"You think too much, boy," he said; and then, with an oath, he left the room, and I heard him cursing the landlord for his delay in serving him, calling him more foul names than were proper for a girl to listen to. That was my opportunity, and I was quick to take it, the more readily as the lady's imploring eyes met mine again in full gaze.
"Madam," said I, "if you are in any trouble, and need a protector, my sword and life are at your service. I ask no questions—it is yours to command."
"Oh! sir," she answered, "I have been wicked, and 'tis now too late," and she fell to weeping afresh.
"Dry your eyes, dear lady. Foolish you may have been, but never wicked. Anyway, this is no time for repenting. Do you travel willingly with this gentleman, or do you wish to be rid of his company?"
"Yes, yes, to be rid of him—and to forget."
"His name is?"
"Northfield," she murmured, as his step sounded outside the door.
He entered, scowling, and glanced suspiciously at us; but as I had not moved and the lady was still trying to dry her tears, he said nothing, and sat down again at her side. A moment later food and wine were brought, and as they took their places at the table I rose and occupied my old station by the window.
My blood was up, and by this time I had forgotten all about the object of my journey; the lady's youth and beauty had made so subtle and at the same time so strong an appeal to me, that I stopped to consider nothing more. I have never, in all my life, been able to stand against a woman's weeping, and at the age at which I then was, just in the first flush of freedom, I was in no humour to reason with myself. I stood at the window, but in such a way that I missed nothing that passed at the table, and the more I saw the more I itched for battle.
Northfield ate largely and drank deeply, but the girl hardly carried a morsel to her mouth, and when she did the quivering of her lips was pitiful to see. He urged her to take more, but, she only shook her head, and at last put down her knife and fork altogether.