p as
the words escaped him. He was conscious of doing what he had not done
yet--of voluntarily putting off the evil hour; of making Mr. Brock the
pretext for gaining the last respite left, the respite of time.

The only sound that reached him through the open door was the sound of
Allan stirring noisily in the next room. He stepped at once into the
empty corridor, and meeting no one on the stairs, made his way out of
the house. The dread that his resolution to leave Allan might fail him
if he saw Allan again was as vividly present to his mind in the morning
as it had been all through the night. He drew a deep breath of relief
as he descended the house steps--relief at having escaped the friendly
greeting of the morning, from the one human creature whom he loved!

He entered the shrubbery with Mr. Brock's letter in his hand, and took
the nearest way that led to the major's cottage. Not the slightest
recollection was in his mind of the talk which had found its way to his
ears during the night. His one reason for determining to see the woman
was the reason which the rector had put in his mind. The one remembrance
that now guided him to the place in which she lived was the remembrance
of Allan's exclamation when he first identified the governess with the
figure at the pool.

Arrived at the gate of the cottage, he stopped. The thought struck
him that he might defeat his own object if he looked at the rector's
questions in the woman's presence. Her suspicions would be probably
roused, in the first instance, by his asking to see her (as he had
determined to ask, with or without an excuse), and the appearance of the
letter in his hand might confirm them.

She might defeat him by instantly leaving the room. Determined to fix
the description in his mind first, and then to confront her, he opened
the letter; and, turning away slowly by the side of the house, read the
seven questions which he felt absolutely assured beforehand the woman's
face would answer.

In the morning quiet of the park slight noises traveled far. A slight
noise disturbed Midwinter over the letter.

He looked up and found himself on the brink of a broad grassy trench,
having the park on one side and the high laurel hedge of an inclosure
on the other. The inclosure evidently surrounded the back garden of the
cottage, and the trench was intended to protect it from being damaged by
the cattle grazing in the park.

Listening carefully as the slight sound wh