In the pleasure of his society she had forgotten some of her misgivings of the day.

Now they suddenly returned to her.

What news did Jack Elliott bring?
Lines from an old poem flashed unbidden into her mind--"there was a sound of revelry by night"-- "Hush! Hark! A deep sound strikes like a rising knell"-- why should she think of that now?
Why didn't Jack Elliott speak--if he had anything to tell?
Why did he just stand there, glowering importantly?
"Ask him--ask him," she said feverishly to Allan Daly.

But somebody else had already asked him.

The room grew very silent all at once.
Outside the fiddler had stopped for a rest and there was silence there too.