Chapter VIII: Book II: The Keeping of a Wife (3)

"Katharine anything you will; I drop my royalty, I cast it aside, I am a man who loves you, who will have you; nay, shrink not back, you are helpless, your reputation is gone already, you might as well have the sweet with the bitter, the reward with the service, and there is no shame in it after all as the world sees it, kings are exalted above other men. Faith, I know not why I plead a moment with you, when I might take you out of hand, but that I..."

He stepped toward me; I sprang from him and, being fleeter of foot than he, gained the window before he divined my purpose. I tore away the hangings, I leaped upon the sill, and leaned far out, my right knee upon the sill, my left foot on the chair.

"If you come one step nearer," I cried, looking back at him, "I shall hurl myself upon the rocks below!"

"You wouldn't do that," protested the open-mouthed, astonished King, rooted to the spot where he stood.

"Would I not? If you have the least doubt of my purpose, put me to the test; approach me and I die."

"But I offer you riches, rank, power, my love, everything."

"These things spell but two words for me, James Stewart."

I was resolved that I would no longer call him King or Majesty, who was so unworthy of either title or attributes.

"And what do they spell?"

"Shame--dishonour."

"Hey, woman, would you prefer death to our affection?"

"I would prefer death to your crown, if you went with it!" I cried.

The King's back was toward the door, which was in full view from where I crouched upon the broad window-sill. As he stared at me in bafflement, and as I looked at him in triumph, the door softly opened. I did not care much who came into the room. While I maintained my position, I had my own fate in my own hands if a dozen were beside the King; therefore, I looked with little curiosity and was totally unprepared for what I saw.

Silently a splendid figure came through the slowly opened door, which he quietly closed behind him; in his hand he bore a bloodstained sword. It was my husband! He was true--that was my first thought, I swear.

My heart stopped its beating; unconsciously, I looked away from the King. He had no thought evidently but for me, for, taking advantage of my momentary inattention, in two bounds he was upon me. He laid hold of my ankle, my foot being on the chair, and laughed triumphantly.

But I did not care. I made no effort to throw myself over now, not even did I struggle to release myself; my protector was here. In one second all my trust and confidence came back, so far as he was concerned. I knew he could deal with all the kings and crowns on earth to save me. I waited, almost with a sense of amusement at what I knew would be the instant and appalling discomfiture of the King, who, as he seized me, exclaimed:

"I have you now, madam, and who shall deliver you from my hand?"

"I," said my husband, smiling at me.

_Chapter_
XIX

_Wherein Sir Hugh Richmond interrupts a Tête-á-tête
between his Wife and one James Stewart_

And now I resume the telling of my own story. I cannot describe the feeling of thankfulness that filled my heart when I opened the door and saw my wife crouching on the window-seat, and the King standing angry and helpless in the centre of the room. I knew exactly what had been in Lady Katharine's mind: that, rather than submit to the King, she would throw herself from the tower to the rocks below--my brave, beautiful, splendid Kate! I shuddered to think of that catastrophe, and yet I rejoiced that she had found the courage to plan it and that I had come in the nick of time to render it unnecessary.

She saw me so soon as I opened the door. The King's back was toward me, and he was not aware of my presence--he was so intent upon her as to be oblivious to everything else. He observed her gaze, which had been concentrated upon him, I imagined--and she hath since told me it was so--wander my way for a moment and, with a quickness for which I should not have given him credit, he realised his opportunity and seized it; for, in two steps he was by her side, he caught her ankle in a firm grasp, her foot being on the chair and her knee upon the window.

Whether he could have effected that or not if I had not been there, even if her gaze had wandered, I cannot say. His touch was profanation, but his present actions were of little importance in my wife's mind or in my own. Since I was there I had but one course to follow, as ever the bold one! But, then, I had followed that same course all along and with success. I had bested Jeffreys, entered the castle and killed Stenwold, and I felt no doubt but that I should triumph over the wretched Monarch, a weaker man than either of them.

There was, too, a certain grim satisfaction in my heart in the situation. It is not every day that a simple soldier and gentleman has the chance to measure himself against a man who, while he was not a great King, was, nevertheless, the appointed ruler over a great realm for the time being.

I had served King James long and well and he had requited me, after having banished me for a venial offence that any other monarch had freely pardoned, by endeavouring to take from me all that life held of sweetness and light for me--my bonny Kate, my wife. Had he not laid his hand upon her person, I think I could have waited a little while behind the tapestry enjoying the situation. My wife had ever a witty and a cutting tongue, although she uses it not now upon me--thank God!--and I doubt not that there would have been rare baiting of the King; but the clasp on her dainty ankle and his insulting laugh, his boastful statement, moved me, and I spoke as she hath written.

"Your Majesty," I added quietly, "hath it not been one of the lessons of your kingship that he laughs best who laughs last?"

At the first sound of my voice the King had released Lady Katharine and wheeled to face me. His red face went suddenly white as he saw me standing there, grim, forbidding, with a naked and bloody sword in my hand. I could not have been a very pleasant spectacle, although Lady Katharine, with a woman's fond exaggeration, has since assured me that I was the fairest thing she ever looked upon--for the nonce. I am glad I so appeared to her.

"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the King, as soon as he could get breath. "Richmond!"

"I am glad to see that Your Majesty recognises me."

"Hugh!" cried my wife, finding voice at last. "Thank God, you have come in time."

"And did you ever doubt that I should be here, sweetheart?" I asked, in turn.

I never took my eyes off the King, though I spoke to her. I stood between him and the door, and, at a move, I could have spitted him like a fowl, and I would, too; I cared not a snap of my finger for his Majesty or his Kingship. By means of the chair, my wife sprang down from the high window and came close to my side, and, before I knew what she would be at, she seized my left hand and kissed it. That sight aroused the King; he opened his mouth to cry for assistance, but, before he could utter a sound, I was upon him fiercely.

"Be silent," I hissed at him, "or I will run you through."

It was impossible for him to turn any whiter, he was so pale already, but he shrank away from the menacing point of the red weapon in terrific agitation.

"You draw your sword against your King?" he exclaimed.

"You raise your hand against my wife?" I retorted.

"Down on your knees, sir," said the King, striving to recover his dominance, "and beg for your life. Because of your wife, I may give it to you."

"Now," mocked I, "that is a most royal clemency on the part of Your Majesty, but, if any knees press the floor in this room, they will not be mine."

"I am the King of England..."

"No one would ever imagine it from your actions."

"And you are my subject."

"Nay," said I; "here we be two men--James Stewart and Hugh Richmond--and of the two I am the master."

It was about as insulting a thing as I could say, and the King's position was about as degrading a one as he could well occupy. A moment's reflection upon it goaded the unhappy man to madness.

"Stenwold!" he cried out suddenly in a high-pitched voice.

What more he would have added I do not know, for my sword was at his throat. I even pricked him a little, for I saw a spot of blood stain the lace of his tie. I pressed him hard, too, until he shrank against the wall, helpless.

"Now I am in mind," said I fiercely, "in that you have disobeyed me in calling out, to pin you to the wainscoting and leave you there."

"Would you kill your King?" gasped out James, alarmed beyond measure.

"You are no King of mine," I answered roughly. "For one thing, you have banished me, proscribed me, I am an outlaw, and I would kill you as I would any other rat that came beneath my notice."

"But Stenwold?"

"Would it not otherwise alarm the castle, you might call on Lord Stenwold forever."

"Is he dead?"

"Ay!"

"Did you kill him?"

"Yonder, in the antechamber," I said.

"And you would murder..."

"Stop," I interposed. "I killed Lord Stenwold in fair fight."

"But I have no weapon, or..." said the King, eagerly grasping at straws to save the rags and tatters of his self-respect.

And here my wife interposed--she lifted from the chair the jewelled sword which the King had laid aside for his love-making and handed it to him.

"Now you have the means of defence!" I exclaimed, throwing her an approving look for her splendid action and the evidence of her confidence in me.

"I stand here to see fair play," said Lady Katharine fiercely.

I drew back from him a little space to give him room, and fell on guard, but the King's sword hung listlessly from his hand.

"I cannot fight with a subject; 'tis beneath me," he muttered.

"You would fight with a woman, though; you did not find that beneath you," said my wife quickly. "You would contrive to spoil her of that which is infinitely dearer than life. You hesitated not to attempt that."

"But he did not succeed, Kate!" I cried.

"I should be deader than Stenwold then," said my wife.

"If he had, his own life would not be worth a moment's purchase," said I grimly. "Your conduct passes belief, sir."

"Let us end this comedy," said the King desperately.

"'Tis not yet decided, sir," I said ironically, "from the first act of the play, whether it shall turn out a comedy or a tragedy."

"You have me in your power," returned James. "What is it you wish?"

"Freedom to depart instantly from this castle with my wife without let or hindrance by you or any one."

"Needs must," said the King. "My hour will come, but this is yours. Go! You are free, but, if you are found within my domains within the hour, God help you."

"Threats," said I mockingly, "ill become the powerless."

"Death and fury!" exclaimed the King, in futile rage.

"And this man presumed to love me," laughed Lady Katharine, "and to think that I could mate with such a coward."

I suppose that was the last straw; the King could stand no more; he tore nervously at the lace of his collar.

"Go!" he cried. "You have my word that you shall not be stopped."

"Your word," I sneered.

"My royal word."

"Your Majesty, it's not worth the breath that utters it. We will have a safe-conduct from Your Majesty in Your Majesty's own hand; we will have Your Majesty's seal to attest the writing lest any question it."

"Anything," said the unhappy King, mad to get us away.

There was a handsome writing-cabinet against the wall.

"Will it please Your Majesty to sit there," said I, pointing with my sword toward the chair before it.

The King actually reeled to the place and fell, rather than sat down, in the seat. He was so agitated he could scarcely hold the pen. I bade him calm himself and take plenty of time, as we were not likely to be interrupted, but my friendly words did not seem to have great effect. He made several ineffectual attempts to write, and finally threw the quill upon the desk.

"Write it yourself," he said, "and I will sign it."

"Nay," replied I, "that can hardly be, for I must keep good watch over you."

"Give me the charge of him, Hugh!" cried my brave Kate eagerly. "You know that I can wield the sword and I have a score of my own to pay back to this man."

"Good," said I.

I passed her my sword, and it pleased my heart to see how firmly she grasped it in her sweet hand, and how like a master she handled it. At the same time I slipped her that little pocket-pistol, of French make, that I carried ever about me in times of hazard.

"Stand up!" she cried abruptly, pointing her blade to the King.

It cut him to the heart to be thus mastered by a woman. He looked at me as if in appeal. I shrugged my shoulders.

"The lady is in command," I said. "I know her well, she's my wife; you had best do as she says, and quickly, or I'll not answer for the consequences."

There was nothing for him but obedience. The unhappy man rose slowly to his feet and stared at us, his eyes distilling hatred.

"Face the wall!" cried Lady Katharine, and perforce he had to obey again. She rested the sword-point between his shoulder-blades and tapped him lightly therewith.

"Turn but your head, move at all," she said, "and I will run you through." She looked at me for a moment and laughed. "Is it well done, my lord?" she asked.

"Excellent well."

"Behold the Royal Majesty of England!" she laughed. "Flattened against the wall of his own palace and held there at her pleasure and by a woman's hand."

Where have I heard the saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"? Well, there was no time for moralising. I sat down, and wrote an order without duress, granting free exit from the castle, without let or hindrance, for Sir Hugh Richmond and Lady Katharine, his wife, with whatsoever jewels and property either bore upon his or her person, and affording them immunity from capture for a space of two hours thereafter. After I had finished it, I sanded it carefully, left it upon the desk and once again resumed my weapons.

"The prisoner, sir," said my wife, with marked gravity, "hath comported himself admirably under our gentle persuasion. He hath not stirred; yea, he hath scarcely even breathed."

Then laughter overcame her.

"Your Majesty," said I, "you can sign the order now."

The King fell away from the wall and into the chair, almost like a dead man. He seized the pen and scrawled his name beneath it with a shaking hand.

"Now the Royal signet."

His hand trembled so he could scarcely drop the wax, but at last he managed to affix his seal to it.

"Leave the seal on the table," I added.

"There it is," he replied, slamming it down furiously.

"I want to play fair with you," I said. "I am not a King; you had better read over the paper you have signed."

The King glanced hastily over it and shoved it toward me.

"Take it, damn you," he said. "If I but get my hands upon you..."

"I know perfectly well what you would fain do with me," I replied coolly. "And if you catch me, you have leave, so far as I am concerned, to wreak whatever majestic vengeance you are inclined to."

"Have you finished this baiting of me now?" he choked out.

"Not yet. You have confiscated my own estates, also the property of the Earl of Clanranald, the father of my wife; we paid you ten thousand pounds for his liberty and for my wife's freedom; I will take that money, if you please."

"Do you think I carry that much upon my person?"

"Not in gold or silver perhaps," said I, "but in the stars and jewels that you wear."

"Wouldst thou rob as well as murder me?"

"I take but my own," returned I. "Off with them."

The King tore the jewels from his breast, the rings from his fingers, the pins from his tie, and heaped them down upon the desk. I gathered them together and dropped them into my pocket.

"Now," said I, "we have done with you. I served you long and served you well. My own offence was such as any noble gentleman might have forgiven; you repaid me by banishment, and then, ignobly, you tried to steal my wife. True it is that in old days you did heap benefits upon me; I requite them by sparing you now; and, with my wife, I go. Understanding that neither your spoken word nor your written pledge is worth much to me, who know you of old, I have here something I fancy which will cause you to respect what you have said and what you have written."

"What is that?"

"Your Chief Devil is locked up and under guard, his life is forfeit for mine."

"Jeffreys!" cried the King.

"Your Majesty hath wit enough to identify him from my meagre description evidently," said I.

"And what of him?"

"He is my prisoner."

"It is a lie."

"I have not rank enough to lie. Here is the evidence."

I forced into his hands Jeffreys' letter.

"'Tis forged," he protested.

"And is this, too, forged?" I asked, as I showed him my lord's signet ring.

"Does the fool believe," said the King bitterly, "that I would allow his life or anybody's to stand between me and my will?"

As for that, I could quite believe that in his present mood the King would have sacrificed Jeffreys, or anybody, or anything but his life for revenge upon me and mine, and power to work his will upon both of us.

"To tell you the truth, sir," I answered smoothly, "even he does not think that highly of you, but even Your Majesty could scarcely afford to have it known that he wilfully sacrificed his Lord Chief Justice for a woman."

"Enough," said the King; "you have what you came for; now, go!"

"But one thing more remains to be said," I began. "For the sake of the honourable gentlemen, the honest and gallant men over whom for yet a little space you are permitted to rule, and not to bring shame to them by showing them what a coward their monarch is, my wife and I will keep silent concerning the events of this night, and, if they be mooted abroad, the news will come from you, not from us. I wish Your Majesty a good-night."

"Go, go!" cried the King.

"Come, Kate," I said.

I sheathed my sword and then I kissed her before him. I confess I wanted him to see it, that kiss which he had been denied. Then I took her hand and we turned happily away. The King sank down into a chair and lay sprawled there, trembling and shaking as if in an ague, while we made toward the door. The desperate game had been played out, and I had won. I was happy, exultant, triumphant. Ten minutes would see us on the water and away, if Macleod had been faithful which I did not doubt.

_Chapter_
XX

_How Sir Hugh and Lady Katharine, with some Assistance from General Feversham, at last and finally overcame the Majesty of England_

There was a sudden clamour in the great hall outside. My heart stopped beating. I halted with my left hand on the closed door. I released my wife and drew my sword again.

"If anything happens," I whispered to her, "do you go to the window, dearest Kate! I'll hold them in play until you leap, and if I can I'll follow you."

"I understand," she answered, her eyes shining with love for me and brave determination to die rather than yield to the King.

A gruff soldier's voice that I recognised said something I could not make out. The farther door at which Harkins had kept watch was suddenly thrown open. Through the closed door between the King's chamber and the anteroom where dead Stenwold lay I could hear confused noises, clashing of arms, many people entering hurriedly, then that deeper foreign voice, that I knew but could not place, commanded silence. The King had heard as well as I.

"'Tis Feversham," he exclaimed, leaping to his feet, his face changing. "We shall see now who wins."

As he spoke another harsher, rougher voice came through the door.

"And Jeffreys!" cried the delighted King. "Down on your knees, you dog," he roared. "He doth laugh best who laughs last. Madam, you did ill to trust yourself to this man."

I stood appalled for the moment at this sudden check to our plans.

"Gentlemen, to me," roared the King. There was a surge toward the door, which had been thrown open at the King's first shout for assistance, and in the instant the room was filled with men. But I was quicker than any. I stepped to the side of the King and dragged him back to the wall near the window before he himself or any one else could prevent. My wife followed me.

"Your Majesty," I said quickly, while the newcomers stood surprised beyond measure, "I have you covered, have a care what you do. My life is forfeit, but if I die, you die before me, dost understand?"

At that second Feversham and Jeffreys in the lead, the officers of the guard following, with the King's gentlemen and Stenwold's lackeys, all stepped toward me. The King and I stood together near the middle of the wall of the farther room, Lady Katharine alone near the window adjoining us.

"Back," cried the wretched King, desperately urged thereto by the pressure of that small pistol against his back.

"Your Majesty..." began Feversham, stopping short, and then he recognised me. "Richmond!" he exclaimed; "Lady Katharine Clanranald!"

"Katharine Richmond, sir," protested she, proud of her new name.

"You came in the very nick of time, Lord Feversham," said the King. "Sir Hugh Richmond is a traitor and an exile, he is an outlaw, he hath raised his hand against his King, as you see. Take him: We will decide upon his punishment later."

"Ay, Your Majesty, and if that be not enough, he tied me up, like a trussed fowl, threatened me with death, and left me two hours since with a dirty rag in my mouth. But for the chance arrival at the inn of Lord Feversham, who insisted upon seeing me when he heard I was there, I might have died of thirst or suffocation," roared out Jeffreys.

"He hath killed my Lord Stenwold," cried another.

"'Fore God, let's burn the dog, and----"

"Lord Feversham," cried my wife in swift interruption. "You served me well once in my need, hear me now. In violation of his honour, the King employed Lord Stenwold to bring me here against my will, to my shame, for His Majesty's foul purpose."

"Silence, wench," roared the King.

But I shoved my pistol harder into his side.

"Give the lady free speech," I said grimly, "and do not use that word again to my wife if you love life."

"And my husband came here in the nick of time to rescue me from His Majesty----"

"And to avenge you had I been too late," I added.

"What man of you would not do the same, for one he loved?" she cried, appealing to the rest. "You, Lord Feversham, are a French gentleman, one of the _haute noblesse_ of your gallant land, an honourable soldier; what say you? Is my husband to be blamed for that? Is his life to be forfeit because he sought to protect me from this dishonoured King?"

Never had she been so royally beautiful herself as in that hour. I knew not till then how fortunate I had been in winning her to wife. I almost forgot our lives hung upon her word in admiration for her, but nevertheless I kept tight hold of the King.

Louis de Duras looked greatly troubled.

"Your Majesty," he said at last, "deny this for God's love, and for the sake of your kingly fame!"

"Why should I deny it?" snarled the King. "The woman is my subject, the daughter of one traitor, the wife of another--she ought to be honoured."

"It is ill done, Sire," said the soldier, shaking his head.

"The King can do no wrong," roared Judge Jeffreys.

"I should have left you where I found you by chance," said Feversham, looking contemptuously at the red-faced travesty of justice, "the soiled rag thrust within your lips consorts well with what falls from them now and ever."

"Lord Feversham," cried the King, as Jeffreys shrank away from the fierce gaze of the proud, brave soldier, "on your allegiance I command you to obey my order."

"One step nearer, General Feversham," cried I, tapping the King on the shoulder--he was as a child in my hands!--"and I blow His Majesty's brains out before you all."

"Would you murder your King?" cried Jeffreys.

"Ay, and die regretting that I had not a second shot for you."

Feversham stood uncertain. Jeffreys gnashed his teeth in baffled rage and terror.

"Good God, gentlemen!" protested the Lord Chief Justice, "is all the power of England in this vagabond's hands?"

How the situation might have terminated I cannot say. We had reached a position in which advance or retreat were alike impossible on either side. It was my bonny Kate who intervened again. God bless her woman's wit. It saved us both. She suddenly stepped past the Earl of Feversham toward me. The soldier bowed, but made as if he would interrupt her progress.

"Madam," he said, "I respect you, but I must guard as I may the person of the King; your husband alone sufficiently menaces him. What want you now?"

"Sir," said my wife, looking him full in the face, "I give you my word of honour, as the daughter of the Earl of Clanranald, as the wife of Sir Hugh Richmond, for we were married three days ago in Scotland, that I mean no harm to the King, although he hath threatened me with much. I only wish to take from the person of my husband, he being otherwise occupied and so unable to hand it to me, a paper and a seal for your inspection."

"Keep the woman back, Louis," began the King imploringly, but I thrust him savagely with the muzzle of my pistol and his voice died away.

"Madam, I take your word," said Feversham, bowing gallantly. "Pass on."

"By God!" exclaimed Jeffreys, "if you would let me deal with the woman, we'd have His Majesty freed from that knave in a moment. We could have held her as hostage, man."

The King looked gratefully, the General scornfully at Jeffreys, who certainly had spoken shrewdly if too late.

At that moment it repented me that I had not killed him when I had the chance. It was however now impossible to carry out his suggestion, even if Feversham had been so minded. My wife stood close to me and reached her hand into my breast pocket where I had thrust them, and drew forth the King's letter and the King's seal; in three steps she was by Feversham's side, showing by her approach a confidence in him that touched him evidently, and laid the paper in his open hand.

"What's this?" asked the General.

"Read, sir," answered Lady Katharine.

He stepped nearer the light and opened the document.

"'Tis a free passage and immunity for Sir Hugh Richmond and his wife, given without duress and signed by the King," he said.

"This ring, you know it?" continued my wife.

"The King's seal," answered Feversham.

"Your Majesty, did you issue this pass?"

"Yes," said the King, "but----"

"Pardon me, Your Majesty," said I, pressing him a little harder in the back, "you gave me the document of your own free will, did you not?"

"Yes, that is----" stammered the poor King, his face sweat-covered.

"There hath been no one here could put any compulsion upon Your Majesty, hath there?" I asked, ruthlessly pressing my advantage.

"No," he stammered out at last, "but I will revoke the pass."

"'Tis too late," said Feversham bluntly, "unless by a written order."

"And at this moment," said I grimly, "the King cannot write."

"Good God, Feversham!" began the King, but he got no further.

"This is monstrous!" cried my Lord Chief Justice.

Feversham fiercely turned on him as a dog upon a rat.

"This is a military matter," he roared. "Will you be silent? Sir Hugh Richmond, you and your wife by the King's written order are entitled to free passage; as loyal subjects of His Majesty, we respect his name and seal. Back, gentlemen. Way for Sir Hugh and Lady Richmond."

"Gentlemen," said I, "a word before we go. Lord Stenwold lies dead in yonder chamber, 'tis true, but it was in fair fight. I am this night for the Low Countries; if any friend of his wishes satisfaction and fancies himself aggrieved, I shall hold myself at his disposal in Holland, upon whatever terms he will."

"I shall see," said Feversham gravely, "that your courteous offer be communicated to whomsoever may desire to take up the late Lord Stenwold's quarrel."

"Thank you," said I. "We are indebted to you for much."

"A word before you go," said Feversham. "You know that I had no hand in bringing your wife back here."

"I never for a moment dreamed of it," I replied with a black glance at Jeffreys, who shrank away. "I know well whence the King's evil inspiration came."

"It grieves me," continued Feversham, "to call attention to the fact that if within two hours you are apprehended on English ground, your life, and I doubt not," he added significantly, "your wife's honour will be forfeited."

"I understand," said I. "Your Majesty," I turned and faced the King. I took off my hat and bowed low to him with ironic courtesy--indeed had he not sought to use me and mine so foully, I could have pitied him in his degradation and despair--"Good-night, again; you should sleep sweeter for the failure of your designs upon this lady. I trust that I may meet you upon some wider field than this narrow room, where the prize to be struggled for may not be a woman's honour, but a kingdom's rule."

I clapped my hat on my head, drew my wife's hand through my left arm and, with my bare blade in my right hand, I walked proudly through the door. The gentlemen and soldiers assembled silently gave back and opened way by General Feversham's directions as we passed through them. The King and Jeffreys both opened their mouths in wild clamour, but Feversham was equal to the emergency, he roared out like a stentor:

"The King and his Chief Justice would fain be alone, gentlemen. Let us leave the room immediately. Stand not upon the order of your going, sirs----"

And so bellowing orders and commands drowning out the sharp words of the King, he hustled all of them out into the anteroom, closed the door and himself stood guard before it. No one could pass then.

"For God's sake, make haste, Richmond!" he cried, as I looked back to catch one last glimpse of him splendidly barring the King's exit.

For the second time that night King James was a prisoner. I had no fear for Feversham, the best, the only commander worthy the name in the kingdom; he was a soldier; the King might hate him but he could do nothing, especially as any indignity to the Earl would probably cost him the favour of and might involve him in a war with France, which at that unsettled time would have been fatal to his kingship. He needed him.

At the door old Harkins waited; he had posted himself there, and there he intended to wait whatever came. His face was white enough under its tan. As I passed by he presented arms and looked intently at me.

"You are to come with me," I said, assuming an authority I did not have.

He followed me without a question. We marched rapidly down the long hall, only to be halted at the further end by the officer of the guard; but here another officer overtook us, having been despatched by Feversham, and ordered that we be given free passage.

The officer looked sharply at the sergeant but said nothing; fortunately he was but a young soldier, and I suppose he thought that Harkins was only discharging his duty by escorting me on my way. So the four of us marched down the stair, through the hall, across the courtyard and outside the gates. Here the officer halted.

"I would best see them safe across the drawbridge and down the road, sir," said Harkins gruffly.

"Very good; go on," said the officer indifferently, turning back.

In half a dozen steps we were over the drawbridge, and in another moment the three of us were running madly toward the river bank. Harkins' presence was invaluable now, for he knew a path to the water's edge. We fell rather than climbed down it in the darkness and stood knee-deep in the river.

"Macleod!" I cried anxiously.

"Here, your honour, and thank God," came to us out of the darkness, and presently guided by our voices, the prow of a comfortable wherry ran against the bank of the river.

I lifted Lady Katharine into the boat, clambered into the stern sheets myself and seized the tiller, while Harkins sat down forward of Macleod and finding another pair of oars broke them out, and the two men rowed us away from the castle toward the mouth of the river.

Evidently Clanranald's impatience had become so great that he could not remain at sea, for the vessel, with the three lights still twinkling like stars of hope in the blackness, had ventured into the river and was near at hand. I sat in the stern-sheets of the boat, Katharine was next to me, my arm about her, her head upon my shoulder.

The men rowed lustily and in half an hour we were at the ship's side, in five minutes more Katharine was clasped in Clanranald's arms, the wherry was turned adrift, the ship's head was cast off shore, the sails were sheeted home, and we bore away for Holland and Prince William's court--for happiness, for love, for freedom.

Ere we went below into the comfortable cabin to tell the Earl our story, I was stopped by dame Alison and Macleod.

"Lord Stenwold, sir?" asked the former.

"Dame Alison," said I, "he will kiss no more women this side of hell, for he lies dead in his own castle by my own hand."

"That is well done, sir," said Macleod heartily. "Thank you and good-night."

He touched his bonnet, turned and, followed by his wife, disappeared. Lady Katharine was standing in the light that broke from the cabin door looking toward me. I was very happy, very thankful. I took off my own hat in turn, looked up to the stars, and made a brief soldier's prayer before I followed her into the cabin.

"I thank Thee too, O Lord, and good-night!"

THE END

Transcriber's note: The title page says the book had four illustrations, but the source book had only three, and since the book had no list of illustrations, it's unknown which one was missing.