"Ah, but very lucky was I to be able to go out at all to-night, after the hard fall of this morning," cried Lionel. "Hotspur hath no gentle plunge once his blood is up."
"Has he ever thrown you before?" asked the Lady Rosamond.
"No, nor did he in truth throw me to-day," Lionel replied. "I had left the saddle of my own will, but by some strange bound Hotspur tossed me nearly up again, then banged me like a wisp against a tree. The heavy fall stunned me."
"And Sam thought you inclined to wander in speech after the men found you," remarked Rosamond.
"Which is entirely untrue!" exclaimed Lionel, with some warmth. Then he added, in a gentler tone:
"I would I might know who was the bonny maid that bent over me and gave me cooling drops of water and bathed my face and brow."
"Dost really think there was such a person, brother?" inquired Lucretia.
"It is quite as true as that I sit here this moment! Whether a wood Fairy or a forest nymph I cannot tell, but a heartsome creature, all in white except for flowers of brightest hue, dropped water into my mouth and laved my hot brow."
"The other servants thought you wandered slightly," again ventured Rosamond, "and as no one was in sight when they rode up, where could your nymph or Fairy have vanished so soon? Was not she with you but a moment before?"
"Only an instant before, my cousin. But never shall I yield to the idea that I wandered or that my eyes deceived me as to the vision upon which they rested. Some day I hope to see my dear Fairy again, and when I do, I shall know her."