I assert to
you, on the honour of a gentleman, that no such letters have ever
met my eye, and that, if such a proposition had been made to me, I
care not by whom, I would have struck to the ground the man who
offered me such an insult.'
"'We are sorry, Sir Marmaduke Carstairs,' Mr. Peters said, 'most
sorry, both of us, that it should have fallen to our duty to take
so painful a proceeding against a neighbour; but, you see, the
matter is beyond us. We have received a sworn information that you
are engaged in such a plot. We are told that you are in the habit
of locking up papers of importance in a certain cabinet, and there
we find papers of a most damnatory kind. We most sincerely trust
that you may be able to prove your innocence in the matter, but we
have nothing to do but to take you with us, as a prisoner, to
Lancaster.'
"Sir Marmaduke unbuckled his sword, and laid it by. He was quieter
than I thought he could be, in such a strait, for he has always
been by nature, as you know, choleric.
"'I am ready, gentlemen,' he said.
"Peters whispered in Cockshaw's ear.
"'Ah yes,' the other said, 'I had well-nigh forgotten,' and he
turned to me. 'Where is Master Charles Carstairs?'
"'He is not in the house,' I said.
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