"Cornelia!"

Cornelia turned swiftly, and a light leapt into her eyes; a light of
joy, so pure and involuntary that, at sight of it, the man's face lost
something of its grim tension. He turned his back so as to screen the
girl from the passers-by, and his hand tightened on her arm.

"Cornelia, are you running away from me?"

She did not answer, but her silence gave assent--her silence, and a
quiet bend of the head.

"Why?"

"I was--afraid!" breathed Cornelia, low.

Beneath the close-fitting cap Guest could see her lips tremble. The
little face looked white and tense. She twisted her fingers nervously.

"Afraid of me, and my love? Afraid that I should come back to trouble
you? Afraid of my selfishness, Cornelia?"

The curling lips breathed a faint dissent.

"Of what, then? We have only a few minutes left. You must tell me the
truth now!"

She raised her eyes to his; brave, pitiful eyes, mutely imploring for
mercy.

"Of myself! Of my own weakness! Afraid lest I might give way, and ruin
two lives!"

"You knew that I loved you; that I had gone away to prove my love, to
see if it would stand the test of absence? It was a serious matter for
us both, and I would not let myself act on the spur of an impulse. If I
had, Cornelia, you know that I should have spoken long ago!--that night
on the river. You knew it at the time. I saw it in your eyes.--I made
you promise to let me know if you left Norton during my absence. It was
not fair to run away."

"I never promised! I never did! You asked me, but I didn't promise. I
felt at the time that I must leave."

The words came in quick, gasping breaths, as a child might speak who
tried to justify himself to his taskmaster. Guest's face softened at
the sound, and his grasp of the girl's arm turned into a caress.

"Darling, don't you see what that means? You love me, or you would not
be afraid. Geoffrey wrote to me giving me warning, but the letter only
reached me late yesterday night. I have been travelling ever since. I
just managed to be here in time. If I had missed the boat I should have
come after you. Do you think a few thousand miles are going to keep us
apart, Cornelia?"

She shook her head sadly. "No!--no distance in space, just the distance
between our two selves; the distance that can't be bridged! We belong
to different worlds, you and I; we could never be happy together. You
love forms and ceremonies, and conventions; all the