Mr. Wilding clenched teeth and hands. "God help us all, then!" he muttered grimly.
"Meanwhile," quoth Trenchard, bringing him back to the point, "there is this precious business here. I had as choice a plan as could have been devised, and it must have succeeded, had you not come blundering into it to mar it all at the last moment. That fat fool Albemarle had swallowed my impeachment like a draught of muscadine. Do you hear me?" he ended sharply, for Mr. Wilding stood bemused, his thoughts plainly wandering.
He let his hand fall upon Trenchard's shoulder. "No," said he, "I wasn't listening. No matter; for even had I known the full extent of your scheme I still must have interfered."
"For the sake of Mistress Westmacott's blue eyes, no doubt," sneered Trenchard. "Pah! Wherever there's a woman there's the loss of a man."
"For the sake of Mistress Wilding's blue eyes," his friend corrected him. "I'll allow no brother of hers to hang in my place."
"It will be interesting to see how you will rescue him."
"By telling the truth to Albemarle."
"He'll not believe it."
"I shall prove it," said Wilding quietly.
Trenchard swung round upon him in mingled anger and alarm for him. "You shall not do it!" he snarled. "It is nothing short of treason to the Duke to get yourself laid by the heels at such a time as this."
"I hope to avoid it," answered Wilding confidently.
"Avoid it? How?"
"Not by staying longer here in talk. That will ruin all. Away with you, Trenchard!"
"By my soul, no!" answered Trenchard. "I'll not leave you. If I have got you into this, I'll help to get you out again, or stay in it with you."
"Bethink you of Monmouth?" Wilding admonished him.
"Damn Monmouth!" was the vicious answer. "I am here, and here I stay."
"Get to horse, you fool, and ride to Walford as you proposed, there to ambush the messenger. The letter will go to Whitehall nonetheless in spite of what I shall tell Albemarle. If things go well with me, I shall join you at Vallancey's before long."
"Why, if that is your intention," said Trenchard, "I had better stay, and we can ride together. It will make it less uncertain for you."
"But less certain for you."
"The more reason why I should remain."
The door of the hall was suddenly flung open at the far end of the corridor, and Albemarle's booming voice, impatiently raised, reached them where they stood.
"In any case," added Trenchard, "it seems there is no help for it now."
Mr. Wilding shrugged his shoulders, but otherwise dissembled his vexation. Up the passage floated the constable's voice calling them.
Side by side they moved down, and side by side they stepped once more into the presence of Christopher Monk and his associates.
"Sirs, you have not been in haste," was the Duke's ill-humoured greeting.
"We have tarried a little that we might make an end the sooner," answered Trenchard dryly, and this was the first indication he gave Mr. Wilding of how naturally — like the inimitable actor that he was — he had slipped into his new rôle.
Albemarle waved the frivolous rejoinder aside. "Come, Mr. Wilding," said he, "let us hear what you may have to say. You are not, I take it, about to urge any reasons why these rogues should not be committed?"
"Indeed, Your Grace," said Wilding, "that is what I am about to urge."
Blake and Richard looked at him suddenly, and from him to Trenchard; but it was only Ruth whose eyes were shrewd enough to observe the altered demeanour of the latter. Her hopes rose, founded upon this oddly assorted pair. Already in anticipation she was stirred by gratitude towards Wilding, and it was in impatient and almost wondering awe that she waited for him to proceed.
"I take it, sir," he said, without waiting for Albemarle to express any of the fresh astonishment his countenance manifested, "that the accusation against these gentlemen rests entirely upon the letter, which you have been led to believe was addressed to Mr. Westmacott."
The Duke scowled a moment before replying. "Why," said he, "if it could be shown — irrefutably shown — that the letter was not addressed to either of them, that would no doubt establish the truth of what they say — that they possessed themselves of the letter in the interests of His Majesty." He turned to Luttrell and Phelips, and they nodded their concurrence with his view of the matter. "But," he continued, "if you are proposing to prove any such thing, I think you will find it difficult."
Mr. Wilding drew a crumpled paper from his pocket.
"When the courier whom they robbed, as they have correctly informed you," said he quietly, "suspected their design upon the contents of his wallet, he bethought him of removing the wrapper from the letter, so that in case the letter were seized by them it should prove nothing against any man in particular. He stuffed the wrapper into the lining of his hat, preserving it as a proof of his good faith against the time when he should bring the letter to its destination, or come to confess that it had been taken from him. That wrapper the courier brought to me, and I have it here. The evidence it will give should be more than sufficient to warrant your restoring these unjustly accused gentlemen their liberty."
"The courier took it to you?" echoed Albemarle, stupefaction in his glance. "But why to you?"
"Because," said Wilding, and with his left hand he placed the wrapper before Albemarle, whilst his right dropped again to his pocket, "the letter, as you may see, was addressed to me."
The quiet manner in which he made the announcement conveyed almost as great a shock as the announcement itself.
Albemarle took up the wrapper; Luttrell and Phelips craned forward to join him in his scrutiny of it. They compared the two, paper with paper, writing with writing. Then Monk flung one and the other down in front of him.
"What lies have I been hearing, then?" he demanded furiously of Trenchard. "'Slife I'll make an example of you. Arrest me that rogue — arrest them both," and he half rose from his seat, his trembling hand pointing to Wilding and Trenchard.
Two of the tything-men stirred to do his bidding, but in the same instant Albemarle found himself looking into the round nozzle of a pistol.
"If," said Mr. Wilding, "a finger is laid upon Mr. Trenchard or me I shall have the extreme mortification of being compelled to shoot Your Grace."
His pleasantly modulated voice was as deliberate and calm as if he were offering the Bench a pinch of snuff. Albemarle's dark visage crimsoned; his eyes became at once wicked and afraid. Sir Edward's cheeks turned pale, his glance grew startled. Luttrell alone, vigilant and dangerous, preserved his calm. But the situation baffled even him.
Behind the two friends the tything-men had come to a terror-stricken halt. Diana had risen from her chair in the excitement of the moment and had drawn close to Ruth, who looked on with parted lips and bosom that rose and fell. Even Blake could not stifle his admiration of Mr. Wilding's coolness and address. Richard, on the other hand, was concerned only with thoughts for himself, wondering how it would fare with him if Wilding and Trenchard succeeded in getting away.
"Nick," said Mr. Wilding, "will you desire those catchpolls behind us to stand aside? If Your Grace raises your voice to call for help, if, indeed, any measures are taken calculated to lead to our capture, I can promise Your Grace — notwithstanding my profound reluctance to use violence — that they will be the last measures you will take in life. Be good enough to open the door, Nick, and to see that the key is on the outside."
Trenchard, who was by way of enjoying himself now, stepped briskly down the hall to do as his friend bade him, with a wary eye on the tything-men. But never so much as a finger did they dare to lift. Mr. Wilding's calm was too deadly; they had seen a man in earnest before this, and they knew his appearance now. From the doorway Trenchard called Mr. Wilding.
"I must be going, Your Grace," said the latter very courteously, "but I shall not be so wanting in deference to His Majesty's august representatives as to turn my back upon you." Saying
which, he walked backwards, holding his pistol level, until he had reached Trenchard and the door. There he paused and made them a deep bow, his manner the more mocking in that there was no tinge of mockery perceptible. "Your very obedient servant," said he, and stepped outside. Trenchard turned the key, withdrew it from the lock, and, standing on tiptoe, thrust it upon the ledge of the lintel.
Instantly a clamour arose within the chamber. But the two friends never stayed to listen. Down the passage they sped at the double, and out into the courtyard. Here Ruth's groom, mounted himself, was walking his mistress's and Diana's horses up and down whilst he waited; yonder one of Sir Edward's stable-boys was holding Mr. Wilding's roan. Two or three men of the Somerset militia, in their red and yellow liveries, lounged by the gates, and turned uninterested eyes upon these newcomers.
Wilding approached his wife's groom. "Get down," he said, "I need your horse — on the King's business. Get down, I say," he added impatiently, upon noting the fellow's stare, and, seizing his leg, he helped him to dismount by almost dragging him from the saddle. "Up with you, Nick," said he, and Nick very promptly mounted. "Your mistress will be here presently," Wilding told the groom, and, turning on his heel, strode to his own mare. A moment later Trenchard and he vanished through the gateway with a tremendous clatter, just as the Lord-Lieutenant, Colonel Luttrell, Sir Edward Phelips, the constable, the tything-men, Sir Rowland, Richard, and the ladies made their appearance.
Ruth pushed her way quickly to the front. She feared lest her horse and her cousin's being at hand might be used for the pursuit; so urging Diana to do the same, she snatched her reins from the hands of the dumbfounded groom and leapt nimbly to the saddle.
"After them!" roared Albemarle, and the constable with two of his men made a dash for the gateway to raise the hue and cry, whilst the militiamen watched them in stupid, inactive wonder. "Damnation, mistress!" thundered the Duke in ever-increasing passion, "hold your nag! Hold your nag, woman!" For Ruth's horse had become unmanageable, and was caracoling about the yard between the men and the gateway in such a manner that they dared not attempt to win past her.
"You have scared him with your bellowing," she panted, tugging at the bridle, and all but backed into the constable who had been endeavouring to get round behind her. The beast continued its wild prancing, and the Duke abated nothing in his furious profanity, until suddenly the groom, having relinquished to Diana the reins of the other horse, sprang to Ruth's assistance and caught her bridle in a firm grasp which brought the animal to a standstill.
"You fool!" she hissed at him, and half raised her whip to strike, but checked on the impulse, bethinking her in time that, after all, what the poor lad had done he had done thinking her distressed.
The constable and a couple of his fellows won through; others were rousing the stable and getting to horse, and in the courtyard all was bustle and commotion. Meanwhile, however, Mr. Wilding and Trenchard had made the most of their start, and were thundering through the town.
CHAPTER XII
AT THE FORD
AS Mr. Wilding and Nick Trenchard rode hell-to-leather through Taunton streets they never noticed a horseman at the door of the Red Lion Inn. But the horseman noticed them. He looked up at the sound of their wild approach, started upon recognizing them, and turned in his saddle as they swept past him to call upon them excitedly to stop.
"Hi!" he shouted. "Nick Trenchard! Hi! Wilding!" Then, seeing that they either did not hear or did not heed him, he loosed a volley of oaths, wheeled his horse about, drove home the spurs, and started in pursuit. Out of the town he followed them and along the road towards Walford, shouting and clamouring at first, afterwards in a grim and angry silence.
Now, despite their natural anxiety for their own safety, Wilding and Trenchard had by no means abandoned their project of taking cover by the ford to await the messenger whom Albemarle and the others would no doubt be sending to Whitehall; and this mad fellow thundering after them seemed in a fair way to mar their plan. As they reluctantly passed the spot they had marked out for their ambush, splashed through the ford and breasted the rising ground beyond, they took counsel. They determined to stand and meet this rash pursuer. Trenchard calmly opined that if necessary they must shoot him; he was, I fear, a bloody-minded fellow at bottom, although, it is true he justified himself now by pointing out that this was no time to hesitate at trifles. Partly because they talked and partly because the gradient was steep and their horses needed breathing, they slackened rein, and the horseman behind them came tearing through the water of the ford and lessened the distance considerably in the next few minutes.
He bethought him of using his lungs once more. "Hi, Wilding! Hold, damn you!"
"He curses you in a most intimate manner," quoth Trenchard.
Wilding reined in and turned in the saddle. "His voice has a familiar sound," said he. He shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked down the slope at the pursuer, who came on crouching low upon the withers of his goaded beast.
"Wait!" the fellow shouted. "I have news — news for you!"
"It's Vallancey!" cried Wilding suddenly.
Trenchard too had drawn rein and was looking behind him. Instead of expressing relief at the discovery that this was not an enemy, he swore at the trouble to which they had so needlessly put themselves, and he was still at his vituperations when Vallancey came up with them, red in the face and very angry, cursing them roundly for the folly of their mad career, and for not having stopped when he bade them.
"It was no doubt discourteous," said Mr. Wilding, "but we took you for some friend of the Lord-Lieutenant's."
"Are they after you?" quoth Vallancey, his face of a sudden very startled.
"Like enough," said Trenchard, "if they have found their horses yet."
"Forward, then," Vallancey urged them in excitement, and he picked up his reins again. "You shall hear my news as we ride."
"Not so," said Trenchard. "We have business here — down yonder at the ford."
"Business? What business?"
They told him, and scarce had they got the words out than he cut in impatiently. "That's no matter now."
"Not yet, perhaps," said Mr. Wilding; "but it will be if that letter gets to Whitehall."
"Odso!" was the impatient retort, "there's other news travelling to Whitehall that will make small-beer of this — and belike it's well on its way there already."
"What news is that?" asked Trenchard.
Vallancey told them. "The Duke has landed — he came ashore this morning at Lyme."
"The Duke?" quoth Mr. Wilding, whilst Trenchard merely stared. "What Duke?"
"What Duke! Lord, you weary me! What dukes be there? The Duke of Monmouth, man."
"Monmouth!" They uttered the name in a breath.
"But is this really true?" asked Wilding. "Or is it but another rumour?"
"Remember the letter your friends intercepted," Trenchard bade him.
"I am not forgetting it," said Wilding.
"It's no rumour," Vallancey assured them. "I was at White Lackington three hours ago when the news came to George Speke, and I was riding to carry it to you, going by way of Taunton that I might drop word of it for our friends at the Red Lion."
Trenchard needed no further convincing; he looked accordingly dismayed. But Wilding found it still almost impossible — in spite of what already he had learnt — to credit this amazing news. It was hard to believe the Duke of Monmouth mad enough to spoil all by this sudden and unheralded precipitation.
"You heard the news at White Lackington?" said he slowly. "Who carried it thither?"
"There were two messengers," answered Vallancey, with restrained impatience, "and they were Heywood Dare — who has been appointed paymaster to the Duke's forces — and Mr. Chamberlain."
Mr. Wilding was observed for once to change colour. He gripped Vallancey by the wrist. "You saw them?" he demanded, and his voice had a husky, unusual sound. "You saw them?"
"With these two eyes," answered
Vallancey, "and I spoke with them."
It was true, then! There was no room for further doubt.
Wilding looked at Trenchard, who shrugged his shoulders and made a wry face. "I never thought but that we were working in the service of a hairbrain," said he contemptuously.
Vallancey proceeded to details. "Dare and Chamberlain," he informed them, "came off the Duke's own frigate at daybreak today. They were put ashore at Seatown, and they rode straight to Mr. Speke's with the news, returning afterwards to Lyme."
"What men has the Duke with him, did you learn?" asked Wilding.
"Not more than a hundred or so, from what Dare told us."
"A hundred! God help us all! And is England to be conquered with a hundred men? Oh, this is midsummer frenzy."
"He counts on all true Protestants to flock to his banner," put in Trenchard, and it was not plain whether he expressed a fact or sneered at one.
"Does he bring money and arms, at least?" asked Wilding.
"I did not ask," answered Vallancey. "But Dare told us that three vessels had come over, so that it is to be supposed he brings some manner of provision with him."
"It is to be hoped so, Vallancey; but hardly to be supposed," quoth Trenchard, and then he touched Wilding on the arm and pointed with his whip across the fields towards Taunton. A cloud of dust was rising from between tall hedges where ran the road. "I think it were wise to be moving. At least, this sudden landing of James Scott relieves my mind in the matter of that letter."
Wilding, having taken a look at the floating dust that announced the oncoming of their pursuers, was now lost in thought. Vallancey, who, beyond excitement at the news of which he was the bearer, seemed to have no opinion of his own as to the wisdom or folly of the Duke's sudden arrival, looked from one to the other of these two men whom he had known as the prime secret agents in the West, and waited. Trenchard moved his horse a few paces nearer the hedge, whence he could the better survey the winding road to westward and slightly below them. Wilding's thoughtful silence began to fret him, and he hummed a moment impatiently. At last: