“But can’t you rule the planets?”
“No; they rule me, and you too. However, come within, and I will see what I can do for you.”
Unbarring the door, she admitted a muffled man, whose face was almost covered by a woollen kerchief evidently arranged for that purpose.
“What have you lost?” asked the Wise Woman.
“The one I loved best,” was the unexpected answer.
“Man, woman, or child?”
“A maiden, who went forth the morrow of Saint Lucian, by the East Gate of Oxford, on the Dorchester road. If you can, tell me if she be living, and where to seek her.”
Haldane made a pretence of scattering a powder on the dying embers of her wood-fire. (Note 1.)
“The charm will work quicker,” she said, “if I know the name of the maiden.”
“Ermine.”