I can hardly say just what my feelings were at this moment . I know that I was not surprised . I was frightened and yet I was not frightened . Something in me shrank back in a sickening terror ; but I , the real I , was not frightened . I knew that this was my sister , and that there could be no reason why I should be frightened of her , because she loved me still , as she had always done . Further than this I was not conscious of any coherent thought , either of wonder or attempt at reasoning . Hester paused when she came to within a few steps of me . In the moonlight I saw her face quite plainly . It wore an expression I had never before seen on it -- a humble , wistful , tender look . Often in life Hester had looked lovingly , even tenderly , upon me ; but always , as it were , through a mask of pride and sternness . This was gone now , and I felt nearer to her than ever before . I knew suddenly that she understood me . And then the half-conscious awe and terror some part of me had felt vanished , and I only realized that Hester was here , and that there was no terrible gulf of change between us . Hester beckoned to me and said , `` Come . '' I stood up and followed her out of the garden . We walked side by side down our lane , under the willows and out to the road , which lay long and still in that bright , calm moonshine . I felt as if I were in a dream , moving at the bidding of a will not my own , which I could not have disputed even if I had wished to do so . But I did not wish it ; I had only the feeling of a strange , boundless content . We went down the road between the growths of young fir that bordered it . I smelled their balsam as we passed , and noticed how clearly and darkly their pointed tops came out against the sky .
I heard the tread of my own feet on little twigs and plants XXXXX our way , and the trail of my dress over the grass ; but Hester moved noiselessly .
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