Leonard reluctantly gave the required pledge.

“I have unwittingly been the cause of much affliction to you,” pursued Amabel—­“and would gladly see you happy, and there is one person, I think, who would make you so—­I mean Nizza Macascree.  From what she said to me when we were alone together in the vaults of Saint Faith’s, I am sure she is sincerely attached to you.  Could you not requite her love?”

“No,” replied Leonard.  “There is no change in affection like mine.”

“Pursue the course I have advised,” replied Amabel, “and you will find all your troubles vanish.  Farewell!  I depend upon your silence!”

And she quitted the room, leaving Leonard in a state of indescribable anxiety.

Faithful, however, to his promise, he made no mention of his uneasiness to the grocer or his wife, but indulged his grief in secret.  Ignorant of what was passing, Mr. Bloundel, who was still not without apprehension of some further attempt on the part of the earl, sent Dallison to make inquiries after him, and learnt that he was at Whitehall, but that the court had fixed to remove to Hampton Court at the end of June.  The porter also informed him that the city was emptying fast—­that the Lord Mayor’s residence was literally besieged with applications for bills of health—­that officers were stationed at the gates—­and that, besides these, barriers and turnpikes were erected on all the main roads, at which the certificates were required to be exhibited—­and that such persons as escaped without them were driven back by the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, who refused to supply them with necessaries; and as they could not return home, many had perished of want, or perhaps of the pestilence, in the open fields.  Horses and coaches, he added, were not to be procured, except at exorbitant prices; and thousands had departed on foot, locking up their houses, and leaving their effects behind them.

“In consequence of this,” added Dallison, “several houses have been broken open; and though the watch had been trebled, still they cannot be in all places at once; and strong as the force is, it is not adequate to the present emergency.  Bands of robbers stalk the streets at night, taking vehicles with them, built to resemble pest-carts, and beating off the watch, they break open the houses, and carry off any goods they please.”

This intelligence greatly alarmed the grocer, and he began to fear his plans would be defeated in an unexpected manner.  He engaged Dallison to procure another trusty companion to take his place at night, and furnished him with money to purchase arms.  He no longer slept as tranquilly as before, but frequently repaired to his place of observation to see that the watchman was at his post, and that all was secure.  For the last few days, he had remarked with some uneasiness that a youth frequently passed the house and gazed at the barred windows, and he at first imagined he