of the parting between derrick carver and constance.
the attempt made by the conspirators to cause a general rising proved completely abortive. stafford and his party received some accessions to their numbers as they marched along, but before they reached charing cross they were attacked and dispersed by a troop of mounted arquebusiers, who issued from whitehall. several persons were arrested, among whom were the two officers of the princess elizabeth’s household, peckham and werne, but the ringleaders managed to escape. next day, stafford, dudley, kingston, udal, osbert clinton, and the rest of the party, were publicly proclaimed as outlaws, rebels, traitors, and disturbers of the peace, and a large reward offered for their capture.
nothing, however, was said about the french ambassador. only to gardiner did philip avow that he had been secretly present with father de castro at the meeting in the crypt, and the chancellor counselled him not to allow this circumstance to transpire publicly, as they had proof enough against the conspirators without it; above all, gardiner was 330opposed to any proceedings being taken against de noailles. thus the wily ambassador escaped with impunity as on previous occasions. a strict watch, however, was kept upon his movements.
it was confidently anticipated, both by the king and gardiner, that before many days all the chief conspirators would be arrested, but in this expectation they were disappointed. no traces of any of them could be discovered. some doubts were entertained as to the fate of osbert clinton. two persons were shot in the boat in which he escaped from lambeth, and their bodies thrown into the thames, and it was thought he was one of them; but this was by no means clear.
while the search for the leaders of the outbreak was thus being actively, though unsuccessfully, prosecuted, peckham and werne were taken to the tower and put to the torture, in order to compel them to accuse the princess elizabeth of complicity in the affair, but nothing could be wrung from them, and, with twenty other luckless personages who had been captured at the same time, they were hanged, drawn, and quartered, and their heads set upon the north gateway of london bridge.
meanwhile, the religious persecution continued with unabated rigour. bishop hooper, with two others, had undergone martyrdom at different places, and six more prisoners, excommunicated by bonner, and delivered over to the civil power, were about to perish in the same manner.
conscious of the odium attaching to these sanguinary measures, gardiner prudently resigned his post at the ecclesiastical tribunal to bonner, who thenceforward acted as supreme judge, and was undeterred by scruples of any sort.
a momentary check was, however, given to his severity from an unexpected quarter. from the various manifestations made towards him by the protestant party, and from other circumstances, philip could not fail to perceive that if he took any further part in these barbarous proceedings, he should raise up a host of determined enemies, so he caused father alfonso to preach publicly, before him and the court, a sermon strongly condemnatory of religious persecution. the plan completely answered the king’s expectations, it being felt that such a sermon could not have been preached 331without his sanction, and it was argued, therefore, that he must disapprove of the course pursued by bonner.
the effect of this remarkable discourse—remarkable, indeed, as emanating from one who had been designated “the scourge of heresy”—was to stay the bitter persecution for a while, but, though momentarily checked, it revived with a greater fury than before. the six unfortunate persons excommunicated by bonner were consigned to the flames, and urged to greater activity by the marquis of winchester, and other members of the council, the zealous prelate looked out for fresh victims.
bonner had long burned to wreak his vengeance upon derrick carver, and was at last able to gratify his desire. having procured a warrant from the queen for the deliverance up to him of the prisoner, who was still confined in the lollards’ tower, he immediately acted upon it. before he was taken away, carver, by permission of the cardinal, was allowed to bid farewell to constance tyrrell. the interview took place in the post room in the lollards’ tower, and in order that there might be no check upon their freedom of discourse, they were left alone together.
“daughter,” said carver, who appeared more subdued than usual, “i am about to win the crown of martyrdom for which i have so long striven, and to inscribe my name upon that scroll which shall hereafter be a guide to our church. in quitting you for a while, i expect you to remain stedfast in the faith. be not shaken by the arguments of the cardinal, who, though a good man, has been brought up in superstition and idolatry, and cannot free himself from the errors of his creed.”
“have no fear for me,” replied constance. “i shall soon follow in the same path you are about to tread.”
“heaven forbid!” exclaimed carver, with an irrepressible shudder. “oh! constance, while alone in my cell, i have communed with myself, sounding my breast to its depths, and weighing every thought and action, and i reproach myself that i have led you too far. i have kindled a holy fervour in your breast like that which animates my own, and which incites you to bear witness to your faith by death.”
“true. but surely you should rejoice that you have kindled such a flame,” she rejoined.
332“no; i would quench it,” he cried. “seek not martyrdom. rush not upon fiery torments—but live—live a godly life.”
“these words are strange from you, who have so often painted the glories of martyrdom to me, and urged me to share them with you.”
“i repent that i did so,” he rejoined. “were you to suffer with me, your torments would afflict me a thousand times more than my own. ’twere terrible that a frame so fair as yours should be consumed by fire. it must not be. you are young and beautiful. you love, and are beloved. live and be happy. live for osbert clinton.”
“alas!” exclaimed constance, “i know not if osbert still lives. it is thought he perished on that fatal night when he came here to liberate us. he has not been heard of since. but if he lives, it is as a proscribed rebel, with a price set on his head, and if he be taken, his doom is certain. i have nothing left but to die.”
“no, you must live,” said carver, solemnly. “osbert clinton is not dead. he did not perish on that disastrous night, as you suppose. i have seen and spoken with him at the window of my cell, which he reached as he did when you, dear daughter, were its occupant. he and his friends are not disheartened by the ill success of their enterprise. it was rash and precipitate, and failed in consequence. but they are planning another insurrection, and i pray heaven to crown it with success, since it has for its aim the restoration of our religion and the downfall of philip!”
“i rejoice to hear that osbert still lives,” said constance; “but i fear these plots will eventually conduct him to the scaffold.”
“if he should so perish, then seek for a martyr’s crown, if you will,” said carver; “but while he lives, live for him. something tells me you will yet be united.”
“i dare not hope so,” she rejoined.
“if my last prayers will avail to ensure your happiness, you shall have them,” said carver. “and now we must part. once more i exhort you to continue stedfast in the faith. but be not influenced by the desire of vain-glory, which, perchance, may be my own besetting sin. and now receive my blessing!”
333and as she bent before him, he spread his arms over her head, and pronounced a solemn benediction.
there was then a deep silence, broken only by constance’s sobs.
“weep not, dear daughter,” he said. “our parting ought to be joyous rather than sad, seeing that my trials are well-nigh over, and i am about to reap my reward. farewell!” he added, taking her hand, and pressing his lips to it. “forget not what i have said to you.”
“fear me not!” she rejoined, sinking upon a bench. “farewell!”
carver cast a compassionate look at her, and then striding resolutely towards the door, he called out that he was ready, whereupon mallet instantly appeared.
without hazarding another glance at constance, he then quitted the chamber, and was taken by mallet to the gate, where he was delivered to the officers sent for him by bonner.
a barge awaited him, and in this conveyance he was taken to paul’s wharf. thence he was escorted to the consistory at saint paul’s, where bonner was sitting in judgment with the lord mayor, the sheriffs, and several members of the council.
