CHAPTER XIII
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
—Richard III. V. 3.
In response to Ayloffe's whisper, Stowmaries had asked hurriedly:
"Is this the man?"
The older man nodded, and Stowmaries gazed long and searchingly upon his cousin, vaguely wondering if Sir John's astuteness had pointed in the right direction, if indeed this were the man most likely to lend himself for a large sum of money to the furtherance of an ignoble scheme.