He stopped suddenly and put out his hand, for her face had grown white again. She had raised her eyes to his for a moment with the look of a dumb animal in pain; but she lowered them instantly and bent aside to take up her dress.
"I am tired," she said, forcing a smile. "The heat--could we not go home? I--I mean, d.i.c.k and I--there is no need for you----"
"Yes, yes; at once; this instant!" he said. "Wait while I get you some water--wait----"
He went off quickly, and Nell turned to d.i.c.k.
"Will you order the fly, d.i.c.k?" she said, in a tone that was quite new to him.
It was, though the boy did not know it, the voice of the woman who has just parted with her girlhood.
"Don"t wait, please. I shall be all right."
d.i.c.k left her, and Miss Angel came down to her timidly.
"Is there anything I can do--I know what it is. You feel faint----"
Nell smiled.
"G.o.d grant you may never know what it is," she thought, looking up at the girl"s face, and feeling years and years older than she.
"Perhaps it is," she said. "But I shall be all right the moment I get into the air."
Miss Angel whipped off her shawl, which d.i.c.k had insisted upon her wearing.
"Come with me--you can wait just outside the hall. I know what it is; you want to get outside at once--at once!"
Nell went out with her, and as she felt the cool, fresh air, she drew a breath of relief; then she turned to the girl.
"I am all right now; you must not wait. I have your wrap----"
d.i.c.k came up with the fly, and Drake appeared with her cloak and a gla.s.s of wine. He had got his hat and coat as he came along. She drank some of the wine, and turned to hold out her hand to the girl and wish her good night and thank her.
"I am quite, quite right now!" Drake heard her say; and his fears--for to a man a woman"s fainting fit is a terrible thing--were somewhat dispelled.
They got into the fly, and it drove off. Nell, instead of sinking into the corner, sat bolt upright and forced a smile.
"What a jolly evening!" said d.i.c.k, with a deep sigh. "Don"t wonder you girls are so fond of parties."
"Yes," she said, with a brightness which deceived both of them, "it has been very jolly. What a pretty girl that is with whom you were sitting out, d.i.c.k!"
"I always thought you had great taste," he said approvingly. "She was the nicest girl there--as I ventured to tell her."
Nell laughed--surely the hollowness of the laugh must strike them, she thought--but neither of the two noticed its insincerity, and d.i.c.k rattled on, suspecting nothing.
Drake sat almost silent. To be near her, to have her so close to him, was all the sweeter after the hateful scene with Luce. Heaven! how different was this love of his to that other woman from whom he had escaped! It was a terrible word, but it was the only fitting one to his mind.
He would tell Nell in the morning. Yes, he would tell Nell who he was, and--and--of his engagement to Luce. It would be an unpleasant, hateful story, but he would tell it. There had been too much concealment, too much deceit; he had been a fool to yield to the temptation to hide his ident.i.ty; he would make a clean breast of it to-morrow. Once he stretched out his hand in the direction of hers, but Nell, though her eyes were not turned in his direction, saw the movement, and quickly removed her hand beyond his reach.
The fly drew up at The Cottage, and d.i.c.k jumped out and opened the door with his key, and purposely went straight into the house. As Drake helped Nell out, she drew her hand away to gather up her dress, and went quickly into the little hall, and he followed her.
Her heart beat fast and painfully. She felt as if she could not lift her eyes; as if she were the guilty one. Would he--would he attempt to kiss her? Oh, surely, surely not! He could not be so false. She held out her hand.
"I am so sleepy," she said. "Good night!"
He looked at her as he held her hand, and at that moment the kiss which Luce had taken burned like fire upon his lips. He shrank from touching the pure lips of the girl he loved while the other woman"s kiss still lingered on his consciousness. It would be desecration.
"You are all right now--not faint?" he said; and there was a troubled expression in his face and voice.
Nell thought she could read his mind, and knew the reason of his hesitation. A few hours ago he would have lost no time in catching her to his heart. But now--he loved her, no longer.
Her face went white, though she strove to keep the color in it.
"Yes, oh, yes!" she said. "I am only tired and--sleepy."
"Then I won"t keep you," he said gravely. "Good night."
He had turned; but even as he turned, the longing in his heart grew too fierce for restraint. He swung round suddenly and caught her to him, drew her head upon his breast, and kissed her with pa.s.sionate love--and remorse.
Nell strove for strength to repulse him, to free herself from his arms; but the strength would not come. For a moment she lay motionless, her lips upturned to his, her eyes seeking his, with an expression in them which haunted Drake for many a long year afterward.
"Nell," he said hoa.r.s.ely, "I--I have something to tell you to-morrow.
I--I have to ask your forgiveness. I would tell you to-night, but--I haven"t courage. To-morrow!"
The words broke the spell. The flush of a hot, unbearable shame burned in her veins and shone redly in her face. With an effort, she drew herself from his arms and blindly escaped into the sitting room.
Drake raised his head and looked after her, biting his lip.
"Why not tell her to-night?" he asked himself. There was no guardian angel to whisper, "The man who hesitates is lost!" and thinking, "Not to-night; she is too tired--to-morrow!" he left the house.
Nell stood in the center of the room, her face white, her hands shaking; and d.i.c.k, as he peeled off what remained of his gloves, surveyed her critically.
"If I were you, young person, I"d have a stiff gla.s.s of grog before I tumbled into my little bed. Look here, if you like to go up now, I"ll have a smoke, and bring you some up presently. You look--well, you look as if you were going to have the measles, my child."
Nell laughed discordantly.
"Do I?" she said, pushing the hair from her forehead with both hands, and staring before her vacantly. "Perhaps I am."
"Measles--or influenza," he said, with a pursing of the lips. "Get up to bed, Nell."
"I"m going," she said.
She came round the table, and, leaning both hands on his shoulders, bent her lovely head and kissed him.
"d.i.c.k, you--you care for me still?" she asked, in a strained voice.
He stared at her, as, brother like, he wiped the kiss from his lips.
"Care for you? What----Look here, Nell, you"re behaving like a second-cla.s.s idiot. And your lips are like fire. I"m dashed if I don"t think you are going to have something."