CHAPTER XXV.
PAUL'S WALK.
Will Cavendish, who was in training for a statesman, and acted as asecretary to Sir Francis Walsingham, advised that the letters should becarried to him at once that same evening, as he would be in attendanceon the Queen the next morning, and she would inquire for them.
The great man's house was not far off, and he walked thither withHumfrey, who told him what he had seen, and asked whether it ought notat once to be reported to Walsingham.
Will whistled. "They are driving it very close," he said. "Humfrey;old comrade, thy brains were always more of the order fit to face atough breeze than to meddle with Court plots. Credit me, there iscause for what amazed thee. The Queen and her Council know what theyare about. Risk a little, and put an end to all the plottings forever! That's the word."
"Risk even the Queen's life?"
Will Cavendish looked sapient, and replied, "We of the Council Boardknow many a thing that looks passing strange."
Mr. Secretary Walsingham's town house was, like Lord Talbot's, builtround a court, across which Cavendish led the way, with the assured airof one used to the service, and at home there. The hall was throngedwith people waiting, but Cavendish passed it, opened a little wicket,and admitted his friends into a small anteroom, where he bade themremain, while he announced them to Sir Francis.
He disappeared, shutting a door behind him, and after a moment'sinterval another person, with a brown cloak round him, came hastily andstealthily across to the door. He had let down the cloak which muffledhis chin, not expecting the presence of any one, and there was amoment's start as he was conscious of the young men standing there. Hepassed through the door instantly, but not before Humfrey had had timeto recognise in him no other than Cuthbert Langston, almost the lastperson he would have looked for at Sir Francis Walsingham's. Directlyafterwards Cavendish returned.
"Sir Francis could not see Captain Talbot, and prayed him to excusehim, and send in the letter."
"It can't be helped," said Cavendish, with his youthful airs ofpatronage. "He would gladly have spoken with you when I told him ofyou, but that Maude is just come on business that may not tarry. Soyou must e'en entrust your packet to me."
"Maude," repeated Humfrey, "Was that man's name Maude? I should havedared be sworn that he was my father's kinsman, Cuthbert Langston."
"Very like," said Will, "I would dare be sworn to nothing concerninghim, but that he is one of the greatest and most useful villainsunhung."
So saying, Will Cavendish disappeared with the letters. He probablyhad had a caution administered to him, for when he returned he wasevidently swelling with the consciousness of a State secret, which hewould not on any account betray, yet of the existence of which hedesired to make his old comrade aware.
Humfrey asked whether he had told Mr. Secretary of the man in RichmondPark.
"Never fear! he knows it," returned the budding statesman. "Why, lookyou, a man like Sir Francis has ten thousand means of intelligence thata simple mariner like you would never guess at. I thought it strangemyself when I came first into business of State, but he hath eyes andears everywhere, like the Queen's gown in her picture. Men of thePrivy Council, you see, must despise none, for the lewdest and meanestrogues oft prove those who can do the best service, just as thebandy-legged cur will turn the spit, or unearth the fox when yourgallant hound can do nought but bay outside."
"Is this Maude, or Langston, such a cur?"
Cavendish gave his head a shake that expressed unutterable things,saying: "Your kinsman, said you? I trust not on the Talbot side of thehouse?"
"No. On his mother's side. I wondered the more to see him here as hegot that halt in the Rising of the North, and on the wrong side, andhath ever been reckoned a concealed Papist."
"Ay, ay. Dost not see, mine honest Humfrey, that's the very point thatfits him for our purpose?"
"You mean that he is a double traitor and informer."
"We do not use such hard words in the Privy Council Board as you do ondeck, my good friend," said Cavendish. "We have our secretintelligencers, you see, all in the Queen's service. Foul and dirtywork, but you can't dig out a fox without soiling of fingers, and ifthere be those that take kindly to the work, why, e'en let them do it."
"Then there is a plot?"
"Content you, Humfrey! You'll hear enough of it anon. A most foul,bloody, and horrible plot, quite enough to hang every soul that hasmeddled in it, and yet safe to do no harm--like poor Hal's blunderbuss,which would never go off, except when it burst, and blew him to pieces."
Will felt that he had said quite enough to impress Humfrey with a senseof his statecraft and importance, and was not sorry for an interruptionbefore he should have said anything dangerous. It was from FrankPierrepoint, who had been Diccon's schoolmate, and was enchanted to seehim. Humfrey was to stay one day longer in town in case Walsinghamshould wish to see him, and to show Diccon something of London, whichthey had missed on their way to Plymouth.
St. Paul's Cathedral was even then the sight that all Englishmen wereexpected to have seen, and the brothers took their way thither,accompanied by Frank Pierrepoint, who took their guidance on his hands.Had the lads seen the place at the opening of the century they wouldhave thought it a piteous spectacle, for desecration and sacrilege hadrioted there unchecked, the magnificent peal of bells had been gambledaway at a single throw of the dice, the library had been utterlydestroyed, the magnificent plate melted up, and what covetousfanaticism had spared had been further ravaged by a terrible fire. Atthis time Bishop Bancroft had done his utmost towards reparation, andthe old spire had been replaced by a wooden one; but there was much ofruin and decay visible all around, where stood the famous octagonbuilding called Paul's Cross, where outdoor sermons were preached tolisteners of all ranks. This was of wood, and was kept in moderatelygood repair. Beyond, the nave of the Cathedral stretched its length,the greatest in England. Two sets of doors immediately opposite to oneanother on the north and south sides had rendered it a thoroughfare invery early times, in spite of the endeavours of the clergy; and at thistime "Duke Humfrey's Walk," from the tomb of Duke Humfrey Stafford, asthe twelve grand Norman bays of this unrivalled nave were called, wasthe prime place for the humours of London; and it may be feared thatthis, rather than the architecture, was the chief idea in the minds ofthe youths, as a babel of strange sounds fell on their ears, "a stillroar like a humming of bees," as it was described by a contemporary,or, as Humfrey said, like the sea in a great hollow cave. A cluster ofchoir-boys were watching at the door to fall on any one entering withspurs on, to levy their spur money, and one gentleman, whom they hadthus attacked, was endeavouring to save his purse by calling on theyoungest boy to sing his gamut.
Near at hand was a pillar, round which stood a set of men, some rough,some knavish-looking, with the blue coats, badges, short swords, andbucklers carried by serving-men. They were waiting to be hired, as ifin a statute fair, and two or three loud-voiced bargains were going on.In the middle aisle, gentlemen in all the glory of plumed hats,jewelled ears, ruffed necks, Spanish cloaks, silken jerkins, velvethose, and be-rosed shoes, were marching up and down, someattitudinising to show their graces, some discussing the news of theday, for "Paul's Walk" was the Bond Street, the Row, the Tattersall's,the Club of London. Twelve scriveners had their tables to act asletter-writers, and sometimes as legal advisers, and great amusementmight be had by those who chose to stand listening to the blunderingdirections of their clients. In the side aisles, horse-dealing,merchants' exchanges, everything imaginable in the way of traffic wasgoing on. Disreputable-looking men, who there were in sanctuary fromtheir creditors, there lurked around Humfrey Stafford's tomb; and youngPierrepoint's warning to guard their purses was evidently not wasted,for a country fellow, who had just lost his, was loudly demandingjustice, and getting jeered at for his simplicity in expecting torecover it.
"Seest thou this?" said a voice close to Humfrey, and he found a handon his
arm, and Babington, in the handsome equipment of one of theloungers, close to him.
"A sorry sight, that would grieve my good mother," returned Humfrey.
"My Mother, the Church, is grieved," responded Antony. "This is whatyou have brought us to, for your so-called religion," he added,ignorant or oblivious that these desecrations had been quite asshocking before the Reformation. "All will soon be changed, however,"he added.
"Sir Thomas Gresham's New Exchange has cleared off some of the traffic,they say," returned Humfrey.
"Pshaw!" said Antony; "I meant no such folly. That were cleansing onestone while the whole house is foul with shame. No. There shall be aswift vengeance on these desecrators. The purifier shall come again,and the glory and the beauty of the true Faith shall be here as of old,when our fathers bowed before the Holy Rood, instead of tearing itdown." His eye glanced with an enthusiasm which Humfrey thoughtsomewhat wild, and he said, "Whist! these are not things to be thusspoken of."
"All is safe," said Babington, drawing him within shelter of thechantry of Sir John Beauchamp's tomb. "Never heed Diccon--Pierrepointcan guide him," and Humfrey saw their figures, apparently absorbed inlistening to the bidding for a horse. "I have things of moment to sayto thee, Humfrey Talbot. We have been old comrades, and had thatchildish emulation which turns to love in manhood in the face ofperils."
Humfrey, recollecting how they had parted, held out his hand inrecognition of the friendliness.
"I would fain save thee," said Babington. "Heretic and rival as thouart, I cannot but love thee, and I would have thee die, if die thoumust, in honourable fight by sea or land, rather than be overtaken bythe doom that will fall on all who are persecuting our true and lawfulconfessor and sovereign."
"Gramercy for thy good will, Tony," said Humfrey, looking anxiously tosee whether his old companion was in his right mind, yet rememberingwhat had been said of plots.
"Thou deem'st me raving," said Antony, smiling at the perplexedcountenance before him, "but thou wilt see too late that I speak sooth,when the armies of the Church avenge the Name that has been profanedamong you!"
"The Spaniards, I suppose you mean," said Humfrey coolly. "You must befar gone indeed to hope to see those fiends turned loose on thispeaceful land, but by God's blessing we have kept them aloof before, Itrust we may again."
"You talk of God's blessing. Look at His House," said Babington.
"He is more like to bless honest men who fight for their Queen, theirhomes and hearths, than traitors who would bring in slaughterers andbutchers to work their will!"
"His glory is worked through judgment, and thus must it begin!"returned the young man. "But I would save thee, Humfrey," he added."Go thou back to Plymouth, and be warned to hold aloof from that prisonwhere the keepers will meet their fit doom! and the captive will be setfree. Thou dost not believe," he added. "See here," and drawing intothe most sheltered part of the chantry, he produced from his bosom apicture in the miniature style of the period, containing six heads,among which his own was plainly to be recognised, and likewise a facewhich Humfrey felt as if he should never forget, that which he had seenin Richmond Park, quailing beneath the Queen's eye. Round the picturewas the motto--
"Hi mihi sunt comites quos ipsa pericula jungunt."
"I tell thee, Humfrey, thou wilt hear--if thou dost live to hear--ofthese six as having wrought the greatest deed of our times!"
"May it only be a deed an honest man need not be ashamed of," saidHumfrey, not at all convinced of his friend's sanity.
"Ashamed of!" exclaimed Babington. "It is blest, I tell thee, blest byholy men, blest by the noble and suffering woman who will thus bedelivered from her martyrdom."
"Babington, if thou talkest thus, it will be my duty to have thee putin ward," said Humfrey.
Antony laughed, and there was a triumphant ring very like insanity inhis laughter. Humfrey, with a moment's idea that to hint that theconspiracy was known would blast it at once, if it were real, said, "Isee not Cuthbert Langston among your six. Know you, I saw him onlyyestereven going into Secretary Walsingham's privy chamber."
"Was he so?" answered Babington. "Ha! ha! he holds them all in playtill the great stroke be struck! Why! am not I myself in Walsingham'sconfidence? He thinketh that he is about to send me to France to watchthe League. Ha! ha!"
Here Humfrey's other companions turned back in search of him; Babingtonvanished in the crowd, he hardly knew how, and he was left inperplexity and extreme difficulty as to what was his duty as friend oras subject. If Babington were sane, there must be a conspiracy forkilling the Queen, bringing in the Spaniards and liberating Mary, andhe had expressly spoken of having had the latter lady's sanction, whilethe sight of the fellow in Richmond Park gave a colour of probabilityto the guess. Yet the imprudence and absurdity of having portraitstaken of six assassins before the blow was struck seemed to contradictall the rest. On the other hand, Cavendish had spoken of having allthe meshes of the web in the hands of the Council; and Langston orMaude seemed to be trusted by both parties.
Humfrey decided to feel his way with Will Cavendish, and that eveningspoke of having met Babington and having serious doubts whether he werein his right mind. Cavendish laughed, "Poor wretch! I could pityhim," he said, "though his plans be wicked enough to merit nocompassion. Nay, never fear, Humfrey. All were overthrown, did Ispeak openly. Nay, to utter one word would ruin me for ever. 'Tisquite sufficient to say that he and his fellows are only at large tillMr. Secretary sees fit, that so his grip may be the more sure."
Humfrey saw he was to be treated with no confidence, and this made himthe more free to act. There were many recusant gentlemen in theneighbourhood of Chartley, and an assault and fight there were notimprobable, if, as Cavendish hinted, there was a purpose of letting thetraitors implicate themselves in the largest numbers and as fatally aspossible. On the other hand, Babington's hot head might only fancy hehad authority from the Queen for his projects. If, through Cicely, hecould convey the information to Mary, it might save her from evenappearing to be cognisant of these wild schemes, whatever they mightbe, and to hint that they were known was the surest way to preventtheir taking effect. Any way, Humfrey's heart was at Chartley, andevery warning he had received made him doubly anxious to be there inperson, to be Cicely's guardian in case of whatever danger mightthreaten her. He blessed the fiction which still represented him asher brother, and which must open a way for him to see her, but heresolved not to take Diccon thither, and parted with him when the roadsdiverged towards Lichfield, sending to his father a letter which Dicconwas to deliver only into his own hand, with full details of all he hadseen and heard, and his motives for repairing to Chartley.
"Shall I see my little Cis?" thought he. "And even if she play theprincess to me, how will she meet me? She scorned me even when she wasat home. How will it be now when she has been for well-nigh a year inthis Queen's training? Ah! she will be taught to despise me! Heigh ho!At least she may be in need of a true heart and strong arm to guardher, and they shall not fail her."
Will Cavendish, in the plenitude of the official importance with whichhe liked to dazzle his old playfellow, had offered him a pass tofacilitate his entrance, and he found reason to be glad that he hadaccepted it, for there was a guard at the gate of Chartley Park, and hewas detained there while his letter was sent up for inspection to SirAmias Paulett, who had for the last few months acted as warder to theQueen.
However, a friendly message came back, inviting him to ride up. Thehouse--though called a castle--had been rebuilt in hospitable domesticstyle, and looked much less like a prison than Sheffield Lodge, but atevery enclosure stood yeomen who challenged the passers-by, as thoughthis were a time of alarm. However, at the hall-door itself stood SirAmias Paulett, a thin, narrow-browed, anxious-looking man, with thestiffest of ruffs, over which hung a scanty yellow beard.
"Welcome, sir," he said, with a nervous anxious distressed manner."Welcome, most welcome. You will pardon
any discourtesy, sir, butthese are evil times. The son, I think, of good Master Richard Talbotof Bridgefield? Ay, I would not for worlds have shown any lack ofhospitality to one of his family. It is no want of respect, sir. No;nor of my Lord's house; but these are ill days, and with my charge,sir--if Heaven itself keep not the house--who knows what may chance orwhat may be laid on me?"
"I understand," said Humfrey, smiling. "I was bred close to Sheffield,and hardly knew what 'twas to live beyond watch and ward."
"Yea!" said Paulett, shaking his head. "You come of a loyal house,sir; but even the good Earl was less exercised than I am in the chargeof this same lady. But I am glad, glad to see you, sir. And you wouldsee your sister, sir? A modest young lady, and not indevout, though Ihave sometimes seen her sleep at sermon. It is well that the poormaiden should see some one well affected, for she sitteth in the verygate of Babylon; and with respect, sir, I marvel that a woman, so godlyas Mistress Talbot of Bridgefield is reported to be, should suffer it.However, I do my poor best, under Heaven, to hinder the faithful of thehousehold from being tainted. I have removed Preaux, who is well knownto be a Popish priest in disguise, and thus he can spread no more ofhis errors. Moreover, my chaplain, Master Blunden, with other godlymen, preaches three times a week against Romish errors, and all areenforced to attend. May their ears be opened to the truth! I am aboutto attend this lady on a ride in the Park, sir. It might--if she bewilling--be arranged that your sister, Mistress Talbot, should spendthe time in your company, and methinks the lady will thereto agree, forshe is ever ready to show a certain carnal and worldly complaisance tothe wishes of her attendants, and I have observed that she greatlyaffects the damsel, more, I fear, than may be for the eternal welfareof the maiden's soul."