"I don't know," he replied. "I might—that is—no, I don't know. I went out that night to seek her, Mary. When I had told her of my quarrel with Wilson, you remember, on the night of the murder, she acted as though she were mad. She promised me I should be revenged, that I should have justice. She said things which, when I began to think about them afterwards, made me afraid. I thought she had gone to bed, and I sat in my study for hours, alone, thinking and wondering. Then, when I went to her room to bid her good night, I found she was gone, and I went out to seek her. Undoubtedly it was a senseless thing to do, because I had no knowledge of the direction in which she had gone. She had, however, uttered one sentence which guided me: 'I am going to Howden Clough,' she said. 'It's near there I shall see him.'"
For a long time they spoke in whispers, the warder standing as far away from them as possible, and seemingly taking no notice.
"It's just as well, Mary," he said. "Perhaps I couldn't have saved myself if I'd known; and it might be—yes, it might be that if I had said what was in my heart—— No, it's just as well! It's just as well!"
"Time's up!" said the warder.
"Let me stay a little longer," pleaded Mary.
"Against rules!" was the reply. "Time's up!"
"Paul, lean down your head again."
She kissed him passionately, and then whispered in his ear: "All hope's not gone even yet, Paul."
"I want no King's Pardon," said Paul almost bitterly. "I wouldn't have it!"
"It's not that. I have been trying and trying, and my father has been trying——"