Insensibly the two children had in addressing one another changed the homely singular pronoun to the more polite, if less grammatical, second person plural.  The boy laughed, nodded his head, and said, ‘You are a little witch.’

’No great witchcraft to hear that you speak as we do at home in Bedfordshire, not like these northern boors, that might as well be Scots!’

‘I am not from Bedfordshire,’ said the lad, looking much amused at her perplexity.

‘Who art thou then?’ she cried peremptorily.

‘I?  I am Hal the shepherd boy, as I told thee before.’

‘No shepherd boy are you!  Come, tell me true.’

Dolly thought it time to interfere.  She heard an imaginary bleat, and ordered Hal out to see what was the matter, hindering the girl by force from running after him, for the snow was coming down in larger flakes than ever.  Nevertheless, when her husband was heard outside she threw a cloak over her head and hurried out to speak with him.  ’That maid will make our lad betray himself ere another hour is over their heads!’

‘Doth she do it wittingly?’ asked the shepherd gravely.

’Nay, ’tis no guile, but each child sees that the other is of gentle blood, and women’s wits be sharp and prying, and the maid will never rest till she has wormed out who he is.’

‘He promised me never to say, nor doth he know.’

’Thee!  Much do the hests of an old hogherd weigh against the wiles of a young maid!’

’Lord Hal is a lad of his word.  Peace with thy lords and ladies, woman, thou’lt have the archers after him at once.’

‘She makes no secret of being of gentle blood—­a St. John of Bletso.’

’A pestilent White Rose lot!  We shall have them on the scent ere many days are over our head!  An unlucky chance this same snow, or I should have had the wench off to Greystone ere they could exchange a word.’

’Thou wouldst have been caught in the storm.  Ill for the maid to have fallen into a drift!’

‘Well for the lad if she never came out of it!’ muttered the gruff old shepherd.  ’Then were her tongue stilled, and those of the clacking wenches at York—­Yorkists every one of them.’

Mother Dolly’s eyes grew round.  ‘Mind thee, Hob!’ she said; ’I ken thy bark is worse than thy bite, but I would have thee to know that if aught befall the maid between this and Greystone, I shall hold thee—­and so will my Lady—­guilty of a foul deed.’

‘No fouler than was done on the stripling’s father,’ muttered the shepherd.  ’Get thee in, wife!  Who knows what folly those two may be after while thou art away?  Mind thee, if the maid gets an inkling of who the boy is, it will be the worse for her.’

‘Oh!’ murmured the goodwife, ’I moaned once that our Piers there should be deaf and well-nigh dumb, but I thank God for it now!  No fear of perilous word going out through him, or I durst not have kept my poor sister’s son!’