"Adair's sides are aching," she chuckled, in apparent convulsions of sorrow. "He's laughing through Nell's tears."

Meanwhile, Moll had been standing by the window; and, though she was watching eagerly the exciting scene within the room, she could not fail to note the sound of galloping horses and the rattling of a heavy coach on the roadway without.

"A coach and six at break-neck speed," she cried, "have landed at the door. A cavalier alights."

"Time some one arrived," thought Nell, as she glanced at herself in the mirror, to see that Adair was well hidden, and to arrange her curls, to bewitch the new arrivals, whosoever they might be.

As the cavalier dashed up the path, in the moonlight, Moll recognized the Duke of Buckingham, and at once announced his name.

"Ods-pitikins!" exclaimed Charles, angrily. "No leisure for Buckingham now. We have other business."

He had scarce spoken, however, when Buckingham, unceremoniously and almost breathless, entered the room.

"How now?" cried the King, fiercely, as the Duke fell on his knee before him; for his temper had been wrought to a high pitch.

"Pardon, your Majesty," besought his lordship, in nervous accents. "My mission will excuse my haste and interruption. Your ear I crave one moment. Sire, I am told Nell has to-night secreted in this house a lover!"

"Another one!" whispered Nell to Moll.

"'Tis hearsay," cried the King, now at fever-heat, "the give-and-take of gossips! I'll none of it."

"My witness, Sire!" answered Buckingham.

He turned toward the door; and there, to the astonishment of all, stood the d.u.c.h.ess of Portsmouth, who had followed him from the coach, a lace mantilla, caught up in her excitement, protecting her shapely shoulders and head.

As the a.s.sembled courtiers looked upon the beautiful rivals, standing, as they did, face to face before the King, and realized the situation, their faces grew grave, indeed.

The suspense became intense.

"The day of reckoning's come," thought Nell, as she met with burning glances the d.u.c.h.ess's eyes.

"Speak, your grace," exhorted Buckingham. "The King attends you."

"Nay, before all, my lord?" protested Portsmouth, with pretended delicacy. "I could not do Madame Gwyn so much injustice."

"If your speech concerns me," observed Nell, mildly, "out with it boldly. My friends will consider the source."

"Speak, and quickly!" commanded Charles.

"I would rather lose my tongue," still protested the d.u.c.h.ess, "than speak such words of any one; but my duty to your Majesty--"

"No preludes," interrupted the King; and he meant it, too. He was done with trifling, and the d.u.c.h.ess saw it.

"My servants," she said, with a virtuous look, "pa.s.sing this abode by chance, this very night, saw at a questionable hour a strange cavalier entering the boudoir of Madame Gwyn!"

"She would make my honour the price of her revenge," thought Nell, her eyes flashing. "She shall rue those words, or Adair's head and mine are one for naught."

"What say you to this, Nell?" asked the King, the words choking in his throat.

"Sire,--I--I--" answered Nell, evasively. "There's some mistake or knavery!"

"She hesitates," interpolated the d.u.c.h.ess, eagerly.

"You change colour, wench," cried Charles, his heart, indeed, again upon the rack. "Ho, without there! Search the house."

An officer entered quickly to obey the mandate.

"Stay, Sire," exclaimed Nell, raising herself to her full height, her hot, trembling lips compressed, her cheeks aflame. "My oath, I have not seen Adair's face this night."

Her words fell upon the a.s.semblage like thunder from a June-day sky. The King's face brightened. The d.u.c.h.ess's countenance grew pale as death.

"_Mon Dieu!_ Adair!" she gasped in startled accents to Lord Buckingham, attendant at her side. "Could it be he my servants saw? The packet! Fool! Why did I give it him?"

Buckingham trembled violently. He was even more startled than Portsmouth; for he had more to lose. England was his home and France was hers.

"The scales are turning against us," he whispered. "Throw in this ring for safety. Nell's gift to Adair; you understand."

He slipped, un.o.bserved, upon the d.u.c.h.ess's finger the jewelled ring the King had given to Almahyde among the roses at the performance of "Granada."

"Yes! Yes! 'Tis my only chance," she answered, catching at his meaning; for her wits were of the sharpest in intrigue and cunning, and she possessed the boldness too to execute her plans.

She approached the King, with the confident air possessed by great women who have been bred at court.

"Your Majesty recognizes this ring?" she asked in mildest accents.

"The one I gave to Nell!" answered the astonished King.

"The one Adair this night gave to me," said Portsmouth, calmly.

"'Tis false!" cried Nell, who could restrain her tongue no longer. "I gave that ring to dear old Strings."

"A rare jewel to bestow upon a fiddler," said the d.u.c.h.ess, sarcastically.

"It is true," said Strings, who had wormed his way through the group at mention of his name and now stood the meek central figure at the strange hearing. "My little ones were starving, Sire; and Nell gave me the ring--all she had. They could not eat the gold; so I sold it to the Duke of Buckingham!"

"We are lost," whispered Buckingham to Portsmouth, scarce audibly.

"Coward!" sneered the d.u.c.h.ess, contemptuously. "I am not ready to sail for France so soon."

The King stood irresolute. Events had transpired so quickly that he scarce knew what it was best to do. His troubled spirit longed for a further hearing, while his heart demanded the ending of the scene with a peremptory word.

Before he could decide upon his course, the d.u.c.h.ess had swept across the room, with queenly grace.

"Our hostess will pardon my eyes for wandering," she said, undaunted; "but her abode is filled with pleasant surprises. Sire, here is a piece of handiwork."

She knelt by the couch, and drew from under it a coat of gray, one sleeve of which had caught her eye.

Nell looked at Moll with reproving glances.