"
"It sounds like a fairy tale," she murmured, with a half pathetic
smile.
"Love always fashions life like a fairy tale," he replied.
She stood perfectly still.
"You must have my answer now, at this moment?" she asked at last.
"There are yet some hours," he told her. "I have a very powerful
automobile here, and to-night there is a full moon. If we leave
here at ten o'clock, we can catch the steamer to-morrow afternoon.
Everything has been made very easy for me. And fortune, too, is
with us--your vindictive commandant, Captain Griffiths, is in
London. You see, you have the whole afternoon for thought. I
want you only for your happiness. At ten o'clock I shall come
here. If you are coming with me, you must be ready then. You
understand?"
"I understand," she assented, under her breath. "And now," she
went on, raising her eyes, "somehow I think that you are right.
It would be better for you and Dick not to meet."
"I am sure of it," he agreed. "I shall come for my answer at ten
o'clock. I wonder--"
He stood looking at her, his eyes hungry to find some sign in her
face. There was so much kindness there, so much that might pass,
even, for affection, and yet something which, behind it all,
chilled his confidence. He left his sentence uncompleted and
turned towards the door. Suddenly she called him back.
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