"Now, may God grant it, dear lady!" said Janet--"not that I may go with gayer apparel, but that we may both wear our kirtles over lighter hearts."
By this time the lock of the postern door had, after some hard wrenching, yielded to the master-key; and the Countess, not without internal shuddering, saw herself beyond the walls which her husband's strict commands had assigned to her as the boundary of her walks. Waiting with much anxiety for their appearance, Wayland Smith stood at some distance, shrouding himself behind a hedge which bordered the high-road.
"Is all safe?" said Janet to him anxiously, as he approached them with caution.
"All," he replied; "but I have been unable to procure a horse for the lady. Giles Gosling, the cowardly hilding, refused me one on any terms whatever, lest, forsooth, he should suffer. But no matter; she must ride on my palfrey, and I must walk by her side until I come by another horse. There will be no pursuit, if you, pretty Mistress Janet, forget not thy lesson."
"No more than the wise widow of Tekoa forgot the words which Joab put into her mouth," answered Janet. "Tomorrow, I say that my lady is unable to rise."
"Ay; and that she hath aching and heaviness of the head a throbbing at the heart, and lists not to be disturbed. Fear not; they will take the hint, and trouble thee with few questions--they understand the disease."
"But," said the lady, "My absence mus
