=Henri Duquesne.= A Sussex Romance. Crown 8vo, cloth boards, 1_s._ =The Royalist Brothers.= A Tale of the Siege of Colchester. Crown 8vo, cloth boards, 2_s._ 6_d._ =When the Puritans were in Power.= A Tale of the Great Rebellion. Crown 8vo, cloth boards, 2_s._ -------------- SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, LONDON: NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: Decoration] IN THE DAYS OF QUEEN MARY CHAPTER I CHIDDINGLY PLACE The sun was setting, and a rosy light filtered through the trees which enshrouded Chiddingly Place. The cawing of the rooks, as they winged their leisurely flight into the great rookery, alone broke the silence which sweetly brooded over the broad terrace on which two Sussex boys lay extended on the velvety turf. It was Midsummer Day—a day of unbroken sunshine and excessive heat. In the evening a refreshing wind had revived the parched earth, and the gay flowers which spangled the wide-spreading lawn were lifting their drooped heads with renewed life. The stone-mullioned windows of the Tudor house were thrown wide open, and the lads could see the maids within the dining-hall busily engaged in laying the supper for which they were more than ready. "Come, Ralph," said William, as he bestirred himself, "we must go indoors and make ourselves presentable. Uncle John comes to-night, and he will soon be here." "Oh, don't hurry," answered his brother, as he lay playing with two fine retrievers. "I love to watch the purple light on the downs as the sun sinks behind them; I could gladly lie here all night!" "I agree with you," answered William; "but here comes Sue with orders, I expect, from the powers that be, that we are to go indoors at once." Susan was the only sister of the two boys, and at her approach the dogs ran forward to greet her, and the boys rose quickly from their mossy couch. The boys were twins, and as they stood side by side the likeness between them was striking. They were in their eighteenth year, and fine specimens were they of the race of the "Sudseaxe." Tall and well built, fair haired and blue eyed, their strong limbs and fresh complexions betokened youths whose lives had been spent amid the woods and forests of Sussex, or on the rolling downs which stretched between Chiddingly and the sea. Yet these boys were not unlettered, for both of them had been "foundation scholars" in the famous St. Paul's School, built and endowed by Dean Colet. Nay, more, the youths had already seen something of Court life, strange to say. It happened in this wise. Their uncle Sir John Jefferay was a famous London lawyer, and he bid fair to occupy a great position on the judicial bench.