meanour, I am perfectly sure that what you
have to say is none of the unimportant things with which we are too
often troubled here; and I may therefore confidently add, that, after
you have given me a knowledge of the business, either the King or
Lord Portland, as you may think fit, will see you to-morrow."
"Well, sir," replied the visitor, "I have no right to stand on
ceremony, especially at such a moment as this. What I have to say
would have been much more easily said to Lord Portland himself, as he
knows under what circumstances we met, knows probably who I am, and
would make allowances for my peculiar views. YOU may think it next to
high treason for me to call that Personage, who was not long ago
William Prince of Orange, by any other name than King of England"
"Oh no! oh no!" said Keppel with a smile--"names are but names, my
good sir; and in this boisterous land of England we are accustomed to
see things stripped of all ornaments. The difficulty you mention is
easily obviated, by calling him of whom you just have spoken, 'The
High Personage.'"
"Names, indeed, are nothing," said the other with a smile. "What I
have got to say, sir, is this, that I have undoubted reason to know
that the life of the High Personage we refer to is in hourly danger;
that there are persons in this realm who have not only designed to
kill him, but have laid with skill and accuracy their schemes for
effecting that purpose. I have heard that he is very apt--for I have
never seen the royal hunt--to go out to the chase nearly alone, or
rather, I should say, very slightly attended; and I came to tell Lord
Portland that if this were continued, that High Personage's life
could not be counted upon from day to day. Let him be well guarded;
let there be always some one near him as he rides; and, as far as
possible, let some of his guards be ready to escort him home on his
return."
"Your information," said Keppel, "is certainly very important, and the
precaution you recommend wise and judicious; but yet I fear you must
give us some more information to render it at all efficient--I say
this, not at all from doubting you, but because we have had,
especially of late, so many false reports of plots which never
existed, that the King has become careless and somewhat rash. Nor
would it be possible for either Lord Portland or myself to persuade
him to take any precautions unless we had some more definite
information. If you know that such a plot really exists, you must
also know the na