The Woodlanders

All the evening Melbury had been coming to his door, saying, "I wonder

where in the world that girl is! Never in all my born days did I know

her bide out like this! She surely said she was going into the garden

to get some parsley."

Melbury searched the garden, the parsley-bed, and the orchard, but

could find no trace of her, and then he made inquiries at the cottages

of such of his workmen as had not gone to bed, avoiding Tangs's because

he knew the young people were to rise early to leave. In these

inquiries one of the men's wives somewhat incautiously let out the fact

that she had heard a scream in the wood, though from which direction

she could not say.

This set Melbury's fears on end. He told the men to light lanterns,

and headed by himself they started, Creedle following at the last

moment with quite a burden of grapnels and ropes, which he could not be

persuaded to leave behind, and the company being joined by the

hollow-turner and the man who kept the cider-house as they went along.

They explored the precincts of the village, and in a short time lighted

upon the man-trap. Its discovery simply added an item of fact without

helping their conjectures; but Melbury's indefinite alarm was greatly

increased when, holding a candle to the ground, he saw in the teeth of

the instrument some frayings from Grace's clothing. No intelligence of

any kind was gained till they met a woodman of Delborough, who said

that he had seen a lady answering to the description her father gave of

Grace, walking through the wood on a gentleman's arm in the direction

of Sherton.

"Was he clutching her tight?" said Melbury.

"Well--rather," said the man.

"Did she walk lame?"

"Well, 'tis true her head hung over towards him a bit."

Creedle groaned tragically.

Melbury, not suspecting the presence of Fitzpiers, coupled this account

with the man-trap and the scream; he could not understand what it all

meant; but the sinister event of the trap made him follow on.

Accordingly, they bore away towards the town, shouting as they went,

and in due course emerged upon the highway.

Nearing Sherton-Abbas, the previous information was confirmed by other

strollers, though the gentleman's supporting arm had disappeared from

these later accounts. At last they were so near Sherton that Melbury

informed his faithful followers that he did not wish to drag them

farther at so late an hour, since he could go on alone and inquire if

the woman who had been seen were really Grace. But they would not

leave him alone in his anxiety, and trudged onward till the lamplight

from the town began to illuminate their fronts. At the entrance to the

High Street they got fresh scent of the pursued, but coupled with the

new condition that the lady in the costume described had been going up

the street alone.