Could he march up to the front door, and ask boldly for Miss Elvan?
But--the doubt suddenly struck him--what if Rosamund were not living here?
At Mrs.Coppinger's her sister was governess; she had bidden him address letters there, but that might be merely for convenience; perhaps she was not Mrs.Coppinger's guest at all, but had an abode somewhere in the town.

In that case, he must see her sister--who perhaps, nay, all but certainly, had never heard his name.
He walked on.

The road became a hollow lane, with fern and heather and gorse intermingled below the thickets on the bank.

Another five minutes would bring him to the top of the hill, to the avenue of trees by which the house was approached.

And the nearer he came, the more awkward seemed his enterprise.