h a firm hand the
high-stepping, well-groomed horse along the high-road, he felt his
heart swell with pride and self congratulation, can it be wondered at?

On reaching the drive, which wound through the park-like grounds, he
overtook his uncle and Colonel Vaughan. Alighting, he joined them; and
Dr. Owen introduced him to his visitor.

"Ah! yes, yes, your nephew of course--we have met before," said the old
man awkwardly, and he shook hands with Will in a bewildered manner.
"Of course, of course; I remember your pluck when you tackled that
bull. Pommy word I think Gwenda owes her life to you. I shall never
forget that, you know."

"Well, you must give me a fuller account of that affair some day," said
Dr. Owen. "You are come just in time, Will. Colonel Vaughan suggests
that a break in those woods, so as to show the river, would be an
improvement, and I think I agree with him. What do you say to the
idea?"

"I think Colonel Vaughan is quite right, uncle; the same thing had
already struck me."

"That's right; then that settles the matter," said Dr. Owen, who had
determined to leave no doubt in his guest's mind of his nephew's
importance in his estimation, and of his generous intentions towards
him.

Gwenda was sitting alone in the drawing-room when Will entered, and it
was a great relief to him that this was the case, for he was not yet so
completely accustomed to the small convenances of society as to feel no
awkwardness or nervousness upon some occasions. Free from the
restraint of Mrs. Trevor's presence, however, he made no attempt to
hide the pleasure which his meeting with Gwenda aroused in him. She
was looking very beautiful in a dress of some soft white material, and
as she held out her hand to Will a strange feeling came over him, a
feeling that that sweet face would for ever be his lodestar, and that
firm little white hand would help him on the path of life. He scarcely
dared to believe that the blush and the drooping eyes were caused by
his arrival, but it was not long before he had conquered his
diffidence, and remembering his golden prospects had recovered his
self-confidence sufficiently to talk naturally and unrestrainedly.

"Never saw such a thing," said the old colonel, later on in the day, to
his niece, sitting down beside her for a moment's talk, under cover of
a song which Mrs. Trevor was singing. "Dr. Owen seems wrapped up in
his nephew, and the fellow seems to take it all as naturall