"They are all very well," I said, as I walked with him to the door.
"If I may ask a favour, Lady Ann, don't tell any of them what I'm doing," he begged.
Do you know, that was the only jarring note... The first recognition, of course, was a shock. "D.S.O. Taxi-driver," don't you know? In some strange way it grates... Having taken the plunge, our young friend, I felt, was entitled to the highest credit, and anything like false shame would have been discordant.
"They would be the first," I said, "to join me in applauding your resolution and hoping for your success."
"But I want it to be a surprise," he said.
At that, my heart sank.
"But why?," I asked.
"For Phyllida's sake," he answered. "I've not seen her since that week-end at the Hall, I've not written to her; and she can't write to me, because she doesn't know where I am. I presume she's not engaged, because I've seen no announcement of it, but I don't want to do anything that may stand in her light. If my present scheme fails, I shall have to start on something else; if it succeeds—and when it succeeds—, it will be time enough for me to see what's happened to her. I've never forgotten our talk. If I didn't love a girl, I might cheerfully marry her for her money; but, when I do love her, I couldn't bear to have people even hinting such a thing. You told me that she had four thousand of her own; when I can go to her father and say that I'm making more than that—clear profit to my own pocket—, I shan't be afraid to look any one in the face. But I've not asked her to wait for me; and, if in the meantime she meets any one that she wants to marry more, no one will ever hear me complain."
And then he buttoned himself into his coat—even now I couldn't quite get over the disc with the number on it, hanging from a button-hole—, picked up his cap and held out his hand.
I walked to the door,—and then my heart seemed to stop. You may remember that the horn of our car has a note which I at least find unmistakable. I heard it in the distance, I heard it coming nearer. Phyllida and Will! It was only twelve, and I had not expected them for hours. Evidently the dance had not been to their liking. I prayed that I might prove equal to the crisis...