Above the tree tops glistened the white steeple of the Regular church.

If the minister went straight home she could not see him.

But under those silver-leafs was the beginning of the short cut across the fields where Didama had seen Mr.Ellery walking on the previous Sunday.
So Annabel watched and waited.

Five minutes, then ten.

He must have reached the clump of trees before this, yet she could not see him.
Evidently, he had gone straight home.