She threw open the window, and drank in the air.
The night was magnificent, flooded with warm moonlight, and fragrant with sea breathings.

Ida felt an irresistible desire to leave the house and go down to the shore, which she could not see from her window; the tide, she remembered, would just now be full, and to walk by it in the solitude of midnight would bring her that peace and strength of soul she so much needed.

She put on her hat and cloak, and went downstairs.
The front door was only latched, and, as she had her key, no doubt she would be able to let herself in at any hour.
The streets were all but deserted, and, when she came to the beach, no soul was anywhere visible.

She walked towards the place where she had spent the afternoon with Waymark, then onwards still further to the east, till there was but a narrow space between the water and the cliffs.

Breakers there were none, not more ripple at the clear tide-edge than on the border of a little lake.