cene where these
characters acted, and that from the little window where he sat he could
look out upon their mountain-home.

'See,' said the miller, pointing toward a high peak, 'where you see the
fire yonder there is an encampment of some of them! You can judge now
how little these fellows fear being surprised. As Gerald continued to
gaze, a second and then a third flame shot up from the summits of other
hills farther off, suggesting to the miller that these were certainly
signals of some kind or other.

'There! rely on it, they have work on their hands up yonder to-night,
said the miller; and having pointed out his room to Gerald, he arose to
retire. 'It will, maybe, cost many a penance, many a pater, to wipe off
what will be done 'twixt this and daybreak '; and with this pious speech
he left the room.

CHAPTER XXII. 'IL PASTORE'

After the first few moments of astonishment which followed Gerald's
awaking to see himself in a strange place, with strange and novel
objects around him, his first thought was to return to Orvieto. He
pictured to himself all the alarm his absence must have occasioned,
and imagined how each in turn would have treated the event. The angry
astonishment of the Cardinal, ready to adopt any solution of the mystery
that implied intrigue and plot: the haughty indignation of the Contessa,
that he had dared to take any step unauthorised by herself: the hundred
rumours in the household: the questionings as to who had saddled and
prepared his horse, what road he had taken, and so on.

There are natures--there are even families--in which a strong
predominating trait exists to do or say whatever creates astonishment
or attracts wonder. It is a distinct form of egotism, and was remarkably
conspicuous in the House of Stuart. They all liked much to be objects of
marvel and surprise; to have men lost in wonderment over their words
or their motives, or speculating with ingenuity as to their secret
intentions.

To Gerald himself this taste was a perfect passion, and he loved to
see couriers arriving and departing in hot haste, while groups of eager
loungers questioned and guessed at what it all might mean. He liked to
fancy the important place he thus occupied in men's thoughts, and would
any day have been willing to encounter an actual danger could he
only have assured himself of it being widely discussed. This dramatic
tendency was strongly marked in the character of Charles Edward;
still the ac