A sudden ray of hope occurred to her as they returned by the base of Blackman's Hanger. What if Vernon should have taken Brian to Cheap Jack's cottage, to have introduced him to that gifted misanthrope, who, among his other accomplishments, had a talent for repairing fishing tackle?
Moved by this hope, Ida dismounted, and gave Cleopatra's bridle to
Robert, who was on his feet almost as soon as his mistress.
'Let the mare rest for a little while, Robert,' she said;' I am going up to the top of the hill to see the pedlar—Sir Vernon may have been with him this morning.'
'Not unlikely, ma'am—he be a rare favourite with Sir Vernon.'
'I hope he's a respectable person.'
'Oh, I think the chap's honest enough,' answered the groom, with a patronising air; 'but he's a queer customer—a reg'lar Peter the wild boy, he is.'
Ida, who had never heard of this gentleman, was not particularly enlightened by the comparison. She went lightly and quickly up the steep ascent, and along a furzy ridge which rose imperceptibly skywards, until she came to the fir plantation which sheltered the gamekeeper's cottage. The lattice stood wide open, and a man was leaning with folded arms on the sill as she came in sight, but in a flash the man had gone, and the lattice was closed.
She ran on, nothing deterred by this discourtesy, and knocked at the door with the handle of her whip.
'Is my brother, Sir Vernon Palliser, here?' she asked.
'No,' a gruff voice answered from within.