e post
that day.

But the next day Ferdinand felt sure there would be a letter for him;
the postman passed by the hotel door without stopping. Ferdinand thought
he should go mad. All day he walked up and down his room, thinking only
of Valentia. Why did she not write?

The night fell and he could see from his window the moon shining over
the clump of trees about Monnickendam church--he could stand it no
longer. He put on his hat and walked across country; the three miles
were endless; the church and the trees seemed to grow no nearer, and at
last, when he thought himself close, he found he had a bay to walk
round, and it appeared further away than ever.

He came to the mouth of the canal along which he and Valentia had so
often walked. He looked about, but he could see no one. His heart beat
as he approached the little bridge, but Valentia was not there. Of
course she would not come out alone. He ran to the hotel and asked for
her. They told him she was not in. He walked through the town; not a
soul was to be seen. He came to the church; he walked round, and
then--right at the edge of the trees--he saw a figure sitting on a
bench.

* * * * *

She was dressed in the same flowered dress which she had worn when he
likened her to a Dresden shepherdess; she was looking towards Volendam.

He went up to her silently. She sprang up with a little shriek.

'Ferdinand!'

'Oh, Valentia, I cannot help it. I could not remain away any longer. I
could do nothing but think of you all day, all night. If you knew how I
loved you! Oh, Valentia, have pity on me! I cannot be your friend. It's
all nonsense about friendship; I hate it. I can only love you. I love
you with all my heart and soul, Valentia.'

She was frightened.

'Oh! how can you stand there so coldly and watch my agony? Don't you
see? How can you be so cold?'

'I am not cold, Ferdinand,' she said, trembling. 'Do you think I have
been happy while you were away?'

'Valentia!'

'I thought of you, too, Ferdinand, all day, all night. And I longed for
you to come back. I did not know till you went that--I loved you.'

'Oh, Valentia!'

He took her in his arms and pressed her passionately to him.

'No, for God's sake!'

She tore herself away. But again he took her in his arms, and this time
he kissed her on the mouth. She tried to turn her face away.

'I shall kill myself, Ferdinand!'

'What do you mean?'

'In those long hours t