I will grant that he
put thee in fear. But wherefore gavest thou no alarm when he was
gone?'
'He made me swear that I would not betray him.'
'Let it be so. Why didst thou not reveal the way he took?'
'I knew it not.'
'Yet thou wentest after him when he left thee. And wherefore didst
thou not deliver the ring he gave thee for mistress Dorothy?'
'I feared she would betray me, that I had held talk with the
prisoner.'
'Let that too pass as less wicked than cowardly. But wherefore didst
thou lock the door upon her when thou sawest her go into the
roundhead's prison? Thou knewest that therefrom she must bear the
blame of having set him free, with other blame, and worse for a
maiden to endure?'
'It was a sudden temptation, my lord, which I knew not how to
resist, and was carried away thereby. Have pity upon me, dear my
lord,' moaned Amanda.
'I will believe thee there also, for I fear me thou hast had so
little practice in the art of resisting temptation, that thou
mightst well yield to one that urged thee towards such mere
essential evil.
Pages:
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302