Half an hour passed with no sign from within, and Mrs. Joyce began to yawn. "That ride made me sleepy."
"Why don't you go to bed?" suggested Leo.
She professed concern. "And leave Lucy unguarded?"
"Nonsense! Go to bed and sleep. Mr. Ollnee and I will stand guard till the ordeal is ended."
"I believe I'll risk it," decided Mrs. Joyce. "I can hardly keep my eyes open."
"Nor your mouth shut," laughed Leo. "Hasten, or you'll fall asleep on the stair."
Left alone, the young people came nigh to forgetting that the world contained aught but dim stretches of moonlit greensward, dewy trees, and the odor of lilac blooms. In the dusk Victor stood less in fear of the girl, and she, moved by the witchery of the night and the melody of his voice (into which something new and masterful had come), grew less defiant. "How still it all is?" she breathed, softly. "It is like the Elysian Fields after the city's noise and grime."
"It's more beautiful out there." He motioned toward the lawn. "Let's walk down the drive."
And she complied without hesitation, a laugh in her voice. "But not too far. Remember, we are guardian angels."
As she reached his side he took her arm and tucked it within his own. "You might get lost," he said, in jocular explanation of his action.