If the royal brothers got pistol-bullet or sword-stab, it would be in open fight, and at the risk of their attackers.

It was give and take, and no murder.' He paused and looked inquiringly at me; but I could not truthfully say that I was satisfied, for an attack upon the lives of unarmed and unsuspecting men, even though surrounded by a bodyguard, could not, to my mind, be justified.
'When the plot failed,' my father continued, 'Rumbold had to fly for his life, but he succeeded in giving his pursuers the slip and in making his way to the Lowlands.

There he found that many enemies of the Government had gathered together.

Repeated messages from England, especially from the western counties and from London, assured them that if they would but attempt an invasion they might rely upon help both in men and in money.

They were, however, at fault for some time for want of a leader of sufficient weight to carry through so large a project; but now at last they have one, who is the best that could have been singled out--none other than the well-beloved Protestant chieftain James, Duke of Monnmouth, son of Charles II.' 'Illegitimate son,' I remarked.
'That may or may not be.