I'll learn who
this fellow is, and will see that he becomes acquainted with the interior
of Newgate or dangles to a rope on Tyburn."
"Shall we declare the wager off?" asked Wentworth, turning to Churchill
and Hamilton.
"By all means," answered Churchill.
All being willing to return, they started back to London, Wentworth,
Berkeley, and Crofts falling behind. The story they had told was not
convincing, but when Hamilton expressed his doubts to Churchill and
intimated his belief that a robbery, if not a murder, had been committed,
Churchill answered cautiously:--
"Perhaps you are right, but the less we know or think or say about this
affair, the better it will be for you and me. As for myself, I shall
leave London for a while to avoid being called as a witness in case the
matter is investigated. If we try to bring these fellows to justice, they
may turn upon us and swear that we did the deed, in which case we might
hang, for they are three to two; a good preponderance of testimony. But
in any case the king would see that no evil befell his son and his
friends. Therefore if we are wise, we shall remain silent and take
ourselves out of the way for the time being."
The next day, as I afterwards learned, George made the mistake of
returning to France, not that he feared punishment for himself, but
because he did not want to speak the unavailing truth and thereby bring
upon himself the king's wrath, nor did he want to bear false witness to
protect the criminals.
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