It seemed to Alec she came near enough to see him as she continued.

He could think of nothing, however, but what she was saying.

He felt instinctively that it was because of haste and some cause of excitement, not in spite of them, that this lady could speak as she now did.
"Christianity appeals to self-regard as the motive of our best action," she went on, giving out her words in short sentences, "so there must be a self-regard which is good--too good to degrade itself to worldly ends; too good even to be a part of that amalgam--the gold of unselfishness and the alloy of selfishness--which makes the _ordinary_ motive of the _ordinary_ good man." Her voice seemed to vibrate with scorn on the emphasized words.
"If we desired to live nearer heaven--" she said, and then she stopped.
Alec turned perforce to tell her, what she must now perceive, that he was still close to them; but this impulse was checked by a sudden thought.

Was she not addressing himself?
Was there another man now with her?
He stopped, looked backward, listened.

He was quite alone with the lady, who went past him now, only looking, as she walked, to see why he was tarrying.