[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. Sept.]

him with tears, and, summoning their companions to horseback, rode away,
they scarcely knew whither but with the cheering hope that they should draw
the attention of the enemy from the retreat of the king to the pursuit of
themselves. In less than an hour a troop of horse from Cotsal, under the
command of Colonel Ashenhurst, arrived at Whiteladies; but the king was
already gone; a fruitless search only provoked their impatience, and they
hastily followed the track of the other fugitives.

Charles was now in the hands, and entirely at the mercy, of four brothers
(John, the fifth, had taken charge of the Lord Wilmot), labouring men, of
the name of Penderell, and of Yates, his former guide, who had married a
sister of the Penderells. He could not conceal from himself that their
poverty might make them more accessible to temptation; but Derby and
Giffard had conjured him to dismiss such thoughts; they were men of tried
fidelity, who, born in the domain, and bred in the principles of a loyal
and Catholic family, had long been successfully employed in screening
priests and Cavaliers from the searches of the civil magistrates and
military officers.[1] By one of them, surnamed the trusty Richard, he was
led into

[Footnote 1: The Penderells, whom this event has introduced to the notice
of the reader, were originally six brothers, born at Hobbal Grange, in the
parish of Tong. John, George, and Thomas served in the armies of Charles
I. Thomas was killed at Stowe; the other two survived the war, and were
employed as woodwards at Boscobel. Of the remaining three, William took
care of the house; Humphrey worked at the mill, and Richard rented part of
Hobbal Grange. After the Restoration, the five brothers waited on the king
at Whitehall on the 13th of June, 1660, and were graciously received, and