Mrs. Bobby disappeared. I rose lazily, and approached the window to
keep my promised eye on the mysterious customer. I lifted back the
purple clematis to get a better view.

It was Willie Beresford! He looked up at my ejaculation of
surprise, and, dropping the baby as if it had been a parcel, strode
under the window.

I(gasping). "How did you come here?"

He. "By the usual methods, dear."

I. "You shouldn't have come without asking. Where are all your
fine promises? What shall I do with you? Do you know there isn't
an hotel within four miles?"

He. "That is nothing; it was four hundred miles that I couldn't
endure. But give me a less grudging welcome than this, though I am
like a starving dog that will snatch any morsel thrown to him! It
is really autumn, Penelope, or it will be in a few days. Say you
are a little glad to see me."

(The sight of him so near, after my weeks of loneliness, gave me a
feeling so sudden, so sweet, and so vivid that it seemed to smite me
first on the eyes, and then in the heart; and at the first note of
his convincing voice Doubt picked up her trailing skirts and fled
for ever.)

I. "Yes, if you must know it, I am glad to see you; so glad,