d declined. So she called her maid, and bade her
bring cakes and ale, and take Bayard to the shed where their nag was
stabled, and give him a mess of oats; begging them at least to stay an
hour or two. Then Robin came in, and talked to Thekla and Kate, while
Isoult was occupied with Mrs Rose. Mr Rose they did not see; his wife
said he was in his parish, visiting the people. So at two o'clock they
departed, and reached home just as the dusk fell.

The next day Isoult rode to the Lime Hurst, to see Mrs Underhill. She
found her a pleasant motherly woman, full of kindness and cordiality.
As they sat and talked Mr Underhill came in, and joined the
conversation; telling Isoult, among other matters, how he had once saved
Lord Russell from drowning, the heir of the House of Bedford. The boy
had been thrown into the Thames opposite his house, in a bitterly cold
winter; and Underhill, springing in after him, rescued him, carried him
to his own house, and nursed him back to life. Since that time the Earl
of Bedford had been the attached friend of his child's preserver.
[Underhill's Narrative, Harl. Ms. 425, folio 87, b.]

When Isoult returned home, she found a letter from Annis Holland
awaiting her. It contained an urgent invitation from the Duchess of
Suffolk to visit her at her little villa at Kingston-on-Thames. Isoult
hesitated to accept the invitation, but Dr Thorpe, who thought she
looked pale and tired, over-ruled her, chiefly by saying that he was
sure John would prefer her going; so she wrote to accept the offer, and
started with Robin on the following Monday.

Skirting the City wall, they passed through Smithfield and Holborn, and
turned away from Saint Giles into the Reading road, the precursor of
Piccadilly. The roads were good for the time of year, and they reached
Kingston before dark. The next morning Robin returned home, with strict
charges to fetch Isoult in a week, and sooner should either of the
children fall ill.

After Robin's departure, Isoult waited on the Duchess, whom she found
sitting in a cedar chamber, the casement looking on the river and the
terrace above it. As the friends sat and talked in came a small white
dog, wagging its tail, but with very dirty paws.

"Get out, Doctor Gardiner!" cried her Grace, rising hastily, as the
soiled paws endeavoured to jump upon her velvet dress. "I cannot abide
such unclean paws. Go get you washed ere you come into my chamber!--
Bertie!"

Mr Bert