“Is it?” said Jack, musing. “We’ll row on,” and he bent to the oar again.
A peculiar silence fell upon them all; it seemed as if they were still listening to the sweet voice. Lady Bell closed her eyes and remained motionless, and Jack pulled as if he had undertaken to reach Richmond within a given time.
At Richmond tea was brought to them on the terrace while the horses were put to, and very soon they were dashing toward London.
Dalrymple declared that his arms were too stiff to allow him to handle the four grays properly, and Jack was unanimously voted to the box.
He looked rather inclined to refuse, but seeing that Una had been seated close behind him, he climbed up and took the reins without a word.
For the first mile or two he had quite enough to do to keep the nags in hand; but he could feel that Una was close behind him, could feel her breath on his cheek, and hear every word of the clear, low-pitched voice, and he was deliriously happy.
Presently, when he had got the horses into steady working, he turned his head and pointing with his whip, as if he were directing her attention to some object in the landscape, said in a low voice:
“Una, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” she said, leaning forward.
“I have been thinking it all over,” he said, “but I can’t make head or tail of it. It’s all a mystery. However, I know where you are now, and that’s something; and I can come and see you, and that’s everything—to me. Are you angry with me for speaking so—so boldly?”