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ir Sylvia take her _conge_ in a fortnight's time?" demanded Ashley, in an undertone, of Lindley. And it was in the same tone that Lindley answered: "Let's wonder, rather, if the fair Sylvia'll be given her _conge_ in a fortnight's time!" But the sneer in Lindley's voice was for Ashley, who had asked the impertinent question, not for Farquhart, whose honor he, apparently, doubted. "Lord Farquhart's not to blame, as you know well enough. The mess is of Lord Gordon's making, for Lord Gordon holds in trust even the barren lands that came to Percy with his title." Ashley's resentment of Lindley's tone was apparent on his face, and his fingers were again on his sword. He was under no promise to his lady not to fight with Lindley, and his blood cried out for a fight with some one. But at that instant there was a loud clamor in the courtyard. A horse's hoofs on the flags, a fretted whinny, the oaths of stable boys, all combined into an uproar. "Can it be the Lady Barbara?" cried Percy Farquhart, sobered suddenly, and reaching for his plumed hat. "Nay, my lord, 'tis but one horse," answered Marmaduke, hurrying to the door. "'Tis a riderless horse," he added, in a second. "A riderless horse!" echoed all of the young men in chorus, springing to their feet. "Ay, a riderless horse," called Marmaduke, from the darkness without; "'tis a woman's horse, too; a woman's cushioned seat." The guests were crowding about the door, all save the lad who had been slumbering so deeply. He, roused by the sudden clamor, and apparently frightened by the sudden realization that he had unwittingly trespassed upon Lord Farquhart's privacy, slipped softly up the stairs. "A woman's horse!" cried Lindley. "Is it possible that some woman has fallen victim to the Black Devil? Here, almost within earshot of our revelings? To the rescue!" "Nay, we must think first of the Lady Barbara's safety," interrupted Ashley, holding back and barring the doorway with a peremptory arm. "We must not risk the Lady Barbara for the sake of some chance damsel. Rather let us mount and ride to meet the Gordon coach." "There is no sign whatsoever of foul play," reported Marmaduke, coming in from the yard. "The lines are knotted loosely, and a tethering strap is broken. The beast has doubtless but strayed from some neighboring house." "If 'tis from some neighboring house, good Marmaduke, would you not know the horse and trappings?" queried Treadway. "Is th
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