The little household in Beulah Place were very busy during the next few days. The girls went out shopping together to replenish Crystal’s modest wardrobe, and then sat working until nearly midnight to complete the new traveling dress. Fern was putting the final stitches on the last afternoon while Crystal went to bid good-bye to her pupils. The black trunk in the girl’s room was already packed, for she was to start early in the morning.
Percy had not yet heard the news; he had been away from town the last week, to Crystal’s great relief. She had begged Mrs. Trafford and Fern to say nothing about her movements. He might appear at any moment, and Crystal dreaded a scene if he heard of her approaching departure.
“It will be much better for him not to know until the sea is between us,” she had said to Mrs. Trafford. “When he hears I have gone without bidding him good-bye, he will see then that I mean what I say—that my life has nothing to do with his;” and Mrs. Trafford had agreed to this.
It was with a feeling of annoyance and very real discomfort, then, that Crystal caught sight of him as she came down the steps of Upton House. He was walking quickly down the street, and evidently perceived her at once. There would be no chance of escaping him, so she walked slowly on, quite aware that he would overtake her in another minute. As they were to part so soon, she must put up with his escort. Of course he had been to Beulah Place, and was now in search of her; poor foolish boy!
The next moment she heard his footstep behind her.
“Miss Davenport, this is too delightful,” and his handsome face wore a look of pleased eagerness. “I thought I should have to wait some time, from Fern’s account, but I have not been here a moment. There is no hurry, is there?” checking her pace as Crystal seemed inclined to walk fast.
“We are busy people, Mr. Trafford,” she answered, pleasantly, “and can never afford to walk slowly. Why did you not wait with your sister? You have not seen her for a long time.”
“Has it seemed a long time to you?” he returned, with quick emphasis. “I wish I could believe that you had missed me, that you had even given me a thought during my absence;” and he looked wistfully at the girl as he spoke.
“I am sure your mother and Fern missed you,” she replied, evasively. She wanted to keep him in good humor, and avoid any dangerous topics. She would like to leave him, if possible, with some kindly memory of this interview. In spite of his sins against her, she could not altogether harden her heart against Fern’s brother.
Any stranger meeting these two young people would have regarded them as a perfectly matched couple. Percy’s refined aristocratic face and distinguished carriage made a splendid foil for Crystal’s dark beauty and girlish grace. As Percy’s eyes rested on her they scarcely noticed the shabby dress she wore. He was thinking as usual that he had never seen any one to compare with this young governess; and he wondered, as he had wondered a hundred times before, if her mother had been an Englishwoman; his mother would never tell him anything about Miss Davenport, except that she was of good birth and an orphan.