Thewoodswereuninteresting，andGracestayedin-doorsagreatdeal。Shebecamequiteastudent，readingmorethanshehaddonesincehermarriageButherseclusionwasalwaysbrokenfortheperiodicalvisittoWinterborne’sgravewithMarty，whichwaskeptupwithpiousstrictness，forthepurposeofputtingsnow-drops，primroses，andothervernalflowersthereonastheycame。
Oneafternoonatsunsetshewasstandingjustoutsideherfather’sgarden，which，liketherestoftheHintockenclosures，abuttedintothewood。Aslightfoot-pathledalonghere，formingasecretwaytoeitherofthehousesbygettingthroughitsboundaryhedge。Gracewasjustabouttoadoptthismodeofentrywhenafigureapproachedalongthepath，andhelduphishandtodetainher。Itwasherhusband。
“Iamdelighted。”hesaid，comingupoutofbreath；andthereseemednoreasontodoubthiswords。“Isawyousomewayoff——I
wasafraidyouwouldgoinbeforeIcouldreachyou。”
“Itisaweekbeforethetime。”saidshe，reproachfully。“Isaidafortnightfromthelastmeeting。”
“Mydear，youdon’tsupposeIcouldwaitafortnightwithouttryingtogetaglimpseofyou，eventhoughyouhaddeclinedtomeetme！WoulditmakeyouangrytoknowthatIhavebeenalongthispathatduskthreeorfourtimessinceourlastmeeting？
Well，howareyou？”
Shedidnotrefuseherhand，butwhenheshowedawishtoretainitamomentlongerthanmereformalityrequired，shemadeitsmaller，sothatitslippedawayfromhim，withagainthatsamealarmedlookwhichalwaysfollowedhisattemptsinthisdirection。
Hesawthatshewasnotyetoutoftheelusivemood；notyettobetreatedpresumingly；andhewascorrespondinglycarefultotranquillizeher。
Hisassertionhadseemedtoimpresshersomewhat。“Ihadnoideayoucamesooften。”shesaid。“Howfardoyoucomefrom？”
“FromExbury。IalwayswalkfromSherton-Abbas，forifIhire，peoplewillknowthatIcome；andmysuccesswithyousofarhasnotbeengreatenoughtojustifysuchovertness。Now，mydearone——asIMUSTcallyou——Iputittoyou：willyouseemealittleoftenerasthespringadvances？”
Gracelapsedintounwontedsedateness，andavoidingthequestion，said，“Iwishyouwouldconcentrateonyourprofession，andgiveupthosestrangestudiesthatusedtodistractyousomuch。Iamsureyouwouldgeton。”
“ItistheverythingIamdoing。Iwasgoingtoaskyoutoburn——
or，atleast，getridof——allmyphilosophicalliterature。Itisinthebookcasesinyourrooms。Thefactis，Inevercaredmuchforabstrusestudies。”
“Iamsogladtohearyousaythat。Andthoseotherbooks——thosepilesofoldplays——whatgoodaretheytoamedicalman？”
“Nonewhatever！”hereplied，cheerfully。“SellthematShertonforwhattheywillfetch。”
“AndthosedreadfuloldFrenchromances，withtheirhorridspellingsof’filz’and’ung’and’ilz’and’mary’and’mafoy？’“
“Youhaven’tbeenreadingthem，Grace？”
“Ohno——Ijustlookedintothem，thatwasall。”
“Makeabonfireof’emdirectlyyougethome。Imeanttodoitmyself。Ican’tthinkwhatpossessedmeevertocollectthem。I
haveonlyafewprofessionalhand-booksnow，andamquiteapracticalman。Iaminhopesofhavingsomegoodnewstotellyousoon，andthendoyouthinkyoucould——cometomeagain？”
“Iwouldratheryoudidnotpressmeonthatjustnow。”shereplied，withsomefeeling。“Youhavesaidyoumeantoleadanew，useful，effectuallife；butIshouldliketoseeyouputitinpracticeforalittlewhilebeforeyouaddressthatquerytome。Besides——Icouldnotlivewithyou。”
“Whynot？”
Gracewassilentafewinstants。“IgowithMartytoGiles’sgrave。Wesworewewouldshowhimthatdevotion。AndImeantokeepitup。”
“Well，Iwouldn’tmindthatatall。Ihavenorighttoexpectanythingelse，andIwillnotwishyoutokeepaway。IlikedthemanaswellasanyIeverknew。Inshort，Iwouldaccompanyyouapartofthewaytotheplace，andsmokeacigaronthestilewhileIwaitedtillyoucameback。”
“Thenyouhaven’tgivenupsmoking？”
“Well——ahem——no。Ihavethoughtofdoingso，but——“
HisextremecomplacencehadratherdisconcertedGrace，andthequestionaboutsmokinghadbeentoeffectadiversion。Presentlyshesaid，firmly，andwithamoistureinhereyethathecouldnotsee，ashermindreturnedtopoorGiles’s“frustrateghost。”“I
don’tlikeyou——tospeaklightlyonthatsubject，ifyoudidspeaklightly。Tobefrankwithyou——quitefrank——Ithinkofhimasmybetrothedloverstill。Icannothelpit。Sothatitwouldbewrongformetojoinyou。”
Fitzpierswasnowuneasy。“Yousayyourbetrothedloverstill。”
herejoined。“When，then，wereyoubetrothedtohim，orengaged，aswecommonpeoplesay？”
“Whenyouwereaway。”
“Howcouldthatbe？”
Gracewouldhaveavoidedthis；buthernaturalcandorledheron。
“ItwaswhenIwasundertheimpressionthatmymarriagewithyouwasabouttobeannulled，andthathecouldthenmarryme。SoI
encouragedhimtoloveme。”
Fitzpierswincedvisibly；andyet，uponthewhole，shewasrightintellingit。Indeed，hisperceptionthatshewasrightinherabsolutesinceritykeptuphisaffectionateadmirationforherunderthepainoftherebuff。TimehadbeenwhentheavowalthatGracehaddeliberatelytakenstepstoreplacehimwouldhavebroughthimnosorrow。Butshesofardominatedhimnowthathecouldnotbeartohearherwords，althoughtheobjectofherhighregardwasnomore。
“Itisroughuponme——that！”hesaid，bitterly。“Oh，Grace——Ididnotknowyou——triedtogetridofme！Isupposeitisofnouse，butIask，cannotyouhopeto——findalittleloveinyourheartformeagain？”
“IfIcouldIwouldobligeyou；butIfearIcannot！”shereplied，withillogicalruefulness。“AndIdon’tseewhyyoushouldmindmyhavinghadoneloverbesidesyourselfinmylife，whenyouhavehadsomany。”
“ButIcantellyouhonestlythatIloveyoubetterthanallofthemputtogether，andthat’swhatyouwillnottellme！”
“Iamsorry；butIfearIcannot。”shesaid，sighingagain。
“Iwonderifyoueverwill？”Helookedmusinglyintoherindistinctface，asifhewouldreadthefuturethere。“Nowhavepity，andtellme：willyoutry？”
“Toloveyouagain？”
“Yes；ifyoucan。”
“Idon’tknowhowtoreply。”sheanswered，herembarrassmentprovinghertruth。“Willyoupromisetoleavemequitefreeastoseeingyouornotseeingyou？”
“Certainly。HaveIgivenanygroundforyoutodoubtmyfirstpromiseinthatrespect？”
Shewasobligedtoadmitthathehadnot。
“ThenIthinkthatyoumightgetyourheartoutofthatgrave。”
saidhe，withplayfulsadness。“Ithasbeentherealongtime。”
Shefaintlyshookherhead，butsaid，“I’lltrytothinkofyoumore——ifIcan。”
WiththisFitzpierswascompelledtobesatisfied，andheaskedherwhenshewouldmeethimagain。
“Aswearranged——inafortnight。”
“Ifitmustbeafortnightitmust！”
“Thistimeatleast。I’llconsiderbythedayIseeyouagainifIcanshortentheinterval。”
“Well，bethatasitmay，Ishallcomeatleasttwiceaweektolookatyourwindow。”
“Youmustdoasyoulikeaboutthat。Good-night。”
“Say’husband。’“
Sheseemedalmostinclinedtogivehimtheword；butexclaiming，“No，no；Icannot。”slippedthroughthegarden-hedgeanddisappeared。
Fitzpiersdidnotexaggeratewhenhetoldherthatheshouldhaunttheprecinctsofthedwelling。Buthispersistenceinthiscoursedidnotresultinhisseeinghermuchoftenerthanatthefortnightlyintervalwhichshehadherselfmarkedoutasproper。
Atthesetimes，however，shepunctuallyappeared，andasthespringworeonthemeetingswerekeptup，thoughtheircharacterchangedbutlittlewiththeincreaseintheirnumber。
ThesmallgardenofthecottageoccupiedbytheTangsfamily——
father，son，andnowson’swife——alignedwiththelargeroneofthetimber-dealeratitsupperend；andwhenyoungTim，afterleavingworkatMelbury’s，stoodatduskinthelittleboweratthecornerofhisenclosuretosmokeapipe，hefrequentlyobservedthesurgeonpassalongtheoutsidetrackbefore-
mentioned。Fitzpiersalwayswalkedloiteringly，pensively，lookingwithasharpeyeintothegardensoneafteranotherasheproceeded；forFitzpiersdidnotwishtoleavethenowabsorbingspottooquickly，aftertravellingsofartoreachit；hopingalwaysforaglimpseofherwhomhepassionatelydesiredtotaketohisarmsanew。
NowTimbegantobestruckwiththeseloiteringprogressesalongthegardenboundariesinthegloaming，andwonderedwhattheyboded。Itwas，naturally，quiteoutofhispowertodivinethesingular，sentimentalrevivalinFitzpiers’sheart；thefinenessoftissuewhichcouldtakeadeep，emotional——almostalsoanartistic——pleasureinbeingtheyearninginamoratoofawomanheoncehaddeserted，wouldhaveseemedanabsurditytotheyoungsawyer。Mr。andMrs。Fitzpierswereseparated；thereforethequestionofaffectionasbetweenthemwassettled。ButhisSukehad，sincethatmeetingontheirmarriage-day，repentantlyadmitted，totheurgencyofhisquestioning，agooddealconcerningherpastlevities。Puttingallthingstogether，hecouldhardlyavoidconnectingFitzpiers’smysteriousvisitstothisspotwithSuke’sresidenceunderhisroof。Buthemadehimselffairlyeasy：thevesselinwhichtheywereabouttoemigratesailedthatmonth；andthenSukewouldbeoutofFitzpiers’swayforever。
Theintervalatlastexpired，andtheeveoftheirdeparturearrived。TheywerepausingintheroomofthecottageallottedtothembyTim’sfather，afterabusydayofpreparation，whichleftthemweary。Inacornerstoodtheirboxes，crammedandcorded，theirlargecasefortheholdhavingalreadybeensentaway。ThefirelightshoneuponSuke’sfinefaceandformasshestoodlookingintoit，anduponthefaceofTimseatedinacorner，anduponthewallsofhisfather’shouse，whichhewasbeholdingthatnightalmostforthelasttime。
TimTangswasnothappy。Thisschemeofemigrationwasdividinghimfromhisfather——foroldTangswouldonnoaccountleaveHintock——andhaditnotbeenforSuke’sreputationandhisowndignity，Timwouldatthelastmomenthaveabandonedtheproject。
Ashesatinthebackpartoftheroomheregardedhermoodily，andthefireandtheboxes。Onethinghehadparticularlynoticedthisevening——shewasveryrestless；fitfulinheractions，unabletoremainseated，andinamarkeddegreedepressed。
“Sorrythatyoubegoing，afterall，Suke？”hesaid。
Shesighedinvoluntarily。“Idon’tknowbutthatIbe。”sheanswered。“’Tisnatural，isn’tit，whenoneisgoingaway？”
“Butyouwasn’tbornhereasIwas。”
“No。”
“There’sfolkleftbehindthatyou’dfainhavewith’ee，I
reckon？”
“Whydoyouthinkthat？”
“I’veseenthingsandI’veheardthings；and，Suke，Isay’twillbeagoodmoveformetoget’eeaway。Idon’tmindhisleavingsabroad，butIdomind’emathome。”
Suke’sfacewasnotchangedfromitsaspectoflistlessindifferencebythewords。Sheanswerednothing；andshortlyafterhewentoutforhiscustomarypipeoftobaccoatthetopofthegarden。
TherestlessnessofSukehadindeedoweditspresencetothegentlemanofTim’ssuspicions，butinadifferent——anditmustbeaddedinjusticetoher——moreinnocentsensethanhesupposed，judgingfromformerdoings。ShehadaccidentallydiscoveredthatFitzpierswasinthehabitofcomingsecretlyonceortwiceaweektoHintock，andknewthatthiseveningwasafavoriteoneofthesevenforhisjourney。Asshewasgoingnextdaytoleavethecountry，Sukethoughttherecouldbenogreatharmingivingwaytoalittlesentimentalitybyobtainingaglimpseofhimquiteunknowntohimselfortoanybody，andthustakingasilentlastfarewell。AwarethatFitzpiers’stimeforpassingwasathandshethusbetrayedherfeeling。Nosooner，therefore，hadTimlefttheroomthansheletherselfnoiselesslyoutofthehouse，andhastenedtothecornerofthegarden，whenceshecouldwitnessthesurgeon’stransitacrossthescene——ifhehadnotalreadygoneby。
HerlightcottondresswasvisibletoTimlounginginthearboroftheoppositecorner，thoughhewashiddenfromher。Hesawherstealthilyclimbintothehedge，andsoensconceherselftherethatnobodycouldhavetheleastdoubtherpurposewastowatchunseenforapasser-by。
Hewentacrosstothespotandstoodbehindher。Sukestarted，havinginherblunderingwayforgottenthathemightbenear。Sheatoncedescendedfromthehedge。
