size or possible interest in the village; the only one, she had
decided some time ago, that Rawson-Clew could have any reason to
visit.

As they approached the gate she ventured, "You go here, do you not?"

"Yes," he answered; "to Herr Van de Greutz."

"The cousin tells me he is a great chemist," Julia said.

"He is," Rawson-Clew agreed, "and one much absorbed in his work; it is
impossible to see him even on business except in the evening."

He paused by the gate as he spoke. "You have not much further to go,
have you?" he said. "Will you excuse me carrying your basket further?
I am afraid I am rather behind my time."

Julia took the basket, assuring him she had no distance to carry it,
but her eyes as she said it twinkled with amusement; it was not really
late, and she knew it.

"You are afraid of what will be said next," she thought as she looked
back at the man, who was already vanishing among the mists by the
lake. And the thought pleased her somewhat, for it suggested that
Rawson-Clew had a respect for her acumen, and also that her private
fancy--that the business which brought him here was not of a kind for
public discussion--was correct.

The cousin was better that evening; she even expressed hopes of living
through the summer, a thing she had not done for more than three days.