And no wonder; for
he had just succeeded to a baronetcy and the extensive Petmansworth
estates; and he was determined to win a bride as well--even as he was on
his way to his father's funeral.
It was some considerable time before Miss Burgoyne came down, and when
she did make her appearance she seemed none too well pleased by this
unconscionable intrusion; at the same time she had paid some little
attention to her face, and she wore a most charming tea-gown of pink and
sage-green.
"Well?" she said, rather coldly. "What now? I thought you had gone over
to Paris."
"But don't you know what has happened?" he said, rather breathlessly.
"What has happened?"
He took up the newspaper, opened it, and handed it to her in silence,
showing her a particular paragraph.
"Oh!" she said, with startled eyes, and yet she read the lines slowly,
to give time for consideration. And then she recollected that she ought
to express sympathy. "I am so very sorry--so sudden and unexpected; it
must have been such a shock to you. But," she added, after a
second--"but why are you here? You ought to have gone home at once."
"I'm on my way home--I only got the telegram yesterday afternoon--I
reached London this morning," the young man said, disconnectedly; all
his eager and wistful attention was concentrated on her face; what
answer was about to appear there to his urgent prayer? "Don't you
understand why I am here, dear Kate?" said he, and he advanced a little,
but very timidly.
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