he thought Mr. Juxon was going to tell her that Walter
had been captured in the village.

"Mr. Goddard has escaped," said the squire, making a bold plunge with the
whole truth. The sick lady trembled violently, and unclasping her hands
laid them upon the arms of her chair as though to steady herself to bear
the worse shock to come. But Mr. Juxon was silent. He had told her all he
knew.

"Yes," she said faintly. "Is there anything--anything more?" Her voice
was barely audible in the still and dusky room.

"No--except that, of course, there are orders out for his arrest, all
over the country."

"He has not been arrested yet?" asked Mrs. Goddard. She had expected to
hear that he was caught; she thought the squire was trying to break the
shock of the news. Her courage rose a little now.

"No, he is not arrested--but I have no doubt he soon will be," added Mr.
Juxon in a tone intended to convey encouragement.

"How did you hear this?"

"Gall the policeman, told me this morning. I--I am afraid I have
something else to confess to you, Mrs. Goddard, I trust you will not--"

"What?" she asked so suddenly as to startle him. Walter might have been
heard of in the neighbourhood, perhaps.

"I think I was right," continued Mr. Juxon. "I hope you will forgive me.
It does not seem quite loyal, but I did not know what to do. I consulted
the vicar as to whether we should tell you."

"The vicar? What did he say?" Again Mrs. Goddard felt relieved.

"He quite agreed with me," answered the squire. "You see we feared that
Mr. Goddard might find his way here and come upon you suddenly. We
thought you would be terribly pained and startled."

Mrs. Goddard could almost have laughed at that moment. The excellent man
had taken all this trouble in order to save her from the very thing which
had already occurred on the previous night. There was a bitter humour in
the situation, in the squire's kind-hearted way of breaking to her that
news which she already knew so well, in his willingness to put off
telling her until the morrow. What would Mr. Juxon say, could he guess
that she had herself already spoken with her husband and had promised to
see him again that very night! Forgetting that his last words required an
answer, she leaned back in her chair and again folded her hands before
her. Her eyes were half closed and from beneath the drooping lids she
gazed through the gathering gloom at the squire's anxious face.

"I hope you think I