He was gone; the door of the house was closed behind him; and Tina was left alone in the ‘old kitchen,’ with her hands tightly clasped, and her face listening and intent. Some strange excitement was upon her, that was evident, it seemed like the excitement of fear. As soon as it was certain that her companion had left the house, she let herself fall down on a seat, and hid her face in her hands. Oh! what had she gained by this foolish risk she had encountered, the most foolish and needless of the many risks of her life--what had she gained and what might she not have lost if her action should come to the knowledge of the Squire? She had been so insanely bent on the perusal of his letter in order that she might find out the mind of Mr Lee, so certain that her uncle was concocting some plan with her brother, the knowledge of which she was not to be allowed to share. For her brother had left the house in the early morning, only leaving a note to let her know that he was gone; and her suspicions, always ready where he was concerned, had at once connected his departure with his visit to Mr Lee. Her mere idle wish to see the outside of the letter (which had included some indefinite desire as well) had thus been turned into a craving that she could not control, and that she was determined to gratify at any risk. And yet when the moment came she might have been terrified, if only .... only .... it had not been all so quickly done. For, oh! it was easy! The letter was badly fastened, and sealed as an afterthought with a little round of wax; it had not been difficult to take off the seal and to renew it when the letter was replaced. She had been excited ... it was that which frightened her, which made her uncertain of all that she had done, but she was quite sure that she had fastened the letter carefully and had impressed the wax with the plain seal Nat had lent to her. If that should be recognised; but it could not be recognised; and in any case she had returned the seal to him, not without some conscious impression, as she did so, that his danger would now be greater than her own. Bah! there was no danger, there could not be any danger; she had not wished to do any harm to him. If only the letter had been worth the trouble! for it could not be said to be of worth in any sense--one single cold reference to the visit of her brother contained all the information that it gave. And yet she must really be feeling like a criminal because she had dared to look into its contents--and Tina leant on the table flushed, throbbing cheeks, and dark eyes whose brilliancy had gained fresh sparkles now. She would go to her room and see that all was safe, for absolutely she did not feel secure! And so, with a murmur of singing, for excitement made her sing, she left the old kitchen, and stole upstairs to her room.