Alison gave a sigh of relief.
'Shall we go home now, papa—I mean when I am well enough to be about?'
Sir Ranald paused before replying. Had she relented towards Cadbury with a desire to see him, or was it a longing to be near 'that fellow Goring' which prompted the question? One fact seemed pretty evident, that she and the latter knew nothing of each other's movements, and that she was utterly oblivious of his being or having been in Antwerp.
'Home—to where?' he asked.
'Chilcote, papa.'
Her reply was perfectly straightforward, though it again suggested ideas of Bevil Goring, but Sir Ranald deemed that he must have 'effectually crushed that fellow's presumption by the rough tenor of their last meeting.'
'Chilcote it shall be then, perhaps,' said he.
'Oh, yes, papa; it is so quiet there, even amid our little troubles,' said she, as he left her, when the Beguinage gates were closed for the evening; 'and all I want is peace and rest—peace and rest.'
'Shall you ever get them in this world?' asked Sister Lisette.
Alison regarded her wistfully, and said,