"He asked him to meet him here to save time,
and"--she turned towards the window--"there's his waggon now."

She moved towards the door, and then turned again. "Is there any
blood--red blood we will call it--or even common-sense in you? You
could have kept that man here if you had wanted."

"No," said Agatha, "I don't think I could. I'm not even sure that if
I'd had the right I would have done it. He recognised that."

Mrs. Hastings looked at her very curiously. "Then," she said, "you
have either a somewhat extraordinary character, or are in love with him
in a way that is beyond most of us. In any case, I can't help feeling
that you will be sorry for what you have done some day."

Next moment the door closed with a bang, and Agatha was left alone
endeavouring to analyse her sensations during her interview with
Wyllard, which was difficult, for they had been confused and
fragmentary. She had certainly been angry with him, but the cause for
this was much less apparent, though there were one or two
half-sufficient explanations. For one thing, it was almost intolerable
to feel that he had evidently taken it for granted that the greater
security she would enjoy as his wife would appeal to her, though there
was a certain satisfaction in the reflection that to leave her
dependent upon Mrs. Hastings caused him concern. For another thing,
his reserve had been at least perplexing, and it was borne in upon her
that it would have cost her a more determined effort to withstand him
had he spoken with fire and passion. The restraint, however, had been
evident, and he could not have practised it unless there had been
something to hold in check; and then it became apparent that it was
more important to ascertain his motives than her own.

If the man had been fervently in love with her, why had he not insisted
on that fact, she asked. Could it have been because he had with the
fantastic generosity, which he was evidently capable of, been willing
to leave his comrade unhandicapped with an open field? That, however,
seemed too much to expect from any man. Then there was the other
explanation that he preferred to leave the choice wholly to her lest he
should tempt her too strongly to break faith with Gregory, which
brought the blood to her face as it had done already, since it
suggested that he fancied he had only to urge her sufficiently and she
would yield. There was, it seemed, no satisfactory explanation at all.
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