everything in a rosy hue. The good soul is fond of her Heidseck. You
will be back by afternoon tea. Why should there be any fuss about the
matter? Hammond wants to see the Red Tarn, and you are dying to show him
the way. Go, and joy go with you both. Climbing a stony hill is a form
of pleasure to which I have not yet risen. I shall stroll home at my
leisure, and spend the afternoon on the billiard-room sofa reading
Mudie's last contribution to the comforts of home.'

'What a Sybarite,' said Hammond. 'Come, Lady Mary, we mustn't loiter, if
we are to be back at Fellside by five o'clock.'

Mary looked at her brother doubtfully, and he gave her a little nod
which seemed to say, 'Go, by all means;' so she dug the end of her staff
into Dolly's rugged breast, and mounted cheerily, stepping lightly from
boulder to boulder.

The sun was not so warm as it had been ten minutes ago, when Maulevrier
flung himself down to rest. The sky had clouded over a little, and a
cooler wind was blowing across the breast of the hill. Fairfield yonder,
that long smooth slope of verdure which a little while ago looked
emerald green in the sunlight, now wore a soft and shadowy hue. All the
world was greyer and dimmer in a moment, as it were, and Coniston Lake
in its distant valley disappeared beneath a veil of mist, while the
shimmering sea-line upon the verge of the horizon melted and vanished
among the clouds that overhung it. The weather changes very quickly in
this part of the world. Sharp drops of rain came spitting at Hammond and
Mary as they climbed the crest of the Pike, and stopped, somewhat
breathless, to look back at Maulevrier. He was trudging blithely down
the winding way, and seemed to have done wonders while they had been
doing very little.