Since Mr. Effingham's visit, and the polite fiction of the yacht--endeared to Mr. Banks by his own joke about the Fleet Prison, which he considered so good that society was injured by its suppression within his own bosom--the incredulous flunkey had experienced an increased share of the curiosity with which their masters' affairs invariably inspire servants. He was much pleased then that Captain Bligh answered,
"Yes, yes, you can come with me."
The keeper's cottage was not very far from the great house, from which, however, it was entirely hidden by a thick fir-plantation which covered a long and wide space of undulating land, and through which several narrow paths led to the open ground beyond. The Captain and his attendant struck into one of those paths, which led directly in the direction of the keeper's house.
"We can't miss Sir Charles, I think, if he really has gone up to Hutton's," said the Captain.
"No, sir, I think not, unless he has taken a very roundabout way," answered Banks.
They walked quickly on for some distance, the Captain's impatience momentarily increasing, and also his doubts that Mitford had gone in this direction at all. At length they reached a point at which the path, cutting the plantation from east to west, was intersected by one running from north to south. Here they paused, and the Captain said testily,
"By Jove, Banks, I hardly know what to do. The messenger from Fishbourne's shut up in the library all this time, and all the servants in a fuss, and Sir Charles not forthcoming! I wish I had broken the news of her father's death to Lady Mitford before I came out; it would have been by far the best plan. She's sure to hear it by accident now."
The Captain spoke to himself rather than to the servant, and in a particularly emphatic voice--a testimony to his vexation. Then he strode onwards with increased speed, little knowing that he had spoken within the startled hearing of the man whom he was seeking, and who was so near him, as he stood where the paths met, that he could have touched him by stretching out his arm,--touched him and his cowering frightened companion.
They kept a breathless silence until the Captain and Banks were quite out of hearing. Then Sir Charles said: "What is to be done? Did you hear what Bligh said, Laura? Some one has been sent from Fishbourne to tell me that Mr. Stanfield is dead, and they are searching for me everywhere. What a cursed accident! There is not a chance of concealing your absence. My darling, my life, what is to be done?"
She was very pale and trembling, and the words came hard and hoarse, as she replied,