Armine, Chapter XV-XVII [pp. 685-708]

1883.] ARMIArE. 685
ARMI NE.
CHAPTER XV.
A BRIGHT spring morning is always certain to find the alleys
of the Bois de Boulogne thronged with equestrians, and the
morning when Egerton joined the party consisting of ~Iiss Bertram, Miss Dorrance, and an elderly gentleman who, being a
distant connection and great friend of the Bertrams, acted as
chaperon, was no exception to the rule. The leafy bridle-roads
which cross the avenues and plunge into the green depths of
the great pleasure~ground were as full of animated movement
as Rotten Row, with the difference that in Rotten Row all the
animation is visible at a glance, while here it is only revealed in
part. But this difference is in favor of the Bois; for who does
not know the beauty of a sun-and-shadow-flecked forest vista,
and the charming fancies which horsemen and horsewomen
passing out of sight or advancing along such a vista suggest?
All the world of romance seems to open-romance for ever associated with youth and beauty and strength, and here surrounded
by glancing sunlight and dewy leaves, and soft mists lying afar
over famous heights.
The party of people who entered the Bois on this particular
morning were pleasantly exhilarated by the brightness and beauty
around them. Egerton was at first a little puzzled to imagine
why he should have been asked to join what was already apartie carr6c, but he was soon enlightened by the manner in which
Miss Dorrance appropriated him.
"In my opinion it was all nonsense asking old Colonel Faire
to accompany us," she confided to him when the gentleman mentioned was in advance, riding with Miss Bertram and Talford.
"Mamma would never have thought of such a thing. She sees
no reason why I should not go about with Cousin Marmaduke
here as I would in America; and I see no reason either. But
Mrs. Bertram is full of foreign ideas-I suppose because she has
lived abroad so much-and she insisted that Sibyl must not go
without a chaperon. There was no lady eligible for the position whom we could ask, so we finally compromised on this
old gentleman. ~e is very nice, and a great friend of the
Bertrams, you know; but I did not care to have him bestowed