Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/493

1549.] news from London. After measures so rash as those which he had ventured, Hampton Court seemed dangerous; and at once, in the darkness, he called to horse, to be off in the dead of the night to Windsor. Edward was suffering from a cough, but there was no remedy, he must follow his uncle; and there was haste and scurry, armour clanking, servants rushing to and fro, the flashing of lights, and the tramp of horses; in the midst of the confusion, the Duchess of Somerset, fearing how matters might go, gathered up her jewels, and with some few clothes violently crammed together, escaped across the garden to a barge, and dropped down the stream to Kew.

The Court reached Windsor before dawn in the autumn morning. The castle was unprovided with ordinary necessaries, and the King's weak chest suffered heavily from the wild careless ride. The Archbishop, who would not leave Edward, was with the party; and Paget, the truest friend that Somerset had, who had so often warned him in vain, remained now at his side, to watch over him and prevent his rashness from compromising him fatally.

The council, hearing in the morning of this last unadvised movement, despatched waggons to the castle with supplies of food and furniture, and at the same time wrote to the King to say that they had received Sir William Petre's message, that they were sorry he should doubt their fidelity, and