Chapter 2
Arrival of a Large Gentleman
Brother and sister went back into the coffee-room. As they entered by one door a little figure tiptoed in at the other, and stood poised on one toe as if for flight. “Has he gone?” breathed Miss Letitia.
It was Peter Merriot who went forward and took the lady’s hand. “Why, yes, child, gone for the moment,” he said, and led her to the fire.
She raised a pair of big pansy-brown eyes. “Oh, thank you, sir!” she said. “And you too, dear madam.”
Miss Merriot flushed slightly, whereat the humorous look came into Peter’s eye again. He looked down at Miss Letty gravely enough, and pulled a chair forward. “Sit down, madam, and let us have the story, if you please. I should desire to know how we may serve you.”
“You have served me,” vowed the lady, clasping her hands in her lap. “My story is all folly, sir — wicked folly rising out of the most dreadful persecution.”
“You shock me, madam.”
Miss Merriot came to the fire, and sat down beside the little lady, who promptly caught her hand and kissed it. “I don’t know what I should have done without you!” she said fervently. “For I had quite made up my mind I didn’t want to go to Gretna Green at all. You see, I had never seen him in his cups before. It was a terrible awakening. He became altered altogether once we were out of London, and — and I was afraid — a little.” She looked up blushing. “At home when I saw him he was so different, you see.”
“Do I understand, my dear, that you consented to elope with the gentleman?” inquired Miss Merriot.