was standing near her safe and sound, with both trembling
horses meekly submitting to his firm hold. She sprang from the carriage
towards him; he opened his arms and folded her to his breast. Locked
close together, in one long embrace, were the two tall figures of the
lovers--heart to heart, lip upon lip. As he clasped her to him, their
very eyes and lips, as well as their arms, seemed riveted. Her eyes
drooped at last beneath his gaze. A whispered "Theresa" was the first
spoken word to part their lips for a moment.

Never did woman with greater joy accept the position of a worshipped
sovereign than did Theresa that of adoring subject, when Mansana at
last released her; never did fugitive seek pardon for having struggled
for freedom with eyes so radiant with happiness. And surely never
before did princess set herself with such eager, tender zeal to the
office of handmaiden, as did Theresa when she discovered Mansana's
wound, and perceived his dust-covered and lacerated condition. With her
own delicate white hands, and her fine lace handkerchief, and the pins
she wore, she set to work to mend and dress and bandage, and with her
eyes she healed and cured the wounds of which her presence rendered him
unconscious. The intervals between her little services were filled as
lovers well know how, and with a joy alternately silent and voluble. In
the end they so entirely forgot the existence of carriage, horses, and
companion, that they set off walking as though there were nothing left
in the world but that they should forthwith disappear together in glad
possession of their new-found happiness. From this dream they were
awakened by a cry of alarm from the companion, and by the near approach
of the slow-moving herds of cattle.

CHAPTER IX

All that day, and for days to come, the lovers lived under the glamour
of their intoxicating dream of joy. It swept the fashionable world of
Ancona into its current; for the engagement had to be celebrated by a
series of entertainments and country excursions. There was a
fascinating element of strangeness and romance in the whole episode. On
the one side there was Mansana's reputation, on the other, Theresa's
wealth, rank, and personal attractions. That this invincible beauty
should be plighted to the victorious young soldier, and that under
circumstances which popular rumour exaggerated to an incredible extent,
seemed to add a fresh interest to the princ