Her face blanched with sudden alarm. He sprang to his feet.
'What is it?' he cried.
'The bush—there—where the rabbit darted out.'
He looked at the spot indicated by her trembling hand, but the dwindling sunlight had just passed it, and he could see nothing but a clump of shrubbery.
'It was a man,' she said, her voice shaking querulously. 'I saw his face. He was crouching there and watching us.'
Selwyn frowned. 'Some poacher fellow,' he said, 'that's all. At any rate, I'll make sure.'
He started for the bush, when, with a tearful laugh, she stopped him, her hands clinging to his arm.
'No—no,' she said swiftly, 'it's nothing. It was just my nerves.
There is no one there. The rabbit startled me.'
He hesitated momentarily, then, turning to her, gripped her arms with his hands. A great feeling of pity for the high-strung girl welled up in him, and he wished that it were possible to impart some of his own strength to her. 'Elise,' he began hoarsely, his whole being in a cloud of passion through which his brain slashed its lightning shafts of warning—'Elise'——
The hall gong, growing in a clamant intensity, rang out on the quiet air. With the lightness of a fawn she released herself from his grip, and gathering her skirts in her hand, moved towards the path. 'Come along,' she cried; 'we shall be late for dinner.'