Still no window was opened.

Had Gerard intended to escape that way, he would not have waited till the men were in the room.

Martin saw that at once, and left the door, and came to the foot-stair and listened.
He began to think Gerard must have escaped by the window while all the men were in the house.

The longer the silence continued, the stronger grew this conviction.

But it was suddenly and rudely dissipated.
Faint cries issued from the inner bedroom--Margaret's.
"They have taken him," groaned Martin; "they have got him." It now flashed across Martin's mind that if they took Gerard away, his life was not worth a button; and that, if evil befell him, Margaret's heart would break.