Cicely Carew knitted her brows.  “That is a saucy rogue,” said she; “but he hath served my father well.  And, what is much in London town, he is an honest man withal, though I have caught him at the Spanish wine behind my father’s back; so he doth butter his tongue with smooth words when he hath speech with me, for I am the lady of the house.”  She held up her head with a very pretty pride.  “My mother—­”

Nick caught his breath, and his eyes filled.

“Nay, boy,” said she, gently; “’tis I should weep, not thou; for my mother is dead.  I do not think I ever saw her that I know,” she went on musingly; “but she was a Frenchwoman who served a murdered queen, and she was the loveliest woman that ever lived.”  Cicely clasped her hands and moved her lips.  Nick saw that she was praying, and bent his head.

“Thou art a good boy,” she said softly; “my father will like that”; and then went quietly on:  “That is why Gregory Goole doth call me ’ma’m’selle’—­because my mother was a Frenchwoman.  But I am a right English girl for all that; and when they shout, ‘God save the Queen!’ at the play, why, I do too!  And, oh, boy,” she cried, “it is a brave thing to hear!” and she clapped her hands with sparkling eyes.  “It drove the Spaniards off the sea, my father ofttimes saith.”

“Poh!” said Nick, stoutly, for he saw the pasty coming in, “they can na beat us Englishmen!” and with that fell upon the pasty as if it were the Spanish Armada in one lump and he Sir Francis Drake set on to do the job alone.

As he ate his spirits rose again, and he almost forgot that he was stolen from his home, and grew eager to be seeing the wonders of the great town whose ceaseless roar came over the housetops like a distant storm.  He was still somewhat in awe of this beautiful, flower-like little maid, and listened in shy silence to the wonderful tales she told:  how that she had seen the Queen, who had red hair, and pearls like gooseberries on her cloak; and how the court went down to Greenwich.  But the bandy-legged man kept popping his head in at the door, and, after all, Nick was but in a prison-house; so he grew quite dismal after a while.

“Dost truly think thy father will leave me go?” he asked.

“Of course he will,” said she.  “I cannot see why thou dost hate him so?”

“Why, truly,” hesitated Nick, “perhaps it is not thy father that I hate, but only that he will na leave me go.  And if he would but leave me go, perhaps I’d love him very much indeed.”

“Good, Nick! thou art a trump!” cried Master Carew’s voice suddenly from the further end of the hall, where in spite of all the candles it was dark; and, coming forward, the master-player held out his hands in a most genial way.  “Come, lad, thy hand—­’tis spoken like a gentleman.  Nay, I will kiss thee—­for I love thee, Nick, upon my word, and on the remnant of mine honour!” Taking the boy’s half-unwilling hands in his own, he stooped and kissed him upon the forehead.