My heart stopped its beating; unconsciously, I looked away from the King. He had no thought evidently but for me, for, taking advantage of my momentary inattention, in two bounds he was upon me. He laid hold of my ankle, my foot being on the chair, and laughed triumphantly. But I did not care. I made no effort to throw myself over now, not even did I struggle to release myself; my protector was here. In one second all my trust and confidence came back, so far as he was concerned. I knew he could deal with all the kings and crowns on earth to save me. I waited, almost with a sense of amusement at what I knew would be the instant and appalling discomfiture of the King, who, as he seized me, exclaimed: "I have you now, madam, and who shall deliver you from my hand?" "I," said my husband, smiling at me. _Chapter_ XIX _Wherein Sir Hugh Richmond interrupts a Tête-á-tête between his Wife and one James Stewart_ And now I resume the telling of my own story. I cannot describe the feeling of thankfulness that filled my heart when I opened the door and saw my wife crouching on the window-seat, and the King standing angry and helpless in the centre of the room. I knew exactly what had been in Lady Katharine's mind: that, rather than submit to the King, she would throw herself from the tower to the rocks below--my brave, beautiful, splendid Kate! I shuddered to think of that catastrophe, and yet I rejoiced that she had found the courage to plan it and that I had come in the nick of time to render it unnecessary. She saw me so soon as I opened the door. The King's back was toward me, and he was not aware of my presence--he was so intent upon her as to be oblivious to everything else. He observed her gaze, which had been concentrated upon him, I imagined--and she hath since told me it was so--wander my way for a moment and, with a quickness for which I should not have given him credit, he realised his opportunity and seized it; for, in two steps he was by her side, he caught her ankle in a firm grasp, her foot being on the chair and her knee upon the window. Whether he could have effected that or not if I had not been there, even if her gaze had wandered, I cannot say. His touch was profanation, but his present actions were of little importance in my wife's mind or in my own. Since I was there I had but one course to follow, as ever the bold one! But, then, I had followed that same course all along and with success. I had bested Jeffreys, entered the castle and killed Stenwold, and I felt no doubt but that I should triumph over the wretched Monarch, a weaker man than either of them. There was, too, a certain grim satisfaction in my heart in the situation. It is not every day that a simple soldier and gentleman has the chance to measure himself against a man who, while he was not a great King, was, nevertheless, the appointed ruler over a great realm for the time being.