“It is a pity to disturb him; he is with his father; and we can settle these things by ourselves,” she replied, not venturing to mar the present tranquillity by sending such a message to Dick. Mr. Mayne would have accompanied his son, and the consultation would hardly have ended peaceably. “Men have their hobbies. We had better settle all this together, you and I,” she said hurriedly.
Nan merely nodded, and cut the Gordian knot through somewhat ruthlessly; but on that occasion she put on her hat before the gong sounded.
“You must be very busy, for one never has a glimpse of you in the morning,” she could not help saying to Dick, as he came in that afternoon to escort them to Fitzroy Lodge.
“Well, yes, I am tolerably busy,” he drawled. “I am never free to do things in the afternoons,”—a fact that Nan felt was unanswerable.
When Nan and her sisters woke on the morning of the memorable day, the bright sunshine of a cloudless June day set all their fears at rest. If the sun smiled on Dick’s fête, all would be well. If Nan’s devotions were longer than usual that morning, no one was the wiser; if she added a little clause, calling down a blessing on a certain head, no one would be the poorer for such pure prayers; indeed, it were well if many such were 30 uttered for the young men who go forth morning after morning into the temptations of life.
Such prayers might stretch like an invisible shield before the countless foes that environ such a one; fiery darts may be caught upon it; a deadly thrust may be turned away. What if the blessing would never reach the ear of the loved one, who goes out unconscious of sympathy? His guardian angel has heard it, and perchance it has reached the very gate of heaven.
Nan came down, smiling and radiant, to find Dick waiting for her in the veranda and chattering to Phillis and Dulce.
“Why, Dick!” she cried, blushing with surprise and pleasure, “to think of your being here on your birthday morning!”
“I only came to thank you and the girls for your lovely presents,” returned Dick, becoming rather incoherent and red at the sight of Nan’s blush. “It was so awfully good of you all, to work all those things for me;” for Nan had taken secret measurements in Dick’s room, and had embroidered a most exquisite mantelpiece valance, and Phillis and Dulce had worked the corners of a green cloth with wonderful daffodils and bulrushes to cover Dick’s shabby table: and Dick’s soul had been filled with ravishment at the sight of these gifts.
Nan would not let him go on, but all the same his happy face delighted her.