"It is but the imprint of the key of my cabinet--too good a mark for

his gallows-face. No man shall abuse or insult my prisoners; they are my

jewels, and I lock them in safe casket accordingly.--And so, mistress,

leave off your wailing.--Why! why, surely, there was a woman here!"

"I think you are all mad this morning," said the sewer. "I saw no woman

here, nor no man neither in a proper sense, but only two beasts rolling

on the floor."

"Nay, then I am undone," said the jailer; "the prison's broken, that is

all. Kenilworth prison is broken," he continued, in a tone of maudlin

lamentation, "which was the strongest jail betwixt this and the Welsh

Marches--ay, and a house that has had knights, and earls, and kings

sleeping in it, as secure as if they had been in the Tower of London.

It is broken, the prisoners fled, and the jailer in much danger of being

hanged!"

So saying, he retreated down to his own den to conclude his

lamentations, or to sleep himself sober. Lambourne and the sewer

followed him close; and it was well for them, since the jailer, out of

mere habit, was about to lock the wicket after him, and had they not

been within the reach of interfering, they would have had the pleasure

of being shut up in the turret-chamber, from which the Countess had been

just delivered.

That unhappy lady, as soon as she found herself at liberty, fled, as

we have already mentioned, into the Pleasance. She had seen this

richly-ornamented space of ground from the window of Mervyn's Tower; and

it occurred to her, at the moment of her escape, that among its numerous

arbours, bowers, fountains, statues, and grottoes, she might find some

recess in which she could lie concealed until she had an opportunity of

addressing herself to a protector, to whom she might communicate as much

as she dared of her forlorn situation, and through whose means she might

supplicate an interview with her husband.

"If I could see my guide," she thought, "I would learn if he had

delivered my letter. Even did I but see Tressilian, it were better to

risk Dudley's anger, by confiding my whole situation to one who is the

very soul of honour, than to run the hazard of further insult among the

insolent menials of this ill-ruled place. I will not again venture into

an enclosed apartment. I will wait, I will watch; amidst so many human

beings there must be some kind heart which can judge and compassionate

what mine endures."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024