There seemed to be no
help. Fast receding from all hope of succour, Constance was borne
rapidly down the stream. Suddenly, with the swiftness of a deer from
the brake, a figure bounded from an opposite thicket. He seemed scarcely
to leave his footmarks on the long herbage ere he gained the river's
brink. Plunging into the current he succeeded in rescuing the maiden
from her perilous condition. He laid her gently on the bank, beckoning
to her attendant, and was speedily out of sight. The aged Agnes, with
trembling hands, relieved Constance by loosening the folds from her
throat; and almost ere she had wrung out the water from the raven locks
of her inanimate mistress, the stranger returned. He carried a cordial,
with which he moistened her lips; the old woman chafed her temples,
resorting to the usual modes of resuscitation then in practice; and in
the end, Constance opened her eyes. A heavy sob accompanied this effort.
She looked wildly round, when she met the deep gaze of the stranger.
With a faint shriek, she hid her face in the bosom of her attendant,
who, overjoyed at her recovery, could scarcely refrain from falling at
the feet of her deliverer.
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