She snatched up her gloves, and ran lightly downstairs, not allowing herself time to pause, but passing straight out into the sunshine to meet him.
CHAPTER XXIII
REBELLION
"——You knew not me
Master of your joys and fears;
Held my hands that held the key
Of the treasure of your years,
Of the fountain of your tears.
For you knew not it was I,
And I knew not it was you.
We have learnt, as days went by.
But a flower struck root and grew
Underground, and no one knew."
—MRS. MEYNELL.
"I'm afraid I've kept you waiting," she said a little breathlessly, as she sprang into the cart.
"Oh, that's nothing, to a fellow who is always waiting," was his calm reply.
"Always waiting! What for?" cried Melicent, wonder overleaping discretion.
"For the future, I suppose," he answered, after a short hesitation. Adding, as though suddenly conscious of being eccentric: "You know—that endless chivying of De Wet got on one's nerves."
"I can quite believe it," said Melicent cheerfully. "But now, to-morrow has come, as I used to say when I was a small child. You've made your pile—you're an English landed proprietor. You're not waiting any longer."