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By Root 3773 0

James’s Palace. The main carvings that Grinling Gibbons had undertaken were completed, but there were numerous small commissions which he had been given to do. The guards were used to seeing him go in and out and since he was always careful to choose a spot to work where he would not disturb anybody, he was allowed to move about pretty much as he pleased. He had chosen a panel over a doorway that afternoon where he carved some fruit and flowers, not as fine as Gibbons’s work, but good, and he was proud of them. The carving was actually complete, but he wanted to apply some beeswax to the wood and polish it. In order to work more comfortably, he erected a little scaffolding over his side of the doorway and here he had contentedly ensconced himself. This corner of the palace seemed to be empty this afternoon; the door was just ajar, but half an hour passed before he heard anyone coming, and then it was a pair of murmuring voices he heard, and a faint rustle as two men approached the doorway. As they did so, their voices stopped. He saw the door open, a head quickly look round it to make sure the room was empty, and then, standing just the other side of the entrance, the two men continued their conversation. The head which had looked in, he had just been able to see, belonged to a Jesuit priest; and, somewhat embarrassed, he was about to make a noise to alert them to his presence when the other man spoke.

“My only fear is that the king is moving too fast.”

O Be Joyful froze. Presumably these two men were papists. What would happen if they discovered him? Yet, suspicious as ever of any Catholics, he could not resist the desire to listen. A second later, as the first voice continued, he received a shock.

“The king is determined to bring all England back to Rome, but you must urge him to be cautious. It can’t be done overnight. Not even by force.”

O Be Joyful went cold.

“My dear Father John.” The Jesuit spoke in English but the accent was French. “We all regret, of course, that this toleration must be granted to Protestant sects for the moment. But Holy Church has time on her side. That is well understood. And you need not accuse us of impatience, for we have already been working with this royal family for some time.”

“With James, of course. But he has only been king a short time,” the English priest countered. His words were followed by a short pause, and O Be Joyful wondered if the conversation was over. But then he heard the Frenchman again, in a lower voice this time.

“Not quite. There is perhaps something you do not know. His brother died in the true faith.”

“King Charles? A Catholic?”

“Oh yes, my friend. He kept it from his people. But when he died . . .”

“The Archbishop of Canterbury attended him.”

“True, but as the archbishop went down the front stairs, our good Father Huddlestone came secretly up the back. He heard Charles’s confession, gave him extreme unction.”

“I did not know.”

“You must not say it. But I will tell you something more. Long before that King Charles II entered into a secret treaty with King Louis of France. In it, he promised to declare his true faith and return England to Rome; and King Louis promised him whatever forces he needed to do it. Nobody but a handful at the French court know this. Charles even deceived his own closest ministers. But the conversion of England has already been in preparation for fifteen years. I only tell you so that you shall better understand the work you are asked to do.”

King Charles a secret Catholic all along? O Be Joyful was trembling. Although he had always believed in a Catholic plot, to hear it confirmed so blandly by another person was terrifying. And the real conspiracy was even deeper than the one Titus Oates had invented. The French king ready to use force? The toleration edict only temporary? Penny was right then. It was all a trap. He was so frightened he could hardly breathe and he thanked the Lord when, a few moments later, he heard the two men walk away.

His first impulse was simple. He must tell people. But who would believe him? They would