were going to spend
Christmas together. Pain possessed her; its operation seemed to isolate
her from the world that she had lately known. She breathed an
atmosphere of anguish; the mourning that the presence of those in the
churchyard had caused their loved ones seemed to find expression in her
heart, till, happily, tears eased her pain.

Then she became conscious of the physical discomfort occasioned by
kneeling on the ground in the cold night air.

She got up. In order to take a last look at the grave, she lit another
match. This burned steadily, enabling her to glance about her to see
what companionship her boy possessed on this drear December night. The
feeble match flame intensified the gloom and emphasised the deep, black
quietude of the place. This hamlet of the dead was amazingly remote
from all suggestions of life. It appeared to hug itself for its
complete detachment from human interests. It seemed desolate, alone,
forgotten by the world. As Mavis left its stillness, she thought:

"At least he's found a great peace."

Before Mavis left the churchyard, the stars enabled her to discern her
path. She hastened in the direction of Melkbridge, wondering if her
absence had been discovered. As before, she believed that she was
followed, but strove to think that the footsteps she was all but
certain she heard were the echo of her own. As she hurried through the
town, this impression became a conviction. She was alarmed, and
resolved to find out who it was who had elected to spy upon her
actions. When she came to the place where the road branched off to her
house, she concealed herself in the shadow of the wall. She had not
long to wait. Very soon, the tall upright figure of a man swung into
the road in which she was standing. One glance was enough to tell her
that it was Windebank. As he was about to pass her, he paused as if to
listen.

"Who are you looking for?" asked Mavis, who was anxious to discover
what he was doing out of doors.

"Let me see you home," he said coldly.

"If anyone sees us, they will think--" she began.

"We shan't meet anyone. It's not safe for you to be out."

They walked in silence. As he did not express the least surprise at
finding her out alone in the small hours of the morning, Mavis believed
that he had divined her intention of going to Pennington and had hung
about the house till she had come out, when he had followed, all the
way to and from her destination, in order to prote