"It was a sad business. The young folks begged and the old Morgan sent
a letter; but no, Fulke wouldn't listen to one of them, and forbade his
daughter to leave the castle.
"Whether the lovers saw one another after that I don't know, but almost
directly after the war blazed out and the whole country went mad.
Morgan and his son had to leave these parts, and took arms under the
Parliament, while Fulke brought guns and powder into his castle, and
hoisted the flag of King Charles.
"The young lady had a busy time of it sheltering and entertaining the
Royalists who came this way. But she had no heart in it--not that she
didn't love the King, sir. Yet she loved young Morgan more.
"So things went on for four or live years. The King, as you know, sir,
got the worst of it, and was driven to his wits' end. Most of his
friends had fallen, and some had deserted. But so far no one had given
Fulke much trouble. Either they had never heard of him, or saw there
was not much to fear from him. So the Royal flag waved over the castle
day and night, and the young lady did what her father bid her, and never
went abroad or heard a word of young Morgan.
"But at last the King, not knowing what to do, tried to bring over the
Irish to help him. And then it was the troubles in these parts began.
For every one that was suspected of aiding in this venture was doomed by
the Parliament.
"And Fulke was suspected. Rightly or wrongly I can't say, but I've a
notion there was something in it. Anyway, his castle commanded the bay,
and the Parliament made up their minds to have it. Fulke had only time
to get a score or so of men with arms and provender inside his gate,
when a troop of roundheads came with their guns over the lulls and sat
down before it.
"The leader of the troop was a Colonel Frank, a cruel, ruffianly fellow,
as you shall hear. And the second in command was no other than young
Captain Morgan himself.
"He had had plenty of rough work during the war, and had done it well.
And it's a pity, sir, all the Parliament's officers weren't of his sort,
for he was as unlike Colonel Frank as a house-dog is to a wolf. When
first ordered on this expedition he didn't know where he was going, and
you can fancy his horror at finding out that he was to lay siege to the
very castle that held his lady-love. At first he would have held back,
and even refused. But he was under iron rules, and besides, thought he,
I might help my lady more by going than staying away.
"So he came with the troop to the castle, and looked wistfully up at the
little turret yonder, and prayed that she might never know that he was
where he was.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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