Here they found Dame Editha, and for three days she abode among them, living in a small hut in the centre of the forest.  Then she left, to take up her abode, until the troubles were past, with some kin who lived in the south of Gloucestershire.

Although the lady abbess had assured Cuthbert that the retreat of Lady Margaret was not likely to be found out, he himself, knowing how great a stake Sir Rudolph had in the matter, was still far from being easy.  It would not be difficult for the latter to learn through his agents that the lady superior of the little convent near Hereford was of kin to her of St. Anne’s, and, close as a convent is, yet the gossiping of the servants who go to market was certain to let out an affair so important as the arrival of a young lady to reside under the charge of the superior.  Cuthbert was not mistaken as to the acuteness of his enemy.  The relationship between the two lady superiors was no secret, and after having searched all the farmhouses and granges near the forest, and being convinced that the lady abbess would have sent her charge rather to a religious house than to that of a franklin, Sir Rudolph sought which of those within the circuit of a few miles would be likely to be the one selected.  It was not long before he was enabled to fix upon that near Hereford, and spies going to the spot soon found out from the countrypeople that it was a matter of talk that a young lady of rank had been admitted by the superior.  Sir Rudolph hesitated whether to go himself at the head of a strong body of men and openly to take her, or to employ some sort of device.  It was not that he himself feared the anathema of the church; but he knew Prince John to be weak and vacillating, at one time ready to defy the thunder of the pope, the next cringing before the spiritual authority.  He therefore determined to employ some of his men to burst into the convent and carry off the heiress, arranging that he himself, with some of his men-at-arms, should come upon them in the road, and make a feigned rescue of her, so that, if the lady superior laid her complaint before the pope’s legate, he could deny that he had any hand in the matter, and could even take credit for having rescued her from the men who had profaned the convent.  That his story would be believed mattered but little.  It would be impossible to prove its falsity, and this was all that he cared for.

This course was followed out.  Late one evening, the lady superior was alarmed by a violent knocking at the door.  In reply to questions asked through the grill, the answer was given, “We are men of the forest, and we are come to carry the Lady Margaret of Evesham off to a secure hiding-place.  The lord of Evesham has discovered her whereabouts, and will be here shortly, and we would fain remove her before he arrives.”

“From whom have you warrant?” the lady superior said.  “I surrender her to no one, save to the lady abbess of St. Anne’s.  But if you have a written warrant from Sir Cuthbert, the rightful lord of Evesham, I will lay the matter before the Lady Margaret, and will act as it may seem fit to her.”