Dorothy returned no answer.  She was determined that no words of hers should injure him.

“He saved my life,” she replied, as the question was repeated.

“Tut, tell us where to find him, else thou wilt have enough to thank that stubborn will of thine for,” interrupted the baroness, impatiently.

There was a sound of footsteps just outside, and they all paused to listen.

“’Tis Edward bringing Manners back,” said Sir Thomas quietly.  “Here they come.”

The tapestry was quickly pushed aside, and the ruddy face of Sir Edward Stanley insinuated itself between, the fringes and the screen, but it was not the face of a contented man, for it wore a disappointed look.

“Bring him in,” commanded the baron.

“Nay, I have not caught him yet,” he ruefully replied.  “Come and help us, he has hidden himself amid the woodsmen’s huts.”

“You go,” said the baron, addressing Sir Thomas.  “I will stay with Dorothy”; and without waiting to be bidden a second time Sir Thomas Stanley left his untasted supper on the table and joined in the search for Dorothy’s forbidden lover.

Meanwhile, the subject of all this commotion sat innocently gazing at the burning embers, watching the logs as they blazed up and then gradually disappeared into powder to be blown away by the first slight breath of wind.  Surely, he reflected, ’tis so with the baron’s will; he is in the height of his determined fury now.  But soon—­and as the door opened, another puff of wind blew away the airy ashes of a once stout log—­aye, surely, his opposition will vanish like as that.

“Never a soul came in here, your lordship, for a long time back,” said Roger, deferentially doffing his cap.  “Your lordship must be mistaken.”

Manners turned round and beheld, with a feeling akin to dismay, Sir Thomas Stanley and his brother just within the threshold of the door.

“Tut, tut, man,” replied the knight, “I say he came in here; he was seen to enter, and no one has passed out since then.”

Sir Thomas appealed to the others, but they were all unanimous in supporting their master, and replied in one chorus of surprise.  Manners had not been seen for weeks, and not a soul among them had any idea of his whereabouts.

“I suppose no one entered, then?” sneered the knight.

“No,” replied Roger complacently, “not for a long time back.”

“Did he not come in here?” appealed Sir Thomas to those outside.

“Aye, aye,” came the answer, “he did.”

“Then where is he?” demanded the knight fiercely.

“Nay, I swear by the Holy Virgin I saw him not,” replied the sturdy forester, in perfect truth, for he had not noticed his arrival.

“Hugh came in last,” said Lettice’s lover, Will.  “Hast thou seen aught of this Manners of late, Hugh?”

Manners’ first impulse was to grapple with his pursuers, but he controlled himself, and trusting to the perfection of his disguise to screen him, without a moment’s hesitation he boldly answered in the negative.