The woman who had thus followed him was certainly not one who ought to inspire any thing like vexation. Her face was beautiful in outline and expression. Her eyes were dark and animated, her tone and manner indicated good-breeding and refinement, though these were somewhat more vivacious than is common with English ladies.
"I don"t see what brought _you_ here," said Leon at last.
"I might say the same of you, _mon cher_," replied the lady, "but I have a faint idea, and I have no desire to give you too much liberty."
"It"s some more of your confounded jealousy," said Leon, angrily. "My business here is a very delicate one indeed. I may have to do it incognito, and it may ruin all if I have any one here who knows me."
"Incognito?" said the lady. "That will be charming; and if so, who can help you better than I? I can be your mother, or your grandmother, or your business partner, or any thing. You ought to have insisted on my accompanying you."
The light tone of raillery in which this was spoken did not in any way mollify the chagrin of the other, who still looked at her with a frown, and as she ended, growled out,
"I don"t see how you got on my track, confound it!"
"Nothing easier," said the lady. "You didn"t take any pains to hide your tracks."
"But I told you I was going back to Dudleigh."
"I know you did, _mon cher_; but do you think I believed you?"
"I don"t see how you followed me," said Leon again.
"Well, I don"t intend to let you know all my resources," said the lady, with a smile, "for fear you will baffle me some other time. But now come, don"t let yourself get into a pa.s.sion. Look at me, and see how good-natured and sweet-tempered I am. Your reception of me is really quite heart-rending, and I have a great mind to go back again at once and leave you."
"I wish you would," said Leon, rudely.
"But I won"t," said the lady. "So come, be yourself again, for you can be sweet-tempered if you only try hard, you know."
"Now see here, Lucy," said Leon, sternly, "you don"t know what you"re doing. It"s all very well to pa.s.s it off as a frolic, but it won"t do.
This business of mine is too serious to admit of trifling. If it were my own affair, I wouldn"t care; and even if I didn"t want you, I should submit with a good grace. But this is a matter of extreme delicacy, and my father has sent me here because he was unable to come himself. It is a--a law matter. I went to London merely to see the solicitors. I didn"t tell a soul about my business, and I thought that no one knew I was coming here except my father and the solicitors."
"Well, but I"m always an exception, you know," said the lady, pleasantly.
"Oh, see here, now," said the other, "it"s all very well for you to meddle with my own affairs; but you are now forcing yourself into the midst of the concerns of others--the business affairs of two great estates. I must attend to this alone."
"_Mon cher_," said the lady, with unalterable placidity, "business is not one of your strong points. You really are not fit to manage any important matter alone. At Dudleigh you have your papa to advise with, at London your papa"s solicitors, and here at Dalton you need a sound adviser too. Now is there any one in whom you could put greater confidence, or who could give you better advice on innumerable matters, than the unworthy being who now addresses you? Come, don"t keep up the sulks any longer. They are not becoming to your style of beauty. For my part, I never sulk. If you will reflect for a moment, you will see that it is really a great advantage for you to have with you one so sagacious and shrewd as I am; and now that the first moment of irritation has pa.s.sed, I trust you will look upon my humble offer of service with more propitious eyes."
Something in these words seemed to strike Leon favorably, for the vexation pa.s.sed away from his face, and he stood looking thoughtfully at the ground, which he was mechanically smoothing over with his foot. The lady said no more, but watched him attentively, in silence, waiting to see the result of his present meditations.
"Well," said he at last, "I don"t know but that something may arise in this business, Lucy, in which you may be able to do something--though what it may be I can not tell just now."
"Certainly," said the lady, "if you really are thinking of an incognito, my services may be of the utmost importance."
"There"s something in that," said Leon.
"But whether the incognito is advisable or not should first be seen. Now if you would honor me with your confidence to ever so small an extent, I could offer an opinion on that point which might be worth having. And I will set you a good example by giving you my confidence. Frankly, then, the only reason why I followed you was because I found out that there was a lady in the case."
"So that"s it, is it!" said Leon, looking at her curiously.
"Yes," said the lady. "And I heard that your father sent you, and that you had been talking with his solicitors. Now as you are not in the habit of doing business with your father, or talking with his solicitors, the thing struck me very forcibly; and as there was a lady--in fact, a rich heiress--in the case, and as you are frightfully in debt, I concluded that it would be well for me to see how the business proceeded; for I sometimes do not have that confidence in you, Leon, which I should like to have."
This was spoken in a serious and mournful voice which was totally different from the tone of raillery in which she had at first indulged.
As she concluded she fixed her eyes sadly on Leon, and he saw that they were suffused with tears.
"You preposterous little goose!" said Leon. "There never was a wilder, a sillier, and at the same time a more utterly groundless fancy than this. Why, to begin with, the lady is my cousin."
"I know," said the lady, sadly.
"It seems to me you found out every thing, though how the deuce you contrived it is more than I can tell," said Leon.
"Our faculties are very much sharpened where our interests are concerned," said the lady, sententiously.
"Now, see here," said Leon. "It is true that this lady is my cousin, and that she is an heiress, and that I am infernally hard up, and that my father sent me here, and that I have been talking with the solicitors; but I swear to you the subject of marriage has not once been mentioned."
"But only thought of," suggested the other.
"Well, I don"t know any thing about people"s thoughts," said Leon. "If you go into that style of thing, I give up. By-the-way, you know so much, that I suppose you know the lady"s name."
"Oh yes: Miss Dalton--Edith Dalton."
"The devil!" exclaimed Leon. "Well, I confess I"m mystified. How you could have found out all this is utterly beyond me."
"So you have no idea of matrimony, _mon cher_?" said the lady, attempting to use a sprightly tone, but looking at him with a glance so earnest that it showed what importance she attached to his reply.
Leon was silent for a moment, and looked at the ground. At last he burst forth impatiently:
"Oh, confound it all! what"s the use of harping forever on one string, and putting a fellow in a corner all the time? You insist on holding an inquisition about thoughts and intentions. How do I know any thing about that? You may examine me about facts if you choose, but you haven"t any business to ask any thing more."
"Well, I suppose it _is_ rather unfair," said the lady in a sweet voice, "to force one to explain all one"s thoughts and intentions; so, _mon cher_, let"s cry quits. At any rate, you receive me for your ally, your adviser, your guide, philosopher, and friend. If you want incognitos or disguises, come to me."
"Well, I suppose I must," said Leon, "since you are here, and won"t go; and perhaps you may yet be really useful, but--"
"But at first I ought to know what the present condition is of this "business" of yours."
"Oh, I"ve no objection to tell you now, since you know so much; in fact, I believe you know all, as it is."
"Well, not quite all."
"It seems to me," said Leon, "if we"re going to talk over this matter any further, we might find some better place than the middle of a public road. Let me see," he continued, looking all around--"where shall we go?"
As he looked around his eyes caught sight of the little river that flowed near, on its course through Dalton to the Bristol Channel. Some trees grew on the margin, and beneath them was some gra.s.s. It was not more than twenty yards away.
"Suppose we sit there by the river," said Leon, "and we can talk it over."
The lady nodded, and the two walked to the river margin.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "SHE WAS SEATED NEAR THE WINDOW."]