He stood before the cottage of Gerard; he recalled the eve
that he had first gazed upon its moonlit garden. What wild
and delicious thoughts were then his! They were gone like the
illumined hour. Nature and fortune had alike changed.
Prescient of sorrow, almost prophetic of evil, he opened the
cottage door, and the first person his eye encountered was
Morley.
Egremont had not met him for some time, and his cordial
greeting of Egremont to-night contrasted with the coldness,
not to say estrangement, which to the regret and sometimes the
perplexity of Egremont had gradually grown up between them.
Yet on no occasion was his presence less desired by our
friend. Morley was talking as Egremont entered with great
animation; in his hand a newspaper, on a paragraph contained
in which he was commenting. The name of Marney caught the ear
of Egremont who turned rather pale at the sound, and hesitated
on the threshold. The unembarrassed welcome of his friends
however re-assured him, and in a moment he even ventured to
enquire the subject of their conversation. Morley immediately
referring to the newspaper said, "This is what I have just
read--
"EXTRAORDINARY SPORT AT THE EARL OF MARNEY'S.
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