Beatriceaskedthesequestionsinalowvoiceandgavemenochancetoanswer。Thentakingarhythmfromthemusicbeforeher，shesaid——
“Atthebackofthehouseisagarden——adoorinthewall——onthelane。Understand？”
Iturnedoverthepageswithoutanyeffectonherplaying。
“When？”Iasked。
Shedealtinchords。“IwishICOULDplaythis！”shesaid。
“Midnight。”
Shegaveherattentiontothemusicforatime。
“Youmayhavetowait。”
“I’llwait。”
Shebroughtherplayingtoanendby——asschoolboyssay——“stashingitup。”
“Ican’tplayto-night。”shesaid，standingupandmeetingmyeyes。“Iwantedtogiveyouapartingvoluntary。”
“WasthatWagner，Beatrice？”askedLadyOspreylookingupfromhercards。“Itsoundedveryconfused。”
Itookmyleave。IhadacurioustwingeofconscienceasI
partedfromLadyOsprey。Eitherafirstintimationofmiddle-ageormyinexperienceinromanticaffairswastoblame，butIfeltaverydistinctobjectiontotheprospectofinvadingthisgoodlady’spremisesfromthegardendoor。Imotoreduptothepavilion，foundCothopereadinginbed，toldhimforthefirsttimeofWestAfrica，spentanhourwithhiminsettlingalltheoutstandingdetailsofLordRobertsB，andleftthatinhishandstofinishagainstmyreturn。IsentthemotorbacktoLadyGrove，andstillwearingmyfurcoat——fortheJanuarynightwasdampandbitterlycold——walkedtoBedleyCorner。IfoundthelanetothebackoftheDowerHousewithoutanydifficulty，andwasatthedoorinthewallwithtenminutestospare。Ilitacigarandfelltowalkingupanddown。Thisqueerflavourofintrigue，thisnocturnalgarden-doorbusiness，hadtakenmebysurpriseandchangedmymentalaltitudes。IwasstartledoutofmyegotisticalposeandthinkingintentlyofBeatrice，ofthatelfinqualityinherthatalwayspleasedme，thatalwaystookmebysurprise，thathadmadeherforexamplesoinstantlyconceivethismeeting。
Shecamewithinaminuteofmidnight；thedooropenedsoftlyandsheappeared，ashort，greyfigureinamotor-coatofsheepskin，bareheadedtothecolddrizzle。Sheflitteduptome，andhereyeswereshadowsinherduskyface。
“WhyareyougoingtoWestAfrica？”sheaskedatonce。
“Businesscrisis。Ihavetogo。”
“You’renotgoing——？You’recomingback？”
“Threeorfourmonths。”Isaid，“atmost。”
“Then，it’snothingtodowithme？”
“Nothing。”Isaid。“Whyshouldithave？”
“Oh，that’sallright。Oneneverknowswhatpeoplethinkorwhatpeoplefancy。”Shetookmebythearm，“Let’sgoforawalk。”
shesaid。
Ilookedaboutmeatdarknessandrain。
“That’sallright。”shelaughed。“WecangoalongthelaneandintotheOldWokingRoad。Doyoumind？Ofcourseyoudon’t。Myhead。Itdoesn’tmatter。Onenevermeetsanybody。”
“Howdoyouknow？”
“I’vewanderedlikethisbefore。Ofcourse。Didyouthink“——shenoddedherheadbackatherhome——“that’sall？”
“No，byJove！”Icried；“it’smanifestitisn’t。”
Shetookmyarmandturnedmedownthelane。“Night’smytime。”
shesaidbymyside。“There’satouchofthewerewolfinmyblood。Oneneverknowsintheseoldfamilies。I’vewonderedoften。Hereweare，anyhow，aloneintheworld。Justdarknessandcoldandaskyofcloudsandwet。Andwe——together。
Ilikethewetonmyfaceandhair，don’tyou？Whendoyousail？”
Itoldherto-morrow。
“Oh，well，there’snoto-morrownow。YouandI！”Shestoppedandconfrontedme。
“Youdon’tsayawordexcepttoanswer！”
“No。”Isaid。
“Lasttimeyoudidallthetalking。”
“Likeafool。Now——“
Welookedateachother’stwodimfaces。“You’regladtobehere？”
“I’mglad——I’mbeginningtobe——it’smorethanglad。”
Sheputherhandsonmyshouldersanddrewmedowntokissher。
“Ah！”shesaid，andforamomentorsowejustclungtooneanother。
“That’sall。”shesaid，releasingherself。“Whatbundlesofclothesweareto-night。Ifeltweshouldkisssomedayagain。
Always。Thelasttimewasagesago。”
“Amongthefernstalks。”
“Amongthebracken。Youremember。Andyourlipswerecold。
Weremine？Thesamelips——aftersolong——aftersomuch！。Andnowlet’strudgethroughthisblotted-outworldtogetherforatime。Yes，letmetakeyourarm。Justtrudge。See？HoldtighttomebecauseIknowtheway——anddon’ttalk——don’ttalk。Unlessyouwanttotalk。Letmetellyouthings！Yousee，dear，thewholeworldisblottedout——it’sdeadandgone，andwe’reinthisplace。Thisdarkwildplace。We’redead。Oralltheworldisdead。No！We’redead。Noonecanseeus。We’reshadows。
We’vegotoutofourpositions，outofourbodies——andtogether。
That’sthegoodthingofit——together。Butthat’swhytheworldcan’tseeusandwhywehardlyseetheworld。Sssh！Isitallright？”
“It’sallright。”Isaid。
Westumbledalongforatimeinaclosesilence。Wepassedadim-lit，rain-veiledwindow。
“Thesillyworld。”shesaid，“thesillyworld！Iteatsandsleeps。Ifthewetdidn’tpattersofromthetreeswe’dhearitsnoring。It’sdreamingsuchstupidthings——stupidjudgments。Itdoesn’tknowwearepassing，wetwo——freeofit——clearofit。
YouandI！”
Wepressedagainsteachotherreassuringly。
“I’mgladwe’redead。”shewhispered。“I’mgladwe’redead。I
wastiredofit，dear。Iwassotiredofit，dear，andsoentangled。”
Shestoppedabruptly。
Wesplashedthroughastringofpuddles。IbegantorememberthingsIhadmeanttosay。
“Lookhere！”Icried。“Iwanttohelpyoubeyondmeasure。Youareentangled。Whatisthetrouble？Iaskedyoutomarryme。
Yousaidyouwould。Butthere’ssomething。”
MythoughtssoundedclumsyasIsaidthem。
“Isitsomethingaboutmyposition？。Orisitsomething——perhaps——aboutsomeotherman？”
Therewasanimmenseassentingsilence。
“You’vepuzzledmeso。Atfirst——Imeanquiteearly——Ithoughtyoumeanttomakememarryyou。”
“Idid。”
“Andthen？”
“To-night。”shesaidafteralongpause，“Ican’texplain。No！
Ican’texplain。Iloveyou！But——explanations！To-nightmydear，hereweareintheworldalone——andtheworlddoesn’tmatter。Nothingmatters。HereIaminthecoldwithyouandmybedawaytheredeserted。I’dtellyou——Iwilltellyouwhenthingsenablemetotellyou，andsoonenoughtheywill。Butto-night——Iwon’t——Iwon’t。”
Sheleftmysideandwentinfrontofme。
Sheturneduponme。“Lookhere。”shesaid，“Iinsistuponyourbeingdead。Doyouunderstand？I’mnotjoking。To-nightyouandIareoutoflife。It’sourtimetogether。Theremaybeothertimes，butthiswewon’tspoil。We’re——inHadesifyoulike。Wherethere’snothingtohideandnothingtotell。Nobodieseven。Nobothers。Welovedeachother——downthere——andwerekeptapart，butnowitdoesn’tmatter。It’sover。Ifyouwon’tagreetothat——Iwillgohome。”
“Iwanted。”Ibegan。
“Iknow。Oh！mydear，ifyou’donlyunderstandIunderstand。Ifyou’donlynotcare——andlovemeto-night。”
“Idoloveyou。”Isaid。
“ThenLOVEme。”sheanswered，“andleaveallthethingsthatbotheryou。Loveme！HereIam！”
