mised that Karslake should come for her within an hour or
two and take her away with him, back to London and the arms of the father
whom, although so recently revealed and accepted, she had already begun to
love; if indeed it were not true that she had in filial sense fallen in
love with Lanyard at first sight, through intuition, that afternoon in the
Cafe des Exiles so long, so very long ago!

Well: she might as well await Karslake at the station. It would be simpler,
she would be more at ease there, would breathe more freely once she turned
her back on Frampton Court and all its hateful associations. Where Victor
was, she could not rest.

If she had feared the man before, now she hated him; but hatred had added
to her fear instead of replacing it, she remained afraid, desperately
afraid, so that even the thought of continuing under the same roof with him
was enough to make her prefer to tramp unknown roads alone in the mirk of
that storm-swept night.

Though she went in trembling, she felt sure nobody spied upon her going;
and in this confidence crept to the great staircase, down to the entrance
hall, and on to the front doors; and a good omen it seemed to find these
not locked, but simply on the latch. And if the night into which she peered
was dark and loud with wind and rain, its countenance seemed kindlier, more
friendly far than that of the world she was putting behind her. Without
misgivings Sofia stepped out.

It was like stepping over the edge of the universe into the eternal night
that bides beyond the stars. Neither did waiting seem to habituate her
vision to the lack of light.

Still, the feel of gravel underfoot ought to guide her down the drive to
the great gateway; and once outside the park, clear of its overshadowing
trees, one would surely find mitigation of darkness sufficient to show the
public road.

She took one tentative step out of the recessed doorway and into Victor's
arms.

That they were Victor's she knew instantly, as much by the crawling of her
flesh as by the choking terror that stifled the scream in her throat and
froze body and limbs with its paralyzing touch.

And then his ironic accents:

"So good of you to spare me the trouble of coming for you!"

Before she could reply or even think, other hands than his were busy with
her. A folded cloth was whipped over the lower half of her face, sealing
her lips, and knotted at the nape of her neck. Stout arms clipped her knees
and sw