Roger was taking with him a thousand pounds in gold; therefore it was desirable that he and his fair passenger should reach the city before nightfall.

To do this with the fat horses, he must start early,--a fact of which Frances had received due notice.
On the appointed morning she was ready when the coach drove up.

Her box was placed in the boot, and she took a seat beside her old friend Roger, giving vent to the tears she had held back so bravely while saying good-by to her father and Sarah, who were to move up to London in case she remained at court.
Wheezy old Noah on the box cracked his whip, the fat horses in the traces pulled and grunted, the coach creaked and groaned, the wheels turned and Frances had set forth, a maiden St.George, to fight the dragon of Whitehall, compared to which the old-time monster was but a bleating lamb.

Roger had hoped to be in his brother's house long before sundown, but when he reached that justly famous halfway house, the Cock and Spur, Noah insisted that the fat horses were so badly winded that a rest of several hours was necessary before they could proceed a step farther.
Roger argued with his Master of Horse, but to no purpose.

The fat horses rested till near the hour of five, when Noah yielded to his master's importunities and the journey was resumed.