Nell lay awake for hours, dwelling on the appearance of the horseman who

had ridden by in the moonlight.

It seemed to her that it was impossible that she, of all persons in the

world, could be mistaken; and yet how could Drake be here, and why

should he be riding up the avenue of Anglemere at this time of night?

The sight of him, if it was he, aroused all the love in her heart, which

needed little, indeed, to arouse it. She had tried to forget him during

the vicissitudes of the last two years, but she knew that he was still

enshrined in her heart, that while life lasted she must love him and

long for him. She endeavored, by thinking of him as betrothed--perhaps

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married--to Lady Luce, as belonging to her, to oust her love for him as

a sin, as shameful as it was futile; but there was scarcely an hour of

the day in which her thoughts did not turn to him, and at night she

awoke from some dream, in which he was the central figure, with an

aching heart.

Life is but a hollow mockery to the woman, or the man, whose unrequited

love fills the hours with an unsatisfied longing.

When she awoke in the morning, the likeness to Drake of the man she had

seen had grown vaguer to her mind, and she persuaded herself that it was

a likeness only; but her restless night had made her pale and

preoccupied; but Dick, when he came in to breakfast, was too engrossed

and excited to notice it.

"I've just been up to the house," he said, as he flung his cap on the sofa

and lifted the cover from the savory dish of ham and eggs. "By George! we

shall have to slip into it and look alive! The contractors have had a

letter from Lady Angleford. It seems the earl's in England, and wants the

place as soon as possible. The foreman has sent to London for more hands.

I've wired the Bardsleys, telling them we've got to hurry up. It's always

the way with these swells; when they want anything, they want it all in a

minute. Something like ham and eggs! Rather different to the measly rasher

and the antediluvian eggs from the grocer's opposite. But you don't seem

to be very keen?" he added, as Nell pushed her plate away and absently

took a slice of toast. "Miss the good old London air, Nell, or the

appetizing smells of Beaumont Buildings?"

"I've got a little headache; only a tiny one," said Nell,

apologetically. "I shall go for a long walk after breakfast, and you

will see that I shall be all right by lunch."




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