To save time I did not far pursue the road, but, clearing a hedge, I galloped ventre-a-terre across the meadow towards the little coppice by the waterside.

As I rode I saw no sign of any moving thing.

No sound disturbed the evening stillness save the dull thump of my horse's hoofs upon the turf, and a great fear arose in my heart that I might come too late.
At last I reached the belt of trees, and my fears grew into certainty.
The place was deserted.
Then a fresh hope sprang up.

Perchance, thinking of my warning, she had seen the emptiness of her suspicions towards me, and had pursued that walk of hers in another direction.
But when I had penetrated to the little open space within that cluster of naked trees, I had proof overwhelming that the worst had befallen.
Not only on the moist ground was stamped the impress of struggling feet, but on a branch I found a strip of torn green velvet, and, remembering the dress she had worn that day, I understood to the full the significance of that rag, and, understanding it, I groaned aloud..