"There does, and encounters are sometimes unpleasant for both parties,"
he remarked abruptly. "But you"ll excuse me, won"t you? I see a man over there that I know, and want to speak to him."
Valerie gracefully inclined her head, and Egerton, rising, lounged over to the man he had recognised.
The moment he was out of hearing, she turned to Trethowen, and said:
"Then you and Jack Egerton are friends?"
"Yes; I find him a very agreeable and good hearted fellow."
"That may be." She hesitated thoughtfully; then she added: "You do not know him as well as I do."
"And what is your objection to him?" asked he in surprise.
"Hugh, yesterday you told me you loved me," she said, looking seriously into his face.
"Yes, dearest, I did. I meant it."
"Then; as I explained to you, I have many enemies as well as friends.
Jack Egerton is one of the former, and will do all in his power to part us when he finds out our affection is mutual. Now you understand my antipathy."
"Clearly," he replied, puzzled. "But I know Jack too well; he would not be guilty of an underhand action."
"Do not trust him, but promise me _one thing_."
"Of course, I"ll promise you anything to make you happy. What is it?"
"That you will take no heed of any allegations he may make against me."
She was intensely in earnest, and gazed at him with eyes that were entirely human in their quick sympathy, their gentleness--in their appeal to the world for a favouring word.
"Rest a.s.sured, nothing he may say will ever turn me from you, Valerie."
She heaved a sigh of relief when he gave his answer.
"Somehow or other I am always being scandalised," she exclaimed bitterly. "I have done nothing of which I am ashamed, yet my select circle of enemies seem to conspire to cause the world to deride me.
Because I am unmarried, and do not believe in burying myself, they endeavour to besmirch my fair name."
She spoke with a touch of emotion, which she ineffectually tried to hide.
Then, as Hugh addressed her in a tone in which respect melted into love, she quivered at the simple words in which he poured forth his whole soul:
"I love you. Why need you fear?"
He uttered these words with a slight pressure of the hand, and a look which sank deep into her heart.
Then they exchanged a few tremulous words--those treasured speeches which, monotonous as they seem, are as music in the ears of lovers. The artist and his friend were by this time out of sight, and they were left to themselves to enjoy those brief half-hours of happiness which seldom return, which combine the sadness of parting with the radiant hopes of a brighter day, and which we all of us grasp with sweet, trembling joy, as we stand on the threshold of a new life.
And Valerie--forgetting everything, absorbed in a dream which was now a tangible reality--sat silent, with moist and downcast eyes. Hugh continued to smile, and murmured again and again in her ear:
"I love you."
The pier was almost deserted, and, heedless of the rest of the world, they sat enraptured by love, lulled by the soft splashing of the sea, and bathed in the glorious golden sunshine.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
AUT TACE, AUT PACE.
On the following afternoon there was held in the Floral Hall of the Devonshire Park one of those brilliant orchestral performances which always attract the fashionable portion of Eastbourne visitors. The concerts, held several times each week, are extensively patronised by the cultured, and even the crotchety, who hate music, and regard Mozart and Mendelssohn as inflictions, look upon them as a pleasant means of idling away an hour. This afternoon, however, was devoted to operatic selections, and the hall was filled with a gay throng.
Trethowen had gone over to Hastings to visit some friends, and Egerton, who found time hanging heavily upon his hands, strolled in to hear the music. As he entered, the first object which met his eye was Valerie, who, dressed with becoming taste and elegance, was sitting alone, casting furtive glances towards the door, as if expecting someone.
After a moment"s hesitation he walked over to where she sat, and greeting her briefly with a pleasant smile, took a chair beside her.
"Where is your friend?" she asked abruptly.
"He went to Hastings this morning."
"When will he return?"
"I"m sure I don"t know," replied the artist carelessly.
"I suppose the attraction of your fascinating self will not allow him to remain absent long. Am I to--er--congratulate you?"
Her dark eyes flashed angrily, as she exclaimed in a low, fierce tone:
"You"ve tricked me! You"ve told him!"
"And if I have, surely it is no reason why you should make an exhibition of your confounded bad temper in a public place. If you wish to talk, come into the grounds," he said in a tone of annoyance.
"Yes; let"s go. I"ve something to say."
The conductor"s baton was tapping the desk as they rose and pa.s.sed out upon the pleasant lawn beyond. Walking a short distance, they seated themselves under the shadow of a tree, in a nook where there were no eavesdroppers.
"Well, Valerie, what have you to say to me? I"m all attention," said Egerton, a.s.suming an amused air, and calmly lighting a cigarette.
"_Diable_! You try to hide the truth from me," she said, her accent being more p.r.o.nounced with her anger. "You have warned Hugh; you have told him to beware of me--that my touch pollutes, and my kisses are venomous. Remember what you and I were once to each other--and you, of all men, try to ruin my reputation! Fortunately, I am well able to defend it."
"Your reputation--bah!"
"Yes, m"sieur, you may sneer; but I tell you, we are not so unequally matched as you imagine. If you have breathed one word to Hugh of my past, I can very easily prove to him that you have lied; and, further, you appear to forget that certain information that I could give would place you in a very ugly predicament."
"Oh! you threaten, do you?"
"Only in the event of your being such an imbecile as to reveal to Hugh the secret."
"Then, I may as well tell you that up to the present he knows nothing.
Yet, remember, he and I are old friends, therefore it will be my endeavour to prevent him falling into your accursed toils, as others have!" he exclaimed angrily.