Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/253

Ian back, and begged him not to go into the room. He too, thought there was no need, indeed that it would be best not, for every one concerned. We didn't see anything that had been stolen, or think about a revolver. Ian said we must go away, and he must get out of England at once to avoid being called as witness—for whatever came no one must know as long as ever we lived, that we had heard and seen. It wasn't himself that he thought about. It was you. But I thought of him as well, and I knew if we weren't able to explain by telling the real truth, he might be in great danger. I began to say something of that sort to him, but he broke in and made me promise that I wouldn't tell, even to shield him if he were in trouble. Then, in his turn, he promised that he would not go as far from me as America—not for a while, anyhow. He would try to get to France, and keep out of the way there, till perhaps it might be safe to sail for America later. He realized that both our lives might be ruined; that—he might be suspected—hunted—even for years; but for your sake he didn't hesitate. We planned quickly that he should get his bicycle, on which he'd come from London, and wheel it through the woods, as you know one can do there, for miles, until he'd gone far beyond Riding St. Mary, or any place where he was likely to be recognized. Then, at Godalton he would catch a train for Southampton; and unless an alarm had been raised already,