Hazel clenched her fists and set her teeth ... she would assert herself!—she would!... now, at once? Why not give them, say, till noon, to come back? Yes, she would give them till noon.
But before then, a rather shame-faced Luke arrived with his confession that Master Ranulph had made proper fools of them.
"So, Miss Hazel, if you'll give me a bite of something, and lend me a horse, I'll go after the young scamp to Moongrass. To think of his giving us the slip like that and never having told me he'd heard from his father! And there was me expecting a letter from his Worship every day, telling us to leave at once, and...."
Hazel raised her eyebrows. "You were expecting a letter ordering you to leave us? How was that?"
Luke turned red, and mumbled something inaudible. Hazel stared at him for a few seconds in silence, and then she said quietly, "I'm afraid you were wise if you asked the Seneschal to remove Master Ranulph."
He gave her a shrewd glance. "Yes ... I fear this is no place for Master Ranulph. But if you'd excuse me for being so bold, miss, I'd like to give you a word of warning—don't you trust that Endymion Leer further than you can see him, and don't you ever let your Granny take you out fishing!"
"Thank you, Master Hempen, but I am quite able to look after myself," said Hazel haughtily. And then an anxious look came into her eyes. "I hope—oh! I hope that you'll find Master Ranulph safe and sound at Moongrass! It's all so ... well, so very strange. That old goatherd, who do you suppose he was? One meets strange people near the Elfin Marches. You'll let me know if all is well ... won't you?"
Luke promised. Hazel's words had dampened his spirits and brought back all his anxiety, and the fifteen miles to Moongrass, in spite of a good horse, seemed interminable.
Alas! there was no Ranulph at the Jellygreens' farm; but, to Luke's bewilderment, it turned out that the farmer had been expecting him, as he had, a few days previously, received a letter from Master Nathaniel, from which it was clear that he imagined his son was already at Moongrass. So there was nothing for Luke but, with a heavy heart, to start off the next morning for Lud, where, as we have seen, he arrived a few hours after Master Nathaniel had left it.