distant. Here horses were obtained and saddled, and dresses prepared;
and when Cuthbert with Lady Margaret arrived there, no time was lost.
Dressed as a yeoman, with the Lady Margaret as his sister, he mounted a
horse, with her behind him on a pillion. The other damsels also mounted,
as it would not have been safe for them to remain near Evesham. They
therefore purposed taking refuge in a convent near Gloucester for the
present. Bidding a hearty adieu to Cnut, and with thanks to the franklin
who had aided them, they set forward on their journey. By morning they
had reached the convent, and here the two girls were left, and Cuthbert
continued his journey. He left his charge at a convent a day's ride
distant from the castle of Sir Baldwin, as he wished to consult the
knight first as to the best way of her entering the castle without
exciting talk or suspicion.

Sir Baldwin received him with joy. He had heard something of his doings,
and the news of the siege of Evesham had been noised abroad. He told him
that he was in communication with many other barons, and that ere long
they hoped to rise against the tyranny of Prince John, but that at
present they were powerless, as many, hoping that King Richard would
return ere long, shrank from involving the country in a civil war. When
Cuthbert told him that the daughter of his old friend was at a convent
but a day's ride distant, and that he sought protection for her, Sir
Baldwin instantly offered her hospitality.

"I will," he said, "send my good wife to fetch her. Some here know your
presence, and it would be better therefore that she did not arrive for
some days, as her coming will then seem to be unconnected with yourself.
My wife and I will, a week hence, give out that we are going to fetch a
cousin of my wife's to stay here with her; and when we return no
suspicion will be excited that she is other than she seems. Should it be
otherwise, I need not say that Sir Baldwin of Bethune will defend his
castle against any of the minions of Prince John. But I have no fear
that her presence here will be discovered. What think you of doing in
the meantime?"

"I am thinking," Cuthbert said, "of going east. No news has been
obtained of our lord the king save that he is a prisoner in the hands of
the emperor; but where confined, or how, we know not. It is my intent to
travel to the Tyrol, and to trace his steps from the time that he was
captured. Then, when I obtain knowledge of the