Summary

As Chapter 13 opens, Thirsk waits in the courtyard with the horses he has prepared for Master Jordan and his men. The sidemen bring the group's luggage out, and then they bring out the battered groom, whom they lift up onto a horse. Then the captive women and Lizzie Carr emerge, tied together. Thirsk considers going to comfort them, but he hesitates -- they are barely recognizable, particularly the "hollowed out" (173) Lizzie.

After he hands off the horses, Thirsk meets Master Kent in the lane, and Master Kent remarks that although the land "has always been much older than ourselves" (174), that is not so anymore. After giving Thirsk a pleading stare that he cannot quite decipher, the master leaves with his cousin, his men, and his prisoners. Thirsk runs up a hill to watch the group depart -- the gentlemen ride in front, and the...