I trusted
she would not refuse to accompany me, that my lord might pass for
her. I pressed her to come immediately, as we had no time to lose."
This sudden announcement, which a less sagacious mind might have
deemed injudicious, had the effect which Lady Nithisdale expected;
the undertaking was one of such risk, that it could only be an
enterprise of impulse, except to her whose affections were deeply
interested in the result. The consent of Mrs. Mills was carried by
storm, as well as that of another coadjutor, a Mrs. Morgan, who
usually bore the name of Hilton, to whom Lady Nithisdale dispatched
a messenger, begging her to come immediately. "Their surprise and
astonishment," remarks Lady Nithisdale, speaking of these, her two
confidantes, "made them consent, without ever thinking of the
consequences." The scheme was, that Mrs. Mills, who was tall and
portly, should pass for Lord Nithisdale; Mrs. Morgan was to carry
concealed the bundle of "clothes that were to serve Mrs. Mills when
she left her own behind her." After certain other preparations, all
managed with infinite dexterity and shrewdness, these three heroines
set out in a coach for the Tower, into which they were to be
admitted, under the plea of taking a last leave of Lord Nithisdale.
Lady Nithisdale, even whilst her heart throbbed with agitation,
continued to support her spirits. "When we were in the coach;" she
relates, "I never ceased talking, that they her companions might
have no leisure to repent.

"On our arrival at the Tower, the first I introduced was Mrs. Morgan
(for I was only allowed to take in one at a time). She brought in
the clothes which were to serve Mrs. Mills when she left her own
behind her. When Mrs. Morgan had taken off what she had brought for
my purpose, I conducted her back to the staircase; and in going I
begged her to send my maid to dress me, that I was afraid of being
too late to present my last petition that night if she did not come
immediately. I dispatched her safe, and went partly down stairs to
meet Mrs. Mills, who had the precaution to hold her handkerchief to
her face, as is natural for a woman to do when she is going to take
her last farewell of a friend on the eve of his execution. I had
indeed desired her to do so, that my lord might go out in the same
manner. Her eyebrows were r