These activities took her very little time, and soon the moment to leave the house came. She picked up the candle and prepared to blow it out, but then hesitated.
Much as she hated her life here, it was the only existence she could remember, and she was now, young and defenceless, about to ride away alone to an unknown and perhaps dangerous future. For a moment she looked round the huge comfortable kitchen, where she had spent some of her happiest hours, with the servants, who had always pitied the tragic little orphan, and treated her kindly.
Blinking back a tear of regret for the inevitable partings of life, she blew out the candle and turned to the big door which opened into the yard. The bolts were well used and she had no difficulty with them, and she was soon out in the cold night air.
*
She shivered, for she had not yet put on her cloak. Carrying the loaded saddle bags on one arm and her bundle and cloak on the other, she quietly went across the kitchen yard and through the archway that led to the stableyard. Leaving her things just inside the door of the stables, she slowly felt her way to the ladder which led to the lofts. Robby had a bed up here. Fortunately he slept alone, as the other stable lads were accommodated in the house. But one of the lads always slept near the horses, in case there was need to attend them during the night.
Reaching the top of the ladder, Caroline called softly, and heard a rustle as Robby moved.
She called again. 'Robby, it's me, Prudence. Are you awake?'
'Mistress Prudence! What do ye here?'
Caroline heard him getting out of bed.
'Robby, I need you to help me.'
'What? Help ye? How? What's amiss?'
'Wake up, Robby. Listen, for I dare not tarry long. Please help me. Will you?'
'Why, of course I will, but it beats me how I can aid ye now. Where is the master? What is happening?'
By this time he had reached her at the top of the ladder, and she pulled his arm to make him sit beside her.
'Robby, I'm running away. I cannot bear it here any longer, and I am afraid they will force me to marry that horrible Colonel. Will you give me some of your clothes so that I can ride astraddle and look like a boy?'
'Running away? Where can ye go?'
Robby's voice was full of awe at this daring.
'To some kin of my father. I dare not tell you more, for fear they discover you helped me, and force you to tell them. If you do not know, you cannot betray me.'
'Mistress Prudence, I would never willingly betray ye! They could cut out my tongue before I let them know where ye were.'
'Thank you, Robby. I am sorry to leave my true friends here, but I dare not stay. If they ask, say that I took your clothes without you knowing. I do not wish you to get into trouble for me. And I know you would not betray me, but my uncle has a very persuasive whip. I dare not risk telling you.'
'Ye say right. But don't ye worry about me. I can take care of myself. But I do not like ye having to wear my clothes. They aren't fit for ye.'
'Robby, there is nothing else I can do. And they are very fit for me. I will send you money as soon as I can to buy some more. I will send it to Old Benny in the village, and he will give it to you.'
'I don't want your money, Mistress Prudence. I am proud ye have asked me to help, and trust me. I will get out my best breeches and a new shirt my mother sent me. My best coat is torn, and waiting to be mended, but it must do, for I have only one other I wear every day. Bide here while I get them.'
He moved away in the darkness, and Caroline heard him rustling in the little chest by his bed, which held all his belongings. Soon he was back beside her.
'Here they are. There are some stockings too, and a hat. Now I will go and saddle a horse for ye. Which one are ye taking?'
'I want Silver. He's too big for me really, but I can manage him, and I need the strongest horse in the stable. He will carry me a good distance before they discover I am gone, and send out to search for me.'
'Aye. He's the best. I will tie rags round his hooves, so ye will not be heard. Now change into these clothes while I do that.'
He climbed down the ladder, and, with difficulty in the darkness, Caroline took off her own clothes, rolled them up into a bundle, and put on Robby's stockings, shirt, breeches and coat. Then she replaced her own shoes, and put his hat on her head. She felt very strange, as she had never worn such clothes before, but they gave her a feeling of freedom, courage and adventure. She struck a few manly poses, and was feeling excited and quite unapprehensive when she finally climbed down the ladder.
Adding her clothes to her other bundles, she took them all into Silver's stall. The horses moved, but made little noise, as they were used to her, and she spoke to them quietly as she went into the stables. In Silver's stall, Robby had just finished saddling the big grey horse, and was tying rags round Silver's hooves. He straightened up.
'Give me your bundles, and I will tie them on.'
Caroline silently handed over her saddle bags and the other bundles, and Robby quickly and efficiently arranged them behind the saddle. Then he took the reins and quietly led the horse out into the yard. The muffled hooves made very little sound.
Turning to Caroline, he made no move to help her into the saddle when she stepped forward. She looked at him. The moon was bright, and his face was clearly visible.
'I don't like the thought of ye riding all alone. It isn't right that a gentlewoman should ride all alone, especially at night. Let me come with ye. I'm not as old as ye are, but I'm a boy, and stronger. I could protect ye a bit.'
'Robby, you are kind. It is more than I deserve. But I cannot allow you to do it. My uncle cannot punish me if I escape and reach my other kinfolk. He will not for pride noise it abroad that I have fled his house. I am in danger only if he catches me before that. He will not demand the help of the law. In all probability he will be glad to be rid of me, once his anger has cooled. But in your case it is different. He can put it about you have made me go, and he could have you hung for it. The law would aid him, and you would surely be captured. And then I would probably be brought back too.'
'I am not afraid of him,' stated Robby stoutly, though Caroline would have sworn he paled at the thought of the gallows.
'But I cannot ask you to do it, though of course I would like some company. I am afraid of him if I am brought back, and your coming with me would give him more excuse to bring me back. I am positive I must chance my fortune alone.'
'If it is as ye say, then I must let ye go alone.'
'Thank you for the offer. I shall always be grateful for the help you have been this night. I trust no one discovers your part in it.'
'If anyone asks, I will say the ale was strong, and I slept deeper than normal.'
'That is good. Now I must be away. I must get as far as possible before daylight. It is well this is a fine night. The year has been unusually cold and wet until now.'
Robby cupped his hands for her foot, and she sprang into the saddle. She had never before been so unrestricted with clothing, and it gave her a new confidence, so that as she walked Silver through the gateway on to the drive which led to the road, she had a jaunty air which became her slim figure and boyish looks. Robby walked alongside her to the main gate, where she somewhat sadly said farewell to the lad. He stood watching her until she was out of sight, and then made his way back to bed, but no sleep came to him that night.
*
Caroline rode in the direction of Lichfield. She had to pass through the city, but she knew it and the lanes about it well, and was confident of avoiding being seen. The moon was bright, almost full, and she had no difficulty in finding her way. She soon ventured urging Silver to a trot, and they had passed through Lichfield within half an hour of setting out.
She took the road to the south-east, rode about twelve miles before the dawn, then found a deserted glade beside a stream, some way into the woods. Here, tired from her excitement, she saw to the horse, ate some of her provisions, and slept soundly all d
ay. The following night she passed through Warwick, and set out for Banbury.
After a mile she began to look around for somewhere to spend the day. She was feeling much safer from pursuit, and would have liked to carry on during the day, but she was tired, and Silver certainly needed a rest. He had carried her gallantly, and put up with conditions far from those of his usual comfortable stall. Soon she saw a track leading away into the woods which bordered the road, and she turned along it. Again she came to a stream, and she followed the same routine as on the previous day, and was soon curled up in her cloak, fast asleep.
The sun was high in the sky when she awoke, and everything was still. There was no sound in the little glade other than the trill of the stream. But she was certain some noise had awoken her.
Sitting up, she looked around. She was completely alone. Silver was nowhere to be seen. For a moment she puzzled over whether she had hobbled him properly, but she was certain she had, and she began to be worried. What had happened to him while she had been sleeping?
She got up hastily, and looked round the little glade. Silver was nowhere in sight. Now she could see her saddle bags and other bundles had also disappeared.
They had been piled in a heap a little way from where she had been sleeping, but were no longer there. Walking over to the spot where she had left them, she saw the grass and young bracken on which they had lain was still flattened. They could not have been removed long. She became frightened. Now it was certain Silver had not just strayed. Someone must have come upon her while she slept and stolen her belongings as well as Silver.
Not quite knowing what to do, she made her way to the track near by which led from the road. As she reached it, the neigh of a horse in the distance broke the still silence. She ran out on to the track, and looked along it. There, some hundred yards away, was a man with two horses. One of these was Silver. The other was a big black horse, and the man was riding this one, and leading Silver. They were moving rapidly away from Caroline.
She began to run after them, instinctively, though with no idea of what she could do if she did catch them.
This she soon saw was impossible. She could not even match the speed of the horses, and certainly would not be able to come up with them. They were now out of sight round a bend in the track.
Hopelessly, she kept on running, her breathing laboured, and soon she came to the main road. She stopped and looked along it. The man with Silver was now a long way off, cantering in the direction of Warwick. She would never catch him!
Breathless and despondent, she threw herself down on the bank at the side of the road, wondering what to do. She was very near tears. Apart from her fondness for the horse, and worry of what might become of it, the loss of Silver, and of her possessions, left her in a sorry way. She had no food, and only the few pence Benny had been able to give her, which would not buy much more than one meal. This loss, of both food and horse, completely upset her plans for reaching London.
When the realisation of her plight came fully home to her, she was tempted to weep.
What could she do? For one despairing moment she wondered whether to return to Lichfield, but the thought of what her return would involve, the punishments and recriminations Uncle John would heap upon her – apart from her fear of the Colonel, made her quickly discard this idea. She had to go on.
Caroline then thought of Benny's nephew, near Oxford. If she could reach him, surely he would help her! She sat up, more hopeful. Her courage was returning and she began to make plans. Obviously she would have to walk, but it was about forty miles to Oxford, and it would take her two or even three days. She was unused to long walking, and her shoes, though good, were not really strong enough for such a journey. But there was nothing else to do, and she ought to start soon to get as far as possible that day.
She was hungry after her sleep, but it was too early in the year for blackberries or nuts to sustain her. She decided she would start on the long walk, and perhaps she could beg a ride if a cart passed her. So she set off, but it was over two hours before she saw anyone, and that was a lone rider on a chestnut horse, who was riding at a furious gallop, and overtook her without a glance in her direction.
After covering three or four miles, Caroline sat down to rest. She was tired, footsore, and very hungry. After nearly half an hour she forced herself to go on.
Soon she came to a tiny hamlet, and she nerved herself to go up to the door of the first cottage she came to, and timidly knocked on it.
An old, bent, withered woman eventually opened it.
'Who are you, and what do you want?' she snapped.
'I – I am travelling to some relatives in London, and my horse was stolen, with all my belongings. I am hungry. Can I do some work in exchange for a meal?'
Caroline had decided to try and conserve her small supply of coins, and try if possible to earn her bread.
'Get away from here! That's a likely story. There are too many beggars and vagabonds on the roads nowadays. What work could you do? Like as not you'd steal what you could and run off with it when my back was turned.'
'Oh, please, it's true. Please believe me.'
The old crone did not listen. Before Caroline had finished, she had shut the door, and the girl turned away, her shoulders drooping. After that reception, she dared not try the few other cottages along the road, but wearily walked on. By the time she came to the next village she was so hungry she felt she could not go on until she had eaten. This village boasted a small shop, and Caroline was able to purchase a loaf and a small meat pie, but this left her with no money at all.
She walked on into the open country, and when she came to a stream she sat down and took off her shoes and stockings to bathe her feet in its cool waters. She ate her food, but the loaf was small, and that and the pie just satisfied her hunger. After a long rest she felt able to go on, and she set off along the road once more. By the time she had covered another mile or so, the sun was setting and she once more found a resting place in some woods near the road.
*
Her sleep was fitful, despite her tiredness, and she was awake long before dawn, hungry again, miserable because of this, the cold night, and the rain, which had begun to fall during the night, and was now pouring down steadily. She did not dare approach any more cottages to ask for work, and knowing her hunger would increase during the day, she was desperate. At last she resolved to try and steal something from the next garden she came to, so she set off at once, before it was properly light.
She was lucky in finding an isolated cottage very soon, and after making sure no one was in sight, she crept through the hedge surrounding the garden, and looked about her. Near by were some peas, fat pods bursting with peas, and she set to at once. The first pangs of hunger were satisfied when she noticed some gooseberry bushes, which reminded her of the day she had heard from Benny about her parents, sitting at the bottom of his garden out of earshot of his daughter.
Caroline helped herself to the gooseberries, and at last was satisfied with this odd breakfast. Indeed she felt slightly queasy. However, she decided to pick as many as she could carry for later in the day, and was in the process of filling her hat, which was the only thing she had to carry them in, when she was startled by a shout from the direction of the cottage.
She looked up, to see a huge, brawny man dressed only in breeches bearing down on her. He was only about ten yards away from her, and she barely had time to get to her feet before he was upon her. He reached out to catch her, but she ducked and evaded him. She started instinctively for the hedge which was only a few yards away, but would never have reached it had she not dropped her hat, scattering the gooseberries over the ground. The man slipped on them, and fell with a curse, and by the time he had picked himself up, Caroline was through the hedge and running as fast as she could down the road. But he was quick as well as huge, and came after her, and she realised he would soon catch her. Her heart was pounding against her ribs, and through the drumming in her ears she could
hear his steps getting nearer and nearer.
He was almost upon her when she glanced behind, and at that moment her foot caught in a rut, and she fell heavily.
With a yell of triumph, the man swooped on her, and catching her by the arm, heaved her upright.
He stood panting for a few moments before he could speak, then he began ranting at her, not allowing her to get a word in.
'What do 'ee mean by it, ye varmint, thievin' from good honest folk? I be goin' to give 'ee a lesson that 'ee'll not forget in a 'urry!'
So saying, he began to unbuckle the heavy leather belt that held up his breeches, still holding Caroline with one hand, so that however hard she struggled, she could not get away. He cursed her for her struggles, and she, terrified, saw he was lifting the belt with the heavy metal buckle at the end, preparatory to striking her across the back with it. She closed her eyes with terror, but never received the blow. As if through a dream she heard another voice, and the sound of a horse. Opening her eyes, she saw a horseman had appeared, and had caught hold of the belt.
'Stop, you brute! You'll near kill the lad if you beat him with that vicious thing.'
'Let me be! 'Ee be a thief, an' I were goin' to teach 'ee a lesson so 's 'e'd ne'er rob folk's gardens again.'
'Is that true, boy?' The horseman turned to Caroline. 'Were you stealing from him?'
'I had a few peas and gooseberries,' she whispered. 'But I was starving. I had only a small meal yesterday, and now I have no money, and I cannot get work. I didn't know what else to do.'
'Where do you live?'
'I have no home. I'm trying to get to London, but my horse and my food were stolen early yesterday, and when I tried to get some work I was turned away.'
'Do 'ee look as if 'e'd ever owned a beast?' asked the cottager scornfully, but the man on the horse did not reply. He was gazing hard at Caroline, till suddenly she blushed and lowered her own eyes.
'He speaks well, though his clothes are poor. I am inclined to believe him.' He took a coin from his pocket and held it out to the other. 'Will that recompense you for the loss of a few peas and fruit?'
Cavalier Courtship Page 7
