Certainly she must have relented sufficiently to have picked up the card he had given her; and perhaps she would change her mind and send him a message in care of the Reverend Mr.Pyecroft.Anyhow, that was his best hope.
Lightly, and with a light heart--for the presence of danger was to him a stimulant--he went down the stairs, eyes and ears on guard against unfortunate rencontres, and eyes also instinctively noting doors and passages and articles worth a gentleman's while.

At the front door he waited a moment until the sidewalk was empty; then he let himself out, and went down Mrs.De Peyster's noble stone steps, his face pleasant and frank-gazing, and with the easy self-possession of departing from a call to wish a friend _bon-voyage_..