I was discovering these with envy, one by one, when he raised his head higher and listened for a moment, with a hand on either arm of the chair.
The next instant he sprang up and faced the door.

Glancing at Cicely, I saw her cowering down in her chair.
The young Squire had hardly gained his feet when the door flew open and the figures of two men appeared on the threshold--Sir Felix Williams and his only son, the father and brother of Cicely.
There, in the doorway, the intruders halted; but for an instant only.
Almost before the Squire could draw, his sweetheart's brother had sprung forward.

Like two serpents their rapiers engaged in the candle-light.
The soundless blades crossed and glittered.

Then one of them flickered in a narrow circle, and the brother's rapier went spinning from his hand across the room.
Young Cardinnock lowered his point at once, and his adversary stepped back a couple of paces.

While a man might count twenty the pair looked each other in the face, and then the old man, Sir Felix, stepped slowly forward.
But before he could thrust--for the young Squire still kept his point lowered--Cicely sprang forward and threw herself across her lover's breast.