It is a very simple mode of enjoying a holiday; but it
suits me."
"Your taste does you credit. But if you are in my neighbourhood, you
must take your horses from the Raynham stables. Where are your present
quarters?"
"At the little inn by Abbeywood Bridge."
"Four miles from the castle. We are near neighbours, Mr. Carrington,
according to country habits. You must ride back with us, and dine at
Raynham."
"You are very kind, Sir Oswald; but my dress will preclude--"
"No consequence whatever. We are quite alone just now; and I am sure
Lady Eversleigh will excuse a traveller's toilet. If you are not bent
upon finishing this very charming sketch, I shall insist on your
returning with us; and you join me in the request, eh, Honoria?"
Lady Eversleigh smiled an assent, and the surgeon murmured his thanks.
As yet he had looked little at the baronet's beautiful wife. He had
come to Yorkshire with the intention of studying this woman as a man
studies an abstruse and difficult science; but he was too great a
tactician to betray any unwonted interest in her. The policy of his
life was patience, and in this as in everything else, he waited his
opportunity.
"She is very beautiful," he thought, "and she has made a good market
out of her beauty; but it is only the beginning of the story yet--the
middle and the end have still to come."
* * * * *
After this meeting on Thorpe Peak, the surgeon became a constant
visitor at Raynham.
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