“May I ask what took a young gentlewoman out at such an untimely hour? Did you expect to meet any one?”
“No indeed, sir,” said Anne hotly. “I had been asked to gather some herbs to carry to a friend.”
“Ah! And why at that time in the morning?”
“Because I was to leave home at seven, when the tide served.”
“Where were you going?”
“To London, sir.”
“And for what reason?”
“I had been appointed to be a rocker in the Royal nursery.”
“I see. And your impending departure may explain certain strange coincidences. May I ask what was this same herb?” in a mocking tone.
“Mouse-ear, sir,” said Anne, who would fain have called it by some less absurd title, but knew no other. “A specific for the whooping-cough.”