The King sneered openly. "Yes," he said. "I see Porter and Goodman and Charnock are guilty! But when it touches one of yourselves, my lord, then 'There is evidence against him,' or 'It is a case of suspicion,' or--oh, you all hang together!" And pursing up his lips he looked sourly at us. "You all hang together!" he repeated. "I stand to be shot at--_c'est dommage_. But touch a noble, and _Gare la Noblesse!_" "You do us an injustice, sir," my lord cried warmly. "I will answer for it----" "Oh, I do you an injustice, do I?" the King said, disregarding his last words. "Of course I do! Of course you are all faithful, most faithful. You have all taken the oath. But I tell you, my Lord Shrewsbury, the King to whom you swore allegiance, the King crowned in '89 was not William the Third, but Noblesse the first! _La Noblesse!_ Yes, my lord, you may look at me, and as angrily as you like; but it was so. _Par dieu et diable_, you tie my hands! You tie my hands, you cling to my sword, you choke my purse! I had as much power in Holland as I have here. And more! And more!" He would have gone farther, and with the same candour I think; but at that the gentleman who had interrupted him before, struck in again, addressing him rapidly in what I took to be Dutch, and doubtless pointing out the danger of too great openness. At any rate I took that to be the gist of his words, not only from his manner, but from the fact that when he had done--the King looking gloomy and answering nothing--he turned to my lord. "The King trusts your Grace," he said bluntly. "He has never said as much to an Englishman before. I am sure that the trust is well placed and that his Majesty's feelings will go no farther." The Duke bowed. "Your Majesty authorises me to take the necessary steps then," he said, speaking somewhat drily, but otherwise ignoring what had passed. "To secure your safety, sir, as well as to arrest the guilty, no time should be lost. Warrants should be issued immediately, and these persons taken up." "Before Ferguson can warn them," the King said in his ordinary tone. "Yes, see to it, my lord; and let the Council be recalled. The guards, too, should be doubled, and the regiment Prendergast mentioned displaced. Cutts must look to that, and do you, my lord," he continued rapidly, addressing the gentleman beside him, whom I now conjectured to be Lord Portland, "fetch him hither and lose no time. Take one of my coaches. It is a plot, if all be true, should do us good in the country. And that, I think, is your Grace's opinion." "It should, sir. Doubtless, sir, we English have our faults; but we are not fond of assassins." "And you are confident that tins is no bubble?" the King said thoughtfully. "Yes, sir, I am."