"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 grat.i.tude 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 s.n.a.t.c.hing 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."

"I cannot contradict thee," went on Margaret's lover, "but you will show us the exact scene of the fray, Sir Henry, of course?"

"a.s.suredly I will, to-morrow--if I am well enough," he added carefully.

Sir George Vernon noted the answer with displeasure. He was not very strong in his belief of Sir Henry's innocence as yet, though the evidence in De la Zouch's favour would have been decisive enough for him had not Stanley shaken it so.

"Has thy Dorothy forsaken thee, then, Sir George?" asked Crowleigh pertinently.

"Why no, Sir Everard--yes; that is--I cannot say," he hopelessly replied. "It must be so, and yet, no! I cannot believe it either."

De la Zouch ground his teeth in ill-suppressed rage. Matters had taken a decidedly unfavourable turn; he was being sorely worsted, and he wished himself far away. The suspicions of Sir Thomas Stanley were pressing uncomfortably near him, and he found himself in a quandary how to evade them.

"I am doubted, Sir George, I see," he said angrily. "Lady Vernon is the only one who does me justice. I will go. Your deed shall be blazoned to the world. Is this the boasted hospitality of the King of the Peak?--then I disdain it. I shall shake the dust off my feet and shall depart at once, and you will find out when too late that you drove away in such a scurvy fashion the truest friend you ever had,"

and boiling over with well-simulated fury, De la Zouch leapt from his chair and pa.s.sed through the doorway, chuckling to himself at the success of his little scheme to extricate himself.

He was liberated now from the awkwardness of his false position. His day's rest and the attention he had received had done wonders towards effecting his recovery, and ordering a horse to be saddled, a few minutes later he pa.s.sed out of the precincts of the Hall, and hoping that he would never have occasion to return, he mustered up his strength and started out upon a midnight ride to Ashby.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE ESCAPE.

But in these cases We still have judgment that we but teach b.l.o.o.d.y instructions, which, being taught, return To plague th' inventor; this evil-handed justice Commends th' ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips.

SHAKESPEAKE.

When Eustace delivered his charges into the hands of the chamberlain at Ashby his task was ended, and he had no further responsibility in the matter.

The rest afforded him by the journey had the effect of refreshing John Manners to a considerable degree, and when he stood before Sir Henry's deputy he felt well able to take care of himself and quite capable of resisting any unwarrantable liberties that they might attempt to take with him.

Simon Greenwood, the chamberlain of Ashby Castle, was a fit person to represent his lord. Indeed, had Sir Henry searched throughout the length and breadth of the land, he would probably never have discovered a man more after his own heart, or a servant who would have so faithfully aided him in the many questionable transactions in which he was from time to time engaged. He had grown up on the estate. His father had served the former lord of the manor, and entering into his master's service when quite a youth, Simon had flourished on the success of his numerous petty stratagems; he had supplanted those who had been above him, and now, as the right hand of his lord, he was ever eager to distinguish himself in Sir Henry's eyes.

He glanced at the two prisoners with an air of haughty contempt which would have done credit to De la Zouch himself.

"So you are John Manners, eh?" he drawled out at length.

Manners looked at him disdainfully, but returned no answer.

"And you be Miss Dorothy, I suspect," he went on with a most unprepossessing leer.

"You will remember my lord's instructions, Simon," interrupted the page.

"Yes, yes, of course; be off, I know. I am not going to hurt her,"

replied the chamberlain. "Well, Mistress Dorothy, I have got to take particular care of you," he continued, ironically.

"And of Master Manners, too, I hope," she fearlessly replied, not noticing the hidden meaning of his remark. "Remember that he is a gentleman."

"Yes, oh yes," returned the man, with a hideous grin, "we have got to take particular care of him as well. He will sleep downstairs for awhile," and he laughed with a coa.r.s.e guffaw, again and again repeated, at his own joke.

"Enough of this, sirrah," broke in Manners, sternly.

"We are not here to amuse you. There will be a host of our friends here soon to deliver us, so thou had'st best beware of what thou do'st."

Simon scowled darkly, but Manners's threat had its effect, and he restrained his temper.

"I care not," he replied, "so long as Sir Henry be here. I shall but obey my instructions nor more nor less."

"And what are they?"

"You shall find that out for yourself in good time."

"And remember that though I am within your power, I am the nephew of an earl, and have friends at Court who will avenge me on your lord,"

Manners pursued.

"Then I shall put you in a safe place."

The man was longing to a.s.sert his authority, but the bearing of the prisoner thoroughly cowed him, and he felt helplessly bound to be more civil to him than he wished.

"And what about this lady?" asked Manners.

"Sir Henry's instructions apply equally to her as to you," he replied.

"If she is treated ill you shall answer for it," said Manners, fiercely, "so I bid you look to it that you treat her well."

"Teach me not," Simon hastily broke in. "I know what is expected of me, and, mark me, I shall do it. Captives ought not to be too conceited, mark that, too, an it please you."

"Enough, sirrah, cease thy prating. I am no fool."