Then she arranged the large horseman's cloak,
the hay, and his own mantle, so well as to form, he said, the most
luxurious resting place he had seen since he left Dunbar; and rolled
up in this he lay, his head supported on his hand, talking earnestly
with her on the measures next to be taken for his safety, and on the
state of the family. He must be hidden there till the chase was a
little slackened, and then escape, by Bosham or some other port, to
the royal fleet, which was hovering on the coast. Money, however--
how was he to get a passage without it?
"The Prince, at parting--heaven knows he has little enough himself--
gave me twenty gold crowns, which he said was my share of prize-money
for our captures," said Edmund, "but this is the last of them."
"And I don't know how we can get any," said Rose. "We never see
money. Our tenants, if they pay at all, pay in kind--a side of
bacon, or a sack of corn; they are very good, poor people, and love
our mother heartily, I do believe. I wish I knew what was to be
done."
"Time will show," said Edmund. "I have been in as bad a case as this
ere now, and it is something to be near you all again. So you like
this place, do you? As well as our own home?"
Rose shook her head, and tears sprang into her eyes. "Oh no, Edmund;
I try to think it home, and the children feel it so, but it is not
like Woodley.
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