wondered who he was, and presently she found
that he was gazing at her intently. Then their eyes met, and it was as
if a spark of fire had kindled a glow in her chest, high up near the
throat, where the breath catches. She looked down at her book, but had
no thought on the subject at all--she was all one sensation. Light had
come to her, a wondrous flood of amber light, that blotted out the
common congregation and all besides, but him and her. Yet she could
hardly sit through the service, and the moment it was over she fled.
Her great desire was to be alone, if that could be called solitude
which contained all the satisfaction of the closest companionship. All
the time that she was flying, however, she felt that she was being
pursued, and there was the strangest excitement and delight in the
sensation. But she never looked behind. She did not dare to.

She made for the cliffs on the Fairholm estate, and when she came to
them her intention was to hide herself. There was a nook she knew,
some distance on, a grassy space on the cliff side, not visible either
from above or below. She climbed down to it, and there ensconced
herself. Beneath was a little cove sheltered from the north and south
by the jutting cliffs, and floored with the firmest sand just then,
for the tide was out. Beth was lying in the shadow of the cliff, but,
beyond, the sun shone, the water sparkled, the sonorous sea-voice
sounded from afar, while little laughing waves broke out into merry
music all along the shore. Beth, lying on her face with her arms
folded in front of her and her cheek resting on them, looked out,
lithe, young, strong, bursting with exultation, but motionless as a
manifestation of inanimate nature. That was a beautiful pause in her
troublous day. Never mind if it only endured for an hour, there was
certainty in it, a happy certainty. From the moment their eyes had met
she was sure, she knew he would come.

The little waves rang out their laughing carillons, light grace notes
to the deep solemn melody of earth and air and sea; and Beth, watching
with dilated pupils and set countenance, listened intently. And
presently, below, on her left, round the headland some one came
striding. Beth's bright eyes flashed with a vivid interest, but she
shrank back, flattening herself down on the rank grass, as though
thereby she made herself the more invisible.

The young man stopped, took off his hat and wiped his forehead,
glanced this way and t