"Lieutenant De Vere!"
He hurried toward her, and stood in grim silence awaiting her pleasure.
"I—want to speak to you," she said.
There was a vacant chair near at hand. He brought it and sat down by her side.
"I am at your service, Miss West," he said, stiffly.
He thought he had never seen anything half so enchanting as the face she raised to his. The big black hat was a most becoming foil to her fresh young beauty. There was a smile on the rosy lips—half arch, half wistful. The full light of the sunny day shone on her, but her beauty was so flawless that the severe test only enhanced its perfection. His heart gave a fierce throb, half pain, half pleasure.
"You are vexed with me?" said Leonora, in a soft, inquiring voice.
"Oh, no, no," he replied, quickly.
"No?" she said. "But, then, you certainly are vexed with some one. If it is not with me, then it must be with Captain Lancaster."
To this proposition, that was made with an air of conviction, he remained gravely silent.