Over
all the wilderness of links there was not a creature to be seen.
Yet I felt sure the neighbourhood was alive with skulking foes.
The light that had been so suddenly and surprisingly flashed upon
my face as I lay sleeping, and the hat that had been blown ashore
by the wind from over Graden Floe, were two speaking signals of the
peril that environed Clara and the party in the pavilion.
It was, perhaps, half-past seven, or nearer eight, before I saw the
door open, and that dear figure come towards me in the rain. I was
waiting for her on the beach before she had crossed the sand-hills.
"I have had such trouble to come!" she cried. "They did not wish
me to go walking in the rain."
"Clara," I said, "you are not frightened!"
"No," said she, with a simplicity that filled my heart with
confidence. For my wife was the bravest as well as the best of
women; in my experience, I have not found the two go always
together, but with her they did; and she combined the extreme of
fortitude with the most endearing and beautiful virtues.
I told her what had happened; and, though her cheek grew visibly
paler, she retained perfect control over her senses.
"You see now that I am safe," said I, in conclusion. "They do not
mean to harm me; for, had they chosen, I was a dead man last
night."
She laid her hand upon my arm.
"And I had no presentiment!" she cried.
Her accent thrilled me with delight.
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