"
"At eight o'clock, then?"
"I shall expect you at that time," she assented; and with that I took
my leave.
It was in a most depressed state of mind that I made my way back to
Godfrey's; and I sat down on the porch and smoked a pipe of bitter
meditation. For I felt that, somehow, Miss Vaughan was slipping away
from me. There had been a barrier between us to-day which had not been
there before, a barrier of coldness and reserve which I could not
penetrate. Some hostile influence had been at work; in death, even
more than in life, perhaps, her father's will weighed upon her. I
could imagine how a feeling of remorse might grow and deepen, and urge
her toward foolish and useless sacrifice.
And just then Mrs. Hargis came out and told me that someone wanted me
on the 'phone. It was Swain.
"They let me come out here to the office to 'phone to you," he said,
as he heard my exclamation of surprise. "Simmonds happened in and told
them it would be all right. He's here now."
"And they're treating you all right?"
"They're treating me like the star boarder," he laughed. And then his
voice grew suddenly serious. "Have you seen Miss Vaughan?"
"Yes," I answered; for I knew of course that the question was coming.
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