"Oh, My Lord ! My Lord !' she cried, "Richard, our son, has been
assassinated and thrown into the Thames."

In an instant, all was confusion and turmoil, and it was with the greatest
difficulty that the King finally obtained a coherent statement from his
queen.

It seemed that when the Lady Maud had not returned to the palace with
Prince Richard at the proper time, the Queen had been notified and an
immediate search had been instituted -- a search which did not end for over
twenty years; but the first fruits of it turned the hearts of the court to
stone, for there beside the open postern gate lay the dead bodies of Lady
Maud and a certain officer of the Guards, but nowhere was there a sign or
trace of Prince Richard, second son of Henry III of England, and at that
time the youngest prince of the realm.

It was two days before the absence of De Vac was noted, and then it was
that one of the lords in waiting to the King reminded his majesty of the
episode of the fencing bout, and a motive for the abduction of the King's
little son became apparent.

An edict was issued requiring the examination of every child in England,
for on the left breast of the little Prince was a birthmark which closely
resembled a lily and, when after a year no child was found bearing such a
mark and no trace of De Vac uncovered, the search was carried into France,
nor was it ever wholly relinquished at any time for more than twenty years.

The first theory, of assassination, was quickly abandoned when it was
subjected to the light of reason, for it was evident that an assassin could