The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 40: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE HEIR 23 argue for a long time, and with so much outward earnestness, if not with an equal inward sincerity, that Lord Saxondale, eagerly catching at any straw of hope, gladly took refuge from the worst apprehensions in the adoption of his wite’s theory. Thus the night passed, for no pillow was pressed by that couple throughout the long, weary hours. When morning dawned, the servants were all again dispersed over the neighbourhood, to make every kind of inquiry that might possibly tend to the recovery of the lost one. All the villages, hamlets, and isolated cottages, within a circuit of a dozen miles, were visited during this day, and when night came again and the servants returned, the meagre results of their inquiries amounted to these facts: that for the last few days some ill-looking men had been observed in the vicinage of the castle, that they had disappeared suddenly, and that a gang of gipsies had been also seen in those parts. But whether there was any connection between the former and the latter it was impossible to say. As for the child, not the slightest trace had been discovered, and whether the poor infant was dead or alive seemed wrapped up in the darkest mystery. Finally, all the intelligence obtained went to prove that Mr. Ralph Farefield, who was well known in the neighbourhood, had not been seen by a single soul who was acquainted with him. Lady Saxondale’s resolution how to act was now promptly taken. She declared her intention of repairing at once to London, — not in an open manner, or for the purpose of calling on Ralph and taxing him with the crime of having had the child stolen, but of proceeding there in a private manner, under an assumed name, and with the object of instituting such inquiries as circumstances might suggest. Lord Saxondale proposed to accompany her, but she be- sought him to abandon such an idea. In the first place, he was so well known that his presence in the metropolis could scarcely be kept a secret from his nephew; in the second place, the researches in Lincolnshire must be per- severed in, and it was therefore requisite for him to be upon the spot to superintend them; and in the third place, it was better for him to remain at Saxondale in case Ralph Farefield should forward any communication with the view of bringing him to terms, her ladyship still declaring her conviction that to this end had the atrocious outrage been perpetrated, To GOmiGonooks (FO)