While I was talking to one of the maids in the parlor of the duchess, a page came to me and whispered, “A lady is waiting for you at Holbein’s Gate, and wishes you to go to her as soon as possible.”

I suspected that the lady was Frances, so I hastened to the gate and found, not my cousin, but Betty.  I knew her the moment I saw her, despite the fact that she wore a full vizard and a long cloak.  I also knew that nothing less than a matter of great urgency would have induced the girl to call for me at the palace.

The snow, which had been falling all day, was now coming in horizontal sheets, laden with sleet.  The wind was blowing half a gale, and the weather was turning bitterly cold, yet Betty had come to seek me, despite weather and modesty.  Eager to hear her errand, I led her toward Charing Cross, and when we were away from the gate, asked:—­

“What brings you, Bettina?  I know it must be a matter of great urgency that has induced you to venture forth in this terrible storm.  What can I do for you?”

“Nothing for me, Baron Ned,” she answered, taking my arm and huddling close to my side for protection against the storm.

“For whom, then?  Tell me quickly,” I asked.

“I fear Mistress Jennings is in trouble,” she answered.  “Soon after you and Master Hamilton left the Old Swan, a girl came to me in my parlor and told me that as she was passing a coach standing in front of Baynard’s Castle two hours or more ago, a lady called to her from the coach window and told her to tell me that Mistress Jones was in great trouble; that she had been seized by two men who were carrying her away.  She said the lady was bound hand and foot, and that immediately after she had spoken, two gentlemen came from Baynard’s Castle, entered the coach, and drove toward Temple Bar.  The girl said she followed the coach till she saw it turn into the Strand beyond Temple Bar; then she came to see me.”

“Did the girl say at what hour she saw the lady, Mistress Jones?” I asked.  “She probably did not catch the name Jennings.”

“She said it was two hours or more before she saw me,” answered Betty.  “That would make it perhaps between one and two o’clock.  I ought to have questioned her more closely, but I feared to delay telling you, so I left her in my parlor and came to see you as quickly as possible.”

“Brave Betty!  Sweet Betty!” I exclaimed, rapturously.  “I could find it in my heart to kiss you a thousand times as a reward for your wisdom.”

“And I could find it in my heart to be content with other reward,” she answered, though her words took a different meaning from the gentle pressure she gave my arm.

“But tell me,” asked Betty, “do you know where Mistress Jennings is?”

“She is not to be found,” I returned.  “Beyond a doubt the lady in the carriage was my cousin.  You say it was perhaps one o’clock when the girl saw her?”

“Yes.”