Bruce Deville closed the magazine he had been reading with a bang. He had evidently been a passive auditor as long as he was able to endure it. “Let me finish,” he said, shortly. “I am blessed with strong arms, and I stopped the horses. It was not a particularly difficult task. The ladies walked back to the hotel, and I went to look for the driver, who had broken his leg.”
“And I have never seen him since!” she exclaimed, breathlessly.
“Well, I couldn’t help that,” he continued. “I believe I promised to come to the hotel and call upon you, but when I thought it over it really didn’t seem worth while. I was on my way to Geneva, walking over the hills, and I was rather anxious to get there, and as I found some men to take the carriage and the driver back, I thought I might as well continue my journey. I wanted to get to Geneva for my letters.”
She laughed quietly. Her eyes continually sought his, soft with admiration and pleasure.
“You are like all the men of your country, who are brave and noble,” she said. “You will do a great deed, but you do not like to be thanked. Yet we waited there for days, hoping to see you. I have looked for you wherever I have been since then, and to think that now—on this very saddest journey I have ever been forced to take—that I should call here, by accident, and the door should open, and you should walk in. Ah!”
“It is quite a romance,” Adelaide Fortress remarked, with a faint smile upon her lips. “How grateful you must be that you came to see me this afternoon, Bruce! By the by, do you mind ringing the bell—unless you prefer stewed tea?”
He got up and rang it with avidity.
“I am glad you recognize the fact that we have come to tea,” he remarked. “Miss Ffolliot and I met at the gate. You ought to give us something specially good for venturing out on such a day.”
“I will give you some Buszard’s cake,” she answered, laughing; “some kind friend sent it to me this morning. Only you mustn’t eat it all up; it has to last me for a week.”
“How is your father, Miss Ffolliot?” the girl asked, turning to me abruptly.