Now it was Cicely’s turn to think.
“Surely,” she answered at length, “if you will add a condition—that these good sisters shall be left undisturbed in their Nunnery.”
He shook his fat head.
“It is not possible now. The thing is too public. Why, the Lord Cromwell would say I had been bribed, and I might lose my office.”
“Well, then,” went on Cicely, “if you will promise that one year of grace shall be given to them to make arrangements for their future.”
“That I can do,” he answered, nodding, “on the ground that they are of blameless life, and have protected you from the King’s enemy. But this is an uncertain world; I must ask you to sign an indenture, and its form will be that you acknowledge to have received from me a loan of £300 to be repaid with interest when you recover your estates.”
“Draw it up and I will sign, Sir.”
“Good, Madam; and now that we may get this business through, you will accompany me to London, where you will be safe from harm. We’ll not ride to-day, but to-morrow morning at the light.”
“Then my servant Emlyn must come also, Sir, to help me with the babe, and Thomas Bolle too, for he can prove that the witchcraft upon which we were condemned was but his trickery.”
“Yes, yes; but the costs of travel for so many will be great. Have you, perchance, any money?”