"I shall write to you this afternoon," he whispered to Arabella as he took her hand.

She smiled and murmured a word of adieu, but made him no reply.

Then they were gone, and as he got into the carriage he told himself that in all probability he would never see her again.

It might be that he would curtail his leave of absence and get back to Washington as quickly as possible.
The Trefoils did not start for an hour after this, during which Arabella could hardly find an opportunity for a word in private.

She could not quite appeal to him to walk with her in the grounds, or even to take a turn with her round the empty ball-room She came down dressed for walking, thinking that so she might have the best chance of getting him for a quarter of an hour to herself, but he was either too wary or else the habits of his life prevented it.