He wondered if they would believe the marvelous tale he
should tell when he got home, or if they would shake their heads,
and say his overtaxed imagination had at last upset his reason.
At the end of half an hour it suddenly occurred to him that the
prince was gone a long time; then right away he began to feel
lonely; very soon he fell to listening and longing, and ceased to
toy with the pretty things about him; he grew uneasy, then restless,
then distressed. Suppose some one should come, and catch him in the
prince's clothes, and the prince not there to explain. Might they
not hang him at once, and inquire into his case afterward? He had
heard that the great were prompt about small matters. His fears rose
higher and higher; and trembling he softly opened the door to the
ante-chamber, resolved to fly and seek the prince, and through him,
protection and release. Six gorgeous gentlemen-servants and two
young pages of high degree, clothed like butterflies, sprung to
their feet, and bowed low before him. He stepped quickly back, and
shut the door. He said:
'Oh, they mock at me! They will go and tell. Oh! why came I here
to cast away my life?'
He walked up and down the floor, filled with nameless fears,
listening, starting at every trifling sound. Presently the door
swung open, and a silken page said:
'The Lady Jane Grey.'
The door closed, and a sweet young girl, richly clad, bounded
toward him.
But she stopped suddenly, and said in a distressed voice:
'Oh, what aileth thee, my lord?'
Tom's breath was nearly failing him; but he made shift to
stammer out:
'Ah, be merciful, thou! In sooth I am no lord, but only poor Tom
Canty of Offal Court in the city.
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