His shaking hand rested in her soft palm for a moment, then he fell back with a sigh; but immediately afterward, as she left the room, she heard him address his valet in a dead, cold voice.
Doris went home greatly agitated.
“Your visit has been a trying one, I am afraid, dear,” said Lady Despard, regarding her pale face with sympathetic curiosity. “Was he a very irritable old man? I’ve heard all sorts of stories about him.”
Doris sighed.
“He is very ill and old,” she said. “He—he was very kind and gentle to me,” and, though she could scarcely have told why, her eyes grew moist.
“Well, he would have to be a perfect monster, with a heart of stone, if he had been anything else than kind and gentle to you. And now I have some good news for you. Percy Levant has come back. All his preparations are complete, he says, for the happy event——”
Doris started. She had almost forgotten Percy Levant in the excitement of the interview with the marquis, and the memories and emotions he had evoked.
“I should think he had been working pretty hard or worrying about something,” continued Lady Despard, “for he looks as grave as a judge, and hadn’t a laugh in him. Oh, here he comes.”
Percy Levant entered the room as she spoke, and Lady Despard, murmuring some excuse, left the two young people alone.
He took Doris’ hands, and looked down at her with a grave tenderness that, if she had met his gaze, would have startled her by its sadness.