In regard to the conversation that here took place, I am the better able to give some account of it that I have two narrations11 to draw upon—Captain Royston's, namely, and M. de Rondiniacque's.
As they entered the room, His Highness, seated at the table, was uttering the last words of a conversation, apparently12 of some earnestness, with Mr. Bentinck, of which, however, the only words that reached their ears were these: "No, William, no! Where I must trust so much I will trust all. The lad is true, and my interests are his."
These words, spoken in the French language, which the Prince used always with greater fluency13 and a nearer approach to exactness than the English, showed to Captain Royston with some clearness not only that the talk had been of him, but also that Mr. Bentinck's words, which he had not heard, had been in the nature of a warning. Knowing well that this faithful friend and servant of His Highness had never looked on him with the same favor shown him by the Prince, Captain Royston was as little surprised by the slight he guessed as troubled by the antipathy14 he knew. And he, being too proud of nature to seek its reason, I was moved one day many months after, and in happier times, to enquire15 it myself of Mr. Bentinck, who very freely and kindly16 told me that they had been in Holland no little troubled with an inroad of gallows-birds and broken men seeking asylum17 under the cloak of persecution18 suffered for opinions political or religious. Hearing some talk of a man slain19 in anger, he had rashly (as he said to me he now perceived) classed Mr. Royston with these, and had on two occasions declared himself opposed to his advancement20; all which, I can well see, had in it the makings of a very pretty quarrel but for the haughty21 indifference22 of Captain Royston, leading him, as it would often do, to contemn23 and eschew24 explanation in his own behalf.
The Prince now turned sharply to Captain Royston, and at once informed him that he was chosen for a service of great secrecy25. "And I believe, sir," said His Highness, "that I have chosen well. For I know you, Captain Royston, to be a brave man, a bold horseman, and acquainted with this countryside, and believe you a gentleman of honor."
His Highness here pausing as one that asks a question, Captain Royston said very simply that the last head of His Highness's opinion was as true as the two former, as he would know if he saw fit to use him in a matter of delicacy26.
On which the Prince continued: "I do not doubt, Captain Royston, that something at least of the difficulty of my position in this disturbed country has been long clear to you. Victory in a pitched field over a proud and unconquered people, to whom I come as a friend invited, will hurt my cause no less than defeat. It is not every man that will act as this old Sir Michael Drayton, who, his mind once determined27, is eager to take risk among the first." And here, perceiving the pleasure in Captain Royston's countenance28 to hear his old friend thus singled out for praise, His Highness enquired29 did he know that gentleman, and, being answered eagerly that he did, cast upon Mr. Bentinck a little glance of triumph, as a man looks who says, "I told you so." Then, "You have friends of the best, Captain," he continued. "And as it is not given to all to act with the courage of your friend, while there is scarce one but wishes me success in some measure, 't is a plain duty laid upon me to use all means to draw them to me, and so secure a peaceful issue. I have this night received a letter from one high in King James's favor, ennobled by his master, and holding in his army high rank, while he also exercises through his wife much influence upon our sister, the Princess Anne; and so, indirectly30, upon her uncles, my Lords Clarendon and Rochester, her cousin-german, Viscount Cornbury—and—and—is it possible," he added, with an odd smile, "that I forget her husband, Prince George of Denmark? Now, in this letter," said His Highness, tapping upon the table with a paper he held folded in his hand, "in which there is much of his attachment31 to the Protestant religion, but more between the lines, as I read it, of the high price he would have for a firm continuance in that faith, this noble officer proposes coming to terms with us. We shall doubtless have him sooner or later, but sooner is my purpose, for the sake of his following. He has left the royal army, now stationed at Salisbury, and while his escort in two divisions, each of which supposes my Lord C—— to be with the other, is on the way to the capital, he himself with one companion has by this," said the Prince, glancing at the clock, "with forced riding, reached the town of Sherborne, where, under the style of 'Captain Jennings,' he will lie this night at 'The King's Head.' How far, Captain Royston, is this town of Sherborne from our present position?"
For a little time Captain Royston pondered, and then replied that the distance was something over fifty miles.
"And how long," asked His Highness, "would it take you to ride to Sherborne by night, Captain Royston?"
"The roads are very bad, and heavy with the rain, Your Highness," said Captain Royston; "but with a fresh horse from here, a remount from the stables of my troop at Honiton, and a third that I shall doubtless find at my own house of Royston, I will do it in ten hours. If the clouds should break, the moon might help me to better it by an hour."
"And how far is this house of yours, Captain?" asked the Prince.
"Royston Chase and the hamlet of Royston, Your Highness," he answered, "lie midway between Chard and Crewkerne: as the crow flies, some three and thirty miles from Exeter, and half as much, or thereabout, from Sherborne."
"Is it at present inhabited?" says His Highness.
"By my mother and a few old servants," said Royston.
"Is the lady of your mind in politics?" continued His Highness; and being answered that she was, he then asked Captain Royston to do him the honor to be his host on the following day. "I shall go to Chard with Count Schomberg and a troop of cavalry32," he said, "to inspect the outposts that lie there, and ostensibly to take notice of the country for purpose of strategy. About two hours after noon we shall arrive and ask hospitality of madam your mother—it may be for the night. Meantime you, Captain Royston, will have conducted Colonel my Lord C——, with all secrecy and discretion33, and by hidden paths and byways when possible, to your house, where we can privily34 accomplish that personal meeting he so much desires, and contrive35, I doubt not, to fix the price of his treachery. Mr. Bentinck, sir, considers that I err5 to trust you so far with my secret purposes. But I intend employing an English gentleman in a service as much to the advantage of his country as of myself, and I would not have him think it is my habit to deal with traitors36. While, like yourself, Captain, I vastly prefer the open field to the dark ways of intrigue37, yet, in this case, though I am, as the world knows, no Jesuit, I hold the great end in view to justify38 the means we are to employ. And, when all is said, the private motives39 of his lordship are no more concern of ours than—than—" he said, pausing with a smile, "than his Protestantism. He is a good soldier, and, if I am any judge, bids fair to be a great one; so I would have him an instrument on the right side."
His Highness then gave to Captain Royston a pass under his own seal, very comprehensive in its terms, laying also before him a like paper sent by Lord C——, bearing the signature, "James R." M. de Rondiniacque has since told me of the lofty manner in which dear Ned would have declined this last. But His Highness insisted with some sharpness, saying: "You will take no escort, Captain, and these scruples40 are petty. And," he added more kindly, "let us hope that its use, if needed, will prove, after all, in the interest of His Majesty41, my uncle. It shall not be our fault, sir, if it do not."
Now since the attempt of one Gerrard and others upon the life of the Prince, Mr. Bentinck had endeavored with a subtlety42 of precaution truly wonderful to protect his friend and master from such vile43 and hidden enemies. For, however strongly the instigator44 might be suspected, the instigation was never proved, and the instruments had control of agencies to the full as cunning and secret as any that Mr. Bentinck, with all his servants and correspondents, could bring to bear. Before Captain Royston, therefore, had gotten himself to horse, this gentleman took occasion to draw him apart, and, laying aside for the moment his wonted ungraciousness of demeanor45, warned him privately46 and kindly that, many bad men being about, and the neighborhood of so large a force offering much opportunity of disguise and concealment47 to the evilly disposed, it was before all to be desired that no word of His Highness's purposed visit to Royston Chase should go abroad. Captain Royston very civilly thanked him, saying that he was of a like opinion; that not even to that distinguished48 gentleman to whom his mission was would he impart the name of his destination; but only to madam his mother, should he have the fortune to speak with her that night while changing his horse, would he tell so much as should ensure His Highness a fitting reception.
I am not to give a particular narrative49 of that tedious, rapid, and cautious ride, for the most part in the dark, from Exeter to Sherborne, but only to touch upon such incidents therein as may serve to throw a little light upon the events that ensued,—events of which the result came so near the tragical50 that even now a shuddering51 will accompany their memory.
At the door of the Deanery a fresh and powerful horse awaited him. He was as far as Honiton accompanied upon his road by M. de Rondiniacque, who was entrusted52 with an order to the colonel of the Swedish Cavalry. As they rode from the Close, his companion pointed53 out to Captain Royston a fellow that stood at the corner with his back to the wall.
"'T is the same we saw at the ale-house, half-way from Honiton," said M. de Rondiniacque. He then turned his horse and enquired of the sentry54 that paced the Close a little higher up, did he know that short, stout55, and red-haired fellow, or anything of his business; to which the soldier answered that he was something in the way of a sutler, or perhaps a dealer56 on commission in supplies, to the various messes. And, while M. de Rondiniacque was thus out of ear-shot conferring with the musketeer, the man at the corner betrayed to the eyes of Captain Royston some perturbation of countenance. As the friends continued their road to the left from the mouth of the Close, Captain Royston, turning in the saddle, perceived this loiterer, whom he suspected for a spy, to be already making off swiftly in a contrary direction.
The tedium57 of the first ten miles was well beguiled58 by the gaiety of M. de Rondiniacque, and marked by no incident but the sudden passing at full speed of a fine horse mounted by a bold but, as appeared in the brief glance, an ill-seated and inexperienced horseman. A sudden gleam of the moon shining upon this figure as it disappeared round a corner of the road a little in advance of the two officers, M. de Rondiniacque observed that he believed 't was the same fellow with the red head they had already twice that evening encountered. A little later Captain Royston took note that, whoever the reckless rider was, he had either checked his pace or much increased the distance between them, since the sound of his flight was no longer heard. And so for the time the matter passed out of their heads.
The last five miles of the road to Honiton, being in fair condition, were accomplished59 at a good pace, checked only by an accident of a very trifling60 sort. Captain Royston, ever a man of great knowledge and consideration in horseflesh, his beast having stumbled and partly fallen among some loose stones in a dark part of the way, dismounted to examine what injury the animal had taken. Waiting beside him, M. de Rondiniacque continued, in tones audible enough, their conversation, which had reference to the Prince's intended visit to Royston, the words he used chancing to indicate both time and place. Before remounting, Captain Royston observed that the disposition61 of the stones of considerable size which had caused the mishap62 appeared rather of design than accident, and as he bade his friend hold his peace the ears of both could clearly distinguish a rustling63 among the bushes that here divided the sunken road from the adjoining fields.
I have been thus particular over the early portion of Captain Royston's midnight ride because it afterwards appeared they had been spied upon to some purpose.
Arrived at Honiton, and learning that the badness of the road that leads through the hamlet of Royston was through the long wetness of the weather grown extreme, he resolved upon taking another, with the chance of a remount at the house of a gentleman well known to him, who lived at a point fitly dividing the remnant of his journey. So he sat him down while his best charger was a-saddling to write a brief letter to my Lady Mary, in which he did but cautiously inform her that his "honored master" would visit her on the morrow with a good company in attendance, and signed himself her "obedient E.R." This letter entrusted for conveyance64 to Royston Chase by the first light to a trooper of great fidelity65, Captain Royston set out on his way to Sherborne by a road somewhat longer, indeed, than he had purposed using, but promising66 greater expedition and security at this hour and season. Reaching "The King's Head" at Sherborne about six of the morning (it being that same Monday upon which the exercising of Sir Michael's little squadron of horse did begin), he was at once introduced to "Captain Jennings" in his chamber67, who, having dressed and eaten, was soon mounted, so that, riding with the light, and freshly horsed, but with some expense of time for caution and the using of byways, they were safely housed at Royston Manor68 an hour before noon. Nor is it wonderful that poor Ned, having ridden at least eighty miles upon five horses, with no sleep in thirty hours, and scarce a mouthful of food for fourteen, after noting with regret that there was not one among the servants whose face he knew, did fall asleep upon his bed in all his travel-fouled clothes. Awaking, like a true soldier, an hour before His Highness and the escort should arrive, and asking of the servants why he had not seen his mother, he received from a very civil fellow, who seemed above the rest, a letter written by my Lady Mary in characters much shaken with some emotion, wherein it was set forth69 that, rather than compromise her loyalty70 in receiving His Highness, she had left the house free to her son, but herself, with the two old servants that were left of those he knew, had fled to the King's camp at Salisbury. Although vastly put about by this ill news, and, as he thought, great discourtesy of his mother, he put the best face upon the matter, that he might in no manner seem to belittle71 her in her dependents' eyes, and set about preparation of hospitality. Lady Mary was ever a notable housekeeper72, and it was no long matter to load tables and dress beds, the less that it seemed much had been already begun before her unkind departure.
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1
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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2
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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3
havens
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| n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 ) | |
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4
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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5
err
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| vi.犯错误，出差错 | |
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6
lieutenancy
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| n.中尉之职，代理官员 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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8
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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9
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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12
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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13
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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14
antipathy
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| n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物 | |
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15
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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16
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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17
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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18
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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19
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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20
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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21
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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22
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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23
contemn
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| v.蔑视 | |
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24
eschew
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| v.避开，戒绝 | |
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25
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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26
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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27
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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28
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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29
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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30
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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31
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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32
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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33
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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34
privily
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| adv.暗中，秘密地 | |
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35
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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38
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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39
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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40
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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41
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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42
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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43
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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44
instigator
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| n.煽动者 | |
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45
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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46
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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47
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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48
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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49
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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50
tragical
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| adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的 | |
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51
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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52
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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54
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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56
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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57
tedium
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| n.单调；烦闷 | |
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58
beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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59
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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60
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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61
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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62
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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63
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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64
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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65
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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66
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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67
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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68
manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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70
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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71
belittle
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| v.轻视，小看，贬低 | |
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72
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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