“No, stupid, and I don’t want to run away with you! It will just be a Plot. Piers must ride after us, and catch us, and restore you to your Papa. And he will be so pleased that he will let you marry Piers after all! Because Piers has very good prospects, you know.”
“Yes, but you are forgetting Sir Jasper,” argued Lydia.
“We can’t possibly be plagued by Sir Jasper,” said Pen impatiently. “Besides he is away. Now, don’t make any more objections! I must go back to the George, and warn Richard. And I will consult with Piers as well, and I daresay we shall have it all arranged in a trice. I will meet you in the spinney this evening, to tell you what you must do.”
“Oh no, no, no!” shuddered Lydia. “Not the spinney! I shall never set foot there again!”
“Well, here, then, since you are so squeamish. By the way, did you tell your Papa the whole? I mean, how you saw Captain Trimble kill the stammering-man?”
“Yes, of course I did, and he says I must tell it to Mr Philips! It is so dreadful for me! To think that my troubles had put it out of my head!”
“What a tiresome girl you are!” exclaimed Pen. “You should not have said a word about it! Ten to one, we shall get into a tangle now, because Richard has already told Mr Philips his story, and I have told him mine, and now you are bound to say something quite different. Did you mention Richard to your Papa?”
“No,” confessed Lydia, hanging her head. “I just said that I ran away.”
“Oh well, in that case perhaps there will be no harm done!” said Pen optimistically. “I am going now. I will meet you here again after dinner.”
“But what if they watch me, and I cannot slip away?” cried Lydia, trying to detain her.