And it was there, in a yew arbour, that she came suddenly on the grandest and handsomest gentleman that she had ever seen. He wore a white wig, very full at the sides and covered with powder, and a full-skirted coat of dark-blue silk, and under it a long waistcoat with the loveliest roses and forget-me-nots tied in bunches with gold ribbons, embroidered on silk. He had lace ruffles and a jewelled brooch, and the jolliest blue eyes in the world. He looked at Elfrida very kindly with his jolly eyes.
“A lady of quality, I’ll be bound,” he said, “and travelling with her suite.”
“I’m Miss Arden of Arden,” said Elfrida.
“Your servant, madam,” said he, springing to his feet and waving his hat in a very flourishing sort of bow.
Elfrida’s little curtsey was not at all the right kind of curtsey, but it had to do.
“And what can I do to please Miss Arden of Arden?” he asked. “Would she like a ride on my black mare?”
“Oh, no, thank you,” said Elfrida, so earnestly that he laughed as he said—
“Sure I should not have thought fear lived with those eyes.”
“I’m not afraid,” said Elfrida contemptuously; “only I’ve been riding in a horrible carriage all day, and I feel as though I never wanted to ride on anything any more.”
He laughed again.