"I haven't any choice, dear heart; there isn't any place for me here. I have thought it all over, and I know I am doing the wise thing,—I am quite sure of this! I shall write you of everything that concerns me!" he added hastily, as he heard the tread of the general's slippered feet in the hall.
North released her hands as the general entered the room. Elizabeth sank back in her chair. Her father glanced sharply at them, and North turned toward him frankly.
"I am leaving on the midnight train, General, and I must say good-by; I have to get a few things together for my trip!"
General Herbert glanced again at Elizabeth, but her face was averted and he learned nothing from its expression.
"So you are going away! Well, North, I hope you will have a pleasant trip,—better let me send you into town?"
And he reached for the bell-rope. North shook his head.
"I'll walk, thank you," he said briefly.
In silence he turned to Elizabeth and held out his hand. For an instant she rested hers in it, a cold little hand that trembled; their eyes met in a brief glance of perfect understanding, and then North turned from her. The general followed him into the hall.
"It's stopped snowing, and you will have clear starlight for your walk home,—the wind's gone down, too!" he said, as he opened the hall door.
"Don't come any farther, General Herbert!" said North.