as his reveries had reached so far that he caught
sight of the four dappled grays--they were Alice's own--swinging
smoothly along in that long easy stride by which thoroughbreds persuade
you that work is no distress to them. It was only as they breasted the
hill that he saw that the bearing-reins were not let down,--a violation
of a precept on which he was inexorable; and he hastened, with all the
speed he could, to catch them ere they gained the crest of the ridge.

To say the truth, Tony was somewhat ashamed of himself for his long
absence from the Abbey. If it was not ingratitude, it had a look of it.
_They_ knew nothing of what had passed between Mark and himself, and
could only pronounce upon his conduct as fickleness, or worse; and he
was glad of an opportunity to meet them less formally than by a regular
morning visit. Either Alice and her sister, or Alice alone, were certain
to be in the carriage; for Lady Lyle was too timid to trust herself with
those "grays;" and so he bounded forward, his heart full of expectancy,
and burning once more to hear that voice whose very chidings were as
music to him.

He was close to the carriage before he saw Maitland,--indeed, the sight
of Alice, as he drew near, had so entranced him that he saw nothing
else; but when his eyes did fall on her companion, a pang shot through
him as though he had been stabbed. In the raging jealousy of the moment
everything was forgotten but his passion,--his hatred of that man. He 'd
have given his right hand to be able to hurl at him a mortal defiance,
to have dared him to the death. Indeed, so far as the insolence of his
stare could convey his meaning, it declared an open war between them.
Nor did Maitland's attitude assuage this anger; he lay back with a
cool assumption of superiority--an air of triumphant satisfaction--that
seemed to say, Each of us is in the place that befits him.

So overcome was he by passion, that even Alice's invitation to get into
the carnage sounded like an outrage to his ears. It was bitter enough
to cast him off without making him witness the success of another.
Maitland's daring to apologize for him--to explain away why he had or
had not done this, that, or t' other--was more than his endurance could
brook; and as he hurried away from the spot, dashing recklessly down
cliff and crag, and sprang from rock to rock without a thought of the
peril, he almost accused himself of cowardice and cold-bloodedness for
not havi