Bernardine soon became aware that he had not seen her, for he stopped short scarcely a rod from her, drew out his watch, and looked at the time; then, with a fierce imprecation on his lips, he cried aloud: "Missed the train by just one minute! Curse the luck! But then it's worth my trip here, and the trouble I've been put to, to know that the Mrs. Jay Gardiner in question is some New York society belle instead of Bernardine. Ah, if it were Bernardine, I would have followed him to the end of the earth and murdered him; taken her from him _by force_, if no other way presented itself. I love the girl to madness, and yet _I hate her_ with all the strength of my nature!" As he uttered the words, he wheeled about, hurried down the platform, and stepped into the darkness, the sound of his quick tread plainly dying away in the distance. It seemed to Bernardine that her escape from the clutches of Jasper Wilde was little short of miraculous. Trembling in every limb, she stepped out from behind the large pillar which shielded her. He had not come by the same train; he did not know she was here. But what caused him to come to this place to look for Jay Gardiner and his bride? Perhaps it was because he had learned in some way that a family named Gardiner resided here, and he had come out of his way only to discover that they were _not_ one and the same. While Bernardine was ruminating over this, she saw the short, thick-set figure of a man approaching. Should she advance or retreat? She felt sure he had seen her. He stopped quite short and looked at her. "Surely _you_ can't be Miss Moore?" he inquired, incredulously. "Yes," replied Bernardine in a voice in which he detected tears. The man muttered something under his breath which she did not quite catch. "If you please, Miss, where is your luggage?" "I--I have only this hand-bag," she faltered. "Come this way, miss," he said; and Bernardine followed him, not without some misgiving, to the end of the platform from which Jasper Wilde had so recently disappeared. Here she saw a coach in waiting, though she had not heard the sound of the horses' hoofs when they arrived there. Then came a long ride over a level stretch of country. It was a great relief to Bernardine to see the moon come forth at last from a great bank of black clouds; it was a relief to see the surrounding country, the meadows, and the farm-houses lying here and there on either side of the steep road up which they went. "Would the lady like her or be displeased with her?" she asked herself. She determined to throw herself heart and soul into her work and try to forget the past--what might have been had her lover proved true, instead of being so cruelly false. Her red lips quivered piteously at the thought. Her musings were brought to an end by the lumbering coach turning in at a large gate-way flanked by huge stone pillars, and proceeding leisurely up a wide road that led through a densely wooded park.