His small ferret-like eyes glared fearfully on her face, and there was a red flush on his brow, just beneath the brim of his hat, that made the dame tremble. Still she resolved to tell him the truth, though she knew that, in his present mood, it would draw down upon her head the full fury of his anger. “Do me no harm, husband!” she said. “’Twas the man Bernard Gray.” “Ah!” cried Shedlock. “Indeed, dear, I sought him not,” said the dame, earnestly. “He was standing here, as I came up; and I gave him but a cold welcome.” “What sought he here?” demanded Shedlock. “That know I not,” answered the dame, “for, while he was yet speaking, we heard thy step approach, and he broke away.” Shedlock’s angry eyes ran quickly over her face, but there was nothing there to awake in him, by a want of harmony with the general expression, the least doubt of her sincerity. Her complexion, it is true, had undergone a change, and was very pale, and, moreover, there was a trace of hesitation about her lips; but Shedlock knew her too well to attribute this manifestation to conscious guilt, or aught but her terror. It was clear that she spoke the truth, and that she thought, in the confidence and simplicity of her nature, that he would believe her; for she had never uttered a falsehood yet. “The Lord deliver me from thy snares,” ejaculated Shedlock, devoutly, and, at the same time, releasing her from his grasp. “Verily, the Lord is strong to deliver me.” “Of a surety, is he,” answered the dame. “Put thy trust in the Lord, and he shall deliver thee out of thy trouble.” “Peace, thou Jezebel, and get thee hence!” returned Shedlock. “There is a malignant yonder, in the blue chamber, who will serve thee, mayhap, for this vagrant Bernard. Get thee to him, and hold him there till my return.” Dame Shedlock made no answer, but, turning silently away, proceeded to obey the injunction of her lord. A few minutes of brisk walking brought her to the hall, which she entered, intending, though still somewhat agitated, to cross to the blue room without delay. Just as she passed under the porch, however, she was encountered by Zedekiah Truman, who, in his eagerness to retreat, had almost run her down, and now brought her to a stand. “Zedekiah, what troubleth thee?” she asked, in amaze. But the terrified Zedekiah, whether from fear, or from want of breath, was quite speechless, and, in reply to her inquiry, could only point to the open door of the blue room. Turning her eye thitherwards, she perceived a cavalier--who, indeed, was no other than Sir Walter Raleigh--standing in the middle of the chamber, and shaking from his locks and face a continuous stream of water. She was wondering what this could mean, when Zedekiah, whom she had seized by the wrist, sought to throw off her hold, and resume his interrupted flight. “The devil! the devil!” he cried, in tremulous accents. “I saw the devil talking with him.”