Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

41 Tin i-: r r
KM' >mptroller
ants. 1.
of ii Mill the Lord Chief
I enter.' 8ftli ; >olly but sec that their attend-
\Vh1 -HIM; of this tumult'.'' inquired Egerton,
round as the crowd ttg collected, in the court.
epped lorward, and huldly addressing the
The Karl o ,
speaker, replied
'
A plot is laid ag:iinst my life; letters had been counterfeited
in my name, and assassins have even been appointed to murder
in- in my lied. \\ e have met, therefore, to defend our lives,
and surely in doing so \ve are fully justified since mine enemies
'
cannot be satisfied unless they suck my blood
If such be really the case,' interrupted Popham, '
let it be
proved; we will then relate it fairly, and the Queen
will do im-
partial justice.'
'
Impartial justice! '
impatiently exclaimed the Earl of Southampton,
who was standing near Essex. 'What trust can we
place in the commands of her Majesty, when they are ineffectual
to restrain those on whom she imposes them? Did not Lord
drey, no! withstanding that the Queen had enjoined on him to
keep the peace towards me. did he not, with many of his follow-
ers, attack me on I
he Sir.uid as I went on horseback, accompanied
by'one footboy only, who lost his hand in defending me?
Ku'erton, who had listened to this debate with evident impatience,
now turned abruptly to Lord Essex and asked him if he
would explain hisgric.vanees in private; but before that nobleman
had time to reply, several voices exclaimed: '
They wish to entrap
you; you only lose your time in thus discussing with them.'
. appearing undecided what course to adopt, the cries became
more urgent. It was in vain that Kgerton, in the Queen's
name, demanded that every man should lay down his arms. The
l.ar! then looked towards his friends, as if to assure them that
what he was about to do would not compromise his cause or
theirs and, without saying a word, turned and entered the house.
The I'iriU were about to follow, when !hc sinister cries of '
Kill
which broke forth
them! kill them! Keep them as '
pledges!
from the assembly, made them hesitate on the threshold. But
there are moments when, fear being useless and danger unavoidable,
men must of necessity affect indifference, even if they do
not feel it. Inside or outside the mansion their lives were equally
in peril; they therefore continued to follow Essex. He conducted
them up stairs, then through two rooms guarded by muske-
teers, ami at length introduced them into a back chamber,
where, having desired them to have patience for half an hour or
so, he was preparing to leave them, when Egerlon, seeing him
move towards the door, detained him, expostulating with some
eagerness.
'
My lord, we came hither to obey her Majesty's commands;
our time is therefore not our own, and cannot be thus wasted. I
thought that you were going to explain to us your grievances,
that we might lay them fairly before the Queen; but if such is
iur intention, let us depart immediately.'
smiled at the impotent anger
truth his captives.
' You wish to know my grievances," ho said; '
of those who were now in
well, in a few
hours all London shall be acquainted with them, and Ishall have
laid them myself before the Queen.'
lie departed, closing the door carefully, and those insidehcard
the. unwelcome sound of bolts being fastened, a,nd listened with
no 1'
1
"lings
to the order which he