Of course all the time I had other
suspicions, but I could not communicate them, though they were
increased when Sir Andrew went with Eustace's pledge to redeem the
pearl; but he came back in wrath and despair, telling me that a
rascally Dutch merchant had smelt it out, and had offered a huge
price for it, which the goldsmith had not withstood, despairing of
its ransom.
Eustace did not ask who the merchant was, but I saw the hot blood
mounting in his pale cheek. Happily Annora was not present, so
inconvenient questions were avoided. He was worn out with the being
carried in a chair and then mounting the stairs, even with the aid of
Sir Andrew's arm.
Tryphena, however, had a nourishing posset for him, and we laid him
on a day-bed which had been made ready for him, where he smiled at
us, said, 'This is comfort,' and dropped asleep while I sat by him.
There I stayed, watching him, while Nan, whose nature never was to
sit still, went forth, attended by Sir Andrew and Nicolas, to obtain
some needments. If she had known the language, and if it had been
fitting for a young demoiselle of her birth, she might have gone
alone; these were the safest streets, and the most free from riot or
violence of any kind that I ever inhabited.
While she was gone, Eustace awoke, and presently began talking to me,
and asking me about all that had passed, and about which we had not
dared to write. Nan, he said, had told him her story, and he was
horrified at the peril I had incurred.
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