At length Maurice leaped into the saddle, caught the stirrups well, and signaled to the Colonel that he was ready.
"You understand, Maurice ?" Fitzgerald asked.
"Yes, John; all the world loves a lover.

Besides, it is a glorious morning for a ride.

Up, portcullis, down drawbridge!" waving his hand to the Colonel.
And away they went through the gateway, into the frosted road.

Maurice felt the spirit of some medieval ancestor creep into his veins and he longed for an hour of the feudal days, to rescue a princess from some dungeon-keep and to harry an over-lord.

After all, she was a wonderful woman, and Fitzgerald was only a man.