"I've been anxious, Master Gilbert," he said, "very anxious indeed, and the Lord be praised that you've returned in safety. I began to fear you might have ridden West to join Monmouth."
"Why should you think that, Golding?"
"When one is anxious one thinks of all the worst things that could possibly happen."
"It seems that they fight in a good cause, Golding."
"Don't let a soul hear you say so, Master Gilbert. They've arrested two hundred or more in London already, honest merchants many of them, and they say the gaol at Oxford is full of prisoners. No Puritan is really safe in these days."
"You've heard far more than I have, Golding. Who has brought you such news?"
"A gentleman who came to see you yesterday," the man answered. "He called me a round-headed old scoundrel, but I think there was no malice in it."
"Who was he?"
"He gave no name, but he wrote you a letter. I told him you were in
London, and that I was hourly expecting your return."
"I did not say I had ridden to London," said Crosby.