I drew a breath of relief.
"Will he follow us?" asked Althea nervously.
"Not he. He hasn't a thought of the trick we've played him."
"Oh, Mr. Bastable, how could you do it so naturally? I was positively trembling the whole time."
"You needn't worry about anything now," I said reassuringly. "Try to fix your thoughts on what is to be done next."
"I don't know what to do," she murmured.
Neither did I. Nor did I seem to care. The unexpectedness of it all had taken my breath away. The whole position was so unreal that I was in the clouds.
A few minutes before I had been bent only upon rushing away in search of distraction from the galling rack of my disappointment on her account; and now she had rushed to me in the hour of her trouble, and was by my side, trusting to me to get her out of it all.
I would do it at any cost; but for the moment I was so elated by the proof of her confidence, that I could think of nothing else.
CHAPTER II