uritan,
bitterly. "Shower thy honours upon him, tyrant. Give him wealth and
titles. I could not wish him worse misfortune than thy favour."

"Hold thy scurril tongue, villain, or it shall be torn out by the
roots," said James. "Thou shalt see that I can as promptly reward those
that serve me, as thou shalt presently feel I can severely punish those
that seek to injure me. Hark ye, Count!" he added to the Spanish
Ambassador, while those around drew back a little, seeing it was his
Majesty's pleasure to confer with him in private, "this youth--this
Jocelyn Mounchensey, hath gentle bluid in his veins?--he comes of a good
stock, ha?"

"He is the representative of an old Norfolk family," De Gondomar
replied.

"What! the son of Sir Ferdinando?" demanded James, a shade crossing his
countenance, which did not escape the wily ambassador's notice.

"You have guessed right, Sire," he said. "This is Sir Ferdinando's son;
and, if I may be permitted to say so, your Majesty owes him some
reparation for the wrongs done his father."

"How! Count!" exclaimed James, with a look of slight displeasure. "Do
you venture to question our judgments on hearsay--for ye can know
naething o' your ain knowledge?"

"I know enough to be satisfied that misrepresentations were made to your
Majesty respecting this young man's father," De Gondomar replied; "for I
am well assured that if you ever erred at all, it must have been through
ignorance, and want of due information. This was what I designed to
explain more fully than I can well do now, when I availed myself of your
Majesty's gracious permission to bring the young man into your presence;
and I should then have taken leave to express how much he merited your
Majesty's favour and protection. Fortune, however, has outrun my wishes,
and given him a stronger claim upon you than any I could urge."

"Ye are right, Count," rejoined James cautiously. "He hath the strongest
claim upon us, and he shall not find us ungrateful. We will confer wi'
Steenie--wi' Buckingham, we mean--about him."

"Pardon me, Sire," said De Gondomar, "if I venture to suggest that your
Majesty hath an admirable opportunity, which I should be sorry to see
neglected, of showing your goodness and clemency, and silencing for ever
the voice of calumny, which will sometimes be raised against you."

"What mean ye, Count?" cried James. "Ye wad na hae me pardon yon
traitor?"

"Most assuredly not, Sire," De Gondomar rejoined. "But I