He can see her now. She is coming towards him, her shadow gliding before
her. Seeing it he quails. From the rush of emotion seizing him, he knows
that he should not be upon this spot, and panting with the effort, he
turns and flees just as the sudden sound of a lifted window comes from
the house.
That arrests him. Pausing, he looks up. It is her window that is open,
and in the dark square thus made he sees her face bright with the
moonlight streaming over it. Instantly he recovers himself. It is Emma's
step, not Hermione's, he hears upon the walk. Hermione is above and in
an anxious mood, for she is looking eagerly out and calling her sister
by name.
"I am coming," answers back the clear, low voice of Emma from below.
"It is late," cries Hermione, "and very cold. Come in, Emma."
"I am coming," repeated the young girl. And in another moment he heard
her step draw nearer, saw her flitting figure halt for a moment on the
door-step before him and then disappear just as the window closed above.
He had not been observed.
Relieved, he drew a long breath and leaned his head against the garden
wall. Ah, how fair had been the vision of his beloved one's face in the
moonlight. It filled him with indescribable thoughts; it made his spirit
reel and his heart burn; it made him ten times her lover. Yet because he
was her lover he felt that he ought not to linger there any longer; that
the place was hallowed even from his presence, and that he should return
at once to the doctor's house. But when he lifted his head he heard
steps, this time not within the wall but on the roadside behind him, and
alert at once to the mischievous surmises which might be aroused by the
discovery of his presence there, he remained perfectly still in the hope
that his form would be so lost in the deep shadows where he had
withdrawn himself, that he would not be seen.
But the person, whoever it was, had evidently already detected him, for
the footsteps turned the corner and advanced rapidly to where he stood.
Should he step forward and meet the intruder, or remain still and await
the words of surprise he had every reason to expect? He decided to
remain where he was, and in another moment realized his wisdom in doing
so, for the footsteps passed on and did not halt till they had reached
the gate. But they paused there and at once he felt himself seized by a
sudden jealousy and took a step forward, eager to see what this man
would do.
He did not do much; he cast a look up at the house, and a heavy sigh
broke from his lips; then he leaned forward and plucked a rose that grew
inside the wall and kissed it there in the moonlight, and put it inside
his breast-pocket; then he turned again towards the highway, and started
back in surprise to see Frank Etheridge standing before him.
"Edgar!" cried the one.
"Frank!" exclaimed the other.
"You have misled me," accused Frank; "you do love her, or you would not
be here."
"Love whom?" asked Edgar, bitterly.
"Hermione."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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