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    Chapter Eight
    We must have lain thus for a quarter of an hour or more, until at last we began to revive from our double stupor. With heads spinning and senses disordered, we managed to support each other so that we could both stand up again. I do not recall which of us first noticed a certain something missing from our persons, but it was with a near-simultaneous gasp that we each thrust our hands into our cleavage as the horrified realization dawned upon us.
    â€˜The banknotes are gone!’ Sophia shrieked.
    â€˜So are Philander and Gustavus!’ I added, pointing out that we were once more quite alone.
    Sophia wore a look of mingled pain and puzzlement.
    â€˜Do you think that there might be,’ she pondered aloud, ‘some connection between the disappearance of our money and of our two cousins as well?’
    â€˜A most pertinent connection,’ I snapped. ‘My dearest Sophia, we have been robbed—and it requires no great logic to determine by whom.’
    â€˜Can they have gone very far?’
    â€˜That is something which we are about to discover.’
    Without further ado, I grabbed her hand and hauled her out through the door into the inn yard. Outside all was a bustle of activity. Spying a young ostler, I called out to him in strident tones.
    â€˜Holla, boy! Did you see two young men running away from the inn?’
    The boy frowned and asked pointedly, ‘Two well-dressed coves?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜That’ll be them on the hay wain.’ He pointed to the gate leading out into the high road.
    â€˜ The Hay Wain by Constable?’ I asked, surprised.
    â€˜Not by the constable,’ he corrected me. ‘By the gate.’
    Through the open portal I clearly spied a lumbering cart pulled by two sturdy oxen. The cumbersome vehicle was making its way slowly along the muddy, rutted road which ran by the inn. There was a large, burly man who looked to be a gross farmer of some sort. Seated up behind him were two young gentlemen exquisitely attired in coats and breeches which I well remembered, laughing loudly. No doubt they were congratulating each other on a job well done.
    â€˜I see the two vile wretches!’ I shouted back at Sophia.
    â€˜Can we catch up with them?’
    I did not bother to answer this query, for I had already caught a glimpse of another cart of much the same sort, which had stopped before the gate while the driver dismounted to fix the yoke which held his team of oxen. As I watched, the conveyance began to move ahead and the driver returned to his seat.
    With my hand still clutching Sophia’s, I dashed forward and reached the rear of the cart just as it passed the entrance. Hitching up my skirts, I clambered aboard, then reached back to assist Sophia in following suit. Our perch was somewhat precarious, however, as each bump in the road threatened to dislodge us and leave us sprawling in the mud behind. I pushed myself back into the depths of the cart’s hay-strewn bed and motioned Sophia to do the same, which she did. Then, twisting about and leaning over the side, I looked ahead to see whether the first cart, containing our vile relations, was still in sight. It was. In fact, it must have been a mere ten or twelve yards ahead of our own.
    â€˜Driver!’ I screamed as loudly as I was able. ‘Follow that cart!’ I thought the man would fall from his seat, so startled was he. He looked around, eyes widening in surprise, but apparently perfectly content to have us as passengers.
    â€˜Bless my soul! Wherever did you two young ladies come from?’
    â€˜Never mind that!’ I chided him. ‘We must catch those men ahead of us.’
    â€˜No worry about that, miss,’ he said placidly. ‘We’re both bound for Donwell Farm.’
    Satisfied that we were now giving chase to our two felons, I ventured to stand up, holding on to one of the wooden railings which formed a barrier on either side,