'Nay, the shepherd heard me call.'

'The shepherd! What, the churl that came with thee?'

'He carried me to the hut.'

Anne was on her guard, though Bertram probed her well. Was there
only one shepherd? Was there not a boy with her on the hill-side
where Bertram met her? The shepherd lad in sooth! What became of
him? The shepherd sent him back, he had been too long away from his
flock. What was his name? What was the shepherd's name? Who was
his master? Anne did not know--she had heard no names save Hob and
Hal, she had seen no arms, she had heard nothing southland. The lad
was a mere herd-boy, ordered out to milk ewes and tend the sheep.
She answered briefly, and with a certain sullenness, and young Selby
at last turned on her. 'Look thee here, fair lady, there's a saying
abroad that the heir of the red-handed House of Clifford is lurking
here, on the look-out to favour Queen Margaret and her son. Couldst
thou put us on the scent, King Edward would favour thee and make thee
a great dame, and have thee to his Court--nay, maybe give thee what
is left of the barony of Clifford.'

'I know nothing of young lords,' sulkily growled Anne, who had been
hitherto busy with her pets, striking her hand on the table.

'And I tell thee, Bertram Selby,' exclaimed the Prioress, 'that if
thou art ware of a poor fatherless lad lurking in hiding in these
parts, it is not the part of an honest man to seek him out for his
destruction, and still less to try to make the maid he rescued betray
him. Well done, little Anne, thou knowest how to hold thy tongue.'