"So soon!" said Nell.
"Yes; it mustn't be later, for this wretched trial is coming on; the
assizes are quite close, you know; and Drake will have to be there as
witness. My dear, I'm glad they did not get off with the diamonds! You
little thought that night, when you saved Drake's life, and prevented
the man getting away, that you were fighting for your own jewels."
"Mine!" said Nell.
The countess laughed.
"Why, yes, you dear goose! Are they not the Angleford diamonds, and will
they not soon be yours?"
Nell blushed and looked a little aghast.
"I--I haven't realized it all yet," she said. "Ah! I wish Drake
were--just Drake Vernon! I am afraid when I think----"
The countess smiled and shook her head.
"There is no need to be afraid, my dear," she said shrewdly. "You will
wear the Angleford coronet very well and very gracefully, if I am not
mistaken, because you set so little store by it. And now here comes
Drake! It is good of him to give me so long with you. Give me a kiss
before he comes--he won't begrudge me that surely! Ah, you happy girl!"
Drake drove up in a dogcart.
"I can't get down; the mare won't stand"--he hadn't brought a groom, for
excellent reasons. "Please tell Nell to get her things on as quickly as
she can!" he said to the countess as she came out.
Nell looked doubtful.
"I will go upstairs first," she said. But Falconer was asleep, and when
she came down she had her outdoor things on.
Drake bent down and held out his hand to help her up.
"You won't be long?" she asked, and she looked up at him shyly, for,
after their long separation, he seemed almost strange to her.
"Just as long as you like," he said, understanding the reason for her
question, and glancing at the window of Falconer's room. "Dick tells me
that he is better this morning. I couldn't say how glad I am, dearest
Nell," he whispered, as the mare sprang at the collar and they whirled
through the gates and down the road. "Is it you really who are sitting
beside me, or am I dreaming?"
Nell's hand stole nearer to his arm until it touched it softly.
"I have asked myself that all night, Drake," she said, almost inaudibly.
"It is so much more like a dream than a reality. Are we going through
the village?" she asked, suddenly and shyly.