"Why--"
"Tell me" interrupted Marjorie, "was Topcliffe with the men that took
Mr. Thomas?"
The other shook her head.
"No; I heard he was not. He was come from London yesterday morning. That
was the first I heard of him."
Then Alice began again to soothe her gently, to tell her that her
husband was in no great danger as yet, that he was well known for his
loyalty, and to do her best to answer the girl's pitiful questions. And
Marjorie sat back and considered.
Marjorie had a remarkable knowledge of the methods of the Government,
gathered from the almost endless stories she had heard from travelling
priests and others; it was her business, too, to know them. Two or three
things, therefore, if the girl's account was correct, were plain. First,
that this was a concerted plan, and not a mere chance arrest. Mr.
Audrey's message to her showed so much, and the circumstances of
Topcliffe's arrival confirmed it. Next, it must be more than a simple
blow struck at one man, Mr. Thomas FitzHerbert: Topcliffe would not
have come down from London at all unless it were a larger quarry than
Mr. Thomas that was aimed at. Thirdly, and in conclusion, it would not
be easy therefore to get Mr. Thomas released again. There remained a
number of questions which she had as yet no means of answering. Was it
because Mr. Thomas was heir to the enormous FitzHerbert estates in this
county and elsewhere, that he was struck at? Or was it the beginning,
merely, of a general assault on Derbyshire, such as had taken place
before she was born? Or was it that Mr.
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