George turned Maude's face to his. "You will not forget, Maude?"
"Forget what?" she shyly answered.
"That from this night we begin a new life. Henceforth we belong to each other. Maude! you will not forget!" he feverishly continued.
"I shall not forget," she softly whispered.
And, possibly by way of reminder, Mr. George, under cover of the silent porch, took his first lover's kiss from her lips.
CHAPTER XXVIII
AT DOCTORS' COMMONS
But where had Mr. Chattaway been all that time? And how came he to be seen by George Ryle and Maude hovering about his own ground at night, when he was supposed to be miles away? The explanation can be given.
Mr. Chattaway found, as many of us do, that lets and hindrances intrude themselves into the most simple plans. When he took the sudden resolution that morning to run up to London from Barmester after Flood the lawyer, he never supposed that his journey would be prolonged. Nothing more easy, as it appeared, than to catch Flood at his hotel, get a quarter-of-an-hour's conversation with him, take his advice, and return home again. But a check intervened.