It was common enough for gentlemen
to ride side by side with their servants when they had left the town;
and by the time that the two were clear of the few scattered houses
outside the City gates, Mr. Arnold urged on his horse; and they rode
together. Robin was in somewhat of a difficulty as to how far he was
justified in speaking of what he knew. It was true that he was not at
liberty to use what Anthony had originally told him; but the letter and
the commission which he had received certainly liberated his conscience
to some degree, since it told him plainly enough that there was a plot
on behalf of Mary, that certain persons, one or two of whom he knew for
himself, were involved in it, that they were under suspicion, and that
they had fled. Ordinary discretion, however, was enough to make him hold
his tongue, beyond saying, as he had said already to the rest of them,
that he was the bearer of a message from Mr. Babington, now in prison,
to Mary Stuart. Mr. Arnold had been advertised that he might take up his
duties in Lancashire as soon as he liked; but, because of his
inexperience and youth, it had been decided that he had better ride with
"Mr. Alban" so far as Chartley at least, and thence, if all were well,
go on to Lancaster itself, where his family was known, and whither he
could return, for the present, without suspicion.
* * * * *
The roads, such as they were, were in a terrible state still with the
heavy rain of a few days ago, and the further showers that had fallen in
the night.
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