turn of the
Court to Jersey had been to acquaint himself with this fact. In the
present excitement of his feelings he resolved to seek an interview with
the girl whose charms he so well remembered. A boat was moored at the
foot of the castle rock; and the impetuous young cavalier sprang on
board, loosened the painter, and with the aid of a pair of sculls that
had been left in the boat rapidly propelled himself to the shore of the
bay aided by the flowing tide. While he is engaged in making his way to
the northern extremity of the parish of S. Saviour, where the manor of
the Lemprieres was situated, we will anticipate his progress and
describe the scene.

The manor-house stood in its own walled grounds, admission being
obtained through a round Norman archway, over which was carved the
scutcheon of the family--gules, three eagles displayed, proper--with the
date 1580. This opened on a long narrow avenue of tall elms, at the end
of which two enormous juniper trees made a second arch, of perennial
verdure. Such was the entrance, passing under which the visitor found
himself in a flower-garden in which summer roses still bloomed, and the
bees were still busy. On one side stood the house, a two-storeyed
building of stone, pierced with many small latticed windows, and
thatched with straw. The main-door bore another scutcheon, of newer
stone than the rest of the house, quartering the arms of St. Martin
(_azure_, nine billets _or_) over a device of two hearts tied together
with a cipher formed by the letters L. and M. This doorway opened into a
small hall, in front of which was a stair-case of polished oak. On
either side of the hall were low-ceiled parlours wainscotted with dark
wood, beams of which supported the ceilings. The floor of the room to
the right was paved with stone and carpeted with fresh rushes, a yawning
chimney of carved granite, on which a fire of drift-wood was burning
with parti-coloured flames, occupied one end of the room, which was
occupied by the ladies of the house. At the back were the kitchen and
offices, looking out upon a paved court-yard containing a well, and
backed by farm buildings.

Madame Lempriere (or "de Maufant") and her sister sate by the fire
knitting in the autumn twilight. Both were lovely; beautiful women in
the typical style of island beauty, which not even the primness of
their somewhat old-fashioned costume could wholly disguise. For their
eyes were dark and sparkling, and their ch