an, with whom she had had
communications more than once on Popish affairs.

Mr. John Biddell, like Marjorie's own father and his partner, was one of
those quiet folks who live through storms without attracting attention
from the elements, yet without the sacrifice of principle. He was a
Catholic, and never pretended to be anything else; but he was so little
and so harmless that no man ever troubled him. He pleaded before the
magistrates unobtrusively and deftly; and would have appeared before her
Grace herself or the Lord of Hell with the same timid and respectful
air, in his iron-rimmed spectacles, his speckless dark suit, and his
little black cap drawn down to his ears. He had communicated with
Marjorie again and again in the last two or three years on the subject
of wandering priests, calling them "gentlemen," with the greatest care,
and allowing no indiscreet word ever to appear in his letters, He
remembered King Harry, whom he had seen once in a visit of his to
London; he had assisted the legal authorities considerably in the
restoration under Queen Mary; and he had soundlessly acquiesced in the
changes again under Elizabeth--so far, at least, as mere law was
concerned.

Mr. William Bassett was a very different man. First he was the
brother-in-law of Sir Thomas FitzHerbert himself; and was entirely of
the proper spirit to mate with that fearless family. He had considerable
estates, both at Langley and Blore, in both of which places he
cheerfully evaded the new laws, maintaining and helping priests in all
directions; a man, in fact, of an ardent and boisterous faith which he
extended (so the report ran) even to magic and astrology; a man of
means, too, in spite of his frequent fines for recusancy, and aged about
fifty years old at this time, with a high colour in his face and bright,
merry eyes. Marjorie had spoken with him once or twice only.

These two men, then, first turned round in their chairs, and then stood
up to salute Marjorie, as she came into the upstairs parlour. It was a
somewhat dark room, panelled where there was space for it between the
books, and with two windows looking out on to the square.

"I thought we should see you soon," said the attorney. "We saw you come,
mistress; and the fellows that cried out on you."

"They had their deserts," said Marjorie, smiling.

Mr. Bassett laughed aloud.

"Indeed they did," he said in his deep, pleasant voice. "There were two
of them with bloody noses b