As soon as the English army had left, Captain Davenant obtained for her an order of protection from General Sarsfield, and she returned for a while with her daughter to their house, to which the invalids were carried, Captain Davenant’s troop being again quartered around it.

“I hardly know what is best to do,” she said to Captain Davenant, a few days after her return.  “I am, of course, anxious to rejoin my husband, but at the same time, I feel that my staying here is of benefit to him.  With the order of protection I have received, I am perfectly safe here, and I have no fear whatever of any trouble, either with the troops or peasantry; but, on the other hand, if we abandon this place, I fear that it will be pillaged, and perhaps burned, like the other houses belonging to Protestants which have been deserted by their owners.  What do you say, Captain Davenant?”

“I should be sorry to give any advice, Mrs. Conyers.  For the troops I can answer.  The protection you have received from General Sarsfield will be sufficient to ensure you against any trouble whatever from them, but, as to the peasantry, I cannot say.  Every village within reach of William’s army, in its advance or retreat, has been destroyed, and the vilest atrocities have been committed upon the people.  The greater part of the men have, in despair, taken up arms, and, when they get the chance, will avenge their wrongs upon inoffensive Protestants who have ventured to remain in their dwellings.  Savagery has begot savagery, and even such a protection order as you have received would go for little with these half-maddened wretches.  I should say, therefore, that so long as there are a considerable body of troops at Limerick, so long you may safely remain here, but no longer.”

“At any rate, I will stay for a time,” Mrs. Conyers said.  “The winter may bring peace; and I am very loath to abandon the house, to which my husband is greatly attached, if it is possible to save it.”

The party now fell back to the mode of life which had been interrupted by the advance of William’s army.  Captain Davenant drilled his men, and spent his evenings pleasantly in the house.  Walter had so far recovered that he was able to stroll through the grounds, or drive with Claire.  The troopers enjoyed their rest and abundance of rations.  Captain Davenant’s mind had been set at ease by the receipt of a letter, which Mrs. Davenant had sent him by one of the men of the village.  It told him that she had seen Mr. Conyers, who had obtained a stay of all proceedings against the property, and that she was well, and in as good spirits as she could be in his absence.

A month after they had moved across the river, their quiet life was interrupted by a trooper riding up, just as the party was sitting down to dinner, with an order from General Sarsfield for the troops to be in readiness to march, at daybreak, to form part of a force which was about to undertake an enterprise against the English stationed at Birr.  There was silence at the table, after Captain Davenant had read the order.