“What, wench?” he said in surprise; “of what use would you be?” “Nevertheless, deny me not,” Betty said; “I would go and, at least, I will not hinder you.” “Let her have her way, William,” Lady Crabtree said; “the girl’s face will help you, and she is in a mood to fret out her heart here.” CHAPTER XXIV LOVE AT THE TRAITOR’S GATE SIR WILLIAM CAREW and Mistress Betty were both kindly received by Cromwell. He gave them a private audience, and Betty sat in the window recess in silent suspense, while her uncle talked with the king’s minister. Cromwell’s face was calm and inscrutable; Carew’s deeply furrowed with anxiety. The one was master of the situation, the other exceedingly perplexed and doubtful of a way in which to help his friend. “My lord,” he said gravely, “I come to inquire into the arrest of Simon Raby, and to know the fate of certain papers that he bore of mine.” “He was arrested upon the charge of high treason,” Cromwell replied, “and I regret to say that, upon examination, the evidence against him was materially strengthened. I regret it exceedingly, for I knew his father and have ever held a good opinion of the son. But unhappily, Sir William, in these times a man knows not where to look for backsliding; ’tis on every side, and the younger men are brought into temptation more easily.” “I find it hard to believe so much ill of my Lord Raby,” Carew said stoutly; “he hath ever borne the character of an honest man. I pray you, sir, to allow him full opportunity to clear himself of this foul charge.” “Sir,” answered Cromwell, “every subject of the king hath justice. Look you, Carew, I have no wish to cut off this man’s liberty. It is my unpleasant duty to stand for the king in these matters, and the odium of it lies on me. No man grieved more deeply than I for the loss of More, yet More’s death is charged to me. ’Tis like the outcry against the king’s lawyer, Dr. Rich, because he went to Kimbolton in the matter of the will of the princess dowager. The papists claim that her property was not respected. Yet the truth is plain as daylight. The Lady Catherine claimed to be the king’s wife and left no will save in the form of a petition to his grace; and dying as she did, in law, a sole woman, the administration of her estate lapsed to the next of kin, the emperor. But for the work of the attorney-general, the king could not have fulfilled her bequests. Yet Rich and I were pilloried for the matter, which was but a woman’s obstinacy and the plain course of the law. Every rogue who goes to prison, every gentleman who is sent to the Tower, raises the hue and cry against me as the root of evil. ’Twould pleasure me far more to set them all free, but, unhappily, the safety of the realm forces me to a different course. As for Raby, I found upon his person papers more full of treason than an egg of meat. A lamb he may be, but, verily, he seemeth a wolf.”