But presently, dwelling on the matter, she began to relent.  The very completeness of the revenge which she had in prospect robbed her of her satisfaction.  The man was so dependent on her, so deeply indebted to her, must suffer so much by reason of her, that the maternal instinct, which is said to be developed even in half-grown girls, took him under its protection; and when that scene occurred in the public room of the Castle Inn and he stood forward to shield her (albeit in an arrogant, careless, half-insolent way that must have wounded her in other circumstances), she was not content to forgive him only—­with a smile; but long after her companion had fallen asleep, Julia sat brooding over the fire, her arms clasped about her knees; now reading the embers with parted lips and shining eyes, and now sighing gently—­for ’la femme propose, mais Dieu dispose.’  And nothing is certain.

After this, it may not have been pure accident that cast her in Sir George’s way when he strolled out of the house next morning.  A coach had come in, and was changing horses before the porch.  The passengers were moving to and fro before the house, grooms and horse-boys were shouting and hissing, the guard was throwing out parcels.  Soane passed through the bustle, and, strolling to the end of the High Street, saw the girl seated on a low parapet of the bridge that, near the end of the inn gardens, carries the Salisbury road over the Kennet.  She wore a plain riding-coat, such as ladies then affected when they travelled and would avoid their hoops and patches.  A little hood covered her hair, which, undressed and unpowdered, hung in a club behind; and she held up a plain fan between her complexion and the sun.

Her seat, though quiet and remote from the bustle—­for the Salisbury road is the less frequented of the two roads—­was in view of the gates leading to the Inn; and her extreme beauty, which was that of expression as well as feature, made her a mark for a dozen furtive eyes, of which she affected to be unconscious.  But as soon as Sir George’s gaze fell on her, her look met his frankly and she smiled; and then again her eyes dropped and studied the road before her, and she blushed in a way Soane found enchanting.  He had been going into the town, but he turned and went to her and sat down on the bridge beside her, almost with the air of an old acquaintance.  He opened the conversation by saying that it was a prodigious fine day; she agreed.  That the Downs were uncommonly healthy; she said the same.  And then there was silence.

‘Well?’ he said after a while; and he looked at her.

‘Well?’ she answered in the same tone.  And she looked at him over the edge of her fan, her eyes laughing.

‘How did you sleep, child?’ he asked; while he thought, ’Lord!  How handsome she is!’

‘Perfectly, sir,’ she answered, ‘thanks to your excellency’s kindness.’

Her voice as well as her eyes laughed.  He stared at her, wondering at the change in her.  ‘You are lively this morning,’ he said.