she said instantly. "Of course!" She blushed again
afterwards, when she recalled her prompt, and even rapturous, answer to
his question. But, at the time, it was the most natural and spontaneous
thing in the world. It was not in her at that moment to have answered
him otherwise. And Baring knew it, understanding so perfectly that no
other word was necessary on either side. He only bent his head, and held
her two hands very closely to his lips before he gently let them go. It
was his sole reply to her glad response. Yet she felt as if there was
something solemn in his action; almost as if thereby he registered a
vow.

VI

HER ENEMY

Notwithstanding her determination to return to Ghantala after the
breaking of the monsoon. Hope stayed on at the Hill Station with Mrs.
Latimer till the rains were nearly over. She had wished to return, but
her hostess, her _fiance_, and her brother were all united in the
resolve to keep her where she was. So insistent were they that they
prevailed at length. It had been a particularly bad season at Ghantala,
and sickness was rife there.

Baring even went so far as positively to forbid her to return till this
should have abated.

"You will have to obey me when we are married, you know," he grimly told
her. "So you may as well begin at once."

And Hope obeyed him. There was something about this man that compelled
her obedience. Her secret fear of him had not wholly disappeared. There
were times when the thought that she might one day incur his displeasure
made her uneasy. His strength awed even while it thrilled her. Behind
his utmost tenderness she felt his mastery.

And so she yielded, and remained at the Hill Station till Mrs. Latimer
herself returned to Ghantala in October. She and Ronnie had not been
together for nearly six weeks, and the separation seemed to her like as
many months. He was at the station to meet them, and the moment she saw
him she was conscious of a shock. She had never before seen him look so
hollow-eyed and thin.

He greeted her, however, with a gaiety that, in some degree, reassured
her. He seemed delighted to have her with him again, was full of the
news and gossip of the station, and chattered like a schoolboy
throughout the drive to their bungalow.

Her uncle came out of his room to welcome her, and then burrowed back
again, and remained invisible for the rest of the evening. But Hope did
not want him. She wanted no one but Ronnie just then.