rolled
the vicinity of the pavilion, without seeing a living creature or
hearing any noise but the concert of the wind, the sea, and the rain. A
light in the upper story filtered through a cranny of the shutter, and
kept me company till the approach of dawn.

CHAPTER V

TELLS OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN NORTHMOUR, CLARA, AND MYSELF

With the first peep of day, I retired from the open to my old lair among
the sand-hills, there to await the coming of my wife. The morning was
grey, wild, and melancholy; the wind moderated before sunrise, and then
went about, and blew in puffs from the shore; the sea began to go down,
but the rain still fell without mercy. Over all the wilderness of links
there was not a creature to be seen. Yet I felt sure the neighbourhood
was alive with skulking foes. The light had been so suddenly and
surprisingly flashed upon my face as I lay sleeping, and the hat that
had been blown ashore by the wind from over Graden Floe, were two
speaking signals of the peril that environed Clara and the party in the
pavilion.

It was perhaps half-past seven, or nearer eight, before I saw the door
open, and that dear figure come towards me in the rain. I was waiting
for her on the beach before she had crossed the sand-hills.

"I have had such trouble to come!" she cried. "They did not wish me to
go walking in the rain."

"Clara," I said, "you are not frightened!"

"No," said she, with a simplicity that filled my heart with confidence.
For my wife was the bravest as well as the best of women; in my
experience I have not found the two go always together, but with her
they did; and she combined the extreme of fortitude with the most
endearing and beautiful virtues.

I told her what had happened; and, though her cheek grew visibly paler,
she retained perfect control over her senses.

"You see now that I am safe," said I, in conclusion. "They do not mean
to harm me; for, had they chosen, I was a dead man last night."

She laid her hand upon my arm.

"And I had no presentiment!" she cried.

Her accent thrilled me with delight. I put my arm about her, and
strained her to my side; and before either of us was aware, her hands
were on my shoulders, and my lips upon her mouth. Yet up to that moment
no word of love had passed between us. To this day I remember the touch
of her cheek, which was wet and cold with the rain; and many a time
since, when she has been washing her face, I have kissed it again for
t