Clementina

Clementina turned sharply towards him as he spoke this unwonted

confession.

"You!" she exclaimed with a wondering laugh. Yet he had spoken the

truth. His face was twitching; his eyes had the look of a man scared out

of his wits.

"Yes, I am afraid," he said in a low, uneasy voice. "When I have all but

won through the danger, then comes my moment of fear. In the thick of

it, perils tread too close upon the heels of peril for a man to count

them up. Each minute claims your hands and eyes and brain,--claims you

and inspires you. But when the danger's less, and though less still

threatens; when you're just this side of safety's frontier and not

safe,--indeed, indeed, one should be afraid. A vain spirit of

confidence, and the tired head nods, and the blow falls on it from

nowhere. Oh, but I have seen examples times out of mind. I beg you, no

delay!"

The hoofs of the approaching horse sounded ever louder while Wogan

spoke; and as he ended, a man rode out from the street into the open

space before the inn. The gallop became a trot.

"He is riding to the door," said Wogan. "The light falls on your face;"

and he drew Clementina into the shadow of the wall. But at the same

moment the rider changed his mind. He swerved; it seemed too that he

used his spurs, for his horse bounded beneath him and galloped past the

inn. He disappeared into the darkness, and the sound of the horse

diminished. Wogan listened until they had died away.

"He rides into Austria!" said he. "He rides to Trent, to Brixen, to

Innspruck! And in haste. Let us go! I had even a fancy that I knew his

voice."

"From a single oath uttered in anger! Nay, you are all fears. For my

part, I was afraid that he had it in his mind to stay here at this inn

where my little woman lies. What if suspicion fall on her? What if those

troopers of the Emperor find her and guess the part she played!"

"You make her safe by seeking safety," returned Wogan. "You are the prey

the Emperor flies at. Once you are out of reach, his mere dignity must

hold him in from wreaking vengeance on your friends."

Wogan went into the inn, and calling Misset told him of his purpose. He

would drive her Highness to Peri, a little village ten miles from Ala,

but in Italy. At Peri, Mrs. Misset and her husband were to rejoin them

in the morning, and from Peri they could travel by slow stages to

Bologna. The tears flowed from Clementina's eyes when she took her

farewell of her little woman. Though her reason bowed to Wogan's

argument, she had a sense of cowardice in deserting so faithful a

friend. Mrs. Misset, however, joined in Wogan's prayer; and she mounted

into the trap and at Wogan's side drove out of the town by that street

along which the horseman had ridden.