“And I will either win you for my bride or lay my head upon the block,” cried Seymour. “Hear me, Elizabeth! I have a great and daring project in hand, which, if it succeeds—and that it will succeed I nothing doubt—will set me in the position you would have me occupy. It is not needful that I should be more explicit. You will understand the sort of enterprise on which I am engaged.”
“You have said enough to satisfy me it is full of peril.”
“All such enterprises must be hazardous. But I have no fear. And I have now a double incitement to go on. My preparations will be speedily completed. When they are, you will hear of events that will surprise you.”
“In this enterprise you have no design against the king, my brother?”
“None,” rejoined Seymour. “My sole aim is against the lord protector. I want his post. And since he will not yield it peaceably, I mean to take it. ‘Twill be a death-struggle between us.”
“And you mean to strike this blow speedily?”
“As speedily as maybe. In a few weeks—perhaps in a few days. We must not meet again till the struggle is over. I would not have you compromised. Should I fall, will you sometimes bestow a thought upon me, Elizabeth?”
She made no reply, but fell upon his bosom. Straining her in his arms, he bade her a passionate farewell; then tore himself from her embrace, rushed out of the room, mounted his steed, and returned with his esquire to London.
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Chapter V
HOW THE ADMIRAL SOUGHT TO GAIN POSSESSION OF THE TOWER
We must pass on to the early part of January, 1549. Ever since his interview with the Princess Elizabeth, which had lighted an inextinguishable fire in his breast, the admiral had been actively engaged in preparing his plans, and had now, as he conceived, well-nigh brought them to maturity. The daring nature of his project will be understood from a conversation which occurred about this time between him and his confidant, Ugo, who had just returned from Bristol, where he had been to procure a large sum of money from Sir William Sharington.
“How much hast thou brought me, Ugo?” demanded the admiral; “the whole ten thousand pounds, I hope?”
“Only a thousand pounds, I am sorry to say, my lord,” replied the esquire. “But Sir William promises the remainder in a few days.”
“Curses on him for the delay!” cried the admiral, with a look of disappointment. “I want all the money I can get together. I am drained at every pore, and unless I continue to pay them, my adherents will drop off. My coffers are well-nigh exhausted, and how to replenish them I cannot tell. That wreck on the Cornish coast only produced a few hundred pounds, and the Spanish galleon, which Hornbeak and Blades ought to have secured, has slipped out of their hands. I lack treasure, Ugo, and must have it.”
“Your Highness must be content to wait till Sharington is able to supply you, or till some prizes fall into your hands. We have been rather unlucky of late; but doubtless fortune will change.”
“I cannot afford to wait. Ten thousand men are ready to rise when I give them the signal—but I want wherewithal to pay and maintain them.”
“You have enough for present purposes, methinks, my lord,” rejoined Ugo; “and your men will pay and maintain themselves, if you will let them.”
“I would not have them plunder,” said the admiral. “Yet I see not how it can be avoided. I have an important post for thee, Ugo, and I know thou wilt discharge it well.”
“What is it, my lord?”
“No less than the command of Holt Castle. Thou must hold it in my name when the rising takes place. The fortress has five hundred men, and is well provided with stores and ammunition.”
“I am aware of that, my lord, and feel the importance of the trust you confide in me.”
“I have partisans in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, who will rouse the disaffected in those counties,” pursued the admiral. “My adherents are also numerous and strong in Norfolk and Suffolk; and in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, as thou knowest, there are hundreds who will flock round my standard when it is raised. The insurrection will be general and simultaneous.”