She sat and looked before her for
a moment or two as if she were battling with an emotion which
threatened to master her and to find expression in some violent
outburst; but she conquered, and presently rode on to the Villa; and
half an hour later Stafford, coming up the steps, found her lying back
in her favourite chair with a cup of tea in her hand.
"You are just in time," she said, looking up at him, and he looked back
at her rather vacantly; for Ida had been in his arms too recently, for
his mind, his whole being, to be sufficiently clear of her to permit
him to take any interest in anything else "for tea," she said. "Here it
comes. Shall I pour it out for you? Have you been riding far?"
"Not very far," he said. "You have been riding, too. Is it a wonder we
did not meet."
"Yes," she assented, languidly. "I met no one, saw no one, while I was
out. Here comes your shadow," she added, as Tiny, having heard his
beloved master's voice, came helter-skelter, head over heels, and leapt
on Stafford's lap. "How fond he is of you."
Stafford nodded.
"Yes; I'm jolly glad no one answered the advertisement for its owner.
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