But now he is raising his eyes, and as they meet Juliet's, the shadow flees from his face. There can be no doubt that he loves her, when he looks at her like that.
In a few minutes, they were walking amidst the trees in Kensington Gardens. He guided her to the most secluded spot he could find, and they sat down beneath the shade of a tall beech. No one was near them. An opening in the glade revealed a glimpse of gleaming water, and the voices of children playing on the brink of the pond came to them softened by distance.
"What have you been doing since I saw you, darling?" asked Algernon, gazing at her fondly. "Lots of shopping, I suppose. Buying pretty frocks, eh? I fear you are getting to be a very extravagant young lady."
"That is what everyone says," returned Juliet, pouting her pretty lips; "but I am not extravagant, though it is nice to be able to spend what I like. Do you know all my business affairs are settled at last? Mr. Gray has been more expeditious than we had hoped. I have my own account at the bank now. You can't think how proud I felt yesterday when I wrote my first cheque."
"I can well believe it," said Algernon, his eyes gleaming as he spoke.
This was an experience with which he could fully sympathise.
"I only wish I had an uncle to leave me money. I am desperately hard up just now. That father of mine has treated me abominably."
"Oh, I am so sorry!" exclaimed Juliet. "If—if only—" she hesitated. It was not easy to offer him money.
"Never mind about me," said Algernon; "I shall pull along somehow. It is time now to consider your future seriously, Juliet. Too much time has been lost already. We must begin to act, now that you have the means at your command. We cannot go on longer as we have been going."
"No, oh no; I feel as you do about that," said Juliet, with a little shiver of excitement. "I am impatient to begin, if only you will tell me what to do. I shall feel so much happier when I know that I am working steadily for the end I have in view."