e way, into the hands of the
Welsh, he might harbour the thought, even if he did not accuse me
openly, of conniving with Glendower. One pretext is as good as another,
however unlikely it may be, when a king desires to make a quarrel with
one of his vassals. Your offer to carry it is, then, a very seasonable
one, and goes far to get me out of the difficulty.

"In the first place, by sending it by you, I afford no ground for him
to say that I have disobeyed his orders, to send no one of my following
to his army; and in the next place, whatever suspicion he may have of
me, assuredly he can have none of the Percys, to whom he so largely
owes his crown; and that a trusted squire of Hotspur should be the
bearer of the letter, is sufficient proof that all that could be done,
was done, for its safe carriage. Should you fail to deliver it, he can,
at least, not put it down to any fault of mine.

"Sir James Burgon and Sir Philip Haverstone both offered to carry it,
urging that the danger should fall on them; and not upon you, who are
still an esquire, and have no duty towards me in the affair; and that
it were a shame that they should remain here, idle, while you rode,
perhaps, to your death.

"Assuredly, my feelings were with them and, were it not for the
circumstances in which I am placed, I should certainly intrust the
enterprise to them; but on my laying the whole matter before them, and
pointing out that the coming of two of my knights to him would be a
breach of the king's orders, they saw that, since you were willing to
undertake it, it were best that it should be so.

"I doubt not that Henry would, not unwillingly, fasten some quarrel on
me. He has his army at hand and, did he march hither, he could seize my
lands, and those of my nephew, and partition them out among his
friends; for I am in no condition to strike a single blow in my
defence. We know, well enough, that when a king wishes to get rid of
one of his nobles, there is never any great difficulty in finding a
pretext for his arrest, and execution."

"I quite understand, Sir Edmund; and for my part, I will assuredly do
my best to place this letter in the hands of the king. I shall say
that, being of Sir Henry Percy's household, and knowing that my lord
would be glad that I should have the opportunity of striking a blow
under the king's leading, I volunteered at once, when the letter
arrived, to bear it to him; and that, seeing his majesty had laid his
orders