"I lost my head, when he spoke to me last night, and I yielded to an irresistible impulse of hatred. I did not know what I was doing."
"But your mother?"
"I have managed to hide the truth from her so far. One of my seconds said that he would tell her."
"Go to her, run as fast as you can. ... She will be so anxious until she sees you. ... Go at once. ..."
"No."
He was so firm that she despaired of persuading him. And yet she wanted him to go. Then she looked at him and smiled:
"To please me," she said.
"Very well," he said, "but you must come too."
She at once summoned her pluck and rose to her feet; and, when she expressed her wish to get back without delay he led her through the short cuts where there was hardly room to walk side by side. But their pace slack-
