"I perceive," he said, "that Sir William Ashton is unwilling to announce himself in the Castle of Wolf's Crag."
"I had hoped it was unnecessary," said the Lord Keeper, relieved from his silence, as a spectre by the voice of the exorcist; "and I am obliged to you, Master of Ravenswood, for breaking the ice at once, where circumstances—unhappy circumstances let me call them—rendered self-introduction peculiarly awkward."
"And I am not then," said the Master of Ravenswood, gravely, "to consider the honour of this visit as purely accidental."
"Let us distinguish a little,"—said the Keeper, assuming an appearance of ease which perhaps his heart was a stranger to; "this is an honour which I have eagerly desired for some time, but which I might never have obtained, save for the accident of the storm. My daughter and I are alike grateful for this opportunity of thanking the brave man, to whom she owes her life and I mine."
