“Nothingatall。Whydoyouasksuchsillyquestions？IonlymeantthatifIhadmarriedIshouldnothavebeenhere，andweshouldneverhavemetagain。“
“Well，youarehereandwehavemetinthischurch，whereweparted。“
“Yes，it’sodd，isn’tit？Iwishithadbeensomewhereelse。Idon’tlikethisgloomyoldplacewithitsatmosphereofdeath。Comeoutside。“
Theywent，andwhentheywerethroughthechurchyardgateswalkedathazardtowardsthestreamwhichranthroughthegroundsofHawk’sHall。Heretheysatdownuponafallenwillow，watchingtheswallowsskimoverthesurfaceoftheplacidwaters，andforawhileweresilent。Theyhadsomuchtosaytoeachotherthatitseemedasthoughscarcelytheyknewwheretocommence。
“Tellme，“shesaidatlength，“wereyouinthesquaregardenonthenightofthatdanceatwhichIcameout？Oh!Iseebyyourlookthatyouwere。Thenwhydidyounotspeaktomeinsteadofstandingbehindabush，watchinginthatmeanfashion？“
“Iwasn’tproperlydressedforparties，and——and——youseemedtobe——
verymuchengaged——witharoseandaknightinarmour。“
“Engaged!Itwasonlypartofagame。Iwroteandtoldyouallaboutitintheletteryoudidnotget。Didyouneverkissaflowerforajokeandgiveittosomeone，notknowingthatyouwerebeingwatched？“
Godfreycolouredandshifteduneasilyonhislog。
“Well，asamatteroffact，“hesaid，“itisoddthatyoushouldhaveguessed——forsomethingofthesortdidoncehappenquitebyaccident。
AlsoI/was/watched。“
“I!——youmean/we/。Onedoesn’tkissflowersbyoneselfandgivethemtotheair。Itwouldbemoreridiculouseventhantheotherthing。“
“Iwilltellyouallaboutitifyoulike，“hestammeredconfusedly。
Shelookedathimwithherlarge，steadygreyeyes，andansweredinacoldvoice：
“No，thankyou，Idon’tlike。Nothingboresmesomuchasotherpeople’ssillyloveaffairs。“
Baffledindefence，Godfreyresortedtoattack。
“Whathasbecomeoftheknightinarmour？“heasked。
“Heismarriedandhastwins。Isawtheannouncementoftheirbirthinthepaperyesterday。Andwhathasbecomeoftheladywiththeflower？
Forsincetherewasaflower，theremusthavebeenalady；Isupposethesamewhomyoupulleduptheprecipice。“
“Sheismarriedalso，tohercousin，butIdon’tknowthatshehasanychildrenyet，andIneverpulledherupanyprecipice。ItwasamanI
pulled，averyheavyone。Myarmisn’tquiterightyet。“
“Oh!“saidIsobel。Thenwithanothersuddenchangeofvoiceshewenton。“Nowtellmeallaboutyourself，Godfrey。Theremustbesuchlotstosay，andIlongtohear。“
Sohetoldher，andshetoldhimofherself，andtheytalkedandtalkedtilltheshadowsofadvancingnightbegantoclosearoundthem。
SuddenlyGodfreylookedathiswatch，ofwhichhecouldonlyjustseethehands。
“Mygoodness!“hesaid，“itishalf-pastseven。“
“Well，whataboutit？Itdoesn’tmatterwhenIdine，forIhavecomedownalonehereforafewdays，aweekperhaps，togetthehousereadyformyfatherandhisfriends。“
“Yes，butmyfatherdinesatseven，andifthereisonethinghehatesitisbeingkeptwaitingfordinner。“
ShelookedasthoughshethoughtthatitdidnotmuchmatterwhetherornoMr。Knightwaitedforhisdinner，thensaid：
“Well，youcancomeuptotheHallanddinewithme。“
“IthinkIhadbetternot，“heanswered。“Yousee，wearegettingonsowelltogether——ImeanmyfatherandI，andIdon’twanttobeginarowagain。Hewouldhateit。“
“Youmean，Godfrey，thathewouldhateyourdiningwithme。Well，thatistrue，forhealwaysloathedmelikepoison，andIdon’tthinkheisamantochangehismind。Soperhapsyouhadbettergo。Doyouthinkweshallbeallowedtoseeeachotheragain？“sheaddedwithsarcasm。
“Ofcourse。Let’smeethereto-morrowateleven。MyfatherisgoingtoaDiocesanmeetingandwon’tbebacktilltheevening。Sowemightspendthedaytogetherifyouhavenothingbettertodo。“
“Letmesee。No，Ihavenoengagement。Yousee，Ionlycamedownhalfanhourbeforewemetinthechurch。“
Thentheyrosefromtheirwillowlogandstoodlookingateachother，averyproperpair。Somethingwelledupinhimandburstfromhislips。
“Howbeautifulyouhavegrown，“hesaid。
Shelaughedalittle，verysoftly，andsaid：
“Beautiful!/I/？ThoseAlpinesnowsaffectthesight，don’tthey？I
feltlikethatonPopocatepetl。OrisitthetwilightthatIhavetothank？Oh!yousillyoldGodfrey，youmusthavebeenlivingamongveryplainpeople。“
“You/are/beautiful，“herepliedstubbornly，“themostbeautifulwomanIeversaw。Youalwayswere，andyoualwayswillbe。“
Againshelaughed，forwhoofhersexistherethatdoesnotliketobecalledbeautiful，especiallywhensheknowsthatitismeant，andthatwhateverherpersonalshortcomings，tothespeakersheisbeautiful？Butthistimetheonlyanswersheattemptedwas：
“Yousaidyouwerelate，andyouaregettinglater。Runhome，there’sagoodlittleboy。“
“Whydoyoulaughatme？“heasked。
“BecauseIamlaughingatmyself，“sheanswered，“andyoushouldhaveyourshare。“
Thenverynearlyhekissedher，onlyhewasinsuchahurry，alsothewillowlog，alargeone，wasbetweenthem；possiblyshehadarrangedthatthisshouldbeso。Sohecouldonlypressherhandanddepart，mutteringsomethingindistinguishable。Shewatchedhimvanish，afterwhichshesatdownagainonthelogandreallydidlaugh。Still，itwasaqueerkindofmerriment，forbydegreesitturnedintolittlesobsandtears。
“Youlittlefool，whathashappenedtoyou？“sheaskedherself。“Areyou——areyou——andifso，ishe——？Oh!nonsense，andyet，somethinghashappened，forIneverfeltlikethisbefore。Ithoughtitwasallrubbish，merenaturalattraction，partofNature’sschemeandsoon，astheywriteinthecleverbooks。Butit’smorethanthat——atleastitwouldbeifIwere——Besides，I’magesolderthanheis，althoughIwasbornsixmonthslater。I’mawomanfull-grown，andheisonlyaboy。Ifhehadn’tbeenaboyhewouldhavetakenhisadvantagewhenhemusthaveknownthatIwasweakaswater，justforthejoyofseeinghimagain。Nowhehaslosthischance，ifhewantedone，forbyto-morrowIshallbestrongagain，andthereshallbenomore——“
Thenshelookedatthebacksofherhandswhichshecouldnotseebecauseofthegatheringdarkness，andastheywereinvisible，kissedtheminstead，justasthoughtheybelongedtosomeoneelse。Afterthisshesatawhilebroodingandlisteningtothepulsingofherheart，whichwasbeatingwithunusualstrengththisnight。AsshedidsointhatmysterioushourwhichsometimescomestousinEnglishsummers，agreatchangefelluponher。Whenshesatdownuponthatfallentreeshewasstillagirlandvirginal；whensherosefromitshewasadeveloped，lovingwoman。Itwasasthoughaspirithadvisitedherandwhisperedinherear。Shecouldalmosthearthewords。Theywere：
“Fulfilyourfate。Loveandbelovedwithbodyandwithspirit，withheartandsoulandstrength。“
Atlengthsherose，andasshedidsosaidaloud：
“IdonotknowwhoorwhatIhavetothankforlifeandallthatmakesme，me。ButIamgladtohavebeenborn，now，whohaveoftenwishedthatIhadneverbeenborn。EvenifIknewthatImustpassawayto-night，Ishouldstillbeglad，sinceIhavelearnedthatthereissomethinginmewhichcannotdie。Itcamewhenthatmankissedmyhands，anditwillendureforever。“
Godfreywaslatefordinner，verylate，andwhatwasworse，hisfather/had/waitedforhim。
“IsupposeyouforgotthatIdinedatseven，notateight，“washiscoldgreeting，forMr。Knight，alargeeaterlikemanyteetotallers，wasoneofthosepeoplewhomakeafetishofpunctualityatmeals，andalwaysgrowcrosswhentheyarehungry。
Godfrey，whosemindhadnotbeensteadiedbytheeventsoftheafternoon，becameconfusedandrepliedthathewasextremelysorry，butthefactwashehadmetIsobeland，intalkingtoher，hadnotnoticedthetime。
“Isobel!“exclaimedhisfather，whosevoicewasnowicy。“WhatIsobel？“
“Ineverknewbutone，Father。“
“Oh!IsupposeyoumeanMissBlake。Ihadnoideashewashere；
indeed，IthoughtshewasstillinMexico。Butdoubtlessyouwerebetterinformed。“
“No，Father，Imetheraccidentally。ShehasreturnedtoEngland。“
“Thatisobvious，Godfrey——“
“Shehascomedown，“hecontinuedinahurry，“togetthehousereadyforSirJohn，whoarrivesshortly。“