“Roy!”
“Yes, mother. It’s a long journey, and they’ll have to go by out-of-the-way roads to avoid attack.”
“But we have horses.”
“Yes, mother, but they would sooner trust their own.”
Lady Royland bowed her head.
“The letters must go back by them,” she said, “and they must start at the earliest minute they can. But there is another thing. It is right that Master Pawson should be taken into our counsels.”
“Master Pawson, mother?”
“Yes, my boy. He is your father’s trusted servant, and I must not slight any friends. Go and ask him to come here.”
“Can’t,” said Roy, shortly. “He went out this morning, and said he didn’t think he would be back to dinner.”
“Indeed!”