between you and the whole world; in time it would come, in time you
would care!"

He had come close to her now; in his eagerness he pressed against her,
and, earnestness overcoming diffidence, he almost ventured to take her
hand in his. She felt herself inwardly shrink from him with the
repulsion that young wild animals feel at times for mere contact. But
outwardly she did not betray it; pity for him kept nature under
control.

"I cannot," she said very gently; "I can never care."

Then he knew that he had his answer, and there was no appeal; he drew
back a pace, and because he never said one word of regret, or
reproach, or pleading, her heart smote her.

"I am so sorry!" she said; "I am so sorry. Oh, why is everything so
hard! Joost, dear Joost, you must not mind; I am not half good enough
for you; I'm not, indeed. Please forget me and--let me go."

And with that she turned and fled into the house.

The maidservant in the kitchen was minding the pots; it still wanted
some while to dinner time; she did not expect the English miss would
come yet, probably not till it was necessary to dish up. The letter,
of course, would have occupied her some time; she had gone out
probably to meet the writer--the maid never for a moment doubted him
to be the sharer of yesterday's escapade. She heard Julia come in, and
judged the meeting to have been a pleasant one, as it had taken time.
She had gone up-stairs now, doubtless to pack her things; that would
occupy her till almost dinner time.

It did, for she did not begin directly, but sat on her bed instead,
doing nothing for a time. But when she did begin, she went to work
methodically, folding garments with care and packing them neatly; her
heart ached for Joost and for the tangle things were in, but that did
not prevent her attending to details when she once set to work. At
last she had everything done, even her hat and coat ready to put on
when dinner should be over. Then, after a final glance round to see
that she had left nothing but the charred fragments of Rawson-Clew's
letter, she went down-stairs and got the dinner ready.

She did not take her meal with the family, but again had it in the
little room. She brought the dishes to and fro from the kitchen,
however, so she passed close to Joost once or twice and saw his grave
face and serious blue eyes, as she had seen them every day since her
first coming. And when she looked at him, and saw him, his appearance,
his sma