It was a sudden, and to both men a quite unexpected, ceremonial; and it gave an air, touching and unusual, to his welcome.
And if that man is an ingrate who does not love his native land, how much more _immediate_, tender, and personal must the feeling be for the _home_ of one's own race.

That stately lady, who seemed to meet him at the threshold, was only the last of a long, shadowy line, whose hands were stretched out to him, even from the dark, forgotten days in which Loegberg Sandal laid the foundations of it.

Julius was sensitive, and full of imagination: he felt his heart beat quick, and his eyes grow dim to the thought; and he loitered up the wide, low steps, feeling very like a man going up the phantom stairway of a dream.
The squire's cheery voice broke the spell.

"We shall be ready for church in a quarter of an hour, Julius; will you remain at home, or go with us ?" "I should like to go with you." "That's good.

It is but a walk through the park: the church is almost at its gates." When he returned to the hall, the family were waiting for him; Mrs.
Sandal and her daughters standing together in a little group, the squire walking leisurely about with his hands crossed behind his back.