Upon which he drew from his pocket a note. I saw at once it was the Duke’s writing, and I shivered with excitement. He held it before my eyes.
“Dear Robert,” it began, “I have seen her. I am conquered. She will make a magnificent Duchess. Bring her to lunch to-morrow. Yours, Torquilstone.”
I really felt so intensely moved I could not speak.
“Oh, tell us, dear child, how did it happen—and what did you do—and where did you meet?” said Lady Merrenden.
Robert held my hand.
Then I tried to tell them as well as I could, and they listened breathlessly. “I was very rude, I fear,” I ended with, “but I was so angry.”
“It is glorious,” said Robert. “But the best part is that you intended to give me yourself with no prospect of riches. Oh, darling, that is the best gift of all.”
“Was it disgustingly selfish of me?” I said. “But when I saw your poor brother so unhappy looking, and soured, and unkind, with all his grandeur, I felt that to us, who know what love means, to be together was the thing that matters most in all the world.”
Lady Merrenden then said she knew some people staying here who had an appartement on the first floor, and she would go down and see if they were visible. She would wait for Robert in the hall, she said, and she kissed us good-night, and gave us her blessing.