The light fell full upon the face of a young girl.
CHAPTER VIII.
The face at the window was that of a young girl of about two-and-twenty.
It would be hard to say whether Stephen Davenant was pleased or annoyed by this apparition. That he was surprised there could be no doubt, for he almost dropped the candle in his astonishment, and fumbled at the lock of the window for some moments before he could open it.
“Laura!” he exclaimed, “can it be you? Great Heavens! Impossible!”
With a little gasp of relief and suppressed excitement, the girl stepped into the room, and leaned upon his arm, panting with a commingling of weariness and fear.
“My dear Laura,” he said, still holding the candle, “how did you come here? Why——”
“Oh, Stephen, is it really you? I was afraid that I had made some mistake—that I had come all this way——”
“You do not mean to say you have come all the way from London alone—alone!”