CHAPTER XV.

CONNECTING LINKS.

THOUGH Rupert, as has been related, set out almost immediately after the battle of Marston Moor to seek for an interview with his uncle, unavoidable circumstances interfered and hindered a meeting between them from taking place for a long period, and it was a considerable time before the King heard at all a true account of the disaster which had occurred. Yet when he at last heard the story, disappointed and grieved though he must have been, he did not fail to write kindly to his nephew.

Charles was at Evesham when the news of the battle reached him, and he was then undecided in what direction to bend his steps. Had Rupert achieved a victory it might have been thought the best course for the King to have gone northward, and follow up in person the advantages of his nephew's success. On the other hand there were still stronger reasons which made Charles wish to turn to the south-west. His Queen was there, in peril as he thought, and Essex with his army lay in the same direction. Upon this latter course, therefore, the distressed monarch finally

made up his mind, and when the fatal intelligence of defeat was communicated to him, he prepared to follow the army of the rebel Lord General in the direction of Exeter. At the same time he sent diligent and repeated orders to various quarters that such ammunition of all sorts as could possibly be spared should be sent to his luckless nephew, who was now endeavouring to reorganise his broken army, and keep up some show of royal power, at all events, in Lancashire and Cheshire.

The Queen had fled to Exeter in the preceding spring, and had there, on June 16th, given birth to an infant princess. Not many days after this event Essex had come to besiege the place, and the unhappy lady sent him a message to know if she might retire to Bath. Essex insolently replied, "that it was his intention to escort her majesty to London, where her presence was required to answer to the Parliament for having levied war in England.”

The Queen, upon receiving this answer, determined to save herself by flight, and leaving her child in the care of Lady Morton, she escaped with a few attendants in disguise, and after enduring many hardships, embarked on June 30 in a Dutch vessel, and made for the shores of her native land. Thus this last chance for Charles of seeing his beloved Queen was a failure, and the royal pair never afterwards met.

Meanwhile the King met with so many obstacles from the rebels on his way to Exeter, that by the time he arrived Henrietta had been already gone from there ten days before.

Charles had been much retarded in his movements by waiting so long to hear news from Rupert in the north, and Essex had also left Exeter before the King's arrival there, in the middle of July; so that an easy entry was afforded to the sovereign. Prince Maurice was now sent in pursuit of the Lord General with more than four thousand infantry, while the King more slowly followed in the same direction. In this manner pursuers and pursued made their way on into Cornwall, where Lord Essex at length found himself very unpleasantly hemmed in, and that too in a country the people of which were all Royalists in their hearts.

Aware of the great advantages of his position, the King generously offered once more to treat with the rebel general, an offer which shared the fate of all the others, and came to nothing. Essex decidedly and shortly refused to enter into a treaty, thinking perhaps that Sir William Waller might soon come to his rescue. It would have been natural enough for him to suppose so, but yet Waller did not come. Jealousy or disagreement of some sort seemed always to exist between these two generals; they could never manage to act in concert. Waller's help at this period would have been invaluable to Essex, yet instead of coming to the assistance of his brother in arms, he wandered uselessly about, doing no good to himself or to anyone else.

Accordingly, on August 11th, Essex having by that time ensconced himself in the little town of Fowey, near Lostwithiel, the King proceeded systematically to block him up in his retreat;

and a letter was despatched to Rupert requesting him, if it were possible for him to manage it, to come down toward Gloucester or Oxford, so as to be ready to join his uncle should he return victorious from Cornwall. There was a general feeling now amongst the Royalists that this great struggle was drawing to an end; the question of who was to rule must, they felt, be settled in one way or another. "This," wrote one of them from Cornwall, "is the last act of the play; God grant that each man may do his part well.”

But, nevertheless, though they were apparently so well aware of the importance of their position, they yet suffered Essex to escape from under their very eyes! He put off from shore one day in a small boat with some trusted companions, and got away without molestation. More wonderful still, many of his troops made their escape unharmed right through the lines of the careless Cavaliers. This great mistake was made owing chiefly to the misconduct of Colonel Goring, who, profligate and reckless as he had ever been, was so intoxicated at the time of the movement of the rebels as to be unable to assume the command of his men or issue any directions. The remainder of the general's army were then allowed to march away in safety, but unarmed.

The Royalists were of course disgusted when they found that their foe had so provokingly escaped from their grasp when they appeared to be completely at their mercy. There was

now no further need to linger in Cornwall, and on September 5th the King turned away and marched in the direction of Oxford. A vain

attempt having been made to take Plymouth on the way, it was not till September 30th that Charles reached South Perrot, drawing his discouraged army after him. Here the monarch became the guest of Lord Paulet, and here at last Rupert was able to pay a short visit to his uncle, whom he had not seen since his misfortune at Marston Moor. He came across from Bristol, where he had been doing his utmost, though without the high hopes of former days, to keep things in order and in good condition for the King.

Upon his arrival a council was immediately held. There were no less than four garrisons looking for help from the King or Rupert, but men, money, and arms were all very scarce, and the question as to what was to be done required some consideration. It was important at all costs to keep Bristol, so that men could not well be spared from that quarter, and it was therefore agreed, under these circumstances, that the remnant of the army which had fought at Marston Moor should remain with the King and join his regiments lately come from Cornwall. Meanwhile, of course, a very fair share of work was portioned out to Rupert. He was desired to go at once to Bristol and see that everything there was made as secure as possible; and then mustering what reinforcements he could, he was to return at once to Charles in order to consider what it was best to do next.

On October 5th he set out upon this duty, but a week had not gone by before the King received intelligence from Oxford, that if Banbury.