Stella drew herself together, the temptation was convulsing her
also, though she did not guess it. She looked up into his blue
eyes there in the shadow, and saw the deep reverence in them, and
she understood and loved him with her soul.

He did not so much as touch her dress; indeed, now that he had won
his fight, he moved a little further from her--and resumed his
calm voice:

"The first thing we shall do is to stroll back through the people
and find the aunt--I will then leave you with her, and soon it
will be time to go home. Do not make much conversation with any of
them to-night--leave everything to me. I will see the Rev. Mr.
Medlicott when we return to the hotel. Whatever they say to you
to-morrow, remain firm in your simple determination to break your
engagement. Argue with them not at all. I will see your uncle in
the morning and demand your hand; they will be shocked, horrified,
scandalized--we will make no explanations. If they refuse their
consent, then you must be brave, and the day after to-morrow you
must come to my sister. She will have arrived by then; she was in
Paris, and I telegraphed for her to join me immediately; the
Princess Urazov she is called. She will receive you with
affection, and you will stay with her until the formalities can be
arranged, when we shall be married, and--but I cannot permit
myself to think of the joy of that--for the moment."

Stella's eyes, with trust and love, were now gazing into his, and
he rose abruptly to his feet.

"You may, when you are alone, again think that it is heartless to