He knew that she was in no mood to submit to reprimand, to appreciate argument, or even to listen to entreaty, and that he might as profitably undertake to knead pig-iron as expostulate with her at this juncture. For a mile they walked on without uttering a word; then he felt the fingers relax, twitch, and twine closely around his own. "Dr. Grey, where is Muriel? Where is your buggy?" "Both are at home, where others should have been, long ago." "You walked back to meet me?" "I did." "How did you find me, in the dark?" "I heard your voice." "But not the words?" "Why? Are you ashamed for me to hear what any strolling stranger, any unscrupulous vagabond, might have listened to?" "It is such a desolate, lonely place, I thought no one would stumble upon me, and I have been there so often without meeting a living thing except the crabs and plover." "You are no longer a child, and such rashness is altogether unpardonable. What do you suppose my sister would think of your imprudent obstinacy?" They walked another mile, and again Salome convulsively pressed the cool, steady, strong hand, in which hers lay hot and quivering. "Dr. Grey, tell me the truth,--don't torture me." "What shall I tell you? You torture yourself." "Did you hear what I was saying to my own heart?" "I heard you repeating some lines which certainly should possess no relevancy for the real feeling of my young friend." She snatched her fingers from his, and he knew she covered her face with them. They reached the gate at the end of the avenue, and Salome stopped suddenly, as the lights from the front windows flashed out on the lawn. "Go in, and leave me." She threw herself on the sward, under one of the elm-trees, and leaned her head against its trunk. "I shall do no such thing, unless you desire the entire household to comment upon your reckless conduct." "Oh, Dr. Grey, I care little now what the whole world thinks or says! Let me be quiet, or I shall go mad." "No; come into the house, and sing something to compensate me for the anxiety and fatigue you have cost me. I do not often ask a favor of you, and certainly in this instance you will not refuse to grant my request." She did not reply, and he bent down and softly stroked the hair that was damp with dew and sea-fog. The long-pent storm broke in convulsive sobs, and she trembled from head to foot, while tears poured over her burning cheeks. "Poor child! Can you not confide in me?" "Dr. Grey, will you forget all that has passed to-day? Will you try never to think of it again?" "On condition that you never repeat the offence." "You do not despise me?" "No." "You pity me?"