Are you angry that I already teach you something of what my love means?"
"Angry? No; proud."
"Come, then. Let us see what is the best this house can do for you."
"Am I to be guarded like your other guest?" she asked demurely.
"Aye, far more strongly guarded, for at every exit Love shall stand
sentinel."
She leaned towards him, and he kissed her again, even as a man will kiss
the woman he worships. Then they went out.
Barbara Lanison was sorely troubled when Harriet Payne did not return.
The girl had gone to try once more to get speech with Judge Marriott,
and her mistress waited for her impatiently. So much depended on her
success, and never for a single instant had Barbara doubted her loyalty.
As the hours passed and the girl did not return she grew anxious. The
town was in the hands of rough soldiers, whose licence, if even half the
stories she had heard were true, had gone unpunished. The officers were
no better than their men, and there must be a thousand dangers for a
girl like Harriet Payne in the streets of Dorchester. Barbara blamed
herself for letting her run into such danger, and, as she thought more
of her, thought less of the mission upon which she had sent her.
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