Page:The Other House (London, William Heinemann, 1896), Volume 2.djvu/167

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THE OTHER HOUSE
153

"And what did you say?"

He hung fire a moment. "That—a short time before—I saw you cross to Bounds."

Rose slowly sat down. "You saw me?"

"On the bridge, distinctly. With the child in your arms."

"Where were you then?"

"Far up the stream—beyond your observation."

She looked at him fixedly, her hands locked together between her knees. "You were watching me?" Portentous and ghostly, in the darker room, had become their confronted estrangement.

Dennis waited as if he had a choice of answers; but at last he simply said: "I saw no more."

His companion as slowly rose again and moved to the window, beyond which the garden had now grown vague. She stood before it a while; then, without coming away, turned her back to it, so that he saw her handsome head, with the face obscure, against the evening sky. "Shall I tell you who did it?" she asked.

Dennis Vidal faltered. "If you feel that you're prepared."