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NOTES CONCERNING THE ENGLISH MISSION
[Initial Difficulties]-§ 17
had received from Father Persons certain introductions and tokens of friendship addressed to a gentlewoman of the name of Bellamy, of whom further mention will be made. She had been the hostess of Father Persons, and as her house was spacious and she herself was a zealous Catholic , fairly well off and full of good will towards the Father , under her roof he had done much work and written much. Now the house of this lady was three leagues or more beyond London ; to it therefore we went , requesting to speak with her. As soon as she appeared, I delivered my tokens, secretly however , as necessary in such circumstances. She declared, nevertheless, that my words were perfectly strange to her, as she had never seen Father Persons, or known him in any way ; much less was it possible that such messages should pass betweenthem . Seeingthen that must make no delay, I departed quickly, thinking it was of no use to press the matter further. I imagined myself to be walking upon unsafe ground, and feared that I had made some mistakeeither in the house or the person. . . .. Henry and I therefore called for our horses and withdrew, but by a different road from the one by which we had arrived . We were afraid lest by chance , if we had come into the house of an enemy, messengers might be dispatched, who would either search us or arrest us as enemies of the State. Our anxiety was not altogether without foundation ; for , as it was afterwards reported to us , she had given refuge to three or four Catholic priests , who lay hidden in her house , and to another person, a layman and an imposter , who passed himselfoff as a Catholic , and made an iniquitous pretence of religion. This man, as soon as we were gone, followed us to find out what manner of men we were ; but as we had changed our route , and he himself pursued the public highway, he was deceived in his expectations. Later on he assumed his true character as a traitor and notorious persecutor, and brought affliction upon many persons and confusion into families ; not long, however, with impunity, for he paid the just penalty of his crimes under the sword of an enemy with whom he was engaged in a quarrel, and died a miserable death. We meanwhile returned to London, there to devise new plans for future proceedings. Mr Henry had received news , while still in France, that his wife, whom he had left with child , had retired from her own home, and was living secretly in the house of a Catholic until the birth of her child, in order to avoid the danger of its falling into the hands of heretics and of receiving baptism according to their rite. We thought it good to make an attempt . . . . made inquiries
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