Part 7 (2/2)
”Well upon ht that I was the only late bird about the Castle And your clothes still on Come, come, Walter, thou must be careful and do not let this flood of happiness drown thy reason”
”Fear not for that,” I replied; ”for the said flood is so thick that my reason doth float upon the surface”
”Indeed thou dost put it well But coht me here at this unseemly hour When you did take , thou saidst that thou hadst two communications of importance to make So far you have ht ot,” I replied ”Now the second is this, and I will not so hesitate in the telling of it as I did with the first”
Then I told hi listener
When I had finished he said:--”Thou mayst thank Heaven that thou didst overhear that saive us the key unto the puzzle which Richard will present to England, in case the King doth not recover The Queen should be warned,” he continued
”And yet itrecovered, weinterfered It is a dangerous matter to play with royalty; for,” I continued, ”his Majesty King Edward is a good and kind master, but he is also one which doth not like his family matters pried into When he is roused he is the very devil in human form We have the Duke of Clarence for an exarave of malmsey, and so profit by the picture, and hold our peace” Methought it better to warn hiht lead off his better judg, should his Majesty recover, and this was ever but the first step in the ladder leading up the scaffold
”Perhaps thou art right,” he said ”I shall at least keepdoth live; for I have no desire to have my head decorate the walls of the Tower”
”And now, my friend,” said I; ”there is another matter that I wish to speak with thee about” Then I told hiue with Catesby, and asked hi at his earliest convenience
”I do not like to see thee fight hi of h I detest the fellow, yet do I treat him with civility on the Chancellor's account However, Walter, after what has passed, there is nothing left but the swords; at which galand”
”Thou art wrong there, reat French swordsland which dare to stand before him However,” I continued, with some pride, ”it shall never be said of a Bradley that he quietly did rest with an insult still hanging to his cheek, and never burning it”
”Well, thou shalt have fair play at least,” said h he may have studied the art of swordsmanshi+p with a score of Frenchmen, yet have I no doubt as to the result I have seen thee use the foils enough to feel satisfied that Catesby shall have no advantage over thee; and besides, he hath not th”
”Yea, that is true”
”But no matter how thou mayst feel towards hireat favour with Gloucester, e cannot now afford to offend Run hih the arm or shoulder and thine honour will be satisfied”
I knew ht lend mine arh Catesby were a skilled swordsame, and besides it was true what Harleston said, I hadto be taken into account in these affairs
Early the next day Sir Frederick saw Catesby and gave hie
”And so,” said the lawyer, ”your friend grows tired of this life and desires to join the saints?”
”Indeed, sir,”to another world are equally good; though whether thy companions there will be saints or no, I cannot tell”
To this retort Catesbywere settled At sundown that evening ere to e oak doth stand alone This time and place were decided on in order to make certain that we should not be interrupted; for this spot was never frequented at that hour
That evening, at about the half of an hour before the appointed time I, accompanied by Harleston, set out by a round about way, so that when Catesby and his second should go to theplace no one Would suspect our object They, however, having taken the more direct and therefore shorter path, had reached the spot and aiting e arrived
Sir Richard Ratcliffe was to act as Catesby's second
The spot chosen was one which seemed made by nature purposely for such contests For the distance of about a score of feet all around the great oak--which arose in the centre like an ever watchful sentinel guarding that portion of the park--the ground was clear and level as a round green table As I looked up at that fine old veteran which had braved the storns of its contests than his battle scarred old features, eht tell if he but could