Steadily it tramped, tramped on, and peeping round the milestone, Valmai at last saw a grey figure emerge from the haze.

It was Cardo, she felt sure, and rising at once, she hurried some distance on the road in a sudden feeling of nervousness.

The steady tramp, tramp came ever nearer, and, looking through the increasing shadows, she saw distinctly the well-remembered form, the broad shoulders, the firmly-knit frame, and in a fresh access of nervousness she hurried on again--putting off the moment of recognition which she longed for, and endeavouring to reach a hollow in the high bank, where she might lie hidden until she had regained courage and calmness.
Meanwhile Cardo, who had driven in to the market with Dr.Hughes in the morning, had started on his homeward journey just as Valmai was leaving the town behind her.

It had been a lovely day, he had had pleasant company, and had transacted his business satisfactorily; but a deep and settled gloom seemed to have fallen upon him, which he was powerless to shake off.

Through the whole tenor of his life ran the distracting memory of Valmai's unrelenting anger in the Velvet Walk, and of the bitterness of the subsequent meeting at Colonel Meredith's.