“He daren’t. Only a definite order from the Patriarch would give him courage to override the opposition of the Thracian monks, and that would probably mean the loss of the monastery for the Greeks. No, our only hope is a little calculated carelessness one night, and that I trust we may be able to arrange.”
But the very next day Maurice appeared with a long face. “I’m afraid it’s all up,” he said. “I wouldn’t have told you, only I thought you ought to be prepared. There’s some Scythian official coming here, and he’s due to-night.”
“It mayn’t be about us,” suggested Zoe, without conviction.
“It is. He’s coming to ascertain Eirene’s wishes, so the Hegoumenos told me—for the purpose of frustrating them, I should imagine.”
“Oh, what can Captain Wylie be doing?” cried Zoe.
“Why, how could he possibly know where we are? Who would think of looking for us here? If he paid the ransom——”
“But I thought the brigands were honest in a way. Would they take the ransom without giving us up?”
“Ah, Stoyan thought he had a grievance against us, you see——” Maurice broke off suddenly. “I only hope he gave poor old Wylie a safe-conduct. We know that if he’s all right he’ll be moving heaven and earth to find us.”
“Maurice,” cried Eirene eagerly, “if I gave you the girdle of Isidora now, would there be time? Could you bribe them to let us go before this man comes?”
Maurice shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s too late,” he said. “Money might do it, but a thing like that would be clear evidence that they had been bribed, and the Hegoumenos would suffer. After all, you can’t wonder that when the whole future of the monastery is at stake, he should think more of it than of us.”