Not content, however, with the
discovery he had made at Wimbledon, James had secretly despatched a
serjeant-at-arms to Rome, where Lord Roos had taken up his residence
after leaving England, and obtained from him and from his confidential
servant Diego, a statement incriminating Lady Lake, and denouncing the
confession as a wicked forgery. Luke Hatton, moreover, who had gone
over, as already intimated, to the side of the Countess, and who took
care to hide his own complicity in the dark affair, and to give a very
different colour to his conduct from what really belonged to it--Luke
Hatton, we say, became a most important witness against the Lakes, and
it was said to be owing to his crafty insinuations that the King
conceived the idea of visiting Wimbledon as before-mentioned.

Notwithstanding all this, there were many irreconcileable
contradictions, and the notoriously bad character of Lord Roos, his
cruel treatment of his wife, and his passionate devotion to the
Countess, led many to suspect that, after all, he and Lady Exeter were
the guilty parties they were represented. Moreover, by such as had any
knowledge of the man, Luke Hatton was not esteemed a credible witness;
and it was generally thought that his testimony ought not to be received
by the King, or accepted only with the greatest caution.

But the opinions favourable to Lady Lake and her husband underwent an
entire change in the early part of the trial, when, to the surprise of
all, and to the inexpressible dismay of her parents, Lady Roos, who had
been included in the process by the Countess, made a confession, wherein
she admitted that the document produced by her mother against Lady
Exeter, was fabricated, and that all the circumstances said to be
connected with it at the time of its supposed signature, were groundless
and imaginary. The unfortunate lady's motive for making this revelation
was the desire of screening her husband; and so infatuated was she by
her love of him, that she allowed herself to be persuaded--by the artful
suggestions, it was whispered, of Luke Hatton--that this would be the
means of accomplishing their reconciliation, and that she would be
rewarded for her devotion by his returning regard. If such was her
belief, she was doomed to disappointment. She never beheld him again.
Lord Roos died abroad soon after the trial took place; nor did his
ill-fated lady long survive him.

Thus, it will be seen, all circumstances were adverse to