“There was such earnestness, such despair, in her manner that her words arrested me, and I stood irresolute before the door.

“ ‘I will trust you on one condition, and on one condition only,’ said I at last. ‘It is that this mystery comes to an end from now. You are at liberty to preserve your secret, but you must promise me that there shall be no more nightly visits, no more doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am willing to forget those which are passed if you will promise that there shall be no more in the future.’

“ ‘I was sure that you would trust me,’ she cried, with a great sigh of relief. ‘It shall be just as you wish. Come away⁠—oh, come away up to the house.’