"
Ah! there they are. Quick-eyed Vittoria has seen the cavalcade
first, and dances off to tell Ermentrude and Stine time enough to
prepare their last batch of fritters for the new-comers; Ebbo and
Gotz rush headlong down the hillside; and the Lady Baroness lays down
her distaff, and gazes with eyes of satisfied content at the small
party of horsemen climbing up the footpath. Then, when they have
wound out of sight round a rock, she moves out towards the hall-door,
with a light, quick step, for never yet has she resigned her great
enjoyment, that of greeting her son on the steps of the porch--those
steps where she once met such fearful news, but where that memory has
been effaced by many a cheerful welcome.
There, then, she stands, amid the bright throng of grandchildren,
while the Baron and his sons spring from their horses and come up to
her. The Baron doffs his Spanish hat, bends the knee, kisses her
hand, and receives her kiss on his brow, with the fervour of a life-
devotion, before he turns to accept the salutation of his daughters,
and then takes her hand, with pretty affectionate ceremony, to hand
her back to her seat.
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