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Rh face was ruddy with the biting wintry air, and his eyes were bright.

The Colonel was openly charmed to see him; so was Miss Jemima, and Letty's face turned such a rosy red that it told a little story of its own. Farebrother explained that he was on his way home from the South on a professional trip, and had written that he would stop over two or three days at Corbin Hall. His letters had not been received—the mails being conducted upon a happy-go-lucky schedule in that part of the world—and on finding the river closed by ice when he left the railway twenty-five miles away, he had hired horses and had driven the distance that day in spite of the storm.

It was certainly good to see him—he was so cheerful, so manly, so full of fresh and breezy life. When he, as it were, was dragged into the library by the Colonel, Madame de Fonblanque was not present—she had gone to her room for a little rest before supper. In a little while the Colonel began to tell about her—and once started on a theme, he could not resist airing his opinion of "Romaine's utter want of courtesy and consideration for a woman."