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But, late or early, he had come; and what they had to give each
other should not be mocked at and lost. The night she had ended by
going to Anne's chamber, she had paced her room saying this again
and again, all the strength of her being rising in revolt. She had
been then a caged tigress of a verity; she had wrung her hands; she
had held her palm hard against her leaping heart; she had walked
madly to and fro, battling in thought with what seemed awful fate;
she had flung herself upon her knees and wept bitter scalding tears.
"He is so noble," she had cried--"he is so noble--and I so worship
his nobleness--and I have been so base!"
And in her suffering her woman's nerves had for a moment betrayed
her. Heretofore she had known no weakness of her sex, but the woman
soul in her so being moved, she had been broken and conquered for a
space, and had gone to Anne's chamber, scarcely knowing what refuge
she so sought. It had been a feminine act, and she had realised all
it signified when Anne sank weeping by her. Women who wept and
prated together at midnight in their chambers ended by telling their
secrets. So it was that it fell out that Anne saw not again the
changed face to the sight of which she had that night awakened. It
seemed as if my lady from that time made plans which should never
for a moment leave her alone. The next day she was busied arranging
a brilliant rout, the next a rich banquet, the next a great
assembly; she drove in the Mall in her stateliest equipages; she
walked upon its promenade, surrounded by her crowd of courtiers,
smiling upon them, and answering them with shafts of graceful wit--
the charm of her gaiety had never been so remarked upon, her air
never so enchanting. At every notable gathering in the World of
Fashion she was to be seen. Being bidden to the Court, which was at
Hampton, her brilliant beauty and spirit so enlivened the royal
dulness that 'twas said the Queen herself was scarce resigned to
part with her, and that the ladies and gentlemen in waiting all
suffered from the spleen when she withdrew. She bought at this time
the fiercest but most beautiful beast of a horse she had ever
mounted. The creature was superbly handsome, but apparently so
unconquerable and so savage that her grooms were afraid to approach
it, and indeed it could not be saddled and bitted unless she herself
stood near. Even the horse-dealer, rogue though he was, had sold it
to her with some approach to a qualm of conscience, having confessed
to her that it had killed two grooms, and been sentenced to be shot
by its first owner, and was still living only because its great
beauty had led him to hesitate for a few days. It was by chance
that during these few days Lady Dunstanwolde heard of it, and going
to see it, desired and bought it at once.
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