From the characters of all who surrounded him, Lord Chartley seemed to draw no little amusement; but still, it would appear, his eye was watchful, and his ear too; for, when they had ridden about a couple of miles through the wood, and were in a shady place, where the beams of the moon did not penetrate, he suddenly reined in his horse, exclaiming-- "Some one has left the company--Hark! Who is that riding away?" "Faith, I know not," said Sir Charles Weinants. "I hear nobody," replied Hungerford. "There go a horse's feet, nevertheless," cried Sir William Arden. "Gentlemen all, have you sent any one back?" demanded the young baron, in a stern tone. A general negative was the reply; and Chartley exclaimed-- "Then, by the Lord, I will find him. Ride on, gentlemen, ride on. I will overtake you soon." "Let me come with you, my good lord," said Sir William Arden. "No, no, I will find him, and deal with him alone," replied the young lord; and, turning his head to add--"You can wait for me at Hinckley if you will," he spurred on sharply, on the road which led back towards the abbey. The party whom he left remained gathered together for a moment, in surprise at the rapidity and the strangeness of his movements. "In the name of fortune," cried Sir Edward Hungerford, "why does he not take somebody with him?" "Every one knows his own business best," said Arden gruffly. "Hush! hush!" said Sir Charles Weinants. "Let us hear which way he takes." Now at the distance of perhaps two hundred yards behind them, the road through the wood divided into two; that on the left, by which they had come, leading direct to the abbey and its little hamlet; that on the right pursuing a somewhat circuitous course towards the small town of Atherston. The footfalls of Lord Chartley's horse, as he urged him furiously on, could be clearly heard as soon as Sir Charles Weinants had done speaking; and a moment after they seemed to take a direction to the right. The party still paused and listened, however, till it became clear by the sounds that the young nobleman had gone upon the road to Atherston. Then Sir Charles Weinants drew a deep breath, and said, in an easy tone: "Well, let us ride on. We can wait for him at Hinckley. Doubtless, he is safe enough." Sir William Arden seemed to hesitate; and Lord Chartley's steward said in a doubtful tone: "I think we ought to wait for my lord." "You heard what he said himself," replied Sir Charles Weinants. "Our business is to go slowly on, and wait for him at Hinckley, if he does not overtake us by the way."