“Oh, no! But a stranger in this desert: one dressed, moreover, in the first style of elegance! I could be in no doubt. You are — you must be — Lord St. Erth!”
“I am St. Erth. And you, ma’am? How comes it about that this is our first encounter?”
She replied, with the most enchanting primming of her face, wholly belied by the mischievous look in her eyes: “Why, you must understand that one would not wish to appear pushing,by too early a visit, nor uncivil,by too late a one! Mama has formed the intention that Papa shall pay a morning-call at Stanyon next week!”
He was very much amused, and said: “I could not receive that morning-call too early, I assure you! It will be quite unnecessary, however, for Papa to be put to the trouble of a formal visit, for I shall forestall him. If I were to lift you on to Cloud’s back, ma’am, will you permit me to lead him to your home?”
She jumped down from the bank, catching up the skirt of her voluminous habit, and casting it over her arm. “Oh, yes! Will you do that? I shall be so very much obliged to you!”
On her feet, she was seen to be a slim creature, not above the average height, but exquisitely proportioned. Her movements, though impetuous, were graceful, and the Earl was permitted a glimpse of a neatly-turned ankle. She tucked her primroses into the buttonhole of her coat, where, mingling with her curls, they seemed almost exactly to blend with them. The Earl lifted her on to the saddle; she contrived to arrange one leg over the pommel, and declared herself to be perfectly safely established.
“Now, where am I to take you?” asked Gervase, smiling up at her.
“To Whissenhurst Grange, if you please! It is only a mile from where we stand, so you will not be obliged to trudge so very far!”
“I should be glad if it were twice as far. But did you mean to sit upon that bank for ever, ma’am?”
“Oh, they would have found me in a little while!” she said airily. “When Fairy reached the stables, you know, they would be thrown into such a pucker! I daresay everyone may already be searching the countryside for me.”