by Tom Bevan
Chapter XXI.
MORGAN GOES TO WHITEHALL.
In the early forenoon of the next day a man in the livery of Sir Waltercame to "Ye Swanne" and asked for Master Morgan. He brought a commandthat the forester was to repair instantly to Whitehall, as the Queenhad intimated that she would see him in the afternoon. The summonsthrew Johnnie into a small fever of nervous apprehension, and he wishedheartily that he had never left his snug homestead at Blakeney. Hisfingers turned into thumbs, and Dorothy busied herself in fasteningpoints and laces, adjusting his ruff, and setting his cap at the properangle. Captain Dawe found that sword and belt required his criticalattention, and Master Jeffreys started a most elaborate dissertation oncourt etiquette in "the most polite court in Europe." Johnnie's headbuzzed, his mind wandered in a maze; and when at last he stepped outinto the sunshine of the streets, he confessed to Mistress Stowe thathe felt "like a thief going to be hanged." Captain Dawe had a desireto see the royal palace and its precincts, Jeffreys was wanted atRaleigh's lodgings, so all four gentlemen went westwards.
Along Chepe, through St. Paul's Churchyard, down the hill to the LudGate lay their way. Then they crossed the Fleet River and stepped outinto Fleet Street. On their left was the palace of Bridewell,stretching down to the green margin of the Thames; on their right thefields went northwards to the villages of Bloomsbury, Clerkenwell, andIslington. The street was thick with dust and crowded with pedestriansand horsemen. Staid burghers walked soberly along, fops strutted,bullies swaggered, gentlefolks went in fitting dignity, and beggarswhined for alms at the corners of the narrow lanes that, between thehouses, led down to the river. Law students from the Temple were to bemet with, chaffering with the market wenches for nuts and apples andbunches of flowers.
Master Jeffreys took charge of Morgan, and fed him full withinformation. "A wonderful thoroughfare, good sir!" he cried; "its dusthath been pressed by the feet of notable folk for many centuries, andwill take the footprints of the great ones for many centuries to come.'Tis the highway between our two ancient cities of London andWestminster. We will keep to the south side, for it is the morefamous, and contains the houses of many of our nobles. The north sideis left for the shopkeepers and smaller gentry. We have just passedthe royal palace of Bridewell, and from here every foot of our way willhave something to interest the curious and inquiring mind."
Johnnie stared down at the gray old palace, and looked questioningly atthe ruins that lay next to it on the east.
"All that's left of the monastery of the Whitefriars," said Jeffreys."The remains of monkish buildings cumber the ground outside of Londonwalls as well as within. Some say 'twas a wicked thing to pull down somany fair edifices; others declare they were no better thanplague-spots and heretical hovels on the fair face of a Protestantcountry, and that we are well rid of them."
"I have noticed," said Morgan, "that royal favourites from King Harry'stime onwards have done most of the pulling down. The common folkappear to have had little voice in the matter, and not a finger in thelifting of the plunder."
"Quite so! quite so! Now let us step into the roadway. 'Tis dustyenough, and not innocent of some ugly holes, but 'tis safer for alittle while. See those hangdog-looking fellows slouching before us?Ah! I need not tell thee what they are. Step out; let's see thesport."
There was a wild _melee_ about a hundred yards ahead. A fellow hadmade a cut with his dagger at a lady's purse, and had been promptlyknocked down by her cavalier. At the sound of the would-be robber'scry a dozen other rascals had rushed to his aid, and from the narrowlanes and alleys a horde of ruffians--male and female--had beenvomited. They set upon the lady and her companion with cudgels andknives, and the gentleman was already lying in the dust. Peace-lovingpedestrians had rushed to their aid, and a group of law students boredown into the fray in gallant style. Master Jeffreys whipped out hisblade and ran, and Morgan went with him stride for stride. But the mobof ruffians disappeared as quickly as it had come forth; the cutpursehad been rescued, and the plunder he desired snatched by a slatternlywench.
Morgan uttered a hunting cry, and was dashing down a dim passagebetween two houses when Jeffreys jerked him back. "Not a foot fartherif thou dost value thy life!"
Johnnie stopped, and saw in astonishment that no man was attemptingpursuit.
"Are they to escape red-handed?" he cried.
His companion shrugged his shoulders. "He'd be an over-bold man who'dventure into the alleys and courts of Alsatia with less than fifty goodswords at his back. The hangman would be busy for a month if all whomerited his rope were dragged out of yonder dens. But we must begoing; the captain is almost out of sight, and thou hast matters onhand that are of greater moment than the catching of a thief."
Walking on, the two came abreast of the Temple, and lawyers,scriveners, clerks, and students dotted the roadway.
"A sweetly built place is the Temple," commented Jeffreys: "cool alleysshaded with trees, spacious courts, goodly halls and chapels; fairgardens sloping sunnily and warmly to the south and the river. Ah!there is no fairer site on earth for a fine dwelling than on this bankof Father Thames. Thou wilt see by the great houses that we shall passhow many men are of my opinion."
Morgan came to Temple Bar, and saw, with a shudder, a row of moulderingheads atop of it. He passed beneath the archway and put foot in thefamous Strand. Immediately before him the Maypole stretched skyward,its top still ornamented with a few fluttering rags of weather-bleachedribbon, mementoes of the festivities that had ushered in thefast-fading summer. On his left, with its front to the river, was agreat house with its courts and gardens, and Master Jeffreyswhispered,--
"The town house of my Lord Essex, the Queen's favourite and the greatrival of the gallant knight we both love."
Morgan stood and gazed at the somewhat ugly pile with the greatestinterest.
As he moved on a cleanly lad came across the road, with a shiningpannikin in either hand, and asked politely whether "their worships"would care to quench their thirst in water drawn from the well of St.Clement or from Holy Well that was hard by.
"Which is the more precious liquid?" asked Morgan.
The lad quickly replied that he had no opinion, and that learned menand excellent divines could come to no agreement over the matter. Hisworship might drink of both and judge for himself; the charge was but afarthing.
"Cheaper than Mistress Stowe's sack, at any rate, if not so palatable,"said Johnnie. He gave the lad a farthing and took the Holy Wellpannikin, whilst his companion drained that which owned its virtues tothe sanctity of St. Clement, whose church fronted them across the way.As neither tasted of both, they had, like the water-seller, no opinionas to the merits of the rival wells.
They walked on past Somerset House.
"A stately pile," said Morgan.
"Fairer even than Whitehall," replied Jeffreys. "'Twas built by anarch-robber, but the Queen favours it and dwells in it at times. 'Tisthe goodliest palace along the Strand."
The Savoy, already centuries old and crumbling to decay, was passed;and then, by other noble edifices, the wayfarers went to the village ofCharing.
They turned down by Queen Eleanor's Cross into the street leading toWhitehall itself. They passed through the Holbein Gate, down King'sStreet; and close under the shadow of the hoary abbey of St. Peter theyhalted at Raleigh's lodgings. Captain Dawe and his guide were restingin the cool porch and awaiting them.