Adventure stories; Fiction; Great Britain -- History -- James II, 1685-1688 -- Fiction
For herself, Barbara Lanison had little thought, but her fears for
others troubled her. As a prisoner her power to help Gilbert Crosby was
grievously lessened. Doubtless she herself was to be accused of treason,
and Judge Marriott might be afraid to say a word at her bidding, or
perchance he would refuse if the power to make the sacrifice she
intended were taken from her. Death might be her punishment for treason,
and if so, where was Judge Marriott's reward? There was another
contingency: he might be able to save her, and he would certainly use
his efforts to this end instead of troubling about Crosby, no matter
what pleading she might use. As a prisoner she was, indeed, of little
use to Gilbert Crosby. She must see Judge Marriott and do her best, but
her hope of success was small. Who had brought this disaster upon her?
Surely her guardian, and Barbara's hands clenched in impotent rage to
think that he had outwitted her. Yet he could not be alone in the
matter, for it was not probable that he had openly accused her himself.
Had Rosmore anything to do with it? It was a new thought to Barbara. She
knew her uncle for a villain, but about Lord Rosmore she was undecided.
True, he had threatened her, but he also loved her, she could not doubt
that in his own fashion he did so. Would a man place the woman he loved
in such jeopardy as that in which she was placed? Barbara could not
believe it possible; besides, how should Lord Rosmore know that she was
on her way to Dorchester? The coming of Harriet Payne to Aylingford had
aroused Sir John's suspicions, but there was no circumstance which would
lead Rosmore to suppose that she intended journeying to the West.
Martin Fairley also troubled her. Had he made good his escape, or had he
been retaken and confined somewhere else in the town? She had asked the
man Watson as the cavalcade had started again, and his gruff reply was
that the fool would be left dead in the ditch by the roadside. She did
not believe Martin was dead; in fact, Martin puzzled her. He could not
have had a hand in her betrayal, yet, at the very moment when courage
was most needed, he had been a coward. Probably he had saved himself,
but he had deserted her. The one person upon whose fidelity she would
have staked her honour had utterly forsaken her at a supreme moment.
Full as her mind was of Gilbert Crosby, the failure of this half-witted
companion depressed her as, perhaps, nothing else could have done.
Had he really deserted her? The question came through the long, wakeful
hours of the night. It came with the memory of that little cadence of
notes, the same notes in which his fiddle laughed. He had sung them in a
foolish fashion when the men surrounded the coach; had he meant to speak
to her by them? The thought brought hope and sleep, sleep giving
strength, hope bringing new courage when the day came.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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