"
"I do not know how I am to help you," said Barbara. "What do you want me
to do?"
"It is not help for myself I want, but for Mr. Crosby. They had followed
him to mother's cottage that night and waited. As he went out they
caught him. He is a prisoner in Dorchester!"
CHAPTER XVI
PREPARED FOR SACRIFICE
Harriet Payne had made up her mind that she was the bearer of a lover's
message; she expected her news to have a startling effect upon the woman
she had travelled so far to see, but she was disappointed. There came no
cry from suddenly parted lips, there was no sign of agitation about
Barbara as her hands idly played with the folds of her gown for a few
moments; it seemed doubtful whether she realised the full meaning of the
message.
"What does your master expect me to do?" she asked, looking up after a
pause.
Harriet Payne may have rehearsed a scene in which she would be called
upon to soothe a stricken woman and speak comfort to a breaking heart.
She had supposed that love was the same the world over, whether it went
in silk brocade or coarse homespun. She had apt phrases ready to meet
the expected, plenty of well-prepared sympathy to bestow, but she had no
answer for this quiet, deliberate manner, and remained silent.
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