"Not there, good Walter, not there. Look at that flaring sign! A little farther on there is another place of refreshment; 'tis but an humble one I grant, but at this moment any one will be more welcome to me than this." And she averted her eyes from the "King George's Head," in large and golden letters, which adorned the front of the building. The place she had selected was indeed but a wretched ale-house, and they only stayed there long enough to allow the animals necessary food. She was impatient to be gone; and as they seldom could proceed beyond a foot's pace, they were still some miles from their destined resting-place for the night when the short day had closed in; the sun had already set crimson beyond the cold snowy fields, and the clear deep blue of the heavens was spangled with innumerable stars. The cold was piercing; and her attendants shivered, and wrapped their cloaks closer around them. At length they passed a blacksmith's forge; and the bright sparks which darted upwards through the chinks in the roof, the ruddy light which flared through the open door, the clear blaze of the fire itself, looked invitingly warm. Amy could not help remarking to Walter Elliot how comfortable and tempting was the interior of the forge. "Art thou cold, my poor girl?" inquired the countess. "Why, madam, of a surety the wind is very sharp; I should have thought your ladyship would have felt it more keenly than myself, who have not been so softly reared. I have been regretting all the day that we forgot to bring your mantle lined with sable, which her grace of Montrose sent you last winter." "Nay, heed me not, good Amy: I thought not of the cold--But now you speak of it, the night is frosty." "I have been fain to ask you, honoured madam, where your ladyship means to abide when you reach London?" "In truth, Amy, I cannot tell; I thought but of seeing my lord: when once in London, I felt I should be near to him; but it is more than probable they will not allow me to share his prison, and I suppose I must seek lodgings. Her grace of Montrose bade me live privately, and advised me not to affect any state in my accommodations: but I am little used to the bustle of a crowded city, and scarcely know how I must proceed." "If your ladyship will excuse my boldness, I have been thinking that I know of some one who might stand our friend. Does not your ladyship recollect, when you were in Wales, just at the entrance of the village, about a mile from Poole Castle, a low white house, with a high tiled roof composed of many gables and strange angles? Two goodly cypress trees grew before the windows on each side of the gravel walk which led to the porch, and the trim garden was fenced from the road by a low stone wall, and a laurustinus hedge within. Your ladyship must remember they were the finest laurustinus' in all the country, and they were always the first in bloom in that sheltered spot."