They did not dare look back and Serena held her breath, fearing at any moment that she would hear the hoofs of horses pursuing them or the sound of a musket shot.
They were half a mile away before she turned her head and smiled at the Joker. It was then she saw the beads of sweat on his brow.
“’Twas a near thing, lady,” he said, “but you piked them on the beam.”
“They would have recognised you?” she asked.
“Nay,” he replied, “but if you had not out-jockeyed them, they would have taken me for questioning. ’Tis not amusing to be questioned these days by the Military.”
“Oh, sir, how can you bear such a life?” Serena asked.
“’Tis better than dying of boredom,” he replied. “Weep not for me, lady, if you hear I am a-dangling at the rope’s end.”
Serena shuddered.
“Don’t speak of it.”
The
