In a moment I heard the former returning, and, by the light of the lamp, I saw behind him a man whose figure I seemed dimly to remember. He came straight up to me with scarce a passing salutation to the others, and held out to me the token I had been expecting, the Duke's own seal-ring.
"Must I go?" I asked, involuntarily. It did seem to me somehow like a supernatural summons; as if a token had been brought me from another world to bid me be gone.
"You must, and instantly!" answered the messenger in a half whisper. "Time passes, and must not be spent in delay."
I flew to my chamber, and was quickly arrayed in such a riding dress as country dames are wont to wear to church and market, and which, with Dame Hannah's help, I had prepared for this very occasion. It could not have been ten minutes that I was absent, yet when I returned, I found my conductor seemingly chafing at even that short delay.
"It is well!" said he, and his tone was to me as great a puzzle as his figure and bearing. His face I could not see, as he kept on his beaver, and his cloak was wrapped about his chin. "Have you no more to carry than this?"
"No more!" I answered.
"Come, then, let us begone."
"Oh, Mistress Loveday, dare you trust yourself to him?" asked Dolly, in a terrified whisper. "Are you not scared? What if it should be the evil one himself?"
The stranger overheard her and laughed—a very short laugh.
"Have no fears, good woman. I am a Christian like yourself, and your friend is safe with me. Bid farewell in few words, mistress. It is time we were away."