t of that silence was irresistible. Involuntarily the man and
woman lowered their voices, and bent nearer; pale face to pale face.

"Are you afraid still?" Bedford whispered, and Katrine shook her head.

"Not afraid. Dazed--a little, I think. It's so unreal. A world of
dreams..."

"A world of dreams, and no one in it, but you and me."

His hand was still there, and once again the mad, unreasoning impulse
seized her to touch it, to grasp its support. So overmastering was the
desire, that the physical effort at restraint left her faint and weak.
She leaned back in her seat, and turned her head aside, her cheeks
flaming with shame. To what had she come, the reserved,
well-disciplined Katrine Beverley, that she should be capable of such a
thought! What had become of her modesty, her pride; had she no decency
left, no loyalty towards the man who had given her his heart?

Katrine's brain formed bitter reproaches, but the vagrant heart brushed
them aside. His hand! His arm! Compared to them all else was as
dross. To lay her head for one hour on that broad shoulder, seemed the
summit of all that life could give. She felt his eyes following her,
searching her face, but dared not meet them. There had been music in
the way in which he had spoken those last words; his voice had dropped
to a lower note. So had Grizel's beautiful voice deepened, when she had
spoken to Martin. To one who had once heard those accents, their
meaning was unmistakable. He loved her, and, God help her! she loved
him in return with a passion which frightened her by its intensity. She
had imagined that she was cold, that for her the raptures of love would
be exchanged for a calm and moderate content; for twenty-six years she
had preserved an unbroken front, and now all the stored-up forces of her
nature arose and clamoured. Katrine realised with horror that her life
had passed out of her own control, and lay in the hollow of this man's
hand. What he asked of her, she would grant; when he commanded, she
would obey. There was no force in her to say him nay. If he claimed
her, Jim Blair might go to the winds; all the world might stand on one
side, and if this man beckoned from the other she would leave all to
follow him... The time of self-deception was past, and with a desperate
candour she faced the situation, and considered her own course of
action. The only chance of safety lay in flight. Two days more, and
the voyage would be o