“She, however, made me undertake that you would carry the promised reward to her house this afternoon, as soon as you had seen me in safety on board.”
I, of course, told Aveline that I felt myself bound at all risks to fulfil my promise to the old woman, and that I should do well to hasten back at once and pay her the money; I should be able to do so and to overtake them by the time they reached the boats. A’Dale insisted on accompanying me.
“I wish that some other means could be found for sending the old woman her reward,” said Captain Radford; “for I fear the risk to you will be very great, should the part you have taken in liberating my dear brother-in-law and daughter be discovered.”
I answered that I considered that, duty should be first thought of, and that a promise, to whomsoever made, was a promise still, and that therefore, at all risks, I would willingly undertake the task.
Aveline was, I saw, very anxious on the subject; and I did my best to console her by pointing out that I had passed through so many dangers, that I had every reason to hope that I might be preserved as before.
With the purse of gold, promised to Dame Trond, under my cloak, I once more, with A’Dale, entered the ill-fated city of Antwerp.