The pain, I may say, was acute, but it certainly broke the spell, and I turned and ran as I have never run before.
Across the garden, down the drive, out of the lodge gates, over a hedge, with eighteen inches to spare, and across country like a thoroughbred.
At last I plunged into a roadside wood almost on the top of a girl. She stared at me.
"Lie down," I gasped.
"Why?"
"Never mind why. Lie down for your life."
She lay down wonderingly beside me, as I sobbed and panted in the undergrowth.
At last, after cautioning her to keep quiet, I listened long and carefully. The result was satisfactory. My escape was complete.
I turned my attention to the girl. She was sitting up now regarding me with big eyes.
Her hair was almost hidden under a big-brimmed garden hat, but I could see her face properly. Her features were delicate and regular, and her mouth was small and red. Steady grey eyes. She was wearing a soft blue dress of linen, and her brown arms were bare to the elbow. In her hand she had a posy of wild flowers. Little shoes of blue, untanned leather, I think it is. She was slender and lithe to look at, and the flush of health glowed in her cheeks.