The thralls wrought cheerfully for him, for he was a kindly master, and the freemen of the manor had no complaint against one who did impartial justice and respected their slow and ancient ways.

As for skill in hunting, there was no fellow to the lord of Highstead between Trent and Thames.
Inside the homestead the Lady Hilda moved happily, a wife smiling and well content.

She had won more than a husband; it seemed she had made a convert; for daily Jehan grew into the country-side as if he had been born in it.

Something in the soft woodland air and the sharper tang of the fens and the sea awoke response from his innermost soul.

An aching affection was born in him for every acre of his little heritage.