She stepped into a carriage, and moved towards the farther side, arranging impedimenta upon the seat, with her back turned towards him. There was no time to wait, for he was obliged to move along quickly to take his own seat, but though the alertness of relief showed in his movements, his heart went out towards his fiancée with a rush of gratitude. How kind, how considerate, how singularly wise and far-seeing! Most girls, he was convinced, would have manoeuvred for a tête-à-tête, and turned the journey into a torture of tears and reproaches, but Teresa had voluntarily sent him away, and had done so, moreover, in a natural, commonplace fashion free from trace of offence.
Bravo, Teresa! As he took his seat in a corner of the smoker Peignton was probably more warmly her admirer than at any previous moment in their acquaintance. A sensible, level-headed woman, who would help, not hinder through the hard moments of life. Mentally he took off his cap to Teresa; but when he had lighted a cigarette he fell back into dreams of another woman who was neither practical nor level-headed, as admirers of sensible women are apt to do.
As for Teresa, she cursed herself a hundred times over for having thrown away a valuable opportunity, but her resolution not to harass Dane in this first miserable day of indecision sprang into life again at the sight of his worn face when he came to join her at the Junction, and she braced herself afresh to help him through the ordeal of arrival.
Mrs Mallison had been prepared by wire for her daughter’s sudden return, and her curiosity was at boiling point as to the reasons thereof. The statement that Lady Cassandra was ill, and Mrs Beverley engaged in nursing, was far too vague to prove satisfying. She wanted to hear what nature of ill, how long an ill, how serious an ill, with details of the premonitory symptoms, and the precise circumstances under which they had developed. She waved the way towards the dining-room, explaining that lunch had been delayed half, an hour for the travellers’ benefit. Of course Dane would stay and take pot luck. Mutton haricot and gooseberry fool. “You can tell us all about it over lunch, and afterwards,” she added meaningly, “Teresa and you can have a nice quiet afternoon!”
Peignton quailed at the prospect, but once again Teresa came to the rescue.
“Dane is very tired, mother. We are both tired. He is going straight home to rest. Be sure you do rest, Dane,” she added, turning towards him, and holding out her hand. “I shan’t expect to see you again until Sunday.”
“I am quite sure he won’t agree to that!” Mrs Mallison declared, and continued to protest volubly against Dane’s departure, and to sing the praises of the haricot and fool, but her flutters had no power against the inflexibility of Teresa’s calm, and finally she realised her defeat, and scurried back to shut the dining-room door, with the obvious intention of giving privacy to a tender farewell.
“You are very good to me, Teresa,” Dane said. The next second he realised that he was expressing gratitude to his fiancée, for giving him a chance of escaping her own society, and the realisation infused an added warmth into his last words. “Thank you, dear.”
Quite simply and naturally Teresa lifted her arms, and clasped them round his neck. She did not kiss him, but she laid her fresh, cool cheek against his, and said:
“I love you, Dane. I shall always be good to you.”