I was; then hobbled up to the door, followed at a leisurely march
by my father. The door opened. My father swept the old man in before him,
with a bow and flourish that admitted of no contradiction, and the door
closed on them. I caught a glimpse of Uberly screwing his wrinkles in a
queer grimace, while he worked his left eye and thumb expressively at the
cottage, by way of communicating his mind to Samuel, Captain Bulsted's
coachman; and I became quite of his opinion as to the nature of the
meeting, that it was comical and not likely to lead to much. I thought of
the princess and of my hope of her depending upon such an interview as
this. From that hour when I stepped on the sands of the Continent to the
day of my quitting them, I had been folded in a dream: I had stretched my
hands to the highest things of earth, and here now was the retributive
material money-question, like a keen scythe-blade!

The cottage-door continued shut. The heaths were darkening. I heard a
noise of wheels, and presently the unmistakable voice of Janet saying,
'That must be Harry.' She was driving my aunt Dorothy. Both of them
hushed at hearing that the momentous duel was in progress. Janet's first
thought was of the squire. 'I won't have him ride home in the dark,' she
said, and ordered Uberly to walk the horse home. The ladies had a ladies'
altercation before Janet would permit my aunt to yield her place and
proceed on foot, accompanied by me. Naturally the best driver of the two
kept the whip. I told Samuel to go on to Bulsted, with word that we were
coming: and Janet, nodding bluntly, agreed to direct my father as to
where he might expect to find me on the Riversley road. My aunt Dorothy
and I went ahead slowly: at her request I struck a pathway to avoid the
pony-carriage, which was soon audible; and when Janet, chattering to the
squire, had gone by, we turned back to intercept my father. He was
speechless at the sight of Dorothy Beltham. At his solicitation, she
consented to meet him next day; his account of the result of the
interview was unintelligible to her as well as to me. Even after leaving
her at the park-gates, I could get nothing definite from him, save that
all was well, and that the squire was eminently practical; but he
believed he had done an excellent evening's work. 'Yes,' said he, rubbing
his hands, 'excellent! making due allowances for the emphatically
commoner's mind we have to deal with.' And then to change the subject h