"Mayhap," said her father, "but I misdoubt it. Paulet may be suspicious
of thee, but 'twill do no harm to be there. We will try to get the
letters to her, but if we do not succeed then must Ballard, or Captain
Fortescue as he calls himself, find some other means of communicating
with her."

"We will succeed. Never fear," said Francis with conviction.

CHAPTER VII

FRANCIS TO THE FRONT

The next morning Francis was early at the crossroads but although she
waited for several hours neither Mary nor any of her party appeared.

"It is as I thought it would be," said Lord Stafford, "but we must not be
discouraged. You must go to the same place for several days. I feel sure
that if Mary can compass it she will fare that way again. It is our only
hope of opening up communication with her."

Three more days passed without result, but on the morning of the fourth
day a cavalcade appeared. Francis was delighted to see Mary in their
midst. Not as before on a horse but in a coach. As she stood with
uncovered head the party swept by her without stopping. The queen bowed
and smiled, but when the girl would have darted to the side of the coach
she was prevented by the gentlemen of the guard who closed around it.

"Oh," cried the girl, tears of disappointment streaming from her eyes,
"what shall I do? What can I do?" But the equipage swept on bearing Mary
from her sight and Francis gave way to her grief unrestrainedly.

"And I thought to have done so much," she murmured when she had become
calm. "Ah! my father did well to say that Sir Amyas was an austere man.
Little doth it comfort Mary to be a queen when there is such an one to
control her actions. Well, I must to the inn."

She turned to go back to the town when her eye was caught by a filmy bit
of linen which was caught in a bush by the wayside.

"'Twas hers," cried Francis catching it up eagerly. "How foolish to
repine when I should have known that there would be some sign."

Examining the dainty bit of cloth carefully she found it covered over
with a lot of characters whose meaning she could not fathom.

"I must take it to my father," she said concealing the linen in her
bosom. "Mayhap he can decipher it." And she hastened to return to the
tavern joyful at having obtained at least a token.

"It is written in cipher," remarked Lord Stafford, examining the bit of
cloth attentively. "It is my good fortune to have the key to some of the
ciphers which she uses.