osition to be such, that if he be disturbed in
his sleep, he will not be fit for any business; but if you will do as
we do, you shall be welcome; and about two hours hence my father will
rise, and you may then do as you please.' This was at one o'clock of
the morning. Precisely at three, a little bell rang, announcing that
the most laborious and profound lawyer whom England has ever produced,
had begun the toilsome business of the day. It was his practice to go
to bed at nine in the evening, and wake at three, and, in every other
detail of his life, he pursued this with clock-work uniformity. When
he saw the papers laid before him by the messenger, he immediately
granted a warrant against Somerset, on a charge of murder.

The favourite, little knowing what a pitfall had been dug in his
seemingly prosperous path, was still at Royston, enjoying the most
intimate familiarity with the king, when the messenger returned.
Deception was so much of an avowed principle with King James, and was
so earnestly supported by him, as one of the functions and arts of
kingcraft, that in his hands it almost lost its treacherous character,
and assumed the appearance of sincerity. He held that a king who acted
openly and transparently, neglected his duty, as the vicegerent of the
Deity; and that, for the sake of good government and the happiness of
his people, he was bound always to conceal his intentions under false
appearances, or, when necessary, under false statements. Somerset was
sitting beside the king, whose hand rested familiarly on his shoulder,
when the warrant was served on him. The haughty favourite frowned, and
turned to his master with an exclamation against the insolence of
daring to arrest a peer of the realm in the presence of his sovereign.
But the king gave him poor encouragement, pretending to be very much
alarmed by the power of the chief-justice, and saying: 'Nay, man, if
Coke were to send for _me_, I must go.' Somerset was obliged to
accompany the messenger. The king, still keeping up his hypocrisy,
wailed over his departure--pathetically praying that their separation
might not be a long one. It was said by the bystanders, that when
Somerset was out of hearing, he was heard to say: 'The deil go wi'
thee--I shall never see thy face more.'

The earl and countess were formally indicted before their peers on a
charge of murder. It is now that the mystery of the story begins. It
has never appeared clearly what motive they