"Are you in Lord Sheffield's counsels, Bess?" I asked.
"I know as much as if I was, and more," she replied. "Would that you could be persuaded for your good."
"How then?"
"To go away for two or three months, anywhere out of the Isle."
"And how would that advantage me?"
"If you stay, you will lose your inheritance, your freedom, and may be your life. If you go, you will save them all."
"You talk in riddles, Bess."
"I say all I dare. Most likely, I shall be beaten to-night for talking with you."
"Beaten?"
"Yes; for I have had the luck to keep you from harm. A man was hidden in the reeds to shoot you, and he couldn't be sure of getting away unseen, because I was with you. Besides, the horse has been between you and him."