He will go back with Mr. Ballard, I think, after three or four
weeks. You have had letters from him, you told me?"
She nodded.
"Yes; but he said nothing of it, but only how much he longed to see
England again."
"He could not. It has only just been arranged. He has asked to go."
There was a silence for a moment. But Anthony did not understand what it
meant. He had known nothing of the affair of his friend and this girl,
and he looked upon them merely as a pair of acquaintances, above all,
when he had heard of Robin's determination to go to Rheims. Even the
girl saw that he knew nothing, in spite of her embarrassment, and the
thought that had come to her when she had heard of Robin's coming to
London grew on her every moment. But she thought she must gain time.
She stood up.
"You would like to see his letters?" she asked. "I will bring them."
And she slipped out of the room.
II
Anthony Babington sat still, staring up at Icarus in the chariot of the
Sun, with something of a moody look on his face.
It was true that he was sincere and active enough in all that he did up
here in the north for the priests of his faith; indeed, he risked both
property and liberty on their behalf, and was willing to continue doing
so as long as these were left to him. But it seemed to him sometimes
that too much was done by spiritual ways and too little by temporal.
Certainly the priesthood and the mass were instruments--and, indeed, the
highest instruments in God's hand; it was necessary to pray and receive
the sacraments, and to run every risk in life for these purposes.
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