Miss Dexie Part 65

"Give me a chance to tell a part of the story, Mr. Sherwood. Dexie has made me a happy man at last. You will not care to hear all the particulars just now, but she has promised to be my wife."

"Is this really true, Dexie?" looking with loving eyes at his daughter.

Dexie raised her hand, saying softly:

"See, papa," and the flashing ring answered the question.

"Well, well; I can hardly believe it yet. Go and kiss him, Dexie, right before me, if it is really true; seeing is believing, you know."

Guy looked at her smilingly, saying, as he held out his hands, "Come, Dexie."

Dexie put one hand in his, and laying the other across his shoulder bent over and kissed him; and she made no resistance when he put one arm around her and drew her down on his knee.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise, I'm sure. You have made good use of the time, Traverse," and Mr. Sherwood laughed softly. "You have been rather a perverse young lady, Dexie, but you have fallen into good hands at last.

You must not leave me yet, dear child, for what should I do without my little nurse? But, bless my heart! there's three o'clock. You will not get into your hotel at this hour, Traverse, but I expect you would not sleep much if you did, so go back into the sitting-room, the both of you, and finish the night!"

"Thank you, Mr. Sherwood; your liberty adds much to the pleasure. I hope we have not tired you," he added, as he rose from his seat.

"Not at all! Another drink, Dexie, and be off with you!"

"Don't tell on us, papa," she whispered, as she prepared his drink. "Jarvis is sure to sleep till I awaken her, and this is not likely to happen again," laughing.

"Well, better make the most of it, then; so be off with your lover," and he waved her away from his side.

"It was not so dreadful, after all, to come to my arms before your father, was it?" Guy asked, a few minutes later. "I am sure it pleased him to see it, and it was good of him to allow me a little longer bliss."

But time pa.s.sed swiftly, as it always does with happy lovers, and the grey dawn of early morning warned them that they must separate. As they stood by the window, watching the first rays of light in the east, Dexie said:

"I will have to send you away soon, Guy, or you will be discovered; but I am going to invite you to an early breakfast here with me before you go."

"Never mind breakfast, dearest; I would rather have you here by my side until the last minute. I expect some machinery by the early train, so I think I will go down and see if it has arrived; that will give us forty minutes more together," taking out his watch.

"Then a part of the time will be well spent in preparing you a slight refreshment--nothing elaborate, you know, or Eliza would pounce down on me at the first sound," and she left him at the window, and hurried to the kitchen.

A few minutes later she appeared again, looking as fresh as the morning, with a white ruffled ap.r.o.n clasped round her waist and a dainty muslin cap perched on her head, from beneath which stray curls peeped bewitchingly out, and pa.s.sing her hand through Guy's arm, said laughingly:

"Will you mind coming to the kitchen, Guy? I am afraid someone will hear us if I take you anywhere else, and I don't want the rattle of dishes to betray us."

"Well, this is enough to make any fellow selfish," as he followed Dexie out to the kitchen, and closed the door softly behind him. "You must be a fairy, to conjure such a dainty breakfast in this short time. No one will hear us here."

The appetizing odor of coffee filled the air, and the most fastidious person could have found no fault with the dainty little table and its appointments, with plates laid for two.

"Now, you really must be quiet, Guy," trying to escape from his arms. "Just see how you have mussed my hair!"

"And you haven't mussed mine at all, I suppose! I say, Dexie, what if Gussie should catch us here?" "Which, fortunately, is not likely; but what _would_ she say? The impropriety of our conduct would be shocking," and a musical laugh sounded through the room.

"I should plead extenuating circ.u.mstances, dearest. One does not have the delightful experience of last night but once in a lifetime, and why should we not make the most of our pleasures? However, I can thank your father for this extended bliss."

"The extended bliss of eating in the kitchen!" and she smiled mischievously, as she handed him a cup of coffee. "Is this your first peep into my domain?"

"Yes, and I think it the pleasantest room in the house. Who planned it, and invented such contrivances?" glancing approvingly at the adjustable shelves which Dexie disclosed by shoving aside what appeared to be a panel in the wall. "We must have our kitchen just like this."

Ignoring his last remark, except by a blush, Dexie answered:

"I have to thank papa for the liberty I enjoy in this room; but for him I should have had the usual bare walls and no conveniences whatever. If you had seen all the newspaper articles I read up, giving the experience of practical housekeepers, you would not wonder at the change which, with the help of a carpenter, I made in this room. I am monarch of all I survey in this part of the house, as mamma does not care how many experiments go on here as long as everything is satisfactory that comes out of it."

All pleasant things come to an end, and the early breakfast in the kitchen was no exception to the rule; but it remained a bright spot in the memory of both, and in after-years was often referred to.

A few minutes later Guy left the house, and, for the first time, he left it contented and happy, the sweet "Good-bye" in the hall being in strong contrast to the usual curt dismissal that had fallen to his lot hitherto when Dexie showed him out.

CHAPTER XLI.

Dexie stood in the doorway until her lover was out of sight; then, remembering that the little table in the kitchen would tell tales, she was soon stepping briskly about, and quickly removed all traces of the early meal. Going softly into her father's room, she found him awake and feeling very well, and in the best of spirits.

"I heard you in the hall," said he, pretending to scold. "A fine time for a young man to be leaving the house, isn't it, now? I am astonished at you, Dexie!"

"Well, dear papa, I am astonished too!" and they both laughed. "I am sure if anyone had told me such a thing was about to happen, I would have thought him a fit subject for a lunatic asylum."

"You look very happy over it, dear, or your face tells a story! But I thought I smelt coffee when I woke up."

"So you did! My young man stayed to breakfast. What do you think of that?

He says he is going to plead 'extenuating circ.u.mstances,' if he is brought to the bar. But don't you think you would like a cup of coffee and a nice piece of toast?"

"Yes, I think I would; it is rather early for breakfast, but I feel ready for it."

Dexie was soon beside him with a small tray, and as he drank his coffee he said, as he looked at her keenly:

"I want to know one thing, Dexie, and then I won't question you any more.

What was the trouble between you and Traverse these few weeks back?

Something was wrong with you, at any rate, but you do not confide in me as you used to do."

"Well, you naughty papa! How could I tell you my little secrets when you let them out the first thing?" she laughingly replied.

Her father looked at her in surprise, and she added,

"I told you not to tell that I broke the engagement with Lancy Gurney, and you told Guy that very first evening."

"Well, where was the harm? He seemed very anxious to know about it, and I am sure you seemed to rejoice over your freedom."

"Yes! but I didn't want Guy to know it, for it made it so much harder for me to meet him."

"Dexie, did you break your promise with Lancy on account of Traverse? Well, well! I understand it now; but who would have thought that you cared for him when you were so cool and short!"

"You surely would not have me make the first advances, papa?" laughing.