The next day, a short time before the sportsmen came back, Miss Nevil, returning with her maid from a walk along the seashore, was just about to enter the inn, when she noticed a young woman, dressed in black, riding into the town on a small but strong horse.

She was followed by a sort of peasant, also on horseback, who wore a brown cloth jacket cut at the elbows.

A gourd was slung over his shoulder and a pistol was hanging at his belt, his hand grasped a gun, the butt of which rested in a leathern pocket fastened to his saddle-bow--in short, he wore the complete costume of a brigand in a melodrama, or of the middle-class Corsican on his travels.

Miss Nevil's attention was first attracted by the woman's remarkable beauty.

She seemed about twenty years of age; she was tall and pale, with dark blue eyes, red lips, and teeth like enamel.
In her expression pride, anxiety, and sadness were all legible.