Loveday's history : $b A tale of many changesGuernsey, Lucy Ellen
History
Loveday's history : $b A tale of many changes
Guernsey, Lucy Ellen
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603 -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Reformation -- Fiction
I did so willingly, and Sambo kissed it with many grins and giggles.
Then the servants were dismissed, and presently I saw Sambo dancing
a dance of triumph on the stones of the garden walk, to the music of
his own singing and whistling. The twins were overjoyed, and would
have given me all their most cherished possessions to celebrate the
event. My uncle said he would take us to the Tower to see the lions,
and bade us get ready. I escaped for a little, and shutting myself in
my own little room, I said a prayer for forgiveness and repeated a
paternoster. As I did so, the sense of the words came to me as never
before, and I resolved that I would try to forgive even Betty.
We went to the Tower and saw the lions—two very fine fellows—a leopard
and some other wild creatures, and enjoyed the fearful pleasure of
feeding the great brown bear with cakes. On the way home, my uncle took
us to see some of the goldsmiths' and other fine shops, and bought us
each a fairing. At one place, a silk mercer's, he asked the elderly man
in attendance about his son.
"He hath not yet returned," said the old man, shaking his head; "a
dangerous service, Master Corbet—a dangerous service; but we must not
withhold even Isaac when the Lord calls for him."
"Truly not, my brother," answered mine uncle; "but I hope the need of
these perilous journeys may soon be past. I heard it from one that
knows what goes on at Court, that his Grace is like to be moved of his
royal bounty to give to this land a free gospel before long."
The old man's face lighted up: "The Lord fulfill it—the Lord fulfill
it, Master Corbet. But think you it is true? The Chancellor is very
bitter against Master Tyndale?"
"The Chancellor is like to need his breath to cool his own porridge, if
all tales be true," said my uncle; "but this is not the place, nor does
it become us to be talking of such matters. I hope your son may soon
return in safety."
When we reached home, which we did in time for supper, Betty was
missing. Anne, the laundry-woman, slept in our room that night. The
next day we heard that Betty had been sent to her home in the country,
and old Madge had gone with her, not choosing to stay after her
favorite grandchild was disgraced. I don't think my aunt was very sorry
to have the old woman go of her own accord, though she would never have
sent her away, for the poor thing was grown so cankered and jealous
that she kept the house in hot water. After Betty's departure, some
of the other maids were very forward in their tales of her dishonest
practices and running out of nights, but my aunt treated these tales
with very little ceremony, saying that the time to have told them was
not behind Betty's back, but when she was there to speak for herself.
I hardly ever saw any one with such a strong sense of justice as Aunt
Joyce. It showed itself in all she did, and was one secret of her
success in governing a household.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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