You must have a care, Tom, if ever he crosses your path again.

He will not forget that grip on his throat in a hurry!" "Nor I those lashes upon my back!" answered Tom between his shut teeth.

"He will find me ready for him whenever he wants! I am sometimes fain to regret that I did not squeeze the life out of him as he lay in my grasp, even as--well, others I know have regretted that they did not run him through the heart in a duelling bout." "It is not many who get that chance, if report speaks truth," said Cale; "Sir James Montacute is reckoned a notable swordsman." "He is no mean antagonist, truly," answered Tom, with a slight smile; "yet I have seen a better." The day following was Sunday, and eagerly did Tom await the arrival of Rosamund, whom her father had set out betimes to fetch.

But he had promised to keep the secret of Tom's return for a surprise to meet her on her arrival; and so, when she turned the corner of the street upon her father's arm, laughing and chattering to him in her brightest fashion, there was Tom standing in the doorway, clad in one of his finest suits (left behind in the care of Cale), smiling bravely, hat in hand, and looking altogether so grand and finished a gentleman that at the first moment Rosamund could scarce make sure if it was he himself.
But when convinced of this, her pleasure was pretty to see.

She made him stand by the window where she could see him; she looked him all over, clapping her hands, and declaring that he had grown so grand and handsome that she was quite afraid of him.