“Marvellous!” exclaimed the squire; “but it is getting late, Edith. I hope the lady has recovered.”
“I hear Lucy just coming, papa.”
“The lady is fast asleep, miss, and is better,” said Lucy in reply to her mistress’s question.
“Then let us all follow her example,” said the squire, showing his guests to their rooms.
CHAPTER XIV
SURPRISING DISCLOSURES
The quiet and interesting conversation that Harry Goodall had privately with Edith Dove whilst her father and the captain had gone to see if Falcon and Croft had been captured was neither sought nor expected. Edith, when alone with the aeronaut, had thought it only natural and right to offer her sympathies to the welcome messenger from the clouds, whose form and face seemed familiar, and whose recent services she not only appreciated, but at the same time felt that she was under the influence of gratitude and fascination, which she did not attempt to suppress, until a sudden ray of light, falling on the aeronaut’s face, revealed to her something which she hesitated to impart to him, in case she might be mistaken. The idea, however, which had come into her head, induced her to be more reserved until she had made further inquiries of the young lady who was with Lucy; for, if she were mistaken in her conviction as to where they had previously met, she might repent of being unduly precipitate.
Harry Goodall, it may as well be at once confessed, was, from the moment he met Miss Dove, the victim of love at first sight; besides, he could not rid himself of the notion that he had seen Edith somewhere before, as her pretty face appeared to be slightly familiar. This was the prevailing thought of the aeronaut as he conversed with Miss Dove, and afterwards he reproached himself about the utter stupidity he had shown in not having long before sought the acquaintanceship of the heiress of Wedwell Park, who now seemed to him so attractive and lovely; her very eyes beamed with a strange tenderness which was bewitching, and when a more subdued expression crept over her face, he thought perhaps her mind had wandered back to Falcon, who, according to the doctor’s insinuations, was paying his addresses to her.
It was whilst these similar fancies occupied their thoughts as to their having met, that the squire and the captain were heard to enter the hall. This ended their chat, and led to the reading of Warner’s statement, which tended to confirm Miss Dove’s suspicions. We must, however, leave the unsolved difficulty for the present, and freely admit that Doctor Peters was right in one respect, viz., that the aerial visitors had certainly created a great stir, and had induced the Doves to question the pretensions of the financier, which were evidently bold acts of audacity, intended for mischievous objects, for Falcon had been drawing largely on the squire’s fortune to launch and uphold an enterprise which had been considered most promising, until it assumed a doubtful aspect after the arrival of the balloonists. By this time, the doctor also knew that the financier had been partially exposed, and was not successful with Miss Dove, who never had liked him.
After the attempt on the aeronaut’s life, Miss Dove saw, with a woman’s instinct, that the wounded aeronaut had a bitter enemy, and with this conviction she went to the room occupied by Miss Chain, on the following day, with a view of getting information.
Miss Dove first spoke of the pleasure she had felt in making an ascent by moonlight, and regretted that it had been spoiled by a mishap, though only a slight one, as it had fortunately turned out to be, Doctor Peters having made light of the injury.