He thought only
of the anonymous letter, and the wrong which he had done Honoria in
being influenced by its dark hints.
If he could have met his wife at that moment, when every impulse of his
heart drew him towards her, all sense of estrangement would have melted
away; all his doubts would have vanished before a smile from her. But
though Sir Oswald found his wife's barouche the first of the carriages,
she was not in it. Lydia Graham told him how "dear Lady Eversleigh" had
caused all the party such terrible alarm.
"I suppose she reached home two hours ago," added the young lady. "She
had more than an hour's start of us; and with that light vehicle and
spirited horse she and Mr. Carrington must have come so rapidly."
"My wife and Mr. Carrington! What do you mean, Miss Graham?"
Lydia explained, and Reginald Eversleigh confirmed her statement. Lady
Eversleigh had left the Wizard's Cave more than an hour before the rest
of the party, accompanied by Mr. Carrington.
No words can describe the consternation of Sir Oswald. He did his best
to conceal his alarm; but the livid hue of his face, the ashen pallor
of his lips, betrayed the intensity of his emotion. He sent out mounted
grooms to search the different roads between the castle and the scene
of the pic-nic; and then he left his guests without a word, and shut
himself in his own apartments, to await the issue of the search.
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