I led the way
a few steps toward the new buildings, and stopped and looked
round after him.
"'Must I ask it of you as a favor,' I said, 'after your giving
me your promise, and after such a letter as you have written
to me?'
"Something suddenly changed him; he was at my side in an instant.
'I beg your pardon, Miss Gwilt; lead the way where you please.'
He dropped back a little after that answer, and I heard him say
to himself, 'What _is_ to be _will_ be. What have I to do with
it, and what has she?'
"It could hardly have been the words, for I didn't understand
them--it must have been the tone he spoke in, I suppose, that
made me feel a momentary tremor. I was half inclined, without
the ghost of a reason for it, to wish him good-night, and go
in again. Not much like me, you will say. Not much, indeed!
It didn't last a moment. Your darling Lydia soon came to her
senses again.
"I led the way toward the unfinished cottages, and the country
beyond. It would have been much more to my taste to have had him
into the house, and have talked to him in the light of the
candles. But I had risked it once already; and in this
scandal-mongering place, and in my critical position, I was
afraid to risk it again.
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