On inquiry he found that the time of their departure and the place of their destination was equally unknown.

No one knew whither they had gone or anything about them.

Mr.Darnley was puzzled; it seemed to him very strange that, after having lived in the place so long, Margaret Dornham should have left without saying one word to any human being.
"There is a mystery in it," thought the rector.

He never dreamed that the cause of the mystery was the woman's passionate love for the child.
All Castledene wondered with him--indeed, for some days the little town was all excitement.

Margaret Dornham had disappeared with the child who had been left in their midst.