"Yes," said Agnes; "do you know them?"
"I know him after a fashion," answered Mr. Delarry. "His father is, I believe, Colonel Newbolt. He is, like many another, an old Parliamentarian who, to feather his nest, turned king's man and welcomed the king back. The young man is seeking a commission in the king's guards and will probably get it, to the detriment of other and better men."
Agnes's face clouded over. "I am sorry his father was on the wrong side," she said.
"You need not trouble, or you will have to be sorry for many," said Mr. Delarry; "but this young fellow is a new recruit, and never drew his sword in the late war. They say he refused a commission in Cromwell's army."
"I am glad of that," said Agnes, her face brightening. "There will be no harm in my skating with them to-morrow, will there, Mr. Delarry?"
"None whatever, if Mistress Patience sees none. He is a handsome fellow, Mistress Agnes, and will make a fine cavalier."
"I like handsome men," she answered, with childish glee; "and his sister too is pleasant, but she is prim."
"I hear her mother is a strict Puritan," said Mr. Delarry, "and that the colonel had much trouble in getting her to come up to London with his son and daughter. She will not show herself at court, much to his displeasure. Have a care, Mistress Agnes, or you will be turning Puritan too!"
"Oh, no!" Agnes answered, laughing. "I do not like them at all, at least the few of them I have seen in the streets. Patience has pointed them out to me; they are mostly dressed in black, with white ruffles and high hats; they look very stern. The women have black cloaks and white coifs. I like our own pretty clothes best, and our gay cavaliers with their broad hats and sweeping plumes."
Delarry smiled at her. "You are such a child, Miss Agnes, still. I thought you were to be a grown woman when you came to England."