A glance
from Patch would have told Wolsey, had he required any such
information, that this was the forester's granddaughter. Her beauty
quite ravished him, and drew from him an exclamation of wonder and
delight. Features regular, exquisitely moulded, and of a joyous
expression, a skin dyed like a peach by the sun, but so as to improve
rather than impair its hue; eyes bright, laughing, and blue as a summer
sky; ripe, ruddy lips, and pearly teeth; and hair of a light and glossy
brown, constituted the sum of her attractions. Her sylph-like figure was
charmingly displayed by the graceful exercise on which she was
engaged, and her small hands, seemingly scarcely able to grasp an oar,
impelled the skiff forwards with marvellous velocity, and apparently
without much exertion on her part.
Unabashed by the presence of the strangers, though Wolsey's attire
could leave her in no doubt as to his high ecclesiastical dignity, she
sprang ashore at the landing-place, and fastened her bark to the side of
the boathouse.
"You are Mabel Lyndwood, I presume, fair maiden?" inquired the
cardinal, in his blandest tones.
"Such is my name, your grace," she replied; "for your garb tells me I am
addressing Cardinal Wolsey.
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