“Because I belong to another,” she answered, slowly, and there came a wonderful light in her eyes; “and for his sake I will live as I am to my life’s end.”
They had reached Beulah Place by this time, and Mrs. Watkins’s shop was in sight. There were few passers-by, so no one noticed why Percy suddenly stood still and seized his companion’s hands.
“You love another man? You dare to tell me this?”
“I tell you this for your own good, and that you may never speak to me again as you have done. You must not be angry with me for telling you the truth; and now will you ring the bell, for there is no need to go through the shop?”
“I am not coming in,” he said, hoarsely. “I can not trust myself.”
“Then we will say good-bye here,” was the quiet answer, and she pressed his hands kindly. “Forgive me if I have made you unhappy, but indeed it is your fault, and I thought it better to tell you the truth. Good-bye, my poor boy;” but though her voice was full of gentleness and pity, he scarcely heard it. He had wrung her hands, almost throwing them from him, and had turned away without a word.
Crystal looked after him rather wistfully; her heart felt strangely soft to him to-night. “Was it wrong to tell him, I wonder?” she said to herself, as she quickly retraced her steps. “He is terribly reckless, one never knows how he may take things. It was good of him to listen to me so patiently; and now he has gone away sore and angry.”
Crystal was walking very fast now, as though she had suddenly remembered some errand. As an empty hansom passed her she hailed it. “Will you drive me to Victoria Station,” she said to the man in a business-like tone; “I want to meet the 6:30 train from Singleton. I think there is time.”
“None too much,” was the somewhat gruff answer, “but my horse is fresh;” and Crystal drew into a corner and tried to curb her impatience by watching the passers-by; but her fear of being too late kept her restless and miserable.
As they drove into Victoria Station a handsome barouche, with a pair of fine bays, attracted Crystal’s attention. The footman had got down and was making inquiries of a porter. “Singleton train just due,” Crystal heard the man say, as she handed the cabman his fare; and as she quickly passed through the station, the train slowly drew up at the platform.