Part 33 (1/2)

”But that is madness. I would never have been aware of his true loyalties had he not pursued me.”

Rowley shrugged. ”It is ironic, I suppose, but hardly madness. We all do what we must to protect ourselves.”

”As you did with Yate. I suppose now I understand how it was that he was not convicted when he sat before your court.”

”He knew my secret. I cannot say precisely through what channels, but sometimes we men of breeding are not nearly so cautious as we ought to be around those beneath us, and I fear there are those in our circle who are truly foolish. Some pair of loose lips has cost me dearly.”

”And they will soon cost Melbury,” I said.

”It will be hard to prove him one of the exiled king's party. He has hidden his connections well.”

”That's true enough. I've never heard that anyone truly suspects Melbury of supporting the old king.”

Rowley laughed. ”They ought not to. I don't believe he does. But Melbury has had some financial difficulties over the years, and a year ago he struck a bargain: He would link himself to the cause of King James in exchange for funds to run his campaign. I must tell you that there are those in our organization who have grown weary of paying his gambling debts, and Mr. Melbury has become something of a liability.”

”But he has power,” I noted.

”Of course. If he is elected to the House, as it seems he very well might be, he would be in a position of some influence. I could not have directly defied him when he ordered me to find you guilty, so I did what I could.”

”And now what will you do?”

He looked at me. ”I think that is up to you, sir.”

”I suppose it is,” I agreed. I had not had the time to consider the consequences of my visit. I had not antic.i.p.ated that Rowley would prove the cooperative informant that I now saw before me, and his cooperation made me inclined to find some solution that would not end in his execution for treason.

”I propose,” I said at last, ”that you flee the country. My name, sir, will by now have been cleared owing to other activities, and I do not require a confession on your part. I cannot allow you, in good conscience, to maintain your post and exert the will of your corrupt masters, but neither would I see you die for what you have done either, for you did choose to spare my life. I believe you found yourself in a difficult position and you managed it as you thought best.”

Rowley nodded. He must have known, long before I had arrived that day, that he was defeated, for he made little complaint of what I had proposed. ”And what of Mr. Melbury?”

Indeed. What of Mr. Melbury? I could not allow a man who had used me so hard to go unpunished, but neither could I countenance that Miriam should share in the ignominy of a general discovery of his treachery against the Crown. Were he arrested and tried as a traitor, the shame should destroy her.

”I shall manage Melbury,” I said.

Rowley blinked but once to show his understanding. He then asked me if I would be his guest for the night, and I thought it rude to decline. He thus indulged me in a splendid dinner and the choicest samples of his wine cellars. I departed in the morning not a little regretful that I had, in effect, exiled this man from his country. I had long thought him an unprincipled villain, but I now understood that villainy in most men is but a matter of degree.