Just then a horseman, who proved to be Sir Henry Hoghton, rode up, having with him a lady on horseback.
“I am glad I have found you, general,” said Sir Henry. “This lady has something important to communicate to you.”
“Pray come this way, madam,” said Wills, taking the lady aside.
Thereupon, a whispered conversation took place between them.
“I know that voice,” observed the countess to Dorothy. “But surely it cannot be——
“It is Mrs. Scarisbrick,” was the reply in a low tone. “I always thought she played my brother false. Now we have positive proof of it. She has come to give information respecting the state of the town.”
Dorothy was quite right in the conjecture.
When the conference between Wills and Mrs. Scarisbrick was ended, and the lady found that the countess and Dorothy were close at hand, she became very uneasy, and begged General Wills to set them free.
“If they go back, I cannot,” she observed. “They will tell General Forster they have seen me here, and what explanation can I give him?”
“It matters little now what explanation is given,” replied Wills. “But you shall not be exposed to any annoyance. You must be on the spot. To-morrow, you are certain to have important information to give me.”