there, but for 
 my eagerness to reach the castle. At length 
 I persuaded him to leave the shore, and 
 we reached our destination without any in- 
 cident. 
 
 We found Zillah and Phoebe in the library, 
 alone ; but for the Puritan, who was occupied
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 49 
 
 in a corner with a book. We were welcomed 
 eagerly by Phcebe, and kindly, but calmly, by 
 her sister. They had seen us from the window 
 crossing over the sands, and Phcebe took her 
 young lover to task for having lingered by 
 the way. Hugo pleaded the child's pleasure 
 as his excuse, and as its soft little fingers were 
 now twined in her long ringlets, and its 
 little rosy lips w r ere eloquent with its own 
 inarticulate language, its plea as well as Hugo's 
 w T as allowed. 
 
 " And now," said the latter, " I must not 
 stay. I have promised my mother to restore 
 her treasure within an hour, and she is coming 
 down to the sands to meet us ; so good 
 bye !" 
 
 I scarcely observed his departure. I was 
 absorbed in watching Zillah, who sat at her 
 embroidery frame more pale than ever, and, 
 if possible, more silent. I have but a confused 
 idea of what passed ; I moved about the room 
 irresolutely. I approached her several times, 
 and as often retreated. I asked Phcebe some 
 question, and, without waiting for her answer, 
 proposed the . same question to her sister. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 She replied without raising her eyes from 
 her work, and I almost felt a sensation of 
 anger and impatience towards her. I was 
 resolved to take advantage of the temporary 
 strength of mind that feeling gave, and I ap- 
 proached to take my leave. Her hand trembled, 
 I believe, for part of the embroidery frame, at 
 which she was working, fell to the ground ; 
 in endeavouring to pick it up, our hands met ; 
 it was the first time for months. That soft, 
 warm touch in a moment dissolved the spell 
 that bound me. I grasped her hand passion- 
 ately, and, in a tone that sounded strange to my 
 own ears, exclaimed : 
 
 " Zillah, for once and for ever tell me — " 
 The fall of a ponderous volume, and a step 
 close behind her, made the trembling girl start 
 from her chair and look round. The Puritan 
 chaplain turned at the same moment, as if to 
 apologize for his inadvertence ; but, as he 
 stooped to pick up his accursed book, I thought 
 I read an expression of stern, but momentary 
 reproof in his dark and fiery eyes. Zillah, 
 however, took no notice, or seemed to take 
 none, of him, or of the circumstance that had
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 51 
 
 caused his interruption. She rose from her 
 chair, asked me some common-place question 
 ahout the time of my departure, wished me 
 kindly farewell, and glided from the room. 
 
 I was left alone with the Puritan, who 
 appeared so absorbed in the examination of the 
 book-shelf, that not a symptom of any other 
 thought was visible on his pale, impassive 
 countenance. I had never seen one of his 
 class so near before, and I now gazed upon 
 him with a mixture of curiosity, jealousy, and 
 indignation. He had been one of those church- 
 men who preached against the Church, at least, 
 against what Archbishop Laud conceived to be 
 the true church doctrines. He had been 
 expelled from his living on this account, and 
 forbidden to preach in England under heavy 
 penalties. Sir Janus, therefore, had offered 
 him an asylum, moved to that act of generosity, 
 not only by observing that popular feeling was 
 much excited in the schismatic's favour, but in 
 consonance with his own new reforming ar- 
 rangements. His high-church chaplain re- 
 quired some equipoise, and Hezekiah Doom was 
 installed in the office of French preceptor to 
 
 E 2
 
 52 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the young ladies of Castle Bifrons. For this 
 office, a long residence at Geneva had qualified 
 the divine, and the rarity of his accomplishment 
 accounted for the conduct of Sir Janus in the 
 eyes of most royalists. 
 
 Not so, however, in the eyes of Mistress 
 Phoebe : she hated or adored every living 
 creature that came within the ken of her 
 ardent spirit, with a sincerity very trying to her 
 parent. Phcebe held the King in enthusiastic 
 reverence, and proportionably detested the 
 Puritans, and every man, or measure, that was 
 opposed to the royal will. The Rev. Mr. Doom 
 was her especial object of dislike; not only 
 because he was in her eyes a downright rebel, 
 and little better than a heretic, but because he 
 was a sort of rival to her dear old chaplain, 
 who had christened and catechized, comforted, 
 and counselled her in all the little sorrows, and 
 difficulties that her young life had ever known. 
 Hugo, of course, had been inoculated with 
 Phoebe's distaste for the Puritan teacher, and 
 had pictured him, in his imagination, as a 
 mixture of Calvinist, Jesuit, and devil. 
 
 The little that I had heard of the divine was,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 53 
 
 accordingly, not much to his advantage, but I 
 was forced to confess that his appearance 
 impressed me favourably, even at the moment 
 of my angry disappointment. If his frame 
 wanted elasticity, it was nobly formed, and the 
 energy that ought to have animated it seemed 
 not dead, but dormant : the stoop so habitual 
 to students, diminished his apparent height, yet 
 he bore himself bravely, as one who had re- 
 sisted and dared much, and would have done 
 so, even at the martyr's stake. His dress was 
 of the sternest simplicity, and suited well with 
 the ascetic character of his countenance : the 
 blackness of his long, lank hair made that of 
 his coat look faded, and gave strong effect to 
 the marble whiteness of his high forehead. 
 His other features were well formed and at- 
 tractive, notwithstanding their severity ; but his 
 eyes were peculiarly remarkable, and the most 
 distinguishing features of his face. I can only 
 describe them as being lurid, a strange mixture 
 of gloom and fire that defied every attempt to 
 detect their colour. 
 
 All these observations I made afterwards ;
 
 54 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 for the moment, I only darted on my disturber 
 an indignant glance, which produced no more 
 effect than lightning upon ice. Some words, 
 very different from a benediction, had almost 
 escaped me, but they were checked, half ut- 
 tered, by the meekness of the man, and by my , 
 consciousness of his inability to resent them. 
 I turned on my heel, and moved towards 
 Phcebe, who had retired to another window 
 from that at which Hugo left her. 
 
 "There," she exclaimed, with pouting lips, 
 " there is that ungentle brother, so hasty to be 
 gone from here ; and he no sooner reached the 
 sands than he sat down to play with that little 
 darling child that he loves a thousand times 
 better than he does me — after all !" 
 
 " Nay," said I, " my sweet Phcebe, " you 
 know how prone he is to self-sacrifice, and it 
 was only to keep his word with my poor 
 mother that he tore himself away ; he was 
 to await her at the shore. Would that I 
 had only such cause of complaint against — " 
 I was interrupted by a fearful cry from the 
 Puritan.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 55 
 
 " God of my fathers — the tide !" he ex- 
 claimed, as he sprang out of the window upon 
 the lawn, and darted away towards the fatal 
 passage with lightning speed. 
 
 What was his speed to mine, when I beheld 
 the fearful sight that had so moved him ! The 
 tide was pouring in breast high, and had al- 
 ready filled both channels on either side of the 
 bank where Hugo had been lying in fatal secu- 
 rity ; the sea was perfectly, awfully calm — only 
 a slight foam crested the oncoming and gigantic 
 wave that had not time to fall, so swiftly was 
 it rushing. For a moment I saw my loved 
 brother start to his feet ; he held the child high 
 in air with one hand, and with the other he 
 seemed instinctively to try to stem the tide. 
 Fearful picture of weakness against omnipo- 
 tence ! it lasted but one second : then, the high 
 wave rolled on, and left behind it a calm, deep 
 silvery channel, beneath whose unbroken surface 
 my brothers lay whelmed. A spasm of pain 
 for an instant prostrated my strength, but its 
 revulsion swelled my heart with the strength 
 and daring of a thousand men. Bounding away
 
 56 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 over turf and fence and crags, I felt as if borne 
 through the air ; it was but a quarter of a mile 
 to what was now the sea, and in less time than 
 it takes to tell it, I had plunged beneath the 
 surface. My strength and powers seemed mul- 
 tiplied supernaturally, I shot through the waters 
 by mere volition, and my eyes detected every 
 object on the sands. But once I raised my 
 head, to measure the distance from the shore, 
 and then again diving, I beheld a sight that 
 will never, never leave my memory. 
 
 Hugo's body lay stretched among some 
 rocks, half mantled with sea-weed, from which 
 his arms emerged, stretched towards the child 
 that seemed just torn from his grasp : its poor 
 little body lay, as if softly sleeping, upon the 
 smooth yellow sands, its little hands extended 
 towards the bright world above, from which it 
 had been snatched so suddenly. For a moment 
 I hovered in suspense over those two forms, 
 and then, in pity to poor Hugo, judging for 
 him by myself, I first caught the child in my 
 arms, rose to the surface, and struck out for 
 the shore with desperate energy.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 57 
 
 " If the child be dead," I thought, " of what 
 good will Hugo's life be to him !" I reached 
 the land, there were already people there — my 
 mother too, but she had fainted. 
 
 " He may live yet, my blessed baby !" ex- 
 claimed the poor child's nurse, as I placed his 
 little body in her arms. 
 
 I waited for no more. " Thank God !" I 
 shouted wildly, as again I plunged into the 
 sea, and struck out for Hugo's cold resting 
 place ; but I was too late. My hope had been 
 anticipated ; the Puritan, though outstripped, 
 had followed me closely, even when I dived, 
 and was already bearing my brother's body to 
 the shore. 
 
 I will not linger on the moments of ago- 
 nizing suspense that passed, while people strove 
 to resuscitate the tw T o rescued forms. I will 
 not attempt to describe my feelings, as I saw 
 a faint streak of colour dawn momentarily into 
 the child's white cheek, then vanish — and for 
 ever. 
 
 I will not dwell upon the recovery of Hugo, 
 so long protracted, so mournful. It takes but
 
 58 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 a few sad words to tell that the child was soon 
 joined in death by his broken-hearted mother : 
 when wrapt in her cold arms, within the self- 
 same shroud, the happy infant was laid beside 
 her in the grave.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 59 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I shall grieve down this blow. 
 
 Learn, good soul, 
 
 To think our former state a happy dream, 
 From which awakened, the truth of what we are 
 Shows us but this : I am sworn, sister, sweet. 
 
 SHAKESPERE. 
 
 Our house of mourning was fearfully changed 
 from the aspect in which it had lately pre- 
 sented itself. Hugo, so long its life and spirit, 
 now lay languishing in dangerous illness. I 
 too had suffered severely from my excitement on 
 the first day of our sorrow, and heen sick almost 
 to death. I believe it w T as fever that so pros- 
 trated me, and for many days shrouded me 
 from misery in insensibility. My father was 
 left alone to wander from one sick-bed to
 
 60 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 another, a mere ghost of his former self, through 
 the silent scenes of his departed happiness. 
 When, at length, Hugo and I were pronounced 
 out of danger and permitted to meet once more, 
 we seemed to awaken to another state of being. 
 We had left a world of happiness and hope : we 
 revived to one of misery. 
 
 There is no use in dwelling on sorrows that 
 if none can paint, none can comprehend but 
 those who have experienced them. These last 
 need no reminding of the change that comes 
 over us as regards all heaven and earth to the 
 bereaved mourner. " The soul refuses comfort," 
 which indeed is but a mockery when our whole 
 life seems darkened — when our sorrow seems 
 precious to us — and we clasp it to our hearts, as 
 the war-horse presses on the spear that pierced 
 him. 
 
 Hugo rose from his bed of sickness a mere 
 shadow of his former self. The fire from his 
 eye, the colour from his cheek, the elasticity 
 of his tread — all were gone. His form was 
 bent under the weight of grief; his voice 
 had lost its cheerful music, and sounded hollow 
 when he spoke. He seemed to wish only for 
 solitude, and would sit for hours in his lonely
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 61 
 
 chamber, gazing, with strange fascination, on the 
 fatal sea. 
 
 My poor father was still more changed, but 
 he strove bravely against despondency. He 
 thought it unmanly to yield beneath the pressure 
 of his calamity : he even bore himself with a 
 sad cheerfulness, especially in Hugo's presence, 
 and a stranger might have supposed that he 
 scarcely missed the wife of his bosom — the 
 child of his old age. 
 
 This did not last long, however ; his 
 affections were stronger than his pride or 
 his philosophy, and he began to give way 
 under his trial at the time when we almost 
 hoped he would have begun to recover from 
 its effects. The winter's chill fell heavily 
 on his weakened frame, and he was soon 
 confined altogether to his room ; not ailing, or 
 at least not complaining, but unnerved, and un- 
 happy, as he was wont to say, in his uselessness. 
 The daily progress of public events were also 
 such as to increase his despondency. The 
 long-hoped for parliament had met, and at 
 once assumed an attitude hostile to the King : 
 too hostile, in my father's opinion, though 
 their sense of public grievances, as they were
 
 62 REGINALD HASTINGS 
 
 cilled, was scarcely more acute or indignant 
 than his own. In one important aspect he 
 widely differed from the prevailing party : his 
 reverence for the person and the office of the 
 King was inviolable. 
 
 But before I enter into the stirring scenes 
 that so soon followed the dissolution of the 
 Short Parliament, I must return to the young 
 inmates of the castle, on whom our calamity 
 had fallen with little less severity than on 
 ourselves. Sir Janus and his wife were kind 
 rather than otherwise, and sympathized, after 
 their fashion, with our sorrow. At the same 
 hour precisely, every day, their messenger 
 arrived, " with their service, and to know 
 how it fared with all at the Manor ;" and once 
 a fortnight, a great coach, drawn by four stout 
 horses, dragged her ladyship to our door to 
 make the same inquiries in person. But she 
 was a notable housewife, and seldom stirred 
 from home, where the buttery and various 
 store-rooms, and every department within and 
 without the castle found her in constant 
 occupation. Sir Janus had been attending 
 parliament, the Puritan divine had disappeared 
 two days after his important and brave service
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 63 
 
 to us, and the young ladies were left almost 
 entirely to themselves and the old chaplain. But 
 for a long time I had seen nothing of them. 
 
 There is something in sorrow which sub- 
 limes our feelings ; crushing all the petty 
 interests and vain fancies that occupy our 
 lighter moments, and concentrating our thoughts 
 upon their higher aims. Our duties stand 
 out in bold and prominent relief, as our rootless 
 joys are withered from among them : even 
 love, if it be but a fancy, shares that fate; 
 but if a passion, it grows strong, and flourishes 
 in the absence or the silence of all others ; at 
 least I found it so. To Zillah alone my 
 thoughts ever wandered from my desolate 
 home, and found refuge, comfort, counsel, in 
 her imaginary presence. Her image had ever 
 been blended with all my prospects and am- 
 bition, and it now became identified with the 
 sorrow in which they were all absorbed. In 
 brighter days she had appeared to me as the 
 angel of chivalry ; she was now to me what 
 " Nuestra Sefiora de los Dolores" is to the 
 devout Spaniard. 
 
 My departure from home had of course
 
 64 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 been postponed, and several weeks had elapsed 
 before I ventured to leave poor Hugo's side. 
 My first excursion was to the castle. No 
 one could approach its gates without having 
 been perceived, and I was therefore surprised 
 to find Zillah alone. My surprise was in- 
 creased when she came forward to welcome 
 me, kindly and frankly, as in our earlier days. 
 She had evidently prepared herself to do so 
 with self-possession, but when my sorrow- 
 stricken and changed appearance struck her 
 view, she forgot all her determinations, 
 and, bursting into tears, she sank down 
 upon the window-seat, without attempting to 
 withdraw the hand so eagerly clasped by 
 mine. 
 
 It was long before I spoke, fearing to 
 break the spell that, for the moment, won 
 for me such sympathy. I could have gazed 
 for ever on her spiritual and sublime beauty — 
 a beauty that appealed not only to the senses 
 but the soul, and raised my admiration into 
 homage. Now she seemed lovelier than ever ; 
 the usually meek and unconscious expression 
 of her countenance was touched with tenderness,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 65 
 
 and betrayed feelings that could not and would 
 not altogether be subdued. Young and inex- 
 perienced as I was, I felt the importance of that 
 moment ; but I know not whether it was in- 
 stinct or despair that made me clasp the weep- 
 ing girl to my heart. I dare not say that she 
 lingered for a moment there, but certainly it was 
 not ungently that she freed herself, and assumed 
 an attitude of calm and unpretending dignity. I 
 anticipated her first words : I pleaded timidly 
 but passionately the revulsion of feelings, long 
 sorrow-stricken and suppressed, that had burst 
 from my control involuntarily, and thus revealed 
 themselves. 
 
 " Zillah !" I continued, " I know you well, 
 and I know that from this moment I must be 
 to you either a stranger, or that which I do 
 not dare to name, until I shall have proved 
 myself such as you shall never blush to own. 
 No boyish impulse dictates these proud words 
 and prouder hope; such as I am, you have 
 made me — such as I shall be, you w 7 ill have 
 caused me to become. You have been ever 
 my hope, my ambition, my inspiration : and 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 you must henceforth be my guardian angel or 
 destroyer." 
 
 I went on speaking rapidly, for I feared her 
 reply \ I recalled our childhood with all its 
 tender incidents ; I spoke of her changed man- 
 ner, and distant coldness, and even ventured to 
 recal the circumstances of the fearful day when 
 we had met last, and then, as I thought, had 
 separated for a long time to come. 
 
 While thus I indemnified myself for past 
 silence and restraint, Zillah stood with averted 
 face, leaning her forehead on her hand. When 
 at length I ceased, she looked round upon me 
 with a countenance from which every trace of 
 emotion had been banished, and with a some- 
 what tremulous voice that soon grew firm, she 
 replied, 
 
 " Reginald, my friend, my brother, — let me 
 still call you so — let me still think you so. You 
 see I am not angry with you : it was natural, 
 after your great sorrow, that you should feel 
 strong emotion in sharing a sister's sympathy, 
 and your ardent imagination has exaggerated 
 your kind thoughts of me —nay, has put upon 
 them a construction that you and I must both
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 6? 
 
 forget. — Do not interrupt me, I entreat you — 
 you know not how much it has cost me to 
 undergo this necessary interview before we part. 
 Yes ! we part, and as far as human judg- 
 ment can foretel, there will be trying times and 
 many changes ere we meet again — if ever that 
 may be. — I pray you, hear me patiently. — Your 
 long and loving kindness to me deserves my 
 confidence, and, painful as it may prove to 
 both of us, you shall hear the reasons of my 
 past and future conduct. I do not fear mis- 
 construction from you, or that you will think it 
 unmaidenly in one so young as I am to speak 
 to you with all the candour that your affection 
 for me deserves." 
 
 Thus far Zillah spoke firmly, as if it had been 
 a set task to her to do so. The modulations of 
 her musical voice, however, betrayed emotions 
 that their mere tenor contradicted ; so that, chilly 
 as were her words, their sound soothed me in 
 spite of the stern sense they were intended to 
 convey. 
 
 " Reginald," she continued, after a slight 
 pause, " you know my father's feelings, or rather 
 want of feelings, on the subject of the dissen- 
 
 F 2
 
 68 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 sions in Church and State that now agitate our 
 dear country. You know how you used to 
 laugh at me for being absorbed in strangely 
 grave books, instead of the gay stories that once 
 charmed you and Phoebe and us all, when we 
 used to sit together under the old beechen bower. 
 But somehow, when I was quite alone ; when — 
 when — you were away at school, and Phcebe 
 was occupied with her fairy-tales or music, and 
 my father with everything — except me — at 
 such times I used to find time hang so heavily 
 on my hands, that nothing but setting myself 
 a task could divert my dulness, or keep my 
 thoughts from wandering" — (here Zillah sighed, 
 but added quickly) — "from wandering un- 
 profitable. With this view, I possessed myself 
 of one of the controversies with which Sir 
 Janus endeavours to ' preserve himself from pre- 
 possession on either sides,' as he says ; I read 
 that book, at first patiently, then with interest, 
 and, finally, with eagerness. I fear," she added, 
 with a melancholy smile, " that in some things 
 I am carried away by my fancies as easily as 
 you are, and my first sympathies with the stern 
 and hi^h-souled Puritans were merely what I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 69 
 
 should have felt for heroes in our old romances. 
 I soon began to examine their tenets for my- 
 self, and the majestic simplicity of their spiritu- 
 alized form of faith and worship strongly im- 
 pressed my imagination. I compared their 
 political principles with those of which even I 
 had heard some complaint, and a veil seemed to 
 fall from my eyes. I saw our glorious country, 
 and its generous, manly people abandoned to the 
 despotic will of the bigot Laud, the renegado 
 Stafford, and a Machiavellian King. Nay, do 
 not start ; I only tell you what my prejudices 
 led me to believe. I inquired of Sir Janus, if 
 these things were true ; he told me, l that there 
 was a great deal to be said on both sides,' and 
 at last he decided that ' young maidens ought 
 not to occupy their heads with such matters.' 
 But it was my heart, and not my head that was 
 now interested ; the sublimity of the question, 
 as it seemed to me, fascinated my thoughts. 
 Why had I been taught to feel with Luther and 
 Calvin, if religious freedom was not the birth- 
 right of the soul ? Why had I learned to admire 
 the struggles of the Greek, and Roman, and the 
 Swiss, and the Palatines, if civil liberty was not
 
 70 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the first of earthly blessings ? Then Mr. Hamp- 
 den's cause came on : he appeared to me as the 
 Leonidas, or rather the Luther of the cause, for 
 which, like them, he seemed to be created, in 
 order to make the first great stand. In short, 
 you will be shocked, my brother; but I was 
 become what they would call a Puritan in re- 
 ligion, and a rebel in political belief. Yes ! but 
 it would little signify what a mere girl like me 
 thought of such things, but for the effect that 
 her belief produced upon her life, and perhaps 
 on that of others. 
 
 " You know how anxiously my father has 
 maintained his connection with our cousin 
 Hutchinsons, on account of their influence with 
 the new popular leaders ; you know how I used 
 to shrink from my yearly visit to them in Lon- 
 don, in their dark, dull street, while Phcebe 
 was delighted to find herself with our courtly 
 kinswoman, the Lady Carlisle. This last year, 
 however, I looked forward to London with interest 
 and pleasure. I longed ardently to see and hear 
 the great reformers, of whom I had thought so 
 much. Mr. Pym and Mr. Holies, nay, Mr. 
 Hampden himself, were often at my kinsman's
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 7l 
 
 house, and I hoped in such society to enlighten 
 my doubts, and inform my understanding. I 
 was disappointed ; I scarcely ever saw any of 
 these celebrated men, except for a moment. 
 They were always full of important affairs, and 
 closeted, when they came, with my uncle. 
 Many persons, also, who were said to belong to 
 the Court party, formed part of these assem- 
 blies, and amongst these was the wise and good 
 Lord Falkland. He seemed however, to my 
 great surprise, tolerated rather than liked by 
 the patriot party, and his attempts at general 
 reconciliation were but coldly received. When 
 this young lord was present, there were no 
 closetings, and I often sat unnoticed in the 
 room during his conversations with other guests. 
 One day he was speaking with great asperity 
 against the bishops, and he found on this sub- 
 ject a most willing audience. Mr. Pym, with 
 great ingenuity, contrived to lead him on in 
 argument, until at length he appeared to follow, 
 instead of leading, Lord Falkland in his eloquent 
 denunciation of Church tyranny. Amongst 
 others, he instanced the case of an able, upright, 
 and eloquent minister, who had been deprived,
 
 72 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 of his benefice, without a hearing, and then, 
 in a manner, outlawed by Archbishop Laud. 
 He spoke at such length of this persecuted 
 divine, that I became deeply interested in 
 his cause; I made many inquiries concerning 
 him afterwards. It ended in my writing to my 
 father, who never refused me a request. Lord 
 Falkland, also, at Mr. Hutchinson's request, 
 applied for him ; and it was nominally to oblige 
 the latter, that the Puritan, whom you have 
 seen and have reason to remember, was received 
 into this house." 
 
 During this long explanation, I had once or 
 twice attempted to interrupt the eloquent and 
 unconscious casuist. I was prevented, partly from 
 observing her evident anxiety to complete her 
 task, and partly through my bewilderment at 
 hearing such grave, and to me, distasteful and 
 dry subjects, so discoursed of by a young and 
 tender maiden. I could have listened, too, to 
 that dear voice with gladness and gratitude, 
 whatever was the subject, as long as its music 
 vouchsafed to flow. I almost forgot the strange 
 matter of her words in the pleasure of listening 
 to them ; and all that I remembered was some
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 73 
 
 curiously framed imaginative story, that with 
 pleasant originality selected Puritans and politics 
 as its theme. It was told with such artless truth, 
 with such a diffident yet candid confession of 
 what she called " heretical and rebellious" fancies, 
 that I felt my regret at these strange and deep 
 convictions more than repaid by the gratified 
 pride of being so trusted by her. 
 
 There was something, however, in the latter 
 part of her confessions that rather jarred upon 
 my ear, especially as her clear tones appeared to 
 falter as she spoke of the Puritan whom she 
 had so unaccountably taken under her protection. 
 It was not jealousy that I then felt flushing 
 through my cheek, but a sense of indignation 
 towards what I considered the designing arts 
 of a fanatic. I could not but suppose that he 
 had taken advantage of her girlish enthusiasm 
 in order to awaken as lively an interest in his 
 own behalf, and to exercise it in a manner not 
 altogether in accordance with my romantic ideas 
 concerning her refined and delicately sensitive 
 character. 
 
 Zillah observed the embarrassment of my 
 silence, and could note even the sense of my
 
 74 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 obligations to this man, which prevented me 
 from speaking of him in the round terms that 
 were ready to escape my lips ; then, as if to 
 relieve me, she continued, in a somewhat 
 saddened, but firm and almost proud tone : 
 
 " You seem, Reginald, to wonder at my 
 peculiar taste, perhaps at my rashness, in 
 involving myself in such studies and such 
 scenes. I almost share your surprise when I 
 look back upon the last twelvemonths ; but my 
 conduct, believe me, was not inspired by girlish 
 caprice or obstinacy. I seemed to myself to be 
 led by some high power along a path, which 
 was so uninviting, and which the more painful 
 it became, the more I felt called upon to tread — 
 like the devotees I have read of in Popish pil- 
 grimages." 
 
 " And this Puritan," said I, " this martyr, 
 did you, as a penance, admit him to your confi- 
 dence, and strengthen your convictions with his 
 impartial opinions ?" 
 
 Zillah looked at me with surprise, and then 
 gravely added : " I was too much disappointed 
 in the expectation I had formed of my intended 
 tutor to profit by his opinions in any way. I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 75 
 
 saw him for the first time here, on my return 
 from London, and I could scarcely believe that 
 such a young and comely person was the 
 reverend and out-worn looking man to whose 
 age and infirmities I flattered myself I had been 
 instrumental in affording refuge from his 
 enemies." 
 
 " A thousand thanks, dear Zillah, for your 
 candour ; while rapt in the pleasure of hearing 
 you, I have forgotten all the questions that your 
 words suggested. Answer me but this one : 
 why did you so estrange yourself from me, and 
 why — if I dare to ask without danger of renew- 
 ing it — have you now broken through that 
 estrangement ?" 
 
 " Yes, I will tell you. I was at first reserved 
 towards you, because I then hoped to prevent 
 you from advancing towards what you have this 
 day done. I have now become frank and confi- 
 dential with you, partly because I was moved 
 by the thought of all the sorrow you have 
 undergone, and then in the hope that you will 
 retreat into that dear and valued relationship of 
 a brother, which you once allowed me to think 
 I possessed, and which" — she paused a little, as
 
 76 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 if in search of the fit expression, and then added, 
 hesitatingly — " is the nearest tie that ever can 
 unite us." 
 
 Though not a little astounded at such a ter- 
 mination to this long-sought interview as these 
 words conveyed, I was little disposed to yield to 
 them their due authority. I was almost inclined 
 to smile, and to rally the young speaker on her 
 sybilline appearance, and the prophetic style in 
 which she spoke. There was something, how- 
 ever, in her look that deeply moved, if it did not 
 awe me. Tears stood trembling in her soft 
 bright eyes ; her form was dilated, and her small 
 hand grasped convulsively the mantel-piece near 
 which she stood. Whether truly or falsely, she 
 believed that she was then pronouncing the 
 sentence of her life. 
 
 As I was about to speak, Lady Demiroy 
 approached; the jingling of clustering keys, 
 scissars, corkscrews, and a variety of other 
 implements that hung from her capacious girdle, 
 resounded through the gallery, and gave me 
 only time to whisper eagerly that I was content 
 to be brother — ay ! Puritan, rebel, or Anabap- 
 tist itself, if I might retain her confidence until
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 77 
 
 — I could be something more. Then the wide 
 door swung widely open, and her ladyship ap- 
 peared, dispensing a volume of compliments and 
 inquiries, that were only interrupted by discover- 
 ing that I looked pale, and required a certain 
 nfallible cordial, the virtues of which turned 
 the tide of her ideas. Perhaps her womanly 
 or matronly instinct, too, divined something of 
 my late conversation, for she turned anxiously 
 to Zillah with inquiring looks. They met no 
 answer there, however ; her daughter had leant 
 forward towards the window, as if something 
 there had arrested her attention, and Lady 
 Demiroy exclaimed : 
 
 " I had almost forgotten to tell thee, my 
 dear young friend, that a messenger from your 
 father seeks you, and seems in haste. They 
 say there is strange news abroad, and I have 
 just received a post with many letters which it 
 may contain tidings you will wish to learn." 
 
 But I was already moving towards the door, 
 and making my parting salutation. 
 
 "Farewell, Zillah," I whispered, "for the 
 present ; — to-morrow — " 
 
 " To-morrow, you will be far away, I doubt
 
 78 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 not," she replied ; " you will follow what seems 
 to you the path of duty ; and may heaven guide 
 you in the right way !" 
 
 So saying she left the room by an opposite 
 door, and the next moment I was in the saddle 
 and galloping towards home.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 He is wit's pedlar, and retails his wares 
 
 In courts and camps, in towns and country fares. 
 
 ABSALOM. 
 
 He's reason's renegade ; one with whom 
 The word consider is too troublesome ; 
 Who doth obey his passion and affection, 
 
 Whose cogitation is the child of action. 
 
 JORDAN. 
 
 I had scarcely cleared the first enclosure, 
 when I observed Phoebe riding in the same 
 direction, with her favourite old chaplain 
 jogging by her side. 
 
 " I have been wishing to meet with you," said 
 I, " and even hoped that you would wander on 
 with me so far as home, in the hope that poor 
 Hugo might get a sight of you : he has only too 
 much need of your bright presence to cheer him." 
 
 Phcebe turned her horse's head at once 
 towards our house, and spoke tearfully of all
 
 80 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the changes that had taken place there. But 
 sadness was not natural to her young buoyant 
 spirit, and she soon began to interrogate me 
 as to my visit at the Castle, "where, doubt- 
 less," she said, " you have seen my most un- 
 sisterly sister." 
 
 " I cannot apply to her that epithet," I 
 answered, rather wincing at the recollection of 
 her fraternal injunctions, " nor, I should think 
 can you, with justice." 
 
 " She is no use to me as a sister, I mean to 
 say," maintained Phoebe, " she is so changed, 
 and solitary, and thoughtful. I do believe she 
 has turned Puritan, though even that odious 
 Hezekiah had little of her conversation, not- 
 withstanding she brought him upon us for our 
 sins." 
 
 " But he soon relieved you of his presence ?" 
 said I, inquiringly. 
 
 " Ah ! yes ; and thereby hangs a tale. — You 
 need not look curious ; I hate mystery, and I 
 will tell you all about it. In the first place, 
 you must know he was once a soldier, and 
 served bodily, or carnally as he would say, in 
 the wars at Rochelle. He then had some other 
 name, which doubtless was a good one, or he
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 81 
 
 would not have changed it for his present 
 denomination. He was taken prisoner by the 
 French, from whom he escaped to Geneva, 
 where he became edified into his present con- 
 dition. Some time since a post came from 
 the rebel leaders, who, it seems, are collecting 
 their forces, and an hour after, our gloomy 
 friend had vanished." 
 
 Here she ceased ; we had entered our grounds 
 and met Hugo, who said that he had come to 
 seek me, as a stranger had been to visit my 
 father, and inquiries were instantly made for me. 
 
 This intelligence changed the current of my 
 thoughts. I scarcely regretted that I was 
 obliged to forego the rest of Phoebe's story : she 
 and Hugo remained together, and in a few 
 minutes I found myself alone with my father. 
 
 He was alone, and seemed unusually agi- 
 tated. " Reginald, my son," said he ; " the 
 long-expected crisis has arrived, and we must 
 part, I fear, at once. You have heard of my 
 visitor." 
 
 " I have heard," I answered, " that a French 
 pedlar insisted on seeing you, and that when 
 he was denied on account of your illness, he 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 wrote some lines in a strange tongue, which 
 at once procured him admittance to your pre- 
 sence." 
 
 "He is a pedlar," said my father, "who 
 deals in dangerous wares. In a word, he comes 
 with despatches from the Queen, and Her Ma- 
 jesty's communications, with reverence be it 
 spoken, are seldom of good omen to our 
 country. My visitor brings solemn tidings too, 
 which you shall hear from our own mouth, as 
 far as he chooses to reveal them. . I shall only 
 give you one caution: imitate our friend, Sir 
 Janus, for once, and avoid committing yourself 
 prematurely to our guest. I am bound by my 
 promise to keep his secret, and by my honour 
 as a servant of the King, to obey his directions ; 
 but I would rather his Majesty had chosen any 
 other messenger, both for his own royal sake 
 and mine." 
 
 So saying, Lord Hastings walked to the 
 door, and admitted a most singular looking 
 personage, who entered with a jaunty air, flung 
 an inquiring glance round the apartment, and 
 saluted me with exaggerated courtesy. He 
 carried a light pack upon his shoulders, which
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 83 
 
 he flung off with practised ease, and placed 
 carefully upon the table. His disguise, if such 
 it was, was admirably sustained ; not only his 
 dress, gaudy, soiled, and wayworn, and his hair 
 and beardless chin were those of a French 
 pedlar, but the very expression of his coun- 
 tenance seemed suited to his calling : the tones 
 of his voice, the anxious twinkling of his eye, 
 the shrug of his shoulder, the nervous activity 
 of his fingers as he proceeded to undo his pack, 
 would have precluded the idea that he had been 
 ever otherwise engaged than now. 
 
 " Milort," said he, " I hafe here, besides 
 what I hafe show you, one ting dat will just 
 shute my noble young master here; if he be 
 de son of my noble lort, and of one soldier 
 heart as his apparence do promess." 
 
 " We are here," said my father, who was in 
 no mood for mumming; "as safe as closed 
 doors and honest company can make us ; this is 
 my eldest son ; I have little doubt that he will 
 be at the disposal of his King, as all his fathers 
 have been before him; but he must choose 
 for himself when he learns as much of your 
 errand as you are disposed to trust him with." 
 
 G 2
 
 84 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " Well, then," exclaimed the stranger, draw- 
 ing up his fine figure into an attitude that 
 contrasted strangely with the mean dress he 
 wore, and throwing into his voice and look 
 an irresistible frankness and fascination ; " I 
 have no disguise with a son of the House of 
 Hastings : into your hands, young Sir, I am 
 about (I trust) to commit the safe-keeping of 
 the King's secrets, of my honour and my 
 life. But before I ask you to accept such a 
 charge, I must tell you all the danger that you 
 run in doing so. I am George Digby, the 
 abhorred of the Parliament, the outlaw of the 
 Close Committee, the Achitophel of the pam- 
 phleteers; in addition to which I fulfil at 
 present the character of a spy, just escaped 
 in a most comfortless fishing boat from your 
 good town of Hull, and its most worthy 
 governor, Sir John Hotham." 
 
 It was, indeed, Lord Digby ; the most 
 accomplished courtier, the most eloquent orator, 
 the most daring soldier, and the most eccentric 
 and original person of his time, whom I 
 then beheld. I was then at the age, and in 
 the mood that thirsts most for action, and my
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 85 
 
 heart bounded at the prospect of adventure 
 that now seemed to open before me." 
 
 " I know not what may be required of me, 
 my Lord," I exclaimed ; " but there is my 
 hand in pledge that, with my father's good 
 leave, I will stand by you to the death in all 
 that may concern the welfare of my country, 
 and the honour of the King. I am but too 
 little acquainted with the state of public affairs ; 
 but sure I am that the path pointed out by my 
 father must be that of duty, and one which it 
 becomes a gentleman to follow." 
 
 " There spoke a true son of Hastings," said 
 Lord Digby, cordially grasping my offered hand, 
 and then turning to my father, he added, 
 " This youth recalls old times, my Lord, when 
 you were as prompt and fearless in your 
 service ; yet it was spiced with somewhat of a 
 reservation that marred your high fortunes at 
 the Court, and deprived us finally of one of 
 our worthiest supporters in our hour of need. 
 Well ! well !" he continued in a more cheerful 
 tone ; " your Lordship was perhaps quite right, 
 but now we have a cause that leaves no 
 room for hesitation. Since Falkland and Ned
 
 86 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 Hyde have joined us, we may well calculate on 
 those who have warmer blood within their 
 veins." 
 
 "The time is indeed gone by," said my 
 father, sadly, " when men of honour can remain 
 neutral. As long as mere opinions were at 
 issue, I esteemed myself happy in my peaceful 
 retirement, apart from all the strife of party, 
 and endeavouring to preserve my children from 
 the passionate prejudices that so distracted 
 England. Now that the sword is drawn, and 
 the honour of the crown, and the existence of 
 our liberties is threatened, shame befal the man 
 who seeks for shelter in obscurity — may it 
 cover him and his name for ever. Ay, my 
 Lord," he continued, as the colour mounted to 
 his pale cheeks, and he walked the ground with 
 a firmer tread, " I will confess your visit was at 
 first but little welcome to me : it not only re- 
 called former scenes that I had long striven to 
 forget and to forgive, but it brought a summons 
 that I knew would be irresistible to my son, 
 my companion, the stay of my house, the com- 
 fort of my declining years and failing health. 
 But all the reservation with which you chal-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 87 
 
 lenged me just now, is gone. That son is even 
 now at your disposal, to be your guard and 
 guide. My contingent of men and money for 
 the King shall soon follow with his brother ; un- 
 less, indeed, I myself may be allowed and able 
 to wait on my sovereign in person. I seem to 
 have grown stronger since I have been thus 
 roused from my sad lethargy, and it may yet 
 please Heaven to permit me to accompany the 
 royal standard to the field. But now time 
 presses : you, my Lord, will need some refresh- 
 ment after your long and perilous adventure ; 
 you will find it in the adjoining chamber, and 
 while you are so employed, I will tell my son in 
 a few words what it is most necessary for him 
 to know. Then he shall be ready to attend 
 you." 
 
 So saying, he led Lord Digby into the ante- 
 chamber, where the wondering but silent butler 
 had prepared a meal but little in accordance 
 with our visitor's assumed character. Excited 
 as I was, by the novelty and nature of the events 
 that came crowding so rapidly on my mind, 
 I could not help pausing for a moment to 
 watch the disguised Cavalier, who had relapsed
 
 88 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 suddenly into the garrulous Frenchman, his 
 whole soul apparently occupied on the savoury 
 prospect spread before him. The old butler, 
 with wondering eyes and busy hands could 
 scarcely seek for and supply the innumerable 
 wants of the dusty pedlar, who seemed to take 
 delight in yet farther bewildering him. 
 
 " Mille remerciemens, my very goot Lort," 
 exclaimed the impostor, as he devoured with 
 his eyes the various viands on the table ; 
 " nevare since I did have de honore to wait 
 upon de Cardinal Richlieu wid de blessed re- 
 lick — de pocket-handkerchee of de eleven 
 tousand vargin of Cologne, (and someting else) — 
 nevare did I be so honored vid grand hospi- 
 talite ; I am quite ashamed. Now master butler, 
 vill you be so goot as to cut that jambon, dat 
 ham, more tin, and vill you have goodness to 
 pool off dat ving of capon, not to coot it vid 
 de dam knife. Now, pleeze, von verre of de 
 Canary, or rader of dat oder bottel vid de spider 
 veb upon him. Tanks, mine vary goot friend," 
 he continued, to the indignant butler ; " and 
 now von slice of dat pasty, coot it deep, vere de 
 juices do lie perdu."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 89 
 
 Leaving, as I thought, a rapidly ripening 
 quarrel between the eccentric nobleman and his 
 displeased attendant, I followed my father once 
 more into his own room. He left the inter- 
 vening door wide open, in order that Lord 
 Digby might, if he choose, hear all he said ; but 
 the etiquette of the courtier appeared to vie with 
 his own, and he continued his gastronomic 
 volubility uninterruptedly, so as to drown all 
 sounds except his own. 
 
 " Reginald," said my father, " you must leave 
 me almost immediately on an expedition 
 involving considerable peril to yourself and 
 others, and one that will require much skill 
 and caution to accomplish happily. You are 
 as yet little practised in worldly affairs, but 
 your own religious faith, your sense of 
 honour, and the memory of what you owe 
 to your ancient name, will preserve you and 
 guide you in all difficulties. What I most fear 
 for you is your rashness and love of danger ; 
 these, if hitherto venial, become most grave 
 faults when you have the lives of others, and 
 perhaps yet higher responsibilities in your keep- 
 ing. The strife which I have long fearfully an-
 
 90 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 ticipated is broken out ; the King is to raise his 
 standard within a week. The Roundheads are 
 already mustered in strong force, with the de- 
 sign of capturing his sacred person. Lord 
 Digby is lately arrived from Holland ; he an- 
 nounces coming supplies of money and arms 
 from the Queen, but at present there is an almost 
 utter want of both in the royal camp. You 
 will start within the hour to escort our visitor 
 in safety over the Wolds, where already the 
 disaffected are on the watch for him. As soon 
 as our troops can be mustered, they shall follow 
 you to Nottingham : poor fellows, they are ever 
 ready to follow our pennon, notwithstanding 
 their usage in the Scotch campaigns, when 
 that dastardly traitor, Holland, so dis- 
 honoured himself and them. You will tell 
 his Majesty, that with the permission of 
 Providence, he shall have some sixty har- 
 quebusiers, well mounted and equipped, with 
 armour for as many more, at his service, within 
 four-and-twenty hours. Tell him also, that 
 such money as I shall be able to raise, and the 
 best part of my plate shall soon be forwarded 
 by a safe hand, to his Court, at Nottingham.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 91 
 
 Tell him, likewise, that I have sent my 
 sons, all that remains dear to me on earth, to 
 conquer or to die beneath that banner which was 
 never unfurled since the Conquest without a 
 Hastings to support it. Now go, and prepare 
 for your journey. My old groom, Dick Blount, 
 will attend you ; he is cautious and silent, and 
 as true as steel. I suppose you will want to 
 take your wild Irish page, but I doubt he had 
 better follow with the rest ; he is scarcely fit for 
 such secret service as the present ? — Well ! if you 
 can depend upon him, let him go. The black 
 pony for the Pedlar will make four horses in 
 all, more than enough, considering the paths 
 you will have to take. If you should meet 
 with any interruption, you must endeavour 
 to evade it if possible. Avoid violence to 
 the very last ; but remember, whatever happens, 
 that our guest must go free; not so much 
 for his own sake as for that which he carries. 
 He should wait for the stronger escort but I 
 fear it might attract attention, and by the 
 time it was ready, the country would be up ; 
 besides, time presses. Now, farewell, my son ; 
 troublous days are approaching, and it may be
 
 92 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 long before we meet again. Be firm and un- 
 faltering in your loyalty to the King, and, above 
 all, to the King of Kings. Let no vain contro- 
 versies entangle your reason and obscure your 
 clear and single-minded sense of duty. What- 
 ever may be that of others, yours is simple ; 
 keep it so. Take with you, as my last precept, 
 the homely motto of our family : ' Stick to 
 the Crown, if you find it hanging on a 
 bush.' And so — "
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 93 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Seek the King, 
 
 That sun I pray may never set ! I have told him 
 
 What, and how true thou art ; he will advance thee ; 
 
 Some little memory of me will stir him, 
 
 (I know his noble nature,) not to let 
 
 Thy noble service perish too. — shakespere. 
 
 The sun was setting as we rode away from 
 my venerable home. Our pathway led upward, 
 towards the hills ; and at each receding step I 
 could more distinctly trace the whole scenery 
 within which my childhood had been past. 
 The sun's last light was playing on the various 
 towers and gables of the old house, and flushing 
 all its western windows with a fiery red, but all the 
 lawns, and w T oods,' and the distant sea, were 
 already silvering in the moon's pale rays. A 
 white vapoury mist rose gradually from the 
 low grounds, and gently veiled from my earnest
 
 94 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 gaze the prospect that I shall see perhaps no more. 
 Notwithstanding the proud thoughts and hopes 
 that swelled my heart, and the delighted sense 
 of novelty and adventure that thrilled through 
 my brain when I leaped upon my horse, and 
 heard the clank of steel ring merrily round 
 me — notwithstanding all this, a deep and sad 
 sensation of despondency came over me, as we 
 moved away in silence over the grassy sward. 
 By a strange revulsion, too, when we passed 
 by the old chapel, I almost envied the repose 
 of that calm burial-ground, where my mother 
 and her child lay sleeping. 
 
 But just then a trumpet rang out cheerily 
 from the adjacent village, and told that the 
 gallant yeomen had already obeyed the sum- 
 mons of their Lord, and were mustering. At 
 the same time, as if wakened from his own 
 reveries by the same sound, my companion 
 broke forth into his usual rhodomontade of 
 foreign jargon, and completely put to flight my 
 graver thoughts. 
 
 " By de beard of St. Denis/' said he, " my 
 young master, you and your goot peoples be von 
 vera silent compagnie, and I sail fear to find
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 95 
 
 my own tong steef vidin my mout when I sail 
 vant it, if it be ever vanted in dis silent coantrie. 
 By your goot leaf, I have someting for your 
 privat ear, if it be pleasing to you hear me speak 
 it." 
 
 I motioned to my attendants to rein back 
 their horses, and Lord Digby resumed : 
 
 " As soon as we are out of your own neigh- 
 bourhood, I shall take leave to dismount from 
 this good nag, and to proceed on foot, as more 
 beseeming my supposed condition : and since I 
 shall then have to maintain due distance towards 
 you, I would fain make use of the short space 
 that remains, to me of improving our acquaint- 
 ance. To tell you the truth, too, that old 
 Rhenish wine of your good father's, which 
 Mr. Choppin dealt out to me in large though 
 grudging measure, has made me feel very 
 sociably disposed. I confess, also, to having 
 some spice of early romance still lingering 
 about me, and this is a time, and scenery, and 
 circumstance, that might well excuse a littl$ 
 sentiment. Sidney's ' Arcadia' would require 
 nothing more romantic than our present situa- 
 tion.— And lo ! as if some spirit conjured up by
 
 96 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the imagination — behold a comely damsel and 
 a reverend man. Comely ! she's beautiful, by all 
 the fairies ! Una and her Archimage were 
 never better met." 
 
 The Una proved to be Phoebe, the Archimage, 
 her old chaplain. It seemed that she had 
 accompanied Hugo almost to our house, and in 
 trying to find a short way home, had missed 
 her way among the woods. Her venerable 
 guardian having trusted himself entirely to her 
 guidance, was equally bewildered, and far more 
 uneasy, on finding himself thus belated with his 
 charge.' 
 
 " But now," she exclaimed, after this expla- 
 nation, " pray tell me how you happen to be here, 
 for the whole world seems in a state of confu- 
 sion, as if the Roundheads had taken the place 
 of Providence, which doubtless they would gladly 
 feel called upon to do. Here are trumpets 
 sounding, men galloping to and fro ; strange 
 vessels arriving in our quiet bay, and strange 
 people landing from them : and finally, you 
 and I are met here at a most untimely hour ; 
 you clad in armour, and I seeking my way 
 like a heroine of romance !"
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 97 
 
 " My vera lofely and resplendent young lady," 
 said the Pedlar, anticipating my reply, " I am, 
 in my poor person, the cause of this noble 
 young gentleman's present appearance here, 
 and in this varlike guise. I am de strange 
 man, landed from de strange ship ; and stranger 
 still, I haf see you in de house of von great 
 Cavalier Comtesse, vid," and here he sunk his 
 voice, " vid one great Roundhead on his knee, 
 making very moche prayer." 
 
 Phoebe started, and stared with astonishment 
 at the Pedlar, who went on nodding his head, 
 as if to say he knew more than he chose to 
 say. Then drawing near to me, she whis- 
 pered : 
 
 " Tn Heaven's name, whom have you here, 
 Reginald ? — or are we indeed all bewitched ? 
 Zillah, you tell me, was prophecying to you 
 this morning, what already has come true ; 
 and this outlandish coxcomb has reminded me 
 of a secret that might have defied the Witch of 
 Endor." 
 
 " I am pledged to secresy," I replied, laugh- 
 ing ; " but your best way now lies through the 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 forest, out upon the common, whence you can 
 canter home as fast as your reverend companion 
 finds convenient ; meanwhile, we shall have the 
 advantage of your company, and your sooth- 
 saying Pedlar may perhaps make further reve- 
 lations to you, even if your quick eyes do not 
 anticipate him." 
 
 Phoebe was charmed with the prospect of 
 adventure and mystery. She was well aware 
 of the state of indignation, if not alarm, in 
 which she should find Lady Demiroy, but she 
 trusted to her own wit and favour to make light 
 of it, and so she rode on merrily. The Pedlar, 
 with an assurance that would have highly pro- 
 voked, if it had not amused her, drew up close 
 to her side ; in a few minutes he so entirely 
 engrossed her attention, that I found myself 
 glad to fall back upon the old Chaplain, from 
 whom I was in hopes of hearing something of 
 what was nearest to my thoughts. Who has 
 not experienced the interest that we take in 
 every thing we see or hear that may pos- 
 sibly transmit a word, or look, or thought
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 99 
 
 from or to her who rules over the world of our 
 imagination ? 
 
 The Chaplain was a very aged man, who 
 thought little of all modern and worldly things, 
 except his lovely pupil; but his memory was 
 richly stored with old legends and memorials of 
 that past, to which he seemed entirely to 
 belong. The subordinate station which, unfor- 
 tunately and unwisely, our household clergy 
 occupy, # had rendered this venerable man very 
 meek and retiring; but when the ministration 
 of his own high office was required, no arch- 
 bishop in the land could exercise it with greater 
 dignity. I know not what was the secret sym- 
 pathy that existed between him and the 
 capricious beauty whom he loved wit^ all the 
 fondness of a nurse towards a favourite child, 
 but he and Phoebe were almost inseparable 
 companions. 
 
 The good old man now jogged contentedly 
 
 * In the time of which our Cavalier writes, the 
 chaplain, in great families, occupied an almost menial 
 position, as every one now knows. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 along upon a sedate pony, that was white with 
 age, but nevertheless had zeal enough still left 
 to chafe because it was no longer by Phoebe's 
 coquettish little palfrey's side. The rider was 
 somewhat bent, but he kept his saddle like one 
 long used to it ; his white hair floated on his 
 shoulders, between his broad brimmed hat and 
 the cloak peculiar to his calling ; his counte- 
 nance wore an expression of resignation peculiar 
 to itself, and had often interested me. I now 
 ventured to ask him whether it was fatigue or 
 the news of the morning that made him look 
 so grave. 
 
 " Nay, noble sir," he answered, "my old 
 limbs have become almost as unconscious of 
 fatigue, #s my mind of fear. I know indeed 
 that the people do furiously rage together 
 against our anointed king, but I do also know 
 that they imagine a vain thing." 
 
 " May it be so !" I exclaimed ; " but tell me, 
 reverend Sir, how long is it since you have lost 
 your coadjutor at the Castle ?" 
 
 " Nay, noble Sir, he was no coadjutor of 
 mine ; I had neither part nor lot in him. He
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 101 
 
 belonged not to our fold, though I trust the 
 Shepherd will yet call him in his own good 
 time. He had some summons, I believe from 
 the disaffected, who require his ministry more 
 than my good patron did, and he hasted away 
 in the night season. I know nought of him 
 since then, and almost as little did I know 
 before. He is gone, however, and I pray that 
 he may have grace to guide him. For me, I 
 would also fain be called to gird up my loins for 
 travel, for they say that the King is about to 
 raise his standard, and I would that I could see 
 and bless it before I die. — But my young lady 
 waits, and I fear our roads part here." 
 
 Phoebe had reined back her palfrey in order 
 to turn homeward ; and when I rode up to her, 
 I observed the traces of some emotion on her 
 usually joyous countenance. She wished me 
 very cordially farewell, and with a distant salu- 
 tation to my companion, she turned away at a 
 rapid pace towards her home. 
 
 Lord Digby and I rode on over the common 
 in the open moonlight ; he looked for a few
 
 102 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 minutes after the light form of his companion, 
 as it faded away into the forest, and exclaimed 
 with a sort of sigh : 
 
 " Pity it is, that the world — such as we have 
 made it — should darken over a bright soul like 
 that. I was jesting with her just now and 
 amusing myself with her surprise, and yet she 
 has wakened in my own heart more thoughtful- 
 ness than my present critical position could 
 inspire. But we are coming, I presume, too 
 near our border village to waste time on senti- 
 ment ; I will therefore briefly satisfy your very 
 natural curiosity as to how I became acquainted 
 with yon fair damsel. 
 
 " You know she has been on a visit to our 
 reigning wit and beauty, Lady Carlisle. There 
 I saw her, but she saw me not — at least she saw 
 no Pedlar. My Lady Countess was delighted 
 to have possession of such an attraction for the 
 men as her beautiful young kinswoman; and 
 Mistress Phcebe, though a mere child in years, 
 soon found out her value, and the influence over 
 her patroness that she might pretend to. I con-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 103 
 
 fess to you, that when I first found that girl in 
 such an atmosphere, I thought she must be aware 
 of her danger, and on the watch to make the 
 most of it. But I soon discovered my mistake ; 
 I saw she was perfectly ignorant of her host- 
 ess's true character, and that her own purity had 
 kept her unconscious of the viciousness that 
 surrounded her. I was touched, I scarcely 
 know why, by her situation ; and I resolved 
 to rescue her, in an impulse of romantic feeling, 
 for which few of our fine ladies would credit 
 me. I watched her closely, and soon found my 
 opportunity. 
 
 " You are perhaps aware that my Lady Car- 
 lisle aspires to hold the balance between the 
 contending parties in the present conjuncture : 
 the Queen's confidence on the one hand, and 
 Pym's intimacy on the other, enables her alter- 
 nately to deceive both ; and if she were as much 
 mistress of her love as of her loyalty, she might 
 doubtless become as formidable as she is mis- 
 chievous. But her passion for that rogue Pym 
 is sincere, though so unaccountable that she
 
 104 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 escapes its imputation. Now, it so happens, 
 that her Roundhead is as little loyal in his love 
 as in more important matters, and no sooner had 
 our fair rustic here appeared upon the stage than 
 he was captivated by her. He has not much time, 
 you may suppose, for trifles, and he takes his wine 
 freely, like most orators. Well ! the very first 
 evening he met her, I saw him paying eager 
 and unguarded court to his new divinity; I 
 had only to direct Lady Carlisle's attention 
 for a moment to the tableau that her young 
 kinswoman and the grey-haired demagogue 
 presented, in an adjoining chamber, as the latter 
 knelt to offer her a rose ! The following day 
 Mistress Phcebe was manoeuvred into a terror 
 of the London mobs, that were then a little ob- 
 streperous; and she and her sister, who was 
 staying at the house of some rascally Roundhead 
 in the city, were straightway exported to her 
 country. O ! I promise you, it was a rare piece 
 of management on my part." 
 
 " Truly," said I, " it was generously and 
 nobly done, and I would fain ask you for
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 105 
 
 farther particulars concerning the transaction ; 
 but here we are at the last hamlet that calls 
 my father master, and for the future I can only 
 secure your safety as. far as your own wit or 
 my strength can answer for it."
 
 106 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Now for your lives — nay more — for honour's sake 
 Fight, and repel this first rebellious crew. 
 
 OLD PLAY. 
 
 " Well !" said Lord Digby, looking wistfully 
 at the pony that had carried him so far, "I 
 suppose I must submit; but with your leave 
 your page here (who looks a great deal too 
 sharp, by the bye) shall fetch me a beaker of 
 ale to wash my throat, after all its Gallic exer- 
 cise." So saying, he descended with great 
 apparent caution from his little steed, which 
 was left behind at the hostel whence the dis- 
 guised courtier was refreshed. 
 
 On resuming our march, Lord Digby pro- 
 posed to walk on so far in advance of us,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 107 
 
 that we might occasionally catch glimpses of 
 him by the moonlight. The trainbands of 
 the county were up and armed, and patrolling 
 the leading roads for the Parliament. If they 
 stopped our Pedlar, he was to evade them 
 civilly, if possible ; if not, we were to fight for it, 
 and he was determined not to be taken alive, 
 under any circumstances. We had about forty 
 miles to travel, however, and as it was of 
 great importance to push on as fast as possible 
 during the night, I dismounted my page, and 
 requested Lord Digby to take his place. 
 
 "Are you then going to leave the boy 
 behind?" he demanded. 
 
 " No," I said, " I am about to send him in 
 advance, to reconnoitre, and I promise you that 
 no mortal man shall approach without your 
 having sufficient warning to dismount, and 
 assume your disguise." 
 
 " So be it," said the courtier, as he mounted 
 with careless composure : " these good fellows 
 already know me for a countryman of their 
 own who is in trouble, and I do not now seek 
 to hide from them that my life is in their
 
 108 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 hands. Whether that life he of any value, they 
 shall judge by their reward if we reach Notting- 
 ham in safety." 
 
 Old Blount smiled grimly and somewhat 
 scornfully, as he muttered ; " Man and boy, 
 I've been trusted by my good Lord this five 
 and thirty years, and it is'nt for the like of 
 you, that I'd now fail his orders, whilst I've 
 life to discharge 'em." 
 
 " Well said, my trusty yeoman," rejoined the 
 disguised Pedlar, with a more patronizing air 
 than was quite relished by the still puzzled man- 
 at-arms. " And you, my lad," continued Digby, 
 " may I trust you, too ?" 
 
 " Faith, my Lord, if you do, it's more than yon 
 publican would for a pint of ale," carelessly replied 
 the boy, who was busy unlacing his hose, and 
 transferring his shoes from his feet to his girdle. 
 
 " How now, sirrah !" cried I, having only 
 overheard the last few words of this dialogue, 
 " do you know who your're talking to ?" 
 
 "By the bib of St. Bridget I do, Sir, 
 and no wonder, when I heard him tell 
 Mistress Phoebe all about it with his own two
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 109 
 
 lips in the wood below there. I can shut my 
 eyes at your bidding, Sir, as in duty bound ; 
 but my ears being open by nature, discourse 
 leaks into them, whether I will or no." 
 
 I was about to be very angry with, if not 
 actually to chastise the reckless descendant of 
 the Irish kings, when Digby stopped me : "I 
 would give you half I'm worth for that imp," 
 said he : " the rascal must have been fifty yards 
 from me when he overheard the whispers that I 
 breathed into the ears of yonder little beauty. 
 However, I have no fear of his blabbing, except 
 to ourselves ; for I heard him baffle the village 
 coterie that gathered round him at the ale-house 
 with an air of innocent simplicity that I could 
 scarcely have assumed myself." 
 
 " Hark ye, Bryan !" said I to the boy in 
 question, who was lingering near us in some 
 anxiety ; " this once I pardon you for letting 
 that tongue of yours wag so freely: but, by 
 mine honour, if it betrays your eavesdropping 
 again, I'll silence it for ever, or send you 
 back to the land of your royal ancestors. Now 
 scout out a-head, and if you see anything bigger
 
 110 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 than a sheep on all the moor, come back like 
 lightning." 
 
 The boy tossed his cap up into the air, 
 with a suppressed shout of " Hi ! for Hastings !" 
 and bounding forward, was in a moment lost 
 in the mist and out of sight. Meanwhile, we 
 rode on at a steady trot, Blount, with his 
 carbine unslung, bringing up the rear. 
 
 " Now tell me about that wild boy," said my 
 companion as we swept along; "the sturdy 
 groom I think I understand." 
 
 " The latter," I replied, " was a trooper 
 in a regiment my father raised long ago for 
 the Palatines. He was one of the few who 
 returned home alive, though he often exposed 
 his life to save his master's in that deadly 
 campaign. He again accompanied him to the 
 relief of Rochelle, the last occasion on which 
 my father appeared in arms for the King." 
 
 "You do not know perhaps," said Digby, 
 drily, " why it was the last time ; for, sooth 
 to say, it is a story that a loyal man would 
 scarcely take as his text in preaching for his 
 king."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. Ill 
 
 I replied, that I had never heard my father 
 assign any reason for his deep seclusion, except 
 his own taste, and the power that it gave 
 him of being useful to his tenantry. 
 
 " So much the more reason that 2" should 
 tell you," said Digby ; " of what you ought 
 to know. — Your father was one of the few 
 men of rank who could be induced, by love 
 for the King, to follow his proud and in- 
 capable favourite on that luckless and dis- 
 graceful expedition to Rochelle. Buckingham 
 had ordered a retreat as unadvisedly as he 
 attacked it. Lord Hastings remonstrated ; 
 the Duke, half-maddened by difficulties that 
 mastered him, replied with insult. Your father, 
 on the return of the fleet to England, chal- 
 lenged him ; and / bore an order from the King 
 to Lord Hastings never again to appear at 
 Court. Believe me, I only undertook that 
 thankless office because I wished Lord Hastings 
 well, and desired to soften the blow as much 
 as possible. My motives were misinterpreted, 
 however, and your father addressed me in such 
 terms as I should have resented under other
 
 112 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 circumstances. From that time he was never 
 heard of until the expedition against Scotland 
 required every true servant of the King's to serve 
 his injured Sovereign. Then the ever-loyal 
 Hastings furnished almost the first contingent ; 
 but the King's command was still in force, and 
 therefore it was commanded by your cousin 
 Harry, who was near being banished for chal- 
 lenging Lord Holland when he fled from Dun- 
 sielaw and involved the Hastings yeomen in his 
 disgrace. Well I remember Harry Hastings, 
 (or Hotspur as we used to call him,) mounted 
 on his black charger, Satan, and clearing all 
 before him through the streets of Durham. 
 This story, your father, who is an injured man, 
 was too proud or too judicious to tell you ; whilst 
 I, who am what is called a favoured courtier, do 
 not hesitate to do so. In fact, if ' the King can 
 do no wrong,' it must be by a deuced arbitrary 
 stretch of courtesy that your father could be 
 persuaded to that effect. Now, 'magna 
 componere parvis,' let me hear the history of 
 yonder invisible imp of Ireland, who, I am bound 
 to believe, is doing me good service as a scout."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 113 
 
 I thanked Lord Digby warmly for his frank 
 and manly tribute to my father's character, 
 and, indeed, I was by this time quite under 
 the spell by which this courtier won every 
 hearer whom he did not happen in the first 
 instance to affront . 
 
 " As for the boy," I added, " I saved him 
 from a wreck on our luckless coast ; all 
 the rest of the crew perished, and I found 
 he was utterly alone in the world ; so I had 
 him taken care of, and he attached himself 
 inseparably to me. At first he was considered 
 in the light of my servant, but he became 
 furious at the very name. He was descended, 
 he said, from an Irish king, and scorned to 
 serve under a lesser personage — except for 
 love. He was uncontrollably wilful on this 
 point, and at length he had his way : he was 
 promoted to be my page, and since then his 
 gratitude has known no bounds. I can now 
 engage him to be all ear and eye, and as 
 anxious for an opportunity of proving his 
 rare qualities as we are to avoid any such 
 necessity. He has still many of the virtues 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 1*14 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 of a savage — fidelity, and wonderful quick- 
 ness of sense, and such endurance, that 
 (when he gets his shoes off) he will beat any 
 horse in my father's stable. In short, but 
 for this crotchet about his blood-royal, he 
 would be the best page in Christendom." 
 
 "They're all the same for that matter," 
 said Digby. "Those Irish kings must indeed 
 have been the fathers of their people, for I 
 never yet met a native of that unhappy island 
 who did not claim to be descended from royal 
 loins." 
 
 As we thus conversed, we entered on 
 the Wolds, a long chain of bleak and 
 lonely hills, without anything to vary their 
 monotony but a few old trees. A fine full 
 harvest moon was shining over this wild 
 country ; white vapours from the marshes 
 filled each valley, and left the hill-tops like 
 so many islands floating in a sea of mist. 
 There was to me something very fascinating 
 in the scenery and silence all around us . 
 something that suited well with the mingling 
 -hades of mourning retrospect and exulting hope
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 115 
 
 that filled my thoughts. Night- travelling was, 
 as yet, a novelty to me ; and though since 
 then I have become familiar with the stars, 
 as they shone down on many a weary march 
 and tented field, yet they have never lost 
 their deep interest, or ceased to influence 
 my fancy. There is especially one radiant 
 star — Aldeboran they call it — that always 
 seems to shine especially for me. Like 
 the eyes of some fine picture, it seems ever 
 to meet my gaze with a gentle, kindly, liquid 
 light — high and serene above the storms of 
 earth and sky, and only sought for in moments 
 of elevated thought and inspiration. 
 
 I used often to compare Ziilah to this star. 
 Now that it shone down so brightly and 
 lovingly over my silent but dangerous path, 
 I was fain to think of the old heathen legend 
 in which the long and lonely watching Ariadne 
 was transmitted to the sky. 
 
 While thus absorbed in boyish fancies, time 
 passed on, and I had almost forgotten the 
 momentous purpose of our silent ride, when 
 suddenly a long, low whistle thrilled in 
 
 I 2
 
 116 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 my ear and made my flesh creep. I looked 
 round, but I saw nothing save my companion, 
 who was nodding in happy sleep upon his 
 horse, and the gaunt form of the man-at-arms 
 looming large in the twilight behind me. In 
 another moment, I started to find a hand upon 
 my knee ; but before I could grasp my pistol, 
 the whispering voice of my page called to me to 
 halt, and my horse stood still. Digby's horse 
 stopped at the same moment, and its rider 
 awoke, his eye flashing clear and bright, and a 
 pistol ready in his firm hand. 
 
 " Off with ye !" whispered the boy, " and 
 see you play your part in earnest, for there's 
 little joking yonder. There's six stout men 
 in buff and bandolier, there ; right across the 
 only narrow pass in all the hills — bad luck 
 to it for sticking itself in that spot, of all spots 
 in the world !" 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation, Digby dis- 
 mounting, walked swiftly forward to meet the 
 danger, and soon afterwards we followed. At 
 length my anxious ears caught the expected 
 challenge of the sentries, and we were near
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 117 
 
 enough to hear the pedlar's French jargon in 
 high argument with three or four others who 
 spoke loud and angrily. I halted in the valley, 
 where the mist still concealed us from view, 
 and the soft, moist turf prevented our horses' 
 tread from heing heard. Above us, on the hill 
 side, we could distinctly see the groups of dis- 
 putants, and the figures assumed a gigantic size, 
 relieved against the clear sky above them. 
 
 " Let us give them one volley, Sir," whis- 
 pered Blount," drawing near me, " and if 
 they don't disparse with fright, at any rate 
 we shall be a fair match for the rest." 
 
 The advice seemed plausible to a man ac- 
 customed to bloodshed, but I shrank from 
 the thought of taking life as long as there 
 remained a hope of discharging our duty 
 otherwise. I therefore ordered my men to 
 advance a little, and halted them, so as to 
 be just partly visible to our opponents as if 
 they were the foremost files of a column of 
 cavalry ; there to remain still as death until 
 I ordered them to advance. I then cantered 
 forward, and onlv reined in mv horse when X
 
 1 1 8 REGINALD HASTINGS 
 
 came close to the levelled muskets of the 
 Roundhead party. 
 
 " Hollo ! there," I cried ; " ground your 
 arms, and declare yourselves. Who are ye, 
 and what do ye here at this hour of the 
 night ?" 
 
 The men instinctively obeyed, and lowered 
 their matchlocks; they were but raw train- 
 bands, and as yet uneasy, not only as to the 
 authority by which they were under arms, but 
 at the prospect of coming to close quarters with 
 mounted troopers. There were only four of 
 them ; the leader of the party and another soldier 
 being still busy with the Pedlar. I could see 
 that this other comrade w T as being despatched, 
 I presumed for assistance, near at hand. The 
 leader at once came forward at my summons, 
 dragging the Pedlar with him by the cloak. I 
 turned, as if to my troop, and called out : 
 " Ride round the hill, and cut of! all stragglers ; 
 if they resist, cut them down." 
 
 Blount disappeared as if swallowed by the 
 mist, and in a few moments 1 could hear his 
 horse clambering up the steep hill- side upon
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 119 
 
 the right. The Roundheads, who held the only 
 apparent pass, had not calculated on our know- 
 ledge of the country ; every hosk and glen 
 of which was as familiar to our hunting expe- 
 rience as those in our own park. They looked 
 irresolutely at one another, and at length their 
 leader replied surlily to my reiterated de- 
 mand : 
 
 " Pass on, thou and thine, in peace, and 
 molest not those who are doing the work of the 
 Saints and the will of Parliament." 
 
 " De vork of Saints !" screamed the Pedlar, 
 in a voice that seemed half cracked hy excite- 
 ment and impotent anger ; " if it be not de vork 
 of St. Nichola, de saint of tieves, I do not know 
 vat de mean by dere saintly vorks. De have 
 tore de doublet ov my back, de skeen ov my 
 neck, and vorse dan all — oh, dear ! oh, dear ! — 
 de have stole my pack." 
 
 " Silence, sirrah !" I exclaimed ; " you are in 
 a land of law and right, and shall have no 
 harm but what shall be made good unto you. 
 And for you, Sir," I continued to the Round- 
 head, .who still held his prisoner tightly, " you
 
 120 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 shall answer this charge elsewhere. Face about 
 your men, and lead me to your officer, who, I 
 presume, is not far off." 
 
 The Roundhead chose to adopt the excuse 
 that my words seemed to afford him, that I 
 was entitled to exercise authority ; the more so, 
 as an indescribable variety of voices was heard 
 from the misty hollow where I had left Bryan, 
 and on the other side of the pass, such a clatter 
 of hoofs and armour as might have required a 
 dozen horsemen to produce. 
 
 " I will do thy bidding, young man," said the 
 Roundhead, at length ; " but I do warn thee 
 that there be grave suspicions anent this ape, 
 whom thou befriendest as a brother. Doubt- 
 less, however, thou hast authority, and wilt not 
 see the good cause suffer through thy negli- 
 gence." 
 
 So saying, he flung from him the indignant 
 Pedlar, who eagerly picked up his pack, jerked 
 it on his shoulders, and stepped out after the 
 retreating Roundheads, with many vain-glorious 
 gestures and gasconading threats. I waited for 
 a few minutes, until the party had disappeared
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 121 
 
 round the angle, and then whistling to Bryan to 
 approach, I told him to keep an eye on the 
 Pedlar, and to be at hand with his horse, if 
 necessary. 
 
 By this time the party had cleared the pass, 
 beyond which lay an open country, for many 
 miles, almost as far as the river Witham. 
 Following close after the Roundheads and their 
 late prisoners, I found Blount stationed at the 
 mouth of the pass, sitting stiffly as beseemed a 
 sentinel, with his carbine at the recover. As I 
 passed him he drew up at my side, and whis- 
 pered, " I was forced to cleave yon runagate's 
 skull in two, for he was about to fire, and 
 would have brought his party upon us before 
 you had cleared the pass. Now, in our Lady's 
 name, let the Pedlar, or whoever he be, make 
 the best of his way, for there is at least five 
 score of Roundheads by yon farm-house." 
 
 It was too true. A few hundred yards off, 
 there was a large watch-fire blazing high among 
 the trees, and ever and anon, dark figures 
 crossed it to and fro.
 
 122 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " There be our picket," exclaimed the Round- 
 head, in a loud voice, that was meant less for 
 information than alarm. In a moment the 
 Pedlar stepped lightly back, leaped into Bryan's 
 saddle, and was off like lightning. 
 
 " Pursue the villain !" I cried to Blount, at 
 the same time placing myself between the fugi- 
 tive and the little party who were about to fire. 
 " Back to your post !" I shouted to their leader, 
 " and give the alarm." 
 
 Sir John Gell's musqueteers were not then 
 so ready with their weapons as they afterwards 
 became, and for a moment they paused irreso- 
 lutely, notwithstanding the voice of their ser- 
 geant, who roared out hoarsely : " Fire ! fire ! 
 fire on the sons of Belial, one and all !" 
 
 As I plunged into the hollow, a scattered 
 volley rang about my ears, and long afterwards 
 I could hear the loud voices and ringing armour 
 of the Roundheads borne on the breeze. 
 
 The first time a man hears the deadly whistle 
 of an enemy's bullet, he experiences an inde- 
 scribable sensation ; but with me, all the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 123 
 
 unpleasantness of it was merged in the con- 
 sciousness of triumph, as I dashed away into 
 the open plain. 
 
 I soon found the faithful Blount, who had 
 waited for the issue of my attempt ; had it been 
 unsuccessful, I have no doubt he would have 
 returned to share my captivity or death. His 
 dismal countenance had relaxed into something 
 of a grin of pleasure ; but the only observation 
 that he made was concerning my hat, which a 
 Roundhead bullet had shorn of its heron-plume. 
 This privation he, as my valet, considered a 
 good riddance, much as I loved and regretted 
 it ; the more so as the heron had been killed 
 by Zillah's hawk. 
 
 It was some time before I overtook Lord 
 Digby, who held steadily on at a hand gallop ; 
 at the same moment, Bryan bounded from 
 behind a thicket, and accompanied our progress 
 with a step as elastic as ever, though he some- 
 times condescended to rest himself for a few 
 minutes, by holding the pony's tail. 
 
 " I should apologize to you, my gallant young 
 friend," said Digby, " for having deserted you
 
 124 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 so unceremoniously, but that I give you credit 
 for being able to act as difficult a part if you 
 had had the same responsibility." He then paid 
 me some compliments, which few could render 
 so agreeable; and Blount himself looked pleased 
 with his share of well-bestowed praise. 
 
 Our ride thenceforth was exhilarating: in the 
 highest degree : the cool, bright night of a warm 
 day affords delicious travelling ; our spirits were 
 raised by our late success, and I observed to 
 Digby, that danger afforded an almost intoxicat- 
 ing sense of pleasure. "Ay," he replied: 
 " le peril est comme le vin ; il monte la tete, 
 as we say in France.' ' 
 
 It was past midnight when we approached 
 Lincoln, which being in the hands of the insur- 
 gents, we were obliged to avoid, and make a 
 detour by Hartisholme, where we crossed the 
 Fesdik. On the outskirts of the village we 
 stopped to breathe our horses, as we had still at 
 least thirteen miles to travel before we could 
 reach Newark, and we had scarcely drawn rein 
 since we parted from Phcebe, by the forest of 
 Beaumanoir. Digby flung himself carelessly
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 125 
 
 down to rest under an elm-tree, and, as soon as 
 I had made a reconnoissance of the neighbour- 
 hood, I followed his example. Meanwhile, 
 Bryan had unbuckled his saddle-bags, and pro- 
 duced therefrom a couple of wedges of deer-pie, 
 some marchpane, and a case bottle of rare old 
 wine, on which we supped right heartily. 
 Blount, who had quite resumed his old soldier 
 habits, lighted his pipe, and led the horses to 
 and fro, as he kept watch. Bryan all this while 
 was employing himself busily with my hat, and 
 when he returned it to me, to my surprise, 
 the lost plume waved over it in all its former 
 pride. 
 
 " There's a small taste of it missing," said 
 the boy, apologetically ; " but I thought as the 
 heron that wore the feather before your honour 
 wore it, was killed by the lady's hawk, you 
 wouldn't like to have it trodden under foot by 
 the canting old rebel that shot it off you." 
 
 " Then you were by my side, you foolish 
 boy, when the Roundheads fired on me !" 
 
 " Where else could I be, your honour ? I 
 knew my Lord Pedlar here, could be trusted
 
 126 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 with the care of his own self, and I could do no 
 more for him; so I just crept back to hear 
 what your honour was discoursing to those 
 deceitful villains. And so — but whisht ! by the 
 powers, there's more of 'em !" So saying, 
 Bryan placed his ear to the ground, and in a 
 few seconds we could all distinctly hear the 
 tramp of armed men. We sprang to our sad- 
 dles and rode away hastily, followed by Blount, 
 and soon afterwards by Bryan, who had leisurely 
 waited to recover and put in order his saddle- 
 bags, which he now re-strapped upon the pony 
 as it was cantering along. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, the first dawn revealed to 
 us the fine old castle of Newark, where we 
 soon arrived without further incident, and were 
 heartily greeted by the loyal garrison. 
 
 I have dwelt too long on the trifling inci- 
 dents of our march, but these were my first 
 adventures, and made more impression on me 
 than many a pitched battle has done since. 
 
 We only remained at Newark while our 
 escort to Nottingham was preparing to mount ; 
 during which time Lord Digby exchanged his
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 127 
 
 pedlar's disguise for a more fitting suit. Byron, 
 I remember, supplied him with a scarlet 
 doublet, Thorold with a hat and cloak, and 
 other officers subscribed other garments, to fit 
 him out after a rich and military fashion, that 
 became him well. The royal armoury supplied 
 him with sword and gorget, the only steel he 
 wore. The crimson scarf which had become 
 the insignia of our Cavaliers, was not only fur- 
 nished, but arranged on the goodly person of 
 this courtier by our buxom and blushing land- 
 lady, who had known his Lordship in former 
 times. 
 
 From Newark we rode post to Nottingham, 
 leaving our horses to follow with the servants, 
 and having for escort a score of Byron's 
 troopers ; the latter accompanied us until we 
 came in sight of our destination, and then 
 returned to their quarters.
 
 28 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sir, he's a fellow, 
 
 To take the devil by the sinister horn, 
 
 And twirl him round like a top. 
 
 BARRY CORNWALL. 
 
 If I have lingered too long on these recol- 
 lections of my earlier youth, I may be excused 
 by those who can value the innocent happiness 
 f their own ; to others I have no apology to 
 plead, and little interest to offer. I now enter, 
 however, on very different scenes, in which my 
 own experience and sensations are to occupy 
 only a subordinate part, until my story reaches 
 to my present imprisonment. Were I abroad 
 and stirring in the world, I might write very 
 differently, and far less tamely than now I do ;
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 129 
 
 that is, if I were to write at all. For action 
 and meditation are almost incompatible, and 
 when we are abroad and free among the brave, 
 the beautiful, the dangerous, among those who 
 can injure us and those who can reward, we 
 little think of recording what we have scarcely 
 time to perform. Hence it is that all our 
 descriptions seem so tame — our ruminations so 
 insipid compared with what we fed upon at 
 life's high festival. How different is even the 
 voice of wit or the touch of pathos when 
 " coldly furnished forth" upon mere paper j 
 and far, far more so the soul-thrilling thoughts 
 that require all the assistance of passionate 
 eye and utterance, to express themselves even 
 to the quickened perceptions of those we 
 love. 
 
 I have already been occupied for ten days 
 in writing these few pages ; and when, in re- 
 perusal, I find their record so different from 
 that memory which furnished them, I am 
 almost tempted to abandon my unprofitable 
 task. The yellow, weedy flower, upon my 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 dungeon wall ; the spider I have almost tamed, 
 seem more interesting to me than all my 
 written memorials of scenes and people that 
 once stirred every sense and thought with emo- 
 tion. 
 
 But through the deep silence of my solitude 
 breaks the loud music of a trumpet, and once 
 more wakens the train of recollections that 
 having followed so far, I will follow to the end. 
 The trumpet is silent now : doubtless, the troop 
 it spoke to have guarded to these dreary walls 
 another prisoner, and have now departed, leaving 
 to us the unfelt society of one more fellow- 
 sufferer. 
 
 Very differently sounded the trumpet in my 
 ear, when first I saw this old Castle of Notting- 
 ham, with the royal banner floating proudly 
 over it. Then my young heart beat high with 
 hope's tumultuous emotions, and my fancy was 
 fired with romantic visions. 
 
 •R" "7P TS" TT 
 
 "Yonder gloomy castle," said Lord Digby, 
 as we crossed the bridge below the town,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 131 
 
 " seems to me like some huge den, in which, 
 at length, our royal lion stands at bay, with 
 scarcely a jackal courtier left that dares to show 
 his teeth. Here's to the rescue, then ; and woe 
 to the hunters, when they feel the royal fangs ! 
 Now, for the present, farewell, my trusty 
 guide and guardian. I must straight to the 
 King on weighty business, amid which yours, 
 believe me, shall no wise be forgotten. Unless 
 revolution has been also there at work, you will 
 find fair lodgings and a comely hostess at the 
 sign of the Antlers in the Grey Friars ; there I 
 shall seek you as soon as my affairs at Court 
 are somewhat settled." 
 
 So saying, my indefatigable charge proceeded 
 to the castle with a more thoughtful air than 
 usual, and I was fain to seek mine inn. 
 
 The landlady of the Antlers deserved the 
 courtier's commendation, but her handsome fea- 
 tures were clouded with vexation ; and though 
 she welcomed me with professional amiability, 
 she did not invite me to dismount. 
 
 "Alack!" she cried, "that I should be 
 unable to receive a Cavalier of your condition, 
 
 K 2
 
 132 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 because my best room is filled with Round- 
 head hypocrites, who drink nothing stronger 
 than ale, and devour my substance without 
 profit." 
 
 I professed my willingness to accept of any 
 accommodation whatever, rather than go far- 
 ther, and probably fare worse ; the town being 
 densely crowded with Cavaliers, as well as with 
 those whom the business, the profit, or the 
 intrigues that always surround a Court, had 
 attracted thither. " Besides," I added, " Lord 
 Digby is to inquire for me here, and I would 
 not miss him." 
 
 The sound of this influential name procured 
 an instant summons for the ostler, and an invi- 
 tation to such hospitality as the house could 
 afford. " You will be pleased to make allow- 
 ances for my master's parlour — poor man !" 
 said the landlady, showing me into a little cell 
 about eight feet square, which was but thinly 
 partitioned off from the general guest-chamber 
 beyond. The proprietor of the Antlers was a 
 subdued and resigned looking person, as it 
 behoved the husband of so accomplished a
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 133 
 
 spouse to be : we found him smoking his pipe, 
 with his ear very close to the partition that 
 divided or concealed him from his guests ; he 
 seemed deeply interested in his occupation, but 
 at a signal from his helpmate, he abandoned 
 his lair without remonstrance. 
 
 " Here," said Dame Deerly, " your honour 
 will have no disturbance, except what is made 
 by' those in the next room, and that seldom 
 continues much after midnight." 
 
 A loud and heterogeneous din certainly pre- 
 vailed there at present : men shouting, singing, 
 swearing at tapster boys and at each other ; 
 knives clanging against platters, swords against 
 spurs, and flagons smiting upon the thick oak 
 table : all these and many other sounds seemed 
 to bid defiance to repose, though my hostess 
 took no notice of the uproar. Indeed, she 
 seemed quite willing to prolong our interview, 
 when she was summoned elsewhere by a loud 
 voice in the street that thundered for admit- 
 tance : a roaring, rough, good-humoured voice 
 it was, that afterwards I came to know full well.
 
 134 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " Hallo ! hallo ! host of the Horns — where 
 art thou ? Is it seemly usage for a noble 
 Cavalier to be left here, sweltering in your 
 foul streets like a popinjay in a July sun? 
 'Sdeath and wounds ! will nobody answer ; 
 have we a Roundhead ambuscado here, under 
 the beard of sacred majesty, that refuses to 
 admit his officer ? So then, here's for an 
 assault — vade retro, Sathanas !" 
 
 So saying, the Cavalier wheeled round a 
 powerful and coal black steed, and backing him 
 against the closed door, had the address to 
 make him kick right into it, and that with 
 such violence that the mark of the iron shoes 
 remains there still. 
 
 " Saints defend us !" exclaimed my landlady, 
 " here's another ; and another of the right sort, 
 too, I warrant me." And straightway the fearless 
 woman opened her beleaguered door, just as 
 the heels of Sathanas were about to do so more 
 unceremoniously. In a moment the Cavalier 
 had dismounted, flung his bridle to a man-at- 
 arms, and stalked into the hostelrie as if the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 135 
 
 whole world that he trod on was his own. 
 Vainly did the hostess protest she had no room; 
 the intruder replied, with a sounding salutation 
 on the lips of the fair dame, 
 
 " No room ! By Hebe, there must be a 
 dozen, any one of which will suit me to a hair, 
 whoever is the preoccupant." 
 
 So saying, he seized on a jack of ale that was 
 on its way to the parlour, and quaffed it deeply 
 to the King's health. 
 
 Dame Deerly was in despair at the thought 
 of losing a customer who so improved upon 
 acquaintance. Indeed, it was difficult to resist 
 the prepossession that, in spite of his boisterous 
 and reckless manner, was inspired by the 
 Cavalier : an expression of such joyous good 
 humour and hearty frankness shone in his 
 fearless eye, and played about his comely fea- 
 tures. 
 
 He might have been about thirty years of 
 age, but more than one streak of silver could 
 be detected in the long and carefully dressed 
 hair that curled over his broad shoulders. His
 
 136 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 dress was of the very richest materials, though 
 by no means of the newest; and the light 
 armour and arms that he wore seemed alone 
 to have been carefully attended to. 
 
 I had scarcely time to make these obser- 
 vations, when, wiping the ale-froth from his 
 moustachios, the Cavalier strode unceremo- 
 niously into the chamber that I occupied. On 
 seeing me, he suddenly changed his manner for 
 one of high-bred but manly courtesy, and ad- 
 dressing me by name, said, that he was come 
 on the part of Lord Digby to send me to his 
 Majesty, who, it appeared, was just starting for 
 Coventry. 
 
 " The King is already on the saddle," con- 
 tinued the Cavalier, " and you had better take 
 my horse in order to attend at your better con- 
 venience our peripatetic court." 
 
 I gladly embraced the offer, and as I 
 mounted, my new acquaintance fondly patted 
 his sable steed ; " he has come thirty miles this 
 morning," said he; "but Satan's not easily 
 tired, and your ride will scarcely be long, as
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 137 
 
 the royal train is small, and his Majesty loves 
 to be brief in his audiences." 
 
 Thanking my new friend for his services, I 
 rode off to undergo my first interview with the 
 Majesty of England,
 
 138 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The castle gates outpoured light- armed troops, 
 In coats of mail and military pride ; 
 And 'mid the gallant show, in gallant state 
 Their monarch rode, 
 
 ARTEGAS. 
 
 I soon reached the Castle, round the gates 
 of which a number of people had collected to 
 see the King come forth : many of these 
 spectators were trainbands and men-at-arms; 
 but there were also very many rustics, whose 
 soiled and wayworn dresses proved that they 
 had travelled far to obtain a sight of their 
 sovereign. The gates swung open to a flourish 
 of trumpets, and he appeared : whatever emo- 
 tion connected with Lord Digby's revelation
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 139 
 
 may have then mingled with my young and 
 ardent visions of loyalty, I can now speak of 
 the King as becomes my father's son. 
 
 I felt towards his Majesty at that moment, 
 something of the sentiment which John Bunyan 
 has since told me he experienced at the sight 
 of a bishop in his robes ; the idea of the man 
 was entirely absorbed in that of his august 
 function. I read in the mournful look that 
 he cast on his saluting people, a vision preg- 
 nant with prophetic power, informed by vast 
 and secret knowledge of what was then pre- 
 paring against him and his kingdom. I saw, 
 as I thought, the destiny of England incarnate 
 in his sacred person. 
 
 My reverence was deep as it was sincere, and 
 the courteous bow with which it was acknow- 
 ledged became a nod of recognition, as Digby 
 whispered my name in the royal ear. In a 
 few minutes the cavalcade had passed, and I 
 joined myself to those who brought up the 
 rear. 
 
 Lord Digby continued for some time to ride 
 by the King's side, in animated conversation,
 
 140 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 and then, with a low and graceful obeisance, 
 reined up his horse, while the King passed on. 
 
 " Now, Hastings," said the courtier to me, 
 " the King wants you ; listen meekly, answer 
 modestly, but promptly, and with resolution; 
 he will like you the better, or at least think 
 the better of you, for presence of mind. You 
 remember the Spanish proverb : ' Todo lo, che 
 no tengo yo.' " 
 
 I spurred forward, and in a moment was 
 beside the King, hat in hand, and listening 
 eagerly for the first words that were to 
 fall from majesty. They were not promising 
 when they came. 
 
 "Your father, Sir, may thank his own hot 
 temper that he is obliged to send a substitute 
 for his personal service to our standard." The 
 King paused. Whenever he was in the wrong, 
 he always endeavoured to excuse it by braving 
 out his error ; but his kind heart sometimes 
 failed in its sterner purpose. 
 
 Notwithstanding my reverential loyalty, this 
 reception sounded ungraciously; and I replied 
 somewhat proudly :
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 141 
 
 " May it please your Majesty, when my 
 father permitted to me the high privilege of 
 serving under your royal standard, I knew 
 not that he was himself incapacitated from 
 doing so, by aught save his bodily infir- 
 mities." 
 
 The King turned upon me a glance of 
 grave inquiry, and then said, in a tone that 
 contrasted strongly with that which he had 
 before used : " Well, well ; it is better that he 
 should have left me to tell you that there 
 was another reason, which has only lasted 
 long enough to prove his noble and loyal 
 nature, and which exists no longer. Write to 
 your father and tell him so, and tell him 
 likewise, that if it shall please Providence to 
 restore to me my power, he shall find that I 
 can remember high merit as well as brief 
 offence. My Lord Digby has told me that 
 I am again to see the Hastings' troop, that 
 might formerly have rendered us good service 
 in Scottish land, if we had not been reluctant 
 to shed blood, and if we had not trusted too 
 much in traitors. For the present, your men
 
 142 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 must form part of my nephew Rupert's regi- 
 ment, and remain at Nottingham until our 
 return. ,, 
 
 So saying, the King held out his hand to 
 me to kiss, and so we parted ; he to ride on 
 rapidly towards Coventry, and I to return to 
 my quarters. My heart warmed within me 
 for the royal cause, and I blessed my stars 
 that youth and ignorance had precluded me 
 from being involved in those political questions 
 that seemed so much to embarrass some 
 men's loyalty. For me, I was a mere 
 soldier, and but too well pleased to re- 
 main so for the present. 
 
 While busied with these thoughts, Satan 
 carried me rapidly back towards Nottingham, 
 and I was soon at the door of my former 
 apartment at the Antlers. On entering it, 
 I saw Digby there, leaning his head against 
 the wall and motioning to me to be silent 
 and to approach. I did so, and, looking 
 through a small hole — used, no doubt, by 
 the landlord for private observation of his 
 guests — I could see the various occupants of
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 143 
 
 the inn parlour. My attention, however, as 
 well as Digby's was rivetted to a small table 
 near us, where sat two persons engaged in 
 close conversation, and inaudible to every one 
 except ourselves, who were just behind the 
 speakers. To my surprize, I recognized in 
 one the visage of Sir Janus Demiroy ; and 
 though his cloak was drawn across the lower 
 part of his face, and his hat slouched low 
 upon his forehead, I could distinguish in the 
 other the lurid eyes peculiar to Hezekiah Doom. 
 The latter seemed engaged in the hopeless 
 attempt to bring Sir Janus to a decided 
 answer on some matter of importance, and was 
 winding up his argument, in a low but vehement 
 voice : 
 
 " And thus, my worthy patron, thou hast 
 placed thyself in a position of double danger, 
 from which nothing but prompt and fearless 
 decision can save thee : thou hast advanced great 
 sums of money to the men of the Parliament, 
 and earnest proffers and promises of service to 
 the man Charles. The latter, indeed, loveth 
 lukewarm water, but the former will spue thee
 
 144 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 out and retain thy monies as thy fine. And 
 then, be it borne in remembrance, the man 
 whom the Cavaliers call King is ever ready to 
 forgive and receive the righteous and the 
 patriot into a favour which enslaves the body 
 and destroys the soul; while the Parliament 
 never forgiveth, nor is there power given unto 
 them to do so." 
 
 I was induced thus far to remain a listener, 
 in the hope that Sir Janus would, by his 
 answer, vindicate himself from the dangerous 
 imputations in which the Puritan had involved 
 him ; but when I heard him begin his reply 
 with : " Well, T will go no farther in this 
 business until I have spoken with Lord 
 Essex — " I thought it high time to interrupt 
 him. I therefore merely said to Digby : " This 
 Sir Janus is well known to me : he is a kind, 
 good man, but easily led." Abruptly leaving the 
 little chamber, I then entered the parlour, walked 
 up through the various guests, and offered my 
 hand to my old friend. He started, and appeared 
 annoyed at being discovered, but his chaplain 
 remained quietly seated at the table, and drew
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 145 
 
 his cloak so tightly over his face, that I felt 
 obliged not to appear to recognize him. 
 
 I had scarcely exchanged salutations with 
 Sir Janus, when the Cavalier whom I have 
 before mentioned as the proprietor of Satan, 
 entered with half a score of troopers, and 
 walking straight up to my two acquaintances, 
 arrested them in the King's name. 
 
 Sir Janus started, and looked at me sus- 
 piciously, as if I had betrayed him. The 
 Puritan let fall his cloak from his face, and 
 drawing himself up to his full height, ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Spies and eavesdroppers as ye are — gen- 
 tlemen as ye call yourselves — have ye so little 
 regard to the character of an ambassador and 
 to your own, as to seize on a man bearing 
 messages of peace and good-will into an 
 enemy's camp, though he be furnished with 
 letters of safe-conduct ?" 
 
 " Silence, ye owl !" sternly and scornfully 
 shouted the Cavalier, " and know that if I 
 were not bound by orders that I may not 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 slight, I would give thee free liberty, and put 
 thee on thy defence in another fashion for 
 those words. Guards, away with him to the 
 castle ! — As for this gentleman," he continued, 
 turning to Sir Janus, " he will please to accept 
 of my personal escort; and grieved I am to 
 be obliged to act as his gaoler." So, saying, 
 the Cavalier offered his arm to the Baronet, 
 and marched him off. 
 
 I was anxious to see Digby, to ask for an 
 explanation of this scene, but first I assured 
 Sir Janus of my zealous service, and then 
 following the Puritan, I offered him my hand, 
 saying : " This is the first time, Sir, that I 
 have had an opportunity of thanking you for 
 your gallant and generous assistance in the 
 most trying circumstance of my life; I hope 
 I shall now be able to show my desire at 
 least to prove grateful." 
 
 The Puritan still held his arms muffled in 
 his cloak, and coldly replied thus, as he passed 
 on between his guards : 
 
 " You owe me far less than you suppose
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 147 
 
 What I did was done from a common impulse 
 of miscalled humanity. As to your services, 
 I need them not." 
 
 I confess I was not sorry that my advances 
 were thus met, but I hastened to Digby, to 
 do what I could in favour of the prisoners. 
 I found that he was gone to the castle, where 
 the Royal Council was sitting. I repaired 
 thither, and on being announced, was requested 
 to enter the large old hall wherein they were 
 assembled. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Canakin clink, drink boys, drink ! 
 Under the sun there's no such fun, 
 As to sit by the fire and see the tap run, 
 
 Drink, boys, drink. 
 
 Methought the personages assembled in 
 that gloomy hall resembled rather a gang 
 of banditti in a cavern, than the privy council 
 of a great kingdom in a royal castle. A rugged 
 oaken table was placed across the upper end, 
 or dais, and on each side of this sat half-a-dozen 
 persons, for the most part clad in buff leather 
 or light armour ; some three or four others 
 stood around, occasionally taking part in the 
 conversation. A couple of tall candles, in iron 
 stands, was placed upon the rude council- 
 table ; these, while they dimly assisted the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 149 
 
 fading daylight, threw a strong glare on the 
 faces of the debaters, or rather the disputants 
 below. 
 
 It seemed to me, that Lord Digby had 
 been giving an account of the arrest of Sir 
 Janus and the Puritan, and explaining the 
 manner in which he had become acquainted 
 with their plans; while Lord Falkland was 
 inveighing indignantly against such an act 
 as unworthy alike of Digby and of the cause 
 he professed to serve. Digby retorted angrily, 
 and Hyde endeavoured to divert the rising 
 quarrel by proposing that the prisoners should 
 be introduced. Sir Jacob Astley, however, 
 to my great satisfaction, declared against taking 
 any further trouble about them. 
 
 " I know," said he, " these stiff-necked Pu- 
 ritans of old. If you seek to obtain aught 
 from them contrary to their own wills, you will 
 find your efforts vain ; their cunning will always 
 baffle ours. Ay, even yours, my Lord Digby, 
 though you are pleased to smile; and their 
 obstinacy will defy all your threats. Besides, 
 what have we against them ? The one is an
 
 \oO REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 undoubted and confessed enemy, of whom, God 
 wot, we have enow ; and the other, a paltering 
 trimmer, of whom we have got yet more 
 amongst us. Moreover they have both said 
 their worst : let them begone, say I ; and ye 
 that are cunning in such matters, may make a 
 merit of it, if ye list." 
 
 " Well spoken, most sapient general," cried 
 Digby ; " and with your good leave, my lords 
 and gentlemen, in order to prevent all further 
 debate, I am content that it shall be even so." 
 Finding that this was the general opinion, this 
 versatile statesman then called me over to him, 
 and commissioned me to escort Sir Janus and 
 his confederate safely beyond reach of the gar- 
 rison of Nottingham. 
 
 " I need not impress on you," he said, " the 
 importance of convincing Sir Janus that the 
 King is still and always ready to receive him 
 into favour ; and that it is to prove our belief 
 of his real loyalty that I send you, his friend 
 and near neighbour, to bear him company." 
 
 I was well pleased to undertake this office 
 for Zillah's father, and not sorry to escape
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 151 
 
 from further attendance on a council that 
 appeared to me so little in accordance with my 
 preconceived notions of such an assembly. 
 
 I found the prisoners in the same apartment, 
 but the relation between them appeared quite 
 changed ; Hezekiah now seemed to be the 
 patron, the Baronet a subordinate : the former 
 paced the room with a firm and rapid step ; the 
 latter sat disconsolately at the window, leaning 
 his grey beard upon his hand, and gazing 
 ruefully on the iron bars. 
 
 As soon as I informed these uncongenial 
 associates of the purport of my visit, Sir Janus 
 joyfully started up, eager to be gone, but his 
 companion informed me that he had some 
 business to transact in the town. " Either I 
 am a prisoner, or else free," he said ; " either 
 detain me, or intermeddle not.' 5 
 
 I replied that I had been prescribed a simple 
 duty, which I must perform literally ; and, in 
 short, I and my charge were soon riding forth 
 along the valley of the Trent. The Puritan kept 
 aloof in stern silence, but his companion entered 
 eagerly into conversation.
 
 152 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " Sad times are these, my young friend," he 
 said, "when an honest man must either pass 
 for a truculent Cavalier, or a treasonable Round- 
 head : the sabre bridge of Al Sirat is not more 
 difficult to a Mussulman, than the path of 
 neutrality is now to an Englishman. I have 
 done my best towards both parties, for, to tell 
 you the truth, though I have nothing to hope 
 from either, I do not know which to fear most. 
 I betook myself to Nottingham to seek the 
 King, and here I find myself unexpectedly, as 
 you will witness, sent forward, will I, nill I, to 
 his opponent — the Earl of Essex !" 
 
 I replied, that at present the Roundheads 
 appeared the safer side ; but as his own presence 
 and protection were so important to his family 
 in times like the present, I hoped for their sakes 
 he would not be long detained in the rebel 
 camp. 
 
 " It is for these reasons," I added, " that I 
 gladly undertook to be your escort ; your home 
 is so closely associated in my imagination with 
 my own, that it is almost as dear to me." 
 
 " Thanks, thanks, kind Reginald !" said Sir
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 153 
 
 Janus hastily, as if afraid I should say more 
 upon this subject ; " and now methinks by the 
 glimmer of the moonlight on yonder armour, 
 that your escort is accomplished, and we may 
 part." He pointed to the corner of a grove 
 where a body of horse were assembled, and at 
 the same time he drew nearer to his Puritan 
 companion. " Now, farewell, good lad," he 
 added, " you will bear me witness, that it was 
 by Lord Digby's orders that I have left the 
 King's quarters." 
 
 As Sir Janus thus spoke, I heard a trumpet 
 in our rear, which was answered by the party 
 in front, and the next moment two bodies of 
 troopers, advancing at full trot, enclosed our 
 party between their ranks : they wore the 
 orange scarf — the badge of Essex. 
 
 The officer in command having halted his 
 men, and of course our party also, rode up to 
 Hezekiah and exchanged with him some words ; 
 then turning to me, he desired me to consider 
 myself his prisoner and give up my sword ! 
 My sword flew from its sheath rapidly enough 
 by mere instinct, but it was not in surrender !
 
 154 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 At the same time, hand and spur brought my 
 horse well together, and I rode him at a wall 
 that the ambuscade considered must have 
 hemmed me in. The gallant brute cleared it 
 at a bound from where he stood, and landed 
 in a green meadow at the other side. 
 
 " Prisoner !" I then shouted to my chal- 
 lengers ; " I defy your best power, with trea- 
 chery to boot, to lay hands upon me whilst I 
 live." I could hear the clank of a score of 
 carbines as the troopers took aim, and as I 
 dashed away over the soft grass I could also 
 hear a deep, stern, and well-known voice call 
 out : " Recover your arms ! Slay not, but 
 pursue !" and then the road rang with the 
 clumsy galloping of the Roundhead horse. I 
 soon regained the road, and excited as I was 
 by the fray, I felt tempted to wait for my fore- 
 most pursuer, and let him taste the sword of a 
 Cavalier; but then my father's counsel stayed 
 my own proud will, and I rode forward until I 
 reached the gates of Nottingham in safety. 
 
 As soon as I had seen the good Satan stabled 
 and well cared for, I went to the castle to give
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 155 
 
 an account of my adventure, but the gates were 
 locked, the warders set, and Lord Digby gone, 
 none knew whither. I then repaired to the 
 Antlers, and long before I reached that hostel 
 I could hear joyous voices resounding in loud 
 laughter or wild chorus through the open window 
 of the inn-parlour. 
 
 Such scenes as I was about to witness were 
 new to me, and I paused for a moment on the 
 threshold; but hearing the governor of the 
 castle's voice high above the din, I entered, 
 and for the first time beheld assembled the 
 chief officers on whom the King and kingdom 
 depended for their safety ! 
 
 As I before mentioned, a massy oaken table 
 ran from side to side of the long low parlour, 
 and this was attended by two long benches of 
 equal length; at the upper end was a huge 
 chair, in which Digby sate installed as president. 
 The benches were closely occupied by carousing 
 Cavaliers ; not a place was vacant, and not a 
 voice was silent as the health of the new 
 governor was pledged in the best wine the inn 
 afforded. I have often thought of that picture
 
 156 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 since ; when many of those who composed it 
 lay stiff and stark around me on the blood- 
 stained field. 
 
 There were some fifty Cavaliers of all ages, 
 and of every variety of dress and feature seated 
 there. The grim veteran of the Low Countries, 
 in stained buff, and with fiercely curled mous- 
 tachios, side by side with the young gallant in 
 velvet or plush doublet, his lip scarcely shaded 
 with a downy beard, and his long hair so lately 
 fondled by fair hands falling from a face 
 flushed with wine, and the excitement of a 
 first carouse. A glittering row of swords 
 hung against the wall, surmounted by as 
 many helmets or plumed hats : at every move- 
 ment of the revellers, as the flagons clashed, 
 armour or arms clanked, and afforded martial 
 accompaniment to the stormy song or cheer. 
 
 At the head of this fiercely gay company 
 sate Digby, apparently the gayest and most 
 careless of them all, though to my knowledge, 
 days and nights of anxious and dangerous 
 watching had past over him since he had tasted 
 of repose. This singular man, having passed
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 157 
 
 the morning among the graver councillors of 
 the King, discussing various and tedious con- 
 cernments of State, now seized this evening's 
 opportunity to ingratiate himself with the mere 
 tools of his previous elaborate designs. No 
 one could so well adapt himself to all men's 
 tastes : he was master of every mood, and ac- 
 quainted with the vagaries of every passion. 
 It was especially in a scene like the present 
 that the versatility and exquisite pliancy of his 
 talents was displayed: by some well applied 
 word, or look, or smile, he had already esta- 
 blished a certain intimacy with every man at 
 table, old or young, gay or grave, grim veteran 
 or smooth-faced youth, chivalrous aspirant or 
 sensual debauchee. 
 
 As soon as his eye caught mine, he ex- 
 claimed, " A place ! a place ! for our new 
 recruit ! What now, my gallant Paladin ; what 
 new adventures hast thou crow T ded into the 
 twenty-four hours that have chimed on old 
 St. Simon's Tower since we began our enter- 
 prise ?" He heard my report. " What ! trea- 
 cherv, ambuscadoes, and hair-breadth 'scapes?
 
 158 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 why 'tis a tale fit for a stirring time like this, 
 to whet the appetite of young blood for strife, 
 and recal the fervour of the old. Gallant gen- 
 tlemen all ! I present to you a worthy son 
 of the noble House of Hastings, to whose 
 conduct and bravery I owe my safety here, 
 and who has seized the opportunity of our 
 entertainment to encounter the vanguard of 
 the rebels." 
 
 While Digby continued in this strain, I was 
 cordially greeted by the Cavalier whom I have 
 previously mentioned ; the owner of the 
 steed Satanic that had carried me so well in 
 my late encounter. 
 
 " Such has been the hurry of events," said 
 he, " that I have not yet introduced myself to 
 you or claimed the honour of kindred; my 
 name is Harry Hastings, more commonly known 
 I fear, as Harry Hotspur, and though I have 
 had the fortune to command my Lord Has- 
 tings' troop of horse in that scurvy Scotch 
 business, I was prevented from becoming ac- 
 quainted with his son by your absence during 
 my only visit at Beaumanoir." It was indeed
 
 .REGINALD HASTINGS. 159 
 
 my fearless and much-feared cousin, who has 
 since held out his castle of Ashhy de la Zouche 
 for years, kept the Roundheads in check 
 throughout three counties, and well won for 
 himself the title of Lord Loughborough. 
 
 I cordially accepted his proffered friendship 
 and thanked him once more for the use of 
 his charger. 
 
 " A better never served a hunter's or a 
 soldier's need," said he, " though I say it, who 
 bred and broke him under mine own hand 
 and eye. And now, my cousin, you must let 
 me cement our new found friendship by a 
 trifling gift : this horse is indeed too light for 
 my burly person, but he will carry you like a 
 cherubim, and to-morrow you must let him be 
 removed to your stable, if his ill-boding name 
 does not daunt you, which I believe to be no 
 easy matter" 
 
 Sir Jacob Astley, who sat next to my young 
 kinsman, declared the name to be a sin and 
 shame ; and Wilmot, having eagerly inquired the 
 subject of the worthy old Cavalier's indignation, 
 immediately gave the name the benefit of his
 
 160 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 unqualified praise ; defending its propriety with 
 much profanity and wit. 
 
 " If thou show thyself," said Sir Jacob, " as 
 bold against the enemies of the King as against 
 the enemy of mankind, it will be well for our 
 cause. I pray heaven thou hast not as good 
 an understanding with them I" 
 
 Sir Marmaduke Langdale stopped the con- 
 versation at this dangerous juncture, by pro- 
 posing to pledge my health, and immediately 
 all individual conversation was lost in the con- 
 fused roar of general conviviality. 
 
 The hilarity, however, was soon interrupted 
 by a trooper, whose appearance showed that he 
 had ridden in hot haste, and the poor fellow's 
 gauntletted hand shook, as he presented a small 
 note to Lord Digby. The latter filled his 
 own beaker to the brim, and handed it to the 
 messenger, who eagerly quaffed its red con- 
 tents. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Lord Digby, with a con- 
 gratulatory air, " I should regret to break up 
 this good company, were it not that these 
 tidings are of such interest. The crop-eared
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 161 
 
 knaves of Coventry have not only refused the 
 King admittance into their smoky town, but 
 have fired on his Majesty's train, and, I fear 
 me, have slain some. My Lord Wilmot, you 
 and all your troops will prepare to mount in- 
 stantly and set forward to the King's assistance. 
 We may expect to see you return in a day or 
 two as the escort of his Majesty." 
 
 Wilmot and his officers sprang from their 
 seats with alacrity. With no small outlay of round 
 oaths, down came armour and arms, clanging 
 from the walls, and a few hasty salutations 
 being exchanged, some twenty Cavaliers left the 
 room, and the rest dispersed themselves more 
 slowly. Soon afterwards we heard trumpets far 
 and near, and just as I was sinking to rest, I 
 caught the tramp of horse, the sound of which 
 mingled with and shaped my dreams. 
 
 Notwithstanding the excitement of such novel 
 scenes, I slept soundly, and was only wakened 
 by the stir of the crowded town. I sprang to 
 my feet with the consciousness of having much 
 to learn and to perform, and as I hastily 
 made what Digby would have called my 
 
 VOL. I. m
 
 162 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 toilette, my attention was more occupied with the 
 little details of life that were passing in the 
 street. Here a long waggon of hay was urged 
 towards the cavalry stables ; there, a waggon 
 load of pike handles was trundling up to the 
 stores, superintended by Sir Jacob Astley, 
 who was already on foot and ready to scru- 
 tinize them : huge butts of ale were to be 
 seen dragged along by willing soldiers towards 
 their quarters; and armourer's apprentices, 
 laden with back and breast pieces, potts and 
 taces, were constantly hurrying by. Booths full 
 of London wares, and, in many cases, with Lon- 
 don warehousemen as well, were fitted up, lining 
 the whole street; and rustics, whose ordinary 
 markets were in distant villages, now thronged 
 the good city of Nottingham with fowls and 
 eggs, and other farm-yard products, for which 
 they received (or were promised) threefold 
 prices. 
 
 Before I was dressed, I heard the sonorous 
 voice of Harry Hastings calling lustily for his 
 morning draught, and swearing at the oak 
 table, for being the hardest board he had ever
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 163 
 
 slept upon. To this necessity had he been 
 compelled at last by the repletion of the house, 
 and by his disinclination " to presume on our 
 brief acquaintance," as he said, by taking my 
 miserable straw-stuffed bed from under me ; all 
 the other rooms in the house were well barri- 
 caded before the orgies of the preceding night 
 had well begun. Such a state of things had made 
 the whole household wakeful, and Dame Deerly 
 herself was already stirring and arranged in her 
 best attire. 
 
 From her we learnt that in the course of the 
 night, " some great foreign Prince had arrived ; 
 and on finding the King was absent, had taken 
 horse, almost without taking breath, and spurred 
 away like mad on the road to Coventry ; some 
 say it is Prince Rupert Palatine, and some 
 that it is the Soldan himself come to fight for 
 our religion and rightful Majesty." 
 
 Anxious for surer intelligence, I issued 
 forth from the Antlers to seek Lord Digby, 
 whom I found in the midst of business at the 
 castle. 
 
 " Welcome, my Paladin," he cried, pushing 
 
 M 2
 
 164 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 from him a heap of papers, and stretching his 
 limbs, weariedly, " I hope you have slept better 
 than has been my lot. Scarcely was I in bed 
 when a despatch arrives from the King, ordering 
 petards to be forwarded forthwith to Coventry ; 
 and when Will Legge and I had, at length, got a 
 couple of 'potticaries mortars to serve for the pur- 
 pose, I laid down again. I was soon roused, how- 
 ever, by the news that that blundering Prince 
 Rupert was arrived, and was storming for in- 
 formation about the King. I got his highness 
 a fresh horse and guide, and sent him forward 
 like a tennis ball. Then comes a trumpet 
 from Essex, apologizing for an affront offered 
 yester-even to a Cavalier, by a vidette, which it 
 appears had been sent to look out for the return 
 of your Puritan's embassy ; and one of the 
 present objects of this second mission is to 
 take back the associates of friend Hezekiah, 
 whom Hyde ordered, forsooth, to be honourably 
 lodged at the Antlers ; they now fear that in 
 reprisal for their rascally attack on you, we shall 
 detain this canaille, of whom we shall have only 
 too good a riddance. By Pluto, a governor of
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 165 
 
 a royal castle in these times had need of as 
 many heads as Cerberus in order to understand, 
 and as many hands as Briareus, to sign all 
 these papers ; not a base peasant of them all 
 will trust the King with a sack of corn, unless 
 he has a promissory note under my hand to pay 
 for it." 
 
 This day passed slowly away, it was the eve 
 of that appointed for the setting up of the 
 standard, and though no person expected that 
 appointment would be kept, a sort of feverish 
 suspense almost universally prevailed. In the 
 afternoon, however, my brother Hugo arrived 
 at the head of as goodly a troop of horse as 
 ever armed for the King. I had thenceforth 
 sufficient occupation all the remainder -of the 
 evening in providing for their wants, to prevent 
 my time from passing slowly. I had also much 
 to learn from my brother, brief as had been his 
 stay after my departure. He told me he had 
 left my father so much recovered that he rode 
 with his troop some miles, and in bidding 
 them farewell had spoken of leading them before 
 long in person. He told me also that he had
 
 166 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 been at the castle to take leave of Zillah and 
 Phoebe ; that the former gave him rather the 
 impression of Deborah, when she warned the 
 Israelites against battle, but that her sister was 
 all tenderness, anxiety, and devotion. 
 
 " Fancy that light-hearted, laughing girl," he 
 said, " giving me sage counsel with tearful eyes, 
 and in a voice so earnest, it might have pene- 
 trated a tougher heart than mine. Amongst 
 other matters that surprised me, she told me to 
 beware, and to warn you, of that most accom- 
 plished and clever person whom she met under 
 your escort. She also told me she had seen 
 your page Bryan in long conference with Zillah, 
 who had appeared sadder and more stern than 
 ever after your last interview. Poor Phoebe 1 
 her prospects are dismal enough, for one like 
 her ; prisoned in that gloomy castle, which has 
 assumed a decidedly puritanic caste since the 
 Parliament waxed so strong. It was a hard 
 task to leave her. From the moment, however, 
 that I mounted and rode away from our valley, 
 I felt lighter at heart than I have done for 
 many, many months, and I almost hope that in
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 167 
 
 the stir of our future life, I shall be able to forget 
 the past." 
 
 It was very touching to hear the mournful 
 accents of this boy-soldier as he spoke of his 
 past life — pure and innocent though it had been. 
 Indeed he might have stood for the picture of 
 one of the angel warriors in the old Christian 
 stories, as he leant pensively on his sword, his 
 long auburn hair curling down his cuirass, and 
 his tearful blue eyes fixed steadily on heaven, as 
 if there lay his only hope.
 
 168 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The field all iron cast a gleaming brown, 
 Nor wanted clouds of foot ; nor, on each horn 
 
 Cuirassiers, all in steel for standing fight. 
 ***** 
 
 Such and so glorious was their chivalry. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 I pass over the raising of the standard, and 
 the consequent events that are fresh in every 
 recollection, and not easy to be obliterated. 
 Never seemed a nation more reluctant than was 
 England to go to war ; but when once thoroughly 
 uproused, her efforts were prodigious. An army 
 gathered round the King, as if by magic, and 
 when we marched away from Shrewsbury upon 
 London (as we fondly hoped), we mustered
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 169 
 
 upwards of ten thousand fighting men, besides 
 a crowd of mere idlers, courtiers, and officials. 
 I also pass over the various incidents of our 
 march, and arrive at once at my first battle-field. 
 
 On the morning of the 23rd of October, we 
 found ourselves descending the steep side of 
 Edgehill to form in the plain below, where the 
 enemy stood ready to receive us. Hugo rode 
 that day in Lord Bernard Stuart's Life Guards, 
 which I had hoped would have remained in 
 attendance on the King ; but when our battle- 
 line was forming, the life guards requested and 
 obtained permission to charge with Rupert's 
 corps of cavalry, to which my troop also was 
 attached. I was not, however, destined to 
 command it on that fatal day. 
 
 It was a soft beautiful Sabbath morning that 
 rose over the hills and meadows of the peaceful 
 looking Vale of Redhorse. The church bells 
 were pealing from the belfry of Keinton, and 
 the sound passed solemnly over our wide spread 
 hosts, as they mustered for the work of 
 slaughter. I then experienced no elation at the 
 prospect of the approaching battle ; all the high
 
 170 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 hopes and enthusiasm I had felt and cherished 
 concerning my first fight, suddenly gave way 
 before the solemn and saddening realities of that 
 hour. There is something in the sight of a 
 real enemy almost unintelligible to a young, and 
 innocent, and inexperienced mind. Men, by thou- 
 sands, speaking the same language, and, in 
 many instances, thinking the same thoughts, 
 were there, some half-mile away, carefully calcu- 
 lating how they could best destroy and crush 
 us, Yet these men might have been good and 
 kindly neighbours to us, as to each other, but 
 for the one great cause ; the hand and voice that 
 was soon to deal death against his fellow coun- 
 tryman would have offered to him kindly greet- 
 ings a few months before. 
 
 If such thoughts would force their way even 
 into my boyish mind, how heavily they must 
 have weighed on the soul of our King. And, 
 truly, as we defiled before him to the fatal plain 
 below, never did I see an expression of such deep 
 and settled sorrow on the countenance of any 
 man ; a heavy gloom had fallen on it, which 
 nothing but the brightness of his eyes relieved.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 171 
 
 There was ample time to observe him, for 
 our whole force had but two paths to descend by 
 from the brow of the hill, and these two met in 
 one, near where his Majesty was standing. 
 Our column was obliged to halt just there, in 
 order to allow the artillery to pass by, and I 
 observed all that related to the King with the 
 deepest interest. His thoughtful but penetrat- 
 ing glance seemed to scan every spot of ground 
 and him who occupied it, whether friend or foe ; 
 and sometimes that glance would wander for a 
 moment to the far hill side, where the two 
 young princes stood gazing on the scene full of 
 such moment to their future. He scarcely 
 looked at the different officers who came to 
 announce information, or to require it, but he 
 started at the sound of a deep and somewhat 
 agitated voice, that uttered " God save your 
 Majesty !" 
 
 The speaker's countenance was concealed by 
 a helmet, of which the visor was only raised as 
 he turned to the King. I listened, however, 
 with emotion to the voice, and felt my heart
 
 172 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 stir within me as the King extended his hand 
 frankly and cordially, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Lord Hastings, I hail it as a good omen 
 for this day, that you return to my side. Nay, 
 man, speak not of the cause that made you 
 absent ; I remember it at this hour, perhaps too 
 well, especially when I see yonder traitor, 
 Holland, in the ranks of mine enemies. Enough 
 for the present, my true-hearted and gallant 
 Hastings ! if it shall please Heaven that we both 
 survive this day, hasten to me when it is over. 
 Now tell those troopers to move on, or the 
 rebels will have the triumph of the first move, and 
 there is my nephew Rupert, impatiently waving 
 his sword below for the troops to advance.'' 
 
 As the King spoke, the pathway had become 
 clear. My father was instantly at my side, and 
 an unsuppressed shout of welcome and triumph 
 burst from his faithful followers. As we pressed 
 on to our position on the right, I had time for 
 very few words of greeting ; but my father in- 
 formed me that he had travelled all night to 
 overtake the army. He had suffered so much
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 173 
 
 from anxiety at home, that he determined to 
 follow us. That though still not strong, he 
 hoped to see that one brave battle which must 
 decide the fate of England, as he then vainly 
 thought. 
 
 Such was not the will of Providence. But 
 the hour of the fight was come ; and so busily 
 had I been occupied with our men, that I had 
 scarcely time to glance along our line, before 
 the battle-smoke concealed it from my eyes. I 
 could only observe that our force was ordered 
 precisely in the same manner as that of our 
 enemies ; the cavalry on either wing, flanked by 
 Aston's and Heydon's artillery, and the infantry 
 in the centre, where the stout and true Earl of 
 Lindsay fought among his Lincoln volun- 
 teers. 
 
 I heard a few guns upon the left, then 
 Prince Rupert rushed to the front of our column, 
 and shouted to the trumpeters to sound a 
 charge. 
 
 Out they spoke cheerily, and all my enthu- 
 siasm blazed up again fiercely from the ashes 
 where it had smouldered. God ! what a mys-
 
 174 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 tery hast thou made us ! A few minutes be- 
 fore, at the tone of the gentle church bells, 
 I felt as if I could have pressed every foeman 
 to my heart, and entreated him to change his 
 evil ways ; now, at the sound of the scornful 
 trumpets, and the glitter of the sword, my 
 mood was changed. I thought I could have 
 swept the enemy from the earth even as the 
 Destroying Angel of the Assyrians : I longed 
 to gather their pikes in armfuls, like the 
 Switzer's Arnold, and defy death and suffer- 
 ing alike, as our Cavaliers dashed over my 
 body through the human gap that I had 
 made. 
 
 Seldom has a thought been sooner followed 
 by a deed. With one wild fierce shout, we 
 dashed our spurs into our horses' flanks, and as 
 we burst upon the enemy, the force of our own 
 shock cast us asunder ; the Roundhead cavalry 
 never waited for a stroke, nor received one, until 
 they were overtaken in their desperate flight ; 
 but the infantry stood firm, as Prince Rupert's 
 column rushed past them like a whirlwind. 
 We on the left, meanwhile, were borne against
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 175 
 
 Stapleton's infantry, who received us with steady 
 hearts and levelled pikes. Still shouting " for 
 God and for the King," I plunged among 
 them, and as the weight of my gallant horse 
 bore me through, I could feel the scratch of a 
 dozen pikes that glanced along my armour ; the 
 next moment, I was flung upon the ground, 
 and a rush of men passing over me, deprived 
 me of all consciousness. 
 
 I know not how long I lay in that sudden 
 swoon, but as I slowly recovered, I could still 
 faintly hear the shouts and yells of desperate 
 fight approaching and retiring, and the ground 
 shaken under me, as masses of cavalry charged 
 to and fro. Gradually the sounds grew more 
 distinct, and vision returned to my eyes; I 
 looked round, and — Heaven ! — what a cruel spec- 
 tacle revealed itself! The hand that I pressed 
 on the ground to raise myself, splashed in red 
 blood, which dyed my cuirass with many a 
 stain. Dead and mangled horses lay on either 
 side of me, round them lay many slain and 
 wounded men ; the latter, with low moans and
 
 176 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 stifled prayers or execrations, endeavouring to 
 writhe their gashed limbs into some less 
 painful attitude, Most of them were enemies, 
 but all thought of enmity seemed to have 
 passed away. Not a few of these poor fellows 
 had belonged to my own devoted troop, who had 
 sealed their fidelity with their lives, in endea- 
 vouring to support my charge. It was miserable 
 to me to see those honest manly features, so 
 well known in childhood's happier days, now 
 distorted or pale, as the sword or musket had 
 destroyed them. I not only knew every yeoman 
 who lay there, but every child and village girl, 
 that vainly expected the return to his home of 
 their slain soldier. A young trumpeter, whose 
 first attempts to sound a horn I well remem- 
 bered in our woodland chase, lay close to me, 
 empaled by a Roundhead pike ; and across his 
 breast lay his father, his grey hairs dabbled in the 
 blood that streamed from the boy's side. He 
 was a sturdy forester who taught me woodcraft 
 long ago ; his right hand still grasped the 
 sword with which he had severed the arm that
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 177 
 
 smote his son, but a small mark upon his 
 manly forehead showed where the bullet had 
 freed the childless father from all sorrow. 
 
 Many such groups lay scattered widely round, 
 formed by death and agony into terrible pic- 
 turesqueness. Not one mere mercenary sol- 
 dier could I see ; all were honest, simple-looking 
 countrymen, who wore their soldier garments 
 awkwardly, as they lay there, manuring their 
 native soil with rich red blood. As my dizzy 
 eyes w T andered over the dead and dying and 
 slowly recognized each altered face, they were 
 arrested by the prostrate form of an officer, 
 whose crimson scarf showed him to be a Cavalier. 
 I dragged myself towards where he lay upon his 
 face, bathed in gore. I lifted him gently, raised 
 his visor, and beheld — my father ! 
 
 He was not dead ; but my joy on finding 
 him alive was soon checked, when I observed 
 that indescribable pallor, which even to the in- 
 experienced eye is the sure sign of approaching 
 death. Once more, however, * he smiled — 
 smiled upon me with a look of tenderest 
 affection, and his warm heart rallied its energies 
 
 VOL. I. n
 
 178 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 again as it spoke in his kindling eye and voice. 
 He faintly and solemnly blessed me ; and 
 through the roar of war's infernal din, his 
 whispered words fell distinctly on my ear like 
 the accents of an angel. 
 
 " Mourn not ;" he said softly, " no one ever so 
 rejoiced to live as I to die — to die thus on 
 my son's brave breast, while my King's ene- 
 mies are scattered before him. Now I have 
 no earthly fear to mingle with my hope of 
 heaven ! Long may you live, my son, loyally, 
 righteously — and when you die, may you wel- 
 come death as I do now." 
 
 He paused, and some inarticulate words 
 rattled in his throat ; but his last heart's pulse 
 lent vigour to his voice, as he saw some of 
 our troopers returning from the chase ; they 
 flung themselves from their horses, and gazed 
 with clasped hands and mournful eye upon their 
 lord. He tried to raise himself, and pointing 
 with his trembling hand to where the battle 
 was still struggling, he exclaimed : 
 
 '■' The standard is taken ! To the rescue — to 
 the rescue ! This day or never — fight — ."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 179 
 
 Then, after a moment's pause, he rose with a 
 dying effort from my arms and strove to utter 
 his last war-cry. 
 
 " For God — " he cried, and his voice failed, 
 his head sunk upon his cuirass, as he mur- 
 mured, " and for the King." And then he 
 ceased to breathe. 
 
 I felt the force of his last words, and 
 the agony of my heart sought refuge in 
 desperate action. I flung a fallen standard 
 over the gallant dead, and forgetful of all 
 bodily pain and wounds, I sprang to my 
 feet. My horse, fearless and well-trained had 
 never left me. Though rolled over and 
 trampled on, and bleeding from a dozen 
 wounds he was quietly grazing on a patch of 
 grass, from which he had pawed away the dead 
 body of a little drummer-boy. 
 
 I remember nothing more of that fearful 
 day, except charging across the plain, strewn as 
 it was with parties confusedly attacking and 
 flying. I felt my strength failing me, and I 
 only sought to reach the first melee, to fling 
 myself among the enemy, and perish in the 
 
 N 2
 
 180 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 clash of swords. I tried to collect myself — to 
 take in the position of the battle, and lead my 
 scanty troops where they were most needed, but 
 in vain ; my brain reeled, and it was only by 
 a glimmering instinct that I led — still at a 
 furious gallop — my willing men against the first 
 body of orange scarfs that I could reach. My 
 troops cheered bravely as we dashed in among 
 the enemy, and I can remember no more.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips 
 With twenty thousand kisses, and to drain 
 Upon his face an ocean of salt tears, 
 To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk, 
 And with my finger feel his hand unfeeling. 
 
 SHAKSPERE. 
 
 Mas invidia he de vos, conde. 
 
 I rather envy thee thy doom, 
 
 Than mourn for thee, or pity thee ; 
 
 For such an honourable death 
 
 Is glory's immortality. — lope de sosa. 
 
 When I returned to consciousness, I found 
 myself lying on a bed of leaves, over which a 
 soldier's cloak had been carefully arranged. I 
 was in a tent, and through the foldings of the 
 canvas door I could see the stars, with freezing 
 brightness, shining down upon the battle-plain 
 below.
 
 82 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 A few watch-fires marked the ground where 
 the videttes of both armies now occupied the 
 position which the line of battle had held 
 during the day. Here and there, on the hill- 
 side, burnt a few other scanty fires. The tent 
 I lay in stood upon the summit of Edgehill, 
 and from vague, lazy noises I heard around me, 
 I guessed that the camp was there also. As my 
 eyes became accustomed to the light, I observed 
 a glimmering in the darkness opposite my bed, 
 and there I soon recognized the dead body of 
 my father, armed from head to heel, as he had 
 fallen, but carefully disposed on a crimson cloak. 
 His hands were crossed in warrior-fashion upon 
 his breast, and his countenance — so sweetly 
 grave — seemed to say that his spirit had parted 
 from his last battle into happy rest. 
 
 I had dragged my maimed and bruised body 
 near to his, and was kneeling by his side, when 
 the canvas door was darkened, and then Hugo 
 was kneeling by my side. How we prayed I 
 cannot, what we prayed, I will not tell ; but 
 from that time forth we mourned for him that 
 was gone no more. As sorrow, and disappoint- 
 ment, and despair fell upon us and on the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 183 
 
 cause he loved, we could think with pleasure 
 and gratitude how mercifully he had heen 
 spared from the evil days to come. 
 
 Henceforth Hugo and I were alone in the 
 world ; we parted no more ; w T e shared the 
 same bed and board ; fought in the same battle 
 when it came, charged side by side, and held 
 the same w T atch when the fight was done. 
 
 The day after the battle of Edgehill I was 
 carried on a litter to Banbury, and thence in a 
 few days to Oxford, where I recovered so 
 rapidly as to take part in the King's advance 
 on London in November. During my illness, 
 I was watchfully and tenderly cared for by 
 Bryan, who gave me by degrees his own account 
 of the battle in which I had suffered so much, 
 yet of which I knew so little. 
 
 " Well, my lord," said he, " you remember 
 you ordered me to stay on the outskirts of the 
 battle with the spare horse. I was scarcely 
 set, when the trumpets screeched, and your 
 honour and the rest went at the enemy at such 
 a rate, that the sight left my eyes ; whether it 
 was the beating of my heart that pushed out the 
 tears, or the dust that blinded me I cannot tell.
 
 184 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 But I soon saw clear enough, and there was the 
 Prince cutting away like mad, well in front of 
 all the troops, that seemed to be running a 
 race after him ; and then I saw my Lord that 
 was (rest his soul) leading on the second lines, 
 and seeing there was nothing more to do in 
 front, he turned to the left against the rebel 
 foot, and the next minute your honour was 
 in amongst their pikes, and down : and poor 
 old Blount, who was close to you, thinking fit 
 to follow you always, went down on top of you, 
 and the rebels closed over all like waves of 
 the sea, and for a little while the rest of the 
 troop was turned aside. But then my Lord 
 came up, riding quite steady and easy like, and 
 rode in among them as if they were a field of 
 wheat : and the rest followed, and there was 
 great struggling for a little while, till Master 
 Hugo came back from the chase with the 
 gentleman-troop of my Lord Bernard and drove 
 away the rebels like chaff, and followed them 
 too, for he knew nothing of your honour's fall- 
 Meanwhile, the King's Horse on the left cleared 
 their part of the field ; and I thought the 
 business was done, when I saw the middle of the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 185 
 
 rebels pushing on with their foot till they drove 
 ours in, and took the royal standard : it was 
 a long time before they were beaten back, 
 and the King got his flag into his own hands 
 again. And then there was such confusion 
 that I couldn't tell what was happening, or who 
 was beating, or who w 7 as winning ; and it's my 
 own belief that our General and my Lord Essex 
 knew as little as I did ; but at last both sides 
 began to look for their own people, and got 
 together as fast as they could ; to talk about 
 their great victory, and to settle how they could 
 most conveniently get away from those that 
 they had conquered so entirely." 
 
 " But," said I, " what were you doing all 
 this time ?" 
 
 " Oh ! I forgot to tell your honour that just 
 as I was going down to you, that rollicking, 
 swearing gentleman that gave you the devil (here 
 he crossed himself) — Satan I mean — came up 
 to me all bloody and out of breath, and bid 
 me give him your horse ; and when I wouldn't, 
 he pitched me off him as if I was a sack, and 
 the next minute he was on him, and away like 
 a madman, looking for somebody to fight with.
 
 186 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 In the meantime, a bullet slipped into the left 
 calf of my leg, and laid me on the green grass, 
 so that I had nothing to do but look about 
 me, and wonder how your honour was getting 
 on among the rebels. By dint of the purse of 
 gold my Lord Pedlar gave me, I persuaded the 
 doctor's men to take me to where I saw your 
 honour fall, but you were gone ; and though I 
 found Sam Willis, and Bill Everard, and many 
 more of our boys from home there, the only one 
 that had any life worth mentioning left was 
 old Blount, who had a sore whack upon the 
 head and a broken leg, so that he couldn't 
 stand, and was cleaning one of your honour's 
 pistols to amuse himself. He told me that 
 Master Hugo had carried you off, and promised 
 to send back for himself; and now he's hard 
 by and doing well, only that he's in great 
 throuble about the key of your honour's 
 thrunk, that the camp women picked his 
 pocket of when he was in his swoon ; for those 
 she- devils follow as close on the soldiers in the 
 fight as the gleaners after the harvesters." 
 This confused narration was, after all, one
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 187 
 
 of the best accounts I ever heard of this 
 memorable battle ; from my brother Hugo to 
 the King, every one had a different version of 
 it. Digby indeed swore that Prince Rupert 
 lost the battle, and Mr. Hyde was ready 
 enough to show how it might have been won, 
 and Sir Philip Warwick swore it was won. All 
 I know is, that nothing — not even defeat — 
 could have been more disastrous to England 
 than this undecided battle. I verily believe 
 that the Parliament, if then victorious, would 
 have been forced by the country to give the 
 King better terms, than now, after all their 
 defeats they are disposed to offer. Our men 
 fought only too well, and forgot the better 
 part of valour — that discretion and presence 
 of mind which alone can dignify and turn it 
 to a successful, issue. 
 
 Six months passed by in various triumphs 
 and defeat. The King had knighted Hugo 
 on the field of Keinton for rescuing the royal 
 standard from the Roundheads. His Majesty 
 had also condoled with us kindly on Lord
 
 188 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 Hasting's death, and had borne honourable 
 testimony to his merit and his virtues ; but 
 my dead father's service was naturally soon 
 forgotten in the crowd of living claimants for 
 court favour. 
 
 My brother and I were generally with Prince 
 Rupert, whose restless spirit of enterprise, all- 
 daring courage, and quenchless love of adven- 
 ture kept us in constant occupation, which was 
 well suited to our circumstances, if not always 
 to our feelings. 
 
 Blount now recovered from his wounds ; 
 and looking more grim than ever from a 
 deep scar upon his cheek, was still constant 
 in his attendance, while Bryan hovered round 
 me with pertinacious zeal to do me service. 
 My black horse too, had survived our various 
 dangers, and was still unrivalled, in the chase 
 as well as in the ranks. 
 
 The summer of 1643 closed in with a 
 stormy autumn, that ended the campaign 
 sooner than usual. Mutually worn out, but 
 mutually unforgiving, the two great parties
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 189 
 
 that divided England, were now fain to re- 
 tire to their winter- quarters, the Roundheads 
 concentrated in and about London, we for 
 the most part at Oxford or at York.
 
 190 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Triumph and art ride sparkling in her eyes, 
 Mistrusting what they look on — and her wit 
 Values itself so highly, that to her 
 All matter else seems weak. She cannot love, 
 Nor take no shape nor prospect of affection. 
 She is so self-endeared. 
 
 SHAKESPERE. 
 
 Oxford then presented scenes of great 
 brilliance and attractions. Every one knows 
 the soft and solemn beauty of the city itself, 
 and the rich variety of the country round 
 it, in time of peace. Now, however, that 
 Mars and Bellona had taken up their resi- 
 dence in the quarters of Minerva, the ancient 
 University assumed a new aspect. The colleges 
 were, for the most part, barracks or hospitals,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 191 
 
 and every little lodging-house was tenanted 
 by rich or noble personages. The presence 
 of the court, its centrality for receiving 
 information, its charming society, varied by 
 every rank, and class, and profession, added to its 
 comparative safety — all these rendered Oxford 
 the most popular residence in England, es- 
 pecially for those who were accustomed to 
 reside erewhile in London. Here, however, 
 all the elements of metropolitan dissipation 
 were concentrated in so small a space, that 
 their attractions and influence were danger- 
 ously increased. My brother Hugo, formed 
 to be a favourite with every one who could 
 appreciate genius, grace, and gallantry, was 
 gradually won from his sorrowful seclusion. 
 Indeed, there were eyes and voices then gleaming 
 and sounding about our warlike court that might 
 have won a hermit from his " sainted solitude ;" 
 and even I, although possessed by a love almost 
 religious for Zillah, could at least appreciate 
 the danger, that others, not so fortified, must 
 undergo. The brilliant Duchess of Richmond, 
 and the romantic, learned and beautiful sister
 
 192 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 of Sir Charles Lucas, were considered as the 
 reigning powers in the Court of Love ; but 
 they had many formidable rivals. 
 
 Our fiery chief, Rupert, was accustomed 
 to scoff at all such sentiments as women 
 could inspire; and of a truth, I believe he 
 never knew the voice that could enthral 
 him for a moment when the trumpet sounded ; 
 or of an assignation that would not have 
 been joyfully exchanged for a chance of 
 meeting with an enemy. Nevertheless, this 
 Prince of Cavaliers was not entirely free 
 from the general contagion ; and if the 
 Duchess of Richmond's wishes were not law 
 for him, they came nearer to it than any 
 other authority on earth. 
 
 One morning I had been making a re- 
 connoissance round the walls of Oxford with 
 the Prince. We daily expected the approach 
 of Lord Essex, who we knew had deter- 
 mined strictly to invest the city : our gay 
 company accordingly, and chiefly the ladies, 
 were making the most of their brief time 
 of freedom, by traversing the neighbourhood
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 193 
 
 in all directions with hawk and hound. More 
 than one such party we had already passed 
 without notice, for whilst on military duty, 
 Rupert had no eyes or ears for aught else. 
 As our round of examination was accomplished, 
 however, and we were about to re-enter the 
 town, we caught sight of a group passing 
 along by the river, and amongst them was 
 conspicuous the snow-white palfrey of the 
 Duchess. The footmen who explored the 
 game with small black spaniels, had just 
 flushed a heron, and a hawk soared gallantly 
 away from the gracefully raised arm of her 
 Grace. Just then, with as quick an eye as 
 that of her favourite bird, she perceived the 
 Prince, and beckoned to him with a winning 
 imperiousness, w 7 hich even he was fain to obey ; 
 he grumbled, however, as he turned his 
 horse's head, and told me that he would 
 not tax my patience to attend him farther. 
 
 " Nay, Sir," I replied, " your Highness is 
 never w 7 ont to dismiss me in times of trial, 
 and if I may judge from appearances, yonder 
 
 vol. I. o
 
 194 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 party is more formidable than a column of 
 Hazlerigg's lobsters." 
 
 " So it is — so it is !" exclaimed the Prince, 
 " with the women alone, one can manage to 
 cope, but they are so infested with the 
 womanish court witlings, that they remind 
 me of Gustavus Adolphus's cavalry mixed up 
 with musketry ; while engaging with one in 
 fair fight, the other torments our life out. 
 There, by St. George ! is that fair and false 
 French coxcomb, Digby, telling the Duchess 
 some grinning story about me no doubt — 
 but no — he seems to point to you." 
 
 Just then the hawk towered bravely, and 
 by a sudden swoop, seemed to fling himself 
 and the heron in one fluttering mass upon 
 the ground. The Duchess and her party went 
 off at a gallop, and the Prince, with an oath 
 of eagerness or anger, dashed after them. 
 We came up as the falcon, re-hooded, was 
 placed upon his lady's wrist, still ruffling his 
 feathers in the pride of victory. 
 
 " When will you heroes rest thus tran-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 195 
 
 quilly contented, after your triumphs," said the 
 Duchess with a sort of sigh, as she held up 
 the hrave bird towards the Prince. 
 
 "There is but one who can claim your 
 Grace's hand as his reward," interposed Lord 
 Digby, maliciously, " and he seems perfectly 
 contented." 
 
 The Duke was indeed apparently quite satis- 
 fied ; his hand was on the mane of Mistress 
 Lucas's palfrey, and her whispering voice was 
 breathing some not unwelcome nonsense in 
 his ear, when arrested by the general attention 
 that was at once turned towards them. Digby 
 had succeeded at one stroke in rendering four 
 people uncomfortable, and the Prince especially. 
 He followed up his success, addressing the latter 
 in a deferential air : 
 
 " Your Highness set us an admirable example 
 of discipline just now, and lost me a heavv 
 wager by obeying so promptly a signal of 
 recal." 
 
 Rupert's countenance darkened into an ex- 
 pression that was not pleasant to behold, as 
 he retorted : 
 
 o 2
 
 196 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " If I had set an example of anything wise 
 or worthy, your Lordship would have been 
 as slow to notice as to follow it." 
 
 Digby's arrowy retorts had always Parthian 
 activity, even in retreat. 
 
 " Your Highness' high nature is ever pro- 
 posing to yourself what seems impossible to 
 others," he replied, with a complimentary bow 
 and curl of the lip. 
 
 " Come, Prince," said the Duchess, inter- 
 posing, " and let me present to you a member 
 of your garrison, who, if she prove as for- 
 midable to the public as to private peace, 
 may prove a very Helen to our Troy." So 
 saying, she drew over to her the rein of a 
 lady's horse, and gracefully throwing off the 
 veil of its rider, discovered, to my surprise, 
 the lovely, blushing face of Phoebe Demiroy. 
 
 I scarcely recognized my young playmate 
 at first, so much had six months altered the 
 character of her countenance : her eyes had 
 acquired more brilliancy and power, and were 
 more darkly shaded ; the wavy, uncertain contour 
 of her mouth and chin had given way to a
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 197 
 
 sculptured firmness ; her figure had become 
 finely developed, and her ringing voice had 
 assumed a rich and mellow intonation. 
 
 The Prince's stern, but handsome features, 
 involuntarily confessed the pleasure that he felt 
 as he doffed his plumed hat and bowed to 
 his charger's mane in honour of the intro- 
 duction. After a few formal phrases, however, 
 he turned to the Duchess, and resigned Phcebe 
 to my eager greetings and inquiries. 
 
 " Why and how I came hither is easily 
 answered," said she. " For the first, my 
 heart and yearnings ever followed the fortunes 
 of the King, and it may be, some others who 
 uphold his sacred cause. My father's anxiety 
 to be well with all parties assisted my own 
 wishes, by transferring me to the care of my 
 kinswoman, the Duchess. As to how I was 
 transferred ; I came last night with the treaters 
 of peace from Reading, and I believe my 
 presence is the only result of all their labours 
 and discussions with the Roundhead chief. 
 As to Zillah, she is in her glory, in the 
 very midst of rebels at the grim old castle
 
 198 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 of Nottingham with our most austere kinsman, 
 Hutchinson, and his tiresome wife. She is 
 now coming to Reading, however, to give her 
 company to my father. But there's a beckon 
 for me, so I must say good bye. Come and 
 see me at Merton College ; you will find me 
 over the porter's lodge, where I have usurped 
 some banished student's rooms. I always ' sport 
 my oak,' so you must knock three times slowly. 
 Lady d'Aubigny hangs out (I believe our 
 fellow gownsmen call it), in the same apart- 
 ment, and dislikes as much as I do being 
 disturbed by those Court creatures." 
 
 So saying, Phoebe cantered forward to pur- 
 sue the Duchess and her sport, and left 
 me to myself. 1 instantly sought out Hugo : 
 I knew too well where to find him; in the 
 very apartments that his first love had pointed 
 out. 
 
 Kate, Lady d'Aubigny had been widowed 
 by the battle of Edgehill of one of the noblest 
 gentlemen that ever drew a sword for loyalty : 
 gentle, and generous, and brave, he possessed 
 other qualities far more rare in our camp —
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 199 
 
 a fearless morality and modesty that were 
 proof against all the witty scorners and all 
 the temptations of the Court. 
 
 " I thank God," said he, one day, in reply 
 to one of Wilmot's scoffs, " I can undergo 
 the martyrdom of a blush." 
 
 So could his beautiful and witty wife (now 
 widow) for that matter, when it suited her 
 own purpose ; as now when my name was 
 announced, and I apologized for withdrawing 
 her unconscious young admirer on the plea 
 of duty. 
 
 " Well, go !" said she to Hugo, " and if, for 
 the future, we must meet more seldom, it 
 will be no regret to you that you have shared 
 and soothed the widow's sorrow, while you 
 still fight manfully for the good cause which 
 now alone has interest for her upon earth." 
 
 So saying, the lady extended one fair hand 
 to my brother, while with the other she dashed 
 away an ostentatious tear, intended at least 
 as much for the living as for the dead. Hugo 
 hesitated; he was innocent and w T arm-hearted,
 
 200 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 and for him a woman's tear had the power 
 of a whole stream of Lethe. He gave me 
 an imploring look, as if asking me to leave 
 him for a little while ; but something like anger 
 suffused his countenance when he met, instead 
 of sympathy, a sarcastic smile. He was under 
 a momentary spell, which most men can un- 
 derstand ; but it gave way before a stronger 
 one as I whispered : 
 
 " I have news from the castle for you." 
 
 He hastily let go the hand he had still 
 clasped, and followed me promptly in the court- 
 yard below. 
 
 " Hugo," said I, " your intimacy with yon 
 syren must cease, and I might regret it for 
 her sake, as you do, if I believed that tear were 
 sincere." 
 
 " Yes, yes," he replied, " I know that I can 
 seldom see her now. Some cousin of the 
 Duchess', is coming to stay in the same rooms 
 with Kate — with Lady d'Aubigny I mean i 
 but how can you be so unjust as to think she is 
 false in her seeming."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 201 
 
 " I will answer your last question first," said 
 I ; " I know, I thank heaven, little of woman- 
 kind save one, the tried and faithful friend of 
 my childhood and my youth; she whom our 
 dead father loved, and whose docile heart our 
 mother taught to know its higher destinies. 
 Hugo ! hefore you and I were left alone in the 
 world — this wild and warring world which 
 yonder trumpet may even now signal us to 
 leave — we were friends as well as brothers. 
 God knows, my brother, that all the sorrow we 
 have shared since then, could scarcely add to 
 the love I ever bore you ; and now, when some- 
 what of my father's sense of duty is blended 
 w 7 ith that love, think you I would give you 
 pain without a cause? I tell you, I know 
 little of woman's wiles, or of such as Lady 
 d'Aubigny ; but mere instinct teaches me that 
 the feeling which struggles to display, instead 
 of to conceal itself, is little likely to be true. 
 You ask me what object she can seek in 
 winning your interest ? Why, a mere worldly 
 woman's object : you are young, handsome,
 
 202 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 and already famous, where fame to her is 
 precious; she would fain wear you like some 
 new and brilliant ornament attached to her 
 chatelaine, to exhibit and flaunt in the eye 
 of her rivals — that is to say, of all other 
 womankind. I say not this on mere suspicion : 
 I would not wound your feelings at a venture ; 
 but I know that she is at least more intimate 
 with Lord Hawley and Lord Newburgh than 
 with you : nay, T have seen her letters on 
 Rupert's table, lying side by side with a dozen 
 other communications to the careless Prince. I 
 know that she would excuse all this by her po- 
 litical intrigues with which it is her vanity to 
 intermeddle, but her loves have been too various 
 to be discreet. Now pardon me this long exor- 
 dium to one little word with which I might 
 have spared it, if I did not wish to take from 
 your coming pleasure any bitterness that mis- 
 placed regret for another might have mingled 
 with it. The lady who is to share Lady 
 d'Aubigny's apartments is — Phoebe. 5 ' 
 
 The various emotions that had blended in
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 203 
 
 Hugo's countenance whilst I was speaking, at 
 once resolved themselves into a burning glow 
 of mingled shame and pleasure as I mentioned 
 this last word. He hung his head, and pressed 
 my arm as his sole reply.
 
 204 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 One drop of blood drawn from thy country's bosom, 
 Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore. 
 
 SHAKESPERE. 
 
 Nor was there time for more. Whilst I 
 had been speaking, Prince Rupert's trumpets 
 sounded out the well-known call to " boot and 
 saddle," and as usual in such cases, we has- 
 tened to the great quadrangle in Christchurch. 
 A single trumpet call was the appointed 
 signal to summon officers, only, to the young 
 General's quarters ; a second noticed the regi- 
 ment of cavalry first for duty to prepare for 
 service; and a third commanded the whole 
 force to turn out as soon as they could gird
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 205 
 
 on sword and saddle. These arrangements 
 were necessary in the then critical state of the 
 garrison, when the enemy hovered all round 
 us, and the troopers and their horses were 
 dispersed into various nooks and corners in the 
 overcrowded streets. We were therefore accus- 
 tomed to listen anxiously for a second sound : 
 and now, scarcely had the first died away 
 among the cloistral echoes, when another fol- 
 lowed, brave and strong ; and then a third. 
 Between each sound there was silence — the 
 deep silence of suspense throughout the city ; 
 but the opening blast of the third had scarcely 
 pealed, when in all directions arose a confused 
 hum and the tramp of armed men. Starting up 
 from weary pallet, or carousing can and flaggon, 
 and not a few from hospital w 7 ards, the hardy 
 troopers swarmed out into the streets, and dis- 
 appeared again into the stables and sheds 
 in which their hard-worked horses rested for 
 the while. 
 
 Meanwhile, we entered the quadrangle of 
 Christchurch, w 7 here already manv officers w T ere
 
 206 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 assembled, and Rupert, his face beaming with 
 stern pleasure, was communicating to each his 
 orders in a loud and eager voice. 
 
 "And now, gentlemen," he concluded, ad- 
 dressing all, " I have only to remind you that 
 we have not only the cuckoldy Roundheads to 
 beat, but the Cavaliers of the West to give a 
 lesson to. They thought they could take 
 Cirencester by their own swords, and they 
 failed ; now it's for us to do it, while 
 they keep the ground." (Lord Hertford, 
 with the army of the West, had lately been 
 beaten back from this important town). 
 " Now, gentlemen, let every one look to his 
 men, that they be better equipped than the 
 last time, and, if possible, that they be 
 sober. Warn them strictly against their 
 two besetting sins, want of caution, and love 
 of plunder. — What, sirs ?" he continued, look- 
 ing sternly round him, as he perceived that 
 many of his hearers smiled at his injunction. 
 "What sirs, think you I jest? By the soul 
 of the King, I will hang the first man, be he
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 207 
 
 lord, or groom, or man-at-arms, that lays 
 hand upon aught but his sword, or the enemy, 
 until I give him leave to plunder." 
 
 " Or set him the example," muttered Wilmot 
 almost aloud. 
 
 "As to caution," the Prince continued, still 
 speaking rapidly, " I may not always set my 
 men as good an example in this respect as you 
 do, my Lord Wilmot ; nor do I consider ours 
 to be a time or a mode of war that allows men 
 of honour to spare their men, much less them- 
 selves, when an enemy can be reached, and 
 charged home ; but our present business must 
 be a surprise rather than, what we all prefer, an 
 open fight. Let the men have no powder in 
 their bandoleers, but let plenty be at hand. 
 
 " See you to this, Will Legge. My Lord 
 Grandison, you will march away, first to Wood- 
 stock, and warn Northampton to have his regi- 
 ment ready by the time we come. You, my 
 Lord Wentworth, will march next, and for this 
 time forbear reminding your men that the 
 Roundheads are ' their brethren.' Sacremet ! if 
 you must do so, talk to them of Cain and Abel :
 
 208 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 think of your father, my Lord. You, Wilmot, 
 of course, will command the main body ; if I 
 hear your men grumble, I shall lay it at your 
 door." 
 
 And so the hasty Prince went on ; assigning 
 to every man his post, in language, which if not 
 always complimentary or agreeable, was at least 
 terse and easily understood. Whatever he said, 
 none cared to reply, for his fierce vehement 
 will prevailed over even the proud volunteers 
 who served under his command ; and during the 
 whole period of the war, he was unchallenged, 
 although every one knew he would never shelter 
 himself behind his rank. 
 
 In half an hour the royal horse were 
 paraded, and riding forth in all the pride of 
 martial power, through crowds of spectators, 
 among whom were not a few of the first and 
 fairest of England's daughters. We made a 
 skilful feint to attack Sudely Castle, which drew 
 forth the Cirencester garrison from their strong 
 defences ; then quickly turning upon them, we 
 not only beat them back, but entered pell mell 
 with them into their long defended town.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 209 
 
 There, there were some terrible scenes for half 
 an hour ; and then suddenly, as when a tropical 
 storm has past by, all seemed calm and quiet as 
 before — except the hospitals ! 
 
 On the following day, we re-entered Oxford, 
 in what was to me sad triumph, leading with 
 us long files of our fellow-countrymen as 
 prisoners. The whole Court came to the gates 
 to welcome us, and the King, gratified by the 
 first victory he had gained for a long time, was 
 also there. 
 
 It was a strange sight, and one to make even 
 a young man thoughtful, to behold England's 
 sovereign gazing on the melancholy array of 
 wounded and dejected subjects as they passed 
 under his review. Many of them, sustained by 
 a high spirit, however misplaced, bore them- 
 selves with the air of martyrs in a noble cause ; 
 and there was one especially, a tall, brave, youth, 
 whom our soldiers had shamefully stripped of 
 his upper garment, and exhibited thereby a form 
 of noble symmetry, gashed with several deep 
 wounds, which obliged him to be carried on 
 horseback. As he passed by the King, the 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 ladies, and nobles of the Court, he held himself 
 upright with an effort, the agony of which was 
 only visible in the clammy sweat that burst 
 from his pale forehead. 
 
 " Dog of a rebel !" exclaimed an old woman 
 in the crowd, when she saw him demean him- 
 self with such brave insolence. 
 
 The young Puritan turned upon her a look of 
 lofty and unutterable scorn, and fell dead ! # A 
 dozen eager servants hastily removed the offend- 
 ing corpse, but its late possessor had triumphed : 
 the incident had spoiled the scene ; the King re- 
 tired, and the remainder of the procession had 
 no spectator belonging to the Court. 
 
 I will not dwell longer on the minor details of 
 this mournful war. All that my imagination 
 had pictured of grandeur and proud pleasure in 
 a military career, gave way before the sad and 
 stern reality of experience. 
 
 Nevertheless war, whatever it be, has its dan- 
 gerously bright illusion. It is always a stirring 
 spectacle to see a brave army drawn out for 
 battle, and nothing in our life can equal the 
 
 * A fact, also related by Lord Clarendon.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 2 ] 1 
 
 glow and glorious sense of power as we charge 
 thundering over the trembling ground to the 
 fierce music of the trumpets, in chorus with 
 the wild hurrah of our dauntless soldiers. But 
 when the, living wall of our foe is reached, 
 and borne down and crushed beneath horses' 
 hoofs ; when its living fragments resolve them- 
 selves into individual men, shrieking for quarter 
 in our own household language ; when we 
 dare not show the pity that we feel, or restrain 
 the maddened trooper's rage against his enemy; 
 then the soul sickens, and we curse the grim 
 mockery that rejoices in such a scene, and dares 
 to call it triumph. 
 
 Thus I was musing as I rode towards Oxford, 
 when Lord Falkland joined company with me, 
 and remarked that my aspect was not in keep- 
 ing with the occasion; " especially," added he, 
 cordially and kindly, " as you distinguished 
 yourself not only in valour, but in clemency — 
 by far the rarer virtue now-a-days." 
 
 " To you," I replied, " both seem so natural, 
 that I take the more friendly your observing 
 any attempt, on my part, to imitate you." 
 
 p 2
 
 212 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " As to what they call courage," said Falk- 
 land, " I have no pretensions to rival my mas- 
 tiff in that quality ; and as to clemency, to say 
 the truth, I am ashamed to set the life of others 
 against such a stake as that of my own. Whilst 
 in actual strife, I endeavour to believe that it 
 is my duty — as minister at war, you know — " 
 (and here he smiled sadly,) " ' to smite and spare 
 not,' to use a Puritanism. But often, afterwards, 
 I find myself haunted by what I have done ; 
 I can then still my accusing conscience only by 
 reflecting that I have helped to remove some 
 sufferers from evil days to come; and that I 
 myself w T ould be grateful to the sword that 
 should so open for me a way to peace — the only 
 peace that is to be found." 
 
 I was touched by these sad w 7 ords, and by 
 the confidential tone in which a person so highly 
 considered as Lord Falkland addressed me ; 
 I was struck, too, at finding such a coincidence 
 with my own reflections in the sentiments he 
 expressed. I afterwards found, however, that 
 these sentiments were very widely shared, by
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 213 
 
 almost all, indeed, excepting those who made 
 their subsistence by war, and their fortunes by 
 plunder. 
 
 But it struck me that mere patriotism, how- 
 ever strong, was not a sufficiently romantic 
 feeling to account for Lord Falkland's proverbial 
 contempt of death. I suspected some more 
 tender cause : I could not help taking a deep 
 interest in his confession, and I ventured to ask 
 whether peace was well assured to those who 
 sought it by a voluntary death ? 
 
 " And even if it were," I added, " can you 
 wish, unsummoned, to leave your high name 
 and all its responsibilities- — your home to deso- 
 lation, and your wife to misery — for the mere 
 sake of noiseless and unanxious sleep ?" 
 
 Falkland winced : I had touched him where 
 I intended not. The truth was, (as I after- 
 wards understood,) that like most men of a 
 warmly poetic imagination, he had married the 
 wrong woman, having unconsciously disguised 
 and arrayed her in the rich wardrobe of his 
 own ideas. I know not what was the poor
 
 214 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 lady's fault ; probably there was none, except 
 her husband's unsatisfied and unsatisfiable aspi- 
 rations. The ideal woman ' of such a mind as 
 his' is a formidable rival to any real woman of 
 mortal mould. 
 
 " Name, home, wife \" he exclaimed ; " the 
 last comprises all three : as she is, so they are 
 valued. If our modern Eves only knew how they 
 can make or unmake the Eden of man's life, 
 they would not so often listen to the serpent 
 vanities, jealousies, and wayward tempers, that 
 play the devil with us. When woman was 
 appointed a helpmate unto man, there was no 
 fierceness in the lion, no poison in the flower ; 
 but when she took the apple and our destiny 
 into her own hands, she seems to have become 
 more changed herself than the world that she 
 plunged in misery." 
 
 He paused for a moment, half smiling at 
 his far-fetched accusation, and then added 
 thoughtfully : 
 
 " Yet have I seen one such woman as seems 
 qualified to fulfil woman's original sacred mis-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 215 
 
 sion, to comfort, ennoble, and bless our doomed 
 race.* One, who, gifted with the grace, and 
 beauty, and intellect of an angel, appears to have 
 all the long-suffering, and gentleness, and ten- 
 derness, that befits a child of man. One whose 
 bosom would afford a paradise of rest to the 
 weary and wounded spirit that sought refuge 
 and solace from the self-sacrificing generous 
 heart that beat within." 
 
 He was silent for a few minutes, and I lis- 
 tened anxiously to the touching, though un- 
 tunable voice, that conjured up a vision seldom 
 long absent from my own imagination. I was 
 startled by the question with which he resumed 
 his speech. 
 
 " By the bye," he said, " you are a Lincoln- 
 shire man ; you perhaps know a family named 
 Demiroy ? Ah, I see you do ! and now I recol- 
 lect, I saw you with the fair Phoebe yesterday, 
 
 * Warwick asserts, and Lord Clarendon hints, what 
 our Cavalier here states ; Lord Falkland seems to have 
 been as unhappy in private as in public life. From the 
 day of Newbury to that of Waterloo, there have 
 probably been few battles without some selfish Decius.
 
 216 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 in very confidential intercourse. Well ! never 
 blush for it, at least not to me. Phoebe is the 
 very damsel to form the love-dream of a young 
 Cavalier, and keep him from all the gross 
 realities that deform so many of our comrades' 
 lives. Right glad am I to find that since 
 she must needs mix in this fold of tainted 
 sheep, there is some one to come between her 
 and that wolf Digby." 
 
 I hastened to undeceive my companion, 
 saying : " But you are mistaken, my dear 
 Lord; she you speak of is an old and dear 
 play-mate of mine, — we were children together, 
 but nothing more; and as to Lord Digby, I 
 know nothing of him that deserves such an 
 epithet as you apply to him. I have ever found 
 hirr a kind and warm friend." 
 
 " Ay, ay," resumed Falkland, " fair and 
 false, fair and false. I know him better 
 than you do ; but though I like him not, I 
 would scorn to disparage him, if it were not 
 necessary for you, young and inexperienced as 
 you are, to beware of him. I tell you that 
 Digby fancies himself violently in love with
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 217 
 
 this girl, whom he met in some of his masque- 
 rading and mischievous rambles ; and more 
 than that, I can tell you that you owe him 
 little for your favour with the King. Not 
 that he wishes any evil to you personally, but 
 he wishes your removal from about the Court ; 
 and that with a true courtier's vehemence in 
 small things." 
 
 " But," I remonstrated, " if Lord Digby had 
 any designs against me, he would scarcely have 
 interested himself in my favour, in the first in- 
 stance, with the King." 
 
 " Ah," replied Falkland, " fortunately for 
 you, you know little yet of courts and courtiers. 
 He could not keep either your arrival at Not- 
 tingham, or your father's generous service 
 secret ; but he did his best to render both 
 unacceptable, by representing them as bribes 
 from Lord Hastings to be restored to the 
 royal favour. To this you must attribute the 
 King's cold reception of you at your first inter- 
 view ; although, when his generous nature pre- 
 vailed over his prejudices, he endeavoured to 
 render justice to your motives."
 
 218 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 Astonished as I was by such duplicity on 
 Digby's part, I was too much interested in the 
 former part of Falkland's story to dwell upon 
 what merely related to myself: it seemed to 
 me, moreover, to be the slightest matter in the 
 world to call Lord Digby to account for his 
 conduct ; and with this resolution I dismissed 
 the subject from my thoughts, and turned to 
 that in which I felt more interest.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Veu muerta, tau escondida. 
 
 Come peace, come death ! come silently, 
 And sound no knell, no warning give, 
 
 Lest the sweet bliss of welcoming thee 
 Should rouse my wearied soul to live. 
 
 CANCIONERO DE VALENDA. 
 
 " Have you long known the lady of whom 
 you spoke so admiringly just now ?" I inquired, 
 with some hesitation. 
 
 " Unfortunately for me, no," he replied. 
 " It was just before the outbreak of this 
 unhappy war that I first beheld her. In those 
 times I vainly hoped that all our differences 
 might be composed by mutual sacrifices and 
 mutual confidence on the part of the royal and 
 popular advisers. With this view I frequented
 
 220 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the society of the latter. It was at one of their 
 meetings that I learned the cruel persecution to 
 which an able and upright minister had been 
 subjected by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 The person I speak of had been a brave and 
 devoted officer of the King's. At the luckless 
 siege of Rochelle, he had been wounded and 
 taken prisoner by the French ; and there, in his 
 imprisonment, solitude and suffering wrought in 
 him somewhat the same sort of change that 
 Ignatius Loyala had experienced. His life had 
 previously exhibited the thoughtless and sensual 
 character too common amongst our young 
 officers ; but when his earthly view became 
 bounded by the narrow and dreary precincts of 
 a prison hospital, his active and inquiring spirit 
 soared away, and sought refuge in the invisible 
 world beyond. Already secretly impressed, 
 (though as an enemy to it), by the darkly 
 enthusiastic system of the Puritans, he now 
 exercised his thoughts upon that system. In a 
 word, he became, like Saul, a convert to the 
 principles he had persecuted. He escaped from 
 prison, made his way to England, and, after 
 some strange adventures which I know not,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 221 
 
 entered into the Church. His asceticism and 
 his eloquence at first obtained for him con- 
 siderable license for his non-conforming habits, 
 but his vehement nature soon became alto- 
 gether impatient of the cold, official forms so 
 sternly insisted on by Laud. He was accord- 
 ingly cited before the Ecclesiastical Courts ; he 
 made some submission or composition, which 
 satisfied the churchmen for the time ; and he 
 returned to his poor curacy, then the only 
 means of support for himself and an infirm 
 mother. But he became more ardent in his 
 obnoxious views as the flames of dissent were 
 spread abroad through England ; or else the 
 Church became more exacting. At length, it 
 required of him such concessions as he could 
 not or would not make. Without further 
 process, he was superseded, suddenly, in the 
 midst of winter, flung abroad upon the 
 world, penniless, and what was far worse to 
 him, forbidden to preach, under pain of banish- 
 ment. His mother died of the hardships 
 attendant on the change, and their ejectment at 
 that inclement season ; and so it seemed to him,
 
 222 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 that she was murdered by the Church. He 
 was left alone in the world. 
 
 " Such, at least, was the case which I heard 
 stated, and in which I naturally interested 
 myself. Pym, who narrated it, amplified the 
 story, and added a thousand touching incidents, 
 skilfully striking all the sympathies which his 
 marvellous knowledge of human nature enables 
 him to play upon so successfully. I ought to 
 have been more upon my guard against state- 
 ments coming from such a quarter : but when 
 he ceased to speak, I heard a gentle sigh, and 
 for the first time, I observed that a young girl 
 of exquisite grace and beauty had been a listener 
 as well as I. Her eyes sought mine, as if to 
 see what effect the tale had produced on others. 
 Such eyes ! so soul-possessed, so full of a 
 spiritual light, that shone all the brighter 
 through the unconscious tears that filled them. 
 It seemed to me, as if the very angel of pity 
 stood by, to champion with her gentle power 
 the wronged victim whose fate had already 
 powerfully interested me. I always told Hyde 
 that I never was intended by nature for a states-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 223 
 
 man : as the Persians say, I carry my judgment 
 in my heart and not in my head. Accordingly, 
 I vowed to the Puritans to take their part. I 
 pledged myself that very night, in the House of 
 Parliament, to call the prelates to account, and 
 you know I kept my word. I was rewarded 
 for my impetuous and perhaps rash declaration, 
 by a look of approval from the fair listener, and 
 that look haunts me still. I sought her ac- 
 quaintance ; I found in her a perfect sympathy 
 with every better impulse of my nature, whilst 
 every narrow or sectarian feeling seemed, like 
 bats, to shrink from the clear sunshine of her 
 presence. 
 
 " Wrapped in one of those trances of thought 
 that so often blind men to their actual position, 
 I continued my intercourse with the demagogues, 
 as I must now call them, and with my beautiful 
 instructress. With respect to this outlawed 
 churchman, I could not myself offer him an 
 asylum without offence to the King ; but the 
 lady I spoke of informed me one day that a 
 place was ready for him at her father's house, and 
 required only my application for it, in order to
 
 224 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 account for its bestowal. The affair was ar- 
 ranged, and the churchman, converted by perse- 
 cution into abetter Puritan, became chaplain to 
 a wavering royalist." 
 
 During this explanation, I was several times 
 on the point of interrupting Lord Falkland, and 
 returning his confidence in a manner that his 
 words had rendered very painful and difficult. 
 I determined, ultimately, to ask him one ques- 
 tion, the purport of which may be easily 
 guessed, and to be guided in my explanations by 
 his reply. 
 
 " No ! by Heaven, Hastings !" he exclaimed, 
 " she never gave me the slightest encourage- 
 ment; and if you had known her, you never 
 would have asked the question. She would not 
 know what encouragement meant, indeed — no 
 more than if she were already in that world 
 where there is no marrying, or giving in mar- 
 riage : nought but the most perfect purity could 
 produce that modest fearlessness and engaging 
 confidence that so charmed me. But why 
 I dwell on such a subject, I scarcely know. To 
 me she must ever remain an object of admira-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 225 
 
 tion, as unapproachable, if as radiant as a star. 
 Ah ! wearily life flows on in absence of all hope 
 for ourselves or others on this side the tomb. 
 Eternal war, and strife, and struggle, within and 
 without ; in our country, in our court, in our- 
 selves ! The destiny of man seems like that of 
 the lesser creatures, who are only born to devour 
 and be devoured. Peace ! Peace ! Where 
 could that blessed word have originated, save in 
 Eden or the poet's imagination. Peace ! Peace ! 
 her presence is not to be sought in palaces, or 
 the cushioned halls of luxury, or even within 
 cloistered walls; — the grave — the grave alone 
 is her asylum !" 
 
 I had listened, in silent astonishment, to this 
 long confession from one usually so restrained 
 and cautious as Lord Falkland ; and I could only 
 account for his unexpected confidence, by be- 
 lieving that his sensitive nature, once having 
 burst the bounds of its usual reserve, overflowed 
 in despite of himself. For my part, I felt such 
 embarrassment, that I endeavoured only by 
 silence to shew my sympathy with the speaker. 
 Since then, this gifted and eccentric man has 
 vol. I. Q
 
 226 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 found the rest he sought, and, I trust, the peace 
 he longed for : England is still writhing under 
 the sufferings he bewailed ; and she whom he 
 associated with the cause of his despair, is still 
 as great a mystery as ever. 
 
 As our conversation ceased, we entered the 
 gates of Oxford, and then followed various 
 military duties, and the usual contest for quar- 
 ters, provisions for men, and assistance for our 
 wounded. It was therefore late before I had an 
 opportunity of seeking Hugo, who had been 
 prevented from joining our expedition by his 
 attendance on the King. 
 
 My disappointment was great when I found 
 that he had been dispatched to Stratford-upon- 
 Avon, to make arrangements for the reception 
 and supplies of a large detachment of Royal 
 Horse, about to march northwards in a few days. 
 As I was changing my dress, I found that a 
 wound, which I had scarcely noticed, began to feel 
 painful. On being examined, it proved rather 
 serious, and kept me confined to my bed for 
 some days. In that busy time, when a man 
 was out of sight, he was soon forgotten or sup-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 227 
 
 posed to be absent, and Blount strictly fulfilled 
 the surgeon's injunctions to keep me quiet, by 
 excluding every visitor. The first who obtained, 
 or perhaps sought for, admittance to me was 
 Prince Rupert. He saluted me with rough 
 kindness, and told me I was quite well, or must 
 be so by the morrow. 
 
 " I march to-morrow for the North," said he, 
 " and I would not be so ungrateful as to leave 
 you here, consuming in idle safety. We shall 
 move at first by easy stages, for to say truth, I 
 shall have half a hospital on horseback ; trusting 
 to air and exercise to put them in fighting 
 trim before we reach Birmingham. Your 
 brother Hugo and Dallison are gone on to pre- 
 pare for us, and, in short, you see you must be 
 well, and send your surgeon to the right about. 
 You lose nothing in leaving this fiddling and 
 chattering town just now, for the women have all 
 got the chicken pox, or the goal fever, or some 
 such matter, and are become invisible. My 
 surgeons are busier in attending fine ladies than 
 good soldiers." 
 
 q 2
 
 228 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 I followed the Prince's advice ; I called for 
 meat and wine, declared myself well, and almost 
 drove Blount into a state of mutiny by going 
 out to walk. The next morning I was in the 
 saddle betimes, with many another Cavalier as 
 ill or worse than I was, and we marched away 
 for the North. Thus I was again compelled to 
 leave Oxford without again seeing Phcebe. 
 
 Bryan, now considerably grown in stature and 
 importance, rode by my side; supporting me 
 when I felt faint, cheering me when I was most 
 depressed, and amusing me with an inexhaustible 
 supply of private anecdotes that he had picked 
 up amongst his gossips at the Court. As the 
 Prince prophesied, I rapidly recovered on the 
 road. When we reached Birmingham, I was 
 still so weak as to be only a spectator of its 
 capture; but at Lichfield I was able to serve 
 once more, which I did the better, as I had 
 my gallant cousin Hotspur for a comrade. 
 After the siege and recovery of this good town, our 
 flying army was recalled to Oxford by pressing 
 despatches from the King. We left Lathom
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 229 
 
 House and York unrelieved, therefore ; and re- 
 turned, reluctantly, to our old quarters at the 
 University. 
 
 The very evening of our arrival, my brother 
 and I went to visit Phoebe ; Hugo proved the 
 change that a year had wrought in his youthful 
 sensations by a nervousness till then unknown 
 to him. We found her in the apartment she 
 had mentioned, in Merton College. When we 
 entered, she was sitting in a window's deep 
 recess, and Lady d'Aubigny sat, or rather lay, 
 upon a cushion at her feet. They formed a 
 picturesque group, strongly defined by the light 
 of lamps within, and a bright moon without, 
 each making strong shadows, as their pale and 
 red rays gleamed over cheeks, and hair, and 
 gracefully draperied forms. 
 
 Lady d'Aubigny welcomed my brother with 
 a languid smile of triumph as if reclaiming a 
 lost truant ; but suddenly her countenance 
 changed, and her eyes flashed fire, as Hugo 
 passed her with a deep but distant salutation, 
 while he grasped Phoebe's proffered hand with
 
 230 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 timid eagerness; he seemed to have forgotten 
 that Lady d'Aubigny was in the world. The 
 latter soon recovered herself, and entered eagerly 
 into conversation with me ; asking various 
 questions relating to our late campaign, which 
 showed that she was well informed concerning 
 its operations. 
 
 Meanwhile Hugo had lost all thought of 
 everybody and everything in the presence of his 
 beautiful Phcebe. She seemed to me to have 
 improved in the dangerous art of coquetry, and 
 to be amused rather than touched by his ro- 
 mantic admiration. Just then Lord Digby 
 entered the room, and without ceremony took 
 all the conversation in it on himself. 
 
 I was not in a mood to appreciate his gift 
 at that moment, but I was compelled to 
 admire the inimitable dexterity and brilliance 
 of his discourse. Without the least approach 
 to dogmatism or patronising airs, he seemed to 
 exercise some undefined species of authority 
 and winning influence over his hearers ; one 
 by one admitting each into partnership with
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 231 
 
 bis best thoughts and happiest conceits ; so 
 that, instead of a rival, he made each listener 
 self-interested in the prosperity of his jest. 
 For Lady d'Aubigny he had some tale of a 
 political intrigue, whose dramatis personse were 
 made to amuse all the company, whilst its 
 purport was confidentially dropped into her 
 private ear. To Hugo he told, in most touch- 
 ing terms, the sad story of the gallant young 
 Fielding's unhappy failure and his doom. Even 
 for me, on whose brow he saw a cloud lower- 
 ing, he endeavoured to frame a palateable 
 eulogy for the late affair at Lichfield ; but 
 finding me ungraciously disposed, he turned 
 haughtily away and addressed himself to 
 Phoebe. Then I became more deeply inte- 
 rested, and argued ill from the very fact of 
 his postponing his address to her as to the least 
 doubtful hearer in the room. 
 
 What a change took place in his manner as 
 he approached her ! Instead of the bold and 
 almost exulting confidence with which he had 
 tempered his communication to others, he at
 
 232 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 once assumed an air of timid and deferential, 
 yet most honest seeming, in addressing her. 
 The scoff and the jest were laid aside as 
 weapons that he had no longer use for, and 
 a frank simplicity took their place. I could not 
 help cursing him in my heart, as Phcebe 
 turned her beautiful eyes towards him, beaming 
 with too much of the confidence he so danger- 
 ously sought. In a few minutes the once 
 frank-hearted girl and her insidious admirer 
 were engaged and absorbed in deep, low con- 
 versation, while Hugo — the generous, the noble, 
 and the true, stood alone and neglected in the 
 centre of the room. He seemed to feel some 
 annoyance, but nothing more ; so entire and 
 trusting was his faith in the playfellow of his 
 childhood, that suspicion, or its grim avenger, 
 jealousy, never occurred to his mind. He 
 remained, however, restless and embarrassed, as 
 if waiting for the end. 
 
 Meanwhile the Lady d'Aubigny watched the 
 whole scene with eager and delighted eyes ; and 
 when at length her gaze met Hugo's glance,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 233 
 
 she rivetted it by a look — full of fatal meaning 
 — towards the recess. There leant Phoebe, 
 with eyes averted indeed from the eloquent 
 Digby, but listening and glistening, and brighter 
 for the reflection of the raised colour of her 
 cheek. Digby seemed to hover over her ; the 
 points of his lace collar sometimes actually 
 touched her sleeve, and she trembled slightly, 
 but moved not from where she stood. At 
 length my eyes ventured to meet Hugo's : his 
 cheek, a short time before, wore the warm hue 
 of sanguine youth and purest health, whilst 
 his high forehead was of marble whiteness. 
 Now that forehead was dark with its first flush 
 of shame and ire, and his cheeks were ashy 
 pale. 
 
 He almost rudely flung away the hand of Lady 
 d'Aubigny that rested on his sleeve, and strode 
 towards the door. I followed him ; I told 
 him at once what I feared he felt, but added 
 that I knew Lord Digby had some confidence 
 with Phcebe, who had nevertheless warned us 
 against him.
 
 234 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 " So you see," I added, " this scene, — which 
 I grant you seemed strange, is a mere matter 
 of business. However, you will perhaps like 
 to be by yourself, and I must return ; for I, too, 
 have some business with this Lord." 
 
 With a struggle between hope and sadness, 
 Hugo grasped my hand and passed out; I 
 returned to Lady d'Aubigny's apartment. 
 
 Phoebe had left the window and was looking 
 pensive ; Digby was conversing gaily with the 
 widow. I drew near the former, and observed 
 to her in a low voice that I presumed she had 
 found a warning she once gave me was un- 
 necessary in her own case. 
 
 " Oh !" she exclaimed, with glistening eyes, 
 " you cannot conceive how I have wronged 
 him. — I now know him to be generous and 
 true-hearted, as formerly I believed him to be 
 false." 
 
 I looked at her steadily, and the blood 
 mounted to her delicate cheek. 
 
 " Lady," said I, " I know that to return 
 your warning against this bold, bad man, will
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 235 
 
 be as vain as it is necessary ; I can only deplore 
 the blindness of one, whom I have known so 
 long and regarded so tenderly." 
 
 Digby, whose quick ear nothing escaped, 
 now finished some jest to Lady d'Aubigny, and 
 joined us with the remark : " Our affairs must 
 be even as deplorable as Falkland would repre- 
 sent them, if this redoubtable Cavalier finds 
 aught to deplore in such a presence." 
 
 " I was deploring falsehood and treachery," 
 I replied, " which unfortunately may force their 
 way into the presence, if not into the favour, of 
 purity itself." 
 
 " Too true," returned Digby, with mock sen- 
 timent, " even as the Father of lies obtained 
 admission into truthful Eden. But dare I in- 
 quire to what your aphorism refers ? Or per- 
 haps" — he added, in a lower voice — " I had 
 better postpone the inquiry to a future opportu- 
 nity." 
 
 After a few common-place remarks, in 
 which no trace whatever of disturbance appeared 
 in his voice or countenance, Lord Digby took 
 his leave, and I almost immediately followed him.
 
 236 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 Phoebe seemed rather uneasy than alarmed, and 
 Lady d'Aubigny was too much occupied with 
 her own thoughts to take much notice of 
 others.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Or gli animosi a ritrovar si vanne, 
 Con senno i passi dispensando, ed arte 
 Ecco si vede incominciar l'assalto, 
 Sonar il ferro, or girar basso, or alto. 
 
 Era a parar, piu ch' a ferire, intento, 
 E non sapea egli stesso il suo desire. 
 Spegner Rinaldo saria mal contento ; 
 Ne vorria volentieri egli morire. — ariosto. 
 
 "Well! my Lord," exclaimed Digby, as 
 we met in the court-yard below, " there is 
 need of few words between us : — I accept the 
 challenge which your manner gave just now, and 
 I should spare you the trouble of further w r ords 
 upon the subject, but that I would fain know 
 to what I am to refer the honour of crossing 
 swords with so distinguished a personage ?" 
 
 Strange to say, I was rather at a loss to reply 
 to this very natural question. I had indigna-
 
 238 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 tion enough to quarrel with a host of Digbys, 
 but a formal reason for doing so was not so easy 
 to assign. My sole impulse had been to take 
 the quarrel out of Hugo's hands. He, at least, 
 had no valid reason to assign for what I well 
 knew was inevitable, i" had suffered the more 
 palpable injury of treachery, but I had not known 
 how far Lord Falkland had spoken under an 
 implied confidence. 
 
 At length I replied : " Permit me too, to 
 ask you one question, to which your reply will 
 furnish an answer to your own. When I had 
 the honour of escorting your Lordship to Not- 
 tingham, did your report concerning me to the 
 King agree with the professions you were 
 pleased to make to me on that occasion ?" 
 
 "Enough," said Digby, colouring slightly, 
 notwithstanding his self-possession ; " enough, 
 — you have lent an ear to the usual calumnies 
 against me, and that is sufficient to make me 
 the challenger." 
 
 " For that, at least, I have to thank you," 
 I replied hastily. " The King may excuse in 
 your Lordship's case — what would doubtless 
 incapacitate me from ever having the honour of
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 239 
 
 serving him, as my father proved in the case 
 of a former favourite." 
 
 Lord Digby was silent for a moment — per- 
 haps the remembrance of his having informed 
 me of this fact, — perhaps some impulse of gene- 
 rous feeling influenced him. When he spoke 
 again, it was without any remains of his former 
 haughty manner. 
 
 " I know not how it is," said he, " or what 
 busy devil perverts all my intentions. I know 
 that I intended to have deserved and, if possible, 
 to have gained your friendship, but some other 
 pressing matter prevented me from immediately 
 taking the best steps to secure that end. How- 
 ever, that matters not now. No man shall 
 ever say that George Digby shrank from a 
 challenge, or permitted an insult to pass un_ 
 avenged. You have but to name the time and 
 place." 
 
 " This moment, if it please you," said I, 
 anxious to prevent Hugo from having time to 
 meet with my antagonist. 
 
 " Nay, nay," said Digby, carelessly, " you are 
 too good a swordsman for me to meet, without
 
 240 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 first settling my affairs ; and I have lived too 
 long and busily not to have many such affairs 
 to settle. This evening, if you will, I shall 
 attend you at Bagley Wood, at sundown. One 
 word more : the King's orders against the 
 duello are strict ; let this appear to be a chance 
 quarrel and encounter, and let us have no third 
 person present." 
 
 This matter being arranged, Lord Digby 
 repaired to Christchurch to amuse the King, and 
 to plot new schemes for the mere sake of plot- 
 ting. I hastened to Prince Rupert ; for I re- 
 membered well how my father suffered life-long 
 disgrace for such an act as I was now about to 
 commit. 
 
 I found his Highness walking up and down 
 his small apartment very rapidly ; his hat w T as 
 flung upon one chair, his scarlet cloak upon 
 another, and his sword lay upon the table which 
 was strewn with papers. His right hand was 
 thrust into the breast of his doublet, and with 
 the left he was gesticulating violently, whilst he 
 dictated to his secretary Bennet what I conceived 
 to be a letter.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 241 
 
 " Welcome !" he exclaimed to me, as I en- 
 tered; then turning to his secretary, he con- 
 tinued his dictation thus : — " ' And I openly dare 
 the most valiant and quick-sighted of that false 
 faction to name the time, the person, or the 
 house, where any child or woman lost so much 
 as a hair of their heads by me or any of our 
 soldiers.'^ — There, Benett, that will do for 
 the present.— Now, Hastings, what's your busi- 
 ness ? never mind your apologies ; I was only 
 inditing a rejoinder to those black-hearted knaves, 
 the Puritan bravoes of the pen, who have been 
 long striving to assassinate my reputation. I 
 prefer arguing with them at the sword's point ; 
 but this paper bullet may reach the white-livered 
 scribes, who never budge beyond their ambusca- 
 does at the writing-desk." 
 
 In a few words I told him frankly my posi- 
 tion, adding, " I dare not officially ask your 
 Highness's leave to fight, but I am sure you 
 
 * This very passage may now be read in Prince Rupert's 
 " Declaration," in the British Museum. The Cavalier's 
 memory was true almost to the letter. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 will pardon me, when I tell you all the cir- 
 cumstances attending my challenge." 
 
 " By St. George," exclaimed the Prince, " I 
 am only sorry that I cannot take your place 
 against that impostor Digby, nor even be your 
 second. No, I must know nothing about the 
 business ; but Til see you safe through its con- 
 sequences, notwithstanding our royal uncle hath, 
 in his clemency, forbade all duello, — a thing 
 impossible V 
 
 Encouraged by the Prince's manner, I pro- 
 ceeded boldly to ask him to send Hugo out of 
 the way instantly. His Highness has kind 
 and even gentle feelings concealed beneath his 
 stern manner, as his heart beats warmly under 
 his cold iron harness : he has a kindly feeling, 
 especially for that fraternal affection, which I 
 did not scruple to confess to him. I told him 
 that Hugo and I were alone in the world ; that 
 the love of a household was for me concen- 
 trated in that one brother whom I now sought 
 to save. My request was favourably heard for 
 the sake of Prince Maurice ; his Highness's only 
 comment on it, however, was a loud call, which
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 243 
 
 was answered by a tall, eagle-eyed Cavalier: 
 a personage of doubtful origin, but unques- 
 tionable courage and activity, well known to us 
 all as Rupert's Mercury. 
 
 "How fares Captain Dallison to-day ¥* in- 
 quired the Prince of this individual, concerning 
 an officer who had been wounded the day pre- 
 viously, in fighting his way to Oxford with a 
 newly-raised squadron of horse. 
 
 " The Captain is pretty well, your Highness/' 
 replied the officer ; " but for his arm, that's 
 twisted almost out of him ; and he's somewhat 
 disturbed by the fever, which taking sack instead 
 of soporifics seems to produce/' 
 
 " Well," said the Prince, " he is scarcely fit 
 for duty under those circumstances ; but his 
 rustic troopers must be tamed by service, for I 
 find they are playing the devil in the town. 
 Go get them into the saddle, and find out 
 Sir Hugo Hastings instantly, to take them to- 
 wards Reading, whither I have a message for 
 the Lord General. You may tell him it is a 
 service of moment/' 
 
 The officer disappeared at the last word of 
 
 R 2
 
 244 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 the young General's orders: I did not impor- 
 tune his Highness with my thanks, but retired, 
 making a simple acknowledgment of his kind- 
 ness. 
 
 I hastened to my quarters which consisted 
 of two small dark rooms in High street. 
 They seemed darker than usual. Blount looked 
 dismal even to grimness, though I allowed 
 him the indulgence of announcing a long 
 list of casualties consequent on our late forced 
 march. His humour seemed to suit me, and 
 I let him talk on whilst I was changing my 
 dress for one better adapted to the approach- 
 ing strife. At length I directed him to seek 
 out and accompany my brother Hugo on his 
 expedition, and when freed from his presence, 
 I proceeded to settle some few affairs ; on 
 reflection, however, I decided only to write 
 to Zillah. I was anxious that if I fell, 
 my encounter with Digby should appear a 
 casual one to Hugo ; and as all that I pos- 
 sessed would naturally revert to him, I had 
 no legal arrangements to execute. My faith- 
 ful followers, Bryan and old Blount, would I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 245 
 
 knew, be well cared for without my directions, 
 so that I had only my private feelings to 
 consult. 
 
 I will not say that I had a presentiment 
 that I should fall ; but knowing Digby's skill 
 as a swordsman and unscrupulous disposition, 
 I felt that it was not unlikely. It was only 
 the previous week that Sir Frederick Au- 
 nion had fallen in a similar affair, which had 
 produced the King's rigorous denunciation of 
 all future duels ; therefore, conqueror or con- 
 quered, I had as little that was pleasant to 
 look forward to — as a duellist deserves. So 
 I now think. I then prepared for the trans- 
 action as I should have done for any other 
 indispensable business or military duty. 
 
 Assuming a hawking dress, with my 
 usual rapier as my only weapon, I sallied 
 forth to the place of rendezvous. 1 left my 
 letter for Zillah concealed, so as to avoid all 
 present observation ; it ran thus : — 
 
 " Zillah, — I should not presume thus to 
 address you for the first time, if it were not
 
 246 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 also to be the last. The hand that traces 
 these few lines will be cold in death before 
 they reach you ; the voice that ventures to 
 complain will be silenced. How entirely your 
 being influenced and possessed mine, I now feel 
 more than ever ; — now when, at the approach 
 of death, you are the only person on the 
 earth to whom I address one parting word. 
 And even to you I write, not for the sake 
 of the dead but of the living; to spare you 
 future sorrow, and, perhaps, to save others 
 from yet greater grief In this hope I must 
 inform you of circumstances, which from you 
 of all others, I should have otherwise kept 
 secret. 
 
 " Your sister is here, as you are aware ; 
 but you are not aware that she is in the 
 most dangerous of all society, where all the 
 vices of a camp are combined with all the 
 fascinations of a Court. You have heard of 
 Lord Digby : he has openly professed himself 
 an admirer of your sister's; and admiration, 
 such as his, I need not tell even you, is a 
 scandal, not an honour. In a word, he and
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 247 
 
 my brother met this morning in your sister's 
 presence. Lord Digby then received so marked 
 a preference that Hugo retired in sorrow 
 and despair. I feared the consequences for 
 him, procured his immediate dispatch upon 
 military business, and during his absence 
 became involved in a quarrel with one whom 
 I must now call his rival. As you will only 
 receive this letter in case that quarrel should 
 have a fatal result, I thus write to you without 
 reserve. 
 
 "Your own judgment will dictate to you 
 what is best to be done with respect to 
 your sister. If I should fall, Digby will probably 
 have to fly ; but the King is more than merciful 
 to those whom he loves, and doubtless this 
 dangerous courtier will soon be recalled. If 
 your sister remain at Oxford, he will then be 
 more dangerous than ever to her peace, as 
 she will have suffered anxiety and pain on his 
 account. Young and beautiful as she is, she 
 has no adviser or protectress here who de- 
 serves the name. One word more ; I should 
 not presume thus to interfere in such a matter
 
 248 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 but for the fraternal feeling with which I 
 have always regarded her — the pain that her 
 sorrow would cause to you, and the know- 
 ledge that my memory will be secure in 
 your generous keeping from all unworthy 
 imputations. 
 
 " Now, Zillah, farewell ! With you is asso- 
 ciated all that my young life has ever known 
 of happiness and hope. You first taught me 
 to aspire to a life of purity — and to feel the 
 degradation of a mere life of pleasure. Through 
 the bright medium of your mind, I felt how 
 beautiful was the world that seemed unmeaning 
 to other men. In your sweet keeping were con- 
 centrated all the stray desires and thoughts 
 of love that ever haunt young hearts for good 
 or ill. Even my resolution wore your form, and 
 if in this most miserable war I have won some 
 honour — the praise be yours; — yours, though 
 gained upon the party you espouse. 
 
 " My life, and love, and hope have hung upon 
 you ; if my reward has been a disappointed life 
 and early grave, I will not blame you as the 
 cause. Whatever has been your conduct, your
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 249 
 
 motives are still to me unimpeachable, and doubt- 
 less worthy of yourself. I will not utter one com- 
 plaint ; reproach would be ungenerous when you 
 can never reply to it. But my hour is come, and 
 I must say, farewell ! in the fervent hope and 
 humble trust, to meet you in a world of truth, 
 whence all concealment is for ever banished." 
 
 *n? tP ^ tP 
 
 I only left a message for my brother, and 
 some orders for Bryan, as if I expected to return 
 soon. I was resolved to do so, if alive, and to 
 meet my trial, whatever the penalty might be ; 
 and I determined not to take Digby's life under 
 any circumstances. 
 
 Sustained by this resolution, and by the 
 indifference to death that long familiarity with 
 danger had taught me, I rode away almost 
 cheerfully to the place of meeting. It was a 
 secluded little meadow, enclosed on three sides 
 by a thicket, on the fourth by a high hedge. 
 As I pushed aside the branches, to force an 
 entrance through the hedge, the scene of action 
 stood revealed, and there I found Digby, 
 thoughtfully leaning on his sword.
 
 250 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 On seeing me, he made a grave salutation, 
 and proceeded to loose the points of his cloak 
 with the utmost indifference. When he flung 
 it from him and stood up to his full height, I 
 could not help admiring, not only the symmetry 
 and beauty of his person, but the calm, unos- 
 tentatious courage that shined steadily in his 
 eyes. No trace of anger, or even of a stern 
 purpose, was there ; his better genius seemed to 
 inspire him, and he looked the model of a 
 soldier and a gentleman. 
 
 It was on a soft and pleasant evening that 
 we stood there, Digby and I, face to face — to 
 fight, as each believed, till one of us should die. 
 The earth that we trod upon looked bright 
 and hopeful with all the flowers and young 
 grass of spring. The sky that arched us over 
 was calm, and glowing with aU heavenly tints. 
 Birds, bold in their happiness, sang over our 
 heads till scared away by the flash of our swords, 
 now drawn at the same moment, and chasing 
 away all thought but that of how to dim their 
 shining ! Often have I thought since of the 
 strange contrast between the calm of all with-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 251 
 
 out, even to our own features, and the strife 
 within — the invisible anger that urged us on to 
 that most fell and unnatural of all fights, a 
 duel. 
 
 Since then, I have learned to perceive the 
 greatness of my crime; but then, I was so 
 unconscious of any guilt, that before I crossed 
 swords with my enemy, I knelt upon one knee, 
 and offered up a brief and humble prayer. 
 Digby made no such sign, but he turned aside, 
 perhaps in courtesy. We then addressed our- 
 selves to our task. 
 
 On measuring weapons, Digby's appeared to 
 be half a foot longer than mine. He placed it 
 under his foot, to break off the point ; the 
 grass, however, was soft, the steel was strong, 
 and it would not break. I interrupted his 
 further t attempt, by saying, that I considered 
 the shortness of my sword as an advan- 
 tage. 
 
 " Be it so !" he said, as he advanced ; and the 
 next moment we were engaged. 
 
 My antagonist was an accomplished swords- 
 man, and had all the advantages of perfect
 
 252 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 coolness and consummate courage ; but I soon 
 ascertained that he was no match for me, whose 
 chosen exercise and amusement fencing had 
 been from my youth. It was evident to me, 
 however, that Digby was only playing, and was, 
 at all events, anxious to avoid making a fatal 
 point. More than once, his sword scratched my 
 doublet sleeve ; but we both warmed in the 
 exciting game, and at last I received and turned 
 his blade so as to wrench it from his hand, and 
 send it high into the air. Notwithstanding his 
 anger at being thus foiled, it was evident that 
 he wished to make my refusal to take advan- 
 tage of his discomfiture an excuse for putting 
 an end to the quarrel. This would by no 
 means have suited my views; I told him, 
 tauntingly, to take up his sword, and to prove 
 his hand less false than his assertions. 
 
 My words wrought a sudden change. I 
 saw a different man before me: his eyes 
 flashing; his teeth set, and his whole frame 
 as if in act to spring upon me. His attack 
 was fierce and well nigh fatal, for whilst I 
 sought for an opportunity to wound his sword-
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 253 
 
 arm, he rushed blindly on and passed his sword 
 into my side, so that I could only have de- 
 fended myself by running him through the 
 throat : his point merely grazed my flesh, how- 
 ever, and as he drew it out to repeat the 
 thrust, I flung him from me with a strength 
 he little expected. At that moment the 
 branches of the hedge crashed, and a well- 
 mounted horseman plunged through them 
 into the little field where we stood. 
 
 " Away, away I" he cried ; " upon your lives 
 or liberties away ! The King has learned 
 your purpose, and a troop of horse is after 
 you. Never was he known so angry; he 
 swears to make an example of you both — 
 if the offender were his own son. He knows 
 of this grave Cavalier," he continued, pointing 
 to me ; " but for you, my Lord Digby, you 
 are supposed to be unknown, and may escape 
 if you can only reach Oxford by another route ; 
 as for you, my gentle cousin, you must be off 
 without delay." 
 
 It was Harry Hotspur, who had come, as
 
 254 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 he thought, to rescue me. I thanked him 
 for his good intentions, but professed my 
 determination to finish the affair I had come 
 upon — adding that I had far more to fear 
 from the royal anger than Lord Digby had. 
 
 " 'Tore George !" exclaimed Hastings, " it 
 were a pity to break off what you seem so 
 earnest of. Lumsden's horse, however, are at 
 hand to arrest you, and I must try to mislead 
 them. If I succeed, I will return incontinently 
 to make my compliments to the survivor.' ' 
 
 So saying, he put his horse again at the 
 thick fence, and disappeared as suddenly as 
 he had entered. 
 
 And now we recommenced our attack in 
 a different spirit from before : each more 
 cautious of his antagonist, and more resolved 
 to bring the matter to a quick decision. I 
 afforded my enemy what he thought was an 
 opportunity to pass within my guard, but 
 as he lunged forward, he found his arm 
 impaled upon my sword. He shrank, and 
 involuntarily quivered for a moment with the
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 255 
 
 pain ; then, drawing himself up, he remained 
 motionless, perhaps expecting my next and 
 fatal thrust. When I restored to him his 
 sword, with some cold compliment on the 
 manner in which he had used it, he smiled, and 
 frankly extended to me his unwounded hand. 
 
 " I offer you," said he, " all that you have 
 left me, in frank and cordial pledge that you 
 shall henceforth find me your true friend ; 
 and, lo ! here is our Hotspur for my wit- 
 ness." 
 
 My cousin reappeared through the hedge, 
 in high glee at having sent our pursuers on 
 the wrong scent, and he was still more pleased 
 with the issue of the fight. To say the truth, 
 though brave, and generous, and truthful him- 
 self, he was a warm friend of Digby's, and 
 looked upon his faults with a very lenient 
 eye. 
 
 With some difficulty we made a sling for 
 the wounded arm and got the sufferer on his 
 horse : then, in defiance of my cousin's advice, 
 we rode deliberately towards Oxford, and found
 
 256 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 ourselves under arrest as soon as we entered 
 the gates. Digby's wound was severe, and 
 confined him to his bed : this was all that 
 I desired, and I accordingly submitted to 
 my own imprisonment with resignation.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 I have a man's mind but a woman's might ; 
 How hard it is for women to keep counsel. 
 
 SHAKSPERE. 
 
 One day he came before the king, 
 
 And kneeled low on his knee — 
 
 A boon, a boon, my good uncle, 
 
 1 crave to ask of thee. — auld maitland. 
 
 By the Prince's favour I was a prisoner in 
 my own apartments, and my first care was to 
 look for my letter to Zillah, and to burn it. 
 It was gone ! A white flag to Essex, on 
 occasion of an exchange of prisoners, had 
 afforded an opportunity for sending letters to 
 London, and this was as eagerly seized on by 
 the garrison at Oxford as by mariners at sea 
 who find a homeward-bound ship. Bryan had 
 come to seek for letters, and having, with 
 
 vol. i. s
 
 258 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 unlucky ingenuity, discovered that to Zillah, he 
 had despatched it. 
 
 It was mortifying and provoking in the 
 highest degree, nay, grievously absurd, this 
 false announcing of one's own death. But 
 there was no help for it ; the privileged mes- 
 senger had gone out in hot haste, and the out- 
 posts of the enemy were at this period within 
 a few miles of Oxford. 
 
 As I was meditating on this unpleasant 
 subject, I heard a loud step upon the stair, 
 and without a knock, Prince Rupert entered, 
 and greeted me with his usual blunt, manly 
 kindness : 
 
 " Well done," he exclaimed, " well done, I say, 
 and again, well done ! You have given Digby a 
 lesson, and what is better, you have put him 
 out of the way for some time to come ; so that 
 honest men will have some chance of being 
 listened to. Now up, man, and come away to 
 the King ; 'fore George, he is in a royal 
 passion, and it is quite a pleasure to see him 
 chafed for once." 
 
 " With your Highness's good leave," said I,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 259 
 
 " his Majesty's anger is by no means a source 
 of amusement to me, and I will beg to post- 
 pone the honour you propose to me till to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " What ho, there !" cried the Prince, good- 
 humouredly ; " you guards, conduct the prisoner 
 to the King." 
 
 Two harquebusiers now presented them- 
 selves, whom I was fain to follow as directed. 
 The Prince took my arm as we walked along, 
 and talked merrily of the approaching interviews 
 When we entered Christchurch, however, he 
 resigned me to the guards, and preceded me 
 into the Great Hall, where the King was at 
 supper. 
 
 I and my guards soon became so mingled 
 with the groups of officers at the lower end of 
 that large apartment, that we remained unno- 
 ticed. I could see Prince Rupert, however, 
 and even hear his voice, which was never 
 subdued to a courtly tone, except when ad- 
 dressed to woman's ear. 
 
 The King's table, however, was brightened 
 on this occasion by the presence of some ladies, 
 
 s 2
 
 260 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 as well as other guests. Lady Isabella Thynne 
 sat on his left hand, and the Duchess of Rich- 
 mond on his right, and by her Grace's side 
 was a vacant place, which Prince Rupert took, 
 after a formal salutation to the other ladies, and 
 some familiar nods of recognition to their 
 Cavaliers. I watched every circumstance closely, 
 and somewhat anxiously, for it was not unlikely 
 that the future fortunes of my life were then 
 at issue. 
 
 The King looked more grave than usual, 
 and his manner seemed to impress all those at 
 table with him, except the Prince, who was in 
 the highest spirits, and talked and laughed 
 loudly. For some time the conversation related, 
 I believe, to a skirmish that had taken place 
 in the morning: then it seemed to me that 
 my case, and presence too, were mentioned, for 
 the King turned a dark and momentary glance 
 to where I stood, and Prince Rupert spoke 
 out, regardless of all impressions but his own. 
 
 " Tis a pity," he exclaimed, " that my 
 Lord Digby could not better observe your 
 Majesty's commands against duellin ; for I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. "261 
 
 want officers badly, and this afternoon's little 
 tourney seems likely to cost us the services of 
 two more. One could have thought that there 
 was fighting enough in public, without these 
 private recreations to help it; but i' faith, I 
 believe the passion, like most others, grows 
 upon one by indulgence." 
 
 The King made some austere reply, in 
 which he appeared to attribute the blame to 
 me, instead of to the quarter on which the 
 Prince had laid it; for the latter promptly 
 replied that " Lord Digby, being the senior, 
 and so much in his Majesty's confidence, was 
 at least the more responsible." 
 
 " At all events," continued the Prince, " here 
 is Hastings to answer for himself. I took it 
 upon me to bring him into the presence at 
 once ; for, sooth to say, with Essex at the gates, 
 I cannot well spare one of my best officers, 
 nor his good troop, which, by the bye, has never 
 received a shilling of pay from the royal 
 treasury. I know not the moment the trumpets 
 may sound ' to horse ;' wherefore, I pray you, 
 my honoured uncle, dispose of this case at
 
 262 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 once, and forgive, or banish, or hang this 
 Hastings out of the way incontinently.' 5 
 
 Without waiting for a reply, the Prince mo- 
 tioned to my guards to advance, and in a few 
 moments I stood before the King ; without any 
 trepidation, certainly, but I hope also without 
 any approach to effrontery. In fact, I had little 
 to hope, and fear has never been my failing. I 
 was sorry for the King's displeasure, but I had 
 not yet learned to deplore the cause of it : I was 
 well content to serve his Majesty as long as his 
 standard stood, but I should not have much 
 regretted a temporary suspension from that 
 privilege. 
 
 The King regarded me for a moment with 
 a countenance that was rather mournful than 
 stern, and though my eyes were cast down, I 
 could feel that his glance then wandered almost 
 nervously away. After a few minutes' awkward 
 pause he broke silence thus : 
 
 " Lord Hastings, I could well have wished for 
 a more solemn occasion, in which to judge you 
 for the great crime you stand accused of. Never- 
 theless, as our nephew's zeal for our service
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 263 
 
 hath hastened your trial thus, I will at once put 
 to you the question on which our decision 
 must depend. We are informed that you have 
 this day engaged in the blood-thirsty and most 
 unchristian act of duelling, contrary to our 
 express commands, as well as to the law of 
 God. Are you guilty, or not guilty, of this 
 offence ?" 
 
 The King was silent, and my self-possession 
 was sorely shaken by the manner in which my 
 accusation had been made ; and at the same 
 lime my attention was also disturbed by the 
 appearance of a stir at the door, as if some 
 one was endeavouring to force an entrance. 
 The King appeared as if a weight was taken 
 off his mind when he had spoken, and his eyes 
 now rested calmly on mine, waiting my 
 reply. 
 
 At length I spoke ; I confessed that it was 
 true I had had an encounter with one of his 
 Majesty's officers ; but I denied that I had 
 acted in a blood-thirsty — and I trusted, not in 
 an unchristian — spirit in so doing. 
 
 The King now rose in his chair, and of
 
 264 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 course his example was followed by all the 
 company. " Lord Hastings," said his Majesty, 
 " I grieve that you should have placed your- 
 self in a situation to require so indifferent an 
 excuse. I grieve that you should have incurred 
 the punishment, which in justice to the souls, 
 as well as to the bodies of other men, I dare 
 not remit. If you desire it, you shall be tried 
 of this matter by a council of your peers ; but 
 this I tell you, that if they find you guilty, you 
 must surely die ; yes, for your offence is death, 
 by the Articles of War that we have ourselves 
 promulgated. I would rather, in consideration 
 of your own and of your father's good service, 
 bid you depart this realm and remain beyond 
 seas for the period of your natural life." 
 
 This sentence took me completely by sur- 
 prise. But while my pride rose against the 
 judgment, my conscience began to suggest that 
 it was not quite unrighteous. I was therefore 
 about to retire in silence, bowing to the royal 
 will, when Prince Rupert stepped hastily for- 
 ward, and laying his hand kindly upon my 
 shoulder, exclaimed :
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 265 
 
 " I ask your Majesty's pardon, if for a mo- 
 ment I plead the cause of this good Cavalier. 
 You have pronounced sentence upon him as 
 became a just sovereign, now forgive him like 
 a magnanimous King. If I were a lawyer 
 (which God forbid) I could argue that there 
 be very different species of duello — some, I 
 doubt not, deserving all the hard epithets your 
 wisdom applied to this case in question — but 
 there be others that are mere tourneys 
 to settle points of honour, concerning some fair 
 lady's eyes, or the quality of a retort. You 
 find this brave Lord guilty from his own words, 
 and his own words declare that he had no 
 blood-thirstiness : this, I take it, makes all the 
 difference between the duello, and those passages 
 of arms, in which your Majesty's own self once 
 took delight and so much excelled. Again, 
 — where be the witnesses against my Lord here ? 
 and where is his opponent? He surely did 
 not fight alone, else would his blood-thirstiness 
 be suicide. Again, I say, where be the wit- 
 nesses — without whom, no man in England is 
 ordinarily condemned."
 
 266 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 The King's mood had gradually been chang- 
 ing during the rapid and energetic utterance of 
 the Prince's friendly speech, and when his Ma- 
 jesty again spoke, it was in a milder tone. 
 
 " Our nephew is right ; you shall have leave 
 to call any witnesses, be they seconds or other 
 (though I should rather call them accomplices), 
 to prove that your object was not a deadly one ; 
 and I promise you, moreover, that such wit- 
 nesses shall have pardon." 
 
 " Then here is one," exclaimed a faint but 
 well-known voice, from the group near the 
 door. 
 
 And Digby advanced, or rather tottered for- 
 ward, supported on Bryan's shoulder. He was 
 carelessly, perhaps hastily, dressed ; and his 
 sword arm was in a sling; he was very pale 
 from loss of blood and suffering, but his spirit 
 was unsubdued and unchanged. He sank upon 
 one knee as he approached the King. 
 
 " First," said he, faintly but firmly; " first, 
 let me claim for myself, your Majesty's gracious 
 pardon, as just now promised ; and secondly, 
 let me bear witness to this brave Lord, that my
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 267 
 
 life was this day frequently in his power, and 
 that he spared it. For my own part, much as I 
 deprecate your Majesty's displeasure, I am not 
 now able even to pray for forgiveness. My 
 voice fails ; but your royal clemency will let my 
 very silence plead somewhat in favour of a 
 devoted subject." 
 
 Here Digby's strength entirely failed, and he 
 swooned. 
 
 The King seemed moved. He descended 
 from the dais, and taking his courtier's cold 
 hand in his, attempted to chafe it ; then 
 resuming his former attitude, he desired the 
 sufferer to be removed with all tenderness, and 
 the royal surgeon sent for to attend him. 
 
 As soon as the stir caused by this incident 
 had subsided, the King turned to me. 
 
 " Lord Hastings," said he, " you are par- 
 doned ; but it is fit that this day's action should 
 not pass without some notice, in order to make 
 an impression on those in the garrison who 
 might claim your case as a precedent for impu- 
 nity. Nevertheless, your punishment shall be 
 so slight, that many men might take it for a
 
 268 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 reward. The Lady d'Aubigny is about to pro- 
 ceed to London, under an escort hence, with a 
 pass from the rebels through their hosts. You 
 shall command that escort, and accompany the 
 lady during the remainder of her journey." 
 
 Having thus spoken, the King turned away 
 to the group of ladies who had stood at a deco- 
 rous distance, and at the same time, I left 
 the hall in company with Prince Rupert. 
 
 The Prince was in high spirits. " Well," 
 said he, " there's a pretty hour's amusement. 
 How well that dog Digby played his part ; 'fore 
 George ! I could almost have felt for him my- 
 self, when he swooned away, only that I 
 observed him wink with one half-closed eye to 
 the Duchess as he fell."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Away, away, thou traitor strong ! 
 
 Out o' my sight thou soon shalt be ! 
 I grantit never a traitor's life, 
 
 And now I'll not begin wi' thee. 
 
 JOHNIE ARMSTRONG. 
 
 I must now interrupt the narrative of my 
 personal adventures, in order to describe what 
 was passing round me. 
 
 It had long transpired that Lady d'Aubigny 
 was about to leave Oxford, and it was whis- 
 pered that her expedition to London involved in 
 it some object of a political nature. For a 
 mission of this description she appeared to be 
 peculiarly well adapted ; she seemed to be fear- 
 less as an Amazon ; full of resources, of infinite 
 tact, and above all, possessed of a persuasive
 
 270 REGINALD HASTINGS, 
 
 beauty, to which, it was said, some of the 
 Puritan leaders were by no means insensible. 
 With these advantages, however, were com- 
 bined an indiscretion of talking, that rendered 
 her a dangerous accomplice to trust to. In 
 skilful hands, no secret in her keeping was safe. 
 I verily believe she would have told how old 
 she was, if she had no other confidence to 
 bestow. 
 
 Our state secrets had, somehow or other, an 
 extraordinary power of exuding ; and we, mere 
 soldiers, generally learned the King's intentions 
 for the first time through the enemy's public 
 journals. Through this channel it had lately 
 become known to us that Lady d'Aubigny had 
 applied for a pass from Essex to visit London. 
 This pass had been granted, and her Ladyship's 
 advent was welcomed by her enemies as that of 
 a carrier-pigeon by its owners. The Round- 
 heads wanted some new incident to excite the 
 people. They knew well the contents of Lady 
 d'Aubigny 's papers, and they calmly expected 
 their arrival. 
 
 Lord Essex, as I have before mentioned,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 271 
 
 beleaguered Oxford, and occupied the country 
 for many a mile round. His declared intention 
 was to invest our City of Refuse with his 
 troops, and gradually to contract the circuit 
 occupied by them until he enclosed the King. 
 
 In London, all overtures to peace were con- 
 sidered as having failed, and the Roundhead 
 Government exerted themselves with incredible 
 energy and success to prosecute the war. But 
 there were several distinct parties among the 
 Puritans, so various in their views and divided 
 in opinion, that there was always some one in 
 communication with the King. If the royal 
 arms prevailed, there were timid men who 
 sought to conciliate the conqueror ; if the 
 Roundheads won a victory, there were those 
 among them who feared too much success for 
 their own party, and sought for a compromise to 
 restrain them. This state of things fed the 
 war, and maintained a constant under-current 
 of intrigue, that alternately damped our energies 
 when successful, and sustained our hopes when 
 we were defeated. 
 
 Now, to return to my own story. On de-
 
 27*2 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 scending to the court-yard after my trial, I was 
 noisily welcomed and congratulated by my 
 cousin Hotspur, and many of the wilder Cava- 
 liers ; while Carnarvon, Southampton, and 
 others, with whom I more associated, also met 
 me with kind greetings. Thus, in a sort of 
 triumph, I proceeded down the High Street 
 to my lodgings ; the Prince still leaning on my 
 arm, and giving me instructions for my expe- 
 dition to London. 
 
 Finally, he desired me to mark the rebel 
 quarters well : "As soon as you return," said he ; 
 " I shall beat them up, and show Essex that his 
 strategy is no match for the c Mad Prince/ as 
 his knaves are pleased to call me. And, hark 
 ye, I have settled with the King that your fair 
 Phoebe is to accompany you, or rather Falkland 
 has arranged that she is to accompany Kate 
 d'Aubigny. This is no place for girls of that 
 sort, and we have ascertained that her old 
 double-tongued father is now at Reading, car- 
 rying on this business of Waller's, so that she 
 will be at once at home there." 
 
 I thanked the Prince warmly for his intelligence
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 273 
 
 and thoughtful arrangements, and was about to 
 take my leave, when he held me by the arm, 
 and said in a graver tone : 
 
 " This war, Hastings, is an uncertain game ; 
 and what people call danger is often found where 
 it could least be expected. I am sorry to tell 
 you, that your brother Hugo's party was at- 
 tacked, suffered severely, and left many prisoners 
 behind : your brother is among the number. 
 But, cheer up, my friend, he's scarcely wounded, 
 and I shall soon procure him an exchange if 
 there's a man among them worth his ransom." 
 
 Without waiting for an answer, the Prince 
 pressed my hand, wished me God speed, and 
 left me. 
 
 This news was indeed a severe blow to me, 
 the more so as I had been instrumental in the 
 measure that led to it. I consoled myself 
 however with the reflection, that my brother was 
 probably more safe as a prisoner than under 
 any other circumstance ; especially at the present 
 moment when his wounded spirit would seek 
 every opportunity of danger in order to distract 
 his grief. 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 On reaching my own apartments, I could 
 scarcely refrain from smiling when I saw old 
 Blount, his doublet rent, his face begrimed with 
 powder, and his left arm tied to his neck, yet 
 still endeavouring to arrange my dress and arms 
 as methodically as if nothing had happened. 
 I had sent him with Hugo's expedition; and 
 from it, after fighting like a tiger, he had 
 been one of the few who had escaped. He told 
 me his story in very few words and with an un- 
 altered tone of voice : 
 
 " Sir Hugo," he said, " had too much of the 
 man in him, and those new-raised troopers too 
 little. They were half drunk when we left the 
 town, and rode singing and hollaring like mad, 
 till they were suddenly beset by a few score of 
 Hazlerigg's lobsters. They struck some stout 
 blows too, and Sir Hugo laid about him man- 
 ful well, till one came behind him and knocked 
 him off his horse. I cut in to help him, but a 
 dozen of the rebels fell on us at once, and 
 carried him off like a sack of wool. I thought 
 it was my business to come back to wait on 
 your honour, and got home as quick as I could
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 275 
 
 after a little scratching from their long swords, 
 and a scorch from their captain's pistol." 
 
 All the time he spoke, the stout old man con- 
 tinued to occupy himself as usual about my har- 
 ness. When informed that I was to leave Oxford 
 the next morning for London, however, he 
 quickened his movements, and said that he 
 must go to the surgeon, to put him into order 
 for the journey, and stitch up some seams that 
 the Roundheads had made in his old skin. I 
 did not forbid him to accompany me ; I knew 
 that denying him would give the faithful old 
 fellow more pain than he could suffer from his 
 wounds : but I afterwards explained to him 
 that the pass was made out for me alone, which 
 rendered his attendance impossible. 
 
 Before I went away, I felt that I ought to 
 call on Digby, and proffer him my thanks for 
 his testimony in my behalf. I could not excuse 
 his falseness, but I began to think that it was con- 
 stitutional, and scarcely intended by him ; and 
 now that Phoebe was about to leave Oxford, his 
 conduct was almost a matter of indifference to 
 me. I found him carelessly stretched on a pallet, 
 
 T 2
 
 276 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 in a large room, redolent of the strongest to- 
 bacco and the most delicate perfumes ; strewn, 
 too, with armour and court-dresses, and pam- 
 phlets and papers of all sorts in wonderful con- 
 fusion ; furnishing a not inapt resemblance to 
 the rich, but ill-arranged furniture of the 
 owner's mind. He was pale and languid ; the 
 crimson scarf that he usually wore in battle as 
 his badge, now supported his wounded arm as a 
 sling, lending a strong contrast to his white 
 dress and pallid skin. 
 
 He welcomed me with a smile, and spoke of 
 the scene acted in the King's presence, as if it 
 had been some masque in which we had played 
 a part together. When I attempted to thank 
 him for his opportune appearance, he stopped 
 me, and declared that it was Bryan who de- 
 served all the credit of it. 
 
 "The queer boy came to me," said he, "just 
 as the surgeons were dressing my wounded arm : 
 in a strangely eloquent, but disjointed ad- 
 dress, he informed me, that your life, perhaps, 
 was at stake on account of having obliged 
 me, as he was pleased to express it, by
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 277 
 
 going out with me ; he alluded in very 
 distinct terms, to our journey to Notting- 
 ham, and, in short, he bore me off in triumph 
 to the King. — Never thank me for it, however ; 
 I could not have done better for my own 
 interest, and it is always pleasant to amuse the 
 minds of the fair witnesses, before whom our 
 trial was conducted." 
 
 I have dwelt more at length on these pas- 
 sages with Lord Digby than they would seem to 
 merit, were it not for the important part that 
 he has played in our war, and the place that 
 he will fill in history. His character was, as it 
 were, the character of many of our party in 
 one; remarkable for a combination of all the 
 peculiarities that were shared among so many 
 others. Since that evening, I have seldom seen 
 him ; but I still feel that he is one, who being 
 once connected with our destiny is sure to be 
 entangled with it hereafter.
 
 278 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 The following morning, Lady d'Aubigny with 
 Phoebe and their serving-women, were ready to 
 start at day-break in the King's coach, which 
 was to convey them as far as Reading, whence 
 they were to proceed on horseback. A crowd of 
 young gallants escorted the ladies as far as the 
 first outpost of the rebels, but were then obliged 
 to return to Oxford. Our passes specified the 
 Lady d'Aubigny and another lady, with their 
 female servants, and one attendant gentleman, 
 whose name was left blank, to be filled up by 
 Prince Rupert. These, having been rigidly 
 examined, we were suffered to pass with 
 cold civility, under an escort that vigilantly 
 forbade any communication except amongst 
 ourselves. As the spirits of the party seemed to 
 have vanished with the young Cavaliers, our 
 journey through the deep and miry roads was 
 wearisome enough. 
 
 When we reached Reading, I consigned my 
 fair charges to their well-guarded apartments in
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 279 
 
 the best hostelrie the place afforded, and then 
 retired, feeling little inclination to seek society 
 under present circumstances. My first care 
 was to ascertain whether Sir Janus was in the 
 town, and to obtain leave from my guards to 
 seek him. I desired to inform him of one daugh- 
 ter's unexpected arrival ; and, need I say, to in- 
 quire for another. I met surly answers to most 
 of my inquiries, for my Cavalier garb was not a 
 recommendation in Reading. 
 
 At length I was stopped in a narrow passage 
 by a group of officers and divines, who seemed 
 to be issuing from some assembly. I addressed 
 my inquiries to one of the former, who im- 
 mediately referred to a Puritan minister, engaged 
 in dry and stern argument with another. On 
 hearing his name mentioned, the minister turned 
 abruptly round with a cold stare, which instantly 
 gave way to a look of astonishment, evidently 
 of no pleasurable kind. It was Hezekiah 
 Doom.
 
 280 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 When some moments of silence had enabled 
 him to rally his well-trained faculties, with a 
 formal return to my greeting he informed me 
 that»I should find Sir Janus in the adjoining 
 house, but that unless my business was very 
 urgent, I could not be received there, as the 
 Baronet was severely indisposed. 
 
 I hastened to this house, however, with a 
 beating heart; my knocking was unanswered, 
 so I raised the latch, and entered. An anxious 
 voice inquired hastily who was there ; and with- 
 out reply I entered, and found myself in the 
 presence of Zillah ! 
 
 Yes ! she in whom were centred the whole 
 interest of my world was there, though I saw 
 not her face. It was buried in her hands, and 
 her whole frame was quivering with emotion; 
 she seemed in the very agony of sorrow. With 
 a trembling voice I pronounced her name ; she 
 started to her feet with a shrill cry, and gazed 
 wildly on me. Her eyes appeared to dart light 3
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 281 
 
 as they gleamed out from her pale face and all 
 the rich dark tresses that surrounded it ; a gush 
 of tears as quickly followed, and she sank upon 
 her knees, clasping in her folded hands a letter — 
 and behold that letter, it was mine ! — mine, 
 which I had written as the relation of my 
 death ! 
 
 With a mingled sense of happiness and 
 shame I clasped those hands, and hurriedly en- 
 deavoured to explain why that letter had been 
 written, and how it had arrived. As I spoke, 
 Zillah sent one deep inquiring glance into my 
 very soul, and then cast down her eyes, her long 
 lashes glittering with her tears upon her cheeks : 
 they were no longer pale ; a deep colour 
 rushed into them, and mounted to her very 
 forehead as she slowly drew herself up, and 
 folded her hands in cold dignity across her 
 breast. 
 
 After a few minutes of silence, she had com- 
 posed herself, and even stilled the throbbings of
 
 282 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 that breast ; she spoke slowly and calmly, but 
 not in her usual voice, as she thus denounced 
 all my happiness, and left me all my shame. 
 
 " Lord Hastings, I will not deny that I re- 
 joice in rinding that you are still among the 
 living, nor will I deny that the weak passion of 
 sorrow you have so strangely witnessed was 
 caused by my apprehension of your death. 
 But it was with no earthly fear or grief that I 
 mourned for you ; your having perished in your 
 sin, was the thought that wrung my heart. 
 Had I heard that you had died in fight, doing 
 battle for the people of the Lord, no tear would 
 have escaped me; but to think that you, the 
 companion, the trusted friend of my earliest 
 youth, had perished in a heathenish brawl, by 
 the hand of one of your own infidel companions, 
 was sore trial to me. For your care of my 
 poor sister, had it been otherwise shown, I 
 could have thanked you; but to do evil that 
 good might come, is too much in consonance 
 with the popish principles and crooked policy of 
 the party whom you serve." 
 
 The sweet voice of my reprover must have
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 283 
 
 had wondrous power in softening her stern 
 words ; or else the delight I experienced in be- 
 holding and hearing her once more, overcame 
 all other thoughts. Woman's anger is far less 
 terrible than her sorrow, especially when you 
 can see through the storm the lights of sun- 
 shine struggling with the clouds ; and so it was 
 with Zillah, as I thought. And then, her lofty 
 attitude and noble bearing became her so well, 
 that the words, which were in keeping with both, 
 seemed exactly what she ought to utter. 
 
 I replied, therefore, deferentially, as became 
 me : yielding up all argument to her beauty 
 and her power, and leaving the party-question 
 out of sight. I then told her that her sister 
 was arrived, and inquired w T hether Sir Janus 
 would make application for her restoration to 
 freedom, as she was still kept under restraint, 
 together with Lady d'Aubigny. 
 
 Gradually, as I spoke, Zillah's manner became 
 subdued into its more usual tenor, and she 
 exclaimed, forgetful of her late emotion, "My 
 poor sister ! my poor sister ! she must be 
 rescued by all means. But my father is too ill,
 
 284 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 or esteems himself to be so, to leave his bed : 
 I must inquire for his chaplain : — would that he 
 were here !" 
 
 " He is here," exclaimed the deep voice of 
 Hezekiah, in a tone as if it had burst from him. 
 (I hope I do not wrong him, but I imagine that 
 he dogged my steps since first we met.) " He 
 is here — at hand," he continued, " — as behoves 
 the shepherd to be, when the wolf is prowling 
 near his fold." 
 
 The indignation that I felt on observing 
 the influence that this dark man seemed to 
 exercise over the woman that I loved, was 
 intense, but the angry words that rose to 
 my lips paused, struggling, there : the saviour 
 of my brother's life rose before me, and my 
 thoughts only spoke in my eyes. The Puritan 
 understood them, however, and replied by a 
 severe and haughty look, that seemed to dare 
 me. Turning then almost scornfully away, 
 he addressed himself to Zillah, who had re- 
 assumed the calm, rapt air, that was but too 
 well known to me. 
 
 "What hath the daughter of Zion in
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 285 
 
 common with the sons of Belial?" demanded 
 Hezekiah, almost sternly, of his lofty and im- 
 passive-looking pupil : " is it seemly that these 
 godly men," pointing to my guards, " should 
 see such as thou conversing at this hour, and 
 thus, with a Malignant and an enemy of thy 
 people ?" 
 
 The Puritan had evidently been carried 
 away by his feelings beyond the usual boun- 
 daries of self-command. It was evident, at 
 all events, that such interference was an unusual 
 assumption on his part, for Zillah gazed on 
 him with a mixture of surprise and proud 
 displeasure. But her nature was too com- 
 manding not to be able to command itself 
 — the more so when most stirred. 
 
 " Sir," said she, with a calm, quiet air, 
 that was in itself the best reply to Hezekiah's 
 intemperate address ; " Sir, there is here no 
 matter for such discourse ; I had intended 
 to seek counsel from you concerning my sister, 
 who is treated as a prisoner by our own 
 authorities. This Cav — " she hesitated a 
 moment and corrected herself, " this man of
 
 286 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 war has been her escort thus far from the 
 camp of the King, and came to inform me 
 of her arrival." 
 
 The Puritan replied hastily, that the lady 
 was already cared for; and then, and without 
 further explanation, he passed into the sup- 
 posed sick room of Sir Janus. Immediately 
 afterwards, that anxious father called Zillah, 
 who, with a stately, nun-like formality, but 
 yet something of a kindly glance, bowed to 
 me and disappeared into the same room. My 
 guards then reminded me that I must return, 
 and soon afterwards I found myself in my 
 inn. 
 
 Lady d'Aubigny's waiting-woman was there, 
 waiting to request me to visit her lady, into 
 whose presence I was straightway ushered. 
 
 Handsome as Lady d'Aubigny always was, 
 she never appeared to me so much so as in 
 that evening. The excitement of travel had 
 given light to her eyes and colour to her 
 cheek, while fatigue, though unfelt, had sub- 
 dued and softened her somewhat too vivid 
 beauty. And yet her magnificent hair, which
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 287 
 
 I had always been accustomed to see richly 
 adorned, was closely compressed in curl-papers ! 
 A dark veil, however, covered her comely 
 head, and floating back over her shoulders, 
 I suppose did duty to the eye instead of the 
 usual floating tresses. 
 
 Lady d'Aubigny never sat upon a chair or 
 bench when she could help it. Lord Carnar- 
 von had easily persuaded her that the attitudes 
 of the East were far more becoming, and 
 she obeyed the suggestions of that traveller and 
 of her own taste. She was now couched up- 
 on a carpet, with which she always travelled, in 
 order to keep her delicate feet from the rude 
 floor ; and her white dress was relieved off the 
 dark tapestry with which the walls of the cham- 
 ber were loosely hung. 
 
 She received me very graciously ; tears trem- 
 bled in her large bright eyes, and her voice, as 
 well as her look, had assumed that sort of 
 timid appeal that makes so dangerous a va- 
 riety in proud beauty's powers. Her mind 
 appeared to labour for a fit form of expression,
 
 288 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 and it was some time before she found words 
 to explain that she feared I had not a very 
 favourable opinion of her. 
 
 " Yet," she added softly, " you are one of the 
 few in the world whose opinion I could 
 value." She concluded by telling me that all 
 her goods were to be searched,* " for those dan- 
 gerous papers, which they seem to know too 
 well are in my possession. Now let me place 
 full confidence in you — and confess that my heart 
 is beginning to fail me in this matter. Scarcely 
 had we arrived when a rude man entered the 
 room, and sternly desired poor Phcebe to resume 
 her travelling dress, and to make herself as little 
 like Jezabel as possible, as she would be required 
 to give evidence forthwith before the secret com- 
 mittee in London, touching the matter of Ahab. 
 
 " You know, perhaps, that the arch- traitor 
 Pym admires her extravagantly, and that may 
 
 * We find that the French Ambassadors to the King 
 were, about this time, as rudely searched as the Cavalier 
 describes Lady d'Aubigny to have been. — Whitelock, 
 p. 73.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 289 
 
 be one reason why she was hurried off to 
 London. Poor child! she knows nothing of 
 our state secrets; and to confess to you the 
 truth, I would fain be back in Oxford, and 
 yield up that dangerous possession to some 
 other. Whilst I was there, buoyant with hope 
 and daring, which I imbibed from the goodly 
 company with which I was surrounded, I 
 thought I could have dared and done anything. 
 But here, in silence and solitude, surrounded by 
 these grim and insolent Roundheads, I feel that 
 I have undertaken more than I had heart for. 
 My soul sickens when I think of the terrible 
 ordeal to be passed through in London when 
 the plot explodes. Waller, too, has failed in 
 his promise to meet me here; and the secret 
 that I bear seems better known to every one 
 around me than to me. Oh! surely, when 
 careering through the battle-field, with banner, 
 and trumpet, and loud guns, you have far less 
 need of nerve than now, where we are mysterious 
 conspirators standing on a mine, round which 
 an enemy scatters sparks, while they seek to 
 throw light upon it." 
 
 vol. I. u
 
 290 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 "Lady," I replied, "I am no conspirator, 
 I have no knowledge whatever of the scheme 
 in which you have so boldly risked your fair 
 person. I am not one of those who seek to 
 contend in the cause of truth with the weapons 
 of falsehood. I would fain leave such courses 
 to Jesuits and Puritans. Even the honour of 
 being your escort was no choice of mine ; that 
 privilege was forced upon me. However, now 
 that your anxiety is only for your safety, I am 
 bound, as a gentleman and a soldier, to defend 
 you with my life." 
 
 " I will not thank you," said Lady d'Aubigny, 
 " as if I could have doubted of your faith. I 
 will only beseech you to tell me how to act. 
 They may search my wardrobe as they will, 
 they cannot find the papers they seek for. Can 
 we, as if resentful of the injury of being 
 searched, claim safe conduct back to Oxford? 
 I see that the strength of our plot is already 
 gone, though now it lies, like Sampson's, in 
 my hair." 
 
 Suddenly the tapestry was violently shaken,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 291 
 
 and Hezekiah Doom appeared from beneath its 
 folds, exclaiming : 
 
 " Dalilah that thou art ! thy plot of fear is 
 vain as that of thy false bravery. As a 
 lion lurking in secret places, have I discovered 
 thy dangerous subtlety." 
 
 The minister had not yet recovered from 
 the excitement he had lately yielded to — 
 he advanced almost fiercely towards Lady 
 d'Aubigny to clutch the papers that he had 
 discovered. I stepped forward instinctively to 
 her assistance ; but with a strength that I 
 could not have believed possible, he flung 
 me aside, and before I could recover myself 
 he had seized the papers. The next moment 
 he lay prostrate and bleeding on the floor ; I 
 felled him with my clenched hand, and at the 
 same time Harrison rushed into the room, fol- 
 lowed by half a score of men-at-arms. It 
 took less time than I can tell it in, to drag me 
 down stairs, to bind me hand and foot, and to 
 cast me into a dark cell in the castle-dungeon. 
 Lady d'Aubigny was deprived of the papers 
 
 u 2
 
 292 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 which cost so many brave men their lives and 
 fortunes, and which made Waller, the concocter 
 of the plot, as infamous for his meanness as he 
 had been once glorious for his poetry.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIJ. 
 
 To-morrow ! oh that's sudden — 
 Spare him ! spare him ! 
 
 THE BIRTLE TRAGEDY. 
 
 I lay in a strange state of reckless dis- 
 comfort in my cell, yet time did not seem to 
 pass slowly. The novelty of my situation struck 
 me more than its undelightfulness or its danger. 
 Even then, a chained, — and probably — death-sen- 
 tenced prisoner as I was, I felt pleasure in the 
 thought that I was near Zillah, and in the convic- 
 tion that if I was to die, I should see her before 
 I passed away. In that thought I fell asleep 
 and dreamed happily, until some wounds I had 
 received from Harrison's eager myrmidons, and
 
 294 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 still more, the intolerable pain of the cords 
 with which I had been bound, vengefally tight, 
 awakened me. Then came fever-fits alternately 
 with fainting, and when my prison-door at 
 length opened, I was scarcely able to recog- 
 nize the persons who entered. 
 
 There were two, but only one step sounded 
 on the damp stone floor, so light was the other's 
 tread. Immediately, my cords were cut, and 
 the blood began to circulate in my veins once 
 more. I opened my eyes and found the light 
 of day, streaming into my dungeon, fell upon 
 the two forms I loved and hated most on earth. 
 Zillah was closely wrapped in a cloak, and her 
 eyes filled with that pity which her other 
 features strove sternly to repress. 
 
 Hezekiah rose from his labour at my cords, 
 with a visage as unmoved as that of a statue. 
 He cast a cold, keen, inquiring glance upon 
 Zillah's countenance, and then drew back 
 as far as the narrow space of the dungeon 
 would permit. But Zillah seemed unconscious 
 of his presence — of everything. Unable to 
 rise, I could scarcely see her face, but I
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 295 
 
 believe it was upturned in prayer, for the 
 hood of her cloak fell off, and discovered her 
 head of matchless symmetry, from which the 
 long, dark hair rolled down in rich confusion. 
 The silence was intense : emotion lent energy 
 to my tortured and weakened frame, or rather — 
 torture and weakness were both forgotten, as 
 by some secret sympathy I rose slowly on one 
 knee, and my mind too strove to assume the 
 attitude of prayer. I felt that I was to die ; and 
 far worse, I felt that this was to be my last in- 
 terview with her with whom my life was twined. 
 At length Zillah turned her eyes on me — those 
 wondrous eyes, so full of immortal light and 
 truth! — and then she spoke, in pained, and faint, 
 but firm tones, 
 
 " They tell me that thou, soldier as thou art 
 — friend of mine as once thou wert — have been 
 detected in the base and cowardly office of a 
 spy. Nay more, that our godly soldiers, who 
 witnessed thy interview with me, arrested thee 
 unto this prison in a vulgar brawl about a — pa- 
 ramour ! But I come to reproach thee with 
 no earthly feeling. They tell me there is but
 
 •296 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 one fate reserved for a spy. They tell me — thou 
 must — die." I could only see, not hear this 
 little word trembling on my poor love's pale 
 lips. For a few gasps of breath she paused, and 
 then continued more hurriedly, " I sought and 
 obtained one favour, to see you once more ; and 
 f possible, once more to waken in you the pure 
 thoughts of our happy childhood, and prepare 
 you for the higher comfort that some godly 
 minister may, through grace, be permitted 
 to impart. — Oh ! do not interrupt me, or the 
 few minutes that remain to us — to me I 
 mean — will be lost. Oh ! Reginald ! on this 
 dread moment may hang all the hopes of a 
 happy eternity — Forget ! blot out from your 
 soul the evil and profligate experiences of the 
 camp, that have so dishonoured your once noble 
 nature. Remember the day when we sat hand 
 in hand, gazing on the sunlit sea, and beholding 
 God visible in everything that was beautiful. 
 Remember the time when the death of heroes 
 seemed to us so glorious, and a shameful death 
 impossible." 
 
 She paused, and shuddered. I thought she
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 297 
 
 shuddered at my crime ; but no, — for with a 
 piercing cry she fell upon my neck, and bathed 
 my brow, my very soul, with such delicious 
 tears, that I could scarcely bear up against the 
 too exquisite delight. My arms still hung 
 without sensation by my side, yet I could 
 rapturously feel the poor heart that I so adored 
 as it beat against my bosom in its frantic 
 grief. Yet — who will believe it ? — by some 
 irrepressible impulse, even at that moment I 
 raised my eyes to where Hezekiah stood, 
 or had stood, for another form seemed to 
 occupy his place : dilated, quivering in every 
 limb, his lurid eyes blazing up into fierce fire ; 
 and yet there was over all such an expression 
 of unutterable woe, that, rapt as I was in 
 the greatest happiness I had ever known, I 
 still could pity him. All this passed with the 
 rapidity of thought, for, with a groan of pain, 
 rather than an exclamation, the Puritan laid a 
 heavy hand on Zillah's shoulder. 
 
 "Woman ! woman !" he shouted, yet between 
 his teeth, " must thy miserable sex ever fail ? 
 Wilt thou ever give up Eden for this accursed
 
 298 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 fruit ? Wilt thou, like Lot's wife, look back 
 from blessedness to gaze on that which is 
 doomed to swift destruction ?" 
 
 The preacher might have gone on, but he 
 was unheeded. Zillah — the high-souled, proud 
 Zillah — had fainted on the breast of her despised 
 lover ; the life-strings, strained so long, seemed 
 snapped. My cuirass was a cold pillow for that 
 delicate cheek, but I could not help her, for my 
 limbs were still powerless. The preacher pro- 
 bably believed that she was dead, for his voice 
 ceased, and his countenance changed into rigid 
 solemnity. He then raised her form gently 
 from its forbidden resting-place, and his hands 
 actually pressed against me while he did so. 
 I sank helplessly on the ground, and Hezekiah 
 bore away Zillah to the window in his arms. 
 I could see the breeze, as it stole through the 
 iron bars, stirring the ringlets on her pale 
 brow ; or was it that dark man's breath ? Sud- 
 denly my veins seemed free ; I sprang to my 
 feet ; the blood rushed to my brain, and I sank 
 senseless on the ground. 
 
 When, through pain and agony, my spirit
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 299 
 
 once more struggled into consciousness, I found 
 myself in a well-ordered room, attended by a 
 severe-looking, but gentle-handed surgeon. J 
 was sternly desired to be still ; I was informed 
 that in the fray of the tapestried chamber I had 
 received some wounds in my head that might 
 prove dangerous, and that nothing but profound 
 quiet could preserve me. 
 
 " One word only/' I asked, " how long have 
 I been senseless ?" 
 
 " Three days/' was the reply. When I next 
 attempted to speak, the surgeon left the room, 
 and I have reason to suppose that his silence 
 was meant for kindness. I could bear sus- 
 pense no longer, however, and taking advantage 
 of his absence, I dressed hastily as well as I was 
 able, and left the room. There I found two 
 halberdiers, who quietly took me by either arm, 
 and led me — not back to my sick room, but 
 forward to the cell which I had left. 
 
 It lay at the far end of a dark gallery. 
 During my brief passage thither I inquired for 
 Zillah, though I almost shrank from naming 
 her.
 
 300 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 My guards made no reply; I entered my 
 cell, and the door closing in upon me, I felt as 
 if I were already in the land where all things 
 are forgotten. 
 
 Soon afterwards my door was gently opened, 
 and the elder halberdier, who had been my 
 guard, looked in. 
 
 " Man of Belial, as thou art," said he softly, 
 " and though I be ordered to have no speech 
 with thee, nevertheless my heart is troubled 
 for thee, and [ will speak. Poor youth, thou 
 art like unto my son, even my first born, whom 
 you servants of the tyrant and the idolater, 
 slew in Keinton fight; and surely thou too 
 shalt die, but not like him, in the goodly heat 
 of righteous battle : — without friend to back, 
 or foe to front, thou shalt be shot to death, 
 dog-like. And for that, inasmuch as thou art 
 a blood-seeking Cavalier, I rejoice ; but, inas- 
 much as thou art formed in God's image, and 
 art like my son, I would not that such another 
 goodly form were destroyed, or thy voice were 
 put to silence in the grave even as his was.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 301 
 
 Speak then, and for his sake I will answer thee, 
 that thy soul may not be all dark." 
 
 It seemed hard that I should be thus ever 
 visited with the offences of others ; but I was 
 too anxious to feel aught except gratitude 
 towards the rough but kindly soldier. I be- 
 sought him to tell me what had become of 
 Zillah, and when my fate was to be decided. 
 
 " For the woman," replied my guard, " she 
 was somewhat ill, as I heard say, in mind or 
 body, or in both, mayhap ; and the man of two 
 minds, her father, carried her off speedily unto 
 London, whither he is called to answer for this 
 villanous plot against the Chosen of Israel. As 
 to thee, I hear tell that thou art to be removed 
 to Lewknor, whence the Lord General lies : and 
 that there, after court of war duly held, thou 
 wilt be shot to death, as I have already told 
 thee, for a spy and conspirator against the Parlia- 
 ment." 
 
 Just then a trumpet sounded in the court- 
 yard below, and my guard exclaimed, in tones 
 less dry and nasal than he had hitherto used : 
 " These, I doubt not, be the men who are to
 
 302 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 lead thee away, Bethink thee, poor youth, (if 
 thou hast ever heard ought save the blasphemies 
 of the Cavaliers), of some goodly matter that 
 may profit thee in another world, for well I 
 wot thy course in this is nearly ended." 
 
 So saying, he gently closed the door, and 
 resumed his beat with ostentatious vigilance 
 along the gallery. 
 
 I had not long to muse on the dismal 
 fate that was before me ; never to see Zillah 
 more, and to pour out my blood with all the 
 ignominy of a traitor. I heard a low but well- 
 known whistle under my window, to which I 
 replied by thrusting one hand through the bars, 
 beckoning, as well as I was able to my in- 
 visible friend. The next moment the window 
 was darkened ; Bryan had sprung up with won- 
 derful agility, and was clinging like a bat against 
 the bars. He was disguised as a beggar, and 
 his face presented apparently a mass of hideous 
 sores. 
 
 "Oh, Master, dear," he whispered eagerly, 
 " my heart is broken for you, and the Lady gone 
 away, and no one to sain or save ! And I have
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 303 
 
 only a minute to tell your honour everything. 
 When you wouldn't let me go with you among 
 the rebels, I followed you on foot, and as I had 
 no pass, I was obliged to change coats with a 
 beggar's brat, and to spoil my face to save 
 losing you, and being hanged to boot. For I 
 knew danger was coming to you, and I made 
 sure of finding the Lady, and of saving you. 
 But that enemy of mankind, Hezekiah, has had 
 his will of everybody ; and he found out the 
 plot, as they call it ; — and when the Lady in- 
 sisted to see you, he wouldn't let her, until she 
 spoke out and put fear into him, and then, — ■ 
 when she came to you, the villain got up some 
 other divilment ; what it was, I know not, but 
 in an hour after old Sir Janus was off to Lon- 
 don as quick as he could travel, and the Lady 
 in a litter behind him. And the murdering 
 general would have shot you clean out of hand, 
 only that you were ill and they obliged to set 
 out for Lewknor, where they say an attack is 
 expected, and so you are to be taken and tried 
 there. — There they come, and I must be off, if 
 I'd have any chance of ever seeing you alive
 
 304 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 again. Good bye, good bye, master dear ; we'll 
 meet at Lewknor, anyhow, if not in life, in 
 death." 
 
 So saying, the boy dropped from the window, 
 and disappeared, just as the guards entered my 
 dungeon. 
 
 As I afterwards learned, he begged and 
 whined his way through Reading, until he 
 reached the outskirts of the town. There a 
 picket of horse was posted ; their horses fastened 
 to a tree, the troopers lying on the turf. Bryan 
 begged charity from them, maintaining his dis- 
 guise. In return for a crust of bread, he plucked 
 some grass and offered it to one of the horses, 
 notwithstanding the forbidding of the horseman, 
 who was too lazy however to prevent him. 
 Gradually the boy loosed the bridle of the 
 farthest charger, and as he was about to vault 
 upon him, he whipped out a sharp dagger and 
 cut the reins of the other three horses. Then, 
 springing into the saddle he galloped off ; the 
 enraged troopers fired after him too hastily to 
 hit him, and their pursuit was vain ; their horses 
 were running wild about the fields.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 305 
 
 Meanwhile, Bryan rode away furiously, avoid- 
 ing the enemy's posts, which he had previously 
 reconnoitred carefully ; swimming streams and 
 clearing fences, and still ever on the spur until 
 he passed the last outpost of the Roundheads, 
 and met a patrol of the royal horse near Oxford. 
 These he would fain have persuaded to follow 
 him and attempt my rescue ; but, brave as they 
 were, they knew it was impossible. 
 
 " Go back then," he exclaimed passionately, 
 " and, if you have hearts of men in you, spare 
 not till you come to the mad Prince — God 
 bless him, he's the only man of sense in the 
 army. Tell him that my master is going to be 
 shot for a spy, and if the morrow's sun doesn't 
 find the royal horse in the vale of Lewknor, the 
 daisies there will be wet with the best blood in 
 England." 
 
 Having thus delivered himself, Bryan rode 
 back again towards Lewknor as long as his 
 horse could carry him ; when the horse dropped, 
 he pursued his way on foot. 
 
 The Cavaliers, whom Bryan had addressed, 
 
 vol. I. x
 
 306 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 were good fellows and true ; their foaming 
 horses were soon clattering through High 
 Street ; and that sound was scarcely still, when 
 the Prince's bugle rang out, and every trooper 
 in Oxford was in motion.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. ' 307 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 I saw where stark and cold he lay, 
 
 Beneath the gallows tree ; 
 And every one did point and say, 
 
 'Twas there he died for thee. 
 
 OLD BALLAD. 
 
 To return to my own story. 
 
 The Roundhead troopers that now entered 
 were commanded by one Ditchley — a harsh and 
 brutal soldier, who had served under Wallen- 
 stein, and had been attracted like a vulture to 
 his own country by the prospect of blood. He 
 happened first to fall in with the Puritans, who 
 were in want of experienced soldiers and offered 
 large prices for their services. Ditchley accord- 
 ingly enrolled himself as cornet in Hazlerigg's 
 iron corps. He soon distinguished himself by 
 
 x 2
 
 308 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 his acquaintance with arms, and old Testament 
 texts, as well as by his sanguinary application 
 of them. His figure was almost gigantic, and 
 perfectly clothed in armour. When he entered 
 my cell, his face alone was uncovered, displaying 
 the smallest eyes and the longest nose I ever 
 beheld. Through the latter he always spoke, 
 and now delivered himself in a string of texts 
 that were ingeniously adapted to do duty for 
 the curses with which he had formerly in- 
 dulged. As far as I comprehended the gist of 
 his observations, I understood that I was to 
 gird up my loins in order to be bound to 
 the horns of some altar in Buckinghamshire. 
 
 Though fatigued and exhausted, I felt in- 
 clined to resist, and let him do his worst ; but 
 the thought of seeming to shrink from death, 
 roused me from my painful lethargy, and I de- 
 clared my willingness to follow. Ditchley, 
 brutal as he was, had some respect for a 
 soldier's boldness, and then said that he would 
 not hurry me. 
 
 "That you shall not," said my gruff kind 
 surgeon, entering and interposing. " Who
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 309 
 
 ordered thee to take the prey from the hand 
 of the spoiler, — of the healer I should say ? 
 This prisoner is in my charge, and as he 
 hath eaten nothing, neither drunk, (except some 
 drugs of potency) , he is without strength ; and 
 I tell thee he cannot and shall not travel." 
 
 Ditchley addressing the friendly surgeon by 
 the name of " He-that-healeth," in a tone 
 between that of an execration and sermon, told 
 him to mind his own bloody business and to 
 hold his tongue. 
 
 I could only thank the good Samaritan, and 
 express my willingness to depart. I was indeed 
 weary of that melancholy tower. I longed for 
 change, and could not but hope for some little 
 chance of seeing Zillah, anywhere rather than 
 there, before I was to die. Innocent as I was, I 
 knew that my condemnation was certain, and 
 my defence would be unheeded. Hezekiah 
 alone could bear witness to my innocence of 
 any share in this plot, and he, I knew too well, 
 would at least stand aloof. 
 
 Nevertheless, I yielded to necessity, as if it 
 were my own will, and only took advantage of
 
 310 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 my surgeon's intervention to ask for some re- 
 freshment. I knew not how much I needed it 
 until it appeared — the savoury steak, the foaming 
 tankard — even in that sombre hour, were 
 capable of giving pleasure, and of bringing me 
 down from the soaring reveries of a long fasting 
 and enthusiastic dreamer, to the palpable reali- 
 ties of life. 
 
 Soon afterwards, I was in the saddle, a 
 trooper riding on each side of me, and a score 
 more before and behind. To my great satis- 
 faction I saw that the friendly surgeon accom- 
 panied the detachment ; and so we came to 
 Lewknor as the sun was setting. 
 
 After an hour's rest in a barn, T was sum- 
 moned to the presence of a Court of War. 
 That tribunal was composed of some half-dozen 
 officers, most of whom wore their armour 
 awkwardly, and looked like citizens who had 
 assumed a knightly dress for some masque 
 or pageant. Such as they were, how- 
 ever, they were my judges, and their functions 
 were soon performed. As spies were the enemies 
 most feared, they received no mercy in those
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 311 
 
 days from either party : if dubbed with that 
 ominous name, the doom of the accused was 
 certain. At once for trial and defence, I was 
 merely asked, " whether my name was correctly 
 stated, and whether I was not found in com- 
 pany with the frizzled Madam, called d'Aubigny, 
 when ( taking traitorous advantage of the 
 Parliament's safe conduct) she was detected, as 
 being mother to the damnable plot." I stated 
 the case as simply as I could, and called upon 
 their own minister, Hezekiah, as witness to the 
 truth of my assertion, that I had scorned the 
 office of conspirator. 
 
 One of my judges, named Hewson, spoke 
 for all the rest, and thus delivered his judge- 
 ment : " This Philistine scorneth to conspire, 
 forsooth ; but the scorner is an abomination 
 unto men ; yea, more especially when he es- 
 corteth foolish women, whose heads and hair 
 are filled with deceit and danger to the Com- 
 monwealth. Surely, the churning of milk 
 bringeth forth butter, and keeping company with 
 traitors, produceth treason. The Parliament 
 hath wisely determined to visit this foul plot,
 
 312 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 and all other conspiracy with swift vengeance ; 
 and why should we stay our hands in this 
 case, where we have the prisoner self-convicted 
 of being a spy as well as a conspirator. Where- 
 fore, we have only to pronounce the sentence 
 upon thee, that by the morning's light, thou 
 be shot to death at the village tree ; and mean- 
 while we shall not withhold from thee such 
 ghostly consolation as our godly ministers can 
 give." 
 
 Without further parley, I was hurried out of 
 Court and back to the barn which I shared as 
 a prison, with some others. Fatigued as I 
 was, I refused all offers of refreshment, ghostly 
 or solid, and soon fell asleep, in spite of all the 
 crowd of anxious thoughts that pressed upon 
 my brain. 
 
 I must have slept some hours, when I was 
 conscious of a soft warm drop upon my cheek ; 
 I started, could it be a human tear that reached 
 me there, in the midst of enemies who longed 
 to see me die ? The thought was so pleasurable 
 that I feigned to sleep again, in order to collect 
 my ideas ; again and again tears fell upon me,
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 313 
 
 and I found that my head was carefully pil- 
 lowed on some knee. The light began to 
 dawn, and I saw that fetters bound the feet of 
 my kind watcher. 
 
 At length a low and piteous voice whispered 
 in my ear, " Master, master dear, it's light, 
 and soon God's sun will rise and our's must 
 set, — Ohone and sorrow !" 
 
 " My poor Bryan !" I exclaimed, " now, 
 indeed, I feel the anguish of this hour. My 
 poor boy, well may'st thou shrink from sharing 
 the doom which to me has scarce a pang." 
 
 The boy dashed away the tears from his 
 eyes, and exclaimed reproachfully — almost 
 angrily ; " And did you think it was a thought 
 for myself that could make a woman of me ? 
 Oh no ! — no — no ! — it's little that matters what 
 becomes of the life you saved, when the pride 
 and the hope of my heart's gone from me. — And 
 to think I could not save you from being mur- 
 dered, after all !" 
 
 Between sobs and tears, he hastily told me 
 the little story of his own adventures that I 
 have already related ; adding that his object in
 
 314 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 returning to the enemy's quarters was to seek 
 the Lord-General or Hampden, from whose 
 nobler character, he hoped to obtain at least 
 some respite for his doomed master. But 
 he had been observed, pursued, taken and 
 recognized, and condemned to die by the 
 same court of war that had lately pronounced 
 sentence upon me. For him, however, a sad- 
 der fate was destined — he was to die a felon's 
 death. 
 
 As this sad and faithful story was being told, 
 the light grew stronger and stronger ; and the 
 end of my poor Bryan's tale was almost drowned 
 in the beat of drums that summoned the soldiers 
 to witness and assist at our execution. Then there 
 was a pause, ominously broken by a muffled 
 drum, that seemed to sob out our summons 
 to depart. The large door was flung open by 
 the sentinels from within, as those without 
 knocked with the butt-end of their muskets. 
 
 When the sun's rays streamed in gloriously 
 with the fresh morning air, with sweet smells, 
 and all the cheerful sounds of rural life — 
 we appeared to be awakening from some
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 315 
 
 hideous dream ; but, as soon as our eyes could 
 bear the light, we beheld the solemn pre- 
 parations for sending us into another existence. 
 For a moment I was uncertain as to which of us 
 was first to suffer : in our suspense, Bryan, 
 flung his arms round my neck, and sobbed 
 as if his heart would burst through his 
 doublet and escape at once from sorrow. But 
 his name was called, and he was himself 
 again ; he started to his feet promptly, smiling 
 brightly, as he exclaimed: 
 
 " Now I can forgive these rebels everything, 
 since ^they did not make me see you die." 
 
 With these words he walked away proudly 
 after the ill-looking scoundrel who led the way 
 to the fatal tree. Not one word of farewell 
 did that faithful boy entrust himself to speak ; 
 perhaps he thought we were to meet so soon ! 
 perhaps he feared to unman himself or me 
 before our enemies. 
 
 I tried to hide from my sight the approach- 
 ing terrible scene; it seemed to force itself 
 through my closed eyes, and in such hideous 
 forms, that I looked again at the reality in
 
 316 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 hopes to mitigate the imagination of it. On 
 went that noble boy, attended by the foul 
 executioner as by some evil shadow — a few 
 soldiers preceded him, and forced a passage 
 through the crowd collected under the large 
 oaken bough, whence hung the fatal cord. 
 
 And now they make a space, and pause — 
 perhaps while my poor page utters his parting 
 prayer. Now — high over their heads, I see 
 him, with the evil shadow by his side, and long 
 dark arms busied about his young and comely 
 neck. Now he stands alone, and in another 
 moment he sinks a little, slowly as it seems to 
 me, but his head is on one side, and their 
 deed is done ! 
 
 At the same moment a hoarse, loud, hasty 
 order is heard " to advance the other prisoner," 
 and I stepped forward with alacrity. Twelve 
 musketeers stood with arms at the recover, 
 as I was led to the fatal tree. Before I 
 knelt to receive their fire, I turned one glance 
 upon the body of my poor page — ah ! it was 
 still struggling ; my brain swam with the 
 horror, and I was only roused as the drums
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 317 
 
 beat hurriedly — no muffle this time ! — and the 
 trumpets sounded : and I thought it strange, 
 when Ditchley, with an outspoken oath, put 
 his hand upon my shoulder and tried hastily 
 to make me kneel. 
 
 Did the soldiers fire too soon and mistake 
 their aim — or what ? A volley was heard ; 
 Ditchley, with a bullet in his brain, fell pros- 
 trate at my feet : the musketeers disappeared ; 
 shots came quick and fast and all around me — 
 then loud shouts, and the tramp of cavalry 
 with Rupert's war-cry ; then I knew that the 
 royal horse were in among the enemy, and 
 that I was saved. Rough and stern, however, 
 was the conflict all around; when, out from 
 the mass, burst a bold horseman, who swept 
 his gleaming sword above my head, high in 
 air, and cut the accursed cord whence my 
 poor page hung suspended almost over me. 
 All this passed far more rapidly than I can tell, 
 and before the brief strife around was ended, 
 I had Bryan's form resting in my arms, and 
 the faint struggles, that had filled me with hor- 
 ror, now thrilled me with delighted hope.
 
 318 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 It was old Blount who had done such 
 prompt and ready service with his sword. 
 As soon as he could rein up his horse, he 
 turned quickly round, and looked on me with 
 a tear in his stern eyes, but without uttering 
 one word. Then something caught his sight 
 in the melee, that was still raging, though 
 I scarcely heard the clashing steel and wild 
 curses and deep groans, and quick sharp 
 shots, that told how vengefully the royal horse 
 were doing their work. All my attention 
 was riveted on the almost motionless form 
 that had flung away its faithful spirit to do 
 me service. 
 
 But the cool and imperturbable Blount, 
 seeing that there was no time to lose, had 
 galloped off for a surgeon. He had observed 
 a small and desperate group of Roundheads 
 hemmed into a corner, and among them was 
 one, whom from his dress, he rightly judged 
 to be a leech. It was indeed my gruff friend, 
 He-that-healeth. Vainly however Blount be- 
 sought quarter for him to the angry Cavaliers, 
 who were infuriated by a vague impression that
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 319 
 
 some of their officers had just been put to 
 death by those who were still fighting hard 
 in front of them 
 
 Blount lost no time in further useless entreaties, 
 as if more furious than any of the assailants, 
 he dashed spurs into his horse, rode through 
 the defenders, and laid his iron grasp on the 
 surgeon's collar : then, without giving him or 
 his comrades time to recover themselves, he 
 rode out again through them, literally carry- 
 ing in his bridle-hand his prize, whilst with 
 the sword-arm, he defended him from friends 
 and foes. — A few minutes before, I had been 
 standing in front of the enemy's musketeers : 
 now they and their companions were prisoners 
 or dead, and their half-choked surgeon was 
 employing the best means in his power to undo 
 their murderous work. 
 
 My intense anxiety during his operations, 
 diverted my mind from the sudden transition 
 in my own case to freedom and to life. I 
 had so made up my mind to die, that I 
 could with difficulty believe in my escape. As, 
 with my fingers pressed upon my throbbing
 
 320 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 temples, I sat apart, endeavouring to forget 
 suspense in analysing my own sensations, I heard 
 the gauntleted hands of Blount clasp together 
 with a loud clap, and at the same time, a 
 grave sort of chuckle escaped from the sur- 
 geon. 
 
 " It's little comfortable," said the latter, 
 gazing with real pleasure on the convulsive 
 gasps of his patient ; " it's little comfortable 
 the coming back to this comfortless world ; but 
 the lad's saved, and may have yet time to re- 
 pent him of his manifold malignancy." 
 
 By this time the sounds of death and strife 
 had ceased, trumpets were sounding eagerly 
 the recalls, and a body of horse drew near to 
 our rejoicing group. Prince Rupert rode hastily 
 up to me, pressed my hand cordially, and 
 exclaimed energetically, " By St. George, I am 
 a prouder man this morning than if I had 
 marched through London. 'Twas a near es- 
 cape, however, and all is not done yet. Mount, 
 my friend, one of my led horses, for we shall 
 have to ride far and fast, and to fight for it 
 too, before we see Oxford again."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 321 
 
 So saying Prince Rupert rode off, and left us 
 to make the best arrangements that we could. 
 The boy, still almost unconscious, was placed 
 before Blount upon his saddle, and I rode by 
 their side ; having first escorted the surgeon 
 beyond the reach of our soldiers : his freedom 
 was all, except promises, that I could then offer 
 him. Our troops were already in column, and 
 moving along the Chiltern hills ; the dragoons, 
 with Will Legge, in front; the few infantry, 
 with the prisoners, bringing up the rear as fast 
 as they could move. 
 
 It was only the beginning of an eventful 
 day : we reached Oxford as the sun went down ; 
 but before then, we had fought our way through 
 Chalgrove field, and Hampden had received his 
 death-wound. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 322 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 That I neither know how she should be loved, or 
 how she should be worthy, is the opinion that fire 
 cannot melt out of me, I will die in it. 
 
 SHAKESPERE. 
 
 Days passed on ; Essex had retired his army 
 from our immediate neighbourhood ; Bryan was 
 still under the surgeon's hands, but rapidly re- 
 covering. With this exception, all outward 
 traces of my late adventure had passed away ; 
 but my thoughts were sorely troubled. The 
 strange manner in which, by chance and the in- 
 genuity of Hezekiah, I had been prevented 
 from replying to Zillah's accusation ; the uncer- 
 tainty of her fate, and other anxieties connected
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 323 
 
 with it, — all these were painfully yet pleasura- 
 bly blended with the remembrance of our last 
 interview. Its very sorrow made the joy more 
 tender, and Zillah's belief of my unworthiness 
 proved sweetly the strength of an affection that 
 could triumph over such belief. 
 
 Those who love are never lonely ; at least 
 those who love spiritually, for spirit can com- 
 mune with spirit, though the form which re- 
 present them to our earthly vision be severed 
 widely as the poles asunder. The spirit of her 
 who fills our heart seems to pervade every thing 
 around us ; her smile blends with every ray of 
 light ; her voice is heard in every gentle sound ; 
 her very breath is felt in every breeze that fans 
 our fevered cheek. 
 
 Thus it was that I lived in Zillah's imagi- 
 nary presence; and thus it was that I waited, 
 almost patiently, for the happiness of once more 
 seeing her. 
 
 The explosion of Waller's plot had revived 
 the greatest animosity among the political leaders 
 of the revolution ; but at no period of the war 
 do I remember a more frequent and chivalrous 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 interchange of courtesies between the righting 
 men. The former, in the first moment of their 
 excitement, denounced death to all who were 
 concerned in the plot. Poor Challoner and 
 Tomkins were executed at once ; but Waller 
 was reserved for a worse fate — to endure a 
 prolonged life, branded with dishonour, and 
 stained by the basest treachery. The leading 
 lords were saved by their great influence and 
 professed penitence. 
 
 The accidental battle and victory at Chal- 
 grove proved of great interest to me. Two 
 officers of rank had been sorely wounded and 
 made prisoners; being unable to move, they 
 had been granted parole by Prince Rupert, and 
 this they basely broke. Essex, however, who 
 was of a nobler nature, on remonstrance offered 
 to liberate any two royalist prisoners in their 
 place; and my brother Hugo was thus re- 
 stored to me. 
 
 Our meeting was a very happy one ; we had 
 parted in despondency and sorrow ; we had 
 undergone trial and danger, and each of us 
 could now read in each other's brightened
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 325 
 
 countenance that our heart's deepest sorrow had 
 been soothed. We wandered away at once to 
 the quiet Christ Church meadows; and there, 
 under the old trees, that before and since then 
 have heard stranger tales, I learned from my 
 brother's lips the events of the last momentous 
 week. 
 
 On the day of my quarrel with Digby, it will 
 be remembered that Hugo, according to Prince 
 Rupert's orders, had made a reconnoissance, 
 been attacked, taken prisoner, and carried off to 
 Reading. He added to Blount's account of his 
 capture, that that precise servant had done his 
 brave best to rescue him : when he found that 
 was hopeless — even while fighting for his own 
 life — he had struggled near enough to my 
 brother to shout out and inquire " whether he 
 had any commands for his master at Oxford ?" 
 
 On his arrival at Reading, Hugo, having 
 received some slight wound, was placed under 
 the care of my friend, He-that-healeth, who 
 was characteristically gruff and kind to him. 
 He then learned that Lady d'Aubigny's mission 
 was already well known, and that the only
 
 326 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 matter not clearly ascertained, was the place in 
 which the important paper was kept. On the 
 evening of our arrival at Reading, Hugo was 
 removed to London in a waggon, under escort, 
 with some other prisoners. To his astonish- 
 ment, among the latter he saw Phcebe : she was 
 treated with respect, well mounted on a palfrey, 
 and accompanied by her waiting-woman, who 
 rent the air with acclamations of distress. 
 
 Phoebe rode close behind the waggon in 
 which her young lover lay bound and so 
 shaded by the cover as to be indiscernible to 
 her: but to him, a bright moonlight showed 
 clearly the lovely face of his childhood's play- 
 fellow and his manhood's mistress. She looked 
 solemn and pale, but not dejected. The 
 bright fluttering colour of her cheek was gone 
 — with the high spirits of which it seemed 
 the outward sign; her radiant eyes were 
 veiled by the long lashes that drooped down- 
 wards, and sometimes glistened with a mo- 
 mentary tear. But her carriage was calm and 
 dignified, and the character of her beauty, 
 though so changed, was still perfect in its
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 327 
 
 kind. At least so thought the young lover ; 
 and so apparently thought the Roundhead 
 leader of the escort, who, riding stiffly by her 
 side, still turned his eyes often, and perhaps 
 involuntarily, on the exquisite countenance of 
 the young " malignant." 
 
 And thus they moved along for a little 
 while. The opiate that the surgeon had ad- 
 ministered to Hugo could not soothe to sleep 
 his excited spirit ; but it wrapt him in a happy 
 trance through which he saw that loved 
 woman as a vision — a ministering angel, keeping 
 off all pain, and softening the very sound 
 of the hostile cavalry as they tramped beside 
 him. 
 
 There was but one occupant of the hospital 
 waggon besides Hugo, and he was almost 
 unconscious. A low moan, however, some- 
 times escaped from him, which made Phcebe 
 shudder, and involuntarily dart a glance for 
 a moment into the rude, uneasy couch of the 
 dying soldier ; for dying he was. Hugo heard 
 the death-rattle in his throat, but was too 
 much prostrated to give the alarm. He felt
 
 328 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 his companion's hand wander over his breast 
 until it reached his neck and long hair. Then 
 some happy illusion seemed sent to shed com- 
 fort on the dying man. 
 
 " Yes, Jeanie," he muttered faintly ; " yes, 
 yes, we won't scoff any more, but we will pray." 
 
 And his parched lips moved, and his hands 
 were clasped together, and with one loud moan, 
 he died. 
 
 There had hitherto been perfect silence, 
 except for the measured tramp of horses, and 
 the faint clank of armour, and these sounds 
 had become so monotonous, as scarcely to 
 interfere with the repose of all around them. 
 And when, through the stillness of all human 
 sounds, that unearthly moan broke forth upon 
 the night, a shudder seemed to thrill through 
 every heart. Phoebe instinctively reined up 
 her palfrey, and the waggoner stopped his 
 horses with a loud Wo ! that seemed an almost 
 appropriate exclamation. The officer in com- 
 mand looked into the waggon, and perceived 
 that one of his prisoners had escaped at once 
 from him and life.
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 329 
 
 "Truly he is departed," said the Cornet, 
 whose youth had hitherto prevented the stern 
 system of his brethren from taking full effeet 
 upon his nature. " I trust he died not in his 
 sin ;" he added, gently drawing the Cavalier's 
 threadbare cloak over his dead face. 
 
 Then the procession moved on again, until 
 arrived at Maidenhead, they were stopped and 
 interrogated by the sentinels. Here, after some 
 conference with the commanding officer of the 
 little garrison, the corpse was removed from 
 the waggon, and the procession moved on once 
 more : the shadows of the houses were left 
 behind, and the moon shone out again on 
 Phoebe's face. 
 
 But that face was now changed ; no longer 
 calm, pale, and resigned-looking, her cheek was 
 flushed with feverish red, and her eyes strove 
 piercingly to scrutinize the interior of the 
 waggon. She had recognized Hugo when the 
 lamp-light was thrown in upon the dead body 
 to remove it, and perhaps she expected mo- 
 mentarily to see the same tragic scene re- 
 enacted. At length, her emotion caught the
 
 330 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 young Cornet's attention, and with as much 
 courtesy as the forms of his discipline would 
 permit, he inquired if she was unwell ; expressed 
 a fear that she had been too much shocked, 
 deplored his inability to return with her to the 
 village, and concluded by asking her, with some 
 hesitation, whether she would rest herself for 
 a little while in the waggon, as another hour 
 would bring them to their halting-place. 
 
 As Hugo listened to this proposal his heart 
 beat wildly. He raised himself as she hesitated, 
 to listen for the next word, and his suspense 
 was rewarded by the waggon being stopped, 
 and Phcebe and her waiting-woman preparing 
 to ascend it. 
 
 " But first," said the Cornet, " it is meet 
 that I have this malignant removed. Ho ! you 
 Sergeant Resist -the -flesh- and -the-devil, dis- 
 mount, and put our prisoner on the woman's 
 beast of burden ; softly, however, for he may be 
 sore wounded." 
 
 " Oh ! no, no !" exclaimed Phoebe ; " sooner 
 would I walk on foot than cause this poor 
 Cavalier to suffer more than he already does."
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 331 
 
 Then observing a very unsympathizing ex- 
 pression on the tough young Cornet's face, she 
 added timidly : " Besides — besides, I have 
 known him before ; we were children together 
 long ago." 
 
 Seldom has beauty pleaded in vain, especially 
 in manly England, to a youthful heart, and 
 under the romantic spell of moon-lit glistening 
 tears. The young Cornet, to do him justice, 
 tried not to look conscious, and gave the order 
 as Phoebe desired ; assisting her, however, into 
 the carriage with something of a martyr's air. 
 
 Again the waggon moved on, and Phcebe 
 and Hugo were left together. The waiting- 
 woman, in addition to her former terror and 
 fatigue, shrunk with dread from the corpse's 
 resting-place, cowered by Hugo's feet, wrapped 
 her head in her wimple, and soon sobbed 
 herself to sleep, or at least to perfect silence. 
 
 In the meantime, Hugo and Phcebe gazed 
 on each other with an embarrassed air ; the 
 former, now thoroughly roused, and utterly 
 forgetful of all pain, would have thrown himself
 
 332 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 at Phoebe's feet, or rather at her knees, but 
 that a proud and hurt recollection of the past 
 restrained him. Phoebe seemed like a ghost, 
 desirous of speaking, but unable to do so until 
 first addressed. But gradually the mysterious 
 agency of the features was mediatizing between 
 those two disturbed young souls. Hugo's wore 
 an expression of pained and almost reproachful 
 inquiry, to which Phoebe's replied by an air of 
 frank and fearless confidence, touched with deep 
 tenderness and sympathy. Hugo took her 
 hand, and clasped it in both of his. 
 
 At last Phoebe said, softly, " Dear Hugo, are 
 you suffering?" 
 
 "Not so much as when last we met," he 
 replied. 
 
 "What, at Lady d'Aubigny's ?" rejoined 
 Phoebe. " Surely you must be under some 
 strange illusion ; and, now I think of it, so 
 seemed your brother too." 
 
 If something of a sarcasm rose to Hugo's 
 lips, he was too magnanimous or too simply 
 loving to utter it. He spoke out frankly :
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 333 
 
 " Phoebe," said he, " do you not love Lord 
 
 Digby ?" 
 
 That home question needed no audible 
 answer ; her countenance replied : no timid 
 blush, no eye-lids suddenly let fall to veil the 
 tell-tale eyes, but a full, bright, child-like look 
 of surprise and innocence was there. 
 
 " Love Lord Digby !" she repeated. " Love 
 that man, of whom, ignorant as I was, I told 
 you to warn your brother long ago ! Alas ! if 
 those we love are so ready to suspect and 
 become prepossessed against us, how can we 
 wonder that our rivals are ready and prone to 
 take the darker view of our conduct, if there be 
 room for doubt." 
 
 " But then," rejoined Hugo, " you admit that 
 there was room for doubt ?" 
 
 " For those who choose to doubt, in love as 
 in religion," said Phoebe, " there is no such 
 thing as perfect confidence. But this is too 
 painful a doubt for me to leave unanswered, 
 and I will answer as simply and confidingly as 
 if we were still children wandering hand- in-hand
 
 334 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 • 
 
 through the old forest of Beaumanoir. I 
 visited Reading with my father and ZiHah ; my 
 father took up his residence there, I believe, 
 because it was half way between the two great 
 warring parties, and moreover, I suspect, be- 
 cause he was interested in this wretched plot of 
 Mr. Waller's. Zillah wished to be there be- 
 cause she considered it as Mount Tabor, and 
 expected to behold the deliverance of Israel, as 
 she called it ; and I preferred to be there too, 
 rather than live like an Eremite at Bifrons, 
 weaving endless embroidery, or groundless 
 fantasies among handmaidens. It may be, 
 too, that I had some interest in those who lay- 
 besieged at Oxford; but if I had, report 
 soon told me that my interest was not re- 
 turned. 
 
 " In short, dear Hugo — there, turn your poor 
 bandaged head upon this pillow — I heard that 
 a romantic and gallant young Cavalier had been 
 very much moved by sorrow for, and sympathy 
 with, a romantic and beautiful widow. Her 
 husband had fallen at Edgehill ; the young
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 335 
 
 Cavalier of whom I speak had received his last 
 sigh, and whether he had wafted it unchanged 
 or not to the Lady d'Aubigny's ear, I know 
 not — ah ! that jolt ! I fear you are uncom- 
 fortable — but his attentions did by no means 
 end there. Well, the Duchess of Richmond 
 invited me, her poor kinswoman, to visit her 
 at Oxford, and to see how gallantly all you 
 Cavaliers comported yourselves. My father was 
 pleased to have one daughter in the King's 
 party; I myself was a little curious, inde- 
 pendently of my loyalty, to visit yon studious 
 city, and observe with my own eyes the con- 
 solation of the widow. In short, I went; I 
 was so fortunate as to be lodged in that 
 widow's apartments. I there heard much of 
 the young Cavalier, the consoler. He was 
 away, seeking to pluck some laurels from a 
 Roundhead's brow; perhaps he thought that 
 the plant of honour would look well among 
 weeds. I went out hawking with the Duchess 
 of Richmond, and Lord Digby joined our party. 
 I suppose he had nothing else to do, for he
 
 336 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 devoted himself to me. He sometimes spoke 
 to Lady d'Aubigny, however; concerning her 
 young Cavalier, and regretted his absence, and 
 then he had possessed himself of some dangerous 
 secret relating to my father, which forced me 
 to be confidential with him. At length, he 
 promised to put me in possession of all the 
 papers which could criminate him, at the same 
 time hinting that for my sake — that is, for the 
 sake of my "filial affection," he was running 
 great risk of honour, if not of life. My heart 
 is naturally warm, and his manner was so 
 natural and truthful that I believed him, and a 
 few minutes afterwards I told your brother that 
 I had misjudged this man, who had been so 
 generous. I saw your brother's brow darken, 
 but I little thought to what issue my thought- 
 less words would lead. 
 
 " The next day every one went away against 
 Lichfield and Birmingham with Prince Rupert, 
 and many days elapsed before you and your 
 brother came to Lady d'Aubigny's. I saw 
 you from the college windows ; I heard your
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 337 
 
 foot upon the stone stairs ; every step appeared 
 to fall heavier and heavier on my heart, and 
 when you entered, I had no word — no power to 
 utter one. I did not even look at you ; I saw 
 only Kate d'Aubigny's look of triumph as you 
 came. I soon felt that you had passed her 
 by, for I saw a eold, dark shadow cross her 
 face, and the next moment our hands had met. 
 I could have thrown myself on my knees and 
 wept for very thankfulness. 
 
 " Just then Lord Digby entered. His eyes 
 sought in Kate d'Aubigny's countenance and 
 mine the history of the last few minutes. He 
 was the last person I should have wished to 
 read my feelings. I received him as usual, 
 even when he ostentatiously claimed my con- 
 fidence and detained me in the window whilst 
 he explained why he could not, for the moment, 
 procure for me my father's papers. Suddenly 
 you left the room. I expected you to return 
 as soon as my formal visitor was gone : you 
 came not. Soon afterwards we heard that you 
 had left Oxford, been wounded, and made 
 
 VOL. L Z
 
 338 REGINALD HASTINGS. 
 
 prisoner; that your brother and Lord Digby 
 had fought, been condemned, then pardoned. 
 Finally, to conclude this tale of sad adventure, 
 Kate d'Aubigny was enjoined to depart promptly 
 on her mission, and I was so strongly advised 
 to accompany her, that I had no option to 
 remain. You know the rest. 
 
 " We passed freely through these rebels' hands 
 until we reached Reading, and there our pro- 
 perty was searched most rigorously for some 
 supposed treasonable correspondence against their 
 State. Soon after the searchers had retired, 
 that dreadful Master Doom entered, and told 
 me, in the language of Isaiah, to prepare in- 
 stantly to proceed to London. I believe he 
 feared lest my father should insist upon my 
 deliverance. Another hour saw me in my 
 saddle — another, and I am here !" 
 
 Having so said, poor Phcebe pressed Hugo's 
 hand against her beating heart, and bending 
 over it, attempted to move away the hair that 
 clustered over his bloody brows, and so to read 
 in his eyes if he were satisfied. It was some
 
 REGINALD HASTINGS. 339 
 
 time, however, before he could collect himself 
 sufficiently to speak, and when he began, the 
 waggon halted ; the Cornet rode up and assisted 
 Phoebe to alight, and soon afterwards Hugo 
 found himself once more in a lonely and well- 
 guarded chamber. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
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