He drew me up into his arms so that my cheek lay against his breast as I went on, holding fast to the rough tweed of his jacket and whispering: “I should have belonged to you two, heart and body and soul. I should never have been lonely again. I should have known nothing, whatsoever happened, but tender joy.”

“Whatsoever happened?” he murmured.

“Whatsoever happens now, Ysobel, know nothing but tender joy. I think you CAN. ‘Out on the Hillside!’ Let us remember.”

“Yes, yes,” I said; “‘Out on the Hillside.’” And our two faces, damp with the sweet mist, were pressed together.

[ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]

CHAPTER X

The mist had floated away, and the moor was drenched with golden sunshine when we went back to the castle. As we entered the hall I heard the sound of a dog howling, and spoke of it to one of the men-servants who had opened the door.

“That sounds like Gelert. Is he shut up somewhere?”

Gelert was a beautiful sheep-dog who belonged to Feargus and was his heart’s friend. I allowed him to be kept in the courtyard.

The man hesitated before he answered me, with a curiously grave face.