Cruel As The Grave

"Indeed you must not, Trix. Wait till she makes her appearance: that

will be time enough," answered her brother.

"Oh, this is a horrible night; I wish it were over. I cannot go to bed;

nobody can. The ladies are all sitting huddled together in the

dressing-room, although the fire has gone out; and the servants are all

gathered in the kitchen, too panic-stricken to do anything. Oh, an awful

night! I wish it were morning."

"It will soon be daylight now, dear Beatrix. You had better go and

rejoin your companions."

And so the brother and sister separated for the night; Beatrix going to

sit and shudder with the other ladies in the dressing-room, and Clement

returning to the parlor to lounge and doze among the gentlemen.

Only his anxiety for Sybil's safety so much disturbed his repose, that

if he did but drop into an instant's slumber he started from it in a

vague fright. So the small hours of the morning wore on and brought the

dull, drizzly, wintry daylight.

Meanwhile Lyon and Sybil Berners rode on through mist and rain.