g outside my own house? What were ye doing,
and who is within the walls? Speak out, and quickly, or I will make
you do it at your pain. Have the dragoons been here, and are there any
hid in this place? Is my Lady Dundee in the castle, and if so, where
is she?" And then, when the panic-stricken woman could not find
intelligible words before the unwonted fury of her master, he pushed
her aside and, rushing up the stair, tore open the door of the
familiar room where Jean and he usually sat--to find that she was not
there nor anywhere else in the castle, that his wife and the child
were gone. With this confirmation of his worst fears, his fever left
him suddenly, and he came to himself, so far as the action of his mind
and the passion of his manner were concerned. Sending for Janet, he
expressed his regret, with more than his usual courtesy, that he had
spoken roughly to her and for the moment had frightened her.
Something, he said, had vexed him, but now she must not be afraid, but
must tell him some things that he wished to know. Had everything been
going well at Dudhope since he left, and had her ladyship and my
little lord been in good health? That was excellent. He hoped that the
dragoons had not been troublesome or come about the castle? They had
not? Well, that was satisfactory. Their commander, Colonel
Livingstone, perhaps had called to pay his respects to Lady Dundee,
and render any kindness he could? No, never been seen at the castle?
That was strange. Her ladyship--where had she gone, for she did not
appear to be in the castle, nor her maid nor the other servants? Where
were they all? Had her ladyship taken refuge in Dundee for safety in
those troubled times? And as his master asked this question with
studied calmness and the gentlest of accents, Grimond shuddered, for
this was the heart of the matter, and there was murder in the answer.
Not to Dundee--where then? To Glenogilvie, only last night in great
haste, as if afraid of someone or something happening. Of whom, of
what? But Janet did not know, and could only say that Lady Dundee and
the household had formed a sudden plan and departed at nightfall for
the old home of the Grahams. Whereat Dundee smiled, and, crossing to a
window and looking down upon the town, said to himself: "A cunning
trap. I was to be taken at Dundee, when in my hot haste, and thinking
I had an easy capture, I rushed the town without precautions, as I
might have done. While in quiet Glenog