He longed to speak words of encouragement to her, to instil hope in her bosom, to ask her to confide in him the secret of the shadow which hung over her, but the memory of what Neil had said to him held his lips closed.
They had walked in silence for many minutes when the girl stopped.
"It is not very far now," she whispered.

"You must go!" "Only a little farther," he begged.
She surrendered again, hesitatingly, and they went on, more slowly than before, until they came to where the path met the footway that led to Obadiah's.
"Now--now you _must_ go," whispered Marion again.
In this last moment Nathaniel crushed her hand against his breast, his body throbbing with a wild tumult, and a half of what he had meant not to say fell passionately from his lips.
"Forgive me for--that--back there--Marion," he whispered.

"It was because I love you--love you--" He freed her hand and stood back, choking the words that would have revealed his secret.

He lied now for the love of this girl.

"Neil is out there waiting for me in a small boat," he continued, pointing beyond Obadiah's to the lake.