"Not a ghost of a chance of it," he answered cheerily. "Besides, I am not quite a pauper yet."
"You have lost the case, haven't you?" she asked quickly. "They seemed to think so in the village, and I heard that Mr. Sarsby said his niece had come into a million pounds."
"Up till last night, at any rate," answered Deane, "nothing was decided. The judge reserved his decision."
"Then why," she asked wonderingly, "did you come down here?"
He drew her a little closer to him, and looked into her eyes. "I think, dear," he said, "that it was Providence which sent me."
They walked along the sands, and for them the sun shone still, and the song of the lark was only the faint echo of a still more wonderful music. And then, as they turned back, they saw along the dyke a boy riding a bicycle, a boy with a leather satchel around his waist, and the rim of whose bicycle was red. He pressed her arm.
"Courage, dear," he said. "This is the Mercury who brings us the knowledge of our fate. In a few moments you will know whether you are to become the wife of a millionaire or a working man."
"If you would only believe," she murmured, "how little it matters!"
"I do believe," he answered. "I came down here, for one reason, to escape the shock of hearing the news before others. Now that it comes, I simply do not mind. There are greater things in the world than the Little Anna Gold-Mine!"