me down. (I need not say that on
these occasions I carried always some pistol or other weapon with me
beside my sword, for I never knew when they might not find me out.)

Mr. Sheppard's house was in a little street, that was a _cul-de-sac_,
between the Garden Grounds, which was a great open space, and the Old
Stairs on the river. It was about eight o'clock, and was beginning to be
twilight when we came.

As we descended from the coach I noticed at a little distance away a
number of fellows, very rough looking, standing together watching us;
and I perceived that they saluted my Lord who returned the salute very
heartily. I did not much like that. Who were these folks, I wondered,
who knew my Lord?

The house was very ordinary within; it was flagged with stones that had
some kind of matting upon them: the entrance was all panelled; and, what
surprised me was that no servant was to be seen. Mr. Sheppard himself
opened the door to us when we knocked.

We did not speak at all as we came in; and my Lord led me straight
through into the parlour on the left that was full of tobacco-smoke.
This was a very good room, hung all round with tapestry, though of a
poorish quality, and, though it was not yet dark, the windows were
shuttered and barred. At the table sat half a dozen persons, of whom I
knew my Lord Shaftesbury at the head of the table as usual, and Mr.
Goodenough that sat with his back to the hearth. Between these two sat a
gentleman whom I knew to be my Lord Howard of Escrick, though I had
never spoken with him. He carried himself with a very high air, and was
the only man there dressed as if he were still in Westminster; the rest
were subdued, somewhat, in their appearance. My Lord Howard looked at me
with an intolerant kind of disdain, which my Lord Essex made haste to
cover by directing me to my place.

I thought that my Lord Shaftesbury seemed very heavy this evening. He
treated me with a silent kind of civility; and so, too, did he treat the
rest. His eyes wandered away sometimes as we talked, as if he were
thinking of something else. We spoke of nothing of any importance for a
time, for Mr. Sheppard was bringing in wine with his own hands, though I
saw a number of used glasses on the press which shewed me that the
company had been here some time already.

It would be not until after ten or twelve minutes that Mr. Sheppard was
deputed to open the affair on account of which I had been sent for.

"Now then, S