Chapter 4

But whether the Baron, in naming such a distant spot for the
rendezvous, was in hope she might fail him, and so relieve him after
all of his undertaking, cannot be said; though it might have been
strongly suspected from his manner that he had no great zest for the
responsibility of escorting her.

But he little knew the firmness of the young woman he had to deal
with. She was one of those soft natures whose power of adhesiveness
to an acquired idea seems to be one of the special attributes of that
softness. To go to a ball with this mysterious personage of romance
was her ardent desire and aim; and none the less in that she trembled
with fear and excitement at her position in so aiming. She felt the
deepest awe, tenderness, and humility towards the Baron of the
strange name; and yet she was prepared to stick to her point.

Thus it was that the afternoon of the eventful day found Margery
trudging her way up the slopes from the vale to the place of
appointment. She walked to the music of innumerable birds, which
increased as she drew away from the open meads towards the groves.

She had overcome all difficulties. After thinking out the question
of telling or not telling her father, she had decided that to tell
him was to be forbidden to go. Her contrivance therefore was this:
to leave home this evening on a visit to her invalid grandmother, who
lived not far from the Baron's house; but not to arrive at her
grandmother's till breakfast-time next morning. Who would suspect an
intercalated experience of twelve hours with the Baron at a ball?
That this piece of deception was indefensible she afterwards owned
readily enough; but she did not stop to think of it then.

It was sunset within Chillington Wood by the time she reached Three-
Walks-End--the converging point of radiating trackways, now floored
with a carpet of matted grass, which had never known other scythes
than the teeth of rabbits and hares. The twitter overhead had
ceased, except from a few braver and larger birds, including the
cuckoo, who did not fear night at this pleasant time of year. Nobody
seemed to be on the spot when she first drew near, but no sooner did
Margery stand at the intersection of the roads than a slight crashing
became audible, and her patron appeared. He was so transfigured in
dress that she scarcely knew him. Under a light great-coat, which
was flung open, instead of his ordinary clothes he wore a suit of
thin black cloth, an open waistcoat with a frill all down his shirt-
front, a white tie, shining boots, no thicker than a glove, a coat
that made him look like a bird, and a hat that seemed as if it would
open and shut like an accordion.

'I am dressed for the ball--nothing worse,' he said, drily smiling.