CHAPTER II

THE KING AT BAY

My Lord Marquess left His Majesty after a dry and formal interview concerned with minor but necessary business, and, leaving the King still sitting before the map of the United Provinces, proceeded to the incomplete and ill-furnished council-chamber, where my lords Shrewsbury, Caermarthen, Nottingham, and Godolphin were gloomily conferring.

Halifax was the only man in the assembly not of decided Whig or Tory politics--it was believed that this was the reason that the King had elected him to fill the highest place in his councils. Lord Caermarthen, who, jealous of his elevation, was known to be secretly working his downfall, greeted him with haughty frankness.

"I hope, my lord," he said, "your interview with His Majesty hath had some smack of satisfaction in it----"

"Why, none," answered the Lord Privy Seal; "there is no satisfaction anywhere."

He seated himself on one of the red damask covered stools by the table, and looked with a kind of cynical amusement at the other ministers, all of whom, he well knew, were, however diverse their several opinions (with the exception of Lord Godolphin), doing their utmost to oust him from the position he held. His mobile, easy, and delicate face was turned towards the meagre but noble figure of Caermarthen, in whom he recognised his chief enemy. Indeed, that statesman, who, as Lord Danby, had himself narrowly escaped the attacks of Jack Howe in the last Parliament, was endeavouring to stir up the present Commons to impeach Halifax.

"His Majesty," added the Lord Privy Seal, in his pleasant, tolerant voice, "is very discontented with all of us."

Shrewsbury--a duke now, and crowded with dignities beyond his years--blushed.

"What are we to do?" he asked, in a kind of frantic way.

The other Secretary, Nottingham, dark as a Spaniard and sour in expression, remarked briefly--

"We can do nothing until we see which way the Parliament moveth."

"The Parliament," said Caermarthen, "will do nothing until some satisfaction is given for the money voted to Ireland. Schomberg, I doubt, is doited; he hath not moved since he landed----"

"The King," put in Halifax, "is desperate to go to the Continent, where the allies clamour for him and King Louis gaineth headway every week----"

Caermarthen sprang up from the window-seat.

"By God, he cannot go abroad until Ireland is settled!" he cried; "the country will not stand any war but that----"

"The King," answered the Lord Privy Seal, "hath such a mind to France one would think he took England but on the way----"

"France," said Shrewsbury, with feverish anxiety, "is not the question; we have to think of England. War was declared last May, and we are still incapable of putting a single regiment in the field. By Heaven, the Government is too disjointed for us to interfere in foreign affairs!"

"You should have thought of that, my lord," answered Nottingham dryly, "when you put a foreigner on the throne."

A deep colour again flushed Shrewsbury's beautiful face.

"I judged from His Majesty's reputation that he would have done better," he murmured.

"His Majesty is a great man," said Halifax placidly.

Caermarthen shrugged his shoulders.

"Is it the kind of greatness that will help England?"

"Or your party to places, my lord?" retorted the Lord Privy Seal shrewdly.

Caermarthen's thin face darkened.

"His Majesty doth not know his friends," he said.

"He will not be a party leader," returned Halifax; "but I do doubt whether England will be ever governed save by factions----"

Shrewsbury came up to the table and looked round the faces of his colleagues. He was by far the youngest of the company, and his soft good-looks were incongruous to the importance of his position; Lord Godolphin, a quiet, thin man, who so far had not opened his lips or taken any notice of anything, now fixed his eyes on Shrewsbury, and kept them there keenly while the Duke spoke.

"Sirs, what is to be done? We have very good assurance that the Government cannot hold--nay," he added, with increasing agitation, "if King James were to land to-morrow, who would stay him from the throne?"

"His Majesty," said Lord Godolphin quietly.

Caermarthen caught the words.

"His Majesty! I have little faith in him now; he is a dying man----"

"The doctors," added Nottingham gloomily, "give him another year----"

"No more, I truly think," said Halifax calmly. "The Dutchmen themselves say they hardly know him for the man he was at The Hague----"

"What then?" cried Shrewsbury, in a desperate frankness. "Are we all to fall into the laps of women and my Lord Marlborough?"

"The Queen could never hold the throne," answered Halifax; "she is not loved," he smiled; "the people dislike her for her false position----"

"By God!" interrupted Caermarthen hotly; "what know you of Her Majesty? She would rule better than any Stewart hath done yet----"

"Maybe, and wed another foreigner," retorted Shrewsbury. "Besides, I think you are wrong. No woman could rule England now----"

"Nor any man, it seemeth," smiled Halifax sadly. "For my part I am weary of all of it--and so, I think," he added, "is His Majesty. He is greatly angered that the Bill of Indemnity is changed into a Bill of Pains and Penalties, and there are such heats over it----"

"What course doth he think to take?" asked Shrewsbury abruptly.

"He said very little to-day," answered Halifax. "Our talk was all of business; he is of an extraordinary industry," this with admiration, "and hath mastered the details of the government already. Were he a stronger man I should have no fear for England----"

"Talk--antic talk!" cried Caermarthen impatiently; "and are no nearer a solution----"

The sound of the opening of the heavy carved door caused them all to pause. Godolphin, who was the only one facing it, rose respectfully; the others turned.

It was the King.

His bright glance went from face to face. He came slowly to the head of the table, and seated himself in the wand-bottomed chair there; his ministers were on their feet waiting for him to speak. Surprised as they were by this unexpected appearance, their agitation showed in their faces, Shrewsbury in particular was colourless; only Lord Godolphin remained perfectly composed.

The King continued to look from one to the other; he wore a heavy brown velvet thickly braided with gold, and held in his right hand a paper written upon, and folded across.

"Affairs," he said, in his tired voice, with his peculiar short manner of speaking, "have reached a crisis, my lords, and I have come to acquaint you with my resolution."

He leant forward a little, and rested his right arm on the table, keeping his dark, powerful eyes fixed on these ministers whom he read so perfectly.

"My lords," he continued quietly, almost gently, "it is a year since I took up the government of this country, and in that time I have done nothing to please any one of you." He coughed and pressed his handkerchief to his lips. "I have done my best to govern justly," he added proudly, "but I confess I took up a task beyond my powers. My lords, I cannot rule a disaffected country with disaffected ministers. I admit I do not understand you. As I am often reminded, I am a foreigner."

The five nobles made a common movement as of painful expectation. The King's plain speaking took all words from them; Shrewsbury was painfully agitated.

"What doth Your Majesty propose?" asked Halifax anxiously.

The King opened out the paper on the dark walnut table, and laid his right hand on it. He wore round this wrist a bracelet of red glass or crystal, cut into facets, that caught and threw back the light; it gleamed now strongly through the thick Bruges lace of his ruffles.

"I mean," he said, "to resign the crown and return to Holland--where I am needed," he added strongly.

"My God!" exclaimed Caermarthen; the rest were silent.

The King surveyed their changed and utterly amazed faces with a gleam in his eyes.

"My convoy is in readiness," he said, "and here, my lords, is the speech in which I announce my intention to Parliament"--he glanced at Sidney Godolphin--"my lord," he added with dignity, "will do me a last service and correct my poor English----"

Caermarthen broke out passionately--

"Sir, you cannot know what you are saying--this is unheard of----"

"I know very well what I am saying, my Lord Marquess," answered William. "I cannot please you, but I think the Queen can. I believe you would be faithful to her--she is English; but as for me, you can manage your business better without me--and I am needed on the Continent."

He rose, and Halifax, rather pale, came up to him.

"What is to become of England if Your Majesty leaveth us?"

"The Queen will please you," repeated William.

"This action on the part of Your Majesty will mean chaos," cried Shrewsbury desperately.

The King smiled sternly.

"No confusion could be worse than what we now endure--perhaps alone ye can put it straight."

They looked at each other. In their hearts they all knew that the King, and the King alone held them together and kept them from France; to the Whigs his departure would mean ruin, and among the Tories there was not one man capable of undertaking a tithe of what the King--who had foreign affairs exclusively in his hands--performed.

"What is Your Majesty's reason for this bitter resolve?" cried Caermarthen.

"I am needed in Holland," said William. "I have, my lord, my lifework to do. There are certain things put to my hand for me to accomplish, and I have pursued them through too many difficulties to be thwarted now by the disputes of the English Parliament----"

He spoke with a sudden force that lashed them.

"I took this crown," he added, holding his hand to his breast, "that I might, with God His help, put England in her ancient place among nations, not that I might lose myself in heated factions and blind animosities."

"If Your Majesty desert us we are all undone," said Caermarthen passionately.

"Ah, my lords," answered William, "I am not of a nature to be the puppet between your parties. God gave me a disposition different--I cannot mix in these your politics."

His cough interrupted him; he gave a little shudder, and sank back into the walnut-backed chair.

"There are some things beyond a man's strength," he said hoarsely, "and I, hampered as I am, cannot govern England."

"I," cried Halifax sincerely, "have tried to help Your Majesty----"

"And what is your reward?" asked William quickly. "Parliament is so pressing on you, my lord, that I shall have to forego your services--what is any honest man's reward in this country? As angry dogs ye rend each other. My God, will there never be an end to these dissensions?"

He crushed the rough draft of his speech up in his hand and flung it on the table.

"There is my answer to this question," he said, and made to rise again, but Shrewsbury came forward and cast himself on his knees before him.

"I entreat Your Majesty to consider--to reflect--to spare us, to spare this unhappy country----"

The King looked wildly but not unkindly into the fair, agitated young face.

"I cannot do what you want of me," he answered. "Everything I do displeaseth--I stand for toleration and ye will have no manner of toleration--hath not the Indemnity Bill become a Bill of Pains and Penalties? Is not Parliament busy looking up charges of twenty years ago against men of position? Is not the Church crying out against the Dissenters, and the Dissenters against the Papists?"

They were all silent; Shrewsbury on his knees by the King's chair.

"As to the civil government," continued William, "ye know perfectly well what corruption is there. For the last two reigns every honour in the gift of the Crown hath been put up to sale with women and priests for brokers--I can trust no one save, of course, yourselves, my lords," he added, with a faint sarcasm. "There is neither honesty nor industry nor credit in any department of the administration. I can do no more."

Lord Godolphin came forward from the window; he was known to be higher in favour with the King than any there, and the others waited with a silent, anxious curiosity for him to speak.

"I think Your Majesty will change your resolution," he said, with sudden warmth, "for the sake of Europe."

"For the sake of Europe, my lord, I shall persist in it."

Sidney Godolphin looked straightly at the King.

"No--Your Majesty is not the man to shirk difficulties--bear with us a little."

"My lord," answered William, "if all were as you I should have no difficulties--rise up, my lord of Shrewsbury; this is not your fault."

The Duke got to his feet and retired to the deep window-seat; he appeared utterly overwhelmed.

"I undertook to serve a King," said Godolphin, deeply moved. "Let me resign that service while you are still my King--if Your Majesty becomes Prince of Orange I become a private gentleman. I pray Your Majesty accept my resignation."

"And mine, sir," added Halifax.

"I hope that you will serve the Queen," replied William; he leant back in his chair and his face was colourless against the red brocade cushion.

"It was to Your Majesty I swore obedience," said Godolphin firmly.

"I set you free of those oaths--all of you, my lords--my convoy waiteth at Gravesend. In Holland I can be of service--not here." He, with infinite weariness, sat up and took his speech from the table. "Take this, my lord." He held it out to Lord Godolphin.

The minister went on one knee.

"I cannot be a party to this," he said. "Your Majesty must forgive me--but I cannot----"

The blood rushed into the King's thin cheek.

"What do you want of me?" he cried passionately. "You know I do not shirk labour. I have worked like a government clerk since I have been in London, and I am well used to it--but it is no use."

Godolphin answered him with equal passion.

"Is all this labour to come to nothing, sir? If Your Majesty giveth up, there will be no heart in any of us--everything will fly asunder, and we be unprotected for the French and Irish to overrun. Your presence, your Dutch troops alone keep order. Without you we are lost again, and worse than we were before '88----"

"Your Majesty cannot--Your Majesty must not," cried Caermarthen.

Shrewsbury raised his face; he was trembling, and weeping softly.

"God in heaven!" he whispered, under his breath.

Nottingham looked at him with contempt.

"Will Your Majesty forsake your friends?" he asked sombrely. "Where do we stand if Your Majesty resigns the position we asked you to accept?"

"Sir," said Halifax firmly, "the Prince of Orange cannot go back on what he hath undertaken."

William leant forward, resting against the table; his eyes filled with tears, and he gave a short cough as if he caught his breath.

"You ask too much of any man--to rule this country under the disadvantages that whelm me," he said faintly. "I was not made to be cabined in these small factions----"

"We cannot do without Your Majesty," said Halifax sharply. "Are all your glorious deeds and achievements to end in this, sir?"

The King put his hand before his eyes and sobbed heavily.

"O God," cried Godolphin, in bitter distress, "what pass is here?" He turned on the others. "Is this to what we have brought the Prince who saved us?"

The tears were in his own eyes, and his voice was broken.

Halifax spoke to Caermarthen.

"This is like to be the end of us, my lord," he remarked. "Cry 'finis'! for the play is over now."

The King continued to weep; his whole frail figure was shaken with his passion. The last cold daylight was over his gold broideries and the crimson bracelet round his wrist. Caermarthen was pacing to and fro in a kind of frenzy.

"What is to do!" he asked himself. "What is to do!" and he clutched the cambric ruffles on his bosom.

Godolphin again dropped on his knees before the King and took William's cold left hand to his lips.

"Your Majesty will not leave us," he murmured, in a quivering tone.

The King lifted his great eyes, blurred, yet bright, with tears.

"If I stay," he answered, "it is on certain terms--I will not be the puppet of factions." He stopped, exhausted; he composed himself and flushed feverishly; his speech was interrupted by continual and painful coughing. "I will not be a party to persecution." He clenched his thin hand on the smooth curved arm of his chair, and spoke with a force and energy that gripped and almost frightened his listeners. "A measure must be passed to prevent it--and I must go to The Hague next spring."

"Ireland----" began Caermarthen.

William caught up the word.

"I will go to Ireland--since ye think so much of that wretched country I will get it----"

Even in the midst of their relief that they had moved him the ministers were shaken at this resolution.

"Your Majesty cannot be spared from London," exclaimed Halifax.

"I shall prorogue Parliament before I leave," answered William fiercely. "That or nothing, my lords. I do not stay here to be King Log----"

They bowed before his terms as they had done in the crisis of '88; only Shrewsbury, who saw the downfall of his party in the prorogation of a Whig Parliament, made a feeble protest.

"Fever is epidemic in Ireland--the health of Your Majesty----"

"You fear to lose me, my lord, before I have served your turn!" was struck out of the King; then he amended his contempt, for he was ever fond of Shrewsbury. "It is the only thing to do--if the reduction of Ireland is necessary before the Continental Campaign--I must go." He looked sharply round. "Gentlemen, do you take these terms--will you unite to help me to them?"

"We have no choice," said Lord Godolphin, and he tore the draft of the King's speech across.