“A favor from me?”
Mordaunt bowed.
“I come to you, my leader, my head, my father, and I ask you, master, are you contented with me?”
Cromwell looked at him with astonishment. The young man remained immovable.
“Yes,” said Cromwell; “you have done, since I knew you, not only your duty, but more than your duty; you have been a faithful friend, a cautious negotiator, a brave soldier.”
“Do you remember, sir it was my idea, the Scotch treaty, for giving up the king?”
“Yes, the idea was yours.
I had no such contempt for men before.”