In a house not far from the Strand, there was a dark room, of somewhat large dimensions, lined with small square panels of black oak. The mantelpiece was of the same wood, richly carved with monkeys, and devils, and many a wild creature of the imagination, supporting the various cornices and crowning the three-twisted columns on either side, while, on a sort of entablature, appeared, in marquetry of sandal-wood and ebony, the whole history of King David, from his first encounter with Goliath of Gath to the death of Absalom. The figure of the Psalmist king, it is true, was not in the most harmonious proportions, his head being somewhat larger than his body, and his crown, after he had attained the dignity of empire, rather larger than his head. Goliath, from his protuberance before, must decidedly have taken but little exercise, and appeared to have had a fondness for turtle and venison, so that he might be strongly suspected of having sat as an alderman at the civic festivals of Gath. About Absalom, however, there could be no mistake, for his hair, which was of black ebony, could have belonged to nobody else on earth but himself, and greatly resembled the contents of an unpicked mattress. Some bears and stags were introduced, for reasons unassigned, and there were harps enough in various parts of the piece to have served David for twenty more books of psalms than ever he composed.^[1] Nevertheless, it was a very splendid piece of sculpture in its way, and was the only thing that enlivened the room, if we except a silver sconce of three branches, with the lights which they contained.

In this chamber, not many days after the events which we have lately related, sat a very respectable personage, about the middle age, dressed in costly, but serious-coloured apparel, of the Spanish cut, while near him appeared a gentleman considerably younger, in the highest mode of the English fashion. The countenance of the latter bore a quick, impatient, and somewhat discontented air, and while he spoke he continued to trifle with the roses in his shoes, stirring them from side to side with the point of his sword. The language that they both used was French; in which tongue, however, the elder gentleman was much more fluent than the other, although he himself did not speak it with perfect purity, mingling, from time to time, several Spanish expressions, and several Dutch ones also, with his conversation.

At the moment which we choose for the purpose of introducing them to the reader, a short pause had taken place, and each seemed buried in thought. At length the elder looked round at his companion, saying, "Well, my Lord?"

"Well, Count?" replied the other, and both fell again into thought.

"It is not impossible, I repeat, Lord Cobham," continued the elder at length, "though the sum required be large--I say it is not impossible, upon the conditions I have mentioned; but, if you look at the matter rightly, you will find that it is not less for your safety than for the security of the King my master, that these three points should be ascertained. First, at the head of the party must be one who can lay a good title to the crown of England. There is but one that I know of, and she must be ours--of course, not to rule and guide us till she be actually upon the throne, but as the colour and pretence of our opposition to the King of Scotland, the rallying-point of the party, and our justification in the eyes of Europe. Her title is better than his, inasmuch as she is directly descended from Henry the Seventh. She is also English by birth and education, which he is not; and long ago the English nation pronounced that they would not have a foreigner sit upon the throne. But not only that, I find that the law of England declares no alien can inherit landed property in the realm. How, then, can an alien, like this King James, inherit the crown, with all the domain attached to it? This I have explained to you all before, and this is absolutely necessary as the first condition. In the next place, my very good Lord, I must see some commander of great distinction engaged in the cause. Not that you are otherwise yourself than a good and skilful soldier, in whom we could have all confidence, and for whom----"

"Pooh! pooh!" cried Lord Cobham, "let us cease compliments, Count Aremberg. What you want, of course, is some man whose name and reputation, as well as his valour and skill, will inspire the whole party with trust. But I will pledge myself for such a man."

"For whom?" demanded Count Aremberg.

"None other than my old and dear friend, Sir Walter Raleigh," replied Lord Cobham. "He will never hang back when Cobham asks him to draw the sword; and, moreover, he has already received disgust which makes his blood boil. I saw him this morning, with a letter from Cecil in his hand. The King refuses to see him, and he has a cool and complacent hint that he had better resign his honourable post of captain of the guard. An auspicious commencement of a new monarch's reign, to slight and injure the best servants of the crown. What! you look dark, my noble Count, remembering whose good sword has been so often drawn against the power of Spain. But let not that be a stumbling-block. Raleigh will serve his country when Spain is our friend as well as he served her when Spain was her enemy; and whoever wishes to pull down this slovenly Scotch tyrant--whose first act in England was to violate the laws of the land he came to govern, must be a friend to our native country."

"Nay," answered Count Aremberg, "you misinterpret my looks. Courage and high qualities deserve respect as much in an enemy as in a friend; and assuredly Sir Walter Raleigh has shown all the great points of a distinguished captain. It is a pity, only, that his Queen gave him no other occupation than that of a pirate."

He could not refrain from the sarcasm; but, seeing the colour come up in Lord Cobham's cheek, he proceeded hastily, "I shall be right glad to see him draw his sword in a nobler career. But, can you be sure of him?--Have you sounded him?"

"Not yet," replied Lord Cobham,--"not yet; but I will undertake for him; only he must have money to equip his forces. That is the first necessity, and without it he is too wise to act. Now, Sir Count, to your third demand. I forget what it was--something of less importance than the others, I think."

"Not in my estimation," answered Count Aremberg. "It is, that the heads of the Catholic party in England give you their adhesion; and herein, my Lord, seems the greatest difficulty, for the favour which the King has shown to the two Lords Howard has greatly divided the feelings of those who in this country adhere to the true faith."

"Pshah!" cried Lord Cobham; "a piece of paper and a lump of wax will soon set all that to rights. I mean a papa brief, my Lord. 'Odds life! you zealous Catholics ought to know right well that there is not a man of you who will venture to refuse his aid and assistance in re-establishing the old ecclesiastical rule in England; and, I have little doubt that, were it necessary, a brief of his Holiness would be found, ere to-morrow at noon, within the limits of this good city of London, commanding all true children of the Apostolic Church to give their aid in excluding the heretic Scotchman from the throne."

"Indeed!" said Aremberg, with a doubtful look. "If it be so, his Holiness has not made his intentions known to the Court of Spain."

"Pshah! most excellent sir!" replied Lord Cobham. "Use not your diplomatic qualities on me, for it will only lengthen our discussion without attaining any end. You know of the Pope's bull right well; and your only object is to save the claim of the Infanta. But, be assured, that no alien will ever sit upon the throne of England, if James be rejected."

Count Aremberg smiled, and it must be remarked that his smile was always a coarse and unpleasant one.

"Well," he said, "granting that it be as you declare, and that the King of Spain be willing to aid in the great and laudable object of re-establishing the Catholic religion in these realms, still, as he must make a sacrifice of the claims of the Infanta, he is entitled to some compensation. What have you to propose on that head?"

"We will first terminate the question of the three conditions you require, worthy Count," replied Lord Cobham. "Two of them are disposed of: you have the Lady Arabella as the head of the party, Sir Walter Raleigh as its military leader; and I have shown you good means of insuring that the Catholics of England will readily draw the sword for a lady, whom we have every reason to believe well disposed to that church. However, if you want more proof, I can bring you the head of one of our chief Catholic families, and two excellent priests of your religion, named Fathers Watson and Clarke, who will pledge themselves for the rest of their community. The good fathers are below even now, and Sir Griffin Markham will be here in a few minutes."

He rose as he spoke, as if to call the priests into the room; but Count Aremberg stopped him, saying, "Stay, my Lord, stay. Give me yet one minute of your private company. The last point is perhaps the most important of all."

"Ay, so I thought," cried Lord Cobham.

"What is the King of Spain to receive as an equivalent," continued Count Aremberg, "for relinquishing the claims of the Infanta?"

"I will show you what her claims are worth," said Lord Cobham, putting his hand in his pocket: "thus much, and no more, most excellent Count;" and he laid a silver groat upon the table, pointing to it with the fore-finger of his right hand.

"'Tis a small sum," observed the Count, "for very great claims. But I did think that something was mentioned about the loan or gift of six hundred thousand Spanish crowns. Now this, my noble Lord, is a considerable amount for any prince to give, especially when it is to be employed for the purpose of doing away the claim of his own family, though that claim be but worth a groat. Your Lordship must see," he added, with a dry laugh, "that something as an equivalent must be assigned to the King before he can entertain your proposals."

Cobham frowned, and bit his lip. He could not but feel that there was much force in what the Spanish ambassador said; that he had no right to expect, indeed, that the King of Spain, whatever might be his bigotry in favour of the Church of Rome, would give so large a sum of money, and at the same time resign long-cherished, though chimerical hopes, without some strong human consideration totally independent of religious zeal. He was not prepared, however, with any proposal to meet Count Aremberg's objection, and consequently remained silent, turning the matter moodily in his mind. Here the conference might have broken off, perhaps; but a quick step was heard upon the stairs, and he exclaimed,

"Here comes Sir Griffin Markham! It were as well to be silent with him regarding this difficulty. The Catholics are easily discouraged. I will discuss this question in secret with you hereafter."

As he spoke, the door was thrown open, and in came, booted and spurred, a cavalier younger than either of the other two, with a frank and somewhat reckless bearing, and an air of affected indifference, as if he were entering some gay drawing-room.

"Ha! George," cried Lord Cobham, "is that you? I thought it was Markham. When did you arrive?"

"Five minutes and a half ago," replied Sir George Brooke. "I saw the King safely housed at Theobald's, and rode on hither with all speed. Monday will see him at the Charter House, my good brother, where you need not show yourself unless you like, for you will not have too gracious a reception."

"You know Count Aremberg, I think?" rejoined Lord Cobham. "Count, you know my brother?"

The Spanish ambassador bowed; and taking up the cover of a richly-chased cup which stood upon the table, he said, "This is exquisitely wrought, my Lord. Pray, are your goldsmiths in England equal to such nice work as this?"

"Nay, that came from Italy," replied Lord Cobham, impatiently. "But, to return to the matter before us, your Excellency need not fear my brother. He is the soul of our party."

"I have nought to say more than I have said," replied Count Aremberg. "I am here but to learn your wishes, and to hear your proposals; very willing to give you any aid and assistance in my power--with due regard for the interests of my master, the King of Spain."

"Well, Count, what does the King want?" cried George Brooke, casting himself nonchalantly into a chair. "There is excellent brawn at Oxford, excellent cheese in the county of Cheshire, capital venison all over England; but, bating these articles, we have nothing else to give that I know of."

"Except, it would seem, a crown," replied Count Aremberg; "for that trifle you appear profusely disposed to deal withal, taking it from one, denying it to another, bestowing it upon a third. What I ask, sir, is, when you require his most Catholic Majesty to resign the claims of the Infanta, and to bestow upon you six hundred thousand crowns, for the purpose of raising a young lady of your own country to the throne, what inducement have you to offer him?"

"Hum!" said George Brooke, pursing up his lips; "various things that his Majesty has sought for many a year. First, a great deal of confusion in England--perhaps a civil war. What a splendid set-off against the destruction of the Armada! Secondly, the re-establishment of the Roman-catholic religion. We may throw in a few fires at Smithfield; and, if the matter be fully completed, perhaps we may grant a touch or two of the Inquisition, at least as far as the rack and thumb-screws go; though, as to the whole order of St. Dominic, and other piebald gentry of the kind, I cannot exactly promise;--that must depend upon circumstances."

"Weighty considerations these, certainly," answered Count Aremberg, gravely; "but I do not think that they would figure well in a dispatch."

"Better in a private and confidential letter," said George Brooke, in the same easy tone. "However, for the public document, we will have a firm and lasting peace between England and Spain,--an alliance offensive and defensive, if you will."

"A treaty!" exclaimed Count Aremberg, shaking his head; "we have too much parchment in Spain already. The kingdom is covered with sheepskin."

"Can you get no wool off it?" asked George Brooke. "Methinks just now, with the most Christian King of France and Navarre on the one side, Meynheer Van Barneveldt on the other, and the unpleasant aspect of the Emperor on a third, the Court of Spain, and more especially that of Brussels, might be very well pleased to have the helping hand of England, and rather see Raleigh thundering on the coast of Holland, than setting the Indies in a flame, and sweeping the sea of your galleons."

"Were England at peace with herself," said the Spanish ambassador, "this proposal might have some weight."

"But she shall be at peace within a year, most excellent Count," replied George Brooke. "Let us but harpoon this Scotch porpoise, and confine him for a season in the Tower, and then the very hem of sweet Arabella's satin petticoat shall sweep the land clear of all contention."

"But what," asked Count Aremberg, "if she choose to give her fair hand to some enemy of Spain?"

Lord Cobham smiled, saying, "You are wondrous cautious, Count."

"Ha! are you there?" cried George Brooke. "Well, there we are prepared to meet you. We will engage that the lady shall be guided in her choice by the King of Spain."

"Now you speak reason," replied Count Aremberg; "but yet I will tell you that it will be more satisfactory to me and to my master, if the lady herself make the engagement. In a word, as these are your proposals and not mine, if you can gain me the assurance under the lady's own hand, guaranteed by yourselves, that she, when Queen of England, will grant full toleration to the Catholic faith, will sign a lasting peace between England and Spain, and be guided by the sovereign I represent in her choice of a husband, the matter may go forward: if not, I must pause."

"It shall be done," said George Brooke, and Lord Cobham echoed the same words. "But," continued the former, "are you ready to give us assurance that if we do, our request is granted?

"Nay," replied the ambassador, "I cannot give a definite promise. That must depend upon the King himself."

"Then this is all foolery," said Lord Cobham. "The opportunity will be lost sending between London and Madrid."

"You know right well, my Lord," replied Count Aremberg, "that I was not sent to England on this matter, and consequently I have no instructions."

He saw a cloud come over the brow of George Brooke, the bolder and less cautious negotiator of the two, and added a few words to soften the disappointment which was evidently felt, and to give such hopes as might prevent the conspiracy from being abandoned in despair.

"I can but speak my own individual opinion," continued Count Aremberg, "but, such as it is, you shall have it frankly."

"Frankly?" cried George Brooke, with a bitter laugh.

"Yes, on my life," answered the ambassador; "and it is, that there cannot be the slightest doubt his Majesty the King will at once consent to supply the money you require, if you give him the assurances which I have pointed out. Nay, more," he added, in a quiet tone, "should need be, he will, I, feel very sure, furnish you with a body of soldiers sufficient to take the field at once."

"No, no," cried George Brooke, "no Spanish soldiers in England, noble Count. The people have not yet forgot some late passages, in which the Spanish soldiers and the English were less friendly than is pleasant. They did nothing, it is true, but cut each other's throats; but still that does not cement amity."

"They need not be Spanish soldiers," said Count Aremberg, in reply; "they may be from Flanders."

"Still they will be the troops of a foreign sovereign," answered Lord Cobham.

"Not if you raise and pay them yourselves," said Count Aremberg, always bearing in view the strong inclination of the Spanish crown to regain a hold upon England.

"That might be done, it is true," said George Brooke; "but that is an after consideration; the present question is about the money. If we once have means of engaging a sufficient number, by showing them that we have strong support, and that the enterprise is feasible, we may seize upon James, confine him in the Tower, and, with the command of the capital, which we shall certainly possess, we have little resistance to fear. An outbreak may take place here or there amongst the Scotchman's friends in the country, but they will be speedily suppressed. The two Howards must remain neuter; for, though their inclination would lead them to James, their religion will bind them to us. Northumberland, though he will not begin the strife, will go with us heart and soul when it is begun; and so will a thousand other noble gentlemen, who have long suffered in their faith, or in their persons. Others, again, will be upon our side, from hatred to the Scotch, and disgust at the swine that Scotland has sent us. The great body of the church will go with us; for ambition is the great vice of the ecclesiastics, and the reestablishment of the Romish hierarchy must naturally open to them a thousand new roads to their end. Many a sober Protestant parson regrets the confessional, and the mass, and the procession, and the embroidered garments, and the lordly rule of each priest in his parish; and we should have thousands gladly coming back to the good old days of Rome. But the question is now, how are we to get the means of setting the enterprise agoing? James's movements are uncertain; on Monday he will be at the Charter House; on Wednesday or Thursday at the Tower; where he may be a fortnight hence no one can tell. You cannot count upon a reply from Spain under six weeks, and it is necessary to secure the bird while he is in the net. Six weeks' delay will be ruinous."

Count Aremberg paused and mused, and, after waiting for a minute or two, in expectation of his reply, Lord Cobham exclaimed, "Unless we can have some certainty in less time than that, it were better to give the whole thing up, and think no more of it."

"If the question be but regarding the money," said the Count, "I doubt not the Archduke can settle that point at once. I believe that, sooner than suffer a scheme for delivering his fellow Catholics from the yoke under which they now groan, to fail, he would advance the sum out of his private treasury."

"Although that may cause some delay," said George Brooke, "still it will not present such an obstacle as the other plan. If this can be done, then, and your Excellency is enabled by the next courier from Brussels to treat definitely, we will go on, and obtain for you the assurances you require from the Lady Arabella. If not, I fear the enterprise must fall to the ground."

"I will write immediately," replied Aremberg, "and send the dispatch by a trusty messenger."

"It were well," said George Brooke, "that he were accompanied by some one on our part. What think you, Cobham--will Watson go?"

"Nay, Clarke is the shrewder of the two," replied his brother.

"Settle that between yourselves as you like, gentlemen," said Count Aremberg, with the appearance of perfect indifference--though, to say truth, he was not at all disinclined that a great part of the responsibility of the transaction should be removed from his own shoulders, and that he should escape the necessity of committing himself on some delicate points in writing. "Choose your messenger discreetly, and in my dispatch I will refer to him as intrusted by certain English lords and gentlemen to convey their opinions upon various points to the Archduke. Now, however, I will hie me home, for I have been some time absent; and it must not be forgotten that I am at this moment sick in bed."

"I wish your Excellency a happy delivery," cried George Brooke, with one of his light laughs. "I shall come and inquire after the baby in a day or two."

"I trust it may be a stout and healthy child," replied Count Aremberg, in the same tone, "and at all events we will baptize it in the Catholic faith."

Thus saying, he took up a large cloak which lay on the back of one of the chairs, enveloped himself completely in its folds, and, lighted by George Brooke, descended the stairs, at the bottom of which he was joined by a man dressed as a servant, who was called from a little room at the side. Without a farther word, but "Good night," the ambassador issued forth into the street, and walked along for some way, with the man close beside him.

"What have you learnt, Gonzalez?" he asked at length, in Spanish, looking up and down the street by the moonlight, and seeing that no one was near.

"According to their showing, your Excellency, full one-third of the inhabitants of London are prepared to rise, and more than one-half of the country. Making a little allowance for exaggeration, the discontent seems to be very extensive, and likely to spread."

"What did they give you?" demanded Count Aremberg.

"Fifty gold angels," replied the man, after a short pause.

"Ha!" said the Count, "are you sure they did not discover you for what you are?"

"Quite certain," he replied; "for though they were civil in the matter of the money, the two priests kept me standing all the time."

"Then his Holiness is determined the matter shall proceed," said Aremberg. "Fifty angels to a serving-man do not come from two poor conspirators, or two persecuted Catholic priests. It may, perhaps, turn out something of importance, after all."