"Ah, Rowley," said Nell. "You have been away from me a long weary time, and I know you have forgotten me."
The king denied the charge, and doubtless took his own way to convince her.
"While you have been away, I have found a new friend to console me," said Nelly.
"Ah!" exclaimed the king, with suddenly awakened interest.
"Is your new friend a man or a woman?" asked Charles.
"A woman, of course, oh, jealous heart! You know there is but one man in the world for me--your ugly self."
"I'll give you three guesses. You admire her greatly," said Nelly.
"Indeed, it must be the Bishop of Canterbury's lady," suggested his Majesty.
"Surely!" exclaimed Nell, with a merry laugh. "But guess again."
When the king had exhausted his three guesses, she said triumphantly, "My new friend's name is Frances Jennings."
"Ah, indeed!" exclaimed the king. "She will have nothing to say to my friends, Lady Castlemain and others, and I supposed she would be too nice and proper to choose you for her friend."
"No, no," returned Nelly. "She is my first friend among the court ladies. We have had several rare adventures together, and don't you know, I have discovered that she is in love."
"With your friend and mine, George Hamilton," returned Nelly.
"Ah, well, he is in France, and we shall see that he remains there," said the king.
"No, he is not in France. He is in London," said Nelly. "I saw him at the Old Swan just before you left for Sheerness, nearly two months ago."
"Odds fish!" swore his Majesty. "We'll find a mission for him abroad."
"You'll have to find him first," said Nelly. "I've been down to the Old Swan to see him, but the girl there tells me he left the tavern long ago, and I suspect he is at his brother's house near St. Albans. But I'll tell you further."
Then she told the king what Frances had said about a mysterious man whom Nelly asserted Frances both hated and loved. She told him also that Frances had recognized one of the highwaymen who had robbed Roger Wentworth, and closed her narrative with an account of my cousin's refusal to recognize Hamilton and her eagerness to explain to him after the fight.
"So you see, Rowley dear, I put this and that together and concluded that Frances Jennings loves George Hamilton because she can't help it, and hates him because she recognized him as one of the murderers of Roger Wentworth. She did not say that this is all true, nor will she talk on the subject, but one may see through a millstone with a hole in it."