have
you been talking!" he said. "And what nonsense have I been listening to!
It's the governess at last."

Midwinter made no reply. Allan took him by the arm, and tried to lead
him on. He released himself suddenly, and seized Allan with both hands,
holding him back from the figure at the pool, as he had held him back
from the cabin door on the deck of the timber ship. Once again the
effort was in vain. Once again Allan broke away as easily as he had
broken away in the past time.

"One of us must speak to her," he said. "And if you won't, I will."

He had only advanced a few steps toward the Mere, when he heard, or
thought he heard, a voice faintly calling after him, once and once only,
the word Farewell. He stopped, with a feeling of uneasy surprise, and
looked round.

"Was that you, Midwinter?" he asked.

There was no answer. After hesitating a moment more, Allan returned to
the plantation. Midwinter was gone.

He looked back at the pool, doubtful in the new emergency what to do
next. The lonely figure had altered its course in the interval; it had
turned, and was advancing toward the trees. Allan had been evidently
either heard or seen. It was impossible to leave a woman unbefriended,
in that helpless position and in that solitary place. For the second
time Allan went out from the trees to meet her.

As he came within sight of her face, he stopped in ungovernable
astonishment. The sudden revelation of her beauty, as she smiled and
looked at him inquiringly, suspended the movement in his limbs and the
words on his lips. A vague doubt beset him whether it was the governess,
after all.

He roused himself, and, advancing a few paces, mentioned his name. "May
I ask," he added, "if I have the pleasure--?"

The lady met him easily and gracefully half-way. "Major Milroy's
governess," she said. "Miss Gwilt."

X. THE HOUSE-MAID'S FACE.

All was quiet at Thorpe Ambrose. The hall was solitary, the rooms were
dark. The servants, waiting for the supper hour in the garden at the
back of the house, looked up at the clear heaven and the rising moon,
and agreed that there was little prospect of the return of the picnic
party until later in the night. The general opinion, led by the high
authority of the cook, predicted that they might all sit down to supper
without the least fear of being disturbed by the bell. Having arrived at
this conclusion, the servants assembled round the table, and exactly at
the moment whe