Barbara shuddered.
‘Please miss, they have guns. And, miss, I were to come on and tell the master that all was ready, and if he would let them know where the man was they’d trap him.’
‘There is no man here but Mr. Babb.’
Jane’s face fell.
‘Lawk, miss! If Joseph thought us had been making games of he, I believe he’d never marry me—and after going to a Love Feast with him, too! ‘Twould be serious that, surely.’
‘Joseph has taken a long time coming.’
‘Joseph takes things leisurely, miss—’tis his nature. Us have been courting time out o’ mind; and, please, miss, if the man were here, then the master was to give the signal by pulling the alarm-bell. Then the police and warders would close in on the house and take him.’
Barbara was as pale now as when nearly fainting in the morning. This was not the old Barbara with hale cheeks, hearty eyes, and ripe lips, tall and firm, and decided in all her movements. No! This was not at all the old Barbara.
‘Well, Miss Jordan, what is troubling you?’ asked Jasper. ‘The house is surrounded. Men are stationed about it. No one can leave it without being challenged.’