teeth, comes on our deckand takes possession of the ship. Straightway he walks to the earl andtells him he doth know him, and had watched his embarkation, beingresolved to follow him and exact a good ransom at his hands, which ifhe would pay without contention, he should himself, without furtherstop or stay, pass him and his two gentlemen into France, adding, heshould take no less from him than one hundred pounds.
"I have not so much, or near unto it, with me," Lord Arundel said.
"But you can write a word or two to any friend of yours from whom Imay receive it." quoth Keloway.
"Well," said the earl, "seeing I have pressing occasion for to go toFrance, and would not be willingly delayed, I must needs consent toyour terms, no choice therein being allowed me. Get me some paper," hesaid to Mr. William Bray.
"Should this be prudent, my lord?" Basil whispered in his ear.
"There is no help for it, Master Rookwood," the earl replied. "Beside,there is honor even amongst thieves. Once secure of his money, thisman hath no interest in detaining us, but rather the contrary."
And without further stopping, he hastily wrote a few lines to hissister the Lady Margaret Sackville, in London, that she should speakto Mr. Bridges, _alias_ Grately, a priest, to give one hundred poundsto the bearer thereof, by the token that was between them, that _blackis white_, and withal assured her that he now certainly hoped to havespeedy passage without impediment. As soon as this paper was put intoKelloway's hand, he read it, and immediately called on his men for toarrest the Earl of Arundel, producing an order from the queen'scouncil for to prove he was appointed to watch there for him,and carry him back again to land where her majesty's officers didawait him.
An indescribable anguish seized my heart; an overwhelming grief, suchas methinks no other event, howsoever sad or tragical, or yet morenearly touching me, had ever wrought in my soul, which I ascribe to apresentiment that this should be the first link of that long chain ofwoes which was to follow.
"O, my lord!" I exclaimed, almost falling at his feet, "God help youto bear this too heavy blow!"
He took me by the hand; and never till I die shall I lose the memoryof the sweet serenity and noble steadfastness of his visage in thistrying hour.
"God willeth it," he gently said; "his holy will be done! He will workgood out of what seemeth evil to us." And then gaily added, "We hadthought to travel the same way; now we must needs journey apart. Neverfear, good friends, but both roads shall lead to heaven, if we do buttread them piously. My chief sorrow is for Nan; but her virtue is sogreat, that affliction will never rob her of such peace as God onlygiveth."
Then this angelic man, forecasting for his friends in the midst ofthis terrible mishap, passed into Basil's hands his pocket-book, andsaid, "This shall pay your voyage, good friend; and if aught dothremain afterward, let the poor have their share of it, for athank-offering, when you reach the shore in safety."
Basil, I saw, could not speak; his heart was too full. O, what aparting ensued on that sad ocean whose waves had seemed to dance sojoyously a short space before! With what aching hearts we pressed theyoung earl's hand, and watched him pass into the other ship,accompanied by his two gentlemen, which were with him arrested! Noheed was taken of us; and Kelloway, having secured his prey, abandonedour vessel, the captain of which seemed uneasy and ill-disposed tospeak with us. We did then suspect, which doubt hath been sinceconfirmed, that this seeming honest Catholic man had acted a traitor'spart, and that those many delays had been used for the very purpose ofstaying Lord Arundel until such time as all was prepared for hiscapture. The wind, which was in our favor, bore us swiftly toward theFrench coast; and we soon lost sight of the vessel which carried theearl back to the shores of England. Fancy, you who read, what pictureswe needs must then have formed of that return; of the dismal newsreaching the afflicted wife, the sad sister, the mournful brother, andfriends now scattered apart, so lately clustered round him! Alas! whenwe landed in France, at the port of Calais, the sense of our ownsafety was robbed of half its joy by fears and sorrowing for the dearfriends whose fortunes have proved so dissimilar to our own.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The deep clear azure of the French sky, the lightsome pure air, thequaint houses, and outlandish dresses of the people in Calais; thesound of a foreign tongue understood, but not familiar, for a brieftime distracted my mind from painful themes. Basil led me to thechurch for to give thanks to God for his mercies to us, and mostly didit seem strange to me to enter an edifice in which he is worshipped ina Catholic manner, which yet hath the form and appearance of a church,and resembles not the concealed chambers in our country wherein massis said; an open visible house for the King of kings, not ahiding-place, as in England. After we had prayed there a short time,Basil put into a box at the entrance the money which Lord Arundel haddesigned for the poor. A pale thin man stood at the door, which, whenwe passed, said, "God bless you!" Basil looked earnestly at him,and then exclaimed, "As I live, Mr. Watson!" "Yea," the good mananswered, "the same, or rather the shadow of the same, risen at thelast from the bed of sickness. O Mr. Rookwood, I am glad to see you!""And so am I to meet with you, Mr. Watson," Basil answered; and thentold this dear friend who I was, and the sad hap of Lord Arundel,which moved in him a great concern for that young nobleman and hisexcellent lady. Many tokens of regard and interchange of informationpassed between us. He showed us where he lived, in a small cottagenear unto the ramparts; and nothing would serve him but to gather forme in the garden a nosegay of early flowerets which just had raisedtheir heads above the sod. He said Dr. Allen had sent him money in hissickness, and an English lady married to a French gentleman providedfor his wants. "Ah! that was the good madame I told you of," Basilcried, turning to me; "who would have harbored . . . ." Then hestopped short; but Mr. Watson had caught his meaning, and with tearsin his eyes said: "Fear not to speak of her whose death bought mylife, and it may be also my soul's safety. For, God knoweth, thethought of her doth never forsake me so much as for one hour;" andthereupon we parted with much kindness on both sides. That night welay at a small hostelry in the town; and the next morning hired a cartwith one horse, which carried us to Boulogne in one day, and thence tothis village, where we have lived since for many years in great peace.I thank God, and very much contentment of mind, and no regrets savesuch as do arise in the hearts of exiles without hope of return to abeloved native country.
The awaiting of tidings from England, which were long delayed, was atthe first a very sore trial, and those which reached us at last yetmore grievous than that suspense. Lord Arundel committed to the Tower;his brother the Lord William and his sister the Lady Margaret not longafter arrested, which was more grief to him, his lady wrote to me,than all his own troubles and imprisonment. But, O my God! how welldid that beginning match with what was to follow! Those ten yearswhich were spent amidst so many sufferings of all sorts by these twonoble persons, that the recital of them would move to pity the moststrong heart.
Mine own sorrows, leastways all sharp ones, ended with my passage intoFrance. If Basil showed himself a worthy lover, he hath proved a yetbetter husband. His nature doth so delight in doing good that it winshim the love of all our neighbors. His life is a constant exercise ofcharity. He is most indulgent to his wife and kind to his children, ofwhich it hath pleased God to give him three--one boy and two girls, ofas comely visages and commendable dispositions as can reasonably bedesired. He hath a most singular affection for all such as do sufferfor their religion, and cherishes them with an extraordinary bounty tothe limits of his ability; his house being a common resort for allbanished Catholics which land at Boulogne, from whence he doth directthem to such persons as can assist them in their need. His love towardmy unworthy self hath never decreased. Methinks it rather dothincrease as we advance in years. We have ever been actuated as by onesoul; and never have any two wills agreed so well as Basil's and minein all aims in this world and hopes for the next. If any, in thereading of this history, have only cared for mine own haps, I praythem to end their perus
al of it here; but if, even as my heart hathbeen linked from early years with Lady Arundel's, there be any inwhich my poor writing hath awakened somewhat of that esteem for hervirtues and resentment of her sorrows which hath grown in me from longexperience of her singular worth; if the noble atonement foryouthful offences and follies already shown in her lord's return tohis duty to her, and altered behavior in respect to God, hath alsomoved them to desire a further knowledge of the manner in which thesetwo exalted souls were advanced by long affliction to a high point ofperfection--then to such the following pages shall not be whollydevoid of that interest which the true recital of great misfortunedoth habitually carry with it. If none other had written the life ofthat noble lady, methinks I must have essayed to do it; but