"Who are you looking for?" asked Mavis, who was anxious to discover what he was doing out of doors.
"Let me see you home," he said coldly.
"If anyone sees us, they will think—" she began.
"We shan't meet anyone. It's not safe for you to be out."
They walked in silence. As he did not express the least surprise at finding her out alone in the small hours of the morning, Mavis believed that he had divined her intention of going to Pennington and had hung about the house till she had come out, when he had followed, all the way to and from her destination, in order to protect her from harm.
"Good night," he said, as he stopped just before they reached the nearest lodge gates of her grounds.
"Good night and thank you," replied Mavis.
"I won't wish you a very happy Christmas."
"May I wish you one?"
"Good night," he answered curtly.