Surely I could not be mistaken! Surely the quivering hand, the tremulous mouth, the downcast eye, meant something! Surely she need not be agitated at meeting me, unless she took a special interest in me--unless, indeed, she felt as I felt! At any rate, it were heaven to think so.

We had been talking I should think ten minutes, when Tom Temple came towards us.
"Say, Justin, my boy," he said, "what do you say to a gallop of four ?" "Who are the four ?" I asked.
"Miss Forrest, Miss Edith Gray, Justin Blake, and--myself," was the reply.
"I shall be more than delighted if Miss Forrest will--" I did not finish the sentence.

At that moment I felt gripped by an unseen power, and I was irresistibly drawn towards the door.

I muttered something about forgetting, and then, like a man in a sleep, I put on my hat and coat and went out, I know not where.
I cannot remember much about the walk.

It was very cold, and my feet crunched the frozen snow; but I thought little of it--I was drawn on and on by some secret power.