choolmaster at
Tideswell. In appearance he was a breezy sunburnt man, with very little
of the clerk about him, and devoted to outdoor sports (which was
something of a disguise to him since he could talk hawking and riding
in mixed company with a real knowledge of the facts). He spoke in a loud
voice with a strong Derbyshire accent, which he had never lost and now
deliberately used. Mr. Ludlam looked far more of the priest: he was a
clean-shaven man, of middle-age, with hair turning to grey on his
temples, and with a very pleasant disarming smile; he spoke very little,
but listened with an interested and attentive air. Both were, of course,
dressed in the usual riding costume of gentlemen, and used good horses.

It was exceedingly good to sit here, with the breeze from over the moors
coming down on them, with cool drink before them, and the prospect of a
secure day, at any rate, in this stronghold. Their host, too, was
contented and serene, and said so, frankly.

"I am more at peace, gentlemen," he said, "than I have been for the past
five years. My son is in gaol yet; and I am proud that he should be
there, since my eldest son--" (he broke off a moment). "And I think the
worst of the storm is over. Her Grace is busying herself with other
matters."

"You mean the Spanish fleet, sir?" said Mr. Garlick.

He nodded.

"It is not that I look for final deliverance from Spain," he said. "I
have no wish to be aught but an Englishman, as I said to Mr. Bassett a
while ago. But I think the fleet will distract her Grace for a while;
and it may very well mean that we have better treatment hereafter."

"What news is there, sir?"

"I hear that the Londoners buzz continually with false alarms. It was
thought that the fleet might arrive on any day; but I understand that
the fishing-boats say that nothing as yet been seen. By the end of the
month, I daresay, we shall have news."

So they talked pleasantly in the shade till the shadows began to
lengthen. They were far enough here from the sea-coast to feel somewhat
detached from the excitement that was beginning to seethe in the south.
At Plymouth, it was said, all had been in readiness for a month or two
past; at Tilbury, my lord Leicester was steadily gathering troops. But
here, inland, it was more of an academic question. The little happenings
in Derby; the changes of weather in the farms; the deaths of old people
from the summer heats--these things were far more vital and sign