She fancied she heard his step behind her; she fancied she saw his tall figure in the distance.

After she reached home and the expectation was over for that day, she took herself angrily to task for her folly.

She reminded herself that Stephen had said "sometimes," not "always;" and that nothing could have been more unlikely than that he should have joined her the very next day.

Nevertheless, she was full of uneasy wonder how soon he would come again; and, when the next morning dawned clear and bright, her first thought as she sprang up was,-- "This is such a lovely day for a walk! He will surely come to-day." Again she was disappointed.

Stephen left the house at a very early hour, and walked briskly away without looking back.