"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed."
CHAPTER XVI.
FAULT AND NO FAULT.
The next day I kept the house till the evening, and then went walking in
the garden in the twilight. Between the dark alleys and the open
wilderness I flitted and wandered, alternating gloom and gleam outside
me, even as they chased one another within me.
In the wilderness I looked up--and there was John! He stood outside the
fence, just as I had seen him the night before, only now there was no
aureole about his head: the moon had not yet reached the horizon.
My first feeling was anger: he had broken our agreement! I did not
reflect that there was such a thing as breaking a law, or even a promise,
and being blameless. He leaped the fence, and clearing every bush like a
deer, came straight toward me. It was no use trying to escape him. I
turned my back, and stood. He stopped close behind me, a yard or two
away.
"Will you not speak to me?" he said. "It is not my fault I am come."
"Whose fault then, pray?" I rejoined, with difficulty keeping my
position. "Is it mine?"
"My mother's," he answered.
I turned and looked him in the eyes, through the dusk saw that he was
troubled, ran to him, and put my arms about him.
"She has been spying," he said, as soon as he could speak. "She will part
us at any risk, if she can. She is having us watched this very moment,
most likely.
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