Then the buckling of straps and the click of another key,--he was securing his portmanteau.

With trebled foreboding she opened her door softly, and went towards his.

One sensation pervaded her to distraction.

Stephen, her handsome youth and darling, was going away, and she might never see him again except in secret and in sadness--perhaps never more.

At any rate, she could no longer wait till the morning to hear the result of the interview, as she had intended.