“Kitten, Kitten!” he said, folding her in his arms again. “I wish I could say the same! But it wasn’t until after I had married you that I grew to love you so! What a fellow I am! But I found out when you ran away from me how dearly I loved you! You won’t get the chance to run from me again, I can tell you!”
She laid her cheek against his heart. “Oh, and I have been so troublesome! And now this shocking scrape! I thought you would utterly cast me off!”
“It was my fault! All my fault!” he said vehemently.
Ferdy coughed apologetically. “Told you it was a mistake, Sherry, dear old boy! No wish to disturb you, but there are a couple of postboys peeping at you round the corner of the stable door.”
“Let ’em peep!” said his lordship, but he tucked Hero’s hand in his arm, and walked slowly into the inn with her. “Where’s this fellow, Tarleton? You little fiend, nicely you must have gammoned him! Dashed if I’m not sorry for the poor devil! But what the deuce did he mean by running off with you like that?”
“Oh, Sherry, I am much afraid it may have been because of something very foolish which I once said to him!” confessed Hero guiltily.
He gave a shout of laughter. “I might have known it! Lord, it’s like seeing your last hope come first past the post to be pulling you out of a scrape again, brat!”
“Well, I am excessively relieved to hear you say so, Sherry, because, to tell you the truth, it is a worse scrape than you know. In fact, it is quite shocking, and the landlord says he will give us up to the constable; but perhaps if you will be so obliging as to pay the reckoning for poor Mr Tarleton he may relent. He had all his money stolen from him, you see — ”
“I know he had,” grinned Sherry. “Jason forked him! That’s how I managed to catch you.”
“Oh, how clever of Jason!” Hero cried. “We must give him a handsome present!”