What, in the name of the most high Heaven, did he want there?
She saw him going quickly up the broad flight of steps; the moon, shining on them, made them white as snow; the light from the library window shone softly on the ground.
He had stretched out his hand to ring the bell, when, with a sudden impulse, a sudden cry, she called out:
"Stop!"
Another half-minute and she had almost flown across the lawn and stood by his side.
"Stop!" she cried again, and laying her hand on his arm; then she looked at him. "You!" she said—"is it you?"
"Yes, Lady Studleigh; there is little cause for wonder—it is the man you were about so cleverly to deceive."
"In Heaven's name," she cried, impetuously, "what has brought you here? Do not ring the bell! What has brought you to my father's house? You were not to come until the twentieth."
In her fear and agitation she lost something of her usual dignity.
"That was nicely managed," he replied, with a sneer; "you were to be married on the tenth, and I was to come on the twentieth. It was dramatically arranged, Lady Studleigh; it is very sad it should have failed."