The girl started in surprise. "Have you heard my name already?" she asked.
"I know you from my son's letters," was the reply. "In your face and your words I read that you can be none other than Richard's betrothed. But how did you learn all this,—that I was here, who I was, and that Richard was in danger?"
"I will tell you all," answered Edith, and she gave a hurried account of what she had overheard at her aunt's that evening. "But they were mistaken in me," she concluded. "They thought my spirit was broken and that they could do what they wished with me. But I ran away from them; I ran all the way here in the dark, and though I never saw you before, I knew you at once. God protected and guided me, and he will lead me still farther."
The speaker's passionate words betrayed so much nobility of soul that the baroness, quite carried away with admiration, put her arm around Edith's neck and let her eyes rest tenderly on the face of the girl who showed such true love for her Richard.
"Calm yourself, my child," said she, "and let us take counsel together. You see I am perfectly composed. This plot is to be carried out to-morrow morning, you say?"
"Yes, I am sure of it."
"Then half the night is still left for defeating it."
The girl clasped her hands with a beseeching gesture. "Oh, take me with you!" she begged.
The other considered a moment. "Very well," she replied, "you may come, too."
Edith clapped her hands with delight, while the baroness opened the door and called the market-woman.