[THE FOREST DRIVE.]
Some hours later, Waldemar Nordeck was returning from L----, whither He had ridden in the morning. Intercourse between Villica Castle and the city was becoming quite frequent, and Waldemar often went to L----, where he always received the most polite attentions from the government officials, who well knew what a powerful ally they had in him, the master of a frontier estate, whose disloyalty might prove very dangerous.
Waldemar knew that his disagreement with his mother was the topic of daily conversation in L----, and that exaggerated reports were in circulation. Firmly resolved to furnish no material for gossip, he presented a firm front and a quiet brow to strangers; but now, when alone and unobserved, his forehead, which had just seemed perfectly calm and unruffled, grew corrugated and anxious. He rode along heedless of all around him, and upon arriving at a cross-road, he reined up mechanically to allow passage to a sleigh which was advancing at full speed.
Norman reared suddenly; his rider had jerked the reins so violently that the animal was frightened, and sprang wildly to one side of the road. In so doing, his hind-feet caught in a rut hidden beneath the snow; he stumbled, and nearly fell with his master.
Waldemar quickly guided his horse into the road, where a sleigh, in which a lady sat, had stopped short at her command.
"Pardon me, Countess Morynski," he said, "if I have frightened you; my horse shied upon suddenly meeting yours."
"I hope you are not injured," said Wanda, turning pale.
"O, not at all; but my Norman--"
He did not finish the sentence; he sprang quickly from the saddle. Norman was evidently injured in one of the hind-feet. Waldemar made an examination, and said, coldly but politely, "I beg you not to delay your journey on account of this slight mishap, Countess Morynski." He bowed, and stepped aside to allow the sleigh to pass.
"Shall you not mount again?" asked Wanda, as she saw Waldemar throw the reins over his arm.