Page:Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal, t. I.djvu/162

 out of hearing."

"I must own you were somewhat of a greenhorn; I suppose, however, that you had your revenge, next time."

"My revenge, if it can be called by that name, was a fearful one.

"Our coachman, a young, stalwart, broad-shouldered and brawny fellow, whose fondness had hitherto expended itself on his horses, had fallen in love with this slight girl, who looked as sapless as a holly twig.

"He had tried to woo her in honourable fashion in every possible way. His former continence and his newly-born passion had softened all that was boorish in him, he had plied her with flowers, ribbons and trinkets, but she had scornfully refused all his presents.

"He had offered to marry her at once; he had gone so far as to make her a free gift of a cottage and a bit of land he possessed in his country.

"She exasperated him by treating him almost with scorn, resenting his love as an insult. An irresistible longing was in his eyes, in her's a