Part 93 (1/2)
”You can weep, I see,” observed the King. ”You are a witch no longer.”
”Ay, Heaven be praised! I can weep,” she replied; ”and so ease my over-burthened heart. Oh! sire, none but those who have experienced it can tell the agony of being denied this relief of nature. Farewell for ever, my blessed child!” she exclaimed, kissing her brow again; ”and you, too, her beloved. Nicholas a.s.sheton-it was her wish to be buried in the same grave with Richard. You will see it done, Nicholas?”
”I will-I will!” replied the squire, in a voice of deepest emotion.
”And I likewise promise it,” said Sir Ralph a.s.sheton. ”They shall rest together in Whalley churchyard. It is well that Sir Richard and Dorothy are gone,” he observed to Nicholas.
”It is indeed,” said the squire, ”or we should have had another funeral to perform. Pray Heaven it be not so now!”
”Have you any other request to prefer?” demanded the King.
”None whatever, sire,” replied the lady, ”except that I wish to make full rest.i.tution of all the land I have robbed him of, to Master Roger Nowell; and, as some compensation, I would fain add certain lands adjoining, which have been conveyed over to Sir Ralph and Nicholas a.s.sheton, only annexing the condition that a small sum annually be given in dole to the poor of the parish, that I may be remembered in their prayers.”
”We will see it done,” said Sir Ralph and Nicholas.
”And I will see my part fulfilled,” said Nowell. ”For any wrong you have done me I now freely and fully forgive you, and may Heaven in its infinite mercy forgive you likewise!”
”Amen!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the monarch. And all the others joined in the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n.
The King then moved to the door, which was opened for him by the two a.s.shetons. At the foot of the steps stood Master Potts, attended by an officer of the guard and a party of halberdiers. In the midst of them, with their hands tied behind their backs, were Jem Device, his mother, Jennet, and poor Nance Redferne. Jem looked dogged and sullen, Elizabeth downcast, but Jennet retained her accustomed malignant expression. Poor Nance was the only one who excited any sympathy. Jennet's malice seemed now directed against Master Potts, whom she charged with having betrayed and deceived her.
”If Tib had na deserted me he should tear thee i' pieces, thou ill-favourt little monster,” she cried.
”Monster in your own face, you hideous little wretch,” exclaimed the indignant attorney. ”If you use such opprobrious epithets I will have you gagged. You will be taken to Lancaster Castle, and hanged.”
”Yo are os bad as ey am, and wa.r.s.e,” replied Jennet, ”and deserve hanging os weel, and the King shan knoa of your tricks,” she vociferated, as James appeared at the door of the pavilion. ”Yo wished to ensnare Alizon. Yo wished me to kill her. Ey was only your instrument.”
”Stop her mouth-gag her!” cried Potts.
”Nah, nah!-they shanna stap my mouth-they shanna gag me,” cried Jennet. ”Ey win speak out. The King shan hear me. You are as bad os me.”
”All malice, your Majesty-all malice,” cried the attorney.
”Malice, nae doubt, in great pairt,” replied James; ”but some truth as weel, I fear, sir. And in any case it will prevent my doing any thing for you.”
”There, you have ruined my hopes, you little wretch!” cried Potts, furiously.
”Ey'm reet glad on't,” said Jennet. ”Yo may tay me to Lonkester Castle, boh yo conna hong me. Ey knoa that fu' weel. Ey shan get out, and then look to yersel, lad; for, os sure os ey'm Mother Demdike's grandowter, ey'n plague the life out o' ye.”
”Take the prisoners away, and let them be conveyed under a strict escort to Lancaster Castle,” said James.
”And, as the a.s.sizes commence next week, quick work will be made with them, your Majesty,” observed Potts. ”Their guilt can be incontestably proved, so they are sure to be found guilty, sure to be hanged, sire.”
As the prisoners were removed, Nance Redferne looked round her, and, catching the eye of Nicholas, made a slight motion with her head, as if bidding him farewell.
The squire returned the mute valediction.