Rowland was turning away, when he heard a sound of voices rising up from below.

He had but to step slightly forward to find himself overlooking two persons who had seated themselves on a narrow ledge, in a sunny corner.

They had apparently had an eye to extreme privacy, but they had not observed that their position was commanded by Rowland's stand-point.

One of these airy adventurers was a lady, thickly veiled, so that, even if he had not been standing directly above her, Rowland could not have seen her face.

The other was a young man, whose face was also invisible, but who, as Rowland stood there, gave a toss of his clustering locks which was equivalent to the signature--Roderick Hudson.