" Her arms fell from his
shoulders, and she stood opposite to him, in silence again for a moment.
Then her troubled face cleared to a calm serenity. "And now I set doubts
and fears behind me. I come to you in faith, and loyalty, and love. I'm
not a missionary to you, or a reformer, God forbid! I'm just the woman
who loves you, Hector."
"I should have mocked at the missionary, and tricked the reformer." He
bared his head before her. "But by the woman who loves me and whom I
love, I will deal faithfully." He bent and kissed her forehead.
"And now, let's walk on. No, not to old Place--back home, past
Tower Cottage."
She put her arm through his again, and they set out through the soft dusk
that had begun to hover about them. So they came to the cottage, and
here, for a while, instinctively stayed their steps. A light shone in the
parlor window; the Tower was dark and still. Mary turned her face to
Beaumaroy's with a sudden smile of scornful gladness.
"Aye, aye, you're right!" His smile answered hers. "Poor devils! I'm
sorry; for them, upon my soul I am!"
"That really is just like you!" she exclaimed in mirthful exasperation.
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