He  rode  and  brooded.  If  the  Squire  were  to  die,  he,
Tupcombe,  would  be  alone  in  the  world  and  friendless,
for  he  was  no  favourite  with  Mrs.  Dornell ;  and  to  find
himself  baffled,  after  all,  in  what  he  had  set  his  mind  on,
would  probably  kill  the  Squire.  Thinking  thus,  Tup-
combe  stopped  his  horse  every  now  and  then,  and
listened  for  the  coming  husband.  The  time  was  drawing
on  to  the  moment  when  Reynard  might  be  expected  to
pass  along  this  very  route.  He  had  watched  the  road
well  during  the  afternoon,  and  had  inquired  of  the  tavern-
keepers  as  he  came  up  to  each,  and  he  was  convinced
that  the  premature  descent  of  the  stranger-husband  upon
his  young  mistress  had  not  been  made  by  this  highway
as  yet.
Besides  the  girl's  mother,  Tupcombe  was  the  only
member  of  the  household  who  suspected  Betty's  tender
feelings  towards  young  Phelipson,  so  unhappily  generated
on  her  return  from  school ;  and  he  could  therefore
imagine,  even  better  than  her  fond  father,  what  would  be
her  emotions  on  the  sudden  announcement  of  Reynard's
advent  that  evening  at  King's-Hintock  Court.
So  he  rode  and  rode,  desponding  and  hopeful  by
turns.  He  felt  assured  that,  unless  in  the  unfortunate
event  of  the  almost  immediate  arrival  of  her  son-in  law  at
his  own  heels,  Mrs.  Dornell  would  not  be  able  to  hinder
Betty's  departure  for  her  father's  bedside.
It  was  about  nine  o'clock  that,  having  put  twenty
miles  of  country  behind  him,  he  turned  in  at  the  lodge-
gate  nearest  to  Ivell  and  King's-Hintock  village,  and
pursued  the  long  north  drive — itself  much  like  a  turnpike

38


A  GROUP  OF  NOBLE  DAMES

road — which  led  thence  through  the  park  to  the  Court.
