The rain had ceased for the moment, but the wind was still high, and dense black clouds hurtled across the sky. A pale moon showed herself every now and then from behind the flying wrack, and fitfully lighted the midnight darkness.
As she was with Van Zwieten, Brenda took a wide circle through the village street. There were many people about in spite of the bad weather--some with lanterns--but Brenda could not gather from the scraps of conversation she heard whether the report of the dead man lying in the orchards had got abroad.
In silence Van Zwieten strode along beside her, apparently indifferent to anything. His attitude irritated the girl, and when the wind lulled for a moment she demanded sharply where he had been on that night.
"You will be surprised to hear, Miss Scarse, that I went to see Captain Burton."
"And why?" asked Brenda, taken aback by this answer--the last she had expected to hear.
"To warn him," replied Van Zwieten, coolly. "Warn him--about what--against whom?"
"About my engagement to you--against myself."
"I am not engaged to you, but to him," said Brenda, almost with a cry of despair.
It seemed impossible to make this man understand how she hated him.
"I think you are engaged to me," said the Dutchman, deliberately. "You say no, but that is girl's talk. I am not to be beaten by a girl. I always get what I want, and I want you."