For a moment Festing hesitated as he watched the girl advance.

It was rash to uproot this fair bloom of the sheltered English garden and transplant it in virgin soil, swept by the rushing winds.

Then he went forward resolutely.
Helen gave him her hand and moved on with disturbed feelings, for there was something different in his look.
"If you don't mind, we'll stop a minute; I have something to say.

To begin with, I'm going back to Canada." She looked up sharply and then waited with forced calm until he resumed: "That precipitates matters, because I must learn if I've hoped for too much before I go.

I was a stranger when I came here, and you were kind--" "You were not a stranger," Helen said quietly.