f many of the complainants, especially as he will be able to say
that he has the king's sanction for what he did."

"Methinks," Cuthbert said, "that if such be the case it would be
perilous indeed to wait for King Richard's return. Assuredly Sir Rudolph
would not tarry until she attained the age of seventeen, and it may well
be that two years may yet pass before King Richard comes back. It seems
to me the wiser part will be that I should give Prince John no notice
that I am in England. As you say, such notice would be of no avail in
recovering my lands and title, but it would put the prince upon his
guard; and assuredly he and his minions would press forward their
measures to obtain possession of the person of the Lady Margaret;
while, on the other hand, no harm can come of my maintaining silence."

"I think that you are right, Sir Cuthbert. It were indeed best that your
enemies should suppose you either dead or in some dungeon in the Tyrol.
What would you then do?"

"I would return to my old home," Cuthbert said. "My lady mother is, I
trust, still alive. But I will not appear at her house, but will take
refuge in the forest there. Cnut, and the archers with him, were all at
one time outlaws living there, and I doubt not that there are many good
men and true still to be found in the woods. Others will assuredly join
when they learn that Cnut is there, and that they are wanted to strike a
blow for my rights. I shall then bide my time. I will keep a strict
watch over the castle and over the convent. As the abbess is a friend
and relative of Lady Margaret's, I may obtain an interview with her, and
warn her of the dangers that await her, and ask if she be willing to
fulfill the promise of her father and King Richard's will, in accepting
me as her husband when due time shall arrive, and whether she will be
willing that I should take such steps as I may to deliver her from the
persecution of Sir Rudolph. If, as I trust, she assents to this, I will
keep a watch over the convent as well as the castle, and can then either
attack the latter or carry her off from the former, as the occasion may
appear to warrant. There are plenty of snug cottages round the forest,
where she can remain in concealment in the care of some good farmer's
wife for months, and we shall be close at hand to watch over her. With
the aid of the forest men, Sir Walter took the castle of Sir John of
Wortham; and although Evesham is a far grander pile than tha