"Below?" echoed she. "And what, pray, doth he below?"

"He is at dice with a gentleman from London."

In the dim light of the October twilight the woman saw not the
sudden pallor of her mistress's cheeks, but she heard the gasp
of pain that was almost a cry. In her mortification, Cynthia
could have wept had she given way to her feelings. The man who
had induced her to elope with him sat at dice with a gentleman
from London! Oh, it was monstrous! At the thought of it she
broke into a laugh that appalled her tiring-woman; then
mastering her hysteria, she took a sudden determination.

"Call me the host," she cried, and the frightened Catherine
obeyed her at a run.

When the landlord came, bearing lights, and bending his aged
back obsequiously:

"Have you a pillion?" she asked abruptly. "Well, fool, why do
you stare? Have you a pillion?"

"I have, madam."

"And a knave to ride with me, and a couple more as escort?"

"I might procure them, but - "

"How soon?"