'
'I'll go at once.'
And he strode away up the valley, under a broiling sun and amid
the deathlike silence of early afternoon. He ascended, with
giddy-paced haste, the windy range of rocks to where they had sat,
felt and peered about the stones and crannies, but Elfride's stray
jewel was nowhere to be seen. Next Stephen slowly retraced his
steps, and, pausing at a cross-road to reflect a while, he left
the plateau and struck downwards across some fields, in the
direction of Endelstow House.
He walked along the path by the river without the slightest
hesitation as to its bearing, apparently quite familiar with every
inch of the ground. As the shadows began to lengthen and the
sunlight to mellow, he passed through two wicket-gates, and drew
near the outskirts of Endelstow Park. The river now ran along
under the park fence, previous to entering the grove itself, a
little further on.
Here stood a cottage, between the fence and the stream, on a
slightly elevated spot of ground, round which the river took a
turn. The characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its
one chimney in the gable end, its squareness of form disguised by
a huge cloak of ivy, which had grown so luxuriantly and extended
so far from its base, as to increase the apparent bulk of the
chimney to the dimensions of a tower. Some little distance from
the back of the house rose the park boundary, and over this were
to be seen the sycamores of the grove, making slow inclinations to
the just-awakening air.
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