Thank God,I saw him first;for being so seen,and seeing not me,he will do the less harm.In God's name,speak sense,said Tressilian,and say what you mean.I have seen my old master,said the artist.Last night a friend whom I had acquired took me to see the Palace clock,judging me to be curious in such works of art.At the window of a turret next to the clock-house I saw my old master.Thou must needs have been mistaken,said Tressilian.
I was not mistaken,said Wayland;he that once hath his features by heart would know him amongst a million.He was anticly habited;but he cannot disguise himself from me,God be praised!as I can from him.I will not,however,tempt Providence by remaining within his ken.Tarleton the player himself could not so disguise himself but that,sooner or later,Doboobie would find him out.I must away to-morrow;for,as we stand together,it were death to me to remain within reach of him.But the Earl of Sussex?said Tressilian.
He is in little danger from what he has hitherto taken,provided he swallow the matter of a bean's size of the orvietan every morning fasting;but let him beware of a relapse.And how is that to be guarded against?said Tressilian.
Only by such caution as you would use against the devil,answered Wayland.Let my lord's clerk of the kitchen kill his lord's meat himself,and dress it himself,using no spice but what he procures from the surest hands.Let the sewer serve it up himself,and let the master of my lord's household see that both clerk and sewer taste the dishes which the one dresses and the other serves.Let my lord use no perfumes which come not from well accredited persons;no unguents--no pomades.Let him,on no account,drink with strangers,or eat fruit with them,either in the way of nooning or otherwise.Especially,let him observe such caution if he goes to Kenilworth--the excuse of his illness,and his being under diet,will,and must,cover the strangeness of such practice.And thou,said Tressilian,what dost thou think to make of thyself?France,Spain,either India,East or West,shall be my refuge,said Wayland,ere I venture my life by residing within ken of Doboobie,Demetrius,or whatever else he calls himself for the time.Well,said Tressilian,this happens not inopportunely.I had business for you in Berkshire,but in the opposite extremity to the place where thou art known;and ere thou hadst found out this new reason for living private,I had settled to send thee thither upon a secret embassage.The artist expressed himself willing to receive his commands,and Tressilian,knowing he was well acquainted with the outline of his business at court,frankly explained to him the whole,mentioned the agreement which subsisted betwixt Giles Gosling and him,and told what had that day been averred in the presence-chamber by Varney,and supported by Leicester.
Thou seest,he added,that,in the circumstances in which I am placed,it behoves me to keep a narrow watch on the motions of these unprincipled men,Varney and his complices,Foster and Lambourne,as well as on those of my Lord Leicester himself,who,I suspect,is partly a deceiver,and not altogether the deceived in that matter.Here is my ring,as a pledge to Giles Gosling.
Here is besides gold,which shall be trebled if thou serve me faithfully.Away down to Cumnor,and see what happens there.I go with double good-will,said the artist,first,because Iserve your honour,who has been so kind to me;and then,that Imay escape my old master,who,if not an absolute incarnation of the devil,has,at least,as much of the demon about him,in will,word,and action;as ever polluted humanity.And yet let him take care of me.I fly him now,as heretofore;but if,like the Scottish wild cattle,I am vexed by frequent pursuit,I may turn on him in hate and desperation.[A remnant of the wild cattle of Scotland are preserved at Chillingham Castle,near Wooler,in Northumberland,the seat of Lord Tankerville.They fly before strangers;but if disturbed and followed,they turn with fury on those who persist in annoying them.]Will your honour command my nag to be saddled?I will but give the medicine to my lord,divided in its proper proportions,with a few instructions.His safety will then depend on the care of his friends and domestics;for the past he is guarded,but let him beware of the future.Wayland Smith accordingly made his farewell visit to the Earl of Sussex,dictated instructions as to his regimen,and precautions concerning his diet,and left Sayes Court without waiting for morning.
