“Nor are we all of yours, Thomas i” Elizabeth burst out shrilly.
“Ah, well, you have been influenced, bewitched by all these priests “
“Silence!” said Lady Arundell suddenly. “I will not have my children talk in such a way! Francis … Thomas has presumed on an over-kindly upbringing to disgrace himself by speaking against his father. He exceeded his rights by sending for you. You are welcome, of course, but...”
“I think Thomas has some right on his side,” said Sir Francis quietly. “I would disown a son who behaved as he has done, but I pray I should never give him such reason. Is it true, Anthony, that you have been disposing of lands and farms to give the money to the priests that pass this way?”
That word had been spoken again and this time not by an angry boy.
“The money is my own to do,with as I will.”
“Some must be held in jointure with my sister. She brought you property worth œ1,000 a year.”
“It has not been touched. My mother, who was Margaret Chamond of Launcells, left each of her children personal property, and it is that which I have sold.”
Elizabeth was opposite me. She was not a pretty girl but she had grown quickly to womanhood in the last year. She was wearing a severe frock of brown velvet with a doublet like a man’s but with much longer points. It was suddenly as if her bodice was too tight. She put her hand up to her throat, trying to loose the standing collar. She wrenched it open and pulled out the chain about her throat. On its end was a gold crucifix.
She said in a loud broken voice: “Holy Mary, Blessed Virgin, Blessed Mother of Christ, pray for me! ” and burst into tears. Then she pushed back her chair and ran from the room.
Both Sir Anthony and Godfrey Brett crossed themselves at her words. You could hear her feet clattering down the stone passage towards the other stairs. A servant came in bringing more claret wine. We all waited in silence until he had gone.
As the door closed Thomas began to speak, but this time it was Sir Francis who waved him impatiently to silence.
“My brother for so you have been by marriage for twentyeight years my brother, your life is your own to do with as you will, and I have long held you in esteem. But there is a point at which it is the duty of every Englishman to take issue with you. It is especially my duty as a Deputy Lieutenant of the county. In harbouring Jesuit priests from Rheims and Douai you are guilty of a treachery against the realm. By receiving them, by sheltering them, by dispensing money to them, you are furthering the interests of Spain and making more possible the conquest of this country with all that would follow. Whatever you may feel, I must arrest this man and deliver him in custody to the Sheriff.”
Sir Anthony made some convulsive movement as if trying to stand up, but all he did was upset a goblet which rolled across the table spilling the dregs of red wine on the cloth.
“So that’s it, eh? That’s why you come to call attended by no fewer than four personal servants. And do you intend to arrest me also?”
“This man is your secretary, no more, you say so yourself. Culpable fault need not attach to you. You were mistaken in the man, that’s all.”
“And, having discovered my mistake, I am to denounce him? Oh, no, Francis. The spirit of Cuthbert Mayne, the first martyr in this holy war, will see that I don’t do that. I will go in chains with Brett, make no mistake. Even to the rack.”
“You need denounce no one,” said Sir Francis, “only keep silent for the sake of your family.”
With unsteady hands Lady Arundell picked up the overturned goblet. She did not look at her husband.
“Sir,” said Godfrey Brett, “I have a suggestion to make.”
Everyone looked suddenly at him, at his narrow ascetic face, at his deep-set unyielding eyes. He too was now fingering a crucifix.
“Well?”
“I think you are reckoning without me. That would be a mistake.”
“We are reckoning that you will soon have lost your power to harm, to corrupt, to subvert. That is the important thing.”
“I have not lost my power to harm this household, though it is the last thing I would wish to do. Others have passed through Tolverne before me. One at least Humphry Petersen was caught and put to the question. He gave away no secrets even to the end. It would be unwise to suppose that I would be so brave.”
Sir Francis Godolphin pushed aside a candlestick so that he could see the other man more clearly. “Explain yourself.”
“I have a mission, Sir Francis. You have a mission. We meet, by misfortune, under the roof of a common friend. That constrains us both. If I am caught here or hereabouts I shall necessarily implicate Tolverne and those in it. Sir Anthony, as you see, will not deny his part, so you cannot help but cause his family’s ruin.”
“And your suggestion?”
“My suggestion is that I leave tomorrow unimpeded by you. Twentyfour hours afterwards you come to seek me. By then I shall be well away from here; if I am caught there will be no need even to mention the name of Arundell.”
The grease had spilled with the movement of the candlestick and was running down the brass base. Sir Francis turned to his brotherin-law.
“You see, Anthony, how your secretary thinks first of his own skin.”
“That is untrue,” said Godfrey Brett. “We all come prepared for martyrdom, but only as a final resort. It is our duty to do our utmost to avoid it especially when it would involve others of the true faith. It’s a simple bargain I’m offering you.”
“Bargain!” shouted Thomas. “D’you think we should “
“Silence!” said Sir Francis. “… And how do we know that if you are caught later you will not betray your patron when put to the question?”
“I cannot promise you that,” said Brett; “for we none of us know our own endurance. But I can promise you that I would rather die. Therefore that way you have much to gain. If I am taken here you are lost already.”
“And if you evade us, as you clearly hope to, then another spy remains in England to spread blasphemy and treason and perhaps assassination!”
Brett inclined his head. “It is a risk. You must weigh the advantages of one course against another.”
Sir Anthony said gently: “Godfrey, I don’t like this talk. I’m not afraid of prison or shackles or disgrace. Our blessed Lord suffered more than we ever shall. It is an hpnour to follow in His footsteps. Let us be taken together.”
Brett patted his hand. It was a gesture very out of place in a secretary. “We have not only ourselves to think of, sir. We have to consider our loved ones, our cause, the greater good. It is only considering the greater good that constrains me to make this bargain with my enemies.”
Sir Francis poured himself a half glass of wine. It was a first sign of a lessening tension. “Are you an Oxford man?” he asked.
Brett inclined his head. “Yes, sir.”
“You argue like one. And seem to have given my brother a like disease.” Sir Francis carefully ignored Thomas and looked over his head at Lady Arundell. “1 exceed my duty if I agree to this, Anne, I do indeed. No doubt there are hot-heads here who are for immediate action; but I think this proposition should be considered. It might well be considered until the morning.”
CHAPTER SIX
I awoke thinking at first that I had dreamed the noise, that someone was slamming a door in my face. Then I heard voices, someone screaming for help.
I was afoot at once, struggling into my slops, and had passed through Thomas’s room while he was still shaking the sleep out of his eyes.
On the front landing was a light. The wide banisters of the stairs threw bars on the panelled walls from the single candle burning in the well of the hall. Elizabeth was down there, fully dressed, bending over a crumpled cloak. As I slithered down, bare feet slipping on the polished oak, I saw that beside her was the fallen figure of Sir Anthony.