However, his reflections were cut short by the appearance of Miss Fitzgerald herself, who had not hurried so much as to be flushed or out of breath, and who had arrived with the fixed intention of keeping the Secretary away from the Hall during the entire afternoon.
"I'm awfully sorry to have kept you waiting so long," she said, mounting to the seat which faced him, he driving under her direction. "But you shall have your reward—for I've two bits of good news for you."
"That's encouraging," he replied, praying inwardly that one of them was the announcement of Lady Isabelle's marriage.
"In the first place, your friend Mr. Kent-Lauriston has arrived."
The Secretary's face did not express any excess of joy.
"Won't you be glad to see him?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
"He's an old friend of yours?"
"My oldest in England."
"How nice that he's here!" she said, a slight frown clouding her brows. "His coming will mean so much to you."