marked with
stripes, but his large eye holding in its velvet a look which seemed
almost like a human thought--on that day after there occurred a thing
which gave the town new matter to talk of.

His Grace of Osmonde had been in France, called there by business of the
State, and during his absence the gossip concerning the horse Devil had
taken the place of that which had before touched on himself. 'Twas not
announced that he was to return to England, and indeed there were those
who, speaking with authority, said that for two weeks at least his
affairs abroad would not be brought to a close; and yet on this morning,
as my Lady Dunstanwolde rode 'neath the trees, holding Devil well in
hand, and watching him with eagle keenness of eye, many looking on in
wait for the moment when the brute might break forth suddenly again, a
horseman was seen approaching at a pace so rapid that 'twas on the verge
of a gallop, and the first man who beheld him looked amazed and lifted
his hat, and the next, seeing him, spoke to another, who bowed with him,
and all along the line of loungers hats were removed, and people wore the
air of seeing a man unexpectedly, and hearing a name spoken in
exclamation by his side, Sir John Oxon looked round and beheld ride by my
lord Duke of Osmonde. The sun was shining brilliantly, and all the Park
was gay with bright warmth and greenness of turf and trees. Clorinda
felt the glow of the summer morning permeate her being. She kept her
watch upon her beast; but he was going well, and in her soul she knew
that he was beaten, and that her victory had been beheld by the one man
who knew that it meant to her that which it seemed to mean also to
himself. And filled with this thought and the joy of it, she rode
beneath the trees, and so was riding with splendid spirit when she heard
a horse behind her, and looked up as it drew near, and the rich crimson
swept over her in a sweet flood, so that it seemed to her she felt it
warm on her very shoulders, 'neath her habit, for 'twas Osmonde's self
who had followed and reached her, and uncovered, keeping pace by her
side.

Ah, what a face he had, and how his eyes burned as they rested on her. It
was such a look she met, that for a moment she could not find speech, and
he himself spoke as a man who, through some deep emotion, has almost lost
his breath.

"My Lady Dunstanwolde," he began; and then with a sudden passion,
"Clorinda, my beloved!" The time had come w