CHAPTER XVIII.
THE VELVET WALK.
"Are you going out so late, dear ?" said Mrs.Power, as she crossed the hall, where Gwladys was reaching a wrap from some hooks on the wall.
"Yes, auntie, such a lovely evening--quite like spring; I can't resist it.

I will put on the cloak Valmai left, and I shall be quite warm." "Yes, and the very image of her," said Mrs.Power, looking after her through the glass of the front door.
It was one of those tender evenings that visit us sometimes at the beginning of the year to remind us that spring is not far distant, and to make us forget that the cold March winds are yet in store for us.
Gwladys drew the red hood over her head and walked briskly in the direction of the lake, which lay buried in the fir wood behind the house.
The path which led towards it was called "The Velvet Walk," being overgrown with a carpet of moss.

The sun had just set, and the pale blue sky was cloudless and serene as on a summer evening; but here, in the shadow of the trees, the darkness was falling fast.
Over the fir tree tops one golden star hung like a jewel in the sky.
Gwladys walked with face upturned and eyes fixed upon its sparkling brilliancy, and so lost was she in admiration of its beauty, that she was quite unconscious of a hurrying figure who followed close upon her steps.
It was Cardo, who, as he walked along the drive towards the house, had caught sight of a gleam of scarlet between the fir trees.
"Valmai!" he said, with a bound of the heart, and a flood of love and happiness taking the place of the anxious doubts which had filled him since his return home.
He hastened past the front of the house and entered "The Velvet Walk" to find the scarlet cloak but a little way in front of him, and Valmai, as he thought, walking with gaze upturned to the brilliant evening star.
"At last, my darling!" he said, but softly, for he would surprise her.
He would approach nearer and call her name, and then she would turn, and he would see the love-light in those starry eyes, of which he had dreamed at night and longed for by day.

He was close upon her, but his footsteps made no sound on the velvet carpet.
"Valmai!" he said at last, and stood with wide-open arms and a rapturous smile on his lips.
But at the sound of his voice the girl darted forward a few steps before she turned round and faced the stranger.

Her first look was of astonishment and fright, immediately followed by one of indignation.
"Valmai, my darling, I have frightened you," he said, but dropping his arms and the smile dying out of his face; for before the girl had opened her lips to speak, he saw the flush of indignation and the haughty look which passed over her face.
"Back!" she said, holding up her hand as if to keep him away; "not a step nearer.