But I waited,
and in answer to her statement merely told her how glad I was that she
had a vacation and such a delightful place to come to. She did not
immediately reply, but stood looking past me over the little vale beyond
us.
"Well, here I am," she said presently, "and in a very different dress
from that in which you used to see me; but for all that, I am still a
sister of the House of Martha, and so"--
"So what?" I interrupted.
"I suppose I should go back to the house," she answered.
Now I began to warm up furiously.
"Don't think of it!" I exclaimed. "Now that I have met you, give me a
few moments of your time. Let me see you as you are, free and
undisguised, like other women, and not behind bars or in charge of old
Sister Sarah."
"Wasn't she horrid?" said Sylvia.
"Indeed she was," I replied; "and now cannot you walk a little with me,
or shall we sit down somewhere and have a talk?"
She shook her head. "Even if mother and the rest had not gone away in
the boat, I could not do that, you know."
If she persisted in her determination to leave me, she should know my
love in two minutes. But I tried further persuasion.
"We have spent hours together," I said; "why not let me make you a
little visit now?"
Still she gently shook her head, and looked away.
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