Robert Hallam Wants Fresh Air.
“That woman seemed as if she would never go,” said Hallam, entering the room hastily, and glancing at the clock.
“She does like to stop and chat,” replied Millicent, wondering at his manner. “What are you going to do?”
“I am off for a short run. I cannot bear this confinement any longer. It is dark, and no one will see me if I go out for a change.”
“Shall I go with you?”
“Go with me! No, not now,” he said hastily. “I want a little fresh air. Don’t stop me. I shall be back soon.”
His manner seemed very strange, but Millicent said nothing, only followed him into the hall.
“No, no,” he said hastily; “don’t do that. It is as if you were watching me.”
She drew back in a pained way, and he followed her.
“I’m pettish and impatient, that’s all,” he said smiling; and, closing the door after her, he hurriedly put on a cloak and travelling cap, muffling his face well; and then going softly out, and turning from the main street, he was soon after in the lane that led down by Thickens’s house and the mill.