If he did not see her--still well; there was an end of a foolish imbroglio, which had occupied him too long already.

In an hour he could be in his post-chaise, and a mile out of town.
As it chanced, the surgeons in attendance on Dunborough had enjoined quiet, and forbidden visitors.

The staircase on which the rooms lay--a bare, dusty, unfurnished place--was deserted; and the girl herself opened the door to him, her finger on her lips.

He looked for a blush and a glance of meaning, a little play of conscious eyes and hands, a something of remembrance and coquetry; and had his hat ready in his hand and a smile on his lips.

But she had neither smile nor blush for him; on the contrary, when the dim light that entered the dingy staircase disclosed who awaited her, she drew back a pace with a look of dislike and embarrassment.
'My good girl,' he said, speaking on the spur of the moment--for the reception took him aback--'what is it?
What is the matter ?' She did not answer, but looked at him with solemn eyes, condemning him.
Even so Sir George was not blind to the whiteness of her throat, to the heavy coils of her dark hair, and the smooth beauty of her brow.