{"id":"01KG6GMK3135MH1HX7934Y9HBA","cid":"bafkreiatp7rglsguzr47pxxyqh7xzabogcne4o4c64xgsuhs2x4f4g2uma","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":12626,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:03.886Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 11","source_file":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","start_line":12565,"text":"lavender-scented _billet-doux_, and hurriedly breaking the seal (a\r\nheart, transfixed with an arrow) I read by the light of the moon the\r\nfollowing:--\r\n\r\n\r\n  ‘GENTLE SIR,--If my fancy has painted you in genuine colours, you\r\n  will on the receipt of this, incontinently follow the bearer where\r\n  she will lead you.\r\n\r\n                                                        ‘INAMORATA.’\r\n\r\n\r\n‘The deuce I will!’ exclaimed I. ‘But soft!’ And I reperused this\r\nsingular document, turned over the billet in my fingers, and examined\r\nthe handwriting, which was femininely delicate, and I could have sworn\r\nwas a woman’s. Is it possible, thought I, that the days of romance are\r\nrevived? No, ‘The days of chivalry are over!’ says Burke.\r\n\r\nAs I made this reflection, I looked up, and beheld the same figure which\r\nhad handed me this questionable missive, beckoning me forward. I started\r\ntoward her; but, as I approached, she receded from me, and fled swiftly\r\nalong the margin of the river at a pace, which, encumbered as I was with\r\nmy heavy cloak and boots, I was unable to follow; and which filled me\r\nwith sundry misgivings as to the nature of the being who could travel\r\nwith such amazing celerity. At last, perfectly breathless, I fell into a\r\nwalk; which my mysterious fugitive perceiving, she likewise lessened her\r\npace, so as to keep herself still in sight, although at too great a\r\ndistance to permit me to address her.\r\n\r\nHaving recovered from my fatigue, and regained my breath, I loosened the\r\nclasp of my cloak, and inwardly resolving that I would come at the\r\nbottom of the mystery, I desperately flung the mantle from my shoulders,\r\nand dashing my beaver to the ground, gave chase in good earnest to the\r\ntantalising stranger. No sooner did I from my extravagant actions\r\nannounce my intention to overtake her, than with a light laugh of\r\nderision, she sprang forward at a rate, which in attempting to outstrip,\r\nsoon left me far in the rear, heartily disconcerted and crestfallen, and\r\ninly cursing the _ignis fatuus_ that danced so provokingly before me.\r\n\r\nAt length, like everyone else, learning wisdom from experience, I\r\nthought my policy lay in silently following the footsteps of my\r\neccentric guide, and quietly waiting the _dénouement_ of this\r\nextraordinary adventure. So soon as I relaxed my speed, and gave\r\nevidence of having renounced my more summary mode of procedure, the\r\nstranger, regulating her movements by mine, proceeded at a pace which\r\npreserved between us a uniform distance, ever and anon looking back like\r\na wary general to see if I were again inclined to try the mettle of her\r\nlimbs.\r\n\r\nAfter pursuing our way in this monotonous style for some time, I\r\nobserved that my conductress rather abated in her precautions, and had\r\nnot for the last ten or fifteen minutes taken her periodical survey over\r\nher shoulder; whereat plucking up my spirits, which I can assure you,\r\ncourteous reader, had fallen considerably below zero by the ill-success\r\nof my previous efforts, I again rushed madly forward at the summit of my\r\nspeed, and having advanced ten or twelve rods unperceived, was\r\nflattering myself that I should this time make good my purpose; when,\r\nturning suddenly round, as though reminded of her late omission, and\r\ndescrying me plunging ahead like an infuriated steed, she gave a slight\r\naudible scream of surprise, and once more fled, as though helped forward\r\nby invisible wings.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 11"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6GK9PNMK2BH5C1BFJXTJS2","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6GMK31V87VZ71HNGWEJM9K","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG6GMK317JSAD3C4AE9S9MBG","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:04.673Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:55:22.842Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}