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Page 11
Sir Adrian, who has turned very pale, and is looking greatly distressed,
makes no reply. He is repeating over and over again to himself the words
he has just heard, as though unable or unwilling to comprehend them. "I
care nothing for Sir Adrian!" They strike like a knell upon his ears--a
death-knell to all his dearest hopes. And that fellow on his knees
before her, kissing her hand, and telling her he will still hope! Hope
for what? Alas, he tells himself, he knows only too well--her love!
"I am so glad they have made it up," Dora goes on, looking up
sympathetically at Sir Adrian.
"Made it up? I had no idea they were more than ordinary and very new
acquaintances."
"It is quite a year since we first met Arthur in Switzerland," responds
Dora demurely, calling Dynecourt by his Christian name, a thing she has
never done before, because she knows it will give Sir Adrian the
impression that they are on very intimate terms with his cousin. "He has
been our shadow ever since. I wonder you did not notice his devotion in
town."
"I noticed nothing," says Sir Adrian, miserably; "or, if I did, it was
only to form wrong impressions. I firmly believed, seeing Miss Delmaine
and Arthur together here, that she betrayed nothing but a rooted dislike
to him."
"They had not been good friends of late," explains Dora hastily; "that
we all could see. And Florence is very peculiar, you know; she is quite
the dearest girl in the world, and I adore her; but I will confess to
you"--with another upward and bewitching glance from the charming blue
eyes--"that she has her little tempers. Not very naughty ones, you
know"--shaking her head archly--"but just enough to make one a bit
afraid of her at times; so I never ventured to ask her why she treated
poor Arthur, who really is her slave, so cruelly."
"And you think now that--" Sir Adrian breaks off without finishing the
sentence.
"That she has forgiven him whatever offense he committed? Yes, after
what we have just seen--quite a sentimental little episode, was it
not?--I can not help cherishing the hope that all is again right between
them. It could not have been a very grave quarrel, as Arthur is
incapable of a rudeness; but then dearest Florence is so capricious!"
"Ill-tempered and capricious!" Can the girl he loves so ardently be
guilty of these faults? It seems incredible to Sir Adrian, as he
remembers her sunny smile and gentle manner. But then, is it not her
dearest friend who is speaking of her--tender-hearted little Dora
Talbot, who seems to think well of every one, and who murmurs such
pretty speeches even about Arthur, who, if the truth be told, is not
exactly "dear" in the sight of Sir Adrian.
"You think there is, or was, an engagement between Arthur and Miss
Delmaine?" he begins, with his eyes fixed upon the ground.
"I think nothing, you silly man," says the widow playfully, "until I am
told it. But I am glad Florence is once more friendly with poor Arthur;
he is positively wrapped up in her. Now, has that interesting _tableau_
we so nearly interrupted given you a distaste for all other pictures?
Shall we try the smaller gallery?"
"Just as you will."
"Of course"--with a girlish laugh--"it would be imprudent to venture
again into the one we have just quitted. By this time, doubtless, they
are quite reconciled--and--"
"Yes--yes," interrupts Sir Adrian hastily, trying in vain to blot out
the picture she has raised before his eyes of Florence in her lover's
arms. "What you have just told me has quite taken me by surprise," he
goes on nervously. "I should never have guessed it from Miss Delmaine's
manner; it quite misled me."
"Well, between you and me," says Dora, raising herself on tiptoe, as
though to whisper in his ear, and so coming very close to him, "I am
afraid my dearest Florence is a little sly! Yes, really; you wouldn't
think it, would you? The dear girl has such a sweet ingenuous
face--quite the loveliest face on earth, I think, though some pronounce
it too cold. But she is very self-contained; and to-day, you see, she
has given you an insight into this slight fault in her character. Now,
has she not appeared to you to avoid Arthur almost pointedly?"
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