d not dare to disobey the
directions that his letter gave me; for I could not be sure that it was
for this work in particular that he had summoned me; though I guessed
that it was. I would go, thought I, and do in everything as he had said;
I would ride through Amwell, with my servants behind at a good distance:
I would see what befell me there--for that something would, was certain
from the letter; then I would proceed on to London, and if the affair
were against my honour, as I was sure it would be, I would refuse any
further part in it. My one hardship was that I could do no more than
tell Dolly in private that I would hold to my resolution. I dared not
tell her anything of the contents of the letter which I had immediately
destroyed. I promised her that I would be back for Christmas at the
latest. She came out to the yard-gate to wish me good-bye: my servants
were gone in front; and my Cousin Tom had the sense to be out of the
way; so our good-byes were all that such miserable things ever can be. I
waved to her at the corner, and she waved back.

When we came about two miles to the north of Amwell--which we did about
eleven o'clock, as I had been bid, I bade my servants stay behind, and
not come after me till half an hour later; further I bade them, if, when
they came, they found me in any man's company, neither to salute me nor
to make any sign of recognition; but to pass straight on to Hoddesdon
and wait for me there, not at the inn where I was known, but at another
little one--the _King's Arms_--at the further end of the village, and
there they were to dine. Even then, when I came, if I did, they were not
to salute me until I had spoken with them. All this I did, interpreting
as well as I could, what Mr. Chiffinch had said; and they, since they
were well-trained in that kind of service, understood me perfectly.

It was near half-past eleven when I came, riding very slowly, into the
village street, looking this way and that so as to shew my face, but as
if I were just looking about me. I noticed a couple of servants, in a
very plain livery which I thought I had seen before, in the yard of the
_Mitre_, but they paid no attention to me. So I passed up the street to
the end, and no one spoke with me or shewed any sign. Now I knew that
there was something forward, and that unless I fell in with it the
arrangement would have failed; so I turned again and rode back, as if I
were looking for an inn. Again no one spoke wi