The tonic air and scents of the autumn, the crisp leaves underfoot, the slight frost on the ruts, helped his general intoxication.

He, the supposed scholar and recluse, was about to play a part--a rattling part.

The eye of England would be upon him! He already tasted the prison fare, and found it quite tolerable.
As to Desmond-- But the thought of him no sooner crossed the Squire's mind than he dismissed it.

Or rather it survived far within, as a volcanic force, from which the outer froth and ferment drew half its strength.

He was being forcibly dispossessed of Desmond, just as he was being forcibly dispossessed of his farms and his park; or of his money, swallowed up in monstrous income tax.
Ah, there were Dodge and Perley, the two park-keepers, one of whom lived in the White Lodge, now only a hundred yards away.