e her his arm, and followed.

This was to Donal a very different dinner from that of the evening
before. Whether the presence of his niece made the earl rouse himself
to be agreeable, or he had grown better since the morning and his
spirits had risen, certainly he was not like the same man. He talked in
a rather forced-playful way, but told two or three good stories;
described with vivacity some of the adventures of his youth; spoke of
several great men he had met; and in short was all that could be
desired in a host. Donal took no wine during dinner, the earl as before
took very little, and lady Arctura none. She listened respectfully to
her uncle's talk, and was attentive when Donal spoke; he thought she
looked even sympathetic two or three times; and once he caught the
expression as of anxiety he had seen on her face that same day twice
before. It was strange, too, he thought, that, not seeing her sometimes
for a week together, he should thus meet her three times in one day.
When the last of the dinner was removed and the wine placed on the
table, Donal thought his lordship looked as if he expected his niece to
go; but she kept her place. He asked her which wine she would have, but
she declined any. He filled his glass, and pushed the decanter to
Donal. He too filled his glass, and drank slowly.

The talk revived. But Donal could not help fancying that the eyes of
the lady now and then sought his with a sort of question in
them--almost as if she feared something was going to happen to him. He
attributed this to her having heard that he took too much wine the
night before. The situation was unpleasant. He must, however, brave it
out! When he refused a second glass, which the earl by no means
pressed, he thought he saw her look relieved; but more than once
thereafter he saw, or fancied he saw her glance at him with that
expression of slight anxiety.

In its course the talk fell upon sheep, and Donal was relating some of
his experiences with them and their dogs, greatly interested in the
subject; when all at once, just as before, something seemed to burst in
his head, and immediately, although he knew he was sitting at table
with the earl and lady Arctura, he was uncertain whether he was not at
the same time upon the side of a lonely hill, closed in a magic night
of high summer, his woolly and hairy friends lying all about him, and a
light glimmering faintly on the heather a little way off, which he knew
for the flam