Percy asked a few more questions, and then, having thanked the landlord for his kindness, he left the inn and made all possible haste to the castle. He was well armed, and he kept a sharp lookout around as he wended his way through the bit of woods he had to traverse, for he well knew that he had deadly enemies, and there was no telling where nor when they might strike. At the castle he found the earl, pacing to and fro, suffering intensely. “Percy, dear boy! what have you found?” “Will you sit down, my lord, and listen to me for a few moments?” The old man did as requested, and the youth went on: “Lord Allerdale, I am going to surprise you--to wound you; but you must bear it as best you can. When it was first known to me that Lady Cordelia had been taken away--as we know she must have been--my suspicions fell upon--Lord Oakleigh. I believed he was more likely to be the abductor than any other man; and now I am sure of it.” “Oh, Percy! Don’t say it!” “My lord, where do you think is his lordship at the present time?” “He is at Oxford.” “He was at the Saybrook inn at nine to ten o’clock last evening, my lord. That I know.” And thereupon the young man went on and related all that he had learned from old Rodney, at the Cove, and from Martin Vanyard at the inn. He was sorry to say it, but he was confident that Oakleigh was the offending party. “My lord,” he pursued, “did Cordelia tell you what Lord Oakleigh said to her on the occasion of their late interview in the garden?” “She did not tell me all, but I know he was very unkind.” “Aye,--and he used threats. He bade her beware of him; and--but, my lord, I need not tell you any more.” He had come to the point where his own name had entered into the discussion, and of this he cared not to speak. However, the earl was satisfied that his young friend might be right, and he finally confessed that his own suspicions had run in that direction, but he had fought them down with all his might. Half an hour later, our hero, with a trusty servant of the castle in company, was on his way to Saybrook, a small town five miles away toward the south. He had a smart horse, and a light, easy-going vehicle, and the passage was speedily made. There at the inn, he found the host--Seth Arnold, who, when he knew the messenger had come from the old earl, was ready to give all the information he could; but that was not much, although it was something. Lord Oakleigh had been at the inn--the Stag and Hounds--on the preceding evening, and had appeared to be in a great hurry, walking nervously about, with his arm in a sling, cursing and swearing to himself. At about ten o’clock his servant had arrived with a light dog-cart, into which he had gone and been driven away; and the landlord had seen nothing more of him. “Which way did they go?” “Back toward your way, Allerdale.” A few more questions, and Percy started on his return to the castle, where he arrived at about nine o’clock in the evening.