Her hand slid
from my shoulder to the bend of my arm and rested there.
"Remember that I am your wife, sir," she said in a low, fierce
voice, - "your kind and loving wife. You said that your sword was
mine; now bring your wit to the same service!"
There was not time to question her meaning. The man whose
position in the realm had just been announced by the Secretary,
and of whom we had all heard as one not unlikely to supplant even
Buckingham himself, was close at hand. The Governor, headpiece
in hand, stepped forward; the other swept off his Spanish hat; both
bowed profoundly.
"I speak to his Honor the Governor of Virginia?" inquired the
newcomer. His tone was offhand, his hat already back upon his
head.
"I am George Yeardley, at my Lord Carnal's service," answered the
Governor.
The favorite raised his eyebrows. "I don't need to introduce myself,
it seems," he said. "You've found that I am not the devil, after all, -
at least not the Spanish Apollyon. Zooks ! a hawk above a poultry
yard could n't have caused a greater commotion than did my poor
little ship and my few poor birding pieces! Does every strange sail
so put you through your paces?"
The Governor's color mounted. "We are not at home," he answered
stiffly. "Here we are few and weak and surrounded by many
dangers, and have need to be vigilant, being planted, as it were, in
the very grasp of that Spain who holds Europe in awe, and who
claims this land as her own.
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