"Oh, yes; Miss Lorton is an excellent cook and housekeeper, Mrs. Styles;
so I hope you are satisfied?"
"That I be, and more, my lord," responded Mrs. Styles. "But, Lor'! your
lordship do surprise me, for she looks no more than a schoolgirl--begging
her pardon."
"Oh, she's wise for her years!" said Drake. "Yes, I'll have a glass of
your home-brewed, Styles."
Mrs. Styles brought some milk and scones for Nell, and the two women
withdrew to the settle and talked like old friends, while Drake, his
eyes and attention straying to his beloved, discussed the burglary at
the Hall with Styles. As Mrs. Styles' topic of conversation was
Drake--Drake as a lad and a young man--Nell was in no hurry to go; but
suddenly she remembered Falconer--he might be wanting her--and she got
up and went to Drake, who, his beloved brier in his mouth, leaned back
in an easy-chair and talked to the farmer as if time were of no
consequence. He sprang up as she approached him.
"Well, good-by, Styles. I said you should dance at my wedding, and so
you shall," he said.
"Thank you, my lord," he responded. "I'll do my best, but I thought your
lordship was only joking. Here's a very good health to you, my lord, and
your future lady."
"And God bless ye both," said Mrs. Styles, in the background.
They drove away in grand style, the mare insisting on putting on frills
and standing on her hind legs; and Drake, when the mare had settled down
to her swinging trot, stole his hand round Nell's waist, and pressed her
to him.
"Do you know why I took you there this morning, Nell?" he said, in a low
voice.
Nell shook her head shyly.
"I'll tell you. The sudden good fortune has seemed so unreal to me that
I haven't been able to realize it, to grasp it. It wasn't enough for the
countess to know and congratulate us--it wasn't enough, somehow. I
wanted some of the people on the estate to see you, and, so to speak,
set their seal on our engagement and approaching marriage. Do you
understand, dearest? I'm not making it very plain, I'm afraid."
But Nell understood, and her heart was brimming over with love for him.
"You have been accepted this morning into the--family, as it were," he
said. "And now I feel as if it were impossible that I should lose you
again. Styles will go down to the inn to-night and talk about our visit,
and give a detailed account of the 'new ladyship,' and everybody on the
estate will know of my good fortune. It is almost as if"--he paused, and
the color rose to his face--"as if we were married, Nell. I feel that
nothing can separate us now."