Preston Fight by W. Harrison Ainsworth

Her cheeks flushed as she scanned it, and she exclaimed almost joyfully,

“You will obey his majesty’s orders. There must be no hesitation now. If there is one man in England on whose zeal and fidelity King James ought to be able to count, it is the Earl of Derwentwater, with whom he is connected by birth, and whom he regards as a brother. Would you disappoint all the hopes he has formed of you! Shake off this worse than womanish weakness if you would not have me despise you.”

“No more!” cried the earl, almost fiercely. “You have said enough. You have hardened my breast. I care not now what ensues.”

“I am glad I have roused you,” she cried. “Had you been wanting in the hour of action, you would have been deemed a traitor to your king, and have lost the respect of all honourable men.”

Just then Father Norman entered the room.

“I fear I have come at an unlucky moment,” he said, perceiving from their looks that some misunderstanding had occurred between them; “and I would at once retire, had I not important news to communicate. I have just received private information from Newcastle that a warrant has been issued for your lordship’s arrest on a charge of high treason. The officers will be here tomorrow, and as they will be accompanied by a party of horse-militia, you must either resist them, or keep out of the way. Since you are not fully prepared for a rising, I would counsel the latter course.”

“And I advise resistance,” said the countess.

“No-that would precipitate the outbreak,” said the earl. “I must concert measures with my friends ere I take up arms.”

“You cannot remain in the castle, my lord,” said the priest. “A most rigorous search will be made, and if you are discovered, you will be apprehended, and placed in confinement.”

“Where shall I find a secure retreat?” said the earl.

“You ought not to be too far off, in case of a sudden emergency,” said the countess.

“Your lordship would be perfectly safe in Nathan the woodcutter’s hut in the thicket,” said the priest. “No one will seek you there-and even if the place should be visited, you can easily escape into the wood.”

“Nathan Blacklaw is a trusty fellow,” said the earl. “I can perfectly depend upon him. His hut will afford me an excellent hiding-place. When inquiries are made for me, the servants can say that I am gone to visit some Roman Catholic friends in Lancashire. The statement will be credited, since the magistrates must have learnt that Lord Widdrington is now staying with his brother-in-law, Mr. Townley, of Townley, in that county. I will now go and see Nathan Blacklaw, and direct him to prepare for me tomorrow morning.”

“Take me with you, I entreat!” said the countess. “I should like to see how you will be lodged in the hut. I wish I could bear you company.”

“Alas! that cannot be!” sighed the earl. “Your presence would reconcile me to any inconvenience. But it would infallibly lead to my discovery. Besides, you must be at the castle to see how things go on, and communicate with me.”

“I quite understand,” she replied.

“When my brother returns from Corbridge, acquaint him with my purpose,” said the earl to Father Norman. “I do not think he is in any danger of arrest.”

“I have received no caution respecting Mr. Charles Radclyffe,” said the priest. “I believe your lordship to be the only person threatened. But I may hear further at night, as I expect a second messenger.”

“Long before then, Charles will have returned,” said the earl. “And now for the hut,” he added to the countess. “I have a melancholy foreboding that when I once quit the castle, I shall never come back to it.”

“Dismiss these thoughts, my dear lord,” said the priest. “Rest assured that better days are in store for you.”

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III

The Woodcutter’s Hut

PASSING through the garden, the earl and countess took a path that led them along the rocky edge of the ravine, at the bottom of which flowed the Devil’s Water.