The time is come for thee to
proceed boldly and on the highway. I will send thee first to Oundle,
which lieth southwest from hence, and with a token I will procure thee
safe lodging there. From thence I can do no more for thee till thou
come to St. Albans, twenty miles away from London. But from Oundle thou
must take thy course still southwest till thou come to the Watling
Street. Then follow that southeast down to St. Albans. And in this
jaunt Humphrey must lead, and thou must follow; for I shall make of
Humphrey a priest, and of thee a novice."
He ceased, and there was no reply to what he had said. Both Hugo and
Humphrey would have preferred to ride clad as they were, and to choose
their own route and stopping-places. But they were sensible of how much
they already owed the canon, and dangers were now so thick about them
that they feared to refuse to do as he bade them. Therefore they
permitted themselves to be properly robed, and took meekly the
instructions he gave them as to their speech and manner of behaviour.
"This I do not for thee only, but for my friend, Roger Aungerville, and
for the brave Lord De Aldithely," he said in parting from them.
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