Derrick's mind was in a condition of joyous confusion as the train bore
him in a slow and leisurely fashion towards Thexford. Predominant, of
course, was the thought that he was on his way to see the girl of his
heart. But presently he began to think of the strange old man who had
set him that way. Naturally enough, Derrick felt curious about him; for
he had been much struck and interested by the old man's appearance and
manner. Derrick knew a gentleman when he saw him, and he knew that Mr.
Clendon was a gentleman and one of a very fine type; seen in befitting
surroundings, Mr. Clendon would have filled completely the part of a
nobleman; and yet he was poor and living in Brown's Buildings. Derrick
felt strangely drawn towards the old man, but told himself that it was
because Mr. Clendon was a friend of Celia's--Derrick had already learned
to call her 'Celia' in his mind.
Then the fact that she was librarian to Lord Sutcombe recurred to him.
It was a strange coincidence, one of the strangest; and as he faced it,
Derrick's intention to go straight to the Hall and ask for Celia became
changed. He did not want to meet the Sutcombes: it was just possible
that Heyton and Miriam would be there; and most certainly he did not
want to meet them. He uttered a groan of impatience: he would not be
able to go to the Hall; he would have to find some means of meeting her
elsewhere; every moment of delay, every moment that stood between him
and the sight of her, assumed the length of years. With his brows knit,
and his heart in a state of rebellion, he got out at the little station
and looked round him wistfully, irresolutely.
There was a fly at the station steps, but he was in too much of a fever
to ride in a crawling vehicle, and he inquired of a sleepy porter the
direction of the nearest inn.
"There's no inn here, sir," said the man. "You see, this is really only
the station for the Hall; but you'll find a small kind of place in the
village farther on; it's called Fleckfield; it's rather more than a
couple of miles."
Derrick gave his small portmanteau to the flyman and told him to drive
there, and he himself set out walking.
Climbing a hill at a little distance from the station, he caught sight
of the tower of a big house and knew that it must be Thexford Hall. And,
within those walls, was the girl he loved! He set his teeth and strode
on, resentful of every yard that took him from her instead of to her.
A signpost directed him to Fleckfield, and presently he came to the
village and to the little inn in the middle of the single street. It was
a rustic looking place, with the usual bench and table outside it; and
on the former was seated a young fellow in a knicker-bocker suit. He was
writing busily on a pad which rested on his knee, and he looked up with
an absent, far-away expression in his eyes as Derrick strode in upon his
solitude.
"Good afternoon," he said, pleasantly, when he had come down from the
clouds; for it was Reggie Rex, busy on the outline of his novel.
Derrick returned the salutation and sank on to the bench beside him; and
Reggie, after a comprehensive glance, and one of distinct approval,
said:
"You look hot, sir. Have a drink. I can recommend the local ale. It is
good though not particularly intoxicating."
"Thanks," said Derrick; and he made short work of the tankard of
home-brewed which the landlord brought him. "Are you staying here?" he
inquired. "I ask, because I want a room for a night or two."
"That's all right," said Reggie. "They'll be able to give you a room, I
think. Your portmanteau has arrived already. Is your name Grey?"
"No," replied Derrick, staring at him with pardonable surprise. "Sydney
Green."
"Oh, well, it wasn't a bad guess," said Reggie, complacently. "I saw 'S.
G.' on your portmanteau, and 'Green' seemed so obvious that I hit on
Grey."
"Are you a detective?" asked Derrick, with a laugh.
"Wish I were!" responded Reggie, with a groan. "No; I'm an author,
novelist; and I'm engaged on a big detective story. That's why I get all
the practice I can. You come from South Africa?"
"Wrong; guess again," said Derrick, with a smile.
"Then what do you mean by that tanned face?" demanded Reggie,
indignantly.
"You can get tanned in other places than South Africa," said Derrick.
"I'd tell you where I come from, but I've a feeling that I should spoil
your enjoyment in finding out for yourself. Besides, if I did tell you
that much, you'd want to know why I have come here."
"Quite right," assented Reggie, approvingly. "That's just what I should
want to know. But don't you trouble; I shall find out quick enough. And
don't be offended," he added. "You see, I'm obsessed--that's the new
word, you know--by this detective business. I want to find out
everything about everybody. But there's no harm in me; it's a kind of
monomania; and if you don't want me to be inquisitive, just say so."
There was something so inoffensive in this young man's eccentricity,
that Derrick found it impossible to be affronted; he leant back, filled
his pipe, and smoked in silence for a minute or two; then, driven by the
ardour of his desire, by that longing to talk round about, if not
directly of, his heart's idol, which obsesses--as Reggie would
say--every lover, he said, half-ashamed of his impulse,
"Have you been staying long in these parts; do you happen to know a
place about here called Thexford Hall?"
Reggie surveyed him through half-closed eyes for a moment or two; then
he said:
"Now, I wonder why you asked that. If you were a friend of the people
there, or had business with them, you would have gone straight to the
house; instead of which, you come away from them, and ask the first
person you meet if he knows it. You will excuse me if I say that I scent
a mystery, Mr. Green. By the way, let me introduce myself--it's evident
that you have little of the detective in you, or you would have asked me
long ago. My name is Reginald Rex, a name with which you are probably
unacquainted, but which, I trust, will some day be known to the whole
world." He expressed the hope with bland simplicity.
"I am sure I hope it will," said Derrick. "I am sorry to disappoint you,
but there is no mystery in the case. I have come here to see a young
lady----"
"Miss Celia Grant," broke in Reggie, with an air of quiet triumph. "How
did I guess it? My dear fellow, it's as easy as shelling peas! There is
only one young lady at Thexford Hall, and she is the one I have
mentioned. And you want to see her without coming in contact with the
other persons who reside at the Hall. I need not ask if I am right,
because your extremely candid countenance confirms my assertion."
"Upon my word, you're a most amusing young man," said Derrick, biting
his lip to prevent himself from colouring. "But I am bound to admit that
you are quite right."
"Thanks to your candour. I will now place myself at your service," said
Reggie. "The young lady of whom we speak is a friend of mine--Mr. Green,
when I rise in the morning, and return to my virtuous couch at night, I
never fail to thank a beneficent Providence that I _can_ claim her as my
friend. Now, what you wish me to do, though you would rather die than
ask me, is to arrange a meeting between you and Miss Grant. I will do
so, without a moment's hesitation, because of Lavater."
"Because of _what_?" demanded Derrick, staring at him.
"Lavater, Mr. Green, is the author of the best-known work on
physiognomy, and physiognomy teaches us whom to trust and to distrust.
Informed by my knowledge of the science, I know that you are a man to be
trusted, and with this knowledge, I am prepared to befriend you. What
time this evening would you like to meet Miss Grant?"
Derrick regarded the strange youth with a mixture of amusement and
surprise, not untinctured by jealousy.
"You speak, Mr. Rex, as if you held the copyright of Miss Grant," he
said.
"Don't be offended; I'll explain," said Reggie, leaning back and folding
his arms, and returning Derrick's gaze with one of extreme candour. "You
see, Miss Grant once did me a service----"
"I don't find it difficult to believe that," said Derrick, under his
breath.
"No," said Reggie. "There are a certain number of angels in woman guise
who pace this wicked and weary old world of ours, and you and I happen
to have had the extraordinary luck to meet one. Of course, I see how it
is with you; and I might say that I am in the same boat. It's easy
enough to fall in love with a star in the blue heavens, the Koh-i-noor
diamond, or the second folio of Shakespeare. But I happen to be one of
those few men who realise that the treasures I have spoken of are not
for them. In the words of the poet, 'I worship Miss Grant from afar.' I
kneel at her feet, metaphorically, in the adoration that has no hope of
response or reward. If I am any judge of character--which I beg you to
believe I am--you, my friend, are not placed in the same category;
judging by the salient characteristics of your countenance, I should say
that you hope most considerably."
"You certainly are a most extraordinary young man," said Derrick; "and
your candour is somewhat overwhelming. But you have hit the nail on the
head; and I may as well confess that I am particularly anxious to meet
Miss Grant as soon as possible, and that I accept your proffered aid. As
you have divined, I do not want to go to the Hall, for reasons----"
"Which you are perfectly at liberty to keep to yourself," said Reggie,
blandly. "If, at any time, I should want to learn them, I give you my
word I shall have little difficulty in discovering them. Just at the
present moment, I am impelled by the sole desire to do Miss Grant a
service--and you too; for, if you will permit me to say so, I have taken
a physiognomical fancy to you. Will you shake hands?"
With a feeling akin to bewilderment, but without any resentment against
his strange companion's eccentricity, Derrick went through the ceremony;
and Reggie, rising, said:
"I am now going to the Hall; if you will be in the little wood in the
hollow behind the Hall at seven o'clock this evening--but I need not
continue."
He rose, settled his cap, and took two or three steps; but stopped
suddenly and, coming back to the table, leant his hands on it and
regarded Derrick thoughtfully.
"One conjecture, if you will allow me. May we say that the person at
Thexford Hall you most particularly wish to avoid is--Lord Heyton?"
Derrick, speechless for a moment, stared at him; then he nodded.
"Quite so," said Reggie, with an air of satisfaction. "Oh, I don't want
to know the reason; I just wanted my surmise confirmed. And, by George!
I commend your judgment; for, if there was ever an individual in this
world an honest man might wish to avoid, it is the gentleman I have
mentioned."
With this, he walked off; and Derrick sat for some time in a state of
amazement at the quaintness--and, be it added, the acuteness--of his new
acquaintance. Presently the landlord served him with a nice little meal,
which it is to be feared Derrick did not appreciate; for he scarcely
knew what he was eating.
The time lagged intolerably; and long before seven o'clock, he had found
the little wood, and was pacing up and down it, his heart beating
furiously, as he listened for footsteps; they came presently, and he
drew behind a tree, that, for a moment or two, unseen himself, his eyes
might rest on the girl he had seen but once, but whose form was
enshrined in his heart.
And presently she came; a slim, graceful figure in a plain white dress.
The evening was warm, and she had taken off her hat, and was swinging it
idly in her hand. When he saw her face distinctly, he noticed that it
was calm and serene; there was no expression of expectation in it; she
looked as if she were just strolling without any object. Pale beneath
his tan, Derrick stepped forward and raised his hat. Celia stopped dead
short, and looked at him for a moment with the ordinary expression of
surprise at the sudden appearance of a stranger; then she recognised him
and, all in a flash, her face changed. First, it was flooded with
colour; then it grew pale and her wide-open eyes held a look of
astonishment and some other emotion which went straight to Derrick's
heart and struck him dumb, so that he stood before her in silence. She
was the first to speak.
"You!" she murmured, with a little catch in her voice, her hand going to
her heart unconsciously.
"Yes," said Derrick, unsteadily. "Didn't he tell you?"
She shook her head.
"You mean Reggie Rex? No--he asked me to come here, and I thought it was
to meet him. I--I am rather startled."
She sank on to the bank, looking straight before her, and, still
bare-headed, Derrick stood beside her, speechless. If he had ever had
any doubt of the completeness, the intensity of his love for her, that
doubt would have been dispelled at that moment. The desire to take her
in his arms, to crush her to him, was almost overwhelming; but he
remembered that, though he had been loving her all these months, had
been thinking of her so constantly that it seemed as if they had been in
actual communication, she did not know this. He must go gently with this
beautiful creature; he must not frighten her by word or look.
"I'm sorry he didn't tell you; I'm sorry you were so startled," he said,
very softly, very gently. "I thought he would have done so."
"I am ashamed," she said, blushing, and forcing a smile to her lips,
which were not yet quite steady. "It is very foolish of me; for--for why
should I be startled, why should you not be here, anywhere?"
She made as if to rise; but he put out his hand, as if to stay her, and
she sank down again.
"Well, there are reasons why I should not come back, as you know," he
began; but she looked up quickly and broke in.
"Oh, no, there are not! Don't you know, have they not told you? You have
no cause now for--for concealment."
"I've heard nothing," he said. "I have only just returned from abroad.
Will you tell me what you mean?"
With a barely-suppressed eagerness, and an unconcealed gladness, she
told him of the appearance of the old gentleman a few minutes after
Derrick's flight, and gave him the lawyer's message.
Derrick nodded once or twice. "If I'd only known that!" he said in a low
voice, "I should have come back at once; come back to tell you what I
want to tell you now, to thank you. Oh, but that's absurd! Of course, I
can't thank you. You know what you did for me, and you must know that I
can't express my gratitude."
"Don't say any more," said Celia almost inaudibly. "I am glad that it is
all right now: that you have no cause to fear--and that you've come back
to England."
"Are you?" he said, with difficulty controlling his voice. "So am I; but
I'm still more glad that I have been able to meet you so soon. You are
looking--well." Poor fellow! He wanted to say, "more beautiful than
ever; and I love you." "You are happy, I hope?"
"Quite," Celia replied, raising a face that was radiant. And at that
moment she was happy indeed, suffused with a strange, sweet happiness
which she did not understand. "I have got a splendid berth. But, of
course, you know, or you wouldn't be here. Reggie told you."
"Yes," he said, glad to fall on Reggie as a subject for conversation.
"He's a strange young man, but he appears to be a good friend of yours."
"Oh, yes, he is. Yes; isn't he singular? I met him at the Museum. Oh,
long, long ago--And yet it isn't so long, though it seems so," she
added, musingly, and more to herself than to him. "Yes; isn't he
quaint?"
"But he's got a good heart," said Derrick, with a smile. Then he felt he
could bring the conversation back to themselves. "I am so glad you are
happy. I got your address--I can see you are wondering how I got
it--from another friend of yours, Mr. Clendon, a remarkably nice old
gentleman who was extremely kind to me. Of course, I went to Brown's
Buildings the day I arrived."
She blushed and her eyes were downcast for a moment. Why "of course"?
She pondered this, with a thrill of the heart.
"Tell me about yourself, what you've been doing," she said. "You won't
think me curious? But, of course, I am interested----"
"Naturally, seeing that you saved me, set my feet on a new path," he
said; and as he spoke, he seated himself on the bank beside her; but a
little lower, so that he could look up into her face. "I've had rather a
curious time, since we parted."
Then he told her, as briefly as he could, the story of his adventures.
And she listened--well, as Desdemona of old listened to Othello; that is
to say, her star-like eyes were fixed on his face, as if they were
chained there, and she listened, sometimes her breath growing fast,
sometimes with an exclamation of amazement, of fear. Her interest, her
absorption were so intense that perhaps she was not conscious that
imperceptibly he had drawn closer to her, so that his arm was touching
her dress and his face was very near hers. Woman is never so charming to
us men as when she is listening to the story of our lives; and, oh, what
a sympathetic listener was this beautiful, dainty girl, with her
wide-open eyes, her red, parted lips, her little sighs and murmured
exclamations!
"Oh, it is wonderful!" she breathed at last. "It it like a story in a
book! I can see it all--you tell it so well; and yet I feel you are not
telling half. And this Donna Elvira--what a good, kind woman she must
be!"
"She is," assented Derrick. "I wish she were also a happy one; but I'm
afraid she isn't. There is a kind of mystery about her--but I'm afraid
you won't understand from my poor attempt to describe her."
"Oh, yes, yes I do!" said Celia. "You make it all so plain. I should
like to meet her, to know her."
"I'll tell her so--when I go back," said Derrick.
What had happened? A moment before, the little wood had been all aglow
with the rays of the setting sun, her heart had been palpitating with a
sweet, delicious happiness; and now, all quite suddenly, the air had
become cold, a chill had struck to her heart. Celia's face paled, she
looked up at him and then away from him. With the toe of her dainty
shoe, she traced a pattern in the moss at her feet; and still with
downcast eyes, she said:
"You--you are going back? Of course."
"Yes; I must go back," he said, in a dry voice. "As I told you, I have
only come over to do this business. I must go back soon."
"How--how soon?" she asked, scarcely knowing that she spoke.
"Oh, in a week or two, at longest," he replied, his eyes downcast, his
voice barely above a murmur.
There was silence for a moment; then she forced a smile and, with
difficulty raising her eyes to his, said:
"Of course, you must. Well, I am--am glad to have seen you, to have
heard that you are prospering. I--I must be going back."
Again she made a movement, as if to rise; but he took her hand and
gripped it tightly, almost fiercely.
"Not yet," he said, his voice choked and thick. "You can't go till I
tell you----Oh, don't you know? You must know; something of the truth
must have travelled from my heart to yours all these months. Don't you
know that I love you?" he said breathlessly.
She sat quite still, her hand in his, her eyes fixed on the tree before
her; her heart was beating so fast that its pulsations seemed to stifle
her. But through her whole frame, through every nerve of her body, ran a
hot flood of ecstatic happiness. His words were still ringing in her
heart; mutely her lips were re-forming them: "I love you! I love you!"
So great, so ineffable was the joy, that her eyes closed with the desire
to shut out everything in the world but the one fact his dear lips had
voiced.
"You know I love you," he said in a whisper. "From the first moment--no,
let me be truthful, not from the first moment: you remember how angry I
was with you; how I resented your dear presence, your interference?--but
soon, very soon afterwards, you stole into my heart. And you have been
there ever since. Oh, Celia!--think of it! I knew your name only a few
hours ago--you are all the world to me, my saviour, my guardian angel. I
can't live without you. I want you, dearest; I want you every hour,
every moment. Oh, I know I'm a poor lot, of no account, a man with a
stain still on his name, but I've got to tell you that I love you. I've
thought of this hour of our meeting a hundred, a thousand times, in all
sorts of places, in all sorts of circumstances. And now it has come!
Celia, I love you, dear, I love you! Speak to me, dear! Oh, I know I'm
not worthy of a single thought, a single breath of yours; but let my
love plead for me, and--speak to me, Celia!"
She sat enthralled by that magic which has been omnipotent since this
weary world of ours began, and will be till it ends. It was easy enough
for him to say "speak," but ah, how difficult it was for her to obey,
when her heart was too full for words! Instead of speech, she turned her
face to him; and laid her hand on his, which held hers nearest to him.
There was a thrill of a passionate love in that gentle touch; and
Derrick's heart flamed up. He caught her in his arms, and their lips
joined in that first ecstatic interchange of soul and heart. Presently,
she lay on his breast, her face still upturned to his kisses, her eyes
meeting his with the fullness, the fearlessness of a girl's first and
perfect love.
Silence reigned in the little wood; a squirrel, which had been watching
them from a distance, leapt noiselessly from a branch and stood and
surveyed them with piquant interest; the good god Pan hovered about them
and murmured his blessings on their mortal love. So long lasted the
silence--the ecstatic silence which, indeed, is golden--that time lost
its significance and they were caught up into the heaven of eternity.
At last, with a sigh, Celia came back to earth: that earth which his
love had turned to a veritable Paradise.
"I must go," she whispered.
"Must you, dearest--Celia?" he asked, with all a lover's reluctance.
"Yes," she said, the word broken with a sigh. "I am sorry; but I must
go. I don't know how late it is."
He took the watch from her belt--the very act was a caress--and looked
at it.
"We have been here an hour. It seems only a minute. And we must part!
That's hard."
"Yes, it's hard," she whispered, with a long breath. "But we shall meet
again. Oh, I couldn't bear to think that we shall not meet again soon.
You will come--will you come to the Hall?"
He knit his brows.
"I can't, dearest; I can't. Don't ask me why. God knows I want to tell
you everything; but--but presently. You can trust me, Celia?"
"I'd trust you with my life, with all that there is of me," she said,
with a simplicity that made him catch her to him.
"You must trust me, for the present," he said. "Let me think things
over. I can't think now--I can scarcely realise that you are in my arms,
that you are mine. Mine! Mine, after all this time of waiting and
longing. Tell me once more, just once more, that you love me, Celia."
"I love you!" she breathed, her star-like eyes meeting his
unflinchingly. "Oh, how strange it is! I don't even know your name."
He winced imperceptibly, and his lips drew straight. They had almost
formed the words "Derrick Dene," but he held them back.
"Sydney," he said. "Sydney Green."
"Sydney," she murmured; and though Derrick hated the name on her lips,
yet it sounded the sweetest music.
"You'll meet me to-morrow here, in the morning, Celia? I could not wait
all day. Be here at ten o'clock."
"I will."
"By that time, I shall have thought things over; I shall be able to tell
you----Oh, dearest, must you go? You seem to take my life with you."
"And I leave mine with you," she said, gravely.
"Celia! You've got my life and my heart in this little hand of yours."
He kissed it.
"And do you think I shall not hold them? But I must go. Yes; kiss me
once more--only once, or I shall never be able to leave you. I will be
here at ten o'clock. It will seem an age----"
He gripped her to him, and kissed her; and he stood, with hand pressed
hard against the tree, watching the slight, graceful form till it
disappeared from his view.
It may be noted, by the student of human nature, that neither of them
had spoken of the woman for whom Derrick had been ready to sacrifice his
good name, his life itself. Perfect love means perfect faith, and they
were so sure of each other's love and faith, that it may be said neither
of them gave the other woman a thought; and if they had done so, Celia
would not have been jealous of the past, and Derrick would have regarded
the boyish passion of which he had been so completely cured, as
something nebulous and unimportant. At that moment, he was capable of
thinking only of Celia; the past was like a dream, his heart was in the
present and future; and his happiness was alloyed by one regret
only--that he had concealed from Celia his real name and his connection
with the Heytons. But, as he walked on air towards the village, he told
himself that such concealment would not long be necessary, that he would
tell her the next time they met.