Vaughan was no Lothario, and for a moment the telltale colour took him aback. Then he told himself that at Chippenham, less than twenty miles down the road, he was leaving her. It was absurd to suppose that, in the short space which remained, either could be harmed. And he mounted gaily, and masking his knowledge of her emotion with a skill which surprised himself, he chatted pleasantly, unaware that with every word he was stamping the impression of her face, her long eyelashes, her graceful head, her trick of this and that, more deeply upon his memory. While she, reassured by the same thought that they would part in an hour—and in an hour what harm could happen?—closed her eyes and drank the sweet draught—the sweeter for its novelty, and for the bitter which lurked at the bottom of the cup. Meantime Sammy winked sagely at his horses, and the Frenchman cast envious glances over his shoulders, and Silbury Hill, Fyfield, and the soft folds of the downs swept by, and on warm commons and southern slopes the early bees hummed above the gorse. Here was Chippenham at last; and the end was come. He must descend. A hasty touch, a murmured word, a pang half-felt; she veiled her eyes. If her colour fluttered and she trembled, why not? She had cause to be grateful to him. And if he felt as his foot touched the ground that the world was cold, and the prospect cheerless, why not, when he had to face Sir Robert, and when his political embarrassments, forgotten for a time, rose nearer and larger? It had often fallen to him to alight before the Angel at Chippenhan. From boyhood he had known the wide street, in which the fairs were held, the red Georgian houses, and the stone bridge of many arches over the Avon. But he had never seen these things, he had never alighted there, with less satisfaction than on this day. Still this was the end. He raised his hat, saluted silently, and turned to speak to the guard. In the act he jostled a person who was approaching to accost him. Vaughan stared. “Hallo, White!” he said. “I was coming to see you.” White’s hat was in his hand. “Your servant, sir,” he said. “Your servant, sir. I am glad to be here to meet you, Mr. Vaughan.” “But you didn’t expect me?” “No, sir, no; I came to meet Mr. Cooke, who was to arrive by this coach. But I do not see him.” A light broke in upon Vaughan. “Gad! he must be the man we left behind at Reading,” he said. “Is he a peppery chap?” “He might be so called, sir,” the agent answered with a smile. “I fancied that you knew him.” “No. Sergeant Wathen I know; not Mr. Cooke. Any way, he’s not come, White.” “All the better, sir, if I can get a message to him by the up-coach. For he’s not needed. I am glad to say that the trouble is at an end. My Lord Lansdowne has given up the idea of contesting the borough, and I came over to tell Mr. Cooke, thinking that he might prefer to go on to Bristol. He has a house at Bristol.” “Do you mean,” Vaughan said, “that there will be no contest?”