Eveline had nervously and sedulously avoided Sir Paget till the time of his departure; and, when he did leave Dundargue in the dawn, he was only seen off by the old butler; but Evan Cameron had an unexpected farewell caress, the memory of a sad, soft, and clinging kiss that he was to take away with him to what he deemed the land of bondage, and tearful eyes watched his wagonette as it passed down the avenue and out upon the high-road that led to the railway.
Evan looked backwards at the tall and stately pile of Dundargue, on which the rays of the rising sun shone redly, and deep in his heart he envied Carslogie, who was to remain behind for a couple of days' shooting. Yet wherefore should he envy any man while Eveline loved him? was his afterthought.
And she, poor girl, seemed to feel herself left most terribly alone with all her sorrow—alone amid her loving family and splendid surroundings, and with Evan's words of love lingering in her ear she was soon bidden to school herself to think of Sir Paget, and Sir Paget Puddicombe only! 'The human creature,' it has been written, 'who would have suited us to every fibre of our being we have not found, or, having found, have not possessed; but (perhaps) undervalued, and so allowed to pass out of our lives.'
These two suited each other 'to a fibre,' as our author quaintly puts it, and in perfect unanimity of sentiment; and yet for all that they may be compelled to pass out of each other's lives, and live those lives far, far apart.
Under her mother's scrutiny Eveline strove hard to dissemble, and on receiving her morning kiss said,
'Well, mamma, no evil has come of the wearing the diamonds—Dundargue has not taken fire.'
'No, child—indeed, good has come!'
'How, mamma?'
'This morning's mail has brought an enclosure for you—the formal proposal of Sir Paget.'
Eveline was stricken dumb, but thought to herself,