" William, breathless and excited, burst in upon him. "
CHAPTER I
AN IMPERIOUS MAIDEN
The voice was soft and musical, but the tone was imperative.
"I say, young man, open that gate."
The young man addressed turned slowly from the stile on which he had been leaning, and regarded the speaker attentively. She was seated on a high-stepping horse with that easy grace born of long familiarity with the saddle, and yet she seemed a mere girl, with soft round cheeks and laughing blue eyes.
"Come, wake up," she said, in tones more imperious than before, "and open the gate at once."
He resented the tone, though he was charmed with the picture, and instead of going toward the gate to do her bidding he turned and began to climb slowly over the stile.
She trotted her horse up to him in a moment, her eyes flashing, her cheeks aflame. She had been so used to command and to prompt obedience that this insubordination on the part of a country yokel seemed nothing less than an insult.
"You dare disobey me?" she said, her voice thrilling with anger.
"Of course I dare," he answered, without turning his head. "I am not your servant."
The reply seemed to strike her dumb for a moment, and she reined back her horse several paces.
He turned again to look at her, then deliberately seated himself on one of the posts of the stile.
There was no denying that she made a pretty picture. With one foot on the top rung of the stile he was almost on a level with her, and he was near enough to see her bosom heave and the colour come and go upon her rounded cheeks.
His heart began to beat uncomfortably fast. He feared that he had played a churlish part. She looked so regal, and yet so sweet, that it seemed almost as if Nature had given her the right to command. And who was he that he should resent her imperious manner and refuse to do her bidding?
He had gone too far, however, to retreat. Moreover, his dignity had been touched. She had flung her command at him as though he were a serf. Had she asked him to open the gate, he would have done so gladly. It was the imperious tone that he resented.
"I did not expect such rudeness and incivility here of all places," she said at length in milder tones.
His cheeks flamed at that, and an angry feeling stole into his heart. Judged by ordinary standards, he had no doubt been rude, and her words stung him all the more on that account. He would have played a more dignified part if he had pocketed the affront and opened the gate; but he was in no mood to go back on what he had done.
"If I have been rude and uncivil, you are to blame as much as I—and more," he retorted angrily.
"Indeed?"