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

have dispatched the little Prince at the same time that he killed the Lady

Maud and her lover, had such been his desire.

The most eager factor in the search for Prince Richard was Simon de

Montfort, Earl of Leicester, whose affection for his royal nephew had

always been so marked as to have been commented upon by the members of the

King's household.

Thus for a time the rupture between De Montfort and his king was healed,

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