"At last!" he muttered in a bitter tone.
"Were you alarmed about me? Has not a man been sent here with a message from Lady Vereker?"
"Yes," answered Reuben with a derisive sneer; "that woman, whose very name is a reproach and a scandal, has had the goodness to assure us that you were in her charge. A strange guardian! Daniel was safer in the lions' den than Esther Woodville under Lady Vereker's wing!"
"You have no idea what has happened? All London is insane over Rodney's victory. They are fighting and breaking windows; the streets are full of soldiers."
"But what means this disguise?"
"I swear to you it was the only means of passing through the crowds."
"I should be glad to believe you," said Reuben, enveloping her in a glance of fire. "Oh, Esther! You who bear the predestined name, the chaste name of the woman who saved the people of God, you who ought to be as pure as the fountain of Gihon, as fresh as the rose of Sharon!"
But Esther abbreviated the biblical effusion.
"I must hasten to relieve my aunt's mind," she said.
"I have advised her to retire without waiting for you."