there were
commissions issued in his name under similar conditions; there were
papers containing drafts, in Cromwell's own hand of statements of
doctrine declared heretical by the Six Articles, and of which copies had
been distributed through the country at his express order; there were
copies of letters to country-sheriffs ordering the release of convicted
heretics and the imprisonment of their accusers; there were evidences of
enormous bribes received by him for the perversion of justice.

Ralph finished his task one June evening, and sat dazed with work and
excitement, his fingers soiled with ink, his tired eyes staring at the
neat bundle before him.

The Privy Council, he knew, was sitting that afternoon. Even at this
moment, probably, my Lord of Essex was laying down the law, speaking in
the King's name, silencing his opponents by sheer force of will, but
with the Royal power behind him. And here lay the papers.

He imagined to himself with a fanciful recklessness what would happen if
he made his way into the Council-room, and laid them on the table. It
would be just the end of all things for his master. There would be no
more bullying and denouncing then on that side; it would be a matter of
a fight for life.

The memory of his own grudge, only five months old, rose before his
mind; and his tired brain grew hot and cloudy with resentment. He took
up the bundle in his hand and wielded it a moment, as a man might test a
sword. Here was a headsman's axe, ground and sharp.

Then he was ashamed; set the bundle down again, leaned back in his chair
and stretched his arms, yawning.

What a glorious evening it was! He must go out and take the air for a
little by the river; he would walk down towards Chelsea.

He rose up from his chair and went to the window, threw it open and
leaned out. His house stood back a little from the street; and there was
a space of cobbled ground between his front-door and the uneven stones
of the thorough fare. Opposite rose up one of the tall Westminster
houses, pushing forward in its upper stories, with a hundred diamond
panes bright in the slanting sunshine that poured down the street from
the west. Overhead rose up the fantastic stately chimneys, against the
brilliant evening sky, and to right and left the street passed out of
sight in a haze of sunlight.

It was a very quiet evening; the men had not yet begun to stream
homewards from their occupations; and the women were busy with