"Here is all you will want, I think, sir. When you have washed and dressed will you be pleased to go back to the other room?"
A few minutes later I had removed the muddy-stained garments which I had worn in Launceston Castle, and had clothed myself in those which lay in the room. They looked quite new, as though they had just come from the hands of a tailor. They fitted me well, too; and I must confess to a feeling of pleasure as I beheld myself.
When I returned to the room into which I had at first entered, I found that the table had been spread for food, but no one was in it. Again I sat down and tried to think, but my mind seemed a blank—I was dazed with the experiences of the last twenty-four hours.
Presently my heart beat fast, for I heard light tripping footsteps outside the room door. This was followed by gentle knocking.
"Come in."
The door opened, and to my joy Mistress Nancy Molesworth entered. She met me with a smile, but there was, I thought, something distant and repellant about it.
"Food will be immediately brought, Master Trevanion," she said. "I am sure you must need it."
"I need something more," I replied.
"And that?" was the response. "Anything in my power to give, you shall have."