Her once frequent visits across the yard to chat with old Mrs. Murray became few and far between . She could not bear to hear the old lady talking about Gilbert , and she was afraid that some day she would be told that he was coming home . Gilbert 's home-coming was the nightmare dread that darkened poor Alma 's whole horizon . * * * * * One October day , two years after Gilbert 's departure , Alma , standing at her window in the reflected glow of a red maple outside , looked down the lane and saw him striding up it ! She had had no warning of his coming . His last letter , dated three weeks back , had not hinted at it . Yet there he was -- and with him Alma 's Nemesis . She was very calm . Now that the worst had come , she felt quite strong to meet it . She would tell Gilbert the truth , and he would go away in anger and never forgive her , but she deserved it . As she went downstairs , the only thing that really worried her was the thought of the pain Gilbert would suffer when she told him of Anna 's faithlessness . She had seen his face as he passed under her window , and it was the face of a blithe man who had not heard any evil tidings . It was left to her to tell him ; surely , she thought apathetically , that was punishment enough for what she had done . With her hand on the doorknob , she paused to wonder what she should say when he asked her why she had not told him of Anna 's marriage when it occurred -- why she had still continued the deception when it had no longer an end to serve . Well , she would tell him the truth -- that it was because she could not bear the thought of giving up writing to him . It was a humiliating thing to confess , but that did not matter -- nothing mattered now . She opened the door . Gilbert was standing on the big round door-stone under the red maple -- a tall , handsome young fellow with a bronzed face and laughing eyes . His exile had improved him . Alma found time and ability to reflect that she had never known Gilbert was so fine-looking .
He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek XXXXX his frank delight at seeing her again .
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