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said, "but it is as well to be on the safe side. Here are four

crowns, which will furnish you with ample pocket-money. And I have

arranged with your fencing-master for you to have lessons regularly,

as before; it will not do for you to neglect so important an

accomplishment, for which, as he tells me, you show great aptitude."

The two months passed. Cyril had received but one letter from his

father. Although it expressed hopes of his speedy restoration to his

estates, Cyril could see, by its tone, that his father was far from

satisfied with the progress he had made in the matter. Madame Baudoin

was a good and pious woman, and was very kind to the forlorn English

boy; but when a fortnight over the two months had passed, Cyril could

see that the fisherman was becoming anxious. Regularly, on his return

from the fishing, he inquired if letters had arrived, and seemed much

put out when he heard that there was no news. One day, when Cyril was

in the garden that surrounded the cottage, he heard him say to his

wife,--

"Well, I will say nothing about it until after the next voyage, and

then if we don't hear, the boy must do something for his living. I

can take him in the boat with me; he can earn his victuals in that

way. If he won't do that, I shall wash my hands of him altogether,

and he must shift for himself. I believe his father has left him with

us for good. We were wrong in taking him only on the recommendation

of Mr. Felton. I have been inquiring about his father, and hear

little good of him."

Cyril, as soon as the fisherman had gone, stole up to his little

room. He was but twelve years old, and he threw himself down on his

bed and cried bitterly. Then a thought struck him; he went to his

box, and took out from it a sealed parcel; on it was written, "To my

son. This parcel is only to be opened should you find yourself in

great need, Your Loving Mother." He remembered how she had placed it

in his hands a few hours before her death, and had said to him,--

"Put this away, Cyril. I charge you let no one see it. Do not speak

of it to anyone--not even to your father. Keep it as a sacred gift,

and do not open it unless you are in sore need. It is for you, and

you alone. It is the sole thing that I have to leave you; use it with

discretion. I fear that hard times will come upon you."

Cyril felt that his need could hardly be sorer than it was now, and

without hesitation he broke the seals, and opened the packet. He

found first a letter directed to himself. It began,--

"MY DARLING CYRIL,--I trust that it will be many years before you

open this parcel and read these words. I have left the enclosed as a

parting gift to you. I know not how long this exile may last, or

whether you will ever be able to return to England. But whether you

do or not, it may well be that the time will arrive when you may find

yourself in sore need. Your father has been a loving husband to me,

and will, I am sure, do what he can for you; but he is not provident

in his habits, and may not, after he is left alone, be as careful in

his expenditure as I have tried to be. I fear then that the time will

come when you will be in need of money, possibly even in want of the

necessaries of life. All my other trinkets I have given to him; but

the one enclosed, which belonged to my mother, I leave to you. It is

worth a good deal of money, and this it is my desire that you shall

spend upon yourself. Use it wisely, my son. If, when you open this,

you are of age to enter the service of a foreign Prince, as is, I

know, the intention of your father, it will provide you with a

suitable outfit. If, as is possible, you may lose your father by

death or otherwise while you are still young, spend it on your

education, which is the best of all heritages. Should your father be

alive when you open this, I pray you not to inform him of it. The

money, in his hands, would last but a short time, and might, I fear,

be wasted. Think not that I am speaking or thinking hardly of him.

All men, even the best, have their faults, and his is a carelessness

as to money matters, and a certain recklessness concerning them;

therefore, I pray you to keep it secret from him, though I do not say

that you should not use the money for your common good, if it be

needful; only, in that case, I beg you will not inform him as to what

money you have in your possession, but use it carefully and prudently

for the household wants, and make it last as long as may be. My good

friend, Lady Parton, if still near you, will doubtless aid you in

disposing of the jewels to the best advantage. God bless you, my son!

This is the only secret I ever had from your father, but for your

good I have hidden this one thing from him, and I pray that this

deceit, which is practised for your advantage, may be forgiven me.

YOUR LOVING MOTHER."

It was some time before Cyril opened the parcel; it contained a

jewel-box in which was a necklace of pearls. After some consideration

he took this to the Cure of St. Ursula, and, giving him his mother's

letter to read, asked him for his advice as to its disposal.

"Your mother was a thoughtful and pious woman," the good priest said,

after he had read the letter, "and has acted wisely in your behalf.

The need she foresaw might come, has arisen, and you are surely

justified in using her gift. I will dispose of this trinket for you;

it is doubtless of considerable value. If it should be that your

father speedily sends for you, you ought to lay aside the money for

some future necessity. If he does not come for some time, as may well

be--for, from the news that comes from England, it is like to be many

months before affairs are settled--then draw from it only such

amounts as are needed for your living and education. Study hard, my

son, for so will you best be fulfilling the intentions of your

mother. If you like, I will keep the money in my hands, serving it

out to you as you need it; and in order that you may keep the matter

a secret, I will myself go to Baudoin, and tell him that he need not

be disquieted as to the cost of your maintenance, for that I have

money in hand with which to discharge your expenses, so long as you

may remain with him."

The next day the Cure informed Cyril that he had disposed of the

necklace for fifty louis. Upon this sum Cyril lived for two years.

Things had gone very hardly with Sir Aubrey Shenstone. The King had a

difficult course to steer. To have evicted all those who had obtained

possession of the forfeited estates of the Cavaliers would have been

to excite a deep feeling of resentment among the Nonconformists. In

vain Sir Aubrey pressed his claims, in season and out of season. He

had no powerful friends to aid him; his conduct had alienated the men

who could have assisted him, and, like so many other Cavaliers who

had fought and suffered for Charles I., Sir Aubrey Shenstone found

himself left altogether in the cold. For a time he was able to keep

up a fair appearance, as he obtained loans from Prince Rupert and

other Royalists whom he had known in the old days, and who had been

more fortunate than himself; but the money so obtained lasted but a

short time, and it was not long before he was again in dire straits.

Cyril had from the first but little hope that his father would

recover his estates. He had, shortly before his father left France,

heard a conversation between Sir John Parton and a gentleman who was

in the inner circle of Charles's advisers. The latter had said,--

"One of the King's great difficulties will be to satisfy the exiles.

Undoubtedly, could he consult his own inclinations only, he would on

his return at once reinstate all those who have suffered in their

estates from their loyalty to his father and himself. But this will

be impossible. It was absolutely necessary for him, in his

proclamation at Breda, to promise an amnesty for all offences,

liberty of conscience and an oblivion as to the past, and he

specially says that all questions of grants, sales and purchases of

land, and titles, shall be referred to Parliament. The Nonconformists

are at present in a majority, and although it seems that all parties

are willing to welcome the King back, you may be sure that no

Parliament will consent to anything like a general disturbance of the

possessors of estates formerly owned by Royalists. In a vast number

of cases, the persons to whom such grants were made disposed of them

by sale to others, and it would be as hard on them to be ousted as it

is upon the original proprietors to be kept out of their possession.

Truly it is a most difficult position, and one that will have to be

approached with great judgment, the more so since most of those to

whom the lands were granted were generals, officers, and soldiers of

the Parliament, and Monk would naturally oppose any steps to the

detriment of his old comrades.

"I fear there will be much bitter disappointment among the exiles,

and that the King will be charged with ingratitude by those who think

that he has only to sign an order for their reinstatement, whereas

Charles will have himself a most difficult course to steer, and will

have to govern himself most circumspectly, so as to give offence to

none of the governing parties. As to his granting estates, or

dispossessing their holders, he will have no more power to do so than

you or I. Doubtless some of the exiles will be restored to their

estates; but I fear that the great bulk are doomed to disappointment.

At any rate, for a time no extensive changes can be made, though it

may be that in the distance, when the temper of the nation at large

is better understood, the King will be able to do something for those

who suffered in the cause.

"It was all very well for Cromwell, who leant solely on the Army, to

dispense with a Parliament, and to govern far more autocratically

than James or Charles even dreamt of doing; but the Army that

supported Cromwell would certainly not support Charles. It is

composed for the most part of stern fanatics, and will be the first

to oppose any attempt of the King to override the law. No doubt it

will erelong be disbanded; but you will see that Parliament will then

recover the authority of which Cromwell deprived it; and Charles is a

far wiser man than his father, and will never set himself against the

feeling of the country. Certainly, anything like a general

reinstatement of the men who have been for the last ten years

haunting the taverns of the Continent is out of the question; they

would speedily create such a revulsion of public opinion as might

bring about another rebellion. Hyde, staunch Royalist as he is, would

never suffer the King to make so grievous an error; nor do I think

for a moment that Charles, who is shrewd and politic, and above all

things a lover of ease and quiet, would think of bringing such a nest

of hornets about his ears."

When, after his return to England, it became evident that Sir Aubrey

had but small chance of reinstatement in his lands, his former

friends began to close their purses and to refuse to grant further

loans, and he was presently reduced to straits as severe as those he

had suffered during his exile. The good spirits that had borne him up

so long failed now, and he grew morose and petulant. His loyalty to

the King was unshaken; Charles had several times granted him

audiences, and had assured him that, did it rest with him, justice

should be at once dealt to him, but that he was practically powerless

in the matter, and the knight's resentment was concentrated upon

Hyde, now Lord Clarendon, and the rest of the King's advisers. He

wrote but seldom to Cyril; he had no wish to have the boy with him

until he could take him down with him in triumph to Norfolk, and show

him to the tenants as his heir. Living from hand to mouth as he did,

he worried but little as to how Cyril was getting on.

"The lad has fallen on his feet somehow," he said, "and he is better

where he is than he would be with me. I suppose when he wants money

he will write and say so, though where I should get any to send to

him I know not. Anyhow, I need not worry about him at present."

Cyril, indeed, had written to him soon after the sale of the

necklace, telling him that he need not distress himself about his

condition, for that he had obtained sufficient money for his present

necessities from the sale of a small trinket his mother had given him

before her death, and that when this was spent he should doubtless

find some means of earning his living until he could rejoin him. His

father never inquired into the matter, though he made a casual

reference to it in his next letter, saying that he was glad Cyril had

obtained some money, as it would, at the moment, have been

inconvenient to him to send any over.

Cyril worked assiduously at the school that had been recommended to

him by the Cure, and at the end of two years he had still twenty

louis left. He had several conversations with his adviser as to the

best way of earning his living.

"I do not wish to spend any more, Father," he said, "and would fain

keep this for some future necessity."

The Cure agreed with him as to this, and, learning from his master

that he was extremely quick at figures and wrote an excellent hand,

he obtained a place for him with one of the principal traders of the

town. He was to receive no salary for a year, but was to learn

book-keeping and accounts. Although but fourteen, the boy was so

intelligent and zealous that his employer told the Cure that he found

him of real service, and that he was able to entrust some of his

books entirely to his charge.

Six months after entering his service, however, Cyril received a

letter from his father, saying that he believed his affairs were on

the point of settlement, and therefore wished him to come over in the

first ship sailing. He enclosed an order on a house at Dunkirk for

fifty francs, to pay his passage. His employer parted with him with

regret, and the kind Cure bade him farewell in terms of real