Sargent was beside her in a moment.
"Is it Natalia?" he exclaimed softly.
"Yes. She is in the summer house."
Sargent found her sitting on the coping of the fish pond, staring down at the gold fish showing distinctly in the strangely brilliant starlight.
"I am going away to-morrow and you did not even tell me good-bye, when you ran away from us!" she said, her dark eyes staring up at Sargent reproachfully.
"But I could not, Natalia, everything was crowding upon me so—the duel—the—"
"The duel!" she exclaimed.
"Sh-h-h! Don't talk so loud about it. The Judge does not want Mrs. Houston to know." Sargent picked her up in his arms and carried her to a bench on the far side of the summer house. She was very warm and throbbing as he held her close to him, and even beneath the folds of the cashmere shawl he could feel her excited little heart beating.
"Now—tell me about it," she whispered, when he sat down, still holding her. "Tell me about the duel—was it a real one?"
"Yes, I suppose so." Sargent could not keep from smiling.