“All that for me,” I whispered. “I was not worth it.”
“Oh, but you are,” said Lucille, looking up quickly, “or I should never have been brave enough to do all I did.”
“What said His Excellency, when you pleaded so well for me?” I asked.
“Why,” continued Lucille, “he smiled, and wanted to know who it was I had come to save. ‘Captain Edward Amherst,’ I replied, and then all the men in the room, who had been talking about the custom-house, burst into shouts of laughter.
“One of them said: ‘Not the traitor Sir George is after, is it, Your Excellency?’ ‘The same,’ was the Governor’s answer.
“That angered me, to hear them call you a traitor, though I did not realize who Sir George was then,” went on Lucille. “I stamped my foot, forgetting that I was in the presence of the Governor, and cried out: ‘Captain Amherst is no traitor, but a true and honorable gentleman, and a brave soldier, which is more than can be said of many.’ The men turned aside at that, and Sir William led me to another room.
“There he told me he would grant a pardon from the charge of witchcraft[witchcraft], which he did not believe in, but he added that there were graver matters hanging over your head. I was so overjoyed at hearing him say he would give the pardon that I only heard him murmur something about fearing it would be of little service. He called his secretary to bring his quill, ink-horn and sand box. When he had them he indited a full and free pardon for Captain Amherst, from the charge of witchcraft, sealing it with his own hand.
“He bowed me out of the chamber, while all the men stared so again that my cheeks were burning. But I was out of the house at last, and so anxious to get back to you and have you released from Salem gaol, that I could scarce walk fast enough. As I was going down the steps I was startled by seeing a man in front of me. I looked up in fright, and there was one I least desired to meet--Sir George Keith.”
Lucille glanced at me.
“I should have told you about him before,” she continued, “only I wanted to wait----”