Hilary rushed forward and threw herself at the General’s feet.
“Oh, my lord,” she pleaded, “help us! Do not let them take his life.”
“Madam,” he said, raising her courteously, “be of good cheer. I heard your lover’s brave words. I also heard your words, Colonel Norton,” and he glanced sternly at the Governor of Canon Frome.
“Sir, if you had heard the whole case against Captain Harford——” stammered Norton.
“What! ’tis Captain Harford?” cried Lord Hopton. “Ay, to be sure I recognise you now, sir, and remember that ’tis to your kindly offices when I lay wounded at Lansdown that I owe my life. Sergeant, remove that halter and unbind Captain Harford.”
Hilary, radiant with joy, ran to her lover, and—his bonds removed—he clasped her in his arms with a rapture which made them utterly oblivious of the thronged churchyard. They only felt that life laid down had been wonderfully renewed, and that every heartbeat was a wordless thanksgiving.
Lord Hopton meanwhile had turned to the other prisoner.
“What! you also bound, sir?” he exclaimed, indignantly.
“What is the meaning of this, Colonel Norton?”
“The Vicar of Bosbury,” said Norton, sullenly, “hath for weeks, sir, sheltered this rebel, and he is but a lukewarm supporter of His Majesty.”