our that you convey
nothing from the prisoners, or else submit to be searched."

Richard smiled, and observed that men were wont to trust his word of
honour, to which the knight heartily replied that he was sure of it,
and he then followed the warder up stone stairs and along vaulted
passages, where the clang of their footsteps made his heart sink. The
prisoners were in the White Tower, the central body of the grim
building, and the warder, after unlocking the door, announced, with no
unnecessary rudeness, but rather as if he were glad of any comfort to
his charges, "Here, sirs, is a gentleman to visit you."

They had both risen at the sound of the key turning in the lock, and
Antony Babington's face lighted up as he exclaimed, "Mr. Talbot! I
knew you would come if it were possible."

"I come by my Lord's desire," replied Richard, the close wringing of
his hand expressing feeling to which he durst not give way in words.

He took in at the moment that the room, though stern and strong, was
not squalid. It was lighted fully by a window, iron-barred, but not
small, and according to custom, the prisoners had been permitted to
furnish, at their own expense, sufficient garniture for comfort, and as
both were wealthy men, they were fairly provided, and they were not
fettered. Both looked paler than when Richard had seen them in
Westminster Hall two days previously. Antony was as usual neatly
arrayed, with well-trimmed hair and beard, but Tichborne's hung
neglected, and there was a hollow, haggard look about his eyes, as if
of dismay at his approaching fate. Neither was, however, forgetful of
courtesy, and as Babington presented Mr. Talbot to his friend, the
greeting and welcome would have befitted the halls of Dethick or
Tichborne.

"Sirs," said the young man, with a sad smile irradiating for a moment
the restless despair of his countenance, "it is not by choice that I am
an intruder on your privacy; I will abstract myself so far as is
possible."

"I have no secrets from my Chidiock," cried Babington.

"But Mr. Talbot may," replied his friend, "therefore I will only first
inquire whether he can tell us aught of the royal lady for whose sake
we suffer. They have asked us many questions, but answered none."

Richard was able to reply that after the seclusion at Tixall she had
been brought back to Chartley, and there was no difference in the
manner of her custody, moreover, that she had recovered from her attack
o