master's table. Matters of Church and State, inextricably
confused to other eyes, was simple to this man; he understood
intuitively where the key of each situation lay, and dealt with them one
after another briefly and effectively. And yet with all this no man wore
an appearance of greater leisure; he would gossip harmlessly for an
hour, and yet by the end had said all that he wished to say, and
generally learnt, too, from his companion whoever he might be, all he
wished to learn. Ralph had watched him more than once at this business;
had seen delicate subjects introduced in a deft unsuspicious sentence
that roused no alarm, and had marvelled at his power to play with men
without their dreaming of what was going forward.

And now it was Master More that was threatened. Ralph knew well that
there was far more behind the scenes than he could understand or even
perceive, and recognised that the position of Sir Thomas was more
significant than would appear, and that developments might be expected
to follow soon.

For himself he had no shrinking from his task. He understood that
government was carried on by such methods, and that More himself would
be the first to acknowledge that in war many things were permissible
that would be outrageous in times of peace, and that these were times of
war. To call upon a friend, to eat his bread and salt, and talk
familiarly with him, and to be on the watch all the while for a weak
spot through which that friend might be wounded, seemed to Ralph,
trained now and perfected in Cromwell's school, a perfectly legitimate
policy, and he walked homewards this summer evening, pleased with this
new mark of confidence, and anxious to acquit himself well in his task.

* * * * *

The house that Ralph occupied in Westminster was in a street to the west
of the Abbey, and stood back a little between its neighbours. It was a
very small one, of only two rooms in width and one in depth, and three
stories high; but it had been well furnished, chiefly with things
brought up from Overfield Court, to which Ralph had taken a fancy, and
which his father had not denied him. He lived almost entirely in the
first floor, his bedroom and sitting-room being divided by the narrow
landing at the head of the stairs that led up to the storey above, which
was occupied by Mr. Morris and a couple of other servants. The lower
storey Ralph used chiefly for purposes of business, and for interv