“Will you be occupied very late?” she asked, as he held back the arras.

“Only a short time, my dear.  I will come to you presently,” and himself closed the door behind her.

“Are you very weary?” he asked De Lacy.

“Fit for any service Your Majesty may wish.”

“It will be your own service.”

“Mine!  Mine! . . .  You cannot mean——­” taking a step forward.

“Steady, man, steady!  I mean only that Sir John’s riderless horse has just been found near the castle, with severed rein and bloody saddle.”

De Lacy passed his hand across his forehead.

“And Beatrix?” he asked huskily.

The King shook his head.

Again Aymer passed his hand across his eyes; his brain was working very slowly how.

“You have given orders?” he asked.

“One hundred men-at-arms are seeking for a clue.  Fifty others will await you at the barbican at daybreak.”

“Meanwhile I, too, will seek,” and he sprang toward the door—­and into Ratcliffe’s arms.

“Stay, Sir Aymer,” said the King; “it would do no good for you to search at night—­you may go far astray.  All that can be done till daybreak the scouts will do. . .  You gave the orders, Ratcliffe?”

“I did, and venture to amplify them by sending twenty men along the North road as far as the Aire for any trace of Sir John or of the fight—­for, of course, there was a fight.”

“And a passing hard one ere De Bury was unhorsed,” said Richard.

“The remaining eighty,” Ratcliffe continued, “I divided into bands of ten and five, bidding them follow every cross-road or bridle-path, and inquire for information from every traveler and at every habitation.  The instant aught is discovered you will be advised.”

The King turned to De Lacy.  “You rescued Sir John when he was attacked last April near his own castle; might this be the same band?”

Aymer shook his head.  “We killed all of them but one.”

“True, I remember now. . .  The flat-nosed one alone escaped. . .  Did De Bury ever speak to you of enemies in these parts?”

“Never directly; though, as you know, he seemed to dislike the Abbot of Kirkstall and suspected him of being, at least, party to the other attack.”

“Well, we must wait for even a plausible solution until we have a few facts.  Yet I would wager much it is an abduction—­and God grant it be so. . .  Of course, it may be the villains did not molest the Countess.  In that case, find Sir John and you find her, too.”

“The chance is slight,” De Lacy said quickly, “yet I shall ride rapidly back for a few miles and, perchance, it may be so.  If I be not here by daybreak, Sire, I will join the men en route.”

“It will be a relief for you to be on the move,” said Richard kindly; “but return here for your escort.  We may have clues then; and if the Countess has been abducted, she is quite as likely to be carried South as North.”