Presently the road bent upward, and she followed it, soothed by the quiet movement of her horse and by the evening air.  She climbed and climbed, till the upland farms fell behind, and the road came out upon the open moor.  The distance beyond began to show—­purple woods in the evening shadow, dim valleys among them, and wide grassy stretches.  A little more, and she was on the crest.  The road ran before her—­westward—­a broad bare whiteness through the sun-steeped heather.  And, to the north, a wide valley, where wood and farm and pasture had been all fashioned by the labour of generations into one proud setting for the building in its midst.  Flood Castle rose on the green bottom of the valley, a mass of mellowed wall and roof and tower, surrounded by its stately lawns and terraces, and girdled by its wide “chase,” of alternating wood and glade—­as though wrought into the landscape by the care of generations, and breathing history.  A stream, fired with the sunset, ran in loops and windings through the park, and all around the hills rose and fell, clothed with dark hanging woods.

[Illustration:  Lady Connie held in her horse, feeding her eyes upon Flood Castle and its woods]

Constance held in her horse, feeding her eyes upon the castle and its woods.  Her mind, as she looked, was one riot of excuse for Douglas Falloden.  She knew very well—­her own father had been an instance of it—­that a man can be rich and well-born, and still remain modest and kind.  But—­but—­“How hardly shall they that have riches—!”

She moved slowly on, thinking and gazing, till she had gone much further than she intended, and the light had begun to fail.  She would certainly be late for dinner.  Looking round her for her bearings, she saw on the Scarfedale side of the hill, about three miles away, what she took to be her aunts’ house.  Surely there must be a short cut to it.  Yes! there was a narrow road to be seen, winding down the hill, and across the valley, which must certainly shorten the distance.  And almost immediately she found herself at the entrance to it, where it abutted on the moor; and a signpost showed the name of Hilkley, her aunts’ village.  She took the road at once, and trotted briskly along, as the twilight deepened.

A gate ahead!  Well, never mind.  The horse was quiet; she could easily manage any ordinary latch.

But the gate was difficult, and she fumbled at, it.  Again and again, she brought up her horse, only to fail.  And the cob began to get nervous and jump about—­to rear a little.  Whenever she stooped towards the gate, it would swerve violently, and each unsuccessful attempt made it more restive.  She began to get nervous herself.

“How abominable!  Must I go back?  Suppose I get off?  But if I do, can I get on again?” She looked round her for a log or a stone.

Who was that approaching?  For suddenly she saw a horse and rider coming from the Hilkley direction towards the gate.  A moment—­then through the dusk she recognised the rider; and agitation—­suffocating, overwhelming—­laid hold upon her.