After a time I drew to my companion again, and could not but observe how, with returning security, her loveliness grew; it seemed to expand and open, like a blossom shyly turning sunwards after a storm. The thought that if I insisted on taking her home I might have little opportunity to cultivate an acquaintance already dear to me, put another notion into my head; and although it was wild enough I was in no mood to reject it on that score.
"I am going," said I, "to a relative in Surrey, and if you like to come with me, I can promise you a courteous, if not a cordial, welcome. You will be safe there, at least, and to-morrow, or at any time you wish, I will see your father and plead for your forgiveness. It already grows towards evening, and we cannot now be far from my uncle's house."
"I will go with you," she said, "and, oh! thank you for the thought."
When it was settled, I began to see to what a pretty complication I was working, and, indeed, it seemed doubtful whether my own reception would be even courteous. The circumstances in which I met the lady would of course explain something; but I had no reason to suppose my uncle either blind or a fool, and I was determined, from the first, to let him see where my preference lay. As to my Cousin Audrey, since she had never seen me, she could not love me, so there would be no hearts broken. The probability was that she disliked the prospect of my visit as much as I did.
It was a beautiful, clear evening, wonderfully gracious and serene, and in the long silence that fell between us I turned to the carriage window and looked out at the country through which we sped.
My companion, during all the time we had been together, had never taken any account of the country—an omission I have observed in many girls. Presently we passed over the base of a noble hill, with white shining through the green, and all astir, as it seemed, with little winds.
"That must be Box Hill!" I cried.
She started and laid a hand on my arm, leaning to my side of the chaise to look.
"Box Hill!" she repeated, and her face paled and her voice shook.
"Why not Box Hill?" I said. "We're close to Dorking now."