"Heart and soul," said Crosby.
"Three honest and true men," murmured Fairley, and tears were in his
eyes. "A triple alliance."
CHAPTER XXI
LORD ROSMORE DICTATES TERMS
Lord Rosmore thought little about the assizes as he supped alone and
drank his wine, unconscious of the many times he filled and emptied the
glass. The hunting of fugitives was not to his taste, unless the
fugitive chanced to be his personal enemy. He was sick at some of the
cruelties he had been forced to witness; he hated and despised Judge
Jeffreys, and almost shuddered at the thought of the punishment which
was about to fall upon the crowd of ignorant peasants imprisoned in
Dorchester. Had he been judge he would have treated them leniently, and
probably no fear of the King's displeasure would have made him act
otherwise; but for the furtherance of his own desires he had another
standard of morality. It was not a standard made to suit the present
circumstances, but one that had guided him through life, the primitive
ideal that what a man desires he must fight for and take as best he may.
From his youth upwards he had coveted little that he had not obtained;
the success was everything, the means used did not trouble him.
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