The Prodigal Father Part 35

"And what of the business you went to see him about?"

"Did I say I was going to see him on business?"

"You did!"

"Oh, no, no, my dear girl; you must have misunderstood me. Of course, it was natural enough; we were both rather carried away by our feelings that night, weren't we, Madge?"

He took her hand and pressed it affectionately, but it made no response.

"Why didn't you come to see me when you were in Edinburgh?" she inquired.

"I ought to have," he answered, with an expression of the sincerest apology. "Yes, I suppose I ought to have."

"You suppose! Didn't it occur to you at the time?"

"Oh, yes, it occurred. In fact, my difficulty was to keep myself away from you."

"May I ask why it was necessary to make the effort?"

"Well, the fact is," he explained, "I had a little scheme for Jean which I wanted to keep a secret--"

"And you couldn't trust me!" she interrupted.

"A charming woman and a secret?" he smiled archly. "My dear girl, your rosy lips would have gone chatter, chatter, chatter all over the town!"

She s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand away with some degree of violence.

"You talk like an idiot!" she replied.

"My dear Madge! This is your own Heriot?"

She took out a little handkerchief of lace and gently touched first one eye and then the other.

"I don't believe you love me!"

Heriot's kind heart was sincerely moved.

"I adore you!"

A faint smile at last appeared upon her face.

"How can you possibly when you go on like this?"

"Like what?"

The smile died away and a quick frown took its place.

"Heriot! Do you mean to say you think your behavior has looked like loving me?"

"It's the heart that counts, Madge, not the behavior," he a.s.sured her.

She sat up in her chair with an air of decision.

"The behavior does count; so please don't talk as though you thought I was a fool. For your own sake, for the sake of your reputation and your family, you've got to come back with me to-morrow!"

He seized her hand.

"My dear Madge, that's just what I meant to do."

He rose and bent over her with every symptom of affection.

"And now you must really go to bed. You're looking tired; really you are. It quite distresses me."

She still kept her seat.

"You promise to come with me?"

"I a.s.sure you I've got to come."

"I must have your promise."

He looked hurt.

"Hang it, Madge, can't you trust me?"

"No, I cannot. Give me your promise."

His air of affection decidedly diminished, but he gave the pledge--

"I promise to go north to-morrow."

"I can really trust you?"

He began to frown.

"Implicitly."

She rose at last, and they went together towards the lift.

"When do you breakfast?" she asked.

He answered somewhat stiffly--

"There is no necessity of starting before two o'clock. Breakfast when you like."

"We shall say ten o'clock, then."

"That is fairly late, isn't it?"