With a feeling akin to bewilderment, but without any resentment against

his strange companion's eccentricity, Derrick went through the ceremony;

and Reggie, rising, said: "I am now going to the Hall; if you will be in the little wood in the

hollow behind the Hall at seven o'clock this evening--but I need not

continue."

He rose, settled his cap, and took two or three steps; but stopped

suddenly and, coming back to the table, leant his hands on it and

regarded Derrick thoughtfully.

"One conjecture, if you will allow me. May we say that the person at

Thexford Hall you most particularly wish to avoid is--Lord Heyton?"

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Derrick, speechless for a moment, stared at him; then he nodded.

"Quite so," said Reggie, with an air of satisfaction. "Oh, I don't want

to know the reason; I just wanted my surmise confirmed. And, by George!

I commend your judgment; for, if there was ever an individual in this

world an honest man might wish to avoid, it is the gentleman I have

mentioned."

With this, he walked off; and Derrick sat for some time in a state of

amazement at the quaintness--and, be it added, the acuteness--of his new

acquaintance. Presently the landlord served him with a nice little meal,

which it is to be feared Derrick did not appreciate; for he scarcely

knew what he was eating.

The time lagged intolerably; and long before seven o'clock, he had found

the little wood, and was pacing up and down it, his heart beating

furiously, as he listened for footsteps; they came presently, and he

drew behind a tree, that, for a moment or two, unseen himself, his eyes

might rest on the girl he had seen but once, but whose form was

enshrined in his heart.

And presently she came; a slim, graceful figure in a plain white dress.

The evening was warm, and she had taken off her hat, and was swinging it

idly in her hand. When he saw her face distinctly, he noticed that it

was calm and serene; there was no expression of expectation in it; she

looked as if she were just strolling without any object. Pale beneath

his tan, Derrick stepped forward and raised his hat. Celia stopped dead

short, and looked at him for a moment with the ordinary expression of

surprise at the sudden appearance of a stranger; then she recognised him

and, all in a flash, her face changed. First, it was flooded with

colour; then it grew pale and her wide-open eyes held a look of

astonishment and some other emotion which went straight to Derrick's

heart and struck him dumb, so that he stood before her in silence. She

was the first to speak.




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