"And the fugitive?"
"We followed him to Witley. We should have run him to earth, only your
orders were not to go beyond Witley."
"This cursed fellow Crosby, what of him?"
"He was with this fugitive."
"And you let him go!" exclaimed Rosmore, stamping his foot passionately.
"We obeyed orders, sir, and it is well we did so. We, Sayers and I, were
in Witley when the coach arrived. I had speech with Mistress Payne."
A grim smile overspread Sayers' face as he remembered the box on the ear
his companion had received, but he saw that Lord Rosmore was in no mood
to relish such a tale just now, and held his tongue.
"I told her something of what was to happen, and the place," said
Watson, "but had I not known at what hour the coach was to start, and
when we might expect it at the spot chosen, we should have been
outwitted. In the morning that fiddler from Aylingford caught the coach,
and in some manner had got wind that a trap was set. He persuaded the
lady to take a by-road. I waited, and then, marvelling at the delay,
ordered the troop to ride forward to meet the coach. At the corner where
this by-way turns from the high road, we found a handkerchief lying on
the grass--Mistress Payne's handkerchief.
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