closed eyes down a river--she knew not whither.

He gave her hand a gentle pressure, and relinquished it.

Then it seemed as if he were coming to the point again. No, he was not
going to urge his suit that evening. Another respite.

7. THE EARLY PART OF SEPTEMBER

Saturday came, and she went on some trivial errand to the village
post-office. It was a little grey cottage with a luxuriant jasmine
encircling the doorway, and before going in Cytherea paused to admire
this pleasing feature of the exterior. Hearing a step on the gravel
behind the corner of the house, she resigned the jasmine and entered.
Nobody was in the room. She could hear Mrs. Leat, the widow who acted
as postmistress, walking about over her head. Cytherea was going to the
foot of the stairs to call Mrs. Leat, but before she had accomplished
her object, another form stood at the half-open door. Manston came in.

'Both on the same errand,' he said gracefully.

'I will call her,' said Cytherea, moving in haste to the foot of the
stairs.

'One moment.' He glided to her side. 'Don't call her for a moment,' he
repeated.

But she had said, 'Mrs. Leat!'

He seized Cytherea's hand, kissed it tenderly, and carefully replaced it
by her side.

She had that morning determined to check his further advances, until she
had thoroughly considered her position. The remonstrance was now on her
tongue, but as accident would have it, before the word could be
spoken Mrs. Leat was stepping from the last stair to the floor, and no
remonstrance came.

With the subtlety which characterized him in all his dealings with her,
he quickly concluded his own errand, bade her a good-bye, in the tones
of which love was so garnished with pure politeness that it only showed
its presence to herself, and left the house--putting it out of her
power to refuse him her companionship homeward, or to object to his late
action of kissing her hand.

The Friday of the next week brought another letter from her brother. In
this he informed her that, in absolute grief lest he should distress her
unnecessarily, he had some time earlier borrowed a few pounds. A week
ago, he said, his creditor became importunate, but that on the day
on which he wrote, the creditor had told him there was no hurry for a
settlement, that 'his _sister's suitor_ had guaranteed the sum.' 'Is he
Mr. Manston? tell me, Cytherea,' said Owen.

He also mentioned that a wheeled chair had been anonymously hired
for his e