"I don't know what I thought. I was greatly frightened."
"Well, I admit I did go too far. But it was in your own interest, dear Maud—in your own interest. You are all right again, dear Maud?"
He took her hand in his.
"I feel a little nervous and hysterical. Please open the door and let me go."
"Certainly; it was carrying the joke too far to lock the door; but I was borne away by the spirit of the thing. You will forgive me."
"Oh, yes."
"Well, dear Maud, good-bye now. You are leaving your parcel of tracts behind you. Never mind; I'll read them for you."
When she had left the room he took up the parcel, dropped it into his pocket, and started at once for the city.
That day Maud wrote to her cousin, Sir William Midharst. The concluding paragraph of her letter ran thus:
"I do not know what is the matter with Mr. Grey; his manner terrifies me. If you can, come back at once."