'Shall I come down with you?' he said.
She shook her head, with a swift half-frightened glance at him. He knew she did not know how she would find Mrs. Severn.
'Well, remember I am here and will do what you wish.'
'I'll come and tell you.'
'You really will?' he said, smiling into her eyes. She suddenly felt herself inspired with fortitude, and with a confidence so full and free that she could have told him anything.
'Yes, I will,' she said.
What wonder that his hand closed over hers with a sense of possession? Yet neither wished at the moment that there were time for more,—it is sweet to anticipate the joy that is very near. They were on the ridge. In the hollow below lay the Mires.
