"Pit my poor wits against those of Sir Humphrey Challoner," he replied gaily.
"I don"t quite understand."
He came up quite close to her and tried to meet her eyes.
"But you trust me?" he asked.
And she murmured,-
"Absolutely."
"May Heaven bless you for that word!" he said earnestly. "Then will you deign to do as I shall direct?"
"Entirely."
"Very well! Then whilst friend Stich will fetch my hat for me, will you write out a formal plaint, signed with your full name, stating that last night on the Heath you were waylaid and robbed by a man, whom I, your courier, saw quite plainly, and whom you have desired me to denounce?"
"But..."
"I entreat you there"s not a moment to be lost," he urged, taking pen, ink and paper from the old-fashioned desk close by, and placing them before her.
"I"ll do as you wish, of course," she said, "but what is your purpose?"
"For the present to take your ladyship"s plaint over to his Honour, Squire West, at the Court House."
"You"ll be seen and recognised and..."
"Not I. One or two of the yokels may perhaps guess who I am, but they"d do me no harm. I entreat you, do as I bid you. Every second wasted may imperil our chance of safety."
He had such an air of quiet command about him that she instinctively obeyed him and wrote out the plaint as he directed, then gave it in his charge. He seemed buoyant and full of hope, and though her heart misgave her, she managed to smile cheerfully when he took leave of her.
"I humbly beg of you," he said finally, as having kissed her finger-tips he prepared to go, "to wait here against my return, and on no account to take heed of anything you may see or hear for the next half-hour. An I mistake not," he added with a merry twinkle in his grey eyes, "there"ll be strange doings at Bra.s.sington this noon."
"But you...?" she cried anxiously.
"Nay! I pray you have no fear for me. In your sweet cause I would challenge the world, and, if you desired it, would remained unscathed."
When he had gone, she sighed, and obedient to his wish, sat waiting patiently for his return in the dingy little parlour which awhile ago his presence had made so bright.
It was at this moment that Master Mittachip, after his interview with the beadle, was in close conversation with Sir Humphrey Challoner at the Royal George.
Outside the inn, Bathurst turned to John Stich, who had closely followed him.
"How"s my Jack o" Lantern?" he asked quickly.
"As fresh as a daisy, Captain," replied the smith. "I"ve rubbed him down myself, and he has had a lovely feed."
"That"s good. You have my saddle with you?"
"Oh, aye! I knew you"d want it soon enough. Jack o" Lantern carried it for you himself, bless "is "eart, along with her ladyship and Mistress Betty."
"Then do you see at once to his being saddled, friend, and bring him along to the Court House as soon as may be. Hold him in readiness for me, so that I may mount at a second"s notice. You understand?"
"Yes, Captain. I understand that you are running your head into a d--d noose, and..."
"Easy, easy, friend! Remember..."
"Nay! I"ll not forget for whose sake you do it. But you are at a disadvantage, Captain, with only one good arm."
"Nay, friend," rejoined Bathurst, lightly, "there"s many a thing a man can do with one arm: he can embrace his mistress ... or shoot his enemy."
The sleepy little village of Bra.s.sington lay silent and deserted in the warmth of the noon-day sun, as Bathurst, having parted from John Stich, hurried across its narrow streets. As he had pa.s.sed quickly through the outer pa.s.sage of the Packhorse he had caught sight of a few red coats at the dingy bar of the inn, and presently, when he emerged on the green, he perceived another lot of them over at the Royal George yonder.
But at this hour the worthy soldiers of His Majesty, King George, were having their midday rest and their customary gla.s.ses of ale, and were far too busy recounting their adventure with the mysterious stranger at the forge to the gaffers of Bra.s.sington, to take heed of anyone hurrying along its street.
And thus Bathurst pa.s.sed quickly and unperceived; the one or two yokels whom he met gave him a rapid glance. Only the women turned round, as he went along, to have another look at the handsome stranger with one arm in a sling.
Outside the Court House he came face to face with Master Inch, whose pompous dignity seemed at this moment to be severely ruffled.
"Hey, sir! Hey!" he was shouting, and craning his fat neck in search of Master Mittachip, who had incontinently disappeared, "the Court is determinating-Squire West will grant you the interview which you seek.... Lud preserve me!" he added in n.o.ble and gigantic wrath, "I do believe the impious malapert was trying to fool me ... sending me on a fool"s errand ... _me_ ... Jeremiah Inch, beadle of this parish!..."
Bathurst waited a moment or two until the worst of the beadle"s anger had cooled down a little, then he took a silver crown from his pocket, and pushed past the worthy into the precincts of the house.
"The interview you"ve arranged for, friend," he said quietly; "will do equally well for her ladyship"s courier."
Master Inch was somewhat taken off his balance. Mittachip"s disappearance and this stranger"s impertinence had taken his breath away. Before he had time to recover it, Bathurst had pressed the silver crown into his capacious palm.
"Now tell Squire West, friend," he said with that pleasant air of authority which he knew so well how to a.s.sume, "that I am here by the command of Lady Patience Gascoyne and am waiting to speak with him."
Master Inch was so astonished that he found no word either of protest or of offended dignity. He looked doubtfully at the crown for a second or two, weighed it in his mind against the problematical half-crown promised by the defaulting attorney, and then said majestically,-
"I will impart her ladyship"s cognomen to his Honour myself."
The next moment Jack Bathurst found himself alone in a small private room of the Court House, looking forward with suppressed excitement to the interview with Squire West, which in a moment of dare-devil, madcap frolic, yet with absolute coolness and firm determination, he had already arranged in his mind.
CHAPTER XXIV
HIS HONOUR, SQUIRE WEST
Squire West was an elderly man, with a fine military presence and a pleasant countenance beneath his bob-tail wig: in his youth he had been reckoned well-favoured, and had been much petted by the ladies at the county b.a.l.l.s. Owing to this he had retained a certain polish of manner not often met with in the English country gentry of those times.
He came forward very politely to greet the courier of Lady Patience Gascoyne.
"What hath procured to Bra.s.sington the honour of a message from Lady Patience Gascoyne?" he asked, motioning Bathurst to a chair, and seating himself behind his desk.