Grace, clad in her ulster and stalking-cap, did not fear the wind, but, as it rendered talking difficult, she proposed that they should seek the shelter of the fir-wood. There, the turbulence of the wind was only heard in the upper branches; a great quiet reigned over the soft, tawny soil, carpeted with pine-needles, upon which their footsteps fell.
His beginning was not happy.
"Why are you going away? Why do you go and stay with those Barhams, a country minister and his wife, with whom I am sure you can have nothing in common?"
"I like Mrs. Barham and her son very much—that is why I go."
"You will turn that conceited young fellow's head." Then he added, suddenly, without looking at her, "You are the only woman I ever met who seems to have no idea of her own power." She remained silent for a moment, then said, slowly, "I have not found it so. My life has rather shown me that I have very little."
"With certain people you can do anything you choose," he persisted, "but that is not my point. Of course, many women have that power, for good or ill. My point is that you don't know when you have it—you don't see the tremendous influence you may exercise upon some lives—upon mine, for instance. You may change all my views of life, turn curses into blessings, misery into joy, and you do not see it!"
She was startled; for the first time the truth flashed upon her mind. It was impossible to misunderstand the meaning of those words. This man, in whom she had taken a purely impersonal intellectual interest, whom she had never led, by word, or look, or action, to make love to her; this man, with a wife living, from whom he was not yet divorced, dared to suggest to her the hopes he entertained. A flush of indignation suffused her face. She felt angry with him, and doubly angry with herself for her stupidity.
"You are quite right. I did not see, and I do not choose to see now," she said at last. "I told Mrs. Courtly yesterday that you understood me very little; this proves it."
"Why? Is it an offence to say this?"
"It should be so. But let that pass. I repeat that you understand me very little, since you seem to have mistaken the nature of my friendly feeling towards you. I am very sorry if—"