"Oh, well, don't do it then," he said in some disappointment.
They were now three or four squares away from the presidential mansion and were clothed in darkness, and silence save when the frozen snow crackled crisply under their feet.
"You cannot go any farther with me," she said. "I have warned you before that you must not risk yourself in my behalf."
"But if I choose to do so, nevertheless."
"Then I shall go back there to the house, where they are dancing."
She spoke in such a resolute tone that Prescott could not doubt her intent.
"If you promise to return at once to Miss Grayson's cottage I shall leave you here," he said.
"I make the promise, but for the present only," she replied. "You must remember that we are enemies; you are of the South, and I am treated as an enemy in Richmond. Good-night!"
She left him so quickly that he did not realize her departure until he saw her form flicker in the darkness and then disappear completely. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"No woman can ever successfully play the rôle of a man," he said to himself. Despite her former denial and her air of truth he was still thinking of her as a spy.