e rosy-fingered dawn: to see her
stand on the granite at his side in the full glory of the red light, and
to show her a world which she was henceforth to share with him.

Some such image, some such vision of his figure on the rock, may have
been in her mind as she turned her face again toward the mountain.

"You are cold," he said, reaching for the mackintosh in the back of the
trap.

"No," she said. But she stopped the horse and acquiesced by slipping her
arms into the coat, and he felt upon his hand the caress of a stray wisp
of hair at her neck. Under a spell of thought and feeling, seemingly
laid by the magic of the night, neither spoke for a space. And then
Victoria summoned her forces, and turned to him again. Her tone bespoke
the subtle intimacy that always sprang up between them, despite bars and
conventions.

"I was sure you would understand why I wrote you from New York," she
said, "although I hesitated a long time before doing so. It was very
stupid of me not to realize the scruples which made you refuse to be a
candidate for the governorship, and I wanted to--to apologize."

"It wasn't necessary," said Austen, "but--I valued the note." The
words seemed so absurdly inadequate to express his appreciation of the
treasure which he carried with him, at that moment, in his pocket. "But,
really," he added, smiling at her in the moonlight, "I must protest
against your belief that I could have been an effective candidate! I
have roamed about the State, and I have made some very good friends here
and there among the hill farmers, like Mr. Jenney. Mr. Redbrook is
one of these. But it would have been absurd of me even to think of a
candidacy founded on personal friendships. I assure you," he added,
smiling, "there was no self denial in my refusal."

She gave him an appraising glance which he found at once enchanting and
disconcerting.

"You are one of those people, I think, who do not know their own value.
If I were a man, and such men as Mr. Redbrook and Mr. Jenney knew me and
believed sufficiently in me and in my integrity of purpose to ask me
to be their candidate" (here she hesitated an instant), "and I believed
that the cause were a good one, I should not have felt justified in
refusing. That is what I meant. I have always thought of you as a man of
force and a man of action. But I did not see--the obstacle in your way."

She hesitated once more, and added, with a courage which did not fail
of its direct a