Rafael Sabatini

“ Lucy saw him wince at the term before she turned her eyes to Lady Mary and received the paper.
"I hope he will make you happy, child," said her ladyship, but there was doubt and some pity in her eyes. "This is my wedding-gift to you."
Lucy glanced at the paper and uttered a short, hard laugh that startled them.
"It is more than that, I think," said she. "It is the price at which I am to be wed; the price at which Stephen is to commit this mid-summer madness." ”

“ I seek a small thing--a small thing to His Majesty, though to me a great one--I seek the pardon of a misguided gentleman who has borne arms against His Majesty in the late rising--Stephen Vallancey is his name. ”

“ The girl's scarlet lips and averted eyes sent a stab through Lady Mary's heart. But there was worse to come.
"We are to be married when this trouble is over," said Lucy softly.
She never saw Lady Mary's sudden start. Nor when presently, after a spell of silence, she raised her eyes to her visitor's face did she observe its deep pallor.
"It is a great honour for you," said her ladyship, her voice expressionless. "Does your father know of it?"
"Not yet. We have not told him. Stephen desired me to wait until matters should be easier for him." ”

“ For that Stephen Vallancey to whom I was betrothed was surely not the gentleman who stands before me. He never had life save in my fancy, and with that fancy he perished in this room a little while ago."
Consternation overspread his face.
"Stay, Mary--stay! You go too fast. You do not know."
"I know how you have beguiled the weariness of your sojourn here. I have it all from Lucy, who trusted me, believing me your good friend and cousin, as you had falsely told her." ”

“ She flushed under the humourously scornful glance, and fidgeted an instant with her riding-switch.
"In no case can there be a question of price," said she, "though there may be a question of rewarding a service, which your lordship has acknowledged to be great."
Sire George's smile broadened.
"I have no doubt that you will find His Majesty graciously generous. What is the reward you seek?"
Her increasing pallor was dissembled by the shadows of her wide, plumed hat; but the strained tones betrayed her anxiety. ”

“ A fearless, high-spirited woman was Lady Mary, as Nat, old groom, was fully aware; and she was as resourceful as she was spirited.
It was midnight when two reeking, steaming horses pulled up on the very borders of Devonshire, at an inn that stood on the left bank of the Char. It was the last inn in England where you would have expected to find relays. But Lady Mary had provided for everything against the success of interview with Jeffreys, and a pair of stout nags were at once forthcoming, to dash Nat's hope that it might be her ladyship's good pleasure to lie the night in that hovel. ”

“ Presently, he began to smile, and her fears grew, for the smile's significance eluded her swimming senses.
"Stephen Vallancey," he repeated. "Hum! His arrest is expected by tomorrow. We are informed that he is in hiding in the neighborhood of St. Mary Ottery; and a troop of dragoons set out to find him an hour ago. A very desperate and dangerous man."
He looked up to find her leaning for support against the table; her face was grey, her eyes wide with fear. He was moved to a pity that was unusual in him, and to a liking for the foolish young rebel whose life she begged. ”

“ Yet if you love your life it shall be yours so that you swear to use it for that child's happiness, and fulfil the promise you have made her."
"I have made her none," he thundered, angry now.
"Not in words, perhaps--though even that I doubt. But you have made her believe that you love her and that you are sincere." ”

“ Meanwhile, Lady Mary rode briskly amain in the cool of that September evening, attended by her single groom.
The news Sir George had given her, that the dragoons were ahead, bent upon Vallancey's capture, increased her haste. Accidents might occur. Vallancey at bay might offer a rash resistance, preferring a soldier's death to the hangman's rope that must await him were he taken. Therefore must she outpace the troops, and reach his hiding-place ahead of them. ”