for her dear sake. Oh"--Giles stopped and
looked up appealingly to the hot, blue sky--"if I only knew where she
was to be found, if I could only hold her in my arms, never, never would
I let her go, again! My poor Quixotic darling, shall I ever be worthy of
such nobility?"

It was all very well apostrophizing the sky, but such heroics did not
help him in any practical way. He cast about in his own mind to consider
in which direction she had gone. The nearest railway station to London
was five miles away; but she would not leave the district thus openly,
for the stationmaster knew her well. She had frequently travelled from
that centre as Miss Denham, and he would be sure to recognize her, even
though she wore a veil. Anne, as Giles judged, would not risk such
recognition.

Certainly there was another station ten miles distant, which was very
little used by the Rickwell people. She might have tramped that
distance, and have taken a ticket to London from there. But was it her
intention to go to London? Giles thought it highly probable that she
would. Anne, as he knew from Portia, had very little money, and it would
be necessary for her to seek out some friend. She would probably go to
Mrs. Cairns, for Mrs. Cairns believed her to be guiltless, and would
shelter her in the meantime. Later on a situation could be procured for
her abroad, and she could leave England under a feigned name. Giles
felt that this was the course Anne would adopt, and he determined to
follow the clue suggested by this theory.

Having made up his mind to this course, Giles hurried home to pack a few
things and arrange for his immediate departure. Chance, or rather
Providence, led him past "Mrs. Parry's Eye" about five o'clock. Of
course, the good lady was behind the window spying on all and sundry, as
usual. She caught sight of Giles striding along the road with bent head
and a discouraged air. Wondering what was the matter and desperately
anxious to know, Mrs. Parry sent out Jane to intercept him and ask him
in. Giles declined to enter at first; but then it struck him that since
he was in search of information about Anne, Mrs. Parry might know
something. Her knowledge was so omniscient that, for all he knew, she
might have been aware all the time of Anne's presence at the Priory, but
held her tongue--which Mrs. Parry could do sometimes--out of pity for
the girl's fate. Giles went in resolved to pump Mrs. Parry without
mentioning what he knew of