, and halted there undecidedly; then he saw a flight
of rough steps by a stone fountain and climbed them, clutching the
wooden rail hard as he went up; they led to a little row of cabins,
barricaded by stacks of pine-wood, and further on there was another
short flight of steps, which brought him out upon a little terrace in
front of a primitive stucco church. Here he paused to recover breath
and think, if thought was possible. Above the irregular line of
high-pitched brown roofs at his feet he could just catch a glimpse of
the rushing green Rhine, with the end of the covered way on the bridge
and the little recess beyond. It was light enough still for him to see
clearly the pair that stood in that recess: Vincent's broad figure
leaning earnestly towards that other one--he was drawing closer--now
he drew back again as if to watch the effect of his words. Mark knew
well what she must be hearing down there. He strained his eyes as the
dusk shrouded the two more and more; he thought that, even there, he
would be able to see a change when the blow fell. 'Mabel, my
darling--my innocent darling!' he groaned aloud, 'have pity on me--do
not give me up!' From the opposite side he could hear the faint
strains of a street organ which was playing a lively popular air; it
had come in that morning, and he and Mabel had been amused at the
excitement it produced amongst the unsophisticated inhabitants; it had
exhausted its _repertoire_ over and over again, but its popularity
seemed yet undiminished.

As he leaned there on the rough stone parapet his panic gradually
abated, and the suspense became intolerable; he could not stay there.
By this time too the worst must have happened; it was useless to try
to avoid the inevitable; he would go down and face his doom, without
giving her further cause to despise him. The idea of denying the
charge never occurred to him for a moment; he knew that face to face
with his accuser such audacity was beyond his powers; he had nothing
to say in defence, but he must hear his sentence.

And so, in a sort of despairing apathy, he went steadily down again to
the street level, and, with a self-command for which he had not dared
to hope, passed with a firm tread along the covered way across the
bridge.

* * * * *

After the first surprise of meeting, Vincent had had to explain, in
answer to Mabel's eager questions, the manner in which he had escaped
being a victim to the 'M