“You wish you were——”
“Safely away, my little lady. And as for coronets, the jewels are safe. See, I have set them in the cupboard in the corner.”
And he had.
Then he carried down the tray, and Elfrida, who was very hungry, tried to persuade Bet that she must eat, if only to keep up her strength for the deeds of daring that might want doing at any moment.
But Bet declared that she could not eat; the least morsel would choke her. And as for going to bed, she was assuring her cousin that she knew her duty to her King better than that, and that she would defend her Sovereign with her life, if need were, when her loyal ecstasies were suddenly interrupted.
For the quiet of the night was broken by a great knocking at the castle door and the heavy voice of a man crying—
“Open, in the Queen’s name!”
“They’ve come for him! All is lost! We are betrayed! What shall we do?”
“Eat,” said Elfrida,—“eat for your life.”
She pushed Bet into a chair and thrust a plate before her, put a chunk of meat-pie on her plate and another on her own.