FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156  
157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   >>   >|  
ain hidden all day, and were but making our escape." "How can that be, madam? We had a guard all round the castle, and know that none can have escaped." "Being an esquire, you are a gentleman, sir, and will not disclose what I am about to tell you; though, indeed, now that our father's house is in your hands, it boots not much whether the secret is known. There is a secret passage from the castle that opens into these bushes, and it was through that that we issued out; having been in hiding all day, in the secret chamber from which it leads. "Well, sir, we are your prisoners; and shall, I suppose, be sent to London, there to be held until our father is in the usurper's hands, which will not be, believe me, for years yet." Oswald was silent. The two girls, some seventeen or eighteen years of age, both possessed singular beauty they had inherited from their father; and bore themselves with an air of fearlessness that won his admiration. He was still but a lad and, thinking of the years these fair girls might pass in a prison, he felt a deep pity for them. He drew Roger aside. "What think you, Roger? Must we send these fair young girls to prison?" "In faith, I know not, master. Having been shut up many a time in a cell, I have a sort of fellow feeling for prisoners; and indeed, two fairer maidens I have never seen. Our orders were to look after Welshmen, and see that they did not attack us. No word was said of Welsh women. And besides, they were running away, and not thinking of attacking us." "That is all very well, Roger, but I cannot deceive myself. There is no doubt that it is our duty to take these two maidens prisoners, but my heart aches at the thought that they might pass years of their lives in a prison. They are not responsible for their father's misdeeds and ambition, and it may be that, if they are restored, Glendower may be induced to treat those who fall into his hands mercifully. None but ourselves know of this, and no one need ever know. "I will risk it, anyhow," he said after a short pause. "I know that I am not doing my duty in letting them go; and that, were it ever known, I should lose all chance of further advancement, if indeed I did not lose my life. However, it need never be known, and my conscience would sorely trouble me, whenever I thought of them shut up in one of King Henry's prisons." He turned to the girls again. "Think you, ladies," he asked, "that were you in the king
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156  
157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
father
 

prison

 

prisoners

 
secret
 

castle

 

thought

 

thinking

 

maidens

 

orders

 

attacking


Welshmen

 
attack
 

running

 
deceive
 
Glendower
 

However

 

conscience

 

sorely

 

advancement

 

chance


trouble

 

ladies

 

turned

 

prisons

 

letting

 
restored
 

fairer

 

induced

 

ambition

 

misdeeds


responsible

 

mercifully

 
London
 

suppose

 

chamber

 

usurper

 

silent

 

Oswald

 

hiding

 

disclose


gentleman
 
esquire
 

issued

 

bushes

 

escaped

 
passage
 

seventeen

 
hidden
 
fellow
 

Having