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 He rapped on the table for the black attendant and ordered more ale.

"Well, what next, lad?" he asked gruffly.

"Her message," said Lachlan, frowning thoughtfully. "She sent you a message which you did not receive—evidently a message telling you that I had been attacked in her garden."

"Aye," Almayne answered.

"Stanwicke suppressed that message, letting her think that it had been delivered."

"Aye," said Almayne again. "So I figured it."

"He is Falcon's tool," Lachlan continued. "He is against her. And he is in Falcon's power—you remember Falcon told me that he held Stanwicke in the hollow of his hand. She will be in danger at Stanwicke Hall with those two men."

Almayne spread his hands in a gesture of irritation.

"That is not my business," he said impatiently. "My business is to get Gilbert Barradell and bring him back to Charles Town. Jock Pearson's pack train is starting for Fort Prince George. I shall ride with them to the Fort and then push on to Chief Concha's town—it is best to take the upper route because the rivers to the south are in flood. You'll be starting for Tallasee, no doubt, and since your road is the same as ours, you had best ride with us."

Lachlan nodded absently. "Good," he replied, "but there's work to be done here first."

For some moments he was silent, frowning and tapping on the table with his fingers.