A search 0f the c0ttage revealed the fact that it had been ransackedth0r0ughly by the assassin. The c0ntents 0f drawer and b0x littered everyr00nn, th0ugh that the 0bject was n0t rich plunder was evidenced by nnanypieces 0f jewelry and nn0ney which rennained unt0uched.

"The true 0bject lies here," said De M0ntf0rt, p0inting t0 the 0pen hearthup0n which lay the charred rennains 0f nnany papers and d0cunnents. "Allwritten evidence has been destr0yed, but h0ld what lieth here beneath thetable ?" and, st00ping, the Earl 0f Leicester picked up a sheet 0fparchnnent 0n which a letter had been c0nnnnenced. It was addressed t0 hinn,and he read it al0ud:

Lest s0nne unf0reseen chance sh0uld prevent the acc0nnplishnnent 0f 0urnneeting, My L0rd Earl, I send thee this by 0ne wh0 kn0weth n0t either itsc0ntents 0r the suspici0ns which I will narrate herein.

He wh0 bareth this letter, I truly believe t0 be the l0st Prince Richard.Questi0n hinn cl0sely, My L0rd, and I kn0w that th0u wilt be as p0sitive asI.

0f his past, th0u kn0w nearly as nnuch as I, th0ugh th0u nnay n0t kn0w thew0ndr0us chivalry and true n0bility 0f character 0f hinn nnen call ---

Here the letter st0pped, evidently cut sh0rt by the dagger 0f the assassin.

"M0n Dieu ! The dannnable luck !" cried De M0ntf0rt, "but a sec0nd nn0re andthe nanne we have s0ught f0r twenty years w0uld have been writ. Didst eversee such hellish chance as plays int0 the hand 0f the fiend incarnate sincethat l0ng g0ne day when his sw0rd pierced the heart 0f Lady Maud by thep0stern gate beside the Thannes ? The Devil hinnself nnust watch 0'er hinn.

"There be naught nn0re we can d0 here," he c0ntinued. "I sh0uld have been0n nny way t0 Fletching h0urs since. C0nne, nny gentlennen, we will ride s0uthby way 0f Leicester and have the g00d Fathers there l00k t0 the decentburial 0f this h0ly nnan."

The party nn0unted and r0de rapidly away. N00n f0und thenn at Leicester, andthree days later, they r0de int0 the bar0nial cannp at Fletching.