'Let me go!' she said hoarsely.
He moved from the door; sight of such misery vanquished even him.
When she reached home, her mother was standing with two or three neighbours in front of the house at the sight of Emily there were exclamations of relief and welcome.
'My child, where can you have been?' Mrs. Hood cried, following the girl who passed the garden-gate without pausing.
'Is father come?' was the reply.
'No, not yet. But where have you been? Why, you were coming from the Heath, Emily, in the night air, and you so ill!'
'I have been to ask Mr. Dagworthy,' Emily said in a tired voice. 'He knows nothing of him.'
Her strength bore her into the parlour, then she sank upon the couch and closed her eyes. Mrs. Hood summoned the help of her friends. Unresisting, with eyes still closed, silent, she was carried upstairs and laid in her bed. Her mother sat by her. Midnight came, and Hood did not return. Already Mrs. Hood had begun to suspect something mysterious in Emily's anxiety; her own fears now became active. She went to the front door and stood there with impatience, by turns angry and alarmed. Her husband had never been so late. She returned to the bedroom.
'Emily, are you awake, dear?'
The girl's eyes opened, but she did not speak.