from her father and her uncle.

The half-hour passed in waiting had in one way its advantages to the
girl: though she was still as high strung as ever, she acquired a
larger measure of control over herself. The nervous tension,
however, was so complete physically that all her faculties were
acutely awake; very early she became conscious of a distant footstep.

To Stephen's straining ears the footsteps seemed wondrous slow, and
more wondrous regular; she felt instinctively that she would have
liked to have listened to a more hurried succession of less evenly-
marked sounds. But notwithstanding these thoughts, and the qualms
which came in their turn, the sound of the coming feet brought great
joy. For, after all, they were coming; and coming just in time to
prevent the sense of disappointment at their delay gaining firm
foothold. It was only when the coming was assured that she felt how
strong had been the undercurrent of her apprehension lest they should
not come at all.

Very sweet and tender and beautiful Stephen looked at this moment.
The strong lines of her face were softened by the dark fire in her
eyes and the feeling which glowed in the deep blushes which mantled
her cheeks. The proudness of her bearing was no less marked than
ever, but in the willowy sway of her body there was a yielding of
mere sorry pride. In all the many moods which the gods allow to good
women there is none so dear or so alluring, consciously as well as
instinctively, to true men as this self-surrender. As Leonard drew
near, Stephen sank softly into a seat, doing so with a guilty feeling
of acting a part. When he actually came into the grove he found her
seemingly lost in a reverie as she gazed out over the wide expanse in