"If he approves of me," echoed Montrose, reading the paternal letter over Alice"s shoulder, "quite so. But suppose he doesn"t approve?"
"Don"t try to cross the bridge until you come to it, Douglas. Why shouldn"t my father approve, now that he evidently has given up his idea of my marrying Don Pablo? Has my father asked you down to Tremore?"
"Yes!" said Montrose, producing his letter in turn, "how clever of you to guess that, dearest."
"I did not guess it, as you might have seen if you read my father"s letter properly," said Alice quickly. "He says that he has asked you down, or intends to ask you down. I don"t know which."
"Oh, here is the invitation," remarked the young man, waving his letter.
"Mr. Enistor says that before he can consent to place your future in my hands he must become well acquainted with me. He invites me to Tremore for a visit of one month. In four weeks he hopes to give his decision."
Alice disconsolately replaced her epistle in her pocket and watched her lover put away his communication. "That doesn"t sound very promising."
"Oh, but I think it does," said Montrose hopefully. "I don"t see what else he could say if he entertains at all the idea of my marrying you.
It is only natural that he should wish to know what kind of a husband I am likely to be to his adored daughter."
"Oh!" said Alice ironically, "does my father call me that?"
"Twice he calls you that in his letter."
"He doesn"t mean it," the girl a.s.sured Montrose in a troubled way; "my father and I endure one another"s society, but little love exists between us. The fault isn"t mine, Douglas, as I was willing enough to love him when I came from school. But father has always kept me at arm"s length, and hitherto my life has been loveless--save for Julian."
"Julian!" There was a jealous note in the young man"s voice. "That is the name of Mrs. Barrast"s brother, is it not?"
"Yes. I call him Julian and he calls me Alice."
"Confound his impudence!" fumed Montrose angrily.
"No impudence at all, Douglas. Julian is my very good friend: nothing more, I a.s.sure you. But if I had not met you, and if my father had insisted upon my becoming Don Pablo"s wife, I should have married Julian."
"Oh, Alice," in a tone of deep reproach, "do you love him and not me?"
"No. I respect him. If I loved him you would not now be sitting beside me."
Still Montrose was not satisfied. "Is he good-looking?"
"Very; in a large stolid Anglo-Saxon way. He"s an artist, but I don"t think one would call him clever except as a painter of pictures."
"I see that you don"t love him," said Douglas, his brow clearing; "but does Hardwick--that is his name, isn"t it?--love you?"
"No," rejoined Alice promptly, "he thought that he did, but he really does not in the way a woman wants to be loved. He proposed and I rejected him on those grounds. Now he understands that I am right, and we have settled to be great friends."
"All the same you said you would have married him if----"
"If my father had insisted on my becoming the wife of Don Pablo,"
interrupted Alice swiftly. "Can"t you understand, Douglas? I detest this Spaniard, who is such a friend of my father, and of two evils I was prepared to choose the lesser. I did not want to marry Julian any more than I wanted to marry Don Pablo. But Julian is at least human, so----"
"Isn"t Don Pablo human?" asked Montrose, interrupting in his turn.
"I don"t believe he is," said Alice thoughtfully, "there is something dreadfully wicked about him. I can"t explain, but when you meet him you will in some way guess my meaning."
"Humph! I shall certainly accept your father"s invitation both to see this Spaniard and Hardwick also."
"And you understand my position?" urged Alice anxiously.
"Yes. I think I do. All the same I want you to a.s.sure me positively that you love no one else but me."
"There is no need to tell you what you already know," returned the girl in a calm positive way. "We are made for one another!"
"Darling!" he caught her in his arms, "I know. But I hope your father will think as we do."
"He means well," said Miss Enistor with a sigh of relief, "or he would not ask you down to Tremore."
It was at this interesting point in their interview that the lovers were interrupted. The footman opened the door to announce Dr. Eberstein, and when that gentleman entered the room the servant promptly retired.
Montrose came forward with a look of amazed inquiry, which was reflected on the face of Alice. Both the young people were astonished by the unexpected appearance of the doctor.
"I thought you were still in Paris, Eberstein," cried Douglas, as his friend shook hands with both.
"I arrived in London to-day!"
"Why didn"t you let me know?"
"There was no need to. It was necessary that you should quite understand one another before I came on the scene." Eberstein looked from one flushed face to the other with a smile. "You do understand, I see."
"We are engaged," blurted out Montrose awkwardly.
"Then that means an understanding," said the doctor cheerfully, with a benevolent look in his grey eyes. "I hope it means also mutual trust."
"I am quite sure it does," cried Alice vehemently, "nothing Douglas could say or do would ever make me doubt him."
"And I would believe in Alice if all the world were against her," said the young man decisively.
"That is good hearing," observed the doctor pleasantly, "union is strength."
"Every one knows that, don"t they, doctor?" said Miss Enistor rather pertly.
"Perhaps," he replied, "but few practise it. You wonder why I have come here to-night. It is because you both need me. All seems to be sunshine at the present moment. You love one another devotedly: you think that Mr. Enistor is well disposed towards your engagement----"
"Oh!" interrupted Alice, with a frightened look in her eyes. "How do you know that my father is aware of our engagement?"
"The letters you received to-day----"
This time Montrose interrupted, and there was a note of awe in his voice. "I believe you know everything, Eberstein."
"I know that you are invited down to Cornwall, so that Mr. Enistor may judge if you are the man he would choose to be his son-in-law."
"But how do you know?" said Alice, startled. "You make me afraid!"
Eberstein took her hand and gazed directly into her eyes. "Are you sure that I make you afraid?" he asked gently.