"And was not my poor horse lamed by the miscreants, who would have killed it outright had I not interposed myself?" continued Sir Henry. "Are all these things to count as naught, and is not the absence of the lovers itself sufficient proof? What more do you require? What have you to disprove these things? Why should you doubt me?" and he looked round in triumph, feeling sure that his reply was perfectly unanswerable.
"He speaks the truth, Sir Thomas," said the old knight. "We owe a debt of gratitude to thee, Sir Henry."
"I found this knife where De la Zouch was lying," said Stanley bluntly. "I thought it was his, and so I brought it for him."
De la Zouch gazed with horror upon the tell-tale weapon, but in an instant he decided how to parry the thrust.
"'Tis mine," he cried, hastily snatching it away. "The villains wrested it from my grasp."
"And part of the blade was buried in the horse's flank," pursued Sir Thomas. "I discovered it there when the horse dashed into the yard covered with blood and foam."
"The wretches!" interjected De la Zouch.
"And yet, Sir Henry, methought the struggle took place at Cromford, and that would be nigh three miles from where I found the knife."
Sir Henry turned livid with anger, and was at a loss how to reply, when Lady Vernon fortunately came to the rescue.
"You struggled worthily, sir knight," said she, "and I would that the cause had been more worthy of thy mettle. We cannot doubt thee more."