The tears welled to her eyes and, of her own accord, she drew his head down to her and laid her sweet lips on his.
"You are too good to me; I am not worth it," she said, brokenly. Then, with something like a start, she whispered, with a dawning fear and horror in her eyes, "And the other—Lord Heyton? And his wife! Oh, poor, poor woman! And she has borne so much already! She is lying there, upstairs, prostrated. Who is to tell her? Oh, Derrick, dearest, who is to tell her?"
"You," he said, gently. "No one can break it to her better than you can."
"Oh, must I? Oh, it will be hard for her."
"It will be hard, Celia; but no one can do it better than you. You will soften the blow. She will realise her debt to you, through me. Tell her that her future shall be cared for—but you know that I shall look after that. Celia, you, who are so quick, so acute, have divined the truth. It was for Miriam that I took on myself the forged cheque. I—cared for her once; I thought I was in love with her. I thought so until that night you came to me and stood like an angel of rescue between me and a shameful death. As to Miriam's husband——"
Derrick paused and, looking down at her steadily, laid his hand on her shoulder with an almost masterful pressure.
"—There must be nothing more said about him between us two, Celia," he continued, with solemnity in his voice and manner. "He is gone; let him go and take the past with him. But one word: Celia, it was Heyton who wronged Susie, it was Heyton who forged the cheque; it was because Lady Gridborough thought me guilty of wrecking Susie's life, that she cut me that morning when she passed us at the gate by the wood. She knows the truth now; for Reggie has got Susie to reveal it——"
"Reggie!" murmured Celia.
"Yes; he fell in love with Susie the first time he saw her; he has been telling me all about it."
"And Susie yielded! I can scarcely believe it," said Celia, with a note of delight in her voice.