Beatriceaskedthesequestionsinalowvoiceandgavemenochancetoanswer。Thentakingarhythmfromthemusicbeforeher，shesaid——
　　“Atthebackofthehouseisagarden——adoorinthewall——onthelane。Understand？”
　　Iturnedoverthepageswithoutanyeffectonherplaying。
　　“When？”Iasked。
　　Shedealtinchords。“IwishICOULDplaythis！”shesaid。
　　“Midnight。”
　　Shegaveherattentiontothemusicforatime。
　　“Youmayhavetowait。”
　　“I’llwait。”
　　Shebroughtherplayingtoanendby——asschoolboyssay——“stashingitup。”
　　“Ican’tplayto-night。”shesaid，standingupandmeetingmyeyes。“Iwantedtogiveyouapartingvoluntary。”
　　“WasthatWagner，Beatrice？”askedLadyOspreylookingupfromhercards。“Itsoundedveryconfused。”
　　Itookmyleave。IhadacurioustwingeofconscienceasI
　　partedfromLadyOsprey。Eitherafirstintimationofmiddle-ageormyinexperienceinromanticaffairswastoblame，butIfeltaverydistinctobjectiontotheprospectofinvadingthisgoodlady’spremisesfromthegardendoor。Imotoreduptothepavilion，foundCothopereadinginbed，toldhimforthefirsttimeofWestAfrica，spentanhourwithhiminsettlingalltheoutstandingdetailsofLordRobertsB，andleftthatinhishandstofinishagainstmyreturn。IsentthemotorbacktoLadyGrove，andstillwearingmyfurcoat——fortheJanuarynightwasdampandbitterlycold——walkedtoBedleyCorner。IfoundthelanetothebackoftheDowerHousewithoutanydifficulty，andwasatthedoorinthewallwithtenminutestospare。Ilitacigarandfelltowalkingupanddown。Thisqueerflavourofintrigue，thisnocturnalgarden-doorbusiness，hadtakenmebysurpriseandchangedmymentalaltitudes。IwasstartledoutofmyegotisticalposeandthinkingintentlyofBeatrice，ofthatelfinqualityinherthatalwayspleasedme，thatalwaystookmebysurprise，thathadmadeherforexamplesoinstantlyconceivethismeeting。
　　Shecamewithinaminuteofmidnight；thedooropenedsoftlyandsheappeared，ashort，greyfigureinamotor-coatofsheepskin，bareheadedtothecolddrizzle。Sheflitteduptome，andhereyeswereshadowsinherduskyface。
　　“WhyareyougoingtoWestAfrica？”sheaskedatonce。
　　“Businesscrisis。Ihavetogo。”
　　“You’renotgoing——？You’recomingback？”
　　“Threeorfourmonths。”Isaid，“atmost。”
　　“Then，it’snothingtodowithme？”
　　“Nothing。”Isaid。“Whyshouldithave？”
　　“Oh，that’sallright。Oneneverknowswhatpeoplethinkorwhatpeoplefancy。”Shetookmebythearm，“Let’sgoforawalk。”
　　shesaid。
　　Ilookedaboutmeatdarknessandrain。
　　“That’sallright。”shelaughed。“WecangoalongthelaneandintotheOldWokingRoad。Doyoumind？Ofcourseyoudon’t。Myhead。Itdoesn’tmatter。Onenevermeetsanybody。”
　　“Howdoyouknow？”
　　“I’vewanderedlikethisbefore。Ofcourse。Didyouthink“——shenoddedherheadbackatherhome——“that’sall？”
　　“No，byJove！”Icried；“it’smanifestitisn’t。”
　　Shetookmyarmandturnedmedownthelane。“Night’smytime。”
　　shesaidbymyside。“There’satouchofthewerewolfinmyblood。Oneneverknowsintheseoldfamilies。I’vewonderedoften。Hereweare，anyhow，aloneintheworld。Justdarknessandcoldandaskyofcloudsandwet。Andwe——together。
　　Ilikethewetonmyfaceandhair，don’tyou？Whendoyousail？”
　　Itoldherto-morrow。
　　“Oh，well，there’snoto-morrownow。YouandI！”Shestoppedandconfrontedme。
　　“Youdon’tsayawordexcepttoanswer！”
　　“No。”Isaid。
　　“Lasttimeyoudidallthetalking。”
　　“Likeafool。Now——“
　　Welookedateachother’stwodimfaces。“You’regladtobehere？”
　　“I’mglad——I’mbeginningtobe——it’smorethanglad。”
　　Sheputherhandsonmyshouldersanddrewmedowntokissher。
　　“Ah！”shesaid，andforamomentorsowejustclungtooneanother。
　　“That’sall。”shesaid，releasingherself。“Whatbundlesofclothesweareto-night。Ifeltweshouldkisssomedayagain。
　　Always。Thelasttimewasagesago。”
　　“Amongthefernstalks。”
　　“Amongthebracken。Youremember。Andyourlipswerecold。
　　Weremine？Thesamelips——aftersolong——aftersomuch！。Andnowlet’strudgethroughthisblotted-outworldtogetherforatime。Yes，letmetakeyourarm。Justtrudge。See？HoldtighttomebecauseIknowtheway——anddon’ttalk——don’ttalk。Unlessyouwanttotalk。Letmetellyouthings！Yousee，dear，thewholeworldisblottedout——it’sdeadandgone，andwe’reinthisplace。Thisdarkwildplace。We’redead。Oralltheworldisdead。No！We’redead。Noonecanseeus。We’reshadows。
　　We’vegotoutofourpositions，outofourbodies——andtogether。
　　That’sthegoodthingofit——together。Butthat’swhytheworldcan’tseeusandwhywehardlyseetheworld。Sssh！Isitallright？”
　　“It’sallright。”Isaid。
　　Westumbledalongforatimeinaclosesilence。Wepassedadim-lit，rain-veiledwindow。
　　“Thesillyworld。”shesaid，“thesillyworld！Iteatsandsleeps。Ifthewetdidn’tpattersofromthetreeswe’dhearitsnoring。It’sdreamingsuchstupidthings——stupidjudgments。Itdoesn’tknowwearepassing，wetwo——freeofit——clearofit。
　　YouandI！”
　　Wepressedagainsteachotherreassuringly。
　　“I’mgladwe’redead。”shewhispered。“I’mgladwe’redead。I
　　wastiredofit，dear。Iwassotiredofit，dear，andsoentangled。”
　　Shestoppedabruptly。
　　Wesplashedthroughastringofpuddles。IbegantorememberthingsIhadmeanttosay。
　　“Lookhere！”Icried。“Iwanttohelpyoubeyondmeasure。Youareentangled。Whatisthetrouble？Iaskedyoutomarryme。
　　Yousaidyouwould。Butthere’ssomething。”
　　MythoughtssoundedclumsyasIsaidthem。
　　“Isitsomethingaboutmyposition？。Orisitsomething——perhaps——aboutsomeotherman？”
　　Therewasanimmenseassentingsilence。
　　“You’vepuzzledmeso。Atfirst——Imeanquiteearly——Ithoughtyoumeanttomakememarryyou。”
　　“Idid。”
　　“Andthen？”
　　“To-night。”shesaidafteralongpause，“Ican’texplain。No！
　　Ican’texplain。Iloveyou！But——explanations！To-nightmydear，hereweareintheworldalone——andtheworlddoesn’tmatter。Nothingmatters。HereIaminthecoldwithyouandmybedawaytheredeserted。I’dtellyou——Iwilltellyouwhenthingsenablemetotellyou，andsoonenoughtheywill。Butto-night——Iwon’t——Iwon’t。”
　　Sheleftmysideandwentinfrontofme。
　　Sheturneduponme。“Lookhere。”shesaid，“Iinsistuponyourbeingdead。Doyouunderstand？I’mnotjoking。To-nightyouandIareoutoflife。It’sourtimetogether。Theremaybeothertimes，butthiswewon’tspoil。We’re——inHadesifyoulike。Wherethere’snothingtohideandnothingtotell。Nobodieseven。Nobothers。Welovedeachother——downthere——andwerekeptapart，butnowitdoesn’tmatter。It’sover。Ifyouwon’tagreetothat——Iwillgohome。”
　　“Iwanted。”Ibegan。
　　“Iknow。Oh！mydear，ifyou’donlyunderstandIunderstand。Ifyou’donlynotcare——andlovemeto-night。”
　　“Idoloveyou。”Isaid。
　　“ThenLOVEme。”sheanswered，“andleaveallthethingsthatbotheryou。Loveme！HereIam！”