g in a
Protestant Court to the power of the Catholic Faith in her own life; and
he, what was he doing? These last three days were working miracles in
him. The way he had been received by Walsingham and Aylmer, their
apparent inability to see his point of view on this foul bit of
treachery, the whole method of the Government of the day;--and above all
the picture that was floating now before his eyes over the dark lawn, of
the little cell in the Tower and the silent wrenched figure lying upon
the straw--the "gallant gentleman" as Mary had called him, who had
reckoned all this price up before he embarked on the life of a priest,
and was even now paying it gladly and thankfully, no doubt--all this
deepened the previous impressions that Anthony's mind had received; and
as he sat here amid the stir of the royal palace, again and again a
vision moved before him, of himself as a Catholic, and perhaps---- But
Isabel! What of Isabel? And at the thought of her he rose and walked to
and fro.

* * * *

Presently the servant came again to take Anthony to the Presence Chamber,
where the play was to take place.

"I understand, sir, from Mistress Corbet," said the man, closing the door
of the parlour a moment, "that you are come about Mr. Maxwell. I am a
Catholic, too, sir, and may I say, sir, God bless and prosper you in
this.--I--I beg your pardon, sir, will you follow me?"

The room was full at the lower end where Anthony had to stand, as he was
not in Court dress; and he could see really nothing of the play, and hear
very little either. The children of Paul's were acting some classical
play which he did not know: all he could do was to catch a glimpse now
and again of the protruding stage, with the curtains at the back, and the
glitter of the armour that the boys wore; and hear the songs that were
accompanied by a little string band, and the clash of the brass at the
more martial moments. The Queen and the Duke, he could see, sat together
immediately opposite the stage, on raised seats under a canopy; a group
of halberdiers guarded them, and another small company of them was ranged
at the sides of the stage. Anthony could see little more than this, and
could hear only isolated sentences here and there, so broken was the
piece by the talking and laughing around him. But he did not like to move
as Mistress Corbet had told him to be present, so he stood there
listening to the undertone