If James
Brocktrop can be spared I will send him, though he might not undertake
the task with the zeal I should desire."

"But could not I accompany him?" I asked. "The holidays will soon
begin, and if Master Gresham does not return, I shall be at liberty."

"Have patience, my boy; I will consider it," repeated Lady Anne.

When I told A'Dale, he was eager to accompany me. I knew I could trust
him. It wanted but two weeks to the holidays; and we agreed that if
Lady Anne could not then send Brocktrop, we ourselves, with her
permission and that of my patron, would set forth together.

At length term time was over, and I was at liberty.

"I have consulted my lord's factor, Master John Elliot, and he will send
James Brocktrop, for the purpose of inquiring into the trade and produce
of Norwich, where he is given to understand a considerable amount of
manufactures has been produced by the Flemish refugees settled in that
city," said Lady Anne. "You can accompany him, and you will thus have a
favourable opportunity of inquiring for the young girl."

I was greatly pleased at this arrangement; it was so exactly what I
wished. A'Dale likewise obtained leave to make holiday and to accompany
us. Horses were provided for our journey, and with a change of clothes
and other necessaries packed in our valises and strapped before us, with
thick cloaks to guard us from the inclemency of the weather, our
equipment was complete.

To enable us to defend ourselves, we each of us also had a brace of
pistolets, and an arquebus, which hung at the saddlebow. Thus well
provided, we set forth to the North. I found the roads very different
to those I had been accustomed to in the Low Countries. Instead of
affording a broad level way, they were full of ruts and inequalities.
Sometimes we had to pass through a wide extent of mud, and at other
times to pick our way amidst the boulders, rocks, and stones which lay
before us. This prevented us from proceeding as rapidly as we should
have desired. We could talk, however, as we rode along, and had many
subjects of conversation.

At length we reached the ancient town of Norwich, standing on its ten
hills. In the late reign numerous Flemish families, driven out of the
Netherlands by dread of the Edicts and the Inquisition, had settled
here.

Brocktrop had been supplied with a sufficient excuse for his visit,
being sent thither by the well-known mercer, Master Gresham, to examine
into