Now then, down the hill; there's a gate at the
corner, and a bridge over the water. We couldn't be better. By George!
there they are, all together. If they don't pull him down in the first two
minutes, we shall have a run."
Lizzie understood most of it, more at least than would nine out of ten
young women who had never ridden a hunt before. She was to go wherever
Lord George led her, and she was to ride upon his heels. So much at least
she understood, and so much she was resolved to do. That dread about her
front teeth which had perplexed her on Monday was altogether gone now. She
would ride as fast as Lucinda Roanoke. That was her prevailing idea.
Lucinda, with Mrs. Carbuncle, Sir Griffin, and the ladies' groom, was at
the other side of the covert. Frank had been with his cousin and Lord
George, but had crept down the hill while the hounds were in the gorse. A
man who likes hunting, but hunts only once a year, is desirous of doing
the best he can with his day. When the hounds came out and crossed the
brook at the end of the gorse, perhaps he was a little too forward. But,
indeed, the state of affairs did not leave much time for waiting, or for
the etiquette of the hunting-field.
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