Nell, of Shorne Mills | Page 6

he was like; and, with all a woman's quickness of perception, saw that
he was extremely good-looking; that he was rather dark than fair; that
though he was young--twenty-nine, thirty, flashed through her
mind--the hair on his temples was faintly flecked with gray.
But something more than the masculine beauty of the face struck her,
struck her vaguely, and that was the air of distinction which she had
noticed in his bearing as he came down the road, and an expression of
weariness in the faint lines about the mouth and eyes.
She was aware, without knowing why, that he was extremely well
dressed; she saw that the ungloved hand was long and thin--the hand of
a well-bred man--and that everything about him indicated wealth and
the gentleman.
All these observations required but a second or two--a man would only
have got at them after an hour--and, almost before they were made, he
opened his eyes with the usual dazed and puzzled expression which an
individual wears when he has been knocked out of time and is coming
back to consciousness.
As his eyes opened, Nell noticed that they were dark--darker than they

should have been to match his hair--and that they were anything but
commonplace ones. He looked up at her for an instant or two, then
muttered something under his breath--Nell was almost certain that he
swore--and aloud, in the toneless voice of the newly conscious, said:
"I came off, didn't I?"
"Yes," said Nell.
She neither blushed nor looked shy. Indeed, she was too frightened, too
absorbed by her desire for his recovery to remember herself, or the fact
that this strange man's head was lying on her knee.
"I must have been unconscious," he said, almost to himself. "Yes, I've
struck my head."
Then he got to his feet and stood looking at her; and his face was, if
anything, whiter than it had been.
"I'm very sorry. Permit me to apologize, for I must have frightened you
awfully. And"--he looked at her dress, upon which was a large wet
patch where his head had rested--"and I've spoiled your dress. In short,
I've made a miserable nuisance of myself."
Nell passed his apology by.
"Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously.
"No; I think not," he replied. "I can't think how I managed to come off;
I don't usually make such an ass of myself."
He went for his hat, but as he stooped to pick it up he staggered, and
Nell ran to him and caught his arm.
"You are hurt!" she said. "I--I was afraid so!"
"I'm giddy, that's all, I think," he said; but his lips closed tightly after
his speech, and they twitched at the corners. "I expect my horse is more
damaged than I am," he added, and he walked, very slowly, to where

the animal stood looking from side to side with a startled air.
"Yes; knees cut. Poor old chap! It was my fault--my fau----"
He stopped, and put his hand to his head as if he were confused.
Nell went and stood close by him, with a vague kind of idea that he was
going to fall and that she might help him, support him.
"You are in pain?" she asked, her brow wrinkled with her anxiety, her
eyes darkened with her womanly sympathy and pity.
"Yes," he admitted frankly. "I've knocked my head, and"--he touched
his arm--"and, yes, I'm afraid I've broken my arm."
"Oh!"--cried Nell, startled and aghast--"oh! you must come into the
house at once--at once."
He glanced at the cottage.
"Your house?"
"Yes," said Nell. "Oh, come, please. You may faint again----"
"Oh, no, I shan't."
"But you may--you may! Take my arm; lean on me----"
He took her arm, but did not lean on her, and he smiled down at her.
"I don't look it, but I weigh nearly twelve stone, and I should bear you
down," he said.
"I'm stronger than I look," said Nell. "Please come!"
"I'll put the bridle over the gate first," he said.
"No, no; I will do it. Lean against the gate while I go."

He rested one hand on the gate. She got the horse--he came as quietly
as his master had done--and hitched the bridle on the post; then she
drew the man's arm within hers, and led him into the house and into the
drawing-room.
"Sit down," she said; "lean back. I won't be a moment. Oh, where is
Molly? But perhaps I'd better not leave you."
"I'm all right. I assure you that I've no intention of fainting again," he
said; and there was something like a touch of irritation in his tone.
Nell rang the bell and stood looking down at him anxiously. There was
not a sign of self-consciousness or embarrassment in her face or