Page:Following darkness (IA followingdarknes00reid).pdf/58

 noticed in the morning, when I was tying my tie, that a slight frown made me more thoughtful looking, and I instantly assumed one. I compared the appearance I imagined myself to present with Gerald's, and then I saw him watching me with what I believed to be a kind of veiled mockery in his eyes. My shyness turned to rage. Katherine tried to talk to me, but I answered in monosyllables, and, an hour earlier than I had intended, I got up to say good-night.

"We shall see you to-morrow, Peter," Mrs. Carroll suggested, as I shook hands with her. "What would you like to do to-morrow?" she added, turning to Katherine.

Katherine smiled at me as if we were quite old friends. "I want to climb some of the mountains," she said. "I planned that the minute I saw them."

Again her face awakened in me the memory of another face I had known—but where? when?

"In that case you ought to start early," Mrs. Carroll went on, "and you could take your lunch with you. Peter knows all the different walks for miles round."

I was on the point of declaring that I had an engagement, but I overcame the temptation. I promised to come soon after breakfast, and made my escape.