There is
a secret passage from the castle that opens into these bushes, and it
was through that that we issued out; having been in hiding all day, in
the secret chamber from which it leads.
"Well, sir, we are your prisoners; and shall, I suppose, be sent to
London, there to be held until our father is in the usurper's hands,
which will not be, believe me, for years yet."
Oswald was silent. The two girls, some seventeen or eighteen years of
age, both possessed singular beauty they had inherited from their
father; and bore themselves with an air of fearlessness that won his
admiration. He was still but a lad and, thinking of the years these
fair girls might pass in a prison, he felt a deep pity for them. He
drew Roger aside.
"What think you, Roger? Must we send these fair young girls to prison?"
"In faith, I know not, master. Having been shut up many a time in a
cell, I have a sort of fellow feeling for prisoners; and indeed, two
fairer maidens I have never seen. Our orders were to look after
Welshmen, and see that they did not attack us. No word was said of
Welsh women. And besides, they were running away, and not thinking of
attacking us."
"That is all very well, Roger, but I cannot deceive myself.
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