All was so quiet and so soft that
the gaunt old walls looked as if, having at first with harsh
intrusion forced their way up into the sweet realm of air from the
stony regions of the earth beneath, by slow degrees, yet long since,
they had suffered an air change, and been charmed and gentled into
harmony with soft winds and odours and moonlight. To Dorothy it
seemed as if peace itself had taken form in the feathery weight that
filled the flaky air; and as her horse galloped along, flying like a
bird over ditch and mound, her own heart so light that her body
seemed to float above the saddle rather than rest upon it, she felt
like a soul which, having been dragged to hell by a lurking fiend, a
good and strong angel was bearing aloft into bliss. Few delights can
equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.
No mastiff came to Dorothy's whistle, and having finished their
round, they rode back to the stables, put up their horses, and
rejoined lady Margaret, where she was still pacing the sunk walk
around the moat.
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