Then I heard a shout from behind: ‘Hold. Hold, you villains, hold!’
A man was running down the road. I had a fleeting glimpse of him and I cried out in thankfulness, for there was something about his appearance which told me that I could trust him to help.
He was elegantly clad but not foppishly so, and there was a sword in his hand which he was brandishing menacingly. The change in my captors was immediate. They did not wait to face him. They simply released me and ran.
I was trembling and could not keep my voice steady as I stammered: ‘Oh, thank you … thank you.’
‘I saw it all,’ he said. ‘The boy snatching your purse and your attempt to catch him.’
‘I am so grateful.’
‘You are new to London, I am sure. Let me escort you from this warren. It is not good for you to be here.’
He returned his sword to its scabbard and, taking my arm, led me through the alley the way I had come.
‘It was unwise,’ he said, ‘to follow the boy.’
‘But he had my purse.’
‘It was equally unwise to take out your purse as you did.’
‘The woman had six starving children.’
‘I doubt that. She’s a professional beggar. Tomorrow she will have a dying husband or a dying mother. They vary their stories, you know.’
‘I see that now, but I believed her.’
‘Next time you will be more sceptical. Tell me your name.’
I told him and that I was staying at Pondersby Hall.
‘I have made the acquaintance of Sir Gervaise,’ he told me. ‘I am Richard Tolworthy, a soldier of the King’s army.’
‘I can only say again thank you, sir. I have never been so terrified in my life.’
‘It is a lesson learned. Look on it that way.’
‘But if you had not seen … if you had not been there to save me …’
‘I was and it was my pleasure. Where do you wish to go?’
‘I left Lady Pondersby buying laces in Paul’s Walk. We came in from Pondersby Hall in the coach.’
‘Then I will take you back to Paul’s Walk and we will find Lady Pondersby.’
We were very quickly there. Carlotta had been so engrossed in the lace buying which she had just completed and she was looking round wondering what had become of me when she saw me with my rescuer.
She cried out: ‘Whatever has happened?’
‘Something terrible,’ I answered. ‘I’ve lost my purse. A boy snatched it. I ran after him and there were two men … This gentleman saved me.’
Carlotta was gravely surveying Richard Tolworthy, and I thought with a little stab of jealousy: I suppose he is thinking how beautiful she is.
He bowed and said: ‘Richard Tolworthy at your service, m’am.’
‘Why, sir,’ she laughed, ‘it seems you have indeed been at our service. Mistress Landor is newly arrived from the country.’
‘I gathered so,’ he said.
I felt deflated and sad suddenly, as Carlotta went on, ‘And as she does not seem inclined to present me, I will tell you that I am Lady Pondersby, wife of Sir Gervaise.’
‘Of whose acquaintance I have the pleasure,’ said Richard Tolworthy. ‘May I escort you to your coach?’
‘Thank you. I would be glad if you did. I see Mistress Landor has been considerably shocked by the adventure.’
‘I fear so,’ he said, glancing briefly at me. ‘But at least she will know how to avoid such an experience if—may God forbid—it should occur again.’
‘It would have been terrible if you had not been there. I should never have forgiven myself!’ said Carlotta. ‘Oh, here is the coach. Could I take you to your destination?’
‘Thank you. I have business in the Walk.’
He handed us both into the coach and stood back, bowing.
As we moved away, Carlotta said: ‘Well, you have had a little adventure, have you not?’
‘I was terrified … until he came.’
‘I should think so. Two men, you say … with evil intent. Robbery with rape, doubtless. You have learned something of the streets of London this morning. Let it stand you in good stead.’
It was characteristic of Carlotta that she should see the incident as an example of my folly rather than her neglect and should seek to make me feel the more foolishly inexperienced because of it.
But she did not dwell on that. She was clearly interested in my rescuer.
‘I have heard his name,’ she said. ‘I believe him to be one of the King’s generals.
‘He said he was a soldier.’
‘Yes, a high-ranking one. It was obvious in his bearing. It was civil of him and gallant of him, was it not?’
‘It was indeed.’
She leaned back against the upholstery of the coach.
‘What is it I have heard of him? Something I fancy. I believe there is some mystery about him. I must ask Gervaise.’
She half closed her eyes, smiling. I realized that she was indeed intrigued by Richard Tolworthy.
As for myself I could not shut out of my mind the terrible moment when those two men had loomed up beside me and somehow conveyed their purpose. I could not imagine what would have happened to me if Richard Tolworthy had not appeared. It was quite beyond my ability to do so. But I knew that I would rather they had killed me.
And then he had come. I remembered certain things about him. It was a stern face as became a high-ranking soldier. It was a strong face—cold, though. I suppose he had despised me for walking so foolishly into such a trap. I had lost my purse but fortunately I had had very little money in it, and I would make sure that such a thing never happened to me again, so perhaps the experience was well worth the price I had paid for it.
He was tall and his skin slightly bronzed, so I supposed he had fought the King’s battles in other countries. I wondered whether I would ever see him again and I felt a flutter of excitement because it did not seem unlikely. He would move in Court circles—those of which Sir Gervaise was a member. I wondered whether he would notice me if we met again. When Carlotta had appeared I had the impression that she had shown him that I was to be despised for my folly, although before he had been kind, understanding of my inexperience.
When we arrived at Pondersby Hall, all thought of the man and the adventure receded, for there was a letter from my mother. I seized it and ran to my room with it because I could not bear to read it under the scrutiny of Carlotta’s eyes.
My fingers were trembling as I opened it. My fears of what I would read made it impossible for a second or so to see the words which danced before my eyes.
‘My dearest Angelet,
I hasten to tell you the good news. Bersaba is going to recover. She is very very weak but …’
The letter slipped from my hands. I just buried my face in them and I started to weep as I had not since the terrible anxiety had begun—tears of relief, tears of joy. Life would go on again.
Senara came and sat with me. She too wept a little and we sat side by side holding hands. I loved her in that moment because of her true affection for my mother.
She kept saying, ‘Thank God. Thank God. It would have killed Tamsyn. This is due to her nursing, you can depend upon it. Her mother’s care has defied the laws of nature. Tamsyn is one of the truly good women in this world.’
She put her arms round me and held me fast.
‘Did I not tell you so?’ she demanded.
And I answered: ‘You did!’ And I thought: You are truly a witch.