From the characters of all who surrounded him, Lord Chartley seemed to draw no little amusement; but still, it would appear, his eye was watchful, and his ear too; for, when they had ridden about a couple of miles through the wood, and were in a shady place, where the beams of the moon did not penetrate, he suddenly reined in his horse, exclaiming--
"Some one has left the company--Hark! Who is that riding away?"
"Faith, I know not," said Sir Charles Weinants.
"I hear nobody," replied Hungerford.
"There go a horse's feet, nevertheless," cried Sir William Arden.
"Gentlemen all, have you sent any one back?" demanded the young baron, in a stern tone.
A general negative was the reply; and Chartley exclaimed--
"Then, by the Lord, I will find him. Ride on, gentlemen, ride on. I will overtake you soon."
"Let me come with you, my good lord," said Sir William Arden.
"No, no, I will find him, and deal with him alone," replied the young lord; and, turning his head to add--"You can wait for me at Hinckley if you will," he spurred on sharply, on the road which led back towards the abbey. The party whom he left remained gathered together for a moment, in surprise at the rapidity and the strangeness of his movements.