e
both dressed in black, were both dark, and of nearly the same height,
for though the man was not short, the girl was very tall.

The pause that Anastasia made was due to surprise. A little while ago
it would have been a natural thing enough to open the door and find Lord
Blandamer, but the month that had elapsed since last he came to Bellevue
Lodge had changed the position. It seemed to her that she stood before
him confessed, that he must know that all these weeks she had been
thinking of him, had been wondering why he did not come, had been
longing for him to come, that he must know the pleasure which filled her
now because he was come back again. And if he knew all this, she, too,
had learnt to know something, had learnt to know how great a portion of
her thoughts he filled. This eating of the tree of knowledge had
abashed her, for now her soul stood before her naked. Did it so stand
naked before him too? She was shocked that she should feel this
attraction where there could be no thought of marriage; she thought that
she should die if he should ever guess that one so lowly had gazed upon
the sun and been dazzled.

The pause that Lord Blandamer made was not due to surprise, for he knew
quite well that it would be Anastasia who opened the door. It was
rather that pause which a man makes who has undertaken a difficult
business, and hesitates for a moment when it comes to the touch. She
cast her eyes down to the ground; he looked full at her, looked at her
from head to foot, and knew that his resolution was strong enough to
carry to a conclusion the affair on which he had come. She spoke first.

"I am sorry my aunt is not at home," and kept her right hand on the edge
of the open door, feeling grateful for any support. As the words came
out she was relieved to find that it was indeed she herself who was
speaking, that it was her own voice, and that her voice sounded much as
usual.

"I am sorry she is not in," he said, and he, too, spoke after all in
just those same low, clear tones to which she was accustomed--"I am
sorry she is not in, but it was _you_ that I came to see."

She said nothing; her heart beat so fast that she could not have spoken
even in monosyllables. She did not move, but kept her hand still on the
edge of the door, feeling afraid lest she should fall if she let it go.

"I have something I should like to say to you; may I come in?"

She hesitated for a moment, as he knew that she wou