It took all Mr. Rogers' powers of persuasion to induce Harrison to pause and reflect. But as his sober reason began to reawaken, the young man realized not only that Mr. Rogers was right in showing him that he would make bad worse by running into the arms of the constables; but a new thought dawned on him that filled him with sick dismay. He began to see that no rudeness of Mr. Marshman's could have so moved the girl; she was more likely to laugh at the ill-manners of one too far beneath her to be worth notice. No, it was the dread of an unwelcome suitor that had driven her from shelter, she imagined that he, Dick Harrison, had beguiled her there to take advantage of her helplessness and force her into marriage! Ingenious in self-torture, he saw ever new reasons for her flight. She was an heiress! She must believe he had entrapped her for her fortune. And more, Mr. Rogers had spoken of light tongues--he, he who would die for her had exposed her to evil report, so that she should not be able to avoid a marriage for the sake of her own credit! She had seen it all, she had fled from him in horror, and if he were to follow her, it would but drive her to some desperate expedient to escape him. It was not Mr. Marshman; he himself alone was to blame; he could never dare to see her again, and yet how could he endure to live under such imputations! With a groan he flung his arms across the table, hiding his face in them. "Do as you think best," he muttered. "I am too great a dastard and a fool to be worthy to serve her." It was late in the evening when the two ministers returned from a fruitless search through the town of Lynn. Mr. Marshman had learned a more merciful opinion of Audrey Perrient from Mr. Rogers, and had had time to recover from his indignation at finding his will withstood by a mere girl; he was now as anxious as the others concerning the fate of the fugitive. "She is surely not in this town!" he said, entering the study. "My flock have aided the search to their best ability, and we are but too familiar with our hiding-places, for which we have had sad need in the past, and to all appearance shall have occasion in the future also. Had Mistress Perrient money with her for a journey?" "Yes," answered Harrison; "she carried her grandfather's purse that was well filled with gold pieces. Other money she had, but she bade me carry it because of the weight; I have it in this little portmantel." "Then, perhaps, she may have gone further than we thought. Had she any friends beyond the town who would hide her?"