Their faces had been slightly darkened;
Agnes had coiled her hair up under a cap, while Dame Margaret's would be
completely hidden under the hood. She and Charlie could, have passed very
well even in daylight, but Agnes by no means looked her character. Her
mother had darkened the skin at the back of her neck as well as on her
face, but the girl's evident discomfort and shyness were so unboylike that
they would at once be noticed. Guy fetched a short cloak reaching only to
his hips from his room and brought it in to her.
"I think that you will be more comfortable in this," he said.
"Yes, indeed," she exclaimed gratefully, as she put it over her shoulders;
"I shall not mind now."
It reached nearly down to her knees, and the high collar concealed the
back of her head effectually.
"I did not expect that you would be ready so soon," he said, turning to
Dame Margaret; "it will not be dark for two hours yet."
"No; but I thought it much better to be prepared to leave at any moment.
Mistress Leroux has shown me a door opening from the yard into a very
narrow lane behind. She says that it has not been used for years, but she
has been down herself with the key and has unlocked it, so that we have
only to let a bar down to open it, and if there should be an attack on the
front of the house we can escape that way."
"It would be best to leave that way in any case," Guy said, "and thereby
you will avoid observation by anyone who may be watching.
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