Mr. Forster could not answer the question, but the butler being applied to, said that neither his lordship nor the young lady with him had arrived.
“This is strange!” exclaimed the prince.
“Your majesty need not feel uneasy,” laughed Forster. “They will be here presently. Is it your pleasure to wait dinner for them?”
His highness did not deem that necessary, but thought some one ought to go in quest of them.
“That will I,” cried Lord Widdrington.
And hieing at once to the stable, he called for his horse, and attended by a couple of grooms, set off towards Dunstanborough.
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VI
Anna’s Adventure in the Cavern
HE had got more than half way thither, when he thought he descried them in the distance, but as night was now coming on, he did not feel quite sure. In another minute, however, all doubts were removed. The persons he beheld were Lord Derwentwater and his betrothed.
Presently, the parties met, and Lord Widdrington exclaimed:
“I am greatly rejoiced to see both of you safe and sound, for we began to fear that something must have happened.”
“Something very extraordinary has happened,” rejoined Lord Derwentwater.
“Your lordship will scarcely credit me when I tell you that I have been lost in a cavern underneath Dunstanborough Castle,” said Anna.
“Lost in a cavern!” exclaimed Lord Widdrington in astonishment. “How came that to pass?”
“You shall hear,” she replied. “I was left by myself for a short time near the castle-Lord Derwentwater having ridden off to bring me another horse, my own having got injured by a fall-when I thought I would take a peep at the ruins which were close at hand. Foolishly acting upon the impulse, I flew thither-meaning to get back in a few minutes-and never stopped till I got into the court. After gazing at Queen Margaret’s Tower and Lilburne’s Tower, I looked round the walls, when my eye fell upon a cavity at a little distance from me. Within the hollow was a flight of steps, leading, as I fancied, to some vault or dungeon, and prompted by curiosity, I hastily descended them. The steps brought me to an arched passage, and still under the influence of curiosity I ventured on, and soon found that other passages branched off on the right and left. Into one of these I turned and advanced a few yards, and inadvertently stepping forward-for I could now see nothing-slipped down a rapid descent, that landed me in what I knew to be a spacious cavern. At first, I was not so much alarmed, because I fancied I could extricate myself from the difficulty. But I could not remount the place down which I had fallen, and being now greatly frightened, I endeavoured to find another exit. But the attempt was fruitless. My outstretched hand only encountered a wall of rock, and I soon became so perplexed and confused that I could not even find my way back to the spot I had just quitted.”
“A terrible position to be placed in!” exclaimed Lord Widdrington. “I wonder you have recovered so soon from the effects of the fright.”
“I thought I should have sunk at the time,” she rejoined. “But fortunately my spirits supported me. I addressed a prayer to Saint Anna, and then felt easier. But deliverance did not come so soon as I expected, and there was an interval of dreadful suspense. You seemed long-long in coming,” she added to Lord Derwentwater. “Ah! when I heard your voice, I knew I was saved.”
“And your response gave me new life,” he said; “for hope was almost extinct within my breast. That cavern was the last place I searched, for though I had noticed the stone steps, I never thought you would venture down them.”
“I can guess all the rest,” said Lord Widdrington. “It must have been a joyful meeting.”
“The adventure was not an agreeable one,” said Anna. “But it has tested his lordship’s affection for me. However, I promise to be more careful in future.”
“Yes, you have had a pretty good lesson, and will do well to profit by it,” said Lord Widdrington.
“My unlucky steed is to blame for it all,” she cried. “Had he not stumbled, nothing would have happened.”