Thereupon he absconded by night, and took sanctuary in the abbey of Beaulieu.
We are also vouchsafed the recent history of Lucinda's miserly uncle who had absconded after her mother's funeral.
The author was soon discovered; and, as he absconded, an advertisement was issued offering a reward for his apprehension, and giving the only personal description we possess of him, as "a middle-sized spare man about forty years old, of a brown complexion and dark brown-coloured hair, but wears a wig; a hooked nose, a sharp chin, grey eyes, and a large mole near his mouth."
John finally absconded to England in December 1203; he failed to return with an army of relief, as he had promised, and before the summer of 1204 was over, Caen, Bayeux and Rouen, the last places that held out for him, had been forced to open their gates.
Later additions to the statute were devised to terrorize the laborer, by adding stripes and branding to his punishment, if he still remained recalcitrant or absconded.