She turned with a little cry, and when she saw who it was the crimson flooded her face, changing it as the rising sun was soon to change the grey of the sea and the garden.
"Oh!" she cried, "I didn't know—I didn't mean. I——"
"It is going to be a lovely day," he said quietly, "the sun will be up in a moment. I have been watching you from my father's window."
"Oh! You mustn't!" she cried eagerly. "I thought that I was safe—absolutely; I was here quite by chance—really I was—I couldn't sleep, and I thought that I would watch the sunrise over the sea—and I went down to the beach—and then—well, there was the little wood by your garden, and it was so wonderfully still and silent, and I saw those statues gleaming through the trees, and they looked so beautiful that I came nearer. I meant to come only for a moment and then go away again—but—I—stayed——"
But he could scarcely hear what she said; he only saw her standing there with her dress trembling a little in the breeze.
"Mary," he said, "you did not mean what you told me the other day?"
She looked at him for a moment and then suddenly flung out her hands and touched his coat. "No," she answered.
For a moment they were utterly silent. Then he took her into his arms.
"I love you! How I love you!"
Her hair was about his face, for a moment her face was buried in his coat, then she lifted it and their lips met.