Sentence:  How meek and shrunken did that haughty Tarmac become as it slunk by the wide circle of asphalt of the yellow sort, that was loosely strewn before the great iron gates of Lady Hall as a <WSD>forerunner</WSD> of the consideration that awaited the guests of Rupert, Earl of Kare, .... 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A precursor or harbinger, a warning ahead.