e had gone out early in the morning, saying that
he would have a long ramble in the woods, and would probably not return
until noon for luncheon. Noon had come and passed, luncheon was served,
yet there was no sign of the earl, Lord Arleigh was not uneasy, but he
longed for his friend's society.
At last he decided upon going in search of him. He had perhaps lost his
way in the woods, or he had mistaken some road. It was high time that
they looked after him--he had been so many hours absent without apparent
cause. Lord Arleigh whistled for his two favorite dogs, Nero and Venus,
and started out in search of his friend.
He went through the woods and down the high-road, but there was no sign
of the earl. "He must have walked home by another route," thought Lord
Arleigh; and he went back to Beechgrove. He did not find the earl there,
but the groom, who had evidently been riding fast, was waiting for him
in the hall.
"My lord," he said, "I was directed to give you this at once, and beg of
you not to lose a moment's time."
Wondering what had happened, Lord Arleigh opened the note and read:
"My Dear Lord Arleigh: Something too wonderful for me to set down
in words has happened. I am at the Dower House, Winiston. Come at
once, and lose no time.
Mountdean."
"At the Dower House?" mused Lord Arleigh. "What can it mean?"
"Did the Earl of Mountdean send this himself?" he said to the man.
"Yes, my lord. He bade me ride as though for life, and ask your lordship
to hurry in the same way."
"Is he hurt? Has there been any accident?"
"I have heard of no accident, my lord; but, when the earl came to give
me the note, he looked wild and unsettled."
Lord Arleigh gave orders that his fleetest horse should be saddled at
once, and then he rode away.
He was so absorbed in thought that more than once he had a narrow
escape, almost striking his head against the overhanging boughs of the
trees. What could it possibly mean? Lord Mountdean at the Dower House!
He fancied some accident must have happened to him.
He had never been to the Dower House since the night when he took his
young wife thither, and as he rode along his thoughts recurred to that
terrible evening. Would he see her now, he wondered, and would she, in
her shy, pretty way, advance to meet him? It could not surely be that
she was ill, and that the earl, having heard of it, had sent for him.
No, that could not be--for the note said that
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