"
He stood waiting for her, as a father waits for a lagging, wilful
child.
"Come, please," he added, "if you have something to say to me; my
time just now is precious--I have a great deal to do."
She was not of a nature to retreat under fire, and yet the panic
in her breast came very near mastering her will. Clark saw a look
in her face which made him speak again:
"I assure you, Mademoiselle, that you need not feel embarrassed.
You can rely upon me to--"
She made a gesture that interrupted him; at the same time she
almost ran toward him, gathering in breath, as one does who is
about to force out a desperately resisting and riotous thought.
The strong, grave man looked at her with a full sense of her
fascination, and at the same time he felt a vague wish to get away
from her, as if she were about to cast unwelcome responsibility
upon him.
"Where is Lieutenant Beverley?" she demanded, now close to Clark,
face to face, and gazing straight into his eyes. "I want to see
him." Her tone suggested intensest excitement. She was trembling
visibly.
Clark's face changed its expression. He suddenly recalled to mind
Alice's rapturous public greeting of Beverley on the day of the
surrender. He was a cavalier, and it did not agree with his sense
of high propriety for girls to kiss their lovers out in the open
air before a gazing army.
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