convinced them by the testimony of his neighbours, that for several weeks
he had not quitted Moseley, and with much difficulty prevailed on them to
depart without searching the house.

[Footnote 1: Though ignorant of the quality of the stranger, the boys
amused the king by calling themselves his life-guard.--Boscobel, 78.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1651. Sept. 9.]


That night[a] Charles proceeded to Bentley. It took but little time to
transform the woodcutter into a domestic servant, and to exchange his
dress of green jump for a more decent suit of grey cloth. He departed on
horseback with his supposed mistress behind him, accompanied by her cousin,
Mr. Lassells; and, after a journey of three days, reached[b] Abbotsleigh,
Mr. Norton's house, without interruption or danger. Wilmot stopped at
Sir John Winter's, a place in the neighbourhood. On the road, he had
occasionally joined the royal party, as it were by accident; more generally
he preceded or followed them at a short distance. He rode with a hawk
on his fist, and dogs by his side; and the boldness of his manner as
effectually screened him from discovery as the most skilful disguise.

The king, on his arrival,[c] was indulged with a separate chamber, under
pretense of indisposition; but the next morning he found himself in the
company of two persons, of whom one had been a private in his regiment of
guards at Worcester, the other a servant in the palace at Richmond, when
Charles lived there several years before. The first did not recognise him,
though he pretended to give a description of his person; the other, the
moment the king uncovered, recollected the features of the prince, and
communicated his suspicions to Lassells. Charles, with great judgment, sent