ke's son-in-law?"

"No, Rorie, but for the sake of your promise. And now look, there is
Lyndhurst steeple above the woods. I am near home, and we must say
good-night."

"Not till you are at your own gate."

"No one must see you. I want to ride in quietly by the stables. Don't
think I am ashamed of my errand to-night. I am not; but I want to save
my mother trouble, and if Captain Winstanley and I were to discuss the
matter there would be a disturbance."

Roderick Vawdrey seized Arion by the bridle.

"I shall not let you go so easily," he said resolutely. "Vixen, I have
loved you ever since I can remember you. Will you be my wife?"

"No."

"Why did you say that you loved me?"

"Because I cannot tell a lie. Yes, I love you, Rorie; but I love your
honour, and my own, better than the chance of a happiness that might
fade and wither before we could grasp it. I know that your mother had a
very poor opinion of me while she was alive; I should like her to know,
if the dead know anything, that she was mistaken, and that I am not
quite unworthy of her respect. You will marry Lady Mabel Ashbourne,
Rorie: and ten years hence, when we are sober middle-aged people, we
shall be firm friends once again, and you will thank and praise me for
having counselled you to cleave to the right. Let go the bridle, Rorie,
there's no time to lose. There's a glorious gallop from Queen's Bower
to the Christchurch Road."

It was a long grassy ride, safe only for those who knew the country
well, for it was bordered on each side by treacherous bogs. Violet knew
every inch of the way. Arion scented his stable afar off, and went like
the wind; Blue Peter stretched his muscular limbs in pursuit. It was a
wild ride along the grassy track, beside watery marshes and reedy pools
that gleamed in the dim light of a new moon. The distant woods showed
black against the sky. There was no light to mark a human habitation
within ken. There was nothing but night and loneliness and the solemn
beauty of an unpeopled waste. A forest pony stood here and
there--pastern-deep in the sedges--and gazed at those two wild riders,
grave and gay, like a ghost. A silvery snake glided across the track; a
water-rat plunged, with a heavy splash, into a black pool as the horses
galloped by. It was a glorious ride. Miserable as both riders were,
they could not but enjoy that wild rush through the sweet soft air,
under the silent stars.

Vixen gave a long sigh presently, when