Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Juvenile fiction
When she was cosey among the pillows, the older girl, Betteris,
brought her a goblet of warm milk, and the younger girl, Allison, fed
her with morsels of white bread and of roasted chicken. They would
scarcely let the waiting-women touch her. It seemed as if they could
not do enough for the little girl who in pity had helped their brother
Dick in his time of need.
Merrylips felt sure that now all would be well with her, and with
Rupert, and with Munn. So she fell gently asleep, and when she woke,
the sunlight was shining in the room.
Allison and Betteris came in to see her soon. When they found her
awake, Allison brought her bread and honey, and milk to drink. She told
her, while she ate, that a gown was being made for her from one that
was her own, and to-morrow, when it was ready, she should rise and
dress and run about once more.
While Allison was talking, Betteris came into the chamber again, and
with her was Munn. Only he was now clean and shaven and wore a coat of
Dick Fowell's and a fresh shirt, so that, for all that his face was
thinner than it used to be, he looked himself again.
Presently the two young girls stole from the room, and Merrylips and
Munn were left together. What a talk they had, while he sat upon the
bed and held her two hands fast, as if he were afraid to let her go!
Munn told Merrylips how he and Stephen Plasket had been made prisoners
at Loxford, and how troubled he had been for her, when he thought about
her, there at Monksfield, with never a friend to help her. In the hope
of getting to her, he and Stephen had tried to escape, when they were
being taken under guard to London. Stephen had got away, but he himself
had been retaken. After that he had been closely guarded, and not
over-tenderly treated, Merrylips guessed, but of that part Munn would
not speak.
Then he told her how puzzled he had been, when an order came to the
prison where he had been placed that he should be sent to Ryeborough.
He confessed that he had been much afraid lest he should be brought
before Will Lowry, and made to answer for carrying off Merrylips and
using Herbert so roughly.
In that fear he had passed several unhappy hours, a prisoner in the
gatehouse of Ryeborough castle. And then he had been ordered into the
long parlor, and there he had found Merrylips.
"A rare fright Lieutenant Fowell set me in, with all this precious
mystery," Munn grumbled. "But of a truth I owe him too much to grudge
that he should have his sport. For he is right friendly, thanks to
his old comradeship with Longkin and the affection that he hath to
the little lad he thought thee. So he holdeth me here, a prisoner
on parole, and through my lord Caversham thinketh soon to give me in
exchange for one of their own officers."
In her turn Merrylips told Munn all her adventures and all the kindness
that she had met with at Monksfield. She told him everything, except
the greatest thing of all--that Rupert was nephew to Lady Sybil
Fernefould.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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