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will not!’ Sovay turned on him indignantly. ‘D’you think I’m going to hide like a vixen in a covert? I’m going to confront him. He can do nothing without a warrant.’ She reached over and clasped Gabriel’s hand. ‘Together we’ll see him off, and his rabble.’

    After some swift work by Lydia, Sovay appeared immaculately attired in a dove-grey lady’s riding habit. She held a whip in her hand and stood at the top of the steps in front of the grand portal staring down at the men massed before the house. Lydia was behind her, clutching a large steel bodkin with which, she’d announced, she was prepared to do considerable damage. Cook stood with Lydia, rolling pin at the ready. A grim-faced Gabriel stood with his men. They made two lines in front of the house. The first rank carried firearms, those behind carried whatever they could find, old swords, pikes and halberds, taken down from the walls of the hall, otherwise whatever they were working with at the time, but hayforks, billhooks, sickles and skinning knives made formidable weapons.
    For the most part, Sir Royston’s men were similarly armed. Some were in uniform. He had raised a troop of Volunteers, kitting them out at his own expense. Their uniforms had been designed by James, who was riding at the front of the ragged column, splendidly dressed in blue and cream, as proud as a captain of hussars, with one hand resting on the silver hilt of a sword, a plumed cap upon his head, a quantity of gold on each shoulder and tasselled braid across his chest. He looked ridiculous. Sovay heard a snuffle of suppressed laughter from Lydia and would have joined in herself had the situation not been so grave. Sovay surveyed the forces ranged against them. The men from Sir Royston’s estate were for the most part quiet, as if they didn’t want to be there but had no choice; the rest, who appeared to have been swept from every tavern in the town, were far more vociferous but for the most part drunk. Sir Royston himself was at the head of them all, his bulky figure balanced on a fine bay horse. He went to ride right up to the house, but when Gabriel’s men closed ranks and stepped forward, he reined his mount back.
    ‘What do you want here?’ Sovay’s voice rang out and some of the shouting subsided, replaced by leering and jeering. ‘What right have you to trespass on my land?’
    ‘It’s not your land, but your father’s and he’s subject to arrest,’ Sir Royston shouted back at her. ‘We are here to see justice done.’
    ‘Arrest?’ Sovay feigned shocked surprise. ‘On what grounds?’
    ‘Sedition and treason. Now get this rabble out of my way.’
    He made to breach the line again and the crowd surged after him, bellowing ‘Sedition’, ‘Treason’ and ‘Justice done’. Gabriel let off a warning shot above their heads and the furore died down.
    ‘My father is not here. You know that. So I ask again, what is your business?’
    ‘We are here to search the house, seize seditious materials.’
    ‘Do you have a warrant?’ Sovay knew very well that he hadn’t, since the warrant was in her pocket. She stared back at him, interested to see what he would do now.
    ‘I expect one within the hour,’ he said.
    ‘But you do not have one now, so you will not pass, or set one foot in this house. I will remind you once again that you are trespassing. On your land, many a man has lost his leg to a mantrap, or his life to a spring gun, or been transported for life for doing just that.’ She looked to the crowd behind him. ‘You men. Before you move against my father, remember the mercy he has shown to those who have appeared before him on the bench. How many men has he saved from transportation? From the rope itself? You come here shouting for justice; my father has always shown justice and fairness in his judgements. Tell me, is that not true?’
    The jeering and shouting turned to muttering between them. Sovay knew she’d hit home with some of them, at