"Did you see the highwayman and thank him, as you proposed?" Barbara asked.
"I did, and now it seems he was not this famous Galloping Hermit, after all."
For a moment she was silent, recollecting that she had speculated whether this man himself might not be the wearer of the brown mask.
"I am Barbara Lanison," she said suddenly, "niece to Sir John Lanison of
Aylingford Abbey."
"Am I in Aylingford Abbey?" Crosby asked.
"A queer little corner of it appropriated by Martin Fairley. You seem surprised, sir."
"Indeed, I am. I have passed through many surprises during the last few hours, not the least of them being that this is Aylingford, and that you are astonished to see me."
"Perhaps it would be well to tell me your story before Martin returns. You must not forget that he is half a madman, and sometimes talks wildly."
Crosby told her the manner of his escape from Lenfield, as he had told it to Fairley; and if Barbara Lanison did not so obviously disbelieve it as the fiddler had done, her eyes were full of questioning. He explained how "The Jolly Farmers" had been searched, and how he and Martin had ridden away together in the night.
"He told me that he had been bidden by a woman to bring me into a place of safety, and he brought me here. He would tell me nothing more."