locked chamber. Lest
curiosity should be excited by his making inquiries at the hotel,
Barfoot proposed to walk over to Gosforth, the nearest town, this
afternoon, and learn where the registrar for the locality of Seascale
might be found. By neither was allusion made to their difference of
last evening, but Rhoda distressed herself by imagining a diminished
fervour in her companion; he seemed unusually silent and meditative,
and was content to hold her hand now and then.

'Shall you stay here all the week?' she inquired.

'If you wish me to.'

'You will find it wearisome.'

'Impossible, with you here. But if I run up to London for a day or two
it might be better. There are preparations. We shall go first of all to
my rooms--'

'I would rather not have stayed in London.'

'I thought you might wish to make purchases.'

'Let us go to some other town, and spend a few days there before
leaving England.'

'Very well. Manchester or Birmingham.'

'You speak rather impatiently,' said Rhoda, looking at him with an
uneasy smile. 'Let it be London if you prefer--'

'On no account. It's all indifferent to me so long as we get safely
away together. Every man is impatient of these preliminaries. Yes, in
that case I must of course go up to London. To-morrow, and back on
Saturday?'

A shower of rain caused them some discomfort. Through the afternoon it
still rained at intervals whilst Barfoot was discharging his business
at Gosforth. He was to see Rhoda again at eight o'clock, and as the
time threatened to hang heavily on his hands he returned by a long
detour, reaching the Seascale hotel about half-past six. No sooner had
he entered than there was delivered to him a letter, brought by
messenger an hour or two ago. It surprised him to recognize Rhoda's
writing on the envelope, which seemed to contain at least two sheets of
notepaper. What now? Some whimsey? Agitated and annoyed by the
anticipation of trouble, he went apart and broke the letter open.

First appeared an enclosure--a letter in his cousin Mary's writing. He
turned to the other sheet and read these lines,--

'I send you something that has come by post this afternoon. Please to
bring it with you when you meet me at eight o'clock--if you still care
to do so.'

His face flushed with anger. What contemptible woman's folly was this?
'If you still care to do so'--and written in a hand that shook. If this
was to be his experience of matrimonial engagement--What