“I must see him again; I must! I must!” she wailed out, as she was pulling. There he was, running hard to catch the London coach; his luggage had been left at the George before he came up to wish the Gibsons good-bye. In all his hurry, Molly saw him turn round and shade his eyes from the level rays of the westering sun, and rake the house with his glances—in hopes, she knew, of catching one more glimpse of Cynthia. But apparently he saw no one, not even Molly at the attic casement; for she had drawn back when he turned, and kept herself in shadow; for she had no right to put herself forward as the one to watch and yearn for farewell signs. None came—another moment— he was out of sight for years!

She shut the window softly, and shivered all over. She left the attic and went to her own room; but she did not begin to take off her out-of-door things till she heard Cynthia’s foot on the stairs. Then she hastily went to the toilet-table, and began to untie her bonnet-strings; but they were in a knot, and took time to undo. Cynthia’s step stopped at Molly’s door; she opened it a little and said— “May I come in, Molly?”

“Certainly,” said Molly, longing to be able to say “No” all the time. Molly did not turn to meet her; so Cynthia came up behind her and, putting her two hands round Molly’s waist, peeped over her shoulder, putting out her lips to be kissed. Molly could not resist the action—the mute entreaty for a caress. But, in the moment before, she had caught reflections of the two faces in the glass: her own, red-eyed, pale, with lips dyed with blackberry-juice, her curls tangled, her bonnet pulled awry, her gown torn—and contrasted it with Cynthia’s brightness and bloom, and the trim elegance of her dress. “Oh! it is no wonder!” thought poor Molly, as she turned, and put her arms round Cynthia, and laid her head for an instant on her shoulder—the weary, aching head that sought a loving pillow in that supreme moment. The next, she had raised herself, and taken Cynthia’s two hands, and was holding her off a little, the better to read her face.

“Cynthia! you do love him dearly, don’t you?”

Cynthia winced a little aside from the penetrating steadiness of those eyes.

“You speak with all the solemnity of an adjuration, Molly!” said she, laughing a little at first, to cover her nervousness, and then looking up at Molly. “Don’t you think I’ve given a proof of it? But you know I’ve often told you I’ve not the gift of loving; I said pretty much the same thing to him. I can respect, and I fancy I can admire, and I can like; but I never feel carried off my feet by love for any one, not even for you, little Molly, and I’m sure I love you more than”——

“No, don’t!” said Molly, putting her hand before Cynthia’s mouth, in almost a passion of impatience. “Don’t, don’t—I won’t hear you—I ought not to have asked you—it makes you tell lies!”

“Why, Molly!” said Cynthia, in her turn seeking to read Molly’s face, “what’s the matter with you? One might think you cared for him yourself.”

“I?” said Molly, all the blood rushing to her heart suddenly; then it returned, and she had courage to speak, and she spoke the truth as she believed it, though not the real actual truth.

“I do care for him: I think you have won the love of a prince amongst men. Why, I am proud to remember that he has been to me as a brother, and I love him as a sister, and I love you doubly because he has honoured you with his love.”

“Come, that’s not complimentary!” said Cynthia, laughing, but not ill-pleased to hear her lover’s praises, and even willing to depreciate him a little, in order to hear more.

“He’s well enough, I daresay, and a great deal too learned and clever for a stupid girl like me; but even you must acknowledge he’s very plain and awkward; and I like pretty things and pretty people.”

“Cynthia, I won’t talk to you about him. You know you don’t mean what you are saying, and only say it out of contradiction, because I praise him. He shan’t be run down by you, even in joke.”