long pause followed, during which I was unable to read the expression
on her face, but presently she spoke, her voice trembling with anger or
emotion, I knew not which:--

"I hate him! If he were to touch my hand, I believe I should want to cut
it off! I hate him--that is, I try to hate him."

Her words and manner caused me uneasiness in two respects: first, it led
me to fear that she loved Hamilton; and second, in view of the rumors I
had heard connecting his name with Roger Wentworth's death, it flashed
upon me that possibly he was the man she had recognized by the light of
Noah's lanthorn. Either of these surmises, if true, was enough to mar my
peace of mind, but together they brought me trouble indeed.

I had come to look for a speedy accomplishment of my cousin's good
fortune, and also to regard Hamilton as my dearest friend among men.
Still I was helpless to remedy these evils if they really existed. What I
did at the time was to insist, first, that Frances regain her senses as
soon as possible, and second, that she say nothing of her intention to
leave Whitehall for at least ten days. To my first request she replied
that she had never been so completely in possession of her senses as at
that present moment, and my second, she positively refused to consider.

The best of women want their way, at least in part, so I said, "I abandon
my first request as unreasonable."

She looked up to me, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to frown, but she
chose the former, and I continued, "And as to my second suggestion, I
amend it to, say, five or six days."

"Three!" she insisted. So we let it stand at that, each with a sense of
triumph.

We returned to the palace, and soon I had an opportunity to ask the king
for a word privately. He graciously consented, and led me to his closet,
overlooking the River Thames. From this closet, on the second floor, a
privy stairs led down to a door which opened on a small covered porch at
the head of a flight of stone steps falling to the king's private barge
landing at the water's edge. When I noticed the narrow stairway, I had no
thought of the part it would one day play in the fortunes and misfortunes
of Frances, Hamilton, and myself.

On the king's command, I sat down near him, and he asked:--

"What can I do for you, baron? I do not remember your having ever
solicited a favor of me, and I shall be delighted to grant what you ask,
if I can."

"I seek no favor, your Majesty," I