"Alan, Lord Aylward followed me; although everybody else was ruined, he
remained rich, very very rich, they say, and his fancy was to marry me,
also I think it was not comfortable for him in England. It is a long
tale, but I got up here with about five-and-twenty servants, and Snell,
my maid, whom you remember. Then we were both taken ill with some
dreadful fever and had it not been for those good black people, I should
have died, for I have been very sick, Alan. But they nursed me and I
recovered; it was poor Snell who died, they buried her a few days ago.
I thought that she would live, but she had a relapse. Next Lord Aylward
appeared with twelve soldiers and some porters who, I believe, have
run away now,--oh! you can guess, you can guess. He wanted my people to
carry me away somewhere, to the coast, I suppose, but they were faithful
to me and would not. Then he set his soldiers on to maltreat them. They
shot several of them and flogged them on every opportunity; they were
flogging one of them just now, I heard them. Well, the poor men made me
understand that they could bear it no longer and must do what he told
them.

"And so, Alan, as I was quite hopeless and helpless, I made up my mind
to kill myself, hoping that God would forgive me and that I should find
you somewhere, perhaps after sleeping a while, for it was better to
die than to be given into the power--of that man. I thought that he was
coming for me just now and I was about to do it, but it was you instead,
Alan, _you_, and only just in time. That is all the story, and I hope
you will not think that I have acted very foolishly, but I did it for
the best. If you only knew what I have suffered, Alan, what I have gone
through in one way and another, I am sure that you would not judge me
harshly; also I kept dreaming that you were in trouble and wanted me to
come to you, and of course I knew where you were gone and had that map.