“William Dale, sir, a yeoman of Osgoldcross,” I said.
He drew back the curtains and pushed me gently into the room. I found myself looking at a party of men seated round a great table, at which one sat with writings and charts spread out before him. All were richly attired and fully harnessed, but one sitting at the head of the table on a slightly raised seat attracted my notice at once. He was a man of fine presence, with a handsome face and bright, restless eyes. His hair, long and dark, fell in great rings over his shoulders. On his breast were I know not how many crosses and shining stars, while from his left shoulder a broad band of blue passed across his breastplate. He looked up as I entered, and seemed to regard me with astonishment, for he gazed at me from head to foot and from foot to head again.
“Whom have we here?” he said.
Another officer, who had been bending over the table looking at a chart, looked up.
“Ah,” said he, “the messenger you spoke of, Colonel Eury. Give me the packet, sir.”
I held the packet in my fingers as I looked from one to another. “The packet, sir,” I said, plucking up courage, “is for the Marquis of Newcastle, and I promised to give it into no other hands than his.”
“That is right,” he answered. “I am Lord Newcastle.”
I bowed and gave him the letter. He sat down and opened it at the table. Before he had broken the last seal, however, he turned to me again.
“From whom did you receive this, Master Dale?” he asked.
“From Captain Trevor, sir.”
“He was hurt, I think, and fell by your house?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where is that?”
“At Dale’s Field, sir, four miles south of Ferrybridge.”
“And you carried this packet straight on to York?”
“Yes, sir.”
He seemed to consider a moment and then broke the seal. Another packet fell out of the cover, and with it a sheet of paper which the Marquis took up and read. Meanwhile the eyes of the officer at the head of the table were fixed on me.
“I like thy looks, Master Dale,” said he suddenly. “God’s mercy! why, thou must be six foot four in thy stockings. Am I right, eh?”
“Yes, sir,” I answered. “Only it is very nearly six foot five.”
“Ah! a right bred Englishman indeed. Hast thou fought, then, for his Majesty?”
“No, sir,” I answered. “At least, not as a soldier.”
“And why not as a soldier, with such thew and sinew as thine?”
“Why, sir,” I answered reluctantly, “I have an old mother and a young sister at home, and there is none to protect them if I went fighting. Nevertheless—”
“Well, nevertheless—go on, man.”
“I should like to fight well enough,” I said boldly.
“Ha! I believe you, Master Dale. You look—Well, Marquis, what do you read there?”
“Little, sir, that concerns myself. This packet encloses a second one, which I am commanded to forward to your Royal Highness.”
“Ah! from his Majesty,” said the Prince, and took the packet. “ ’Tis from the King at Oxford. Your pardon, gentlemen, while I read.”
He opened the cover, and taking out the enclosure, bent over it.
Colonel Eury, who had remained at my elbow, touched me on the arm. “You can withdraw now,” he whispered.
I turned to go, but the Prince stayed me.
“Wait awhile, Master Dale,” he said: “I want thee presently.”
So I remained there while the Prince read his letter. Very soon he crushed the sheet together and turned to the officers around him.
“Now, gentlemen,” said he, “let us resume. I have here news from his Majesty which will bear weight. But, first, Marquis, tell us what you think. Do we fight or not?”
“I have already said, sir, that in my opinion it is not well for us to attempt anything yet upon the enemy. I hear there is some division amongst the generals of the Parliamentary forces, and prospect of their separation in a day or two. Again, in two days from now, Colonel Clavering will come in here from the north with three thousand men, and two thousand more are on their way from various garrisons. Will it not be well to wait for this reinforcement?”
The other officers uttered murmurs of approval at this, nodding their heads as if in echo of Lord Newcastle’s words.
“You think that wise counsel, gentlemen? Now, I have here positive and direct command from his Majesty to fight. We cannot go against that. Yes, to fight the enemy at once. So fight we must.”
There was a brief silence after the Prince had spoken. Then the Marquis of Newcastle spoke again.
“I am ready and willing, sir,” said he, “to obey your Highness as I would obey his Majesty, for I have no other desire than to do my duty as a loyal subject. What your Highness decides upon shall be done.”
“Then I decide for fighting,” said the Prince. “Nay, ’tis his Majesty that decides. Gentlemen, I doubt not we shall gain a glorious victory. And now let us to our duties.”
He rose from his chair as he spoke, and the others rising with him, fell into small groups and presently passed out talking one with another. The Marquis of Newcastle came across the chambers with bent head and grave face. He caught sight of me and paused.
“I have not forgotten you,” he said. “You shall be rewarded for your pains in bringing the packet.”
“Nay, my lord,” I said. “I want naught. I did it to serve the King.”
“I thank you, Master Dale,” he said, and passed out.
The Prince stood talking to the officer at
