IT was a beautiful late autumn day and the sun was shining on the moat and the old walls of Holwick. Some few weeks previously news had arrived in that remote corner of the death of Queen Mary and the accession of Elizabeth, and Audry was sitting as she often did, in the bay window of Mistress Mowbray’s bower, looking down toward Middleton, when four riders and a pack horse were seen approaching the gates.

Audry had noticed their coming and, as they drew nearer, she recognised two of them and ran eagerly out to meet them. “Oh, how I have hoped for you to come,” she said, “and somehow I knew it would not be long before you were here.”

Ian dismounted and helped his sister and Aline to alight, while the serving man took the horses. Aline was in perfect health, but Ian was still worn and thin. She had not been long in recovering; but he had hovered between life and death for some time.

“This is the Lady Shiona, Ian’s sister,” said Aline. Audry came forward a little shyly, but Shiona said, “Oh, I have heard so much about you,” and kissed her warmly.

Audry then flung her arms round Aline as though she would never let her go.

“You must not leave Ian in the cold,” said Aline.

“No, indeed, I should think not,” exclaimed Audry;389 “why, if it were not for him you would not be here at all,” and she held up her face to be kissed.

“She is getting too big to be kissed, is she not?” said Ian.

“Not at all,” said Aline, “you kiss me.”

“That is a different matter,” said Ian, laughing, as he kissed Audry, “you are my ward, you see.”

Although Master Richard and his wife were by no means pleased at the political change, they were delighted that it had brought their young visitor, and Mistress Eleanor greeted her with an unusual show of affection. She had been long enough falling under Aline’s spell, but the conquest was complete and resulted in the re-development of a side of her nature that had practically lain dormant since, a charming girl of sixteen, Master Richard had met her in York and against all the wishes of his parents had insisted on marrying her. She became more human and more anxious to please, and gradually won the esteem and even love of her servitors and the people of Holwick.

Aline introduced her escort, and while they were being shown to their rooms, she went and found Elspeth.

Elspeth wept tears of joy over her and said; “Now, hinnie, I shall be able to die happy. I thought the sunlight had gone out of my life forever.”

They had a long talk and in the afternoon she went down with Elspeth to the Arnsides. Janet seized a stool and dusted it for the young mistress; and John, who was just outside the house, came in.

“O John,” Aline said, “I can never repay you or thank you enough, it is no use my trying to put my thanks into words.”

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“What I did was nothing,” he said.

“But if you had not done it, the Duke of Ochil would never have come and I should have been lost.”

“No one who knew you, Mistress Aline, could have done less.”

The time seemed all too short to the Arnsides, when Aline turned to go. “I shall ask Cousin Richard to let us stay here for at least a month,” she said, “even if I do not come back here to live. I am going to teach you to read, John, and I have brought you this,” and she produced a beautifully bound copy of the Scriptures, which she had bought for him with all the money she had left.

John was confused with gratitude, and Aline fled, leaving him an opportunity to recover by himself.

She had had a long talk with Ian in which they had decided that it was right that Master Mowbray should hear the whole story and be told about the secret room, as after all it belonged to him.

So that night she secured the little book and took it up to her old room with Audry.

As they were undressing, Aline took off the ruby pendant, which she was wearing concealed beneath her simple costume.

“Oh, how lovely!” exclaimed Audry, “diamonds and pearls and—what a marvellous ruby! But Aline, you have no right to wear this.”

“I feel a little doubtful, but Ian says it is all right, as at present I am in the position of his ward and in any case I am Scots and not English.”

“But if you are father’s ward then you will count as English.”

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“Anyway, I shall not wear it in public; so it does not matter.”

“Your luck has come at last, Aline; just fancy your wearing diamonds and pearls like a duke’s daughter. But you deserve to be lucky after all you have been through. I would not go through what you have been through, for all the luck in the world, you beautiful lovely thing.”

Audry had by this time begun combing Aline’s hair. “Why, Aline,” she said, “your hair is not quite so long as it was!”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” said Aline, and she told her all about the cutting off. “But it has very nearly grown again, it has been extraordinarily quick.”

“Yes, you are beautiful,” Audry went on, “look at that hair, look at that neck, look at those perfect ears.”

“Do not be silly, Audry!”

“Yes,” said Audry, not heeding, “and the luck is not over yet. You will be married very soon.”

Aline blushed. “Be quiet, Audry.”

“But you are far too beautiful and charming and good to be left long unmarried,” and Audry embraced her impulsively.

“Come, let us get into bed and sit and study the book.”

So Aline read to the end and discovered that it explained how to open the great iron chest.

The next day they managed to leave Shiona with Mistress Mowbray, and Aline, Audry and Ian took Master Mowbray into the library.

They sat in the great window seat and Aline read out of the little book and told the story of their adventures,392 which was frequently supplemented by Audry and Ian. Richard Mowbray was again entranced and he thought Aline’s new tale even more wonderful than Malory.

When she had finished they all went down to the secret room and Master Richard asked hundreds of questions about all their experiences. They examined everything and explored the secret passage to the cave and back.

“But there is still one thing that we have to do,” said Aline, “and that is to open the great iron chest and see what is inside. I have only just discovered how it is done and there is a good deal that requires doing first. But listen to this: Exactly under the middle of the great oriel window of the library, the book says,—that a foot and a half below the water in the moat is a chain made of links of greenheart wood, so as to withstand the wet; and at the end of that is a large round ball also of greenheart, and embedded in it with pitch is the great key of the iron chest. I have been thinking how to get it and, if the chain has not rotted and we do not have to dredge for the ball, I think I might go a-sailing for it in a tub, which would be fun. We might see to that this afternoon and then open the chest to-morrow.”

“You will probably upset,” said Audry, “but, as you can swim like a fish, that will not matter; but I shall laugh to see you tumble in.”

“You bad girl,” said Aline, and chased her round the room. “Well, I am going to try anyway.”

After dinner Master Richard went and ordered two of the men to bring a great tub from the laundry, while Aline went upstairs and changed her things, putting on393 a pair of boy’s trunks. She then threw a cloak about her and came down.

The tub was rolled round till it was opposite the window and then Aline insisted that the serving men should go away. A board, hastily thinned down at one end, made a sort of rude paddle and, with shrieks of derision from Audry, the others held the tub and Aline cautiously got in and squatted tailorwise on the bottom. They all laughed so much that they nearly upset the tub at the outset.

Aline then started on her perilous voyage, but, the tub being circular, every time she took a stroke with the paddle, it simply spun round and round.

Those on the bank held their sides with laughter, but the more they laughed the more confused Aline became. She tried taking a stroke first one way and then the other. This was not quite so bad, but the tub revolved backwards and forwards like a balance wheel.

“Try little short strokes pulling the paddle towards you,” shouted Ian, when the laughter had a little subsided. This answered somewhat better and the tub slowly made its way across, but with many vagaries and strange gyrations.

At last she reached the wall right under the great projecting corbel of the window, and, very cautiously putting down her arm, she felt the chain.

“Hurrah!” she shouted, “I have it”; but she spoke too soon. As she pulled the chain, the tub over-balanced and Aline tumbled head first into the moat. Audry collapsed altogether at this and rolled over on to the grass.

Ian, however, for the moment took it seriously and394 was going to jump in, but Audry seized one of his ankles to stop him and laughed still more till the tears ran down her cheeks. “You’ll kill me, you two,” she said, as Aline’s head appeared above the water with long green weeds hanging in her hair.

Aline swam to the chain and found that the ball was very heavy. She then righted the tub.

“Get in, get in quickly,” shouted Audry mischievously, and Aline, without thinking, made the attempt with the result that the tub lifted and turned over on her like an extinguisher. Audry was convulsed.

“You little mischief,” said Ian, and picked her up and held her out over the water at arm’s length; but she only laughed the more.

Alin............