We had lost the sound of the carriage. Heriot fell to musing. He remarked that the accident took away from Mr. Salter the responsibility of delivering him at Surrey House, but that he, Heriot, was bound, for Mr. Salter's sake, to conduct me to the doors; an unintelligible refinement of reasoning, to my wits. We reached our town between two and three in the morning. There was a ladder leaning against one of the houses in repair near the school. 'You are here, are you!' said Heriot, speaking to the ladder: 'you's do me a service—the last I shall want in the neighbourhood.' He managed to poise the ladder on his shoulder, and moved forward. 'Are we going in through the window?' I asked, seeing him fix the ladder against the school-house wall. He said, 'Hush; keep a look-out.' I saw him mount high. When he tapped at the window I remembered it was Julia's; I heard her cry out inside. The window rose slowly. Heriot spoke: 'I have come to say good-bye to you, Julia, dear girl: don't be afraid of me.' She answered inaudibly to my ears. He begged her to come to him at once, only once, and hear him and take his hand. She was timid; he had her fingers first, then her whole arm, and she leaned over him. 'Julia, my sweet, dear girl,' he said; and she: 'Heriot, Walter, don't go—don't go; you do not care for me if you go. Oh, don't go.' 'We've come to it,' said Heriot. She asked why he was not in bed, and moaned on: 'Don't go.' I was speechless with wonder at the night and the scene. They whispered; I saw their faces close together, and Heriot's arms round her neck. 'Oh, Heriot, my darling, my Walter,' she said, crying, I knew by the sound of her voice. 'Tell me you love me,' said Heriot. 'I do, I do, only don't go,' she answered. 'Will you love me faithfully?' 'I will; I do.' 'Say, “I love you, Walter.”' 'I love you, Walter.' 'For ever.' 'For ever. Oh! what a morning for me. Do you smell my honeysuckle? Oh, don't go away from me, Walter. Do you love me so?' 'I'd go through a regiment of sabres to get at you.' 'But smell the night air; how sweet! oh, how sweet! No, not kiss me, if you are going to leave me; not kiss me, if you can be so cruel!' 'Do you dream of me in your bed?' 'Yes, every night.' 'God bless the bed!' 'Every night I dream of you. Oh! brave Heriot; dear, dear Walter, you did not betray me; my father struck you, and you let him for my sake. Every night I pray heaven to make you forgive him: I thought you would hate me. I cried till I was glad you could not see me. Look at those two little stars; no, they hurt me, I can't look at them ever again. But no, you are not going; you want to frighten me. Do smell the flowers. Don't make them poison to me. Oh, what a morning for me when you're lost! And me, to look out on the night alone! No, no more kisses! Oh, yes, I will kiss you, dear.' Heriot said, 'Your mother was Irish, Julia.' 'Yes. She would have loved you.'