The quiet lapped me round. I
could fancy that I had never loved anything else. The wood-doves
cooed in the stillness; occasionally the harsh cry of a jay
jarred the silence. It was an hour after noon, and hot. I think
I nodded.
On a sudden, as if in a dream, I saw Clon's face peering at me
round the angle of the parlour door. He looked, and in a moment
withdrew, and I heard whispering. The door was gently closed.
Then all was still again.
But I was wide awake now, and thinking. Clearly the people of
the house wished to assure themselves that I was asleep and
safely out of the way. As clearly, it was to my interest to be
in the way. Giving place to the temptation, I rose quietly, and,
stooping below the level of the windows, slipped round the east
end of the house, passing between it and the great yew hedge.
Here I found all still and no one stirring; so, keeping a wary
eye about me, I went on round the house--reversing the route
which Madame had taken the night before--until I gained the rear
of the stables. Here I had scarcely paused a second to scan the
ground before two persons came out of the stable-court.
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