acted by her passive
obedience and by her passionate protestations of love; but he said
nothing. When she had completed her supplication he threw himself
back in his seat and after a while took his book. It may be doubted
whether he read much, for the question as to his girl's happiness was
quite as near his heart as she could wish it to be.

It was late in the afternoon before they reached Manchester Square,
and they were both happy to find that they were not troubled by Mr.
Lopez at the first moment. Everett was at home and in bed, and had
not indeed as yet recovered from the effect of the man's knuckles at
his windpipe; but he was well enough to assure his father and sister
that they need not have disturbed themselves or hurried their return
from Herefordshire on his account. "To tell the truth," said he,
"Ferdinand Lopez was hurt worse than I was."

"He said nothing of being hurt himself," said Mr. Wharton.

"How was he hurt?" asked Emily in the quietest, stillest voice.

"The fact is," said Everett, beginning to tell the whole story after
his own fashion, "if he hadn't been at hand then, there would have
been an end of me. We had separated, you know,--"

"What could make two men separate from each other in the darkness of
St. James's Park?"

"Well,--to tell the truth, we had quarrelled. I had made an ass
of myself. You need not go into that any further, except that you
should know that it was all my fault. Of course it wasn't a real
quarrel,"--when he said this Emily, who was sitting close to his
bed-head, pressed his arm under the clothes with her hand,--"but I
had said something rough, and he had gone on just to put an end to
it."

"It was uncommonly foolish," said old Wharton. "It was very foolish
going round the park at all at that time of night."

"No doubt, sir;--but it was my doing. And if he had not gone with me,
I should have gone alone." Here there was another pressure. "I was a
little low in spirits, and wanted the walk."

"But how is he hurt?" asked the father.

"The man who was kneeling on me and squeezing the life out of me
jumped up when he heard Lopez coming, and struck him over the head
with a bludgeon. I heard the blow, though I was pretty well done for
at the time myself. I don't think they hit me, but they got something
round my neck, and I was half strangled before I knew what they were
doing. Poor Lopez bled horribly, but he says he is none the worse for
it." Here there was anothe