" Miss Lambart protested.

"If it came to a matter of persuasion, my nephew would persuade the
hind-leg, or perhaps even the fore-leg, off a horse," said Sir Maurice
in a tone of deep conviction. "But it would not necessarily be a
matter of persuasion."

"But what else could it be--children of thirteen or fourteen!" cried
Miss Lambart.

"I assure you that it might quite easily have been force," said Sir
Maurice seriously. "My nephew and niece are encamped on Deeping Knoll.
It is honeycombed with dry sand-stone caves for the most part
communicating with one another. I can conceive of nothing more likely
than that the idea of being brigands occurred to one or other of them;
and they proceeded to kidnap the princess to hold her for ransom. They
might lure her to some distance from the Grange before they had
recourse to force."

"It sounds incredible--children," said Miss Lambart.

"Well, we shall see," said Sir Maurice cheerfully. Then he added in a
more doubtful tone; "If only we can take them by surprise, which won't
be so easy as it sounds."

Miss Lambart feared that they were on a wild goose chase. But it was a
very pleasant wild goose chase; she was very well content to be walking
with him through this pleasant sunny land. When presently he turned
the talk to matters more personal to her, she liked it better still.
He was very sympathetic: he sympathized with her in her annoyance at
having had to waste so much of the summer on this tiresome _corvee_ of
acting as lady-in-waiting on the little princess; for, thanks to the
domineering jealousy of the baroness, it had been a tiresome _corvee_
indeed, instead of the pleasant occupation it might have been. He
sympathized with her in her vexation that she had been prevented by
that jealousy from improving the health or spirits of the princess.

He was warmly indignant when she told him of the behavior of the
baroness and the archduke during the last few days. The baroness had
tried to lay the blame of the disappearance of the princess on her; and
the archduke, a vast, sun-shaped, billowy mass of fat, infuriated at
having been torn from the summer ease of his Schloss to dash to
England, had been very rude indeed. She was much pleased by the warmth
of Sir Maurice's indignation; but she protested against his making any
attempt to punish them, for she did not see how he could do it, without
harming himself. But she agreed with him that neither the grand duke,