ds the turning paddle, hardly heard what she was saying. He was
paddling fast and considering many things.

They came to where the river ran under a narrow grass field, rising in
a steep bank and shut off from the world by a tall hedge and a row of
elms, that threw long shadows down the grass and were reflected in the
water. A path led through it, but it was little frequented. On the other
side was a wide, green meadow, where the long grass was ripening under
rose-blossoming hedges, and far beyond was the blueness of distant hills
and woods. Maxwell ran the bow of the canoe into a thick bed of
forget-me-nots, growing not far from the bank. He laid the dripping
paddle aside, and, resting his elbows on his knees, held his head in his
hands for a minute or more. When he turned his face towards her it was
charged with passion, but most of all with a grave masterfulness. He had
been sitting on a low seat, but now he kneeled so as to come nearer to
her, and, stretching out his long arms, laid a hand, brown,
long-fingered, smooth, on her two slight, gray-gloved ones.

"Mildred," he said, and his voice seemed to have lost its harshness,
"I've brought you here to make you decide what you are going to do with
me and with yourself. I want you--you know I want you, but I don't come
begging for you as an alms. I say, just compare the life, the free,
glorious life I can give you, and the wretched, petty round of existence
here. Come with me, won't you? Don't be afraid I shall treat you like a
slave; I follow Nature, and Nature made you a queen. Come with me
to-night, come to Paris, to Constantinople, to all the East! Never mind
about love yet, we won't talk about that, for I don't really flatter
myself you love me; I'm only sure you don't love Ian--"

Milly had listened to him so far, drawing herself back to the farthest
end of the canoe, half petrified with amazement, half dominated by his
powerful personality. At these words her pallor gave way to a scarlet
flush.

"How dare you!" she cried, in a voice tremulous with indignation. "How
dare you talk to me like this? How dare you name my husband? You brought
me out here on purpose to say such things to me? Oh, it's abominable,
it's disgraceful!"

There was no room for doubt as to the sincerity of her indignation.
Maxwell drew back and his face changed. There were patches of dull red
on his cheeks, almost as though he had been struck, and his narrow eyes
glittered. Looking at him