"There'll be a reasonable quantity of parsons to choose from at Chester,"
she retorted, laughing up in his face.
"Chester? Why Chester?" demanded Master Freake, suddenly tense and
vigilant.
"I need name no name, but a certain dignitary's lady there, one of our
supporters, undertook to take her in charge while this affair was on,"
explained the Colonel.
Master Freake, it seemed to me, was disappointed with the explanation,
and, knowing that what Margaret wanted was to have the rumour of her
father's intended treachery blown to pieces by his own account, I said,
"There's only one parson in England fit to look at Mistress Margaret, and
he's sixty and married. Let me learn, I pray you, sir, the art of slipping
out of the hands of a squad of dragoons on a road crowded with soldiery."
"If you think you are to hear a tale that will make you grip the arms of
your chairs, you're in for a sad disappointment. Yesterday and through the
night, they stuck to me as if Geordie had offered thirty thousand pounds
for me, dead or alive, but this morning their hold on me slackened. They
might have intended me to escape.
Pages:
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220