It was the clinching argument. Colonel Fuller had not been able to reply.

Ebenezer had discovered power, and the knowledge of it filled him with the same glorious excitement as the chanting of the psalm. Even Colonel Fuller, a hard, grim soldier who fought with a sword in his right hand and a Bible in his left, treated him with deference. Fuller had let Ebenezer reply to the letter of truce from the castle, had acquiesced humbly when Ebenezer had dictated how the castle was to be taken. Ebenezer spoke with Sir Grenville’s authority, and his demands that the new part of the castle was not to be damaged, and that Fuller’s men were not to interfere with his activities in the fallen castle, had not been questioned.

Ebenezer had power.

Tomorrow, if God willed it, he would have the Seal of St. Matthew.

And tomorrow, when Samuel Scammell was dead, Ebenezer would be the legal holder of St. Matthew’s Seal, receiver of the monies passed from Sir Grenville, and the thought of the income filled him with excitement.

He would use the Covenant. He stared at the millpond through the window, watching ducklings trail busily behind their mother, and thought of his plans. A third force was rising in England, a force that threatened to defeat both King and Parliament. Ebenezer could hear that force now, hear it in the strong, virile voices of the young men who prayed as hard as they fought. They hated the King, they hated the Royalists, but they hated the Presbyterians of Parliament almost as much. They fought for Parliament, but Ebenezer knew they would never consent, after victory, to be ruled by Parliament. Presbyterianism made heaven into a lottery, and it was not to the taste of these Independent Puritans.

Sir Grenville had sided with the Presbyterians. Ebenezer would not. He would bide his time, and in time he would give a strong, harsh voice to the demands of the common soldier. It was the common soldier who carried the sword and the gun, and it was the sword and the gun that would make England holy. And it was the Covenant that would give Ebenezer the power to make his voice heard.

All was prepared for the morning, whichever morning it was to be. The men Ebenezer had hired as his own troop knew what was to be done. Samuel Scammell, in whom Ebenezer detected reluctance, was nevertheless obedient. Most of all, Faithful Unto Death Hervey and his new housekeeper, Goodwife Baggerlie, knew what was expected of them. They were rehearsed, ready, and their actions would bring the day of the Lord closer.

Sir Grenville Cony did not expect the castle to fall till the end of the month. That was good. Tomorrow, beneath the smoke from his explosion, Ebenezer needed just a few moments with the seal that was rightfully his. He did not know where those moments would lead, he knew only that he must prepare himself for the time when he would have to destroy Sir Grenville, as he planned to destroy his sister, and as he would destroy anyone who threatened the Kingdom of God he saw flowering in England.