"Yes, we found the shooting good, and staid longer than usual; but I fancied you were down at the old place."
"And so I was, but these railways send a man from one end of the universe to another so rapidly that one does not know where to date from. I have been up to London for a day or two, and am on my way back again."
Here Lady Hope lifted her slumberous eyelids, and was introduced.
The sweet, alluring smile that we have seen on the face of Rachael Closs had come back to it now.
"I should almost have known Lord Hilton," she said, "from Lady Clara's description. She was indeed fortunate in chancing upon you for a travelling companion."
"I have that great kindness to thank you for, Hilton," said Lord Hope. "Clara's letters were full of your adventures on the road and at Houghton. I did not know that you had left the neighborhood, though."
"I think myself more than fortunate," said Hilton, addressing Lady Hope, "in having the honor of introducing two such ladies to the castle, for I take it you are going to Houghton."
"Oh, yes, of course; it was impossible to refuse Lady Carset. We shall be at the castle some time, I am glad to say."
How her magnificent eyes flashed. The very bend of her head was regal, as she thus announced a triumph she had been toiling for ever since she had become Lord Hope's wife.
The scorn of that old woman at Houghton, had been the bane of her existence. Like an interdict of the Pope in olden times, it had kept her apart from the people of her own rank, as an excommunication would have done in past ages. But all this was removed. As it would seem by a miracle, the bitter prejudices of that old lady had given way, and through the broad doors of Houghton Castle, she was invited to take her place among the peeresses of the land.