" I
looked at the book; I opened the book; I recovered my presence of mind,
and handed it back. If a female humbug was on one side of the window, a
male humbug was on the other. "Please keep it for me till the evening," I
said; "I am going for a walk."
Which way did I turn my steps?
Men will wonder what possessed me--women will think it a proceeding that
did me credit--I took the familiar road which led to the gloomy wood and
the guilty river. The longing in me to see Cristel again, was more than I
could resist. Not because I was in love with her; only because I had left
her in distress.
Beyond the spring, and within a short distance of the river, I saw a lady
advancing towards me on the path which led from the mill.
Brisk, smiling, tripping along like a young girl, behold the
mock-republican, known in our neighborhood as Lady Rachel! She held out
both hands to me. But for her petticoats, I should have thought I had met
with a jolly young man.
"I have been wandering in your glorious wood, Mr. Roylake. Anything to
escape the respectable classes on Sunday, patronizing piety on the way to
afternoon church. I must positively make a sketch of the cottage by the
mill--I mean, of course, the picturesque side of it. That fine girl of
Toller's was standing at the door. She is really handsomer than ever. Are
you going to see her, you wicked man? Which do you admire--that gypsy
complexion, or Lena's lovely skin? Both, I have no doubt, at your age.
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