“Ah, but I determined yesterday not to leave you for one moment alone. I watched the doctor and you. I was not far behind you when he left you. I had you in surveillance, young man, and from this moment I constitute myself your private detective.”
CHAPTER VI.
The lovers walked back to the house planning their future. Mary, who had been anxiously waiting for Roger, met them as they entered. Roger had been extremely melancholy for several days, and Mary feared the effects of the doctor’s decision upon his nervous system, but as she saw his beaming countenance, and the tender smile which he bestowed upon Victoria, she realized that something wonderful had happened.
“Here is your mother, dear Roger,” whispered Victoria. “Shall we tell her?”
“Of course, no one will rejoice more than she. Dear mother, the very dearest mother in all the world, I’ve found a daughter for you. She has promised to be my wife. Wish me joy, for joy unspeakable is mine.”
Mary clasped Victoria in her arms. “My precious child, I have prayed for this day, but I did not think my prayers would be answered so soon. Thank God for his goodness.” She kissed Roger tenderly. “So the doctor’s decision had no terrors for you, my son?”
“Not after this blessing came to me, dear mother. An hour ago I was bewailing my fate. Now I am the happiest man alive. Nothing can terrify me so long as I have the assurance of this dear girl’s love. God bless her.”
Victoria ran laughing from the room, only to meet her mother in the hall. “Whither so fast, my dear?” called Lady Vale.
“You are wanted in the library,” was all the reply Victoria made.
Lady Vale was far from pleased at the news which Mary hastened to impart. She had indeed promised Mary that she would not interfere between the young people, if they chose to love each other, but she had relied on Victoria’s good sense in avoiding anything approaching tenderness on Roger’s part, and she had been so imprudent as to fall in love herself. Lady Vale had different views regarding Victoria’s future. There were many brilliant parti’s in England. Men of noble birth, who were sure to succeed in life, and who could place Victoria on the highest round of the ladder. What imbecility to bury herself in this obscure place, just because of her generosity of heart, and womanly sympathy, had led her to think she loved a blind man. Lady Vale set her thin lips quite firmly together, as she noticed Mary’s radiant face and Roger’s evident happiness.