'
She laughed, and he laughed. They were quite alone among the
hills--hardy mountaineers both--and they could be as foolish as they
liked. She rested her head upon his shoulder, and he and she and the
pony made one as they climbed the hill, close together.
'Our last day,' sighed Mary, as they went down again, after a couple of
blissful hours in that wild world between earth and sky. 'I shall be
glad to go back to poor grandmother, who must be sadly lonely; but it is
so sweet to be quite alone with you.'
They left the Lodore Hotel in an open carriage, after luncheon next day,
and posted to Fellside, where they arrived just in time to assist at
Lady Maulevrier's afternoon tea. She received them both with warm
affection, and made Hartfield sit close beside her sofa; and every now
and then, in the pauses of their talk, she laid her wasted and too
delicate fingers upon the young man's strong brown hand, with a
caressing gesture.
'You can never know how sweet it is to me to be able to love you,' she
said tenderly. 'You can never know how my heart yearned to you from the
very first, and how hard it was to keep myself in check and not be too
kind to you.
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