Nell, of Shorne Mills Part 98

"How do you do, Lord Angleford?" she said, as if this were their first meeting for some time. "I am so glad that I was able to get here to-night, though I wish that I could have arrived earlier. But I am interrupting the music! Please don't let me!"

She moved away from him with perfect grace, and, greeting one and another, went and seated herself in a chair beside the d.u.c.h.ess--and opposite Nell at the piano. There was a little buzz of conversation round her, then she herself raised her fan as a sign for silence, and Falconer began to play again.

It was well for Nell that she knew every note of the nocturne by heart, for the page of music swam before her eyes, and she could not see a note. She felt Lady Luce's gaze, rather than saw it, and her heart throbbed painfully for a while; but presently the influence of the music stole over her and helped her--if only Falconer could have known it!--and she said to herself: "What can it matter to me if she is here?

I know that Drake loves me, and me alone; that she is nothing to him and I am everything. It is she who should feel confused and embarra.s.sed, not I. And yet how calm, how serene she is! Can she have forgotten that night on the terrace? Can she have forgotten all that has happened? Yes, it is she whose heart should be beating as mine is now."

When the nocturne came to an end, and the applause which greeted it broke out, Lady Luce, still clapping her hands, rose and went toward Drake.

"Will you please introduce me to Miss Lorton?" she said. "I am all anxiety to know her."

She smiled at him so placidly that even Drake, who knew her better than did any other man, was completely deceived.

"She means to forget the past," he said to himself. "She is behaving better than I had any reason to expect."

He drew a breath of relief, and his stern face relaxed somewhat as he nodded slightly and went toward Nell, who had risen from the piano and stood near Falconer. She looked at Drake and Lady Luce as calmly as she could, and Drake made the introduction in as ordinary a tone as he could manage. Lady Luce held out her hand with a sweet smile.

"I am so glad to meet you, Miss Lorton," she said. "I have heard so much about you; and I dare say you have heard something about me, for Lord Angleford and I are very old friends. How charmingly you played that difficult accompaniment! Shall we go and sit down somewhere together and have a chat?"

What could Nell say or do? Both she and Drake were helpless. Nell stood with downcast eyes, the color coming and going in her face, and Drake looked from one to the other, half relieved, half in doubt.

"Let us go and sit on that ottoman," said Lady Luce, indicating one in the center of a group of ladies.

Nell, as she followed, glanced at Drake as if she were asking, "Must I go?" He made a slight gesture in the affirmative, returning her glance with one of tender love and trust.

The countess stood at a little distance, watching them, though apparently absorbed in conversation, and no one would have guessed the condition of her mind as she saw the two women seated side by side.

Presently she went up to Drake.

"What does it mean?" she asked. "Why has she not gone? Why is she so--so friendly with Nell?"

Drake shrugged his shoulders with a kind of smiling despair.

"I can't tell you," he replied. "I think she is going to behave sensibly. At any rate, there is no need for anxiety. I have told Nell everything. She will trust me."

"Yes; but I wish she had gone," said the countess, in a low voice.

Drake smiled grimly.

"So do I. But she hasn't."

"She is too serene and contented," murmured the countess.

Drake shrugged his shoulders again.

"I know," he said significantly. "But what does it matter? She can do no harm. Nell knows everything."

"I like the way you say that," said the countess. "But don't leave her."

He nodded as if he understood, and gradually made his way toward the group among which Luce and Nell were sitting. As he approached, Lady Luce looked up with a smile.

"I have been telling Miss Lorton that if there is one thing I adore upon earth, it is a romantic engagement, and that I quite envy her, and you, too, Lord Angleford! A glamour of romance will surround you for the rest of your lives. As I have often said to Archie, life without sentiment would not be worth having. By the way, Miss Lorton, you know Sir Archie Walbrooke?"

Nell had scarcely been listening, for she had been wondering whether she could now rise and leave Lady Luce; but at the name of Sir Archie Walbrooke, she turned with a sudden start, and the color rose to her face. Lady Luce looked at her sweetly; then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, exclaimed, in a low voice:

"Oh, I beg your pardon! I quite forgot. How stupid of me!" Then she laughed softly and looked from Nell to Drake. "But of course you've told Lord Angleford? It is always the best way."

The color slowly left Nell's face; a look of pain, of doubt, even of dread, came into her eyes. Drake glanced from one woman to the other.

"What is it Nell must have told me, Lady Luce?" he asked easily.

Lady Luce hesitated, seemed as if in doubt for a moment, and smiled in an embarra.s.sed fashion.

"Have you told him?" she asked Nell, in a low, but perfectly audible voice.

Nell rose, then sank down again. She saw in an instant the trap which Lady Luce had set for her; and it seemed to her a trap from which she could not escape. It was evident that Lady Luce had become informed of the scene that had taken place between Sir Archie, Lord Wolfer, and Nell in the library at Wolfer House, and that Lady Luce intended to denounce her in the drawing-room before Drake and the large party gathered together in her honor.

For one single instant there rose in her heart a keen regret that she had not told Drake; but it was only for an instant; for Nell's nature was a n.o.ble one, and she knew that at no time and under no circ.u.mstances whatever could she have sacrificed her friend, even to save her life's happiness--and Drake's.

That chilly morning in the dim library she had taken her friend's folly and sin upon her own shoulders, scarcely counting, scarcely seeing the cost, certainly not foreseeing this terrible price which she would have to pay for it. And now--now that the terrible moment had come when Drake--she cared little for any other--would hear her accused of that which a pure woman counts the worst of crimes, she would not be able to rise, and, with uplifted head, exclaim: "I am innocent!"

She felt crushed, overwhelmed, but she could not remain silent; she had to speak; the eyes of those who were near were fixed upon her waitingly.

"I have not told him," she said at last, in a low but clear voice.

Lady Luce bit her lip softly, as if very much confused.

"I am so sorry I spoke!" she said, in an apologetic whisper. "It was very foolish of me--I am always blurting out awkward things--it is the impulsive Celtic temperament! Pray forgive me, Miss Lorton, and try and forget my stupid blunder."

There was an intense silence. Nell looked straight before her, as one looks who hears the knell of the bell which signals the hour of her execution. Drake stood with his hands clasped behind him, his face perfectly calm, his eyes resting on Nell with infinite love and trust.

The others glanced from one to the other with doubtful and half-suspicious looks. It seemed as if no one could start a conversation; the air was heavy with suspense and suspicion. The countess was quick and clever. She saw that for Nell's sake the matter must not be allowed to rest where it was; she knew that Lady Luce would have effected her purpose and cast a shadow of scandal over Nell's future life if not another word was spoken. Convinced that Nell was innocent of even the slightest indiscretion, she felt that it would be wiser to force Lady Luce's hand.

So she came forward with a smile of tolerant contempt on her pretty, shrewd face, and said slowly, and with her musical drawl:

"Oh, but, Lady Luce, we cannot let you off so easily. What is this interesting story in which Miss Lorton and Sir Archie Walbrooke are concerned?"

Lady Luce rose with well-feigned embarra.s.sment.

"Pardon me, Lady Angleford," she said. "I have blundered and have asked forgiveness; I have not another word to say."

She was crossing the room in front of Drake, and he saw her lip curl with a faint sneer. He laid his hand upon her arm gently but firmly.

"We will hear the story, if you please, Lady Luce," he said.

She bit her lip, as if she were driven into a corner, and did not know what to do.

"Not here, at any rate!" she said, in a low voice, and looking round at the silent group.

Some of them rose and moved away; but Drake held up his hand.

"Oh, do not lose an amusing story!" he said, with a smile eloquent of contempt. "Now, Lady Luce, if you please."