Chapter 6

‘Have no fear, Hannah,’ he said. ‘No harm will come of this. Our Tetrarch is ever interested in a pretty face. He likes to have good-looking people about him. In this instance he has made a mistake—and probably knows it by now. It is not to his advantage to accumulate any more enemies. You need not give it another thought.’

‘I do thank you, sir, for coming to my rescue!’ Esther’s voice was still shaken.

‘It was my pleasure to serve you.’ David bowed. ‘I bid you both good-day.’ With lengthened steps, he strode majestically away and proceeded toward his home. The women faced each other with inquiring eyes, puzzled over Esther’s predicament.

‘You had better come back with me,’ advised Hannah. ‘Search for your uncle another day. The people will recognize you and think it peculiar to see you alone on the highway after what David said.’

‘About my being a member of his household? I wonder why he did say it: he might have had to prove it.’

‘Evidently he had no fear of that, Esther. David is a man of great influence—greater, perhaps, than I had realized.’

‘Even so, he took the risk of offending the ruler. Why should he put himself in jeopardy—for me? I mean nothing to him.’

Hannah’s eyes were averted as she remarked, in a vague undertone, that it wasn’t always easy to understand David. At that, Esther came to a stop, laid a hand on Hannah’s arm, and asked abruptly: ‘How much have you told him—about me?’

‘There wasn’t much to tell, was there?’ countered Hannah, with a reproachful little smile. ‘Look! He is waiting for us, beside our fence. He has thought of something more he wants to say.’

‘He will be wanting to talk to you alone, I think,’ said Esther, turning about. ‘I shall go now—and try to overtake Simon.’ And before Hannah had time to protest, she had hurried away.

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