But be that as it may, it's devilish provoking now that we can't be jolly, because he chooses to be on his good behaviour.' 'It's all these cursed women!' muttered Grimsby: 'they're the very bane of the world! They bring trouble and discomfort wherever they come, with their false, fair faces and their deceitful tongues.' At this juncture I issued from my retreat, and smiling on Mr.Grimsby as I passed, left the room and went out in search of Arthur.

Having seen him bend his course towards the shrubbery, I followed him thither, and found him just entering the shadowy walk.

I was so light of heart, so overflowing with affection, that I sprang upon him and clasped him in my arms.

This startling conduct had a singular effect upon him: first, he murmured, 'Bless you, darling!' and returned my close embrace with a fervour like old times, and then he started, and, in a tone of absolute terror, exclaimed, 'Helen! what the devil is this ?' and I saw, by the faint light gleaming through the overshadowing tree, that he was positively pale with the shock.
How strange that the instinctive impulse of affection should come first, and then the shock of the surprise! It shows, at least, that the affection is genuine: he is not sick of me yet.
'I startled you, Arthur,' said I, laughing in my glee.

'How nervous you are!' 'What the deuce did you do it for ?' cried he, quite testily, extricating himself from my arms, and wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.