"I stand in the way, myself. My own heart is the strongest bar."
"If you will neither listen to reason or affection, there are other means," he said, threateningly.
"You are a coward and a miscreant, sir, to use such words to me."
"There are other means and——"
The words were scarcely uttered when she was seized from the rear and a cloak flung o'er her head.
"The coach, Bob," said Richard.
"'Tis coming, sir."
There was the rattle of wheels and a coach stopped near them. The door was wrenched open and as he placed her within he finished the sentence, "There are other means, and he, whoever he is, will never get you, except over the dead body of Richard Lanyan."
The deed was done so quickly that the dazed girl had but time to utter a muffled shriek as the door slammed, and her subsequent cries were drowned by the rattling wheels and trotting horses.
Mr. Richard Lanyan, angry with repeated rejections, had made his master movement.