John Inglesant: A Romance (Volume 1 of 2)Shorthouse, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
History
John Inglesant: A Romance (Volume 1 of 2)
Shorthouse, J. H. (Joseph Henry)
Great Britain -- History -- Charles I, 1625-1649 -- Fiction; Religious fiction
It had been one of the principal parts of Inglesant’s training to avoid
assumption himself, and to be amused with it in others, so he took his
patronage meekly, and wished him success on his return, to Oxford, where
he really was made an officer in the King’s service soon after.
Soon after he was gone Inglesant found his brother, and with him his own
servants, with an additional horse they had managed to secure, with
which he replaced the one he had lost; and the next morning he rode with
the Palsgrave into Keinton, where they surprised the rear of the
Parliamentary army, and took much spoil of the arms and ammunition, and
many wounded officers and other prisoners; but his wound being very
painful, and being sick and weary of the sight of fighting, and
especially of plundering, he left the Prince in Keinton and returned to
Oxford, where he was very glad to get back to his pleasant rooms in
Wadham. After the King had wasted his time in taking Banbury and
Broughton Castle, he marched to Oxford with his army, where he was
received with demonstrations of joy, and stayed some days.
After the King had rested a short time at Oxford, he proceeded to march
to London; but Inglesant did not accompany him. The blows he had
received about the head, together with his wound and the excitement he
had gone through, brought on a fever which kept him in his rooms for
some time. The Jesuit stayed with him as long as he could, but many
other of Inglesant’s friends at Oxford showed him great kindness. When
he recovered he found himself, to his great surprise, something of a
hero. Though, as we have seen, few men could have done less at Edgehill
than Inglesant did, or have had less influence on the event of the day,
yet, as he had been in the charge of the Prince’s horse, and also in the
rout of the foot guards, and had been wounded in both, and above all
was, especially with the ladies, something of a favourite, of whom no
one objected to say a good word, he gained a decided reputation as a
soldier. It was indeed reported and believed at Little Gidding that he
had performed prodigies of valour, had saved the King’s life several
times, and retrieved the fortunes of the day when they were desperate.
In some respects this reputation was decidedly inconvenient to him; he
was looked upon as a likely man to be in all foraging parties and in
expeditions of observation sent out to trace the marchings and
countermarchings of the enemy. Now, as he was pledged to the Jesuit not
to expose himself to unnecessary danger, these expeditions were very
troublesome to him, besides taking him away from the studies to which he
was anxious to apply himself, and from the company of the leaders of
both the Churchmen and Papists, to obtain the acquaintance and
confidence of whom he still applied himself, both from inclination and
in accordance with the Jesuit’s wish. It is true, however, that in
these expeditions about the country he formed several friendships of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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