"I don't mind his knowing," said Celia. "I don't mind anyone knowing;
I'm so proud, so happy!"
Derrick bit his lip and was silent for a moment; then he said
reluctantly, hesitatingly, "Celia, will you mind if I ask you, if I tell you that--that there are
reasons why I want our engagement, our coming marriage, to be kept
secret. Secret between us three."
She looked up at him with slight surprise in her eyes; then she said,
after a momentary pause, "I do not mind. I am sure there are good reasons----"
"Which I'd tell you, I want to tell you," he broke in, frowning; "but I
can't. It's a question of honour----"
She put her hand on his lips. "There's no need to say any more. I don't
want you to tell me. If it would help you, I will tell you that I guess
it is something to do with that--that trouble which brought us together
and separated us."
Derrick nodded.
"I understand," she said. "Dearest, shall we come to an agreement about
all this? Shall we agree to forget it, to treat it as if it had never
happened?" She pressed his arm and, of her own accord, drew closer to
him. "Let us pretend that you and I met in the wood yesterday, for the
first time."
"Would to God we had!" he broke out; then he went on, quickly,
remorsefully, "No, no, I wouldn't lose that night, our first meeting, in
'the Jail.' That's far too precious a memory, Celia. It was then I fell
in love with you, that you wiped out the past, that you gave me back
life itself. No, I can't lose that. But we'll forget everything
else--for the present, at any rate. Now, let's talk about our--wedding.
I'll get Reggie Rex to help us, and we'll be married as soon as we can.
I shall have done my business in London in a very short time, and we'll
start for the ranch as soon as possible. The country is very beautiful,
the house, the whole place, is charming; you will like the life----"
She smiled up at him. "Yes, I know. But, Sydney, don't you know that I
should like any place, if I lived in it, with you?"
Unconsciously, they had left the wood and were now standing by the gate
on the roadway. It was all so still and solitary that they stood, hand
in hand, looking at each other and lost to everything else in the world;
they were so lost that they did not hear the sound of a carriage coming
round the bend of the road; and Lady Gridborough's jingle was upon them
before they had time to escape. In the little carriage were her ladyship
and Reggie Rex. Celia was the first to see them, and with a faint
exclamation and a burning blush, she gripped Derrick's hand, and looked
round as if to fly into hiding. But they were standing in a little
clearing, and there was no time to get back to the woods. As the jingle
came up to them, Lady Gridborough put up her lorgnette and surveyed
them, "Why, bless me!" she said. "That looks like Celia Grant. It is! Who is
that with her? Celia!" she called. "Celia!"