‘Put your arms round my neck, Mina, and kiss my cheeks as warm and blooming as your own.’
It gave her a pang to resist the impulse that urged her to take him at his word; but she put it by, and only diffidently drew near the armchair into which he had now thrown himself, and began to smooth and separate the curls which were matted on his temples. She noticed as the first smile of salutation subsided a gloom succeeded on her master’s brow, which, however he spoke or laughed, afterwards remained a settled characteristic of his countenance.
‘What visitors are in the house?’ he asked; ‘I saw the groom rubbing down four black horses before the stables as I came in. They are not of the Hawkscliffe stud, I think?’
‘No, my lord. A carriage was overturned at the lawn gates about an hour since, and as the lady who was in it was taken out insensible I ordered her to be brought up here, and her servants accommodated for the night.’
‘And do you know who the lady is?’ continued His Grace; ‘the horses are good: first-rate.’
‘She says her name is Mrs. Irving, and that she is the wife of a Presbyterian minister in the north, but—’
‘You hardly believe her?’ interrupted the duke.
‘No,’ returned Miss Laury; ‘I must say I took her for a lady of rank. She has something highly aristocratic about her manners and aspect, and she appeared to know a good deal about Angria.’
‘What is she like?’ asked Zamorna; ‘young or old, handsome or ugly?’
‘She is young, slender, not so tall as I am, and I should say rather elegant than handsome; very pale, cold in her demeanour; she has a small mouth and chin, and a long fair neck.’