"At last!"
She drew a long breath. "Oh, I was so afraid you wouldn"t come!"
"I was here at twelve," he said.
"So you got the handkerchief. I put thirteen because I thought if I put one--it was so difficult to write--and, of course, I couldn"t look at it to see if it was readable. I wrote it under the driving-rug. Oh, suppose you hadn"t got it!"
"I can"t suppose it. What should I have done if I hadn"t?"
"Oh," she said, "don"t! Please don"t. I thought you"d understand it was serious. I shouldn"t have asked you to come in the middle of the night to talk nonsense as if we were at a dance."
"What"s serious?" he said.
She said, "Everything," and her voice trembled.
He took her arm, and felt that she herself was trembling.
"Come and sit down," he said, comfortably, as one might speak to a child in trouble. "Come and sit down and tell me all about it."
They sat down on the log, and he pulled the dark cloak she wore more closely round her.
"Now," he said, "what"s happened? Why didn"t you come this morning?"
"I stayed too long the first time," she answered, "and met Aunt Loo as I went in. She asked me where I"d been. I said I"d been out to swim in the lake. That was quite true. That _was_ why I had gone out. I"ve often done it. But, of course, my hair wasn"t wet. She didn"t say anything.
But this morning when I came down she was sitting in the hall, waiting for me. She asked me if I was going bathing again, and I said, No, I was going to walk in the park. So she said, "Charming idea. I"ll come, too.""
"And what did you say?"
"I said, "Do," of course. But it was awful. I was so afraid of her seeing you."
"Suppose she _had_ chosen to walk that way."
"Yes, of course I thought of that. So _I_ led the way and walked straight toward you. Then she thought whoever I was going to meet must be the other way. So she insisted on going the other way. I knew she would."
"That was subtle of you."
"No; it"s only that she"s stupid. It wouldn"t have taken any one else in."
"So she was baffled."
"Yes, but she has instincts, though she"s so stupid. She knew there was something up. And then when we met you--oh, I _am_ so glad the dog"s all right--when we met you I knew she thought you"d something to do with my being out so early in the morning, and then you blushed."
"If I did," he said, "I wasn"t the only one."
"Oh, I know," she said, "but I don"t suppose I should have if you hadn"t. Though unjust suspicions like that are enough to make anybody blush. Yes, they were unjust because you had nothing to do with my going out the first time--why, I didn"t even know there _was_ a you. And now all the fat"s in the fire, and she"s taking me to Ireland or Scotland to-morrow--she won"t say which. And I couldn"t bear to go and have you think I"d made an appointment and not kept it. It"s so unbusiness-like to break appointments," she said.
"Does she suppose, then, that we--that I am--that you have--that I should--?"
"I don"t know what she supposes. At least I do. But it"s too silly. Now I"ve explained everything. Good-by. I"m glad you found the handkerchief--and I"m _awfully_ glad about Charles."
"I didn"t know you knew his name."
"The stableman said it when the dog ran between his knees and nearly knocked him down. It"s a darling dog--but isn"t it strong! Good-by!" She held out her hand. "Good-by," she said, again.
"No," said he, and held the hand.
There was a little pause.
"Say good-by," she said. "Indeed I must go."
"Why?" he asked, releasing the hand.
"I"ve said everything there was to say--I mean, what I came to say."
"There"s a very great deal that you haven"t told me. I don"t understand.
Who does your aunt think I am?"
"I would rather not tell you; you"d only laugh."
"But please tell me. I shouldn"t."
A troubled silence answered him.
"Look here," he said, "I know there"s a lot you haven"t told me. Do tell me, and let me help you, if I can. You"re worried and unhappy. I can hear it in your voice. Tell me. Things look different when you"ve put them into words. First of all, tell me who your aunt thought I was."
She sat down again with the air of definite decision. "Very well," she said, "if you will have it, she thought you were the piano-tuner. Why don"t you laugh?"
"I"m not amused yet," he said. "What piano-tuner? And why should he--why should you--"
"The piano-tuner is a fence," she said, "and she thinks you"re it."
"I don"t understand a word you"re saying."
"I don"t care," she said, desperately. "I"ll tell you the whole silly story and you can laugh, if you like. I shan"t be offended. Last autumn father brought a man to lunch, quite a nice man--sensible, middle-aged, very well off--and next day he told me the man had proposed for me, and I"d better take him. He"d accepted for me."
"Good heavens!" said Edward, "I thought it was only in the _Family Herald_ that such fathers existed."
"Laugh as much as you like," said she; "it"s true, for all that. You see, I"d refused several before that. It"s rather important for me to marry well--my father"s not rich, and--"
"I see. Well?"
"Well, I wasn"t going to. And when it came to this luncheon man I told you about there was a scene, and my father said was there any one else, and I said no; but he went on so frightfully and wouldn"t believe me. So at last I told him."
"Told him what?"
"That there was some one."
"Yes?" His voice was only more gentle for the sudden sharp stab of disappointment which told him what hope it was that he had nursed.