ns as though I had been standing again at my father's
knee and not in the presence of the Duke of York? Yes, my race was run
before it was begun. The Court was not the place for me. In great
bitterness I flung myself down on the cushions and sat there, out of
heart and very dismal. A moment passed; then the curtain behind me was
drawn aside, and an amused laugh sounded in my ear as I turned. A young
man leapt over the couch and threw himself down beside me, laughing
heartily and crying,

"Well done, well done! I'd have given a thousand crowns to see their
faces!"

I sprang to my feet in amazement and confusion, bowing low, for the
young man by me was the Duke of Monmouth.

"Sit, man," said he, pulling me down again. "I was behind the curtain,
and heard it all. Thank God, I held my laughter in till they were gone.
The liberties of the Kingdom and the safety of the Reformed Religion!
Here's a story for the King!" He lay back, seeming to enjoy the jest
most hugely.

"For the love of heaven, sir," I cried, "don't tell the King! I'm
already ruined."

"Why, so you are, with my good uncle," said he. "You're new to Court, Mr
Dale?"

"Most sadly new," I answered in a rueful tone, which set him laughing
again.

"You hadn't heard the scandalous stories that accuse the Duke of loving
the Reformed Religion no better than the liberties of the Kingdom?"

"Indeed, no, sir."

"And my Lord Arlington? I know him! He held your arm, to the last, and
he smiled to the last?"

"Indeed, sir, my lord was most gentle to me."

"Aye, I know his way. Mr Dale, for this entertainment let me call you
friend. Come then, we'll go to the King with it." And, rising, he seized
me by the arm and began to drag me off.

"Indeed your Grace must pardon me----" I began.

"But indeed I will not," he persisted. Then he suddenly grew grave as he
said, "I am for the liberties of the Kingdom and the safety of the
Reformed Religion. Aren't we friends, then?"

"Your Grace does me infinite honour."

"And am I no good friend? Is there no value in the friendship of the
King's son--the King's eldest son?" He drew himself up with a grace and
a dignity which became him wonderfully. Often in these later days I see
him as he was then, and think of him with tenderness. Say what you will,
he made many love him even to death, who would not have lifted a finger
for his father or the Duke of York.

Yet in an instant--such slaves are we of our moods--I was more