unknown to the rest of his fellow-servants. On the first available opportunity,[1] however, he sent news to the nearest magistrate of their presence in the house; for which act of treachery he was officially rewarded with an annuity, or the promise of an annuity, of forty marks. The result of his giving information was that Stephen Lyttleton and Robert Winter were quickly captured, and sent to the Tower; whilst Perkes and Humphrey Lyttleton were arrested, and taken to Worcester.
This act of the wily cook also conduced to more important results than the seizure of the fugitives, for it led directly to the capture of the Jesuit Fathers, Garnet and Oldcorne, whom the Government looked upon as a more important prize than any one of the individuals directly concerned in the plot.
Tried at Worcester, Humphrey Lyttleton was found guilty, and sentenced to death. He offered, however, if his life were spared, to give the Government valuable information as to the whereabouts of some of the Jesuits, especially in regard to 'Mr. Hall' (Father Oldcorne, S.J.). This offer was accepted, provided that he made good his promise. He, thereupon, not only gave an account of some conversations he had had with Oldcorne, but also stated that he had every reason to believe that this Jesuit was lying concealed
- ↑ January 9, 1606. From a further account, which I shall quote later on, it seems that another servant participated in the betrayal.
