ow. I had sufficient consideration for
her to arrange the blind so that she might not see me if she looked up,
but I had no strength to resist the temptation of letting my eyes, at
least, follow her as far as they could on her walk.

She was dressed in a brown cloak, with a plain black silk gown under
it. On her head was the same simple straw hat which she had worn on
the morning when we first met. A veil was attached to it now which hid
her face from me. By her side trotted a little Italian greyhound, the
pet companion of all her walks, smartly dressed in a scarlet cloth
wrapper, to keep the sharp air from his delicate skin. She did not
seem to notice the dog. She walked straight forward, with her head
drooping a little, and her arms folded in her cloak. The dead leaves,
which had whirled in the wind before me when I had heard of her
marriage engagement in the morning, whirled in the wind before her, and
rose and fell and scattered themselves at her feet as she walked on in
the pale waning sunlight. The dog shivered and trembled, and pressed
against her dress impatiently for notice and encouragement. But she
never heeded him. She walked on, farther and farther away from me,
with the dead leaves whirling about her on the path--walked on, till my
aching eyes could see her no more, and I was left alone again with my
own heavy heart.

In another hour's time I had done my work, and the sunset was at hand.
I got my hat and coat in the hall, and slipped out of the house without
meeting any one.

The clouds were wild in the western heaven, and the wind blew chill
from the sea. Far as the shore was, the sound of the surf swept over
the intervening moorland, and beat drearily in my ears when I entered
the churchyard. Not a living creature was in sight. The place looked
lonelier than ever as I chose my position, and waited and watched, with
my eyes on the white cross that rose over Mrs. Fairlie's grave.

XIII

The exposed situation of the churchyard had obliged me to be cautious
in choosing the position that I was to occupy.

The main entrance to the church was on the side next to the
burial-ground, and the door was screened by a porch walled in on either
side. After some little hesitation, caused by natural reluctance to
conceal myself, indispensable as that concealment was to the object in
view, I had resolved on entering the porch. A loophole window was
pierced in each of its side walls. Through one o