She was glad to see that as yet her aunt had noticed nothing, and she still hoped that she would be able to so prolong matters, that she would escape without a private interview.

She did not know the cause of Leonard's impatience: that he must see her before the day passed.

She too was an egoist, in her own way; in the flush of belief of his subjugation she did not think of attributing to him any other motive than his desire for herself.

As she had made up her mind on the final issue she did not want to be troubled by a new 'scene.' But, after all, Leonard was a man; and man's ways are more direct than woman's.

Seeing that he could not achieve his object in any other way, he said out suddenly, thinking, and rightly, that she would not wish to force an issue in the presence of her aunt: 'By the way, Miss Norman,' he had always called her 'Miss Norman' in her aunt's presence: 'I want to have two minutes with you before I go.