He put it down to
the glorious morning, to the discovery of the affection of his father,
to the good horse that stepped as lightly as an Arab, and carried him
as if he were a feather; and yet all the while he knew that these did
not altogether account for the electric eagerness, the "joy of living"
which possessed him.
He pulled up for a moment at The Woodman Inn to thank Mr. Groves for
the port, and that gentleman came out, as glad to see him as if he were
an old friend.
"Don't mention it, sir," he said. "I thought a long time before I sent
it, because I wasn't sure that Sir Stephen and you might think it a
liberty; but I needn't have done so, I know now. And it was kind of Sir
Stephen to send me a note with the sherry. It was like a gentleman, if
you'll excuse me saying so, sir."
Stafford rode over the hill and along the road by the stream, and as he
rode he looked round him eagerly and keenly. In fact, as if he were
scouting. But that for which he was looking so intently did not appear;
his spirits fell--though the sun was still shining--and he sighed
impatiently, and putting Adonis through the stream, cantered over the
moor at the foot of the hills.
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