‘You – er – you will marry me?’ he said, a momentary anxiety creeping into his tone. ‘I’m sorry if I startled you,’ he went on, with a faint return of his old primness. ‘I didn’t mean to, but I – I’m an impetuous sort of fellow.’
Meggie stirred at his side, and as she lifted her face to him he saw that she was flushed with laughter, but there was more than mere amusement in her brown eyes. She put her arm round his neck and drew his head down.
‘George, you’re adorable,’ she said. ‘I love you ridiculously, my dear.’
A slow, warm glow spread all over Abbershaw. His heart lolloped in his side, and his eyes danced.
He kissed her again. She lay against his breast very quiet, very happy, but still a little scared.
He felt like a giant refreshed – after all, he reflected, his first essay in his new role had been an unparalleled success.
CHAPTER XI
One Explanation
That evening, after tea had been served in ominous silence by the same two men-servants who had waited at lunch, Michael Prenderby crossed the room and spoke confidentially to Abbershaw.
‘I say,’ he said awkwardly, ‘poor old Jeanne has got the wind up pretty badly. Do you think we’ve got an earthly chance of making a bolt for it?’ He paused, and then went on again quickly, ‘Can’t we hatch out a scheme of some sort? Between you and me, I’m feeling a bit desperate.’
Abbershaw frowned.