Part 40 (2/2)
”She hesitates,” interpolated the d.u.c.h.ess, eagerly.
”You change colour, wench,” cried Charles, his heart, indeed, again upon the rack. ”Ho, without there! Search the house.”
An officer entered quickly to obey the mandate.
”Stay, Sire,” exclaimed Nell, raising herself to her full height, her hot, trembling lips compressed, her cheeks aflame. ”My oath, I have not seen Adair's face this night.”
Her words fell upon the a.s.semblage like thunder from a June-day sky. The King's face brightened. The d.u.c.h.ess's countenance grew pale as death.
”_Mon Dieu!_ Adair!” she gasped in startled accents to Lord Buckingham, attendant at her side. ”Could it be he my servants saw? The packet! Fool! Why did I give it him?”
Buckingham trembled violently. He was even more startled than Portsmouth; for he had more to lose. England was his home and France was hers.
”The scales are turning against us,” he whispered. ”Throw in this ring for safety. Nell's gift to Adair; you understand.”
He slipped, un.o.bserved, upon the d.u.c.h.ess's finger the jewelled ring the King had given to Almahyde among the roses at the performance of ”Granada.”
”Yes! Yes! 'Tis my only chance,” she answered, catching at his meaning; for her wits were of the sharpest in intrigue and cunning, and she possessed the boldness too to execute her plans.
She approached the King, with the confident air possessed by great women who have been bred at court.
”Your Majesty recognizes this ring?” she asked in mildest accents.
”The one I gave to Nell!” answered the astonished King.
”The one Adair this night gave to me,” said Portsmouth, calmly.
”'Tis false!” cried Nell, who could restrain her tongue no longer. ”I gave that ring to dear old Strings.”
”A rare jewel to bestow upon a fiddler,” said the d.u.c.h.ess, sarcastically.
”It is true,” said Strings, who had wormed his way through the group at mention of his name and now stood the meek central figure at the strange hearing. ”My little ones were starving, Sire; and Nell gave me the ring--all she had. They could not eat the gold; so I sold it to the Duke of Buckingham!”
”We are lost,” whispered Buckingham to Portsmouth, scarce audibly.
”Coward!” sneered the d.u.c.h.ess, contemptuously. ”I am not ready to sail for France so soon.”
The King stood irresolute. Events had transpired so quickly that he scarce knew what it was best to do. His troubled spirit longed for a further hearing, while his heart demanded the ending of the scene with a peremptory word.
Before he could decide upon his course, the d.u.c.h.ess had swept across the room, with queenly grace.
”Our hostess will pardon my eyes for wandering,” she said, undaunted; ”but her abode is filled with pleasant surprises. Sire, here is a piece of handiwork.”
She knelt by the couch, and drew from under it a coat of gray, one sleeve of which had caught her eye.
Nell looked at Moll with reproving glances.
<script>