Then he went on to tell how Lady Venner and Puss and Pug were full of cares, for Walsover had been fortified and garrisoned. Besides, many cousins and kinsfolk had come there for shelter, so the great house was full to overflowing.
Of more interest to Merrylips, he said that their father, Sir Thomas, was in command of a troop of horse, with headquarters at Walsover. Longkin, who was now a tall gallant with mustaches, was a lieutenant under him, and Flip hoped soon to be an officer. But at present Flip was thought too young to hold a commission, and so he had to stay, much against his will, and mind his book at Walsover.
For his own part, Munn ended, he had got him a cornetcy in the horse-troop of Lord Eversfield, the father of one of his schoolfellows. Just now he was serving under one Captain Norris, at a fortified house called Monksfield, in the rape of Arundel.
While Munn was speaking, he kept glancing up and down the bridle-path, and when Merrylips noticed this, she cut him short.
"Leave the rest!" she said. "Thou'lt have time enough to tell it me on our way. And now let us be off quickly, lest we be stayed."
At that Herbert lifted his voice.
"Don't you dare to go with these vile knaves!" he shrilled. "My mother will be angered. Don't you dare!"
Merrylips laughed and turned her back on him. Then she saw that Munn stood biting his lip, with his eyes upon the ground, and she stopped laughing.
"Munn!" she gasped. "But surely thou art come to fetch me? Thou wilt never think to go and leave me here behind?"
With a gesture that she remembered, Munn took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.