A fair had generally much attraction for him--the merry laughter, the sociable meetings, the sound of music on the air, and the altogether festive character of the day; but on this occasion its pleasures seemed to pall, and quickly dispatching the business which had brought him there, he returned to the inn, and, mounting his horse, rode home early in the afternoon.
Why he thus hurried away he never could explain.

Ever since he had leant on the bridge over the Berwen in the morning he had been haunted by a feeling of Valmai's presence.

Little had he guessed that she had been so near him while he looked down through the interlacing scenery which hid the river from his sight.

It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon as he reached that part of the high road from which the beach was visible, and here he stopped a moment to look and wonder at the storm, which had so suddenly increased in violence.
"How far up the beach at Ynysoer those breakers run! And the Rock Bridge!--I wouldn't like to cross that to-night; but surely that was a woman's figure crossing it now!" A sudden fear darted through his mind, and dismounting, he climbed to the top of the turfy bank at the side of the road to gain a better view of the coast.

"Yes, a woman--a girl, surely, and a graceful girl, wearing a scarlet cloak.