Scarcely had he taken his seat in the carriage when the coachman
touched his horses with the whip, and they were off at a good round
pace; while he was in utter darkness, and did not even know which way
they went, as the leathern curtains were carefully drawn down, so that
nothing could be seen from within, or without. The small page remained
at his post on the carriage step, but spoke never a word, and Leander
could not with decency question him, much as he would have liked to
do so. He knew that his surroundings were luxurious, for his exploring
fingers told him that the soft, yielding cushions, upon which he was
resting, were covered with velvet, and his feet sank into a thick, rich
rug, while the vague, delicious perfume, that seemed to surround and
caress him, soothed his ruffled feelings, and filled his mind with
rapturous visions of bliss. He tried in vain to divine who it could
be that had sent to fetch him in this delightfully mysterious way, and
became more curious than ever, and also rather uneasy again, when he
felt that the carriage had quitted the paved streets of the town, and
was rolling smoothly and rapidly along over a country road. At last it
stopped, the little page jumped down and flung the door wide open, and
Leander, alighting, found himself confronted by a high, dark wall, which
seemed to inclose a park, or garden; but he did not perceive a wooden
door close at hand until his small companion, pushing back a rusty bolt,
proceeded to open it, with considerable difficulty, and admitted him
into what was apparently a thick wood.
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