The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-06-24

IDENTIFY walked put to this quiet path to
consult about the situation. AS they
approached, Mary spoke to the duke
with a vicious sparkle I'm her eyes.
my Lord Buckingham, this shall
cost you your head. Remember my
words when you are on the scaffold.
just when our neck fits into the hol-
low OF the block"
He stopped. with an evident desire to
explain, but Mary pointed down the
path and said: go. or 1 Will have
Master Brandon spit you on his sword.
Two to one would be easy odds COM
pared with the four to one o put
against him In BilliDgsgate. Col" And
the battle was over, the foe never hav-
ing struck a blow. 1t hurt me that
Mary should speak Of the odds being
| two to one against Brandon when 1
was at hand. 1t Ia true I was not very
large, but 1 could have taken care Of a
lawyer.
Now Il was that the lawyer-knight
earned his bread by his wits, for it was
he, I know. who i~nstigoted the next
move, a master stroke In its way n
one which proved n checkmate to us.
1t was this: The duke went at once to
the king and In a tone of injured inno-
cence told him Of the charge made by
Brandon, with Mary's evident APPROX
al, and demanded redress for the SLAM
der. Thus It seemed that the strength
| OF our position was about to be turned
against us. brandon was ut once sum-
moned and promptly appeared before
the king, only too anxious to confront
the duke. AS to the confinement OF
Brandon md his secret trial, the king
did not care to hear. That was a mat
ter Of no consequence to him. The i'm
portant question was, Did Buckingham
attack the princess2
Brandon told the whole straight story
exactly as 1t was, which buckingham
rs promptly denied and offered to
prove by his almoner that he was at
his devotions on the night and at the
hour Of the attack. So here was q con-
fict of evidence which called for new
witnesses, and Henry asked Brandon
II the girls had seen and recognized the
duke. TO this question Of course he
was compelled to answer no.. md the
whole accusation, after all, rested upon
Brandon's word, against which, on the
other hand, was the evidence Of the
Duke OF Buckingham and his "
lent almoner.
All this disclosed to the full poor
Mary's anxiety to help Brandon, and,
tlc duke having adroitly let out tho
fact that he had Just met the princess
with Brandon at a certain secluded
spot In the forest, Henry's suspicion
Of her partially received new force,
and he began to look upon the unfortu-
nate Brandon as a partial cause ut
least Of Mary's aversion to the French
marriage.
Henry grew angry and ordered
Brandon to leave the court, with tho
sullen remark that 1t was only his
services to the Princess Mary that
saved him from q day with papers on
the pillory.
Henry was by no mean sure that
his suspicious concerning Mary's heart
were correct, and in all he had heard
he had not one substantial fact upon
which to base conviction. He had not
seen her with Brandon since their
avowal, or he would have had a fact
In every look, the truth In every mo-
ton, n demonstration in every glance.
h seemed powcrless even to attempt
concealmcnt. In Brandon's handsome
manliness and evident superiority the
king thought he saw a very clear pos
sibility for Mary to love, and where
there is such a possibility for n girl
she usually fails to fulfill expectations.
Now, all this brought Brandon into
the deep shadow Of the royal frown,
md like many another man he sank
his fortune In the fatbomless depths Of
q woman's heart and thought himself
rich in doing IL.
TO BE CONTINUED.