Annette promised freely—she was such a romantic little thing—and she was sure that he had fallen in love with her lovely friend. As she was already engaged herself to the dearest fellow in Cincinnati, she did not experience any pangs of jealousy.
So when the doctor was gone and Daisie resting easily, she whispered his message, and added:
“You have made quite a conquest, I am sure, by this accident, for if ever I saw love in a man’s eyes for a girl, it shone in Dallas Bain’s for you!”
Daisie blushed and demurred, but her heart was full of joy. She forgot all about Royall Sherwood, who had gone to New York last evening to be absent two days. She could think of nothing but the message and the visit she was to receive next morning. If she spent a restless night, it was not so much from her injuries as from happy suspense.
She had longed so eagerly to know him, and when she had given up hope at last this blessing had come to her so suddenly that it made her forget everything else that she ought to remember.
The next morning she pretended to be feeling much better than she really was, so that the doctor would permit her to be helped down to the parlor to lie on the little blue sofa. When he gave his consent, she insisted on wearing her very daintiest white morning gown, with fluffy lace trimmings, though her aunt said she didn’t see that it mattered how she dressed, seeing that Mr. Sherwood was away.
Daisie answered, with a burning blush:
“It is Mr. Sherwood’s friend that is coming to call on me; so, of course, I want to look nice.”
This satisfied the old lady, and when Dallas Bain came at the earliest permissible hour she simply ushered him into the parlor and left him alone with Daisie, excusing herself on the plea of domestic duties.
They were alone together—the pair of unacknowledged lovers—in the simple, dainty room, with its blue-and-white hangings that harmonized so exquisitely with the girl’s radiant fairness. The summer breeze swayed the lace curtains at the window and diffused the odor of white roses growing on a bush outside, disposing the mind to thoughts of love and purity.