"Whither thou goest, I will go," she said; "where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."
Then I thanked God with a full heart for all His great goodness to me, and there and then we arranged that I should come for her the following night, and that we should ride together to my father's house before setting out to find a new home.
"Good-night, my beloved," I said as we parted; "we will trust, and not be afraid."
"Come as early as you dare," she said shyly, "for in truth I feel I can no longer live without you."
And this I promised with a right good will and with a light heart, for I did not then know what would soon be revealed to me.
CHAPTER XXX
HOW I LEFT MY OLD HOME.
Excited as I was, I found my way back to the inn and slept like a child. No ill dreams disturbed my rest, nor did a shadow of fear enter my heart. When I awoke next day the clouds had rolled away, the sun shone in a clear sky, and there was indeed a smell of spring in the air. I would have given much to have paid a visit to the gaol to see John Bunyan, but this I dared not do, for I knew that suspicion would fasten upon me if I made the attempt. So, although I remembered his former speech with much kindness, my love's safety forbade my going to him, and hear him tell me the wondrous story of how he had, as he said, "found the King in His beauty." In truth, throughout the whole day I kept indoors, not shewing myself to any man, and simply telling mine host that I must leave him that night at eight o'clock, in order to do business elsewhere. I had no need to seek a steed for Constance, for the old farmer who lived at Goodlands was able to obtain one, so I e'en sat in the inn dreaming of the glad time to come when my Jove and I would ride side by side towards my father's house.