The door, which was of oak and of considerable strength, possessing, moreover, ponderous bolts and bars, was only just barricaded in time. The next moment it was forcibly tried, and the voice of Stelfax was heard furiously demanding admittance. The windows in front of the old mansion were deeply embayed, and projected far beyond the walls. They were built of stone, with massive upright posts and transverse bars; and the divisions between the bars were secured by iron stanchions, so that, although only curtains were drawn inside no danger of unlicensed entrance into the house was to be apprehended. Finding the door solid enough to resist all his efforts to burst it open, Stelfax turned his attention to the windows lighting the hall, and which were at no great height from the ground. But here, again, he was disappointed, as was shown by his exclamations, which, being uttered in a loud key, were quite audible to those inside.
“They are here,” cried the Ironside captain. “I am well assured of it. What ho! within,” he vociferated. “I summon you to surrender in the name of the Republic. Ye will be put to death if you resist.”
“Away with you upstairs!” cried Colonel Maunsel to Mr. Beard and the women. “Get out of harm’s way as quickly as you can. We shall have hot work presently. Take care of yourselves, and find some shelter,” he added to the others. “They are about to fire upon us.”
Thus cautioned, such members of the household as were left in the hall beat a hasty retreat into the passage leading to the buttery; Dulcia and Patty skipped up the great staircase, followed more leisurely by Mr. Beard, who deemed it inconsistent with his calling to display haste even at a moment of danger; while the others stepped quickly into the banqueting-room, the door of which was open. The next moment a loud explosion was heard. A volley of shot was poured against one of the windows, shivering the beautiful stained glass within it, while several of the bullets struck against the foot of the grand staircase. Luckily, no further damage was done.
“Now make for your horses with all possible dispatch,” cried Colonel Maunsel to Lord Wilmot and the others. “These knaves will go to the back of the house next, and try to cut off you retreat.”
“On my soul, I am half inclined to stay and give them battle,” Lord Wilmot said. “We are equal to them in numbers, I think, without counting your servants.”
“My servants must not be counted, my lord,” the old Cavalier replied. “They would go for nothing in a conflict of this kind, but, however disposed you may be for an engagement with the rascals, I would beg of you to depart. You owe it to his Majesty to care for your own safety.”
“That is true,” Lord Wilmot replied. “And it decides me to shun an encounter with them, if it can be helped. But will you not go with us?”
“No, my lord,” Colonel Maunsel replied, firmly. “My place is here. To your horses as fast as you can! Heaven grant these Roundheads reach not the back of the house ere you get out. Ninian will show you the way. If you have no other place of refuge, go to the Star at Alfriston, where you are certain to find shelter. John Habergeon knows the house well. Adieu, my dear lord!—and adieu to all!”
On this the Royalist hurried across the hall, and, guided by Ninian, tracked the passage leading to the buttery, and made for the outlet at the rear of the house. Clavering lingered behind for a moment to receive his father’s blessing, and then speeded after the others.
A walled enclosure, possessing two or three outlets leading to different parts of the premises, protected the back part of the mansion. The nearest way to the spot where the horses were stationed lay through the farm-yard, but if this course had been taken, the fugitive Royalists must at once have encountered the enemy, and Ninian therefore led them by a roundabout course through the garden, with which one of the doors in the yard communicated.