Evening star., 1924-05-01

had been little better than a drawn
battle-had been looked upon with
dread by some, with disfavor by
others and with dismay by not a few
who viewed in. this an augury of
Now, Sir Rowland Blake, who since
his pursuit of Mr.. Wilding and
Trenchard on the occasion of their
flight from Taunton had, in spite of
his failure on that occasion, been
more or less in the service of Albe-
marie and the loyal army. saw in this
! lindisposition toward Monmouth of so
many of Bridgwater'S Inhabitants
great possibilities of profit to him
self. ~'r "~-''--.~
He was a Lupton House. the guest
Of his friend Richard Westmacott. and
the open suitor of Ruth, entirely
ignoring the circumstance that she
was .nominally the wife of Mr.. Wild
ing--this TO the infinite chagrin of
Miss Horton, who saw all her schem-
ing likely to go for nothing
In his heart Of hearts il was a
matter of not the slightest conSe-
quence to Sir Rowland whether
James Stuart or James Scott occu-
pied the throne of England. His own
affairs gave him more than enough
to think of. and these disturbances
| in the west were very welcome to
him. since they rendered difficult any
attempt to trace him on the part of
his London creditors. II happens,
however. very commonly that enmity
to an individual will lead to enmity
| to the cause which that individual
eSpouses. Thus may ii have been
with Sir Rowland. His hatred of
Wilding and his keen desire to see
Wilding destroyed had made him Il
Richard WeStmacott, easily Swayed
and overborne by the town rake,
whose vices made him seem to Rich
ard the embodiment Of all that Is
splendid and enyiable in man, had
become practically the baronetS tool,
now that he had abandoned Mon
mouths cause. Sir Rowland had not
considered it beneath the dignity of
his name and station to discharge
in BridgWater certain functions that
made him more or less spy. And so
reliable had been the information he
had sent FeverSham and Albemarle
during Monmouth's first occupation
Of the town that he had won by now
their complete confidence.
The second occupation and its un-
popularity with many of those who
oarlier--if luke warm--had been par
tisans of the duke. Sw"lled the num-
Der of Loyalty inclined people in
BridEwater. and suddenly inspired Sir
Rowland with a scheme by which at
a blow he might snuff out the re-
bellion.
This scheme involved the capture
of the duke, and the reward of sue
cess should mean fLr more TO Blake
than the $4,000. at which the value of
the dukes head had already been
fixed by parliament. He needed a
tool for this, and he even thought of
Westmacott and Lupton House, but
3LftcrWard preferred a Mr.. Newling-
ton. who was in better case to assist
him. This Newlington, an exceeding
~ prosperous merchant and one of
the richest men perhaps in the whole
west Of England, looked with ex-
treme disfavor upon Monmouth, whose
advent had paralyZcd his industries
to an extent that was costing him d
fine round sum of money weekly.
He was now in alarm lest the town
Of Bridgwater should be made to pay
dearly for having harbored the Prot
estant duke-he had no faith what
ever in the Protestant dukes ulti-
mate preVailing-an that he, as one
uf the towns most prominent and
prosperous citizens. might be among
the heaviest sufferers in spite of his
neutrality. This neutrality he OBJ
served because it was hardly safe in
that disaffected town for a man TO
proclaim himself a loyaliSt.