John Manners, who plays a prominent part in this veracious narrative, was the nephew of the Earl of Rutland.  As he reverently kissed the dainty hand which Dorothy held out to him he was so smitten with the charm of her beauty that Cupid led him, an unresisting captive, to yield his heart to the keeping of the maid.  He was deeply smitten, nor was Dorothy herself insensible to the more masculine beauty of the scion of the house of Rutland, for as his dark, flashing eyes met her own, in spite of herself, she felt the power of a strange attraction which drew her towards him.  The sprightly god of love had already done his work, and, although perhaps neither of them was aware of the fact, they were each being bound by his chains.

It was a case of love at first sight.

CHAPTER II.

A jealous heart and crafty.

  He that sows in craft does reap in jealousy.

  Middleton.

  Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand;
  Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.

  Shakespeare.

The scene of the pastime had been reached, and the preparations for the hawking had already begun.  The falconers brought up their birds, the pages gave up their masters’ jumping poles, and the dogs were sniffing the air, eager for the chase to commence.

At last the jerkins were taken off, and the straps which had held the hawks were unloosed; the dogs were sent to the front, and the real work of the day began.

Sir George was in capital humour, and closely followed by Sir Benedict a Woode and the others, he led off at a rare pace, with the ladies following upon their steeds a little distance in the rear, and, behind all, a number of admiring rustics, eager to see a little of the sport in which it was not their lot to participate.

Sparrows were plentiful, but no other kind of bird was to be seen, and Sir Benedict was just thinking that Sir George would have to humble himself, when the dogs began to bark.

“Quails, as I’m alive!  See!” shouted the baron, in high delight.

“And a whole bevy of them, too,” added De la Zouch, turning round to the ladies.

The excitement, which had simmered before, now suddenly became intense, and away went lord and lady, knight and esquire, over wall and ditch, in their eagerness to keep up with the hunt.

Dorothy had not flown her bird, for she had noticed that Master Manners was without a hawk, and now she sent it forward to him by her page, and waited with a beating heart to learn whether her offer had been accepted.

Manners himself came back and thanked her.

“But marry, fair Mistress Vernon,” said he, “I could no more rob you of your bird than I could steal away your beauty or take possession of your heart.”

“Nay, now,” replied Dorothy, not paying the proper amount of regard to the truth, “I am already for-wearied of the hawking; and it were more to my taste to follow on in a more leisurely fashion,” she added, seeing that he was about to refuse.  “St. George is a good bird, and is anxious to try a flight; and thou art a stranger, too; thou must take it,” and she placed the merlin on his wrist.