I again began my machinations, since I can call my double dealing by no other name.  I induced Dorothy to agree to meet the earl and his son James.  Without promising positively to marry Lord Stanley, she, at my suggestion, led her father to believe she was ready to yield to his wishes.  By this course she gained time and liberty, and kept peace with her father.  Since you have seen the evils that war brought to Haddon, you well know how desirable peace was.  In time of war all Haddon was a field of carnage and unrest.  In time of peace the dear old Hall was an ideal home.  I persuaded Sir George not to insist on a positive promise from Dorothy, and I advised him to allow her yielding mood to grow upon her.  I assured him evasively that she would eventually succumb to his paternal authority and love.

What an inherent love we all have for meddling in the affairs of others, and what a delicious zest we find in faithfully applying our surplus energies to business that is not strictly our own!  I had become a part of the Sir George-Dorothy-John affair, and I was like the man who caught the bear:  I could not loose my hold.

CHAPTER XIII

PROUD DAYS FOR THE OLD HALL

Of course the queen’s approaching visit threw Haddon Hall into a frenzy of scrubbing and furbishing.  Aunt Dorothy was the busiest woman in England.  Floors were newly polished.  Draperies were taken down and were carefully washed with mysterious concoctions warranted to remove dirt without injury to color.  Superfine wax was bought in great boxes, and candles were made for all the chandeliers and candelabra in the house.  Perfumed oil was purchased for the lamp in the state bedroom.  Elizabeth, by the way, when she came, did not like the odor of the oil, and with an oath tossed both the oil and the lamp out of the window.  The fattest sheep, kine, and hogs were chosen from the flocks and were brought in to be stall-fed in such numbers that one might have supposed we were expecting an ogress who could eat an ox at a meal.  Pipers and dancers were engaged, and a merry fool was brought down from London.  At last the eventful day came and with it came our queen.  She brought with her a hundred yeomen of her guard and a score of ladies and gentlemen.  Among the latter was the Earl of Leicester, who was the queen’s prime favorite.

Prior to the queen’s announcement of her intention to visit Haddon Sir George had, with Dorothy’s tacit consent, fixed a day upon which the Earl of Derby and his son, Lord James, should be received at the Hall for the purpose of signing the marriage contract.  Dorothy, of course, had no intention of signing the contract, but she put off the evil hour of refusal as far as possible, hoping something might occur in the meantime to help her out of the dilemma.  Something did occur at the last moment.  I am eager to tell you about it, but it must wait its turn.  Truly would the story of this ingenious girl’s life make a romance if it were written by a poet.  In her Guinevere and Elaine were moulded into one person with the tenderness, purity, and fierceness of each.